Early Years (continued)

Medieval Tarbert
King Robert the Bruce hauled his own Birlins across in the later Medieval period on his way to the inner Hebridean Islands when ‘portage’ over the Isthmus would still have been common practice.

There is relatively little good quality farming land around East Loch Tarbert and this limited the extent that the settlement could be developed in the earliest years. The production of food was a necessity of survival for all in a rural area and this subsistence level farming did not readily allow the growth of the population without a contribution from outside the area.

When the castle became a royal stronghold a controlling administration, law enforcement and increased trade followed.

These social and administrative changes provided a base from which a village could develop, and Tarbert eventually became a borough in its own right.

Tarbertshire
The Shire of Tarbert included Kintyre, Gigha, Islay, Jura, Scarba, Colonsay and Mull, as well as the various adjacent, smaller islands. Rathlin Island was also then reckoned to be within the Sheriffdom of Tarbert. On 26 February 1481, Knapdale too was made part of Tarbert-shire. Previously it had been part of Perth-shire.

Eventually, on 28 June 1633, Tarbertshire was amalgamated with the shire of Argyll.
The last Tarbert-shire MP, elected in September 1628, was Sir Lachlan M’Lean of Morvern. 

Tarbert’s famous fair appears in records at least as early as 1705.

Post Medieval Tarbert
Expansion of Tarbert from the 1700s onwards followed, as fishing became a major industry and means of survival. This is the solid foundation of the village we see today, still an active fishing community. Road building to allow government troops access to the remoter areas after the Jacobite rebellion contributed to growth in the area.