Tain Environment
Attribution: unknown (Procession in High Street for Diamond Jubilee 1897)
The Gizzen Briggs
The Gizzen Briggs is a large sand bank stretching out from Dornoch Point and almost linking up with the Morrich More region on the opposite side of the Dornoch Firth at low tide. When fully covered and there is a good breeze or a groundswell, usually when a storm is on its way, white tipped breakers form a large white band revealing its position and a roaring sound can be heard in Tain if the wind direction is right. According to the Rev. Mackintosh in the New Statistical Account, the “gizzen” part of the name is thought to be a form of a sound imitating word, “gizzing” similar to the word “whizzing”, hence the “whizzing bridges”. However, Watson in his “Place Names of Ross and Cromarty”, attributes it to the Norse “gisnar bryggja” meaning leaky bridge.
Attribution: unknown
The Big Stone of Morangie
Just a little way beyond the entrance to the Glenmorangie distillery, a large granite boulder lies in a field close to and on the western side of the A9, known traditionally as the Big Stone of Morangie. It is an “erratic” i.e. a block of stone that has been transported there from elsewhere and left behind by a retreating glacier.
It bears the inscription – “The Immortal Walter Scott. OB 1832” – which supposedly was carved by a mason working on the construction of the distillery in 1843. Hence it is also referred to as Walter Scott’s Stone although the author never actually visited the area.
Attribution: unknown
Topography of Tain
Read about the topography of Tain such as the Meikle Ferry, the Fendom, Morrich More and many more.
Attribution: unknown
