Tarf Water

A historical perspective, drawn from the Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical, edited by Francis H. Groome and originally published in parts by Thomas C. Jack, Grange Publishing Works, Edinburgh between 1882 and 1885.

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Tarf Water, a dark, troutful stream of Blair Athole parish, N Perthshire, rising close to the Inverness-shire border at an altitude of 2692 feet, and running 11¼ miles east-by-southward along a wild rocky glen, till, after a total descent of 1200 feet, it unites with a lesser stream to form the Tilt. About 15 yards above the meeting of the waters was a deep and dangerous ford, Poll Tarff, whose passage by the Queen, on 9 Oct. 1861, forms the subject of a well-known picture by Carl Haag, and which now is spanned by the Bedford Memorial Bridge (1885).

An accompanying 19th C. Ordnance Survey map is available, or use the map tab to the right of this page.

Note: This text has been made available using a process of scanning and optical character recognition. Despite manual checking, some typographical errors may remain. Please remember this description dates from the 1880s; names may have changed, administrative divisions will certainly be different and there are known to be occasional errors of fact in the original text, which we have not corrected because we wish to maintain its integrity. This information is provided subject to our standard disclaimer