1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Tarbert

TARBERT, a fishing village at the head of East Loch Tarbert, an arm of the sea on the west shore of the mouth of Loch Fyne, Argyllshire, Scotland. Pop. (1901) 1697. The harbour, though it has a narrow entrance, is absolutely safe and can shelter the whole of the Loch Fyne fishing fleet. The pier for the passenger steamers that call here is about 3/4 m. from the village. The coast of the bay is rocky and the cliffs are fringed with young firs, the village itself being quite a pretty place. The herring industry—including a large trade in curing—forms the only industry. The parish church occupies a fine situation. Overlooking the harbour are the ruins of a castle built by Robert Bruce in 1326. The isthmus connecting the districts of Knapdale and Kintyre is little more than one mile wide, and boats used once to be dragged across to the head of West Loch Tarbert, a narrow sea loch nearly ten miles long. A proposal to cut a canal across to shorten the sail to Islay and Jura has never progressed further.