Tarbolton is a village in South Ayrshire.
[edit] Meaning of place-name
Tarbolton has been suggested as having one of two meanings:
- Village by the tor or hill, from Old English torr 'tor, hill, cliff' and boðl-tun /bothl-tun "village with buildings, equivalent to Bolton in Greater Manchester. The name was recorded as Torbolten in 1138, suggesting this origin.
- Village by the field and hill, from Old English torr 'tor, hill, cliff' and ball 'field (not meaning the same as ball 'ball', i.e. football), as in Dunball, Somerset, with tun 'farm, village'. The name's record in writing as Torballtone in 1209 suggests this origin may be possible.
- Village by the hill, from Celtic torr (where the Old English word is derived from, and baile "village, usually Bally- in Irish place-names, with the tautologous Old English tun "farm, village" added by Anglo-Saxon settlers who did not understand the language. Records of the name as Torbalyrtune in 1148 suggest this origin.
It is widely understood to mean the town (ton) at the hill (tor) at which Baal is worshipped (bol), histories exist recording ceremonies on a hill in the village associated with Beltane and involving a bonfire. The primary school crest includes a bonfire motif.
Coordinates: 55°30'N, 4°29'W
[edit] Location
Tarbolton is 7 miles East North East from Ayr, 4 miles West of Mauchline and 1 and 1/4 miles from its own railway station (No longer used). It has a school, church ([1]), a gospel hall, a post-office 3 pubs and is home to the Bachelors Club, a frequent haunt of Robert Burns.
Tarbolton Primary takes pupils from surrounding farms and from Failford, a small hamlet North of the village. Its houses are Fail, Afton, Coyle and Montgomery, named after local areas and rivers.
(Source: Wikipedia) |