Tarbolton

Tarbolton is a village in South Ayrshire, Scotland.

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 "bāll" '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.

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 ( [http://www.tarbolton.org] ), 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.