Scottish Blog

The River Tay is the longest running river in Scotland.

At 120km long, it is the longest river in all of Scotland and is the 7th longest in Great Britain. In terms of the discharge, which is estimated to be 170 cubic meters every second, it is the biggest river in the Great Britain.

There are a number of sources for the River Tay, the majority can be found in the Highlands. The most prominent of these flows from Ben Lui, a nearby mountain. This mountain reaches heights of 1130 meters in height and is the most famous of the Munro Mountains. As the river begins and grows, it is called by different names. Other tributaries into the River Tay include the River Almond, the River Isla, the River Braan, the River Tummel and the Lyon River.

Roughly in its first four kilometers, the River Tay is referred to as the River Connonish, after which it is also called River Fillan and the River Dochart. At the end, the River Tay flows into a lake, not surprisingly called Loch Tay.

The River Tay has had a great influence on the Scots who had lived around it. The town of Dundee was most probably founded at its location for its superb access to the resources the River Tay can provide. In fact, translated to Gaelic, Dundee becomes Dun Deagh meaning Fort on the Tay. In fact, many other Scottish place names have been influenced by the River Tay. Of these, the most obvious are taymouth, which is located at the mouth of Loch Tay. Tayside is obviously influenced by the river. One less obvious example though is Broughty Ferry, which translates to Bruach Tatha, which means Bank of the Tay.