Tain

Tain (Scand. Thing, 'a place of assembly'), an ancient royal burgh of Ross-shire, near the south shore of the Dornoch Firth, 44 miles NNE. of Inverness by the Highland Railway (1864). A ruined chapel marks the birthplace of St Duthac (c. 1000-65), whose body was brought back from Armagh in 1253; within it Bruce's queen was taken captive for Edward I., and James IV. did yearly penance here. There are also a collegiate church (1471; restored 1849-82), a court-house (1849), a public hall (1876), and an academy (1812). Pop. (1861) 2319; (1891) 2080, of whom 1632 were in the police and parliamentary burgh, Tain uniting with the four other Wick burghs to return one member. See the Rev. W. Taylor's History of Tain (1882).