This form represents a development of Proto-Indo-European *deiueh2- 'a goddess', which occurs in many Celtic river-names.

Loch Ken and the Dee Marshes were together designated a Ramsar site on August 21, 1992.

The Tarff Water enters the Dee as a right-bank tributary near Tongland in the tidal stretch of the river.

The headwater streams of the Tarff drain the tract of country between the villages of Laurieston and Ringford including Loch Mannoch.

[5][6] Like other examples of this name in southern Scotland, 'Tarff' is Gaelic in form but is likely to derive in turn from an earlier Cumbric cognate.