Tayport

[2] To the east of Tayport is the vast Tentsmuir Nature Reserve, an area of forested dunes edged by wide sands that continue all the way round to the mouth of the River Eden.

[3] Tayport was originally known as "Southferry", or, in full, the "South Ferry of Portincraig" (from the Gaelic port na creige, "harbour of the rock").

The abbey constructed shelter and lodgings for pilgrims making the trip between St Andrews and Arbroath via the ferry and this formed the core of a settlement that steadily grew over the centuries.

[6] Ferry-Port-on-Craig saw a dramatic increase in population at the end of the 18th century when tenants displaced by agricultural improvement and clearances, came to take advantage of jobs in the town's textile and shipbuilding industries.

The opening of the Tay Road Bridge in 1966 put Tayport within a few minutes' drive of the centre of Dundee, and it has since evolved into a pleasant dormitory town for that city.

Some industry remains, but the harbour is now given over almost wholly to leisure craft, and attractive new housing has been built where once railway carriages were manoeuvered onto ferries.

Clubrooms were constructed which, over the years (like the ground) were improved in order to provide the accommodation which both the club and wider community now enjoy.

Amongst them was Mr. William Dalgleish of Scotscraig, whose lands included an area known as the Garpit, around part of which ran a racecourse (although there is no record of any racing, the course is carefully marked out on early ordnance survey maps).

The original rules, adopted at the first annual meeting in Scotscraig House in October 1818, dictated that a uniform would be worn: a red coat with a green velvet collar and a badge on the left breast.

An annual competition for gold and silver medals was held until 1854, when the club was closed, as disaster struck when the course was ploughed by the farmer who had come to own the land.

Around 1886 the Scotscraig Estate, on which the club had been situated, passed into the hands of Vice Admiral William Heriot-Maitland-Dougall who was keen on golf.

Initially the school ran both a primary and secondary programme, although the infants were accommodated at the building which is now Ferryport Nursery on William Street.

An exhibition called ‘Grandfather's School Days’ was borrowed from the Albert Institute in Dundee, and many old photographs and mementos loaned by former pupils were put on display.

A plaque commemorating a visit to Tayport by former President of the United States Ulysses S. Grant in 1877.
A group of golfers in a match at Scotscraig Golf Club in Tayport, c. 1852 . From left to right: George Whyte-Melville , Vice Admiral William Heriot-Maitland-Dougall, George Glennie, Col. James Ogilvie Fairlie , and Sandy Pirie (caddie).
Scotscraig Golf Club