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Tay (River of Scotland draining)

a river of Scotland, draining nearly the whole of Perthshire, and pouring into the German Ocean a greater bulk of water than any other British river; rises on Benloy, on the Argyllshire border, at an altitude of 2,980 feet. Thence it winds 118 miles E. N. E., S., S. S. E., and E.-for the last 25 miles as a tidal estuary, 1½ mile to 34 miles broad, which separates Perth and Forfar shires from Fife. In the first 25 miles of its course it bears the names of Fillan and Dochart; it then traverses Loch Tay, and it afterward passes Aberfeldy, Dunkeld, Stanley, Perth, Dundee, and Broughty- Ferry. Its principal affluents are the Tunnel (58 miles long, and sometimes regarded as a N. head stream), Isla, Almond, and Earn. The Tay, as it is the most beautiful of Scottish rivers, so it is unrivaled for its salmon fisheries. Vessels of 100 tons can ascend as high as Perth, but even to Dundee the navigation of the firth is much impeded by shifting sandbanks.