Pittentrail () is a hamlet on the A839 road, in the

Rogart Rogart ( , , meaning "great enclosed field") is a parish in Sutherland, Highland, Scotland. The parish was the home of Major Andrew MacDonald, who fought in the French and Indian War. It was originally a scattered crofting parish centred on th ...

parish in east

Sutherland Sutherland () is a Counties of Scotland, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in the Scottish Highlands, Highlands of Scotland. The name dates from the Scandinavian Scotland, Viking era when t ...

, in the

Scottish Highlands The Highlands (; , ) is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Scottish Lowlands, Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Scots language, Lowland Scots language replaced Scottish Gae ...

. The River Fleet runs to the south. The settlement became better known in the area when

Rogart railway station Rogart railway station is a railway station serving the villages of Rogart and Pittentrail, in the Highland (council area), Highland Council areas of Scotland, council area of Scotland. The station is on the Far North Line, from Inverness railw ...

was built in the village. The station is still in use and operates as a request stop on the

Far North Line The Far North Line is a rural railway line entirely within the Highland area of Scotland, extending from Inverness to Thurso and Wick. As the name suggests, it is the northernmost railway in the United Kingdom. The line is entirely single-tra ...

, but the station buildings have been converted into private residential use. The station yard has been made into gardens, with old signs and other railway memorabilia lying about. The original

siding Siding may refer to: * Siding (construction), the outer covering or cladding of a house * Siding (rail) In rail terminology, a siding is a low-speed track section distinct from a running line or through route such as a main line, branch lin ...

s have been retained, and the train carriages sitting on them converted into a

youth hostel A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory sleeping 4–20 people, with shared use of a lounge and usually a kitchen. Rooms can be private or shared - mixe ...

. The lively Pittentrail Inn is on the north side of the village, near the

war memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. Symbolism Historical usage It has ...

Etymology

Etymologically speaking, the first element the name ''Pittentrail'' is ''pett'', a

Pictish Pictish is an extinct Brittonic Celtic language spoken by the Picts, the people of eastern and northern Scotland from late antiquity to the Early Middle Ages. Virtually no direct attestations of Pictish remain, short of a limited number of geog ...

word borrowed into

Gaelic Gaelic (pronounced for Irish Gaelic and for Scots Gaelic) is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". It may refer to: Languages * Gaelic languages or Goidelic languages, a linguistic group that is one of the two branches of the Insul ...

meaning "land-holding, unit of land". The second is Gaelic ''tràill'', another

loan-word A loanword (also a loan word, loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language (the recipient or target language), through the process of borrowing. Borrowing is a metaphorical term t ...

, from the

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

for "thrall, slave". A neolithic chambered cairn was located in the hamlet next to the former Pittentrail Inn but was built at some point after 1909.

Notes

Populated places in Sutherland {{Sutherland-geo-stub