River Dulnain downstream of the bridge in Dulnain Bridge

The River Dulnain (

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 ...

: ''Tuilnean / Abhainn Tuilnein'') is a major left bank tributary of the

River Spey The River Spey () is a river in the northeast of Scotland. At it is the ninth longest river in the United Kingdom and the third longest and fastest-flowing river in Scotland. It is an important location for the traditions of salmon fishing an ...

in northeast

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. It rises in the eastern part of the

Monadhliath Mountains The Monadhliath Mountains , or Monadh Liath, are a range of mountains in Scotland. Monadh Liath is Scottish Gaelic, and means "grey mountain range". Running in a northeast to southwest direction, it lies on the western side of Strathspey, to the ...

() and flows in a generally northeastward direction through uninhabited country to Sluggan, where it is crossed by Sluggan Bridge, constructed by

General Wade Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal George Wade (1673 – 14 March 1748) was a British Army officer and politician who served in the Nine Years' War, War of the Spanish Succession, Jacobite rising of 1715 and War of the Quadruple Al ...

to carry a

military road A military road is a type of road built by an armed force A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily Weapon, armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and ma ...

. (The route now forms a part of Route 7 of the

National Cycle Network The National Cycle Network (NCN) was established to encourage cycling and walking throughout the United Kingdom, as well as for the purposes of bicycle touring. It was created by the charity Sustrans who were aided by a £42.5 million N ...

.) Turning more easterly, the Dulnain passes beneath the modern

A9 road This is a list of roads designated A9. * A009 road (Argentina), a road in the northeast of Santa Fe Province * ''A9 highway (Australia)'' may refer to : ** A9 (Sydney), a road linking Windsor and Campbelltown ** Port River Expressway, a limi ...

which bypasses

Carrbridge Carrbridge (, ) is a village in Badenoch and Strathspey in the Scottish Highlands. It lies off the A9 on the A938, west of Skye of Curr and southeast of Tomatin, near Bogroy. It has the oldest stone bridge in the Highlands and the nearby a ...

, the mainline railway and, in Carrbridge itself, the

Carrbridge Packhorse Bridge Carrbridge Packhorse Bridge, also known as Coffin Bridge, is a bridge in the village of Carrbridge in the Highlands of Scotland. The bridge was built in 1717 to allow funeral processions to reach Duthil Church by crossing the River Dulnain. Th ...

that gives the village its name and the bridge carrying the B9153 road (former A9). The final section flowing east-northeast to the village of Dulnain Bridge is accompanied by the A938 road. The river empties into the Spey () after passing beneath the

A95 road The A95 road is a major road of north-east Scotland connecting the A9 road in the Highlands to the A98 road near the coast. Route It leaves the A9 four miles north of Aviemore. It then goes: *through Drumullie; *near to Dulnain Bridge &n ...

and the disused bridge of the former Strathspey railway.

Etymology

The name derives from the Scottish Gaelic ''tuil'' which means flood and ''ean'' which means stream and is perhaps descriptive of its reaction to rainfall.Ross, D. 2001 ''Scottish Place-names'', Birlinn, Edinburgh

References

External links

{{authority control Dulnain 1Dulnain