Everything about Loch Lomond totally explained
Loch Lomond, (
Scottish Gaelic Loch Laomainn) is a
Scottish loch, located in both the western lowlands of Central Scotland and the southern Highlands.
Features and geography
Traditionally a boundary of
Stirlingshire and
Dunbartonshire, it's located in the current
council areas of
Stirling,
Argyll and Bute, and
West Dunbartonshire, and its southern shores lie approximately 14 miles (23 km) north of
Glasgow, the country's largest city.
This
freshwater loch is 24 miles long (39 kilometres), and ¾ mile to 5 miles wide. It has an average depth of about 120 ft (37 metres), and a maximum depth of about 630 ft (190 metres). Its surface area measures 27¼ miles² (71 km²), and it has a volume of 0.6 cubic miles (2.6 km³). It has the largest surface area of all the lochs, and is second biggest after
Loch Ness in terms of water volume in
Great Britain, although it isn't the largest in the
United Kingdom - this distinction belongs to
Lough Neagh in
Northern Ireland.
The loch (as of July 2002) is now part of
Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park. The
West Highland Way runs along the eastern bank of the loch.
Ben Lomond is on the eastern shore. It is 3,195 ft (974 metres) in height and is the most southerly of the Scottish
Munro peaks.
Today, the loch is also well known for the
Loch Lomond Golf Club which is situated on its south western shore. It has hosted many international events including the
Scottish Open. More recently another golf club, "The Carrick" has opened on the banks of the Loch adjacent to the Loch Lomond Club.
Other leisure activities on the loch include cruises from the town of
Balloch, operated by Sweeney's Cruises.
The main arterial route along the loch is the
A82 road which runs the length of its western shore. For a long time this was a notorious bottleneck, with the route clogged with tourists during the summer months. It was upgraded in the
1980s and
1990s, although the stretch north of
Tarbet remains unimproved.
Boating and watersports
The loch is open to every kind of watercraft including kayaks, canoes, wind-surfers, jetskis, speedboats and cruisers and they're all very well represented.
Islands
The loch contains a large number of islands, several of them quite large by the standards of British lochs/lakes, including
Inchmurrin, the largest island in a loch/lake in the
British Isles. As with
Loch Tay, several of the islands appear to be
Crannogs, artificial islands built in prehistoric periods. As the famous English travel writer,
H.V. Morton wrote:
» What a large part of Loch Lomond's beauty is due to its islands, those beautiful green tangled islands, that lie like jewels upon its surface.
The song
Loch Lomond", which was first published around 1841. The chorus is:
» Oh, ye'll tak' the high road, and I'll tak' the low road,
And I'll be in Scotland afore ye;
» But me and my true love will never meet again
On the bonnie, bonnie banks o' Loch Lomond.
The song has been recorded by many performers over the years. While the original author is unknown, it's widely believed that the author was a Scottish soldier who awaited death in enemy captivity. In his final letter home he wrote this song, portraying his home and how much he'd miss it. Another tale is that during the
1745 Rebellion a soldier on his way back to Scotland during the 1745-6 retreat from England wrote this song. The "low road" is a reference to the
Celtic belief that if someone died away from his homeland then the
fairies would dig a tunnel for his soul to return home.
Another tale waiting to be told is that two brothers were held in enemy captivity. Both awaiting execution if one didn't give up the other. Both willing to take their own lives in save of the other. On the eve of their execution, the eldest brother went to the guard at midnight while the younger brother slept. Telling the guard to take him and kill him now, letting his brother go free in the morning. The older brother left the younger brother a letter.
In the morning the youngest brother woke up to find his older brother gone, and a letter given to him by the guard from his brother which read:
Ye'll take the high road, and I'll take the low road
And I'll be in Scotland before ye.
But me and my true love will never meet again
On the bonnie, bonnie banks o' loch lomond
Other popular culture
The village of Luss ("Glendarroch") on the shores of the loch was the location for the TV soap Take the High Road, and the loch itself was given the fictional name Loch Darroch for the purpose of the series.
The village of Luss, named therein as "Lios", and the islands nearby were used as the setting for E. J. Oxenham's first book, Goblin Island, published in 1907.
One of the loch's islands (Inchconnachan) is home to a colony of wallaby.
In a 2005 poll of Radio Times readers, Loch Lomond was named as the 6th greatest natural wonder in Britain.
Loch Lomond is featured in the song "Almost Like Being In Love" from the Lerner and Lowe musical Brigadoon. The opening lyrics are: "Maybe the sun gave me the power/I could swim Loch Lomond and be home in half an hour/Maybe the air gave me the drive/I feel all aglow and alive!"
The song "Loch Lomond" by the The Borderers is a popular tune with many Australian Gaelic and Folk music fans. During one of their performances, when they requested people to dance on stage, they actually broke the stage. At their next concert, a barrier was erected.
Snotty, a Scottish character Mel Brooks' 1987 film Spaceballs makes an apparent comedic reference to Loch Lomond. As he operates the transporter beam in Planet Spaceball's capital city, he mentions issues with the "interlocking system". As he fixes the problem, he goes on to say; "Lock one, Lock two, Lock three, Loch Lomond". Although to many hearers it sounds like he's saying "Loch Lone", the words are indeed Loch Lomond (there is no "Loch Lone"), in humorous reference to Snotty's Scottish heritage, the character intended to be a parody of Star Trek's Scotty.
Groundskeeper Wille, the Scottish janitor on The Simpsons, enters the kitchen whistling "Loch Lomond" in Episode 5F20, "Lard of the Dance".
The lyrics from the song are used as key clues in the Smallville episode Quest. In the episode, the song is referred to as the "Birks of St. Kilda."Further Information
Get more info on 'Loch Lomond'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://loch_lomond.totallyexplained.com">Loch Lomond Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
)