Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 5

LOGIERIEVE
(1881) 2323, of which 1523 were Gaelic-speaking, and
2220 were in the ecclesiastical parish. — Ord. Sur., shs.
55, 56, 54, 1869-73.
Logierieve, a station in TJdny parish, Aberdeenshire,
on the Buchan and Formartine section of the Great
North of Scotland railway, 16J miles N by W of
Aberdeen.
Logie-Wester, an ancient parish in Ross-shire, an-
nexed about 1490 to Urquhart.
Loing or Ling. See Long, Loch, Ross-shire.
Loirston, a loch (3 x IJ furl.) in Nigg parish, Kin-
cardineshire, IJ mile SSW of the parish church.
Lomond (Gael. ? Laomain, the name of an old Celtic
hero), a large lake, partly in Stirlingshire and partly in
Dumljartonshire. To the IST both banks are in Dum-
bartonshire as far as Inch Vow, whence to Ross Point
the boundary line follows the middle of the loch ; there
it curyes to the E of Inchlonaig back between Inchmoan
and Inchruim, and between Torrinch and Inchcailloch
to the mouth of Endrick Water. All to the E of this
line is in Stirlingshire, all to the N, W, and S in Dum-
bartonshire. Along the E side are the parishes of
Arrochar and Buchanan ; to the S are Eilmaronock and
Bonhill ; and to the W are Luss and Arrochar. From
the N end at Glen Falloch to the extreme S end at the
Leven river, at Balloch pier, is 20| miles in a straight
line, or following windings, about 22 ; and along the
course of the steamers that ply on the lake 24. The S end
forms an irregular triangle, with its E corner at the bay
S of the mouth of Endrick Water, the S angle at Balloch
pier, and the N angle opposite Ross Point. Measured
in straight lines the distances are — NE 6J miles, SE 5,
and W 8J ; but the shores are very winding, and the
distances by them would be fully ^ greater. From the
E corner, in a straight line through Inchmurrin, W by
S across the widest part of the loch, the distance is 5
miles. To the N of Ross Point the basin becomes much
narrower, the width being on an average about J mile,
though at some places — as at Rowardennan Lodge,
Tarbet, and Inversnaid — it widens to 1 mile. There
are altogether thirty islands in the loch, but of these
only six very small ones are to the N of Ross Point ; all
the others, including the whole of the large ones, are
in the triangular space just mentioned. The larger and
more important, most of which are noticed separately,
are Inchlonaig (120 feet),* Bucinch, Inchconnachan
(200), Inchtavannach (200), Inchmoan (33), Inchruim
(50), Inchfad (78), Inchcailloch (278), Clairinch, Tor-
rinch (105), Creiuch (110), and Inchmurrin (291) ; the
smaller islets are Inch or Eilan Vow with, near the
N end, the ruins of a castle, once a stronghold of the
Macfarlanes ; Inveruglas and Wallace's Islands, off Inver-
snaid ; Tarbet Island, f mile SE of Tarbet pier : three
islets off Rowardennan ; Ross Island, and another off
Ross Point ; a group of small islets oif Luss ; an islet off
Inchmoan ; Ceardach E of Bucinch ; and Aber Island at
the E corner. The surface is 23 feet above sea-level, and
a subsidence of less than 40 feet would again unite the
waters with the sea across the narrow neck between
Tarbet and Arrochar at the head of Loch Long. In the
prehistoric period after the appearance of man, and
when our remote ancestors were sailing their log canoes
over the site of Glasgow, the loch was in this way pro-
bably an arm of the sea. The hollow in which the lake
lies is a true rock-basin due, to a considerable extent, to
the scooping powers of the ice by which, during the
glacial epoch, it must have been occupied. StriiE may
still be detected along its shores, and traced over the
neck at Arrochar down to Loch Long. The depth at
the extreme S end slopes very gradually to 12 fathoms
between Inchmurrin and Inchmoan, and by the time
the narrow portion is reached at Ross Point the depth
is 34 fathoms. From that point it shoals to 2 fathoms
off Rowardennan, and again deepens northwards to 96
fathoms due W of Ben Lomond, and to 105 fathoms
oif Culness half-way between Tarbet and Inversnaid,
which is the deepest part. At Eilan Vow the depth is
* The figures denote the height of the highest points above
sea-level.
550
LOMOND
8 fathoms, and after sinking to 34 opposite Doune it
finally shoals to the N end of the loch. The surface
temperature varies with the season and the weather,
but according to Sir Robert Christison, the lowest
100 feet of water in the deeper parts has a con-
stant temperature of 42° Fahr. The area is about
21,000 acres; and sea-trout, lake- trout, pike, and
perch are abundant ; while salmon are from time to
time able to find their way up the river Leven. The
sea-trout run up to 5 lbs., and the lake-trout to J
lb. , while pike are of large size, there being a tradition
of one caught many years ago which reached a weight
of 79 lbs. The fishing is free, and boats may be had at
any of the hotels along the banks. The loch lies com-
pletely imbedded among different ranges of hills. To
the SE are the Kilpatrick Hills (1313 feet) and the
western spurs of the Campsie Fells, and in the flat
between that and the border of the loch is the conical
little Duncryne (462), which forms a well-marked
feature in all the views of this end. To the NE rising
almost directly from the water's edge are Conic Hill
(1175 feet), Beinn Bhreac (1922), Beinn Uird (1957),
Ben Lomond (3192) with its shoulders. Ptarmigan (2398)
to theW, and Creag-a-Bhocain (1613) to theSW, Cruinn
a' Bheinn (2077), Cruachan (1762), Stob-an-Fhainne
2144), Beinn a' Choin (2524), Stob-nan-Eighrach (2011),
Cruach (1678), and to the NW Beinn Chabhair (3053) ;
these summits form the line of the watershed of Scot-
land, the streams to the E running to the Forth, those
to the W to the Clyde. Along the W side of the loch
are Killeter (978 feet), Creachan Hill (1758), Beinn
Ruisg (1939), Bein Dubh (2108), Beinn Bhreac (2500),
Ben Reoch (2163), Cruach Tairbeirt (1364), and the
double-topped Ben Voirlich (N, 3055 ; S, 3092), while
behind farther inland are Balcnock (2092), Beinn Thar-
suinn (2149), Beinn Chaorach (2338), Beinn Eich (2302),
Doune Hill (2409), TuUich Hill (2705), Ben Arthur or
the Cobbler (2891), Ben Ime (3318), and Ben Vane
(3004), the last three being beyond Loch Long. From
the slopes of these many streams rush down to the lake,
the chief being the Falloch at the N end, Inveruglas
Water (W) S of Ben Vorlich, Arklet Water (E) directly
opposite at Inversnaid, Douglas Water (W) from Glen
Douglas opposite Rowardennan, Luss Water (W) from
Glen Luss at Luss, Endrick Water (E) with its tributary.
Mar Burn, at the E corner ; and Fruin Water (W), from
Glen Fruin opposite the S end of Inchmurrin. Besides
these the loch receives, from the E, Culness Burn from
the SW shoulder of Ben Lomond, Caol Ghlean Burn
from Beinn Uird, and Cashell and Blair Burns from
Beinn Bhreac ; from the W Finlas Water, between the
Luss and the Fruin ; and many smaller burns on all the
sides. The surplus water is carried oif by the Leven,
which joins the Clyde at Dumbarton.
It is said that the old name of the lake was Leven, as
that of the river still is, and that the present name was
taken from the name of the Ben so late as about the
13th century. From the old name came that applied
to the whole district, viz., Levenax, the modern
Lennox. Traditionally, the waters of Loch Lomond
have risen within the last 300 years, for Camden in his
Atlas Britannica speaks of an island existing in his
time called Camstraddan, situated between the lands of
that name and Inchtavannach, on which he adds, were a
house and an orchard. The island has now disappeared,
but the people of the neighbourhood maintain that
about 100 yards from the shore the ruins of houses are
to be seen under the water. Such an accident may,
however, have occurred without any increase in the
waters of the lake, and indeed the valley of the Leven
presents no appearance of such a rise being possible.
Loch Lomond was at one time famed for three wonders:
— ' Waves without wind, fish without fin, and a floating^
island. ' The first was the swell in the widest part of
the loch after a storm, and the second vipers that swam
from island to island. The writer in Blaeu's Atlas, in
noticing it in 1653, says, 'the fish which they speak of
as having no fins, and which they commonly call
Paones, are a kind of snake, and are therefore no causfr