Loch Lomond

There is more to Loch Lomond than just being jealous of the notoriety of Loch Ness. In an 11th-century version of the Historia Brittonum, it is listed as the first of several marvels of Britain:

The first wonder is the lake Lumonoy. In there are sixty islands, and men dwell there, and sixty rocks encircle it, with an eagle's nest on each rock. There are also sixty rivers flowing into that place, and nothing goes out of there to the sea except one river, which is called Lenin.

Loch Lomond, which drains south via the River Leven, has more than 30 islands of various sizes, and they are not surrounded by 60 rocks.

Some of those islands were artificial. People arrived in the area 5000 years ago, during the Neolithic Era, and built up "islands" over the water for safer living. These are called crannogs, and could be a structure on stone pillars or built on wooden stakes (see illustration). A crannog in Lomon called "The Kitchen" was a meeting place for Clan Buchanan from 1225 onwards.

Defense was also the reason why the Romans in the 1st century CE built forts near and around Loch Lomond against the Highland tribes. The need for defense never faded: early Medieval Viking raids dragged their boats overland to put them in the Loch and attack and sack several of its islands.

The loch and its neighboring mountain, Ben Lomond, are part of an area called the Trossachs. The Trossachs were home to Robert the Bruce and William Wallace. The signet ring of Rob Roy Macgregor was a bloodstone from Loch Lomond.

A later legend of the area was that of Reverend Robert Kirk, who researched myths and legends and then wrote a book called The Secret Commonwealth of elves, fauns & fairies. He died before it was published, and sparked his very own legend that the fairies, angry that he revealed their secrets, whisked him away.

The Clan Buchanan, mentioned above, was one of the oldest Highland clans, and we're going to look at their origin tomorrow.

The Marvels of England, Part Two

In Part One we read about items in the Historia Brittonum that concerned King Arthur and the city of Bath. The first one listed of the Mirabilia ("Marvels") seems to have taken a standard British geographical feature and exaggerated it:

The first wonder is the lake Lumonoy. In there are sixty islands, and men dwell there, and sixty rocks encircle it, with an eagle's nest on each rock. There are also sixty rivers flowing into that place, and nothing goes out of there to the sea except one river, which is called Lenin.

Yes, parts of Britain had a lot of lakes and isles, although much of what was wetland has been drained for farmland and development. This might refer to Loch Lomond, which drains south via the River Leven. Loch Lomond was said to contain 60 islands, but it's closer to 30, and as for the rocks and eagles and 60 rivers...

The final wonder listed is that of the Cruc Mawr Tomb:

There is another wonder in the region which is called Cereticiaun. There is there a mountain, which is given the name Cruc Maur, and there is a grave on the summit of it, and every man whosoever that will come to the grave and stretch himself out next to it, however short they will be, the grave and the man have been found within one length, and, if it will be that the man is short and small, similarly also it is found the length of the grave is like the height of the man, and, if he will be long and tall, even if he might be of length four cubits near the height of every man so the tumulus is discovered. And every wanderer who's up to weariness, the man will bow three bows near that, he will not be beyond himself up to his day of death, and he will not be weighted down again by any weariness, even if he will go alone to the boundaries of the cosmos.

Cruc Mawr has been identified as likely a hill near Cardigan; the name of that hill is remembered in the name of a farm on the hillside: Crugmore. This size-changing grave reminds us of yesterday's Tomb of Amr, Arthur's son, which changes in length each time someone tries to measure it. There is no simple explanation for the belief in this, especially the last part about bowing and being free from weariness for the rest of one's life. Gerald of Wales also mentions this marvel, although he probably got it from the Historia itself, not by independent research.

I've rarely written about geographical features, but next time, how about we look at Loch Lomond and some of the legends and characters connected to its area?