1. The loch is over 9 miles (14 km) long in a west-east direction with an average width of about 1,090 yards (1,000 m). The River Tummel begins at its eastern end. The Tay Forest Park lies along its southern shore. The wild Rannoch Moor extends to the west of the loch and used to be part of the Caledonian Forest that stretched across much of Northern Scotland. This is proven in part by the presence of Scots Pine stumps preserved in the boggy areas of the moor, and pollen records from peat cores.
2. Schiehallion is sometimes described as the centre of Scotland. The justification is that the line of latitude midway between the most northerly and southerly points on the Scottish mainland, and the line of longitude midway between the most easterly and westerly points, intersect very near the summit of Schiehallion.
The name Schiehallion is an anglicised form of the Gaelic name Sìdh Chailleann, usually translated as 'Fairy Hill of the Caledonians'.
3. Along with many Highland clansmen, at the age of eighteen Rob Roy together with his father joined the Jacobite rising led by Viscount Dundee to support the Stuart King James who had been deposed by William of Orange.
Rob Roy was badly wounded at the Battle of Glen Shiel in 1719, in which a British army of Scots and English defeated a Jacobite and Spanish expedition that aimed to restore the Stuart monarchy.
4. The moon is perhaps humankind’s oldest form of marking time. The Celts used a Lunar Calendar that consisted of 13 months, each 28 days in length. Each month of the Celtic Lunar calendar bears the name of a tree, which also stands for one of the consonants in the Celtic ‘tree alphabet’.
5. There are a number of small islands in this lake. On the largest, Inchmahome, is Inchmahome Priory, an ancient monastery. The priory served as refuge to Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1547. She was only four years old at the time and stayed for three weeks after the disastrous Battle of Pinkie Cleugh in September of that year.
6. In the 'Life of Saint Mungo', he performed four religious miracles in Glasgow. The following verse is used to remember Mungo's four miracles:
Here is the bird that never flew
Here is the tree that never grew
Here is the bell that never rang
Here is the fish that never swam
The verses refer to the following:
The Bird — Mungo restored life to the pet robin of Saint Serf, which had been killed by some of his classmates, hoping to blame him for its death.
The Tree — Mungo had been left in charge of a fire in Saint Serf's monastery. He fell asleep and the fire went out. Taking branches from a tree, he restarted the fire.
The Bell — the bell is thought to have been brought by Mungo from Rome. It was said to have been used in services and to mourn the deceased. The original bell no longer exists, and a replacement, created in the 1640s, is now on display in Glasgow.
The Fish — refers to the story about Queen Languoreth of Strathclyde who was suspected of infidelity by her husband. King Riderch demanded to see her ring, which he claimed she had given to her lover. In reality the King had thrown it into the River Clyde. Faced with execution she appealed for help to Mungo, who ordered a messenger to catch a fish in the river. On opening the fish, the ring was miraculously found inside, which allowed the Queen to clear her name.
7. Enoch Hill in Ayrshire has the source of three rivers near its base and, as the best way to get from one place to another in the darker ages was to follow the run of a river.
The Connel and (what is now) the Nith both flowed north east into the great loch surrounding Cumnock Castle, Kyle Regis. This loch gave birth to the Nith which flowed south to Dumfries and the Solway but it also gave life to the Glaisnock which flowed into the Lugar and then the Ayr to Firth of Clyde.
8. St John's Town of Dalry is a very old settlement. It grew primarily to service the needs of pilgrims travelling from Edinburgh to the church established by St Ninian at Whithorn. Particular support was offered to pilgrims by the Knights Hospitaller of the Order of St John of Jerusalem, who until the Reformation owned much of the land on which the village was built.
9. In 1307 Robert the Bruce with a few infantry let 1500 English soldiers with cavalry chase him up this south side of Glen Trool. At this point he had laid an ambush, the rest of his men rolled stones down this hillside to pitch men and horses into the loch, and followed up by attack with archers, so defeating the English.
10. Ardwall Isle reveals a sequence of occupation starting with a local lay cemetery of possibly fifth or sixth century date to which a slab-shrine of Irish character was added c.600. A timber oratory was inserted into the cemetery in mid c.600. This was in turn replaced c. 700 by a larger stone chapel, further burials being aligned on this new axis.
Even when it had ceased to be used for worship and had partly collapsed, burials were inserted both inside and outside the ruins till the eleventh century. From perhaps as far back as the timber structure phase it may have contained small cells, being probably an eremitic monastery serving the Gatehouse and Borgue district. The chapel appears to be Irish rather than Northumbrian in type
9. In 1307 Robert the Bruce with a few infantry let 1500 English soldiers with cavalry chase him up this south side of Glen Trool. At this point he had laid an ambush, the rest of his men rolled stones down this hillside to pitch men and horses into the loch, and followed up by attack with archers, so defeating the English.
10. Ardwall Isle reveals a sequence of occupation starting with a local lay cemetery of possibly fifth or sixth century date to which a slab-shrine of Irish character was added c.600. A timber oratory was inserted into the cemetery in mid c.600. This was in turn replaced c. 700 by a larger stone chapel, further burials being aligned on this new axis.
Even when it had ceased to be used for worship and had partly collapsed, burials were inserted both inside and outside the ruins till the eleventh century. From perhaps as far back as the timber structure phase it may have contained small cells, being probably an eremitic monastery serving the Gatehouse and Borgue district. The chapel appears to be Irish rather than Northumbrian in type
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