‘Twas then that we parted, in yon shady glen
On the steep, steep side of Ben Lomond
Where in purple hue
The highland hills we view
An’ the moon comin’ out in the gloaming
So runs
the song of Loch Lomond, a traditional Scottish melody whose namesake is often synonymous
with Scotland itself.
Only
fifteen miles north of Glasgow, this crystalline lake is the largest inland
body of water in the United Kingdom and marks Scotland’s most significant
geological and cultural divide.
Loch Lomond is both an anchor and a crossroads of identities and historical forces. Its still waters reflect stories of feuding clans and herds of swimming cattle; of islands where ancient monks studied and worshipped in seclusion; of still older, artificial islands that may be some of the oldest land reclamation works in the world; and of course, of that perpetual struggle with Scotland’s foil of a thousand years, the English.
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| Ben Lomond (974m), the most prominent mountain overlooking the loch and southernmost of the Scottish munros. |
The Two Scotlands
Scotland’s
two aspects, Highland and Lowland, are not entirely a human
invention but rather date back over 450 million years.
In
those distant days the north of Scotland was part of the great continent of
Laurentia, along with much of what would become North America. Southern
Scotland existed on a separate continent, Avalonia, with the rest of
today’s Britain and much of Europe. These two continents collided during the
Silurian period, crushing the earth of the two parts of Scotland together and
raising mountains which, though now much eroded, once rose high as the
Himalayas.
