Trossachs

( Listen / i; gaelic? : Na Trosaichean ) Trossachs is a small wooded Glen in Stirling, a unitary authority in Scotland. It lies between Ben A'an in the north and Ben Venue to the south, Loch Katrine to the west and Loch Achray to the east. However, the name is usually used also for the wider area of wooded valleys, slopes and lakes in the east of Ben Lomond. The Lake of Menteith, one of the few not designated as a hole Scottish lakes, located ten kilometers to the southeast of the Glens, on the edge of the area of the Trossachs.

Popularity

The scenic beauty of the region were popularized by the poem by Sir Walter Scott The Lady of the Lake from the year 1810. Scotts 1817 historical successor novel Rob Roy romanticized the outlaw cattle thief Raibert Ruadh, who was born at Loch Katrine, near Balquhidder was buried.

Tourism and Development

The effect of the Romantic literature of Scotts was a huge influx of tourists and the founding of a hotel, including the Trossachs Hotel, which was built on the north shore of Loch Achray. The hotel is still today as part of the At Tigh Mor Trossachs apartments.

Loch Katrine in 1859 changed much as a dam at the eastern end and related aqueducts were built to lay a new water main to Glasgow. At the expense of the Glasgow Waterworks Queen Victoria was built a cottage with good views of the lake. The Royal Cottage has never been used by her and ended up as a guest of Scottish Water employees. A steamboat connection is established, and 1900 SS Sir Walter Scott is still in operation. The area is now part of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park.

Ruskin

The leading critic of Victorian Art John Ruskin (1819-1900) and the painter John Everett Millais (1829-1896) spent the summer of 1853 together with Glenfinlas in the Trossachs. Millais began a portrait of John Ruskin during the visit, which he completed the following year. The painting is in private hands, but it was shown lasting an exhibition from the Tate Britain in London 2004. John Ruskin himself was very interested in the rock formations in the area and undertook his own studies on this.