Loch Katrine

Loch Katrine ( listen; Scottish Gaelic: Loch Ceiteirein or Loch Ceathairne, ) is a freshwater loch in the district of Stirling, Scotland. It is roughly 8 miles long by 2/3 of a mile wide and runs the length of Strath Gartney (Gaelic: Srath Ghartain). It is a popular destination for tourists and day visitors from Glasgow and other nearby towns. The loch derives its name from the term cateran from the Gaelic ceathairne, a collective word meaning cattle thief or possibly peasantry. Historically this referred to a band of fighting men of a clan; hence the term applied to marauders or cattle-lifters, the most notorious of whom was Rob Roy MacGregor who was born at Glengyle House at the northern end of the Loch.

It is the fictional setting of Sir Walter Scott's poem The Lady of the Lake and of the subsequent opera by Giachino Rossini, La donna del lago.

Read more about Loch Katrine:  History, Settlements, Islands, Other Information

Famous quotes containing the word loch:

    Oh, many a day have I made good ale in the glen,
    That came not of stream, or malt, like the brewing of men;
    My bed was the ground, my roof the greenwood above,
    And the wealth that I sought, one far kind glance from my love.
    —Unknown. The Outlaw of Loch Lene (l. 1–4)