LOMOND, LOCH, the largest and most celebrated of the Scottish lakes, separating the counties of Dumfarton and Stirling. It lies nearly N. and S., and is about 25 miles in length. The southern portion of the lake for nearly one-third of its entire length forms a wide basin of from 3 to 7 miles in width, and contains about 30 islands, several of which are well wooded. The northern portion is very narrow, averaging little more than a mile in width. The loch is deepest in the northern part, where it attains above 100 fathoms, but gets shallower as it expands towards the S., where its general depth is under 20 fathoms. The surface of the water is 22 feet above sea level. Many streams contribute to its waters from the surrounding up-
lands, the chief being the Endrick, which joins the lake at its S.E. angle, and the Falloch Water at its head. The only outlet is by the Leven, which joins the Clyde at Dumfarton, after a course of seven miles. This stream, however, has become much obstructed where it receives the waters of the loch, and consequently, after heavy rains, discharges the surplus with difficulty. It has been supposed that this is the main cause of the lake's surface having risen of late years above what was considered its natural level. Conspicuous among the scenery that beautifies the loch is the lofty Ben Lomond, which rises to the height of 3192 feet above the level of the sea. A steamer plies on the lake in connection with the Dumfarton Railway, which terminates at Balloch. It appears from old chronicles, that the shores of this lake were at one time very productive and thickly peopled. In 1263 the horsemen under Angus, King of Man, after having ravaged the shores of the adjoining Loch Long, drew their boats over the neck of land which separates the two waters at Tarbet, massacred the inhabitants who had taken refuge in the islands, and set fire to the numerous villages they found on the shores of the lake. After this expedition, the loch came into the hands of some of the chief Highland clans, who long carried on their feuds here. Of these, the Macfarlans and Macgregors are the most famous, from the sufferings they endured at the hands of their more powerful neighbours. Estimated area of loch, 28,000 acres.