Ben Lawers

A historical perspective, drawn from the Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical, edited by Francis H. Groome and originally published in parts by Thomas C. Jack, Grange Publishing Works, Edinburgh between 1882 and 1885.

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B

en Lawers (Gael. beinn-labhra, ` speaking or echoing mountain '), one of the Breadalbane mountains in Kenmore and Weem parishes, Perthshire. It flanks the NW shore of the middle waters of Loch Tay, and culminates 9 miles WSW of Kenmore village, at 3984 feet above sea-level (or 4004 if one includes a cairn, rebuilt in July 1878), being thus the loftiest mountain in the county, and the fifth loftiest in all Scotland. It does not consist of a single mass, but, rising from a broad base, in fusion with contiguous mountains, rolls upward in a series of shoulders or subordinate summits, and terminates in a noble cone that towers more than 1000 feet above all the neighbouring eminences. Its skirts, to a considerable height, are cultivated, wooded, or verdant; and its upper portions, over nearly all their extent, are either softly pastoral or heathy. The ascent is generally made from Ben Lawers Hotel, on the shore of Loch Tay; measures between 4 and 5 miles to the top; and is so easy that it can all be made on horseback. The prospect from its summit is wide and beautiful, embracing splendid combinations of valleys, lakes, and mountains, from the Ochils to Ben Nevis, and from Ben Lomond to Cairngorm, and excelled by no view in Scotland but that from the top of Ben Lomond. The mountain chiefly consists of mica slate; on its summit are found the small gentian, round-headed cotton-grass, and other alpine plants.

An accompanying 19th C. Ordnance Survey map is available.

Note: This text has been made available using a process of scanning and optical character recognition. Despite manual checking, some typographical errors may remain. Please remember this description dates from the 1880s; names may have changed, administrative divisions will certainly be different and there are known to be occasional errors of fact in the original text, which we have not corrected because we wish to maintain its integrity. This information is provided subject to our standard disclaimer.