Loch Eck

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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Eck, a long narrow loch of singular beauty in Strachur and Dunoon parishes, Cowal, Argyllshire. Lying 67 feet above sea-level, it extends 6 1/8 miles from N by W to S by E; off Whistlefield inn has a maximum width of 3 furlongs; and receives the Cur at its head, whilst sending off the Eachaig at its foot. The western shore is flanked by Ben Bheag (2029 feet), Ben More (2433), and Clach Ben (2109); its eastern, by Ben Dubhain (2090), Cruach a Bhuic (2084), and Ben Ruadh (2175); and the latter takes up the road from Dunoon and Holy Loch to Strachur and St Catherine's ferry on Loch Fyne. A steamboat, launched on its waters so long ago as 1830, was shortly discontinued; but now once more, since 1877, the yacht-like screw Fairy Queen plies backwards and forwards in connection with the circular Loch Eck route to Inverary. The loch contains abundance of salmon-trout, the `gwyniad' or fresh-water herring, and a remarkably translucent fish, 4 or 5 inches long, provincially called the `goldie.' A round hillock, near its head, bears the name of Tom-a-Chorachasich (`the hill of Chorachasich'), and is traditionally said to ark the grave of a gigantic Scandinavian prince, who here was slain in battle with the natives.—Ord. Sur., shs. 37, 29, 1876-73.

An accompanying 19th C. Ordnance Survey map is available, or use the map tab to the right of this page.

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

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