The visitor to Scotland, entering from the south, has not far to
travel before he reaches one of the loveliest lowland scenes the
country possesses. The very ancient burgh of Lochmaben lies on a
branch line a little distance from Lockerbie junction, and, apart from
its picturesque surroundings, the old place presents attractions of
its own. It dates from very early times, and its burghers are known,
even to this day, as 'the king's kindly tenants.' Many of the
retainers of Robert the Bruce, to whom and whose ancestors the castle
belonged, having obtained rights of property in one or other of the
'four towns of Lochmaben,' under a tenancy direct from the Crown,
hence forming virtually a proprietary interest.
In Burns's _Five Carlines_, the burgh is called 'Marjory o' the mony
lochs,' from the numerous sheets of water around, of which our view
shows the largest and finest. This is known as the Castle Loch, and
covers about two hundred acres. Although not surrounded by the high
mountains and bolder scenery found further north in Scotland, this
loch presents a scene of great beauty, having fine verdant hills
surrounding it, and being itself clothed on every shore with beautiful
woodland scenery.
The ruined castle shown in the view occupies a prominent position upon
a heart-shaped peninsula. The visitor will find little but bare and
massive walls to tell him of the extent of this fortress, once
covering sixteen acres in extent, and forming the chief stronghold in
the south-west of Scotland. For many years after the castle fell into
ruin it is said the king's tenants used it as a quarry for building
stones, and Chambers, in his _Picture of Scotland_, speaks of one
honest burgher who then 'warmed his toes beside a pair of fine jambs
procured in Bruce's castle.' From the appearance of the ground, it is
evident the neck of the peninsula could be put under water for
defensive purposes, having both an outer and an inner defence of this
kind, besides one or more intermediate fosses that speak of the same
use. The present is not believed to be the original castle built by
the Lords of Annandale, but a subsequent erection of the thirteenth
century. The days of warlike lords and border forays are over for the
Castle of Lochmaben, and now it is to be regarded merely as a splendid
addition to the picturesque attractions of this very charming
district. Boats may be hired for a row or sail over the placid bosom
of the loch, and on a fine autumn evening no more delightful pleasure
could be got.
Besides its other attractions, Lochmaben presents a peculiar fact in
natural history, for in its waters are found--in addition to other
fish--the vendace, a species of fish found in no other loch. It is
popularly but erroneously called a fresh-water herring, for it belongs
to the family of _coregonus_, one of the salmonidae. This rare fish
takes no lure, and thus can only be netted, and the fishing for it in
the Castle Loch is limited to one day in the year, in July, when the
vendace club meet, fish, and dine. The Mill Loch, another and lesser
of those surrounding the burgh, also contains vendace, which are
fished for one day in August. The Castle Loch measures a mile long by
three quarters broad, the Mill Loch is half a mile by quarter of a
mile, and the other waters are the Kirk-Loch, Hightae Loch, &c.