The most brilliant gem in the loch scenery of Scotland is
unquestionably Loch Katrine or Ketturin, and it is needful, however
attractive or deserving of praise other waters may have proved, to
avoid exhausting upon them the vocabulary of praise, lest no words of
greater admiration should be left for this, the loveliest of them all.
Even if Scott had not superadded to Loch Katrine the witchery of his
genius, and made Ellen's Isle as famous among the abodes of heroines
as the Fountain of Vaucluse, this water would have asserted its claim
to public regard. True, it was Scott that gave the impetus for touring
in Scotland--or Scott-land as some have called it!--and Loch Katrine
thus obtained a first hold upon the admiration of the world. But spite
of all rivals, it maintains first rank, and although it cannot cope
with Loch Lomond or Loch Maree in point of size, neither of those
great lochs command the same admiration.
Scott in _The Lady of the Lake_, has depicted the scene in words of
fire; taking sunset for the time. The 'gallant grey' has fallen,--the
guides still point out the very spot!--and the huntsman pursues his
way till the end of the glen is reached, and Loch Katrine bursts on
his view,
'An airy point he won,
Where, gleaming with the setting sun
One burnished sheet of living gold,
Loch Katrine lay beneath him rolled,
In all her length far winding lay
With promontory, creek and bay,
And islands that, empurpled bright
Floated amid the livelier light,
And mountains that like giants stand,
To sentinel enchanted land.'
In pointing to 'promontory, creek, and bay,' as the characteristics of
the loch, Scott has depicted its most charming attributes, while the
islands, of which Ellen's Isle is the largest, help to enhance the
effect. As the little steamer breaks the still waters into drops that
glance like gems in the sunlight, the scene changes every
moment,--changes in detail, but never in degree of beauty, for the
loch is lovely throughout, and never fails to enchant the eye.
The chief attraction of the loch itself is the lovely wooded isle that
fills the foreground of our view,
'The wild rose, eglantine, and broom,
Wasted around their rich perfume.
The birch trees wept in fragrant balm,
The aspens slept beneath the calm,
The silver light, with quivering glance
Play'd on the water's still expanse.'
Seldom indeed will the casual visitor have the opportunity of viewing
this scene thus, by the silvery moonlight. But in sunlight it is not
less beautiful, and the description is complete. Next to the island,
the point of attraction is the 'silver strand,' from whence one of the
many fine views of Ben Venne may be had.
While Loch Katrine thus ministers to our love for the beautiful, its
waters have learned to combine the _utile_ with the _dulce_, and here,
in October 1859, came Queen Victoria to turn on the water for the
supply of Glasgow. Many and fierce were the controversies as to this
scheme. But Lord Provost Stewart, who was mercilessly assailed for
upholding such a costly scheme of water supply, is now commemorated in
Glasgow by a splendid fountain in the West-End Park, and staticians
and sanitary reformers are able to show that the death rate amongst
the half million crowded workers in Glasgow has manifestly lessened
since the city acquired the right to drink the sparkling waters of
Loch Katrine.