Campbeltown Loch is a small sea loch near the south of the Kintyre

Kintyre

Kintyre is a peninsula in western Scotland, in the southwest of Argyll and Bute. The region stretches approximately 30 miles , from the Mull of Kintyre in the south, to East Loch Tarbert in the north...

 Peninsula

Peninsula

A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland. In many Germanic and Celtic languages and also in Baltic, Slavic and Hungarian, peninsulas are called "half-islands"....

 facing eastwards towards the Firth of Clyde

Firth of Clyde

The Firth of Clyde forms a large area of coastal water, sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean by the Kintyre peninsula which encloses the outer firth in Argyll and Ayrshire, Scotland. The Kilbrannan Sound is a large arm of the Firth of Clyde, separating the Kintyre Peninsula from the Isle of Arran.At...

. The town of Campbeltown

Campbeltown

Campbeltown is a town and former royal burgh in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It lies by Campbeltown Loch on the Kintyre peninsula. Originally known as Kinlochkilkerran , it was renamed in the 17th century as Campbell's Town after Archibald Campbell was granted the site in 1667...

, from which it takes its name, is located at its head. The island of Davaar is located in the loch, and can be reach by foot along a natural shingle causeway at low tide. Oddly, while in English the Loch takes its name from Campbeltown, in Gaelic, Campbeltown takes its name from the loch - "Ceann Loch Chille Chiarain".

The song

The loch is immortalised in the folk song of the same name, repopularized by Andy Stewart

Andy Stewart (musician)

Andrew "Andy" Stewart MBE was a Scottish singer and entertainer.-Career:The use of tartan patriotism and stereotypical Scottish humour goes back to Sir Harry Lauder and music hall songs. In the 1960s this strand was continued by the entertainer Andy Stewart.He was born in Glasgow, Scotland in...

 in the 1960s. In the song (see below) the writer expresses his desire that the loch be full of whisky. The basis of that ballad is that Campbeltown was originally a centre of whisky distilling but that the price of whisky in Campbeltown itself was too high.

Chorus:

Oh! Campbeltown Loch, Ah wish ye were whisky!

Campbeltown Loch, Och Aye!

Campbeltown Loch, I wish ye were whisky!

Ah wid drink ye dry.

Now Campbeltown Loch is a beautiful place,

But the price of the whisky is grim.

How nice it would be if the whisky was free

And the Loch was filled up to the brim.

I'd buy a yacht with the money I've got

And I'd anchor it out in the bay.

If I wanted a nip I'd go in for a dip

I'd be swimmin' by night and by day.

We'd have a gathering of the clans

They'd come from near and far

I can see them grin as they're wading in

And shouting "Slàinte mhòr!".

But what if the boat should overturn

And drowned in the Loch was I?

You'd hear me shout, you'd hear me call out

"What a wonderful way to die !"

But what's this I see, ochone for me

It's a vision to make your blood freeze.

It's the police afloat in a dirty big boat

And they're shouting: "Time, gentlemen, please!"

Campbeltown Loch is sung to a march written for the bagpipes, The Glendaruel Highlanders

The Glendaruel Highlanders

The Glendaruel Highlanders is a march tune written for the bagpipes. It was the tune used for the popular Scottish comic song Campbeltown Loch, as sung by Andy Stewart. Glendaruel is a valley in Cowal, Argyll and Bute-External links:...

.