Inchlonaig is an island in Loch Lomond

Loch Lomond

Loch Lomond is a freshwater Scottish loch, lying on the Highland Boundary Fault. It is the largest lake in Great Britain by surface area. The lake contains many islands, including Inchmurrin, the largest fresh-water island in the British Isles, although the lake itself is smaller than many Irish...

 in Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

.

Geography and geology

Inchlonaig is the most northerly of the larger islands in the Loch Lomond, just south of where it narrows into a ribbon loch

Ribbon lake

A ribbon lake or loch is a long and narrow, finger-shaped lake, usually found in a glacial trough. Its formation begins when a glacier moves over an area containing alternate bands of hard and soft bedrock...

, and north of Inchconnachan

Inchconnachan

Inchconnachan is an island in Loch Lomond in Scotland.The 1920s wooden bungalow near to the narrows was the holiday home of Lady Arran Colquhoun.Capercaillie nest here.-Wallabies:...

.

History

Inchlonaig has traces of man dating back to 5000BC.

Scattered across the island are Yew

Taxus baccata

Taxus baccata is a conifer native to western, central and southern Europe, northwest Africa, northern Iran and southwest Asia. It is the tree originally known as yew, though with other related trees becoming known, it may be now known as the English yew, or European yew.-Description:It is a small-...

 trees. The travel writer, H.V. Morton

Henry Vollam Morton

Henry Canova Vollam Morton, was a journalist and pioneering travel writer from Lancashire, England, best known for his prolific and popular books on Britain and the Holy Land...

 visited in the 1930s, and mentions:

Inchclonaig [sic], the 'marsh isle' whose yew trees, it is said, were planted by Robert the Bruce for his archers.

It is also stated that King Robert

Robert I of Scotland

Robert I , popularly known as Robert the Bruce , was King of Scots from March 25, 1306, until his death in 1329.His paternal ancestors were of Scoto-Norman heritage , and...

 used this supply to make bows before the fourteenth century Battle of Bannockburn

Battle of Bannockburn

The Battle of Bannockburn was a significant Scottish victory in the Wars of Scottish Independence...

. The island was thus of great value and the trees maintained with the utmost care.

Strathcashel, a stronghold of the Dukes of Montrose

Duke of Montrose

The title of Duke of Montrose was created twice in the peerage of Scotland, firstly in 1488 for David Lindsay, 5th Earl of Crawford. It was forfeited and then returned, but only for the period of the holder's lifetime...

 was opposite Inchlonaig.

Rob Roy

Robert Roy MacGregor

Robert Roy MacGregor , usually known simply as Rob Roy or alternately Red MacGregor, was a famous Scottish folk hero and outlaw of the early 18th century, who is sometimes known as the Scottish Robin Hood. Rob Roy is anglicised from the Scottish Gaelic Raibeart Ruadh, or Red Robert...

 fixed the amount of money he was to extort from Clan Colquhoun here.

At various times, the island has been a deer park, especially by Sir James Colquhoun in the 17th century and a place of confinement for drunkards and the mentally ill.

In 1873, Sir James Colquhoun, the clan chief, and some ghillies drowned after going hunting here, and they are buried together at Luss

Luss

Luss is a village in Argyll & Bute, Scotland, on the west bank of Loch Lomond.-History:Historically in the County of Dunbarton, its original name is Clachan dubh, or 'dark village'...

.

Current use

A stone cottage is now used as a holiday home.

The beaches on the island are also a common location for campers who are looking for a more quiet campsite.

External links

• http://www.lochlomond-islands.com/
• article which mentions it