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| ...Kenmore |
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most beautiful town, today guarding the east of Loch Tay, itself dominated
by the Kenmore Hotel and impressive church housed in the square.
The Kenmore Hotel, commissioned in 1572 by the then laird Colin Campbell, has its origins in a tavern built around 70 years earlier offering accommodation and refreshments. It is reputed to be Scotland's oldest hotel and has long had the reputation as one of its finest. 
he Church was built in 1579 confirming the growing settlement as a
centre of local activity. In its grounds are many old and interesting
gravestones and within the church itself lies the entombed body of an Irish
lieutenant of the Great Marquis of Montrose whose life was lost in the 17th
Century during the royalist covenanter strife that ranged around
Breadalbane.
Taymouth Castle, another Campbell creation, replaced its predecessor, Balloch Castle (built 1550, demolished 1805) and was completed in time for the visit of Queen Victoria in 1842. Its interior is quite breathtaking. Among its many fixtures is a fire place sculpted of a single stone which took 9 years to build. Taymouth is now privately owned and has a fine golf course in its grounds. Kenmore Bridge dates from 1774 and the village as it is today was laid out in the 18th Century by the third Earl of Breadalbane.
he whole area was dominated for centuries by the Campbell clan, a
family pro-establishment and generally despised, or at best, tolerated,
depending on the disposition of the sitting Earl (or Marquis as they were known
from around 1850). A satirical excerpt from 'Punch' magazine of 1903 tells of
this Campbell domination:
From Kenmore to Benmore the land is a' the Markiss's, Tile mossy Knowes' the heathery Knowes' An' ilka bonny park is his. The bearded goats The toozie stoats an' a' the broxy carcases; Ilk crober's rent Ilk tinker's tent An' ilka collie's bark is his The muircocks crow, the pipers Blow, the gillies' hard day's work is his, From Kenmore to Benmore the world is a' the Markiss's
he Crannogs
of Loch Tay, artificially created islands of which there are 18
in Loch Tay, are thought to have been in existence before 2000 BC. They were
built by dropping stones by boat to the floor of the loch and by driving
piles and posts to support horizontal beams. The Crannogs not only afforded
excellent protection against unruly neighbours but protected the ancient
Celts from the thick forest (inhabited by wolves, wildcats and bears) that
stifled loch Tay at the time.
The biggest "Crannog Island" that can be seen today approaching Kenmore was the burial place of Queen Sybilla, wife of Alexander 1, King of Scotland. |
| Last Updated June 2001 |
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