0:00:07 > 0:00:12In the heart of central Scotland lies an area of exceptional beauty -
0:00:12 > 0:00:18a place of quiet lochs, mesmerising reflections and mysterious woods.
0:00:19 > 0:00:22This is an enchanted land.
0:00:23 > 0:00:27It is hard to believe out here, but I'm just an hour's drive north
0:00:27 > 0:00:30of Scotland's biggest bustling city,
0:00:30 > 0:00:32and there's not a soul to be seen
0:00:32 > 0:00:35in a stunningly beautiful landscape
0:00:35 > 0:00:39that has cast a romantic spell over visitors for centuries.
0:00:42 > 0:00:45Lochs are Scotland's gift to the world.
0:00:45 > 0:00:50It's reckoned that there are more than 31,000 of them.
0:00:50 > 0:00:55They come in all shapes and sizes, long fjord-like sea lochs,
0:00:55 > 0:00:58great freshwater lochs of the Central Highlands,
0:00:58 > 0:01:01and the innumerable lochans that stud the open moors
0:01:01 > 0:01:05or nestle beneath high summits in dark mountain corries.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09In this series I'm on a loch-hopping journey
0:01:09 > 0:01:11across Scotland,
0:01:11 > 0:01:14discovering how lochs have shaped the character of the people
0:01:14 > 0:01:16who live close to their shores.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21For this grand tour I'm heading to a place
0:01:21 > 0:01:24where water and lochs have an almost magical quality.
0:01:39 > 0:01:41My journey takes me from a loch
0:01:41 > 0:01:45famous for being a lake, to the romantic charm
0:01:45 > 0:01:49and beauty of Loch Katrine and Loch Achray in the Trossachs,
0:01:49 > 0:01:53to finish on the summit of God's own mountain in miniature, Ben Venue.
0:01:57 > 0:02:00This is the Lake of Menteith,
0:02:00 > 0:02:04and is famously known as the only lake in Scotland.
0:02:04 > 0:02:08But how did this loch become known as a lake?
0:02:08 > 0:02:13The story goes that a 16th century Dutch map-maker was enchanted
0:02:13 > 0:02:16and delighted by this beautiful body of water,
0:02:16 > 0:02:18but he didn't know its name.
0:02:18 > 0:02:20When he asked local people,
0:02:20 > 0:02:24they thought he was referring to the whole area round about,
0:02:24 > 0:02:28which is known in the dialect as the laich of Menteith
0:02:28 > 0:02:31meaning a low place, a boggy place.
0:02:31 > 0:02:33The map-maker misheard,
0:02:33 > 0:02:37and thought they had just called this loch a lake.
0:02:37 > 0:02:39And the name has stuck ever since.
0:02:44 > 0:02:47The lake covers just two and a half square kilometres
0:02:47 > 0:02:49and has three islands.
0:02:49 > 0:02:51The largest, Inchmahome,
0:02:51 > 0:02:55is big enough to have supported a 13th-century priory.
0:02:55 > 0:02:59In spring and summer, a ferry carries passengers to the island.
0:03:00 > 0:03:02Aha! Are you the ferryman?
0:03:02 > 0:03:05- I am indeed. - Simon Lennox ferries me over.
0:03:05 > 0:03:09He knows the lake and its history well.
0:03:09 > 0:03:10We are heading to Inchmahome, is that right?
0:03:10 > 0:03:14That's right, yeah. So that's Inchmahome, "inch" obviously island,
0:03:14 > 0:03:16so island of Malcolm or island of Colm if you go
0:03:16 > 0:03:19further back into the kind of... into the Gaelic on that.
0:03:19 > 0:03:21So it's Malky's Island, then?
0:03:21 > 0:03:22Malky's Island, basically,
0:03:22 > 0:03:25if you want to drop into the vernacular on that one.
0:03:25 > 0:03:27And who was Malky?
0:03:27 > 0:03:31Malky was a Christian missionary back in the Dark Ages
0:03:31 > 0:03:35who came out to spread the word of Christianity.
0:03:35 > 0:03:37And who would have been out there? Would it have been monks out there?
0:03:37 > 0:03:39Well, it was canons out there.
0:03:39 > 0:03:41One of the reasons people ask why it is a priory
0:03:41 > 0:03:42is because it was run by a prior,
0:03:42 > 0:03:45but also it was canons there rather than monks,
0:03:45 > 0:03:47and canons actually had a pastoral duty.
0:03:47 > 0:03:50So rather than just being completely secluded and isolated
0:03:50 > 0:03:52on the island, they went out to the community, effectively,
0:03:52 > 0:03:54and kind of spread the good word,
0:03:54 > 0:03:56ministered to the locals, all that kind of stuff.
0:04:02 > 0:04:04Throughout history,
0:04:04 > 0:04:07islands have been sought out as refuges from the world,
0:04:07 > 0:04:11places of peace and quiet and contemplation.
0:04:12 > 0:04:15An island in a loch is even more special,
0:04:15 > 0:04:18a form of double isolation from the everyday.
0:04:20 > 0:04:22For such a small island,
0:04:22 > 0:04:25there's a lot of history packed into Inchmahome,
0:04:25 > 0:04:28and it has been visited by the great and the good
0:04:28 > 0:04:30down the centuries.
0:04:30 > 0:04:32Robert the Bruce, no less, visited,
0:04:32 > 0:04:34and so, too, did many of his Stuart descendants
0:04:34 > 0:04:38including Mary Queen of Scots.
0:04:38 > 0:04:39And when she came here,
0:04:39 > 0:04:42she was just a little princess and only four years of age.
0:04:46 > 0:04:47She and her mother,
0:04:47 > 0:04:52the French Queen Marie de Guise, were hiding from an English army.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55Henry VIII of England had wanted to force a marriage
0:04:55 > 0:04:59between Princess Mary and his sickly son, Edward.
0:04:59 > 0:05:04To achieve this union, an English army invaded Scotland,
0:05:04 > 0:05:07a bloody episode known to history as the Rough Wooing.
0:05:08 > 0:05:10Desperate to avoid capture,
0:05:10 > 0:05:15the future Mary Queen of Scots spent three weeks on Inchmahome
0:05:15 > 0:05:18before she and her mother fled to France.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21It is amazing how quickly legends can develop.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24Mary Queen of Scots was only on Inchmahome for, what,
0:05:24 > 0:05:26less than a month,
0:05:26 > 0:05:29but she is supposed to have planted this boxwood bower.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32When she wasn't busy gardening or doing needlework,
0:05:32 > 0:05:34or even learning languages,
0:05:34 > 0:05:38she played at being Queen with an imaginary court
0:05:38 > 0:05:40attended by the four Marys,
0:05:40 > 0:05:44"Mary Beaton, Mary Seton, Mary Carmichael and me,"
0:05:44 > 0:05:45as the old song goes.
0:05:45 > 0:05:48It sounds to me that Mary Queen of Scots
0:05:48 > 0:05:50might have been a bit of a princess,
0:05:50 > 0:05:52which is what she was.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01It's highly unlikely that even the gifted Child Queen
0:06:01 > 0:06:07planted the boxwood, but I'm told it's very old.
0:06:07 > 0:06:09Old enough indeed to have been around
0:06:09 > 0:06:12when the future Queen of Scots hid on this sequestered isle.
0:06:15 > 0:06:17Leaving Inchmahome,
0:06:17 > 0:06:18I head back to the shore
0:06:18 > 0:06:22to meet my new steed which will get me to my next destination
0:06:22 > 0:06:24in classic style.
0:06:24 > 0:06:28Now I've very kindly and rather generously
0:06:28 > 0:06:32been lent this 1957 Francis Barnett motorbike
0:06:32 > 0:06:36which, I have to say, I'm approaching with some trepidation,
0:06:36 > 0:06:40partly because she's extremely old and valuable,
0:06:40 > 0:06:45and partly because I've only just passed my motorbike test.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48ENGINE REVS
0:06:54 > 0:06:56This is trickier than I thought
0:06:56 > 0:06:58because the gear is where I would normally expect
0:06:58 > 0:06:59the brake to be.
0:06:59 > 0:07:02And that is because this is an old British bike,
0:07:02 > 0:07:04and everything is a wee bit back to front.
0:07:04 > 0:07:07Oh, let's see, get in the right gear.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10Thankfully, it doesn't take that long to adjust.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13And it's a rare pleasure to be rolling along
0:07:13 > 0:07:14in the spring sunshine.
0:07:19 > 0:07:23Heading west without mishap, I reach the village of Aberfoyle,
0:07:23 > 0:07:29which narrowly avoided being rebranded as Scotland's fairyland.
0:07:29 > 0:07:31Some welcome sign that would have made.
0:07:31 > 0:07:34The reason for the rebranding proposal
0:07:34 > 0:07:37was to market the area's fairy connections,
0:07:37 > 0:07:40which begin and end in the old graveyard
0:07:40 > 0:07:44just outside the village at Kirkton.
0:07:44 > 0:07:48By a strange twist of serendipity, fate or whatever,
0:07:48 > 0:07:53the minister of Kirkton was a Kirk in his own right,
0:07:53 > 0:07:55being the Reverend Robert Kirk,
0:07:55 > 0:07:57author of the celebrated book
0:07:57 > 0:08:01The Secret Commonwealth Of Elves, Fauns And Fairies,
0:08:01 > 0:08:05which he completed in the year of our Lord 1691.
0:08:05 > 0:08:09And this grave marks the spot where his body lies.
0:08:12 > 0:08:14Or does it?
0:08:17 > 0:08:19The Reverend was a local man,
0:08:19 > 0:08:23steeped in the Gaelic folklore of the area.
0:08:23 > 0:08:24He claimed second sight
0:08:24 > 0:08:27which gave him privileged access to the invisible world
0:08:27 > 0:08:29of the fairy folk.
0:08:30 > 0:08:32To get to know them better,
0:08:32 > 0:08:34he took to walking on the wooded slopes of a hill
0:08:34 > 0:08:36overlooking the village.
0:08:36 > 0:08:40Called Doon Hill, this is the gateway to fairyland.
0:08:43 > 0:08:45In his secret commonwealth,
0:08:45 > 0:08:48the Reverend Kirk wrote about the spiritual beings,
0:08:48 > 0:08:52the Sidhe of Celtic folklore that he'd encountered on the hill.
0:08:52 > 0:08:56He explained how they lived unseen amongst us,
0:08:56 > 0:09:00and how many human beings have a spectral fairy double.
0:09:00 > 0:09:04There is a bit of a fairy in all of us, it seems.
0:09:04 > 0:09:08But within a year of finishing his book, Kirk was dead.
0:09:08 > 0:09:11And his body, or what appeared to be his body,
0:09:11 > 0:09:14was found up here on Doon Hill.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17But local people said that it wasn't Kirk,
0:09:17 > 0:09:21instead, they said it was his fairy double.
0:09:21 > 0:09:24Kirk himself had been imprisoned by the Sidhe
0:09:24 > 0:09:26whose trust he had betrayed
0:09:26 > 0:09:28by writing the book in the first place.
0:09:28 > 0:09:33And some local people believe that Kirk's soul is still here,
0:09:33 > 0:09:37trapped beneath the roots of this ancient tree,
0:09:37 > 0:09:39the only pine...
0:09:40 > 0:09:44..in a forest of oaks, which is really rather strange.
0:09:48 > 0:09:53An air of enchantment hangs over Doon Hill to this day,
0:09:53 > 0:09:56amplified by the messages and wishes
0:09:56 > 0:09:59pinned and hung on trees and branches all around.
0:09:59 > 0:10:02It's an echo of an ancient Highland custom
0:10:02 > 0:10:06that the Reverend Kirk would have understood.
0:10:06 > 0:10:09But do people here still believe in fairies?
0:10:10 > 0:10:13Personally, I like to keep an open mind.
0:10:13 > 0:10:15Now, I'm not saying I believe in fairies,
0:10:15 > 0:10:18but I'm not saying I DON'T believe in fairies either.
0:10:18 > 0:10:22Just remember what happened to the poor Reverend Kirk.
0:10:22 > 0:10:24And be careful what you wish for.
0:10:27 > 0:10:30Fortunately, my disappearance is only momentary,
0:10:30 > 0:10:35and I continue my journey, unharmed by my encounter with the fairy folk,
0:10:35 > 0:10:38following a path through ancient oak woods,
0:10:38 > 0:10:40which once provided cover
0:10:40 > 0:10:44for one of the most notorious outlaws in Scottish history -
0:10:44 > 0:10:46Rob Roy MacGregor.
0:10:48 > 0:10:52Rob Roy lived with other MacGregors in the area around Loch Arklet.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56From here, he combined cattle raiding
0:10:56 > 0:10:58with his support for the Jacobite cause
0:10:58 > 0:11:00which was dedicated to restoring
0:11:00 > 0:11:05the exiled Stuart monarchy to the British throne.
0:11:05 > 0:11:09But defeat in 1715 brought government reprisals.
0:11:09 > 0:11:13Troops burned houses and drove off livestock.
0:11:13 > 0:11:14Rob Roy fled,
0:11:14 > 0:11:18and the army built a garrison to crush future lawlessness.
0:11:19 > 0:11:23Now that's what I call a view and a half.
0:11:23 > 0:11:27But it's one that's changed a lot since the days of Rob Roy MacGregor.
0:11:27 > 0:11:32Now, I've got an old map here from about 1700,
0:11:32 > 0:11:35which shows Loch Arklet as it was
0:11:35 > 0:11:40before it was dammed and the land flooded, back in the 19th century.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43It's about half the size on this map as it is today.
0:11:43 > 0:11:48Now, over there, you can see some trees, the tops of some fir trees,
0:11:48 > 0:11:51now that is a place called Corrie Arklet.
0:11:51 > 0:11:54It's where Rob Roy MacGregor married Helen Campbell
0:11:54 > 0:11:57before the place was burned to the ground
0:11:57 > 0:12:02by government troops, stationed here at A,
0:12:02 > 0:12:03the garrison.
0:12:07 > 0:12:09Looking for evidence of those times,
0:12:09 > 0:12:12I make my way to the site of the garrison.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15Unrecognisable today, it's now a bed and breakfast
0:12:15 > 0:12:18run by Kelly Bray and her husband.
0:12:18 > 0:12:19- Nice to meet you.- And you.
0:12:19 > 0:12:21So this is the garrison?
0:12:21 > 0:12:23Yeah, welcome to the Garrison of Inversnaid.
0:12:23 > 0:12:25Doesn't look much like a garrison to me.
0:12:25 > 0:12:27It's been put to other use, I think, since then.
0:12:27 > 0:12:30It has indeed. So, originally it was...
0:12:31 > 0:12:34..built by the Duke of Montrose in 1718,
0:12:34 > 0:12:37after the first Jacobite rebellion of 1715.
0:12:37 > 0:12:40This was a three-storey barrack block in front of us here.
0:12:40 > 0:12:42And then our barn was a three-storey barrack block.
0:12:42 > 0:12:43Our house is in the location
0:12:43 > 0:12:46of what would have been a two-storey guardhouse.
0:12:46 > 0:12:48This was the original external wall.
0:12:48 > 0:12:50There would have been a bakehouse on the corner there
0:12:50 > 0:12:54and another external wall there and a perimeter external wall, as well.
0:12:54 > 0:12:57We're standing in the middle of the old parade ground,
0:12:57 > 0:13:01and although the garrison is now enjoying life as a smallholding,
0:13:01 > 0:13:05there's still compelling evidence as to its former usage.
0:13:05 > 0:13:07So, just here, Paul,
0:13:07 > 0:13:09this is where the guys when they were barracked here,
0:13:09 > 0:13:12would sharpen their bayonets as they walked through the door here.
0:13:12 > 0:13:14That's amazing, isn't it?
0:13:14 > 0:13:16And it's still here. It's like a signature, almost.
0:13:16 > 0:13:20Yeah, 300-year-old signature of the guys that were stationed here.
0:13:22 > 0:13:24Now, the barracks are converted
0:13:24 > 0:13:28to house Kelly's extraordinary menagerie of animals.
0:13:30 > 0:13:32So we have two Highland heifer calves,
0:13:32 > 0:13:35we have two pigs and four piglets, they have now.
0:13:35 > 0:13:38We have three ewes and two lambs off of one of them.
0:13:38 > 0:13:41We have nine hens, one cockerel, two geese.
0:13:41 > 0:13:42And you know them all?
0:13:42 > 0:13:43I know them all.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46And what happens when you have to send them off to market?
0:13:46 > 0:13:47My husband does that bit.
0:13:47 > 0:13:49- Does he?- Yeah. I'm a vegetarian.
0:13:49 > 0:13:51I give them love and the rearing that they need
0:13:51 > 0:13:53to make sure that they're good meat.
0:13:53 > 0:13:55And then he takes them off for market, yeah.
0:13:58 > 0:14:00Leaving Kelly to feed the animals,
0:14:00 > 0:14:02I head towards Stronachlachar,
0:14:02 > 0:14:05which nestles on the shores of Loch Katrine,
0:14:05 > 0:14:08by far the biggest loch in the Trossachs.
0:14:08 > 0:14:10Since Victorian times,
0:14:10 > 0:14:14it has supplied the city of Glasgow with drinking water.
0:14:14 > 0:14:17Clean water's something we all take for granted
0:14:17 > 0:14:20and don't really give much thought to at all.
0:14:20 > 0:14:22But 150, 160 years ago,
0:14:22 > 0:14:26it was a scarce resource in a rapidly changing world.
0:14:29 > 0:14:31By the 19th century,
0:14:31 > 0:14:33Glasgow's burgeoning population
0:14:33 > 0:14:36was in desperate need of a freshwater supply.
0:14:36 > 0:14:38Hundreds of thousands of Glaswegians
0:14:38 > 0:14:41depended on the polluted River Clyde,
0:14:41 > 0:14:44and drew water from just 30 wells.
0:14:44 > 0:14:51In 1832 and in 1848, two major cholera outbreaks killed thousands.
0:14:51 > 0:14:53Spurred into action,
0:14:53 > 0:14:55the Corporation of Glasgow took control
0:14:55 > 0:14:58of the city's failing water companies,
0:14:58 > 0:15:01and set about finding a clean and healthy supply.
0:15:02 > 0:15:08In 1856, work began to bring the crystal clear waters of Loch Katrine
0:15:08 > 0:15:11to the heart of the industrial city.
0:15:11 > 0:15:13Now, this was a monumental task
0:15:13 > 0:15:16and the engineers at the time boasted
0:15:16 > 0:15:19that nothing like it had been seen since the days of ancient Rome.
0:15:23 > 0:15:28To show me around this monument to Victorian ingenuity and ambition,
0:15:28 > 0:15:30I'm meeting up with Archie Stevenson
0:15:30 > 0:15:32who shows me where Loch Katrine water
0:15:32 > 0:15:35begins its long journey to Glasgow.
0:15:35 > 0:15:38It flows about 26 miles from this point,
0:15:38 > 0:15:42a drop of probably about ten inches every mile.
0:15:42 > 0:15:44It just drops down gradually.
0:15:44 > 0:15:45It's a great feat of engineering.
0:15:45 > 0:15:49That's incredible. Do you know what the flow is here?
0:15:49 > 0:15:54At the start it was 40 million gallons a day, which was...
0:15:54 > 0:15:57They thought would be enough, but as it's developed,
0:15:57 > 0:16:00Glasgow takes almost 90 million gallons a day.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03- Really?- Somebody's obviously liking the water.
0:16:04 > 0:16:08Loch Katrine lies about 41km from Glasgow,
0:16:08 > 0:16:12and the challenges to get such huge amounts of water
0:16:12 > 0:16:15to Scotland's largest city were immense.
0:16:16 > 0:16:19Over the course of three years, 80 tunnels,
0:16:19 > 0:16:21some over two and a half kilometres long,
0:16:21 > 0:16:23were dug through the hills.
0:16:23 > 0:16:28And 22 bridges carry the water high over river valleys.
0:16:28 > 0:16:30Over 3,000 navvies were employed
0:16:30 > 0:16:34to complete this extraordinary undertaking.
0:16:34 > 0:16:36You're talking about 1850s,
0:16:36 > 0:16:38there wouldn't have been any electric lights.
0:16:38 > 0:16:41They didn't have any mechanical digging equipment, did they?
0:16:41 > 0:16:45This is all hewn out by human muscle, blood, sweat and tears.
0:16:45 > 0:16:47Blood, sweat and tears, and a real undertaking.
0:16:47 > 0:16:50Now, tell me, what's the water like here to taste?
0:16:50 > 0:16:53It's probably the best water in the world, so it is.
0:16:53 > 0:16:56Biased, but by far the best.
0:16:58 > 0:17:00The opening ceremony
0:17:00 > 0:17:04of the Loch Katrine water supply took place in 1859,
0:17:04 > 0:17:07with Queen Victoria as guest of honour.
0:17:08 > 0:17:10Now, it was, of course,
0:17:10 > 0:17:14a very wet day when the great Queen arrived with Prince Albert
0:17:14 > 0:17:15and two of her daughters,
0:17:15 > 0:17:17as reported by the Scotsman of the time.
0:17:17 > 0:17:21"The rain," it says, "poured down in incessant torrents,
0:17:21 > 0:17:24"soaking everyone to the skin."
0:17:27 > 0:17:32Fortunately, the Queen was able to avail herself of all the mod cons
0:17:32 > 0:17:36of the modern world in a purpose-built cottage nearby,
0:17:36 > 0:17:38just in case she was caught short.
0:17:40 > 0:17:44Royal Cottage, as it's now known, was a very expensive umbrella,
0:17:44 > 0:17:46with royal loos attached.
0:17:46 > 0:17:50Meanwhile, the Queen turned a ceremonial handle,
0:17:50 > 0:17:53opening the sluice gates to allow Loch Katrine's water
0:17:53 > 0:17:56to begin its slow progress to Glasgow.
0:17:56 > 0:18:00And in the pouring rain, a military band played the National Anthem,
0:18:00 > 0:18:04and several cannons fired a Royal Salute.
0:18:04 > 0:18:06CANNONS FIRE
0:18:08 > 0:18:09GLASS SHATTERS
0:18:09 > 0:18:11According to popular myth,
0:18:11 > 0:18:15the shock waves produced by so much explosive going off
0:18:15 > 0:18:17shattered the windows of the Queen's cottage.
0:18:21 > 0:18:24When the time came for the Queen to leave,
0:18:24 > 0:18:28she was transported across the loch by a steamer,
0:18:28 > 0:18:31a stylish and noble tradition that continues to this day.
0:18:31 > 0:18:33STEAMER HORN BLOWS
0:18:34 > 0:18:37This is the steamship Sir Walter Scott,
0:18:37 > 0:18:39named after the famous author
0:18:39 > 0:18:42who did so much to popularise this part of Scotland
0:18:42 > 0:18:45with his romantic novels and poems.
0:18:45 > 0:18:49Up on the bridge, I joined the captain, Debbie Whyte.
0:18:49 > 0:18:51Why were you so keen to become a skipper of a steamship?
0:18:53 > 0:18:56I don't know. I really liked being out on the boat.
0:18:56 > 0:18:58It's so different, you know,
0:18:58 > 0:19:02it's not like being in an office or anything like that.
0:19:02 > 0:19:04It was one of the other skippers, actually,
0:19:04 > 0:19:05who'd said to me, "Why don't you go for it?"
0:19:05 > 0:19:08And I kind of laughed at him. And he was like, "What's so funny?"
0:19:08 > 0:19:10And I went, "I've never really thought about it."
0:19:10 > 0:19:13- So I just... It felt like a challenge.- Yeah?- Yeah.
0:19:13 > 0:19:14I've been here for six years.
0:19:14 > 0:19:16The surroundings are still amazing.
0:19:16 > 0:19:19There is a lot going on in your head, though...
0:19:20 > 0:19:23..because you're always constantly aware of what could go wrong,
0:19:23 > 0:19:26or the weather, things like that.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29So, my head's very busy.
0:19:29 > 0:19:30- A lot to think about.- Yeah.
0:19:30 > 0:19:32There's an awful lot to think about.
0:19:32 > 0:19:34And this is a really historic boat, as well.
0:19:34 > 0:19:36Yeah, 118 years old.
0:19:36 > 0:19:37118 years old?
0:19:37 > 0:19:40- Yeah.- Do you know where she was built?
0:19:40 > 0:19:43She was built in Dumbarton, by William Denny Brothers.
0:19:43 > 0:19:47- Right.- Then she did her sea trials to Arran and back.
0:19:47 > 0:19:51Dismantled, put into sections, took her up the River Leven,
0:19:51 > 0:19:53across Loch Lomond to Inversnaid.
0:19:53 > 0:19:56Then they got horse and carts to drag her to Stronachlachar.
0:19:56 > 0:19:58- In bits?- In pieces, yeah.
0:19:58 > 0:19:59- Five sections.- Really?
0:19:59 > 0:20:03Yeah, then they reassembled her and launched her in October of 1899.
0:20:03 > 0:20:05And she's been sailing here ever since.
0:20:05 > 0:20:06Can I possibly have a shot?
0:20:06 > 0:20:08- Aye, of course you can.- Really? - Yeah.
0:20:09 > 0:20:14Fantastic. Being at the helm of such a historic boat.
0:20:18 > 0:20:22Debbie communicates with the engine room using the ship's telegraph,
0:20:22 > 0:20:26which signals everything from full steam ahead, dead slow, to stop.
0:20:29 > 0:20:31Leaving her at the wheel,
0:20:31 > 0:20:33I head off to find out what powers this little ship.
0:20:35 > 0:20:39Below deck, I squeeze in beside the ship's engineer, Derek Dunn.
0:20:39 > 0:20:43We're standing beside an extraordinary piece of engineering.
0:20:43 > 0:20:44What is this machine?
0:20:44 > 0:20:49She is an 1899 Matthew and Paul triple expansion steam engine
0:20:49 > 0:20:51built in Dumbarton.
0:20:51 > 0:20:55And she's never really been touched very much.
0:20:55 > 0:20:57- She's almost original. - Mostly original?
0:20:57 > 0:20:59- Mostly original.- That's amazing, isn't it?
0:20:59 > 0:21:02And this is steam that's propelling us along?
0:21:02 > 0:21:03Hot water, boiling water.
0:21:03 > 0:21:06Yes. I think she is the only steam propelled,
0:21:06 > 0:21:10passenger-carrying vessel on fresh water in Scotland.
0:21:10 > 0:21:12But I can tell from the way you're talking about this engine,
0:21:12 > 0:21:15you're quite passionate about steam.
0:21:15 > 0:21:19Well, I was a ship's engineer, and I started off life on steamships.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22And then coming here at the end of my working career,
0:21:22 > 0:21:24it's an absolute pleasure to be on the vessel.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27- It really is.- Yeah.- I've been here about three and a half years now,
0:21:27 > 0:21:29and every day's an experience.
0:21:31 > 0:21:34I suppose it's an honour to be associated with this engine,
0:21:34 > 0:21:36and to give a couple of years of my life
0:21:36 > 0:21:39just to maintain her and make sure she continues to run.
0:21:39 > 0:21:41And, hopefully, when I go,
0:21:41 > 0:21:44somebody else will take on the mantle and run her properly.
0:21:46 > 0:21:50It's clear that Derek is a man in love with engineering,
0:21:50 > 0:21:54which is just as well, given the heat and noise of the engine room.
0:21:54 > 0:21:59But for me, it's time to take some fresh air and a turn on deck,
0:21:59 > 0:22:01where I admire the passing scenery,
0:22:01 > 0:22:05and reflect on the man this little ship is named after -
0:22:05 > 0:22:09Sir Walter Scott, whose pen made the loch world-famous.
0:22:09 > 0:22:13Now, views like these inspired Sir Walter Scott
0:22:13 > 0:22:15to write his epic poem
0:22:15 > 0:22:17The Lady Of The Lake.
0:22:17 > 0:22:21And when it was published in 1810, it caused a sensation,
0:22:21 > 0:22:26selling over 25,000 copies in just six months.
0:22:29 > 0:22:32The lake of his poem was Loch Katrine,
0:22:32 > 0:22:34and the lady in question,
0:22:34 > 0:22:39Ellen Douglas, was caught in a web of love, intrigue and murder.
0:22:39 > 0:22:42The book triggered floods of visitors
0:22:42 > 0:22:44to see for themselves the scenes of the drama.
0:22:47 > 0:22:53Scott believed that wild nature was the guiding force of mankind,
0:22:53 > 0:22:54not reason or logic.
0:22:56 > 0:22:58Other famous romantics followed him,
0:22:58 > 0:23:01including the poets Wordsworth and Coleridge,
0:23:01 > 0:23:04and painters like John Knox,
0:23:04 > 0:23:06who transformed the landscape they saw
0:23:06 > 0:23:09into an idealised romantic world.
0:23:10 > 0:23:12About 50 years later,
0:23:12 > 0:23:15two like-minded friends and a young bride
0:23:15 > 0:23:16followed the romantic trail
0:23:16 > 0:23:19right here to the heart of the Trossachs.
0:23:19 > 0:23:23They were the Pre-Raphaelite painter John Millais, his friend,
0:23:23 > 0:23:27the great Victorian art critic, John Ruskin,
0:23:27 > 0:23:28and his young bride Effie Gray.
0:23:29 > 0:23:33What happened when they holidayed here together at Brig o' Turk,
0:23:33 > 0:23:38near the shores of the magical and mysterious Loch Achray
0:23:38 > 0:23:42caused a scandal and a flood of speculation.
0:23:44 > 0:23:48Millais joined Ruskin and his wife Effie on holiday
0:23:48 > 0:23:52because he'd been commissioned to paint Ruskin's portrait.
0:23:52 > 0:23:57After a long search, he found the perfect location in Glen Finglas,
0:23:57 > 0:23:58above the village.
0:23:58 > 0:24:02Now, my own quest is to find the exact same spot,
0:24:02 > 0:24:05which isn't easy after all those years.
0:24:05 > 0:24:09But to help me, I've got this postcard of the portrait,
0:24:09 > 0:24:12which must have been made somewhere down here near the river.
0:24:15 > 0:24:18OK, a bit slippery, these rocks here, got to be careful.
0:24:18 > 0:24:22But I think this may well be Ruskin's stone,
0:24:22 > 0:24:26the spot that Ruskin stood on for has portrait painting by Millais.
0:24:26 > 0:24:28He must have been over there somewhere.
0:24:28 > 0:24:30We've got the waterfall behind me.
0:24:30 > 0:24:33We've got a waterfall behind Ruskin here.
0:24:33 > 0:24:36You can clearly see a rock, looks like the head of a lizard,
0:24:36 > 0:24:39very similar to that rock behind me.
0:24:39 > 0:24:43Now, since then, obviously, that tree has fallen, filling in the gap.
0:24:43 > 0:24:47But I reckon this is the spot where this portrait was made.
0:24:47 > 0:24:50And the whole idea behind it was to try and express something
0:24:50 > 0:24:53that both Ruskin and Millais shared about the nature of art
0:24:53 > 0:24:57and the kind of art that Millais excelled at,
0:24:57 > 0:25:01and that was painting from nature in the open air.
0:25:01 > 0:25:03But it did more than that,
0:25:03 > 0:25:06because it helped end Ruskin's marriage to Effie Gray.
0:25:09 > 0:25:12Effie was young, outgoing and playful,
0:25:12 > 0:25:14unlike her socially awkward husband Ruskin,
0:25:14 > 0:25:17who was ten years her senior.
0:25:17 > 0:25:20He'd met Effie when she was just nine,
0:25:20 > 0:25:23and had courted her for many years.
0:25:23 > 0:25:24Seeing off younger rivals,
0:25:24 > 0:25:27he'd narrowly avoided a duel because of her.
0:25:28 > 0:25:31But their marriage was a disaster,
0:25:31 > 0:25:34and Effie fell in love with the charismatic Millais here
0:25:34 > 0:25:37among the hills and lochs of the Trossachs.
0:25:37 > 0:25:39She eventually asked for an annulment
0:25:39 > 0:25:45on the grounds that her union with Ruskin had never been consummated.
0:25:45 > 0:25:49The hearing that followed led to salacious gossip and rumour,
0:25:49 > 0:25:51which Ruskin did nothing to contradict.
0:25:52 > 0:25:57It was even suggested that Ruskin had never seen a naked woman before
0:25:57 > 0:26:00in the flesh, and was shocked to discover
0:26:00 > 0:26:04that the female body was not like the smooth and unblemished forms,
0:26:04 > 0:26:07that, as an art critic, he was used to.
0:26:07 > 0:26:11Odd for a man who believed in the moral power of raw nature.
0:26:13 > 0:26:15I just wonder what Ruskin was thinking about
0:26:15 > 0:26:17when he posed for his portrait.
0:26:17 > 0:26:21Did he know that Effie and Millais were already in love?
0:26:21 > 0:26:24Whatever the truth behind this love triangle,
0:26:24 > 0:26:27Effie, at least, seems to have found happiness,
0:26:27 > 0:26:30because she went on to have eight children with Millais.
0:26:30 > 0:26:33Ruskin, on the other hand, never married again.
0:26:39 > 0:26:43The enchanted landscape of loch and wooded hill
0:26:43 > 0:26:46had woven its spell over Ruskin and Millais.
0:26:46 > 0:26:49Love had blossomed and died beneath the shadow
0:26:49 > 0:26:52of one of the prettiest mountains in Scotland,
0:26:52 > 0:26:57which is my final destination in my grand tour from lake to loch.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03Ben Venue is a Highland mountain in miniature,
0:27:03 > 0:27:08rising in rugged grandeur above Loch Achray and Loch Katrine.
0:27:10 > 0:27:14Early guidebooks to the area waxed lyrical about Ben Venue,
0:27:14 > 0:27:18and quoted Scott's Lady Of The Lake to make the point.
0:27:18 > 0:27:21"Crags and knolls and mounds confusedly hurled
0:27:21 > 0:27:24"The fragments of an earlier world."
0:27:25 > 0:27:27Because of Scott's famous poem,
0:27:27 > 0:27:31Ben Venue became one of the earliest and most popular peaks
0:27:31 > 0:27:34to be climbed for pleasure in Scotland.
0:27:34 > 0:27:39Since then, clothing and footwear might have changed a good deal,
0:27:39 > 0:27:42but the mountain in miniature hasn't got any lower,
0:27:42 > 0:27:45and it's still a stiff climb to reach the summit,
0:27:45 > 0:27:49where countless thousands have stood before.
0:27:49 > 0:27:51Ooh! Here we are.
0:27:51 > 0:27:55At last. At last, at last.
0:27:55 > 0:27:56The summit of Ben Venue.
0:27:58 > 0:27:59Just kiss the cairn, as you do.
0:28:01 > 0:28:04Now, this might not be a particularly mighty peak,
0:28:04 > 0:28:08but the views live up to all the expectations of Scott
0:28:08 > 0:28:11and the Romantic artists that came after him.
0:28:11 > 0:28:16Down there is Loch Arklet, and behind me is Loch Katrine,
0:28:16 > 0:28:19and down there is Loch Achray,
0:28:19 > 0:28:22which makes this the perfect place for me
0:28:22 > 0:28:26to end my grand tour from lake to loch.