0:00:06 > 0:00:09The beautiful coastline of Scotland
0:00:09 > 0:00:13is adorned with an astonishingly diverse collection of islands.
0:00:14 > 0:00:18But inland there's another treasure trove.
0:00:18 > 0:00:23Many of Scotland's freshwater lochs are studded with gems of their own,
0:00:23 > 0:00:28perfect worlds in miniature - and each with an island story to tell.
0:00:32 > 0:00:34I've always been drawn to islands
0:00:34 > 0:00:37and in this series I'm setting out to explore
0:00:37 > 0:00:39Scotland's amazing island riches.
0:00:41 > 0:00:44In fact, there are over 280 offshore islands
0:00:44 > 0:00:47big enough to lay claim to the name,
0:00:47 > 0:00:51and that's not counting the myriad of stacks and skerries
0:00:51 > 0:00:54that surround 6,000 convoluted miles of coast.
0:00:56 > 0:00:59But now I'm turning my back on the sea,
0:00:59 > 0:01:04to discover the secrets of some of Scotland's landlocked islands.
0:01:04 > 0:01:08And to do this I'm heading for the bonny, bonny banks of Loch Lomond.
0:01:21 > 0:01:26Loch Lomond lies at the heart of Scotland's first national park,
0:01:26 > 0:01:32just 18 miles from the centre of Glasgow and 45 miles from Edinburgh.
0:01:32 > 0:01:34For 60% of the country's population,
0:01:34 > 0:01:39this beautiful stretch of water is just an hour's drive away.
0:01:40 > 0:01:43For centuries the natural beauties of this loch,
0:01:43 > 0:01:47which is the largest body of fresh water on the UK mainland,
0:01:47 > 0:01:51have attracted all manner of visitors - heroes and villains,
0:01:51 > 0:01:53the great and the good,
0:01:53 > 0:01:57writers and artists have all beaten a path to these shores.
0:02:00 > 0:02:04In 1803, Dorothy Wordsworth, her brother William
0:02:04 > 0:02:07and the poet Coleridge toured the loch.
0:02:07 > 0:02:11Dorothy was enchanted by the romance of the scene.
0:02:11 > 0:02:13"What I had heard of Loch Lomond," she wrote,
0:02:13 > 0:02:17"had given me no idea of anything like we beheld.
0:02:17 > 0:02:19"It was an outlandish scene.
0:02:19 > 0:02:22"We might have believed ourselves in North America."
0:02:24 > 0:02:27To fully appreciate just what Dorothy Wordsworth
0:02:27 > 0:02:31was writing about, and to get a fresh perspective
0:02:31 > 0:02:35on the romantic qualities of my destination,
0:02:35 > 0:02:38I'm going to do something she couldn't even have dreamed of.
0:02:38 > 0:02:40I'm going to take to the skies.
0:02:46 > 0:02:49Globetrotting wildlife cameraman Richard Cook
0:02:49 > 0:02:52is a veteran microlight pilot.
0:02:52 > 0:02:53I meet up with him
0:02:53 > 0:02:57just a short flight from the southern shores of Loch Lomond.
0:02:57 > 0:02:58So, tell me,
0:02:58 > 0:03:01do you think we're going to get a good bird's eye view from this?
0:03:01 > 0:03:03You're going to get the best view of Scotland
0:03:03 > 0:03:07you're ever going to get from that. Really? It's fantastic.
0:03:13 > 0:03:17Up to 50 miles an hour and we're airborne.
0:03:17 > 0:03:19Amazing, isn't it? Fantastic.
0:03:19 > 0:03:23'Richard has filmed from microlights in lots of different
0:03:23 > 0:03:28'and exotic locations, from the Peruvian jungle to the Dardanelles.'
0:03:28 > 0:03:31The variety is astonishing, isn't it?
0:03:31 > 0:03:33I mean, we're flying over some very flat land at the moment,
0:03:33 > 0:03:36but just ahead of us we can see the Highlands.
0:03:36 > 0:03:38Exactly, and in about ten minutes flying,
0:03:38 > 0:03:40you can be on top of Ben Lomond.
0:03:40 > 0:03:42You just don't get that anywhere else in the UK.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48Seen from a height of 4,000 feet,
0:03:48 > 0:03:52the island-studded Loch Lomond makes a dizzying spectacle.
0:03:52 > 0:03:57It stretches for over 39 kilometres from north to south
0:03:57 > 0:04:01and covers 71 square kilometres of fresh water.
0:04:03 > 0:04:07But before the last ice age, when glaciers reshaped the landscape,
0:04:07 > 0:04:11Loch Lomond and its 30 islands were connected to the sea.
0:04:13 > 0:04:17From up here, many of the islands seem to be in perfect alignment,
0:04:17 > 0:04:22strung out like charms on a bracelet across the surface of the loch.
0:04:22 > 0:04:24It's absolutely beautiful.
0:04:26 > 0:04:29The islands are actually part of a submerged bridge
0:04:29 > 0:04:32that was formed by the Highland Fault Line,
0:04:32 > 0:04:35which separates the hard rocks of the Highlands to the north,
0:04:35 > 0:04:38from the soft rocks of the Lowlands to the south.
0:04:40 > 0:04:45Divided historically and culturally by its geography
0:04:45 > 0:04:48into Highlands and Lowlands, the loch and its islands
0:04:48 > 0:04:52are like a microcosm of the whole of Scotland.
0:04:52 > 0:04:57To understand this landscape more intimately, I need to get closer.
0:04:57 > 0:05:01So it's time to swap the element of air for the element of water.
0:05:04 > 0:05:09The first stop on my island-hopping Grand Tour is Inchcailloch,
0:05:09 > 0:05:12which lies close to the eastern shore
0:05:12 > 0:05:14near the picturesque village of Balmaha.
0:05:15 > 0:05:17Most of the islands on the loch
0:05:17 > 0:05:20are called "Inch..." something or other.
0:05:20 > 0:05:25Now, "Inch" in Gaelic means "Island," surprise, surprise.
0:05:25 > 0:05:28Now Inchcailloch means the "Island of the Old Woman."
0:05:28 > 0:05:32And the old woman in question was an Irish Princess
0:05:32 > 0:05:37who became a Christian missionary back in the 8th century.
0:05:37 > 0:05:43History remembers her as Saint Kentigerna, and this is her island.
0:05:46 > 0:05:50There's an atmosphere here that hints at the sacred
0:05:50 > 0:05:55and the mysterious, a place for contemplation and prayer.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58This must have been what attracted Saint Kentigerna
0:05:58 > 0:06:01to the island 1,300 years ago.
0:06:08 > 0:06:11Nestling beneath the ancient trees
0:06:11 > 0:06:14are the remains of the religious centre she founded.
0:06:14 > 0:06:18There was once a nunnery here, and later a parish church.
0:06:20 > 0:06:22There's not much left of the old church now
0:06:22 > 0:06:24except the outline of its foundations,
0:06:24 > 0:06:29but for over 500 years, from the 12th to the 17th century,
0:06:29 > 0:06:31folk living on the east side of Loch Lomond
0:06:31 > 0:06:35worshipped here, and they brought their dead here to be buried.
0:06:35 > 0:06:37And long after the church fell into ruin,
0:06:37 > 0:06:40the old graveyard was still in use,
0:06:40 > 0:06:43right up until the end of the Second World War.
0:06:46 > 0:06:47Many of the gravestones
0:06:47 > 0:06:51are inscribed with the names MacFarlane and MacGregor,
0:06:51 > 0:06:54two Highland clans intimately associated
0:06:54 > 0:06:57with the loch and the islands.
0:06:57 > 0:07:02Gregor MacGregor, clan chief and uncle of the legendary Rob Roy,
0:07:02 > 0:07:03is buried here.
0:07:03 > 0:07:07And, who knows, perhaps the bones of my own family's MacGregor
0:07:07 > 0:07:11ancestors are mouldering beneath these crumbling gravestones.
0:07:13 > 0:07:17Leaving Inchcailloch and its dead MacGregors and MacFarlanes,
0:07:17 > 0:07:21I'm rowing across the loch to the village of Balmaha,
0:07:21 > 0:07:24to meet a man whose own connections with Loch Lomond
0:07:24 > 0:07:28and the islands go way back in history.
0:07:28 > 0:07:31Sandy MacFarlane owns the Balmaha boatyard
0:07:31 > 0:07:35which has been in his family for generations.
0:07:35 > 0:07:38Hiring out these beautiful antique rowing boats
0:07:38 > 0:07:41is just part of Sandy's job.
0:07:41 > 0:07:44Now, Sandy, your family's got quite an interesting sideline
0:07:44 > 0:07:46to the boat hire business.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49Aye, that's right, Paul. We deliver the mail round the islands
0:07:49 > 0:07:51that are inhabited on the loch.
0:07:51 > 0:07:53Right, how long have you been doing that for?
0:07:53 > 0:07:56Er, that's been going on since about 1948,
0:07:56 > 0:07:58so that's, er, 65-odd years.
0:07:58 > 0:08:00Was that your great grandfather, was it?
0:08:00 > 0:08:02No, it was my grandfather who started that service.
0:08:02 > 0:08:03Uh-huh, uh-huh.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06And that's something we're continuing to this day.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10Sandy's mailboat is the good ship Marion,
0:08:10 > 0:08:14the same trusty craft that his grandfather skippered
0:08:14 > 0:08:17when this film was shot in 1968.
0:08:17 > 0:08:20ARCHIVE NARRATOR: Alexander MacFarlane of Balmaha.
0:08:20 > 0:08:22Occupation, postman.
0:08:22 > 0:08:24But with one or two differences.
0:08:24 > 0:08:28The continuity between past and present is almost uncanny.
0:08:28 > 0:08:30Like his grandfather,
0:08:30 > 0:08:35Sandy also enjoys the companionship of the family Alsatian, Kim.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42Back then, deliveries were made three times a week
0:08:42 > 0:08:47to the three occupied islands - in all sorts of weather.
0:08:47 > 0:08:51Luckily, the similarities end there.
0:08:51 > 0:08:54We are blessed with a glorious day.
0:08:54 > 0:08:56Sandy, when your grandfather used to do this mail run
0:08:56 > 0:08:59he took it quite seriously, did he not?
0:08:59 > 0:09:01Oh, aye, it was a big thing for him
0:09:01 > 0:09:06and he dressed very smartly in a - you know, brass buttoned tunic...
0:09:06 > 0:09:09Right! ..And a skipped hat with scrambled egg on the front of it.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12No, he definitely did take it very seriously indeed.
0:09:15 > 0:09:19Today we're heading straight for Inchmurrin,
0:09:19 > 0:09:23sailing by the string of islands I noticed from the air.
0:09:23 > 0:09:27Torrinch and Creinch are the high points of a submerged ridge
0:09:27 > 0:09:29marking the boundary fault.
0:09:29 > 0:09:33To the north of them is Inchfad, the flat island,
0:09:33 > 0:09:36and home to Sandy's early ancestors.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39Our oldest traceable ancestor, Duncan MacFarlane,
0:09:39 > 0:09:42he lived in Inchfad latterly
0:09:42 > 0:09:45and he ran a government-run distillery on the island...
0:09:45 > 0:09:48Right! ..believe it or not. A government-run distillery?
0:09:48 > 0:09:50Yeah, a government, a proper government distillery,
0:09:50 > 0:09:52no moonshine for him.
0:09:53 > 0:09:58He was actually buried on Inchcailloch graveyard, in fact.
0:09:58 > 0:10:01He's buried with some honours, I have to say...
0:10:01 > 0:10:04Uh-huh. ..because his gravestone is a proper sandstone flat stone
0:10:04 > 0:10:07with the clan Macfarlane crest and motto on it.
0:10:07 > 0:10:08What, like a table?
0:10:08 > 0:10:11Aye, like a table, aye - in fact you can sit on it and have a dram
0:10:11 > 0:10:12if one wishes to do so,
0:10:12 > 0:10:15I have done myself with the family on many occasions.
0:10:15 > 0:10:19It seems a very suitable way to honour your ancestors.
0:10:19 > 0:10:21It certainly is, yes, and occasionally, maybe,
0:10:21 > 0:10:25even slop a bit of the dram over the gravestone in memory.
0:10:25 > 0:10:26I'm sure he'd appreciate that.
0:10:26 > 0:10:28I'm sure he probably would.
0:10:30 > 0:10:35Ahead lies Inchmurrin, the biggest island in Loch Lomond.
0:10:35 > 0:10:40But at just a mile and a half long, it's still pretty small.
0:10:40 > 0:10:43Today it has a permanent population of ten.
0:10:43 > 0:10:46Curiously, all of them are related.
0:10:46 > 0:10:48Hi, Dugald. Nice to meet you.
0:10:48 > 0:10:52Braving the chill winds of spring, Dugald Scott takes me
0:10:52 > 0:10:54on a tour of his domain.
0:10:54 > 0:10:57His family have farmed here since the 1930s
0:10:57 > 0:11:00and Dugald has lived here all his life.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04Now, Dugald, I'm guessing that you're all Scotts
0:11:04 > 0:11:06that are living on Inchmurrin?
0:11:06 > 0:11:07Yep, yeah we're all Scotts.
0:11:07 > 0:11:09Ever thought of changing the name of the island
0:11:09 > 0:11:12from Inchmurrin to, I don't know, Scott Island?
0:11:12 > 0:11:14Scott Land maybe, yeah, that would be good.
0:11:14 > 0:11:16Scott Land would be even better! Yeah!
0:11:18 > 0:11:23The Scotts still farm on Inchmurrin, but like many islanders,
0:11:23 > 0:11:25they've been forced to diversify.
0:11:25 > 0:11:28They have holiday lets, a restaurant,
0:11:28 > 0:11:30and occasionally they work on the mainland.
0:11:30 > 0:11:35You never feel cut off and isolated?
0:11:35 > 0:11:38Not really, we're not that cut off really, I can get to...
0:11:38 > 0:11:42I can get to Glasgow in half an hour.
0:11:42 > 0:11:44Half an hour? Yeah, by road.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47And then there's another, maybe, ten minutes for the boat journey.
0:11:47 > 0:11:48Really? Or 15 minutes, yeah.
0:11:50 > 0:11:54It's hard to imagine all the hustle and bustle of city life
0:11:54 > 0:11:56being so close by.
0:11:56 > 0:12:00Inchmurrin looks and feels very remote.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03And to fully appreciate its island setting,
0:12:03 > 0:12:06Dugald takes me to his favourite viewpoint.
0:12:06 > 0:12:10Wow, this really is quite a splendid and very special view, Dugald.
0:12:10 > 0:12:11Look at that.
0:12:11 > 0:12:14Yeah, you got a panoramic view right round the...
0:12:14 > 0:12:16That's the Ben over there? That's the Ben, yeah.
0:12:16 > 0:12:22The 360 degree vista once made Inchmurrin strategically important,
0:12:22 > 0:12:26which explains the ruins of the 13th century Lennox Castle.
0:12:26 > 0:12:31But long before that, this place was sacred to St Mirin,
0:12:31 > 0:12:33who gave his name to the island.
0:12:33 > 0:12:35The saints loved islands, didn't they?
0:12:35 > 0:12:36Oh, yeah, yeah. Still do.
0:12:36 > 0:12:38Do you feel close to God up here?
0:12:38 > 0:12:40Yeah! As close as I'll ever be, I think. Yeah.
0:12:42 > 0:12:46Life on the island hasn't always been easy for the Scotts.
0:12:46 > 0:12:50I meet up with Dugald's mum, Anne, and sister-in-law, Dorothy.
0:12:50 > 0:12:53Anne tells me how her husband, Tom,
0:12:53 > 0:12:56earned a bit of extra cash in the old days.
0:12:56 > 0:13:00Well, he went to all the big Highland Games in Scotland -
0:13:00 > 0:13:04he and his brother both went - and won a lot of prizes.
0:13:04 > 0:13:08They were quite famous for the heavyweight things
0:13:08 > 0:13:10and also for the pole-vaulting.
0:13:10 > 0:13:12So there was prize money involved?
0:13:12 > 0:13:14Prize money, yes, uh-huh.
0:13:14 > 0:13:15Was that important to them at the time?
0:13:15 > 0:13:18Oh, yes, very. Very important.
0:13:18 > 0:13:21Now, there's a fascinating picture here, look at that.
0:13:21 > 0:13:23Now what's happening there? You've got, er...
0:13:23 > 0:13:25That was when the loch was frozen.
0:13:25 > 0:13:30He walked over the loch principally to get cigarettes for his mother.
0:13:30 > 0:13:32THEY LAUGH
0:13:32 > 0:13:34She must have been desperate!
0:13:34 > 0:13:39One winter was so severe that the island was bombed from the air
0:13:39 > 0:13:40with food parcels.
0:13:40 > 0:13:44But on a day like today it's impossible to imagine
0:13:44 > 0:13:46the loch frozen over.
0:13:48 > 0:13:52Fair weather has always brought the boats and the tourists,
0:13:52 > 0:13:55and the loch has long been synonymous
0:13:55 > 0:13:58with leisure craft of all kinds.
0:13:58 > 0:14:01The boating craze began with the dawn of the steam age,
0:14:01 > 0:14:05nearly 200 years ago, when people discovered the delights
0:14:05 > 0:14:08of cruising the loch on a paddle steamer.
0:14:08 > 0:14:11The last steamer to sail among the islands was the
0:14:11 > 0:14:15Maid of the Loch, and that was over 30 years ago.
0:14:15 > 0:14:18And ever since then this magnificent old paddle steamer
0:14:18 > 0:14:21has been moored here at Balloch Pier.
0:14:21 > 0:14:24Now, this year is the Maid's 60th birthday
0:14:24 > 0:14:27and she hasn't sailed since 1981.
0:14:27 > 0:14:30But, hopefully, that's about to change.
0:14:37 > 0:14:40I've come on board to meet John Beveridge.
0:14:40 > 0:14:44For the last three decades, John's been campaigning to restore
0:14:44 > 0:14:49the old Maid to her rightful place as the queen of paddle steamers.
0:14:49 > 0:14:53It was very popular, was it not, to come out here to, to Balloch
0:14:53 > 0:14:55and board the Maid of the Loch and go for a cruise?
0:14:55 > 0:14:59Yes, er, really up until the last time she sailed,
0:14:59 > 0:15:02she was carrying 100,000 passengers a year.
0:15:02 > 0:15:05And over her lifespan she's carried three million people.
0:15:07 > 0:15:1250 years ago, a cruise on the Maid was a great day out,
0:15:12 > 0:15:16and the most elegant way to explore the scenery of Loch Lomond
0:15:16 > 0:15:19and its beautiful islands.
0:15:19 > 0:15:21But the Maid's fortunes changed,
0:15:21 > 0:15:24and her paddles haven't turned for decades.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27She's had a very unfortunate past few years
0:15:27 > 0:15:31because she was sold in 1982 to a succession of private owners,
0:15:31 > 0:15:34who didn't do anything with the ship at all.
0:15:34 > 0:15:35She was vandalised, eventually,
0:15:35 > 0:15:39because people stripped valuable metal
0:15:39 > 0:15:41and took all the interesting artefacts off the ship,
0:15:41 > 0:15:43and she was within days of sinking at the pier
0:15:43 > 0:15:47because she had become so waterlogged and vandalised.
0:15:51 > 0:15:54With the Maid's very survival at stake,
0:15:54 > 0:15:58John came to the rescue, and with the help of the local council,
0:15:58 > 0:16:01took the Maid into the safekeeping of a charity.
0:16:01 > 0:16:04The main priority today is to breathe life
0:16:04 > 0:16:09into the old girl's engines, which, despite the Maid's relative youth
0:16:09 > 0:16:14were built to an original Victorian design from 1897.
0:16:14 > 0:16:17Now, John, that's a very inspiring sight to any steam enthusiast.
0:16:17 > 0:16:21Yep, this is the Maid of the Loch's compound diagonal steam engine.
0:16:21 > 0:16:23Now you told me that some very vital bits of the ship
0:16:23 > 0:16:26had gone missing when it was languishing... Yes.
0:16:26 > 0:16:28..here for a number of years.
0:16:28 > 0:16:32Was anything taken from the engine? The engine was badly vandalised
0:16:32 > 0:16:37because a lot of the components were copper piping, from the boilers,
0:16:37 > 0:16:40through taking steam to the main engine, and brass work.
0:16:40 > 0:16:44So, those are the two main things that people can reclaim money on.
0:16:44 > 0:16:47And you're missing a boiler as well?
0:16:47 > 0:16:49The boiler is the main... It's a large item.
0:16:49 > 0:16:52Just a slight question of the main item to get the ship sailing.
0:16:52 > 0:16:53Uh-huh. Yes.
0:16:54 > 0:16:58John reckons that it will take £5 million to bring the Maid back
0:16:58 > 0:17:00to vigorous life.
0:17:00 > 0:17:02I hope he raises the money,
0:17:02 > 0:17:06or finds a sugar daddy to set this charming old lady to rights.
0:17:08 > 0:17:12I'd love to see her paddles turning again.
0:17:12 > 0:17:14Balloch Pier, where the Maid has been moored
0:17:14 > 0:17:16for the past four decades,
0:17:16 > 0:17:19is also home to the Loch Lomond and Trossachs
0:17:19 > 0:17:22National Park Ranger Service.
0:17:22 > 0:17:26I've been invited by park ranger David Cameron to join him on patrol.
0:17:30 > 0:17:34Davie's job as ranger is a bit like being a speed cop,
0:17:34 > 0:17:38enforcing the bylaws that regulate the boating traffic
0:17:38 > 0:17:40on this vast sheet of water.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43So, how many, how many people actually use the loch, do you know?
0:17:43 > 0:17:48We have 5,000-5,500 powered craft registered on the loch every year.
0:17:48 > 0:17:50Um, I think the highest count ever
0:17:50 > 0:17:53was over a thousand boats in one day on Loch Lomond.
0:17:53 > 0:17:54Now that's a pretty busy day!
0:17:54 > 0:17:57It's a very busy day, yes, um...
0:17:57 > 0:18:00when it gets to the, sort of, peaks, we do what we can,
0:18:00 > 0:18:03we can't obviously be everywhere and dealing with every incident.
0:18:03 > 0:18:06So that must take a wee bit of policing, I guess...
0:18:06 > 0:18:08It does indeed. ..to stop collisions and mishaps?
0:18:08 > 0:18:11Yes, we have our hotspots, places that people like to go.
0:18:11 > 0:18:12Uh-huh.
0:18:14 > 0:18:18One of the most visited boating locations on the loch
0:18:18 > 0:18:19is called The Narrows,
0:18:19 > 0:18:23an almost river-like channel between the islands.
0:18:24 > 0:18:28This is Davie's favourite stretch of water.
0:18:28 > 0:18:32As we thread our way through The Narrows, the peace and tranquillity
0:18:32 > 0:18:37are unexpectedly interrupted by the sight of the loch rescue boat.
0:18:37 > 0:18:39Davie makes a call.
0:18:39 > 0:18:43PHONE RINGS
0:18:43 > 0:18:46How you doing? It's Davie, Davie Cameron on the Brigadier.
0:18:46 > 0:18:48Have you got a shout? How are you doing, mate?
0:18:48 > 0:18:50Aye, we just had a call out about a boat sinking.
0:18:50 > 0:18:52Whereabouts?
0:18:52 > 0:18:54Off of Inchmurrin island. OK.
0:18:54 > 0:18:58Towards the Priory - 28-foot cruiser.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03We join the high-speed dash to where the cruiser
0:19:03 > 0:19:04had radioed for help.
0:19:05 > 0:19:09We find her, now aground, off one of the islands.
0:19:09 > 0:19:13The crew have already abandoned ship and are waiting on the shore
0:19:13 > 0:19:16as their skipper makes a futile attempt
0:19:16 > 0:19:19to bail out his sinking vessel.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22The rescue boat goes in and brings them all to safety.
0:19:22 > 0:19:26Well, lucky for them that we were here. Absolutely!
0:19:26 > 0:19:28If for no other reason - I mean, it is a cold evening,
0:19:28 > 0:19:30we can get the - it looks like a couple of kids,
0:19:30 > 0:19:32we can get them on board and get them warm again.
0:19:35 > 0:19:37The survivors look more embarrassed than endangered
0:19:37 > 0:19:40by their boating mishap,
0:19:40 > 0:19:43and thanks to the rescue boat's quick response,
0:19:43 > 0:19:47they don't need Davie's assistance on this occasion.
0:19:47 > 0:19:48A memorable day for them.
0:19:48 > 0:19:50I'm sure it will be.
0:19:50 > 0:19:52Hopefully one they don't want to repeat.
0:19:55 > 0:19:58Continuing his patrol, Davie drops me off
0:19:58 > 0:20:02at the picturesque village of Luss, on the western shores of the loch.
0:20:05 > 0:20:07The view of the village and its bay
0:20:07 > 0:20:09inspired the poetic sensitivities
0:20:09 > 0:20:12of the early traveller, Dorothy Wordsworth.
0:20:13 > 0:20:17"Luss stood at the centre of a spacious bay where the boats
0:20:17 > 0:20:21"of the inhabitants were lying at anchor, a beautiful natural harbour.
0:20:21 > 0:20:26"The islands as we looked down the water are seen in great beauty."
0:20:27 > 0:20:31When Dorothy Wordsworth came here in 1803,
0:20:31 > 0:20:35she felt that at last she had arrived in another country.
0:20:35 > 0:20:39She heard Gaelic spoken in the streets and saw wee boys
0:20:39 > 0:20:44dressed in plaid - for her this is where the Highlands really began.
0:20:47 > 0:20:50When Dorothy visited Luss, it was a very different place
0:20:50 > 0:20:53from the conservation village we see today.
0:20:53 > 0:20:57There were no manicured flowerbeds - for the working folk of Luss,
0:20:57 > 0:21:01gardens were all about putting food on the table.
0:21:01 > 0:21:06Dorothy noted that, "There was not a single ornamented garden.
0:21:06 > 0:21:10"We saw potatoes and cabbage but never a honeysuckle."
0:21:12 > 0:21:15If she was disappointed with the floral display,
0:21:15 > 0:21:19Dorothy loved the wooded islands lying just offshore,
0:21:19 > 0:21:22especially Inchtavannach, the Monk's Island
0:21:22 > 0:21:24and that's where I'm heading next.
0:21:26 > 0:21:29It only takes a couple of minutes to cross the water
0:21:29 > 0:21:31to Inchtavannach, which for the last 30 years
0:21:31 > 0:21:36has been home to a man appropriately called Roy Rogers.
0:21:39 > 0:21:43Famously of course, Roy Rogers was a cowboy.
0:21:43 > 0:21:45Like his fictional namesake,
0:21:45 > 0:21:49this Roy Rogers also likes to ride the range.
0:21:49 > 0:21:53I join him to spend the day in the saddle riding his horse, Shoshoni.
0:21:55 > 0:21:58So, Roy, what is this with the, the cowboy hat,
0:21:58 > 0:22:02the spurs and the horses on a small island?
0:22:03 > 0:22:05Well, it started a few years back,
0:22:05 > 0:22:08but I've always been extremely fond of horses,
0:22:08 > 0:22:11but a friend of mine taught me to ride western,
0:22:11 > 0:22:13and I was absolutely hooked.
0:22:13 > 0:22:16It took about two to three minutes and I was absolutely hooked
0:22:16 > 0:22:17and had Shoshoni within six weeks. Right.
0:22:17 > 0:22:21And now we have seven horses. So you were really bitten by this bug...
0:22:21 > 0:22:24Yes, yes... ..in a big way? yeah, very much so, yeah.
0:22:24 > 0:22:26At one time,
0:22:26 > 0:22:28Roy combined working his farm
0:22:28 > 0:22:32with his job as a fireman on the mainland.
0:22:32 > 0:22:35Now Inchtavannach has his full attention.
0:22:35 > 0:22:38So this is your range, really, Roy?
0:22:38 > 0:22:44Yep, I take the stock, see how the sheep are, check the fences.
0:22:44 > 0:22:47Do all the things cowboys do.
0:22:47 > 0:22:48How big is Inchtavannach, Roy?
0:22:48 > 0:22:52It's about a mile long by about quarter of a mile wide.
0:22:52 > 0:22:53And roughly 200 acres.
0:22:55 > 0:22:57So it's a small island?
0:22:57 > 0:22:58Yeah, relatively small, yeah.
0:22:58 > 0:23:00But it's your fiefdom, in a way?
0:23:00 > 0:23:03It is indeed, yeah. We're the only people that live here.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06Have you any idea how long people have lived on this island for?
0:23:06 > 0:23:08Yes, from my knowledge, anyway, certainly from the Iron Age,
0:23:08 > 0:23:10if not the Bronze Age before that.
0:23:12 > 0:23:17Down the centuries, druids, Celtic saints, Vikings and monks
0:23:17 > 0:23:20have been drawn to this magical island.
0:23:20 > 0:23:25Riding the range with Roy, I begin to understand its allure.
0:23:25 > 0:23:26It's my own little kingdom.
0:23:26 > 0:23:30It's just the most beautiful place to live...
0:23:30 > 0:23:33I enjoy the solitary part of it, too, but - I mean, I love company.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36Just everything about it, really, it's living on my own,
0:23:36 > 0:23:41having to be independent of everything usually, more or less...
0:23:41 > 0:23:44You have to be, I imagine, very self-reliant and resourceful?
0:23:44 > 0:23:46Yeah we, we have had our self-sufficiency sort of thing,
0:23:46 > 0:23:49er, where we had our own cows
0:23:49 > 0:23:52and we used to make our own cheese and butter.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55We had goats... What, Inchtavannach cheese?
0:23:55 > 0:23:57Yes. Oh, I tell you, it was goat's cheese,
0:23:57 > 0:23:59it was absolutely beautiful stuff.
0:24:07 > 0:24:11Spurring our horses on, we gallop the full length of Roy's domain,
0:24:11 > 0:24:15to enjoy one of his proud views.
0:24:15 > 0:24:17This is not a bad view, though, is it?
0:24:17 > 0:24:20It's gorgeous, isn't it? The Ben, a bit of a breeze on the loch.
0:24:20 > 0:24:24And the scent that it brings you, can you smell it?
0:24:24 > 0:24:26Fresh, really, really fresh.
0:24:26 > 0:24:29I can only smell horse, to be quite honest with you!
0:24:30 > 0:24:34Roy has a novel way of getting rid of the smell of horse sweat
0:24:34 > 0:24:37after a long day bouncing in the saddle.
0:24:37 > 0:24:40And I'm surprised and delighted to see that it's a technique
0:24:40 > 0:24:43that takes full advantage of this island location.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51She's - oh, she's swimming now, look, there she goes.
0:24:51 > 0:24:54Swimming the horses is something that Roy and his partner Susie
0:24:54 > 0:24:57do all year round.
0:24:57 > 0:25:00In the water, Shoshoni looks like a mythical seahorse
0:25:00 > 0:25:02as she surges forward.
0:25:04 > 0:25:05It's a great thing, actually,
0:25:05 > 0:25:08because not only does it wash all the sweat off,
0:25:08 > 0:25:10but it really does physically relax her,
0:25:10 > 0:25:13but more than anything relaxes them mentally,
0:25:13 > 0:25:17and that, to me, is the biggest thing about it, is the mental side.
0:25:17 > 0:25:19Have you done it with other horses as well?
0:25:19 > 0:25:21Yes, lots of horses. Yeah. For all sorts of reasons.
0:25:21 > 0:25:26Um, cardiovascular, we had one with a snakebite and didn't know,
0:25:26 > 0:25:29didn't know if we could do anything for it... Right.
0:25:29 > 0:25:32The vet who sent the horse to us had worked with a horse before that,
0:25:32 > 0:25:35and it had taken nearly six months before it got back to work.
0:25:35 > 0:25:37So we said, "Well, we'll give it a shot,"
0:25:37 > 0:25:40and within a fortnight we had it sent back to work.
0:25:40 > 0:25:42So swimming is really therapy for horses?
0:25:42 > 0:25:43Absolutely.
0:25:45 > 0:25:46Well done.
0:25:47 > 0:25:48Well done, Shoshoni.
0:25:52 > 0:25:55Well, that's a sight I didn't expect to see.
0:25:55 > 0:26:00Back on dry land once again, it's time for me to take the high road.
0:26:00 > 0:26:04And what better way to end a Grand Tour of these islands
0:26:04 > 0:26:08than by climbing the mountain that gave the loch its name?
0:26:08 > 0:26:09Ben Lomond.
0:26:14 > 0:26:18Ben Lomond is the most southerly of Scotland's famous Munros,
0:26:18 > 0:26:23mountains over 3,000 feet, and being so close to Glasgow,
0:26:23 > 0:26:26it has for many years been the most popular
0:26:26 > 0:26:28and most climbed of them all.
0:26:28 > 0:26:34In fact, about 30,000 people clamber up to the summit every year.
0:26:34 > 0:26:38They say that from the top you can see half of Scotland,
0:26:38 > 0:26:42the coast of Ireland, and even the mountains of the Lake District
0:26:42 > 0:26:46in England, so it should be worth the effort.
0:26:46 > 0:26:51Sadly for national pride, the first recorded ascent of the Ben
0:26:51 > 0:26:57was made by a group of Cambridge University students in 1756.
0:26:57 > 0:27:00William Burrell and chums were determined to conquer the peak,
0:27:00 > 0:27:04but Burrell himself was overcome with vertigo
0:27:04 > 0:27:07just a few hundred feet shy of the summit.
0:27:07 > 0:27:11His friends bashed on and celebrated their achievement
0:27:11 > 0:27:13with lashings of ginger beer.
0:27:15 > 0:27:19It's true that the early climbers totally exaggerated
0:27:19 > 0:27:21the seriousness of the climb.
0:27:21 > 0:27:27There was talk of thin air, altitude sickness, and terrifying cliffs,
0:27:27 > 0:27:32that made even the strongest head swim with vertigo.
0:27:32 > 0:27:36Such claims seem to have been endorsed by early paintings
0:27:36 > 0:27:40of the mountain, which make the Ben look more like the Matterhorn.
0:27:42 > 0:27:47In reality, the climb is little more than a long stiff walk,
0:27:47 > 0:27:51though I might be tempted to agree with one early climber
0:27:51 > 0:27:54who said it was impossible to get to the top
0:27:54 > 0:27:57without the aid of a whisky flask.
0:27:57 > 0:27:59Right, here we are.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02The top at last, and in keeping with tradition, just, er...
0:28:04 > 0:28:07..kiss the summit cairn, as you do.
0:28:07 > 0:28:11Now, sadly, I've left my whisky flask behind,
0:28:11 > 0:28:18I've only got ginger beer to toast this fabulous view
0:28:18 > 0:28:21and to reflect on all the islands that I've visited.
0:28:23 > 0:28:27Each one a perfect world in miniature.
0:28:27 > 0:28:28Slainte.
0:28:30 > 0:28:34On my next Grand Tour I'm setting sail to explore
0:28:34 > 0:28:37the small isles of the Hebrides.
0:28:43 > 0:28:46Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd