Glen Finglas ( gd, Gleann Fhionnghlais) is a glen in the

Trossachs The Trossachs (; gd, Na Tròiseachan) generally refers to an area of wooded glens, braes, and lochs lying to the east of Ben Lomond in the Stirling council area of Scotland. The name is taken from that of a small woodland glen that lies at t ...

, in the

Stirling council area The Stirling council area ( sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and has a population of about ( estimate). It was created under the Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994 with the boundaries of the Stirl ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. It is an area of forest in Highlands of the former county of Perthshire, north of

Brig o' Turk Brig o' Turk ( gd, Àird Cheannchnocain) is a small rural village historically in Perthshire and today within the council area of Stirling, Scotland. It is situated in the Trossachs, a range of hills on the A821 road. Features Brig o' Tur ...

, close to Callander in

Menteith Menteith or Monteith ( gd, Mòine Tèadhaich), a district of south Perthshire, Scotland, roughly comprises the territory between the Teith and the Forth. Earlier forms of its name include ''Meneted'', ''Maneteth'' and ''Meneteth''. (Historically ...

. To the west is

Loch Katrine Loch Katrine (; or ) is a freshwater loch in the Trossachs area of the Scottish Highlands, east of Loch Lomond, within the historic county and registration county of Perthshire and the contemporary district of Stirling. The loch is about ...

History

Part of the Glen was a royal hunting forest. From the 1450s, laws protected the forest area and restricted the rights of tenants on surrounding lands to encourage deer for the hunt. A flat mound called "Tom Buidhe" (the yellow knoll) near the Glen Finglas Reservoir is thought to be the site of the Hunt Hall, first built for James II of Scotland in the 1400s.

James IV James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, James III, at the Battle of Sauch ...

came to the Hunt Hall in July 1492. In August 1505 he brought tents and pavilions for extra accommodation. He was supplied with dairy goods by two women from Duntreath, and eels and pikes from the

Lake of Menteith Lake of Menteith, also known as Loch Inchmahome (Scottish Gaelic: ''Loch Innis Mo Cholmaig''), is a loch in Scotland located on the Carse of Stirling (the flood plain of the upper reaches of the rivers Forth and Teith, upstream from Stirling). ...

. In 1508, James IV wrote to the keeper of Glen Finglas, William Edmonstone of Duntreath, requiring him to visit the parish kirks around the forests, and proclaim that none should stalk deer in the forests with bows or hunting dogs, or make paths. Edmondstone was to identify offenders, confiscating their livestock and dogs (hounds and raches), and send their names to the king for trial and punishment. Mary of Guise hunted in the Glen with James V soon after her arrival in Scotland in 1538, riding to the Hunt Hall from Stirling Castle with six ladies in waiting. They returned in September 1539. The pursemaster John Tennent hired men and horses from

Dunblane Dunblane (, gd, Dùn Bhlàthain) is a small town in the council area of Stirling in central Scotland, and inside the historic boundaries of the county of Perthshire. It is a commuter town, with many residents making use of good transport links ...

to bring their beds from Stirling, while Malcolm Gourlay brought tents from Edinburgh.

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legitimate child of James V of S ...

came to Glen Finglas for three days in September 1563. The Scottish novelist and poet

Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy' ...

(1771–1832) wrote the poem " Glenfinlas; or Lord Ronald's Coronach" in 1803. The

Glen Finglas Estate The Glen Finglas Estate is a property in Glen Finglas in the Trossachs, Scotland managed by The Woodland Trust. The estate extends for over , most of which was once covered in woodland. The closest towns are Aberfoyle and Callander Callander ...

was acquired by the

Woodland Trust The Woodland Trust is the largest woodland conservation charity in the United Kingdom and is concerned with the creation, protection, and restoration of native woodland heritage. It has planted over 50 million trees since 1972. The Woodland Tr ...

Scotland in 1996 and is open to the public. The Woodland Trust has restored ancient woodland and created the Great Trossachs Path, one of Scotland's Great Trails, across the estate.

Ruskin and Millais

The leading Victorian art critic

John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English writer, philosopher, art critic and polymath of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and pol ...

(1819–1900) and the

Pre-Raphaelite The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, James ...

painter

John Everett Millais Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Baronet, ( , ; 8 June 1829 – 13 August 1896) was an English painter and illustrator who was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He was a child prodigy who, aged eleven, became the youngest ...

(1829–1896) spent the summer of 1853 together at Glenfinlas. Millais started a painting of John Ruskin in front of a

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in severa ...

during the visit, which he finished the following year. The painting is held in the Ashmolean museum, and has been shown at several exhibitions, including "The Pre-Raphaelites" at

Tate Britain Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

during 2004.Pre-Raphaelite Vision: Truth to Nature

, London, UK, 12 February – 3 May 2004. John Ruskin himself was especially interested in the rock formations and, although primarily an art critic, undertook his own studies of these.

Water supply

Glen Finglas supplies water to the city of

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. A dam and reservoir was built by

Glasgow Corporation Water Works Glasgow Corporation Water Works and its successors have provided a public water supply and sewerage and sewage treatment services to the Scottish city of Glasgow. There were several schemes in the early part of the 1800s, with the Glasgow Company ...

, as part of the

water supply project, between 1963 and 1965 to secure the supply of the River Turk and River Finglas. The dam also contains a

hydroelectric power Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...

station. Water from the reservoir is moved to Loch Katrine by a tunnel; this was completed in 1958 before the reservoir was created, initially diverting water from the River Turk itself.

References

{{reflist

External links

* https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/visiting-woods/wood-information/glen-finglas/history/ Forests and woodlands of Scotland Geography of Stirling (council area) Glens of Scotland Trossachs Valleys of Stirling (council area)