Loch Duich (

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

: "Loch Dubhthaich") is a

sea A sea is a large body of salt water. There are particular seas and the sea. The sea commonly refers to the ocean, the interconnected body of seawaters that spans most of Earth. Particular seas are either marginal seas, second-order section ...

loch ''Loch'' ( ) is a word meaning "lake" or "inlet, sea inlet" in Scottish Gaelic, Scottish and Irish Gaelic, subsequently borrowed into English. In Irish contexts, it often appears in the anglicized form "lough". A small loch is sometimes calle ...

situated on the western coast of

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, in the

Highlands Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Africa * Highlands, Johannesburg, South Africa * Highlands, Harare, Zimbab ...

History

In 1719, British forces burned many homesteads along the loch's shores in the month preceding the

Battle of Glen Shiel The Battle of Glen Shiel took place on 10 June 1719 in the Scottish Highlands, during the Jacobite rising of 1719. A Jacobitism, Jacobite army composed of Highland levies and Spanish Marine Infantry, Spanish marines was defeated by British gover ...

Eilean Donan Castle

Eilean Donan Castle Eilean Donan () is a small tidal island situated at the confluence of three sea lochs ( Loch Duich, Loch Long and Loch Alsh) in the western Highlands of Scotland, about from the village of Dornie. It is connected to the mainland by a footbr ...

stands at the meeting point of Loch Duich,

Loch Long Loch Long is a body of water in the council area of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The sea loch extends from the Firth of Clyde at its southwestern end, to the Arrochar Alps at the head of the loch. It measures approximately in length, with a wi ...

, and

Loch Alsh Loch Alsh (, "foaming lake") is a sea inlet between the isle of Skye in the Inner Hebrides and the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. The name is also used to describe the surrounding country and the feudal holdings around the loch. The area i ...

Legends

A legend connected with Loch Duich states that three brothers who went fishing at the loch one night became enraptured by three

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, also called "true seal" ** Fur seal ** Eared seal * Seal ( ...

-maidens who had thrown off their furs, assumed the likeness of humans, and danced in the moonlight on the sands. The brothers stole their furs, intending to claim the seal-maidens as their wives. The youngest brother, however, moved by the seal-girl's distress, returned her seal-skin. For his kindness, the girl's father allowed the youngest brother to visit the maiden every ninth night. As for the other two brothers, the middle brother lost his wife after the seal-maiden he had captured found her stolen fur, while the eldest brother burnt his wife's fur as a preventative measure, only to burn her accidentally in the process.

Connections with Loch Ness

The infamous "McRae film" connected with the

Loch Ness Monster The Loch Ness Monster (), known affectionately as Nessie, is a mythical creature in Scottish folklore that is said to inhabit Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. It is often described as large, long-necked, and with one or more humps protrud ...

was supposedly shot as a close-up of not only "Nessie" in its habitat of

Loch Ness Loch Ness (; ) is a large freshwater loch in the Scottish Highlands. It takes its name from the River Ness, which flows from the northern end. Loch Ness is best known for claimed sightings of the cryptozoology, cryptozoological Loch Ness Mons ...

, but a second film allegedly shows a similar animal in Loch Duich. Both films are, according to most sources, held in a secret trust, and few people have seen either film. It is still a mystery as to whether the films exist at all, but are accepted by several Loch Ness researchers.

Nature and conservation

Loch Duich, along with the neighbouring sea lochs of

and

, was together designated as a Nature Conservation Marine Protected Area (NCMPA) in 2014. The designation is in place to protect the lochs' burrowed mud and their

flame shell ''Limaria hians'', the flame shell, is a species of small saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusc in the family Limidae. This species is native to the northeastern Atlantic Ocean. Biology The flame shell resembles a scallop with a bright ora ...

beds.

References

*''Folklore, Myths and Legends of Britain'' (London: The Reader's Digest Association, 1973), 444. Duich Duich Nature Conservation Marine Protected Areas of Scotland {{Highland-geo-stub