Glen Finglas () is a

glen A glen is a valley, typically one that is long and bounded by gently sloped concave sides, unlike a ravine, which is deep and bounded by steep slopes. The word is Goidelic in origin: ''gleann'' in Irish and Scottish Gaelic, ''glion'' in Manx. ...

in the

Trossachs The Trossachs (; ) 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 the centre of the are ...

, in the

Stirling council area The Stirling council area (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and has an estimated population of (). It was created in 1975 as a lower-tier district within the Central region. The district covered parts of the historic counties ...

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 ...

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

Perthshire Perthshire (Scottish English, locally: ; ), officially the County of Perth, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross, Strathmore ...

, north of

Brig o' Turk Brig o' Turk () 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' Turk has a rare 1930s wooden ...

, close to

Callander Callander (; ) is a small town in the council area of Stirling (district), Stirling in Scotland, situated on the River Teith. The town is located in the historic county of Perthshire and is a popular tourist stop to and from the Highlands. De ...

Menteith Menteith or Monteith () is a district of south Perthshire, Scotland, roughly comprises the territory between the River Teith, Teith and the River Forth, Forth. Historically, the area between Callander and Dunblane was known in English by the si ...

. 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 Stirling (council area), Stirling council area. It mostly lies within the Shires of Scotland, historic and registration c ...

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. The site was maintained by Archibald Edmondstone of Duntreath, keeper of

Doune Castle Doune Castle is a medieval stronghold near the village of Doune, in the Stirling (council area), Stirling council area of central Scotland and the historic county of Perthshire. The castle is sited on a wooded bend where the Ardoch Burn flows i ...

and the Forests of Menteith and Glenfinglas. In August 1505, James 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 River Forth, Forth and River Teith, Teith, u ...

. In 1508, James IV wrote to the new keeper of Glen Finglas, William Edmonstone, 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 Mary of Guise (; 22 November 1515 – 11 June 1560), also called Mary of Lorraine, was List of Scottish royal consorts, Queen of Scotland from 1538 until 1542, as the second wife of King James V. She was a French people, French noblewoman of the ...

hunted in the Glen with

James V James V (10 April 1512 – 14 December 1542) was List of Scottish monarchs, King of Scotland from 9 September 1513 until his death in 1542. He was crowned on 21 September 1513 at the age of seventeen months. James was the son of King James IV a ...

soon after her arrival in Scotland in 1538, riding to the Hunt Hall from

Stirling Castle Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most historically and architecturally important castles in Scotland. The castle sits atop an Intrusive rock, intrusive Crag and tail, crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill ge ...

with six ladies in waiting. They returned to the area in September 1539. The pursemaster John Tennent hired men and horses from

Dunblane Dunblane (, ) is a 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 much of the Central Be ...

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 List of Scottish monarchs, Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legit ...

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 and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...

(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 Call ...

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 68 million trees since 1972. The Woodland Tru ...

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 Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

art critic

John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English polymath a writer, lecturer, art historian, art critic, draughtsman and philanthropist of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as art, architecture, Critique of politic ...

(1819–1900) and the

Pre-Raphaelite The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB), 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, ...

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 s ...

(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 any 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 seve ...

during the visit, which he finished the following year. The painting is held in the

Ashmolean museum The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology () on Beaumont Street in Oxford, England, is Britain's first public museum. Its first building was erected in 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University ...

, 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 En ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

during 2004.Pre-Raphaelite Vision: Truth to Nature

, London, UK, 12 February – 3 May 2004. John Ruskin himself was especially interested in the

rock formation A rock formation is an isolated, scenic, or spectacular surface rock (geology), rock outcrop. Rock formations are usually the result of weathering and erosion sculpting the existing rock. The term ''rock Geological formation, formation ...

s and, although primarily an art critic, undertook his own studies of these.

Water supply

Glen Finglas supplies water to the city of

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. 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 Glen Finglas () is a glen in the Trossachs, in the Stirling council area of Scotland. It is an area of forest in Highlands of the former county of Perthshire, north of Brig o' Turk, close to Callander in Menteith. To the west is Loch Katrine ...

. The dam also contains a

hydroelectric power Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

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)