To the west of this is Inchmoan, or the Peat Island, which is covered with moss. It is sometimes called “the Gull Island,” and in the spring one has to be very careful how he walks, as nests with one, two, or more eggs are scattered everywhere. To the south-west of this there is a small island, Inchgalbraith, with a ruin which at one time must have been a place of considerable strength, but to visit which is sometimes resented by the jackdaws who have taken possession of it, and, like the crofters, refuse to quit. North of Inchmoan is the large island of Inchconachan, or Dog’s Isle, a Colquhoun’s island, covered with oak and fir, but quite uninhabited. To the west of those two is Inch Tavannach, or Monks’ Island, so called from its having been the site of a monastery. This island has also frequently been converted into a kind of sanatorium for dipsomaniacs, and is celebrated for having many of our finest British ferns. There is a narrow strait between these last two, near the northern entrance of which a stone is visible at low water, from which tradition says that the Gospel used to be preached to audiences on both islands, and this stone is still called “The Minister’s Stone.” A little to the north of those is Inch Lonaig, “the Yew Island,” remarkable for its old yew trees, some of which are said to have been planted by the Bruces. Turning now from the loch to its surroundings, from the waterscape to the many landscapes that as a frame enclose the picture, you have close at hand the beautifully-wooded conical hill of Duncruin, with Ross Priory projecting into the loch, a favourite place with Sir Walter Scott, who wrote “Rob Roy” while living here as the guest of Mr. Hector Macdonald, an Edinburgh advocate of that time. It is not difficult, apart from his friendship with the master of the place, to understand Scott’s attraction to the house. He was keenly alive to the beauty of woodland and loch; and the district around was teeming with memories—every glen the home of a romance. We find the influence of these upon him in some of the most famous episodes in “Rob Roy” and “The Lady of the Lake.” The Priory has, however, a much sadder story to tell—that of the betrayal of the Marquis of Tullibardine, eldest son of the Duke of Athole, who after Culloden took refuge with his former friend, Buchanan of the Ross. Buchanan, however, betrayed him, the Marquis hurling out the imprecation as he was taken prisoner, “There’ll be Murrays on the Braes of Athole when there’s ne’er a Buchanan at the Ross,” and the prophecy has been fulfilled. Beyond this we have the fertile valley and the mouth of the Endrick, with Buchanan House, the seat of the Duke of Montrose. The valley of the Endrick is celebrated in the old song of “The Gallant Graham” as “Sweet Enerdale,” stretching far up to the hills at Killearn, which, with its monument to George Buchanan, “the father of modern Liberalism,” we easily recognise.