THE BONNIE BONNIE BANKS O' LOCH LOMON'!

Regal Princess/Greenock, Scotland
Monday, September 30, 2024
Cloudy, foggy, rainy, 50F

Pipe Major David McRobert

played bagpipes before dinner

Greenock, where we are docked today on the River Clyde, is a small town in the far west of Scotland. Its population is around 44,000, and its most famous resident was James Watts who invented the steam engine around 1776.  Today it is a commuter town for Glasgow which is 25 miles away.

We were scheduled on a scenic bus tour around a few “lochs.”  Today was colder than the previous many days, and even wearing a t-shirt, a turtleneck, a sweatshirt, a jacket, and a rain jacket, I was very cold.  I am looking at this trip around Great Britain as a prep for winter back home.  TK is cold too, so it isn’t just me!  Believe it or not, there were people on the bus who wanted the air on. 

Public art near Greenock

nothing like throwing sledgehammers

Our tour guide was a delightful Scottish lad named Scott. He told us that if the Scots look at the River Clyde and can’t see across, it is raining. If they can see across the river, it isn’t raining yet.  I thought that was quite a funny remark.

Scotland’s population is 5.5 million with 8 million sheep! Only about 60,000 people speak Scottish Gaelic today, and English is the main language.  Scott gave us a little history lesson, and most interesting was that the Romans called the area Caledonia from the first century.

The countryside is very hilly with lots of deciduous looking trees, although still completely green, along with lots of pine trees.  We saw many grazing sheep along the way, but did not get any photos of sheep! Houses made of stone, brick apartment buildings, stone fences, ferns, creeks and rivulets, the area is hillier that Pennsylvania, although the countryside did remind me of Bear Lake in Warren County, untouched beauty (that is until the gas drilling started).

Loch Lomond

Our first stop was Loch Lomond, Scotland’s second largest freshwater lake that is 62 4 feet deep with a surface area of about 27 square miles, in the midst of   Trossachs National Park.  We did see some hardy fishermen, most likely fishing for perch, brown trout, bream, eel, or flounder.  A few sailboats were on the lake too.

 Within about 5 minutes walking distance was the charming village of Luss. We stopped for a coffee and freshly baked scones before it was time to board the bus. 

Some homes in the village of Luss, Scotland

Coach House Coffee Shop

The luscious baked goods, charming coffee shop

Coffee, scone, strawberry jam, butter, and clotted cream!

Scott played the song, Bonnie Bonnie Banks o’ Lomon’, for us.   You have probably heard this lovely song, with the second verse lyrics. Please take the time to Google this song!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gb8AGuD2uOI) :   

O ye'll take the high road and I'll take the low
And I'll be in Scotland afore ye
For me and my true love will never meet again
On the bonnie, bonnie banks o' Loch Lomon'

Hearing a song like this right on the banks of Loch Lomond really moved all of us. I thought of my little knowledge of Scottish history and their conflicts over the years, and the Scottish troops in World War One with their kilts and bagpipes—very moving to be right here.

Other lochs we saw while on the bus were Loch Long, Loch Fyne, Loch Eck, and Holy Loch. We  reached a ferry boat that took us across the River Clyde back to Greenock (the ferry crossing for our bus was $134).  Along the route of highland glens and valleys, there was extensive road work because of rockslides—Scott told us that just last week a rockslide had prevented passage where we were riding. Well, I am glad that was last week. 

Argyll National Forest Park

National Forest

Another view

Rock for my brother

Scotland is not a volcanic island, but it had many

volcanoes millions of years ago

Volcanic activity occurred across Scotland as a result of the collision of the tectonic plates, with volcanoes in southern Scotland, and magma chambers in the north, which today form the granite mountains such as the Cairngorms.

Equipment to repair the damage of the rockslide

Scott told us that Scotland gets from 3-4 ft of snow and the low temperature is around 8F. There are only 3 public outdoor swimming pools in Scotland—that should give you an idea about the climate. However, we passed one of those public swimming pools and at least 20 people were swimming in it! Scott said it was heated—ha!

Woodcarver advertising his wares along the road

Our scenic ride was over and back to our warm stateroom to get ready for dinner!  I can tell I have Scottish DNA, but the tolerance for cold is no longer there!

TK’s Takes:  He saw Mallard ducks and magpies. He said there was more room on the trains in Germany than on our bus.  He also remarked there are no solar panels here!

Loch Ness is 116 miles away.  Scott did tell us about the Kelpies--  Kelpies are often described as grey or white horses with dripping manes. When they appear as humans, they are usually men with seaweed in their hair or hooves instead of hands.   They lure humans into the water to drown them. We did not see any Kelpies, thank goodness.