Special Places
Glen Lyon
Nearest Postcode: PH15 2PR
Glen Lyon, described by Sir Walter Scott as the “longest, loneliest and loveliest glen in Scotland” is Scotland’s longest enclosed glen. It extends for some 25 miles from the village of Fortingall in the east to the head of Loch Lyon in the west. While the Fortingall Yew is well acknowledged, less renown is the ash tree with the largest recorded girth in Scotland that stands by the road, 10 miles west of Fortingall. Even though the tree has been cut right back, it is still in good health and even the stump is impressive!
There are many legends attached to the interesting stones that are found in Glen Lyon. Close to the ash tree there is an ancient cross carved on a stone by the road. This is ‘St Adamnan’s Cross’ and nearby is a stone with a deep hole where, so the legend goes, the saint banished the plague from the glen. ‘Praying Hands of Mary’ or ‘Fionn’s Rock’ (said to be split by Fingal’s arrow) in Gleinn Dà-Eigg is a spectacularly split upright stone that was featured in ‘The Path’, an art-landscape installation/ performance that attracted thousands of visitors to the glen in May 2000.
While many gateposts in the glen are topped by weirdly shaped water-worn stones, they probably aren’t as weird as the ghost who appears in two halves, the legs and lower torso in one room and the head and shoulders next door at Meggernie Castle in the glen.
Picture copyright Tony Kinghorn and licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Licence.
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This entry was added by: Highland Perthshire Limited
