Glen Lyon (Gaelic Gleann Lìomhann) is a glen in the Perth and Kinross region of Scotland. It is the longest enclosed glen in Scotland and runs for 34 miles from Loch Lyon in the west to the village of Fortingall in the east.
Quite densely inhabited from prehistoric times (as many archaeological sites attest), though its present population is of modest size, the glen has been home to many families, including MacGregors, Menzies, Stewarts, Macnaughtans, MacGibbons and the Campbells of Glen Lyon. One of this family, Robert Campbell of Glenlyon (1630-1696), led the detachment of government troops responsible for the infamous Glencoe Massacre, of the MacDonalds of Glencoe in 1691. It is not, however, the home of Clan Lyon.
James MacGregor, parish priest of Fortingall in the early 16th century, compiled the Book of the Dean of Lismore, the most important surviving collection of medieval Scottish Gaelic poetry. His Chronicle, covering local events in a mixture of Scots and Latin, is also extant, and is an important historical source for the central Highlands.
Glen Lyon, also written Glenlyon, has often been described as one of the most beautiful glens in all of Scotland. It has been the home of (among others) early Christian monks (including Adomnán [locally Eonán] (d. 704), Abbot of Iona and biographer of St Columba), warriors, literary figures, explorers, castles (Meggernie Castle [still inhabited] and Carnbaan [ruined]) and arguably the best cattle in Scotland. According to legend, it was also the birthplace of Pontius Pilate, son to a Roman envoy and a Menzies or McLaren lady, though no credence needs to be given to so dubious a tale.
Its history is described in Alexander Stewart's A Highland Parish (1928), and Duncan Campbell's The Lairds of Glenlyon (1886).
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||