Kinloch Rannoch

Kinloch Rannoch (Gaelic: Ceann Loch Raineach) is a village in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, at the eastern end of Loch Rannoch, 18 miles (29 km) west of Pitlochry, on the banks of the River Tummel.^[1] The village is a tourist and outdoor pursuits centre. It has a small population and is fairly remote.

The name of the village is a slight oddity as Kinloch normally refers to a place at the head of a loch, not the foot.

Formerly a tiny hamlet, Kinloch Rannoch, was enlarged and settled, under the direction of James Small, formerly an Ensign in Lord Loudoun’s Regiment, mainly by soldiers discharged from the army, but also by displaced crofters. Small had been appointed by the Commissioners for the Forfeited Estates to run the Rannoch estates, which had been seized from the clan chieftains who had supported the Jacobites following the Battle of Culloden in 1746. Local roads and bridges were improved, enabling soldiers at Rannoch Barracks to move more freely around the district.

Small was supported by Dugald Buchanan and his wife who taught the villagers new trades and crafts^[2]. Dugald (Dùghall Bochanan in Gaelic) was a local schoolmaster and Gaelic poet, who is commemorated by a large monument in the centre of the square in Kinloch Rannoch.

The main economic activities in the area are tourism, forestry and farming. Local tourist activities include rafting, cycling and trekking.

Near the village is a hill reputed to resemble the head, shoulders, and torso of a man. It has been given the name of "The Sleeping Giant". Local myth says that the giant will wake up only when he hears the sounds of his master's flute.

The village and some of its inhabitants were featured in the film Shepherd on the Rock.

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