Loch Lomond (IPA pronunciation: ['lomənd]), (Scottish Gaelic Loch Laomainn) is a Scottish loch (the Gaelic word for lake), located in both the western lowlands of Central Scotland and the southern Highlands. It is located in the council areas of Stirling, Argyll and Bute, and West Dunbartonshire, and its southern shores lie approximately 14 miles (23 km) north of Glasgow, the country's largest city.
This freshwater loch is approximately 37 kilometres long, and up to 8 kilometres wide, with an average depth of about 37 metres, and a maximum depth of about 190 metres. It has a surface area of approximately 71 square kilometres, and a volume of about 2.6 km3. Its surface area is the largest of the lochs, and is second biggest after Loch Ness in terms of water volume in Great Britain, although it is not the largest in the British Isles - this distinction belongs to Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland.
The loch (as of July 2002) is now part of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park. The West Highland Way runs along the eastern bank of the loch.
The loch famously features in Andrew Lang's verse, "The Bonnie Banks O' Loch Lomond", published around 1876. The chorus is well known:
'Oh, ye'll tak the high road, and I'll tak the low road,
'And I'll be in Scotland afore ye;
'But me and my true love will never meet again
'On the bonnie, bonnie banks o' Loch Lomond.
Lang's poetry became the basis for a famous song entitled "Loch Lomond", which has been recorded by many performers over the years, in styles ranging from traditional Scottish folk to barbershop to rock and roll, most notably by the Australian rock group AC/DC in the song "Bonny" in which the band plays the music while the crowd sings the verse, and in 1957 by Bill Haley & His Comets, who recorded a popular rock and roll version retitled "Rock Lomond".
Ben Lomond is on the eastern shore. It is 974 metres in height and is the most southerly of the Scottish Munro peaks.
The loch contains a large number of islands, several of them quite large by the standards of British lochs/lakes, including Inchmurrin, the largest island in a loch/lake in the British Isles. As with Loch Tay, several of the islands appear to be Crannogs, artificial islands built in prehistoric periods. There is currently a project to build another island like it in Loch Ness. (Courtesy of Wikipedia)
Loch Lomond is a traditional Scottish song. A chord-melody arrangement of the well known chorus is presented below in the key of C. The song is played moderately in 4/4 time.
