Lochan Saorach or Lochan Dùn Saoraich (NN451272) is a small lake situated in

Glen Dochart Glen Dochart ( gd, Gleann Dochard) in Perthshire, Scottish Highlands is a glen which runs from Crianlarich eastwards to Killin, following the course of the River Dochart as it flows through Loch Dochart and Loch Iubhair. It is met by Glen Ogle ( g ...

( gd, Gleann Dochard), below Dun Saorach, Perthshire,

Scottish Highlands The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghàidhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland S ...

, Scotland. The glen extends from

Crianlarich Crianlarich (; gd, A' Chrìon Làraich) is a village in Stirling council area and in the registration county of Perthshire, Scotland, around north-east of the head of Loch Lomond. The village bills itself as "the gateway to the Highlands". E ...

eastwards to

Killin Killin (; (Scottish Gaelic: ''Cill Fhinn'') is a village in Perthshire in the central highlands of Scotland. Situated at the western head of Loch Tay, it is administered by the Stirling Council area. Killin is a historic conservation village an ...

with the River Dochart passing through it. The Saorach lochan is a natural feature, roughly oval in shape, sitting across the River Dochart from the old farm of Auchessan and is notable for at one time having a

floating island A floating island is a mass of floating aquatic plants, mud, and peat ranging in thickness from several centimeters to a few meters. Floating islands are a common natural phenomenon that are found in many parts of the world. They exist less co ...

on it waters as recorded in 1769 in addition to a normal island.

History

In 1769 the antiquarian

Thomas Pennant Thomas Pennant (14 June OS 172616 December 1798) was a Welsh naturalist, traveller, writer and antiquarian. He was born and lived his whole life at his family estate, Downing Hall near Whitford, Flintshire, in Wales. As a naturalist he h ...

, whilst on his first tour of Scotland, recorded that "''...opposite to the farm of Achessan (sic), is a lake, noted for a floting island, fifty-one feet long, and twenty-nine broad, that shifts its quarters with the wind. It has strength sufficient to carry an involuntary voyage, the cattle that might be surprised feeding on this mobile solum, deceived with the appearance of its being firm land. it cannot indeed boast of carrying on its surface the darksome groves of those on the Cutilian waters, but, like the Lydian Calamina, may be launched from the sides of the lake with poles, and can show plenty of coarse grass, some small willows, and a little birch tree.''" He goes on to record as a foot note that "''The thickness of this isle is twenty-five inches. Perhaps, as Mr.Gahn affirms to be the case of other floating islands, this might have originated from the twisted roots of the Schoenus mariscus, and Scirpus caespitosus, converted into a more firm mass by the addition of the Carex caespitosus.''" Schoenus mariscus is now known as swamp sawgrass (''

Cladium mariscus ''Cladium mariscus'' is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family known by the common names swamp sawgrass, great fen-sedge, saw-sedge or sawtooth sedge. Previously it was known as elk sedge. It is native of temperate Europe and Asia wher ...

''), ''Scirpus caespitosus'' is now deer grass (''

Trichophorum cespitosum ''Trichophorum cespitosum'', commonly known as deergrass or tufted bulrush, is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family. It was originally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1753 as ''Scirpus cespitosus'', but was trans ...

'') and ''Carex caespitosus'' is '' Carex cespitosa''. Auchessan Farm is recorded from at least the mid 18th century and is still occupied.

Floating islands

Floating islands A floating island is a mass of floating aquatic plants, mud, and peat ranging in thickness from several centimeters to a few meters. Floating islands are a common natural phenomenon that are found in many parts of the world. They exist less co ...

are also known as tussocks, floatons, or suds and are composed of exposed vegetation that grows on a buoyant base of plant roots and other organic materials. In 1745

Herman Moll Herman Moll (mid-17th century – 22 September 1732) was a London cartographer, engraver, and publisher. Origin and early life While Moll's exact place and date of birth are unknown, he was probably born in the mid-seventeenth century in G ...

recorded on his map of

Loch Lomond Loch Lomond (; gd, Loch Laomainn - 'Lake of the Elms'Richens, R. J. (1984) ''Elm'', Cambridge University Press.) is a freshwater Scottish loch which crosses the Highland Boundary Fault, often considered the boundary between the lowlands of C ...

that it was famous for its floating island. The artist George Washington Wilson (1823 - 1893) photographed the remains of a floating island in the Luss Straits at an unknown date. Richard Franck, a Cromwellian soldier was stationed at or visited

Loch Ness Loch Ness (; gd, Loch Nis ) is a large freshwater loch in the Scottish Highlands extending for approximately southwest of Inverness. It takes its name from the River Ness, which flows from the northern end. Loch Ness is best known for claim ...

during the 17th century and wrote that "''The famous Lough-Ness, so much discours'd for the supposed floating island; for here it is, if anywhere in Scotland. Nor is it any other than a natural plantation of segs and bullrushes, matted and knit so close together by natural industry, and navigated by winds that blow every way, floats from one part of the Lough to another, upon the surface of the solid deeps of this small Mediterrane.''"

have been put forward as an explanation for sightings of the

Loch Ness Monster The Loch Ness Monster ( gd, Uilebheist Loch Nis), affectionately known as Nessie, is a creature in Scottish folklore that is said to inhabit Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. It is often described as large, long-necked, and with one or mor ...

The Lochan

The lochan is now located within a forestry pine plantation with one island still present however the floating island is no longer extant.

References

Saorach Saorach Glens of Scotland Valleys of Stirling (council area) {{Authority control