The Lennox ( gd, Leamhnachd, ) is a region of
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...
centred on
The Vale of Leven, including its great loch:
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 ...
.
The Gaelic name of the river is ''Leamhn'', meaning ''the smooth stream'', which anglicises to ''Leven'' (as Gaelic ''mh'' is
spirantised). The surrounding area is ''the field of the smooth stream'' - ''Leamhnachd'' in Gaelic; this was originally anglicised as ''Levenauchen'' / ''Levenachs'', then softened into Levenax / Lennax, and eventually the area was known simply as ''Lennox''.
Lennox was not one of the so-called seven ancient Provinces of Scotland, but formed as a province in the Middle Ages. The district embraced the whole of the ancient
sheriffdom of Dumbarton: the parishes of
Rosneath,
Arrochar,
Row,
Luss,
Cardross
Cardross (Scottish Gaelic: ''Càrdainn Ros'') is a large village with a population of 2,194 (2011) in Scotland, on the north side of the Firth of Clyde, situated halfway between Dumbarton and Helensburgh. Cardross is in the historic geographical ...
,
Bonhill,
Dumbarton,
Kilmaronock,
New Kilpatrick,
Old Kilpatrick,
Baldernock
Baldernock (;G.M. Miller, ''BBC Pronouncing Dictionary of British Names'' (Oxford UP, 1971), p. 9. Gaelic: ''Baile D' Earnaig'') meaning 'settlement of St Earnaig' (Iain Mac an Táilleir, Sabhall Mór Ostaig) is a small parish in East Dunbartons ...
,
Buchanan Buchanan may refer to:
People
* Buchanan (surname)
Places Africa
* Buchanan, Liberia, a large coastal town
Antarctica
* Buchanan Point, Laurie Island
Australia
* Buchanan, New South Wales
* Buchanan, Northern Territory, a locality
* Bucha ...
,
Drymen,
Killearn,
Balfron,
Fintry, and
Strathblane, with
Campsie and
Kilsyth, being all within the bounds ruled over by the
Earls of Lennox.
[The Rev. John Anderson, "The Celtic Earls of Lennox" in '' The Scots Peerage'', edited by Sir James Balfour Paul, volume V (Edinburgh, 1908]
page 324
In 1581
James VI of Scotland
James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until ...
granted
Esmé Stewart, Earl of Lennox, the title of
Duke of Lennox; the title is currently held by
Charles Gordon-Lennox
Under local government reforms in the mid 19th century, the province of Lennox was re-structured as the
County
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
of
Dunbartonshire, when the north-eastern shore 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 ...
was transferred to
Stirlingshire.
References
External links
Border Disputes: Gaelic Cultural Identity and Interaction in the Lennox and Menteith
East Dunbartonshire
Lennoxtown
Vale of Leven
West Dunbartonshire
{{EastDunbartonshire-geo-stub