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

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