St Mary's Loch near Selkirk from the west bank

Loch of the Lowes from the Bridge to Tibbie Shiels

St Mary's Loch is the largest natural loch in the Scottish Borders, and is situated on the south side of the A708 road between Selkirk and

Moffat Moffat ( gd, Mofad) is a burgh and parish in Dumfriesshire, now part of the Dumfries and Galloway local authority area in Scotland. It lies on the River Annan, with a population of around 2,500. It was a centre of the wool trade and a spa town. ...

, about south of

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

Description

It is long and wide, and was created by

glacial A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate betwe ...

action during the last

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...

. The loch is fed by the

Megget Water Megget Water is a river in the parish of Yarrow, Selkirkshire in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. The Water rises at Broad Law (2,760 ft), passes through Megget Reservoir and empties into St Mary's Loch. Places in the vicinity includ ...

, which flows in from the

Megget Reservoir Megget Reservoir is an impounding reservoir in the Megget valley in Ettrick Forest, in the Scottish Borders. The reservoir is held back by the largest earth dam in Scotland. The reservoir collects water from the Tweedsmuir Hills, which is then ...

, and is the source of the

Yarrow Water ''Achillea millefolium'', commonly known as yarrow () or common yarrow, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. Other common names include old man's pepper, devil's nettle, sanguinary, milfoil, soldier's woundwort, and thousand seal. The ...

, which flows east from the loch to merge with the Ettrick Water above Selkirk. It connects by a short section of river to the Loch of the Lowes, immediately to the south. Between the two, connected by an old arched bridge, is

Tibbie Shiel Tibbie Shiel (1783–1878) was a Scottish figure who ran Tibbie Shiel's Inn on St Mary's Loch in the Scottish Borders and was known to many authors and poets, and the subject of numerous literary works. Life She was born Isabella Shiel in ...

's Inn, an 18th-century coaching inn, which was frequented by the Border poet

James Hogg James Hogg (1770 – 21 November 1835) was a Scottish poet, novelist and essayist who wrote in both Scots and English. As a young man he worked as a shepherd and farmhand, and was largely self-educated through reading. He was a friend of many ...

(1770–1835). The inn is now privately owned. A statue of James Hogg is located opposite the turning to the former inn. The loch takes its name from a church dedicated to St Mary which once stood on its northern shore, although only the burial ground is now visible. The loch is around 27 metres deep at its centre.Edinburgh and its Environs: Ward Lock Travel Guide 1939 As the loch is sheltered by steep hills on all sides it is often very still, providing excellent reflections in its waters. The

Southern Upland Way The Southern Upland Way is a coast-to-coast long-distance footpath in southern Scotland. The route links Portpatrick in the west and Cockburnspath in the east via the hills of the Southern Uplands. The Way is designated as one of Scotland's ...

and

Sir Walter Scott Way The Sir Walter Scott Way is a long-distance footpath in the Scottish Borders. The route broadly follows the waymarked Southern Upland Way, except for in a few sections. It commemorates Sir Walter Scott, one of Scotland's most renowned writers, ...

long-distance walking routes both pass the shores of the loch. The small settlement of Cappercleuch is located at the north-west corner of the loch.

Sport

St Mary's Loch Sailing Club (StMLSC) is run from premises at the south end of the loch (east of Tibbie Shiels). It is affiliated to the

Royal Yachting Association The Royal Yachting Association (RYA) is a United Kingdom national governing body for sailing, dinghy sailing, yacht and motor cruising, sail racing, RIBs and sportsboats, windsurfing and personal watercraft and a leading representative for i ...

. Brown trout, pike, perch and eels are all found within the loch and its smaller neighbour, Loch of the Lowes. Arctic charr once also populated the loch but exploitation likely led to their disappearance before the mid-18th century.Maitland P. S. (n.d.) The status of Arctic Charr, ''Salvelinus alpinus'' (L), in southern Scotland: A cause for concern. Fish Conservation Centre: Stirling.

Literary references

Many of the 71 Noctes Ambrosianae in

Blackwood's Magazine ''Blackwood's Magazine'' was a British magazine and miscellany printed between 1817 and 1980. It was founded by the publisher William Blackwood and was originally called the ''Edinburgh Monthly Magazine''. The first number appeared in April 1817 ...

refer to Tibbie Shiel's Inn and St Mary's Loch. Tibbie Shiel aka Tibbie Richardson died in 1878 aged 95. Also mentioned in William Wordsworth's poem, Yarrow: "The swan on still St. Mary's Lake Float double, swan and shadow!"

References

External links

* {{Authority control Freshwater lochs of Scotland Lochs of the Scottish Borders Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Tweeddale and Ettrick and Lauderdale Yarrow Valley LStMarys

Description

Sport

Literary references

See also

References

External links