THE TUMMEL 73 



Orchy, all radiating from the Moor of Rannoch. Not only do ice 

 markings show this, but boulders of diorite and hornblendic granite 

 from the same source, are peppered about in the regions named, 

 and even carried apparently as far as Glen Almond across the 

 water-shed. 



The Tummel, from its source above Loch Ba to its junction with 

 the Tay at Ballinluig, measures 58 miles, the outlet of Loch Rannoch, 

 which may be regarded as the real commencement of the river 

 section, being as far from the source of the Ba as it is from the 

 junction with the Tay. 



Loch Rannoch is a glacial rock basin, which was at one time 

 perhaps rather longer than now. It scarcely merits special notice 

 in connection with salmon fisheries, for I do not anticipate that even 

 were salmon allowed freely to enter Loch Tummel and to ascend to 

 Loch Eannoch, they would ever be of great sporting value. The 

 loch is 9J miles in length, and 668 feet above sea-level. Close to 

 its upper end it receives the water from Loch Ericht. The lower 

 end of the original rock basin is now filled up for a distance of 

 about three miles with alluvial debris washed down from the high 

 land on either side. The end of the basin is believed by geologists 

 to be now seen in the rocky barrier which constitutes the Dunalastair 

 Falls, reference to which will be made later. 



Some fine fishing pools occur above the falls, where the river 

 winds about in a narrow and thickly-wooded gorge immediately 

 below Dunalastair House. Below the falls the country gradually 

 opens out, and the course of the river flattens till Loch Tummel is 

 reached, where the alluvium is spread out widely, and must be steadily 

 reducing the loch at this end. A short distance before Loch Tummel 

 is reached, an old weir connected with a small mill at Dalcroy is 

 thrown across the river. The mill is very little used, and the 

 weir of river stones has not been kept in very good repair, so that 

 a great quantity of water finds its way through the interstices of 

 the down-stream face, and by this means loses all concentration 

 in flow, for no gap of any kind exists. 



Loch Tummel is a typical rock basin, is 2J miles long and about 

 half a mile broad. It is a loch of great beauty and famed for its 

 trout. The bays and headlines are often richly wooded, and here 

 and there cultivated slopes add a pleasant variety of colour and 

 outline. Schiehallion (3547 feet) ever rises dominant in the high 

 land to the left as one looks up the loch, while the hills behind 

 Dunalastair are of a finely-chiselled outline and fill in the picture 



