Lake of Menteith

Lake of Menteith, also known as Loch Inchmahome. Inchmahome Priory is situated on Inchmahome, the largest of three islands in the centre of the Lake of Menteith. The priory was founded in 1238 by the Earl of Menteith, Walter Comyn, for a small group of members of the Augustinian order (the Black Canons). The Comyn family were one of the most powerful in Scotland at the time, and had an imposing country house on Inch Talla, one of the other islands on the Lake of Menteith. There is some evidence that there had been a church on the island before the priory was established.The priory received many notable guests throughout its history. King Robert the Bruce visited three times: in 1306, 1308 and 1310. His visits were likely politically motivated, as the first prior had sworn allegiance to Edward I, the English king. In 1358, the future King Robert II stayed at the priory. In 1547, the priory served as a refuge for Queen Mary, aged four, hidden there for a few weeks following the disastrous defeat of the Scots army at the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh during the Rough Wooing.