Loch o' th' Lowes

McMichael records that in wet weather the three lochs combined as one, and suggests that until the trap dyke on the River Nith below Corsancone Hill wore down, the loch covered the whole area as far as the watershed at Sannock Hill and had a shape and surface area similar to Loch Doon. The name Lochside is derived from the shooting lodge, now a hotel (2011), built by the Marquis of Bute. The "Runner" is a deep and broad ditch that was dug many years back to link the three lochs of Lowes, Black, and Creoch. The 19th century OS maps indicated two islets, one small and close to the southern lochshore and the other larger and near the western lochshore.