Old travel Blog photograph of Rossdhu House on the banks of Loch Lomond, Scotland. Rossdhu is situated on the west shore of Loch Lomond, some two miles south of Luss and four miles north of Balloch. In ancient times the estate belonged to the Earls of Lennox and passed by marriage in the early 14th century to Sir Robert de Colquhoune. The old Castle of Rossdhu is thought to have been built at about the same time as St Mary's Chapel by the 11th Laird of Luss, Sir John Colquhoun of Clan Colquhoun. The original castle was very much a fortress and stronghold against the clan feuds which raged over the next century or so. Later the Castle was occupied twice by the Cromwellian forces, and it was not until the early 18th century that life in these parts became sufficiently settled to warrant creating a less fortified home. By 1718 the estate was reputedly vast and Sir James Colquhoun, the 25th Laird of Luss who succeeded his mother in 1732, married Helen, sister of the 17th Earl of Sunderland. He founded Helensburgh on the Clyde coast and named it after his wife, and in 1786 he was created a Baronet of Great Britain. In 1772 a start was made by his son James on the building of a new house at Rossdhu, on a site further to the east and overlooking the loch. In 1773 Boswell and Johnson stayed at Rossdhu while on their tour of Scotland.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
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