West Lomond Hill

"Carlin Maggie" and "The Devil's Burden."

The narrow gorge of Glenvale between West Lomond Hill and Bishop Hill was formerly the haunt of witches, of whom "Carlin Maggie" was the chief. Seeing Satan approach bearing a burden of rocks she took her stand upon the Bishop's Hill and "flyted" him. He let fall his load upon the hill side, pursued her, and turned her to stone on the precipitous slope overlooking Lochleven, where the monolithic rock of Carlin Maggie and the scattered Devil's Burden are prominent objects in the landscape to this day. The legend is told in verse in Gulland ['The Lomond Hills' 1877].