LEVEN, LOCH, a lake of Kinross-shire, Scotland. It is 3 m. long and 24 m. broad, and is situated near the south and east boundaries of the shire, 35o ft. above sea-level. The mean depth is less than 15 ft., with a maximum of 83 ft., the lake being thus one of the shallowest in Scotland. It drains the county and is itself drained by the Leven. It is famous for the Loch Leven trout. The loch contains seven islands. Upon St. Serf's, the largest, which commemorates the patron saint of Fifeshire, are the ruins of the Priory of Portmoak—so named from St. Moak, the first abbot—the oldest Culdee establishment in Scotland. Some time bef ore 961 it was made over to the bishop of St. Andrews, and shortly after 1144 a body of canons regular was established on it in connection with those at St. Andrews. On Castle Island is a castle, dating from the 13th century and occa sionally used as a royal residence, which is said to have been in the hands of the English for a time, from whom it was delivered by Wallace. It replaced a still earlier stronghold.
After successfully withstanding Edward Baliol's siege in 1335, it was granted by Robert II. to Sir William Douglas of Lugton
and was the prison at various periods of Robert II. ; of Alexander Stuart, earl of Buchan, "the Wolf of Badenoch"; Archibald, earl of Douglas (1429) ; Patrick Graham, archbishop of St. Andrews (who died, still in bondage, on St. Serf's island in 1478), and of Mary, queen of Scots. She signed her abdication within its walls on July 4, 1567, and effected her escape on May 2, 1568. The keys of the castle, which were thrown into the loch during her flight, were found and are preserved at Dalmahoy in Midlothian. Support of Mary's cause had involved Thomas Percy, 7th earl of Northumberland (b. 1528). He too was lodged in the castle in 1569, and after three years' imprisonment was handed over to the English, by whom he was beheaded at York in 1572. The proverb that "Those never got luck who came to Loch Leven" sums up the history of the castle. The causeway connecting the isle with the mainland was long submerged too deeply for use, but reclamation operations in 1826-36 almost brought it into view again.