KATRINE, kat'rin, Loch, a lake in Perth shire, Scotland. Scott has sung its beauties in the 'Lady of the Lake> and others of his works and Wordsworth, too, has presented its at tractions. The grandeur of the Trossachs, Ben A'an and Ben Venue are most vividly presented in the opening canto of the 'Lady of the Lake> and, in a lesser degree, in following cantos. Loch Katrine is a comparatively small lake, being only about nine miles long and less than a mile wide on an average, though it stretches out to greater width in places. In the lake is the famous Ellen's Island, the home of the exiles, in the 'Lady of the Lake' whom James of Scotland visited in the guise of a lost hunter, without revealing his real name and rank. The celebrated mountains surrounding the lake are comparatively low when considered from their actual elevition above the level of the sea, Ben Venue, the highest, being only 2,393 feet. But as they rise from a low level they present jointly and severally a, majestic appearance. Owing to its great natural beauty and its many romantic, traditional, historical and literary interests, Loch Katrine and the surrounding region are annually visited by many tourists and students. Modern steamers now
take care of this tourist trade on the lake. In 1885 the waters of Loch Katrine were raised five feet by artificial means and its capacity as a great natural reservoir increased in order to make it furnish a greater supply of potable water to the city of Glasgow which, as far back as 1859, had made use of the lake for this purpose. This greatly reduced the dimensions of Ellen's Isle and covered up the "Silver Strand,B made famous in the 'Lady of the Lake.' The water from Loch Katrine is car ried over a distance of 25 miles in reaching Glasgow. The lake lies at an altitude of 365 feet above sea-level; but as its maximum depth is 500 feet, a part of it is 135 feet below sea level. Consult Scott's 'Lady of the Lake' and 'Rob Roy' for descriptions of Loch Katrine and surrounding country.