Falls of Clyde (waterfalls)

The Falls of Clyde is the collective name of four linn (Scots: waterfalls) on the River Clyde near New Lanark, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. The Falls of Clyde comprise the upper falls of Bonnington Linn, Corra Linn, Dundaff Linn, and the lower falls of Stonebyres Linn. Corra Linn is the highest, with a fall of 84 feet. Bonnington Linn (fall of 30 feet), Corra Linn and Dundaff Linn (fall of 10 feet) are above New Lanark and located within the Falls of Clyde Reserve managed by the Scottish Wildlife Trust, a national nature conservation charity. Stonebyres Linn is located several miles downstream from the reserve and New Lanark.

History

The area has long been a popular destination for visitors. The Wordsworths, Coleridge and Sir Walter Scott all visited the Falls. In 1802, William Wordsworth immortalised Corra Linn, the largest of the waterfalls, in verse. Corra Linn has also been painted by a number of artists, including J. M. W. Turner. The name comes from the Gaelic 'currach', a marshy place. A legend gives 'Cora' as a daughter of King Malcolm II, who leapt to her death here whilst trying to escape imagined danger.

Near Corra Linn is the Pavilion, built by Sir John Carmichael of Bonnington, probably in 1708. The Pavilion had mirrors on its back wall, and when the doors were opened visitors had the illusion of standing beneath the falls. The 15th-century Corra Castle is next to Corra Linn. It is now home to a family of rare bats. Corra is Gaelic for "weir", and as Corra Castle's early history is vague, some historians believe it was...