Ben Ledi

Ben Ledi
Ben Ledi seen from Kilmahog
Highest point
Elevation	879 m (2,884 ft)
Prominence	c. 528 m
Parent peak	None
Listing	Corbett, Marilyn
Naming
Translation	Hill of the long shoulder (Gaelic)
Pronunciation	Scottish Gaelic: [peɲˈʎeʰtʲɪrʲ]
Geography
Location	Stirling, Scotland
Parent range	Trossachs
OS grid	NN562098
Topo map	OS Landranger 57

Ben Ledi (Beinn Leitir in Scottish Gaelic) is a mountain in Perthshire, Scotland. It is 879 m (2884 ft) high, and is classified as a Corbett. It lies about 6.4 kilometres (4 miles) north-west of Callander, near the village of Kilmahog. It is situated in the Trossachs, an area often regarded as having some of the most romantic scenery in the Highlands.

Ben Ledi is particularly well known through Walter Scott's poem Lady of the Lake. Supposedly in ancient times, Beltane rites were observed on the summit. There are what is thought to be possible references to these Beltane rights in some of the Gaelic names on the mountain: Creag Ghorn; 'Rock of Embers' and Creag Loisgte; 'Burned Rock'. In 1791 the Rev Doctor James Robertson being minister of the parish at the time, was required to write a description of the parish for the First Statistical Account of Scotland. In his report he mistakenly (due to the similarity to le dia) took the name Ben Ledi to mean 'hill of god' which suited the purposes of the kirk of the day. The name is in fact a corruption of Beinn Leitir which translates to 'the Hill of the Slope', which is a very suitable description of the long south shoulder used to access the summit. A cairn was built on the top in 1887 to commemorate Queen Victoria's jubilee.

A small lochan, Lochan nan Corp, lies at 655 m above sea level about 1.5 km to the north of the summit. The name means "the little loch of the dead", and was thought to be named for an accident to a funeral party at which 200 lives were lost. In truth the lochan is on the old coffin road from Glen Finlas to St Bride's chapel close to Loch Lubnaig. The pass is therefore named the Bealach nan Corp - Pass of the Dead - and the lochan is named after the pass. The lochan is not deep enough to reach past your waist nor of sufficient area to accommodate any large funeral party.