Thomas Carlyle the essayist, satirist, historian, teacher and critic of letters inspired the world's greatest writers and artists. His combination of a religious temperament and personal loss of Christian faith made his works appealing to many Victorians who struggled with the scientific and political changes of the time.

Oscar Wilde frequently quoted Carlyle's book "The French Revolution". So capitvated was Wilde, that following Carly's deat he brought Carlyle's writing desk to use himself. George Elliot, James Joyce, John Ruskin and Lord Tennyson all refer to Carlyle in their own writings. Such was Carlyle's influence in literary and artistic Britain, that according to Walt Whitman, without Carlyle it would be like an army with no artillery.

Carlyle's passion for letter writing came from a belief that letters showed the true quality of the man. Carlyle believed there was a great humanity to be explored through a person's words; each letter should give you a picture of the other's soul not to mention be 'intimate and self revealing'.

Always an excellent student, Carlyle learnt to read from his mother and upon starting school soon became the pride of the schoolmaster. With a strict Calvinist father, Carlyle's years at Edinburgh University brought great personal pressures as he struggled to fulfil his father's desire to become a preacher. After eight year's of study, Carlyle lost his faith and renounced his intention to enter the Ministry. His rel;igious values remained with him, but he had aspirations of his own.

Already articulate in French and Latin, Carlyle taught himself German, Spanish and Italian. He briefly studied law but persistently sought out literary employmentby translating various scientific papers, including the London Magazine, The Edinburgh Review and The Foreign Review. Carlyle's own words " I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom' could not have been truer.

Thomas Carlyle died on 5th February 1881 and is buried in Ecclefechan.

MacDonald and Creswick of Edinburgh, founders, 1929; bronze replica of Sir J. Edgar Boehm's statute of Thomas Carlyle in Chelsea. Seated figure, raised on inscribed and corniced square redashlar base overlooking Ecclefechan village. Modern concretepaved surround. Inscriptions include "Erected by Alexander Carlyle" (nephew of Thomas Carlyle) and "Restored by the National Trust for Scotland, 1981"

A model village of its time, the present village of Luss was created in the early 19th century by Sir James Colquhoun to house workers of his nearby slate quarries, replacing the old mainly thatched cottages, Few of the old houses remain; the oldest of them, Shore Cottage on the loch front by the church now houses the Clan Colquhoun Museum and Heritage Center. Luss has often been named as the most beautiful village in Scotland and with its exquisitely kept cottages and exhuberent floral displays in summer it lives up to its deserved title time after time.

The local Luss slate was famed for its quality and its lovely shade of dark grey blue. Althgough the quarries ceased to operate many years ago, the houses of Luss are still roofed with this material, testament to its beauty and hard-wearing qualities.

Luss has been used many times by film and TV companies as a backdrop, most notably in the 1980 series "Take The High Road".

Luss Parish Church

The charming parish church of Luss was built in 1875 by Sir James Colquhoun in memory of his father, also Sir james, who was drowned in 1873 on their way back from a hunting expedition on Loch Lomond. The complex roof was designed to resemble an upturned boat and displayed within the church many are many delightful stained glass windows.