[Loadstone] or Lodestone, an iron ore remarkable for its magnetic quality or power of attracting iron; it derived its name from its use as a leading stone in the compass to mariners.
[Lobby, The], hall connected with a legislative assembly to which the public have access.
[Local Option], licence granted to the inhabitants of a district to extinguish or reduce the sale of intoxicants in their midst.
[Lochaber], a Highland district in the S. of Inverness-shire.
[Lochaber Axe], an axe with a broad blade and a long handle formerly in use among the Highlanders as a weapon.
[Lochiel], a Highland chief, Sir Evan Cameron his name, head of the Cameron clan, who held out against William III.'s rule in the Highlands, but ultimately took the oath of allegiance; d. 1719.
[Lochinvar], hero of a ballad in Scott's "Marmion," who carries off his sweetheart just as she is about to be sacrificed in marriage to another whom she loathes.
[Lochleven], Scottish lake in Kinross-shire overshadowed by Benarty and the West Lomond, is 23 m. NW. of Edinburgh; in a castle on one of its islands Mary Stuart was imprisoned 1567-68; it is now famous for its trout.
[Locke, John], English philosopher, the father of modern materialism and empiricism, born in Wrington, Somerset; studied medicine, but did not practise it, and gave himself up to a literary life, much of it spent in the family of the celebrated Earl of Shaftesbury, both at home with it and abroad; his great work is his "Essay on the Human Understanding" in 1690, which was preceded by "Letters on Toleration," published before the expulsion of James II., and followed by the "Treatise on Government" the same year, and "Thoughts on Education" in 1693; his "Essay" was written to show that all our ideas were derived from experience, that is, through the senses and reflection on what they reveal, and that there are no innate ideas; "Locke," says Prof. Saintsbury, "is eminently" (that is, before all his contemporaries) "of such stuff as dreams are not made of"—is wholly a prosaic practical man and Englishman (1632-1704).
[Lockhart, John Gibson], man of letters, born in Cambusnethan; bred for the Scottish bar and practised at it; contributed to Blackwood, wrote in collaboration with John Wilson "Peter's Letters to his Kinsfolk"; married Sophia Scott, Sir Walter's daughter, in 1820, lived a good deal near Abbotsford, wrote some four novels and "Spanish Ballads," became editor of the Quarterly in 1825, and began in 1837 his "Life of Scott," a great work, and his greatest; died at Abbotsford, health broken and in much sorrow; his "Life" has been interestingly written by Andrew Lang (1794-1854).