Loches (the Roman Leucae) grew up round a monastery founded about 500 by St Ours and belonged to the counts of Anjou from 886 till 1205. In the latter year it was seized from King John of England by Philip Augustus, and from the middle of the 13th century till after the time of Charles IX. the castle was a residence of the kings of France.
LOCHGELLY, a police burgh of Fifeshire, Scotland, 7½ m. N.E. of Dunfermline by the North British railway. Pop. (1901) 5472. The town is modern and owes its prosperity to the iron-works and collieries in its immediate vicinity. Loch Gelly, from which the town takes its name, situated ½ m. S.E., measures ½ m. in length by ¾ m. in breadth, contains some trout and pike, and has on its west banks Lochgelly House, a seat of the earl of Minto. The Romans are said to have had a station at Loch Ore in the parish of Ballingry, 2¼ m. N. by W., which was drained about the end of the 18th century and then cultivated. To the N.E. rises the hill of Benarty (1131 ft.). Hallyards, about 2 m. S.E. of Lochgelly, is a ruined house that once belonged to Sir William Kirkaldy of Grange, who held Edinburgh Castle for Queen Mary. Here James V. was received after his defeat at Solway Moss in 1542, and here a few Jacobites used to meet in 1715.
LOCHGILPHEAD, a municipal and police burgh of Argyllshire, Scotland, at the head of Loch Gilp, a small arm on the western side of Loch Fyne. Pop. (1901) 1313. The herring-fishery is the chief industry, but there is some weaving of woollens and, in summer, a considerable influx of visitors. Ardrishaig (pop. 1285), a seaport on the west of the mouth of Loch Gilp, is the east terminus of the Crinan Canal. It is the place of transhipment from the large Glasgow passenger steamers to the small craft built for the navigation of the canal. It is an important harbour in connexion with the Loch Fyne herring-fishery, and there is also a distillery. During the summer there is a coach service to Ford at the lower end of Loch Awe.
LOCHMABEN, a royal and police burgh of Dumfriesshire, Scotland, 8 m. N.E. of Dumfries, with a station on the Caledonian railway company’s branch from Dumfries to Locherbie. Pop. (1901) 1328. It is delightfully situated, there being eight lakes in the immediate neighbourhood, while the river Annan, and the Waters of Ae, Kinnel and Dryfe are in the vicinity. The town hall is a handsome edifice with clock tower. At the south end of Castle Loch, the chief lake, stand the ruins, a mere shell, of Lochmaben Castle, dating from the 13th century, where local tradition declares that Robert Bruce was born—an honour which is also claimed, however, for Turnberry Castle on the coast of Ayrshire. In the parish church is a bell said to have been presented to King Robert by the pope after reconciliation with him. A statue of the king stands in front of the town hall. Whether it were his birthplace or not, the associations of Bruce with Lochmaben were intimate. He exempted his followers in the district from feudal service and their descendants—the “kindly tenants of Lochmaben”—were confirmed in their tenure by the court of session in 1824. The Castle Loch is the only fresh water in Scotland, and possibly in the British Isles, where the vendace (coregonus vandesius) occurs. This fish, which is believed to be growing scarcer, is alleged on doubtful authority to have been introduced by Queen Mary. It is captured by the sweep-net in August, and is esteemed as a delicacy. The lakes adjoining the town afford the inhabitants exceptional advantages for the game of curling. There was once a team of Lochmaben Curlers entirely composed of shoemakers (souters) who held their own against all comers, and their prowess added the phrase “to souter” to the vocabulary of the sport, the word indicating a match in which the winners scored “game” to their opponents’ “love.” Lochmaben unites with Annan, Dumfries, Kirkcudbright and Sanquhar (the Dumfries burghs) in returning one member to parliament.
LOCK, MATTHIAS, English 18th-century furniture designer and cabinet-maker. The dates of his birth and death are unknown; but he was a disciple of Chippendale, and subsequently of the Adams, and was possibly in partnership with Henry Copeland (q.v.). During the greater part of his life he belonged to that flamboyant school which derived its inspiration from Louis XV. models; but when he fell under the influence of Robert Adam he absorbed his manner so completely that it is often difficult to distinguish between them, just as it is sometimes easy to confound Lock’s work with the weaker efforts of Chippendale. Thus from being extravagantly rococo he progressed to a simple ordered classicism. His published designs are not equal to his original drawings, many of which are preserved in the Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington, while the pieces themselves are often bolder and more solid than is suggested by the author’s representations of them. He was a clever craftsman and holds a distinct place among the minor furniture designers of the second half of the 18th century.
Among his works, some of which were issued in conjunction with Copeland, are: A New Drawing Book of Ornaments (n. d.); A New Book of Ornaments (1768); A New Book of Pier Frames, Ovals, Girandoles, Tables, &c. (1769); and A New Book of Foliage (1769).