Lorn a district and a presbytery of Argyllshire. The district is bounded, on the NW, by Loch Linnhe, which divides it from Morvern; on the N by Loch Leven, the river Leven, and the chain of lakelets drained by the Leven, which divide it from Inverness-shire; on the E by an arbitrary line across Rannoch Moor, and by the great central southward reach of the Grampians, which divide it from Perthshire; on the S partly by brief arbitrary lines, and chiefly by Lochs Awe, Avich, and Melfort, which divide it from Cowal and Argyll; on the W by the Firth of Lorn, which divides it from Mull. It includes also the islands belonging to the parish of Lismore and Appin, and the islands of Kerrera, Easdale, and Shuna. Its length, from N to S, varies from 22 to 33 miles, and its breadth, from E to W, varies from 15 to 32 miles. The parishes comprised in it are Lismore and Appin, Ardchattan and Muckairn, Kilmore and Kilbride, Glenorchy and Innishail, Kilbrandon and Kilchattan, Kilchrenan and Dalavich, Kilninver and Kilmelfort. The north-eastern portion of it, comprising Glencoe, Glenorchy, and the minor part of Rannoch Moor, belongs to it only in a loose and indefinite manner, whilst the rest of it, measuring 33 miles in extreme length, and about 9 miles in mean breadth, is strictly or emphatically Lorn, and is divided into Upper Lorn, lying N of Loch Etive, and including Appin and Airds; Middle Lorn, lying immediately S of Loch Etive, and including Muckairn; and Nether Lorn, separated from Middle Lorn by no natural boundary, and extending to Lochs Avich and Melfort. The district, in a general view, is grandly Highland; displays great wealth and variety of mountain, glen, romantic seaboard, picturesque fresh-water lake and long-reaching sea-loch; abounds in many kinds of interesting antiquities, both civil and ecclesiastical, from the ancient Caledonian to the late mediæval; has ancient historical associations connected with Dalriada, or the original Scottish kingdom; and possesses three of the most renowned ancient castles in the Western Highlands-Dunstaffnage, Dunolly, and Kilchurn. The Firth of Lorn extends southward from the junction of Loch Linnhe and the Sound of Mull; washes all the W coast of Lorn and all the SE coast of Mull; has a length of 17 miles, and a breadth of from 5 to 15 miles; contains Kerrera island, most of the Slate islands, and some small islets; has screens and intersections of remarkable force of character; is traversed by all the steamers plying between the Clyde and the North of Scotland; and, whether seen from many parts of its own bosom, or from numerous vantage-grounds on its shores, displays a variety and a magnificence of scenery unsurpassed by any in the kingdom. The district got its name from Loarn, one of the three brothers, sons of Erc, who, in the end of the 5th century, immigrated from the Irish Dalriada, and founded the Scottish monarchy; and it gives the titles of Baron and Marquis, in the peerage of Scotland, to the Duke of Argyll-the former title created in 1470, the latter in 1701. The Duke of Argyll's eldest son bears, by courtesy, the title of Marquis of Lorn; and the present Marquis, born in 1845, married in 1871 Her Royal Highness Princess Louise-Caroline-Alberta. The presbytery of Lorn comprehends the quoad civilia parishes of Ardchattan, Glenorchy, Kilbrandon, Kilchrenan, Kilmore, Kilninver, and Lismore, the quoad sacra parishes of Appin, Duror, Muckairn, Oban, and St Columba (Oban), and the chapelries of Kingairloch, Glencoe, Lochawe, Dalavich, and Connel Ferry, and holds its meetings at Oban on the last Tuesday of March and November, and the first Tuesday of May and November. Pop. (1871) 12,956, (1881) 14, 361, of whom 1128 were communicants of the Church of Scotland in 1878.-The Free Church also has a presbytery of Lorn, with churches at Appin, Ardchattan, Glenorchy, Kilbrandon, Kilninver, Muckairn, and Oban, and a preaching station at Kilchrenan, which 7 churches together had 1747 members and adherents in 1883.
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