Jim McTaggart discovers a Scottish retreat that was once a rival to Balmoral.

ROBERT BURNS was so enchanted by the scenery around Scotland’s oldest inn when he stayed there in 1787 that he wrote a 28- line poem in pencil on the wall above the fireplace in the bar.

His words can still be read beneath a protective cover at the Kenmore Hotel, which dates from 1572. It was then that the first landlord, How Hay, was granted a lease to run an “honest hostelrie”

providing “sufficient ale, bread and other provisions at all times”.

Having just enjoyed three nights there at a family reunion, I can confirm that those original aims are still being maintained.

Our annual gathering has taken place for some years at various notable Scots hotels, but all nine of us agreed that this was the best so far for comfort, food, service and location.

Kenmore is an attractive little Perthshire village at the eastern end of Loch Tay, from where the River Tay flows towards the North Sea. It is surrounded by mountains, and the area is rich in the folklore of Rob Roy, skirmishes, clan rivalries, brutal murders and mysteries.

Black Duncan was one of the leading figures in the bad old days, when he hunted down the MacGregors and punished them severely for being involved in the murder of the Earl of Moray.

But the atmosphere now is one of peace and serenity from early morning until late at night.

The scenery is spectacular, but a description is best left to Burns himself: The meeting cliffs, each deep sunk glen divides The woods, wild scattered, clothe their ample sides The outstretching lake, embosomed ’mong the hills The eye with wonder and amazement fills.

A few minutes’ walk away is Taymouth Castle, which was completed in 1841, on the site of a former stronghold, some months before Queen Victoria and Prince Albert paid it a visit in 1842. Local legend has it that the owners hoped the royal couple would buy the castle and make it their highland holiday home.

If that had happened the Kenmore area would have been altered for ever. But in the end Victoria decided she liked Balmoral better, so that spot further north has received much more public and press attention over the decades. She returned to Kenmore for a short break, however, after Albert’s death.

The castle is now in a poor state and is mostly fenced off awaiting renovation.

Part of the Kenmore Hotel is still intact as Burns must have seen it. But there are modern additions, including a glass-fronted dining room with views that can hardly be bettered anywhere, and a bar below it in which drinkers can be seen gazing in admiring silence over the water.

It is a splendid location for trout and salmon fishing as well as sailing, canoeing, rafting, golf and, apparently most popular of all, walking the well-beaten tracks.

Among other attractions in the area is the Fortingall Yew, believed to be the oldest tree in Europe and possibly the world.

Scholars have estimated that its roots go back 5,000 years. It can be seen through a fence, put up to stop souvenir hunters helping themselves to pieces of it.

Burns was 28 when he stayed at Kenmore and was already a national celebrity, thanks to his volumes of poetry. The landlord at that time must have been delighted to welcome such a wellknown figure. His poem, which appears on the wall without a title, is dated August 29 1787. He died less than nine years later at the age of 37.

A further description later in the poem runs:

The lawns, wood fringed in

Nature’s native taste

The hillocks dropt in Nature’s

careless haste

The arches, striding o’er the new

born stream

The village, glittering in the

noontide beam

Travel facts

The three-star Kenmore Hotel has 42 bedrooms. Jim McTaggart’s midweek break, with dinner, bed and breakfast for three nights, cost £145 a head. Tel: 01887-830-205 or visit kenmorehotel.com