0100,0100,0100Bill,
I have always assumed that the model for Glenarvan was the
Colquhoun family. Since the 14th C the family owned vast tracts of
the area from Luss to as far south as the Clyde at Dumbarton. The
clan castle is Rossdhu on a promontary jutting out into Loch
Lomond just south of Luss, which corresponds with the description
in Les E d CG. The family title was "Colquhouns of Luss" (their
family crest motto was "Si je peut").Their land was originally
acquired from Malcolm Earl of Essex in the 13th C. Rossdhu
Castle still exists, and is the HQ of the Loch Lomond Golf Course,
home of the Scottish Open.
We know that Verne was aware of this family and its terrible
fighting with the MacGregor clan (See Les Indes Noires, Ch.
XVIII."...d'un chant de guerre, qui relatait les exploits d'Alexandre
MacGregor, du glen Srae, contre Sir Humphrey Colquhour (sic), de
Luss".
I cant prove the family and the castle but they are my prime
suspects!
Regards,
Ian.