Geograph - photograph every grid square

The body of water is called Loch Bowie on the map, but its local name is White's Dam or Whyte's Dam (I only know it as a spoken name). For a view of it from the road on its other side, see NS4275 : Whyte's Dam.

Previously, I considered the local name of this body of water to be a probable reference to James White, for whom nearby NS4276 : Overtoun House was built, or to his son, John Campbell White, who became Lord Overtoun, and who also lived in Overtoun House.

However, the small loch lies within the Barnhill estate, rather than the adjacent Overtoun estate. For that reason, a more likely possibility may be that the name refers, instead, to the Whytes of Barnhill; for example, a foundation stone at NS3975 : Bridgend House in Dumbarton mentions a Miss Whyte of Barnhill (during the 1930s). There is also a NS4274 : Whyte's Corner, Milton, at the foot of NS4275 : Milton Brae (the road that passes by the loch), presumably a reference to the same family. For that reason, I think that the local name is more likely to be "Whyte's Dam"; so, without wishing to be dogmatic about it, I have adopted that spelling for the caption of this photograph.

The picture was taken from NS4275 : Dumbowie Hill: south-eastern summit. The farm just above the centre of the photograph is NS4275 : Middleton Farm. More distant Greenland Farm is at the upper right, and, according to large-scale mapping, the building that lies partway up the slopes in the left-hand side of the image is Treedom Cottage, with The Barn beside it on the left.