After acquiring the Glencoe Estate in 1895, Donald Alexander Smith and his wife, Isabella Sophia Hardisty, moved from Canada to Scotland. Soon after their arrival, Isabella became increasingly homesick for her ancestral lands in Canada. In an attempt to abate his wife's depression, Donald Alexander Smith had this forest painstakingly planted, and granted it to her as a private refuge. The lochan is currently under the care of the Forestry Commission.