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Guide to the Highlands and Islands of Scotland
Branch A. From Crieff and Greenloaning Station, by Lochearn-head, Killin, and Kenmore, to Tummel Bridge and Blair, and by Aberfeldy to Dunkeld; and by Curricmucklach and Aberfeldy to Dalnacardoch


Strathearn; Crieff, 1.—Drummond Castle, 2.—Ferntower; Monument to Sir David Baird, 3.—Roman Camps at Ardoch, 4—Ardoch to Crieff; Muthil, 5.—Monzie; Seats on direct Perth Road, 6.—Glen Almond; Pass to the Highlands by Amulree, 7 —Crieff to Comrie; Ochtertyre; Glen Turret, 8.—Cowrie; Devil's Caldron, 9- Comrie to Loch Earn; Aberuchill Castle; Dalchonzie; Dunira, 10—St. Ftllan's; Sept M'Neish, 11—Loch Earn; Falls of Edinample, 12.—Loch Tay; Killin, 13. —Finlarig; Falls of the Lochy, 14.—Drummond Hill; Falls of Acharn, 15.—Kenmore; Tavmouth Castle; Pleasure-grounds, 16.—Fortingal; Remarkable Yew Tree; Cowrie Castle, 17.—Glen Lyon, 18—Cushiville to Kinloch Rannoch; Tummel Bridge; Dalnacardoch, and Falls of Tummel, 19.—Castle Menzies, 20.—Falls of Aberfeldy, 21.—Aberfeldy to Dunkeld; Grandtully Castle, 22.

1. THE district of Strathearn, which intersects the southern portion of Perthshire, in a winding line nearly due east and west, joining Strath Tay at Perth, is one of the most fertile and highly embellished tracts our country has to boast of. Crieff has always been regarded as the capital of this beautiful valley. It stands on the brow of a terrace forming the haunch of an eminence of some pretensions, and overlooks a reach of Strathearn, here of great width, presenting a very extensive level expanse of country in a high state of cultivation. Sheltered from the easterly winds by a wooded hill, it has long been noted for the salubrity of its climate, and it is supplied with water of peculiar purity. It enjoys a remarkable freedom from deadly epidemics, and the banks of the Earn are among the favoured localities which have been spared the scourge of the cholera. To the westward the country south of the Earn gradually rises in wooded slopes towards the massive larch and pine-covered hill of Turleum, on the south side of a succeeding and narrower reach of the strath. The town consists of three main streets, concentrating in a neat square, adorned by a well surrounded by lime trees. On the north side is the principal hotel (the Drummond Arms—Robertson). [Among the stage coaches from and to Crieff in all directions. Mr. Robertson of the Drummond Arms has started a daily mail coach to Lochearnhead and Killin, and He believe to Callander, which is a valuable contribution to the public accommodation. A coach, in connexion, runs between Killin and Loch Lomond. Also one from Crieff by Amulree to Dunkeld. The distance front Edinburgh or Glasgow to Fort-William or Oban via Crief can be accomplished in one day.] An ancient stone cross in the street leading eastward well merits the antiquary's attention, though its history is unknown. In the same direction is an institution, for the education chiefly of young ladies connected with the Episcopal church, called St. Margaret's College, of which the bishop of the diocese is visitor. It forms a pleasing feature in the entrance from Perth. The accommodation and arrangements are, we believe, such as ensure a due amount of solid instruction, and of polished accomplishments, combined with domestic privacy and comfort. At the opposite end of the town a handsome massive lodge attracts the eye, with a neat Episcopal church close by.

Crieff is rich in historical associations, and is a place of very respectable antiquity; the earliest notice, however, occurring in a charter dated in 1218. From a very early period it was the accustomed court place of the Seneschals of Strathearn, whose very ancient earldom was our only County Palatine. The Perth family became heritable stewards of Strathearn in 1488. They were noted for their stern or sanguinary judicial administration. The huge iron stocks in which many a cateran did penance for his larcenies are still preserved, as also the far-famed "kind gallows of Crieff," referred to in Waverley, on passing which the Highlanders used to touch their bonnets, with the ejaculation, "God bless her nain sell, and the Tell tamn you."

The neighbourhood of Crieff presents within a narrow compass, as has been said with truth, quite a galaxy of aristocratic mansion houses. Is it owing to a consequent impress of exclusiveness on the otherwise courteous proprietors, that one is struck by the equally marked absence of the villas of the middle classes, the usual concomitants of a respectable town? A stingy denial of feuing sites is one of the most ungracious and unworthy acts possible on the part of landed proprietors; and the good folks of Crieff have well grounded cause of complaint of the privations, in the midst of "enough and to spare," to which they are subjected in this respect, and which cannot but operate as a hindrance to the improvement and increase of the place.

2. Of the country seats the most distinguished is Drummond Castle (Lord and Lady Willoughby de Eresby) four miles distant. The castle surmounts a rocky eminence, in the midst of a park of the most spacious dimensions, "a waste of lawn and pasture" skirting the ample sloping base of Turleum with its mantle of larch. Gentle hill, shelving dale, and undulating slopes diversify the policies, which extend two miles either way,

dotted with clumps and noble avenues of aged timber. The pastures are alive with hundreds of red and fallow deer, which gaze upon the stranger or bound away from his advancing steps; while on the north an extensive artificial sheet of water, encircled by fine oaks, with. foliage depending to the water's edge, presents its troops of stately and graceful swans and other waterfowl. Matchless flower gardens, well known by repute to every florist, lie on the south side of the castle rock. Figures intricately mingled, but "not without a plan," and mathematically cut in sward of velvet smoothness, interspersed with groups of statuary, form an extensive level parterre, which is connected by a shelving bank of shrubbery to a terrace and an esplanade, which leads by an archway into the castle court. The inhabited portion, an irregular range of building, rises abruptly from the edge of the rock. To the quadrangular space in front, the main access is across a half-moon court at the further end, formed by the ruins of an old square keep and its accessories, to an arched outer entrance under which, the approach has been cut through rock. Towering as it thus does above a demesne of such exquisite character, itself the centre of an expanse of rich and profusely wooded country, with the Grampians in sight on the north, Drummond Castle may well be pronounced, in the words of Macculloch, "absolutely unrivalled in the low country, and only exceeded in the Highlands by Dunkeld and Blair."

James the Fourth, the merry and chivalrous monarch, frequently visited Drummond Castle, and the tragic story of the fair but ill-fated Margaret Drummond is a well-known incident in early Scottish gossip. Her present Majesty and Prince Albert also honoured it with their presence in September 1842.

3. Strangers may be gratified at Ferntower House, within a mile of the town, with a sight of Tippoo Saib's sword, presented to Sir David Baird at Seringapatam, and of a great painting by Wilkie of the "Finding of the Body of Tippoo" after the storming of that important fortress, in which Sir David Baird bore a conspicuous part.

Among other of the delightful walks and excursions which the neighbourhood presents, "Lady Mary's Green Walk," along the banks of the Earn, conducts to Tomnachastle—a fine wooded eminence, three miles from Crieff, on which an obelisk of Aberdeen granite, 84 feet high, hits been erected to Sir David's memory. The view from the Knock of Crieff is also worthy of attention, and, if time permit, that from the top of Turleum will be found still more commanding and interesting.

4. Before quitting this locality we are tempted to wander a few miles further south, and make. room for a somewhat detailed description of the celebrated Roman Camps at Ardoch, in Strathallan, a district shelving down to Dunblane and the Bridge of Allan, which, immediately connected as they were with the gallant and patriotic struggles of our brave Highland ancestors, and unquestionably the most entire specimen of Roman castramentation in Scotland, and we believe in Britain, can hardly be deemed out of place. They are said to have been the Castra, Stativa of Agricola, when on this side of Bodotria, skirmishing with the hardy sons of Caledonia, under the leadership of Galgacus.

Since the opening of the line of the Scottish Central Railway, the Greenloaning Station has been regarded as one of the principal starting points to the Western Highlands of Perthshire. To meet the convenience of travellers, stage-coaches ply thrice a day to Muthil and Crieff, and private conveyances are also in attendance on the trains. And the line of road leading between Greenloaning and Crieff (11 miles), runs through a tract of country of great natural beauty—rich with historical associations. Shortly after passing the village of Braco (1 mile), and ascending the rising ground beyond the bridge which crosses the Knaick, the road leads right through the Camps.

The extensive space occupied by the camps consists of four departments. The position was happily selected for defence; on the west the Camp was safely protected by the abrupt steep rising from the river Knaick, and having two fossae between it and the banks; on the south by a deep morass, which extended a considerable way eastward, with its two fossae also; and on the east and north by deep intrenchments of five ditches and six ramparts parallel to the station; all of which were doubtless amply sufficient to guard those within, and to ward off the assaults of a besieging army. The area of the station within the intrenchments may still be seen, and is of an oblong form, 420 feet by 375, with its four sides nearly facing the cardinal points of the compass. The place of the Prectorium or general's quarter is a regular square of sixty feet in the side, in the rear or part furthest distant from the enemy; but it is marked off rather irregularly, for on inspection it is not found to be exactly in the middle between the gates, nor parallel with those of the station. It is however elevated above the general level of the ground, and appears to have been enclosed by a stone wall.

Within this, also there are the foundations of a building 30 feet by 27, which gives some probability to the conjecture that there was a place of worship once here, which is still called the Chapel Bill. [There is a deeply imbedded subterranean apartment which had probably been a water-tank, somewhere below the Pratorium, out of which at one period a number of Roman helmets, spears, and other memorials were recovered. But the search was interrupted by the foulness of the air. The opening of the aperture having been afterwards shut up, all subsequent attempts to find it have proved unavailing. Many stone coffins have been found at different times in digging about the camps, or near them, and some of the skeletons contained in them are said to have been of an uncommon size. Among others in a stone coffin found about a mile west from the camps, a skeleton, seven feet long ; and a mile and a half distant, in the Muir of Orchil, another of the same length, to Cairn Woehil. These have generally been in cairns or heaps of stones.]

Of the four gates which belonged to the Roman Station, three only are now to be distinguished, the fourth being scarcely traceable. Fronting the Praetorium is the Pratorian Gate, crossing the north lines in an oblique direction. Opposite to that gate, and behind the Praetorium where the Decuman Gate should be, is a road leading out of the Camp, which may have been the Decuman; and onwards to the right and left of the Prutorium are to be seen the two, which were called principal gates, as being at the ends of the principal street which crossed the camp in front of the Pratoriurn. Upon the Poly-bean system of castramentation, this fort would accommodate 1200 men.

Immediately adjacent to the north side of the station, is the Procestrium or Pro-castrum (for a camp), or an addition to the other, as probably used by Agricola, for containing his baggage, when he thought of dividing his army into three parts, in order to watch the movements of Galgacus, and fight him from the neighbouring hills. This Procestrium seems to have been strongly fortified, and a subsequent work to the other, for part of the area of the Great Camp was included in it ; but its intrenchments are levelled by the plough, while the corner of the former is yet visible. Its south gate is also to be seen, as connecting it with the station, and this again with the fragments of another gate on the north side. It was of an oblong shape, consisting of 1060 feet by 900, and capable of accommodating 4000 men.

North west of the Procestrium is the Great Camp, so styled from its size. Its mean length is 2800 feet, and its mean breadth 1950; it would, therefore, according to the Polybean system, hold about 26,000 men; and this was what induced General Roy to believe that it was in this camp that Agricola held his great army previous to his dividing it into three bodies, in order to meet and conquer the Caledonians.

The form of this camp is oblong, but not so regular as that of a parallelogram—a fact which seems to prove that the Romans did not adhere to mathematical nicety, where the nature of the ground did not well permit. The public road to the north, known of old as the military road, enters by its south gate, and so has cut down one-half of the epaulment which covered it; but the other half still remains rather entire. The north gate is a little east of the road, covered by a straight traverse, and another gate on the west is in the same way protected. On the east side, towards the north, there is a gate that has been defended, not only by a square redoubt, within the lines, but also by a clavicle—from which circumstance it may be supposed that a weak legion was there quartered.

On the west side of this Great Camp is a smaller one of an oblong shape. Its size is 1910 by 1340 feet, and it would afford accommodation for 12,000 men. To the antiquary this one is very interesting, especially in tracing the itinera of Agricola. It is evidently higher in position than the other camps ; one-half of it lies within the other camp, which is adjacent to it ; and the fact of its being left so very entire, would perhaps point to it as the abode of the third part of the Roman army that remained with their leader, whilst the others were encamped at Strageath, and Dealgin Ross, on the plains of Comrie; for the entireness of the camp serves to prove that it was the last occupied, and that Agricola left it in great haste with his third division, to aid the ninth legion, who were then almost subdued, in the Camp of Dealgin Ross. The camps are now enclosed within the grounds of Ardoch House, and carefully protected from further dilapidation.

5. Leaving the camp, and having gained the height to the north, the line of the military road formed by General Wade presents itself, and runs in a direct line over the Muir of Curry-over. Shortly afterwards the turnpike diverges to the right, and on the summit of the Muir we reach the policies of Orchil House—(Gillespie Graham). After an easy descent the road at Bishop Bridge crosses the river Machany—a fine clearly-running stream, and noted in the district for its excellent trout-fishing.

Surmounting another height, we find ourselves at the policies of Culdecs Castle—(Speir). Here the extensive plain, richly wooded, and studded with noblemen's and gentlemen's seats—to the left the grounds of Drummond Castle, backed by Turleum, and the lofty Ben Voirlich—in the foreground the village of Muthil, imbedded in wood, with Crieff beyond, and the heights in front of which it stands, overtopped by the Grampian range, present a landscape of extreme beauty, variety, and grandeur. A mile further to the northward stands the thriving village of Muthil, with its population of 1300 souls. The Old (formerly Collegiate) Church is now roofless, but it still raises its time-worn tower high over the venerable yews which encircle its choir. This pile, according to Spottiswood, was built four centuries ago by Bishop Ochiltree. The tower is one of those usually ascribed to the artists of the ninth century. [It is square, and about 70 feet high, like that at Dunning, near Forteviot, the Scoto-Pictish capital. The Brechin and Abernethy towers are narrow and round.]

The parish church, standing on a commanding site, is a fine specimen of the Gothic style. It was finished in 1828, at a cost of £6900, and is conveniently seated for 1600 persons. Passing through Muthil the wayfarer enters the magnificent avenue—composed of stately beeches, chesnut, and lime-trees—which embower the road to Crieff (three miles) ; and here and there the eye is attracted by a turret or a jutty of Drummond Castle half hid by the venerable elms,

"Whose boughs are mossed with age,
And high tops bald with dry antiquity,"

which contest for a standing place in the clefts.

TO AMULREE AND ABERFELDY.

6. Before entering on the route to Lochearnhead, we may shortly notice the access to the Highlands by Amulree. On the way Monzie (Campbell) is passed, in which the paintings and armoury are worthy of observation, while the grounds are highly picturesque. They contain a few of the first larches brought to this country by the Duke of Athole, and, like those at Dunkeld, of great size—from eighteen to twenty feet in girth. After passing Gilmerton, the road ascends a steep acclivity, near the top of which a magnificent view westward, towards Comrie, is displayed. We may observe, that along the direct Perth road are a succession of fine seats and other objects of note—as Abercairney, (Major Moray Stirling); the ruins of Inchaffray Abbey; Gorthy, (Mercer); Tippermalloch, (Smythe); Methven Castle, (Smythe), near which Bruce was defeated, June 19, 1306, by Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke; and Ruthven Castle—now called Huntingtower—the scene of the Raid of Ruthven.

7. Proceeding onwards from 1lfonzie, the road passes for three miles along a bare moor, till the picturesque grounds of Logie Almond (Paton) present their artificial outlines, in the middle of wild mountain scenery. The road to Amulree strikes to the left up the small glen. Another branch leads down Glen Almond, passing Logie Almond, Gorthie, (Mercer,) and soon reaches the inn of Cairnies, where good accommodation may be had, and whence the imposing buildings of Trinity College may be conveniently visited.

The pass into the Highlands possesses several rather remarkably bold and rugged features, and is worthy of a passing visit. It is flanked on one side by hollow acclivities, passing into huge impending rocks, and on the other by lofty cliffs quite perpendicular—is about two miles in length, and in some places so narrow, as barely to afford room for the bed of the river. In the bottom of the pass, towards its upper end, is a large, nearly cubical, stone, which tradition says formerly covered the tomb of Ossian, and which was displaced in 1746, during the formation of the road, when a small chamber was found below it, containing bones.

"Ossian, last of all his race,
Lies buried in this lonely place."

The highly-elevated summit of the opening communicating between Straths Earn and Tay (where the inn of Curriemucklach and the public-houses, with the church and manse of Amulree—situated on the Braan, which descends to Dunkeldare found) is a dreary waste, encompassed with low heathy hills. The distance to Dunkeld is ten; to Tay-Bridge, at Aberfeldy, twelve miles.

TO LOCHEARNHEAD.

8. Between Crieff and Comrie Stratbearn gradually narrows, and on the way we meet many country-seats. The lower part of the valley is rich in corn-fields, which are lined off and intersected by fine old trees, and flanked by hanging woods, while the northern boundary partakes much of a mountainous character. Ochtertyre, (Sir W. Keith Murray,) about two miles from Crieff, and Lawers House, (Mrs. Williamson,) further on, are surrounded by noble woods. Between them, Strowan (Graham Stirling) and Clathie (Colquhoun). Ochtertyre has acquired a deserved celebrity for the romantic beauty of its situation. It occupies an elevated terrace on the slope of a long wooded hill, skirted at the base by a sheet of water of considerable extent, variegated with wood-clad islets. The course of the neighbouring stream—the Turret—exhibits a variety of much-admired scenery, rendered classical by the pen of Burns, who also, while at Ochtertyre, wrote the blythesome song of "Blythe blythe and merry was she," on the "Flower of Strathmore," Miss Euphemia Murray of Lintrose. Loch Turret—a fine loch about seven miles distant from Crieff, overhung by a bold crag, and embellished by a castellated lodge—lies embosomed among the hills forming the frontier range of the Grampians. On the way, the tourist should visit the Falls of the Borvick, and those of the Turret in returning. The parks of Lawers boast, perhaps, the largest pine trees to be seen in any part of Scotland.

9. Comrie is a populous village, situated on the north bank of the Earn. It possesses a neat church and spire. Cotton-weaving for the Glasgow manufacturers is the chief occupation of the inhabitants. Half a mile south of the village, on the level plain of Dealginross, are the remains of another Roman camp, calculated to have been of a size sufficient to accommodate 8000 foot and 3000 horse. It is by commentators supposed to have been that of Agricola's 19th legion, who were surprised and defeated by the Caledonians, under Galgacus, at the foot of the Grampians ; though the tide of victory was turned by the attack on the Caledonians in the rear, by the forces from the camp at Ardoch, already described. About a mile and a half behind the village, a well-proportioned monument, about seventy-two feet in height, has been erected to the memory of the late Lord Melville, overhanging a turbulent little stream called the "humble Bumble." Near the monument is the "Devil's Caldron," where the rivulet, at the further extremity of a long, deep, and narrow chasm, is precipitated in a fall of some height. As it escapes from its confinement, it tumbles over a second lower perpendicular descent, and then, rushing down in a slanting curve, it leaps headlong into a wide deep pool, half over-arched by two moss-covered rocks, which, falling from above, have suddenly stopped, perching themselves on the very verge of the gulf, and overhanging, on opposite sides, the darkened water. From the monument the view is extensive, varied, and interesting.

The neighbourhood of Comrie is remarkable for the frequent occurrence of smart shocks of earthquakes, by which solid bodies have been made to vibrate, and lighter ones overturned. The most severe shock which has occurred in the memory of the oldest inhabitants, was that which occurred on 23d October 1839. They generally happen in the wane of the moon, and are immediately preceded by a great stillness of the atmosphere. [Those who may be desirous of making themselves acquainted with these phenomena are referred to the Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, 1841-42.]

10. Between the village of Comrie and Loch Earn (five miles and a half distant), we pass Aberuchil Castle, Dalchonzie, and the mansion of Dunira (Sir David Dundas, Bart.), with its picturesque grounds and many pleasure walks. A little way east of St. Fillan's, the strath becomes for a short space very narrow, and the mountains seem to close in upon the traveller.

The pedestrian or horseman ought to cross to the south bank of the river at the Bridge of Koss, for a couple of miles. He will thus pass close to Abenichil Castle (Col. Drummond), a high square structure, built in 1602, with a more modern addition. It has witnessed many sanguinary scenes between the Campbells and MacGregors. Avenues of lime, horse-chesnut, and other trees of great growth, adorn the grounds. Dalchonzie is a name given to a sporting retreat, consisting of a row of neat white-washed houses on the south bank of the river. Dunira is the country residence to which the celebrated Lord Melville retired from public life. It is a large square building, standing on a spacious level lawn (north side), encompassed by lofty and wooded mountains. In the house is to be seen a curious and costly jewel casket of Hyder Ali.

11. The village of St. Fillan's, at the east end of Loch Earn, is one of the neatest in the Highlands. It consists of about fifty houses, of one story each, but almost all of which are slated, and extending from the inn at the end of the lake, partly along the river and partly along the lake side. Most of the houses used to be ornamented in front with ivy, honeysuckle, and other creepers, and each house has a narrow stripe of ground enclosed, on either side of the door, decorated with laurel and flowering shrubs. But we regret to find that the inhabitants are not careful to retain their reputation for the tidiness and taste which used to distinguish their dwellings. At the west end there are some very neat houses, with gardens in front. St. Fillan, who had been prior of Pittenweem, was Robert Bruce's favourite saint. One of his arms was borne in a shrine by the Abbot of Inchaffray, at the battle of Bannockburn. This arm is now in North America, in the possession of a man named Dewar. Ibis well here, as well as in Strath Fillan, was, in the memory of the present generation, deemed efficacious for the cure of many disorders.

An islet, at the foot of Loch Earn, was at one time the retreat of a bandit family or sept of the name of Neish. On one occasion they ventured to plunder some of the clan Mac Nab, who lived at the west end of Loch Tay, while on their way from a foray in the low country. The chieftain despatched across the hill a party carrying a boat with them, and commanded by his son, a doughty personage, known by the appellative of smooth John Mac Xab, who surprised the marauders by night, put them all to the sword, and exterminated almost the whole Sept of the Neishes, and carried away in triumph the head of the old father of the caterans. Hence the Mac Nab's motto, "Dread nought," with their crest, a man's head, are said to have been assumed in commemoration of this event.

12. Loch Earn is only between six and seven miles in length. The hills on the north are pretty lofty, but without marked inclinations. MI`Culloch, who is a great authority, gives Loch Earn unqualified praise. Iie regards its style as that of a lake of much larger dimensions and yet complete in itself, and not to be regarded as a reduced copy. It has not impressed us so forcibly, yet there is considerable truth in his eulogium. Good views are obtained from the extremities. As on Loch Tay, the northern hills are of more decided character than the opposing ones.

Should the traveller incline to shape his route eastward by Loch Earn side, the southern road is to be preferred, as it affords a fine view of the scenery stretching to the north. From within a mile and a half of Lochearnhead, it will be found to pass through continuous woods of oak, larch, ash, and birch, with oak copse, and brushwood beneath. The finest landscapes occur about midway, a little to the cast of the house of Ardvorlich (- Stewart), where trees of various sizes overhang the water, and short wood-fringed promontories projecting into the lake, with gracefully sweeping arms of little semicircular bays, bordered with trees, afford a pleasing foreground and a sufficiency of ornament, while of the water and opposite hills only limited sections are necessarily embraced by the eye. Ben Voirlich rears its lofty head behind Ardvorlich; and the still celebrated Deer Forest of Glenartney spreads around its eastern base. [For an account of the well-known incident founded on in the Legend of Montrose, and the subject of Clan Alpin's vow—a spirited piece of poetry by Alexander Boswell, sec p. 87.] Rather more than a mile and a half from the inn of Lochearnhcad, we come to the Castle and Falls of Edinample. The former, near the loch and burn side, is a high square building, with a round tower bulging out from each of two opposite corners. It belongs to the Earl of Breadalbane, and is kept in a habitable state of repair, and is now the residence of Campbell, Esq. The falls are immediately below the road, and are approached on the east side of the rivulet. Pouring over a broad rugged rock, in two perpendicular streams, on each side of a narrow interposing fragment, the waters unite about midway, and, slanting forward, complete the descent by a second vertical leap ; the whole height apparently being about sixty feet. On the opposite side of the pool, below the fall, the bank rises in abrupt rocks, surmounted by a wooded slope, from the edge of which slender ash trees project. The other bank ascends in a receding tree-clad acclivity. Airy birches crown the high broad cliffs above the fall, and behind them are seen the sombre walls of an old burial vault. Opposite Ardvorlich, on the north side, is a valuable lime quarry, which has tended greatly to the agricultural improvement of the district.

13. The Loch Tay road branches off from the main one, between Stirling and Fort-William, at a point about six miles distant from Lochearnhead, and rather more than two from the village of Killin, at the west end of Loch Tay. This lake is fifteen miles in length by one of general breadth. On the north side it is encompassed by a chain of bulky mountains, rising towards the west and centre, into bare and lofty, but gracefully outlined heads, of which Ben Lawers, the most elevated of the Perthshire hills, towers pre-eminent. [This mountain is well known as an excellent botanical habitat. its Height is 4015 feet.] The opposite heights differ in outline, being of a soft and regular form; and on both sides the mountain ranges are well clothed with heath and pasture, but little broken with naked rock. At the head of Loch Tay, two glens, Dochart and Lochy, separated by a broad range of hills, unite. From the termination of the intervening barrier, a cultivated plain, about a mile square, extends to the extremity of the lake. The line of hill ground, intermediate between the two valleys, descends in a long waving ridge, whose sides are clothed more than half-way down with a dense larch wood. Between the hills which border on Loch Tay to the south, and the western portion of the lake, a lower tier ascends in successive eminences, profusely chequered with oak, birch, pine, larch, and beech. Upon the north the plain is immediately succeeded by broken ground, wooded as the opposite hills. The river Lochy, from this side, sweeps across the level at the foot of the mid range, and proceeds to join the Dochart, in a still, all but motionless stream.

Killin, the burying place of Fingal, is much admired for its numerous landscapes. The village, a long line of stone and lime huts, thatched with heath, extends in opposite directions on both banks of the Dochart, before it is joined by the Lochy. The river at Killin rushes over a widened and shelving channel, and encircles two islands immediately above one another. From the upper end of the lower, three small bridges cross the stream. This island is some two hundred yards long, and is surrounded by a grove of tall magnificent pines, from six to eight feet thick ; the upper islet is also crowned with similar pines. These objects, with the houses and mills of the village, afford a multiplicity of foregrounds to the noble views of the huge sides and lofty twin summits of Ben Lavers and the contiguous mountains, and, looking to the westward, of Ben More's sharper peaks.

14. On the north side of the plain above alluded to, rather more than a mile and a half from the village, stand the ruins of Finlarig Castle, (an ancient seat of the Breadalbane family,) in an undulating park, surrounded by gigantic sycamore and other trees of remarkable growth. The castle, a narrow, three-storeyed building, with a square tower at one corner, is entirely overgrown or faced with ivy ; and though the walls have mainly fallen, and the building be small, it forms a picturesque ruin. Immediately adjoining is the family vault.

On the occasion of a marriage festival at Finlarig, in years gone by, when occupied by the heir-apparent, intelligence visas given to the company, which comprised the principal youth of the clan, that a party of the Macdonalds of Keppoch, who had just passed with a drove of lifted cattle, had refused to pay the accustomed road collop. Flushed with revelry, the guests indignantly sallied out and attacked the Macdonalds on the adjoining hill of Stronoclachan; but, from their irregular impetuosity, they were repulsed with loss. Tidings of the affray were conveyed to Taymouth; and, a reinforcement arriving, the victors were overtaken in Glenorchy, and routed, and their leader slain.

Three miles from the inn, on the Lochy, are a series of waterfalls, well worthy of a visit. Glen Lochy throughout the space below them is a wide open valley, divided into large cultivated fields ; fine woods of oak, birch, larch, and beech extend above, and some large plane and ash trees overhang the road. The falls are six in number, arranged into two groups, separated by a deep clear pool, and they are flanked by oak-surmounted rocks. They vary from four to sixteen feet in height; and, as the whole are seen at once, form a very pleasing series of cascades.

15. A road branches off on either side of Loch Tay. The southern keeps high on the face of the hills, touching the edge of the water but twice, till within a mile and a half of Kenmore : this is the preferable route, on account of the superior characters of the opposite mountain range, and the occurrence near Kenmore of the falls of Acharn. A good deal of cultivation is seen on either side, and a considerable number of hamlets, particularly on the north. The wood is chiefly confined to the extremities of the lake, but its obtuse promontories are lined with drooping ash trees. In the rich foliage on the south, adjoining Killin, stands embosomed a residence in which the Marquis of Breadalbane resided when Lord Glenorchy. The eastern section of Loch Tay is bounded on the north by Drummond Hill (distinct and separated from the chain of Ben Lawers, by which the rest of that side is bordered), which reaches for three miles along the loch, and to a like extent down the river Tay; its steep southern acclivity clothed throughout with a dense magnificent forest of pine, larch, and hard wood.

Two miles from Kenmore, on the south side of Loch Tay, are the Falls of Acharn, half a mile off the road. The path which leads to them strikes off on the west side of a small bridge, where there is a mill and some slated houses, and ascends right up the hill face. A gate on the bordering dyke leads to the edge of a high rock ; and an artificial dark passage conducts into a neat hermitage, commanding an excellent view of the fall. The burn, precipitating its waters over the side of a deep and wooded dell, first performs a perpendicular descent of fully fifty feet, separating towards the bottom into two vertical streams, which are caught by a small basin ; whence the water escapes by successive inclined leaps, the whole forming a cascade apparently about eighty or ninety feet high.

16. At the east end of Loch Tay the traveller reaches the village of Kenmore, and the much-admired environs of Taymouth Castle. The valley is here of moderate breadth. As already noticed, the eastern portion of Loch Tay, and the river issuing from it for the first few miles of its course, are bounded on the north side by a long wooded eminence called Drummond Hill. The corresponding hills on the south side, for the first two miles, rise in a moderate acclivity, richly wooded with oak, birch, and larch. Above this broad belt of wood, a gentle arable slope supervenes, rounding off at top in a prolonged, nearly level, summit, partly covered with larch trees. Further east, the continuation of this the southern range inclines from the wooded bank of the river, in a lengthened slope, laid out into extensive parks, divided by straight rows and belts of wood, and the surface of the ground above is chequered over with small formal clumps of larch. The river issuing from the north end of the lake keeps the same side of the valley for about two miles ; when it makes a sudden sweep to the base of the opposite hills. The space thus enclosed for two miles on the south side of the river is, for a third of its length, that next the lake, broken into gentle undulations ; and the remaining portion presents a triple series of level terraces, gradually lowering from the west. On the most easterly terrace stands Tay-mouth Castle, the seat of Lord Breadalbane. The village of Kenmore, at the end of Loch Tay, consists of an inn, and about a score of small houses (a few of them bedecked in front with ivy, honeysuckle, virgin's bower, and sweet-briar), occupying in a wide double row the slope of a small peninsula, formed between the river and a creek, or prolongation of the lake, and surmounted by a church, with a neat, square, white-washed spire.

At a distance of three miles from the lake, the Tay is joined by the river Lyon, which has its source in the district of Fortingal, to the north of Drummond Hill. Its mouth forms the limit of the pleasure-grounds of Taymouth, which encompass a circuit of thirteen miles.

Along the north bank of the Tay there extends a continuous row of stately beech trees, two miles in length, over-shadowing a terraced walk of shaven turf, sixteen yards wide, extending between it and the river. For a mile from Kenmore, on the opposite side, a corresponding row of more aged beech, screen with their umbrageous foliage a similar promenade. Many fine sycamores occur at intervals by the edge of the water, and behind the castle the winding stream is skirted by an avenue of very old lime trees; and the extremities are connected by a continuation of the same in a straight line, the whole forming a continued Gothic arch for the space of a mile. These magnificent trees, the growth of centuries, are of unusual height; and their lower branches, spreading far out, form sort of side-aisles to the fine central arched way. The rest of the lower surface of the valley is sprinkled with aged beech trees, one of which is twenty-two feet in circumference. Taymouth Castle looks to the south; and at the base of the wooded hills in front are some gigantic and picturesque horse-chesnut and ash trees, as well as several uncommonly straight and beautiful larches, fourteen feet in girth, and a hundred and thirty feet high. A great proportion of the very varied trees have attained large dimensions. We may further particularize an ash behind the inn at Kenmore—a beech at the saw-mill--and a lime tree nearly in front of the castle.

This castle is a very large ashen-coloured quadrangular pile of four storeys, with round corner-towers, wings two storeys high at opposite corners, and one of them a rather incongruous remnant of the old castle, and terminating in an airy central pavilion, 150 feet in height. A light stone balcony encircles the lower storey, which is crenulated, as is also the roof. Some ancient armour from the time of Henry II. to Cromwell's, may be seen in the entrance-hall, and the coup d'oeil of the pavilioned staircase is striking. Some of the rooms, as the baron's hall, dining, drawing, and Chinese rooms, are worthy of notice, and possess several valuable specimens by the old masters ; and on the occasion of her Majesty's visit, a large outlay was made in the way of permanent decoration, and many costly articles were added to the furnishings.

The disposal of the pleasure-grounds about Taymouth Castle has been censured as much too formal and constrained ; and there is some room for the remark : but they possess great beauty, and, it must be allowed, no small degree of grandeur, especially as conjoined with the bold and commanding features of the adjoining alpine scenery. The view from the vista-fort, in the face of the hill, directly fronting the castle, is reckoned one of the finest in Scotland. In the centre of the landscape a portion of the lake widens towards the spectator. On the Ieft, two long hill slopes, partly wooded, rise from the water, one above another; to the right, Drummond Hill sends down its wooded sides, and behind it rises the gigantic bulk of Ben Lawers, stretching away, in a prolonged oblique direction, to the remote distance, Ben More also shooting up from the extremity of the range his conical summit. At the near end of the lake rise the houses and church of Kenmore, embosomed in trees; and to the north of them a handsome bridge of seven arches is seen spanning the Tay, "revolving sweet in infant pride," and beyond it, a little wooded island, in which Sybilla, queen of AIexander I. is interred. The immediate foreground is filled up by the termination of the tree-studded park. But a view, perhaps better adapted for the pencil, is that obtained from Lady's Mount, the first rise in the ground near Kenmore, where, with the same background, the near objects are more distinct, and the picture less complicated and extensive. The scenery is distinguished by the very long and remarkably gentle slopes around the extremity of the lake—the rounded shoulders and elongated outlines of the hills—and the encircling zone of cultivated ground, variegated with trees.

A fanciful dairy, on a wooded eminence above the river, midway between the castle and the village, is not unworthy of a visit, partly on account of the commanding view it affords of the park and Iake—the latter presented through a vista of foliage; and perhaps preferable to either of those already indicated. The dairy is a square or cross-shaped structure of two storeys, of protruding white quartz stones, with projecting roofs of slated and rustic work, and encircled by rustic pillars, and a verandah covered with flowering creepers, and a parterre of flowers—the porticoed entrance-floors paved with marble, and the milk rooms and lobby flagged with a fine freestone inlaid with black marble. The walls of this ornamental little dairy are faced with polished yellow Dutch tiles, and the milk dishes are of brown china.

The grounds of Taymouth are remarkable for the number of zoological curiosities congregated within their ample bounds —several varieties of sheep, all our native deer, and specimens of the emu, bison, buffalo, the white Caledonian cattle, and the once indigenous splendid capercailzie.

The brilliant effect may readily be conceived of the illumination, when her Majesty was feted here in a style of splendour which could hardly have been surpassed; the whole woodland one blaze of variegated light—the wire fence of the deer park festooned into a girdle of fire—the vista-fort illuminated by 40,000 lamps—the mountain tops kindled up into so many lustrous beacons, and a magnificent display of fireworks adding gorgeous coruscations to the fairy scene, amidst which a vast assemblage wandered about, deeply impressed and strangely excited by the unwonted presence of royalty, and the rare-demonstrations of costly hospitality on the part of the noble host.

Lord Breadalbane's estates are very numerously peopled by small tenants, who hold their possessions at will, without leases.

17. On the north side of Drummond Hill lies an open and partially-wooded valley, called Fortingal, extending for about seven miles from Loch Tay side to Strath Tay, through which the river Lyon pursues its course to the Tay. This river flows into Fortingal from Glen Lyon, on the north side of Ben Lacers, and the connected hills which border on Loch Tay. About three miles from the lake, and six from Kenmore, and on the north side of the river, is the Kirkton of Fortingal—a few slated houses and thatched huts around the church. The churchyard is remarkable for the remains of an enormous yew-tree, which furnished many a goodly bow when that weapon formed a part of a Scotsman's armoury. This is a very singular tree: it has been calculated by eminent physiologists to be 2500 years old. About a century ago, the trunk was single, and measured fifty-$ix feet : now it presents the appearance of two stems, about twelve feet high ; of these the largest, which is quite hollow, is twenty feet in girth. Though so much decayed in the core, it is completely sprouted over with young branches. To the west of the Kirkton the Lyon is crossed by a bridge ; at Comrie, three miles in the opposite direction, a boat supplies the place of another, now in ruins. It may be almost needless to observe, that the pedestrian can reach Fortino l by crossing Drummond Hill immediately above Kenmore. In the space between Kirkton and the boat of Comrie, the Lyon presents some fine studies of river scenery. A mile below the Kirkton stands the house of Garth, surrounded by fine avenues of trees; and about the same distance onwards the road crosses the Keltnie burn, a little beyond which is the inn of Cushiville. The river is throughout lined with spreading oaks. Comrie's old castle, consisting of the shell of a small oblong building, of three storeys, with a square addition projecting at right angles at one end, next appears, surrounded by fine sycamores. The Lyon forms a junction with the Tay, about three quarters of a mile below its walls.

18. Glen Lyon is connected with Fortingal about a mile above the Kirkton, by the pass of Chesthill, which is well worthy of being explored. This section, which is much inflected, is bordered on the south by hills rising in green steep acclivities, with rocky spaces interspersed. The opposing mountains are bold, lofty, and lumpish, and swell into massive rocky and heathy summits. At the commencement of the pass, their bases bulge out, forming to the shelving river a steep bank covered with fine beeches. Towards the further end they send down, across the glen, to the river and deep indented hollow of the opposite range, a series of broad rocky hills These are covered to the water's edge with very large beech, elm, oak, ash, spruce, birch, and sycamore trees. Beyond this rich space Glen Lyon stretches away for a distance of nearly thirty-five miles towards Tyndrum. It is a remarkably fine pastoral valley—very narrow, seldom above a furlong in width, and at times barely admitting the passage of the river; and it is hemmed in by hills of considerable height, much furrowed with water-courses, forming, in rainy weather, so many continuous cataracts, several hundred feet in height. Meggerney Castle was built in 1579, and is approached through an avenue of a mile long, between rows of magnificent beeches and limes, winding along the banks of the river Lyon, and screening the castle till it bursts upon the sight at the extreme end of a fine lawn. " Opposite the castle is an island, which, when seen from the east, has the appearance of a heart, lines of tall beeches fringing it on either side, and dipping their branches into the silent stream below. Beyond is a picturesque wood of weeping birch, beech, elm, and lime trees, and the landscape formed by the mellow and varied tints of their foliages surpasses the most finished mosaic, just as much as nature usually transcends art." There are several remains of circular forts of Fingalian masonry without cement, some of them of 60 feet inside diameter, and the walls generally eight feet thick, though it is conjectured that they had not probably exceeded twelve feet in height ; but they seem to have had several compartments, extending into the inner area. A little below one of these is Clach Chonabhachan, in the braes of Glen Lyon, a perpendicular slab four feet high, with a rectangular slab projecting from within twelve inches of its apex. "The virtue which this stone possessed was peculiar. Married ladies in an 'interesting situation' were carried to it by their husbands. If their fair proportions were embraced by the slab, they were assured of a favourable confinement ; if otherwise, they must prepare for a fatal one. An unfortunate female subjected to the test proved a world too wide for the shrunk aperture, and her gudeman, in digging away the earth to widen the trench, destroyed the virtue, and killed his wife." At the west end of Fortingal, and to the north of the river, there was a Roman camp, of which the Prutorium is still entire. Hard by is a large tumulus, which possibly could a tale unfold.

19. Near the inn of Cushiville a road ascends along the banks of the Keltnie Burn, crossing the hills intermediate between Straths Tay and Tummel. At Tummel Bridge, nine miles from Cushiville, the road is continued onwards to Dalnacardoch (ten miles distant), where it joins that from Perth to Inverness. In journeying northward from Cushiville the road ascends along the edge of a deep and wooded dell, bordered by sloping cultivated ground, for about two miles, and crosses the hill to Tummel Bridge, through a wide elevated pass between heathy hills. About a mile and a half from the low fields, the ruins of a high square keep called Garth Castle, on the banks of the Keltnie, serve as a good foreground to a variety of interesting landscapes. It stands on a narrow, rocky promontory, between two rivulets, which, approaching in deep perpendicular channels, at nearly right angles to one another, have almost met at the narrowed neck of this promontory ; but the upper one, deflecting a little aside, leaves an almost inaccessible projection for the site of the stronghold. It forms a prominent object in the views which are obtained, either Iooking up the confined channel of the burn, or from the rising ground above, whence we look down upon a long shelving valley, ascending in easy irregular slopes from the deep imbedded burn, which is over-canopied by slanting trees.

At the top of the ascent, about half-way from Cushiville to Tummel-Bridge, a good country-road on the left hand conducts to Kinloch Rannoch, thirteen miles distant from Cushiville. Leading along the hill-face, to the base of the upper acclivity of Schehallion, it descends into Strath Tummel, about three miles to the east of Kinloch Rannoch. Loch Rannoch (eleven or twelve miles long, and better than a mile of average breadth) is a straight sheet of water, bordered on the north by long low eminences of gentle slope, and regular unbroken outline. The hills on the south are higher and steeper: they stand apart from one another, and in the centre are removed from the water's edge ; and the breadth between the summits on the opposite sides of the loch is not short of twenty miles. One continued forest of natural birch and fir, called "the Black Wood of Rannoch," mantles the south side, from the margin of the water half-way up the mountains, and a tolerably good road encircles the lake. The waters of Loch Rannoch abound in trout of a very unusual size, being sometimes caught of thirty pounds weight. From the head of Loch Rannoch Loch Erochd stretches for sixteen miles towards Dalwhinnie—a dreary sheet of water, about a mile of general width. The village of Kinloch Rannoch, at the cast end of the loch, consists of half a-dozen huts, and an inn on the south side; and about a score more huts and another inn, a church and a manse, on the opposite side of the river Tummel, over which a bridge has been thrown.

For three miles below Kinloch Rannoch, the surface of the valley is quite flat, and upwards of a mile wide, consisting of a mixture of meadow and cultivated land. The advancing side-ridges of Schehallion, and a broad terrace or eminence on the north, then fill up the valley, leaving, for about two miles, room only for the passage of the river, the banks of which are wooded with birch, larch, and fir. Mount House (Robertson of Struan, chief of the Clan Donachie) occupies the upper end of this obstructing terrace; and above it, on the sides of the strath, are the houses of Milltown, (M'Donell); Crossmount, (Stuart); Dalchosnie, (Macdonald); and Inverchallan, (Stuart). Afterwards, the glen again becomes level, and continues widening till we reach Loch Tummel, ten miles distant from Loch Rannoch. Tummel Bridge Inn, a comfortable house, where the road from Crieff to Dalnacardoch crosses, is seven miles from the latter lake. Loch Tummel is three miles long, and at the west end about two-thirds of a mile in width, contracting towards the opposite extremity. Several obtuse little promontories, sweetly fringed with ash, project into the water. The hills along the upper portion of the strath are of gentle inclination and moderate height; those on the north preserve nearly an unbroken level outline. The southerly ones exhibit low detached summits, but rising from a common continuous chain. In the slight depressions of the hill-face, a good deal of land has been brought into cultivation, and the greater part of the north side of Loch Tummel is arable. Birch is scattered here and there, but heath and grey stones occupy by far the largest portion of the ground. As it approaches Loch Tummel, the tortuous river is skirted with ash trees. Near its mouth the house of Fosse (Stuart) stands on the south side of the valley. The space of four miles from Loch Tummel to the Garry is a very deep, confined pass, while the north side ascends very steeply from the water, and to an imposing height, swelling out above into a continued succession of rounded cliffs, with intermediate receding acclivities, the whole clothed with birch, but mingled with some fir and larch trees. The opposite side is of much the same, though less-strongly marked characters. On the face of the north side stands the house of Bonskeid, (Stuart). A few hundred yards from where it joins the Garry, the river Tummel forms a small water-fall deserving of a passing visit. It is divided into two streams by a small rock, on each side of which it pours for a few feet perpendicularly. Rushing furiously forward, they reunite, and, in contracted volume, dash obliquely over the remaining descent, the whole height not exceeding twenty feet. At the east end of Loch Tummel, the pedestrian should cross to the south side of the pass, by which means the scenery will he viewed to rather more advantage than from the other side, and he can afterwards be ferried over to the Dunkeld and Blair road at Portnacraig, opposite Pitlochry, three miles below the fall, or two miles farther down the river, at Moulinearn, The North Road crosses the Garry, at the bridge of Garry, near the lower end of the Pass of Killiecrankie.

20. Returning now to the Tay. Below the junction of the Tay and Lyon the valley of Tay becomes of considerable width, being at Aberfeldy (six miles from Kenmore, and eight from Kirkton of Fortingal) about a mile and a half broad. It winds in long gentle sweeps, and is for several miles quite flat and cultivated. Between five and six miles from Kenmore, on the north side, stands Castle 'Menzies, the seat of Sir Robert Menzies, at the foot of a lofty range of rocky hills, rising in successive tiers of perpendicular precipices, having noble oak and beech trees rooted in their ledges, and the less abrupt acclivities covered over with hard wood. The castle was erected in the sixteenth century. Like many buildings of that age, it presents a high roof, small windows and turrets, and consists of an oblong building, to the two opposite corners of which is added a tall square wing, at right angles, one advancing in front, the other retiring backwards. It is surrounded by a park, filled with aged trees, rivalling in dimensions those of Taymouth. At the end of the park is the respectable inn of Weem.

Opposite Aberfeldy the river is crossed by one of General Wade's bridges. A tapering obelisk over each corner of the central arch, about twelve feet above the high solid parapet, produces a singular but picturesque effect.

21. Aberfeldy is a village of considerable size, chiefly of one long street, with another leading off about the centre, and a small square at their junction; the houses of one and two storeys, and slated, but cold and comfortless looking, from the small and unlintelled windows; but the stream which passes through it exhibits the most beautiful series of waterfalls, perhaps, in Scotland. The lowest of the falls of lioness is a mile from the village; the upper—for there are three—half a mile beyond it. The dell in which these falls occur is apparently from 200 to 300 feet deep, and exceedingly confined, so much so that the trees, with which it is filled, in some places almost meet from the opposite sides. The wood forms a perfect thicket, and the walk is completely shaded from the sun. The lowest falls consist chiefly of a series of cascades, formed by a small tributary rivulet pouring down the east side of the dell, and seemingly altogether about eighty feet of perpendicular height. These join the main burn at the base of a little fall, which forms a conspicuous object in the sweet view obtained from the channel of the stream. From the end of a clear pool, where the motion of the water is indicated only by the bells of foam gliding slowly down, the spectator sees, at the further extremity of a low narrow chasm of black moistened rock, the small waterfall, at such a distance that its noise reaches the ear in a soft lulling murmur. On either hand rise high sloping banks, adorned with trees. A sweep of one side of the dell terminates the opening with a steep face of wood. From the edge of the fall shoots up a long slender spruce, succeeded by straight elms, and leafy beech trees. Young drooping ash trees, from the opposite bank, dip their tapering branches in the pool ; each little protruding rock is covered with moss, and curtained with pendent ferns. Through the trees the other streamlet is beheld descending in sidelong haste.

Let the visitor, however, hasten on to the next series, for they demand particular examination. They consist of a succession of falls, comprising a perpendicular height of not less than a hundred feet, and occupying in length a space of considerably more than the like number of yards. A prolonged sheet of descending water, alternately perpendicular and slanting, is before us. From the edge of this lengthened cataract rise abrupt rocky acclivities, covered with moss and ferns, whence shoot up tall slender ash and elms. These partially veil two lichen-clad mural cliffs, converging towards the uppermost of these falls, above which they rear two high vertical lines; on the top of these cliffs nod serried groves of pine and larch, while a row of airy birches wave on the slanting summit of the bank which closes in the rocky gap. The last and highest cascade is a perpendicular fall of about fifty feet, but possessing no peculiar interest. Here a rustic bridge conducts across the dell, and affords the traveller the opportunity of varying his route back to the inn.

22. From Aberfeldy the Tay maintains an easterly course for nine or ten miles, till it is joined at Logierait by the river Tummel. The hills, bordering this portion of Strath Tay diminish to a comparatively low size. Irregular terraces occupy the bottom of the central portion of this section of the valley, which above and below this space is Ievel and open. The hill sides rise in undulating slopes, all more or less cultivated, and frequently wooded to the top, especially on the north side, on which also a succession of substantial-looking residences present themselves, as Blackhill, Daltulich, Cloichfollich, Pittencree, and Bolechine, the seats of families chiefly of the name of Stewart. Three miles below Aberfeldy, Grandtully Castle (Sir William D. Stewart of Murthly), stands by the roadside surrounded by rows of stately elms. It is an old structure, but kept in a habitable condition. From each of two contiguous sides of a large oblong building a tall square narrow addition projects at right angles. An extinguisher turret surmounts the two free corners of the main building, and a sort of round tower or section of one, containing the staircase, bulges out behind, and projecting .high above the castle, terminates in a pointed roof. One of the square wings is completely encompassed with ivy, and the whole of almost uniform outline. The great novelist states, that this building bears a close resemblance to the house of Tully Veolan, the picturesque abode of the old Baron of Bradwardine. Four miles from Grandtully is the inn of Skitewn, or Grandtully Arms; and half a mile on, the small inn of Balnaguard.

About eight miles above Dunkeld, at Logierait, the Tay is joined by and bends to the southerly course of the Garry and Tummel, and the conjoined stream may be crossed by a good chain-boat. A wide cultivated flat occupies, to within three miles of Dunkeld, the bottom of the valley, through which flow the combined waters of the Tay and Tummel. It is skirted by a terrace, on which various hard wood trees and oak coppices abound; while continuous and very extensive masses of larch stretch along the summits of the hills above, and below them cultivated fields slope gently down. Six and a half miles from Dunkeld we pass Kinnaird House (Duke of Athole's), and a mile and a half beyond Dalguise (Stewart).

Above Dunkeld, Craigiebarns, a massive rocky mountain advancing from the hills on the eastern side of the valley, almost blocks it up. This, with the opposite hill, Craigievenean, are clothed with a dense pine forest, through which occasional glimpses exhibit large masses of abrupt rock. Between them lie the rich woods which form the pride. of Dunkeld.


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