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diff --git a/old/62811-0.txt b/old/62811-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 57e4b7b..0000000 --- a/old/62811-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,3998 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Our Western Hills: How to reach them; And -the Views from their Summits, by Anonymous - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: Our Western Hills: How to reach them; And the Views from their Summits - By a Glasgow Pedestrian - -Author: Anonymous - -Release Date: August 1, 2020 [EBook #62811] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OUR WESTERN HILLS: HOW TO *** - - - - -Produced by Susan Skinner and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - -[Illustration: - -OUR WESTERN HILLS, -AND WHAT MAY -BE SEEN FROM -THEIR SUMMITS - -BY -A GLASGOW -PEDESTRIAN. - -ONE SHILLING - -GLASGOW -MORISON BROTHERS -99 BUCHANAN STREET] - - - - -Our Western Hills. - - -Uniform with this Volume. - -One Shilling: Cloth, 1s. 6d. - -THE ELDER AT THE PLATE. A Collection of Anecdotes and Incidents - relating to Church Door Collections. By Nicholas Dickson. - -THE KIRK BEADLE. A Collection of Anecdotes and Incidents - relating to the Minister’s Man. By Nicholas Dickson. - -ANECDOTES AND REMINISCENCES OF GEORGE GILFILLAN. By David Macrae. - -LITERARY COINCIDENCES, A BOOKSTALL BARGAIN, AND OTHER PAPERS. By - W. A. Clouston. - -PERSONAL ADVENTURES BY A DETECTIVE. Pages from Note Books of - Lieut. A. Carmichael, Glasgow Detective Department. - - - - -OUR WESTERN HILLS: -How to reach them; -And the Views from their Summits. - -By -A Glasgow Pedestrian. - -Glasgow: -Morison Brothers, -1892. - - - - -To JAMES R. MANNERS, Esq. - - - My dear Mr. MANNERS, - -Among many ways in which a holiday, or a Saturday afternoon, can be -profitably and enjoyably spent by those members of the community whom -the late Dr. Andrew Wynter designated as “our working bees,” there -should be none more attractive than a climb to the top of some of our -highest western hills. The following pages, which are respectfully -dedicated to you who suggested them, make no pretence to fine writing -or original matter, but are simply a short and, I trust, readable -guide to those who care to make a journey to the hilltops which they -attempt to describe. The hills that find a place in these pages are -accessible to all who are capable of average physical endurance, and -the account of what may be seen from their tops and in their immediate -neighbourhood may help to add to the pleasurable emotions that are -certain to arise from a visit to them. We certainly miss at home the -solemn and almost unearthly look of the Alps, but our Scottish hills -have a greater variety in colour, size, and shape, and many of them -have historical and antiquarian associations which help to make them -the more interesting to those who climb them. It is astonishing, -considering what a wealth of mountain scenery we have in Scotland, -that their cult should have been so late and should still be so scanty. -There are those who are nothing if they are not practical, and who -see in a mountain or a range of hills little more than so many acres -or tons of waste soil, which would have had a much greater economic -value if it could be levelled down in some way. We can scarcely hope -to interest such; but people are getting more alive to the value and -significance of mountains, and are beginning to feel that if there be -healthy power anywhere on earth for the wasted body, or the sorrowing -soul, or larger thoughts of God and of ourselves, they are to be found -on the top of some lofty hill. Who can long be sick at heart with the -glory of hill and dale and sky about him? and who frail of step with -his nostrils full of the scent of varied nature, and his tread on the -springy heather? Indeed, it has been truly said that “the mountains -in their nearness, and yet remoteness, in the poetry and romance that -gather round them, in their simplicity and purity, in the aspirations -they kindle, and in the manifold and yet often occult services which -they render to humanity, are to the world what religion is to life.” -These articles have been written in the midst of an active and busy -life, and have been prepared for publication so hurriedly as to make it -impossible that they should be free from mistakes. They will, however, -to some small extent help and interest those who have not fuller and -better guides. - - - - -CONTENTS. - - - PAGE - -LOUDON HILL, 1 - -TINTO, 10 - -CAIRNTABLE, 19 - -BALLAGIOCH, 29 - -KAIM HILL, 37 - -GOATFELL, 48 - -THE EARL’S SEAT, 57 - -DUNMYAT, 67 - -BEN DONICH, 76 - -BEN VENUE, 84 - -THE COBBLER, 95 - -BEN LOMOND, 107 - -MOUNT MISERY, 118 - -BEN LEDI, 130 - -THE MEIKLE BEN, 142 - - - - -OUR WESTERN HILLS. - - - - -LOUDON HILL. - - -There is hardly any excursion within a few miles of Glasgow that -combines more of what is pleasing in history, poetry and patriotism, -and varied scenery of the sweetest kind than a trip to Loudon Hill. -Either the South-Western or the Joint Line, from St. Enoch, takes the -traveller to Kilmarnock, or “Old Killie,” as it is pettingly called by -the Kilmarnockians, a place that is suggestive of St. Marnock in the -eighth century, Burns at the end of last century, and bonnets in the -present. The line now takes him past Galston, where there is to be had -a view of the well-trimmed hedges, characteristic of the roads on the -Loudon estate, and the plantations of magnificent trees, which from -their age—at least a century—tell that Scotland had proprietors fond -of planting before the time of Dr. Johnson. And here is to be seen, -rising among the greenery of “Loudon’s bonnie woods and braes,” which -Tannahill sings so sweetly of, the palatial-looking towers of Loudon -Castle, that has been not inaptly called the Windsor of Scotland. It -is said that here were signed the Articles of Union between England -and Scotland, beneath the branches of a gigantic yew tree, which yew -tree is also memorable from the fact—for this at least is a fact—that -James, second Earl of Loudon, addressed letters to it, when secretly -communicating with his lady during the period of his banishment—“To the -Gudewife, at the Old Yew Tree, Loudon, Scotland.” - -The old churchyard of Loudon nestles in a quiet nook by the wayside, -which has been the burying-place for nearly 400 years of the Loudon -family, a family which, in its first Earl, Chancellor Loudon, and -oftener than once since, has done good service to the cause of liberty. -Here also lie the remains of the gifted but unfortunate Lady Flora -Hastings, who is said to have died of a broken heart on account of a -cruel and unfounded slander raised against her by one of the ladies of -the bedchamber of H.R.H. the Duchess of Kent. - -The traveller by the train which reaches Newmilns at one o’clock will -get the help of a brake (if so inclined) as far as Darvel. - -It was doubtful weather when we started, and the leaden clouds drove -over the sky in heavy masses, “one long drift of rugged gloom”—but it -is a waste of time to pay any attention to the weather in this country, -one has only to go on and take its buffets and its rewards “with equal -thanks.” Presently there appeared a bit of blue sky no larger than -one’s hand, not even enough to make the Highlandman’s well-known nether -garment, which soon spread over the heavens, and in the course of a -few minutes the sun’s beams straggled though the lovely green foliage, -making golden patches among the roadside flowers, and the wild ferns, -and causing the long grass to sparkle as if all the diamonds of Brazil -had been scattered over it. - -The distance from Darvel to Loudon Hill is three miles, although -it seems much less to the traveller, from his having such a clear -view of its rugged and well-defined outline straight before him. The -hill springs up suddenly from the surrounding level, and it looks -higher than it is. At Loudon Hill Inn, 2½ miles from Darvel, a road -to the left over the Irvine, which is here a mere burn, leads to the -hill, which is easily accessible in more senses than one. From the -large number of excursionists that visit this hill, it would not be -surprising to hear that the farmers in the neighbourhood preferred -that it should be less free to the public. But the Earl of Loudon, -though not possessing the ground round about, is the proprietor of the -hill, and makes the public welcome to visit a place so memorable and -picturesque. The unpleasant and unfortunately too-much-resorted-to -“Notice to Trespassers” finds no place here, and we can only say that -if there were more of his disposition in the country the relations -between high and low would be much more friendly than they are at -present. Of course there is another side to the question—this, namely, -that landowners are frequently tempted to put up prohibitory notices -because of the deplorable fact that a certain section of the public do -not show a sufficient regard for the rights of property. - -The hedges look beautiful, hung as they are with garlands of the -milk-white thorn; and those who care for a study of silver and blue may -have it now. The silver—the drifted snow of the water crowfoot, the wee -crimson-tipped daisy, and the pendent snowballs of the wild cherry. Of -the blue—patches of wild hyacinth, with just shade enough for varying -tones from the purple spikes of the unfolding bells in the deeper shade -to where the sunshine ripples on paler blue, in charming contrast -to the new spring grass. The summit is reached from the western -side, there being a pathway through the trees, and, though a little -toilsome, the ascent is more than repaid by a most extensive prospect. - -The hill is round, conical, and of romantic appearance, formed of -columnar trap, and part of an extensive trap-dike which is said to -trouble the whole coalfield of Ayrshire in a north-westerly and -south-easterly direction, having its beginning in the vicinity of -Greenock. Looking north and east and south, there is little within -the first 8 or 9 miles but a wide expanse of moorland, that, with the -exception of one or two spots on which farmhouses stand, seems to -stretch for miles. About a mile to the north-east is the schoolhouse -of Drumclog, and a small monument marking the spot where Claverhouse -and his dragoons were routed by the Covenanters under Hamilton, Burley, -Cleland, and Hackston, on June 1st, 1679, a Sabbath morning. In this -affair Claverhouse lost his cornet and about a score of his troopers, -while the Covenanters lost only four men. This whole district, being -quite inaccessible to cavalry, was a favourite place for the holding -of conventicles. The locality, as well as the engagement itself, are -described in “Old Mortality,” and by Allan Cunningham in his poem, “The -Discomfiture of the Godless at Drumclog.” - -A little to the north of Drumclog the Irvine rises in what at the time -of the battle was a mere moss, but the rivulet is now conveyed in a -straight line through an artificial ditch, and inclining to the west is -joined by the Hairschaw Burn, and flows past the south side of the hill -in a deep ravine. At one time trout were readily got here; but a lime -work at the junction of the Hairschaw and the Irvine, according to an -old angler, “seems to have hurt the health of the fish, for they have -never been seen since it was started.” It has sometimes been a question -whether the parish got its name from the hill or from the valley; but -as Loudon or Loddam means marshy ground, and as not long ago the Irvine -flooded the whole valley, it is probable that the parish was named -after the valley. The banking of the river and tile-draining make the -name no longer appropriate; but the memory of the marshy ground is kept -alive in the “Waterhaughs,” a farm not far off on the Galston side of -the river. About a quarter of a mile to the south of the hill, on the -summit of a precipitous bank overhanging the old public road, there is -a small turf redoubt, about twenty yards in length, called Wallace’s -Cairn, to mark the spot where some of his men were buried after the -battle which took place in the narrow gorge below. At this place, which -is the watershed for the Clyde and the Irvine, in a narrow pass, down -which the winds come in grand style, and which is therefore called the -Windy Hass or Wizen (Gullet), Wallace and a small band of warriors lay -in ambush, attacked and defeated a rich English envoy from Carlisle to -the garrison at Ayr, although they were only 700 against 3000. A large -quantity of booty was got, and, according to Blind Harry, “a hundred -dead in the field were leaved there.” - -While to the north, south, and east there is nothing but moor, with -an occasional hill to relieve the monotony; to the west there is a -landscape of unrivalled beauty. In the foreground there is the fertile -valley of the Irvine, dividing Galston on the south from Loudon on the -north, and Kyle from Cunningham, a vista of little less than 20 miles -in length. - -This picture includes such details as these:—First, there is the hamlet -of Priestland; beyond which, close to Darvel, the Irvine is joined by -the Glen Water, supposed to be the scene of Pollock’s popular tale of -“Helen of the Glen,” up which also there are the remains of a British -fort, one of those round forts which are always to be found in the -track of the Roman invaders, which had been surrounded by a ditch, -and had a bridge and a gate. Then there are Darvel and Newmilns, with -their prosperous lace factories and their looms. On the south side -there are the beautiful plantations on the Lanfine Estate, almost -rivalling “Loudon’s bonnie woods and braes” on the north side, both -contributing to give a rich appearance to the landscape, and taking -away the barrenness which once characterized this now lovely valley. -Still farther off there are to be seen Hurlford and its smoke, -Kilmarnock and its Burns memorial, Dundonald Hill, the Firth of Clyde, -and the rugged heights of Arran. In the north-west there are the hills -above Dalry, Kilbirnie, and Lochwinnoch, hiding the heights of Cowal; -in the north there is the lion-like Ben Lomond, to the right of which -there is a view of Ben Venue, Ben Ledi being shut out by the high -ground at Avonmuir, 5 or 6 miles in front of us. Farther east there -is an occasional peep of the eastern part of the Campsie range, and a -full view of the Ochils. Due east Strathaven, 9 miles off, is plainly -seen, and the high ground near Carluke still farther away. In the near -south-east we have the Avon flowing away from us to the Clyde, and the -hills in which it takes its rise, and behind which Cairntable rises, -some 12 or 13 miles away. Due south there is Distinkhorn, only some -6 miles distant, and behind it in the dim distance are the hills of -Galloway. This is not by any means a bad view for a hill only 600 feet -above the level of the surrounding country; according to an old saying, -“One may go farther and fare worse.” - -Then, around its foot, as we saw on our way up, there is much that -will please botanists. We passed here quite a small battalion of them, -each with the symbol of his order—a vasculum. Here are to be seen dark -red spikes of fumitory, which Shakespeare calls “rank fumitory,” from -its abundance, a sign of waste ground. It is a pretty little flower. -The flowers bruised in milk is a favourite village cosmetic. Among -the nettles is borage, a plant whose azure-blue blossoms and little -white rims at the centre figure so prominently in Titian’s picture of -the “Last Supper of our Lord,” and which has called forth the warmest -praise of Mr. Ruskin. At one time every country garden had its plant -of borage. It was used for quite a variety of purposes, and like many -a good but plain individual, it is better than its ragged appearance -would lead us to imagine. You need not be at all surprised if a cock -pheasant steps out proudly from the thicket, or if a squirrel darts -up a tree, or a rabbit comes out of the brackens to see what you are -after, or a partridge should alight on the stump of some tree that has -seen better days. - -A walk back to Darvel for the coach to Newmilns station will enable the -traveller to reach Glasgow early in the evening. - - - - -TINTO. - - -If any one wishes for perfect quiet, and to be well out of the way of -smoke and bustle, of duns and other visitors—in fact, has a particular -desire to find within 40 miles of Glasgow a place which, for all -practical purposes, shall be to him or to her the world’s end—let -him make up his mind to spend a day on the top of that well-known -yet comparatively little climbed hill, Tinto. And for this purpose -let him take a return ticket and follow us to Symington—and there is -Tinto, or the Hill of Fire, before his view. There can be no mistake -as to what we have come out to see. There is not much to distract our -attention from the object we have in view, nothing near of a like kind -to compete with it. There it stands, like a large self-contained house, -all others at a respectable distance from it, not to be mistaken with -any other—nay, as destitute of relations as Melchisedeck, a great -porphyritic hill, dominating like a king over the Upper Ward. After -leaving the station, a quarter of a mile to the south, there is a -camp still to be seen covering half an acre. This takes us back in -thought to that old Simon Liscard, who, in the days of Malcolm the -Fourth or William the Lion, got this district as a territory, and -called the settlement Symon’s Town, abbreviated into Symontown, and -again corrupted or improved, according to the individual taste, into -Symington. - -The sky becomes overcast, but we are not to be deterred by the muster -of the elements, and we step out valiantly in the face of a rising -wind, and also in the face of an interminable procession of rough -looking cattle, feeling that there is a little credit in being “jolly,” -as Mark Tapley would put it, under such circumstances. In spite of the -gloomy aspect of clouds there is something hopeful in the strength of -the wind, and soon they begin to draw off, and by the time we are a -little on our way the old battle has been waged and won, and we are -glad to take off any superfluous clothing as the sun throws off the -last porous film, and looks down on us with a cheery smile. The soil -here is not of the very richest. It reminds us of the saying in regard -to the Carse of Gowrie, which must have had for its author some one who -was foiled in his battle with the strong clay—“It greets a’ winter, and -girns a’ summer.” But for all that there are some good fields of grain -to be met with amidst the wide extended breadth of pasture land, and an -occasional flock and herd furnish an element of life which adds to the -interest. - -When we find ourselves on the main road we make for a reddish small -quarry on the hillside to the south of us. We reach it by a short cut -past the front of the first thatched house we come to, and then turn -to the left for about five minutes’ walk on the Stirling and Carlisle -road. When we get to the top of the quarry there is a very good path -that leads all the way to the summit. As there is no omnibus that runs -to the top, we zigzag it in our own way. Now we make a false step; we -are finding our way over some troublesome stones, and often a huge mass -of bright flesh-coloured felstone. Like all other felstone hills, such -as the Pentlands and North Berwick Law, it is worn into smooth conical -eminences, usually coated with turf, which, when broken here and there -along the slopes, allows a long stream of angular rubbish to crumble -from the rock, and slide down the hill. We are for ever mistaking the -top, thinking we are at it, when, behold, there it is, as if farther -off than ever. And so on we go, up and down, over the elastic heather, -enjoying the ever-widening horizon, till at last we reach the very -summit, 2312 feet above the level of the sea, but not much more than -1700 feet vertically from its base. It stands on the mutual border of -the parishes of Carmichael, Wiston, Symington, and Covington, and forms -a sort of vanguard to the Southern Highlands. We could see parts of -sixteen different counties from it, including Hartfell and Queensberry -Hill in the south, Cairntable in the south-west, the peaks of Arran in -the west, and the Bass Rock in the north-east. - -Looking to the south and east, and not at all far away, we have hill -range upon hill range. They are neither very grand, nor rugged—they -might almost be termed bleak and bare; and yet they have a beauty all -their own. With few exceptions they are wanting in vegetation, and -although to one accustomed to the rugged grandeur and rich variety of -the northern Highlands, they may seem tame and uninteresting, there is -a charm in their peaceful slopes and rounded summits which is not to be -found in the stern beauty of their northern neighbours. “Their beauty -is not revealed at first sight; it grows on the eye, which never tires -of gazing on their grassy slopes and watching the ever-changing play of -light and shade.” - -On a clear day the hills in the north of England, and even the north -coast of Ireland, can be easily seen. We did not see them ourselves, -but _we have seen a man who has seen them_. We could see the infant -Clyde, made up of several streams, all rapid, noisy, and wildly -frolicsome, differing as much from the broad, calm, useful river at -Glasgow as the most capering and crowing baby differs from the gravest -sage. We could see it almost from the place where it takes its rise -near the sources of the Tweed and the Annan, and could follow it -winding like a silver thread along the bottom of a narrow dell, down to -a broad and splendid band of crystal through a diversified country, now -washing the skirt of a romantically situated Roman camp, now through -pleasant pastures and charming corn lands, and now skirting the base of -Tinto in a sweep so great and circuitous that a distance of more than -20 miles is run between points which in a straight line are not farther -apart than 7½ miles. We only lose sight of it when, after tumbling over -Cora Linn, it runs down beyond Lanark into what might well be said to -be at once the most beautiful and fruitful valley in Scotland. - -Looking to the east in the direction of the self-important town of -Biggar (who has not heard the ancient joke of the district, London’s -big, but Biggar’s Biggar?), it was interesting to see the Clyde -approaching in that direction within 7 miles of the Tweed. Between the -two streams there lies, of course, the watershed of the country, the -drainage flowing on the one side into the Atlantic, and on the other -into the North Sea. And yet, instead of a range or a hill, the space -between the two rivers is simply the broad, flat valley of Biggar, so -little above the level of the Clyde that it would not cost much labour -to send it across into the Tweed. - -And there are some members, possibly of a Glasgow Angling Club, one or -two of them up to the knees in the Clyde in the pursuit of what they -can get, even though it should be but a nibble. No more peaceful scene -could be found for one who wants to get away from the cares of his -ordinary daily life. I am content merely to be a reader of Walton’s -books, which are like those that Horace had in his mind when he said -that to read them was a medicine against ambitions and desires. - -Looking west, we have on our left hand the united parishes of Wiston -and Roberton, with the Garf finding its way into the Clyde. We have now -time after feasting our eyes in every direction to think of the hill -itself. It is a wondrous mixture of volcanic product, a perfect museum -of minerals—overlapping a huge mass of transition rocks. It probably -bubbled into being in a series of red-hot upheavals at an epoch when -all that which is now the low country of Lanarkshire was a muddy, -torrid sea. It was much frequented by our heathen ancestors for their -sanguinary Druidical rites, and perhaps blazed often with both their -fires of idolatrous worship and their signal fires of war; for its name -signifies “the Hill of Fire.” - -There is ancient precedent for the building of a cairn to commemorate -any striking event. It is a favourite Scripture method of memorial, and -has been much practised in our own Highlands. But as we stand by the -side of the immense cairn which crowns Tinto, and which is understood -to be equal to about 300 cart loads, we could not help feeling -sympathy for our poor forefathers, who are said to have carried them -up piecemeal through a series of ages, in the way of penance, from a -famous Roman Catholic church which was situated in a little glen at the -north-east skirt of the mountain, and we could not help saying that -“the former times were” not “better than these.” We found that we had -to pay for our splendid position by being exposed all through our stay -on the summit to a stiff south-west wind, which reminded us of the -popular rhyme— - - But tho’ a lassie were e’er sae black, - Let her ha’e the penny siller, - Set her up on Tinto tap, - The wind wad blaw a man till her. - -On the “tap,” too, there is a “kist,” or large block of granite, with -a hole in one side, said to have been caused by the grasp of Wallace’s -thumb on the evening before his victory at Boghall, Biggar; just as -Quothquand, a hill a little to the north-east, is crowned with a large -stone known as Wallace’s chair, and popularly believed to have been his -seat at a council held the same evening. The “kist” on the top of Tinto -is the subject of another curious rhyme, which Mr. Robert Chambers -thinks is intended as a mockery of human strength, for it is certainly -impossible to lift the lid and drink off the contents of the hollow— - - On Tintock tap there is a mist, - And in that mist there is a kist, - And in the kist there is a caup, - And in the caup there is a drap; - Tak’ up the caup, drink off the drap, - And set the caup on Tintock tap. - -This old world rhyme is finely moralised by Dr. John Brown in his -“Jeems the Door-keeper.” We have been here when the sunset has died -away upon the hill, like the “watch fires of departing angels,” and -from the undergrowth about the neighbouring river blackbird and ousel -sent forth their liquid pipings. The cuckoos that all day long had been -calling to each other across the fields, were now with a more restful -“chuck! chuck! chu, chu-chu,” flitting, like gray flakes, from coppice -to coppice, preparatory to settling for the night. The blackcock’s -challenge could still be heard from the lower ground, and from the -hillside came the silvery “whorl-whorl-whorl” of the grouse. Such -sounds can be heard far off in the stillness of the dusk. - -Tinto has not much to boast of in the way of antiquities; but perhaps -enough has been said to lead some of our readers to go and “do” Tinto -for themselves; if so, we can only hope that they may enjoy it as much -as we did. It only requires six hours in all, and the remembrance of -the travel will be even pleasanter than the travel itself, for in the -remembrance the little drawbacks are all forgot, and the absence of -care and the blue sky, and the bright sun, &c., &c., remain. - - - - -CAIRNTABLE. - - -We remember reading, some years ago, in _Punch_, a paragraph headed -“Strange Insanity,” and stating that a respectable tradesman in the -City, in pursuit of a holiday, had positively thrown himself into a -cab, driven off to the Eastern Counties Railway Station at Shoreditch, -and had taken a ticket for Great Yarmouth. It is perhaps equally an act -of “strange insanity” in this year of grace and desirable excursions -for anyone to go to Muirkirk on a similar errand, for the line to -Muirkirk—like that of the “Great Eastern,” as the Eastern Counties is -now called—is not managed, to say the least, with the same expedition -that, as a rule, pervades the Caledonian system. But if anyone wishes -to see Cairntable, he must make up his mind to take a ticket for -Muirkirk. Soon after leaving Glasgow the whole valley of the Clyde -opens up to us, which is still beautiful in spite of its desecration -by coalmasters. We can sympathise with the English cyclist who, having -read the “Scottish Chiefs” before beginning his tour through Scotland, -had his mind full of the beauties and traditions of the neighbourhood, -but was disappointed to see the air thick with smoke, while far and -near tall chimneys vomited flame and steam. And this continues more or -less all the way till we reach the ore lands and blast furnaces of our -Scotch pig-iron kings, the Bairds. - -As the village is to the north of the station, and Cairntable to the -south, it will save time, if there is no need to pay a visit to the -Black Bull or the Eglinton Arms, at once to take to the hill. On -leaving the station on the south-side, turn to the left 300 yards or -so, and follow a little stream a short distance beyond a lade which is -in connection with the iron-work, and you will find in the second bend -of the stream a curious phenomenon in the shape of a boiling (bubbling) -well; the water rising up so strongly as to make the sand appear to -boil over. After taking a drink, make through the moor for the middle -of the wall to the left, which follow, keeping close to it. After the -wall has been passed keep straight on till well up the shoulder of the -hill; make then, through the heather, in a south-easterly direction for -the nearest small cairn. After passing this keep in the same direction -among some large stones, which were probably meant to commemorate -some event, at the time considered sufficiently important, but the -knowledge of which is now gone, as there are no distinguishing marks -or hieroglyphs to be found on them. They are too small to have been -used in Druidical worship, as some have supposed. And now you reach a -very good footpath. From this the ascent is easy, the path being strewn -here and there with small bits of breccia or pudding rock, which enters -largely into the composition of Cairntable. Here are to be found small -pieces of quartz minutely mixed with sandstone, and nearly as hard as -granite. It formerly supplied for many a long year the millstones used -in the parish for grinding oats. - -The summit is reached in about an hour and a half, 1944 feet above the -level of the sea, crowned with two immense piles of stones, and there -is great need for some tradition to account for these, as in the case -of the perhaps still larger cairn on the sister hill of Tinto. Would -the members of the Antiquarian or Archæological Society please make a -notice of this, and tell us if they were not meant to commemorate the -defeat of some Annandale thieves who used to infest the district? - -Before beginning to take in the surroundings we recall to our mind -that at the end of the twelfth century all around us was a forest, as -we learn from a charter granted to the monks of Melrose by the Grand -Steward of Scotland; and that this was so is abundantly plain from the -names of many of the farms, from the trees found in the moss (entire -hazel nuts being also found in it), and from small clumps and detached -trees of birch and mountain ash still to be seen on the braes and by -the side of the ravines. - -And looking over this wide and uneven surface, sometimes rising into -considerable eminences, covered with dark heather, and presenting -nothing either grand or striking except its bleakness and sterility, -we cannot help thinking that this wholesale destruction of trees -is a thing much to be regretted from every point of view. It sadly -spoils the scenery, it deprives the district of their shelter, and -their prostrate trunks, by obstructing the water and assisting in the -formation of moss earth, prove injurious to the climate. From the -general altitude of the district fogs are frequent, rain is abundant, -and the climate cold, so that it might be said of it, as it is said of -Greenock and Arrochar, which are also hydropathic, that “it doesn’t -always rain, it sometimes snaws.” And yet it does not appear as if the -evaporation from the moss were injurious to the health. - -Looking to the south we have a perfect tableland of small mountains, -the Leadhills range being a little to the east, those near Sanquhar -due south, and those near Dalmellington to the west, Blackcraig and -Enoch’s Hill being prominent between. Behind a small cairn to the west -of the two greater ones there is a very fine spring, the waters of -which, falling into the valley below, divide into two little streams. -The one part, under the name of the Garpel, runs into the Firth of -Clyde at Ayr, through the channel of the water of Ayr; the other, the -Duneaton, runs to the Clyde at Abingdon, and joins its long-lost sister -waters in the Firth, which we can see where we stand, after a most -interesting and no doubt useful course of more than 100 miles. Looking -east and north, we see the outline of the Lowther range, the southern -Grampians, with Culter Fell, Tinto, and over Tinto the Pentlands. - -Our solitude is all the more apparent by a curlew and a plover which -circle round and round uttering most piteous cries, as if to say, “What -strange being are you? Have you come here to rob us of the early worm?” -One of the hunting spiders settles down beside us. It spins no web, and -depends on its power of leaping to catch its prey, and to watch its -movements is quite a study. It is a good fighter, and will fight the -garden spider, though it is larger than itself. It may not be generally -known that spiders have been worn in nut-shells and goose-quills round -the neck to drive disease and the devil away. But we will pass from -such a subject, for most people hold it in aversion, from the “little -Miss Muffit,” who “sat on a tuffit,” to the cleanly housewife. - -In front of us we have Hairschaw Hill to the right, then Blackhill and -Middle Law, and between the latter two the road to Strathaven is seen -to wind, and we recall the long walk from and to Glasgow which Edward -Irving and Carlyle took one day, when the one was the popular assistant -to Dr. Chalmers, and the other had not yet been able to do anything to -show the stuff of which he was made. Looking north is the little and -now almost extinct mining village of Glenbuck, with its two artificial -lochs, the only sheets of water in the parish, constructed in 1802 to -supply the works of James Finlay & Co., at Catrine, covering between -them 120 acres. The Water of Ayr (smooth water) rises out of these, and -flows before our eyes through the village of Muirkirk, a small stream, -and then among holms and haughs through an open moor till joined by a -little stream which rises near Priesthill, and by “the haunted Garpel” -it becomes a large body of water. Still farther north, over Blackhill, -is Priesthill, where on the 1st of May, 1685, John Brown, of saintly -memory, whose house was always open to the benighted stranger or to -the persecuted in the days of the Covenant, was shot before the eyes of -his wife, by the bloody Claverhouse, his very soldiers refusing to do -the deed. It will be long before Scotland will forget the noble answer -of his wife to the brutal remark of his murderer, “What do ye think of -your husband now?” “I always thought much of him, but now more than -ever.” Close by at the farm of High Priesthill, during a thunderstorm, -about forty years ago, a waterspout fell, washing away some 30 acres of -the land. - -Looking up the valley of the Douglas Water, which takes its rise at -the foot of Cairntable, on the north-east side, we see the policies -of Douglas Castle, the seat of the Earl of Home, and the “Castle -Dangerous” of Sir Walter Scott; and we recall to our minds that we -have in it a name intimately connected with the most splendid period -of Scottish history. It is an open question still whether the family -gave the name to the parish, or _vice versa_. The favourite tradition, -however, is that about 767 Donald Bain the Fair took the field against -the King. He was nearly victorious, when a person, with his sons and -followers, flew to the help of the King and routed Donald, who was -himself slain. The King thus rescued inquired to whom he owed his -deliverance, when one of the officers said, “Sholto Douglasse” (there -is the dark man). The King, in gratitude, gave him a tract of land -and the surname Douglas, which was given to the domain and the river -also. This appears to have some confirmation from the fact that Sholto -is still a kind of hereditary prænomen among various branches of the -Douglas family. - -Turning to the west, and looking down the valley of the Ayr Water, we -have in sight not only Aird’s Moss, a large moss extending several -miles in all directions, but the monument also erected on it, about -a quarter of a mile off the Cumnock Road, to the memory of one of -Scotland’s worthiest sons, Richard Cameron. The utter desolation of the -spot gives it a melancholy interest, and nothing fair is to be seen but -Heaven above, the hope of which sustained the heart of the Covenanters -in their skirmish with the dragoons there in 1686. The heather and the -long grass bear no trace of the blood which must once have stained -them; but no true patriot will readily forget such scenes as those. -Not far off is the birthplace of Dr. John Black, a former minister of -Coylton, the author of a “Life of Tasso,” and of a learned work called -“Palaico Romaica,” in which he endeavoured to prove, but with more -ability than success, that the New Testament was originally written in -Latin, from which the Greek version was a translation. - -In making the descent by the same route as that by which we reached -the summit, we see Loudon Hill taking a sly peep at us over the top of -the town; we think of the time not so long ago when there was not a -building save the kirk in the muir, in the vicinity of the now thriving -town, and of Lord Dundonald’s unfortunate coal tar manufacturing -experience here. The adoption of copper for sheathing the vessels of -the navy ruined the speculation, and the Earl lost heavily by it. - -Coming down once more to the level ground, a good walker, who is also -a painstaking hunter of flowers, will not go unrewarded. All along -our course there are the yellow blossoms of the buttercup family on -the harder ground, daisies in the meadows, on the moor the bluebells -hanging their delicate heads, each appearing a little lonely and pale; -and there are also the exquisite waxlike blossoms of the bilberry, -growing quite abundantly, and looking quite as beautiful as any of the -rare heaths of the conservatory. - -We find our way to the station through and among some wrought-out lime -quarries, the roughness of our route now reminding us of what must have -been the state of the road to Sorn, a little further down the valley, -when travelled on by one of our Scottish kings on his way from Glasgow, -and which he found to be so disagreeable that he said, if he wished -to “give the devil a job,” he would send him to Sorn in winter. What -thoughts crowd upon us as we review the work of the last hour or two -on our homeward journey; thoughts as to the probable, or established -history of rock and plant, of mountain and moor! And what an insight -do we gain into our ignorance as we have to acknowledge that to many -of the problems we must subscribe ourselves “agnostic,” or without -knowledge. In two and a half hours we reach the well-paved streets of -Glasgow. - - - - -BALLAGIOCH. - - -Given those three things, a good day, a liking for a walk over a -Scottish moor, and a small bag over the shoulder well filled with -eatables, could one do better than set out to make the acquaintance -of this comparatively unknown hill? The most interesting route, and -the most direct, leaving the least work for the pedestrian, is by the -Caledonian Railway, from the Central, to Clarkston Toll. From there -we avail ourselves of a coach to Eaglesham (kirk hamlet), not knowing -what the necessities of the day may be. In doing so, our mind goes back -to the time when Professor John Wilson (Christopher North) as a boy -spent some of his happiest days hereabout on the banks of the Earn, and -somewhat farther back to the time when the Romans had a village near -to the Sheddings of Busby. On arriving at Eaglesham we make for its -highest point, and there find the road that leads to Ballagioch, some -2½ miles off. On the left there are three reservoirs, the Picketlaw, -the mid dam, and the high dam—the last a broad sheet of water which -used to drive the wheel of the village cotton mill. On the right, about -100 yards from the village, we pass the road that leads to Moorhouse, -the birthplace of Robert Pollock, the author of “The Course of Time.” - -A mile from the village of Eaglesham the road begins to rise. And -here we are reminded that if the early summer is the time of hope, it -is the time of strife as well. For here is, first, a dead mole; and -secondly, a couple of living larks. The mole and a brother of his had -been fighting for a wife; he had been wounded, his body ripped up, and -a part of his entrails eaten by the conqueror. The larks, a couple of -male birds, were now fighting, and the weaker was being worsted; and if -he had stuck to his guns as did the mole he would in all probability -have met with the mole’s fate. Halfway up the ascent on the left is the -road to Lochgoin, but we keep on the highway to Kilmarnock. As we near -the top we leave behind us, at the height of 800 feet above the level -of the sea, almost every sign of cultivation, and enter upon the moor, -in which the villagers have the right of casting peats and pasturing -a single cow. When we have reached the summit nearly another mile of -table-land lies before us, and Ballagioch is close upon us on the -right. The hill rises before us to the height of perhaps 200 feet from -the road, but our Ordnance map tells us that it is 1094 from the level -of the sea. This, however, is no great height for a Scottish hill, and -therefore we require no “guide, philosopher, and friend” to show us the -way to the top; we simply need to remember the short but pithy address -of the Highland officer to his men in the face of the foe, “There’s the -enemy, gentlemen, up and at them.” - -Though the hill is not very high, yet with the exception of Misty -Law, near Lochwinnoch, and the Hill of Staik, on the borders of -Lochwinnoch, Largs, and Kilbirnie, it is the highest eminence in the -county of Renfrew. It is principally composed of the trap rock, which -is prevalent in the district, but several specimens of barytes have -been found in its vicinity, and a species of stone which bears extreme -heat without cracking, and has therefore been found to be well adapted -for the construction of furnaces and ovens. It is also said to contain -silver and lead ores, but if so, there is no outward appearance to show -that this is correct. - -The prospect from the summit, however, more than repays any -disappointment which we may have on this score. It commands a most -extensive and beautiful series of landscapes, embracing many counties -within its scope. On the one hand are the moors of Fenwick, formerly -called New Kilmarnock, with its memories of William Guthrie, its first -minister (1644), author of “The Christian’s Great Interest,” and from -whom the parish takes its chief fame. Beyond are the fertile woods and -fields of Ayrshire, with Loudon Hill, near which the battle of Drumclog -was fought, and an extensive sweep of the Ayrshire coast, with the -lonely and conical Ailsa Craig and the jagged peaks of Arran in the -distance. On a clear day the view in this direction commands the land -of Burns. On the other hand, we have in sight the grand valley of the -Clyde, with Glasgow and Paisley, and many other towns and villages in -its capacious bosom, while away in the dim distance we have a perfect -wilderness of mountain-tops. A little to the south and west is the farm -of Greenfields, with 1000 acres—somewhat of a misnomer, however, for -all around is a waste of peat. As we pass the farmhouse we see a herd -of lowing cattle, and hear the song of chanticleer in the farmyard. -And as we move along we come upon a fresh upheaval of earth, the work -of Master Mole, and still more frequently upon the burrow of a rabbit, -with tufts of downy fur strewing the neighbourhood. Near this there is -a road that leads to lonely but historically and otherwise interesting -Lochgoin, where John Howie wrote the “Scots Worthies,” where there -are still to be seen many things which will rejoice the heart of the -Christian patriot and the antiquary. - -The loch itself is of little consequence, being entirely artificial, -and was first formed in 1828 to supply the mills at Kilmarnock with -water; but a little beyond, a few yards into the parish of Fenwick, -is the venerable house which has been the abode of the Howie family -for so many centuries (since 1178), and where they still retain all -the primitive, pious, and pastoral habits which distinguished their -Waldensian ancestry. This house during the times of persecution -frequently afforded an asylum to those who, for conscience sake, were -obliged to flee from their homes, to men like Cargill, Peden, Richard -Cameron, and Captain Paton, which rendered it so obnoxious that it was -twelve times plundered, and the inmates forced to take refuge in the -barren moors around. Indeed, standing on Ballagioch we can see the -homes of not a few who can trace their connection with ancestors who -suffered in the “killing times.” - -And not far off, at the farm of Duntan, between where we stand and -Lochgoin, on the east bank of a stream which goes past the farm, -there is a rocky precipice, in the front of which there is a small -aperture capable of holding three or four in a stooping position. -One person can scarcely enter on hands and feet at a time. Tradition -tells us that two Covenanters, chased by dragoons, plunged through -the stream in flood, scaled the rock, and hid. The troopers did not -venture to follow them, but fired into the cave and went off, probably -believing that their intended victims had found a tomb instead of a -hiding place. Immediately to the south of us there is Binend Loch, a -large sheet of water covering about 50 acres, which would be a perfect -paradise for the patrons of the roaring game if it were only a little -nearer the haunts of civilisation. A little beyond this is what we in -Scotland happily call the watershed—a term that of late years physical -geographers have appropriated as expressive of a meaning which no -single term in English had conveyed. - -All around us the ground is mossy, and intersected with sheep drains. -Here and there the fresh cuttings disclose trees embedded in the -moss, telling of a time when this now treeless country must have been -covered with waving forests. The trees are generally hazel, and often -they have a foot or several feet of moss beneath them, showing that -the moss must have existed anterior to the hazel. It is only when we -come to the bottom of the moss that we find the oak and the pine, the -remains of the ancient Caledonian forests. We come down on the north -side of the hill, and find not far from the farm of Lochcraig the coal -measures cropping out, and in the blocks of shale that rise up through -the moss are to be found abundance of specimens of the strange flora -of the Carboniferous age, the _Sigillaria_, so remarkable for their -beautifully sculptured stems, and their not less singular roots, so -long described as _Stigmaria_ by the fossil botanist. - -In course of this walk it is easy to make quite a large botanical -collection. You may have the _Geum urbanum_ with its small yellow -flower and fragrant root with scent of cloves. This was formerly used -as a tonic for consumption and ague, and being infused was often used -by ladies for the complexion, and for the removal of freckles. Then -there is the blue meadow or cranesbill, _Geranium pratense_, and herb -Robert, _Geranium Robertianum_, and the sweet vernal grass and the -wood mellica. There is also the moschatel, or musk crowfoot, so called -from its musky fragrance, and the wood spurge, and ground ivy, a plant -which, when dry, has a pleasant odour, and which in country places is -sometimes still made into tea, and supposed to be good for coughs and -colds. We give these only as a few specimens to whet the appetite of -those who carry a vasculum and rejoice in a herbarium. - -On leaving Ballagioch, for the sake of variety, we shape our course -north-west in the direction of Moorhouse, and soon, after crossing -the Earn, reach the Kilmarnock road. The railway has shorn this -road of all its former glory, when fifteen packhorses could be seen -regularly travelling between Glasgow and the west country, and when -the Kilmarnock carrier drove along it his six milk-white ponies of -diminutive size, but possessed of much mettle. Our walk to Clarkston -_via_ Mearns is much about the same length as the route we took from -Clarkston to Ballagioch _via_ Eaglesham, and at last we reach the city -somewhat tired, yet highly delighted with our day’s outing. - - - - -KAIM HILL. - - -Now that everybody is out of town, on Saturday at least, and every -place in the guide book is as well known as the Trongate or Jamaica -Street, it is something to discover a hill everybody has not been to -the top of, and which is not in Black or Murray. Such a hill is that -which stands between Fairlie and Kilbirnie, overlooking Fairlie Roads -(that is, the Clyde between Fairlie and the Greater Cumbrae) on the -one side, and the valley of the Garnock on the other. It is best to -make the ascent from Fairlie, which can be reached either by Wemyss Bay -from the Central, or by Ardrossan from St. Enoch’s. At the south or -far end of the railway platform a path will be found, on crossing the -line, which leads to the farm of Southannan. There the road to the left -should be taken, across a nicely wooded burn, which should be followed -up till a wall is reached; which wall should be followed till we come -to the heathery ground. From that the course is, without any track, -in a somewhat south-westerly direction, now over a tiny stream, now -through a stretch of heather, and now past the side of some large old -red sandstone or piece of trap, perhaps 20 feet long, which are the -chief rocks of this hill range. - -The upward journey is a thing not to be forgotten, for the foliage is -wonderful, and every step we take almost reveals some new beauty. The -watercourses, swollen with rains that have come rushing down the green -and rocky slopes, are broadening and deepening. There is plenty of -life also in the woods and on the moor. The grouse are not at all in -evidence, and we miss their whirr and cry so pleasant to hear. But the -robins sing where there are branches on which they can perch, and the -rabbits are running races among the ferns. - -When what seems the summit has been attained, the view will be found -to be very fine to the north; but it will also be found that there is -still a higher height a little farther back, over softer ground, from -which an all-round prospect can be had. “Kaim” is applied to any ridge -of ground, either moundish or mountainous, with enough of sharpness -and zigzag in its outline to give it some resemblance to a cock’s -comb, and is frequently so used in Scotland; but there can be none of -those hills so called which can possibly boast of a finer outlook -than this one above Fairlie, which seems to be the meeting-place of -all the hills that rise in the parishes of Kilbirnie, Lochwinnoch, and -Dalry, and which hem in the parish of Largs so curiously from all the -cultivated land to the north, east, and south-east as to have produced -the proverbial expression, “Out of the world, into Largs.” - -In a north-easterly direction may be seen the thriving town of Beith, -and the high ground behind it, forming part of the watershed between -the basin of the Clyde and the river systems of Ayrshire. Due east is -the valley of the Garnock, the beauty of which is somewhat marred by a -variety of coal and iron works, whose bings of shale and other refuse -are considerably higher than any Dutch hills that we have seen. But -they are suggestive of the spirit of the age, industry and enterprise, -and of the great change that has come over the district since it was -the abode of princes. For Dalry, it should be remembered, means “the -king’s field” or “vale,” and those holms on the river’s side were at -one time the king’s domain. Not far over from where we stand is old -Blair House, whose family charter dates from William the Lion; and on -the estate of Blair, on a precipitous bank of limestone, in a romantic -glen, there is to be seen one of the greatest curiosities in Ayrshire, -a cave 40 feet above the bed of the stream, and covered by 30 feet of -rock and earth. In former times people believed it to be tenanted by -elves, aerial genii, and hence the name it now goes by, “Elf Ho.” It -was frequently occupied in later times by a nobler class of tenants, -the Covenanters, in the time of Charles II. This would make an -excursion by itself. And in visiting it we would have awakened in our -hearts feelings of veneration and pride for those who fought the battle -of religious freedom for us. It is only by visiting such dens of the -earth that we can realise in some measure the hardships they endured, -and how greatly we should esteem the precious heritage handed down to -us by them. - -Away to the left is the parish of Lochwinnoch, with its ancient castle -of Barr, which is said to have been built by men who wrought at a -penny a day; and of which it is also said that at one time, when being -besieged, and when the garrison was about to surrender from want of -provisions, one of them threw over the heel of a skim-milk kebbock, all -that remained of their stock, and that the besiegers, taking this as a -mark of abundance raised the siege and departed. And not so far away to -the left, 2 miles to the north of the village of Kilbirnie, are the -ruins of Glengarnock Castle, built some 700 years ago. Tradition tells -us that it was once occupied by Hardy Knute, the hero of the fine old -ballad of that name. It is now the resort of picnickers for purposes of -innocent amusement; but also, sad to tell, of the neighbouring farmers, -who make it a kind of quarry for stone dykes and similar purposes. - -Looking north we have Ben Lomond and the frontier masses of the -Perthshire Grampians, and the serrated ridge of Cowal and the Loch Eck -district. Due west we have the hills around the Kyles of Bute and the -coast of Cantyre, and Goatfell, with Innellan, Toward, Loch Striven, -the Kyles, the lovely Bute, with Mount Stuart and Kilchattan Bay, and -the two Cumbraes, with the far-extended Millport and its reminiscence -of the former parish minister who magnified his bishopric and prayed -for “the adjacent islands of Great Britain and Ireland.” The view more -immediately below us, including the beautifully-shaped Knock Hill, -with the still more beautiful half-moon Bay of Largs and the town -in its bosom, and the braes rising in gentle slope all around, and -the Roads of Fairlie, which, with the tide so far out, and the wind -rippling the surface of the water, seems to us to resemble a curling -pond (the ripples having the appearance of little drifts of snow here -and there), all go to constitute as lovely a prospect as can be had -anywhere on the West Coast. It will be interesting to remember here -that if at this place the water is narrow, it is correspondingly deep -to make up for it; and that, as Geikie in one of his books shows us, -if the land all over Scotland could be raised a few feet, it would -add about 150 miles to the size of the country away to the west of -Ardnamurchan, and dry up considerably the Firth of Clyde, but that -there would still be deep water between Fairlie and the Greater Cumbrae. - -It will be interesting also to think of a time, now more than 600 years -ago, when the natives in those parts looked out on the dragon prows -and raven pennons of the Norwegian galleys, and recognised in them -the shattered remnants of King Haco’s once noble fleet. A friend who -accompanied me on this climb, and who is great in history, showed that -he could speak of the invasion of the Norsemen, and of Scandinavian -mythology and literature by the yard. There was no end to his talk -about their worship of brute force as personified in their god Thor, -the god of thunder, with his hammer, the “mauler” or “smasher,” and -their high appreciation of the Pagan virtues of valour, courageous -endurance of hardships, and indomitable resolution which made them -the terror and scourge of every northern sea and neighbouring coast. -It was interesting, and not without its touch of pathos, to learn -from him that, after their decisive defeat at the battle of Largs, -whilst lying in Lamlash Bay, in whose quiet and land-locked waters -they had gone to refit, Ivan Holm, the old comrade of Haco, died, and -the broken-hearted king himself only reached the Orkneys to die there -six weeks afterwards. It was also interesting to learn from him that a -little farther down yonder, right over Whiting Bay (though the fish of -that name have long ago, like Haco and his fleet, left those waters), -in Glen Eisdale, there is still to be seen what are known as the -“Vikings’ graves,” the resting-place of some of those who took part in -this ill-fated expedition. - -And there below us on the left is Hunterston Ho, with the Bay of -Fairlie terminating in the far-projecting headland of Ardneill. And a -little round the corner is Portincross, with its ancient fortalice on -a bare rock stretching out into the sea, above which it is elevated -only a very little. The fort is not only wild and picturesque, but it -is memorable from the many visits paid to it by the first of our Stuart -sovereigns, as is attested by the numerous charters which received his -signature within its venerable walls. A piece of cannon is shown here -as a relic of the Spanish Armada; a vessel having been wrecked on the -coast close by. It is understood that some of the sailors settled in -the district and left families, whose representatives are still known -by their outlandish names and a slight tinge of the dark complexion of -Spain. Following the coast line, the eye takes in the fertile district -of West Kilbride, the ironworks of Stevenston, Ardrossan, Saltcoats, -Troon, the heights of Ayr, and the Carrick Hills. And yonder is Ailsa -Craig standing up sentinel-like out of the blue waters over which are -passing and repassing richly-freighted ships, bearing the merchandise -of all nations. - -And there in the foreground, to pass from the stirring times of Haco, -and in striking contrast to them, is the Isle of Lamlash, so fitly -called the Holy Isle. The distance is too great to discern its sea-worn -cave, where St. Molios, the shaved or bald-headed servant of Jesus, -retired to practice a discipline of himself more strict and rigid even -than that of St. Columba, whose disciple he was. From that little Iona -there shone forth the light which diffused a knowledge of Christianity -amongst the formerly Pagan inhabitants of Arran. The day is almost -clear enough to see on the road to Sannox the boulder from behind -which the angry natives dragged forth the last survivor of Cromwell’s -garrison, and meted out to him the rough-and-ready justice of his and -his comrades’ misdeeds; and far above are the rugged granite peaks of -the Hill of Winds. - -Before beginning the descent it might be as well to give a passing -look and thought to the Cumbrae Dykes, the most astonishing natural -monuments in the Big Cumbrae. This is the Heatheren Keipel Dyke -(heth’ren caple)—to call it by its old and time-honoured name—and the -Houllon Keipel Dyke, which lifts its lion-like head and shoulders -one-third of a mile ahead of the others. No other name than this did -it have fifty years ago, says Mr. Lytteil (in his “Guide Book to the -Cumbraes”), except the occasional appellation of Deil’s Dyke—a name -which may be regarded as summarising and embodying in one personage -the host of ogres or fabulous demon-giants which are credited, in an -ancient folks’ tale, with the building of the grim-looking structure. -According to the legend the stupendous wall of Heatheren Keipel was -built up to its present height by the fairies, or good elves; seeing -which, the malignant ogres, or swart-elves, set to work and attempted -in the spirit of keen competition to outrival and excel their betters. -The result was a conspicuous failure; so, finding they could do no -better by their work, these same demon giants, in the person of their -chief, fell into a wild rage and kicked half-a-dozen holes through -the stony heart of their own performance. Mr. Lytteil states that -the names _Heatheren_ and _Houllon_, as applied to these two great -Cumbrae dykes, have been discovered, after much study and research, -to contain the very essence of the ancient legend, and to describe -respectively the benevolent sprites or brownies on the one hand, and -the malevolent demons on the other. Heatheren Keipel Dyke, regarded as -a local name, signifies the dyke of the giants’ contest. On the other -hand, Houllon Keipel Dyke, similarly regarded, means the dyke or wall -of the ogre-giants’ contest. The term “keipel”—also written “keppel” -and “caple”—denotes a contest, a competition. The latter of the two -dykes is pretty well known nowadays by the name of the Lion. It may -be added that, in the raising of these huge fabrics, the legendary -builders had a special object in view—which was to carry a bridge over -the waters of the Sound to the shore of the mainland. And, strange to -say, a corresponding mass of black rock, in the form of a great but -much abraded natural dyke, reappears on the sandy flats of the opposite -coast, and bears the name of the Black Rock. - -In whatever direction we turn the scenery is of the finest, and is -undisturbed by any manufacturing chimney or coalpit, though I have -heard of a Cockney who wondered “what kind of work can that be on the -top of that ’ill?” when he saw the Holy Isle with its nightcap on. It -is not easy to leave a sight like this, but time and tide wait for -no man, and we have the station below us as constant mentor, and we -make the descent for it, paying in passing a visit to the old Castle -of Fairlie, which, with the glen in which it stands, all visitors to -Fairlie should see. The site is so peculiar that the popular eye has no -difficulty in tracing in it the real residence of Hardy Knute, the hero -of the well-known beautiful ballad of that name. Whether the story is -wholly a fiction seems to be doubted, but it does not follow that it -had no foundation in tradition. We reach the station again three hours -after leaving it, with a strong desire to do something to make this -hilltop better known than it is, for it has only to be seen once to be -a joy for ever. Our friend, with the view of helping in this laudable -endeavour, suggested the following lines:— - - When other lips with other lies - The guide book’s page shall fill, - Be sure you kindly advertise - The name of Kaim’s fair hill. - -In another hour and a half we are singing the praises of Kaim to our -home circle. - - - - -GOATFELL. - - -We see that “Cook” is advertising his usual excursions to Switzerland -and Paris in view of the Fair holidays, but, whilst we would not urge -anyone not to go, having been there and enjoyed them, ourselves, to -those who have neither the time nor the money to go any great distance -we would say that we are old enough fashioned to believe that this -“nice little, tight little, island” of our own contains within its -rocky shores as wondrous a combination and as great a variety of -scenery as can be found in any portion of the Continent of Europe twice -its extent and surface. We back Great Britain and Ireland, not omitting -even the adjacent islands of the Great and Little Cumbraes, against -the world for possessing the richest treasures of all that is grand, -beautiful, and lovable in nature. Indeed, none should cross the Channel -till they are tolerably well acquainted with the chief things worth -seeing at home. But, to come to particulars, we back not only this -country against the rest of the world, but we back Scotland against -England and Ireland, and “Arran’s Isle” against the rest of Scotland. -Have you been to Arran? If not, you cannot go to soon; and, as you -must ascend Goatfell, the best thing to do is to steer your course to -Brodick. Everyone will ask you if you have been to the top of Goatfell. -In fact, the question is so universal that, having failed in our first -attempt, we found it advisable whenever we referred afterwards to -having been at Arran to add, “but I did not ascend Goatfell.” - -Take the early morning train from the Central or St. Enoch to -Ardrossan, and crossing over to Brodick pull your hat well down on -your head, for, though the captain has a kindly way with him, he’ll -not turn back for any hat that goes overboard. He may only tell you, -as we once heard another skipper tell a man further up the Clyde who -had lost his headpiece, “You shouldn’t travel with a quick boat if you -don’t want to lose your bonnet.” On landing admire the fine sweep of -the bay on to and beyond the big castle among the trees, chief outward -token of the supremacy of the Hamilton family in the past. On passing -the handsome hotel built by the late Duke, and standing in the midst of -its own beautiful and carefully kept grounds, you have time to look on -the face of an old friend, Lord Brougham, a true lithograph written -on stone, on the top of the hills to the left of Goatfell. That row -of houses on the left a little way off the road in the English style -of architecture is “The Alma.” But whether it is so called because -erected during the Crimean War, or because in ancient times there stood -there one of the forts that formed the chain which girdled the whole -coast of the island, deponent sayeth not. The next group of houses is -Invercloy, where, if you have not already a thick staff or Alpine pole, -you may provide yourself with one, and lay aside till your return any -superfluous clothing. - -As you pass the Cloyburn it will interest you to know that up the glen -from which it comes is the mansion-house of Kilmichael, the seat of -the Fullarton family, proprietors of Whitefarland and Kilmichael—the -only portions of Arran not owned by the Duke of Hamilton. A little -further up are the remains of an encampment which had been provided -by the islanders for the security of their wives and children on the -alarm of invasion. It was here that Bruce and his followers resided -before taking Brodick Castle. Passing the school-house, examine a -very fine bronze statute of the late Duke in Highland costume, the -workmanship of Marochetti. Here also, at the roadside, is to be seen -a large block of red sandstone set on end, the history of which is -unknown. It is supposed to be one of the many Druidical monuments -and circles to be found on the island; or perhaps it was set up here -to mark the burial-place of some chief, or the spot where one fell -in deadly combat; or perhaps it was meant for something more common -and prosaic—for (Highland) man and beast to scratch themselves upon. -Coming to the cross-road leading to Shiskin and to Corrie, take the -Corrie road over Rosa Burn; but before doing so admire the artistic -manse straight in front, its magnificent position and the liberality -of the Duke in building it at his own expense. The house is as unique -inside as it is outside, and a visit which we recently paid it and its -accomplished occupant will long live in our memory. - -At the Rosa Bridge enter the carriage drive to the Castle, and keep on -it till near the gamekeeper’s house; then enter by a small gate on the -left and follow the walk through the wood, which is well stocked with -deer and game, till you come out again on the moor. From the Rosa Burn -to the summit is about 3 miles as the crow flies, but by the windings -of the path it will be at least 4. The highest point is 2800 feet above -the level of the sea at half-tide. The ascent is now more difficult, -the path more abrupt and uneven, following the burn, which runs -through a deep mountain gorge, showing many different kinds of strata -and stone interesting to those who go about with small hammers. At the -mill dam you reach a height of 1200 feet. You may be tempted to strike -across a flat space to the left and mount by the southern shoulder; -but although a shorter cut, it is much steeper and more dangerous than -the usual path which is to the right, and which you should follow till -you reach the sharp ridge of the east shoulder of the mountain. Before -attempting this, the last and most difficult part of the journey, you -will probably think it time to sit down and discuss the contents of -your bag. Tennant’s beer sells at one-and-six the bottle on the Rocky -Mountains; well, this is an exceedingly rocky mountain, yet you can -get “something to drink free, gratis, and for nothing” at anytime -by simply scratching its surface. The path now turns to the left up -the steep ridge among and over huge masses of rock lying in grand -confusion. As you get higher the granite boulders become of immense -size, some of them 20 by 10 feet, toppled on the top of others of all -shapes and sizes, till one wonders how they ever came there, and can -understand what the man meant who said, though his theology might have -been more correct and his language more fitly chosen, “O man, are the -works of God no devilish?” Near the top there is an immense precipice -of granite blocks laid on each other as regular as mason work, which -geologists call a cyclopean wall. Keep to the left till you are clear -of the blocks and are facing a very abrupt steep, put your feet in the -well-worn footprints, and a few minutes of hard toil will land you safe -on the summit of Goatfell. - -When we made the ascent it was a very hot day in a very hot week, -each day almost more calm than its predecessor, reminding us of the -sergeant newly arrived in India, who, not much accustomed to such a -warm climate, was always remarking to his commanding officer when he -met him, “Anither het day, kornel.” But he will soon be cooled down -who lingers on this (appropriately termed) “hill of winds.” Therefore, -improve your time in taking a mental photograph of the grand prospect. -Here is a place for learning a lesson in geography; here is a map of -the south-west of Scotland that beats Collins’ all to sticks. On the -north-east you see the two Cumbraes, and behind them Largs, Wemyss Bay, -and the Clyde sparkling with tiny white sails, and the green hills of -Renfrewshire in the background. To the north is the Island of Bute, -and the Kyles, like a silver thread, nearly surrounding it; while Ben -Lomond, Ben Voirlich, and Ben Ledi fill up the distant background. -To the north-west the eye reaches far up Loch Fyne, and round by the -Paps of Jura and Islay and Mull. Looking across Ben Gneiss down to the -Sound of Kilbrannan you see Campbeltown, and over Kintyre, and, if the -day be clear, to the coast of Ireland. Due south you see Wigtonshire -and the lonely Craig of Ailsa, “Paddy’s Milestone,” with Pladda, the -Holy Isle, and Lamlash in the foreground. Looking east, the eye sweeps -round the sunny coast of Ayrshire, taking in Ayr with its tall spire, -Troon, Irvine, and Ardrossan, and inland, the conical Loudon Hill. East -and south-east are the Muirkirk and Cumnock ranges, Cairnsmuir and the -dark mountains between Loch Doon and Loch Trool, several of which are -nearly as high as Goatfell, though, on account of their tangled and -featureless character, they attract little notice. - -In the immediate vicinity, and apparently on the same level with -yourself, though really considerably lower, there is probably the most -terrible congregation of jagged mountain ridges to be seen anywhere -in the same compass, and yawning chasms between—all dry, bleak, and -barren in the extreme. Away to the left lies the mighty Glen Sannox, -_i.e._, “the glen of the river trout”—grand and wild and lonely “beyond -the reach of art,” at the foot of which there once stood a chapel -dedicated to St. Michael. Almost at your feet is Glen Rosa, with the -river meandering at the bottom like a silver thread, and the foaming -waterfall of Grabh-alt bounding down the opposite mountain side. We -were slow to leave such a scene, for we felt that we might never see -the like again. At last, with one long soul-satisfying gaze, we bade -farewell to the prospect, which few surely can look upon without a -feeling of awe and a sense of their own insignificance, and which -defies the skill of the painter and engraver. - -There are some who make the descent by scrambling down the steep slope -of Glen Rosa; but we had heard that this was a dangerous route, and -that a man-of-war’s man, who, with some shipmates, had previously -made the descent that way under the guidance of a local worthy who -has been up to the top at least once every month in the year, fairly -broke down. We therefore took the advice _Punch_ gave to those about to -marry, “Don’t,” and we didn’t. Come down the way you went up, carefully -observing the track lest you should lose your way and come to grief -among the boulders; once past these you will be out of danger, and will -be able to look around and enjoy the scenery. In coming down you may, -as we did, pass through a herd of deer of close on 150, none of them -putting themselves more about than merely to gaze at us with their -great soft eyes as we pass through their midst. At the kennel turn to -have a look at the old Castle, so often demolished and rebuilt, from -the tower of which Bruce is said to have watched for the fire on the -Turnberry Coast which the faithful Cuthbert was to light, should there -be any hope of striking a blow for Scotland’s freedom. Here also we saw -on our visit a rude deal table, drilled by moths and seasoned with age, -around which the royal exile and his trusty friends were wont to sit -and quaff their wine, drinking revenge to Scotland’s foes. A pleasant -walk will bring you to the road at the old inn, and you are soon at the -pier in time for the steamer. - - - - -THE EARL’S SEAT. - - -A Londoner can get “to Brighton and back for four shillings” in the -height of the season; but we in Glasgow can have a day’s outing -quite as good for half the money, and at any time. It is not “down -the water,” but up to the Earl’s Seat, the highest point in what is -popularly called the Campsie range. Find your way to Strathblane in -the manner most agreeable to your mood. On reaching the station, turn -to the right, past the handsome parish church, the pulpit of which was -long filled by Dr. William Hamilton of astronomical fame, the father of -the still more famous Dr. James Hamilton, of Regent Square, London, and -soon after you will readily find the way up the hillside to the Spout -of Ballagan. - -In doing so you can think of the time when the church and lands of -Strathblane were gifted to the hospital of Polmadie, in the parish of -Govan, and how those, with one-half of the lands of “Little Govan,” -seem to have formed the most important endowment of the hospital. -You can think also how the present church occupies the site of the -church that preceded it, and that to the Duntreath family are due many -improvements which have been made in the building in recent years. Much -valuable family history is, we are afraid, slowly decaying among the -weeds and mosses of many a neglected churchyard, but Mr. Guthrie Smith, -in his book on Strathblane, has acted the part of an “Old Mortality” in -this one. - -The Spout is a cascade of 70 feet formed by the Blane in its passage to -the valley below, and which, with its surroundings of rock and wood, -presents a scene of the most wild and romantic beauty; the hollow into -which the river plunges being filled up with a vast collection of -gigantic stones piled upon each other, and adorned on its sides with -many alternate strata of various hues. - -Anyone can see for himself at a glance at Ballagan the process by which -our mountain glens and gorges are formed—how after a heavy rainfall the -descending waters rush down the watercourses, setting all the boulder -and rock fragments in the bed of the stream in motion. The last of the -old race of the Levenax, or Lennox, had a castle near to and in sight -of this romantic glen, from which fact the range of hills was, and -frequently still is, called the Lennox range, and its highest point -the Earl’s Seat. Ballagan House, which is close at hand, commands a -beautiful view of the fall, and is within hearing of its music, even -when it has not the power to strike a loud note. In flood-time the -Spout is stupendous, and increases its apparent height by covering the -huge masses below so as to vie with the sublimity if not the beauty of -Cora Linn. This may seem to some to be rather strong language, but all -measurement is comparative, and it may be possible to feel that there -is more than prettiness or even grandeur here. - -The view, even half way up, is not to be despised, the beauty of -which consists in its “breadth,” as an artist would say. The meadows, -with their green frames of hedges, may be compared to small cabinet -pictures—lovely, but small. This is life-like—a broad cartoon from the -hand of nature. The sward rises and rolls along in undulations like the -slow heave of an ocean wave. Handsome trees of all sorts are scattered -around, under whose ample shade cattle can, and, to judge from the -brown and bare patches around their trunks, evidently do, repose in the -heat of the day. Following up the stream, which in its higher reach is -called the Laggan Burn, we come on two smaller cascades, and after a -pleasant and comparatively easy ascent up the fretted terraces of trap, -reach the summit, 1894 feet above the sea level, 3 miles to the north -of the station we have left, and at the meeting point of Killearn, -Campsie, and Strathblane parishes. - -The climb to the top will well repay a visit, as will readily be -believed when we say that the eye embraces a range of scenery extending -all the way from Ben Lomond to Tinto. The prospect before us is of the -most beautiful description; the vast basin of the Clyde from Kilpatrick -to Dechmont lying stretched at our feet, with Glasgow, Paisley, and -many other towns and villages scattered on its breast; while the line -of the horizon is formed by the Gleniffer, Fereneze, and Cathkin braes. -Immediately below us is the valley of the Blane, or Warm River; and -we cannot help acknowledging that Strathblane (the valley of the Warm -River) is a word that is peculiarly descriptive of the valley, which -is sheltered in almost every direction from the violence of the winds. -The probability is that, with part of Campsie (the crooked strath, -according to some), it was at some long-past date a fresh-water loch, -and that subsequently the barriers in the direction of Loch Lomond were -broken down, and the valley drained accordingly. The nature of the soil -contributes to establish this opinion, consisting largely of sand, -gravel, and other comminuted fragments of the neighbouring rocks. The -valley of the Blane, as it winds its way westward from the bare and -desolate conical hill of Dunglass, 400 feet high, on the east, to the -conical and finely wooded hill of Dunquaich, on the west, also 400 -feet high, is one of the prettiest in Scotland, quite equal to and not -unlike the drive between Crieff and St. Fillans, which Dr. John Brown, -in his “Horæ Subsecivæ,” calls the finest 13 miles in Scotland. - -Looking south we have to the left a view of Lennox Castle, the seat of -a branch of the ancient earldom of Lennox, rebuilt in the boldest style -of Norman architecture, nearly 500 feet above the level of the sea, and -commanding a most extensive and picturesque prospect; and a little to -the west are the gentle undulations of the Craigallion table land, with -the venerable Mugdock Castle, of unascertained antiquity, the scene of -many bacchanalian orgies on the part of the Earl of Middleton and his -associates, who, after the restoration of Charles II., were seeking to -subvert the liberties of their country. - -But Mugdock, which to most of us suggests a magnificent water supply, -has a history long anterior to the Restoration period. All the -authorities agree that about the year 750 a great battle was fought -at Maesydauc between the invading Picts under Talargan, one of their -kings, and the Cymric Britons under their king Tendeor. After a bloody -battle, the Picts were defeated and their king slain. Dr. Skene, than -whom there is no higher authority, identifies this battlefield with -the present Mugdock, in the parish of Strathblane. The field of battle -can be traced with but little difficulty. The Cymric army was posted -on the high ground on Craigallion, then part of Mugdock, above and to -the east and west of the Pillar Craig, with outposts stationed on the -lower plateau to the north. There they awaited the Picts, who came up -Strathblane valley through Killearn from the north on their way to the -interior of Cumbria or Strathclyde. Near the top of the Cuilt Brae, -in a line with the Pillar Craig, there is a rock still called Cat -Craig, _i.e._, Cad Craig, meaning the “Battle Rock.” In their efforts -to dislodge the Cymric army, whom they could not leave in their rear, -the Picts, doubtless, had penetrated thus far, and here the battle -began. It was continued all over Blair or Blair’s Hill, _i.e._, “the -Hill of Battle”—the rising ground on Carbeth Guthrie which commands -the valley of the Blane—and Allereoch or Alreoch, _i.e._, “the King’s -Rock,” was certainly so named from being the place where King Talargan -fell when the defeated Picts were being driven back to the north-west. -The standing stones to the south-east of Dungoyach probably mark the -burial-place of Cymric or Pictish warriors who fell in the bloody -battle of Mugdock. - -Immediately opposite is Craigmaddie Wood and Moss, with the far-famed -Auld Wives’ Lifts, which are well worthy of a visit themselves, not -only on account of their position and their size, but also of the -uncertainty of their origin. Some regard them as the work of witches, -which is about as good a way of getting out of a difficult as the -Highland minister had, who always said when he came to some knotty -point, “But this is a mystery, my brethren; we will just boldly look -it in the face and then pass on.” Some regard them as the work of -glacial action, and yet others as a gigantic Druidical altar, on which -in some far-off period the dark rites of Pagan worship may have been -celebrated. We tried, but with little success, to give our mind to this -difficult problem, and finding the air “vara halesome”—quite too much -so, indeed—we made short work of some sandwiches, which, fortunately -for us, were thicker than those we get at Lang’s. - -Time should be taken to have a look at the prehistoric wall above -Craigbarnet, and also at the great stone, “Clach Arthur,” on the brow -of the hill, said to mark the site of one of King Arthur’s victories. -The remains of the wall are still perfectly visible, and can be traced -as far as the Ballagan Burn. From the height above that burn a good -view is had of the wall running on westward towards Dungoin. - -Earl’s Seat is flanked east and west by two hills, and it sends off -from its southern slope not only Ballagan Burn, up which we came, but -Fin Burn, passing down through Fin Glen, a little to the east. We make -this our route homeward, which, though less known than its neighbour -Campsie, or, more correctly, Kirkton Glen, is little inferior in -attraction, and for at least its length, its volume of water, and its -cascade is much superior. As we descend we have time to have a look at -Crichton’s Cairn, immediately above Campsie, so called, according to -one account, in memory of a local Hercules of that name, who, after -taking a wager to carry up a load of meal to the top, succeeded in -doing so, but died immediately after; and according to another, in -memory of a smuggler of that name who was overtaken and killed there -by gaugers. There is still another account of the matter, viz., that -Crichton committed suicide up there by hanging himself. “If this is the -true version, it is one of the most determined cases on record, as the -poor man would require to take the hanging apparatus with him.” Below -the cairn is the well-known Craw Road, between Fintry and Campsie, -by which in 1745 a detachment of Highlanders came south to join the -Chevalier, and a visit to the bend of which is supposed by some to be -“good for the whooping cough.” - -Getting to the bottom of Fin Glen, and keeping to the left, we soon -find ourselves in the far-famed Campsie Glen, with its Craigie Linn, -about 50 feet high, and its Jacob’s Ladder. The little churchyard -across the burn is worth a visit with its ruined belfry, its graves of -Bell, the traveller; Muir, the Campsie poet; and Collins, the parish -minister, who was murdered coming home from a meeting of the Glasgow -Presbytery in 1648 by a neighbouring laird who wanted to marry his -wife. The tombstones are chiefly flat, reminding one of the times, -not so long ago, when the graves of the dead were watched during -the night by the parishioners in turn to prevent the eager student -of anatomy stealing the bodies away. In former times funerals were -conducted on different principles from those in fashion to-day. In the -neighbourhood of Campsie when the head of a family died the custom at -one time prevailed of issuing a general invitation to the parishioners -to attend the funeral. The guests were usually accommodated in a barn, -where refreshments, consisting of cake, bread and cheese, ale and -whisky, were served in no stinted way. The proceedings began early -in the forenoon, but the “lifting,” as the removal of the coffin from -the house was popularly styled, did not take place till well on in the -afternoon. As a rule the coffin was carried to the place of interment -on hand-spokes. After a modest refreshment in the adjoining inn, we -make for the station, and reach Glasgow after a most enjoyable outing -of six hours. - - - - -DUNMYAT. - - -We started the other day for the top of Dunmyat, the nearest and most -picturesque peak of the Ochil range. If you have not been on its -summit there is a treat in store for you. We take the train from Queen -Street to Stirling, thence by car to Causewayhead, the most fitting -place from which to begin the pedestrian part of our journey. Taking -the road through the village, up the hill, and keeping to the right, -past the Wallace Monument, we soon find ourselves at the Parish Church -of Logie. We look into the churchyard a little further on, where we -admire the most simple and modest epitaph it was ever our lot to read, -over the grave of General Sir James A. Alexander, lately deceased, “He -tried to do his duty.” Keeping up past the gardener’s house, by a very -pleasant sylvan road, half-grown with grass and self-sown ash and other -trees, we come to the road to Sheriff Muir, about a mile up. We might -have reached this point from the Bridge of Allan (or the Bridge, as it -is locally called), _via_ St. Ann’s Road, but consider that we have -come unquestionably the most picturesque route. Keeping to the right -for a quarter of a mile, we find a gate which admits us to the moor. -Following an easterly north-easterly direction, now through what will -be in autumn a red sea of heather, and now through what is already a -diminutive forest of brackens, over hill and dale, too numerous to -mention, meeting occasionally a sheep or two feeding on the grass -(which seems more fresh and green the higher we go) and apparently -wondering how ever we came there, we reach the summit of Dunmyat, after -a most pleasant walk of two hours from the time we left Causewayhead. - -It stands 1375 feet above the sea level, immediately behind another -high hill, which breaks almost sheer down in stupendous rocky cliffs -into the plain between Blairlogie and Menstrie, at Warrock Glen, a -great resort for picnics, where the famous strawberries and cream of -the district are in much request. It is a lovely day, and every little -rocky spur and crevice is seen with such distinctness that one could -imagine only yards instead of miles of space intervening. And, to those -who have time to explore them, how many lovely glens and other natural -beauties are here to be met with! Then, taking a further look, what -a magnificent panorama is here spread for us! Though not so high as -either the King’s Seat, near Dollar, or Bencleugh, near Tillicoultry, -yet from its peculiar position it commands a prospect which for united -gorgeousness and extent is probably not surpassed by any in Britain. We -have under our eye at one time a circular space of a hundred miles in -diameter, comprising nearly one-third of the surface of Scotland and -probably two-thirds of its wealth. On the north the rugged Grampians -rise ridge behind ridge. There they all are, the Bens rising one over -the other in tumbled confusion—the real Highland hills, peaks, and wild -valleys, stormy summits, and dark, dismal clefts, dimly stretching away -to the regions of the setting sun. Nearer hand are the well-wooded -plains of Perthshire, a part of which is concealed by the spurs and -branches of the Ochils themselves. On the west you can distinguish the -summits of Ben More, Ben Ledi, and Ben Lomond, and other smaller hills. -On the south we have the vast and fertile region extending from the -Campsie Hills to the Lammermoor chain, including Edinburgh, Arthur’s -Seat, the Bass Rock, and the Pentland Hills. The Devon, rendered -classic by Scott, a peculiarly winding river, after having made a -complete circuit of the Ochil range, is seen to fall into the Forth -at Cambus, almost directly opposite the spot where it rises, on the -opposite side of the hill. The Forth is seen immediately below in all -its serpentine contortions, and yet clear, luminous, and tranquil as a -mirror, enshrined in the centre of a richly-cultivated country. It will -give you some idea of its wonderful windings to know that it is 7 miles -by road to Alloa and 21 miles by water. - -The Forth can here be traced almost from its source in the vicinity -of Loch Ard, the country of Rob Roy, to where it joins the German -Ocean; and the windings in its upper part, with the islets, capes, -and peninsulas which they form, are seen to more advantage here than -from Stirling Castle, and the lower part of the Firth is specked with -little vessels, and perhaps a steamboat, which give life and interest -to the scene. There may be a feeling of disappointment in looking -over to Stirling Castle, that it hardly answers to expectation in the -way of nobility of outline. But there still remains the Royal palace -with its quadrangle quaint and bizarre, adorned, as we know it to be, -with the grotesque statues attributed to the taste of James V., the -“Gudeman of Ballengeich.” The Carse of Stirling, 60 miles in length -and from 10 to 15 in breadth, with decayed and modern mansions, snug -farm houses, hamlets, towns and villages, cornfields and meadows, -float indistinctly on the view, till all seem lost in aerial tints. -Immediately in front of us is the Wallace Monument, a lofty tower of -baronial architecture, 220 feet high, crowning the Abbey Craig, which -of itself is about 400 feet high, near the base of which Wallace -concealed the principal part of his forces before the battle of -Stirling in 1297, which proved so disastrous to the English. If we -are not mistaken the genesis of the tower was as follows:—A monument -to Wallace had been long talked about. In 1818 a gentleman offered -£1000 to erect a monument to the hero on Arthur’s Seat or Salisbury -Crags. Some people have the idea that all the good things should go to -Edinburgh. However, after dragging out a miserable existence for years, -this project fell through. In 1856 a bitter attack on the memory of -Wallace appeared in the _North British Review_. Mr. Brown, the managing -proprietor of the _Glasgow Daily Bulletin_, replied with such telling -effect that a committee was immediately formed for the erection of -a national monument. Glasgow Green was proposed, but it was finally -arranged that it should be built on the Abbey Craig, Stirling, which -has the advantage of overlooking the scene of the memorable battle of -Stirling Bridge. It is one of the finest sites in the country, and one -wonders now how any other place was proposed, as from its commanding -situation it can be seen for miles around, and from the top of it you -have one of the finest views in the country. The eye can behold the -scene of six battles, viz.:—Cambuskenneth, where the battle was fought -between the Scots and the Picts; the battle of Stirling Bridge; the -plains of Bannockburn; the battle of Sauchie Burn, when King James III. -was cruelly murdered in the miller’s cottage; also where the Duke of -Argyll fought the Earl of Mar and the Jacobite clans in 1715. A little -farther south is Cambuskenneth Abbey and Bannockburn, redolent of Bruce -and fighting in the past, and carpets and tartans in the present. - -Between the Abbey Craig and the foot of Dunmyat we have the -mansion-house of Airthrey, with its pretty wooded policies and its -artificial lakes. To the immediate north of Dunmyat is Sheriffmuir, -called so, no doubt, from having been one of those plains or moors on -which the wapinschaws, a feat of arms of the Middle Ages, took place -under the inspection of the Sheriffs. It was the scene of a very -sanguinary though indecisive battle during the Rebellion of 1715, on -the same day on which the Pretender’s army surrendered at Preston. -Both armies claimed the victory, and hence the well-known sarcastic -lines— - - There’s some say that we wan, - And some say that they wan, - And some say that nane wan at a’, man; - But ae thing I’m sure, - That at Sheriffmuir - A battle there was, that I saw, man; - And we ran and they ran, and they ran and we ran, - And we ran, and they ran awa’, man. - -It was in connection with this battle that we heard of a Highlander who -had lost at it his “faither and twa brithers, and a gude black belt -that was mair worth than them a’.” Half a mile north of the base of -Dunmyat there is a very fine well, which issues from more than sixty -springs, and bears the name of the Holy Well, and is said to have been -anciently an object of superstitious veneration and crowded resort on -the part of Roman Catholics. And this reminds us that over yonder, -across the wonderful valley that separates this range of hills from its -nearest neighbour, are the Touch Hills, and that there, amid the sweet -air of May, early in the morning of the first Sunday of the month, -crowds used to assemble to drink the water of St. Corbet’s spring, and -believed that by so doing they would secure health for another year. -Old persons were alive about half a century ago who remembered having -in their young days joined the health-seekers on these occasions. - -Dunmyat, like the rest of the Ochils, is a rich field to the geologist -and mineralogist. But for this it must be examined where it abuts on -the highway. Its general character, however, is that of a great igneous -mound developing itself in felspar and porphyry, and occasionally in -fine pentagonal columns of basaltic greystone. It is penetrated by -large workable veins of barytes. - -Having once more feasted our eyes on the fair prospect, and recalled -to mind those and other historical associations, we proceed to descend -on the east side towards the beautifully wooded glen of Menstrie. This -can be done in less than half the time we took to reach the summit -from Logie. It is as well to proceed for the first 50 or 60 feet with -caution, for the freshness and abundance of the grass is apt to conceal -the steepness of the hill at that part. Crossing a cart track which -leads to a shepherd’s house up the glen of Menstrie, the only house -that is visible looking northward from the summit, and keeping to the -right, we soon reach the first house of the village, which is styled -by the natives “Windsor Castle.” From its elaborate coat of arms, it -seems to have belonged to some noble family, but, _miserabile dictu_, -it is now tenanted by quite a host of the great unwashed. A popular -rhyme assumes some spirit of fairyland to have formerly loved Menstrie -for its rural beauty, but to have been driven away from it by the -introduction of its manufacturing mills, and represents the phantom as -sometimes saying pathetically at dead of night— - - Oh, Alva woods are bonnie, - Tillicoultry hills are fair, - But when I think o’ Menstrie, - It maks my heart ay sair. - -But we make for the train, which is just at hand, feeling that we could -willingly take the same journey at least once a year, and in another -hour we are at Queen Street. - - - - -AT THE TOP OF BEN DONICH. - - -Notwithstanding the fact that it had rained for two days previously, we -determined to get to the top of Ben Donich, not that it is very high, -but that its central position affords far-reaching views, such as many -higher hills can lay no claim to. It is in the midst of a network of -inland lochs, and the range of high hills, not to call them mountains, -not a hundred miles away from the better-known “Cobbler.” The ordinary -way to reach it is to take the steamer to Lochgoilhead. When there, -there is a temptation to follow the crowd, in the shape of the -passengers for St. Catherine’s and Inveraray per the coach road, which -is commonly said to be the only road out of Lochgoilhead, and which -was a famous drive in the days of old John Campbell, who with every -crack of his whip delighted to crack a joke at the expense of some -incautiously inquisitive tourist. But we deny ourselves the pleasure of -a view of Inveraray and the beautiful seat of the Macallum More, and a -peep into Hell’s Glen from that end of it; so we turn up between the -grocer’s shop and the Free Church. - -The village is no sooner left behind us than we have to put a stout -heart to a steep brae. We soon reach the Donich Burn, with its shoals -and rapids, its large stones and deep pools, which, although specially -dear to the angler, has charms for everybody. We approach cautiously -and watch the trout—how alternately mouth and gills open and close, -keeping up an incessant pumping—as they lie behind stones watching for -luckless flies. Passing over to the other side as at once the quickest -route, and that by which the best views are to be got, we are not very -far up till we can see the hills that hem in Loch Long on all its -sides, standing up weird-like, jagged and fissured, grim and gruesome, -even in fine weather, lending sublime impressiveness to the scene. But -the view is one that should be seen on its own merits, not in one, but -in varying aspects, if it is to be viewed aright. - -We felt that if we had been here on either of the two days preceding, -in rain and dripping mist, blurring and blotting out the mountain -tops, we would have had sufficient compensation in the enlarged size -and music of the waterfalls. Even as it was we could see almost every -rift and gully on all the hillsides, flashing with small cataracts, -which twisted and whirled in mid-air as they fell like veils of silvery -gauze. After a day or two’s rain every brawling burn becomes a torrent, -and rushes down the valley with resistless force—leaping from rocky -heights into water-worn cauldrons that roar, and seethe, and eddy -amidst a mist of rebounding spray. - -In little more than an hour’s walk from where we cross the burn, -through bog and heather alternately, we get near to what seems the -summit, now sinking an inch or two till we touch the stem of what may -be a pre-Adamite tree slowly turning into peat, and now almost putting -our foot on the tail of a grouse, which first gets a fright, and then -gives its back to us as we startle at the “whirr, whirr,” with which it -hurries off beyond our reach. - -We have still another quarter of an hour’s walk before us; meanwhile, -however, now that we have got on firmer ground, we sit down on a -rock that feels as hot as if it could frizzle a fish, and are amply -rewarded. We see the large half of Loch Long, with its villas and -cottages, its patches of cultivated land, Douglas and Carrick Piers, -the bare hillside of Ben Cruach, with an occasional patch of wood, and -the road to St. Catherine’s, which at this elevation looks like the -road between Glen Rosa and Shiskin as seen from Brodick Bay, more like -a piece of “string” than anything else. When the cairn is reached we -feel as if we not only deserved but could enjoy a substantial sandwich, -and are thankful that this necessary proceeding need not seriously -interfere with our enjoyment of the special feast for which we had -come up so high. The five nearest counties—Argyll, Stirling, Perth, -Dumbarton, and Renfrew—and Arran with its rugged peaks, all contribute -to the view. The scenery is everywhere of the most awful, the wildest, -and most extensive. The weather is at its best, and every peak, and -scaur, and wrinkle are visible to the naked eye. Below us to the left, -winding under Ben Lochain, Ben Bheula, and Ben Cruach, is Loch Goil, -flashing back the blue sky, and holding the sun-softened lines of the -great hills in its bosom. To the north-west we can see the greatest of -all those lochs that do so much to adorn, and draw tourists to, the -west coast of Scotland, and which even from a commercial point of view -is not without its value as our “great herring pond.” We do not see -it all, nor what we see of it continuously, but in two long reaches, -the one near the top and the one much lower down, the one over Hell’s -Glen and the other over Loch Eck. Beyond Inveraray and its conical -hill of Duniquoich, and rather to the north end of it, we see in two -distinct places Loch Awe, which is now getting to be as famous for a -tourist route as it used to be and still is as a fishing ground. And -over it Ben Cruachan lifts its majestic head 3689 feet high. In the -north-east we catch a glimpse of the narrow ends of Loch Long, under -the “Cobbler,” and of Loch Lomond, the biggest thing of its kind in -Britain, through the neck of ground between Arrochar and Tarbet. Loch -Long itself is of no small size, stretching all the way from Strone -Point on to Arrochar, and running right alongside of half the length -of Dumbartonshire. In the south-east we have in sight Gareloch, and -the Clyde herself in a great variety of places, washing the coasts of -Renfrew, Cowal, Bute, Arran, and the Big and Wee Cumbraes. But pausing, -we give ourselves over to reflection. - -How utterly insignificant one feels on the summit of a hill like -this, and in the overpowering presence of those still higher hills. -The mountains all around seem to open up steep passes that lead away -to still higher hills in the distance. There is Glencroe going down -between Donich and Ben Arthur, and the road which was made by the 98th -Regiment about a hundred years ago. Then there is the dark glen between -Ben Bheula and Ben Lochain, down which pour the waters of the Lettermay -Burn, which come out of the little tarn, Curra Lochain. Beyond Loch -Lomond there proudly stands Ben Lomond, lifting its head 3192 feet -high, and dominating all the loch of that name. The peaks that overlook -Loch Long prevent us seeing the best parts of Loch Lomond, but we see -themselves, and in doing so feel the force of the sarcasm which has -named them “The Duke of Argyll’s Bowling Green.” Time would fail to -speak of the immense number of high hills that are to be seen away to -the north, the first of which may be said to be Ben Lui, near which is -the source of the Tay, and a good remnant of the old Caledonian Forest. -But between Glen Orchy and Loch Tay one can see Ben Chaluim, Ben More, -Stobinain, Ben Heskernich, Meal Girdy, Ben Lawers, Sheechaillin; and -when it is remembered that the very lowest of those Grampian monarchs -is several hundred feet higher than Ben Lomond, it will not require a -very lively imagination to conceive what a panorama this comparatively -little hill of Donich affords us. It is even said that in certain -favourable conditions of the atmosphere the mountains of Mull can be -seen away to the north-west. - -Enough has been said to tempt anyone that has the time, the lung power, -and a mind capable of being attracted and pleased with the grand in -Nature. But it is not merely the grand that is to be met with. There -is no more delightful spot in summer than a bare hillside. On the -broad slopes of purple heather, with dark hills in the distance, one -suddenly comes upon all kinds of life and beauty. Here is some wild -game, which darts or flies away at your approach. Poor as the pasture -is, no Eastern carpet ever glowed with half the colour of those -flowing slopes. As we come farther down we light upon a little troop -of stonechats—five young birds and their parents—on the branches of a -hawthorn. They are a lively lot, and the clear “chat, chat” of the old -birds is one of the few sounds of life upon the hill. It was perhaps -this note that disturbed a pair of partridges from their resting-place. -They leap a little way into the air, but instead of flying off they -settle down again and crane their necks above the grass. We are told -that some animals, now rare, are not quite unknown on the hillside, -such as the otter, the wild cat, and the fox. Still, any of these are -not likely to disturb the casual visitor. The only thing that can -be regarded as the least uncanny that came under our notice was the -presence in the burn, not a great way up, of an eel. - -The natives, we are told, but will not vouch for the truth of it, have -a horror of eels almost as great as of the adders that are to be met -with on the sunny side of the burn, but which will not hurt you if you -do not hurt them. The natives, however, show them scant mercy. But -the perfume of flowers and leaves and heather, the singing of birds, -and the sweeps of wooded braes throw one into a poetical turn of mind -that begets a dreamy content in which nothing either great or small is -overlooked. - -If you have a turn for botany you may find here, in the course of -your ascent or descent, specimens of the tufted vetch and the lady’s -mantle and one of the saxifrages, loosestrife, a specific which used -to be laid in the cradles of children to make them of a peaceable -temperament. The dog mercury is also here, which dogs resort to and eat -as a medicine, and many another specimen too numerous to detail. And if -your experience be the same as ours, you will also have the advantage -of a singing competition between a homely thrush and some other bird, -in which the thrush, with his louder, more continuous, and more varied -song, bore away the palm. It was amusing to see how the rival songsters -continued, evidently now listening to each other, and continuing “long -with spiteful energy of sweet sounds.” But the shadows will soon begin -to lengthen and lie another way, and we may make a straight road for -Lochgoilhead. - - - - -BEN VENUE. - - -Who that has read “Rob Roy” would not wish to make a pilgrimage to -the clachan of Aberfoyle, where visitors can see for themselves the -historic coulter of the “Bailie,” still red-hot, hanging on a tree in -front of the hotel? It will be remembered that this implement did no -little damage to the Highlandman’s plaid, and led to the very important -question, when the articles of agreement were being decided on in the -inn, after the fracas—“But who’s to pay for ma new plaid?” And who that -has read of Roderick Dhu and Fitz-James would not wish to go to the top -of Ben Venue? Well, all this can be done in one short day from Glasgow, -and at a very small outlay of money; and with my reader’s leave I will -act as his cicerone, in case he should wish to visit a district which -is more visited and better known by the world at large than any other -in Scotland. - -Take a return ticket to Aberfoyle by the North British, and if money is -a consideration, do it on a Saturday. If walking is no consideration -to you, if you can walk six miles over a hill and then climb two, up a -safe but very and continuously steep mountain, start, after you have -had a look around and at the old brig, up the road to the east of the -hill. Take the old road, with its short cuts as often as you can, and -you will be well on your way before the coach, which has to walk the -half of the way, will overtake you. - -But on the other hand, if money is no consideration and walking is, you -can get a ride over and back for the reasonable sum of six shillings, -by the new coach road recently and well (in a double sense) made by no -less a person than his Grace of Montrose. Before reaching the summit -you have the slate quarries, giving employment to about 100 men, on -your left, and after passing the summit you have the Gloomy Glen, and -Loch Drunkie, with which it communicates, on your right. Here also you -get an instalment of the land of the mountain and the flood, and as -you see Ben Venue now towering in its lonely greatness to the left, -apparently much higher, though nearly 500 feet less than Ben Ledi in -front of you, a little to the left, you begin to wish you could drive -right up. A few steps further and you are in sight of “the Lake of -the Level Plain,” with “bold Ben A’an” standing aloof to the north. -Even the rude mountains seem to wear a gentler look as they meet the -pure gaze of “lovely Loch Achray,” and the place is a very sanctuary -of sweet and quiet influences. The ascent is best made by leaving the -coach road at Achray House, before coming to the wooden bridge on the -Teith as it is about to fall into Loch Achray. Pass through the offices -of Mr. Thomson, to whose family we Glasgow people are indebted for so -large and so cheap a park as we have at Camphill, go across the burn -coming down Glen Reoch, and keep on the grass-grown cart road, with -the Teith on your right, till near the sluice between Loch Katrine and -the burn which is its overflow. This overflow is not now so large as -before we in Glasgow began to make such a pull on Loch Katrine. Here, -on the left, you will see a clump of eight or ten trees, chiefly birch, -with a mountain stream to the right of it, and there is the place -where you should begin your climb, keeping this little stream on your -right, keeping near to it for guidance, refreshment, and to cool your -fevered brow. When you have reached the first beginnings of the tiny -stream, keep to the right under the shade of a great rock, at the far -end of it turn to the left, make for the ridge before you, and when you -have reached it, the last and pleasantest part of the climb is now to -the right, amid largish rocks, which make the approach to the summit -something like the burying-place of giants, and, strange to say, it is -all covered over with “ladies mantles.” On the way up specimens may -be gathered, if you are that way inclined, of the Burnet saxifrage, -moneywort, and marjoram; also, of the juniper and yew, the fruit of -the latter being exceedingly beautiful with its bright red waxen cup -holding the seed. - -The height of Ben Venue, “the little mountain” (as compared with Ben -Lomond), is 2393 feet above the sea level, and the ascent can be -easily made in two and a half hours. I have done it in an hour and -forty-five minutes from Achray House, but this was without a rest, -which I could not advise anyone to repeat. You are now looking down -on the world-famed Trossachs. It has been well said that the scenery -around the Trossachs “beggars all description,” a phrase more forcible -than elegant; still it is true, and only a Scott could do it justice. -The whole district has been immortalised by him; but forcible as are -his descriptions, they do no more than justice to the original, which -has been touched by nature’s fingers with loveliness of no common -kind. There is such an assembly of rude and wild grandeur as fills the -mind with the most sublime conceptions. It is as if a whole mountain -had been torn in pieces and had fallen down by a great convulsion of -the earth, and the huge fragments of rocks and rocky wooded hill -lie scattered about in confusion for several miles along the side of -Loch Katrine. Black and bluff headlands of rock dip down into the -unfathomable water, or, to speak more exactly, into a loch which was -found recently to be 75 fathoms deep, and which on account of its depth -scarcely ever freezes. Then there are deep retiring bays, there are -beaches covered with white sand, and grave rugged cliffs with wood -which seems as if it grew out of the solid rock. - -Nothing could well be more wild and desolate than the top of Ben Venue. -You may be there and not hear or have heard anything, not even the -melody of birds, or the bleating of sheep, or the cry of a shepherd, or -the barking of his dog, since you heard the whirr of the partridge in -the valley below. At one time the eagle was to be seen here sitting in -lonely majesty or sailing through the air, but it is now banished. The -heron, however, still stalks among the reeds on the side of the lake -in search of his prey, and the wild ducks still gambol on the water, -or dive beneath the surface. You look down on the most romantic part -of the lake, with the Otter Island, and the “Rob Roy” sailing into the -picturesque pier which is hidden by the western end of “Roderick Dhu’s -lookout,” where nature is shown to best advantage, where mountains and -rocks, which appear to have been thrown around in the rudest forms, are -covered with trees and shrubs that give variety and grace and beauty to -the scenery. - -There are some who connect the word Katrine with Cateran, the wild -and lawless freebooters who infested its shores; but it is called -Ketturn, or Keturin, by the natives; and the latter part of the word -when thus pronounced is like the name of many a place in the Highlands -whose appearance is specially wild and savage. For example, we have in -Inverness-shire Loch Urn or Urrin, which means the Lake of Hell; and -in Cowal Glen Urrin, or Hell’s Glen. The loch is the receptacle of a -hundred streams, which after rain foam down their rugged sides as white -as “the snowy charger’s tail,” and after falling into Loch Achray, -and from that into Vennachar, it finds its way, under the name of the -Teith, into the Forth 3 miles from Stirling. - -At the base of the mountain you have Coir-nan-Uriskin, the cave of -the Goblins (best got at by a boat from the Trossachs Pier), a place -rendered venerable by Highland tradition and superstition, overlooking -the lake in solemn grandeur. It is a deep circular hole of at least 600 -yards in length at the top, gradually narrowing towards the bottom, -surrounded on all sides with steep rocks, and overshaded with birch -trees which shut out the sun. On the south and west it is bordered by -the shoulder of the hill to the height of 500 feet; and on the east -the rocks appear to have fallen down, scattering the whole slope with -fragments, that shelter the fox, the wild cat, and the badger. It is -said that the solemn and staid meetings of the Urisks, from whom it got -its name, and who are supposed to be scattered all over the Highlands, -were held here. “Those,” according to Dr. Graham, “were a kind of -lubberly supernaturals, who, like the brownie, perform the drudgery -of the farm, and it was believed that many of the families of the -Highlands had one of them attached to it.” Sir Walter Scott tells us -that tradition has ascribed to the Urisk a figure between a goat and -a man; in short, however much the classical reader may be startled, -precisely that of the “Grecian satyr.” Behind the precipitous ground -above this cave, at a height of about 800 feet, is the magnificent -glen, overhung with birch trees, called Bealach-nam-Bo, or, the Pass of -the Cattle, through which the animals carried away in a foray in the -Lowlands were driven to the shelter of the Trossachs (rough places). -It looks like an avenue from our nether world to another and a higher -sphere. Not far from the cave is the island to which one of Cromwell’s -soldiers swam to get a boat, and met his doom in the manner described -in the “Lady of the Lake,” at the hand of a woman. With one sweep of -her dirk the Highland amazon is said to have severed his head from his -body. - -Opposite you is the steep and pyramidal mount Ben A’an, 1851 feet high, -with the Trossachs Hotel at its left base, which is built on a spot -called Anacheanoch-rochan, a name unpronounceable by any but a Celtic -tongue. A little farther on, at the end of the lovely Achray (the Loch -of the Level Field), is the Brig of Turk (the Brig of the Boar), where -Fitz-James discovered that he had outstripped all his followers. Behind -that you have the Forest of Glenfinlas, once a royal forest; and behind -that rises Ben Ledi (the Hill of God) to 2875 feet. Farther on you have -Loch Vennachar (the Lake of the Fair Valley), with its islands, and the -Ford of Coilantogle at the far end of it, to which Roderick promised -to lead the king in safety, and where the fight took place—“the Gael -above, Fitz-James below.” Still further off is Callander, looking -bright and fair under the influence of Old Sol, and nestling at the -base of Uam-Var. Looking south, you have immediately before you Glen -Reoch and Ben Reoch (the Brandered or Striped Glen and Ben). Over this -you see the long, flat, and fertile carse of the Forth, with the -Kippen and Gargunnock hills on its south, and Stirling Castle, and -Dunmyat above Menstrie, and even Ben Cleugh above Tillicoultry. Due -south you can see Buchlyvie, a much more hospitable place now than it -must have been found to be by the writer of the ancient ballad, who -described it as a - - toon - Where there’s neither horse meat, nor - Man’s meat, nor a chair to sit doon. - -Farther south is the Strathblane and Kilpatrick hills, while to the -west and south you have, notwithstanding that the mighty Ben Lomond is -now in front of you, a good view of the hills near the foot of Loch -Lomond, and around Loch Eck and Loch Goil. Due west you have the Duke -of Argyll’s Bowling Green, made up of such tidy little mountains as -the Cobbler and his two neighbours to the right of him—Ben More and -Ben Vane—both a little higher in life than himself, he being only a -cobbler. In the north you see Ben More (3845 feet high), to the west of -it Ben Lui (3708), and away in the far west Ben Cruachan (3611), and -many others too numerous to mention. - -If you have read the “Lady of the Lake,” as all should do who propose -to make this excursion, you will have been able to follow “the windings -of the chase,” and to have taken a mental picture of a district which, -before the days of Scott, were almost as unknown to the Lowlander as -the interior of Africa, and into which, when they did go, it was with -the apprehensions of Andrew Fairservice, “that to gang into Rob Roy’s -country is a mere tempting of providence.” - -It is no part of our plan to describe that wilderness of beauty, “all -in the Trossachs Glen,” which attracts so many tourists from all parts -of the world year after year. But if our hill climber has got any -superfluous energy after he has gone up and come down, it would be a -pity to be so near the Trossachs without actually seeing the famed and -fabled spot. - -It is to be hoped that you have brought with you more than the three -brown biscuits recommended by Dr. John Brown, because accommodation -for man and beast is but scarce in this part of the country, except -to those who are not suffering from a depression of trade. The walk -or drive over to Aberfoyle in the cool of the evening will enable you -to catch the last train, which brings you to the city shortly after -eight o’clock. But even if you should miss it, you can telegraph the -fact to your friends at home, and resign yourself to the enjoyment of a -few extra hours in one of the finest districts in Scotland. It is not -given to every one to miss a train, and afterwards be thankful for the -mishap, nor to repent openly and honestly for the harsh words which -escaped his lips when he saw the tail-end of the guard’s van vanishing -down the line. And yet we would not be surprised to learn that such had -been your condition in the supposed circumstances. Your gratitude and -your repentance might be alike sincere. - - - - -THE COBBLER, OR BEN ARTHUR. - - -It is not known why several of our Scottish hills take their name from -the Welsh Prince Arthur, of whom no other trace remains in the country, -but it appears that they have been traditionally considered to be -places of sovereignty. For example, it is said that that huge mountain -at the opening of Glencroe, the naked rocky summit of which is thought -to bear some resemblance to a shoemaker at work and bent to draw his -thread, and which is therefore called the Cobbler, being at one time -considered the most lofty and conspicuous mountain in the domain of -the Campbells, had to be climbed by the heir of that chieftainship, -who was obliged to seat himself on its loftiest peak, a task of some -difficulty and danger, which, if neglected, his lands went to the next -relative who was sufficiently adventurous to scale its heights. Though -we may not have the bribe of a dukedom to entice us, nor any special -need of paying a visit to a shoemaker, yet a climb to the top of this -well-known but seldom scaled steep will live in our memories as a most -pleasurable toil. - -The best plan to adopt in order to “do” it, and return to the common -level of Glasgow life in one day, is to take an early train and boat -(Queen Street low level) to Tarbet on Loch Lomond; walk or coach it -from that through the beautiful pass or valley by which King Haco -and his grim, death-dealing warriors in the thirteenth century are -understood to have dragged their boats after sailing up Loch Long. -This they did with the view of devastating Loch Lomond side and its -then populous islands, with a vengeance terrible in its results. -Through this peaceful and dreamy glen also marched Robert the Bruce, -Scotland’s great deliverer from England’s hated yoke, with his five -hundred followers, when making his way to spend the winter in Cantyre. -In passing through this cross valley you can see on the hillsides the -striations of the glacial age over the watershed from Loch Lomond down -into Loch Long. - -Keep on the coach or coach road past Arrochar, across the Lyon at -the head of Loch Long, a stream which divides Dumbartonshire and -Argyllshire, till you come down to a point on the other side of the -loch opposite Arrochar. Here—Ardgarton House not being far off, -formerly belonging to Mr. Campbell of Armidale, but more lately to Mr. -Macgregor, of the Royal Hotel, Edinburgh—there is a burn or mountain -stream which rejoices in the name of the “Butter-milk Burn.” - -Your course is up the left side of this burn till you come to a hollow -place 500 or 600 feet up; cross the burn here, and, avoiding the soft -ground as much as possible, keep to the right, and instead of making -the old man’s acquaintance too hurriedly, take round to his north side, -and you will find him more approachable and will get better on with -him. The ascent, though stiff, is not difficult till you reach what may -be called the foot of the Cobbler. - -The likeness is preserved even in such a detail as this, but the -whimsical effect of the figure is almost obliterated by the greatness -of those rocks that tower high above, and are perched like the Semi -of Eig on the utmost ridge of the mountain. Your first impression is -that here “you get the air about you;” that, as a Lancashire man once -said to the writer of this about Blackpool, making a slip, “There’s -a deal of ozedone (ozone) about it.” We suggested that he probably -meant zoedone, to which the answer came, “Yes, now you have got it.” -You are on a mountain 2891 feet high, whose praises have been sung by -the Queen, by M’Culloch, and Alexander Smith, and now that you have -presumably made its acquaintance, you feel that your climb of two hours -is well repaid, and that the half has not been told you. - -Sitting on the summit so narrow and acute, which has been compared to -the bridge of Al Sirat, the very razor’s blade over which the faithful -are to walk into Paradise, sitting astride on this rocky saddle, you -may have one foot in Loch Long and the other in Glencroe. The scene is -magnificent, and you may long and calmly gaze at it without any fear -that your horse will get restive or impatient under you. The cliffs -themselves are at once picturesque and sublime, and, most of all, that -square mass at the western extremity, which rises in a lofty and broad -magnificence, 200 feet or more, like a gigantic tower rooted on the -mountain’s brow. Alexander Smith speaks of this as “the Cobbler’s wife -sitting a little way off, an ancient dame, to the full as withered in -appearance as her husband and as difficult of access. They dwell in -tolerable amity the twain, but when they do quarrel it is something -tremendous. The whole country knows when a tiff is in progress. The sky -darkens above them; the Cobbler frowns; his wife sulks in the mist. The -wife’s conduct aggravates the Cobbler, who is naturally of a peppery -temper, and he gives vent to a discontented growl. The wife spits -back fire upon him. The row begins. They flash at one another in the -savagest manner, scolding all the while in the grandest Billingsgate, -while everybody listens to them for 20 miles around. Afterwards, -however, peace seems to be restored somehow when everybody is asleep. -And for the next six weeks they enjoy as bright and unclouded weather -as husband and wife can expect in a world where all is imperfect.” -Those huge masses of rock, grand in their style and powerful in their -effect, give this an advantage over most of the mountain views of -Scotland by the wonderful foregrounds which they disclose. Immediately -to the right of it, for example, are Ben Irne and Ben Vane, both higher -than it; and yet it is the Cobbler we know, and almost as if he had no -rival. - -But the surrounding and distant scenery is also very varied and -splendid. East and north and west there is a perfect table-land of -mountains, too numerous to mention here, and which can best be studied -with a good map in hand. Conspicuous, however, are the giant heads -of Nevis, Anachan, Ben Lui, Ben More, Lawers, Voirlich, Ledi, and -Lomond. The view of Ben Lomond from this is specially grand. Looked -at from its own loch it is a shapeless mass, but here, by displaying -his ample peak, with precipices of 2000 feet or more, he shows what a -fine fellow he really is. You can see the bright gleaming waters of -Loch Katrine and Loch Lomond, beyond which even Stirling shows a smoky -front. To the south you have the long and sinuous extent of Loch Long -winding brightly beneath your feet, and prolonged between its mountain -boundaries till it reaches the Clyde and the sea. This loch reminded -some of the Queen’s friends, on the occasion of her visit to it in -1848, of Switzerland and the Tyrol, “surrounded by grand hills all so -green, and with such beautiful outlines, all so different from the -eastern part of Scotland, the loch winding along most beautifully so as -to seem closed at times.” - -You can also see the glittering course of Loch Goil, Gareloch, and Loch -Fyne, all adding to the variety and beauty of this great landscape map. -And you cannot help feeling that the patriotic Scotchwoman was not far -wrong who said that “Scotland would be as big as England any day if she -were all rolled out flat like her.” You can see the Clyde at various -points, with the Cumbraes, Arran, and even the distant Ailsa, and, -according to some, several of the Western Islands, including Mull. - -It is to those and similar points of the western coast that the -traveller strains his eye from the Cobbler. He can see but dimly, but -he feels the wild power that belongs to that broken and chaotic sea, -and his heart goes out to the early Gaelic sires who fished in the -firth, gave names to the summits, and spent their life amid that maze -of rock and flood. It was their feet that made the mountain tracks -where you and other tourists can safely climb to-day. - -At your foot is Arrochar, at the opening of a woody glen formed by -Anach, Voirlich, and Ben Tarbet, between which is seen Craigrostan, -a rocky peak of Ben Lomond. At the upper end of the Loch (Long) is a -glen, which, with its mountain, gets its name from fairies, a very -general creation of Highland superstition. You have due south the wild -and well-known Glencroe, which is only surpassed by Glencoe, its wild -and savage grandeur being on too broad a scale for the pencil. It is -some five or six miles in length, and the rocky ramparts through which -it runs are in most part composed of micaceous schist, beautifully -undulatory, and in many places embedded in quartz, and shining like -silver. Some of the huge boulders display these characteristics to -perfection. The narrow bed of the valley is occupied by a dashing -torrent, and you see the road carried along its course as near as the -tortuous bank and rocky fragments will permit. In some parts there are -beautiful scenes in the bed of the river; here the water is rushing -violently past some huge rock, or tumbling over it in cascades; and -there it is heard only to growl in an inaccessible dungeon. One of -those might pass for the grotto of a naiad. At one end the sunbeams -admitted through different apertures may be seen to play on the waters; -at the other a small cascade glitters in the gloom; while the sides are -wrought into various odd forms by the whirlpools, and in one part a -natural chair is scooped out of the rock. - -But human habitations there are none! This part of the country does -not seem to belong to the amiable nobleman who told his factor that he -would rather see one human being on his estate than a hundred sheep. It -was once the abode of quite a small colony, but it is now little better -than a sheep walk, and hard work it must be even for the sheep to get -a decent livelihood here. Speaking of sheep, there is quite close to -you here a small burn called the Eagle’s Burn, which was until lately -frequented by eagles of a large grey kind, which have been known to fly -off more than a mile with a lamb in their talons. At the summit there -is the famous “Rest and be Thankful,” the theme of Wordsworth’s lines— - - Doubling and doubling with laborious walk, - Who that has gained at length the wished-for height, - This brief, this simple wayside call can slight, - And rest not thankful? - -It is a most agreeable green seat for the tired traveller, who can -not only rest his limbs, but feast his eyes as he looks back on the -zigzag path he has climbed, and the treeless solitude through which the -waters of the Croe wriggle in serpentine links. He can also indulge in -the cheap luxury of gratitude to Captain Lascelles and the men of his -regiment, who, according to the inscription on the stone erected to -commemorate the formation of the road, made it, immediately after the -rising in 1745. The Government at that time resolved to open up the -country by means of good military roads, and put the matter into the -hands of General Wade, who seems to have done his work well, and to -the astonishment of the natives, who are represented in after times as -saying— - - Had you seen these roads before they were made - You would lift up your hands and bless General Wade. - -We here came across a gamekeeper with the usual accompaniments of dog -and gun. He had a dog-whistle at his buttonhole, and his pocket knife, -which was a basket of tools in itself, he was using to empty and fill -his pipe. Getting into conversation with him, he told us that he loved -his gun as an old companion, and that he was so accustomed to the -balance and hang of it that he never thought of aiming—he simply looked -at the object, still or moving, threw the gun up from the hollow of -his arm, and instantly pulled the trigger, staying not a moment to -glance along the barrel. - -The hilltops to the south of us, between Loch Goil and Loch Long, have -been facetiously called the Duke of Argyll’s Bowling Green, either in -irony or, more probably, as a delicate compliment to his lordship. All -Western Scotsmen have a high opinion of the greatness of the Macallum -More, and it may be that those who first applied the name meant to -intimate by it that so powerful is the Duke, that what to ordinary -mortals are stupendous hills are to him a mere “bowling green.” - -It may be interesting to some who have taken part in recent political -elections for Dumbartonshire to know that Arrochar House, on the -opposite shore of the loch from the Cobbler, the residence of the last -chief of the Macfarlans, was at one time in the possession of the -laird of Novar. It was, however, rented by the Duke of Argyll, and -until lately was a most acceptable shelter to the tourist. It is now -a private residence. The land immediately to the north of you at one -time belonged to “the wild Macfarlan’s plaided clan.” They were great -depredators on the low country, and as their raids were often made at -night, the moon came to be familiarly called “Macfarlan’s lantern.” -Their place of assembling was Loch Sloy—“the Loch of the Lost”—near the -foot of Voirlich, from which they took their war-cry of “Loch Sloy, -Loch Sloy!” There once stood near to it a large plantation of firs, in -which on one occasion the men of Athole hid to surprise the Macfarlan. -But his son Duncan surrounded it and set fire to it, destroying the -whole of the foe. The cruelty of the exploit gained for him the name -of “Duncan the Black Son of Mischief,” or Donucha-dubb-na-Dunnaidh, -which latter will give those who “haven’t the Gaelic” an idea of what -a Gaelic name looks like when in full dress. But Duncan seems to have -been a son of stratagem too, for we read that when once attacked by the -Athole men he kept watch, a little way off from a river which they had -to cross, took a remarkable coat of mail which belonged to his father -and fixed it on a tree. The enemy supposed it to be Macfarlan himself, -and their commander offered a reward to any who would shoot it, on -which the archers let fly their arrows fast and furious, but futile. -Duncan and his men when they had finished coolly picked them up, -attacked them all unarmed while crossing the ford, and obtained an easy -victory. This clan, which almost gained at one time a reputation equal -to that of the Macgregors for wholesale disturbance and depredation in -the lowland district, were declared in 1587 to be one of those clans -for whom the chief was made responsible. In 1624 some of them were -tried, convicted, and punished, and the rest removed to Aberdeenshire -and Banffshire. The lands have passed out of their hands altogether; -and the chiefs house, as already mentioned, is now a private residence. - -Taking one more fond look of the grand panorama, we make the descent -in time to catch either the Loch Long steamer or the evening one -from Tarbet, and in course of time are transplanted from the land of -mountain and flood to the prosaic life and work of the city. - - - - -BEN LOMOND. - - -If Loch Lomond is the queen of Scottish lakes, Ben Lomond is the king -of Scottish mountains. He may not reign by divine right in one sense, -for there are higher heights than his in this “land of the mountain and -the flood,” yet he reigns by almost universal consent. There is none of -them all that attracts such a number of visitors from all parts of the -world who have heard of his greatness and majesty, beauty, and widely -extended dominion. It is the fashion to climb Ben Lomond at least -once in a lifetime, and that it has many who worship at its shrine is -evident from the otherwise unnecessary comfortable hotel at its base, -and the well-marked track which leads to the summit. - -A return ticket should be taken to Rowardennan, say, on a Saturday -morning, from Queen Street low level; the hotel is to the right of the -pier, and opposite its garden wall will be found the beginning of the -track. The length of slope and the numerous breaks in the way make it -a journey of 6 miles. The path seems quite conspicuous from below along -a green ridge of hill; but soon it breaks off and dies away into a wet -and boggy valley. A little higher up an unheard-of rill becomes quite a -little torrent, and a gentle cliff turns into an apparently unscalable -crag. The ridge of the hill is green, but like most such lands is soft; -and this is the nature of the way till you reach the last stage, which -is steeper (excepting near the very summit), and is formed of large -fragments of slaty-rocky, intermixed with a kind of sparry marble -of considerable size. The first part of the journey is the least -agreeable, from its soft and boggy nature; halfway up the lake appears -to most advantage, its glassy surface studded with islands, round which -appears to breathe a perpetual spring. - -We are now, however, coming near “the melancholy days—the saddest of -the year”; and before we get to the summit and down again a great red -ball will look out upon the world for a little space, and then sink -down into its shroud of gray cloud. But how beautiful the mountain side -is in its autumn robes. “The violin,” said Mendelssohn, when comparing -the sounds of an orchestra to the hues in the rainbow, “is the violet”; -and in the stealing sweetness of both there is a rare charm. The -musician’s well-known comparison of red to the sound of a trumpet is -scarcely to be recalled in autumn except for a scarlet berry, shining -like a spark here and there in the bushes or the trees, or for the -bright stomacher of the robin as he nears the ground trilling his sad -flute-like strain. The landscape is quickly becoming like a mezzotint -by Bartolozzi—a true study in copperplate. Every shade of brown, many -shades of red, and all tinges of green, may be seen in great masses of -leaves. - -The summit is reached at an elevation of 3192 feet, and though the -ascent will cost you three hours and a little toil, it will well repay -you. It is not picturesque, like the view from Mount Misery, for it -defies the pencil; but it is nobly poetical, as it excites sensations -of the truest sublimity. It is wilder and more romantic, not having the -broad and majestic appearance that it has looked at from the south; but -is narrow and river-like, as most of the Scotch lakes are. - -The hill at the lower end displays all the richness of diversified wood -and quiet beauty, but here we have a vast ocean of mountains, separated -by deep glens, in every direction, which look like the troubled waves -of a mighty chaos. They are broken and rugged in their outlines, and -rise up at once precipitately and abruptly from the water, and looking -north we miss those islands which give such a delightful interest to -the broad expanse of the lower portion. They have every variety of -form and magnitude, and sweep round as far as the eye can reach from -the Ochils in the east, north by Voirlich and Lawers, and Ben More to -Cruachan. To the west the peaks are too numerous to mention, but are -strikingly impressive from the double fact that they are so near to us -and so nearly of a size to that on which we stand. The mountain scene -here is simply magnificent, and everywhere high peaks toss up their -heads, wildly grand in storm, or calmly beautiful as immersed in the -lake “100 fathoms down.” To the south-west there is the wild confusion -of sea and mountain which forms the sea coast, with Ailsa, Arran, and -the Paps of Jura. Due south there lies the glassy mirror of the lake, -its islands now mere specks; the Vale of Leven, the rock of Dumbarton, -Clyde, and the distant counties of Renfrew and Ayr. Eastward is the -valley of the Forth, with the Castle of Stirling, and even that of -Edinburgh on a clear day quite visible. You can also see far over the -Kilpatrick range the conical peak of Tinto. - -Among the most attractive objects are some of the lakes that lie -around; you see the upper part of Loch Katrine, reminding you that you -are not so far from home after all, on the one side of Ben Venue, and -the whole of Ard on the other, with its beautiful cascade of Ledard. -You cannot see its water, but you can see the exact spot where it -is, with its fall of 12 feet into a basin formed of solid rock, and -the water so transparent that at the depth of 10 feet the smallest -pebble can be seen. From this basin it dashes over a ledge of rock -and precipitates itself again over an irregular slope of more than -50 feet—a place peculiarly interesting from having been described by -Sir W. Scott both in “Waverley” and “Rob Roy.” And yonder is the Lake -of Menteith, with its soft pastoral beauty, and its three islands, -Inchmahorne, “the Isle of Rest,” with its ancient priory, which in its -day was visited by Bruce, and Mary, and James VI.; Tulla, or Cat’s -Isle, where the Earls of Menteith lived; and the little Dog Island, -where the kennel was. - -Between these lakes (Menteith and Ard) you can also see the snugly -sheltered clachan of Aberfoyle, which can boast of a thermometer -standing at 80 degrees in the shade, and sometimes even at 84 degrees, -and in whose churchyard there is the grave of a Pat (or Patrick) -Graham, a member of the Menteith family, who was “vicar of Aberfoyle” -about the Revolution; and also the grave of Rob. Kirk, who had a chief -share in translating the Psalms into Gaelic, “Hiberniæ linguæ lumen.” -There also we can trace the track of the Glasgow water supply, a little -above Loch Katrine. Losing sight of it and Loch Chon by some rising -ground, you see it again over the hilly country between Loch Ard and -Gartmore, and can picture it in your mind, flowing through the Moss of -Flanders, round the shoulder of Dungoin, away yonder at the end of the -Strathblane range, a very river of health and life. - -And just below you are some of the sources of the Forth, at the place -called in Gaelic, Skid-n’uir, or ridge of yew trees (which, however, -are not now to be seen). Here there rises a pretty copious spring, -which divides into two parts, the one going to the German Ocean, and -the other into the Atlantic, _via_ Loch Lomond. The Forth is soon -joined by the Duchray, and becomes a considerable river; and, as you -see it here, you can quite forgive the pride of Bailie Nicol Jarvie as -he said, “That’s the Forth,” with an air of reverence which, Francis -Osbaldistone tells us, the Scotch usually pay to their distinguished -rivers. The fall from Gartmore to Stirling is not more than 18 feet, as -was found by the measurement which was taken when it was proposed to -take the great canal up the bed of the Forth and join the Clyde by Loch -Lomond and the Leven. - -The north side of Ben Lomond excites a degree of surprise almost -amounting to terror. This mighty mass, which hitherto has appeared -to be like an irregular cone, placed on a spreading base, suddenly -appears as an imperfect crater, with one side forcibly torn off, and -leaving a stupendous precipice of nearly 2000 feet to the bottom. We -on one occasion were fortunate enough during our stay on the Ben to be -enveloped with a thick mist like a curtain, shutting off the view for a -time, and leaving us alone on the mountain-top, far above the clouds, -the sun shining on our heads all the time. We felt as if transported -into a new state of existence, cut off from all meaner associations, -and invisibly united with the surrounding purity and brightness. The -clouds rising again, we had a view of the lake in almost all its -length, and after this a slight shower came on, giving us many fine -effects of light and shade and aerial tints. The hills would become -of a dark purplish grey or blue, sometimes softened by a thin lawny -veil of mist, which, again gradually increasing, enveloped all but a -craggy point; and then a minute or two more and they would be enlivened -by a faint gleam of sunshine, spreading a dewy green over part of the -mountain, while the chief mass retained its dark brown or purple gloom. - -When shut out from sight-seeing we turned our attention to the -etymology of the word Lomond; we tried to answer the question why it -was that Loch Loamin means “a lake of islands,” and Ben Lomond “the -bare green mountain.” They are both correct and true to nature, but -why so? And we had to give it up; we had to admit that Gaelic is -unfavourable to philological accuracy. Its words admit of so many -changes in form, and from their vocality coalesce so readily together, -that a very little ingenuity is sufficient to discover many different -radiations in the same compound. But once more the sun shone out, and, -turning from these dry roots to something more savoury, we discussed -our bill of fare and made up for the liquid loss sustained in the -climb. We sympathised with the party who wrote on the window-pane of -the Balloch Hotel long ago— - - O Scotland, grand are thy mountains! - But why on their summits - Are there not fountains - Of good bitter beer - From Burton-on-Trent? - ’Twould add to their value - A hundred per cent. - -Looking northward we have the country of the Clan Gregor before us, -stretching along the Trossachs to Balquhidder, and on the north and -west to the heights of Rannoch and Glenorchy, a clan which was formerly -known as the Clan Alpine, which traced its origin from Alpine, an -early Scotch king. In an ancient Celtic chronicle, relating to the -proceedings of the Clan Macnab, it is said that “there is nothing -older than the Clan Macarthur except the hills and the rivers and the -Clan Alpine.” They were for long the dread of the Lowland part of the -Lennox district. The upper district of Loch Lomond, which belonged to -the Macfarlane clan in the days of old, is seen to great advantage. Far -up are seen the huge forms of Ben Voirlich and Ben Achray, and those -of numerous kindred giants. There is Inversnaid, and its memories -of Wordsworth and his “Sweet Highland Girl.” The hotel at Tarbet, -and the village and the road over to Arrochar, appear in Lilliputian -proportions. And lower down is Stuckgown House, a favourite residence -of the late Lord Jeffrey, who was, as Lord Cockburn says, “an idolater -of Loch Lomond, and used often to withdraw there and refresh himself -by its beauties.” Immediately opposite this, at the rocky foot of the -giant on whose head we stand, is Rob Roy’s prison, an arched cavern -in a rock some height above the water, which can be easily seen from -the steamer. It was said that he was in the habit of convincing those -whom other arguments failed to reach by giving them a dip in the loch -at this point; and it is generally understood that they did not need a -second. - -Before starting to come down you should look over to Camstraddan Bay, -at Luss, and try to realise that the waters of the loch have increased -so much in the course of ages that about 100 yards from the shore the -ruins of houses are still visible. But Loch Lomond has other wonders -than this; it is said to have waves “without wind, fish without fin, -and a floating island.” The swell in the widest part, particularly -after a storm, has probably given rise to the first of these marvels; -vipers, shaped like eels, are said occasionally to swim from island to -island, and this may account for the second; and the floating island, -according to a very old tradition, shifted its quarters every now and -then from one part of the loch to another, like the ancient Delos. - -But if ever there was such an eccentric island it has now settled down -and occupies a fixed place; but whether, as at Delos, this is the -result of Phœbus’ action our philosophers do not determine. However, -according to the old saying, that wonders will never cease, there is -still another in connection with this loch. At long intervals Scotland -seems to have been pushed up from her watery bed by the aid of mighty -subterranean forces, which have raised the lake about 20 feet above -the sea level, and converted it into a fresh-water lake. This has been -already referred to, but here the next and last wonder comes in. This -loch, thus raised, contains among a variety of other fishes one called -the powan, which resembles a herring, the descendant, it is thought, of -some one which had been too late in getting out. It is said, that there -is only one other loch in Scotland in which powans are found. - -The descent can be made with great ease, zigzagging it, in one and a -half hours; and on no account should you either come down quickly or -make short cuts unless you wish to have strained muscles for days to -come, which will lessen the pleasant memories of a day you are not -likely to forget. As you sail homewards on the loch below, you can -sympathise somewhat with the man who had never been beyond the parish -of Buchanan, and who, on ascending Ben Lomond, declared that he “never -ken’t that the world was sich a big affair till it was a’ spread oot -before” him. - - - - -MOUNT MISERY. - - -Guide-books are but too often blind guides, as they present certain -objects for our admiration, which are accordingly visited and admired, -but leave out all mention even of others of as great, if not greater, -interest. For example, there rises up from the margin of the Queen of -Scottish Lakes, Lomond, at its south end, about 3 miles from Balloch, -a little mount, easy of access even to those who can only afford a -Saturday afternoon to visit it, from which undoubtedly the best view of -the loch is to be obtained. Here, if anywhere on earth, are congregated -the choicest elements of pictorial wealth. - -Take a return ticket to Balloch Station (not Balloch Pier); on -arriving cross the Leven by the graceful suspension bridge, keep on -the Kilmaronock road till you come to Haldane’s Mill, so-called from -a former proprietor; then turn to the left, pass Balloch Castle, the -seat of A. D. Brown, Esq., and when arrived at Boturich Castle, R. -Finlay’s, Esq., you will find a path on the right which will lead you, -without any difficulty of a physical kind, to the top, a quarter of a -mile up. It would be as well to ask permission, however, at some of -the officials close by to make the ascent, as, on account of a stupid -vandalism on the part of excursionists, the proprietor has had lately -to become somewhat conservative in his policies. - -It is not known how this beautiful spot came to get such an unhappy -name, but unless he had been atrabilious on the day he visited it, -or had been a Southerner, who could not appreciate the beauties of a -Scotch mist, its inventor could neither have had heart nor eye for -the wilder beauties of nature, nor been a lover of the romantic. The -steamer can take you up and down the loch to see its beauties of one -kind and another, and there is not a finer sail in any part of the -three kingdoms; but yet it is only a very faint and limited idea of -its splendid scenery that one can get from the deck of a steamer. To -get anything like an adequate conception of its many beauties you must -ascend one or more of its hilltops. And for such a purpose we would -strongly recommend Mount Misery. - -Here, looking towards the head of the loch, it is seen in its greatest -breadth, stretched out like a scroll beneath your feet. Here, also, it -is seen in its greatest length, the eye reaching almost as far up as -to Tarbet. You have a full view of its islands, which in a general way -may be said to be as numerous as its miles in length, from the entrance -of the Falloch to the exit of the Leven, and also of the different -mountain ranges on its east and west banks, which seem to meet at -the top, shutting up the prospect and mingling their bold and broken -outline with the sky. Here, also, you get a view of its many curves and -windings, now seeing it swelling out into a breadth of 7 or 8 miles, -and then compressing itself into the narrow compass of something less -than a mile. You can also understand, as you look at those high hills -at its northern end, how it should sometimes have a depth of 600 feet, -and how, partly from this fact, and from those others, that there are -many shelving rocks at the bottom, and that the latter always run in -one direction (there being no tide), it is rarely that the bodies of -the “drowned” in it are recovered. Here, also, you can see some of its -principal feeders, such as the Fruin, the Finlas, the Luss, and Douglas -on the left, with the Endrick on the right, which, with its other -tributaries, are said to pour in a larger supply of water than the -Leven takes away. - -Immediately in front of you is Inchmurrin, the longest of the islands, -fully half-a-mile long, which the Duke of Montrose uses as a deer -park. It is beautifully wooded. Brown seems the most becoming colour -for this season of the year. The summer dies gloriously in leafy places -with such a splendour of beauty that it is difficult to recognise it -as decay. The golden and brown leaves, mingling with the greens that -still retain their colour, are pleasant accompaniments of the season. -But we need not look so far away for autumnal tints. They are all round -us. The golden brown hues of the pheasant hang in every leaf; the -bird itself, wonderfully protected by nature, stands among herbage, -wearing his colours and eyeing the wayfarer as he passes. And what can -look warmer and more comfortable than those brown brackens which are -everywhere? And are they really brown? They look so in the distance, -but near they are yellow as well as brown; and some are a beautiful -bronze, and in sheltered spots the lady ferns are just as green and -fresh as they were in July and early August. - -But once more for the loch and its islands. Inchmurrin has at its -west end the ruins of an old castle which was inhabited in former -times by the family of Lennox. The Duchess of Albany resided here -after the execution at Stirling, in 1425, and within sight of their -own castle at Doune, of her husband, father, and two sons, on the -restoration of James First. She herself was for some time confined -in Tantallon Castle, but on her release she resided here. Passing -over the two smaller islands of Creinge and Torinch, you have to the -right Inchcailliach, the largest and probably the most lovely of all, -notable as being the burial-place of the Macgregors. “Upon the halidom -of him that sleeps beneath the grey stone at Inchcailliach!” was a -favourite oath among the members of this warlike clan. Rob Roy used it -when promising the Bailie payment of his money. It is sometimes called -the Nun’s Island, or “the Island of Old Women,” from a nunnery which -once stood there; and when seen from the direction of the Endrick its -outline resembles that of a dead human body, from which it is called -sometimes the corpse of Loch Lomond. To the east of it is the small -island of Clairinch, from which the Clan Buchanan took their slogan or -battle cry, “Clair Inch.” To the west of it is Inchfad, or the Long -Island, close to which, and in a dry season, within wadeable distance -of it, is Darroch Eilan, the general lunching rendezvous. Here, also, -there is a mighty oak, which has sheltered generations of anglers, -and of poachers too, for even to this day the “otter” is here used -in spite of honour or law. To the west of Inchfad is Inchcruin, or -the Round Island, an island which for many years formed an asylum for -insane boarders; it is also the unwilling resort of those who “cannot -take a little without taking too much,” and therefore it has the sadly -significant cognomen of “the Drunken Island.” - -To the west of this is Inchmoan, or the Peat Island, which is covered -with moss. It is sometimes called “the Gull Island,” and in the spring -one has to be very careful how he walks, as nests with one, two, or -more eggs are scattered everywhere. To the south-west of this there is -a small island, Inchgalbraith, with a ruin which at one time must have -been a place of considerable strength, but to visit which is sometimes -resented by the jackdaws who have taken possession of it, and, like -the crofters, refuse to quit. North of Inchmoan is the large island -of Inchconachan, or Dog’s Isle, a Colquhoun’s island, covered with -oak and fir, but quite uninhabited. To the west of those two is Inch -Tavannach, or Monks’ Island, so called from its having been the site -of a monastery. This island has also frequently been converted into a -kind of sanatorium for dipsomaniacs, and is celebrated for having many -of our finest British ferns. There is a narrow strait between these -last two, near the northern entrance of which a stone is visible at low -water, from which tradition says that the Gospel used to be preached -to audiences on both islands, and this stone is still called “The -Minister’s Stone.” A little to the north of those is Inch Lonaig, “the -Yew Island,” remarkable for its old yew trees, some of which are said -to have been planted by the Bruces. - -Turning now from the loch to its surroundings, from the waterscape -to the many landscapes that as a frame enclose the picture, you have -close at hand the beautifully-wooded conical hill of Duncruin, with -Ross Priory projecting into the loch, a favourite place with Sir -Walter Scott, who wrote “Rob Roy” while living here as the guest of -Mr. Hector Macdonald, an Edinburgh advocate of that time. It is not -difficult, apart from his friendship with the master of the place, to -understand Scott’s attraction to the house. He was keenly alive to the -beauty of woodland and loch; and the district around was teeming with -memories—every glen the home of a romance. We find the influence of -these upon him in some of the most famous episodes in “Rob Roy” and -“The Lady of the Lake.” The Priory has, however, a much sadder story -to tell—that of the betrayal of the Marquis of Tullibardine, eldest -son of the Duke of Athole, who after Culloden took refuge with his -former friend, Buchanan of the Ross. Buchanan, however, betrayed him, -the Marquis hurling out the imprecation as he was taken prisoner, -“There’ll be Murrays on the Braes of Athole when there’s ne’er a -Buchanan at the Ross,” and the prophecy has been fulfilled. Beyond this -we have the fertile valley and the mouth of the Endrick, with Buchanan -House, the seat of the Duke of Montrose. The valley of the Endrick is -celebrated in the old song of “The Gallant Graham” as “Sweet Enerdale,” -stretching far up to the hills at Killearn, which, with its monument to -George Buchanan, “the father of modern Liberalism,” we easily recognise. - -Though in his time Lord Privy Seal of Scotland, Moderator of the Kirk, -and tutor to James VI. of Scotland and I. of England, Buchanan openly -advocated tyrannicide, maintaining that “tyrants should be ranked -amongst the most ferocious beasts.” Professor Morley, in his eighth -volume of “English Writers,” has devoted a large space to this great -yet simple-minded man. The picture of the great scholar—the greatest, -perhaps, in the Europe of his day—teaching his serving-man in his -death-chamber “a-b, ab—e-b, eb,” &c., and defying the “British Solomon” -and “all his kin” in the same breath, is surely worthy of the brush of -some one of the numerous artists to whom Scotland has given birth. We -charge nothing for the suggestion. - -And there is the steamer on her upward trip going into Balmaha, where -there is the famous pass along which the Highland clans were accustomed -when on the “war path” to direct their march into the Lowlands. Rob Roy -often took this route, and, in the words of Scott— - - Kept our stoutest kernes in awe, - Even at the Pass of Beal’maha. - -Above this you see Conie Hill, 1175 feet high, with the huge Ben Lomond -in the distance. You can see, standing between Drymen Station and -Kilmaronock Church, Catter House, near which the Lennox family had a -castle, that stood on the Moot Hill, a large artificial mound, where -justice was administered in former times, and on which stood the earl’s -gallows, a necessary appendage to a feudal court, especially on the -borders of the Highlands. - -Turning now from the east side of the loch to its west, from what -might be called its Montrose side to its Colquhoun side, we have in -close succession not far off the splendid mansion houses of Cameron, -Auchendennan, Auchenheglish, and Arden. Immediately above Arden is -Glen Fruin (the Glen of Sorrow), coming down from near Garelochhead. -It has the ruins of an ancient castle of the Colquhouns, and it was -here that a fierce conflict took place between the Macgregors and -the Colquhouns in 1602, when the latter were routed with a loss of -200 men, the Macgregors only losing two, one of them, however, being -John, the brother of the chief. It is this battle which is popularly -called “The Field of Lennox.” It is said that the Macgregors also put -to death in cold blood some 80 youths, popularly called “the Students -of Dumbarton,” who had gone out to see the fight. A short time before -this Sir A. Colquhoun had appeared before James the Sixth at Stirling, -and complained of the cruel murders committed by the Macgregors, and to -give emphasis to his complaint he was attended by a considerable number -of women who carried the bloody shirts of their husbands and sons. The -king gave him a commission to repress the crimes and apprehend their -perpetrators, and the battle of Glen Fruin was the result. And this in -its turn led to the king issuing letters of fire and sword against the -Clan Gregor, to the confiscation of their lands. Their clan name was -proscribed by Act of the Privy Council. But the Acts passed against -them were repealed in 1775. Till then, however, the members of the clan -usually took the name of various landed proprietors. Thus, the famous -Rob Roy, who died in 1736, was Campbell, after the family name of his -patron, the Duke of Argyll. - -Not far up the glen from Arden there is the hill of Dunfion, which is -said to have been at one time the residence of Fingal, and traces of a -fortress said to have been built by him are still pointed out. Two and -a-half miles farther up you can see Ross Dhu (the black promontory), on -which is the tower of the ancient castle of the Luss family, and their -mausoleum near it; the mansion-house standing on a promontory almost -surrounded by water. - -Taking one more soul-filling look up to the mighty Ben, on the side of -the loch, and to the hills at its head, chief among which, and closing -the distant vista, is Ben Voirlich, it is perhaps time to think of the -train, for yonder is the “Queen” coming down the loch. As you begin to -retrace your steps do not forget that standing on this hill you can see -Renton, where Smollett the historian was born; Killearn, where George -Buchanan first saw the light of day; and Garlios, the birthplace of -Napier, the inventor of logarithms—all of whom added a new lustre to -the literature and science of Scotland. Also take a peep at Tillichewan -in its sylvan beauty, and the gentle slopes of the hillside forming -such a picturesque background to it. And in recrossing the bridge it -will help you to pay your second halfpenny with more complacency if -you remember that possibly before the creation of man this valley -was covered with the dashing waves of the Atlantic and German Oceans. -For at that far back period all Scotland was under water except its -highest peaks, which would then be like so many islands in one great -sea. Down the stream a little way is Alexandria, suggestive of the -lost Cleopatra’s Needle in the past and British influence in the -present. And it may surprise you to learn that this grand mouth-filling -name is one of recent date comparatively, and that its former title -was of a more homely kind—namely, “The Grocery,” from a store which -formerly kept the indispensable articles shadowed forth in that word of -unclassical derivation. As you pass it directly in the train you see it -to be now a large and prosperous place, which requires more than one -“Grocery”—a place - - Where cloth’s printed, dyed, and steamed, - Bleached, tentered, in the water streamed, - Starched, mangled, calender’d, and beamed, - And folded very carefully. - -You reach Glasgow five hours after leaving the hill, with many pleasant -recollections of your trip to Mount Misery. - - - - -BEN LEDI. - - -The most popular excursion in Scotland, both with ourselves and with -strangers from all parts of the world, is that which takes us to, and -through, the Trossachs. But it is somewhat unfortunate that the idea -exists in the public mind that it is an impossible excursion to any but -rich people on account of its expense. We propose to-day to lead any -who are willing to follow us to one of our Scottish mountains which -more than any other may feel proud of its surroundings, which is, so -to speak, at the very gate of the Trossachs, and to reach and climb -which demands no great expenditure of time or of money although we can -scarcely add strength, for Ben Ledi is not one of the easiest of our -western hills to climb. - -And yet it was not till Sir Walter Scott threw the spell of his genius -over this district that it was regarded as anything else than a -desolate, cut-throat country, into which no decent folk could venture. - -Our route of course is _via_ Stirling, with its rock and Castle and -history; Dunblane, and its ancient cathedral with memories of good -Bishop Leighton, and its window facing us, which Ruskin has pronounced -the finest of its kind in the country; Doune, with its mills and old -castle, to Callander, lying about 256 feet above the level of the sea, -on the banks of the river Teith. Here we get our first view of the Ben -4½ miles to the north-west, and prepare to take our walk for the day. - -When it is remembered that with the exception of the episode at -Stirling Castle, the whole scenes of the _Lady of the Lake_ lie within -the parish which gives its name to and has its centre in the town of -Callander, it will be at once seen that it would be superfluous on our -part to describe the scenery _en route_ to the base of Ben Ledi. The -best guide book here is the _Lady of the Lake_, “every step and every -scene being made classic in the beautiful and vivid word-painting of -that poem.” - -The ascent can be best made from Portnanellen about 2¾ miles from -Callander, in the immediate vicinity of Coilantogle Ford. This was -“Clan Alpine’s outmost guard,” the place where Roderick Dhu stood -vantageless before Fitz James; “but it has lost its romance by the -erection of a huge sluice of the Glasgow waterworks.” So thinks a -writer in the latest Ordnance Gazetteer. However, as we make for it, -crossing the Leny, pattering along its stony bed, after it has come -down one of the prettiest passes either in this or any other country, -as we admire the hollies thickly covered with berries, and think what -an added beauty they will have from the first snows of winter, and as -we get a foretaste or two of the mountains and the floods that we are -to see before the day is done, we have neither the time nor the mind to -be disturbed by thoughts of Glasgow and her waterworks. - -The best and usual route of ascent can be best learned on the spot -before starting. When a beginning is made the way opens up gradually, -and as we have so much more that is readable to say, we will dispense -with a detailed account of how each of the 3875 feet of the “Mountain -of God” is to be covered. - -The Gaelic name read commonly as _beinn-le-dia_ is more correctly -_beinn schleibhte_ or _schleibtean_. According to this latter reading -the Ben is not the “Mountain of God,” but the “Mountain of Mountains,” -or “Mountain girt with sloping Hills.” And this corresponds with its -size and surroundings. It rises from a base of about 11 miles in -circuit; in fact it occupies most of the space between Loch Lubnaig -on the east, Loch Vennachar on the south, and Glenfinlas on the west. -The fact that it has sometimes been called the “Mountain of God” is -not due to the shape or size of the hill itself, but to this, that -Druidical worship lingered on its summit after it had disappeared from -the rest of Scotland. - -One of the chief dangers, and one of the principal causes of -discomfort, in climbing Ben Ledi is its liability to mists, and the -number of bogs that surround its base. It is not every stout-legged -counter-jumper who buys a return ticket to Callander, or every pretty -lass who thinks to put colour in her cheeks by the toilsome walk, shall -be allowed to treat the “Mountain of Mountains” with the contempt -begotten of familiarity. They may struggle to the top, only to be -knocked about by “air rending tempests,” or to find that the Ben has -put on the fleecy mantle which the clouds seem ever ready to invest -him with on the shortest notice. They may ascend voluble, expectant, -and dry, but descend much more briskly, sad, sodden, and woefully -disappointed. But even before they get well started, if the weather has -been wet, and they are not careful, they may get occasionally up to the -ankle, and if not, have to struggle at least with some sopping ground. - -If, however, a good day is chosen in a dry season, and the mists -should keep away, we can promise you something out of the common run -of things in mountain scenery even in the west of Scotland. It is -said that in many of the towns of Switzerland the best houses were -formerly built with their backs to the Alps as if the view of them -were hateful. The natives, in fact, spoke of the region of ice and -snow as “the evil country.” But those who have made the ascent of Ben -Ledi in the favourable circumstances that I have referred to will -wish not only to set their faces to Ben Ledi, but will be anxious for -another opportunity of enjoying the view from its summit, a view which -commands all the way from the Bass Rock to the Paps of Jura, and from -the Moray Firth to the Lowther Mountains. Loch Vennachar is seen lying -at our feet with its 5 miles of water, and its two islands, one at its -eastern end, and the other, called _Illan-a-Vroin_, or the “island of -lamentation,” further west, and covered with wood. To the south, where -now stands the ruins of an old mill, the Teith flows past. A peep, but -little more, can be had of Invertrossachs House, which was occupied by -the Queen in 1869. - -There has been many a visit paid to the summit of Ben Ledi since that -day, but the largest, probably, and certainly the most enthusiastic -party was that which went up to erect the Jubilee Cairn. The loyal -Highlanders and the inhabitants of the classic district embracing Loch -Lubnaig, Loch Vennachar, and Glenfinlas, in answer to a summons, which, -like the “fiery cross,” was carried down the valley of the Teith, and -up the Pass of Leny by the Kirk of St. Bride, erected a cairn on the -top of an older one, which had existed for sometime, but had probably -been blown down by the high winds which sweep across the hills with -great violence. The new cairn, which was erected out of an abundant -supply of building material to be found in the summit, has a base of 14 -feet, and its height is equal to its diameter. It is chiefly made up -of great slabs of a slaty sandstone, which had, we understand, to be -dug, in not a few cases, out of the mountain side, in which they were -embedded, in some cases, several feet. At a height of 12 feet the slaty -material was no longer used, and for the next 2 feet, to the summit, -the cairn consists of white quartz, which, when the sun shines upon -it, has a beautiful effect even at some little distance. The fact that -the cairn only took five hours to be “begun, continued, and ended,” -speaks volumes for the number and the diligence of the willing and -loyal workers. And if the cairn is not quite as firm as the “Eddystone -Lighthouse,” it will at least outlive the reign of the next two of our -crowned heads. - -But though the jubilee builders were numerous, and although the quartz -on the crown of the cairn can shine and sparkle in the proper given -circumstances, these are as nothing to the concourse of grave Druid -priests who used to worship here, and to the glittering of their -fires far and wide. It is said that at sunset on the night before the -first of May they found their way to this summit ready to welcome the -rising of the God of day with a fire offering, which could be seen -from all parts of the Lowlands of Scotland from the German Ocean to -the Atlantic, and which the superstitious natives took to be kindled -by the hand of God. All private and domestic fires had been put out, -and the country was universally waiting for the first gleam of the new -Bal-tein, or Baal-fire from heaven, for another year. - -As we rest behind the Jubilee Cairn to eat our biscuit and cheese, and -get shelter from a stiff north-wester, we again and again look round -in all directions, but the views to be had are at once so grand and -so various that it would only bewilder the reader to go into details, -and we would recommend him to lose no time, but embrace the first -opportunity he has of making the ascent and getting the view himself. -One other reason why we should not go into particulars is that we -have to embrace much of the same prospect that we had on Ben Venue, -although with this difference that we have now a much better view away -to the north. - -It is not often that we have a sheet of water on or near the summit -of our Scottish hills; but this is something that Ben Ledi can boast -of. On its shoulder, a little way below us, there is a small and dark -tarn, only a few yards in width, which yet was made the unwilling -witness, nay, worse, participator in a terrible tragedy. The tarn is -called Loch-an-nan-corp—“the small lake of dead bodies,” a name the -origin of which tradition ascribes to the calamity which “once upon a -time,” not to be too particular, overtook a funeral procession there. -Two hundred persons journeying from Glenfinlas to a churchyard on -the pass of Leny, found this lake frozen over and covered with snow, -and attempted to cross it, but the ice gave way and they were all -drowned. An interesting writer in the _Illustrated News_, a year or two -back, a writer who, we are pleased to hear, belongs to Glasgow, says, -writing on this point, “No tablet on that wind-swept moor records the -half-forgotten disaster; only the eerie lapping of the lochlet’s waves -fill the discoverer with strange forebodings, and at dusk, it is said, -the lonely ptarmigan may be seen, like souls of the departed, haunting -the fatal spot.” - -Those who, instead of retracing their steps, and coming down again by -Coilantogle, prefer to make for the Pass of Leny, will find at the foot -of the mountain a little mound, close to where the river leaves Loch -Lubnaig, the burying-ground to which the clansmen were carrying their -dead friend. There is now only a low scone wall around this diminutive -grave-yard, but here once stood the small chapel of St. Bride, “which,” -according to Sir Walter Scott, “stood in a small and romantic knoll in -the middle of the valley,” from the Gothic arch of whose doorway, we -read in the _Lady of the Lake_, the happy marriage company were coming -out when Roderick Dhu’s messenger rushed up to the principal one of -the party and thrust into his hands the fiery cross of the Macgregors. -After rounding this knoll we arrive, about a mile farther on, within -sight of Loch Lubnaig, or the “Crooked Lake,” which is some 5 miles -in length, overhung on both sides by rugged hills, and surrounded by -groves of birch, pine, and hazel. We do not know a better position -than the farmhouse of Ardchullary for getting a good view of the loch. -Unless you have provided yourself with a very liberal allowance of the -biscuits and cheese to which we have already referred, you will be -glad to get near to some such kindly and hospitable place. And if you -are a little tired and done up with your day’s travels, additional -interest will attach, in your eyes, to this house, from its having been -the favourite summer quarters of Bruce of Kinnaird, the Abyssinian -traveller, who retired to these solitudes for the purpose of arranging -the materials for the publication of his travels. - -The date of our visit to Ben Ledi’s summit was “on or about” the time -when the young grouse begin to lose the number of their covey, and to -learn that every man who treads the moor is not so harmless as the -shepherd, especially when a dog accompanies him. And ever and again we -come across them sitting warily and watchfully among the heather, and -saw them rising far out of gunshot. The grouse, indeed, were now being -deserted for the black game, which, on account of the general lateness -of the grey hen in sitting compared with that of her red sister of the -moor, are allowed a little rest. Of course some men make it a rule to -pull a trigger upon a blackcock how or whenever they can, and some -birds fall to the guns of those who do not know the difference between -heath-fowl and moor-fowl. Most people, indeed, remember the canny reply -of the Scotch keeper to the English sportsman who was out on the moors -for the first time, and had missed what he thought was a grouse. “I -was too soon, Donald, I am afraid,” said the latter. “’Deed, and you -were, sir, eight days too soon; it was an auld blackcock.” We saw over -and again in the course of the day good proof of what we had often -heard that the blackcock is far from a model husband, and anything but -resembles the grouse-cock in his devotion to his mate. - -But we must step out on our homeward and southward journey with the -Leny accompanying us in the valley, the road being quite equal, during -its mile or two, to that between Callander and Coilantogle. The river -is low to-day, and runs under banks that are hung with ferns and -lingering foxgloves, with golden rod and harebells, and all the flowers -of the late summer. But in a wet season, when each rivulet along the -mountain side swells into an angry torrent, and from an occasional -cliff “the wild cataract leaps in glory,” it exults in the added -strength of all its hundred turbulent vassals, and rises in its might, -and seething, and struggling, and overflowing its banks, rises and -roars a furious stream. - -As we get into Callander again we are passed by the coaches on their -return from Loch Katrine, and when we look at the prancing steeds, the -happy tourists, and last, but not by any means least, the red-coated, -brass-buttoned, and very superior persons who handle the whip and -reins, we have no difficulty in seeing why it is that there should -be in our days a coaching revival, even on routes where there is the -opportunity of travelling by train. There is no more delightful way -of spending a summer day, given sunshine and warmth, than to have a -drive on a well-appointed coach, behind an accomplished whip, and four -“spanking” horses. - -We are not at all sorry, however, that this particular outing did -not take that special shape, and although we cannot claim to be the -first to bring the glories and the attractions of Ben Ledi into view, -as Mrs. Murray did in the case of the beauties of the Trossachs, and -who claimed that Sir Walter Scott should have dedicated the _Lady of -the Lake_ to her (although her claim has not generally been allowed), -we feel that we have done something at least to tempt some Glasgow -excursionists to follow us, and climb the hill for themselves. - - - - -THE MEIKLE BEN. - - -It was our Autumn Holiday, and we had decided on a run to one of the -choicest spots which abound within a reasonable distance of Glasgow. Of -course we wanted to do as much as possible, which is not always wise, -especially when there are one or two in the party with different tastes -and different muscular capacities. But having got a general idea of -our plan, we started, leaving that “divinity that shapes our ends” to -give the turn to our holiday which we believed would bring us the best -results. - -It was a fine balmy morning, becoming overcast, however, as the train -hurried on to Milton of Campsie, and when we left the station and -started on our way for the Meikle Ben, or Bin, as it is more popularly -called, the rain greeted us a little freely. It may be that some -of our readers have not even heard of the Meikle Ben. In that case -we claim from them a little of the respect and gratitude which all -discoverers are entitled to and as a rule get ungrudgingly. In spite -of an unpretentious and unromantic name, the Meikle Ben is not only -a spot of wonderful beauty, but the approach to the place as well as -its immediate surroundings are decidedly much above the dead level of -topographical mediocrity. - -On leaving the station we cross the Glazert, as it travels on to meet -the Kelvin, in a wild rocky channel fretted by the flood of ages. We -take the first road to the right, which runs past Antirmony House, -formerly the seat of Bell, the traveller, and in more recent years the -residence of Mr. C. M. King, a younger brother of the amiable and busy -baronet of Levernholm. A few yards along this road bring us to the -village school, up past the side of which we take, and make as best we -can for the top of a bold brown range now immediately in front of us. - -Long before we get halfway to the top of the range we take repeated -opportunities of noticing how sharply and distinctly its outline is -defined against the horizon, and how clearly the scars and wrinkles on -its broad and openly honest face stand out. As we continue our climb up -the braes we notice with pleasure that the lights and shades on their -breast are beautifully intermingled, a sure sign that there will be -little rain to-day. Before we reach the northern slope we take a look -at Antirmony Loch at our feet, a little to the east, one of the finest -sheets of water within 20 miles of Glasgow, and at Glorat House, about -as far to the west, the residence of one of the oldest families in the -county (Sir Charles Stirling). - -On reaching the summit we are only some 12 miles or so from the dusty, -drowsy, smoky metropolis, and yet are in what may be called the Lowland -Highlands. We stand upon an eminence of only a few hundred feet above -sea level, and yet the landscape stretched out below is sufficiently -wide and varied to warrant us in thinking that we stand much higher -in the world. Right below us are the little hamlets of Milton and -Birdston, with Kirkintilloch and Lenzie, and their church spires -standing out clear and bright in the glowing sunshine. To the right is -the cosy-looking strath of Campsie, commanded by Lennox Castle, in the -boldest style of Norman architecture. The proprietor is said to be in -the direct succession of the Earls of Lennox, but this is a subject on -which our limited genealogical knowledge forbids us to enlarge. - -Away in the south-west we catch a glimpse of Glasgow, cloud-capped and -grey; beyond it are the flats of Renfrew and the surrounding country, -the monotony of which in a clear day is somewhat relieved by the blue -tops of the Paisley and Kilmalcolm hills. Looking across the valley -at our feet we can see the streams trickle like silver threads, and -the sunbeams tremble and play in mingled gleams of green and yellow. -Wonderful hills those old Campsie hills, with what might be called the -Garden of Scotland at their base (for is not this the earliest part of -Scotland, speaking from an agricultural point of view?) and the glory -of God’s sunshine on their brows. Those in city pent, and those whose -days are for the most part spent in the rush and crush of business -could not enjoy an afternoon to more profit and pleasure than up here. -From the summit of these hills, down past the eastern base of the -Meikle Ben a little to the north of us, there is no carriage drive to -the Fintry and Denny Road; but, for all that, the walk does not seem -to be one of any great difficulty, whereas, on the other hand, the way -would be beguiled by scenes of rarest beauty. We have made the stiff -uphill walk or climb to this in a little less than an hour; but the -bracing air, the scenery around us, far and near, and some pleasant -seats on the soft turf have made us forget all fatigue. - -We have to dip down a little on the other side before we begin the -ascent of the Ben pure and simple. As we do so we lose sight of -all human habitations, and for a mile or more not even a tree or -shrub is to be seen except the heather. We have heard it said that a -would-be suicide who was anxious to “lay hands on himself” by hanging -up here was frustrated in a very simple fashion. He found it would be -impossible to carry out his horrid purpose in this “heaven-kissing” -locality unless he could manage to throw a coil over the horn of -the moon, a blaeberry bush or a clump of heather being the nearest -approach to a tree which could be found. We begin to wonder why there -is such an extent of land lying waste, and our mind naturally turns to -the poor crofter, or once more to the overcrowded dens in our large -cities. We are ready to exclaim, “Why, here is sufficient land to -sustain thousands of our population, and we have been quite ignorant -of it,” but when we examine the soil we find that the crop it grows -is sufficient for black cattle and sheep, but could not be easily -cultivated for the support of man. - -The summit of our hill is not at all difficult now to reach, although, -as the “Gazetteer” tells us, it is 1870 feet high. But we may be said -to have been climbing it ever since we left Milton. And now we see, -what can only be seen when we are close to it, that it is really a -hill of itself. To those who live a few miles to the south, our Ben -appears only a large cairn on the highest point of the front part of -the range. To those up here, or still farther to the north of this, it -seems a considerable independent hill, and to those who live away to -the east and south-east, in the Slamannan direction, it looks as if it -could hold its head almost quite as high as Ben Ledi or Ben Venue. It -is even said to be seen from a great distance in the Lanark direction, -and forms a conspicuous landmark from the Firth of Forth. - -We are here in the south-east corner of the parish of Fintry, close to -the meeting point with Campsie and Kilsyth. We can see at a glance that -it is a central summit of the Lennox hills, occupying such a position -as to unite the Fintry, Campsie, and Kilsyth sections of those hills. -On the north-east of it, there is what is called the Little Bin, some -1446 feet high, and on its south-west side the Bin burn runs away to -the north and becomes a head stream of the river Carron. - -Standing here, or rather stretching ourselves along the grateful turf, -we are in the very centre of Stirlingshire, and at the source of a -river which nowhere is very large, and yet, than which there is none in -Scotland, and probably few in the whole island, whose banks have been -the stage of so many memorable transactions. When the Roman empire was -in all its glory, and had its eastern frontiers upon the Euphrates, -the banks of the Carron were its boundaries on the north-west; for the -Wall of Antoninus, which was raised to mark the limits of that mighty -empire, stood in the neighbourhood of this river, and ran parallel -to it for many miles. This last fact suggests one of the probable -origins of the word Carron, for there are more than one. The meaning -of the word has been a puzzle to the etymologists. “Even ministers -they ha’e been kenn’d” to arrive at very different conclusions on -this interesting subject. Some derive it from Caraon, which means “a -winding river,” and “The bonny links of Carron Water” are poetically -celebrated. This expresses one feature of the stream which, in former -times, before it had forced a new channel to itself in some places, -and been straightened by human industry in others, made almost as many -serpentine links as the Forth itself. - -In the valley below the river runs through the well-known Carron bog, -and for 3½ miles flows in a slow serpentine course over one of the -finest and most fertile tracks of natural meadow in Scotland. The -Carron Company, whose works are at the other end of the river, and in -summer utilise almost all its water, wished at one time to convert this -bog into a great reservoir for their works, but the hay crop was found -to be too valuable, the tract containing upwards of 1000 Scotch acres -in one continued plain, bearing from 130 to 150 stones per acre, which -is all the more valuable from the fact that the artificial crops are -a little precarious from their elevated situation. From the adjoining -heights as many as 20 or 30 different parties of people may be seen -on it in the season making hay, and in the winter again the river -is industriously led over its whole extent to fertilise it for the -following crop. - -On the other side of the road from the bog, a little to the west of it, -and close to where the infant Endrick comes down from the Kippen hills, -we have the old castle of Sir John de Grahame of Dundaff, who fell at -the battle of Falkirk. For courage and military skill he was reckoned -next to Wallace, and was commonly called by the great hero himself his -“Right Hand.” The gravestone of Sir John in the churchyard of Falkirk -has the following Latin motto, with a Scotch translation:— - - Mente manuque potens, et vallae fidus Achates, - Conditur hic Grahmos, bello interfectus ab Anglis. - -While some of Cromwell’s troops were stationed in Falkirk, an officer -asked the parochial schoolmaster to translate the Latin. This he did in -the following witty manner:— - - Of mind and courage stout, - Wallace’s true Achates, - Here lies Sir John the Graham, - Felled by the English Baties. - -On our left, looking north, we get a sight of what was in former years -called the “Moor Toll,” near to which the Carron rises, which we -ourselves will soon cross in the valley. This veritable “lodge in the -wilderness” has been a welcome sight to many a weary traveller from -either side of the hill on a stormy night, and many a dreary winter day -“Honest Peter,” the carrier, and his horse, were glad when they got -this length. - -Hitherto we have only been looking at things within easy reach of us, -but we are not allowed to forget long that we have scenery here which -equals any to be had, it might almost be said, in any part of Scotland. -Looking to the north-west we have a view of country before us - - Where broad extended, far beneath, - The varied realms of fair Menteith. - -The stretch of country lying before us from Port of Menteith round by -Aberfoyle, taking in Fintry, Buchlyvie, Balfron, Gartmore, with the -majestic Ben Lomond and a host of other hills, is a sight not to be -forgotten. Certainly no such beautiful panorama of hill and dale is to -be seen within the same distance from Glasgow. - -Probably the most pleasing features in the immediate neighbourhood are -the valley of the Endrick and of the Carron which almost touch each -other at the farm house straight down from us. We see the Endrick on -its way to the famous “Loup of Fintry,” just a little to the west of -Sir John de Graham’s old castle, where it falls over a precipitous rock -of more than 60 feet in height, forming a cataract of great beauty. -In a “loup,” a “spout,” or “fall” of water there is a great variety -of opinion as to what makes it specially remarkable. Some desire a -flood of water, others a silvery veil of falling mist, others would -have grand natural surroundings. The truth is that a cataract, like a -human face, depends a great deal on its surroundings. It is a mistake -to go to a waterfall with a measuring line and judge it by height, and -breadth, and volume alone. There are comparatively trifling cascades, -which, by virtue of their natural position and the sweet and sylvan -scenery of their home, are far more attractive than a vaster flood -of water filling a greater depth amid tame scenic circumstances. Let -our climber make a nearer acquaintance with the “Loup of Fintry,” -either to-day or on some other occasion, and he will see what good -reason the natives have for their praise of Strathendrick. From its -first beginning to its fall into Loch Lomond the Endrick is a thing of -beauty, having in its course many a lovely and picturesque scene. - -But the valley of the Carron away to the east is not less interesting -although its interest is of a more historical character. It is -not, however, without an occasional spot of extra loveliness. For -example, a little below where it crosses the Kilsyth and Stirling -(old) Road, 6 miles behind Kilsyth, it rushes over the Spout or Linn -of Auchintilly. In spite of its grand name, which means “field of -the overflowing torrent and pool,” it is little known, as it is in -a most unfrequented valley. We have made the journey right round -by road from Lennoxtown to Kilsyth, a distance of some 19 miles, -without meeting more than two people on the highway, although not so -far removed from the “madding crowd.” This state of matters reminded -us at the time of Dean Ramsay’s story of the English traveller on -the out-of-the-way Scotch road, who asked a stone-breaker whom he -passed, “Does nobody travel on this road at all?” “O yes,” was the -answer, “we’re not that bad. There was a gangrel body yesterday, and -there’s yoursel’ the day.” If we were writing in verse, we would be -obliged to say of this sexasyllabic, significant, mouth-filling, and -loud-sounding name—Auchin-tilly-lin-spout—what Horace says of the -little town in which he lodged a night in his journey from Rome to -Brundusium, _Versu dicere non est_. And yet those banks have been -sung of both by Ossian and Hector M’Neill, the latter, a native of the -shire. M’Neill speaks of it as the classic stream where Fingal fought -and Ossian hymned his heaven-taught lays; and Dyer sings of it as -still seeming responsive to Ossian’s lyre. The ancient ballad of “Gil -Morice” also—the story of which has been formed into the celebrated -tragedy of “Douglas”—represents the mother of the unfortunate young -hero as having “lived on Carron side.” We have no time to discuss the -ornithology of our day’s outing; but we could almost hear the throbbing -of birds’ hearts, which portends a sudden and distant flight. Had we -been down on the banks, either of the Endrick or of the Carron a month -ago, we could have seen the common sandpiper in its old haunts. But now -that September is upon us not one is to be seen. Silently but surely -they have slipped off in the night, and the rivers will not know them -till next April. But the rooks are in abundance admiring their glossy -plumage and symmetry, reminding us of the Scottish aphorism, and -proving its truthfulness, “Aye, you’re a bonny pair, as the craw said -to its ain twa feet.” They are now beginning to assemble in flocks, and -those often deserve the appellation of “a craw’s preaching” from the -flow of noisy eloquence of which at such times they are capable. - -As we prepare to retrace our steps we cannot help being again struck by -the vast expanse of land unoccupied by people and so little cultivated. -The one moment we are thankful that there is such a place so near to -Glasgow, and no one with heart so hard as to bar the rambler’s way; -but the next again the stillness becomes oppressive, as when Cockburn -wrote to Jeffrey, “This place is as still as the grave, or even as -Peebles.” Our hill to-day is certainly in the heart of a district about -which the average dweller within 40 miles of Glasgow knows less, we -are persuaded, than he does of some of our colonial possessions. And -yet it is not more than 12 or 13 miles from the city. We can return as -we came, or make for the old Toll House on the road between Fintry and -Campsie, and get the train at Lennoxtown, or we can take a walk along -the ridge of hills for 2 or 3 miles to the east, and make for Gavel -Station, a mile or so on the near side of Kilsyth. - - - - -MORISON BROTHERS’ PUBLICATIONS. - - -THE AULD SCOTCH SANGS - -_Arranged and Harmonised by_ - -SINCLAIR DUNN. - - -Containing 96 Scotch Songs - -WITH PIANOFORTE ACCOMPANIMENT. - -_Cloth_, 6s. 6d.; _Cloth (Gilt Edges)_, 7s. 6d.; _Leather_, 10s. 6d. - - -PRESENTATION EDITION - -(FOR FRIENDS ABROAD), - - _In Clan Tartan_, 15s. - - -_OPINIONS OF THE PRESS._ - -PROFESSOR BLACKIE writes:—“Accept my best thanks for your ‘Auld Scotch -Sangs.’ If oatmeal makes the strong arms of Scotchmen, ‘Scotch Sangs’ -make the warm blood.” - -“I can recommend a delightful book of ‘Auld Scotch Sangs;’ the value of -the volume—it is a people’s edition and not expensive—is much enhanced -to me by the admirable short notes prefatory to each song, and giving -interesting details as to its history. Mr. SINCLAIR DUNN is to be -congratulated on his work. It ought to help to brighten and enliven -many a home in the long nights of drear December.”—ORION, in the -_Glasgow Weekly Citizen_. - -“The songs are well arranged and well printed, and the work is -attractively bound.”—_The Scotsman._ - -“A capital collection of the songs of ‘Auld Scotland.’”—_The European -Mail._ - - * * * * * - - -SECOND EDITION. - -LITERARY COINCIDENCES, - A BOOKSTALL BARGAIN, - AND OTHER PAPERS. - -By W. A. CLOUSTON, _author of “Popular Tales and Fictions,” &c._ - - ONE SHILLING. 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HAMILTON SEYMOUR. - -PAPER COVER, 1s. - - -_OPINIONS OF THE PRESS._ - -“The story is particularly strong in dramatic situations, and told in -bold and incisive language.”—_Stage._ - -“A readable book, and one which helps to pass a pleasant hour or two on -a railway journey.”—_Modern Church._ - -“The plot is extremely clever. It is one of the most successful novels -this author has produced.”—_Scottish Pulpit._ - -“The plotting is worth of Eugene Sue himself.”—_The Bookseller._ - -“We heartily and unreservedly commend this, deeply interesting little -romance to our readers.”—_Dunfermline Saturday Press._ - -“Dr. Hamilton Seymour is to be congratulated on the way in which he has -piled up the horrors.”—_Literary World._ - - * * * * * - -[Transcriber’s Note—the following changes have been made to this text: - -Page 45: repeated word “as” corrected—“regarded as summarising”. - -Page 49: to to too—“go too soon”. - -Page 115: repeated word “and” corrected—“Inversnaid, and its memories”. - -Page 119: breath to breadth—“greatest breadth”. - -Page 140: repeated word “between” corrected—“that between Callander”. - -In Publisher’s adverts: Avertiser to Advertiser—“Brechin Advertiser”.] - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Our Western Hills: How to reach them; -And the Views from their Summits, by Anonymous - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OUR WESTERN HILLS: HOW TO *** - -***** This file should be named 62811-0.txt or 62811-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/2/8/1/62811/ - -Produced by Susan Skinner and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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