BLAIR ATHOL. KILLICRANKIE. 33 



was publicly burnt* on the Castle-hill of Edinburgh, and met her doom with a 

 fortitude and composure which, added to her youth and beauty, made a strong 

 impression upon the multitude, and left an additional stigma on the legislation 

 of her day. 



Before taking leave of Perthshire of which, as premised, we have offered 

 only an imperfect gleaning we return to the district of Athol, in which Blair 

 Castle and the Pass of Killicrankie are the commanding objects. The former 

 of these, the ancient residence of the dukes of Athol, stands on an extensive 

 plain, known as the blair, or vale of Athol ; and, in point of strength and 

 situation, was well calculated to serve as a post of defence. With such facility, 

 and being the only fortress commanding the Pass, it was repeatedly taken and 

 garrisoned by the rival armies, which alternately lost and won this key to the 

 Highlands. It was besieged and taken by Montrose, in consequence of its 

 garrison having presumed to check his progress. Colonel Daniel, an officer 

 in Cromwell's army, took it by storm ten years later; and in 1689, it occasioned, 

 what was justly termed the most important event of the day, the battle of 

 Killicrankie. In the last rebellion, its garrison, under the command of Sir 

 Andrew Agnew, foiled the rebels in two several attempts to reduce it. But 

 at last, the noble proprietor seeing that he had little prospect of ever enjoying 

 domestic tranquillity whilst the mansion was in a condition to serve as a rallying 

 post in every civil commotion, dismantled its towers, lowered it by three stories, 

 and reduced the warlike fortress of his ancestors into a common-place family 

 residence. By this decisive measure, it has gained in security what it lost in 

 picturesque effect; and, in these peaceful times, with its magnificent curtain 

 of umbrageous woods and mountains, watered by two rivers, embellished by 

 the hand of art, and stocked with every species of wild game, from the roebuck 

 to the ptarmigan, it presents one of the most attractive domains in Scotland. 



The Pass of Killicrankie, which communicates with the Blair of Athol, 

 stretches for the space of a mile or upwards along the termination of the river 

 Garry. The hills rise from the bed of the river in steep gradation, flanking 

 it on the western bank with a precipitous wall. The bold rocks, lining its 

 channel, are mantled over with masses of waving birch, ash, and oak the light 

 and graceful foliage of which, moving and changing its hues with every breeze, 



Speaking of the indiffl-rence with which we pronounce the words, " burnt alive .'" an ahle writer has 

 well remarked " Brules vifs ! on lit sans y penser ces expressions si courtes, qu'on est tant habitue a 

 voir dans les martyrologes. Mais concoit-on bien ce que c'est ! se sentir enchaine et la flamme vous attein- 

 dre : la peau s'ecailler ; la chair irritee decrepiter et se fendre ; les muscles se tordre dans les membres ; 

 le sang faire effervescence sur les tisons, lorsqu'une veine eclate : puis, enfin la mort qui vous arrive dans 

 un air ardent et m^pliitique." Huston, liv. i. 62. 



VOL. II. K 



