142 SCOTLAND ILLUSTRATED. 



the ravine, and there formed into a copious stream, which pursues its boisterous 

 course into the Devon. This ravine, which nearly encircles the castle, is richly 

 hung with variegated woods, and offers a solitude, sweetened with the " song 

 of many birds," refreshed with gushing fountains, and fragrant with wild flowers, 

 which breathe an air of soothing tranquillity, where the lover of Nature delights 

 to meditate as in the very " elysium" of chastened contemplation. A steep and 

 difficult ascent, now open but which in former times must have formed the 

 secret communication between the castle and the stream leads to a little chapel, 

 the dilapidated " oratory" of the place. From this, which occupies the centre 

 of an amphitheatre of green hills projections from the pastoral Ochils, and 

 commanding a rich landscape to the south the view is peculiarly fine. The 

 castle is much frequented, and has long enjoyed the distinction of being consi- 

 dered one of the beauties of Scotland. 



The next scene to which we alluded, is the Cauldron Linn, the celebrated 

 fall on the river Devon, which here separates the counties of Perth and Kinross. 

 The valley of the Devon is of great beauty, richly variegated in scenery ; and, 

 along with its picturesque attractions, presents a highly cultivated and fertile 

 tract of country. The Linn and the Rumbling Bridge, however, are the points 

 to which the traveller's attention is expressly directed, as features peculiar to the 

 Devon, and unique in their kind. The bridge, which spans the river, has now 

 become the medium of public intercourse, and is partially concealed by the new 

 bridge, built at a considerable height over it; but nothing can diminish the horror 

 inspired by a close inspection of that Tartarean chasm, over which the original arch 

 is flung. Although, in point of elevation, it is far inferior to many of those Alpine 

 bridges to which we have adverted in a former work to those, for instance, in the 

 pass of the Via-Mala in Switzerland -still the impression here produced, from 

 the circumstance of no indications of such a scene being visible in the nature 

 of the country through which it is approached, and the surprise with which the 

 traveller surveys the spot, are much greater than could otherwise be imagined. 

 Taking his stand on the centre of the arch, and looking down into the yawn- 

 ing chasm, a thin cataract of foam is all that indicates the copious river, which 

 here, confined to a deep and extremely diminished channel, is churned into 

 spray by the rugged rocks, and fills the ear with its hollow roar. The flashing 

 of the foam, contrasted with the dark rocks through which it ploughs its way, 

 seems to illume at intervals that dismal labyrinth from which it sends forth, 

 night and day, the " cry of its agony." The intertwining branches of oak 

 which meet over the ravine, and mask, in some measure, its form, give an air 

 of deeper gloom to the scene ; while the rocks which line the gorge, and the 



