CAWDOR CASTLE. LORD LOVAT. 157 



of Cawdor," mention is found in the records of Nairnshire as early as the year 

 1295; but there is no doubt that they held possessions here long prior to that 

 date. They were hereditary sheriffs, or constables of the royal fortress of 

 Nairn, where they chiefly resided ; and to this day, the constabulary garden 

 in that town, partly surrounded by the old castle wall, is still the property of 

 the Cawdor family. 



Immediately opposite to the outer gate opening to the lawn, is seen a hawthorn 

 tree ; another stood some years since in the old garden ; and a third, still rooted 

 in the earth, is shown in the dungeon of the tower, extending its stem to the 

 arched ceiling. Tradition, in reference to this, relates that the founder was 

 led, either by a dream, or the counsel of a wizard, to build this castle at the 

 third hawthorn tree, where an ass, laden with a chest of gold, should stop.* 

 In allusion to this, prosperity to the family of Cawdor is metaphorically expressed 

 in the well-known toast " Freshness to its hawthorn-tree !" 



" Spread the board and brim the bowl ! 

 And thus let every patriot soul 

 Drink the gladdening ' toast' with glee 

 ' HEALTH TOCAWDOR'S HAWTHORN-TREE!'" &c. 



The bed and chamber in which, according to family legends, Macbeth perpe- 

 trated the bloody deed, were usually shown to strangers, till a fire, which broke 

 out a few years ago in the great tower, destroyed every vestige of them ; and 

 nothing but the stone-vaulted roof could have saved the whole building from 

 destruction. It was between the ceiling and roof of another part of this castle 

 that Lord Lovat was concealed for a short time after the battle of Culloden ; 

 but, finding it was becoming the abode of too many of his enemies, he let 

 himself down from the battlements by a rope, and escaped to Morar, on the 

 west coast, where he was taken prisoner. The scenery around Cawdor Castle 

 is of the richest and most picturesque description. In the park are several of 

 the largest oaks, sycamores, elms, limes, ash, and pine trees, in the north of 

 Scotland. One of these, an ash, measures twenty-three feet in circumference, 

 at a foot from the ground. The garden, also, presents a fine specimen of an 

 ancient yew-tree ; and the adjoining woods and rocks abound in many interesting 

 plants, and especially in ferns, among which the splendid Scolopeiulrium vulgare 

 occurs in great luxuriance. f 



" A German tradition, as the reader may perhaps remember, gives a similar origin to an ancient fastness 

 in the Black forest, Wirtemberg. See the Author's " German Courts." 

 f Anderson. 



VOL. II. S S 



