A VISIT TO BRAEMAR. 201 



given to speculation, you may consider to be tbe most easterly span of 

 the Grrampians; or better still, tbe continuation in ancient Caledonia of tbe 

 Dovrefield range — tbe backbone, as it were, of Scandinavia, wbicb, after a 

 submarine passage over the German Ocean, tired, probably of their aquatic 

 experiences, think proper to shew their noses again on terra firma at this 

 point. Almost immediately on the train striking briskly into the Deeside 

 line proper, we begin to catch glimpses of the most pleasant woodland 

 scenery, which now extends over the slopes of the hills we have already 

 referred to, and continues more or less to do so a good way beyond the 

 present terminus of the railway at Banchory, (eighteen miles from Aber- 

 deen.) The most pleasant spots, however, between these two points, are, 

 without doubt, the tastefully laid-out grounds on the estates of Banchory- 

 Devenick and Kingcausie; the former the property of the then A. Thompson, 

 Esq., but now, deservedly. Dr. Thompson; the latter of J, Boswell, Esq., 

 and sheltering one of the most picturesque spots in this neighbourhood, 

 and moreover one of those spots which appear to be selected by Flora, 

 as a safe asylum for her rarest and tiniest children — the Corbie Den, well 

 known to all who cultivate the gentle science in this district. But Ban- 

 chory itself is possessed of no small share of attraction, in its many neat 

 summer villas, in delightful and salubrious situations, and its sylvan walks 

 of the most inviting description by the banks of the river, which here 

 seem to be very well adapted to the growth of the Holly, {Ilex aquifolium,) 

 specimens of which, quite in a state of nature, frequently attain the height 

 and dimensions of goodly-sized trees. 



Leaving this sweet spot, we find the scenery assuming more and more 

 of a mountainous description, which indeed increases steadily till we reach 

 the culminating point in the lofty Ben Macdhui, at whose base the stream 

 we are now ascending, there indeed a very little stream, takes its rise. 

 To the north lies the Hill of Fare, botanically celebrated as once the only 

 known locality for Garex pauciflora in the shire, (though now ascertained 

 to be of very extensive distribution indeed, in suitable localities;) histori- 

 cally, as the scene of an engagement, in 1562, between the partisans of 

 the Earls of Murray and Gordon, the beautiful, but unfortunate and erring 

 Queen Mary being a spectator of it, as well as of Gordon's subsequent 

 execution in Aberdeen, on which occasion she is said to have wept bitterly 

 — so true was she at all times to her wayward disposition, at least, so 

 saith tradition, as she points out Queen Mary's well, situated in a grassy 

 glade on its side. The next point of interest is the Bridge of Potarch, 

 a little above which the channel of the river is suddenly contracted to 

 the breadth of fifteen feet — the efiect of a dyke of felspar, which here 

 forms the bank on one side, and a little farther down, passes completely 

 under its bed. 



VOL. VI. 2 D 



