232 Kintail and Glenelg, witli Notices of the Brocks. [Sess, 



cumstances, when the ill-fated Armada was, providentially for 

 Great Britain, broken in sunder by the stormy elements. Those 

 interested in the Spanish nation may even yet have an oppor- 

 tunity of making the acquaintance of one individual of that 

 sunny land, as the ghost of a victim still haunts the neighbour- 

 hood of Glenshiel, to the evident disquietude of the supersti- 

 tious native. The mention of Glenshiel may bring to the 

 recollection of some the amusing incident in the Tour of Dr 

 Samuel Johnson and Boswell, 1773, when the former, jaded 

 and tired out by the long day's ride from Glenmorriston to 

 Glenelg, especially when having to cross the wonderful but 

 hilly road of Mam Eattachan, allowed his temper to fairly 

 master him, and in the most childish way quarrelled with 

 his faithful companion, who at all times was willing to 

 grovel in the very dust before the great man, — this outburst 

 of spleen originating in the simple circumstance that poor 

 Boswell desired to ride ahead in order to secure accommoda- 

 tion at the inn. The great Doctor showed up badly on this 

 occasion ; but he seems to have been ultimately consoled for 

 all his fatigues and deprived of his bad humours by the pre- 

 sent of a bottle of rum and some sugar, sent to him at the 

 wretched hostelry by a Mr Murchison, factor for Macleod of 

 Glenelg. If report speaks truth (but on this point I have no 

 accurate information), this " good Samaritan " was an ancestor 

 of Sir Eoderick, the eminent geologist, who, as is well known, 

 was connected with the district of Loch Alsh, close at hand. 



From a scenic point of view, the most magnificent part of 

 this truly impressive region is Loch Duich. Here the moun- 

 tains are higher, the outlines bolder, the little clachans more 

 picturesque, and altogether there is a charm about this inland 

 sea that inclines one to assert that no prospect on the varied 

 west coast of Scotland can vie with it, and this is saying a 

 great deal, considering the marvellous scenery of which it can 

 boast. What, perhaps, is the main feature of Loch Duich, is 

 the stupendous appearance of the mountains that encircle the 

 upper waters, and form a sort of cup-like hollow, known as 

 the Fold of Kintail. The southern side is not so bold as the 

 northern, the hills sloping upwards from the former, and being 

 grass-covered and tamer altogether ; but on the north rocky 

 promontories jut out into the loch, and their ruggedness of 



