46 
castle, the famous lime-tree avenue was seen and examined with 
great interest. It was formed of two lines of very fine old lime trees. 
Standing closely together and meeting high overhead, their tall 
stems and leafy canopy gave the avenue a great resemblance to the 
lofty aisle of an ancient cathedral. The avenue was 150 yards 
long and 25 feet wide, and the trees had an average height of 
about 75 feet. At both ends were short cross avenues, also of 
lime trees of similar dimensions, the whole forming a notable 
feature in the princely environments of Castle Grant. Near 
the front of the castle was pointed out a fine Scots pine planted 
by the late Earl of Seafield on his fifth birthday, and promising 
to form in time a picturesque park tree. 
Castle Grant was now reached, where the public rooms were 
thrown open for the inspection of the visitors. The castle, a 
plain castellated mansion, five stories high, stands on a command- 
ing site, overlooking a vast extent of mountain and valley, in 
which the dark green of the indigenous pine forests was the 
predominant feature, set in a magnificent framework of the peaks 
and precipices of the highest and wildest mountain ranges in 
Britain. Part of the castle is said to be fully five centuries old, 
but it underwent extensive alterations and repairs at different 
periods, which improved the interior, but marred the former 
picturesquely turreted aspect of the exterior. 
Passing into the entrance hall, the company were courteously 
shown through the rooms by the housekeeper and her assistants, 
who pointed out and explained the numerous objects of interest 
with which they were adorned. The walls and roof of the grand 
entrance-hall were hung with a splendid collection of arms, includ- 
ing the guns and pikes of the Strathspey Fencibles, and the curious 
swords, daggers, pistols, and targets or shields, used in Highland 
warfare in the olden time. Here also was seen a remnant of the 
“King of the Forest of Abernethy,” which gave some faint 
idea of the enormous size attained by that gigantic Scots pine. 
The walls of the grand staircase and the drawing-room were hung 
with rare and costly pictures, and adorned with many valuable 
works of art. Among other articles of interest were seen the 
heavy and deep rowelled spurs of an ancient knight, and the strong 
cross-bows of medieval warriors. The key of the house in which 
“Bonnie Prince Charlie” slept one night before the battle of 
Culloden, and the keys of Tullochgorum House and Barn, were 
objects of much curiosity. The dining-room, a handsome com- 
