CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



approach St Fillans, at the foot of the lake, the 

 character of the scenery entirely changes. From 

 tame, it becomes as picturesque as any in Scot- 

 land. Gracefully wooded knolls bend over rocks 

 festooned with fern, and carpeted with many 

 coloured mosses. Over all, sometimes in gentle 

 slopes, at others in abrupt precipices, rise the 

 Highland hills ; in the distance, dark blue ; in the 

 foreground, glowing with innumerable tints from 

 tender green to richest purple. 



Middle Perthshire. 



Dunkeld. This small town, so celebrated for 

 the fine scenery in its neighbourhood, is situated 

 on the north bank of the Tay, at the distance of 

 15 miles from Perth, and 24 from Kenmore. 

 Nestling beneath steep and woody mountains, with 

 a noble river running in front, across which there 

 is an elegant bridge, the first view of Dunkeld, in 

 approaching it from the south, is very striking. 

 The village consists of two small streets, in which 

 are two excellent hotels. At Dunkeld, attention 

 is called to the venerable remains of a cathedral, 

 and the Duke of Athole's mansion, Dunkeld 

 House ; but our present business is with the 

 natural scenery. Most of this is in the pleasure- 

 grounds connected with the mansion. 



Cr at g-y- Barns, a lofty hill, wooded to the top, 

 which rises behind the house, is a resort of tourists 

 for the sake of the magnificent view which it com- 

 mands. They are also conducted by guides to 

 the scenery of the Bran, which joins the Tay on 

 its opposite bank near the village of Inver the 

 birthplace and usual residence, it may be men- 

 tioned, of the late Neil Gow, so famous wherever 

 Scottish music is known, at once for his perform- 

 ance on the violin and his excellent compositions. 

 ' About a mile higher up the Bran is the Rumbling 

 Bridge, thrown across a chasm, about fifteen feet 

 wide. The bed of the river, for several hundred 

 feet above the arch, is copiously charged with 

 massive fragments of rock, over which the river 

 foams and roars like the waters at Ivy Bridge in 

 Devonshire. Approaching the bridge, it precipi- 

 tates itself with great fury through the chasm, 

 casting a thick cloud of spray or vapour high 

 above the bridge, and agitating by its fury even 

 the prodigious masses which form the surround- 

 ing rocks. Few objects will more amply repay 

 the traveller for his trouble of visiting them, than 

 the woody precipices, the long, winding, shady 

 groves, the ruins and cataracts of Dunkeld.' In 

 the angle formed by the junction of the Bran and 

 Tay rises Craig Vinean, a broad shadowy mass 

 of firs, reared against the sky. A neighbouring 

 eminence obtains the name of the King's Seat, 

 in consequence of King William the Lion having 

 been in the habit of stationing himself upon it, 

 in order to shoot at the droves of deer which his 

 attendants caused to pass through the adjacent 

 hollows. 



Aberfeldy, Kenmore, and Killin. Aberfeldy, a 

 village not in itself remarkable, is celebrated for 

 the fine cataract, formed by a small tributary of the 

 Tay, in its neighbourhood, and near the House of , 

 Moness. The tourist is conducted by a guide 

 along the thickly wooded banks of this rivulet, 

 till, about a mile from the village, he reaches the 

 first of the celebrated water-falls of Moness. A 

 little sub-tributary rill here pours, in a series of 

 cascades, down the side of the glen, amidst a 



248 



natural scene of the greatest beauty. A little 

 farther up the main dell, the rivulet pours along 

 a steep natural staircase, of a hundred feet in per- 

 pendicular descent, the sides of which rise abruptly 

 and ruggedly, clothed with the most beautiful 

 natural plants. This scene is described by Burns 

 in one of his well-known songs : 



The braes ascend like lofty wa's, 

 The foaming stream deep-roaring fa's, 

 O'erhung wi' fragrant spreading sliaws, 

 The birks of Aberieldy. 



The hoary cliffs are crowned wi' flowers ; 

 White o'er the linn the burnie pours, 

 And, rising, weets wi' misty showers 

 The birks of Aberfeldy. 



A ride of six miles along the Tay brings the 

 traveller to Kenmore* village of famed beauty, 

 situated at the east end of Loch Tay, at the place 

 where the river issues from that sheet of water. 

 This is one of the chief stages or points in the 

 tour of Perthshire, and it is provided, accordingly, 

 with a good inn. Lofty hills ascend on each side ; 

 on one hand there is a noble lake ; on the other, 

 towards Aberfeldy, stretch the splendid grounds 

 around Taymouth Castle, the seat of the Earl of 

 Breadalbane. 



Loch Tay is a fine sheet of water, 15 miles in 

 length, lying between two ranges of hills. In the 

 centre of the north-west side rises Ben Laivers, to 

 the height of (with its cairn) 4004 feet. An island 

 near Kenmore formerly contained a priory of 

 Augustines, founded by Alexander I. in the year 

 1 122. Here his queen, Sybilla, daughter of Henry 

 I. of England, was buried. Loch Tay is remark- 

 able, like some other Scottish lakes, for having 

 been on several occasions greatly agitated at the 

 moment of the occurrence of earthquakes in dis- 

 tant parts of the world. It is from 15 to 100 

 fathoms deep. There is a road on each side to 

 Killin, the distance being sixteen miles. Both 

 abound alike in fine scenery, though, by pursuing 

 that along the south side, a view will be obtained 

 of the lofty Ben Lawers, which will scarcely be 

 seen so well on the opposite side. The mixture 

 of wood, rock, and cultivated field which the 

 traveller finds skirting Loch Tay, will please 

 him with its happy effect. A steamer plies upon 

 the loch at stated intervals; the sail from one 

 end to the other occupies i hour 40 minutes. 



Killin, a straggling little village, situated in the 

 low vale at the head of the loch, is celebrated for 

 the varied beauty of its scenery. Here two rivers, 

 the Dochart and the Lochy, come down out of 

 different glens, and join their waters with each 

 other and with the lake. The vale of the latter is 

 peculiarly beautiful ; that of the Dochart extend- 

 ing up to Tyndrum, upon the great west road, is 

 stern and wild. On arriving at the town, the 

 Dochart breaks over a strange expanse of table- 

 rock in a thousand little cascades ; so that the 

 traveller, who crosses a bridge just at the place, 

 is bewildered, as he looks around, with the flash- 

 ing and sparkling water which everywhere meets 

 his eye. A branch line connects the village with 

 the Callander and Oban Railway. 



Dumbartonshire. 



A tract of beautiful scenery extends through 

 this county, from the banks of the Clyde along 

 those of the Leven, and including Loch Lomond, 



