A GAMEKEEPER OF THE OLD SCHOOL 35 



choly pipe of the golden plover ? Here in the 



spring-time the wind blows freshly, bending the 



bleached grasses into waves, like the ripples on 



water, which the eye can follow as they keep pace 



with the cloud-shadows hurrying across the sloping 



uplands — on every side is free, unbounded Nature. 



The loch lies in a shallow basin, 800 feet 



above the sea ; but it conveys to the mind the 



impression of even greater height ; not from the 



depth to be seen immediately below, but as it were 



the crater of a volcano, whence could be viewed only 



the summits of distant mountains. Eastward stretch 



the moors, fenceless, save for an occasional portion 



of old broken-down wall — or dyke as it is called ; 



the only sign of habitation a solitary farmhouse — a 



lonely white spot on the dun-coloured landscape ; 



while far away to the north, through a cleft in the 



moor appear the tops of the Carsphairn mountains. 



Near the centre of the loch lies a small island of 



historic interest ; for on it formerly stood one of 



the strongholds of the Gordons — Lords of Kenmure 



and Lochinvar. It was to this castle that the famous 



"Young Lochinvar" is said to have brought "the 



lost bride of Netherby." Nothing now remains to 



mark the spot where it stood, beyond a pile of 



