172 



CHAP. VII. 



FOREST OF ATHOLL. 



" There's the dae, the rae, the hart, the hynde, 



And of a' wild beastis great plentie ; 

 There's a fair castell of lyme, and stane, 

 O gif it stands not pleasauntlie ! " 



Minstrelsy of the Border. 



THE celebrated forest of Atholl comprehends a vast tract 

 of moor and mountain, extending, by hill-man's compu- 

 tation, from the north-east point, joining Aberdeenshire, to 

 the south-west point, joining Gaig Forest, about forty miles 

 in length. The extreme breadth from the top of Skarsach, 

 north side of Tarff, to Craig Urrard, Mr. John Crerar 

 thinks cannot be less than eighteen miles ; but it diminishes 

 in breadth at the extremities. It measures 135,451 im- 

 perial acres. 



The following table will show how it is divided and 

 appropriated : 



