THE HIGHLANDS. 123 



woman was sufficiently astonishing. A little of the singularity, no 

 doubt, arose from the fact, that she was the wife of an eccentric- 

 young poet, the strangeness of whose actions would be duly exag- 

 gerated. Such a proposal, therefore, could not be made without 

 exciting wonder and talk in the demure circles of Edinburgh society. 

 Mrs. Grant of Laggan thus writes upon the subject to a friend : — 



" The oddest thing that I have known for some time is John Wil- 

 son's intended tour to the Highlands with his wife. This gentle 

 and elegant Englishwoman is to walk with her mate, who carries 

 her wardrobe and his own, 



' Thorough flood and thorough mire, 

 Over bush, over brier;' 



that is, through all the bypaths in the Central Highlands, where 

 they propose to sleep in such cottages as English eyes never saw 

 before. I shall be charmed to see them come back alive ; and in the 

 mean time it has cost me not a little pains to explain, in my epistles 

 to my less romantic friends in their track, that they are genuine gen- 

 tle folks in masquerade. How cruel any authority would be thought, 

 that should assign such penance to the wearers of purple and fine 

 linen, as these have volunteered." 



A few facts relative to this romantic walk are not, after a lapse 

 of so many years, lost sight of by those who remember meeting 

 the travellers, and entertaining them kindly. Scotland was dear to 

 Wilson's heart, as was the fair sisterland he was so loath to leave. 

 Who has ever written such words about Highland scenery as he 

 has done ? Well he knew all those mist-laden glens in the far west ; 

 and the glorious shadows of the great mountains, beneath whose 

 shelter he and his wife would rest after a long day's walk. In this 

 tour they visited the Trosachs, Loch Katrine, and the smaller lochs 

 in that neighborhood, taking such divisions of the Western High- 

 lands as suited their fancy. They did not " chalk out a route," or 

 act as if " they had sworn a solemn oath to follow it." From Loch 

 Lomond westward to Inverary, and thence northward by Loch 

 Awe and Glen Etive, they wandered on — halting when wearied, 

 either for a night, or a day or two, and always well received, 

 strangers though they were ; making friends too, in far-off places. 

 Through the wild rampant cliffs and mountains, which lend so awful 

 a grandeur to Glencoe, they proceeded to Ballachulish, billeting 

 themselves upon the hospitable household of Mr. Stewart, when' 

 6 



