MERTON BARKER BALBLAIR 3 



the cheeriest companions who ever missed a stag 

 but there, if I begin to sing his praises I shall be 

 like the book ; and so I will only say that he, is like 

 the brook and can go on for ever wag a wagging, 

 never nagging; here's to him, at the risk of 

 bringing a blush to his pale face. 



And our lair ah ! who shall sing the praises 

 of beloved Balblair ! Its great charm is its 

 seclusion only a mile from Beauly, it stands 

 hidden and tucked away amongst beautiful trees 

 about 100 feet above the river and just above the 

 railway which runs between it and the river; the 

 trains are not very frequent, and as they are 

 completely hidden it is not such a nuisance as it 

 sounds in fact, the only nuisance is the sound. 



The sound of a motor is never heard, which in 

 the pre-war days was an enormous boon to one to 

 whom the sound of a motor-horn was like a red 

 rag to a bull. 



Very beautiful are the trees in which Balblair 

 nestles, first and foremost being the limes with 

 their heavenly scent; beech, oak, birch, walnut, 

 Spanish chestnut, Scotch fir, all flourish, and 

 absolutely encircle the house, so that it is scarcely 

 visible except for vistas cut by the former tenant, 

 Major Paynter, for the sake of getting some view 

 from the drawing-room window, which peeps are 

 very enchanting, one looking west on to Farley 

 and Erchless and the other north over Ben Wy vis, 

 with the twists and turns of the River Beauly in 



