86 TOUR IN SCOTLAND. [April, 



majestic cliffs of Ben Ledi. The lower part of the lake is orna- 

 mented by the woods of the celebrated pass of Leny (Lenie), and 

 the upper by the fine forest which separates this district from 

 Strathire. Dr. MaccuUoch, whose eye for the picturesque was 

 equal to his descriptive pen^ says of this lake, " Loch Lubnaig 

 is utterly unlike every Scottish lake, by the dissimilarities of its 

 tv/o boundaries ; the one fiat and open, the other a solid wall of 

 mountain, formed by the steep and rocky declivities of Ben Ledi." 

 Some of the little Scottish lakes on the summits of the table- 

 lands have an expanse of only a few acres : their extent is not to 

 be measured by miles, but by perches or acres. But the very 

 smallest of them give rise to good-sized burns or rivulets, which 

 enhance the interest of the bleak, widely-extended moors in 

 which the peaks of the higher mountains have their base. These 

 lochs would be termed tai^'tis in the north of England. Loch- 

 earn is a fine lake, and the upper end (Lochearn Head) affords 

 fine scenes. Like Loch Tay, it is a long, narrow lake; but 

 where we saw it, the banks are finer than those of its rival. Of 

 Loch Tay Dr. Macculloch says that "it scarcely affords one 

 landscape, from Kenmore to near Killin. Nor do I know," he 

 adds, " any place in Scotland which with so much promise pro- 

 duces so much disappointment." Loch Tay, viewed from the 

 summit of Shroine-ach-Lochan, is a fine object in the picture. 

 Its two feeders, the Dochart and the Lochay, are seen to unite 

 and enter it on the spit of land below Killin; and both sides of 

 the lake are for two or three miles fringed with the ancient 

 woods of Finlarig on the left, and by the woods of Kinnell and 

 Auchinore on the right hand. 



There is another lake which we visited, and which, both in 

 outline and in scenic character, is quite distinct from any of the 

 aforenamed lakes. The Loch of Menteith, or Monteith, has a 

 roundish outline, and is surrounded by quite flat shores on ail 

 sides except on the north-west or Aberfoyle side. This lake is a 

 beautiful sheet of water, plentifully^ fringed by ancient woods 

 and Avith two small islands, on the larger of which was a priory, 

 founded by one of the ancient Kings of Scotland. The other 

 islet contains the remains of the castle of the Grahams, Earls of 

 Menteith, — a name detested by Scottish patriots, because borne 

 by the betrayer of one of Scotland's most heroic and disinterested 

 warriors. This race has been long extinct. 



