THE SMA* GLEN. 



xlix 



Glen Turket. 



Of Glen Turret I have little to say, except that it has ornitho- 

 logical interest in the fact that Golden Eagles bred there within 

 the years of my remembrance, and in an alternative eyrie somewhat 

 further west. Individuals of the king of birds are also seen occasion- 

 ally frequenting the side of Loch Turret at the present time. One 

 remained many days within sight of the keeper's house at Loch 

 Turret, and persistently perched upon a huge boulder which lies at 

 the lochside, and is known locally as " The Highlandman's Stone." 

 Ben-y-Hone (or Ben Chonzie) rears his great head at the upper 

 confines of the glen, and a long, level-topped, adjacent mountain tells 

 the trained ornithologist's eye that its appearance suggests almost 

 typical amenities for the nesting of one of our scarcer British birds, 

 viz. the Common Dotterel (see p. 302, where I give a truly typical 

 view of a Dotterel-haunted mountain). We took photographs of 

 this place, and also of the falls of Turret and Balvreck, which we 

 passed on our way returning to Crieff. In the forenoon of the same 

 day, Mr. Norrie secured some nice views of Drummond Castle and 

 the lochs, with the mass of Torlum towering above with its now 

 denuded scalp. Bare Hill is the meaning of its Gaelic name. But 

 it was planted long ago, and became — at least so we may or may not 

 credit from our guide-books — "the highest wooded hill in Scotland"; 

 then came retribution for the vaunt, for in the great Tay Bridge gale 

 of 1879 it was almost swept bare, and so again resumed its natural 

 character, and now, with the exception of straggling remnants of 

 hundred-year-old pines, it is hare indeed. Torlum is visible from 

 afar off, often silhouetted dark against the higher mountains behind 

 and beyond, and may be recognised from the main line of railway 

 from Stirling to Perth. 



The Sma' Glen. 



I have little also to say regarding this well-known haunt of the 

 tourist. It is all lovely, as all things are in the scenery of Tay ; 

 but it cannot be quoted as containing anything of special interest in 

 direct touch with my text. Mr. Norrie took several successful views 

 of the Glen and small bits of beauty, every one of which would make 



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