SHORES OF THE CLYDE AND FIRTH. 
85 
Locli Long, we land a few passengers at the pier of Blair- 
more ; then stretching along that shore, with its green hills 
studded with beautiful villas and pleasant woods, we soon 
reach the romantic and famous clachan of Ardentinny. 
Viewed from the deck of the steamer, the scenery of this spot 
is magnificent. Close to a rounded jetty of rock that over- 
hangs the shore stands the neat little white-washed inn ; while 
the half-dozen or so houses that compose the place here and 
there uplift their lowly fronts in the same snowy attire. 
Immediately behind, a rising ^len cuts into the hill, clothed 
at the base with thick folds of spreading verdure. On the 
right, what was once a magnificent forest of pines stretches 
now in a somewhat straggling fashion to the hill-top ; and 
a little to the left the primeval woods also stretch far up ; 
but higher still, and yet in the midst of the prevailing green, 
several deep scars of red earth show the strength of the 
descending winter floods that occasionally tear their way 
adown the brawny mountain. The place is still approached 
from the steamer by a small rowing boat, and if there has 
been no retrogression, there has certainly been little improve- 
ment since, according to Hugh M 'Donald, nearly a hundred 
years ago, a band of Paisley weavers landed at the place, 
with the poet Tannahill amongst them. We cannot regret 
the continued seclusion in the midst of the utilitarian spirit 
of the age. Times, places, and customs have changed since 
then, but this place, amid the many surrounding changes, is 
still 
''Far lane aniang the Highland hills, 
'Midst nature's wildest grandeur." 
The charming beauty of our mountains, straths, and 
glens has been often the theme of the unrivalled songs and 
stories of our poets and writers. Through the reading of 
these has not the very Cockney come with gaping mouth 
