TH E

H EART OF S COTLA N D

PAINT ED BY

SUTTO N PALM ER

DESCRIBED BY

O PE M CRIEF F A . R H N . O

PUBLI SH ED BY 4. SO H O SQUARE ° W A A 59 CH ARLES O O . D M L ND N , BLAC K MCMI "

Prefa c e

“ BO NNI E SCOTLAND pleased so many readers that it came to be supplemented by another volume dwelling “ ” a the a an d an w m inly on western Highl nds Isl ds, hich was illustrated in a different style to match their Wilder

’ t n the a t a nd mistier features . Such an addi io gave u hor s likeness of Scotland a somewhat lop- sided effect and to balance this list he has prepared a third volume dealing w t a nd e et no t u i h the trimmer rich r, y less pict resque

te t t —t at t region of nes visi ed by strangers h is, Per hshire and its e to the Hea rt o bord rs . This is shown be f

S cotla nd n as a n t a o , not o ly cont i ing its mos f m us scenery,

t e n H d a but as bes bl ndi g ighlan and Lowl nd charms, a nd as having made a focus of the national life and t t t his ory . Pic and Scot, Cel and Sassenach, king and vassal, mailed baron and plaided chief, cateran and farmer,

t and n and Jacobi e Hanoveria , gauger smuggler, Kirk a nd e n n o n S cessio , here in tur carried a series of struggles whose incidents should be well known through the

‘ Wa verley Novels . B ut these famous romances seem to o — little known to hasty readers of to day ; and some

’ glimpses of Perthshire s past life may no t prove over

a at ea t to t t f miliar, l s s rangers in a coun y where the author is at home .

Co nte nts

PE I . RTHSHIR E

II TA S E . Y ID

A O III . TH LL

IV . BREADA LBANE

V S A EA N . TR TH R

TH E S VI. M ACGREGOR

VII. ROB ROY AND H IS SONS

ME E H V III . NT IT

vii

List o f Illu stra tio ns

Th e Pa K e an e 1 . ss of illi cr ki

A a z . Highl nd Moor A Highl and S trath Perth from the Slop es of Kin no ull Autum n in t he Highl ands Du n k eld and Bi rnam A Highlan d Cottage The Trossachs

The Fa lls of Tum m el

The Moor of Rann och The H ea d of Loch Tay

The Do c hart

The Lady of the Woods

A Highl and River A Highl an d La k e

Glen fi nlas ix The H eart of Scotlan d

F ACING PAGE Loch Lubn aig

In the M acgregor Cou nt ry Loch Ac hray The Head of Loch Lom ond

S er Stran K atr n e ilv d, Loch i

The River Teith The Crags of Ben V enu e Sti rli ng C a stl e THE HEART O F SCOTLAND

PERTHSHIRE

M Y text is taken from a writer to whom every discourse on our country goes for authority and illustrations .

Am n all the v n es in S o t an if an inte en t st an e o g pro i c c l d, lli g r g r e e as e to es i e the m o st a e an d the m st ea t w r k d d cr b v ri d o b u iful, i t i s a e he o nam e the o u n t o f Pe t A nat ve prob bl w uld c y r h . i , a s o f an o t e st ri t o f Ca e n a t his a tia ities l o, y h r di c l do i , hough p r l m i t ea him to e e his native o nt in the rs t nstan e gh l d pr f r c u y fi i c , o erta n ass tha t Pe t in the se o n and t us ve w uld c i ly cl of r h c d, h gi its in a tants a a ri t to ea t a t— e i e a a t—Pe t h bi f ir gh pl d, h pr jud c p r r h s e o m s the fai est o tio n o f the n rt e n in hir f r r p r o h r k gdo m .

t w as a e Sco t an lien in P rthshire, his judgment of “ ” e e t a a which, then, should be n ith r par i l nor imp rtial, as the Provost of Portobello desired ; while it is so much my native h eath that I give it no place but that of first in all the counties of Britain . There can be a the e sm ll doubt of verdict pronounc d by visitors, who ’ take the Scottish Highlands as the crea m of our island s scenery, and in most cases know little of the Highlands t a and beyond his central maze of mount ins valleys, falling a the to the rich plain of Str thmore, spread out between The Heart of Scotlan d rugged Grampians and the green hills of Ochil and

Sidlaw .

a the Al al Here rose ancient ban, or re m of Alpin, the e t t a a t has cor of his oric Sco l nd, a n me hat been fondly identified with that of the Alps but I am not going to the entangle myself in the sna res of philology. If n Al Perthshire Bens seem insignifica t beside the ps, for e a the former, at l ast, no bo stful pretensions are made by “ a a as their sons, who f mili rly speak of them the hills Hill th t a . e rather h n the mountains , indeed, is used in a a Highl nds in a rougher sense, to denote the wild he thy land as distinct from the cultivated glen . I have heard “ an old- fashioned sportsman spea k of going out on the " l t a l hi l, when he was ac u l y descending to a lower level

. it and so R L . Stevenson has

m e the a r m e r m the sea Ho is s ilo , ho f o , And th n er m e r m he e hu t ho f o t hill .

Al a e a e ban ppears to have xtended bov Perthshire , taki ng in at least the headwaters of the Spey and other a n the a stre ms flowing north . It certai ly included b sin the a he of the Tay and upper w ters of t Forth . And as Lowland and Highland scenery are finely mingled on t the e hese rivers, so here met and blended conflu nt torrents of blood and language swelling i n to a steady t be t stream of national life . Wha may called a Scot ish a the Ta kingdom first took sh pe on banks of y, where a long was fixed its chief seat . Something like pattern spun by the shuttle of w ar comes at last to light on a — - t e torn web of blood dyed, mis dimmed ch cks and stripes, hitherto a puzzli ng blur for the most erudite spectacles . Perthshire

The Muse of early history seems like that chameleon, “ whose fate was explained by a Highland soldier I put it on m y bonnet and it went black I put it on my coat I it and it turned red ; but when let oot on my kilt, th e tartan fairly bursted it . It is an old reproach against us that every Scot looks “ on himself as desce nded from great and glorious but ” n forgotten ki gs . If, indeed, we calculate by geometrical progression how ma ny millions of ancestors each of us t a can claim in the last thirty genera ions or so, the ch nces seem to be against any Bri ton not having some strain o f

- a . at qu si royal blood in his veins Scotland had, least, m to a any kings be descended from, sever l apocryphal and dozens of them , as named numbered by George a e t a Buchan n, befor he comes down to chronicles h t can a o f be verified . But to our critic l age, the long row a e e rly royal portraits xhibited at Holyrood, painted by a t a Dutchman at so much the squ re foot, seem wor h e still l ss as records than as works of art . The most a rdent Scottish patriot no longer sets store by such fables as historia ns like Hector Boece - wove into their volume s ; nor is it necessary to examine so fond ’ imaginations as that of descent from a Pharaoh s a te a a d ugh r, Scot , or from Ninus king of Nineveh . and a a e Finn Fergus, Osc r and Ossi n, we must leav a e in cloudl nd, looking downwards to pick our st ps over e slippery rock and boggy heather, among which ther is no firm footing upon traces o f an aboriginal pre

Celtic stratum of humanity . When the Romans garrisoned rather than occupied a southern Scotland, and m de reconnoitring expeditions The H eart of Scotlan d

l e into the north , its fastnesses were stout y def nded by

e a a Picti e fierc Caledonians, woodland s v ges, and , paint d a no t the a w rriors, who may or may have been s me

. a e t people If the s me, they may w ll have split in o t a a a t a t e hos ile tribes, w rring g ins e ch o h r like the a a nd t a a a kindred Moh wks Hurons, some imes am lg m ted n by co quest, sometimes uniting to make raids on richer e a n Lowland clearings . Aft r the false d w of Roma n a nnals ceases to throw a glimmer on those hardy bar barians a a a e ta n , d rkness ag in f lls ov r moun i and forest, lit only by the twink ling lamp of a dventurous mission

e the t l - a e aries . Th n wilight of midd e g history shows a ’ Pictish kingdom seated in Charlemagne s age on the its t bu t t e t Tay and ributaries, her presently over hrown by pushful invaders . Dalriad t a These were the Sco s from Irel nd , who began their independent career by getting precarious foothold on the nearest coastland promontory of North a n f as t t t n to Brit i . Ba fled, it seems, in an a temp he ce t e master the country of heir origin, then driv n, perhaps , from their coast settlements by a stronger swarm of a t Scandin vian hornets, this s irring race shoved their way across the western Highlands to take a firmer stand a n t M acAl in e in the heart of Scotl nd, when Ken e h p over h a t its a l a a e t e t . thr w Pic ish kingdom Scone, c pita Buch n n

e t att r por s two successive b les, the scene of the former a e o ff o rtevio t e et act few mil s , at F , where he makes K nn h

t t t Olim M a ri e m mc a rte. on the mot o of the Cel ic Socie y, , are t en His chiefs, we old, not being very keen for the ‘ t la o fi the n counter, while hey y snoring their drink, ki g t n worked upon hem by means of a you g cousin of his, Perthshire

a fi sh- disguised as an ngel in phosphorescent skins, and e e a quipped with a sort of primitive m g phone, through the which he roused sleepers by a promise of victory, then slipped o ff his celestial raiment to disappear in the darkness before these heavy- headed warriors were wide a t n a e the aw ke . It is not of e we are t k n so well behind scenes of a miracle . t t a e e At For evio , a n me whos pr fix is held as one of the t to a e rare Pictish vocables lef build philologic l th ories, t ea to a e a a Kenne h app rs h ve fix d his own seat . The c pit l of such a ki ngdom would be no more perma nent than ’ b At Abyssinia s chief camp at Gonda r or Abbis Abbe a . all events it w as hereabouts that currents of molten metal t an d a the fo u nda came ogether to mingle, cool h rden into as tion of the Scottish nation . As yet it w the kingdom a n v of Alban which spre d arou d like a la a flood, to over run a more or less imperfect a malgama tion of Briton and a the Saxon to the south , of Norsem n and Celt to north W all had n and west, hile, on sides , it once and again early e h be n drowned by fre sh waves of invasion from t e Baltic . ’ ea tw o t e t When , n rly hundred years af er Kenneth s P r h

a I . had e t a shire victories, M lcolm I add d Lo hi n and a n the e Str thclyde to his volca ic realm, styl of Scotia a a i n a ppe rs history, by which the settlers now domin nt in a o ff e t t e a C ledonia seem to kick th ir connec ion wi h Ir l nd, where their name die s out as it is born again in the grow a t e n e ing Scotl nd, and Duns Sco us becom s no lo g r in n n e a na da ger of bei g confus d with Scotus Erige . There is early Scottish history boiled down to a page o n o n e t t t a or two, which migh work in o her changes h t t had made less violent progress, while the ops of the The Heart of Scotland

a - Ta Grampi ns were being weather worn into silt for the y. Those Picts had been in pa rt conquered by the Cro ss The a before they fell under the sword . disciplined f ith of Rome overlaid the wild Christianity implanted from n e s Io a . The ecclesiastical m tropolis w a removed from the e n e e n et e West to Dunk ld, the for a tim to Ab r hy, anoth r

en n l . . e old Pictish c tre, and fi al y to St Andrews Int r t the e t the n course wi h world, and specially wi h Norma n n the e t conquerors of E gla d, imported f udal system wi h its dovetailing of powe r a nd ambition betwee n kings who were in turn sovereign and vassal on different estates of a to a their territories . The English tongue beg n bsorb t the a to hat of the Gael, as Celtic le ven seemed be lost in Bu t e a the Saxon dough . wh n Malcolm C nmore and his Anglicising queen did so much to bri ng Scotlan d into t t e t ouch wi h its more civilised neighbour, th y moved heir a h chief seat no ne rer t e new border than Dunfermline . For long after Scotla nd had developed into a verte

e n a t a t e . brat orga ism, its he r beat in the geogr phical cen r

e e . the Its kings w re crown d at Scone, Charles II last of a a t t t a them , when indeed the immemori l s nc i y of h t Pictish ha a e The a palace d f llen into som disesteem . adj cent city t a t its t a and its of Perth, wi h its C s le, Ca hedr l, four n the e e t n as mo asteries, was Winch st r of Sco la d, Scone te ea a t m et at t the Westmins r . The rly P rliamen s Per h more often than at other towns that might suit the con venience of ki ngs w ho had to be much on the move a n through their gitated domi ion . During the English ’ w as the intrusion, Perth garrisoned by Edwards lieu e a ff eat tta a a t n nts , and su ered rep ed a cks from W ll ce and

n a n t and n - a Bruce, who found co ce lme rallyi g pl ce in the 6 Perthshire wild woods withi n a few miles of the city walls . The honour of being the capi tal was no t definitely taken from a e to o n Perth till the murder of J mes I . show d it ear the e ta e stormy Highlands, whil the Dunedin ci del se med no longer in close peril from the English side Before the seat of government came to be fixed at n a ten Edinburgh , ki g and p rliament are of found at Stir

t t the e a t t . ling, wi h Linli hgow for V rs illes of Scot ish Royal y t a a e Per h still held high pl ce, recognis d by a decree of th James VI . as second in the kingdom . Down to e end t a s t of his reign , its Provos s were of en as not the great a lords of the neighbourhood . It had a le ding voice in

‘ e the ea a national opinion . Som of rliest m rtyrs suffered here then here broke out the first tumult of the Refe r a mation . Later on, it became a hot focus of Presbyteri n and Covenanting zeal and after the popular worship had a a been firmly est blished, it was around Perth th t sprang ff up several of its sectarian o shoots . Accident of situation rather than its own choice again ’ a e ff a a e t m de P rth a centre of a irs, when M r s m l ing army 1 1 lay here through the winter of 7 5, watching King ’ George s force at Stirling and the forlorn Old Pretender i n ti t reached Scone me to chill the spiri s of his partisans, ea — already too n r freezing point . Prince Charlie made a more dashing appearance at Perth for a few days ; but when he had marched on, the douce burghers let it be t seen that their hear s did not go with him . They more e m a e warmly receiv d the Duke of Cu berl nd, as r presenting a the orderly settlement that was good for tr de . The t n wild Highlandman, wi h his uncanny weapo s and his

- unbusiness like sentiments, was here looked on as The Heart of Scotlan d suspiciously as the Red Indian warrior in a border city e of Am rica, who in New York or Philadelphia would draw more sympathy or staring curiosity. The Fair l e t City, while wil ing to ke p friends wi h the Tory lairds a a n t whose names have been f mili r to her for ce turies, cas and her douce vote for prosperity progress . In the Georgia n age she gained some such reputation as a and t Norwich in Engl nd, cultivating arts le ters as well as trade, and becoming known, in a modest way, by her e E nc clo e dia P ertizenri s printing press s, of which the y p was t the most no able production . a Me nwhile, the blending of once hostile races had gone on faster in the centre of Scotland than at its e e a extremi ties . Wh r first a n tional gove rnment had e t e a a at t a w as com in o b ing, higher org nis ion of rib l life e e evolved . Her , as elsewhere, civilisation proce ded by a a e steps over which civilised phil nthropy sh k s its head . e a a The Perthshir Highl nds, not to spe k of Strathmore, contained fertile straths and valleys that off ered them selves as cheap reward for the followers and favourites of — tt . n a t Sco ish kings Norma , Saxon , and still f rther fe ched adventurers got cha rters to make good by the sword h It a fr a the t e . s em d ag inst . sons of soil lords, n tive or , lost and won at taking a hand in the general game of as a tt Scottish history, when the be ers of Bruce turned o u t a the a the to have pl yed on right c rd, or again, when

a . to murderers of J mes I paid dearly for their crime, the

te t e . Bu t the profit of those who hun d h m down , in

a a o u t a at m in, pl ids did not hold gainst co s of mail, so that for centuries the great lords of Perthshire have been t H al t the of Lowland origin . Like dough y Smi h of 8

Perthshire w a had ynd, the sons of the pl in in old times claws as ’ sharp as the mountain cats it w as only when cultivators and a a to a e n e cr ftsmen had ce sed h ndl arms, u l ss for a a n holid y sport, that a sp te of Highla d war could burst the a e e through passes, even then soon to sc tt r and sp nd itself in the face of disciplined resistance . But while those strangers rose to power and wealth a e upon the he th r, they fell captive to its spirit, taking on the e e t e e e mann rs, sentim n s, and dr ss of the disposs ss d e a a the a l clans . The St w rts from Engl nd, C mpbe ls from a it " n a Irel nd, was the Drummo ds from Hung ry or " e a n e where among oth r names of chiv lrous a teced nts , e an new ta t and bloom d out as cl s, with r ans, feuds, e ate the a t and leg nds, to complic n tive pa tern of flesh blood an d in no long time they became more Highla nd

a the a d . t e e th n , Highl n ers themselves Mos r markabl is the a doption of what has come to be called the Scottish a e a e t nation l dr ss, which, ccording to som modern cri ics, a the a e ought r ther to be m ckintosh . Th re was a time ' when Stewart or Murray looked on the plaid as badge of a savage foema n there would be a time when the imported Highlan ders grew as proud of kilt an d bagpipes t had a a as if hese come down to them str ight from Ad m . All over the world have gone those badges of a race that gave them to its conquerors in exchange for its proudest

. t the ta a e o w n a e blood The cul of rt n, reviv d in our g

t a at na by roman ic literature and roy l p ro ge, is an old One he ea t story . of t rly emigrants to the Southern S ates of America is said to have rigged o u t all his negro es in

t and - n ae kil s such like, teachi g them also to speak G lic and to pipe and reel a mong cotton fields a nd cane 9 The Heart of Scotlan d

. e a a a swamps But wh n one of those bl ck moor ret iners,

in t t a - liveried a kilt, was sen to meet a prac ic lly minded

a a t eff an countrym n l nding from Sco land, the ect of so tr s m o rifi e a H g d a figure proved app lling . ae ye been P and long oot stammered the newcomer, took his a the p ssage back by next ship . t a all t t Away from Sco l nd, rue Sco s carry over the an t t the the t world ou fi of which colours, rimmings, and the the the gewgaws come from Highlands, while hard " wearing qualities of the s tu fl are rather of Lowland

t . a manufac ure Both spinning and dyeing, I maint in, t i n have bes been done Perthshire, a county of varied to a a aspects, which set me the example of passing ch nge t of metaphor . It is in his central region that a right the e t proportion of the Saxon dough and C ltic yeas , e a baked for centuries by fires of lov and war, h ve risen t a into the most crusty loaf of Scot ish char cter . In the damp western Highlands and the cold n orth the baking ' efl ect ual may have been less , producing a more spongy no t t mass, so full of nutrimen , but more relished by e some as a chang from the stodginess of modern life . In a the a some p rts of Lowlands, ag in, the dough turns out more dour and sour, not enough leavened by fermenta tions that leave it too leathery for all teeth . While all over Scotland there has been going on a more or less thorough interactio n a nd coalescence of once repellen t d a bo ies, in Perthshire, I assert, the amalgam tion has H ae e been most complete . ye b en happy in yer j eels is a civil question I have heard one old wife as k e a of another . H re nature seems to h ve been happy in and a due mixture of sweet and acid, shredded stirred , ro Perthshire boiled and moulded, with the success of Dundee marmalade . The same fu sion as between Highla nder and Low a n n has l nder, betwee Norman and Saxo , it been the work e e t t of time to bring about b twe n Nor herner and Sou herner, the process there hindered by a fixed border- line of hostile a memories, of vari nt creeds, customs, and laws, going to t a are keep up natural an ip thies . But such fences now so much fallen down that there is little to stop different ’ e br eds from straggling on to one another s fields, the o ne w a a movement indeed being mostly y, since the le ner

flock is more tempted from hill- sides eaten ba re to the a a a green pastures of the south . Wh t is as yet a mech nic l a a mixture tends to become a chemic l one, as these w nder ing atoms find afli nities in a fresh environment ; then a a e the subst nce of nation l life should be enrich d, as every generation goes on incorporating the coarse good - humour a the a the and practic l temper of pl insman, with generous ff a a ections and mettlesome hardihood of the mount ineer . t The result as yet may be best seen in London, tha a are crucible of blood and m nners , where there English a affe be and men who would f in ct to Scots, Scots who l a have forgotten a l but their pride in Scotl nd . I met t a had one such the o her day in a tr in , who his boy a a at a rrayed in kilt, but neither of them knew wh tart n it a e a a was . Where Campb ll we rs the colours of a C meron ' indifl erence n e a with , he unco sciously continu s wh t was begun by a Graham or a Gordon invent ing a tartan for and a e himself, may end in pl id and tweed taking th ir turn ' e a t Tros T rzur ue of fashion with serg and bro dclo h, when y q ar a e e indistinguish bly mixed in one nam and nature . I I The Heart of Scotlan d

a Such is a consumm tion devoutly to be wished . But a as e as there are centrifug l w ll centripetal forces at work . a When the fear of a foreign foe no longer h ngs over us, l e we fa l into wars of interests, of classes, of s xes ; and e a a piping times of peace breed likewis rtifici l injuries, a a useless m rtyrdoms, unpractic l patriotisms, by which we would fain set our teeth on edge from the real sufferings at of our f hers . Idly retrospective persons find nothing better to do than to rub up old sores into an imitation a ea t a and of pl gue spots, instead of l ving hem to he l n vanish in the w ay of nature . Some disconte ted spirits among my countrymen have lately been agitating for the protection of Scottish rights and sen timents " it wo uld appear more to the purpose if Englishmen got up a n league to bar out northern aggra disement . While the sovereign of the United Kingdom is bound to be of

Scottish descent, and while custom fills the English archbishoprics with an apostolic succession of son s of l n a a the Covenant, there stil , i deed, rem ins such a sc ndal as the Prime Ministership being occasionally open to t mere Englishmen . This apart, however, mos of our grievances may be comfortably digested by chewing the ’ cud of the Union in John Bull s o w n spirit of easy good nature .

a re r n ea e to e ert L u l c ow s cl v d s s , And pow er to him w ho power ex erts a t no t th are O n n e eet H s y sh wi g d f , t Lo i t rush es thee t o m ee . And all t at at re m a e t ne o w n h N u d hi , F at n i n air o r en t in t n e lo i g , p s o , S a ren the and ea e the sea h ll d hills cl v , And lik e t hy sha dow follow thee . I 2

The Heart of Scotland

I confess to having lukewarm sympathy with the perfervid patriotism that is too ready to find quarrel in straws . Scotland has got q uite her share of practical “ ” and benefit from the sad and sorrowful Union, need not grudge to England the nominal advantages of size t a to and weal h , which the l tter sometimes appears occupy a her as c retaker for neighbour . So long as Scottish t are e a a enterprise, hrift, and industry allow d f ir pl y on e t both sides of the Bord r, it seems childish to lamen and a l over lost titles ensigns, toys of history, th t on y e and in a museum may scape being broken, sooner ’ e t or later will be swept into tim s dus bin . When one sees how we have peacefully imbued our fellow subjects t with our best blood, I for one am not too sorry tha our dark record of feuds and slaughter a nd bigotry falls into a n and its place in the b ckground of a grander sce e, that instead of cherishing thistly independence a s a romantic a a a Norw y or an ustere Portug l , we merge our national ’ ea d life into the gr ter king om s, which , by good luck or a e has t the good guid nc , come to s and so high in world

e e n . for fr edom , nlightenme t, and solidity In this king dom we take much the same place as the Ma nchus in All th t China . over e world we go for h to prosper like

t - o f t t tha Chosen People the old dispensation, wi h his ff t a a to di erence, tha we h ve our Sion in our own h nds, e n a which com pilgrims from all natio s . The comp rison would fit better if it allowed m e to call Perthshire the

Scottish land of Judah . True Scots should have more philosophy than to imitate un enlightened patriotisms that would interrupt a natural process defined by Herbert Spencer as change 1 4 Perthshire from an incoherent homogeneity to a coherent hetero g eneity accompanied by the dissipation of motion and the integration of matter . So Penelope peoples, in their

a u n . Let d rkness, ndo the work of civilisi g daylight Bohemia rage and the states of the Balkans imagine vain things . But why should Scotland waste time and electric light on looking back too fondly to the things that are behind, while she cannot help pressing forward to the ' in evitable destiny before her " With the warning of a Irel nd at hand, some of us cry out for Home Rule and — a n a such like retrogressions th t might go to givi g b ck, at o n e te end of the Uni d Kingdom, the shadow of its cloudy dignity along with the substance of its old discords . ‘ Where is this reactionary P a rticula rism us to stop " a n and There are p rts of Caledo ia which, in its stern wild n a e a times, were i dependent of e ch oth r, some th t still are a s ff a di erent from one nother in blood and speech, as m ost of Scotland is from England . Shall Badenoch or Buchan awake its overlaid individuality " May not Galloway and Strathclyde set up for recognition of their — e ex independence Then why not ncourage Strathbogie, Cu m braes the , the Braes of Bonny Doon , or the parish of Gandercleu h a g , to lament upon the f te that has made Na them members of one greater body y, now that the n t to cla s are broken up, could they not con rive respin t at heir warp of local loyalty, crossing the woof of n ional patriotism Such reductio a d a brurdum is worth thinking at t a about, when his moment there are signs of rel pse in the long convalescence from that Jacobite fever that “ carried hard heads as well as soft hearts , and set I S The Heart of Scotlan d old grudges against the U nion flau nting in plaid and philibeg. I am informed of a movement for putti ng the kingdom of Fife in its right place before a world to o apt to jest at e e e a and e its pret nsions . Th s are m ny s rious . Of old, F il/z its o w n e a a t had kings of , of such imm mori l ntiqui y

a e t a are no t that their very n m s, much more heir portr its,

. een tw o fi rths forthcoming Enclosed betw , this region

a a a t Ochils - m kes lmost an isl nd, wi h the as border line t n ff the an cu ti g it o from rest of Scotl d . Thus the Roman legions thundered by it ; and its maid en in dependence w as at w e e e n a t n never viol ed, if r j ct a sca d lous sugges io n the nt ra iu as to Cupar bei g Mou G u p s of Tacitus . The a a t e kings of Scotl nd were much home h re, notably a eff e a n the M lcolm Canmore, that ctu l fou der of modern n e kingdom . If Bruce were born who k ows wh re, he n e ho w came to be buried at Du fermline . History t lls e a w as a t e and ho w Qu en M ry lodged Lochlev n, more t a n a had a a a h n one Ki g J mes to be sn tched w y, by force

e . al t or fraud, from his chosen residenc in Fife The di ec e t a t a a the a a of Fife, mix d wi h th t of Lo hi n, m de st nd rd C a e ae w as e o u t the ourt langu g , while G lic bbing of t the P erthshire stra hs . The see of old Scottish Church

w as at . e a e the t t e n St Andr ws, where ros firs nor h r a a a te university, the loc l S int Regulus being suppl n d by who to ff w as e as that apostle , according sco ers , chos n ’ Scotland s patron because of the keen eye he showed o n

a a . te ta t a e e rth for lo ves and fishes In Pro s n d ys, sev ral

he ea e — n the the e of t religious l d rs K ox, Melvilles , Erskin s ,

a a — John Gl s, Edward Irving, Thom s Chalmers were all either natives of or sojourners in Fife . This many 1 6

A HIGHLAND STRATH

The Heart of Scotlan d

Cupar, Dunfermline, and Kirkcaldy or, at least, that in a revived Scottish parliament its representatives shall a a ssert their old privilege of voting first, before th t ’ presumptuous Perthshire . The sovereign s title raises

s difli cu lt . a the ome y Edw rd VII ., of course, is out of q uestion . But it has to be admitted that Edward I . of a n Engl nd received the homage of Fife at Dunfermli e, s o his present Majesty might justly be styled Edward II . ua to q King of Fife . There being, indeed, a doubt as how far Edward Baliol made his reign a fa it a ccompli in a e a Fife, some precisians propose to meet the c s by tre ting a the a a a our king loc lly as second and h lf Edw rd . In the the army, of course, it is not to be borne that Fife a c ontingent sh ll be lumped together with English forces . t e t be In future, one or more Bri ish r giments mus equipped n The t Fif i h and disti guished as Fifers . epi het e s should come into more constant use but as misconception might a F i ei a n m a be an rise from vulgar misuse, f y coined as to the untarnished adjective, the old one to be applied less a dmirable or more commonplace features of the its a county, distilleries, railway junctions, colliery vill ges, a a e st winds, and so forth, while a discrimin tion is to be made in quoti ng those qualities and achievements that have made Fife the noblest member of the greatest e the t ru n mpire in world, whose style shall for hwith , a t at least in loc l acts, The Kingdom of Fife, wi h the a a and adjacent kingdoms of Scotl nd, Engl nd, Ireland, and the rest of the British dominions, etc ., etc . Perthshire I a t For , m ke no such pretensions to isola ed t all t a dignity, only for having set a pat ern to Sco l nd, and thus exhibiting some title to be taken as hub of the 1 8 Perthshire

e . univ rse But in rambling over its hills and glens, I ’ e e a hop to let it show for its lf the truth of Scott s estim te , t justified by his reference to other writers, such as migh du e be quoted by the hundred, all in the same tale of admiration .

It is o n sin e La Mar W t e Mo nta t t at l g c dy y or l y gu, wi h h e e ent taste a a te ses her tin s e resse her xc ll which ch r c ri wri g , xp d o ni n t at the m o s t in te estin st t ever o n t and pi o h r g di ric of y c u ry, that which exhibi ts the vari ed bea u ties o f natural scenery in eatest e e tio n is t a t e e the m o u nta ns s n n o n gr p rf c , h wh r i i k dow up r e an The m o st i t es e if the am a n o r m o e e . ch p ig , l v l l d p c ur qu , no t the est s are a s to be n in the o nt o f Pe t . high hill , l o fou d c u y r h The ri vers fi nd t heir w ay o u t o f the m oun tai n ou s region by the i est ea s and t o t he m o st ro m ant asses nne tin w ld l p , hr ugh ic p co c g t he i an s t the L an s . A ve the ve etat o n o f a H ghl d wi h owl d bo , g i happi er cli m ate and so il is m i ng led wit h the m ag nificent char ac teristic s o f m o nta n- s ene and s r ves and t i ets u i c ry wood , g o , h ck in s n o t e the ase o f the s as en the a nes profu io , cl h b hill , c d up r vi , th It is in s fa e e io ns an d m ing le wi t h e precipices . uch vour d r g t at the t a e e n s at the et G a o r so m e o ne e se has h r v ll r fi d wh po r y, l , Te te m e Bea t n in the la o f o . r d, u y lyi g p rr r

I 9 TAYSIDE

SEE a e fli ant I th t certain critics accus me of being pp , d t iscursive, garrulous, gossiping, every hing that your e are no t and grav ly plodding writers , they no doubt find It t a a readers to their mind . must be confessed h t s a model of style I have an eye rather on the upper waters o f t a the Tay, wi h its swirls and eddies and ripples, th n a he fat a on its broad and pl cid flow by t C rse of Gowrie . All I can say for myself is that I keep my course a mid a a windings and tumblings, and th t my fo ming shallows may sweep along the same silt as loads dr u mlier currents e to a all a t low r down . Yet one loves ple se t stes, wi hin n and reason, so for o ce let me try to be as steady slow as

- at e a t n the mill lead P rth, which, if all tr di io s be true, a as a t beg n a Roman queduc , and so may give itself airs of classical a uthority. Ta The y, then, is the principal river of Scotland, which discharges into the North Sea a larger volume of

e ta a - water than any oth r in Bri in . Its he d streams rise e a t fi'o m upon the bord rs of Argyll, but only f er issuing Loch Tay does it assume a name apparently derived 2 0 Tayside

t - flo w in t a t from a Cel ic word for quiet g wa er, in other p r s Ta of the kingdom taking such forms as Ta w and vy . The Tay has its course of 1 2 0 mile s almost entirely in t e Per hshire, rec iving many tributaries from the mountains t t a 2 00 on ei her side, and hus draining basin of some 4 At a e a square miles . Perth it becomes navig bl for sm ll e the vess ls, and debouches at thriving port of Dundee, where its estuary separates the shires of Forfar and Fife . t a e For fur her det ils, see any g ographical work . There now " no Aristarchus can find fault with that e no t e paragraph, in which I hav broken into a singl on a ssa nt anecdote or metaphor, though tempted to say p that the basin of the Tay only needs flattening out to

- t a over measure that of the Thames . But his form l style ’ a a a sits on me as une sily as S ul s rmour upon David, so I leave it to rust in the works of reference and as a stone — for my scrip, snatch up a well worn quotation already slung by a mightier hand

” Be t h e T er " the a n R m an r e hold ib v i o c i d, ’ Vi ewi ng the am pl e Tay from Baiglie s side ’ But w here s the Scot that would th e vau nt repay And h ail the pu ny Tiber fo r th e Tay Scots are not in the way of belittling their own advantages but a certain Italia n write r gravely comments on this statement by giving an estimate as to the depth a of the Tiber at Rome, where s he himself has seen a bare - legged boy wading the Tay above Perth bridge to a e a pick up pebbles . Being un ble to r fute his m in con e a t ntion, I would have him know that this l ddie was w et at low e probably risking breeks tid , not in search of m pebbles, but of pearls, someti es picked up here that a 2 1 The Heart of Scotlan d bridge would naturally be built n ear a ford and tha t a

e the - flo w Ta mile higher up, b yond tide , the y is deep e and nough to drown boys in its treacherous pools, might make Julius Caesar himself call for help if he tried swim

it t . a e are ming across in spa e If cl ssic po ts to be trusted, the yellow is best epithet of the Tiber, while Ruskin admiringly tells us how the pools of the Tay glint brown a and blue mong black swirls and rippling shallows . In

t to the matter of climate, at all even s, we are not going

- let any foreigner over brag us, for as the local poet, a Alexander Gl s, exclaims beside the Tay

In r n s un the Ita an r e in a n sco chi g , li c i s v i 0 a a a e n an a n , h ppy, h ppy C l do i sw i e r e are e er and m the e Whos g ov s v cool , ild ski s, ere reeze r m the ean e er r e Wh b s f o oc v is .

a a w as a a the n This b rd, perh ps, not ware th t s ow lies longer on So rac te than on Kinno u ll Hill ; nor does he confess that for two or three months in the year the happy Caledonian swain m ay now and then welcome — Italian ice cream merchants ; and in fair prose he ought to own his ocean breezes for ea st winds on this side of e t ee a l the country . The city of P r h , ind d, st nds hard y a sea and a h score of miles back from the , made t riving port in days when it was an advantage to unload goods — u w a tt . a p country, well out of the y of a ack Its m riners a a t t a to carried on not only co s ing r de, but sailed the a th Hanse ports , and took turn at fighting with eir English rivals when competition would sometimes be ea t at n pushed to the point of piracy . It app rs h tradi g

t as ro w - a craf plied as far up Scone, below which a bo t is w a no w apt to stick in shallo r pids . 2 2 Ta yside

Through the international w ar- time flourished at

a n a a as ea t Perth notable li e of Mercers, who ppe r w l hy

e a and a a trad rs, magistr tes, benef ctors of their n tive city, t the te some imes rising to higher posts in sta , coming to ma ke noble alliances through which their head branch is a now engrafted in the Lansdowne title . The old st ple trade of the Fair City w as glove - making ; its skinners a e a at and ta bec m an import nt corpor ion, nning held out da has a e to our y, but been overlaid by dyeing, tr d s that a a as a might all merge into e ch other . Perh ps a br nch of ’ t ffi n to dyeing sprang Todd s Per h O ce Ink, which I ote ’ M o nc rieff s n be now glorified as Ink, and lo g may it flow under that auspiciou s name 1 Another industry of Perth n the used to be shipbuildi g, where, up to end of the e t e a nd eighteenth c n ury, vess ls came went by the hundred, n e and a smack sailed for Lo don every few days . P rth was in the w ay of improving her port and deepen ing its a a a n pproaches, when r ilways brought about perma ent low tide in the Tay trafli c . e a While ships w re growing l rger, the Tay estuary had been silting up and narrowing as its flat shores were t Ca reclaimed into the fer ile rse of Gowrie . This dry was inches a a t a ground won by , n me of en met long a e e T yside, where what wer once islands hav become

. a r excellence are welded on to the shore The Inches, p , the public parks above and below Perth t/ze Inch being in the a are its North Inch , which Rom ns fondly believed

a a —P a r‘va m Tr a m to have h iled their C mpus Martius oj , a a e a is e a m a s i m ul t qn w gn P rg . e r High r up the iver, in its great bend to the south, another flat bears the suggestive name of Bloody 2 3 The Heart of Scotlan d

Inches and the Perth Inches too have been arena for Th a many a fray . e chief m rtial memory of the South ’ t the t Inch is as site of Cromwell s ci adel, in construc ion al t of which were used the w ls of the Greyfriars, wi h e t hundreds of its tombstones, besid s o her monuments of t n a the city . The Nor h Inch is best k own to f me for the t a 1 6 t e a ba tle of the Cl ns in 3 9 , when hre score Highl nd men let out most of their quarrelsome blood before an the t excited multitude, king and cour looking on from a ta the n th e wh t served as a grand s nd, Gilte Arbour in an a e a a Dominic G rd ns, structure that prob bly stood near e n te the e in a the pr se t si of Perth Acad my Rose Terr ce . There can be no doubt about the authen ticity of this a ta a b ttle a record is ex nt of m king the lists for it, the t t as number of combatan s being expressly s ated sixty. n But, among the preg ant confusion of Highland names, it is not easy to be sure who those champions were . We used to be taught from Ta les of a Gra ndf a ther that they represented hostile confederacies called the Cla n Kay and the Chattan the a t a at the Clan , l t er perh ps wild c s of a t mount ins, the former by no means to be identified wi h h the Ka the Chat the Mackays of t e north . But y and tan a a names ppear to cover one another, while the other p rty e t b seems b t er distinguished as the Clan Ou ele, in whom i el t the some see the Camerons and a hint of Loch , o hers M acdo u als t t t n t o ur de g , heir name hus ra sformed by a force et W a n n at of ymology, hile lso it has bee co jectured th m t this ys erious clan did not survive its defeat, scattered and absorbed in to luckier kindreds . a i t a e and A writer, we r ng bo h the n m s of Shaw who has n t Macintosh , given piously profou d s udy to 24

Tayside the t t w subjec , concludes tha those adversaries ere the sons an a a a of Adam and a Doug l, cl ns known to h ve fought

a the . against e ch other in wars of Bruce, which as likely

as a . not means an old trib l feud Adam, it seems, in a n at this wet clim te, is quite capable of bei g we hered n A H a a a dow into y, y, or Kay . The n me Doug l sounds Gooil Haail a in Gaelic something like , or , which Lowl nd t a uhele n/zevil a eill wri ers might make shot at as Q , Q , Q , Clzew ill a , and other forms in which it appe rs . Their

a are Cla c/zi n lza rivals in cert in books called y , which Dr .

. . a a a a a s his R C M cl g n cl ims the origin of own name, t t n and to illus ra e the co tention, presents some forty

a a a a a spellings of M cl g n v ried through four centuries, lso nearly a dozen used by the same family in the records

n a . e of one ge er tion Not only at home, inde d, are

S t a t to transm o rifi ed. e cot ish names p be g B lize, in a a Hondur s, is said to be a corruption of Wall ce, the

a the t t e t at a pir te, not patrio ; and her is a story h a a e a a M cdoug l, shipwreck d of old on the B rb ry coast, so much impressed himself on the natives as a sa nton that his tomb stood mumbling godfather to the port of

Mogador . ’ ’ W nto u n s are In y Chronicle, the leaders names “ a nglicised as Christy Johnson (Gilchrist Maelan) and ’ Far u har s the a e tt Sir q son , l tter elsewher called Li le b a a Se c or Sh w . The Shaws hold themselves a branch of the a n t e a Chattan M cki osh s, who cl im the headship of Clan , a ai e the M acPherso n s n lso cl m d by , so s of a parson, or at least of some one boasted by a certain bard as a “ ” superior person . The matter seems to have begun " with an encounter in which the Sherifl of Angus was 25 4 The H eart of S cotlan d — — killed a long w ay from the Cameron country in quelling such a disturbance as often vexed the Highland

line . The king sent the Earls of Dunbar an d Crawford to do what justice could be don e upon this outrage a nd they have the credit of suggesting the settlement of an t ate in the a obs in feud by picked bloodshed roy l presence . Some writers have wasted ink on the feebleness of as a a Robert III . to bl me for wh t strikes them as a re vo lting scene ; but such a show of gladiatorship was as much in keeping with the manners of the age a s a foot ’ ball match with ours ; and to the king s advisers it no doubt seemed excellent policy to let those wild cats a e cripple or punish each other in holiday sp ctacle . As a matter of fact it is recorded that the border had peace n a — from the catera s for long fter this signal blood letting . “ t a a The forwardest of bo h p rties being slain, s ys George “ ul i t t t Buchanan, the promiscuous m t ude, lef wi hout a a t t a a le ders, g ve over heir r de of sedition for m ny years ”

te t e . af r, and be ook th mselves to their husbandry again

The early historians differ as to details . E achin ae t e M lan, the young chief who loses hear , ow s a good ’ deal to Scott s dramatic i n stinct ; but Goethe was not well posted in the facts when to Eckermann he extolled ’ “ ” the novelist s art in contriving to make one m an fail on the day of combat that his place m ay be taken the t by hero, Smith there is finish here is a hand O ne story makes the fugitive escape by swimmi ng before t n the figh . Several mention a man as missi g from the a u hele a to fill e t e Cl n Q r nks , whos place a s urdy P rth craftsman volunteered on promise of reward . More than one Perthshire family has been proud to claim 2 6 Tayside

- e descent from this bandy l gged champion . If it be a e t true, as somewhere st t d, tha his posterity, the Gows, Chattan were recognised as a shoot of Clan , it may e Co nachar a be that Harry Smith was the r al , pprenticed at Perth to a trade which Highland chiefs might well see cause to patronise . Scott, however, seems romancing in t putting the combatan s into shirts of mail . All the a ccounts agree as to two bands of next to naked Highland t men hacking and hewing each o her with swords, axes, ten and dirks, till of one side only or eleven were left the t o ne e sorely wounded, and of o her, scaped or was a a taken prisoner, his fate being v riously stated as p rdon and hanging . No doubt the show furnished as much t a sa isf ction to its public as when, sixty years ago, the ' t a e n a German r v ller, J . G . Kohl, found the I ch ag in covered with people eager to see a circus clown give bold advertisement to his company by crossing the Tay

“ - e n in a washing tub drawn by four geese . It has b e a l supposed, by the way, th t the combat of High anders may have been arranged partly for the amusement of a body of French knights then visiting the Scottish

n as as e . court, and no doubt findi g it dull well rud a o da m e a Since that sl ughter us y, so re l fights and a th many sh m ones have been enacted on e Inch of Perth . a rs m a na ni Of one I may say, p g f , and though my militation w as without glory it did not want an accursed

the Pert/zslzire Constituti ona l bard who, in columns of the , “ a n w a s ng, a lo g y after Tennyson, how some one had ” e blundered . Thes were the early days of the Volunteer ea movement, inspired by more z l than knowledge, when, o fli cer in my teens, I served as sole to a company of the 2 7 The Heart of Scotlan d

t Perthshire Volunteers, af er some slight apprenticeship in

t a . a school cadet corps, equipped wi h disc rded carbines One of my first appearances in efli cient arms was at the head of a column that marched on to the lower end of the Inch before m ore spectators than would be gathered a a an - e e bout the rena of that cl combat . The foe h r it a coming into view, behoved my comp ny to extend in skirmishing order, covering the deployment of our and column into line . So much I could do we found ourselves exposed in the van facing a hostile line of

Dundee Highlanders who held the centre of the Inch . But the report o f wha t then befell is so little to our e cr dit that I throw it into shamefaced small print .

We a an e bo az in a a an a t es as as t dv c d ldly, bl g w y our bl k c r ridg f ’ as w e o a an d fi re e the enem s k irm ishers as could l d ; whil y j , a ran e i n the o am m e e a e o e u s . M m en ere r g d pr gr , f ll b ck b f r y w e te t t s m o em en t a e the effe t o f ur n nin d li gh d wi h hi v , which g v c q wi g the att e S e a o ess and no t n n et te w e b l by our p ci l pr w k owi g b r, en t o n t n o u r o w n an ti w e had nea ru n o u t w figh i g for h d, ll rly a m m n n M ean u r e an o u t m e s of u i tio . whil e from o sid r g i p riou

- e a s m a e m e no ne the se . At ast en the bugl c ll , which d wi r l , wh ’ enem y s thin red line could no lo nger be seen fo r the clo ud o f sm o e I et o t m se to o r n and o bse e ho w k , b h ugh y lf l ok ou d, rv m y devoted ba nd w as s prea d o u t ha lf- w ay bet ween the t w o a m ies e o se o n e t e s e to an e te m inatin fi re o f anno n r , xp d i h r id x r g c and i es T ere seem e s m et n o n e e but e o e I r fl . h d o hi g wr g h r ; b f r

nsi e at to ab t it an a e- de- am a o e could co d r wh do ou , id c p g ll p d up, s e e n u s it at o ns W at o n ea t are a o t h ph rdi g w h objurg i h r h you b u , sir " Get o ut of the w ay " Clo se and ret ire " There w as st ro n e an a e t at no t t en ten m e In m g r l gu g h did h elp o ligh . y n s o n I o se to the e t e eas a e w as t s t im e co fu i , cl d l f , wh r our pl c by hi o n the t o f the n e t he es t e n t at w e had to run the rig h li , r ul b i g h ’ a nt et o f o u r o w n arm s fi re t en t o t n and b e g u l y , h ur dou l up 2 8

The Heart of Scotland shall always be thankful that my lucky star showed me a a to w as to carriage filled with ladies in bl ck, which I able — present a rms just in the n ick of time a moment more and the Queen would have been let go by in silence without any saluta tion even from her heedless guard a ha And alre dy I d made a blunder of etiquette . A a a e e consider ble force of regul rs w re present, whil we, as a a loc l body, held the place of honour . During the hours of uncertainty officers of rank kept galloping to n and fro, to whom I was u certain whether or no I should a pay military compliments . I sked my colonel, who was at as taff as much a loss myself. Then I consulted the s a o n e as a serge nt whom I depend d my co ch , and his “ ’ advice struck me as full of wisdom " I don t know a e it to what the pr ctic is, sir, but would be safer do it too ” a t a much than too little . So I beg n presen ing rms to hat a a and every cocked th t c me by, as I could never be quite sure whether this or that one had been already saluted, our rifles were going up and down all morning a a a the like the keys of pi no . Afterwards I le rned that ’ a Sovereign s guard should ignore any other person ge . I could tell other tales of the Perthshire Volunteers bu t all sa at in their early days, I will y here is th if the Territorials who have taken our place are more smart and efli cient a t - to e , they c nno surpass us in good will serv our an and e a country. Some of us can remember older p rh ps t less serviceable force, the tottering Pensioners who urned ' out at least once a year upon the Inch to fire a f en dej aze ’ h e t a a e n t for t e Qu en s bir hd y . I r th r think I k ew hat Peninsular lieutena nt of whom Sir Evelyn Wood tells a touching tale—though here I am a little confused betw een 3 0 Ta yside

two bearded veterans that gave ki ndly words to a boy

had lived l o bscu rel tw o how he y at Perth, unnoted by t generations, ill Major Wood took a public occasion of poin ting him out to his fellow- citizens as one of the heroes of Albuera ; then the old m an in a back seat bowed his head in tears of pride and joy L et m e — g reet " overcome to hear that fiery day not forgotten a n by soldiers of another g e . To a vetera of a former a at w as a a generation qu rtered Perth born son, fterwards a e well known as Ch rles Mackay, editor and po t, and as stepfather of one of the most popular novelists of our day, whose modestly retiring disposition is so notorious that I do not mention her name . In my youth the neighbourhood of Perth was a e ffi strongly g rrisoned by r tired o cers, some of whom the belonged to Sandemanian congregation here, an c e n ex lusive body that, like the Plymouth Br thre in

a i . England, had a curious attr ct on for old Indian soldiers The t sons usually went with their fa hers, while in some cases the mothers an d daughters attended the Episcopal “ a e ”f eni kei t Ch pel, wh re my g , as son of an English a and woman, esc ped the long sermons Shorter Catechism a of Presbyterian boyhood . The Anglic n form of worship has in the last generation made great way among t e bu t a t ownsm n, it then was p to mark either at a English associ ions or heredit ry Toryism . Perth had e a s a Cathedral, looked on askance in thos days ” t t Puseyi e, so tha even the bishop for a time held aloof from it at all events he preached regularly in our all a sm er church , his lawn sleeves ttracting youthful — reverence beside the black gowned pastor of those 3 1 The Heart of Scotlan d

Protestant days . Now, so strongly has turned the tide a a a e a at of ecclesiastic l f shion , it is the C th dr l whose door a string of equipages m ay be seen standing of a Sunda y e at o fli ciatin morning, and three or four English pr l es g at a en the altar in the shooting season . But h lf a c tury ago, ” t the a it et a and la er, Ch pel, as we called , as y ignor nt ” a that we were the Church in Scotl nd, made the more e a t and a genteel place of worship, with p ers, b rone s, l irds as e a a thick as blackberries in the congr gation , their c rri ges a t breaking the S bba h q uiet of the street . The English soldiers were marched to it from the other en d of the t t at m t at e t n to own, hough th e p y C h dral s ood eighbour their barracks and thereby hangs a tale to be caught at in my reminiscent mood . a n n One w rm summer forenoo , some of the co gregation n may have been fi ding the sermon too long, when it was e broken on by a stirring incident . A whisper d message came to the offi cer of the military party . The men

a o u t dl the ul t . abruptly rose to cl tter , hee ess of p pi a s a Presently the c ptain ent b ck for his sword, and his wife turned pale before the surmising eyes of the n a t t " co greg tion . Wha could be the mat er Had the French landed Neither preacher nor people could give n all their minds to the co cl usion of the service . As we t a t all a e s re med for h, gog with curiosity, the str et showed the unusual Sabbath sight of cabs full of policemen dashing up towa rds what w as then the General Prison for I Scotland, beyond the South nch . Report soon spread n a t that the i m tes of this Penitentiary, hundreds s rong , had broken o u t and might be expected to scatter over r a t n the count y like , ravening wolves, f er an alarmi g 32

AU TU MN IN TH E HIGHLAND S

The Heart of Scotlan d

the present , who, as he screamed under lash, rushed in to ’ hold the drummer s arm ; then other women began to e t pelt the executioners with ston s . Led by hese pitying t the a Amazons, the crowd broke hrough r nks to rescue

ffe - a n a no the su rer, and his fellow soldiers ppare tly m de a o fli cers t stout resist nce . The were set to fligh , the ta unfortunate adju nt being captured, whom the women are said to have stripped and whipped on the spot as a a lesson in humanity. That m de the last flogging on the

North Inch . Perth has had the soldiers of many armies quartered ’ a upon it, including Cromwell s troopers, and the Hessi ns ’ encamped for long o n the Inch after the Rebellion of 4 5 . ’ At that time barracks were so deficien t that Cumberland s men had to be lodged in the parish church and meeti ng t a a houses, turned in o dormitories by de l bo rds laid across

e . t the the p ws Later on, soldiers would be bille ed upon as t a l t townsfolk, the mili i men were in my recol ec ion ; a a l and their p y was so poor th t, like that cu prit already t mentioned, they did not always prove honest gues s . the a the Gowrie House, presented by loy l townsfolk to a victor ofCulloden, was made into an Artillery B rrack, but afterwards given back to the town to serve as its jail and co u nty buildings in exchange for groun d above the South e a a Inch, where the Gen r l Prison c me to be built. This w as o e the originally a dep t for Fr nch prisoners of war, n o n t w a first batch of whom, confi ed in a church heir y a a e from Dundee, stole all the brass n ils, green b iz , and t t n n o her fit ings they could lay ha ds on . The priso ers who the became increased to thousands, on whole must e are to have behaved better, for th y said have been missed 34 Tayside

a at the pe ce, having, indeed, spent in the city a good deal of money which they earned in part by ingenious e industries . These for igners appear as the unexpected a means of importing cricket into Scotland , first pl yed on the Inches of Perth by the English regiments sent to a gu rd the depot .

English soldiers, one supposes , are not now needed a a a to guard Perth, its ordin ry g rrison a sm ll body of the

Black Watch or other local regiment . Gone, too, are the militia whom I once came upon drawn up at the top of t the Whins without a stitch of uniform on, s ripped to a a bathe by word of comm nd . Military displ ys on the n Inch will be less commo than games of golf, cricket, and al the footb l, last in its more unsophisticated forms, since this public space does not lend itself to the collection of gate - money ; bu t the barefoot laddies who here kick “ a the e o f bout leath r for their own divert, are the buds those professionals that bloom out to such applause in the t English enclosures . And rules of foo ball have e e changed ven since my youth , when a band of youngst rs from various public schools, gathered on the Inch for a

a e at e a Christm s gam , found themselves all logg rhe ds in a n anarchy not yet divided into the kingdoms o f “ ” “ ” e ha Rugg r and Soccer . Still more s the game been refined since a day when country folk coming et a tw o down to mark , bout miles out of Perth, met a a a the ff a a man ch rging long Crie ro d, ch sed by a party of the Forty - Second with their kilts streaming in the wind at t e a e firs sight the fugitiv was t k n for a deserter, and a a a a the f rmers drew side to give him a f ir ch nce, but it was only a Methven lad carrying o ff the ball from a 35 The H eart of Scotland m a be a t l tch on the North Inch, nor could he t ckled il it w as e e a e goal d in his hous , h lf a doz n miles from the

. at field Scone had once a name for rough m ches, at w t n bu t the hich limbs were of en broke , , as proverb went, ’ ’ ” a ba A s f ir at the of Scone . The example of that hero warns m e no t to linger on n to o ff u the Ta e n n the Perth I ch , but be p y, k epi g as ear as o ne ca n a nd the a a e it for parks, for je lously gu rd d the banks of valuable salmon fisheri es . For first two miles there is a public walk up the right bank to the

Almond mouth . On the opposite side, hidden in lordly aa the t foliage, lies Scone P l ce and site of the old Pic ish e c apital . The Scot is so notoriously mod st that E nglish example has often led him to mishandle his own names e te e t at before Scone g ts corrup d, th n, let me insist h it is S coon the ea t e scone e in pronounced , as abl , so mumbl d t t on Cockney mou hs, should rhyme wi h , and not be e ow n treat d as their . To modern Scone we could come on that side by a tramway which is turning this goodly village into a e e et t an s uburb of Perth . Even wh n w g in o the Highl ds w e shall find how the squalid Tu llyv eo lans a nd Glen a a e t At burnies have been improved w y g nera ions ago . the a e t g tes of gr at proprietors, at all events, a Scot ish village usually compares well with a n English one in point of comfort if not of picturesqueness . The former c ommonly wears an air of stiff neatness and coldn ess toned by its grey stone walls and slated roofs the ha nd o f e e it and e the laird and factor is se n ov r all, only her a nd there are left such Wigwam makeshifts a s might still ’

- m ove Waverley s disgust in the poverty stricken Hebrides . 36 Tayside

la o ne a t The Southern vil ge, even if a model , is p to be m a ore t king to the eye , with its show of warm brick s a t e n n et c t ered among the gr e , its u studied vari y of t a and a a a h tched lichened roofs , of g bled, pl stered, and h lf w alls w here a n e timbered , _ p ddocks and garde s divid an age- mellowed block of farm buildings from a row of picturesquely decayed hovels ; and over all rises the

- tower or spire of some much patched church , neigh boured by a smug chapel that throws the ancient fane e e a into striking r li f. The churches of Scotland m ke no as a t such points of dignity, a rule but their old us erity now often becomes relaxed by more ambitious a rchitecture of Anglican - aping days ; and here and there has been spared some stout hull that weathered the Reformation storms . One feature of a north ern parish seems past praying

. t for The churchyard, if not miserably neglec ed, is apt i n to look grim, dismal, forbidding, contrast with those ’ a t t flowery God s acres of a less stern f i h, that some imes ’ t hu m an natu re a t empt poor to be h lf in love with dea h . a and As child I remember my nurse, she was an English

at e woman, pointing out to me for reprob ion what se med the e ea a n Popish sacril ge of a wr th l id upo a grave . Such Protestant superstition has been broken down in the last — u . n had half cent ry Large towns, even so lo g ago, more e a — t e or l ss orn mentally laid out ceme eries, which wer

to be a a a allowed the goal of S bbath w lk . But still, in

- — — o f the a t to a t out way p rts, the disposi ion is not m n le the king of terrors in any sentimental disguise a nd weeds m ay be more common tha n flowers about tombsto nes that

at a give lessons of warning r her th n of consolation . The 3 7 The H eart of Scotland

a t a memori ls of the dead are of enest pl in and practical, like a e t the homes of the living, whose very g rd ns run ra her t a to kail and berries h n to flowers . Yet where a Scots ’ man s time is less taken up by wringi ng a bare t a subsistence from his poor soil, he can re t himself to the luxury of bloom his grey walls are more and more lit by hardy creepers ; and on heathery slopes you m ay e a a t see cottages cover d with gay trop eolum, which I c nno coax to flourish on a London balcony .

n in - t a But Sco e, its semi urbani y, is no f ir specimen t a are w e a of a Scot ish vill ge, nor yet in the Highl nds, though hints of them peep to vi ew as we pass up towa rds a a a e the blue Gr mpi n b rrier . We soon come, ind ed, to a “ ” a t a te n manuf c uring nook, whi cou try of Perthshire, e a t e t the where the river, swollen by s ver l s r ams uni ing as a —fi elds Lunc rty Burn, washes the bleach of that ilk and n a e a n a the cotto mills of St nley . But thes me ds of Lu c rty e at e were onc dyed red r her than white, wh n the Danes t e tt t a n had almos overcom a Sco ish king, ill peasant amed H a t a na y, wi h his two sons, held rrow pass so well with his ploughshare that the Vikings in turn were pu t to t am a a e t flight by those rus ic ch pions, cl imed as nc s ors for

the . t a no n House of Errol Be his a f ble or , whe the

- he a be a bleach ld c me to laid out, sever l tumuli were e a n e e n open d cont i ing sk l to s and weapons . The whole cou n try on both sides of the river is t a a e studded wi h Druidic l stones, with camps and gr v t s as tha mounds, and wi h ites of old tradition, such t ’ a a t e the Sidl aw ascribed to M cbeth s c s le, wh re Hills swell a the Ta up behind the left b nk of y, winding round them ff Kinno u ll a under the wooded cli s of , making such bend 3 8 Tayside that a hou se I have reason to know stands equidista nt tw o ea between reaches , which are n rly a score of miles a e e apart by the bank . Should I be sp red anoth r scor of ee a e years or so, I could tell some qu r t l s about more t a t t at e h n one la e laird in his nook, whose memory pr sent ’ d t i A s e must rest in the truce e m or a s. for Macb th s a a a memory, I have alre dy shown some hint of m teri ls for a e a whitewashing it . Why was not Sh k spe re told of this e Wee Thane b ing an elder in the Free Church, when n e o ne King Du can must ne ds send his loons south, to and Oxford one to Cambridge, who came back dropping ’ t h s whu stli n the a a nd - e heir , g on Sabb th, such like th n what for no should an out raged patriot but yoke with the sword of Gideon on the whole Erastian hypothec " As e e a for Lady Macb th , do s not Shakespeare himself dmit evidence to justify a soft- hearted verdict of temporary insanity Above the mills of“ Stanley we come to Campsie Ta Linn , the first romantic scene of the y, on which is s et the a ta The F a ir M a id o erth l st bleau in f P . Such a picturesque nook tempted the monks of Cupar to build a retreat on the precipitous rock above its cataract ; and the ae here was country seat of the Mercers, that medi val t a a e rading f mily of Perth, lready mention d as growing into nobility. But the great name hereabouts in the old w as the ba the Ta days Drummonds, lords of Stob ll on y, their principal residence till they built a more lordly one n in Strathea r .

a a This f mily, long so powerful in Perthshire, cl im e to be descended from an Hungarian chief, settl d in Scotland under the civilising patronage of Malcolm 39 The H eart of Scotland

Canmore . So well did his line thrive here that a daughter of the house of Drummond sat to watch that ’

e III. s e a a North Inch combat as Rob rt qu en, An bell , t the a a e mo her of unfortun te Duke of Rothes y, who com s ’ to a en d a . e u e such a tr gic in Scott s rom nce A c nt ry lat r, when the family had moved their main seat to Drummond a a t a a t C stle, nother connection wi h royalty g in brough

t te e . a . all abou a mys rious crim J mes IV , his life much

t e t- misled by Cupid, ook for his mistress or l f handed wife Bonnie M argaret Drummond ; it is said that he proposed to marry her openly as soon a s a dispensation e a from the Pope unloosed their bonds of kindr d . Be th t as it m a t a the y, other Scot ish nobles looked ask nce on the t at m a growth of Drummonds, while poli ic st esmen y well have sought to clear the way to peace with England ’ by the King s marriage to Margaret Tudor there is also a suspicion of j ealousy on the part of anoth er royal lady a a a a nd love . By unknown h nds, M rg ret Drummond a a nd her two sisters were poisoned at Drummond C stle, they lie beneath three slabs of blue marble in Dunblan e

Cathedral . A daughter of this doubtful union was e t the o f married successiv ly to the Earl of Hun ly, Duke Al n a infii sio n bany, and to a ki sm n of her own then her of Stuart blood has passed into at least a score of Scottish noble families . The stra in of royal descen t w as rein forced when the head of the Drummon d house married a daughter of this a d lady by the Stuart Duke of Alb ny. By James VI . Lor e a t e te Drummond was mad E rl of Perth, a itle augm n d a by the French dukedom of Melfort . The Perth e rldom was blown out into an empty dukedom by the Pretender, 40

Tayside whose fortunes its holder followed into France, leaving a e and u a his possessions to be confisc t d, his hono rs att inted . The peerage was restored to a Drummond under George t III ., but died out for want of heirs male hen through marriage of a daughter the property passed to Lord ’ w t the d E resb s G ydir of Wales, and hrough Willoughby y t to the English Ea rl of Ancas er . I fear to make the reader ’ s head ache in the labyrinth of Drummond sa a genealogy. Enough to y that the e rldom of Perth ’ and Melfort was restored in Victoria s reign to a t Drummon d who held a French ti le . Supported by a a na n pension from more fortu te ki sman, he lived latterly

at and w as a few a in seclusion Kew, buried there ye rs a a ul e at ago, his life sh dowed by painf trag dy th left his a and house without direct heir to its pride its poverty .

a His home was literally a cottage, a striking contr st to the glories of Drummond Castle but to friendly neigh s bours, who respected his misfortune , he could humorously a t bo st of being by righ s a duke in two countries . A tragedy in humbler life has b een commemorated in The Wea r Cohle o Ca r i ll a Tayside ballad, y f g . The hero, ” e a a e a o Davie Drummond, is describ d as a br ve p g , ls “ b l ” as the butler of Stob al , who, with the keys of the n n at ma sio hanging his belt, undertook to cross the swollen Tay o ne night in a coble or ferry- boat this local

a a e a a to Le nder seems to h v had Hero on each b nk, and have played the perilous part of not being o ff wi th one

e . the love before b ing on with another The heroine, ” Ballathie lass of , took strong measures in a fit ofjealousy, when Davie would no t stay the night on her side the ri ver The Heart of Scotland

bed w as m a e i n B allathi e t n His d ow , O f the cl ean sheets and of the strae B t I w t u a i t w a s far b etter m ad e ’ In t the tt m 0 nn e Ta o bo o bo i y.

Sh e re th e e in e en airts bo d cobl s v p , I w at her eart m t h ae een a r h igh b s i , Fo r t ere she o t the nn e lad t h g bo i los , ’ Wi the r a nd the e a r cu ly locks y llow h i .

H e u t t n t the at p his foo i o bo , ’ H e tt e t t o n li l hoch o y ill,

Bu t e re t a t he w as m id- a ter b fo h w s, The ear e e an to fill w y cobl b g . I w at they had m ai r love than this W en t e h h h y were young and at t e schul e Bu t fo r his sa k e she wauk ed l a te ’ And re the nn ar bo d cobl e o bo y C gill . The poor youth w as taken out a corpse ; then to o late came lifelong repentance to his resentful sweetheart

’ ’ T ere n e er a ean ar ae o n m a h s cl s k g y b ck , No r et a am e a e in m a r y k g y h i , ’ Th ere s nei ther coal no r c andl e light S a ne i n m er fo r e er m a r h ll shi y bow v i .

’ ’ At r o r m ar et I se ne er be a t ki k k , ’ No r et a t e n i n m c c y bly h bli k y , ’ ’ T ere ne er a ane a sa t o a n t er h s sh ll y i h , ’ ’ T at th e a e arr d th e n m an dee h s l ssi g you g .

a the a Above C rgill, river is spanned by the C ledonian railway then on the left ba nk comes in the Isla leading ea t up to Blairgowrie, behind which opens one of the gr e e an passes into the Highlands . B tween Meikl our d a e a a nd e l Kinclaven C stl , t ken burn d by Wal ace, the Tay a a m kes an extravag nt circumvention of inches and haughs,

flowing north for one reach, then turning south, as it 42 Ta yside

M u r hl comes round from its eastward course by t y. The Highland line cuts across this elbow bend to pass opposite a t t C pu h, reached by a floating bridge hat looks safer than ‘ B onni e S cotl nd that coble of Cargill . In a I could not but M u rthl w speak of the grounds of y, with their sho of ambitious structures but I am not sure if I did justice a to the g rdens and miles of magnificent avenues, that, Ballathie like those of Meikleour and lower down , and o f chec k Dunkeld above, might call a blush to the of ’ Dr . Johnson s ghost, if it could visit this edge of the a M u rthl Highlands . From ne r y station one may walk for two and a half straight miles on a grass ride bordered by coniferous trees , bringing us down to the Dunkeld road, beyond Bankfoot, a highway which has taken care not to follow the vagaries of the river .

It is only fourteen miles to Dunkeld from Perth , whence houses on the Grampian slope m ay be made out a on a clear day . Strangers here who would t ke the very shortest w ay for a peep at the Highlands may now from Stratho rd station reach Bankfoot o n a light railway up a a the Ordie Burn, and over the n tive he th of Robert and Nicoll, who, but for an early death his consuming zeal for reforming politics, might have been better known as a Perthshire Burns .

’ ’ Sae weel I lo ed a thi ngs of earth The tree th e the fl er s , buds, ow s, Th e sun th e m n the a nd en , oo , lochs gl s , ’ ’ The S r n and S m m er r p i g s u s hou s, ’ A w ither d w oodl a n d twig would bri ng The tear n t m e e s i o y y , Laugh o n bu t th ere are souls of love In a e er n k e l ddi s h di g y . 43 The Heart of Scotland

an a Beyond B kfoot and its annexe W terloo, the road a t a comes to close qu rters wi h the mount ins, where it e a winds up to a rugg d f ce of woods and grouse moors, then under Rohallion joins the river a nd the railway in e a t the pass of Birnam , guard d by the vill ge ci y of

Dunkeld . Here we leave the valley of Strathmore to o ne a a enter of the famous Highl nd g tes, at the mouth of which a watery hollow called the Stare- dam w as lon g a a e place of dre d to wild mountaine rs, for whom its “ ’ ” Hanged Men s Trees ma de such a warning as did the kind gallows of Crieff . the a Of Dunkeld, Highl nd border town, I gave

B o nni e S cotla nd l at account in , so that here I wi l r her

e e t . r p a what has b een said abo u t it by others . The Rev a n a Dr S nta x in sea rch Prebend ry Gilpi , th t original of . y ’ “ o the P ictures ue had t f q , who found Arthur s Sea odd, ” a and n missh pen u couth, unpleasing from every point t a of view, except h t the streets of London had been a t s e paved out of its qu rries, hi sever critic is more “ a gracious to Dunkeld, where the wild unsh pely desert t and t begins to separate into par s, form i self into hills, ” can fi nd hung with wood and broken with rock . He “ t a nd t no fault wi h the Tay, here broad, deep silen , nor with the grand screen of mountains encircling it and our generation is not much concerned with his criticism that it will take a century for the woods to “ grow up so as to give a proper degree of sylvan rich ” n the had i ness to the scene . Si ce then woods have t me a t a to clothe this fine mphi he tre, some inaccessible crag faces having been planted by the device of firing canisters

filled with seeds agai n st them from a cannon . Mr . Gilpin 44

The H eart of Scotlan d sublime till now " And of the Highla nds in general “ this precursor of the next century exclaims A fig for t a your poe s, painters, g rdeners and clergymen that have not been among them ; th eir imagination can be made

- up of nothing but bowling greens, flowering shrubs ,

- - horse ponds, Fleet ditches, shell grottoes and Chinese rails t t Many a visitor of our day, weather permit ing, ge s here from coach or rail a general impression of nothing e at a but sunshine and fresh breez s, and ble ing l mbs, and ”

a . a cle n tartans To go behind this f ir scenery, set as w e if for the joy of poets and painters, might turn up t some burn in o the rough background, and look through ’ Ruskin s eyes at nooks easily coloured by his pathetic ” fallacy ; he knew the Highlands as no t all filled by —a tourists, sportsmen, and prosperous sheep f rmers .

A an s ene is e o n s te easant en o in its Highl d c , b y d di pu , pl ugh o w n w a but o o e o se at has its s a o s . e e y ; , l k d cl , h d w H r , for instan e is the ve fa t o ne as ett as I c an em em e c , ry c of , pr y r b r

avin seen m an . It is a tt e a e o f s t t en se in h g y li l v ll y of urf, clo d i ts na o o a ttin o s a nd o a a es n n rr w v l by ju g r ck br d fl k of oddi g fern . F o m o ne si e it to the o t e n s se en t ne a ea o n r d of h r wi d , rp i , cl r br w st eam o in in to e e as it ea es the end t he r , dr pp g q uick r rippl r ch of o a e and t en st is an n a e and ite o t v l fi ld, h , fir l di g purpl wh r ck wi h an a m e o o it as es a a nt a n a o w a o f am u n e a b r p l, d h w y i o rr f ll fo d r

- t i et o f m o n ta n ash and a e . The a t m n s u n lo w bu t h ck u i ld r u u , ,

ea s nes o n the s a et ash- e ries and o n the o en i cl r, hi c rl b r g ld b rch eaves a en e e and t ere en t he b eez e has n o t l , which, f ll h r h , wh r

a t t em est et in the rann es o f the r e o . c ugh h , r qui c i pu pl r ck B es e the o in the o o n e the t et the a ass o f id r ck, h ll w u d r hick , c rc a ew e ne in the ast es nea a e to the bo ne its , drow d l flood, li rly b r ,

te i s o t n t o the s n a en- to n an d the a s whi r b pr rudi g hr ugh ki , r v r r g Tayside o f i ts woo l still flickering fro m the bran ches t hat first stayed it a s the strea m s e t it o n . A tt e e t he ent n es w p d w li l low r, curr plu g , ro a n int a a asm e a e s n e o n t ee ri g, o circul r ch lik w ll, urrou d d hr s es a im ne - e ness o f o is e ro n id by ch y lik hollow p l h d ck, dow which n n h e f the the foam slips in detached s o wflakes . Rou d t e edg s o o eneat t he w ate ir es s o e a o il a itt e po l b h, r c cl l wly, lik bl ck l l tte es o n its a its in s e t o o ne o f the e es bu rfly li b ck, w g glu d ddi , i t m s ee ive in a fi sh ises and i ne Lo e s li b f bly qu r g ; r t i s go . w r n t he s t eam I can st see o ve a n the een an d am dow r , ju , r k oll, gr d p t r o s o o r fi ve o ve s u i t at the e e o f a m o ass u f r of of f ur h l , b l dg r , which is tro dden by the cattle into a black Slo ugh o f Des po nd a t t e o s and t a e se a few - set ste n - st nes t h ir do r , r v r d by ill ppi g o , wi h ere and t e e a flat s ab o n t he t0 s here t e a e s n o u t h h r l p , w h y h v u k si t and at the t n o f the I see a m an s in it of gh ur brook fi h g, w h a and a do —a t es e an d rett eno e tain boy g pic ur qu p y group ugh c r ly, t e had no t een t e e all da s if h y b h r y tarvi ng .

a From Dunkeld up to Logier it, the river runs south , wh en its eastward course has been joined by the full ll swo en Tummel, that, coming down straight from Pitlo chrie t , seems here to be the paren stream . At Logierait Wordsworth could still see the remains of the ’ A h ll s - — Duke of t o court house and—the prison said to be no w represented by an inn - stable from which Rob Roy

e a . mad one of his d ring escapes He did well to escape, when his ducal captor had not yet lost the power of pit an d gallows, who about the same time wrote to the

Provost of Perth for the loan of an executioner . There w as no lack of gallows in those days, yet apparently a t n a shor supply of ha gmen, for we find the F ir City, in ’ turn, borrowing the Drummonds executioner, to be ’ n a Breadalbane s returned whe required then gain Lord , on an undertaking by the magistrates to give the Earl 47 The H eart of Scotland the use of him at all times . Perth had then three

a a e g llows of its own, while each of the gre t nobl men about it could ha ng or imprison his vassals ; and even t he Baron of Bradw ardine is recorded as having once “ exercised his hereditary privilege by putting tw o poachers in the d u ngeon of the old tower of Tu lly Veo lan t e , where hey were sor ly frightened by ghosts, ” and almost eaten by rats . the t n On o her side of the confluence, Balli luig railway n a the tw o te ju ction m rks forking of rou s of travel . The main line leads up i nto Atholl by Pitlo chrie and Killie ” c rank ie Ca n a ae . w e , the ledo i n Thermopyl From this , n at Ta t turn for the prese t to follow Str h y, adorned wi h a a e t the succession of m nsions and polici s, chief of hem e a a t a t t r stored C stle of Gr nd ully, for which is cl imed ha it V W l t an a w as the Tully eo lan of a ver ey . O her c did tes are a a e and for the honour Craig H ll , above Bl irgowri ,

a a t n . t n Traqu ir House, ne r Innerlei he The con e tion between these mansions makes for the Scottish news papers what the great gooseberry and the s ea s erpent e the t us d to be in the South ; but of course tru h is, as a to t a Scott s ys, who ought know, hat he took composite e e a e picture from s v r l models, getting some f atures from a n a t —Ravels to n a old m nsio s bou Edinburgh , De n House, — and Warren der House beside Bru ntsfi eld Links while he seems to point o u t Grandtully as the best prototype of ’ h he t a the a a . t e a t B ron s se t As for geogr phy of ale, th t baflles the t a a all inquiry, only hing cle r being th t e at the t had Waverl y, farthest poin of his wanderings, ” Ball bro u h got well behind the Pass of y g , which must be Killiecrankie . 48

A HIGHLAN D C OTTAG E

The Heart of Scotland

and Mary, the Cave of Weem that has a legend recalling a o ff that of H melin, as to a child being saved by slipping a malignant water- horse when it carried away her com to panions be drowned in the loch above, with which this

. a cave was believed to communicate And here bouts, as t e t elsewhere, here is a l gend of hun ed Macgregors taking refuge in a tree that was cut down to hurl them to t the al the destruction . As to the beau ies of v ley, let l Rev . Hugh Macmil an speak, as a son of its soil

West a the o ld a a a r a e to the n ei o o w rd of gl ci l b r ic d , ghbourh d o f A e e the St at t its n m e o s fa m s and sm a o ts b rf ldy, r h, wi h u r u r ll cr f , “ ” is a at - o a te an s a e t n and o tato p ch w rk , quil d l d c p , wi h cor p e s an d m ea o s st t e in s a es a t e to u se an fi ld d w i ch d qu r , or r h r, m a e m o e a at e to the o a t a nt n s w eb i g r ppropri l c li y, co i uou of large- checked tartan laid alo ng the botto m and slopes o f the va e East a e o n C n the St at is a vast een ll y, w rd, b y d lu y, r h gr cup

e to the im t ea t . T e e t he a m su n in s e t e e fill d br wi h b u y h r w r , h l r d n o s o o s t he r m o ses and v ets o u t o f the s l ea e t an ok , w p i r iol oi rli r h The s es are m an e e e se. s a t e e n s ywh r l hill id u ic l wi h fr ckl d bur , alive wi t h tro u t ; an d the co pses t hat li ne t heir co urse are fille d t az e n ts and ras s a nd ram es o l m a e wi h h l u wild p b bl , which w u d k a east Pan im se e a t a a t ees n e o n m an an f for h lf, whil p ri rch l r li g r y an es t a fa m and n the enerat o ns to et er ea t em c r l r , li k g i g h , ch of h a to er n m ass o f ve ant ea a e n e o se o o s a o w i g rd l f g , u d r wh c l h d w you c an si t in the fer n o n t a s o f e e and az e a s vid o wi h ig h r li f, g upw rd e ts an em a ea en as i nto the h igh of er ld h v . On the wide uplan ds ’ an s nat e s o w n ta est e - eat e an d r o m the ur e h g ur p ry of b ll h h r b o , p pl o f the o ne and the g lowi ng gold of t he o ther m ixed in harm o n ious s en o r an d ere and t e e a tt e tam —the a est Lo pl d u ; h h r li l l rg , ch

Derc u lic h a o ne e o n - a nte o e o se to the ea t o f , l ly h r h u d l ch, h ld cl h r a n — ts its e e e to at the sm e o f ea en the m o o rl d lif blu y c ch il h v .

are a t w e If we to visit every p rt of Per hshire, must tear ourselves away from this characteristic antechamber 5 0 Tayside

e of Highland scenery, to the sid s of which open Atholl

a . e and Bread lbane So let us take leav of the Tay, n a t a under its own name, by passi g up the l s re ch of avenue—like road from Aberfeldy to the policies of

- a Taymouth, where it breaks full born from its l ke e reservoir . Should we have com from Logierait by road or rail on the south side, we may well be tempted to a turn back by the north b nk of the noble river, a way l which leads us on the rough edges of Athol . ATHOLL

TH E Atholl monument at the confluence of the Tay and the f l Tummel reminds us how we are airly in Athol , e One an a which indeed comes down to Dunk ld . c h rdly the e t fix pr cise bounds of this old province, at one ime of such importance that it became a n estate of the Crown I a to . its name, too, is s id come from a Pictish king t m ay be roughly defined as the northern part of Highland ’ t a the a t Per hshire, the glen b sins on T y s lef bank, lying below a stretch of the Grampians by which it is shut o ff al e from Braemar and Deeside . Its central v l y is Glen a a t at the garry, up which runs the Highland R ilw y, ill, 1 00 e a t t e height of nearly 5 f et, p ssing from Per h in o Inv r a trafli c a ness, this m in stream of dips by the Bo r of Badenoch and the Sow of Atholl down the basin of the en a e a Spey, where Bad och was once as sign lis d name as

Atholl . a e a This maze of mount ins , gl ns and w ters, studded t an d wi h spots of delight scenes of fame, may be called the a la at he rt of the show High nds , or least one lobe of t t n its hear , for touris circulatio , the other being the 5 2 Atholl

and n a Trossachs Loch Lomo d neighbourhood, where lso hotels and hydropathics are now more common than a an castles and cl ch s . Dunkeld is its city of old renown Blair Atholl is the Versailles of its duke but the present da t a e Pitlo chrie y capital of the ourist dom in se ms to be , n a an ff a smart young tow th t was o shoot of Moulin , a a t n whose Bl ck C s le stands in ruin, hau ted by dim ’ Badeno ch s a and memories as the Wolf of l ir, by a more a a as a a — gloomy tr dition th t it once served pl gue house, so that its infected ston es escaped the fate of being used a s a quarry . All the lions about Pitlo chrie are so familiar to — a n d n at guide books their patro s, th I need hardly even a e t Vrack ie n m hem the pyramid of Ben , with its grand ea e a l a e and sily won prosp cts the P ss of Kil iecr nki , where in a few minutes of fierce onset the Protesta nt succession in Scotland had nearly been throttled ; the wooded a nd parked sides of Glen Garry ; the ducal demesne of Blair p a Bru ar a the F lls of , glorified by Burns the dark r vines of Glen Tilt leading up to the guarded wilds of the Great Atholl Deer Forest ; with many a fall and spout an d m n the foa i g chasm , more or less renowned, unless for want of public access and of a sacred bard less discreet “ t - a t han he who kept the secrets of picture like be u y, seclusion sublime .

T ere a tream — I nam e no t its nam e e t n t e t r t h is s , ( , l s i q uisi iv ou is

nt i t and m a e i t a n a nd et it at a t n t e- Hu , k lio , g l s i o guid books, ) ’ Spri ngi ng far o fl from a loch u nexplored in the folds of grea t m o u ntam s ,

Fa n tw o m e t r r an a nd t nte a er en e e lli g il s h ough ow s u d ld , v lop d T n he fo r four m ore i n a forest of pi ne a ttai ni ng a b asi n Ten eet e a nd e teen n t ten e and r f wid igh lo g, wi h whi ss fu y 53 The H eart of Scotland

O e art but m t e re a m rr r ccupi d p ly, os ly p llucid, pu , i o ; Beautiful there fo r the colour d erived from g reen rocks u nder ea t m t all ere ea am r n B u iful , os of , wh b ds of fo up isi g n e t e r te t the e a te h ue the t ne Mi gl h i clouds of whi wi h d lic of s ill ss .

ff er ff fo r i ts e t r w an a nd en en t r - Cli ov cli sid s , wi h o p d bi ch boughs , ere i t e nt t a e at th e r e and a t a H li s , u hough of bov b idg p hw y, S t m re n ea e r m e a nd r r e t n ill o co c l d f o b low by wood ocky p oj c io , Yo u a re t i n e t a n e t r e and er e t n ater shu , l f lo wi h you s lf p f c io of w , o n all e e t a ne t r e and the e a t n Hid sid s, l f lo wi h you s lf godd ss of b hi g .

a Clough, who sets his heroes to verify Bl ck, leaves o w n a n o t t his princip l scene clearly iden ified, which one a e guesses t as som where on the western edge of Atholl .

The Bothi e of To her - na - Vuoli ch itself lay far in the Western Highlands but w as it not in Ran noch tha t Philip m et his first charmer " Towards this region w e Pitlo chrie e O e the t turn on the other side of , wher p n sof er n a l e al sce es of the Tummel, its F l s that pour ov r most the t a e l central boss of Sco l nd, its lov ly swel ing into a lake, the thinn ing and roughening of its valley below the head of Schiehallio n e to Ra , as it ris s Loch nnoch , a long sheet of a a water darkening under fr gments of the Bl ck Wood, and ea to the a r ching up barren moor of R nnoch, most deso as t late region in Britain . This w once shaded by hat a m ediaaval great Caledoni n Forest, of gloomy renown in

t .o f l romance, where Arios o brings one his heroes, fol ow i n a t an e t Gaw aine g tr cks of Ar hur, L c lo and

I n those woods he m ight be sure an and tran e a ent re be n M y s g dv u s would fou d, B u t dee t ere w r t ere e th e a e re ds , h ough , w , lik pl c , obscu ,

And fo r the reater art no t r te r n . , g p , b ui d ou d

e the r H re meet borders of Perth, A gyll, and Inver ness and this wilderness must often have been wet by 54 Atholl the blood of plaided warriors if no t of mailed knight

. lad o ne errants In our time, I am told, a fishing in of the Ra nnoch lochs brought up a rusty sword to confirm the local legend of a meeting between Atholl and Lochiel to a e as discuss a boundary dispute . E ch chi f w to come a a a un ttended ; but e ch , like Roderick Dhu, had force a e ofclansmen hidden close at h nd . When th y got to hot a words, Atholl first gave the sign l , at which

' In tan t fro m c o se and ea t a r e s p h h, os , nnet and ear a nd en e Bo s sp s b d d bows .

Th ese are Atholl wethers " w as their proud ef a at to e t n chi s expl n ion , which Lochi l replied by whis li g

t e a s up a roop of Camerons, whom he introduc d “ a Loch ber dogs . But before it went beyond showing teeth the rivals drew upon that Caledonian prudence often

n a e found mi gled with hot Highland blood . They gre d to ff e e e e settle their di rence p acefully, in tok n wh reof a e their cl ymores wer hurled together, like Excalibur, into a the the dark w ters of mere . e In my own youth, this region still se med a hunting ground for adventurous experience . It is nearly half a century ago that I started out to walk through Atholl

a with some vague idea of ro ming farther . From morn t a e and the to eve I r mp d on from Stanley, got length of ’

a ten . Bl ir, some leagues But a boy s will, one knows, ’ t a du e a and t is the wind s will I found a r in at Bl ir, ook e t a it home, I no longer remember why , unl ss h t the an d t m a e day was hot dus y, as it y w ll be on this sunny the a as — side of Grampi ns, where, a local guide book “ - a t a the puts it, the rain clouds are p to h ve bottom 55 The Heart of Scotland knocked out of them by the mountain peaks fencing t a a Atholl towards the A l ntic . But that fi sco o f a walking a a w hich I tour I turned to ccount by writing description , ha he t to n d t temeri y to send a Londo magazine . Strange to it a e a say, found f vour with the editor, p rh ps because — h eaven forgive m e l it was spiced by an aff ectation of Cockney jocularity as the point ofview a nd so appeared a a t m a my first mag zine article, which now, f er any ye rs, strikes me with shame and con fusion . How many sym pathetic authors might tell the sa me tale of callow efforts a t a n t th t filled them wi h pride to appe r in pri , but the day came when they would gladly have repaid tenfold that t e an t e once welcome cheque, could h y but c cel hos pages, which at least m ay have the luck to blush unseen in some cobwebbed volume a t n a en Coming back to Atholl f er ma y d ys, my p in t its na n t I hopes to be guided wri ing me co sis ently . n a at Athole a nd my spelling d ys, it would be r her zi rgyle but the ducal lords of these regions seem to have

e a e ll. t s t a f shion for the doubl Also, by the ligh of

e e the e n and a a s natur , I pronounc first syllabl lo g bro d, Aw tho ll ea e e ee Ahtho ll , wher s thos of more pick d sp ch say ,

a sa a to n . to the which is e sier to y th n si g As spelling, Wordsworth app ears to follow an older form

thol w as h r Am ong the hills of A e bo n .

" The a Was t . he, hough poet m kes no doubt of it ” “ The a a at Boy of whom I speak, c me from n ive ’ ” e a a a e t t gl n mong G rry s hills, Where his p r n s hough ”

e e had a e ta a . xc eding poor, small her di ry f rm This — son of an Atholl bonnet laird had duly go n e eq uipped 56

Atholl

a e o o r with s tch l to a school, and so well improved his pp tu nities of elemen tary education that in old age he was ” able with an eye of scorn to turn over the leaves of l had Voltaire in the origina . He a thorough Caledonian a a nd respect for the S bbath, for

Thos e godly m en w e t r m S t an in a fl am e z ea Who s p f o co l d, of l ,

S r ne a tar m a e. h i , l , i g

“ e He even refused wine and stout r cheer, when ff l Atho lm an o ered by a fel ow , who must have unlearned the native teetotalism while servi ng abroad

Chapl a i n to a m ili tary troop eere th e an a e as t e m ar e Ch d by Highl d b gpip , h y ch d In a e e t pl id d v s .

It may be more by good luck tha n good guidance that the poet does not try for a stroke of local colour in letting his abstinent hero sit down to a supper of Atholl ” Brose . The above hints of character, which will be e r cognised by patient Excursionists, go to show how t a a e Daddy Wordsworth, hough he had the dv ntag of a t to the a m e the visi Atholl Highl nds, ad common English mistake about their inhabitants . John Bull will not understand how Scotland is in habited by tw o different t ff s ocks, whose di erences were much less blended in that ’ t be a Wanderer s youth . It could hen s id that the Sabbath had not yet got above the Pass of Killiecra nkie and it will be remembered how the Captain of Knock “ ” dunder proposed to deal with any sincere professor who scrupled to join in a una nimous call to whatever a a n pastor ple sed the duke d his deputy . Even in the 57 8 The Heart of Scotlan d poet’ s day nobody seems to have rebuked him when he a a a a drove his poor beast long Highl nd ro ds on Sund y . ’ An Atholl ma n s clearest memory of Covenanters would be the check given to the victors of Killiecrankie when ’ Cleland s Cameronia n s held Dunkeld against those ex “ ” “ The e a e oppressors of godly Whigs . most mod r t Presbyterian ministers had sometimes to be inducted by a the force in the Highlands, where still m ny of people

cling to the old faith . The Sandemanians sent mis sio naries t ff e e into Atholl, who were received wi h indi r nce or ridicule it w as only two generations later that such

. a evangelical gospellers as J . A Haldane and Rowl nd Hill t succeeded in blowing up, through the far Nor h, a new

e a flam of Calvinist enthusi sm , which in our time has turned this end of Scotland into a sanctuary for strict a a u t Sabb tari nism, m ch relaxed among ci y folk and even a t n among the descend n s of westla d Whigs . The Highlanders of the old dispensation had virtues e t e n of their own, but the poet was much l f to hims lf whe e a as he conceived Gl ng rry cradle for his idealised Scot, brought up among such a good Presbyterian family as ’ would be more at home in the Cotta r s Sa turday Nig ht — upon the Carrick border a picture quoted i n full by Gilpin as an illustration of Highland man ners

P re er ere t e all a tere and ra e u liv s w h y , us g v , And ear n Go d th e er ren ta t f i g , v y child ugh ’ S tern e - re e t a reveren e fo r G r s lf sp c , c od s wo d , And an a t a et m a nta ne h bi u l pi y, i i d t r tne ar e n n o n n r n Wi h s t ic ss sc c ly k ow E glish g ou d .

The plain truth is that Wordsworth here w as for and had confusing oil vinegar . He heard at school of a 58 Atholl Drummond Jacobite exile who took asylum among the Lakes and th ere he must often have met Scottish pedlars then he indiscriminately combined his informa ” ’ t a a a ion, perhaps led str y by W lter Scott s glorification of

the . e a Highlands B hind the Highl nd line, where a tourist with a knapsack has in our time been hailed as a e p dlar, there went about of old such itinerant dealers, who seem to have borne a qua si - sacred character when some a — e such s fe conduct was much n eded but they, like Snailsfo o t a Bryce , were more apt to be c nny Lowlanders, “ and t t a so little of ee ot llers that, as Scott tells us, the ’ a a la Ch pman s drouth was sly proverb in Scot nd, where a colporteur of tracts could praise the continual mercy ’ of a dram at every farm . In England the pedlar s trade — w as so much in the hands of Scots at one time counted — by thousands across the Border that these two titles to somewhat qualified respect appear to have become almost ’ synonymous at the time when Wordsworth s pedlar was m a laying up his little fortune . Instances of this y be u The S i ri tua l uixote found in that curio s novel, p Q , showing ho w a young gentleman who took to Methodist preaching passed among Derbyshire countryfolk as a Scotch “ e pedlar, or simply as a trav lling Scotchman while in chapbooks of the period a rider is the term for that m ore exalted emissary of commerce who came to be a ” “ a e a r ex cellence a tr v ller p , or a drummer in the figur tive n a a la gu ge of America . Traveller would h rdly suit o ne travel such an in Scotland, where to implies ’ e a a sp ci lly the use of Shanks Naigie . Both in Engl nd and Scotland those packmen were sometimes looked on with t o litical suspicion by the au horities, accused of being p S9 The Heart of Scotlan d

t e and agi ators as w ll as newsmongers, , later on , of

ff a . the di using irreligious public tions On Continent, also, e as a no Scots sought their fortun pedl rs, when longer in e a as such d m nd soldiers . Every o ne does not kn ow how the Scottish pedlar has left heirs of direct succession in our day of stores and bargain sales . Quiet houses in certain streets of London that look down on open shops, would be found to have their back rooms full of drapery goods for hawking about ’ to - en ca o lable n t at area doors or working m s wives, j i o making purchases on credit which may ruin domestic e e peace . Th se t mpters of humble Eves are likely to be t to e t e Sco s of the baser sort, and I venture gu ss h m as Lowlanders they are said to be chiefly recruited in a n Galloway . Their dubious business is popul rly know as the Scotch trade ; and this seems to be responsible for keeping a smoulder among the lower classes such prejudices agai n st the Scot as were fa n ned by Wilkes an d

n e a t t e o ne t . Joh son, un qu lly yoked oge h r in antipa hy In

a law a - a and Scotl nd, where the is less h rd he rted customers are - e the t a no t more hard head d, Scotch r de does now flourish ; it is one thing Scottish which w e n eed not be

n n a . e w as proud of bri ging i to Engl nd Of course, th re a time when the n orthern pedlar played a useful and — — te a as a o u t- o f the w a n gra ful p rt, he tramped bout y cou try sides with his burden of wares and gossip

A ne e e tr an t a ant re t lo p d s i wi h sc y f igh , ’ e - fo r o r e m e ere e er he am e Wish d , w lco , wh so c n r t r e nd v Am ong the tena t y of ho p a ill .

’ But I would bet all Whiteley s stock against the poet 60

The Heart of Scotland

t a e a loyal y to the Old Pretender, young r son, J mes, held ’ the . a the dukedom , who in the 4 5 could not but st nd by a at a e House of H nover, or le st k pt himself snug in o u t London , while three of his brothers were for Prince e e Charlie . Ther were notabl instances at tha t time of and a father son , husb nd and wife, taking opposite sides

t an sometimes, it is understood, by poli ic arr gement an a e the t through which , in y c s , estate might be kep in e also the a a the family . Ther would be c se of riv l t claimants to chieftainship, like hat one who provoked ’ I r t n Fergus M ac vo s ambi io . Wh at with the puzzling division of opi n ion among t their chiefs, and with a growing civilisa ion beside the e the m en l t Lowland bord r, Atholl might wel hal between tw o opinions and many of them had no more mind to ” a a die for Prince Ch rlie th n for the German lairdie . a a The exiled Duke Willi m, on the retre t to Culloden, turned out some couple of hundred men only by the e t a strong measur of burning heir houses over their he ds . n Lord George Murray, maki g a raid into his own a the country, gathered nother force by sending round a t a Fiery Cross, for the l st ime on record, ccording to Blaik ie the set fi re Mr . Walter ; but heather thus on e t a u a soo n smoulder d out . The enant of sn g f rm in

a t t n t Str th Tay or Stra h Tummel, wi hi reach of marke had e a a te o u t the a towns, b en somewh t f t ned of ancestr l m at taste for bloodshed, and was ore inclined to look on a game now played by professionals . But in such a time

- be l of transition, would spectators cou d not yet look on

a e n a . at e se, lik the newspaper audie ces of our distant w rs n a t A good deal of plundering and burni g came bou , 62 Atholl

e and r quisitioning of horses vivers on both sides, both a n m en like in a wa t of pay, when were pressed into the service of one or the other, sometimes of both in turn, then naturally took the first excuse to desert . Here is o ne specimen o f the seamy side in that last a w as romantic episode of our history. Its pros ic hero a Glenalm o nd farmer, one Gregor Macgregor, who, his a own clan being proscribed, had t ken the name of Murray na t a on coming under the patro ge of Atholl . Arres ed as rebel t af er Culloden, from the Dunkeld tolbooth he afli davit m a pitifully makes , that may or y not be the e the whole truth, but repres nts straits to which many ’ m en be ' tr Atholl would put in times to y men s souls, and a e a . e a t lso th ir specul ting judgment He d cl res hat, as a ea a t p ceable subject and a f i hful tenant, he raised a ’ e e to a forc of his n ighbours join Cope s rmy, with which e he marched north for s veral days, each living on his ” e e own pock t, till the d ponent for one was reduced to a sixpence, and no more pay being forthcoming, the men ” n e t n withdrew a d dispers d hemselves . He the lived t e till t e quie ly at hom a tack d by Duke William, who, as the e n lder brother assumi g a right to us, made several insinuations and w e as many refusals at length threatened t n a a I with military execu io s and dev st tion , , to eschew e ea e t a these imp ndent thr t nings, ook up rms and witnessed the a a nd t t a r ising of the men, wi h reluc ancy m rched, and all the e w as eff a journ y to Cri , bout two miles from our

r a e he own count y, where we gr dually dispers d . W n orders u pon orders came to raise a nd rally again so often did w e at times make a show and at other times

at . a wink Duke Willi m, coming by once more a fter 63 The Heart of Scotlan d

a t t F lkirk, set us again on foo , and in a march for Per h ; wh ere I gave it as advice every m an to make w ay for w e a a e and himself, upon which g in disp rsed ever since continue peaceably at home . And when His Gr/s orders were issued to bring in all our arms in or before

2 F eb . e e n and 4 curr nt, my r solutio was can be

a e a a I e to da . w as m d ppe r, intend d obey that y But a the 2 2 and t intercepted by party on , so unwor hily

lie w ho e e the in prison, d serve rath r reward from

Winning side . Other Perthshire lairds had the same complaint to make of their tenants as wanting in chivalry at this time and several legal depositions might be quoted to show w as u t a what force p upon such reluct nt warriors . The ladies of Jacobite families seem to have bee n especially “ active in sticki ng white cockades into the bon nets of ” e It w as e such as would allow th m . asy for the minstrel of Gask to make Charlie a darling in retrospect bu t he m ay well have seemed a nuisance to tenants whom the ’ e a Lady Nairne of th 4. 5 is described s ordering to turn out o n pain of eviction and seizure of their cattle ; a n d the Duchess of Perth abused the Whiggish Crieff folk as — ” d d a the . At a Jud ses to their master, Duke f rm t w ell as t no w n n owns, as kirk owns, men were begin i g

to question hereditary masterships . Of course unwilling ness to take a rms on the beaten side would be m ade the most of immediately after the Rebellion bu t it seems to have been q ui te as genuine a sentiment as that of the ladies and gentlemen w ho in our day sing so sweetly of n the e n o t to n dyi g for young Ch valier, speak of stro ger

enthusiasts who have devised a postage - stamp bearing the 64

TH E FA LLS O F TU MM E L

The Heart of Scotla n d

a t heroine, in real life, being a rich H mmersmi h widow ’ a n a w hom he m rried . To this couple s wooi g is ttributed “ ” the e —n H u ntin to w er a t ant w ll k own song of g , Scot ish vari ’ o f the Nut Brown Maid a nd of Prior s Henry and a e e e a s Emm , in which, aft r repr s nting himself poor, a a t a a e m rried man with hree children , and g y dec iver, the ’ lover declares that he has been only trying the lady s heart ’ ”

all a t n . And th t s mine is hi e, lassie ’

St . t Except Johnston s Bower, hrown in for e a did rhyme, the properti s enumer ted in the song belong to the Duke of Atholl ; this Duke seems the only “ o f w as ea Jamie the race ; and his first bride a J n . But this must in any case be a much idealised accoun t of ’ a t cour ship, probably carried on more by means of lawyers a s ettlements than of sentiment l duets . A more clear c a an t the t w a o u t e be se of rom ce, urned o her y , se ms to ’ t u had i hat the D ke s second wife, Jean Drummond, j lted a e e . t e l ss eligibl lover, Dr Aus in, who reveng d himself ” t " bu t by the song, For lack of gold she lef me O a a eventu lly, in m rrying another lady of rank, found c onsolation for the heart- breaking of what is also an o ld story She m e r fo r a reat D e fo sook g uk , And to endl ess w o e sh e has l eft m e O A sta r and gart er h a ve m ore art T a n t a tr e and a t eart h you h, u f i hful h ' Fo r em pty ti tl es w e m us t part Fo r gli tteri ng show she h as l eft m e O

’ t a a Murray, the A holl duke s f mily n me, on to which ’ h e a t tw o t i t av been gr f ed of Perthshire s proudes t les, is a n the a e a a e o n . exotic here, like l rch s th t, the e rli st British 66 Atholl

e e a n soil, w r tr nspla ted from Tirol to Dunkeld ; and, a e t m a e a at indeed, the s m hing y be said of sev r l gre a a e Highl nd f milies, no mor autochthonous in their t presen habitat than a brick suburb on a chalky soil . The presumed Murray ancestor is said to have been a n n Flemish k ight, who, like other foreig adventurers, set a t al n up Sco tish house in the service of feud isi g kings . I a f he took his name from Mor y, it was not in this region a o f that his family struck deep root . The historic l earls e the t o f Moray bore oth r names, while in upset ing time u and a a a Br ce Baliol, the Murr ys are seen g ining ch rters on the Forth and the Clyde then presently they have crept a t n and e s northw rds into Stra hear , under the Jam s reign came to be firmly seated in the Perthshire Highlands, a n a a a had overl yi g there the roy l name of Stew rt, th t also a he The t a b spre d from t south . A holl e rldom they got y a m arriage with a Stewart . Their dukedom d tes from the e w nthe b ginning ofthe eighteenth century, he Government sought to bind in strawberry leaves several of those a a Highl nd S msons . At th at time the Duke of Atholl seemed the most e 1 1 as h powerful of th m all . In 7 5 he was reckoned aving 6000 e al as tw o claymor s at his c l, many as the great Campbell families put together but the call behoved to a a t t the a be g ins the Governmen , for most of cl n followed n in n his so s i termittent service of the Pretender . Through e ta the e their chi f king prosaic sid , or through the growth n ew t n e had of condi io s of life, by his influ nce shrunk so that his following w as estimated as having a l a half as f l en by ; then, we have seen, it did not a t rise he rtily ei her at his bidding, or at his Jacobite 67 The H eart of Scotland

’ e e e a broth r s . Th re se ms hint of reaso n for this in the ’ fact that Lord George Murray s o w n regiment w as counted no t among the Highland but the Lowland contingen t of ’ Prince Charlie s army then a recently published o fli cial 1 0 the tate a a l report, written 7 5 , on s of the cl ns, h rd y

e t t a it a e t L an m n ions Atholl, re ting r th r as brough to owl d

and e . a e e a t a e to a law ord r Le s s, as onc ch r ers, c m be s en the a e ene a e olv t for old dh siv ss of cl n lif . ’ No t n a as Ath ll m n o ly in Scotl nd w o s Duke a grea t a . ’ the e e he te the e a By spindl sid , inheri d D rby E rl s kingship o f the e M a n a to o te t to at Isl of , pre n ious title abridged th o f and a the n a a a Lord, fin lly sold to Crow for ne rly h lf

n all e t ta e a nd a t . millio in , which w n to m dorn A holl e l be aten a the Wh n claymores cou d be into ploughsh res, dukes were n o t behind other great Highland proprietors ’ e t n a n n in improving th ir esta e, turni g robbers l irs i to s ug

“ fa the a t e t e ta n nt t a rms, c mps of urbul n Chi f i s i o rim p rks, a nd n the a n t a tat n coveri g b re gle s wi h lordly pl n io s, among which ten s of thousa nds of trees came to be blown t One down by tha storm that wrecked the Tay Bridge . of those duke s is said to have planted trees by the million . At the same time they cultivated what m ay be called an ornamental Highla nd feeli ng ; and if n owadays they are not so wealthy as British nobles enrich ed from City mon ey a a t e t n e a b gs or Americ n pork bu cheri s, hey have a co sid r ble holding in sentimental loyalty no t wholly uprooted by a sheriff courts and railways . An heredit ry taste for sport h elped to w i n the hearts of a p eople cherishi ng so much t a t a n t n t eff t e the of heir nces r l i s i c s, while or s to k ep northern wilds of Atholl as a deer forest rather than a tourist grou n d did not go to gild this coronet in the eyes 68

The Heart of Scotlan d

ea t n ter and an r an se and ta se o f n t n he w as a gr hu , o g i r vi li r hu i g,

eat ee e . He e at o m e w as m se a a m e and n e gr br d r liv d h , hi lf f r r, k w all his farm ers an d all t heir m en had lain o u t a t n ights o n t he Ba en e ts t them a nd sat i n t e o t es and s m e d och h igh wi h , h ir b hi ok d

t t em t he am a e. Bu t he a s w as as w e a e sa wi h h f ili r pip l o , h v id, a t o o b ee e es e a o f A rs e att e. It w as te h r ug h r d r, p ci lly y hir c l qui t u n to see t s e e est ess intense m an —im i er a cer o chi g hi fi rc , r l , p g , , — i ra cunda s at the great Bat tersea s ho w d o a ti ng upo n a nd doi ng

- - e e t in fo r his m ee e e fi ne m be s w eet- eat e ne. v ry h g k y d, li d, br h d ki

Besides doing much to stock his domain with the t e t the best cattle honestly come by, his duke f ll in wi h fashio n set by his royal mistress in keepi ng up its High

- Iand a a nd . an t ch racter sentiment A Germ visi or, Herr an had a n Br d, took a note how tartans f ded out of Scotla d, except in the case of soldiers but he modified that state ment when he got the length of Blair and came in for the ’ a a n Atholl G thering, to see whole regime t of the duke s e n a a the dep nde ts, g mekeepers, g rdeners, herds and like, paraded for this holiday occasion as kilted Highlanders . The Atholl men can even claim to have added a new the a a n feature to Highl nd dress, by the Gleng rry cap wor t the in the army, which has almos entirely replaced old a t bro d bonnet and the Balmorals of my you h . But if Fergus M cIvo r could have risen from his grave to b ehold l a n a a a an Atho l G theri g, wh t would have most m zed him ’ would be the fact of the duke s honora ry bodyguard bein g n captained by a Robertso of Struan .

all a - The Robertsons, for their Lowl nd sounding

e the e and n the e nam , were old st o ce proud st clan known as t e t to history sea ed in thos glens, heir chiefs holding princedom over Atholl before Murrays had pushed them 70 Atholl

to e selves across the Highland line . They own b ing the M acDo nalds a n sprung out of , but from the chieft i of ff l t e e a Do nnachie a vigorous o shoot they ca led h mselv s Cl n , a a a a sons of D u nc n . This hero was comr de and f vourite o f e w ho a to Rob rt Bruce, no doubt stood godf ther his

the na e a to a e as n . son, then m c me be nglicis d Robertso ’ To King James s wit is ascribed a saying that while all the sons— a n and o n other Wilsons, W tso s, Thomsons so ’

a a t n e . were c rles sons, the Stru n Rober so s were gentlem n e a a n who at They w re ignor nt Parisi s , at a l er date, nnachi a mistook the chef of Clan Do e for cook . Al t e a ong wi h oth r clans, this one c me into fresh favour with the Crown by lending a ha nd to apprehend

e e . at the murder rs of Jam s I Then by obscure defe s, ta and n a Do nnachie t mis kes, tur s of fortune, Cl n in urn

- e 1 i lost its pre eminence in Perthshir . In 745 t still counted some hundreds of claymores and p erhaps Scott as t M acIvo rs had it in his eye a proto ype of the , divided

by a frequent contention as to headship . Now, while their name is as widely scattered over the world as that o f a t half any other Highl nd stock, most of hem have a a forgotten their Highland descent, and mel ncholy — a Du nalais ter burial pl ce at , near Loch Rannoch, is the

e t a monument of th ir old glory, in a coun ry where Stru n

a s t a and has become best known a link of touris tr vel, a the the another se t of their chief, at farther end of lake, w as e a t is or styl d The Barracks, as h ving been buil for he e t soldiers of King G orge . The most notable member of this stock in modern t w as a e t imes th t Alexand r Rober son , whose memory gave S n Bradw ardine cott one model for his Baro of , a no 7 1 The H eart of Scotlan d doubt composite picture for which Lord Pitsligo is also e t said to have s at . This Rob r son seems to have been a n “ ” na ea n a n e the a e origi l, b ri g mo g his n ighbours nickn m ” e t t an a nd no t t a n n a e El c or of S ru , qui e such ho our bl ’ tat as e e - in - la repu ion did Waverl y s fath r w . He w as “ ” in all the a e an to out J cobite risings, from Killi cr kie e t n a et t te a e e he ana e to Pr s o p ns, y , wi h in rv ls of xil , m g d live jovially for the most part in his o w n country ; and his great age in 1 745 perhaps i nduced the Government to let ea at few a a n him die p cefully home a ye rs l ter, whe his fun eral w as attended by tw o thousand mourn ers on a

a a e n . n ee had m rch of doz n lo g miles His heir, i d d , some o f the woeful experi ences of lurki ng o u t of the w ay of W v r The a t e a e le . a w as c p ure, as d scribed in y old l ird in n a ff a a t n a more da ger from b ili s, g ins whose i v sions he had a nd n t e t the passes guarded, o ce got in o troubl wi h the “ law through his tail having stripp ed o n e of these n e e a nd a venturesome e mi s ducked him lmost to death . w as and a a e as a a w ho He a poet schol r as w ll w rrior, in

n n e n t his youth had ru away from St . A dr ws U iversity o

n . e e are a l e e n o w joi Dundee His v rs s h rd y rem mb red , unless for those specimens of classical tran slation pu t by ’ n t Scott into the Baro s mou h .

’ r e e has arter d m le C u l lov g low y g, nd a m h r e i n a a e A cl d y u di s phil b g .

Al a a n n [m i e i ra cundas so his vern cul r re deri g of p g n , i xora hilis a cer ne ,

A fi er et ter- c a a ra t e y p, f c ious chi l , h et as n er and as t e e as tee As . gi g , s i v s l

’ which m ay have been a fair description of the poet s 7 2

The H eart o f Scotland

e at a t tombstones is F rguson, th might cl im descen from more or less mythical kings but so n s of Fergus are famed t the e ra her in victori s of peace . Their most illustrious

e a a a e scion is p rh ps the philosophic histori n Ad m F rguson, e a t a born at Logi r i , though, as being son of the manse, the m a The his root in soil y be questionable . Menzies

a the a appe r as intruders from the South, like Murr ys ; but very old inhabitants were the Macki n toshes of Glen t a a t Tilt, who exal themselves g ins the Macphersons as The a the a Chattan . e are no t heads of Cl n M cb ths said, t e e to a a to t e a by hems lv s, h ve f llen become helo s und r l ter

. n all and lords of Atholl The , over this district far t t the a e around, twinkle radi ions of M cgr gors, that a a e sa a famous broken cl n, of whom I h v much to y f rther t e a a on . Murray i s lf is n me not so common as dis tingu ished in Perthshire ; and w e saw above how a who had t n a a e e to l farmer ake it long with ll gianc Athol , was by blood a Macgregor . In more than one foreign book one comes across a the a a statement, origin of which I c nnot trace, that e rly

a t a a e a in l s century census was m d of Highl nd names, which brought out Macgregor at the head of the list with a numeration of One knows no t ho w such a coun t could be effectually made ; and it wo ul d be law surprising if this name, so long cut down by , should have sprung up again with such dominant vitality . ta a e t Signor Piovanelli , an I li n writ r who quotes hat t ho w a a a estimate, ells us he whiled w y one prob bly wet evening of Highland travel by counting names in an ul n at Inverness Directory . The sum of his calc atio was th t 000 na e 1 20 the out of a lit le over 4 m s, 3 had prefix 74 Atholl

M a c 2 0 a na a , 4 being M cdo lds, but they were surp ssed by 1 a t in t 4 5 Fr sers, a name s rong hat belt of the country ; and forty Alexander Frasers made the most solid phalanx e of nomenclature among the Inverness citizens . Som

a at . M acbain t a e ye rs l er Mr . A under ook the s m task more a n t seriously, nalysing the I verness Directory in a li tle ’ ta a t book which confirms the I li n touris s rough calculation ,

‘ except as showing the Macdonalds to have gained on the Frasers ; he finds the Macgregors coming in with the n t e a ruck, o ly 44 of hem, and John b ating Alex nder as t t a a the commones Chris i n n me . “ a e Half a century ago, for w nt of other idl ness, I n d the a an had cou te n mes in Edinburgh Directory, and my recollection is that Robertson ca me out highest . I have no w had a cen sus taken in the current Edinburgh s till Directory, the result being that Robertson stands

to 0 0 e . t 0 p with, roughly, 5 entri s Smi h , with 45 , runs an d second, might not be far behind if the Gows were

e in a t a . count d , who h ve kep the G elic form of their name

The next on the list is Thomson, including no doubt M acTavishes a many Celtic ; then come Lowl nd stocks,

e and . t a a Browns, And rsons, Wilsons S ew rts or Stu rts (3 00) stand highest a mong names that nowadays seem to ta ta a e a fit r ns, then C mpbells and Macdonalds are qu l far both a little above Murrays and Frasers, so from the y Fraser countr . Most Macs make a poorer show, the a 1 0 0 e M cgregors here amounting to only some , and oth r pla ided names hardly de serving a place ; while one is surprised to find Jamiesons not so numerous as might be t expec ed from a long succession of royal godfathers . e t In a Glasgow Dir c ory, as might be guessed, the 7 5 The H eart of Scotland

e a h figur s come o u t diff erently . Here Brown he ds t e list Smi th a good second and Stewart third has a a while Robertson f llen to 3 30 . C mpbell (3 8 0) takes a rather higher place tha n in Edinburgh ; Macdonalds ( 2 60) and Macgregors slightly ea e incr sed here, bulk l ss in what is, of course, a much a at n e e a n t l rger popul io , of more misc llan ous ntecede s . t a are a a and All those es im tes m de somewh t roughly, serve only for comparison between the prevalen ce of f e O n n a n f a . t di rent n mes tur ing to Lo don Direc ory, — n e e a ta e one finds the Smiths in full pre emi nc , with l of a 1 0 0 a ad n ne rly 3 n mes, to which may be ded a rei force n and e are ment of Smyths a nd Smythes . Brow Jon s e each about half as strong . Robertsons h re have shrunk e w ho e t to und r a hundred , inde d migh call cousins with more than 50 0 Robinsons and Roberts and smaller

e and t . bodi s of Robsons, Robins, so for h A slightly larger force of Stewarts and Ca mpbells have sought a a a e t at fortune in the c pit l, where M cgr gors s and a bare the a to two dozen . So much for Commerci l section ; more pati ent statisticians I leave the task of searchin g t e na and a and the Cour , Prof ssio l, Suburb n Directories, drawing a moral that m ay or may no t appear from the n fi n t number of Scottish a mes they d here . I e n a a e l to a t w re, i deed, l bour of H rcu es truly me sure t n e a e as a a a s Cel ic nome clatur , which t k s m ny sh pes M acRitchie has n te . en . . Pro us My fri d, Mr D , who give to tt tells e t much attention such ma ers , me of his conn c ion t a t e To sh w ho i n wi h the M ckin osh s, sons of a or chief, time came to be scattered under more a lia ses than a m ere

n t a e . it a r Sasse ach can r c One scion of , being Richa d, 76

The Heart of Scotlan d

a as a known to Robertson of Stru n , and quite f miliar in ’ a the Georges Court . He appe rs not to have worn the et as kilt, nor y breeches, but he has much right to a tartan and a pibroch as many Highland clans once had t stra ngers here . Now if he set led down and a t it a e founded a f mily in A holl, might h v come to be M ac E ro s Fitz Zeu s known as , or Vich Venus, or , if he chose to hark back to the fame of his grandfa ther . His t a own bir h, in strict Scottish law, should h ve been registered under the presumed name of M acVu lcan ; bu t Struan Robertson could tell us ho w there were fa mily scandals tending to fix on him that of M ac M ars M ac M ercu r at as Fitz Ares or y, which could be transl ed or F itz H erm es ; then o ne episode in his career might

a t a M acPs ches h ve obfusca ed his descend nts as y , which, tr t d t u on coming to y heir fortune in Lon on, hey wo ld be well advised to translate into Cu pidso n ; or a s the Earl ’ e M ac Call t Al m ack t of But s butler transposed in o , hey as might find it convenient to be known Lovemakers, u nle ss they took a fancy for Lovell as a name found in a nd to n Perthshire, said be of gipsy origi . But then they never could be sure that one or other of their for bears had no t found good reason for altogether changing

a a ee the his n me, perh ps having b n out in where m a t t a ta Cupid intrigued on both sides, if we y rus C p in ’ Waverley s experiences . the a e f at t t n let Should re d r sni f his fligh of mi e, him know how it is all taken on a single feather stolen from ’ a n the a th Sir W lter s wi g, who in famous rom nce at has e e Atholl for one of its scenes, makes the pr judic d English “ colonel own that he could n o t have endured Venus 78 Atholl herself if she had been ann ounced in a drawing- room by ” h n i r t e M ac u te . O ame of Miss J p The history of lympus, a s a bu t its t a a t of Atholl, is little obscure ; celes i l t r an, to o n a ea and , seems to have bee cheq uer of j lousies d and a t t as the t kisses, feu s f vours, wi h revolu ion mos ta th a And t ho ff e outs nding stripe in e p ttern . hose w su r and a t under the thunderbolts vulture be ks of the presen , n a n have always looked fo dly b ck to a golde age, when everything went well under the chieftainship of some Saturn whose origin is lost in distan ce along with any t a n unlovely r its of co duct, such as dethroning his father n or swallowing his o w nchildre .

79 BREADALBANE

BY Ta w e a t a a e t a Al Loch y p ss in o Bre d lban , h t Broad bin of hill and vale wh ere many names have struggled for a ma stery falli ng to the cla n whose Highla nd mettle w as t e a a e bes temper d by Lowl nd c nniness . Whil the senior branch of the house of Campbell spread its tartans to the and a the a t the e west long Clyde , c de s of sam stock pushed

- a a Kilchu rn n e t north e stw rd from Castle i to P r hshire, there to take firm root like the foreign trees it planted Ta the a on the y. Among names oversh dowed or dis e at e e a plac d was th of forbears of mine, on whos b h lf, a t the e however, I h ve no blood feud agains Campb lls, the dealings between th em seeming to have bee n fair sale and

a as w as no t a the w a a a n e . purch se, alw ys y in old Bre d lba The Hi hla nds a nd Is la nds ho w It was pointed out, in g , t t e in as w ar t this poli ic clan hrov love in , by pruden marriages as well as by noting which w ay the wind of the

t . n a the n the ime blew Sir Coli C mpbell, fou der of the a Perthshire house, had four wives, first of roy l blood,

e a a t a e t the s cond Stew rt of Lorne, the hird Rob r son t t a nd of S ruan, the four h a Stirling of Keir ; to their 80

TH E H EA D O F LO CH TAY

The Heart of Scotlan d

” nd t n the e n a t . lord and chief, get i g back s yl of cousi a e e Under Charles II . Sir John C mpb ll s cured a reversion t o the a nd a the a a e title l nds of C ithness E rl, whos widow ’ ’ m a k a B the a he marrie d to sicc r . u t on E rl s death a right Sinclair arose to dispute this settlement ; a nd the Breadalbane m en marched all the w ay to Caithn ess o n ate n a a t B o nni e Scotla nd that priv i v sion alre dy men ioned in . The Sinclairs g o t the worst of it in the field bu t the law ’ n e a n a e a et a w ho pro ounc d ag i st the C mpb ll b ron s cl im, w as e n ew t a ea a a and consol d by the itles, E rl of Br d lb ne a O rm elie a nd G e Holl nd, Viscount Tay, Lord l norchy, the n with other lordships thrown into lump of dig ity . “ w as a as a s e as This the politici n, sly a fox, wis a ” s and as a ne an e n erpent, slippery an eel, who e r d vil ame t a t n a a for himself hrough his p r in the Gle coe m ss cre,

c o u t a nl n . arried by his vassal, C mpbell of Gle yo King ’ William s Government had placed in his hands the large — sum when there w as n o t a million of money in all — Scotla nd o f to be spent in pacifyi ng the High a he a t in t ff n l nds, which ccoun ed for his o ha d manner “ The Highlands are q u i et ; the money is spen t ; and ” a a n t n a n n Y t that is the best w y of ccou i g mo g frie ds . e ’ William s age nt lived to turn o u t his clan for the Pre t e e in 1 1 e t e a t e nd r, 7 5 , wh n h y c me to blows wi h th ir ’

n . the e t kinsme of Argyll In the 45, however, n x Lord

ea a a e t e en the n e an Br d lb n hr w his influ ce on Ha ov ri side, though some of the Perthshire Campb ells join ed Pri n ce h D a . a e t e t a e Ch rlie This e rl, lik con empor ry uk of t w as the e n s o n the e e O rm elie A holl, s co d ; ld r, Lord , s et a the a n having been side from succession, ppare tly as

- weak minded . 8 2 B readalbane

The direct line of Breadalbane di ed out in George ’

III. s the e reign with third earl, whos son, Lord Glen e a a e orchy, had pr dece sed him , leaving widow, known, lik the n n a e an l Cou tess of Huntingdo , as a p tron ss of ev gelica

a to end e at at . pre chers, who came her lif M lock For an e a a t e a to h ir, the f mily had to c s back mor th n a century

o ne the at a . a Carwhin of coll eral br nches C mpbell of , to 1 8 2 at the who succeeded the earldom in 7 , age of twenty, had and t e a long prosperous enur , swelling the family a h wealth by his marriage wi th a gre t Scottish heiress . S e w as a a a e a r d ughter of D vid G vin , whose fath r, poo a e e the as no t Angus we ver, had lam nted ov r son taking to e a e his own trad , consorting r th r with smugglers, ’ and - the a - - e Dutchmen, such like but f mily ne er do we l, t a a t a t a drif ing bro d, made a princely for une H mburg, a t as a and came b ck o set up Berwickshire laird . This accession of wealth the earl used in carrying e to out improvem nts on his large property, adding it, and building the modern Taymouth Ca stle . At William ’

s to a . H is IV . coronation he was raised the marquis te s o n e a a n a e to , the s cond m rquis, could bo st of bei g bl ride n o w n e t a a a hu dred miles on his land w s w rd, for, fter all w as a a s , it tow rds their native seas that the C mpbell e a t an n stretched out, g tting no f r her inl d tha Aberfeldy,

. t H e beyond the St Petersburg of heir possessions . it w as who in 1 842 sumptuously entertained Queen Victoria at she ee t a Taymouth, when s ms to have caugh th t love an t at n far to a a of the Highl ds h we t so set f shion, e the a ee and d lighted with displ y of kilts, r ls, pipers, in a a and a bl ze of torchlight din of loyal salvos . Lord n e Breadalbane then kept a pri ce of pipers, John Mackenzi , 83 The H eart of Scotlan d

’ t o whom he commun icated the Queen s wish to find for “ o w n e e a n as e f. her s rvic such one hims l Impossible, ’ an a n my lord w as the proud m u sici s swer . n a w ho e O rm elie had The seco d m rquis, , whil Lord , s at in the e e P a a ent as a e R form d rli m Whig, liv d in an d e t t 1 8 62 a a e esteem prosp ri y ill , but would perh ps h v At eat e a e . giv n up h lf his poss ssions for a son his d h, the new marquisate beca me extinct ; and o nce more the c lan had t o look back some gen erations for a n h eir to the e tat and the ea t e t a ea to law in a s e rldom, this im wi h pp l a a to t rial no t yet forgo tten . There were popul rly s id be e t e t e some fourscore comp ti ors for the priz . One of h m w as e w ho t m e to a t a schoolf llow of mine, invi ed T ymou h , nt n bu t at when he should come i o his ki gdom , th hospi The t la e ee Ca e t ality fell through . real contes y b tw n mpb ll o f Glenfallo ch a nd a l a n e C mpbe l of Borel nd, both desce d d f the ea e t ate a a Glenfallo ch w ho e 1 1 . rom n r s coll r l, di d 7 9 The question a rose in the liberal view of Scots law a s to

a a e . e so n e a a e n proof of m rri g The lder , whil sub lt r in a n e English regim nt, had eloped with the wife of one t e and a a at n Chris opher Ludlow, groc r pothec ry Chippi g a a te t Sodbury . This husb nd died three ye rs la r, bo h before a nd after which date the lady had march ed with ’

C e e e t as e . t w ampb ll s r gim n his wif Her son, hrough hom t he a e e e w as n a t e a e a l cl im d sc nd d, bor f er she b c m leg l y free to marry agai n and the dispute mainly turned upo n this delicate point " whether a union begun in a dultery c ould be co n firmed by the usual evidence of habit and I as t a the a had ee repute marriage . t w shown h t l dy b n ’ r e at Glenfallo ch the e t a ec ived as heir s wif , h t she had drawn a pension as his widow when he died Quarter 84

The H eart of Scotlan d

a had a a e a C mpbells c stl of refuge , bomb rded from the e as he t a shore by Montros swept hrough the Highl nds . ’ e e a e a n G n r l Monk s soldiery were q uarter d on this isl d, and have the tradi tional credit of teaching the natives to e snu fli n at w as the smok tobacco ; but g , least, older in a Highl nds . It is whispered that the lord of this la ke does not e the a te t a a e trust hims lf on w r h t, ccording to old proph cy, a n is to be fatal to a Bread lba e . But for undoomed “ e a e Ta a n strang rs tourist steam r plies on Loch y,

e a e n immens pl te of polished silv r, its dark heathy mou tain s and thickets of oak"servi ng as a rabesque frame to ”

a . e t t a m gnificent mirror Lik the o her Per hshire lakes, this is a deep trough s et in slope s furrowe d by afllu ent s n of what appears a broa d river fifteen miles lo g . Loch ’ Tay s ban ks are well wooded and cultivated on the so uth

e the t s t a at side, whil nor h hows more ruly Highl nd fe ures, “ a a ta as t a a e cl n of Ti ns , Scot c lls them , comm nd d by “ n nta n Ben a a nd the l the frowni g mou i s of L wers, sti l t e n a more lof y emin nce of Ben Mhor, arisi g high bove

t e ea e a n n the res , whos p ks r t in a dazzli g helmet of s ow far the e ea n a nd et the into summ r s so , som imes during Ben a e n o w e whole yea r . L w rs is recognis d as the

a t e a few e chieft in of Per hshir summits, only hundred f et the a t a e e short of Ben Nevis . From l ke his is e sily asc nd d for what M acculloch extols as the most varied and fa r reaching Highland prospect .

To the s t w e n o n t he a e t all i ts m n a ou h, look dow l k , wi h i i t e rnam en t o s an d e s t e m nat n est a in the ur o of w od fi ld , r i i g w w rd i va e K n an d n t n east a t the s en o r ch l of illi , u i i g w rd wi h pl d ur of St at Ta stret n a a t its o nam ents a m o st an s r h y, chi g w y ill r l v i h 86 Brea dalban e a m n t h i an d i n the a n t n ts t he atm s e e Be o g e h lls f di g i of o ph r . yo nd the la ke the s uccessive ridg es of hills lea d the eye over St at earn is o eve n s e to the O c hills an d the r h , which , h w r, i vi ibl , Cam s e and en e e en to E n r t he eta s o f t s p i , h c , v di bu gh ; d il hi a rte r m Pert e n ne e te e e t and m n te an d qu r, f o h, b i g u xp c dly p rf c i u , a t t he sam e t i m e w ell i ndicated by t he m ark e d characters of the Lo w m o n t s The a e o f n e and the e a s t e hill . pl c Du k ld p culi r yl o f its scenery are als o di stin ct ly visible a n d it is equa lly easy to m a e o u t the t es t a o f the Ta the o n i e o f the k brig h u ry y, l g r dg W Sidlaw and the a n o f St ra t m e. est a w e t a e , pl i h or w rd, r c , t o u t ffi t t he s o f L L m n a n d Lo Ca tera n wi h di cul y, hill och o o d ch a n d in t he sam e m anne e er m a e m n ta n e en to O an , r, v y rk d ou i , v b , Cru a an a nd B uac haille E tive e n a rt a ns s ch b i g p icul rly co picuou . To the no t G en L o n is en ti e e e the rst o e ts r h, l y r ly xclud d fi bj c , in t s e t n e n Sc hihallien and i ts a m an in m n hi dir c io , b i g cco p y g ou tains ea n u s to the a e o f the T m e and Lo Rann , l di g v l u l ch och, a nd e en t o L o L a an seen as a t na o l ne " a nd v ch gg , bri gh rr w i t s o n o ne an to G en a nd Ben Nev s and o n t he o t e hu , h d, l co i , , h r, ‘ to Ben - - G o e t n its o m a te s m m t a o e the ea y l , lif i g c plic d u i b v h d Ferro o n e n the m o nta ns a t the ea Dee of g ; b yo d which u i h d of , o f M ar and Ca n o m m ar e t er et a sn w ere t he r ir g r , k d wi h p p u l o , w ast o e ts I sat sfa t r ete m e So ea t a l bj c which could i c o ily d r i n . gr an e V e t so m an and s m a e e ts is r g of i w, wi h y uch rk d obj c , n e am e in an t in t a u x pl d y o ther spo Sco l nd .

the the en the t a the At head of lake, betwe s re ms of Do chart and the Lo cha t n te to y hat u i fill it, stands the

n e o e pretty village of Killin, whose sojour rs so n com upon names and relics of oth er clans overlaid by the intruding C l a he ampbel s . Ne r the pier are t ruins of Finlarig a t a t e t t a a C s le, for time heir chief s a , buil by Bl ck Dunc n o n the site of a ruder stronghold he had acquired from t he a b Dru m m o nd Drummonds, whose n me is preserved y . l t Brea alban Hil at the o her end . When the d es had moved 8 7 The Heart of Scotlan d

0 11 a t Finlari e a t the to T ymou h, g becam their l s home, in modern mausoleum that has n o t ye t ga thered such gloomy

note as the old Doom - tree on which hung many a plaided ff e a a n — e w as o nder, while he di g ston provided for the

shedding of ge ntle blood . Black Dun can and his line did much stern work as u t a e e a t the M j s ici rs, sp ci lly on heir neighbours, ac

e t n e a e VI. in a a gr gors , hen u d r J m s going down ch nged

as the a e a . tte a nd world, C mpb lls c me up Fe rs shackles

an t nt a t the t e at Finlari made impor a p r of furni ur g , which has comic as well as grim traditions of its rough - and a e e t a the e ta re dy x cu ions, like th t of r luc nt Highla nder urged by his wife to more alacrity in steppi ng up to be ” h a T ha nged to pleasure t e l ird . he axe is still shown at Taymouth with which a M acgregor chief was executed

a o ne e u all more th n , inde d, coming to s ch an end, if ta e e l s be tru . a e the t at a t In one c s legend is h a M cgregor, invi ed to e e e w as a e a m en a friendly conf r nc , mbush d by rmed , a e the e a n l who dr gg d him to block at Kenmor , h vi g ki led 0 11 the w a his aged father y. But the stories make some confusio n of father and son a nd it seems doubtfu l “ whether this were the same victim as the Red M ac ’ ’ ea the e e . gregor beh ded before eyes of his wif , hers lf a

Ca t w ho i n a mpbell by bir h, cursed her kindred a celebr ted

a t o f G elic lamen , with its burden — O a n a n sad m eart m ch i , och i y h , y child O a n a n—th athe r ear no t o ur m a n ch i , och i y f h s o

m rn I re e t m e ere O n Lam m as o j oic d wi h y lov ; noon m y heart r w as pressed wi th sor ow . 88

The Hea rt of Scotlan d

’ ’ Macgregor s sword can hardly save the wearer s fated the n n — a — head . Deep du geo sh rp the axe and short the shrift " Macgregor recognised this a s a warning from o ne w ho had perhaps been bound to secrecy a nd thus salved his con sci ence ; but he w as not the m an to a The the t e and turn b ck . lord of cas le rec ived him his t n e t sat t men wi h feig d kindness, and hey down to mea , Ca e a n a each mpb ll h vi g a M cgregor on his right hand . ’ a w as a a t a When a bl ck bull s head borne in , cl t er of rms n ea t e the n t at bei g h rd ou sid , the guest took i i i ive by ’ holding his dagger to Campbell s breast and clutching The a him by the throat . other M cgregors were quick ’ to follow this exa mple so efl ectively that their false host a e to a o u t a t e a the llowed hims lf be dr gged of his c s l , cross

an d the to l he w as loch, to p of Drummond Hil , where fain to subscribe a n a mn esty a nd promise of future

f n at n o t . On e rie dship, th did long hold good would he a e l like to compare t C mpb l version of such legends . A story of the next century m ay have suggested to Scott the Strathyre wedding i n terrupte d by a m essenger the e in t a the n ee of Fi ry Cross, though his c se incide ts s m a a t a e a inlari the less roman tic . To p r y g ther d t F g for ’ a a the a te a n a m rri ge of chief s d ugh r to Me zies l ird, came news of the approach of M acdo nald raiders driving home e at a t a el e e n o t their booty . Ev n such ime C mpb ls w r to the t t na be kept from hroa s of Macdo lds, whose

ff e a to o ne a n w as to a o nce , ccording ccou t, refusing p y a a t a a an as toll for p ss ge hrough Bre d lb e, such explorers of our age have found exacted by African chiefs across la t whose territory y heir way . The wedding guests t a and a e and all seized heir rms, s lli d forth, bridegroom , 90 Breadalban e

the a a w ho t a to attack M cdon lds , were defea ed in hot e e e encount r, with h avy loss on both sid s, including the a a nd M ac Ian e e Macdon ld chief of Glencoe, whil n arly a score of the weddi ng party had to be carried home with na the a the coro ch . Such were scenes mid which the Breadalban e lairds sowed the seeds of more peaceful manners . On a wooded islet of the Do c hart are the tombs of M a nab a a c s t . the , older l irds of this dis rict They appe r e to have been a branch of the Macgregors , th ir name ” e ea the w ho in being tak n to m n Sons of Abbot, more ” orthodox climes might have rather bee n styled nephews . t C t t They showed hemselves right el s, shu ting their eyes an t to the signs of ch ge , trus ing to claymores rather than to e a nd a t n chart rs, p to tur out on the losing side, so that they went un der the waves of time on the top of a ll which the C mpbe s rode triumphantly.

The la st laird of M acnab fi gured as a well- known ’ a a in da a ch r cter Scott s y, his outer man still f miliar in ’ Raebu rn s w as tat e portrait of him . He huge of s ur , a n a nd a a e imperious in m n er, irascible, proud impr ctic bl

u a - a e a t a to an ltr Highl nd degre . To him is t ributed th t vaunt of the M acnabs having a boat of their own at the

a e a t a M r . Flood, lso the d cl ra ion th t there were many M acnabs o n e a a but only M cnab, n turally the crown and he n a a a chieftain of t huma race . When an rrog nt schol r boasted in the same spirit that England had only one e t t Mast r of Trini y, a stut ering don broke the awed “ e t a t sil nce wi h too udible commen , Thank God for ” that " With not le ss irreverence a bold pretender is ’ said to have a nswered the chieftain s pride by signing 91 The Heart of Scotlan d

e The M c h hims lf o ther a na . Ill would it have fared with the Sassenach body who should thus have bearded the ’

a na a . M c b to his f ce In Mr . P . R . Drummond s Perthshi re t n t a , here is reported this i s ance of his wr th being provoked by an audacious stranger

It o e a te nne t he ai e n a tt e m e fo r as ccurr d f r di r, l rd b i g li l llow, to e n n o eans a e a e t o r e b i g dru k, c of liquor would h v f il d p oduc t at e ff e t at east t o the en t o strat o n . The n a h c , l l g h of pr i u h ppy “ er s t e a n " Ma na a re o u a a n te it Mac lo ran o f qu i b g c b, y cq u i d w h Dro nasc andli ch has at e ase so m an t o san a es , who l ly purch d y h u d cr ” in In verness- s hire " Thi s w as m o re t ha n en oug h to set t he a i a o ne K en w ha " l ird o ff n furious t ilt n his g e alo g ical steed . ’ ’ the a o - sto o o a at t e c a Dro n asc andlic h w ha n o far p dd ck l cr ur h y , ane daw red se him to o ff e s er s ir fo r an a an ent byg (cur ) r ill , , uld ci estate sir. An esta te as a as the e sir a n infernal ea , uld flud , ; d l a er si r. Si e sir sc ra it t e t e the m eeserable dc c vil uld , ll r, , pp h g i h r by i n I n a sir no t in an o fli c er o r en t em an e w a sir bu t di , , g l lik y, ; ’ Satan st hi m m a n a t ee s and t a m s sir an d a s ( bur ) ki c r wh l r , , h rrow , ’ t a r I and the e 0 t at e e n o . K en him si " lik h wr ch d h diw rk , k en the at ee and ae he o m es rae sir and so I k en cr ur w l, wh c f , ’ t at m t e sir a ette te a t an a s o e 0 him h du b yk , , b r bru by h lf h c r “ The e s t n ter e te M e o n u s Ma na o u s se q u ri i j c d, rcy , c b, y urpri I r m t he s m e s n f hi nam e and t t e he m e . t t o o s hough f o ubli u d i l , ’ had een e rse a e o f teen ent es stan n a t b , lik you lf, chi f fif c uri di g ” ’ eas t . Th e n stant t s m ar s n w as ra n t he a s sa e l i hi co p i o d w , l ird vi g Hi es a fi r and he s n te e grew gh ast ly wi t h rage . s ey c ught e or d lik a m n ta n n ou i whirlwi d .

Bu t the t t t M e for climax of his s orm , wor hy of g M errilies the a m a e to Dods or of Meg , re der y be ref rred a t t t at it o n my uthori y, wi h the hint h will be wasted who can not i n terpret the vernacular eloquence then familiar at [

- lordly dinner tables as in kailyard cracks . 92

The Heart o f Scotland

t to e a goes the s ory, would anyone venture s rve a leg l o n process the Macnab in his own country . Naturally such a personage did no t thrive in his the a e and 1 8 1 6 at quarrel with g ; when he died in , wh w as left of the M acnab property passed into the ha nds of a and t ea a a the his kinsm n credi or, Lord Br d lb ne, to whom laird had stooped his pride to become a sort of humoured a —0 11 e to a a e w as h nger . His neph w, heir lo d of d bt, fain to emigrate to Canada with a following of the broke n all e k ab ar clan . But ov r Britain a sprin ling of M acn s e e w ho e e an found more or l ss flourishing, hav form d a at tw o t e e t n at t o n ssoci ion, or hre hundr d s ro g, th akes i tself the pious d u ty of ten ding those a ncestral graves at n e ta e a nt Killi , the chi f ins buri d in ce ral square, their humbler clan smen a nd connections lying round about

- them under the shade of funereal pi n e trees . Killin has a n ta e to a the t lso to show a lonely sto e, k n m rk omb of a to n n na Fing l , which is said have give the origi al me, l Ki fi n. ’ e the M ac nabs at no w a Kinnell Hous , chief se , is te e a an in a re favouri residenc of Lord Bread lb e, which

e t t t a - an preserved some odd r lics of ha las l ird, his frying p ,

- a and . Bu t the a e his k il pot, so on the glory of pl c Au chm o re a e — a t at , as it is lso call d is its f mous vine h , to

the a . can a t t repro ch of your Dr Johnsons, bo s i self the t t n a nd t l e e ant larges in Bri ai , s il go s on growing xuber ly, though it has b een decided that no m ore glass room can it be provided for . e e e its n n i n the t Killin well d s rv s re ow touris world, presenting a lovely mixture of Highland and Lowla nd Its tw o a a nt a t the ea aspects . rivers m ke the s me co r s , l fy 94 Breadalban e pools of the Lo chay to be compared to the tranquillising e e t a a in Ta influ nc s hat h ve prev iled Loch y, while the untamed rapids of the Do chart suggest the wild m oun tai n a a a a Bu t spirit dash ed to foam g inst rocks of h rd f ct . the Lo cha a an d y, too, up its beautiful glen, has c scades other features of roman ce such as w e look for a little farther back in Lowlan d life ; a nd if the people forget t a t e t a her heir G elic and heir l gends, Na ure still we rs garb of bracken and heather . a new t the a A pl in sign of imes is branch r ilway, link in a tourist round that a few miles from Killin falls in

the a to a n . t n with line from Call nder Ob Here, urni g Lo wlandw ards the e a back , rocky wilds of Gl n Ogle le d us t a the te a e a w e a ow rds sof r be uti s of Loch E rn , which sh ll approach from the othe r end . Up Glen Do chart the railway runs into the higher yet ope ner reach of Strath Filla n ; and here for a little it has the close companion o f al the e t a e t n o n ship its riv , W s Highl nd lin , s ruggli g B n e t ea At rian to e Nevis ov r lof y wastes of h ther . C larich the tw o t t a a t a t lines cross, hen hey draw p r the e t at the Tyndrum, under ridg of Ben Lui , h cradles an t Ta as et n e e inf y, y u christen d, unl ss by its nursery a a at e it to e n me of Fill n W er, wher gambols down sw ll D har a th o c t t e . its e Loch , foot of Ben More By cours , a the the a a the t long line of Oban r ilw y, Campbells mus have flowed into Breadalbane from their spring at A Kilchu rn Castle on Loch w e . But beyond the h ea d of Strath Fillan the streams flo w to the Atlantic and here w e turn back from the Argyllshire gates of the Western

Highla nds .

at la t a n Str h Fil n ge s its n me from the Irish missio ary, 95 The H eart of Scotla n d

a a e - a a a Fill n, who bec m the p tron s int of centr l Scotland, his memory preserved by a monastery that had much

in rea a n . H e a a w reverence B d lba e is, indeed, such sh do y personage that there are said to have b een two saints o f ’ the a t e n to a n . St . l n me, the o h r belo ging Loch E r Fi lan s

ea a a a an pool, n r Cri nl rich, was a f mous Highl d rendezvous, e a na as w e a e ee e n us d occ sio lly, h v s n, for ducking obj ctio able persons ; bu t its chief repute was in the cure o f ff e a . n a t lun cy The u h ppy su rer, brough here by his t t a e a n ea t friends, was hree imes m rch d round a c ir from s — — to west a rite of un conscious paganism then after being e the w as t n t a n i mm rsed in pool , he ied up for the igh in a a to a dj acent chapel . If he m n ged break loose tha t w as a hopeful sign of his wits bu t the result of this rough treatment must often have been an eff ectual cure for all ’ The a n to . S the ills flesh is heir reput tio of t . Filla n s e t t nt no w a well h ld out ill q ui e rece ly ; even , perh ps ,

ff e e t a t n t it n the o rings may be s cre ly c s i o , or hu g upon

a n a s the bushes rou d, pins or crossed rushes are found in Th a a . e t t n s cred wells of Cornw ll supers i io is , of course, — world wide ; and deeper in the Highlands a re wells still ’

t . St l sought for pious hydropa hy To . Fil an s bell were also attributed supernatural properti es " this and his

e e a a e ta t an crosi r, long pres rved in f mily of her di ry cus odi s

a e a t n as far na a e n m d Dewar, f er wanderi gs as Ca d , hav come to be treas u red at the Antiquarian Museum o f

Edinburgh .

In a a at a n a . history, lso, this f ir str h has me Dalry, ’ w as the e e t s near Tyndrum , scen of one of Rob r Bruce

t na t . e t at et t his tradi io l exploi s Def a ed M hven, af er t to ta to a corona ion at Scone, he had ke the Highl nds , 96

“ TH E LA DY o r TH E WO O D S

The Heart of Scotland

a a a far Forting ll , lies shut in mong the mount ins not l from Kenmore, across Drummond Hi l . The high road comes round the other side of the Taymouth e a t meadows, entering the gl n by G r h , where one of our modern princes of commerce has a seat near the n a t a a n the ruined castle, o ce lair of th t S u rt who e r ed byname of Wolf from the bloodthirsty fi ercenes s with which he hunte d the M acIvo rs out of their old la irs in Glenlyon ; then this house won a milder fame from a e a t t a General Stuart of G rth, the nthusi s ic his ori n of

Highland regiments . Near Fortingall was at home that Campbell of Glen a a lyon who c rried out the m ssacre of Glencoe, for which his descendants held themselves to be accursed . t w as According to Robert Chambers, one of hem Rob ’ t a — t Roy s mo her. A n me of wider ill fame is connec ed n a w e a t t a with Forti g ll, if believe hin legend h t makes a e o fli cial it birthplace of Pontius Pil t , son of a Roman quartered in the camp laid out under older strongholds n a nt ascribed to chie fs of the Fi g l age . So far i o the Highlands seem to have been pushed the eyries

ere R m e the m re the r Wh o , E p ss of wo ld, n n r Of yore her eagle wi gs u fu l ed .

t t n ew o u t as t Ano her lion is the For i gall y , given hree u a and a the t e e tho sand ye rs old perh ps oldes tre in Europ , e t a t e which, declar s a Perthshire his ori n, mus have be n a goodly sapling when Nebuchadnezzar had his dwelling with the beasts of the fields bu t Dr. John Lowe t sha kes his head over such reputations . In his iconoclas ic

Yew - trees a book on , he blasts the very existence of 98 Breadalban e

u ew at n a a e s pposed old y Fotheri g y, the pl c of Queen ’ Mary s execution ; but he might have guessed how t a e e t t had be at h t pret nder cr pt in o prin , known th the an e a e o rtin all w as Fother ill ci nt n m of F g g , which is also l foun d spelt F ortirga l . The most authentic renown of Fortingall is as V a a a e a icar ge of J mes M cgr gor, De n of Lismore, who, in the t al the nt a t firs h f of sixtee h century, long wi h his a the ea e brother Dunc n, compiled rliest coll ction of a t B o ole o Lis m ore Gaelic poetry, which be rs the ti le f , at a though it was made in the centre ofPerthshire . N ur lly the Macgregor Dea n gives a good place to legen ds a nd e e o w n a e e ea achi v ments of his r c , whos pro ud gen logy has thus b een embalmed ; but he admits praises of the a a e the a a and t e Cl n Don chi , Cl n Doug l, o her n ighbours also preservi ng m emories of such misty heroes as Fi r m and a and a a t e a Osc r, m ny poems t ribut d to Ossi n, similar to those upon which Macpherso n afterwards founded e a t a his r m niem en . The n me of the supposed author

' is usually prefixed to each contribution . Among the t the a t e F rao ch and the a res is rom n ic l gend of dr gon,

t n Hi hla nds a nd Is la nds . a a ou li ed in g A p ss ge from this, lau lan t as e the . . M ac translat d by Rev T g , may be quo ed

' to show ho w poets have always drawn on the same similes and hyperboles .

The er e m at e tren t h o liv d, of chl ss s g h, ’ The bravest h eart in bat tl e s day. e t e t e m e r Lov ly hos lips wi h w lco s ich, w o m en lik e e to Which \ so w ll kiss e t he e m m en e e Lov ly chi fwho ob y d, e t e ee e r e red Lov ly hos ch ks lik os s , 99 The Heart of Scotlan d

’ T an ra en hu e m re ar a r h v s o d k his h i , ’ Redder tha n hero s blood his cheeks S ter t an r t tream n of h f o h of s s his ski , ter it w as t an te t n Whi h whi s s ow, a r i n r n e n His h i cu li g locks f ll dow , His eye m ore blue th an bluest ic e T a n r an red m re red h ow s o his lips, Whi ter t han blossom s were his tee th Ta w a s ear e a n m a t ll his sp lik y s , S eeter e t a n n n r w his voic h sou di g cho d . None could better swi m t han Frao c h e ver rea te r n n n tream Who b s d u i g s . B roa d er tha n a ny ga te his shi eld ’ Joyous he swung i t o er his b ack arm and r e a en t His swo d of q u l l g h, In z h e e a si e lik ship did look . ’ Would it had been in w arrior s fight T at Fra e are no t had e h o h, who sp d gold, di d ’ T a sad to er a ea t w s p ish by B s , ’ Tis as sad he e no t no w j us t liv s .

Another characteristic feature of the collection is t s rings of homely proverbial saws such as this, going to show Scottish Sabbatarianism older than c o m m u nica tions with Geneva

’ Tis no t to tra e o n S n a good v l u d y, Whoever the Sabbath would k eep No t good to be of ill - fam ed rac e No t good is a di rty wom a n No t good to wri te wi thout l earni ng No t good a re g rapes w h en sour No t good is an earl wi thout English No t a a r good is s ilo , if old No t good is a bishop w i thout warran t No t good is a bl em ish o n an e ld er ; No t good a pri est wi th but o ne eye I OO

The H eart of Scotlan d

as a e chief and taking his lord C mpbell of Gl norchy, n at a a e a who, two ge er ions b ck, had suppl nt d the M cgregors a t the foot of Loch Tay . ’ Stories of the M acgregors doings are no t wa nting t o ne m a a hereabou s, of which looks as if it y h ve given a a hint to Sir Walter . A Macn ughton was on ill terms wi th a a had a e and John M cgregor, who robbed him of his d ught r a e e n m de not l ss bold with certain fields of his in Gl nlyo , a t a m n seized by w y of dowry . Wi h a b nd of sixty e he s et — t e - in law a a n out to evic the unwelcom son from l nd d life . e a he a in Macgregor rais d a simil r force, which mbushed the e e to t its a e gl n, hims lf going forward mee inv d rs . n to t e nl t His person being u known h m , they e is ed him to serve as guide on the erran d of which they ma de no

t . a na t a t in e secre M c ugh on w lking on with hem advanc , they came to a deep ditch in a swamp over which the e a w a guide leaped nimbly, and show d the chief y round a at t t t a but when his men c me up, their temp s to imi ate h t mighty leap only landed th em up to the armpits in mire . a a t the m t t n t the To M cn ugh on, for mo en lef alo e wi h t a e a e e e ta n a s r ng r, M cgregor rev al d hims lf by ki g his h nd “ ” and t the m a n . n at elling him, I am you seek The a a t Of a e a te sign l from his Roderick Dhu re l lif , up st r d his Bu t the end the plaided warriors from their ambush . of a e ea to a e en counter was pe c ful . Pl sed find M cgr gor so t a n na t n fine a fellow, wi h such a b nd of henchme , Mac ugh o

O n to —in - law a nd the tw o a e pe ed his arms his son , p rti s a feasted together in sign of friendly alliance . Cri tic l the the reporters, by way, would like to know how heroes of such adventures got rid of the disti nguishing tartans t a a e to a or o her badges of cl nship, which c m be m de so 1 02 Breadalbane

n a much of in later song a d story . To mere Sassenach like Fitzj am es the M acgregor devices m ay not have been ’ ve ry ken speckle bu t surely a Mohawk s eye would have been sharper to read the totem of a Huron . n the t a n Above Forti gall , glen con racts to roma tic a as p ss, three miles long, which would be as famous a Killiecrankie h d it made such a figure in history . But nea rly all Glenlyon deserves better than to be put in guide a e a book small pri n t as a backwater of tr v l . For dozen M e ern i e Ca e miles its road runs up to gg stle, b yond which a t a at the s retch of rougher w ys, on to Loch Lyon foot of the a Ben Cruachan , leads one into very he rt of the

Highlan ds a nd the border of Perthshire . ’ H ere a wall of unfa med Bens shuts o fl another basin of lakes that is the northwa rd course of the West Highland a a a t r ilw y. Across this rise the high tops of the Bl ckmoun ’ the n Breadalbane s deer forest, still within bou ds of Lord domain , a wilderness of heather, only here and there at t bu t broken by p ches of fores in our use of the word, homes of living m en appear rarer than cairns of the

ea the - forgotten d d . Westwards opens way to ill famed e t a Gl ncoe . Sou hw rds runs the Orchy to Loch Awe and a a t a Ben Cruach n, by knot of green glens hat seem to h ve the ea e been original s t of the Macgregors , whose inv terate feuds with M acnabs and other neighbours paved a w ay a for the conquering Campbells . But before spe king of the n r let a Macgregor cou t y, us turn back to the Lowl nds a to approach it up another Perthshire str th .

1 03 STRATHEARN

O NE of the most beautiful of Scottish rivers is the a a a Earn , h lf Highl nd and half Lowl nd, winding through all the varieties of Perthshire scenery, past hoary ’ Of t as a t monuments Scotland s struggles for bir h na ion , t t a an and among mis y r ditions of her saints d heroes .

- a the t Yet guide books, one observes, p ss over grea er part of this strath as hurriedly as the express trains dashing across its lower end ; and strangers seldom e a visit any but the upp r re ch, which enters into a

a . H o w e regul r tourist round such neglect is und served, — I would fain show on a n arm chair saunter from the ’ river s unalluring mouth to its source in mountains of

a t as rom ntic fame, a dis ance of some forty miles the crow to t i flies but a salmon has make a much longer rip of t . a t a Well is the E rn apostrophised by an admiring s r nger, ’ la ckw o od s a n t B first editor, Thom s Pri gle, bes known t e the by his South African pic ur s, or by figure he cuts in a the Cha ldee M a nuscri t the wicked w ggery of p .

T m nt a n tream h e ea r t rrent r e hou, ou i s , w os ly o cou s a t m an a rear a nd t ant re n een H h y d dis gio s , 1 04

The Heart of Scotlan d

n t a a ge era ions ago, he could not so easily h ve voided w as t t Newburgh, when it a no ed station of pos ing and a r fli co ch t a c from Perth .

m e the flat a the the a To , Rhynds bout mouth of E rn

e nt e t t e n e are of sp cial i er s , since hey wer lo g the hom of e o ff the n ff a my forbears, dged Hill of Mo crie by junior the a e t n a e branch of s m s ock, the again t king r fuge across

n e n dle e e e e the Tay, whe th ir dwi d poss ssions h r had b en t e as sold to the house of Elcho . And im w wh en the e t a e to O ey s of all Sco l nd turn d this now bscure corner . ’ the a t t the A mile south of E rn s boldes crook, abou e n n a e t West r Rhynd pe insul , Abern thy is still visi ed by a e n t ta n antiqu ri s for its mysterious rou d ower, s ndi g over seventy feet high beside the church that has given t Dr . Butler, its incumben , material for a goodly volume . He makes no doubt that this tower w as built upon th eir a e ee n tiv models by Irish ecclesiastics, refug s from rude n a Danish invasion of their o w saintly isl nd . The only t e a e t at other such struc ur in Scotl nd, l f unruined, is et t a the n Brechin, both of them b ter built h n Irish rou d ’ e e a m a t e towers on which pr ntic h nds y have been ri d . Sculptured stones of still greater a ntiquity have here ’ a e n a t ea to e Abern eth s esc p d ico ocl s ic z l, be broken r lics of y

ta the w a a s it ta n o w . former s te, poor and out of y s nds

The guide- books are content to dismiss Abern ethy as ” an a t t a a e ncien Pic ish capital, but it was also f m d

a t a e at n a nd a e a s nc u ry till the R form io , even l t r, a pl ce of pilgrimage to the o ak - tree shading the grave of nine holy e e n e a e the t maidens . For a g n ratio this b c m me ropolis a its a w as a of the Church of Alb n, while prim cy p ssing at it a ho t from Dunkeld to St . Andrews . L er on, m de a 1 06 Stra thearn bed of Protestan t zeal and of the fi s siparo u s energy that rent Scottish Presbyte rianism with fresh sece ssions . This

' e t to a is a matt r on which I am empted be g rrulous, as e e a t s veral prog nitors of mine were le ders here, bo h of en n a n ff Kirk and Diss t, amo g them Archib ld Mo crie , t e minis er of Abernethy for more than half a c ntury, through the trying times of the Covenant . The parish church contains two communion cups given by those its w as pious ancestors, in whose memory font presented " a a M o ncriefl e by the l te Sir Alex nder , his own name bett r a a e known to w rriors th n to pri sts . In B onnie Scotla nd , I made bold to bring up my t — a a e e ff genera ions back gr ndp r nt, Alexand r Moncrie , one of the four Original Seceders and now I would still further ’ trespass on the reader s patience by borrowings from

the Tra vels Rev . a t a t of the James H ll of Wal h ms ow, e n a n who mor than a ce tury ago, h lting at Aber ethy, a f ' h a noted some musing memories o t o se e rly Seceders .

e - a Eb nezer Erskine, ex minister of Stirling, was the le der bu t a a t t of the body H ll c lls Abernethy heir me ropolis, and eff e Moncri th ir patron, as being not only dissenting — minister but chief laird of the parish no very exalted t a the rank when, according to his uthor, title was given to — an the O chils he any rent free yeom of , such as one mentions w ho supplemented an income of ten pounds a ea a a y r by the tr de of a c rpenter, while the family

a n e a - m nsio mad a sm ll public house. The dissenti ng minister of Abern ethy was at least a t to a new a e t we l hy enough build church for his dh ren s, e which for a time serv d also as college of the new sect .

—n Some score of students boarded with the farmers at the 1 07 The Heart of Scotland — modest rate of two shillings or so a week attending t w ho a n divinity lec ures of the laird, is said, in c se of eed, to have ministered to their carnal as well as their spiritual a t w n s . For further instruction they would walk into

the eet . n a at e Perth to sit at f of Mr Wilso , nother f h r of eff as a t Secession . In his old age Moncri w f in o hold a at f r t a cl sses his own house of Cu l a gie . Af er his de th in 1 6 1 t a e a t 7 , this S oic school bec me p rip te ic, moved first l a n ff t to Alloa with his younger son, Wil i m Mo crie , hen t the a a straggling abou in w ke of its best qu lified teachers, till the Seceders stooped their spiritual pride to share the a t a e nation l provision of universi y tr ining, supplem nted a e t it e by r gular divini y college at Edinburgh . But se ms n a t that their teachi g in philosophy, part from divini y, ’ with Locke s E ssay o n the Hum a n Understa nding as text at e et book, went on for a time longer Ab rn hy, under ’ a t n ff e Al e a e tat a nd M t hew Mo crie , h ir to x nder s s e l t . t a a minis ry . Mr Hall tells a sly s ory of c low e a a w ho the stud nt in those l ter d ys, from Established t in a minister borrowed a Euclid, which he got hrough a all at to week I have re d the enunci ions, which seem be true enough and very good reading I did not trouble ’ ’ ” myself about the A s and B s .

' The po verty of the S eceders w as not helped by their

n and t - e the tt the e split i to Burghers An i burgh rs, la er mor t e at the t strict sec , who flourish d r her in nor h half of — Scotland then these sects agai n became cross divide d as ” ” New a nd t n n Lichts Auld Lich s, bur i g dimly still ’

a e a . a e a in Mr . B rri s k ilyard H ll, hims lf benighted t the in en a as a Eras ian, describes Secession theory g er l ” n n mixture of Popish te ets with those of E glish dissenters . 1 08

The H eart of Scotlan d that part of the country as denoting a fly i n the amber of a char cter . ’ Matthew s wife had a disintegrating eff ect on the t w e m a e body, a Miss Sco t from Fife, who, if y b lieve ’ n e e - Hall s informa ts, was only a S c der skin deep, and turned a natural bent for wit and raillery to maki ng fun ’ at of her husb and s congreg ion . She did no t scruple to r the te a be close f iends with parish minis r, Dr . Gr y, and e n a t t his wif ; then, while the dissenti g l ird s ill humped a a a a t a his pulpit every S bb th g inst the errors of Eras i nism, the rival spiritual authorities lived o n the best of terms t the as hrough week, could not but go to temper sectarian n t a e bitter ess, though for a ime the more ze lous S ceders

t a as . frowned on this compromising in im cy, Mr Pickwick at Sergeant Buzfuz exchanging salutatio n s with his own

at . a advoc e So, by and by, crimonious zeal cooled down o w n all round, dying out altogether in my family, as Sandemanianism did among their neighbours the

Sandem ans . n e e Some members of our li e se m, inde d, a a e t a a to have b ckslidden far from nc s r l usteri ty . A descendant of the Abernethy ministers became a Lo ndon — ” tradesman landlord of the Rainbow in Fleet Street ’ a t — a M o ncriefl by some ccoun s whose son , Willi m Thomas , ta e Tom a nd err t e la put on the s g y y, wi h other onc popu r plays that did no t keep him from dying at the Charter e — n e house, a f llow pensio er of Colonel N wcome . About the sam e time a s John Home scandalised even the luke

a a o u t a s a t w rm Est blishment by coming a pl ywri er, a tragedy less famous than Dougla s had been publish ed by ff e a n John Moncrie , who se ms not to h ve lo g survived it and nothing else is known of him bu t that he w as a 1 1 0 Strathearn

a a dominie of sorts at Eton, pparently priv te tutor to some

sprig of nobili ty. Of what came to be called United Presbyterianism and t the te is now graf ed on to Uni d Free Church, a t e s urdi r root first flowered in this parish, ripening through gen erations into the gracious a nd kindly nature of the h a nd his F ri ends author of R a . The first of a notable a e succession of John Browns was a herd l ddi here, who, e t n n to lik o her barefooted Scottish loo s, co trived pick up a Latin and Greek almost without schooling . There is — well known story of his leaving his sheep for a night a — e to a w lk of twenty four mil s into St . Andrews buy ee t w as o n Gr k Tes ament, which given him for nothing, t he e a his proving tha could r ad it . He is s id to have ’ e a a tri d the p ckman s tr de, but to have carried it on in to o unworldly spirit fo r success . When he applied for a am t ordination mong the Seceders, I sorry to say hat my forefath er would have barred him out on suspicion that his learning came from the devil ; but this firm believer in t and — t witchcraf was overruled, the self taugh scholar grew a e a n to be f m d as Dr . John Brown of H ddingto . These are hints of what spirit w as fermenting about n e the ta e t Abernethy u d r cold Georgian s r, wh n in Scot ish straths and glens plain livi ng nourished much high or

. a w as n o t a t hot thinking A co rser spirit w n ing when, — a s . the e e Mr Hall notes, public hous s of the n ighbour o n n hood did their chief trade Su days, with people t a e n r mping into Abernethy to attend the S ceder meeti gs, and those of the Relief Church that soo n set up a nother a a st nd rd of dissent . He gives at som e length an anony the i n 1 6 a mous report of occasion here 7 7 , th t is, the 1 1 1 The H ea rt of Scotlan d a a t a the a ent a nnu l adminis r tion of Sacr m , spre d out over a a a t t a week, when pre ching flowed all day in gre t en , surrounded with booths and stan ds to supply refreshment e t the n to a crowd estimat d by housands, whole e camp a I the ment stretching out the best p rt of a mile . f a a e t n a as pre cher f il d in fire or unc io , his he rers, in the

d OE the e - a e House of Commons, would rop to be r b rr ls, flocking back to the tent when some popular Boanerges

a tt . n bro ched ho er eloq uence Such sce es, a survival of an n t t n e at n t the Coven ting co ven icles, of en dege r ed i o ’ sca ndals of Bu rns s Holy Fair and it is only in our “ ” t a t e a to e a e the e ime th t h y ce se be r c ll d by Pr achings, now abolished a mong the leadi ng churches as having a a become to o much of worldly holid y . ’ a a Travellers of Mr . H ll s period had no dmiration “ ea no r the for the dr ry glen of Abernethy, much for a te e a n the more richly pl n d Gl nf rg i to which it leads,

no he n a t e t e Bu t latter w t mai p ss from Fife in o P r hshir . this tourist pa rso n duly admired the view from the Wicks Bai lie t e in ta et of g , extolled by Scot as unmatch d Bri in , y commonly missed by railroad tourists since the leisurely da the a e n at the y when ch rms of Gl nfarg inspired Ruski , a e to t u n precocious g of seven, verse which may be lef a a e a the n ew quoted . The Ruskin c rri ge, inde d, c me by turnpike that shirks that higher ground where Scott gained — n e the e t t a life lo g memori s of d ligh wi h which, as boy e ak n t e n e n of fift en, m i g his firs ind pe d nt excursio , from the back of his pony he looked down o n such a n ” a inimitable landsc pe . This reminiscen ce of his touch es a chord in my o w n ’ it a t to o a heart, for was on boy s pony hat I , , m de wide 1 1 2

A HIGHLAND LAK E

The H eart of Scotlan d

I had w i and t n t n If no g to fly away, no s o e bot les swi ging b e t t e m e w as a n an e e y my sid , wha bo h red h vi g op n knif t n t in my hand, with which I had been cu ti g a swi ch from the as the n hedgerow, mo ster came upon us from round n ea w as a t a cor er . Our h dlong course at l st s opped by a - e a gipsy or such lik w yfarer, as shamefaced guerdon t a for whom I had only twopence in my pocke , ne rly a n n a rem in drained by th t unco scio able toll . Such trivi l i scences s et a to a e e I down p rtly ple s mys lf, partly to explain how my familiarity with this region is Oddly n as in a e a t w ho e all i complete, the c s of studen kn w a a a had t bout Africa, Americ , and Asi , but s opped sub scribing to the E ncyclo pmdia before it touched on the ea e t a t t a Europe . Yet r d r mus take f ir no ice h t there are few roads hereabouts upon which I may no t be tempted to trot out my o w n early memori es ; and a n ta let if, belike, he likes not this mood of ecdo ge, him turn to the a rticle on Strathearn in some ponderous

- c yclo pazdia or plodding guide book . a a no t the t Mr . H ll , for his p rt, did despise trou fishing for which the Farg w as notable in my youth ; ’ and had a a t en few an e he good d y s spor , wh so str g rs sought its shady course that he found some difli culty ’ e t t to a a t a tw o a in g t ing his hos m ke out bill, h t for d ys

a m an an d ea t n a tt entert inment of b s , i cluding bo le of

and a a to e t a ll n . wine other bever ges, c me l ss h n ten shi i gs

Cu lfar ie the tt a t the a e By g , li le F rg runs in o E rn, her a an n e and goodly river of smooth ch ls deep pools, m eandering through a rich valley between the wooded bluff s of M o ncrieE Hill and the green S lopes of the l t t O hils . e c Exc pt for its craggy wal s, here is no hing 1 1 4 Strathearn

a t a t Highl nd about his p r of the strath, as thickly set

' t a a a nd an e o f wi h m nsions, f rms, woods as y snug sc ne

an . a e a B onni e Scotla nd Engl d Of it, I h v lready spoken in a a a the and will only add that Mr . H ll was sc nd lised at numbers of old bachelors he found resorting to the Spa ’ ”

Pitk eathl e St . a of y, then as fr quented as Ron n s Well, ea a e e where it app rs that b chelors, young and old, w r very apt to get into mischief. the the Above Bridge of Earn, over which goes high a t the the ro d to Per h, river is crossed by two converging railway lines that tunnel through M o ncrieE Hill to burst h i nto daylight on the Tay. It is the next reaches of t e t a are a an e s winding Earn h t h rdly known to str gers, unl s in glimpses from the train yet here it flows by sce nes a s o r andenn is of as much historic interest beauty . F g y a picturesque village, beside which an old mansion, e t e a a d s royed by fire, has been r pl ced by new one, a a e a not ble for its fine g rdens, lik so m ny other seats in has the neighbourhood . Forteviot, a little higher up, e the a a e t com down from r nk of an ncient royal s a . t M cAl ine 8 60 t the Here died Kenne h p , , af er hammering Picts into a new kin gdom and for three centuries later shadowy Scottish kings are seen flitting through a royal stronghold that stood on the tongue of land between the M a Earn and its tributary the y. e The May, one of the merriest and sweet st of Ochil trea a s ms, trips down by the park of lnverm y and the ”

. E nderm a birks sung before Burns As y, this spot

- a inspired the Earn born poet, David M llet or Malloch ,

. e e a whom Dr Johnson belittl d, but he fill d a consider ble place in London literary life of his generation . Opposite 1 1 5 The Heart of Scotlan d

a the e the a lnverm y, on northern slop of E rn, stands Du lin t a Kinno u ll pp Cas le, se t of Lord , whose richly w e n are and the ood d grou ds now renowned, gardens nursing exotics such as an araucaria thought to be the e larg st in the kingdom Oh, Dr . Johnson, Dr . n ta at Johnson, oh But these noble ave ues s nd on wh w as Du lin in 1 2 all once pp Moor, where 3 3 Edward B iol and his English allies made such a slaughter among the “ Scots that the dead stood as high from the ground as ” the the a full length of a spear, and work of B nnockburn ’ was for a time undone ; indeed the boy king David s c a e rown might h ve be n wholly lost, had not Edward of ’ a to o the e Engl nd s hands been then full , grasping at lili s o f France as well as the Scottish thistle that so often a a proved sore h ndful . Du lin t Above pp comes Gask, home of the Oliphan s, o ne of whom was to win victories of sentiment for the l t to t a a a ost Jacobi e cause dear his f mily . C rolin , Lady ” a had as t Nairne, the Flower of Str thearn, warm a hear f o r her native stream as for memories of Prince Charlie .

Fa r ne the r n i sho isi g sky, ’ The e r a w i m an a d e d wd ops cl d y y , L arks lil ti ng pibrochs high ’ r rn n To welcom e d ay s etu i g . Th e rea n the a n tree sp di g hills, sh di g s, a n in th e m rn n reez e High w vi g o i g b , Th e w e e Scots ros e t hat sweetly blows ’ Earn s val e adorni ng

The ruins of Gascon Hall beside the river claim to a e e a e have m d a r fuge for William W llac , when, hunted

a e - a OE the by sl uth hound through G sk wood, he struck 1 1 6

The Heart of Scotlan d

. a the e e the history Behind Auchter rder, upp r wat rs of n ea e a a t Ruthven come dow from Glen gl s, be u iful gorge

the O chils a . e ea e in , le ding over to Glendevon Gl n gl s w as e the H aldanes no w e a the old hom of , r pl ced here by n a e their ki sman Lord Camperdown ; but Mr . Hald n , “ ” a a a t a whose n me is f miliar as u hor of our Territori ls, t ar has still a seat on he Ochil slopes at Clo anden . This w —w ho to t a at an e a e minister rose poli ic l note arly g , for as a schoolboy I can remember being taken i n to his nursery to see him invested with his first dignity as the — new baby bears a name that has b een better known to t a t its e n Sco l nd in connec ion with religious lif , whe , a nt a o a at and a n a the ce ury g , his gr ndf her gr ndu cle bec me Wesleys of the Kirk then sunk to its zero of cold a t mor li y . a a a Robert and J mes Hald ne, nephews of Admir l n a s — t a Duncan, bega life high spiri ed lads with f ir t dl n had prospec s of worl y fortu e . The elder dispositions t t at t owards the minis ry, repressed a ime when the Scottish Church seemed no career for gentle blood ; the ’ younger declined the cha nce of a partn ership in Coutts n o n e a a i n the a Ba k . The spent some e rly ye rs N vy, ’ t te n while the o her, en ring the East I dia Company s n a n e e a ta service, u der f mily i flu nc rose to be a c p in at

- fi ve a he t e a a l t . twen y , post could s ll for sm l for une e the s ea n t e L aving you g, both bro h rs conceived an a a t the ev ngelic l enthusiasm, at first somewha tinged with a e the e t an e rly hop s of Fr nch Revolu ion , which so m y nobler spiri ts of their day hailed as a n ew dispensa tion

w as it i n t at a n to be a e Bliss h d w liv , But to be young w as very heave n 1 1 8 Strathea rn

the H aldanes a s as t the For , well for Wordswor h, democratic heaven soon clouded over ; and the brothers t e e a the a the te urn d th ir ze l to spre d of gospel, af r the model of such Southro n preachers as Charle s Simeon and a e t a a n t Rowl nd Hill, both of whom carri d heir w kening i o a e Airthr t . t e t Sco land Rober sold his est t of y, beau ifully at o n the O chils and t n situ ed , proposed devo i g his life and a i a me ns to a miss on in India, scheme nipped in a t the bud by the authorities there . J mes ook to fi eld

ea a al a and a pr ching, to the sc nd of p rish ministers m gis t a e at all a the r t s, itiner ing over Scotl nd, through Highlands, ’ f as e t n e a nd as ar the Orkn ys and She la ds . Rob rt s gifts were less in the w ay of eloquence ; he rather gave a eEo rt t a la a himself to org nisation of the , r ining y pre chers, buying circuses both in Edinburgh and Glasgow as a e and t e ch p ls, issuing the racts which by his school w re held as special mea ns of grace . Such proceedings on the part of laymen did not commend themselves to the clergy ; the stern S eceders

a e new a . H aldanes also looked skanc on this reviv l The , t e a t had e a a for h ir p r , soon drift d w y from Presby terianism and the - e a na t ; when circus lik T ber cle, s ill to be ee a t w as t at s n on the side of the C l on Hill, buil ’ e t H aldane s n as a at Rob r expe se, it opened Congreg ional

a e a a as a t w ho n Ch p l, with J mes H ldane p s or, co tinued his and diEerences evangelical tours . By by of Opinion a rose in the new co ngregation a nd both brothers went

to a . e t e a a over B ptist views Rob r , esp ci lly, in his ze l for n e all a to t sound ss, was long much given con roversy with Zachary Macaulay over a plan for bringing young an to e a ta as t Afric s be duc ted in Bri in , later wi h his 1 1 9 The Heart of Scotlan d fa mous son anent the ballot with the Bible Society for its backsliding in publishi ng the Apocrypha ; with the degenerate Socin ian Calvinism of Geneva ; with the divers errors of Irvingite s a nd Sa ndemanians ; a nd with the Presbyterian Voluntaries as to their refusal to pay “ the h t Annuity Tax, whic was the church ra e of Edin In a e the H aldanes n burgh . their old g fou d more fellow al had ship in the Presbyterian Church, especi ly when it ee been warmed by Fr Church enthusiasm . They seem both to have been earnest and sincere in struggling after what they held for purity of saving truth and when they the dl t e t a a died in mid e of las c ntury, hey could congr tul te th emselves on having stirred the life of their country in a way that might be better remembered had th ey no t e and t a been concerned to leave th ir work not heir n me . n a t n to o far the to Gle e gles has ake us from Earn, w e at Kink ell the a t e which come back Bridge, below c s l and e t Inn er eEra a — a the coll gia e church of p y, buri l pl ce of

. t Drummonds On the north side lies Madder y, where, a the a ff m a ne r r ilway line from Perth to Crie , y be visited the a n InchaEra e rem i s of y Abbey, whos Abbot so eEec tu ally asked a blessing on the Scottish arms at n the h Bannockbur . On the south side of river runs t e n CrieE n n t a n fo r older bra ch line from Ju ctio , wi h statio l a a e t at e t a o a s a Muthil , goodly vill g h a c n ury g was l rge as ff and a n t Crie , century before had bee burned, wi h a a nd e P re Auchter rder oth r neighbours, by the old ’ t a t n t e t ender s forces, the harmless inh bi a s b ing hus led out i n to a Ja nuary night by soldiers whom th ey had — sometimes received as guests a needless cruelty to be a n G set against that Whiggish h rryi g of lencoe . 1 2 0

The H eart of Scotlan d t et o n the t t t t a a a en , s reng h of which hey cul iv ted gr ce of n to o n a a cheerful ess not commo mong C lvinist believers . “ ” Rejoice evermore is the suggestive title of one of ’ their founder s books . Their communion spread over e a a t t a t n an and a sev r l p r s of Sco l nd, even in o E gl d cross

a t e . H all w as at et the Atl n ic . Wh n Mr Abern hy he heard of theirs as o ne of the most flourishing co ngrega t n at e a ea l io s N wburgh , h ving for its h d A exander Pirie, who for a time had been professor of divi n ity at the ’ t t e a n t - Seceders rus ic college, h n from An i burgher

e e n nt a soft n d dow i o a Burgher, from which he p ssed on to the e and na t a the Reli f Church , fi lly found res mong

ea . a n w ho o u t w a Ber ns The English p rso , goes of his y ’ e a t t H aldane s na e t for a sne r Rober missio ry d vo ion, is t at a t e te e ra her s iric l on hos dissen rs, whom he inclin s to an a a n t at t lump with the S dem ni ns, and hi s accusa ions of n t t m a n e are a sinni g ha grace y abou d Th y , he s ys,

a s a s . t t drunk or sober, merry grigs Wha s ruck him most about their ceremonies w as the social love feast in which they copied the Sandeman ians ; an d he repeats a sca ndalous story of the CrieE co ngregation sendi ng to a — e to et n e o n t t t t n At public hous g wi rus for his func io .

eff m a its at the Cri , which y be called n ive soil, body held t t the a t t en its t toge her ill middle of l s cen ury, wh proper y

as e a the e and far as w divid d by lot mong memb rs , so I n ea n o w r e e t t n k ow, the Ber ns are eve ywh re x inc , u less,

e e a n t a e a n p rhaps, in Am ric , where so ma y sec s h v t ke fresh root o n virgin soil . Muthill lies between the groun ds of Culdees Castle n a tl the tte a and of Drummo d C s e, la r f mous for its

a a and e . In g rdens, venues, nobly wooded dem sne 1 22 Strath earn

e ho w it a t passing up Tayside, I hav told c me in o n a n e Southro h nds, whe the pow r of its old lords split on the rock that wrecked so many another Jacobite family ; while the neighbour house Of Murray ta cked n t a ea and trimmed its fortu es into calm waters . S r th rn has dark memories of the feuds b etwee n those names . When the old church of M o nz ievaird was being turned t a e the O chtert re a a t t in o mausol um for y f mily, a qu n i y of charred wood and calci ned bones cam e to light to bear a ho w a an a e out the tr dition b d of Murr ys, fleeing b fore t t Drummonds, ook refuge in this church wi h their wives and e e t e the children, and w r h re burned to death by

. a t a savage pursuers For this troci y, indeed, sever l

Drummon ds came to be executed a t Stirling . Only one a a the a Murr y had esc ped holocaust, by the help, it is s id, of a at t n Drummond who loved his sister l er, his Drummo d a he e having fled for refuge to Irel nd, in turn was h lped he had a a to pardon by the man saved , and c me b ck with the a a e —E rno ch a e gn m Drummond , h nd d down to the victim of a nother revolti ng tragedy told in the introduction L e end o o tr to A g f M n ose.

n a the e a CrieE t Drummo d C stle is V rs illes of , i self a a t ea a the c pit l of Stra h rn, where it stands mong lovely t e a — n Abercairne surroundings and no abl m nsions Mo zie, y, Culto u he InchaEra Ochtert re na a q y, y, y , mes th t fill ” the a h the mouth as mount ins t e eye s . Such sounding a are e a the n a a n mes , of course, wr ck ge of o ce f mili r speech has far t the a e m et that ebbed back in o Highl nds . I n ver any one in Perthshire w ho did not speak English a nd

ae I e a t even a knowledge of G lic, fancy, is exc ption l in his n th southern half of the country, certai ly so in e lower 1 2 3 The Heart of Scotlan d

a t h lf of Strathearn . But I forget what wri er of a century — or so back can record that at Monzie Castle recently — burned only a mile separated the English - speaking lodge—keeper from neighbours who could not understand e a e the a a his tongue . A G rm n travell r, in e rly ye rs of the a — Queen Victoria, noted e st enders of Loch Tay as a t spe king English, while Gaelic was s ill common about In a n the other end . our own generation, old inh bita ts of CrieE could remember how troops of shock- headed lads and lasses came tramping down from the glens — like the S chw a henlt i nder of Tirol to learn E nglish by n a a worki g a summer on Lowl nd f rms, turning an honest penny out of this course of education . Not that Scotland w as without schooling long before — u t - o f- the w a a t the days of School Boards . In o y p r s of n a Gandercleu hs the Highla ds, as well as in Lowl nd g ,

- . a da a Dr Johnson could he r of y schools, even bo rding t e t e difli culties a schools, kep h re and here und r , perh ps in summer by a bookish youth who for his winter studi es walked all the w ay to Aberdeen or Gla sgow . When a soci ety seemed necessary for the diflh sio n of Christia n in an knowledge the Highlands, th ks to John Knox every

- a and a - a English spe king Shorter C techism conning p rish, a to — a at le st, had its dominie, who, thanks those land gr bbing “ at n w as t Lords of the Congreg io , of en such a down t n t as a o u t rodden , u derfoot mar yr C rlyle deplores, eking t n his exiguous dues by a medley of occupa io s, and by unworthy perquisites that fell to him at the annual cock fi h i to the g t ng holiday. He was fain not only perform all t e t o n n a du i s of his school, down me di g pens and sh rpen in a g the points of his t wse, but to act as precentor, session 1 24

The Heart of Scotland there were not better bellyfuls going un der the old dis

ensatio n . t all a p of scholarship Wi h his f ults, of which

w as a t to the ff n had whisky p be the worst, snu y domi ie someti m es the knack of turning o u t silk purses among ’

ea t e t . sows rs, and wi h the most imperf c tools The general run of his pupils perhaps profited most by be ing e a e a kept out of mischi f, wholesomely h rd ned to ch stise e t a e e EEectu al l m n , and w d by the myst ries of Ca ling, while the choicer natures had their chance to be brought into touch with an inspiring example that showed them w a a e a the y to learning, mor import nt course of educa tion than the clevern ess of teachi ng which goes to load the minds of a whole class with no t always fruitful instruction . And those rude schools of old days had this ’ e a na a a the te a and duc tio l advant ge, th t minis r s b irn , even ’ ’ a a nd t the tt the l ird s, might tumble quarrel wi h co ar s , the a e a and a t t e picking up loc l v rn cular ccen , but lit l more harm at an age wh en all sons of Adam a re in the savage ate e e t n o t a at the st of d v lopmen , e sily inocul ed with curse a t a a e the dl of snobbery th t se s cl sses ap rt, barr d from kin y e e e e at ent e int rcours of the old r g ner ions, among whom g l and simple knew their place too well for troublesome n t — n a presumption or u easy s and o fli sh ess . The p rish ea w as t school at l st a little republic, empered sometimes , n d a t the a t its i deed, by gru ges of f vouri ism on p r of e and a n president . While English squir s p rso s still ’ the t a looked suspiciously on hree R s for peasants, b re te a t foo d Scottish l ddies, some imes lassies, would tackle a t the a w ho nt L in, even Greek, under vill ge dominie, se forth some of his pupils into the world equipped at least 1 2 6 Stra thearn with a turn of mind and a stirred ambition that pu t them Bu t t o u t at advan tage wherever they went . now hey go

a in m an no t into new world, which may be so much — e . master of his o w n fate . What self h lp could do for ee t e the a e him is, it s ms, to be done ra h r by St t , as at a n n no t conceived of a n ion l Trades U io , which need c onsider the cha nce of national bankruptcy in providi ng t a for the general welfare . The very virtues h t winged a — t t en prosperous career hrift, indus ry, terprise, force of — character become suspected for vices in the interest of e t the common h rd . It is a bad lookout for Sco smen in t ha t golden ag e of mediocrity so glibly promised by certain s a e a a oci l reform rs, who might begin by doing w y with t t n t prizes and punishmen s in schools, if hey ca no ’ e e n t n altogether l v l dow Nature s dis inctio s . e w as ff My own first exp rience of school life near Crie , where I spent a year in the family of an English clergy e m man, whom I dimly rememb r as a odel for the head of the f a . t Fairchild mily For all his austeri y, my recollections a re a e and a of cheerful days spent under his ch rg , especi lly m a be n of a keen relish for meals, which y con ected with the fact that this w as the only period in my life when I might not eat as much as I pleased . But also I have two e Th painful m emori s of this place . e first is breaking my a rm o n t o ne a a a t n the rocks of the Turre S turd y f ernoo , and not getti ng a doctor for it till Monday evening my t w ho e n he t utor, had b e a soldier before ook orders, a nd t a e e the n o ough to h ve known b tt r, judged hurt more than a sprain then o n Sunday I had to walk three

and arm a n e miles to church, back, with my h ngi g helpl ss, t he t i torment relieved only by my bro her holding t up . 1 2 7 The H eart of Scotland

e e w as m o w n a t a nd The other woeful exp ri nce y f ul , such

a e . te as many sons of Ad m hav to confess Some years la r, n a ta a tee I was se t on a holid y sk, ride of seven n miles h to a at CrieE to a wit a pointer pup be h nded over keeper, m a a t I as whose lodge de sor of canine academy . w to ” n a t a s ee dine at the Drummo d Arms , f er m king sure to fed fi rs t—a t le my pony sound ins ruction to heed ss youth . a a n a e l Somewh t el ted by this i dependent ch rg , as I stro led about the town it occurred to me that my o w n meal ought e w as it tw o to be crown d by a cigar . It my first cost “ I n a pence . Left to myself as w as i th t rash under a it t king, I had sense enough to seek out for a secluded the and n n spot on banks braes of the Ear , where ere lo g my so ng wo uld be H o w can ye bloom sae fresh and fair At ff t e a Crie , wi h its two railways and ev rything h nd it w e et a a a te some about , g upon regular c rav n rou of t few t the all ourists, too of whom s op to discover lochs, f s, and shaggy glens that around it a re strung upon the n a t the le Highland li e, among hills m king wi h Earn val y a a e t choice epitome of Perth scenery . I h v already ex olled Bo nnie Scotla nd n o w this neighbourhood in , so I must t a a n pass q uickly over the most picturesque part of S r the r . Nothing could be prettier in its w ay than the walk u p the a n n and t its a an E r , foami g rippling hrough le fy b ks,

a e e To rleu m to a p st wood d eminenc s, like , whose p makes

at e nt e and To m achastle we h r glass for the cou rysid , , e a ent a a d the e crown d by monum to Sir D vid B ir , h ro of ’ a a Seringapat m . This loc l worthy s widow cherished his

e a dl e e a e St . r nown reg r ess of xp nse, the model vill g of ’ a CrieE D vid s , below , being also a memorial of him but 1 2 8

LO CH LU BNAI G

The Heart of Scotland h aving a checked shirt to turn up in disclosing circum n e are an e n o t ea a t sta ces . Tim s ch g d but it is so cl r bou nos et m uta m ur o ne can fa ncy the schoolmasters a nd — schoolboys of to day still cocking a cri tical eye at changes t and t e a few ea e of cus om cos um , which in y rs will s em atte e m rs of cours . t a a a e at e e The s ranger who, to a p nor m of cel br ed sc n s t e e e et a nd flit ing befor his strained yes, pr fers s tling down photographing on memory characteristically charming a a e t t a ten a t l ndsc p s, could not do bet er h n set up his t the t t Comrie, where he may come in for exci emen n n of o ne of its slight earthqua kes . Amo g the ma y at e e t to excursions radi ing henc , he must not n glec follow n a e a t tim e I t t up the Ear to its parent l k . The l s ook his it i n t the a n e a t . lov ly w lk, was company wi h l e Dr A drew

the e a a e - n Melville, Clerk of Fre Church , n me w ll know a at a e a in Scotl nd as reviving th of his forbe rs, the R form

. a e e e at e tion champions He m d his summ r hom Comri , t t e which, hrough ano her sojourn r, the widow of Lord a e a had e to e the n Ch nc llor C irns, com be a r sort of E glish sect called Plymouth Brethren ; and I recall his telling a a t t t at n te me on our w lk how a p r y of sis ers of h ilk, i vi d at e e to be a l together to a house Comri , prov d h rd y on a a t t t n spe king terms f er a ren in his exclusive communio . It is no t only in Scotland that Seceders split up i nto Au ld h New . t a t e w a the Lichts and And in Sco l nd, by y, Wee Free Church that lately made such a profitable contention t he a t e e e to a n t a nt for f i h as once d liv r d C lvi is ic s i s, begins t fi s si aro u s t a ea t e to genera e a p fermen , having lr dy mu ini d a n w ho to t and t against the lay ch mpio led it vic ory boo y . t e t a At least sec s are few r in Sco l nd, which seldom 1 30 Strathearn

e t t its a t —m a e welcomes xo ic divini y, t s e being for home d a t has an a a t dissensions . A loc l wri er musing ccoun of a t CrieE a Plymou h Brother , at , ro ring down a Mormon missionary who promised mounts and marvels across the Atlantic ; but the contest did no t tend to conversion or

edifi catio n . Our way u p the Earn has led us by several eddies and backwaters of Scottish Protestantism ; but now we pass into the shadow of the hills wh ere the cross itself was a e t dipped in fire and blood . When I w lk d up o Loch t a dl the Earn wi h th t kin y kinsman of mine, railway did no t n a s go beyo d Comrie , it does now, under outlying a Vo irlich d e m sses of Ben , where wooded knolls hud l below slopes of turf and rock a nd fern dappled by patches e e a the of brown or purple heather . We are h r f irly in ’

h a and . illan s Hig l nds from St F Hill, shooting up over e t e t a e the riv r, we look down upon a ru cen r l P rthshire prospect of a long lake stretching below high mountains bu t a o n e else, as a dis ppointed Cockney complained, ’ can t see the view for the hills . a The smart village of St . Fillans , spre ding out along the villak ins a n loch foot in of rustic ting tow sfolk, is a et e bu t m a had a m modern s tl ment, it y have ncient emories e t a to forget, for her , or hereabouts, s ood Dundurn, c pital a a e F o rtrenn e to a of the Pictish l nd c ll d , which se ms h ve

a e in a t a and the t k n Angus, long wi h Str thearn lower T a n w as basin of the ay. The isl nd in the foregrou d in a e t e a a a e w ho l t r im s l ir of gang of robbers n m d Neish , in a n ill turn for themselves undertook to rob a servant of

the M acnabs n t e a CrieE. , bri ging h ir Christmas f re from The M acnab of that day had a round dozen of Samson 1 3 1 The Heart of Scotlan d

e at a n a l lik sons, to whom , their bare bo rd, he sig ific nt y “ the t e a bu t the spoke The night is nigh , w re the l ds n t e s et a t lads On this hi t the w lve out, dr gged a boa a a the cross from Loch Tay to Loch E rn, surprised Neis hes a a n d o ne revelling at de d of night, slew all but a a to O youth who m n ged slip E. Next morning they ’ greeted their father with the outlaws gory heads and the “ a w ere " t a n boast, The l ds the lads Ano her ccou t a n makes them excl im on this occasio , Dread nought ’ M ac nabs which has remained the motto . It is nearly sixty years ago that I spent a summer at

as et dl . St . Fillans, y har y known to the outside world At times that sojourn comes back to me as a dream of childish delight but I w as too young to gather a faggot of impressions that would serve when

As e the en w a e l ss old glo bid s, And e the er ea rt a re l ss chilli h spi s, Wi th drift - wood beached i n p ast sp ri ng t ides We r n fi r light o u sulle es . Perhaps the most prosaic English urchin stores up as “ ” a the n e w rm memories of days in dista ce enchant d, spent on the fattest claylands or the smoothest fen . Any ’ a a - e a how, one s he rt goes out to the b re h aded and b re “ ” e and kneed youngst rs, hardy, bold, wild, who from the train are seen taking all chances of weather with e a frolic and gle on the banks of Loch E rn, heedless of “ ” “ the cloud of Rudiments and Delectus that will loom back upo n them with the shortening autumn days . Even less to be envied passengers have a good t e glimpse of this lake, as upon a shelf above the nor h rn ar side they e whisked along a fine panorama, with Ben 1 3 2

THE MACGREGORS

What p erils do e nvi ron Th e m an t hat m eddles wi th cold i ron

in the shape of a pen And surely the rash a dven turer lays himself open to special risks when he u ndertakes to t l e t r to touch such a hist y subj ct as Scottish his o y, not t It e a n ff e men ion theology . se ms that I h ve give o nce t a t a fi nd t ff to cer ain p r is ns, who heir sympathies ru led by at ha t be a a wh d o s id in my former volumes . I am ccused a t e e the a t — a n t at of w n of r verenc for S bba h idol h , even the t n a a to a t e in cold Nor h, is weari g w y s ump lik snow a an a a n I am wre ths in thaw . By organ of th t persu sio e a a e n t r buked, more in sorrow th n in ng r, for e mi y to the e e n t n Fr e Church , my only expr ssio of such enmi y bei g a statement th at the said worshipful body has s et its face a t an n and n the a an d a n t ag ins d ci g pipi g in Highl nds, hi that it must be heartily ashamed of the w ay it treated one n B t the t of its worthiest so s in our generation . u hot est “ of my ecclesiastical assailan ts is a Priest of the Church ” n a t to a an t of E gl nd, who wri es me from Midl d coun y, ” t n the an at charac erisi g my book on Highl ds as nause ing, 1 34 The Ma cgregors

” “ n e e a . no t e u g n rous, brut l, and so forth I will giv a t no t far his n me, for I guess this pries so out of deaconship as to be beyond a chance of learning better n a language in a less perfervid cou try . He ppears to be a a a a t n a e e Highl nder of C tholic loy l y, si ce he t k s alik ill a ny aspersion on the fair fame of Glengarry or of Argyll a a at a a but mid much busing l rge, he waxes speci lly “ indignan t that I have not been silent on the late r n failings of the poor you g Pretender . Did I not say in advance that there are three subjects on which the hardest- headed Scot listens willingly to sentiment rather a a " t th n re son One of hem, of course, is gallant Prince Charlie then I m ay be thankful to have passed over all a a a a t sc nd l bout Queen M ry, as to have touched ligh ly e and a e on the lat r, e rli r, failings of Robert Burns . If there were as many revilers in the Midlands as

are t e . there sla es on Auld R ekie, I can do no other I w as a t n a t t pprenticed to fic io , which is school of ru h in c r1t1 s dealing with human nature . Let my c write books t e o w n n the a as a of h ir , setti g forth f cts they would h ve t e ha a them . Let hem declar that C rles Edw rd ended his

a a s e a a d ys a worthy citizen of Rome, a mod l husb nd,

e o f n an o ffi ce- ea dilig nt student Anglica divinity, and b rer a t of its Diocesan Temper nce Socie y . Let them a ssert that Free Church pastors have exhorte d youths and maidens to skip upon the Highland hills like young Let t a the a a ra ms . hem maint in that Jewish S bb th has s emp er et u higue been a characteristic observan ce of the a at e Christi n Church, and th this doctrine flourish s as

as a a a . o ne much ever in its l st s nctu ry I, for , do not t a t a t love Sco l nd, or its idols, be ter th n the tru h and in I 3S The Heart of Scotland such a cause can play the advocate without suppressing or n the e a glossi g over evidence . Ther is quotation with

a e a a which Pri st of the Church of Engl nd must be famili r, a a t —Ha nd ta li a uxili o as much ired clerical Congresses , nec defensori hus isti s

a a n m e Of all the ch rges m de agai st , the one by which I am most concerned is a reproach that I have spoken lightly of serious matters concerning the Clan

a . the t a M cgregor Miss Murray Macgregor, his ori n of n t at her race, writes courteously but firmly to remo s r e with me on apparent libels against it in The Hig hla nds

a nd Isla nds . o Eence e My most crying here, it se ms, is a o Eend a a one th t would only a Highl nder . In my h ste ” the e new - a I spoke of modern Macgr gors as m de, when the law finally allowed them to wear their own t e a ea patronymic, and I called heir chi f Murr y, wher s I ought to have precisely defined him as for certain n the a reasons beari g name of Murray . Miss Murr y M acgregor must accept my apologies for having heed lessly omitted to style her grandfather Sir John

a . t nt to Macgregor Murr y In his co ention, she seems be unwittingly revivi ng old Nominalist and Realist M ac re o rism controversies , for her part holding g g to be n n n a pri ciple with a real existence apart from its phe ome a, whereas I u se the name merely a s a notion that casually

t a . hereb I a di s labels cer ain sons of Ad m But y rec nt,

and a avow, seek bsolution for any words of mine seeming to imply that a Murray a nd a M acgregor be not distinct

in rerunz na tura i n sa ecula sa eculorum . entities , and Another offence against the Macgregors laid to my

e - charge is one in which I hav many fellow sinners . In 1 36

The H eart of Scotla nd — Highlanders of those misty legends no t to speak of Lowlanders - appear to have been a fierce and bloody —a t h t e . F minded brood lways excep ing members of U . — Church and none of us can uphold our kin as any better t e . a e ea han their f llows Having thus, I hope, m d p ce

t am ee to a wi h the sons of Gregor, I fr turn dirk nd a t e t a claymore ag ins the Menzi s his ori n who , before a t has n o t th he ven and ear h, scrupled to guess at e M o ncrieEs a s n a a origi ally v ss ls or dependents of his clan , as to which I will only call back ho w a curse has been laid t a a t upon it, h t no Sassen ch can pronounce its uncou h a a n me right . ’ ne n I e a to the Ho stly, I don t thi k hav been unf ir a e w ho a a to t M cgr gors, m n ged earn among heir neighbours an - a e t ill f me, which they have red emed by indomi able B n loyalty to th eir name . u t for a y slip of respect towards a can t a a e t its t this cl n, one bes m ke m nds by elling s ory at t t the a M ac more leng h, wi h help of Miss Murr y ’ ’ gregor s goodly quartos a nd other m ernoi res p ou r servi r th a the e e a a that are not much in e w y of g n r l re der . Such a story may need a good deal of boili ng down to make ’

t t t a ta te . At the e t it porridge for ha has y re der s s b s , must be a story to o much coloured by the vivid red and black chequers of the clan tartan and if a ny M acgregor a at t a e t e e t at look d rk wha I h v to ell , let me r p a wh I e t at t na e ee a said in the form r sketch, h his m s ms to h ve bee n more unlucky but not more guilty than others that e a t at wea r their stai n s and glori s in less s riking p tern . a t to at t e o w e t The great u hor, whose symp hy h y mos e a t e t e tat t renown , go s lit l far h r in commen ing on heir history The tricks of a bear that is consta ntly 1 38 The Ma cgregors baited can neither be expected to be innocent nor ” entertaining . It has been already pointed out in Bonnie S cotla nd how this clan clearly stood as models for the Vich Alpines ’ be of Scott s L a dy of the L a ke. They claim to sons of a s Giri Alpin, descended from King g , Gregor, or Gregory, M acAl in the heir of Kenneth p , though his sonship seems e e a disputed point . At a very early p riod is found wid ly settled in the heart of Scotland a race claiming to be t a united by royal blood, their tradi ion l descent not at ’

a . first stereotyped in n me As yet, the Highlanders ’ surnames sat as loosely as their garmen ts " a man s Christian name was supplemented rather by the name a of his father, or by some agname t ken from personal a a appearance or position . This cl n shot out br nches a n the that might come to be known by other p tro ymics, M acnabs , sons of the Abbot the Grants, said to be “ ra und t descended from one Gregor g , tha is the ill a e n a f voured the Gri rso s, whose n me suggests such e e a a desc nt and the same origin is ascrib d to the M ck ys, M ac k inno ns t e a a the , and o hers, who may p rh ps cl im for e e t e a th mselv s some s ill blu r blood of Ad m . Of course there would be a good - deal of miscegenation through the accidents of love and w ar ; a sm all broken stock might a e t be dopted into a more pow rful one, with or wi hout e a change of name, and a Highland h iress might bring for her dowry not only cows but a tail of kinsmen to be ’ adopted into her husband s clan ; then even mere Low an t e l ders have no doub b en absorbed as captives, run a a a a ways, or m sters of useful rts . The Comanche Indi ns, it t is said, have as much adulterated whi e as red blood in I 39 The H eart of Scotlan d them the Creeks and Seminoles were recruited by negro slaves and the Tuscaroras were admitted bodily into the a an a a as i n Iroq uois Le gue . A Highl d cl n of old d ys w u t te as a a te m ch the same social s a Red Indi n tribe . Of n also a family interlaced itself with congenial n eighbours by the e a t - to u xch nge of fos er children, be bro ght up in bonds a th t were sometim es drawn as close as those of blood . As the Hurons in Ontario and the Iroquois in New a t to a e York, the m in s ock of this clan seem h ve be n origi nally most at home in what came to be known a s the a e r — n Glen do chart and M cgr gor count y Gle orchy, —o n the t e t e a Glenlyon wes ern side of P r hshir . E rly in the t its w as a twelfth cen ury, chief M lcolm of Glenorchy, renowned for such strength of body as then made the e a it t t sur st title to rank and f me . Of him is old hat ’ n the w as a a t e whe king s life in d nger from a bo r, or o h r a t an s vage beast, the dough y chief plucked up oak by the roots and with this gigantic cl u b m a de mi n cem eat the e a the t n n n of monst r . As rew rd, gra eful ki g e obled

e n as n a a n o ak - t e his preserv r, givi g him cog is nce r e e a the an e radic te, now displayed by cl , whose older embl m ’ ea a a - ee an l n e app rs to h ve been pine tr , Cl A pi e s pin in ”

a . a b nner brave This chief m rried a lady of royal blood, “ ” an d w as n as t e e k own Lord of the Cas l s, by r ason of several strongholds said to h ave been built by him from Kilchu rn to Taymouth bu t h ere tradition m ay be co n fusing him with a supplantin g Campbell who had the same renown . In the next century another M acgrego r figures among the a n e n n p rtisa s of Bruce, deliv ri g him from his e emy, in a t n Lorn, harbouring him a c ve, figh i g by his side at 1 40

The Heart of Scotlan d

fi tfu ll but y, by waves that sometimes flowed in a spate a a n of aggression , then g i ebbed before some outbreak of a determined resist nce . The process may have been some “ ” what like what went o n in Australia when selectors “ ” ’ were empowered to pick the eyes of a squatter s

the holding, here and there putting him to ransom in

a . n a the n me of law Like He gist and Hors , intruders might make good their settlement by taking sides in the n n the local feuds, or by ha dli g arrows of Cupid as well a a l as the sword of M rs . The C mpbe ls were noted for ’ being as ready with kisses for their fo em en s daughters a as with cold steel for th eir sons . The M cgregors made n e crea hs a the allia c s as well as g mong newcomers . Some of th eir hacked and stripped branches shot out to ta ke t i n t n t a t a e at n t e the roo dis a qu r ers, perh ps r pe i g her violence that had driven them from their own a ncient

e . e the a at s ats Und r J mes kings, such branches appear Braemar and the Gordon country ; and there are hin ts of a M acgregor leader playing Roderick Dhu as far south as the an English border, in comp y with his supposed th La B e . u t cousins, Griersons of g the main stock a n a te e a eat fr rem i ed sc t red over th ir n tive h h, om which a t e w as n t u t a remn nt of h m ever horo ghly ex irpated . a t a a Their headqu rters shif ed to be bout B lquhidder, a n to the at knot of wild gle s north of Loch K rine, where a al the udera ch w as al the la stone c led p a p ladium of c n, the lifting of which made a test of strength for young and e na to t men, it gav a by me the Macgregors of tha ’ t as the a Inchcailliach branch . As far sou h Nun s Isl nd, ,

had n - a a nd on Loch Lomond, they a buryi g pl ce ; their strongholds reached as far north as Loch Rannoch, 1 42 The Macgregors where the chartered Menzies had more difli cu lty in t t t a had l a e ous ing hem h n the Campbel s in Bre dalban , who there are well described as ploughing through the centre of the M acgregor country .

- t Of On this much dispu ed ground, the sons Alpin e e e e wer in touch with many n ighbours, mor or l ss hostile, their relation s with whom are darkly commemorated in t e a a e a nd t a such traditional ales of bloodsh d, r v g , re chery ta a a as too much s in the r gs of Highl nd history . Some of these tales we have already come upon in passing

al a . t a through Bread b ne For a ime, the M cgregors seem a a the to have sh red Balquhidder with other clans, not bly

M aclarens e a a the , an old r stock of occup nts, who cl imed to a right of being first enter the p rish church . This right of precedence is said to have been given up in return for the help of the M acgregors in a hot combat a e a the with neighbour clan, that still dark ns pool of “ Leny as Linn of the dead but afterwards the pre e a a the t nsion, ag in raised, led to a fr y in very church ,

en the a a . wh priest, a M cl ren, was killed In the end the

te e Macgregors evic d their rivals, who mainly took r fuge ’ a mong the Appin Stewarts ; yet so late as Rob Roy s t e a a e a t a e im , we sh ll see a Macl r n f ll vic im at B lquhidd r

at ho w ate to th ancient feud, to show inveter ly those a the e e as cl nsmen clung to soil bes t by enemies, as w ll to e a t e e hereditary hatr ds rooted mong h m for centuri s .

n a a Amo g so m ny memories of hate, one tr dition stands in relief as illustrating the guest- right owne d by ’ a a e th Roderick Dhu . In a casu l qu rr l e M acgregor s son had n a a a t fled bee sl in by young L mon , who hotly chased t a at hrough the night, and by d wn sought refuge a house 1 43 The H eart of Scotlan d

h h he knew not as t e home of his victim . To t e chief he n a had an na e m an and w as co fessed th t he slain un m d , ee taken into sanctuary . Quick on his h ls came the e n e t a e pursuers, th ir ews filling the hous wi h cries of r g n e h and woe . But the weepi g fath r would not let t e ’ Eer a H e a e t guest su h rm has M cgr gor s word . Wi h a n armed band he even escorted the slayer of his son to and t e a the Inveraray, her took le ve of him with warning can w ill t t o u t No longer I , or I , pro ec you keep of e i the way of my clan . As edifying sequ l t is stated that when M acgregor came to be proscribed and hunted for the m an his life, he in turn found asylum with whose life a a t e he had saved . In Sp in, the s me al is told of Moorish t a i a and Chris i n foemen, as no doubt sim l r stories came

n a a - fir to be passed rou d Ar b c mp es . n e e a at This i cid nt, ind ed, belongs to l er period of t at the t the clan history, which we ake up ime when Macgregors are seen forced apart i nto tw o main bodies in t t t e the nor h and south of wes ern Per hshire, whil not h n a entirely uprooted from t e ce tral glens . Under J mes a as e III ., chief known Gregor Mhor flourished so w ll as to a t t its recover p r of the clan terri ory from oppressors, n and to raise its head i the world . A younger son of a e the a a n and his, Duncan, surn m d Hero, lso g ined renow such social a dvantage as went with a Campbell bride ; bu t he fatally fell out with the head of the Breadalban e t n o ne e t e family . More ha chi f of this period migh hav ’ We a o r answered to Roderick Dhu s reputation . re d a e t to James IV . m king a hunting exp di ion Balquhidder and on an other occasion it is said that this king rode alone from Stirling to Perth by the wild borders he 1 44

LOCH ACH RAY

The Heart of Scotlan d

“ n the law eighbours . To be at odds with is in itself de moralising and the harassed clan grew but more reck less and insolent in the persecutions brought on them by t e te o Eences e t h ir repea d . All through the sixteenth c n ury they appear drawing towards that doom that left them a and e l ndless namel ss . The troubles of the Reformation relaxed the process o f turning a proud clan into broken men ; and Queen Mary seems to have had a soft place in her heart for the — a e . Bu t a I much bus d Macgregors when J mes V . got e a e e w ll settled upon his une sy thron , his horror of violenc dictated a policy of repression which w as steadily carri ed “ o u t the a n . 1 8 6 tt in latter h lf of his reig In 5 , le ers of horni ng were recorded at Perth against over a hundred a a n t te t the M cgregors d their abe ters . Soon af r his even feelings of a callous generation were shocked by one deed e the a a a t charg d upon M cgregors, the barb rous sl ugh er of —E rno ch an t at John Drummond , a descend t of h fugitive to Ireland who figured in the burning of M o nz ievaird ’ m an the t kirk . This , employed as king s fores er in

w as the a e Glenartney, procuring venison for m rriag a and an festivities of J mes his Danish bride, when a b d of

a as e at tt the in tro du c outl ws fell upon him , r l ed by Sco in “ t tion to the L eg end of M on rose. They surpris ed and s n - E rno ch OE a a nd lew Drummo d , cut his he d, carried i t t e a e o ne t t . wi h h m, wr pt in the corn r of of heir plaids I n t e at the n the full exultation of ve geance, h y stopped Ardvo irlich and e nt house of demand d refreshme , which a t e —E rno ch the l dy, a sis er of the murd red Drummond a a li (her husb nd being bsent) , was afraid or unwil ng to a refuse . She caused bread and cheese to be pl ced before 1 46 The Macgregors

and e a t them, gav directions for more subst n ial refresh a e w as a t m ents to be prep red . Whil she bsent with his

ta e the a a an a o f hospi bl intention, b rb ri s pl ced the head t the a the u her bro her on t ble, filling mo th with bread a nd eat a cheese, and bidding him , for m ny a merry meal The a ea . he had ten in that house poor wom n returning, e e e and and b holding this dr adful sight, shri ked aloud, the e as e fled into woods, wher , describ d in the romance, ” she roamed a raving maniac . It is but natural that Miss Murray Macgregor would fain believe this crime to have been perpetrated by m en ” a a a the of another name . She brings forw rd tr dition in

a eal M ac lans a cl n that it was r ly the work of of Glencoe, name which has lived in the breath of historic sympathy . n are had Two you g lads of this race, we told, been e as a fo r caught poaching in Glenartn y, punishment a which the forester clipped their e rs . Insulted kinsmen vowed revenge for tha t injury ; and " the picturesque circumstance is added that their first step was the em " t O ployment of a local wi ch , who threw such a spell ver Drummond that the M ac lans were invisible to him as a a e The a r they ppro ch d on their cruel errand . M cgrego ’ ef the a e w as chi s only part in m tter, we should beli ve, e e harbouring those Childr n of the Mist or, for som ea t a t t to r son or o her, it is dmi ted, he may be unders ood a a the t he h ve t ken responsibili y of t crime upon himself. What came to be believed at the time w as that the ’ — murderers carried Drummond s head his ha nd in another t — the w ho a e s ory to Macgregor chief, , ss mbling his clan the a e t e la s at church of B lquhidder, mad h m y their hand e e upon the gory trophy, and sw ar to d fend the authors 1 47 The Heart of Scotlan d

n t of the deed, as done by their commo determina ion . ’ a n te Sir Alex nder Boswell, son of Joh son s acoly , has told ’ the Cla n Al ine s Vow a a an story in p , poem that re ds like ’ attempt to catch the wind of the L a dy of the L a ke s popularity . a e t th a t The Privy Council m d no doub of e re l culpri s . a n n a a t the e a e Procl matio we t forth g ins wick d Cl n Gr gor, t n a a t reifts con i uing in blood, sl ughters, hership, m nifes ’ a nd sto rths committed upon His Highness peaceable and ” n w as e a good subjects . A Commissio issu d to sever l t e noblemen and gen lemen, empowering th m for three years to hunt down the Ma cgregor chief a nd a long list n of his followers as specified by name . One accou t tells of thirty- seven M acgregors slain by a party which the ’ murdered man s brother had raised under this commission ; another makes seventeen of the clan hanged upon o ne n to tree at Balquhidder, as a round doze are said have t a t been at the end of Loch Earn . Agains these st temen s their faithful historian can bring no more satisfactory dis proof than deposition s of old men in the early part of

a t w ho had the t a a e l s century, s ory in a form more f vour bl to e and t t n at the Macgr gors , hough it u likely th such wholesale executions could have taken place without

figuring in their traditions . Miss Murray M acgregor

a a ho w e t e m kes stronger point by showing , wh n li tl t a a e and more h n a year had p ssed, her ancestor the chi f his followers were formally pardoned for whatever share ’ ha It they may have d in Drummond s murder. was a s e n t t the not alw y conv nie , indeed, to hold on foo ’ e the e e volunte r police of bord r lin , where the King s deputies often proved apter to look to the grindi ng 1 48

The H eart of Scotland

Co u ncil of having with his own hand murdered without pity the numb er of forty poor persons w ho were naked ” a nd u a a t without armo r, prob bly those schol rs or o her sightseers w ho had come out from Dumbarton to see the at e a nd the a e b tl , whom M cgr gor annals represent the ’ chief as placing in a church out of harm s way ; he is also said to have expressed the utmost horror at their ’

a t . e a unh ppy fa e Furth rmore, the M cgregors plea e n the n includes a charg , fou ded on dying declaratio of t e t a had a heir resentful chi f, h t sly Argyll a h nd in the e ua w ho e e the whol q rrel, , while prof ssing to ke p peace of the w as a ett tw o t Highlands, not bove secretly s ing hos ile clan s by the ears that they might destroy o ne another like e at t e a t Kilk nny cats, the same im , perh ps, hrowing into relief the need for the services of a powerful lord - lieutenant the n sa on Highla d border . For myself, I will only y tha t in the whole aEair there appears no evidence to call a blush to the chec k of modern Macgregors a nd that I regret having hurt any clan feeli ng by my slight accoun t ’ The o l u h u ns t e of this battle long ago . C q o s ory has b en set forth by Sir William Fraser ; and th at clan counts among its daughters a distinguished author who might a a a the t a dr w the pen g inst Macgregor his ori n, if so the a Of to — t disposed . As for Argyll f mily day, hey are

a ea n the n all uthors, so I l ve it to them to co trovert ma y hard things that have been said against their forbears . Glenfi nlas Glenfru in w and , in one or both of hich e w e a fights Dumbarton citiz ns re involved, r ised such a

e n a n nois in the Lowla ds th t, for the moment, anythi g ’ a e a t would be b elieved against the Macgregors . J m s s p r ing legacy to them w as a persecution that aimed at exter 1 5 9 The Ma cgregors

“ m inatin a a e t g the viperous cl n, as a C mpb ll styles hem e w as in a letter to the king . Their very nam pro i hib ted. They were forbidden to carry any arms but a n a e t a pointless knife for e ati g their victu ls . Not mor h n four of them might be snEered to show themselves

et o Eenders o Eered tog her. Other were pardon on con t n a ea di io of quelling M cgregors, whose h ds, in one ’

ta t a e . t ins nce at leas , were put to price like wolv s Wi hin te Glenfru in t t a year af r , more han hirty of them had e The w as a been executed at Stirling alon . chief h nged a t Edinburgh after one dari ng escape from treacherous he a e w ho arrest, had f ll n into the hands of Argyll, is s a to n aid to h ve promised to send him E gland, a promise the e the kept to lett r by taking the captive over Border, t but at once bringing him back to his doom . Hos ile c to the lans were set hunt down sons of Alpin, as Uncle has e e t a Sam employ d Cheyenn scou s gainst the Sioux . n a a e e As with ru aw y sl v s, bloodhounds wer employed in the chase of the proscribed rebels, some of whom took

an a e the e refuge on island of Loch K trin , no doubt sam L a d o the L ake a as figures in the y f . Severe pen lties were ” a a e t t a and denounced g inst res t ers of those ou l ws, all holding friendly interco u rse with them . They did not at a s as want for symp hisers well persecutors . It had to be expressly forbidden to ferry any of the fugitives across e the lochs to the south of their country, wher they might t else seek refuge in the wilds of Dumbar on and Argyll . Under this proscription the Macgregors became broken “ ” . a e a men B nds of them , wolves and thiev s, w ndered e t a a nd h re and here on d rk errands of violence vengeance . m But many let themselves be crushed into sub ission, 1 5 1 The Heart of Scotland

“ a a ch nged their names, found c ution for quiet be e t e haviour, or put thems lves under protection of o h r e at the a n lords and chi fs . The ruined st e of cl n is show , a Glen fru in a ten years fter , by the Laird of Lawers h ving “ t e e on his hands hr e or four score Macgr gor bairns, t e a a t a he t h ir f thers sl in or ou l wed, as to whom was urgen wi th the authorities that other landlords should at least t the e a e a contribu e to xpense of such troubl some ch rge, n t not te of them above the age of five . Wha to do with as a ffi s this nursery w question of some di culty . It w a

e t a at proposed to appr n ice them in the Lowl nds, like th uncongenial pupil of Simon Glover ; also to distribute them a mong fa milies who should be answerable for their An n a as safe keeping . y child ve turing to run aw y w a to and and be li ble be scourged burned on the cheek, to e a n b u t hang d if he tried it gai over the age of fourteen , fi a youth risked hanging for the rst attempt . Even in a e t e a f ce of such p nal i s, Macgregor b irns must have been ha rd to hold or to bind on their native heath and it is a e likely th t some of them gave their keep rs the slip . A ’ few a te a t i n n a ye rs la r, His M jes y s Council E gl nd were a e a e w ho a t n m d ware of embolden d outlaws, , f er lurki g a a en and a e quietly for time, had ag in brok loose, h v associated unto them a number of the young brood o f w ho are n o w a nd t e that clan risen up , with h m they go t and a t a t the t t in roops comp nies a hw r coun ry, armed wi h darlo chs t a nd t e a bows, , hackbuts, pis ols, o h r rmour, com ’ mitti ng a number of inso lencies upon His M ajesty s good ” m a a te the subjects in all parts where they y be m s rs . As

a a - a a e a S har to day is h unted by veiled Tou reg cat r ns, even so w e can 1mag1ne ho w civilescent Murra ys a nd 1 5 2

The H eart of Scotland

t her cluding fif y Macgregors, to put down Irish rebels . Sundry members of the bellicose stock were let out of prison to make recruits for Gustavus Adolphus in a e Germany. The E rl of Moray enlist d thre e hundred Highlanders from M enteith and Balquhidder to overawe the Clan Chattan i n the north " these a uxiliaries are e a and e t believ d to h ve been Macgregors, they are r por ed a e t not to have t ken kindly to this polic service, so hat their employer dismissed them ; while anoth er story e makes some of them refuse to be dismissed, s ttling the e t had hl down on De side lands, whi her they been ras y iE called in as bail s . In their own fastnesses the Children of the Mist still t s et the e t held out stubbornly . When Mon rose h a her he a e a on fire was followed by p rt of the proscrib d cl n, coming boldly forth from the islands and the wild nooks in which they had take n sa nctuary and w e m ay b e sure a t their ta rtans were m de welcome for the nonce . Tha ’

a t e to a II. s bl ze extinguished, again h y rallied Ch rles s et a at n e standard up by Glenc irn Killi , which soon w nt down before Cromwell ’ s soldiery then when their Argyll ’ e e t e en mies w re out of favour, the King s gra itud for fruitless loyalty ava iled them in the repeal of the act of

t n . e e n o t proscrip io Their forf ited lands, how ver, were ’ as had t restored, Montrose promised in his mas er s name and for the most part they had to con tent themselves with becoming tenants or dependents of more thrivi ng names . a Here and there, indeed, we find M cgregors, helped a n OE th e by other lawless bands, m ki g bold to drive occupants of farms from which they had been themselves 1 54 The Ma cgregors evicted ; now and then emerges a record of the good ” a a the old rule, the simple pl n , le ding one of them to gallows but at this date their historian can also quote a e a numb r of marriage contr cts, wadsetts, sasines, bonds, — and such like deeds of Scots law going to show how the l at l c an, on its outskirts least, began more or less wil ingly to adapt itself to the conditions of modern life . In 1 6 1 t a e 9 , h t old nemy Colquhoun of Luss comes forward to testify to the La ird of M acgregor as a law- abiding e man , r gularly paying mail and duty, while other members of the cla n are still denounced as lawle ss t t a loons, who have lit le proper y or inherit nce to be a ” pledge for them .

A stumbling- block to those hereditary warriors in a their new course was the camp ign of Killiecrankie . the law had However much set against , the Macgregors always been ready to stand for the king when bloodshed

“ and plunder were in question and now a body of them, though not the chief, followed Dundee to his fatal e victory . This defiance of the Whig Governm nt, and e a a the general disturb d st te of the Highl nds, prompted a ’ renewal of the cla n s proscription . Perhaps at the instiga a e a a act tion of Bre dalban , the speci l pen l against it was — ’ ’ re enacted early in William s reign then the Macgregors 1 1 conduct in 1 7 5 and 745 did not invite its repeal . For nearly a century now it w as illegal to use the e t name of M acgregor . That had be n a ma ter of less importance whe n every Highlander was known as the son of his father and of his own deeds ; but now that even Macgregors had occasion to put their hands to documents and to be specified in records , it behoved them The Heart of Scotlan d to n a t answer to some conve ient surn me, while secre ly c herishing their own proscrib ed patronymic . Some dis

Gre o rs o n and h . guised it as Gregory, g , Grierson , so fort e e a Some, since b tt r might not be, took the n mes of neighbours or of the lords on whom they were now more n at a or less depe dent . Dr . Johnson understood th D vid l w as a t t Mal och, the poet, Macgregor by bir h, hat beggarly Scotchma n who soften ed his assumed name t to to Mallet for London ears . Mos of the clan seem t t a e have submi ted to adop ion as C mpb lls, Drummonds, a Grahams, and Murr ys, names borrowed from the ducal t l e n a n houses, hat, original y bes tti g the M cgregor cou try, r a had g adu lly squeezed themselves over it, where room was left by such encroachers as the Menzies and the a the C mpbells of Breadalbane . Near Trossachs country to t an d t as Rob Roy had do with both A holl Mon rose, a landlords and superiors but, when on his good beh viour, he chose to call himself Campbell as recognising Argyll

a a . w as for his speci l p tron A good deal later, it not uncommon to fi nd Perthshire men who knew themselves t as Macgregors, but passed before the world by o her a n mes . In the middle of last century, Professor Macdougall could tell ho w one of his Edinburgh t a e s udents g ve his name as Macgr gor, then being asked — —- - - - - C a m b e l l. to spell it, unconsciously did so as p ’ Rob Roy s life I propose to treat apart ; and then ’ something may be said Of his clan s part in the rising of 1 1 1 can t as a a 7 5 . In 745 also, it be aken m tter of course that the Macgregors did not hold aloof from such a a congenial ch nce of bestirring themselves, and in the ' dehdcle t to after Culloden, heir contingent was the last 1 56

The Heart of Scotland

du bbed them s lv s - a have then e e Mac lpine . Half a century a later, the n me of Macgregor was no longer in disgrace, its loyalty so well proved that the Government could be called on to redress what made now a mere sentimental grievance . a Po ais I Gregor M cgregor, Cacique of y , whom mentioned in Bonnie Sc o tla nd as no great credit to the b nam ed Bo ac clan, was grandson of Gregor, y y (the nom de uerre beautiful) , who under the g of Drummond

e . enlisted in the Black Watch, was presented to Georg II , won a commission, and came to be adjutant of the West

Middlesex Militia . He has the credit of drawing up a w as petition for the repeal of the laws against his clan, as granted in 1 7 74 by an act evoking warm profession s of gratitude and loyalty from the now fully pardoned the t Macgregors . At the end of century these sentimen s were made good by the raising of a Cla n Alpine regiment that, with a brother of its chief for colonel, fought abroad nfr as bravely as at Gle uin . The dynastic question had then been settled in a deed 800 a signed by over of the n me, recognising as their true prince one long fain to lurk under the disguise of a a M ac re o rshi I l Murr y, as to whose essential g g p al owed

- le t myself to speak so lightly . The chief thus e c ed as w as a representing the main line, son of Evan Murr y or e a Macgregor, who had been cont nt to end his d ys as lieutenant of invalids at Jersey, far from the ancestral Glenstray ; and the fortunes of the family seem to have been restored by that modern enterprise known as ” a shaking the pagoda tree . His grandd ughter duly informs me that high appointmen ts in India prevented 1 58 The Macgregors

e a the a Sir John Macgr gor Murr y, first b ronet, from fully a resuming his own patronymic, although he c me under obli gations to his clan that his only son should do so at his ” t n a death . So the las four generatio s of Red M cgregors have been free to look the whole world in the face with a lia s o r a lihi t ta s a out , and flaunt heir tar n up to the b nks a of Jordan, no man daring to make them fraid, an under taking that seems always to have been beyond the power of most men .

I S9 ROB ROY AND HIS SONS

TH E name of Macgregor now basks in all respectability and e and a r nown both at home far from its n tive heath . n t a A Buddhist mo k, of Bri ish origin, who l tely undertook to a a convert us Occidentals, dubbed himself M cgregor, ttl t a to name that has li e sugges ion of Nirvan , but seems a at accentuate postasy from the Shorter C echism . On the other hand Evangelical Christianity and philanthropy of no dreamy sort found a staunch upholder in a Rob Roy a a who a dl t b M cgregor of the last gener tion, p d ed hat y

t . t e t name into fresh no e At Sou h coast r sor s, a few years at a e e ago, a portly personage tr ct d much att ntion by going decked in Macgregor kilt or hose bu t scan dal gave him a a e t a and out mere Sassen ch , of quit undis inguished n me a had a fad prosaic occup tion, who the str nge of posing as a t and t a bel ted chief ain in his holidays, to intensify hat eEect n all ta donned the most flari g of tar ns, which Rob Roy must have been too ca nny to wear when his business a a brought him ne r excit ble bulls . John B u ll rather a a a the t admires the M cgregor t rt n, as mos easy to n t can recog ise . His sympa hies readily be called out for 1 60

S A O KA NE S ILV E R TR ND , L CH TRI

The Heart of Scotlan d mass of deficient and sometimes contradictory materials more easily handled by fiction than by history . Our cri ti cal generation has gleaned very little to round OE the presentment o f his hero by a romancer who in youth had opportunities to gather what passed for truth ’ a the n t bout sce es of Rob s exploi s . Scott had spoken to m en who knew the renowned te e r and t freeboo r, and could d scribe him as hai y s rong — al a a like a Highland bull not t l, but rem rk ble for the t and n t a bread h of his shoulders the le g h of his rms, so t w as hat he could untie his garters without stooping . It a e t a a the his red h ir or complexion , of cours , h t g ve him

l - a a n we l known byn me . He is supposed to h ve bee born ’ a II s e e a a e rly in Charles . r ign, a desc nd nt of Ci r Mhor, ” t — t a t the grea mouse coloured man, whom r di ion accused the a Glenfru in of murder of those schol rs at . He would ha rdly have been o u t of his teens when the Revolution gave him an opportunity of appre nticeship to scenes of

m a a at l an . violence . He y h ve fought Kil iecr kie His the en 1 6 1 first recorded exploit was Hership of Kipp in 9 , when he swooped down into the Lennox to carry OE n to t n an d a herd of cows belongi g Lord Livings o e, while w as e a e he about it plunder d the vill g of Kippen , whose inhabitants had presumed to oppose him with such clumsy a n weapons as they had t ha d .

The young leader of this raid was no homeless outlaw . a at e He had a f rm of his own Inv rsnaid on Loch Lomond, the accommodation of which he m ay no w and then have exchanged for what is shown on the lakeside as Rob ’ Ca to n Roy s ve, said have give shelter to Robert Bruce the also in his day. When country had settled down 1 62 Rob Roy an d his Son s a a fter the Revolution, Rob is he rd of as taking grazing a a and a t l nds in B lq uhidder, as cquiring further proper y or n at a a t holdi gs Cr ig Royston, f r her down Loch Lomond, ’ where again an arched cavern is called Rob Roy s ” “ ’ ” and are Prison, rival Rob Roy s Wells pointed out

- t in this tourist haunted vicinity . Now or af erwards he combined the apparently incongruous professio n s of — cattle robber and blackmailer or captain of a border “ 1 6 he a a a e e the Watch . In 95 ppe rs to h v fall n into a hands of the Philistines, for there is record of his being ordered for exile to Flanders but somehow he must have to the t escaped this sentence, perhaps owing protec ion of t the Duke of Montrose . It is of course possible tha he m ay here be confused with some other member of the

a the e . cl n, in which agnam Roy was not uncommon a To this noblem n, his neighbour on Loch Lomond, a at he for time tached himself, receiving not only pro tectio n but loans of money with which to carry on a t a business s a drover . Ano her way of telling it is th t the duke became practically a partner with his enter prising client . For now, putting his pride into his a a pocket, Rob took to dealing in c ttle at the Lowl nd t marke s, a trade, as Scott tells us, not altogether peaceful t in its inciden s .

The att e i w e e the sta e m m it o f the m o n c l , wh ch r pl co od y u ta ns e e es te n t o a rs o n the o ers o f the Lo a n s i , w r cor d dow f i , b rd wl d , a a t o f i an e s it t e a m s ratt n a o n t em by p r y H ghl d r , w h h ir r li g r u d h and ea t o eve in all no and o o a t it t ei who d l , h w r, ho ur g d f i h w h h r

So t ern st m e s . A a n ee o so m et m es a se u h cu o r fr y, i d d, w uld i ri , en the L an m en e B o e e s had to s the wh owl d , chi fly rd r r , who upply En s m a et se to t e o nnets in the ne t o and gli h rk , u d dip h ir b x bro k, 1 63 The H eart of Scotlan d

a n t em n t e an s O se t e e s to t he wr ppi g h rou d h ir h d , ppo h ir cudg l I n a e a s s i had n o t a a s t he s e t . k d bro d word , wh ch lw y up riori y a e ea o m a e e so ns w ho ha d een en a e in s h v h rd fr g d p r , b g g d uch aff ra s t at the an e s se rem a a a a ne e y , h Hi ghl d r u d rk bly f ir pl y, v r s n the o nt o f the s o r far ess t e ist s a e s so u i g p i w d, l h ir p ol or d gg r t at h t m an a t a and m an a an Wi h y hw ck , y b g , ar ra tree and r n ran H d c b cold i o g .

A s as t w o o r a o en ea w as eas a o m m o a te and as l h or br k h d ily cc d d, the t a e w as bene t to o t art es t n s m s es ere r d of fi b h p i , rifli g kir i h w n o t a o e to int r t its a m n ll w d er up h r o y .

The a rea of such operations was extended by the Un ion allowing Highland cattle to be driven over the Border ; and for a time our hero seems to have done a it ill profitable business . By and by, however, went in t are with him overs ocked markets . His losses also blamed on the ra scality of a partner who absco n ded in 1 1 2 n e had to the w a a 7 , whe Rob hims lf keep out of y of charge that he had treacherously m ade OE with money entrusted to him by several nobleman a nd gentlemen for a a at aff a buying cows . Such an emb rr ssed st e of his irs he faced by withdrawing himself deeper into the Highland The n a e t wilds . Duke of Mo trose pressed for p ym n of his adva nces ; then his agents are said to have insulted ’ e a n the Rob s wif , in distr ini g upon their home in ’ a e master s abse nce . This outr g is charged against ’ a a a a n Grah m of Kille rn, the Duke s Ch mberl in, upo whom Rob afterwards took stinted revenge by seizi ng him t n a a the e while collec ing re ts, l ying h nds on mon y, and carrying OE the m a n of business to an island on Loch a he w as e ea e K trine, from which , however, r l sed, robb d ’

t a a . but unharmed, af er few d ys imprisonment 1 64

The Heart of Scotlan d a t a the a no her br nch of M cgregors, distinguished himself more at this battle fought close to his home “ The attitude of sitti ng on the fence which Rob t a t kep in this J cobite rising, is though to have been e e t the ea the inspir d by his conn ction wi h Argyll, l der of a a H noverian party in Scotland . But he was ctive crea hs far as a a a a in enough on g , pushed as F lkl nd P l ce

. at ea Fife His own country, the outset, had been b ten ’ a a up by the enemy . The M cgregors first act of w r was to e the t s ize boa s on Loch Lomond . To recover them , a force of Dumbarton and Paisley volunteers with a band a a e na a of Colquhoun Highl nders m rch d to Invers id, w ked the mountain echoes wit h a great din of drumming and “ t a to a an d shoo ing, by which they bo sted h ve cowed ” t the a e t frigh ed away M cgr gors, whose cap ain, indeed, appears seldom forward to fight unless where something o t was to be g by it . It was about this time that Rob paid a visi t to M ar a a his Aberdeen, sent by , it is supposed, to r ise p rt of a t e t a e he an cl n se tl d in h t region . Her was guest of n imperfectly co genial kinsman , Dr . James Gregory, a M acgregor who had changed his name and his nature to n the t o ne Of become a professor of medici e at Universi y, ’ a li n e of men of science and healers who by Gregory s ” powder an d other remedi es did much to stanch their ’ —et at ala the a ncestors blood l ting . Th rming cousin from a t n o Eered to hills, in return for the hospit li y show him , ’ take to the Highlands o ne of the professor s son s with m an w as difli cu lt to the view of making a of him . It explain to him how this course Of education seemed no favour he is said to have threatened to carry OE the boy 1 66 Rob Roy and his Son s

the t by force from unwor hy fate of becoming a bookworm , a n d the father was fain to temporise with such pressing a t at o n kindness by a promise to talk of the m t er l er , when the end n e his son had grown stronger . In you g Gr gory was allowed to follow his destiny to medicine but Rob a ta w as did visit the f mily once more, when his s y cut he e t short by hearing t drums b a in the barracks . If ” a are n OE t the these l ds turni g out, I must be , quo h

t and a . prudent ou law, took sudden le ve of his host The story of his leaping the water at Culter and shaking his fist in the face of his pursuers seems to be a mere fancy ’

the a e it . piece, like st tue that commemorat s Rob Roy s authentic exploits were far from Deeside . the a e After dispersal of the J cobit army, Rob could a the not prevent his own country being r ided by soldiers . o ne Two houses of his were burned and plundered, of e a e e a them b fore the ngry y s of the outl w, who could only fire a few shots at the Swiss mercenaries brought from a It their own Alps to do such work in Highl nd glens . seems to have been at an earli er date that he seized the fort building at his Inversnaid home . About this time ’ th R ob fell some of e incidents used in Scott s Roy . The n a lurking hero became a prisoner to Mo trose, but esc ped tt by cu ing the girth of his horse, as told in this novel . Again he was captured by Atholl and sent to j ail at a e Logierait, but before he could be h nd d over to the ta e e t mili ry, he had giv n his ke pers the slip af er making them drunk with a q ua which now b egins to play a 1 potent part in Highland frays . For the moment these

1 The fi r t m entio n o f us ueba u h w hic h k no w i n E n i h bo o is o rd s q g I gl s ks, L ’ H t t m nt as to thi tro n Sc o tc h irit n r ervey s s a e e s s g sp bei g t ied as co rdial fo r 1 67 The Heart of Scotlan d n e hi m an te obl men were hunting in comp y, uni d by ea all t e a t the a j lousy of Argyll, hr e m de dukes abou s me t e th time . Wonderful s ori s are told of e pranks he a e w as as a to at as pl y d with soldiers , for whom he h rd c ch an eel a e . tan he or h dgehog At Tyndrum, for ins ce, is said to have j o ined a detachment in the disguise of a jovial

e a to a te t b gg r, who undertook betr y himself as Men i h t a e a a e the a t t be rayed W llac , but so m n g d m t er tha on e te t Ro b n ring the house where hey were to find Roy, the a e the ea redco ts found themselves seiz d in dark, ch file n e n set the n pi ion d and gagged in tur , to be free in mor ing

t a a t t a . wi h good breakf st, but withou heir rms

“ O ne slight glimpse of Rob we have a s enjoying h no t e a te SheriEm u ir imself at home v ry long f r . In

1 80 a a - Al a 4 there died gre t nephew of his , ex nder Graham, who believed himself to have reached the age of a a hundred and five . Before registration d ys, indeed, the years of those oldest inhabitants were apt to be loosely ’ calcula ted ; and perhaps this patriarch s recollection should e e a e the n te be dated a little lat r . He r l t d to mi is r of Aberfoyle how when about eighteen he tramped up to

Balquhidder on a visit to his granduncle, whose house w as e t a . On e e n ar the church of hat p rish the way, oppr ss d the at e e e and by heat, lad stopped to b h in v ry lake a n o stream . Having re ched Balquhidder, and doubt a t w as t ll e having found w rm hospi ality, he s i so fev rish that several times through the night he got up to cool

e . e t da as he e e hims lf in Loch Voil N x y, r m mbered, he felt too unwell to bear the merrimen t that w as going on

Hi hla nds a nd Isla nds w r i en r n f r in . In The e e ea o o the dying Q u een Caro l e g g v s s o ria a nti u it n th h h r ta king w hisky to be no t o f im m em l q y o e eat e . 1 68

The H eart of Scotland

’

a . R o bert Ca m hell a Mary s ch mpions It is signed p , where s i e e the a a h s n phew us d name of Gr h m . Rob would now be more free to settle down at a e ae Of till B lquhidder und r the gis those two dukes . S , e l there was on hand a f ud with Atho l, who once more a a a a a l id sn res for him, and g in he gave c ptivity the slip . It ha s been supposed that he spent the rest of his life t a n t a t t quietly, or withou more dve ture h n wen wi h his n a blackmailing e terprises . But Dr . Dor n unearth ed from an Old newspaper a statement that in 1 7 2 7 the redoubt t to t able Rob Roy was brough prisoner Newga e, and a e handcu Eed t sent to Gr v send, wi h Lord Ogilvie, in a convoy of prisoners for transportation to the West Indies ; then they came to be pardoned at the last “ an a th moment . F cy poor Rob pining mong e red Of a t e a t t shanks B rbados, hat had b en s dly s ocked wi h political exiles " His fame already reached as far a s the Hi hla nd Ro ue a e 1 2 London, for g g c m out in 7 3 . a at t to a ha George II . is s id his time h ve d the rebel brought to his notice as a fine specimen of a Highlander ; but here may be a confusion with the story of Gregor

Bo yac which I have already mentioned . Having made such a narrow escape from transporta t to a in a at tion, Rob wen home end his d ys comp r ive

a . a at n o t pe ce He turned Rom n C holic in his old age, having bee n hitherto much exercised by religious c o n e a t siderations . Wh n notorious judge of our ime a e the a n the a t astonished or mus d public by t ki g s me s ep, “ ” n an a to a ki sm of his rem rked me, Old Harry (his ’ “ lordship s nickna me in the family) likes th at sort of thing done for him This m ay have been th e case of 1 70 Rob Roy and his Son s

a the Red M acgregor . Yet Scott has a story to show n in a deeper strain of feeli g him . When tow rds the end e t t of his life he express d con ri ion for some acts in it, and e e a a t e his wif would hav l ughed way hose scrupl s , he t t t m e and rebuked her wi h, You have put s rife be ween the best men of the country ; and now you would put ” enmity be tween me and my God . The incident would ’ at least fit Scott s conception of the haughty virago w hom n e a a e he names Hele , whil her re l n m is given as Mary, and her character has been represented in another light . ’ a e As to Rob s religious impressions in e rli r days, an a e e t t a English tr v ll r, two genera ions af er his de th, reports , an a on the authority of unn med witness, a story of his at o u t t che ing a poor widow of her only cow, hen being a e moved by a sermon ag inst dishonesty to giv it back, promising the minister to amen d his ways of business . The Old Adam came out in Rob when in his last a a a te n ye rs he had qu rrel with the Appin S warts , a bra ch l fi nla w as of whom were his neighbours in G en s . This settled honourably by a little blood- letting in a broad Invernah le sword duel between him and Stewart of y , ’ whose adventures in the 45 were to give Scott more than

Wa verle - one hint for y . On his death bed , a visit being t a e e announced from one of hose heredit ry nemi s , the “ ” M aclarens , Throw my plaid round me, he desired, “ a and —it and bring me my cl ymore, dirk , pistols shall never be said that a foeman saw Rob Roy M acgregor defenceless and unarmed To this story is tacked on the somewhat hackneyed incident of a priest labouring to extract from the dying m an some expression Of he e n forgiveness , to which cons nted, with a plain hi t for 1 7 1 The H eart of Scotla nd

“ his so n standing by " I forgive my enemies ; bu t see to a s ee ho w you them, Rob . We sh ll presently young a Ca ledoni a n Robin c rried o u t su ch an i nj unctio n . The ’ M ercury announces the Highland partisan s death at 1 the end of 73 4 . e a e et e The r nown of this popul r h ro, even in his lif im , loomed o u t through a misty halo of such exploits as were t and t attribu ed to Robin Hood, such ricks as were more the t a t at a t in s yle of J ck Sheppard . Es im es of his char c er ’ range from Doran s contemptible rascal to the picture

e e an e of a nobl champion cherish d in Highl d m mories, ’ a and set forth most elaborately in Mr . A . H . Mill r s life Of n has te him . Eve his personal courage been doub d by

a an e a e s ee e c villing Lowl d rs, who find c us to in him mor

a a fi - d ta are e ate of a bully th n re eater an ins nces r l d—of his allowing himself to be crowed down for all his cock o f the- a a at and w lk irs . The belief th he spoiled the rich w as good to the poor goes far to account for his con t t n t ne emporary popularity . A cer ai humorous shif i ss went to carry OE his very dubious political conduct . t a t a a e to Wi h more cr f th n becomes h ro, there seems be

en en t t a no t en to n e t a g eral cons h t he was giv wa ton cru l y,

- e a it m a a nor over thirsty for revenge . P rh ps y be s id of “ as t al e s ed him of Brutus, nec bene feci , nec m e f cit, ” i nterfecit a e ate nt n a , judgm nt transl d i o A drew F ir ’ e a n at e service s hom ly l guage, and delic ely express d by some Highlander w ho called this chequered hero a m an

Of t t an t n . incoheren r sac io s But for good or evil, he bears in song and story the name of having been

A e e a t r e n h dg bou his f i ds , t e A heckl e o his fo s . 1 7 2

The Heart of Scotlan d

’

e he t . t the Fontenoy, wh re was aken prisoner Af er 4 5,

e a a nd 1 0 e a e he ventured hom to Scotl nd, in 7 5 b c m c a n oncerned in another outrage, th t seems as if throw B n he back into the Middle Ages . ei g now a widower, proposed a forcible marriage with a young widow named few n ul Jean Key, whose fortune of a hundred pou ds b ked n h a In large enough to bala ce t e risk of bduction . Older a e d ys it had been not so uncommon for a Highland r, a a t to a OE upon Sabine and s v ge preceden , c rry a bride whose heart might not refuse to follow the viole nt a e possession of her h nd, as in Red Indian story a whit squaw has been fou nd so strongly wedded to the Wigwa m that she would refuse to be rescued by her old kin . a at t Only gener ion earlier, the no orious Simon Fraser, had a e Lord Lovat, pl y d a prank of the same kind in high B life with peculia r brutality that yet gained its end . u t now the Macgregors committed themselves not only to a to n crime but a blunder, in forgetti g how times had changed . n a e The third brother, k own from his stature as J m s to the t a t Of Mhor, who seems have been mos c ive spirit the a the a . n f mily, was ringle der in this enterprise Robi , a n m a who went to the g llows for it, readi g a book, y have ’ been acquainted with Allan Ramsay s song

The w c an a e a nd the w c an re wido b k , wido b w, The c an a e and t h e c an sew widow sh p widow , And m ony braw thi ngs the widow c a n do T en a e at th e m a e h h v widow, y l ddi ’ Wi ra e at ta h er a t ear a nd ate cou g ck b i h ly l , To kiss her and cl ap h er ye m auna be bl ate ’ Sp ea k we e l and do b etter fo r that s the b est gate

To w i n a n m a e. you g widow, y l ddi 1 74 Rob Roy and his Son s

At the trial it came to be asserted rather than proved that Robin had begun with speaking and other approved and a a forms of courtship, th t he had been encour ged to t ’ hope for success wi h this widow of a few weeks standing . I te voies de fa i t n any case, he has ned to . She was living with her mother and other friends at Baldro n her house in the Stirlingshire parish of , when, 1 0 one December night of 7 5 , they found it beset by four e a in of the brothers and other conf der tes, who broke , a e a a terrified the inm t s with a displ y of we pons, and by threats of murder and burning forced the mother to bring ha her daughter out of a closet where she d hidden herself. a e a n Poor Je n, wooed in such rough styl , v i ly besought at least a few hours for consideration of the proposal thus ’ a pressed upon her . Dr gged from her mother s arms, she h and was t rown over a horse, tied painfully with ropes, E a and carried O in spite of her scre ms struggles . On t a heir way to Loch Lomond, distance of two or three ’ a the a at e a hours w lk, bductors stopped mor th n one e a house, and seem hardly to have car d to conce l their proceedings, but no one durst interfere with them . t e Professor William Richardson of Glasgow, h n a seven

—Old e t a year boy at the manse of Ab rfoyle, could af erw rds describe as a terrible dream their violent and noisy h entry into t e house . The Highlanders filled the little n kitche , brandishing their arms, demanding what they

e a e a pl ased, and receiving wh tever th y demanded . J mes

a em and m an Mhor, he s id, was a tall , st , soldierlike . Oi a Robin g looked more gentle ; d rk, but yet ruddy in —a — n a complexion good looking you g sav ge . Their victim was "so dishevelled in her dress, and forlorn in her I 755 The H eart of Scotlan d appearance and demeanour that he could hardly tell whether she w as alive or dead . ’ Scott s story is that at Rowardennan a priest was called in to perform a marriage ceremony in face of the ’ bride s protests and that she w as afterwards brought to the the afli rm ed church of Balquhidder, where husband a the m rriage while the wife kept terrified silence . She seems now to have been cowed into some sort of sub mission as it came out on the trial that she had seen the sheriE— t an d e OEer a ta substitu e, r fused his of ssis nce in a n It a a Old esc ping from her stra ge plight . is s id th t wome n were employed to admi n ister drugs to her by w ay of love philtre s ; and by threats and en treaties she w as made to sign papers declaring herself to h ave b een carried no w the —a o ff by her own consent . For high h nded ’ an a n a e e husb d found how he lived in ew g . The wif s at e a al the law e t eat rel iv s ppe ed to , undeterr d by hr s of vengeful feud in good old Highland fashion . Soldiers were sent to back up warrants and what made a more eEectu al in the e the u t hitch broth rs scheme, Co r of ’ e t the a e t teterrim a ca us a Session s ques rated wom n s prop r y, h of t e crime . When she had been carried about the Macgregor — r ee the and- count y for some w ks, to evade hue cry that now could be pushed into the Highlands in place Of the the ta nt in Fiery Cross, Glengyle chief in i erfered t n e t to let her favour . The bro hers co s n ed her go ’ a e and a M ho r s e she b ck to her fri nds, under J mes car a e n at t t t t e was t k n to Edi burgh, firs kep shu up h re a a a n t n t he s a prisoner . But g i the Cour of Sessio s retc d o u t its arm to place her in safety in the house of a 1 7 6

T H E CRAG S O F BEN V E N U E

The Heart of Scotlan d

o w n . w as and house The evidence contradictory, the v at the n erdict turned out r her vague, jury recognisi g the abduction but inclining to look o n the subsequent the proceedings as condon ed by co nsent . While Court s sat the eEect t e till discussing of his v rdict, James Mhor a a a e to m de a bold esc pe from Edinburgh C stl , which he had been transferred from the Tolbooth for greater

s . t te n ecurity Here his daugh er visi d him, smuggli g ’ i n a disguise turn ed to account as told in the S cot s M ag a z i ne of November 1 7 52 He d ressed him self in a n Old ta ttered big co a t pu t ov er his o w n t es an Old n t - c a an Old ea t e a n and Old clo h , igh p, l h r pro , d e and sto in s so as t o e so na te a o e W en irty sho s ck g p r c bbl r. h he w as t s e e his a te a m a se ant w ho assiste hu q uipp d, d ugh r, id rv d, a nd w ho w as the o n e so n in the ro m e e t t w o o f his ly p r o , xc p o n en s o e the o e fo r a n o ne his o y u g childr , c ld d c bbl r h vi g d w rk c a e ess a nd t is t s an a e v e as to be ea r l ly, h wi h uch udibl oic h rd by ’ t he sen t ne s t o t t he o o m o . A t se en O e i l wi h u r d or bou v clock, whil she w as s o n the eten e o e en e the o o m o o c ldi g, pr d d c bbl r op d r d r, a nd en t o u t it a ai o f s es in his an m tte n his w w h p r old ho h d, u ri g nt nt fo r t he a s sa e he had e e e He asse the disco e h r h u g r c iv d . p d ua s ns s e te but w as so o n m sse a nd a str t sea c g rd u u p c d, i d ic r h m a e in t he Cast e a nd a so in the C t the ates e e d l , l i y, g of which w r s t bu t all in va n . hu , i The same authority tells us how tw o subalterns

n the a t e a the comma ding gu rd hat night wer c shiered, ’ sergeant who had the k ey of the prisoner s room was the an and the t w as to reduced to r ks, por er whipped, t a th t t enforce grea er vigil nce for e fu ure . The s ory is ’ best known to our gen eration by its dubiou s hero s i va tes sa cer n . . n luck to get a R L Steve son . a e a J m s h ving made good his escape to France, his 1 78 Rob Roy an d his SOn s

brother Duncan w as tried and acquitted of the same a ea charge, finding jury r dy to believe it not proven a that he had intended to take p rt in a crime . Anothe r t a w a bro her, Ronald, man ged to keep out of the y. But in 1 7 53 Robin Oig himself w as at last brought a the a to justice . For him it was pleaded th t kidn pped ’ e woman s distress moved him to relenting, overborn

the - a t by harder he r ed masterfulness of his brother James . ’ at a s All th could be s id, however, did not save Robin

. t his neck He died wi h edifying firmness, confessing o Eence a , and attributing it to going stray from the a Roman Church, to which he now dhered. The body, OE a e at carried by friends to B lquhidd r, was met Of Linlithgow by a band Macgregors , who conveyed it onwards with the coronach and other signs of Highland mourning . James Mhor was mixed in other ugly aEairs that ’ n Kidna ed Ca triona bring him i to Stevenson s pp and , in t Al a the connec ion with an Breck Stew rt, suspected of murder o f a Campbell factor for which James Stewart appears to have been unjustly condemned by a Campbell ’ e jury . It is more than suspect d that Rob Roy s shifty son sought to make his peace with the Government by betraying Ala n Breck and by playing the spy on an a Jacobite exiles . In y case his char cter seems beyond whitewashing ; and we m ay pass over those Obscure n a to o a i trigues as t king us far from the he rt of Scotland . at a 1 e a e t at He died P ris, 7 54, in mis r ble pov r y, his de h bed redeemed from contempt by a touching message

- e as e to the fellow exil whom he owned chief, b gging the loan of bagpipes on which to comfort his last hours I 79 The Heart of Scotland b a t t a y some mel ncholy unes, that migh w ke memories

O f the loch and the heather . a at t a m an J mes Mhor, who leas fought like at

far . Prestonpans, died thus from his kin Rob Roy t to is unders ood be buried at the Kirkton of Balquhidder, hi e s a . grave m rked by a timeworn ston , sculptured in are e te s ome more hoary age . There tombs in b t r case n a scribed to his wife and to o e of his sons . Another a ncient slab is said to commemorate the first Christia n missionary of th ese glens that were so slowly lit by t he Of t at spirit the new faith, where the mos binding o h w as the a e a on dirk, yet man fear d to bre k vows made on the tomb of this shadowy St Angus . A more pretentious the M aclarens O e monument recalls , those ld r lords of ’ e a Ga e Roderick Dhu s country, wh re yet elic rhym a t at the bo s ed that the hills, the w ers and sons of he t l Alpin were t three oldest hings in A ban .

’ The stage o f such stirring lives has become a favouri te t n t te no t a e ourist sce e of Sco land, visi d only by b ili s from Saltm ark et t e a the , but by s ockbrok rs from C pel Court, a nd the n e tat w ho by bosses from U it d S es , have nothing to be afraid of but the chance of not finding room in the t a and a e a n o w r ins, coaches, pl ces of ntertainment th t open n a n an f up t his la d of lovely l kes a d streams . If y O Rob ’ ant a —da t e are to t Roy s descend s be live to y, h y like presen hotel bills in stead of sword points to the O sbaldisto nes a t n Of a nd Capt in Thorn ons of our gen eratio . Some them m ay be thanking Sassenach sportsmen for tips ; and e t e t t a the at m a som , wi h mor fideli y h n Dougal cr ur, y be n h trampi g t e streets of Glasgow as policemen . Times e a n OE a re inde d ch nged . We no lo ger carry our neigh 1 80

MENTEITH

TH ERE might no w be looked for a chapter on the Trossachs district tha t makes the most famous corner of Perthshire but indeed we have been in it for some time ’ w as e Of back . This the chief ar na Rob Roy s exploits . t n t At Inversnaid, where the s ones of the E glish for , Of finished in spite him, have gone to build farmhouses a and bothies, he had his early home . M ny a time he t t must have driven a herd, hones ly or o herwise come by,

a - nam - b over Ben Venue by the pass of Be l o .

’ Th e dell upon the m oun tai n s crest ’ Y w ne w a d lik e a gash o n arrior s b reas t .

The Goblin Cave here seems to have been made too ’ ’ t t Ridd s much of in Scot s imagina ion , like John Doone houses and the Water- slide on Exmoor bu t the whole — region is dotted with hiding holes that sometimes bear ’ ’

a . Rob s n me Ellen s Isle, that shrine of pilgrims, may as often have served him a refuge . Many a time must t t Of a he have ramped by his chain lovely l kes, in no more t who appreciative humour than a cer ain drover , being 1 82 M en teith admonished on his w ay back from Stirling market that in London he could have sold his bea sts for twelve pounds a a a head, sullenly replied th t if he could t ke Loch Lomond to an unmentionable region it would fetch a pound ” a to t . The gracious name of Loch Katrine is in some spell a ings degraded into Loch Cateran, as l ir of robbers but diEerent e a o ne d rivations h ve been suggested, for , a root n t Urrin en fou d in o her Highland names, , which d otes a t at Celtic hell . Tha was the n ive idea of a rough and bristly country through which cattle - driving made awkward t at work, wi h the owners of a stolen herd close the heels a of the spoilers . The Highl ndmen were slow to under t e t s and what strang rs could admire in this coun ry, visited by a a occ sion l pilgrims of the picturesque, even before f m a Scott gave it su ch a e that Dr . Gr ham can record how twenty - two carriages had stopped in one day at the chief a nd a a inn of Callander, how a London artist had ctu lly t a spent a whole win er working mong those wild mountains . — This minister of Aberfoyle wrote an early guide book, e ntitled Sketches of P erthshi re but he hardly gets the farther into Highlands than the southern edge, widely ’ a L a d o the L a ke s a dvertised by the y f popul rity, when Wa verle and R ob R o t y y were still in the womb of ime .

Cold- hearted Southrons m ay look with curious or

e a - a complimentary yes upon this h lf Highl nd region, which to its natives w as peopled not only with ca rnal but l e t with ghost y enemi s, albei of more romantic form and quickened by wa rmer fancy than in the ca se of those a la lan s exhaled from fl tter c y d . The most familiar spirits of the Highlands were the Men of Peace or Good 1 83 The Heart of Scotlan d

w ho ee People lived underground in gr n hillocks, which by spectacled archm o lo gists have been connected with the t a a e conical hu s of r c of pigmy aborigines, whose shy a nd a a prowlings in flesh blood c me to pass for f iry tales . The abductions and other tricks ascribed to them in later

a m a l a n a d ys y we l h ve been the doi gs of cater ns, walking

a t t . in the d rkness of supers i ion Like the Eumenides, a a e the Highl nd f iri s were to be spoken of by good names, in dread Of their turn for impish mischief. They had a favourite trick of carrying OE mortals to their underground al n a t dwellings, and held speci power over u b p ised children,

a an who must be guarded ag inst them night d day . Tra ditio ns a O of their pr nks are common all ver Scotland, from the leading cases of True Thomas the Rhymer and e t i n Tam Lin, whos body and soul s ood sore jeopardy a mong them . Onc e in ev ery seven years T e a the te n to e h y p y i d h ll , ’ ’ ’ And I m a r and f u fle so f i o sh, ’ ’ I tw be m fear ill ys el .

“ In Men teith the Men Of Peace seem to have ’ a been particularly active . One of Dr . Gr ham s prede

n t . t e c esso rs as mi is er of Aberfoyle, the Rev Rober Kirk , not only wrote a book testifying his belief in them so a w as to late as the Reform tion period, but understood t t be have fallen under their power . His ombs one may the t n t seen by church , but the s ory we that he lived on

a a n ineEec tual a a to in fairyland fter appe r nce a kinsman, who neglected to follow his instructions for disenchanting a a t l him . When the fairies could de l so m s erfu ly with h a r t e very minister, it may be supposed wh t their powe 1 84

The H eart Of Scotland

t w as e its parts his colour held unlucky, whil use in so many tartans m ay have led the wearers to mourn fifteen ”

- renewed in forty five .

Who m ay dare o n wold t o wear ’ The fai ri es fa tal green

the a w ho et t Among Gr hams, y have adop ed a chequer a nd w as of green blue, the former colour avoided,

n e o n a at at n si c Dundee had green co Killiecra kie, and as e a thus, the Highlanders whispered, made hims lf t rget h n th n ul et . t e e d e hl for a silver b l At other of Hig a ds, the Sinclairs have no t forgotten how in a green uniform a a they set out for the c rn ge of Flodden . The suit of Lincoln green worn by the Knight of S n owdon might be supposed to blame for the ill - luck of his chase ; but as matter of fact it is on record ho w King James got a suit n of tarta n made for his Highla d excursion s . An ugli er and more perilous brood of spiri ts were Urisks t the t ta t the who haun ed mis y moun ins, wi h Ben n e e a its Venue for their Brocke . Th n very l ke had kel ie t a in the a t the malignant p , h t Highlands usu lly akes

Of at - to form a w er bull, or horse, be avoided like any n loathly dragon . I have mentioned such a mo ster on the Tay and Loch Vennachar has its own legend Of the ho w o n its a a ea a s ame kind, b nks a horse pp red among

e all e tl band of childr n, so pretty, and to seeming so g n e,

e t nt it e a t e and tha t one of th m ven ured to mou , th n no h r eat a n o u t its a a another, the cr ure dr wi g b ck like telescope

e a t t e it till the whol l ughing par y were as rid , when t the a a n all the plunged in o w ter, c rrying dow but one

in t e to n t . who, such s ori s, is bound escape for telli g the ale 1 86 Men teith

a a a a nd I f ncy th t kelpies, b nshees, brownies, the like — uncanny creatures are no t so well known in Perthshire

- da a e Old to y as in the Western Highl nds but h re, too, a t m a a e ta folks, r ther han young ones, y go w rily by c r in a t spots after dark . In the middle of l st cen ury a young lad whom a German tourist took as guide from Calla nder w as a a ble to cheer the way by eerie stories, one of whisky smuggler accepting the invitation Of an unearthly a n a s spirit to dance with her for hour or so, it seemed, then on reaching home he found his wife turned grey

a nd . his young children grown up Even yet, upon the hl n m a a Hig and li e, you y find the Scottish ch racter not all ’ one grey shepherd s plaid of stem theology and hard headed shrewdness . a t w as a t e Ben Ledi, the s cred moun , an ncien sc ne ’ of pagan rites such as those which Roderick Dhu s weird t n a chaplain mi ngled wi h the ordi ances of Christi nity . a da at t a a I shall never forget y I spent its foo , th t bl ck e t t Tw lf h of August, hrough which a prolonged thunder t a e t a n e s orm r g d over Sco l nd, striki g down m mbers of an a m e more th one shooting p rty, on oors ov rcast by so awful darkness that Benj amin Frankli n himself might a o Eended H as have he rd the voice of mountain spirits . the reader ever come in for a thunderstorm in the High ’

a a . a t l nds " Here is the l te Mr . A . I Sh nd s accoun of such an experience as Often gives a certain zest of danger ’ to n t a S portsma s bea .

Yo u hear the m utteri ng gro wl Of di stan t thun der ; yo u see the storm - clouds gat herin g o m i n ou s ly o ver t he lowerin g head Of t he Bo a o f Ba en o r the So w o f At o " the sto m b sts r d och h l r ur , t he a n o m es o n in to ren ts an d e o re o u a e een e r i c d w r , , b f y h v b w ll 1 87 The Heart of Scotlan d

so a e to t he s n ea st ea m and t n n is in am n s ate . k d ki , ch r i y bur fo i g p

M an a to ent has to be easte a st - ee o r m a e s e y rr br d w i d p, yb hould r

- i e o e o u et in to a m ents at the s o o t n o e . h gh, b f r y g dry g r h i g l dg Still m o re perilo us it is if yo u are belated a nd wi thou t a kno w led eable e in the m ist t at en e o s o u i n its fleec s g g uid h v l p y y fold , e t e t i enin insens i nt a a e a n ess o m in i h r h ck g ibly o p lp bl d rk , or c g

n in a s t a a n s enness . C m in t a s dow ru h wi h pp lli g udd o g wi h ru h, I sa and I s ea o o I em em e o ne bri ht 'aft erno o n y, p k by b k . r b r g , ’ e o the Ta No t o n an A e eens ire m o o and en b l w p o h, b rd h r, wh a n to a o int w e had it t e t m e to at the w lki g up p , l l i look up

en o m f e - W at w e did see w as a ph eno n o a s udd n s u n eclipse. h ense a l o f va es en n o n the o s e e ra in d w l pour d c di g d g , who w r d w g o n a nt so m e t ent a s a ea . It w as a a e a a nst t m e. poi , w y y rd h d r c g i i I o d ne o f t he s w e g t fo rward to sco re a right a n left . O bird did the o t e w as st e n o n fo r in a a ness t a t pick up, h r lo b yo d gr pi g d rk h m t be e Of o se e e en es e t ese are m a at e igh f lt . c ur xp ri c lik h co p r iv ly ar I n reten t e e is rea an e n the m o o rs r e and do o t p d h r l d g r o ; I n T e e is un o ly say t here is an inspirin g s u s picio n Of it . h r en ia e ro m a n e m e en o a e i n the re o e t o n t an in the d bl c , or j y bl c ll c i h ea t en o u ee o u are a o a as t o the o n ts o f the r li y, wh y f l y br d p i ” m ass en o u are t ne ro n e the o st s o tsm an co p wh y ur d u d, lik l p r o n t he Am e an rai es en the st e o f the e the ric p ri ; wh whi l curl w, o f the se the be o n t he am o o s a ts in the crow grou , ll wi g of r u h r

tt in seaso n so n st an e n an n o u t the ate o u . ru g , u d r g ly u c y of w ry cl d Yo u c an n erstan ho w t he e vi im a inat o n o f t he Ce t u d d f r d g i l , n rse o n s e st t o ns in a sava e s t e eo e t he o o m u d up r i i g oli ud , p pl d gl y i erness t o n es an d s e t es and ea the n s an d w ld wi h br w i p c r , h rd wi g ' ei s ie s Of t es i n t he a ir en the s e n eese w rd hr k wi ch , wh k i of wild g w as flying i nlan d .

’ Ledi s When Ben top be not veiled in clouds, one “ has hence a noble prospect over the varied realm s of ” a e e fair Menteith, nother of thos domain provinces whos a names in Scotland are older tha n its shires . Dr . Gr ham defines this as the country between the Forth and the 1 88

The H eart Of Scotlan d brought Roderick Dhus and Rob Roys down to a “ ” e t O t mp ing prospect of Lowland field and fold, pened e from th ir savage hills . Time was when the Lowlanders could better guard their o w n aga inst frequent foes ; but a day came in which they would be more at home in markets than e a the on battlefi lds, while the mount ineer still kept use n a t a d the habit of rms . Tha was the flourishing period a e of a man like Rob Roy, who had h ad for business as a well as a h nd for violence upon occasion . Both he and Oi — a a his son, Robin g prob bly confused with e ch other a at left dubious name in Menteith, over which the f her is said to have pushed his creaghs so far as to come to Balhaldie the SheriEm u ir encounter with Macgregor of , e laird who by som was recognised as chief of the clan . a For the like of them, such raids were honourable occup e a w ho to the tion a Highland g ntlem n, would scorn be co w n thief of a single , might be proud of playi g the a a e t robber on drove of c ttl , yet also wi h a good con

act as a at . science he could policeman , for consider ion My sketch of Rob did not dwell on his dealings in a e a t a a the bl ckmail busin ss, because I c nno cle rly m ke out a it w as at no t at wh t period or periods of his life th , when a the a a t e — h rrying or spoiling Gr h ms and o h r ill wishers, he turn ed to this comparatively honest means of liveli hla ckm a il has n o w a a hood . The word , which t ken on a e a e to t t n d rk r sh de, then answ red an insti u io marking e a certai n advance in peace and order . As Baili Nicol a at e far the J rvie calcul ed, there w re more men in High

a a t had e l nds th n could find hones work , even they want d

it . n The loose fri ge of unemployed , when no more 1 90 Men teith

a a e w as t u glorious w rf r s irred, sought an o tlet for their ’ en ergies in foraging upon their n eighbours cattle ; and such enterprises naturally foun d lines of least resistance n n in richer Lowla nd straths like Me nteith and the Le ox . While civil authority w as to o weak to guard herds a nd ” harvests reared in vain within swoop of the Highland e a n t e a e e lin , urgen d m nd call d forth a supply of r dress a a t a e t e w ho by me ns of more c lcula ing dv n ur rs , undertook for a fixed paym ent to guaran tee th eir peaceful clients ate a agai nst serious loss . The line between c r ns and no the blackmailers would t be very clearly drawn . As Jonathan Wilds and Vido cq s of a more organised police — played alternately the part of thi ef a nd thief taker a nd as

H e w ho silence hoots Is a p t to m a k e th e hubbub h e i m pu tes so the professed guardians might also take a turn at

' “ b w a robbery, if only y y of impressing the need of n —b the i n surance o should e clients . Even commissioned at a who e a W ch comp nies, wer the nucleus of our f mous a e en t n t Highl nd r gim ts, had the repu e of bei g somewha “ nat in t e h discrimi ing heir prot ctive service . But a igh ” toned blackmailer like Rob Roy made it a point of n a o u t a e ho our to c rry his contr ct with subscrib rs , if — sometimes he turned a side to give non su bscribers a a t at e t a pl in hin of wh th y migh g in by employing him . e n n n Th y had nothi g but his ho our to depe d upon, a t t a a n t a — e con rac of bl ckm il bei g stric ly illeg l inde d, by an the t t n u e a a ta e the act of six een h ce t ry, d cl red capi l crim in

‘ a t e . The t tim e ho w ever c se of bo h parti s necessi y of the , , let the law wink at the eEect of its o w n shortcomings ; 1 91 The Heart of Scotlan d and prudent border landlords were fain to insure movable property with men who made it their business and pleasure a to t ke hard knocks and rough excursions . saw ll t Later on, the authorities we to recognise wha ’ a had become a regul r practice . Rob Roy s nephew, a Glengyle, who appears to have borne a more respect ble n al t t to character than the u cle, entered into form con rac s the the e recover stolen cattle, or make good loss, at rat of five per cent o n the rent of a holding and in the end he w as employed and subsidised by Govern ment as Captain

at the e the . of a W ch , makeshift polic of border line More distinguished chiefs were n o t ashamed to carry o n t o ne the s t to the same business . Scott asserts hat of la — practise it was Macdonald of B arrisdale a hero r ubbed a e a —w ho his r ther thr adbare by Mr. A . L ng adorned claymore with a Virgilia n inscription

H ae t c r nt arte — ac is u e m nere m rem ibi u s p q i po o , Par ere sub ec ti s et e e are s u erbo s c j , d b ll p .

’ Rob Roy s blackmailing had to be carried on more suh rosa bu t m a e t as efli cient fo r or less , y have be n qui e h a e the protection of those w o m d terms with him . Such a Highla nd Robin Hood would have no difli cul ty in keeping about him a gang of followers like th e Dougal e n cratur and his own sturdy brood . His proc edi gs in a case of robbery within his j urisdiction are described by the t Of Old m an the Scott from mou h an in Lennox, who, t the Of s scores of years af erwards, told him tale thi a —lad Of t he had exciting experience . As herd fif een, been working with his father on an estate from which some dozen head of cattle were carried OE one autum n 1 92

The H eart of Scotla nd t e e o e n a ee a e e e t ere raz e as Ro b had h r f r , fou d d p v ll y, wh r h g d,

e te a a e e att e. T e a t o s se e te t se pr dic d, l rg h rd of c l h y c u i u ly l c d ho t e m aste had st an d t m eas res to r e t em which h ir r lo , ook u d iv h

e the . As s n as t e e an to em e t em t e e e ov r hill oo h y b g r ov h , h y w r s se ea in r es and s eam s and o o n a r n in urpri d by h r g c i cr , l ki g ou d ea r a nd t em n t e saw a o m an see m n to a e s ta te f r bli g , h y w , i g h v r d o u t o f t he ea t ted at t em t at is s o e t em i n r h, who fly h , h , c ld d h , W Gae . en t e nt e e e in t he est Ga e t e lic h h y co riv d, how v r, b lic h y m s te to e e the m essa e Ro b Ro to t em she could u r, d liv r g y ld h , e am e s en t an d sa ea e t o t Offe n t em an t e b c il , di pp r d wi h u ri g h y fur h r

nno an e. The e ea t e sto o n t e r et n an d a y c chi f h rd h ir ry h i r ur , spo ke wit h g rea t com placency of t he art which he possessed of putt i ng s uch t hi ngs to righ ts without any u npleasant bust le .

O n the w ay back the herd - boy gained a recollectio n to a e to e t i n l st him for lif , and sugg s an incident e le a t a o n o ne t e Wa v r y. At nightf ll hey bivou cked of hos t a a F airservice bare moors h t so much ppalled Andrew , swept by a frosty wi nd which did n o t much trouble the

hardy escort .

The an ers s e te e t e a s la w n in t he Highl d , h l r d by h ir pl id , y do eat m ta eno bu t the L an e s ha d no ro te t n h h co for bly ugh, owl d r p c io

ate e . Ro b Ro se n t s re te o ne o f his e rs wh v r y, ob rvi g hi , di c d follow to a ff t he Old m a n a o t n o f his a the a a nt bo ord p r io pl id for c ll ( y), ” “ he m a sa the ee o o te ee m se a rm a n y, id fr b r, k p hi lf w by w lki g ” at n the att e M n m an t ear t s abo ut a nd w chi g c l . y i for h d hi senten ce wi th no sm all di stress an d as t he fros t wi n d g rew m ore and m e tt n i t seem e to eez e t he e o in his n or cu i g , d fr v ry blo d you g

eins . He had een e o se to ea t e all his e he sa bu t v b xp d w h r lif , id, ne e o r e t the o f t at n t in so m t a t in th e v r c uld fo g cold h i gh uch h , itterness his ea t he se the r t m o n n no b of h r , cur d b igh o for givi g At en t t he sense a nd ear heat wit h so m uch light . l g h of cold w i n ess becam e so i n tolerable t hat he resolved to d esert hi s wat ch to n d ter W t t at o se he e seek so m e repo se a shel . i h h purp couch d 1 94 Menteith

m se n e n o ne the m st t he a n e s hi lf dow b hi d of o bulky of Highl d r , a e nan h a No t sat s e t a n who cted as Li u te t to t e p rty . i fi d wi h h vi g ’ se e the s e te o f the m an s a e e so n he o vete a s a e cur d h l r l rg p r , c d h r o f his a a nd m e e t e e rees e a o ne o f it pl id, by i p rc p ibl d g dr w c r r

n him . He w as no w m a at e in a a se a nd s e t rou d co p r iv ly p r di , l p so n t da ea e n he a e and w as te b a a o n u d ill ybr k, wh wok rri ly fr id observi ng tha t his n oct urnal o peratio ns had a ltogeth er uncov ered ’ t he dhu in iew assell s n e and s e s a n t he a ck hould r , which, l cki g pl id s o ha e o te te t em e e ere t cra nreuch which h uld v pr c d h , w r cov d wi h

i . e. o a r st The la d o se in eat ea o f a eat n a t ( h r f o ) . r gr dr d b i g, east e n it s o be n ho w o s he had een l , wh h uld fou d luxuri u ly b a m m a te h n n a e s n t he a cco od d at t e expe se of a pri cip l p r o of p rty .

G Mr. L e tenan t e e o t and s m se n ood i u , how v r, g up hook hi lf, rubbi g OE the o a r st t his a and m u tte n so m et n a h r f o wi h pl id , ri g hi g of c a u ld ei ht n g .

te C n a t nt t a e Af r ullode , for ime, Me ei h f rm rs might i a a the s t in worse plight th n before . While blackmail u an w as to be e e 0 11 a a tt ins r ce no longer d p nded , b ndi i of broken rebels ensconced themselves above the lake a a in t e the Ben e l nd p sses fas nesses lik crags of Venu , from which they salli ed forth o n depredations now an t t e unchecked by y spiri of clan loyal y, or n ighbourly a n e a alli nces . Their reig of robb ry w s overthrown n a mai ly through the exertions of Mr . Nicol Gr ham of a t t has no t G r more, whose descendant in our ime always

e ho t 0 11 the e a e b en side of law and ord r, while forb ar of theirs had shown the family spirit in refusi ng to pay o en n th tribute t Rob Roy . This g tlema stirred up e n t to tar Gover men mili y battues, which , guided by his e and the n exp rience knowledge of cou try, had more ’ t t n t t the success han Cap ain Thornto s expedi ion, ill e d o u t at n robbers wer roote of their lairs, sc tered, ba ished , I 9S The Hea rt of Scotlan d

. a a a or executed . Mr Graham accumul ted in his libr ry curious collection of documents which he called thief ” t t n n the n t papers, illus ra i g the co dition of border cou ry t in this troubled time . These pap ers are understood o have been pu t into the han ds of the roman cer who turn ed t a u se e e t t hem to such f mous , h nc , for ins ance, being aken ’ a e a t the a n a nd e Mr . Nicol J rvi s ccoun of popul tio r sources of the clans b ehi n d the Highla nd line and the change ” t at a n at e are houses, like h of Lucky Mac lpi e Ab rfoyle, here pointed o u t as stills Of demoralisation . Even a fter peace had been won for the villages and the t t law w as a tt farms of s ra h , the long li le shy of a t te trusting itself among the moun tain s . Lockh r lls us ’ that Scott s first acquainta nce with t he braes of Balquhidder ’ w as a t a e n he a an e a as wri er s pprentic , whe ccomp i d proc ess server who had to be escorted to the sce ne of his t a a no w a e a a du y by p rty of soldiers , where polic m n is a nd few are n to e bu t rare sight, crimes k own justic a e drunkenness with its s equela e. Till a good de l lat r there were parts on the Welsh borders i n much the same Old t a no t ea e state of home rule . An gen lem n long dec s d in the a Val e e the ate told me how Ll nthony l y, wher l t at e te tt e Fa her Ign ius seclud d himself, dispu s were se l d by a t Of law the n e t a le t n sor rough lynch and in x v l y, wi hi n the e n n n t at livi g memory, only murd r k ow had bee h e of a bailiE w ho attempted to serve a wri t . In som

a te t e all a be t a nd p rts of the Uni d S at s, if t les rue, life property are less safe to - day than they were a cen tury — ago in the Highlands where Offi cers of the law were the last travellers to feel how th ey carried their lives in their hands . 1 96

The H eart of Scotlan d the snows held them back ; yet even in the depth of winter bands of human wolves might come prowling a t e to a a a bou the lon ly blockhouses, dr g w y unwary or unlucky victims to a carn ival of torture among their a t a a dist n wigw ms . No b nd of cultivators would care to fix themselves wi thi n a dozen miles of a tribe that w as

e t Of its t - Bu t b ing slowly pushed o u hun ing grounds .

en and ta n a e ta in M teith behind its moun i w lls, h redi ry e nemi es were so closely packed together that it is hard to u nderstand how they got o n without mutual na extermi tion . a e a n a t t t t We he r, inde d, of occ sio al r ids in o his dis ric fa B t a the from so r OE as Appin and Lochaber . u lso tale quoted above from Sco tt shows ho w n ear to their ’ e ate the L a d o the L a ke s pr y were c rans, who, in y f time, could push their devastations as far as the Devon valley a e n ho w th of the O chils . We h ve s e e Macgregors and M aclarens —e t the ill n ighboured each o her in Balq uhidder, t he latter clan gradually ousted and taki ng refuge among

t a t w ho the a a t Glenfi nlas . the S ew r s , filled dj cen wilds of the t la the an the Co l u ho u ns and To sou h y Buchan s, q , “ ” the t e the the wild M acfarlanes . To nor h wer n a f M ac nabs and a dva ced p rti es O Murrays . The name of the Dreadnought Hotel a t Calla nder tells us ho w it w as t the a na n n firs built by Laird of M c b, whose co cer s all s traggled so far from their root on Loch Tay. And those smalle r bodies were pushed upon from opposite a the a sides by the Gr hams and C mpbells , powerful enemies whom the older inhabitants would sometimes be to OE a t ea t i the able play gains ch o her, while somet mes medley of q uarrel seems to have tended to such an 1 98 Menteith awkward shape as that triangula r duel in M idship m a n

E a sy .

at the a in a a a e Wh C mpbells were Argyll and Bre d lb n , the a a e in n an d a t Gr h ms w re Me teith, intruders gen s of n had to a t e a t civilisatio , who h ng h ir he ds for long hrough a series of miscalculation s and misfortune s . The house of Menteith was an unlucky one ever since one of its so n s betrayed Wallace nor did it prosper by the earldom of t t a n t t the t S ra he r , hrough which it claimed to inheri pures

t a a . It a and t t s r in of roy l blood s nk into misery ex inc ion , M enteiths and e a t to the a a having passed from St w r s Gr h ms , o n whom also a curse seemed to come through the murder O t an e t a a n of James I . her br ch s of his f mily g i ed futile t t n in the e e a t and the dis inc io , m t oric c reer of Mon rose a a e an u nco venantin dark f me of Cl v rhouse, who to g n n n generatio looks o w o t so black as he was once painted . ’ The mysterious murder of Lord M enteith s heir by an has beeh t The L e end o M o tro intimate friend old in g f n s e. In the n ext century the empty title w as claimed by o ne h a w o literally died a begg r on the roadside . The eu ne rem ier t the L a d j p , hough not the hero, in y o the L a ke w as a a u t u n f , a Gr ham who ppears no f r her fortunate than by having a double allowance of powerful a to n t t riv ls, hi der his course of rue love for the daugh er of a once greaterhouse that then lay under heavy clouds a w e w as of royal disf vour . This heroine, remember, l a e e t e to a at o u t El en Dougl s, conv ni n ly xiled nook r her i of the w ay of Douglas power an d pride . Did t ever occur to a ca reless reader to as k why h ere she had been t a n a e " brough up by an aunt, t ki g the pl ce of a moth r a the G a a n Looking aw y from r hams mome t, I should I 99 The Heart Of Scotland

a e e Of like to quote pi c commentary which my friend Mr . Al e a H . R . lport b lieves himself to have m de for the first

- t a e . ime, in privat ly printed volume

The er nes the W a e e No e s t a s n e m nent h oi of v rl y v l , wi h i g l pro i e e t n a re all t em m t e ess . T e had m t ers re xc p io , of h o h rl h y o h p s u m abl bu t t e m t ers e nt m e a es . The o n e y, h ir o h fill d u i ly gr v m nent e e t o n Of o se is L As t n se m o t er pro i xc p i , c ur , ucy h o , who h , La As t n is an m rtan t e so na e in t he st In dy h o , i po p r g ory . ‘ Wa verle t ere a re tw o er n es F o ra M Ivo r an d Ro se y h h oi , l

Bradw a rdine a re t m o t e ess . In Gu M a nneri n , who bo h h rl y g t ere are a s tw o er nes a M a nner n an d L Bertram h l o h oi , Juli i g ucy ,

a re o t m t er ess . In R ob R o the e ne is Die Vern n who b h o h l y h roi o , r e s In Old M orta li t the r n who is m o the l s . y h e oi e i s Edi t h t e The H ea rt o Be en en is m r ess . In M idlothi a n the ll d , who o h l f

e o ne is ean e eans is m o t er ess . In Iva nhoe t e e h r i J i D , who h l h r a re a a n t w o er nes Re e a a nd R ena are o t g i h oi , b cc ow , who b h In Kenilw orth the er ne is Am R sa is m o t er ess . t h l h oi y ob r , who ss In The P i ra te the e nes are M n na and B ren a m otherle . h roi i d In The Fortunes o lVi el t n Tro il a re m t e ess . he e o e , who o h rl f g h r i

is M ar a et Ra m sa is m o t e ess . In u enti n D u rw a rd g r y, who h rl Q I a e C n t ess Cro e is m th er ess I n t he ero ne is s e . h i b ll , ou of y , who o l r ne is A e Lee is m t erle s In The Woodstock t he e s . h oi lic , who o h Fa i r M a id o P erth t he e n e is Cat er n e G e r is f h roi h i lov , who t t he en re I s I need no t o t st . e e e m o therles . g hrough i li b li v that Lucy Asht on is the on ly except ion of n o te. ’ It wo uld be i n teresti n g to kn ow Sco tt s reas on for what can t a ent He m a ss a e t hardly be the resul of ccid . y po ibly h v ho ugh t ’ that a gi rl deprived o f a m other s care a nd con trol w as lik ely to o a m e n n en t o na an d t e e e a m re t es e gr w up or u co v i l, h r for o pic ur qu , a perso nage tha n o ne m o re ha ppily circum sta nced . Bu t t his is s m ere g u es .

n I can think of another guess . It is know ho w Scott e he d was disappointed in arly love, and how married a la y 200

The Heart of Scotlan d

’ t it a n te t as Gilber , where is more pl usibly i rpre ed Grim s

aw e at Dyke, a name given in by rude Saxons to wh

e n a a ea se med the work of super atur l h nds, such as n r t a en ha s n n t Brighton, wi h flourish of leg d, bee blu ly ’ a christen ed the D evil s Dyke . The Gr hams had best look ' ' uelle c ea lo i e o u t for a nother forefather . Q g n g as a Czar e a ent e he n of Russia exclaim d in am zem , wh n had i ter preted to him a t the M an sion House that an un known ' ' u n frere a i e de la Tri nit uniform denoted n e. “ We know how more than o n e Dyke w as ru n a cross the country as a barrier against naked hosts of the a t an had a nat North . But this p r of the Highl d line ural t the a w as t t it boundary in the For h, of which s ying ha

bridled the wild Highla ndman . Swimmi ng is an accomplishment given by Scott to Malcolm Graeme a nd other of his heroes ; but it w as no t common among Highla nders Of the last generation and I am doubtful how far a poet had a uthority for the statemen t

W m er to a e n h r e s wa ow f us E glis g ou nd ’ n e r e e dr to the r h n And da c d ou s lv s y pib oc s sou d .

t in its a as the d von The young For h, known cr dle

Dhu a e t it a n the at , soon g th rs streng h as dr i s fl s of

a ta be the Of e Fl nders Moss, which is ken to dregs a for st

an d n a a cut down by Roman soldiery its o ly safe p ss ge, t a e a at w as the even that imprac ic bl in sp te we her, by Fords e a a of Frew, wh re Rob Roy m de his bold esc pe from ’ n t an Montrose s horsemen . This poi proved so import t

e t e t w as no ale as to be guard d by a for alice, wh n here w of bridges on the Highlan d line . Scott con fesses to a n anachronism in accommodati ng Aberfoyle with a bridge 2 02 Menteith

’ i n da . t e w as at t o ne Rob Roy s y The firs bridg S irling , e nt as the t it a e of gr at a iquity, shown by par pl y d in ’ Wallace s victory over the English knights heedlessly

- a an divided on the crossi ng . A public spirited tr desm of “ ” t n t S ittall a a e . S irli g, Rober p , T ilor to King J m s IV the Teith at an n built a bridge over Doune, as inscriptio

it . a t a n a upon records Once cross his, inv ding army h'o m t had ti a the t e the Nor h s ll to p ss For h , its bridg guarded by Stirling Castle . The value of this double line of defence for the

Lowlands w as well shown in 1 7 1 5 . When M ar lay so long idle at Perth with the largest Jacobi te army eve r e a e e a t t w as must red could he h v h ld it together, his in c ivi y a e n o t a n a nd bu t the c us d only by w t of skill decision , by a the t e a w et f ct of For h fords b ing swollen by winter, while Argyll had broken down the Teith Bridge at

ea a Doune . Mar found it sier to ship a det chment across the Firth of Forth than to g et over the river n ear

n to its source, an e terprise in which sly Rob Roy seems n have been in vai n expected to guide him . Whe he did a an t w as a a e a dv ce on S irling it by All n W t r, bove which m et SheriEm u ir t at t a att in he Argyll on , for h s r nge b le t — a — which bo h sides were half losers, h lf winners . ’ Argyll s m o ral victory a ppea rs to have been partly du e to the Ochil boglan ds b eing frozen so a s to bear the a t a a n th he vy regular dragoons . A li tle l ter d e frost would have been hard e nough to make the unbridged rivers pass a a u t at t ble, as the Highland rmy co ld re re from Per h across th - n e n a e a a e ice bou d Tay . Wh Ch rl s Edward dv nced upon the Lowlands it w as in a dry S eptember tha t let

ea the t to a 0 11 a a t him sily over For h , m rch in br v do wi hin 2 0 3 The Heart of Scotla nd

n - t a he canno shot of S tirling Castle . To hinder his re re t n e e w as e a found Stirli g Bridg brok n down, which r p ired ’ a t in h s e for Cumb erland s march to the north . SheriEm u ir w e m a t t a e n , if y rus histori ns lik Bli d a w as a na an O a nd a e a t en H rry, re of lder bloodi r b t le, wh Wallace is said to have extermi nated a n E nglish army ten thousand strong ; and scattered standing stones here are

- ta ken by the country folk as memorials of that victory. n t its t at edr a The little tow of Dunblane, wi h res ored C h l and n t t n a its monume s of nobili y, was well k own to rmies marching north a nd south on the road up Strathallan n a a nd e n into Strathearn . Pri ce Ch rlie Butcher Cumb rla d were lodged here in turn ; and local legend makes t he e latter narrowly scape a n end worse than that of Pyrrhus . ’ A servan t lass whose h eart had been won by the Prin ce s n n s he n t to gracious ess whe clea ed his boots, under ook souse the Duke with boiling oil thrown from a wi n dow as he rode out of Dunblan e ; bu t the scaldi ng douche ’ o n n t t o t OE t lighted his horse s hau ch , so ha he g wi h being flung into the mud . Doune Castle guarded another road i nto the High ’ h a n n w a Of a a e . t e s t la ds by y C ll nd r In 45 , Cap ai it w as the a t to e Waverley found, held by J cobi es s cure t the Teith a nd e to the heir passage of , se ms have been only spot in which they heard the mouse squeak rather h n a t it had an e tha n t e lark si g . For ime for comm d r “ t n e w ho ea n hat Black K ee neph w of Rob Roy, r ed golden Opi n ions in the n eighbourhood by the con siderate e e t n o t a way in which he ex rcis d his authori y, llowing dubious a uxiliaries like Do nald Bean Lea n to have th eir ’ — en will Of the poor country folk s cattle and chicke ns . Ev 2 04

The Heart of Scotlan d

“ the e t at the t the words of anoth r poe , th pic ures for ” T page atone . he artist here has done his part for both

. au tho r m o destl t at of us The , y presen s himself, r her, as

a the - its a gossiping comp nion to guide book, which , in u - to - t l a e info r p da e form , dwe ls more on det ils of us ful and has o t a e mation, less r om for giving s r ngers som notion what life was in this regio n b efore its flush of a romance h d died away like an Alpine glow . B u t n o u t t n the soo now we are of Per hshire, crossi g “ t e a Of the Forth into Stirling, whose ci ad l, the bulw rk ” has en a w a North , be our be con as we gossiped our y n t a a down the green Me tei h Mesopot mi . The Sons of the m a t a n a n e Rock y receive me wi h frow , decl ri g th ir and no t the t e a county mine to be rue h art of Scotl nd, t to a e a t n a an n which I admi h ve be n for ime its ce tr l g glio , whence the n erves of civilisatio n thrilled out through We an t a t the Highlands and Lowlands . c bo h gree hat fat L t the e e e e o hians and smoky Clyde w r mer excr scences, which made a narrow escape of becoming no b etter than n t a a t n E glish borderlands . S irling c nnot least complai that I failed to do it due honour i n B onni e Scotla nd. Now once more let us mount its castled rock to look back on such a prospect of Perthshire that nowhere could o ne have a nobler standpoint for bidding

Farewell to the m ountai n s high covered w ith sn ow Farewell to t he straths and green v all eys b elow

Fa re to the re t and w - an n well . fo s ild h gi g woods Farew ell to the torrents a nd loud - pouri ng floods

’ ’ P r i n t d h . . LAR K IM ITE D E d zx lm r h . e y R R C L , g

The Heart of Scotlan d

“ the t t the t the words of another poe , tha pic ures for ” page atone . The artist here has done his part for both The . t m t a of us au hor odestly presen s himself, r ther, as a co m am o n the - its gossiping p to guide book, which, in u — - l a Of info r p to date form , dwel s more on det ils useful at has n m ion, and less room for giving stra gers some notion what life was in this region before its flush of ha romance d died away like an Alpine glow . n o w w e t e n the But soon are out of Per hshir , crossi g “ t t the a the For h in o Stirling, whose citadel, bulw rk of ” a w e e w a North , has been our be con as gossip d our y the e nte t a n down gre n Me i h Mesopot mia . The So s of the m a e e a n a e Rock y r c ive me with frow , decl ring th ir to the e ea a county and not mine be tru h rt of Scotl nd,

to e ee a en a n which I admit hav b n for time its c tral g nglio , whe nce the n erves of civilisatio n thrille d out through a an t a t the Highl nds and Lowlands . We c bo h gree hat fat a the e e e e e Lothi ns and smoky Clyde w r mer xcr scences, which made a narrow escape of b ecoming no better tha n n t a a t n E glish borderla nds . S irling c nnot least complai that I failed to do it due honour in B onni e Scotla nd. Now once more let us mount its castled rock to look back on such a prospect of Perthshire that n owhere could o ne have a n obler standpoint for biddi ng

Farewell to the m oun tai n s high cove red w ith sn ow Fa rewell to the stra ths a nd green va ll eys b elow Fa rewell to the forest and w ild- h angi ng woods Farew ell to the torrent s a nd lou d - pouri ng floods

'’

P ri nted 6 . . LAR K IM ITE D E a zx lm r lz. ; R R C L , g

OTH E R B E A UTIF UL S COTTI S H B OOK S B O NN IE S C OT LA N D PAINTED BY S U TT ON PALMER D E A H P N F F ES . O O CRIB D BY R . E M CRIE

= l i l r Co nt a i n i ng 7 5 F u ll Pa g e Il u s t ra t o ns i n Co o u .

S UA E DE Y 8 v0 O H G TOP Q R M , CL T , ILT PRICE 2 05 . NET

P ost ree r i ce zo s . 6d. ( f , p )

P RES S OP INIONS

i a nd a a e ea tu re o f the o u m e t e The 1Ilus tra tio ns a re a m o st a ttra c t ve v lu bl f v l ; h y a o un in m er t a nd the re ro u c t o n h a s ee n in m a n cas e re m ark a ucc e u . b d i s . p d i b y s bly s ssf l t r r r it ra c o f the 5 011 a nd no t m ere The le t e p ess dese ves pra ise m o re u nq ua h fi e d . is y ly f o n enterta i ning b u t edifyi ng to the i ndweller a s w ell as the visito r o B o nnie S c tla d . S co tsm a n .

a n a m ra e o o k o t in et er re a nd illustra t1o n . Art t a nd a ut o r d b b , b h t p h Is i l l ss — is a re k e t b e c o n a tu e n t r n nc n ca dem a nd Litera tu re. ali o gr la t d o hei exc ellent co j u tio . A y A c arm n m t n r h g co b na o o f the e q u te in a rt a nd the e eg a nt in te ature. ' i i i x isi l li m rzes S ta n Du f da rd . THE HIGHLAN DS AN D IS LAN DS OF S COTLAN D

H U PA E I IA S IT . INT D BY W LL M M , J NR D E E H N F F S A. OP O CRIB D BY R . E M CRIE

= Co nta i ni n g 4 0 F u ll p a g e Illu s t ra tio ns i n Co lo u r.

PRICE 1 05 . NET

Po st ree ri ce 6d. f , p )

P RES S OPINIONS

It a m az i n c ea a t ten i in net fo r it c o nta n a n a u m o f c o o u re is g ly h p sh ll g s , i s lb l d

c ture the a id o f w c we c a n rea e the ra n e t c ener o f the o uter e . pi s , by hi h lis g d s s y isl s m it h a s o ne w o rk a m r a nd h n e the e t - o ve a nd o ne t M r. S h d h d a b y , a s c u d d b d e ' is i l i l s l l li s — ‘ B rzzzsh Week l . pla c es y It no t m ere as a S c o t b u t a s o ne w o e ea rt in the an t a t he is ly , h s h is Hig hl ds , h

the a u t o r e c r e the ea u t e Of o c a nd e n o f ro w n n 11 1115 a nd ru e c o a t. [ h "d s ib s b i s l h g l , f i g gg d s W tern a n a nd No r is it m erely w ith the o u twa rd a nd physic al as pec t o f the es Hig hl ds m a r. H h a 1m i H e k no w t e r ro m a nt c Isla nds that he is fa ili e s bibed thei r very sp rit. s h i i nd t e r t m o re ro m a ntic e en er a the a n o k a nd hi sto ry a h i s ill l g ds . H e u nd st nds Hig hl d f l H e u o f a nec o te a nd rem ni c ence w ic u tra te t e r ecu ar t e their w ays . is f ll d s i s s h h ill s h i p li i i s

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