Excursions Through the Highlands and Isles of Scotland

^^)&A# >:^ A<*:;3Ti[iS : EXCURSIONS THROUGH THE HIGHLANDS AND ISLES OF SCOTLAND 1835 AND 1836, BY THE REV. C. LESINGHAM SMITH, M.A. FELLOW, AND LATE MATHEMATICAL LECTURER, OF CHRIST's COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE. NORTH COAST, FROM CAPE « RATH. LONDON SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, AND CO. stationers' HALL COURT, LUDGATE STREET. MDCCCXXXVII. REV. ALEXANDER CROMBIE, LL.D., F.R.S., AND M.R.S.L^ AS A TOKEN OF RESPECT FOR HIS TALENTS, AND OF GRATITUDE FOR HIS KINDNESS, THIS ATTEMPT TO DESCRIBE A PORTION OF HIS NATIVE COUNTRY, IS DEDICATED, BY HIS OBLIGED AND SINCERE FRIEND, THE AUTHOR. '-.» i' iy -r^ o r* PREFACE. Scotland has been so copiously illustrated by the writings of eminent men, and so often explored by the Southron for himself, that any book upon the subject of that country may seem to require no common apology. Yet the untravelled public have, in all ages, been predisposed to re- ceive with favour an author, who professes to carry them into distant lands ; justly regarding his work as an additional glass, through which, unless it be very opaque, they may speculate once more on scenes remote, and obtain more accurate notions of objects, viewed hitherto perhaps only in fictitious colourings, or distorted proportions. And even those, who have ah'eady trodden the same ground, and who may be supposed to have exhausted curiosity by a personal examination, disdain not to turn over the pages of some suc- ceeding adventurer ; and sometimes linger with ; vni PREFACE. delight over descriptions of scenery, which they had almost forgotten, or of manners, which they had scarcely observed. No book of travels, therefore, as such, stands in need of much excuse; it may take its place in the library among its pre- decessors, as the last picture is suspended in the hall among the family portraits; each of which bears a general resemblance to the others ; but each also is distinguished by peculiarities in age, or fashion, or feature. But the finished portrait is not the only one which may command attention. We may derive pleasure and instruction from the examination of a mere sketch, provided the outlines, as far as they go, be executed with grace and fidelity. Hence the foregoing remarks upon books of travels in general are applicable, in some degree, to such light productions as the following Journals which do not profess to exhibit a picture con- tinuous, and perfect in all its details. Accordingly this little volume must depend for success, or failure, on its own intrinsic qualities. It can neither conciliate applause, nor stifle censure, by bearing on its front an elaborate apology ; which, if the book become popular, will not be required ; and if it fall into neglect, will never be heard. PREFACE. iX In the autumns of 1835 and 1836, while the Author was rambling, for the pui-pose of recrea- tion, through some of the wildest districts in Scotland, he kept these diurnal records of his adventures. The former Journal was written solely for his own amusement and that of his family ; but, on his return to England, he was induced to print a few copies for the use of his friends. In this narrow pale, embracing, however, a few for whose judgment and learning he entertains great respect, his little volume acquired considerable popularity ; relying, therefore, upon their decision on its merits, and not unwilling, perhaps, to listen to encouragement generally so questionable, he now ventures to produce it, with the subsequent Jouraal of 1836, upon a more extended theatre. His object, throughout his travels, was to re- cord at night, for his own future reference, the impressions which his mind had received, and the information which it had acquired in the course of the day; so as to arrest ideas, which might otherwise have been transient, and to create a picture, as vivid and as faithful as he could, of th€ various scenes, which passed in an-ay before him. This is a task, which, if executed with fidelity, demands more than an ordinary degree A 3 X PREFACE. of perseverance ; especially in a mountainous re- gion like the Highlands, where the remoter and more romantic glens are accessible onl}' to the pedestrian, are deficient in wonted food and shel- ter, and are often exposed to long-continued rains and storms. To retire at eve to a cheerful home, and there, amid the comforts and luxuries of life, to write at leisure the story of the day ; to paint the beautiful or magnificent in scenery ; to discuss the monu- ments of antiquity or art ; to describe the localities of events, historical or legendary ; to nairate the amusing or instructive incident or dialogue — all this to a cultivated mind may be a labour, not only of ease, but even of delight. It was the Author's lot, however, to write under very dif- ferent auspices. In fragments of time, snatched from his meals, or hours of rest, often in discom- fort and fatigue, and occasionally even in hunger and cold, the following pages, especially the latter part, were compiled. These circumstances are not advanced with a view to deprecate criticism upon the Work at large, which, if the Author shrink from examination, ought never to have been obtruded upon the public ; but rather to account for those duller portions of it, which he PREFACE. xi would gladly have withdrawn altogether, if he could have done so without sacrificing the force and concatenation of the whole. It is of the nature of a journal to be unequal; and all that should be demanded of such a composition is, that the interesting should decisively predominate over the dull. The Author's random sketches and reflections, then, marked down within a few hours, or at furthest, within a day or two of the transactions which they delineate, are here presented to the reader, with few curtaihnents, additions, or alter- ations, save such as are merely verbal, or such as a respect for the feelings of individuals ne- cessarily demands. He cannot, of course, ima- gine, that a perusal of them will impart to others the same distinct conceptions, and agree- able associations, which he himself derives from ventures to hope that they may them ; yet he not be without interest, nor wholly destitute of instruction to his readers, more particularly to such as have already preceded, or may here- after follow him, in exploring the same ground. The proper end of writing, it has been observed, is to make men better enjoy life, or belter Xll PREFACE. endure it. And if these pages should impart to the reader a more lively perception of the beautiful scenes, social as well as natural, which the Highlands present; or if they should animate him to bear with philosophy the little privations and disappointments, which await him abroad; then surely they will not have been written in vain. Neither is the Author without a still more adventurous hope, that he may, however humbly, have promoted the cause of that Almighty Being in whose service he is enlisted, by teaching his brother travellers, without the formality of pre- cept, that we should not rest satisfied with a bare inconsequential admiration of nature, but should habitually refer the glories of earth to the great Author of all ; blessing Him, that He has made this our mortal home so beautiful and so grand, and has endowed us with faculties to appreciate its wondrous perfection. As the Author has now explored nearly all the most attractive localities of that great section of Scotland lying north of Edinburgh and Glasgow, which not without inaccmacy he has included in the term " Highlands ;" and has, moreover, travelled over a considerable portion of the Conti- PREFACE. Xin nent j he trusts he may, without the charge of presumption, advance his opinions respecting the claims of the northern extremity of our island upon the notice of the English traveller. The object of most general interest in every country is its scenery ; and in this respect the Highlands may be classed in the foremost rank. In absolute magnitude the mountains are ex- tremely inferior to the Alps ; and are conse- quently destitute of those perennial snows, which in Switzerland produce such grand and startling effects. The glacier with its azure pinnacles and homd clefts, and that tremendous chain of snow- clad mountains, bristling up into gigantic battle- ments, and pyramids, and domes, from whose summit descends the dreadful avalanche — these, indeed, in the Highlands will be sought for in vain. Yet who can look down from the crags of Ben Nevis without a shudder, or survey with in- difference the gloomy magnificence of Coruishk ? It is true that Mont Blanc soars to the elevation of 15,000 feet, and that the highest of the Scottish hills attain to little more than a fourth ])art of that enormous altitude. The geometer with his quadrant assures us, that these things are so. But without adventitious aid, the mind is in- XIV PREFACE. capable of maliing such nice admeasurements. It has no ready scale of comparison, by which to decide ; and that which would appear insignifi- cant in Savoy, may assume the character of great- ness in Skye. The truth is, that, after a certain limit, varying according to the experience of each individual mind, magnitude ceases to be a necessary ingre- dient in the sublime ; form, or figure, becoming after that point more important than dimension. Hence it is, that all, who visit Scotland, whether travelled or untravelled, come away with a strong impression of the grandeur of its scener}-.

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