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Show IMPRESSIONS OLD AND NEW j Perthshire's Beautiful Scenery Ounbla- mes Cathedra! General Wade's Road . Collandcr to Trosachs in a Coach ! Scot's Description of Trosachs Loch Katrine an Enchanted Spot Perth Hallowed by Older Recollections-James j I Assassinated Prosperous City. i (Special Correspondence.) j The most beautiful shire in Scotland is undoubt- odly Perthshire. It is easily first as regards sccn- cry, and many authorities say it is first in natural wealth, too. Xo place in Scotland is more fre- )quented by the tourist, and in the summer months of the year, the. hotels are crowded by people of all nationalities and amongst the number you will find I a fair em-inkling of American visitors. The whole I hhire is studdicd with fine old mansions bclong- ""v J ing to the resident gentry, the ancestors of whom "t were famous in song and story, and such names as Murray. Graham. Stewart. Campbell. McGregor, I Gray, Hollo. Oliphant, Drummond, Hay, Menzies f are not of yesterday, but date back to early Scottish I v history. i In the South of Perthshire is the historic old town of Dunblane, picturesquely situated on the banks of tho Allan. The Cathedral, originally a ii oll of the Culdees, was transformed into a cathe- j oral in the reign of David I. The Cathedral, as it at present exists, retains all the features of the olden day, and great care is taken that this historic i,, pile po inseparably connected with the name of I Chisholm. should not by neglect fall into decay, as C. has been the fate of many of its kind. The town i itself presents an antiquated appearance, but .though old fashioned, the houses and streets are pcrupulously clean, and its medicinal springs are noted for their curative properties. Dunblane played a prominent part in the civil war of Itlo, ; , for in its environs was fought the noted battle of ' : Sheriff muir, and you can still see the rock on which, as tradition has it, the Highlanders sharpened their i swords before engaging in this memorable contest. I Passing through Dunblane is the great Highland Military road from Stirling to Fort Augustus. This road was made by General Wade, andijsjre-,; markabl for its straightness. It is worthy to note that "Wade in his pacification of the- Highlands made many roads, and if you give heed to the Highlanders, they will tell you that Wade made every road that you see there today. I often asked J just for the fun of the thing, Who made this road? and the answer came in a moment Wade. He ; must be a remarkable man, this Wade, and must have got roads on the brain, and I oftentimes think it is a great pity he did not belong to our ,day, for he would certainly be very useful where there are bad roads. j Callander, a neat little village, and the key of ; the Highlands, is situated about sixteen miles from ' Stirling. It is here that the tourist obtains the coach which will convey him to the Trosachs, a distance of some eleven miles, and the scenery on j the way is unrivaled. There is nothing remarkable i about Callander, if we except the magnificent moun- tain of Benledi. which rises to a height of ihree V thousand feet. On the summit of this mountain in ' the olden days the Druids practiced their strange rites, and the people of the adjacent districts were in the habit of kindling on the first of May an idolatrous fire to the sungod Baal. On the road to Trosachs you pass many places .of interest which space forbids me mentioning here, but every one who has read "The Lady of the Lake' gazes with deep interest on Coilantogle Ford, the scene of the memorable combat between Fitz-James and Bod- crick Dhu. Soon after passin Coilantogle Ford, you enter the Trosachs and the opening into this beautiful vale is flanked on one side by Benvenue and on the other by the rugged peak of Ben-an. i There is a graphic description of the Trosachs I given in Scott's "Lady of the Lake:" Each purple peak, each flinty spire Was bathed in floods of living fire, j But not a setting beam could glow j Within the dark ravine below. Where twined the path, in shadow hid Bound many a rocky pyramid Shooting abruptly from the dell Its thunder-splintered pinnacle Bound many an insulated mass The native bulwarks of the pas:-. Aloft the as1 nd warrior oak Cast anchc ' 8 rifted rock And, highc ei. he pine tree hung Its shatter- " i:r and frequent flung "Si Where scen'-J tit '-jiffs to meet on high Tts boughs atu -i the narrowed sky w Highest of cl T . viure white peaks glanced Where glist'ni; streamers waved and danced I ibe wanderer'? eye could barely view t The summer heaven's delicious blue :" So wondrous wild, the whole might seem The scenery of a fairy dream. After walking through the Trosachs, the traveller trav-eller comes upon that beautiful sheet of water Loch Katrine, a lake to visit which every tourist makes it a point to do. It would be hard to find a more enchanted spot, a fairer scene that that which the traveller sees as standing bneath the stupendous rocks be gazes down on Loch Katrine. ' ) High on the south, large Benvenue . tDown on the lake its masses threw Crags, knolls, and mounds, confusedly hurled The fragments of an earlier world A wildering forest, feathered o'er His ruined sides and summit hoar While on the north, through middle air Ben-an heaved high his forehead bare. During the summer months boats ply constantly from Glasgow and take in on their way Loch Lomond, Lo-mond, Loch Katrine and the wild scenery of the Trosachs. I should mention here that, the distance which separates Loch Lomond from Loch Katrine is about six miles, and this is usually traversed by the mail coach which runs regularly to meet the boats, so that tourists are in every way catered for. In the valley between the two lochs there is a cottage which is supposed to have been the residence resi-dence of Bob Boy, but the truth of this statement I cannot, vouch for. Before leaving Perthshire, let me a say a word or two on the FairCity of Perth. Situated in the center of a great plain and surrounded sur-rounded on all sides by gradual slopes ornamented by beautiful villas, this thriving town is hallowed by many olden recollections. It was here that the accomplished ac-complished James I was assassinated, and a tombstone tomb-stone in St. John's Church marks the resting place of himself and his Queen. I may mention here; too, that it was in this church the iconoclasts instigated in-stigated by the fanatic Knox began their work of image breaking and those other acts which destroyed de-stroyed so many valuable relics of the olden day. Perth, too, was besieged and captured by Bobert Bruce, and later on beheld the unwelcome entry of that man of blood and iron. Oliver Cromwell. Perth at the present time is one of the most prosperous towns in Scotland and is the center of a fine system sys-tem of railways which, run to the principal cities of the country. From Perth by railroad you can easily reach the lovely city of Inverness, but I would advise the tourist after having seen the Trosachs' to return to Tarbert ,a station on the line which runs from St. Enoch's (Glasgow) to Fort William. The scenery along this line is very beautiful beau-tiful indeed especially about Boy Bridge. Arriving Arriv-ing at Fort William, the tourist can stay over a day and by taking advantage of the railway which has been recently constructed can visit the Glenfinnan, memorable for all time as being the spot where Prince Charlie first unfurled his banner in 1745. A monument erected at the head of Loch Shiel marks the place. This monument was erected by a McDonald, Mc-Donald, and his descendants were the late Hugh and Angus; the beloved Catholic bishops of Aberdeen Aber-deen and Edinburgh. It was of a branch of this family that Campbell writes about in his poem: ----- Clanrald, Clanrald beware of the day When the Lowlands shall meet thee in battle array. ' For a field of the dead rushes red on my sight And the clans of Culloden are scattered in fight. Avaunt thou false wizard I've marshalled my clan Their swords are a thousand, theirhearts are but one. Then woe to his kindred and woe to his cause When Clanrald the Claymore indignantly draws When her bonnetted chieftains to victory crowd Clanrald the dauntless and Moray the proud. After having seen Glenfinnin, the tourist can return to Banavie, three miles from Fort William, and from thence take the boat up the celebrated Caledonian Canal to Inverness. NAPPEB TAXDY. Perth, March 19, 3 90S. (To be continued.) |