The last division of
scenery which remain: to be seen from Blair, comprises that which
extends from Garry Bridge to Loch Tumel, and it will afford ample
occupation for a day, even to the mere spectator. The artist may pass
many days among it, and still abandon it, like the story of Cambuscan
bold. It is an useful piece of information, mechanical as it may be, to
say, that the distance from Blair to where Loch 'Panel is first visible,
is ten miles the necessary walking will add two or three more, and the
carriage road is. excellent.
The great fall of the
Tumel has long been an object to all visitors, because it has been
described in all the tour-books. Thus the forward and the noisy never
want their tame ; while the wonderful scenery which is continued all
along this valley, remains unrecorded and unknown; unseen, anbepainted,
and unbewritten. It is full time that it should have a better historian
than the Author of these rambling pages.
Though the cascade of the
Tumel is not the only object here, it is barely just to remark, that it
would not have been overrated had it been described by far other quills
than that which manufactured the Tourist's Guide, and been painted by
another sort of pencil than Paul Sandby's. It is truly a line object;
whether to the mere devourers of waterfalls, or to those who know better
in what the main merit of this class of scenery consists. Assuredly, it
would be rendering it high injustice to compare it with any fall on the
Clyde, though far inferior in height; and, with Fyers, it can stand in
no competition for good or evil, so distinct are their characters. The
mass of water is very considerable, although the height does not exceed
fifteen c>r sixteen feet; as the Tumel is here a wide and a deep river.
Hence it possesses all that turbulence and noise which, in a large
stream, are indispensible, because they are expected parts of its
character; but which, on a smaller scale, are commonly too insignificant
to atone for the want of those accompaniments which, in these,
constitute the far greater portion of the interest, and which none can
dispense with, whatever be the dimensions. Those who speak in
personifications, may, if they please, call the cascade itself the soul
of such a picture. But this is a case in which it is easier to dispense
with the soul than the body: the waste of unattended white foam is but a
disembodied spirit which excites no interest after the first moment of
surprise: its colours dazzle and its noise wearies; and when we have
ceased to speculate on its resemblance to magnesia or whipped cream, to
wonder how salmon get up or boats come down, we would willingly give,
like Alonzo, half a dozen acres of it for a rood of good landscape. Such
are the testimonies of those who nave visited Schaflhausen and Niagara:
of the judicious few at least; the only testimonies which, in Hamlet's
opinion, need be recorded.
Though the cascade of the
Tumel falls white from the moment that it quits the pool above, the
disposition of the water is singularly beautiful Nothing can well be
imagined more graceful than the form 5 which it assumes, nor than the
manner in which the several parts arrange themselves into one fine and
broad composition; the shape of the rocks beneath causing a variety of
surface so great, as to produce, even amidst the mars of snowy
whiteness, a depth of shadow sufficient to display them all in perfect
relief, this is infinitely the rarest feature which is found good in a
cascade; and, among the larger and more turbulent, it is seldom that we
find any thing but a shapeless mass of white it is fortunate if any
thing occurs to produce something like definite forms, before the
failing water joins the similar confusion below. To say that the Tumel
is, in this respect, perfect, is not praise too great: and it is for
this reason that this cascade would command admiration, even were it
divested of much of the splendid accompaniment which it possesses. That
alone would constitute a fine picture ; and combined as the whole now
is, assuredly the fall of the Tumel must be allowed the pre-eminence in
Britain. As to the composition of the surrounding parts, it is
unexceptionable, in the various foregrounds which different stations
give, and in the banks and rocks immediately adjoining, ft is also rich,
and full, and romantic, even in the middle ground; but there is a want
of balance in the picture, caused by the towering height of the hill on
the left, which produces an unpleasing effect, for which it is difficult
to find a remedy by any mode of introducing the objects on the right
hand.
A walk, by the side of
the Garry, entering from a gate near the end of the bridge, leads to
this cascade. If the visitor returns to the same point, he should take a
new path to the left, which conducts o'er a wooded eminence, displaying
a most magnificent and unexpected view of the pass of Killicrankie. It
is well represented in Robson's Sketches of Scenery in Perthshire; and
that popular and well-known work will almost superseds the necessity of
any very particular notice of it. We here form a very different notion
of this pass from that which is procured along the high road that leads
through it; although it is only the details of the right hand hill which
are visible. On this declivity, the read is seen winding along in a
manner that taks much to the general picturesque effect; the birch woods
which skirt it and rise in scattered forms up the face of the hill,
continuing the general character of birch forest which stamps all the
scenery, and harmonizing, as well in colour as in composition, with the
whole ot' the surrounding landscape. In the distance, the pyramidal
summit of Cairn Gower is seen forming the termination of this singular
and striking vista: while, near at hand, the irregular and rocky ground,
and the flatter lands, crowded with trees, produce a middle ground of
extreme richness, and not less singular than rich ; the whole including
more space, and comprising a greater multitude of objects without
distraction, than are usually found in countries of this character.
But, from the fali of the
Tumel, the visitor has another choice of walk, which he should by no
means neglect. This is the course of the river upwards to the house of
Coihvrochan: presenting a continued succession, for nearly two miles, of
river scenery, of an uncommon and ne w character. The rocky and braw
ling bed of the Tumel is here, in itself, beautiful throughout, and
oflen disposed so as to afford picturesque rapids, with bold and
precipitous deep hanks, formed of rocks and wood intermixed, and in a
state of the highest natural ornament The whole is enclosed, on both
sides, within these wild and romantic woods; where ancient and fine
trees often overhang; the water, so as to pro duce frequent and marked
changes of character; while some distant glimpse of the impending rocky
and wooded mountains, or the descent of their picturesque declivities to
the river'" margin, adds to the general variety so as to produce a
succession of landscapes, of characters strongly marked, and not less
strongly distinguished from each other. Where an occasional glimpse of
that battlemented house is caught, its effect is extremely striking, and
adds much to the interest of this wild scenery; while, in one or two
places, which cannot br more particularly indicated for want of marks,
the results are pictures which no artist will pass without a careful
record. To those who are thus capable of appreciating this spot.,
singular among scenery where almost every thing is marked by
singularity, it must be left to discover what it would require pages to
point out in all its details of variety and beauty.
The traveller who pursues
this scenery, may follow the line by the water side thus described, or
he may proceed along the upper, and high -road, from Garry bidge to
Ooilivrochan house.
In either case, different
stations will be found above the high road or upon it, and near this
house, which will afford, not only a good general notion of the form and
disposition of this richly wooded and extraordinary valley, but will
present some landscapes of the very first order, in point of extent of
woody range, romantic mixture of trees and rocks, and grandeur in the
mountain forms. To specify all these points, would be equally difficult
and unnecessary ; but one, in particular, may be indicated, because it
is easily found in consequence of its proximity to the burying ground,
and because the view which it affords is perfect in its kind;
comprehending, in the most complete detail, and under the most
picturesque arrangement, all the distinguishing characters and part of
this magnificent landscape Though the woods here consist solely of
birch, there is nothing wanting to give them the full effect of the
finest oak forests'; owing to that solid roundness of swelling outline
by which they are distinguished when thus terming continuous woods, and
to the undulating masses in which they are disposed m consequence of the
irregular nature of the ground. If they have less of depth of tone, it
is well compensated by that grey and tender hue which so well harmonizes
with the general tint of the mountain scenery.
The depth of the valley,
and the strong shadow which marks the course of the river running far
below, produce a fine repose through a picture where the infinite
division of the part would seem, at first, to render it unattainable:
and this is aided by the height of the hills on all sides, of which,
under every position of the sun, some one screen forms a continuous mass
of shade. The distant and bold declivity of Bon Vrackie, ploughed deep
by a dark ravine which descends from the summit, and sprinkled with dark
forests of pine and with scattered trees, forms the great mass of the
distance; yet so retiring on one side as to admit a view of the modest
hills that bound Strath Tay, with a glimpse of all its minute forms of
wood and cultivation^ dimly seen through the blue haze. The opposed
mountain screen rises steep and rocky, its intricate surface, and
equally intricate outline, displaying a succession of brown heath, and
greyer. knolls, and high scars of rock, and furrowing torrents,
intermixed with parches of birch woods, and sprinkled with scattered
trees, which gradually uniting in one continued forest below plunge into
the deep chasm that conducts the river. To the right, and behind, wood
upon wood, and rock piled on rock, enclose the landscape, rising high
upon the sky; while beneath, a continued succession of swelling knolls
and deep valleys stretch away in an endless forest; the forms
diminishing as they recede, from the silvery tree which, near the
spectator, hangs its dark brown branches and airy foliage over the grey
precipice on which he stands, to the faintest form that vanishes in the
blue distance. With singular felicity of accident, the rude battlements
of Coriivrochan house rise among the woods; betraying their long range
only by an occasional glimpse, and thus, while emulating some castle of
the day s of yore, adding the charm of ancient romance to a scene
peculiarly adapted to the pen of the novelist; exceeding, perhaps, the
powers of the painter.
Beyond this point there
are two different roads, the one conducting to the ferry below, and to a
farm house situated on the declivity of the hill, arid the other holding
a higher course. Each presents a perpetual succession of romantic
scenery, though the character becomes much changed. But the visitor will
not pass without a remark, the little and singular green glen of
Fincastle, in itself beautiful, though not picturesque ; and serving to
relieve the eye from the dazzling effect of continuous forest and rocky
mountain,
Through this little
pleasing valley lies a road to Rannoch; now superseded by that which the
traveller is here supposed to quit, and which conducts through the
valley, and thus into the great vale of the Tumel. Yet those who have
time, will find an hour or two well bestowed m proceeding so far along
it as to surmount the hill, and thus to gain a view of the general vale
of the Tumel, different from that which they will obtain by holding on
the way which they have here departed from on the left hand. The
splendour and brilliancy of this rich and green valley are thus seen in
greater detail; nor is the position too elevated for the pencil. From
this point also, Schihallien, always majestic, is perhaps viewed even to
greater advantage than from any other place all the wood which covers
the margin of the take and the green meadows that surround it, being
visible, diminishing in 'i succession of trees more and more minute,
till at last, as they rise up the blue acclivities of the mountains,
they are lost in the purple haze.
Hence also, he whose time
docs not urge, should ascend from the valley to the house of Fincastle,
singularly situated in a recess of the mountain acclivity that conducts
towards Blah, and surrounded with ash trees of the most luxuriant and
picturesque forms. He, indeed, should traverse the whole of this hilly
land, directing his steps by the: groups of ash which he will see at a
distance, scattered over it. Not only does this ride furnish a relief to
the eye from the almost wearisome richness of all the preceding scenes,
but the trees are in themselves studies; while In the torrents, and
broken ground, and other minute circumstances by which they are
attended, an artist will find many valuable and interesting subjects for
the exercise ff his art.
It would be an endless
task to name the points where new landscapes occur in returning and
proceeding now onwards; since, in both directional. whether looking at
the course of the Tumel or down, the views vary at every angle and turn
of the way. But there are here two roads, the one at a loner level than
the other. From the lowest, the pictures are less grand than on the
higher elevations, but one point at least must be excepted, where the
first glimpse of the fine blue cone of Schihallien is seen forming the
distance to the long woody vista of rocky mountain and forest. The
valley, in this part, has assumed a new character. Simpler in its form,
the remote boundary is still the noble conical outline of Ben Vrackie,
with its dark woods and its deep ravines ; while, from the shadowy
course of the river beneath, wooded precipice and naked rock and solid
forest rise along the romantic acclivities, till the deep torrrents,
with their attendant waving and broken line;> of wood, the wild groups
of loose birches deep sheltered in some shadowy hollow, and the
diminishing forms of rocks and brown heathy knolls vanish in the sky.
This lowest road, I must
also remark, conducts to a ferry and a ford across the Tumel, which will
enable the traveller to pass to the opposite side of the river, and thus
to gain access to row scenes, which I shall shortly notice. About this
ferry, and at points too numerous to Mention, there are many other
interesting views of the rivet and the valley all sufficiently distinct
and full of character, yet, as consisting, verbally, of. the same
elements, incapable ot' being so described in words as to appear
different;
In all these scenes,
however beautiful and romantic the naked forms of the mountains are, the
birch woods are an essential ingredient; since they are the cause of
that richness which is so peculiar to all this valley , and of that
grace and lightness which are so singularly combined with the massive
and somewhat ponderous simplicity of the ground. Where they form
continuous woods, the roundness of their forms, and an apparent
compactness of foliage, cause them to produce the same rich swelling
effect, and to assume the same wavy and intricate surface, as ancient
oak woods; nor indeed, except in their superior lightness and delicacy
of colour, would they be distinguishable at a distance, by an eye unused
to them. When single, the delicacy of their ramifications, and the- long
flowing and silvery lines of their trunks and branches, are not less
beautiful and characteristic; while, from the positions which they have
found tor themselves, whether solitary or in groups, they effect what no
art could, and produce what Nature could not here spare without
suffering severely.
It is indeed the land ot'
the birch: that is ever the soul and the spirit of the landscape; and tc
rob it of this tree would be to deprive it of the better part of its
value and beauty. Yet I fear that the axe has already been laid to its
root While the pen was in ray hand, I heard its sound; and I much
suspect that before these pages shall see the light, the traveller who
trusts to ray description will have reason to complain that he has been
disappointed in the reality. Yet he must not complain of him who has
faithfully described what he saw; a world of forest and beauty; but of
the poor avarice which. for the sake of a few pounds, has robbed, and is
fast robbing Scotland everywhere, of ancient ornaments that can never be
replaced. The wood has unfortunately been discovered to be fit for
Herring casks : and now, not only the axe, but the circular saw mill, is
at work everywhere: the latter machine adding to a temptation which,
from the low price of the wood, was formerly insufficient. We cannot
expect that proprietors will sacrifice their property to the amusement
of others; but, in these cases, and for s paltry profit, they are
destroying their own; as it is round their own houses, or on the most
ornamental part of their possessions, that they are committing this
ruin. The coppice grows again, but the birch never; so that the
destruction is complete; as the pasturage of cattle in these unenclosed
lands prevents the young plants from ever springing again.
For nearly five miles,
which is the distance from Garry bridge to the margin of the great vale
of Loch Tumel, the general features thus described continue without any
variation of the leading characters. Still the spectator is buried in
woods and surmounted by rocky hills: still he sees before him the same
valley, unterminated, and. apparently, interminable. lie looks forward
to no change, and has almost ceased to feel any impression from that
which has for some time palled on his eye; when, in an instant, and as
if by magic, he finds that the whole valley has vanished as if it had
never existed, and he sees spread far beneath him, in gay confusion, the
rich and distant "ale of the Tumel, with its bright and beautiful lake,
its towering Schihallien, and its far distant range of blue mountains.
It is impossible to imagine a surprise more complete, or a change of
character more entire and sudden ; such is the contrast, and so perfect,
between the close, rocky, woody glen, and the spacious tango of open and
distant scenery, rich in minute wood and checquered cultivation and
green meadow, and bright with its wide silvery lake and its meandering
river.
It is unnecessary for him
to proceed further in this direction, as this is the last point to which
'his guide proposes at present to conduct him on this road. But that he
may view this scene with all the advantages in his power, he must now
enter a field on his left, where, on a green hill, he may sit at his
leisure and contemplate all that he sees, displayed in a manner and form
still more perfect.
From this eminence, a
rapid and almost precipitous descent, of intermixed grassy slopes and
woods and rocky faces, allows him to look down on the Tumel itself, as,
at a distance of many hundred feet beneath him, it issues brown and dark
from its glassy lake, among rich woods and scattered trees, meandering
in endless variety and it is lost in the valley which he has just
uttered. Turning back, he may now contrast this valley with the scene
before him; nor is the contrast, thus made, less remarkable than at
first, though now divested of the effect of surprise. Here also the
valley affords in object even more picturesque than formerly; deeper,
broader, more simple, and more majestic, but still equally wild and
equally ornamented. On the opposite side, the fine screen of wild hills
which bounds the vale of the Tumel to the southward, is surmounted by
the rugged outline of Ferrogon and the beautifully simple and conical
top of Schihallien; the w hole \ alley being detailed in ail its green
and splendid richness of wood and meadow and cultivation, fading at
length from the eye towards the blue mountains of Glencoe; the opposite
boundary presenting a continued succession of birch forests and
cultivation and farms, rising upwards to the brown moorland of the
hills, and gradually disappearing among the hazy tints of the horizon
The lake, reflecting every tree on its margin, spreads blue and calm tar
beneath the eye; while, immediately tinder our feet, the high
over-shadowing rocks and trees blacken its bright glassy surface, as,
working it« way through the narrow pass, it forms the river, long
undistinguishable from its parent lake.
The triple and blue
mountain seen in the remotest distance, is part of that ridge of which
Buachaille Etive is the chief, and which separates that wild valley from
Loch Etive Thus, from this station, we almost gain a sight of the
western sea, which is only thus excluded by the altitude of the
mountains of that rude country. Between the end of the vale of the Tumel
and that distant object, there thus lies the moor of Rinnoch, with its
lake; but the latter is invisible, except from the higher summits which
surround this position. It is not, however, a very distant ride, even to
that lake; and the traveller who is so inclined, may easily compass this
object, and return within the day to Blair, by proceeding through Glen
Erockie: as the distance does not exceed twelve miles. Mount Alexander
offers considerable temptations to this expedition, as does the whole
course of the Tumel, to those who chose to proceed from Fin castle,
formerly mentioned, or from the very point where the spectator is now
supposed to be But, though this expedition lies beyond the limits which
I had proposed to myself, I trust that the reader will not be displeased
with a slight notice of it, before returning to the description of the
.remainder of the scenery, still unseen, which lies oil this portion of
the Tumel.
Supposing that the
traveller has reached the military road which leads from Amulrie to
Dalnacardoch, by proceeding from Blair through Glen Frockie, it is
adviseable to follow it to Tumel bridge, and thence to trace the course
of the Tumel, upwards to Mount Alexander; after which, he may pursue the
high road to Kinloch Uanuoch. From Tumel bridge, the river is no longer
that splendid stream which he: had found it. either in the open vale
beneath, or in the deep glen of Coilivrochan. But if it is a wild and
rocky torrent, it is also a picturesque one: producing, through one
portion of its course, a succession of rapids and cascades, of a very
peculiar character, and attended by much beauty. A few of these latter
are far from inconspicuous, even as waterfalls; the breadth of the river
insuring a considerable turbulence, and the height often varying, from
two or three, to five or six feet, or more. They art also numerous, and
are various in their appearances ; presenting, nevertheless, one leading
character of wildness and rudeness, and being quite dissimilar to any of
those which have been already noticed.
It is chiefly in a deep
rocky ravine that they recur; the perpendicular sides of which are
finely disposed for effect: the masses and fractures of the rocks
presenting broad and bold features, while the minuter ornamental parts,
harmonizing perfectly with the general character, consist of huge
fragments, detached by the violence of the current, thrown into the
stream, and adding much to its fury and turbulence, as they do to the
variety and picturesque effect of the different scenes. Nor is this all;
as, from the crevices and surfaces, wherever they can find root, Fir
trees of wild forms and ancient growth art seen starting everywhere;
throwing their twisted and fantastic arms about, and aiding. with the
ruggedness and general nakedness of the rocks, and the whiteness and
rage of the river, to produce a class of scenery which will remind the
artist of the Norwegian landscape of Ruvsdael, but which is much
superior to any of the well-known compositions and portrait of that
painter. One point is peculiarly striking, where the river divides round
an insulated and lofty rock crowned with firs; and, here, an artist who
will be at the trouble of clambering about the various accessible
points, will find abundant employment for more than a long day.
The scenery of Mount
Alexander is of a still different order, not only from that now
described, but from all that has preceded; but it is the last point of
the attractions of. the Tumel. The house itself, though mean in style,
is a valuable object from many stations: its situation being also
peculiarly striking and splendid Thus it forms, with its surrounding
wooded grounds, which occupy a bold rocky hill, the central object of a
rich and singular landscape , whether as seen in descending from the
road above named, or from the flat towards Loch Rannoch. or from other
points which I need not detail. The background is the ever-magnificent
and graceful Schihallien, now seen impending high above all; rising
suddenly from the very house itself, and richly covered with scattered
woods and locks, as it sweeps ap from Cross-mount, itself an important
object in the landscape.
This region, indeed,
affords few more striking pictures than those which may here be procured
while they have the merit of being entirely distinct from every thing
which the tourist has seen before; even though he should have followed
this guide through every step of its progress. Few landscapes convey a
more striking impression of space: and of that space which dots not
arise from assuming high stations. The views are nowhere geographical,
but there is always a multiplicity of objects presented to the eye, in
consequence of the variety and the disposition of ground, and the
spacious and brilliant breadth of the mountain acclivity; producing that
magnificence which must strike the most ordinary spectator, and which
the artist well knows how to value. The landscapes of Martin, far less
esteemed as yet than they merit, will immediately ex-cur to the critic
in art; and will explain, better than words, the peculiar character of
this spot.
There is much scenery
also here, in a style not much unlike that of the interval between Loch
Tumel and the Garry: yet sufficiently different to occupy and interest
the spectator who will seek it in that deep and wild interval where the
Tumel forces its way between this hill and the foot of Schihailien. But
I cannot afford to dwell on it- and shall only add, that although the
traveller may prolong his visit to Loch Rannoch. now visible, it offers
few temptations, as it is very deficient in picturesque beauty.
As far as the objects ot
ordinary tourists are concerned, arid as tar as their resolutions arc
likely to extend, the- task which I had undertaken ought to be
completed. Nothing remains for those persons hut to return from each
scene, disappointed, to dinners over roasted and over boiled, peevish,
weary, and belated. It has never been otherwise and never will; because
every one expects to see what never was and never w ill be. Of the ten
persons who make it matter of necessity, or leisure, or fashion, or
imagined health, or imagined taste, to visit what the world visits, nine
reckon, chiefly, on what they may have to boast of having seen, or on
good inns and good dinners, or on shooting grouse, or bobbing for trouts,
or on fatiguing horse- and postillions, or on any thing else but that
for which I have torn my coat, worn out my shoes, and inked my fingers.
The fractional parts which make the odd one, may contemplate these
things to somewhat better effect, each in his several way. But there is
now one of the whole ten, were even Claude himself again alive and of
tire number, who will not be disappointed; and, simply, because he
forgets that no one person can carve out imagination for another,
according to the cut and pattern of his own. What is much worse, there
is, among the1 mob ot' human imaginations, a conspiracy against the
unfortunate author, to exceed whatever is told. Let his writing be like
that of Gray and Scott, or let him equal Wheatley, or stand on the
highest ranges of the ladder with Virgil and Milton, or on the bottom
stave with C'rabbe, or let his descriptions be dressed by a good receipt
like Mrs. Ratcliffe's, or by a villainous one like Gilpin's, or be as
outrageous as the mad prose of a thousand and one novels, or of no
assignable character; ill short, let a man write what he may, every one
will expect, from the reality, somewhat more than he finds, and everyone
will rise disappointed. The imagination runs riot in these matters. If
it is but a ghost, we look for him in a white sheet and saucer eyes,
breathing blue lights out of his month and nostrils; If it is the Devil,
we figure him with tail and horns and cloven feet, and are angry because
he comes in the shape of a very personable and well-bred gentleman,
dressed in a fashionable suit of black. Some wise man, sensible of these
oppressive evils, which beset alike those who write books about lakes
and those who pay for the books and a sight of the lakes too, advises
authors not to write such descriptions as may tell people what they are
to see. A happy thought; saving infinite toil to writer and reader, and
easy equally to our carnages and our pockets, by reducing us to the
quintessence of all knowledge, condensed into Paterson's Road Book.
But although this tour
ought thus to lie finished, there is something in the nature of a
postscript that must yet come lagging in behind. There must be some
spirits in the world, who will not leave this place without casting back
a longing, lingering look; persons who know no use for time but to
occupy it well, whose clocks are not in their stomachs, and who do not
exactly think that Nature is only rock, wood, and water, water, wood,
and reek. For these, there is yet a day in reserve. If I have not
already said, that no part of all Scotland contains, in so small a
space, scenes so grand, and so various, as this short portion of the
Tumel. I have been unjust to it. Such a censure would be still more
deserved from those who may follow the track which I am now about to
point out; since they will assuredly see that, to which little, even in
the romantic scenery of Loch Cateran, can lie compared. for combinations
of variety with grandeur.
The .scenes :n question
lie in the same valley, but occur on the opposite bank of the river,
where there is also a carriage road. Yet as it is necessary to cross one
of the fords of the Tumel, it is more convenient to make this expedition
on horseback. If the water be low, the ford of Fascally is preferable,
because it introduces the visitor more readily to the scenery: when
high, it is a hazardous passage, and that on the Tumei should be.
chosen. Having attained the opposite side, the same time will conduct
the visitor to Loch Tumel as sufficed for that purpose before,
But. he will see things
under so new a light, that he will sometimes doubt whether he is in the
same place. Yet I think he will not long doubt of the superiority of 'he
views on this side; while he may be very certain, that he is looking at
what has never yet been seen by mortal man, except by the writer in his
hand, who thus claims the merit of a discoverer. To make discoveries in
our own island, has a grandiloquous sound, it must be admitted: but if
it is a discovery to see what the natives of a country alone had seen
before, and what none had ever looked at further than as it might offer
so much pasture for so many sheep, the formidable word must even be
allowed to stand for what it is worth. He who claims to have discovered
Van Dicraen's Lana or Owhyhee, did no more.
In the first portion of
this road, taking it up from the ford of Fascally, thr tourist will gain
a second access to the noble lad of the Tumel, and under new forms and
new combinations. It is true that he cannot well place himself so neat
to the cascade; but he will obtain new pictures of nearly equal
interest, and with variations in the foreground, in particular, which
are very interesting and very striking. In this way also, he changes the
surrounding landscape, even in a greater degree than he does the
waterfall; so as to give the whole a totally new character, and thus to
add. almost a new cascade to his catalogue and his collection.
Hence the road winds up
the hill beneath the wild overhanging rocks and woods, in an intricate
and romantic direction j and it is here that it will remind the
traveller most particularly, in case he should have seen it, of the
steep acclivity of Ben Venu about the Coir-nan-uriskin and the pass of
Bal!och-nam-bo. Thus it produces many of those peculiar landscapes which
belong to mountain declivities, but which occur, in this style, nowhere
in the Highlands, except at the place now mentioned, between Loch Earn
and Comrie, and near the western Loch Leven. Nor do I know that these
spots, beautiful as they are, are superior (to this one for romantic
grandeur; while, if the whole space to Loch Tumel be included, they fall
short of it in variety.
I need not, and indeed
could not, to any purpose, dwell more minutely on this particular class
of the scenery found on this mountain road. But that is far from ail
which it enables the traveller to see ; as it affords many magnificent
landscapes of the rocky and woodv valley beneath him which he had
formerly passed through, and of all the woods that surround ("oilivrochan
and are scattered up the sides of the rocky hills above it. Here also,
that fortunately designed and accidental house forms, often, an
important object in the landscape; while, from many positions, the deep
downward bed end course of the river are seen, as its bright glimpses
break through the dense vet light masses of the birch woods that close
over it, Thus there are produced numerous pictures, in a style of
similar magnificent richness and wildness; yet differing entirely in
their details from all the former ones, in consequence of the different
character of the northern boundary of the valley, which now forms the
leading object in the landscape.
One main peculiarity
arising from this roaa, and which is chiefly conducive, as well to its
novelty as to its grandeur of effect, is the altitude at which it is
conducted above the bottom of the valley. Hence a greater scope is
allowed to the eve; alia though many of the pictures are thus taken out
of the hands and the power of the painter they gain incalculably in
beauty as mere objects of contemplation. Another of its peculiarities,
and another leading cause of its beauty, is its tortuous intricacy, as
it is guided among the mazes of the rocks and protuberances, now
surmounting some rude knoll, then plunging into a deep gully; sometimes
winding its difficult way behind rocks, and, at others, lost in woods,
or again emerging from them into the open day. Thus there is produced a
rapid succession of close and open scenery; the overhanging rocks and
precipices and the wild woods, giving way to the open, spacious, and
elevated landscape, till, at last, the summit of the hill being reached,
the vale of the Tumel once more breaks, in all its splendour of ornament
and extent, on the sight.
That view is also
different from either of the preceding: but I must pass from it, as
being already described as far as is needfull. Hence, however, I should
counsel the traveller who has thus far trusted himself to this guidance,
to proceed ; and thus to gain the level of the lake and the vale of the
Tumel. The whole descent, occupying more than a mile, is full of beauty
; whether in the objects near at hand through which he must pass, or in
the more distant landscape which lies on the opposite side of the
farm-houses have a character of beauty, in their situations at least,
which is quite peculiar to this place, and they abound in picturesque
effect; from the forms of the ground, the deep ravines and torrents near
which they often lie, and the luxuriant and graceful wood and general
richness by which they are surrounded. Hence also, by diverging to the
banks of the river, and particularly near its exit from the lake,
numerous pictures may be obtained: and these, once more presenting a new
style, and new varieties of character, that are quite unexpected.
The level of the valley
and the margin of the lake once attained, almost every thing which
marked the former scenes, disappears. We find ourselves amid luxuriant
green meadows and among ash trees; as if suddenly transferred to the
rich plains of Staffordshire or Kent; while, all along the batiks of the
liver, now a sweet and gently gliding pastoral stream, everything
breathes of placidity and repose. The landscape now is a landscape of
trees: often, it is a landscape that Hobbima might have painted, while
we have parted with ail in which Salvator might have gloried and Poussin
delighted.
The ford of Foss will now
give the tourist au opportunity of passing the river, without the
trouble of going round by Tumel bridge: and thus he may return by
Coilivrothan, or by Fincastie, as he may prefer. In either way, he may
contrive, without difficulty, to include this last expedition within the
limits of a day; and it is a day of which he will, assuredly, never
repent.
But it is time to draw
this work to a close; if, indeed, that ought net to have been done
sooner. I am sensible that the rigid limits of Blair have been more than
once passed; but so connected is all this tract of picturesque scenery,
'hat it was scarcely possible to find a point where to stop, short, at
least, of that entire range of associated country, which has now been
included in the present sketch. As Blair is, in reality, the head
quarter to the whole, the promise to the reader has been as much kept
here as in the case of Dunkeld; although the circle has been wider and
the details more numerous.
If these notices and
directions, such as they are, shall add to the enjoyment of the mere
traveller, by pointing out what he might have passed without remark, or
aid the pursuits of the artist, by shortening his labours and directing
his researches, the objects of these pages have been fully attained.
Having, myself, derived much gratification from the various beauties of
this country, and having, at the same time, arrived at this knowledge,
not without much toil and many seasons of wandering among 'hem, I was
anxious to impart to others those pleasures which I have received, and
desirous that all should profit, as far as their time: and means may
allow, by my own labours. Scotland deserves to be far better known than
it yet is, m many other parts that those which have here been selected
for remark; and, the more it is known, the more will its picturesque
beauties rise in value, and increase in numbers. How much of the same
nature yet remains to be done, and how much the landscape of this
country has been neglected, it is scarcely necessary to say; and, were
it said, it would perhaps be scarcely credited. But the pursuit is
almost a new one , and it is, indeed, rather an advantage, that we yet
possess an unexhausted country, and a treasure of unsuspected and
unknown beauties.
Hereafter, it is possible
that the author and the "gentle reader,'' whom it is no longer the kind
and good fashion to conciliate, may meet again, and on another and a
wider field. In the mean time, they must part - hut the author will part
«ith less regret from a subject retailing many happy days, if he can
reflect that hut one suth day has been thus added to the catalogue of
his reader's pleasurable hours. |