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While Telford's Highland
works were in full progress, he persuaded his friend Southey, the Poet
Laureate, to accompany him on one of his visits of inspection, as far north
as the county of Sutherland, in the autumn of 1819. Mr. Southey, as was his
custom, made careful notes of the tour, which have been preserved,*[1] and
consist in a great measure of an interesting resume of the engineer's
operations in harbour-making, road-making, and canal-making north of the
Tweed.
Southey reached Edinburgh by
the Carlisle mail about the middle of August, and was there joined by Mr.
Telford, and Mr. and Mrs. Rickman,*[2] who were to accompany him on the
journey. They first proceeded to Linlithgow, Bannockburn,*[3] Stirling,
Callendar, the Trosachs, and round by the head of Loch Earn to Killin,
Kenmore, and by Aberfeldy to Dunkeld. At the latter place, the poet admired
Telford's beautiful bridge, which forms a fine feature in the foreground of
the incomparable picture which the scenery of Dunkeld always presents in
whatever aspect it is viewed.
From Dunkeld the party
proceeded to Dundee, along the left bank of the Firth of Tay. The works
connected with the new harbour were in active progress, and the engineer
lost no time in taking his friend to see them. Southey's account is as
follows:--
"Before breakfast I went with
Mr. Telford to the harbour, to look at his works, which are of great
magnitude and importance: a huge floating dock, and the finest graving dock
I ever saw. The town expends 70,000L. on these improvements, which will be
completed in another year. What they take from the excavations serves to
raise ground which was formerly covered by the tide, but will now be of the
greatest value for wharfs, yards, &c. The local authorities originally
proposed to build fifteen piers, but Telford assured them that three would
be sufficient; and, in telling me this, he said the creation of fifteen new
Scotch peers was too strong a measure....
"Telford's is a happy life;
everywhere making roads, building bridges, forming canals, and creating
harbours--works of sure, solid, permanent utility; everywhere employing a
great number of persons, selecting the most meritorious, and putting them
forward in the world in his own way."
After the inspection at
Dundee was over, the party proceeded on their journey northward, along the
east coast:--
"Near Gourdon or Bervie
harbour, which is about a mile and a half on this side the town, we met Mr.
Mitchell and Mr. Gibbs, two of Mr. Telford's aides-de-camp, who had come
thus far to meet him. The former he calls his 'Tartar,' from his cast of
countenance, which is very much like a Tartar's, as well as from his
Tartar-like mode of life; for, in his office of overseer of the roads, which
are under the management of the Commissioners, he travels on horseback not
less than 6000 miles a year. Mr. Telford found him in the situation of a
working mason, who could scarcely read or write; but noticing him for his
good conduct, his activity, and his firm steady character, he, has brought
him forward; and Mitchell now holds a post of respectability and importance,
and performs his business with excellent ability."
After inspecting the little
harbour of Bervie, one of the first works of the kind executed by Telford
for the Commissioners, the party proceeded by Stonehaven, and from thence
along the coast to Aberdeen. Here the harbour works were visited and
admired:--
"The quay," says Southey, "is
very fine; and Telford has carried out his pier 900 feet beyond the point
where Smeaton's terminated. This great work, which has cost 100,000L.,
protects the entrance of the harbour from the whole force of the North Sea.
A ship was entering it at the time of our visit, the Prince of Waterloo. She
had been to America; had discharged her cargo at London; and we now saw her
reach her own port in safety--a joyous and delightful sight."
The next point reached was
Banff, along the Don and the line of the Inverury Canal:--
"The approach to Banff is
very fine,"*[4] says Southey, "by the Earl of Fife's grounds, where the
trees are surprisingly grown, considering how near they are to the North
Sea; Duff House-- a square, odd, and not unhandsome pile, built by Adams
(one of the Adelphi brothers), some forty years ago; a good bridge of seven
arches by Smeaton; the open sea, not as we had hitherto seen it, grey under
a leaden sky, but bright and blue in the sunshine; Banff on the left of the
bay; the River Doveran almost lost amid banks of shingle, where it enters
the sea; a white and tolerably high shore extending eastwards; a kirk, with
a high spire which serves as a sea-mark; and, on the point, about a mile to
the east, the town of Macduff. At Banff, we at once went to the pier, about
half finished, on which 15,000L. will be expended, to the great benefit of
this clean, cheerful, and active little town. The pier was a busy scene;
hand-carts going to and fro over the railroads, cranes at work charging and
discharging, plenty of workmen, and fine masses of red granite from the
Peterhead quarries. The quay was almost covered with barrels of herrings,
which women were busily employed in salting and packing."
The next visit was paid to
the harbour works at Cullen, which were sufficiently advanced to afford
improved shelter for the fishing vessels of the little port:--
"When I stood upon the pier
at low water," says Southey, "seeing the tremendous rocks with which the
whole shore is bristled, and the open sea to which the place is exposed, it
was with a proud feeling that I saw the first talents in the world employed
by the British Government in works of such unostentatious, but great,
immediate, palpable, and permanent utility. Already their excellent effects
are felt. The fishing vessels were just coming in, having caught about 300
barrels of herrings during the night....
"However the Forfeited
Estates Fund may have been misapplied in past times, the remainder could not
be better invested than in these great improvements. Wherever a pier is
needed, if the people or the proprietors of the place will raise one-half
the necessary funds, Government supplies the other half. On these terms,
20,000L. are expending at Peterhead, and 14,000L. at Frazerburgh; and the
works which we visited at Bervie and Banff, and many other such along this
coast, would never have been undertaken without such aid; public liberality
thus inducing private persons to tax themselves heavily, and expend with a
good will much larger sums than could have been drawn from them by
taxation."
From Cullen, the travellers
proceeded in gigs to Fochabers, thence by Craigellachie Bridge, which
Southey greatly admired, along Speyside, to Ballindalloch and Inverallen,
where Telford's new road was in course of construction across the moors
towards Forres. The country for the greater part of the way was a wild
waste, nothing but mountains and heather to be seen; yet the road was as
perfectly made and maintained as if it had lain through a very Goschen. The
next stages were to Nairn and Inverness, from whence then proceeded to view
the important works constructed at the crossing of the River Beauly:--
"At Lovat Bridge," says
Southey, "we turned aside and went four miles up the river, along the
Strathglass road--one of the new works, and one of the most remarkable,
because of the difficulty of constructing it, and also because of the fine
scenery which it commands.....
"Lovat Bridge, by which we
returned, is a plain, handsome structure of five arches, two of 40 feet
span, two of 50, and the centre one of 60. The curve is as little as
possible. I learnt in Spain to admire straight bridges; But Mr. Telford
thinks there always ought to be some curve to enable the rain water to run
off, and because he would have the outline look like the segment of a large
circle, resting on the abutments. A double line over the arches gives a
finish to the bridge, and perhaps looks as well, or almost as well, as
balustrades, for not a sixpence has been allowed for ornament on these
works. The sides are protected by water-wings, which are embankments of
stone, to prevent the floods from extending on either side, and attacking
the flanks of the bridge."
Nine miles further north,
they arrived at Dingwall, near which a bridge similar to that at Beauly,
though wider, had been constructed over the Conan. From thence they
proceeded to Invergordon, to Ballintraed (where another pier for fishing
boats was in progress), to Tain, and thence to Bonar Bridge, over the Sheir,
twenty-four miles above the entrance to the Dornoch Frith, where an iron
bridge, after the same model as that of Craigellachie, had been erected.
This bridge is of great importance, connecting as it does the whole of the
road traffic of the northern counties with the south. Southey speaks of it
as
"A work of such paramount
utility that it is not possible to look at it without delight. A remarkable
anecdote," he continues, "was told me concerning it. An inhabitant of
Sutherland, whose father was drowned at the Mickle Ferry (some miles below
the bridge) in 1809, could never bear to set foot in a ferry-boat after the
catastrophe, and was consequently cut off from communication with the south
until this bridge was built. He then set out on a journey. 'As I went along
the road by the side of the water,' said he, 'I could see no bridge. At last
I came in sight of something like a spider's web in the air. If this be it,
thought I, it will never do! But, presently, I came upon it; and oh! it is
the finest thing that ever was made by God or man!'"
Sixteen miles north-east of
Bonar Bridge, Southey crossed Fleet Mound, another ingenious work of his
friend Telford, but of an altogether different character. It was thrown
across the River Fleet, at the point at which it ran into the estuary or
little land-locked bay outside, known as Loch Fleet. At this point there had
formerly been a ford; but as the tide ran far inland, it could only be
crossed at low water, and travellers had often to wait for hours before they
could proceed on their journey. The embouchure being too wide for a bridge,
Telford formed an embankment across it, 990 yards in length, providing four
flood-gates, each 12 feet wide, at its north end, for the egress of the
inland waters. These gates opened outwards, and they were so hung as to shut
with the rising of the tide. The holding back of the sea from the land
inside the mound by this means, had the effect of reclaiming a considerable
extent of fertile carse land, which, at the time of Southey's visit,--though
the work had only been completed the year before,--was already under
profitable cultivation. The principal use of the mound, however, was in
giving support to the fine broad road which ran along its summit, and thus
completed the communication with the country to the north. Southey speaks in
terms of high admiration of "the simplicity, the beauty, and utility of this
great work."
This was the furthest limit
of their journey, and the travellers retraced their steps southward, halting
at Clashmore Inn: "At breakfast," says Southey, "was a handsome set of
Worcester china. Upon noticing it to Mr. Telford, he told me that before
these roads were made, he fell in with some people from Worcestershire near
the Ord of Caithness, on their way northward with a cart load of crockery,
which they got over the mountains as best they could; and, when they had
sold all their ware, they laid out the money in black cattle, which they
then drove to the south."
The rest of Southey's journal
is mainly occupied with a description of the scenery of the Caledonian
Canal, and the principal difficulties encountered in the execution of the
works, which were still in active progress. He was greatly struck with the
flight of locks at the south end of the Canal, where it enters Loch Eil near
Corpach:--
"There being no pier yet
formed," he says, "we were carried to and from the boats on men's shoulders.
We landed close to the sea shore. A sloop was lying in the fine basin above,
and the canal was full as far as the Staircase, a name given to the eight
successive locks. Six of these were full and overflowing; and then we drew
near enough to see persons walking over the lock-gates. It had more the
effect of a scene in a pantomime than of anything in real life. The rise
from lock to lock is eight feet,--sixty-four, therefore, in all. The length
of the locks, including the gates and abutments at both ends, is 500
yards;-- the greatest piece of such masonry in the world, and the greatest
work of the kind beyond all comparison.
"A panorama painted from this
place would include the highest mountain in Great Britain, and its greatest
work of art. That work is one of which the magnitude and importance become
apparent, when considered in relation to natural objects. The Pyramids would
appear insignificant in such a situation, for in them we should perceive
only a vain attempt to vie with greater things. But here we see the powers
of nature brought to act upon a great scale, in subservience to the purposes
of men; one river created, another (and that a huge mountain-stream)
shouldered out of its place, and art and order assuming a character of
sublimity. Sometimes a beck is conducted under the canal, and passages
called culverts serve as a roadway for men and beasts. We walked through one
of these, just lofty enough for a man of my stature to pass through with his
hat on. It had a very singular effect to see persons emerging from this
dark, long, narrow vault. Sometimes a brook is taken in; a cesspool is then
made to receive what gravel it may bring down after it has passed this pool,
the water flowing through three or four little arches, and then over a paved
bed and wall of masonry into the canal. These are called in-takes, and
opposite them an outlet is sometimes made for the waters of; the canal, if
they should be above their proper level; or when the cross-stream may bring
down a rush. These outlets consist of two inclined planes of masonry, one
rising from the canal with a pavement or waste weir between them; and when
the cross-stream comes down like a torrent, instead of mingling with the
canal, it passes straight across. But these channels would be insufficient
for carrying off the whole surplus waters in time of floods. At one place,
therefore, there are three sluices by which the whole canal from the
Staircase to the Regulating Lock (about six miles) can be lowered a foot in
an hour. The sluices were opened that we might see their effect. We went
down the Bank, and made our way round some wet ground till we got in front
of the strong arch into which they open. The arch is about 25 feet high, of
great strength, and built upon the rock. What would the Bourbons have given
for such a cascade at Versailles? The rush and the spray, and the force of
the water, reminded me more of the Reichenbach than of any other fall. That
three small sluices, each only 4 feet by 3 feet, should produce an effect
which brought the mightiest of the swiss waterfalls to my recollection, may
appear incredible, or at least like an enormous exaggeration. But the
prodigious velocity with which the water is forced out, by the pressure
above, explains the apparent wonder. And yet I beheld it only in half its
strength; the depth above being at this time ten feet, which will be twenty
when the canal is completed. In a few minutes a river was formed of no
inconsiderable breadth, which ran like a torrent into the Lochy.
"On this part of the canal
everything is completed, except that the iron bridges for it, which are now
on their way, are supplied by temporary ones. When the middle part shall be
finished, the Lochy, which at present flows in its own channel above the
Regulating Lock, will be dammed there, and made to join the Speyne by a new
cut from the lake. The cut is made, and a fine bridge built over it. We went
into the cut and under the bridge, which is very near the intended point of
junction. The string-courses were encrusted with stalactites in a manner
singularly beautiful. Under the arches a strong mound of solid masonry is
built to keep the water in dry seasons at a certain height; But in that
mound a gap is left for the salmon, and a way made through the rocks from
the Speyne to this gap, which they will soon find out."
Arrived at Dumbarton, Southey
took leave of John Mitchell, who had accompanied him throughout the tour,
and for whom he seems to have entertained the highest admiration:--
"He is indeed," says Southey,
"a remarkable man, and well deserving to be remembered. Mr. Telford found
him a working mason, who could scarcely read or write. But his good sense,
his excellent conduct, his steadiness and perseverance have been such, that
he has been gradually raised to be Inspector of all these Highland roads
which we have visited, and all of which are under the Commissioners' care
--an office requiring a rare union of qualities, among others inflexible
integrity, a fearless temper, and an indefatigable frame. Perhaps no man
ever possessed these requisites in greater perfection than John Mitchell.
Were but his figure less Tartarish and more gaunt, he would be the very
'Talus' of Spenser. Neither frown nor favour, in the course of fifteen
years, have ever made him swerve from the fair performance of his duty,
though the lairds with whom he has to deal have omitted no means of making
him enter into their views, and to do things or leave them undone, as might
suit their humour or interest. They have attempted to cajole and to
intimidate him alike in vain. They have repeatedly preferred complaints
against him in the hope of getting him removed from his office, and a more
flexible person appointed in his stead; and they have not unfrequently
threatened him with personal violence. Even his life has been menaced. But
Mitchell holds right on. In the midst of his most laborious life, he has
laboured to improve himself with such success, that he has become a good
accountant, makes his estimates with facility, and carries on his official
correspondence in an able and highly intelligent manner. In the execution of
his office he travelled last year not less than 8800 miles, and every year
he travels nearly as much. Nor has this life, and the exposure to all winds
and weathers, and the temptations either of company or of solicitude at the
houses at which he puts up, led him into any irregularities. Neither has his
elevation in the slightest degree inflated him. He is still the same
temperate, industrious, modest, unassuming man, as when his good qualities
first attracted Mr. Telford's notice."
Southey concludes his journal
at Longtown, a little town just across the Scotch Border, in the following
words:--
"Here we left Mr. Telford,
who takes the mail for Edinburgh.
This parting company, after
the thorough intimacy which a long journey produces between fellow-travellers
who like each other, is a melancholy thing. A man more heartily to be liked,
more worthy to be esteemed and admired, I have never fallen in with; and
therefore it is painful to think how little likely it is that I shall ever
see much of him again,--how certain that I shall never see so much. Yet I
trust that he will not forget his promise of one day making Keswick in his
way to and from Scotland."
Before leaving the subject of
Telford's public works in the Highlands, it may be mentioned that 875 miles
of new roads were planned by him, and executed under his superintendence, at
an expense of 454,189L., of which about one-half was granted by Parliament,
and the remainder was raised by the localities benefited. Besides the new
roads, 255 miles of the old military roads were taken in charge by him, and
in many cases reconstructed and greatly improved. The bridges erected in
connexion with these roads were no fewer than twelve hundred. Telford also
between the year 1823 and the close of his life, built forty-two Highland
churches in districts formerly unprovided with them, and capable of
accommodating some 22,000 persons.
Down to the year 1854, the
Parliamentary grant of 5000L. a year charged upon the Consolidated Fund to
meet assessments and tolls of the Highland roads, amounting to about 7500L.
a year, was transferred to the annual Estimates, when it became the subject
of annual revision; and a few years since the grant was suddenly
extinguished by an adverse vote of the House of Commons. The Board of
Commissioners had, therefore, nothing left but to deliver over the roads to
the several local authorities, and the harbours to the proprietors of the
adjacent lands, and to present to Parliament a final account of their work
and its results. Reviewing the whole, they say that the operations of the
Commission have been most beneficial to the country concerned. They "found
it barren and uncultivated, inhabited by heritors without capital or
enterprise, and by a poor and ill-employed peasantry, and destitute of
trade, shipping, and manufactures. They leave it with wealthy proprietors, a
profitable agriculture, a thriving population, and active industry;
furnishing now its fair proportion of taxes to the national exchequer, and
helping by its improved agriculture to meet the ever-increasing wants of the
populous south."
Footnotes for Chapter XIV.
*[1] We have been indebted to
Mr. Robert Rawlinson, C.E., in whose possession the MS. now is, for the
privilege of inspecting it, and making the above abstract, which we have the
less hesitation in giving as it has not before appeared in print.
*[2] Mr. Rickman was the
secretary to the Highland Roads Commission.
*[3] Referring to the famous
battle of Bannockburn, Southey writes --"This is the only great battle that
ever was lost by the English. At Hastings there was no disgrace. Here it was
an army of lions commanded by a stag."
*[4] See View of Banff facing
p. 216. |
