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Monaliagh Mountains; Sources
of the Findhorn; Clach Sgoilte, 1.—Upper Part of Strathdearn, 2.—Interesting
Walking Excursion, 3.—Dell of Dalmigavie; Rapidity of the Findhorn; Cullachy,
4.—The Streens, 5.—A Cattle-lifting Incident, 6. —Dulsic; Dunearn,
7.—Farness; The Divic, 8.—Dunphail, 9.—Relugas, 10.—Brig of Rannoch, 11.—The
Esses, 12.—Heronry, 13—The Mead of St. John; Altyre; Family Records, 14.—Findhorn
Floods; The Great Flood of 1829; its height, 15.
1. THE central districts of
the southern division of Inverness-shire are distinguished by a group of
lofty and rugged mountains, known under the general name of the Monaliagh
Mountains (the grey, misty mountains), which are composed chiefly of granite
and quartz rock, and contain -within their arms the sources of the rivers
Spey, Dulnain, Findhorn, and Nairn, and of various streams which discharge
their waters on the south side of Loch Ness.
These mountains rise in long
ridges from an elevated base of dark heathy moor, and they possess but
little of the abrupt serrated aspect of the west-coast hills ; their
outlines being less decided, and their acclivities less broken. Extensive
straths, or pastoral valleys, abounding in streams and herbage, lie em-bosomed
among them, and support great herds of black cattle, for which the district
has long been famed ; while the adjoining solitudes, which are wide, and
rarely visited by the foot of man, continue still to be the retreats of
great numbers of roe and red deer, and of grouse and ptarmigan. A scattered,
but hardy, and very ancient Celtic race people the straths of this district,
whose almost exclusive occupation is that of shepherds or drovers. The
valleys of Killin (described in Route i. page 153) and of Strathdearn, are
among the most interesting of these straths; and, as the tourist can very
pleasantly spend a few days in exploring them, we shall in this place give
an account of the latter, and conduct him along the whole of the river
Findhorn, which, for variety and beauty of scenery, is unequalled in
Scotland. It will be seen from the map that its course, on the whole, is
remarkably straight, bearing nearly from S.W. to N.E., and parallel, to a
considerable extent, with the strath and river Nairn. Its sources lie many
miles to the westward of Freeburn (on the great Highland road), in the
neighbourhood of which stage the road crosses its stream ; but, like
mightier rivers, its true source is a subject of dispute: some maintaining
that the parent rill comes from the mountains of Laggan, and not far from
the head of the Spey ; while others regard the mossy springs that gush from
a mountain nearer Stratherrick, or even the drops that ooze from a
particular cloven rock, hence called "Clach Sgoilte," in the elevated
opening, to be immediately alluded to, as the true sources of the Findhorn.
2. The tourist may enter
Strathdearn, as the upper part of the valley is called, (the ancient name of
the river being the "Earn,") from the western district of Stratherrick.
Starting from the small inn at Whitebridge, on the Foyers river, and four
miles above the falls, by a hill-path which leads along the Loch of Killin,
and from the south end of the vale of that name, up a strait shelving strath
running eastward, about twelve miles from Whitebridge, he reaches the summit
of an elevated opening in the hills. Soon after, he approaches the isolated
Clach Sgoilte, whence the infant streamlet of the Findhorn flows slowly for
about a mile, and then descends for two miles and a half with considerable
rapidity, when it is joined by the other more southerly branch of the river.
The course of these united streams lies, for seven miles, to the shooting
lodge of Coignafearn (belonging to ,Mackintosh of Mackintosh), through a
strath appearing generally about 200 yards wide; the bottom, at times, level
and smooth, at others more or less broken, covered with grass and heath, and
a considerable quantity of juniper bushes. The hills rise in steep
acclivities, and increase in height in the progress eastwards, being
destitute of trees, with the exception of a few scattered birches, and they
are rather of a verdant than heathy character. The valley winds a little so
as to present itself in successive sections With the exception of two or
three bothies, occupied by shepherds during the summer, and a more
substantial cottage about a mile below the junction of the river (an
accessory to the shooting-lodge of Coignafearn), no habitation is to be seen
between Lord Lovat's shooting-lodge, at the end of Loch Kuhn, and that of
Coignafearn, a distance of seventeen miles.
3. We have been thus
particular as to this little frequented route, as, from the descriptions of
the remainder of the course of the Findhorn, and those of the Vale of Killin,
pedestrians may be induced to explore the scenery of both, after that of the
Falls of Foyers and Loch Ness, and to undertake an excursion of three or
four days betwixt Inverness and Forres, by the valley of the Findhorn. A
road has been formed, from the Highland road, as far as Coignafearn, which
is ten or eleven miles west from Freeburn. From Coignafearn, to the north
end of Killin, a distance of perhaps twenty miles, the foot track is rough,
and not such as to be readily followed by a stranger, which, of course, is
immaterial, except as it impedes his progress; on which account, as well as
to avoid all risk from mist, it may be prudent for him to take a guide
across the pass. The distance from Whitebridge to Freeburn will require
fully twelve hours' walking. From the General's Hut, at Foyers, where the
accommodation is better, the distance is five miles more.
4. At Coignafearn, the strath
twists so that the succeeding compartment is screened from observation till
entered upon. It continues, for about three miles a third of a mile in
width, and seems as if blocked up at the lower end by an eminence clothed
with a fir plantation : steep and lofty hills rise on all hands, so that
this scene possesses a character of most perfect seclusion. It is called the
Dell of Dalmigavie. The mountains are grand and imposing, from their massive
bulk ; yet sweet and pleasing, from their simple configuration, regular
surface, and smiling livery of purple and green. On the north side, the
acclivities assume the most brilliant emerald tint. The Findhorn, in this
and the upper part of its course, runs over a stony channel, only a few feet
depressed beneath the surface of the adjacent ground, which is here quite
level, and the stream is uniformly rapid. It is liable to sudden speats or
inundations, rising at times so as to present a frightful front, several
feet high, to the descending torrent, and sweeping along with such
impetuosity as to endanger the lives of any persons who may then happen to
be crossing the usual fords. The corn-fields and meadow-grass on the low
grounds are also precariously situated; and the proprietors have been
obliged, at considerable expense, to line the sinuosities of the river in
many places with bulwarks of stone and turf. Below the central eminence
above alluded to, the valley, for nearly two miles, contracts to the width
of the sixth of a mile. The upper portions of the hills are here, for the
most part, inaccessible ; and they are intersected by deep and steep
ravines. On an elevated recess, on the north side, stands the farm-house of
Daltomich ; and, further on, Glen Mazeran joins the valley on the same side.
Below this, is seen the house of Dalmigavie (Mackintosh), five to six miles
from Coignafearn, on an elevated terraced spot on the opposite side, graced
with dwarf birch trees. Opposite to Dalmigavie, a road strikes across the
hill to Farr in Strathnairn, whence it continued straight across the
intermediate range to Inverness. The length of this road is about sixteen
miles. Below Dalmigavie, the valley of the Findhorn, for six miles, to the
Bridge above Corrybrough, (where the Highland road crosses,) is nowise
interesting. The hills slope gently from the stream, and are covered with
heather and grass; but the estate of Cullachy, immediately adjoining that of
Dalmigavie to the cast, and fronting it, lays claim to be ranked as classic
ground, from having been the patrimony and early residence of the
distinguished statesman and orator, Sir James 'Mackintosh. It is now
undergoing great improvement from the small farmers using extensively the
primitive limestone which abounds in the hills.
5. Below the Bridge of
Corrybrough the strath widens to a circumference of six or eight miles,
presenting the aspect of having been once the bed of a great lake, which
found two outlets, one by the lower basin of Loch Moy, and thence to the
river Nairn, and the other through the mountains to the northeast of
Freeburn, by the gorge called the Streens. Indeed, the present channel of
the river is only about eighteen feet above the surface of Loch Moy; and the
parallel terrace banks encircling the valley on all hands, point out the
height at which the waters anciently stood.
The distance from Freeburn to
Dulsie is about sixteen miles, and is passable only on foot. The scene,
however, is worthy of the exertion required to explore it. Continuous chains
of hills rise suddenly on either side of a winding stripe of level ground,
and at times precipitous rocky mountains of blood-red granite jutting up in
lofty cliffs, rise from the water's-edge, and confine, and so completely
overshadow the river's course, that some of the hamlets on its banks are
said to be scarcely ever visited by the sun's rays. There is not much wood;
but the bottom of the valley is pleasingly chequered with cultivated and
meadow land, so that the sense of seclusion and repose and the occasional
stern character of the Streens is relieved by the traces of unpretending
industry. [The Streens have recently been made accessible to carriages by a
road formed by Lord Cawdor, the proprietor, for the use of his tenants, and
which, proceeding from the village of Cawdor, is about nine miles long.]
6. But it is impossible to
describe this scene in language more graphic than that used by the late Sir
Thomas Dick Lauder, who may well be accounted the historian of Morayshire,
and especially of the Findhorn.
"It was about this period,
and (though it may surprise many) it was not much more than fifty years ago
(prior to 1817), that Mr. R-, a gentleman of the low country of Moray, was
awakened early in a morning by the unpleasant intelligence of the
highlanders having carried off the whole of his cattle from a distant hill
grazing in Brae Moray, a few miles above the junction of the rapid rivers
Findhorn and Divie, and between both. He was an active man ; so that, after
a few questions put to the breathless messenger, he lost not a moment in
summoning and arming several servants: and, instead of taking the way to his
farm, he struck at once across the country, in order to get, as speedily as
possible, to a point where the rocks and woods, hanging over the deep bed of
the Findhorn, first begin to be crowned by steep and lofty mountains,
receding in long and misty perspective. This was the grand pass into the
boundless wastes frequented by the robbers; and here Mr. R,- forded the
river to its southern hank, and took his stand with his little party, well
aware that, if he could not intercept his cattle here, he might abandon all
further search after them.
"The spot chosen for the
ambuscade was a beautiful range of scenery known by the name of the Streens.
So deep is the hollow in many places, that some of the little cottages, with
which its bottom is here and there sprinkled, have Gaelic appellations,
implying that they never see the sun. There were then no houses near them;
but the party lay concealed among some huge fragments of rock, shivered, by
the wedging ice of the previous winter, from the summit of a lofty crag,
that hung half across the narrow holm where they stood. A little way farther
down the river, the passage was contracted to a rude and scrambling
footpath, and behind them the glen was equally confined. Both extremities of
the small amphitheatre were shaded by almost impenetrable thickets of birch,
hazel, alder, and holly, whilst a few wild pines found a scanty subsistence
for their roots in midway air, on the face of the crags, and were twisted
and wreathed, for lack of nourishment, into a thousand fantastic and
picturesque forms. The serene sun of a beautiful summer's day was declining,
and half the narrow Laugh was in broad and deep shadow, beautifully
contrasted by the brilliant golden light that fell on the wooded bank on the
other side of the river.
"Such was the scene where Mr.
R---! posted his party; and they had not waited long, listening in the
silence of the evening, when they heard the distant lowing of the cattle,
and the wild shouts of the reivers, re-echoed as they approached by the
surrounding rocks. The sounds came nearer and nearer, and, at last, the
crashing of the boughs announced the appearance of the more advanced part of
the drove; and the animals began to issue slowly from amongst the tangled
wood, or to rush violently forth, as the blows or shouts of their drivers
were more or less impetuous. As they came out, they collected themselves
into a group, and stood bellowing, as if unwilling to proceed farther. In
rear of the last of the herd, Mr. R---l saw bursting singly from different
parts of the brake, a party of fourteen Highlanders, all in the full costume
of the mountains, and armed with dirk, pistols, and claymore; and two or
three of them carrying antique fowling-pieces. Mr. R—l's party consisted of
not more than ten or eleven; but, telling them to be firm, he drew them
forth from their ambuscade, and ranged them on the green turf. With some
exclamations of surprise, the robbers, at the shrill whistle of their
leader, rushed forwards, and ranged themselves in front of their spoil. Mr.
R,---l and his party stood their ground with determination, whilst the
robbers appeared to hold a council of war. At last their chief, a little
athletic man, with long red hair curling over his shoulders, and with a pale
and thin but acute visage, advanced a little way before the rest. 'Mr.
R--l,' said he, in a loud voice, and speaking good English, though in a
Highland accent, `are you for peace or war I if for war, look to yourself;
if for peace and treaty, order your men to stand fast, and advance to meet
inc.' 'I will treat,' replied Mr. R---l: 'but can I trust to your keeping
faith?' 'Trust to the honour of a gentleman!' rejoined the other, with an
imperious air. The respective parties were ordered to stand their ground;
and the two leaders advanced about seventy or eighty paces each towards the
middle of the space, with their loaded guns cocked and presented at each
other. A certain sum was demanded for the restitution of the cattle; Mr.
R---l had not so much about him, but offered to give what money he had in
his pocket, being a few pounds short of what the robber had asked. The
bargain was concluded, the money paid, the guns uncocked and shouldered, and
the two parties advanced to meet each other in perfect harmony. 'And now,
Mr. R---l,' said the leader of the band, you must look at your beasts to see
that none of them be awanting.' Mr. R—l did so. 'They are all here,' said
he, `but one small dun quey.' 'Make yourself easy about her,' replied the
leader: 'she shall be in your pasture before daylight to-morrow morning.'
The treaty being thus concluded, the robbers proceeded up the glen, and were
soon hid beneath its thick foliage; whilst Mr. R--l's people took charge of
the cattle, and began to drive them homeward. The reiver was as good as his
word. Next morning the dun quey was seen grazing with the herd. Nobody knew
how she came there; but her jaded and draggled appearance bespoke the length
and the nature of the night journey she had performed."
7. At Dulsie, the old
military road proceeding from Fort-George through Strathspey and Braemar
crosses the Findhorn by a romantic bridge. The scenery here is of the
wildest and most picturesque character, softened, however, by the graceful
foliage of birch woods which environ the river's bank.
Dulsie Bridge is about two
miles distant from the small inn of Farness, at the junction of the
parliamentary roads leading from Nairn and Forres to Strathspey. This inn
is, by the lattor road, sixteen miles distant from Forres. The tourist,
however, should deviate from the beaten path, and keep as close as he can to
the southern bank of the river, which, though long and winding, is replete
with scenes alternating in the abruptest manner with features of terrific
grandeur, and softest sylvan beauty. The whole country for several miles
eastward is composed of a highly crystalline porphyritic granite,
displaying, in some instances, faces of a hard columnar rock, which confine
the waters of the Findhorn to a deep, narrow, and irregular channel; and in
other places giving rise (from a tendency in their masses to exfoliate and
decompose) to open holms and smooth grassy banks. All the varieties of
hardwood, characteristic of the course of Scottish rivers, are seen in rich
profusion on both sides of the stream; while the adjoining hills, especially
on the north side of the river, also exhibit a few scattered remnants of the
ancient pine forests, which formerly covered the country. Towards the east,
the eye is attracted by the bright light green masses of the oak and birchen
copses of Tarnaway and Relugas, which form the outer fringes of the more
sombre pine woods.
About a mile below Dulsie, a
beautiful sequestered holm, adjoining the house and policies of Farness (Dougal),
greets the traveller, encircled with terraced banks and birchen bowers; and
in the centre of it rises a small cairn, with an ancient sculptured tablet,
about eight feet high, and half as broad, standing at one end of it, and
having a rude cross, and many Runic knots still discernible on its surface.
Tradition calls it the stone of memorial of a Celtic princess, who perished
in the adjoining river while attempting to ford it on horseback with her
lover, a Dane. More likely it was the cross of an early Christian hermit.
8. Immediately behind this
spot, the high promontory of Farness rises nearly 200 feet above the river,
the direct course of which it has shifted, and confined to a deep winding
chasm of at least three miles' circuit. A pathway cut in the face of the
rock conducts the visitor through this extraordinary opening, down which the
river plunges in almost one continued cataract; its craggy sides being set
off, and divided into many magnificent studies for the pencil, by clumps of
native pine and oak trees, which stretch along the summit and crevices of
the rocks. On emerging from the chasm at the lower end, we hail with fresh
delight the more open reaches of the river, spread out before the eye for
several miles, adorned with sunny banks and waving woods, and displaying
also an uncommonly beautiful succession of alluvial terraces, corresponding
with one another on the opposite sides of the river, and which rise
successively above one another, until they seem to meet in the flat-topped
Dunmore of Dulsie. Proceeding downwards, the traveller passes the church and
manse of Ardclach; and below these, the granite bridge of Farness; and five
miles farther down, the bridge of Daltulich, where we again meet another
branch of the Nairn road. About a mile below this bridge it is joined, on
the south, by its tributary, the Divie, which is the conduit of the Dorback,
flowing out of Lochindorbh, and of the numerous streams that fall from Brae
Moray and the adjoining heights.
9. The scenery along the
Divie, for a stretch of six or seven miles, from the spot where it leaps
into its glen, in a wild waterfall, to its junction with the Findhorn, is
exquisitely beautiful. The estate of Dunphail, belonging to Mr. Cumming
Bruce, M.P., stretches nearly to its upper extremity; and below the junction
of the Dorback, on a beautiful terraced holm, surrounded by an ampitheatre
of wooded banks, intersected by extensive pleasure walks, and graced by fine
old trees, the proprietor has erected his splendid mansion in the Venetian
style. The ruins of the old castle, shooting up from a wood-embowered
elevation in the grounds, form a peculiar feature of this charming spot.
10. Below the
pleasure-grounds of Dunphail, the glen narrows, and the river Divie again,
plunging into a wild rocky channel, with a rapid inclination towards the
Findhorn, sweeps along the property of Reluas, another holding of an ancient
branch of the Cumings, lately purchased by Mr. MacKillican. All that art,
guided by good taste, could accomplish in embellishing and exposing to view
the natural beauties of this estate, has been done for it. The old
mansion-house, also, which stands on an eminence, a little way from the
Findhorn, has been greatly enlarged, and finished off after the Italian
fashion; and behind it is a steep conical hill, called the Dun of Relugas,
on the summit of which are the remains of a vitrified fort, communicating
with similar signal-stations on both the adjoining valleys.
11. Returning to the course
of the Findhorn, we observe, just before its junction with the Divie, that
it falls into a narrow strait among the rocks by a running cataract, over
which the Earls of Moray were wont, till recent times, to keep up a rustic
wooden bridge for the use of the district. From Randolph, the great head of
their house, who himself used to pass here with a large troop of horsemen
when on his way to and from his castle of Tarnaway, the spot is still called
the "Brig of Rannoch," and is connected with several memorable transactions.
It was, in particular, above this strait that the desperate skirmish of "The
Lost Standard" was fought between Randolph and the Cumings, about the year
1340.
12. The river now plunges
into a rocky channel, which is surmounted by brushwood, and fir and birch
clad slopes, and skirted by large trunks of old oak and pine trees ; and
behind the house of Logic (Cumming), a winding pathway conducts the
stranger, beneath which he sees the river toiling among hard rocks of grey
gneiss, traversed by many curiously twisted veins of a flesh-coloured
granite, till at last (two miles on) he finds himself suddenly emerge from
these rough and irregular primitive masses, and encompassed with scenery
spread out before him in gently undulating ridges, and adorned with thick
masses of coppice wood, fir, and birch; and through which the Find-horn,
taking several long and magnificent sweeps, called the Esses, glides on, a
broad and stately stream. It is here, then, that we quit the true alpine
district, and enter on the soft sandstone plains of Moray, the forest and
castle of Tarnaway, the seat of the Earl of Moray, appearing on the northern
bank. [Tarnaway is remarkable for its fine old hall, roofed with black oak,
and capable of containing 1000 men under arms.—(See Route iii.)]
13. Proceeding downwards
along the stream, we soon reach the splendid drives of Altyre (Sir W. Gordon
Cumming), which have been formed at great expense, but completely unfold to
our view every favourable point commanding the adjoining unrivalled scenery.
The river, broad and deep, rolls beneath high banks, the soft floetz rocks
of which it has cut into shelving cliffs, their summits and edges being
crowned with large sized trees. Beyond, the low grounds of Moray, enriched
by the copious waters of the Findhorn, extend in long perspective towards
the sea, which is in turn bounded by the beautiful outlines of the
Sutherland and Caithness mountains. On the left a row of very old trees
overhanging the water, and skirting the edge of a small meadow of a
peculiarly lonely and sequestered character, have, from time immemorial,
furnished a retreat to a great number of herons, who have literally encased
the branches with their enormous nests. These stately birds, which, when
absent from their nests, are always either hovering above the river's
course, or patiently sitting on its brink watching their fishy prey, add an
indescribable grace to the scene; while the wooded cliffs, opposite their
resting-trees, afford ample opportunity to the passing traveller of
leisurely studying their interesting and amusing habits.
14. A little way below the
heronry the cliff scenery ceases; and a high gravel bank, receding from the
river's side towards the east, but again approaching it about half-a-mile
off, gives room to a beautiful semicircular space, called the Mead of St.
John, from a small religious house which anciently stood on it. Through this
fairy green, the Altyre pleasure-walks have been continued; and they are
here further adorned with broad shrubberies, and shaded by large
wide-spreading oaks. Several roads diverge from this neighbourhood, leading
through the adjoining woods to the mansion-house of Altyre, which lies about
a mile and a-half to the eastward, embosomed amid "tall ancestral trees."
The house and offices have all been fitted up in the very picturesque and
pleasing style of modern Italian architecture; and the grounds and gardens
(which have been laid out with the greatest taste) vie with the richest
examples of park scenery in this country. Sir William Cumming's domains are
still, indeed, in every way befitting the dignity of the ancient Earls of
Badenoch, whom he represents, though unaccompanied by the great extent of
territory over which they ruled with unrestricted sway. The records of his
family have been preserved with much care and regularity; and some of their
charters, and extracts of the Baron Court-books of Altyre, which have been
published, contain many interesting and curious traits of ancient manners.
Immediately below Cothall,
where a high limestone rock closes in the Mead of St. John, the river
Findhorn entirely quits its rocky channel, and flows on to the sea, through
alluvial banks of gravel, sand, and clay, among which it frequently shifts
its course, and injures the adjoining cultivated lands. Within a short
distance from Forres, it is crossed on the line of the main post-road
betwixt Aberdeen and Inverness by a very handsome and massive
suspension-bridge, and two miles beyond it empties itself into a wide
embouchure, or bay, from which its waters are again ushered through a narrow
passage into the open sea at the port of Findhorn.--(See Route iii. for a
description of Forres and its neighbourhood.)
15. In order to complete the
sketch of the Findhorn's course, now presented to our readers, we have only
to advert a little more fully to a character of its waters, already hinted
at, which is their great liability to sudden and extraordinary floods,
called speats. The Findhorn is, perhaps, in this respect, the most dangerous
river in Scotland. The frequent falls of its bridges, and the injuries done
almost every year to the low grounds near its mouth, sufficiently attest
this ; while, in former days, the most distressing accidents were constantly
occurring along its fords. Its great length, the mountainous character of
the country through which it flows, and the narrowness of its rocky bed, are
the causes of this sudden and dangerous rise of its waters. Many disastrous
floods are on record ; but several proofs concur in establishing, that the
greatest of these, since the country was inhabited, occurred between the 2d
and 4th of August, in the year 1829.
The previous summer had been
a remarkably dry one, especially in Morayshire. An accumulation of vapours
appears to have taken place to the north-east of the British Isles, and a
storm of wind and rain, commencing at the Orkneys, seems to have been
impelled across the Moray Firth, and to have discharged itself on the
Cairngorm and Monaliagh mountains, the first high ground which it met. On
the coast but few indications of the coming deluge were perceived, except
vast columns of clouds hurrying to the southward. After these, however, were
broken on the mountains, the whole atmosphere became surcharged with
moisture, which descended in a small, penetrating rain, almost as fine as
dew, but so continuous, that, at Huntly Lodge, where accurate observations
were taken, in the course of twenty-four hours, 34 inches of rain fell;
which, as compared with the average of all the years from 1821 to 1828
inclusive, is equal to one-sixth part of the whole annual allowance of rain
for these years.
The loss of human life on
this occasion was, on the whole, very inconsiderable; but the value and
quantity of land destroyed, of houses overturned, and of valuable timber
torn up by the roots, along the Findhorn and the other rivers affected by
the flood, extending over a line of from 500 to 600 miles, exceeded all
calculation. Some idea, however, of the awful effects produced by this
impetuous torrent of water may be formed from the fact, that in the Findhorn
(as related in the very interesting and complete account of the flood
published by Sir Thomas Dick Lauder), it rolled along masses of rod: of from
six to eight tons' weight; that in the Streens it rose from fifteen to
twenty-five feet above its ordinary level; forty feet at Dulsie Bridge; and
at the more open space where the Farness Bridge stands, it overtopped the
parapets twenty-seven feet above its usual bed. The height of the parapet of
Daltulich Bridge, above the common line of the stream, is forty-four feet,
of which the flood rose thirty-one feet; and at the gorge below, on the
Relugas property, the water actually ascended over the very tops of the
rocks, forty-six feet beyond its usual height, and inundated the level part
of Rannoch-haugh, which lies over them, to the depth of four feet, making a
total perpendicular rise at this point of no less than fifty feet. In the
rapids of the Esses, on the Logic property, the flood also stood at this
last-mentioned height; but below the estate of Sluie, the quantity of water
was more easily ascertained by its destructiveness to the fields, mills, and
other buildings along its banks, than by its depth. Of the beautiful bridge
of Findhorn, near Forres, consisting of one arch of ninety-five feet, and
two others of seventy-five feet span each, no trace was left but a fragment
of the northern land-breast and part of the inclined approach from the
south. All the salmon pools in the river were changed or filled up; and the
water was so long impregnated with sand and mud, that the fish did not
return for a long time in such number- as they were wont to do.
But our limits forbid our
pursuing this subject any farther. |
