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General Character of
Sutherlandshire, 1.—Muir of Tulloch; Kyle of Sutherland Cattle Trysts, 2.—Strath
Shin; Achany; Linn of Shin; Strathfleet; Mail Phaetons to Loch Slim, 3.—Ben
Clibrick; the Crank; Line of policy observed in Sutherland-shire;
Expenditure on improvements; Suthrrlandshire Inns; Social state of the
Peasantry; Projected modifications of system; Progress of Agriculture,
4.—Natural features of the county, 5.—Aultnaharra to Erriboll; Strathmore;
Ben Hope, 6.—Rob Donn, the Poet; Duncan Ban Maclntyre; Gaelic Poetry, 7.—Dun
Dornadilla, 8.—Strathnaver; Depopulation, 9.—Ben Loyal; Loch Loyal; Lochs
Craggy and Slam; Kyle and House of Tongue; Kirkiboll Village, 10.—The Main;
Roads, 11.—Ferries; Chain Boats, 12.—Ben and Loch Hope; Camusinduin Bay;
Loch Erriboll; Rispond, 13.—Cave of Smoo, or Uaigh Mhore; Cascade;
Superstitions, 14.—Farout Head; Balna Kiel-house; Rob Bonn's Grave;
Tombstone of Donald Mac Morchie-ic-coin-mhair; Shipwreck; Cave of
Poul-a-Ghloup, 15.—Cape Wrath; Lighthouse; View from Cape Wrath, 16.
1. SUTHERLAND possesses
several peculiar features, and is a county comparatively little known. Its
fastnesses have been but recently rendered accessible by connected lines of
road. Practised visitors of the highlands have found their way of late in
considerable numbers to Sutherlandshire; but to the mass of tourists it is
yet a terra incognita. As it presents all the freshness of novelty, though
remote, its wild scenery, however, will doubtless soon attract the attention
of the travelling public in general. A great expanse of heathy, mossy, and
treeless wastes occupies the bulk of the country, and the habitations of men
are but very sparingly indeed scattered over its surface. Lonely wildness is
thus a decided characteristic; but verdant straths, and splendid lakes cheer
the traveller in his progress, and the lofty and noble forms of the
mountains command his admiration, while the coasts, and the numerous
salt-water lochs which break in and lose themselves among the precipitous
mountains, present every variety of maritime landscape.
2. Proceeding westward along
the Kyle of Dornoch from Bonar Bridge, the tourist passes the Muir of
Tulloch, within half-a-mile of Bonar, where was fought a "cruel battell"
between a party of Danes and the men of Sutherland, in the eleventh century;
and many tumuli and cairns still mark where lie the remains of the fallen
combatants. The heights, till we reach Portinlick, where there is a ferry
across the Kyle, are, like the hill sides for several miles below Bonar
Bridge, on the north side—with the exception of the small estate of Creich,
the property of Mr. Gilchrist of Ospisdale—covered with thriving plantations
of fir and larch. On the hill above are held the Kyle of Sutherland Cattle
Trysts ;" and there are few scenes more enlivening than that which on these
occasions is presented, in the numerous herds of cattle, horses, sheep, and
all sorts of four-footed animals; the almost equally numerous bipeds of all
degrees, in the persons of drovers, gentlemen farmers, cottars, and
herdsmen, and the hundred and one party-coloured tents for refreshments,
formed, some of old field-tents, much the worse for the wear, others of the
gaily chequered home made blanket, and many of a nondescript patchwork,
composed of a mixture of all sorts of stuffs, which, though not exactly fit
to bear part in a field-day exhibition, still, when viewed from a little
distance, add to the general effect of the scene, and lend to it not a
little the resemblance of a martial display. Both the farmer and the drover
may be detected at a glance by their calculating faces; having, however,
this material difference generally—that the subject of the poor farmer's
calculation is the amount of loss he sustains, and according to the result
is his countenance proportionally elongated; whilst the drover, whose whole
trade is gambling, uniformly calculates his prospects of gain. The lowing of
cattle, the neighing of horses, the bleating of sheep, and, above all, the
peculiar shout of the herdsmen, who have enough to do to check the excursive
propensities of their four-footed charge, help to render the scene
altogether one of the most exhilarating description.
3. About two miles beyond
Portinlick is the Bridge of Shin, across the river of that name, and five
miles from Bonar. The road here divides, one branch leading directly west,
to Assynt, the other northwards, to Lairg. This latter road proceeds along
the west bank of the river of Shin, [Another road also conducts to Lairg, on
the east side of the river, but the first is preferable, in so far as it
proceeds through the woods and by the mansion of Achany, and close by the
river, while the other commands views from above of these and of Strathoikel,
and on the former the river has to be crossed at a ford.] through a narrow
strath of heathy slopes rising immediately from the water, and to some
height. On the west side lies the well-wooded and now highly improved and
beautiful estate of Achany (James Matheson, Esq. M.P.), having a commodious
mansion-house. Adjoining to it, on Loch Shin side, is the pretty property of
Gruids, now also acquired by him, and also between and the Oikel, the fine
estate of Rosehall, forming together a very nice Highland estate. At a
distance of six miles, the western road crosses the river at a ford near the
village of Lairg, which stands on the east bank, and where there is also a
coble and piers on the river. On leaving the river the traveller passes the
Linn of Shin, where, as the name implies, there is a waterfall, more
remarkable, however, as a salmon-leap than as a cascade. The salmon
proceeding up the river may here be seen making many unsuccessful attempts
to surmount the ledge of rock that forms the fall, which is about eight or
nine feet in height, and many, by dint of great perseverance and strength,
do succeed.
From the Ferry of Lairg a
road leads westerly, which, at a distance of eight miles, over very dreary
elevated moorland ground, joins, at Rosehall, the Assynt road from the
Bridge of Shin. The few miserable huts passed at the commencement, with
their scanty shapeless patches of cultivated ground partially encircled by
caricature dykes of multiformed stones, and most precarious-looking
formation, are very unpromising indications of the discomforts and poverty
of the people. Another road, crossing the hill behind Lairg, proceeds
eastward through Strathfleet, by the valuable farm of Morvich, to the Mound,
fourteen miles distant, where it joins the great north road. In the lower
part of Strathflcet there is a considerable collection of smaller tenants,
the improvements made by whom are very pleasing, and a substantial earnest
of what may, and we doubt not will, soon be done, much more extensively than
hitherto in that direction. Mail phaetons, as has been already mentioned,
traverse the county from Golspie to Tongue, and to Loch Inver and Scourie,
and will, it is to be hoped, be speedily placed on the road from the latter
place to Duirness and Tongue, and the communication round the coast be thus
completed. At Lairg there is an excellent new inn, which commands a sweet
view of the lower section of Loch Shin, about which there is a good deal of
cultivated land. This lake is about eighteen or twenty miles in length,
stretching to the north-west, and from one to two miles broad, surrounded by
very low hills, rising in lengthened very slightly-inclined slopes. The
inn-keeper at Lairg used to have the privilege of permitting strangers to
fish till the 12th of August; but now the fishings are let, and the high, as
10s.6d. a-day.
The great opening
intersecting the county from Loch Fleet to Laxford, is occupied by one
continued series of lakes and streams—Lochs Shin, Grism, Merkland, More, and
Stack—and a road is in course of formation from Lairg to Laxford, the line
of which is almost perfectly level, and the route will be altogether one of
the finest in Sutherlandshire, as it passes alongst the margin of the
celebrated Reay and Foinnebhein deer-forests, and near the base of some of
the highest mountains, as Ben Hee, Ben Liod, Ben Diraid, Meal Rynies, Saval
More, and Foinnebhein, while various portions along the line are wooded with
dwarfish birch. The lochs and streams are among the best for white fishing
and salmon in Sutherlandshire. Strangers are generally free to fish for
salmon and trout on the Iochs, and for trout in the streams; and in those of
the latter not let, the innkeepers have also the privilege, for a portion of
the year, of permitting persons living at the inns to fish for salmon also.
We are glad to find that this roadway is a couple of feet wider than the
roads round the south boundary, and the west and north coasts, which, for
most part, are only eight feet wide, with an edging of one foot of sward on
each side. The distance to Lax-ford will be shortened to thirty-two miles,
being little more than one-half the present circuit. The road keeps the
north side of Loch Shin and the south side of the other lochs, the forest
stretching along the north.
Having enjoyed the scenery
which the waters of Loch Shin, the neat cottages, the new tasteful church,
and the peaceful manse—all pleasantly situated on a sloping bank of the
lake, with the Free Church and manse on the opposite side of the
river—combine to present to the eye, we proceed along the margin of the loch
for a distance of about two miles, when the road begins to recede from it,
till at last it hides itself from view behind the mountains. Here the
tourist may look upon himself as entering the desert—such it may well be
called; for in the whole tract of country lying between Lairg and Tongue, an
extent of forty miles, and a succession of elevated moorlands lying between
Loch Shin, Loch Naver, Loch Loyal, Loch hope, and the Kyle of Tongue—along
the whole course of which the eye roams over miles of country, in all
directions, of smooth moorland and pasture, either in great plains, or
gentle and extensive inclinations—all is barrenness and waste; and human
habitations are so "few and far between," that only some three or four exist
in all the distance, to cheer the pilgrim with the assurance that he is not
alone in the world.
"Yet e'en this nakedness has
power,
And aids the feeling of the hour"
that feeling so beautifully
described by Byron, where he says
There There is a pleasure in
the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore;
There is society where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar."
4. There is certainly nothing
within the circuit of the British dominions to equal the intensity and
magnitude of the desolation of this vast region ; yet is it but a more
expanded sample of what is to be found in most parts of the county. We speak
of those portions belonging to the Sutherland family, who own at least
four-fifths, or more, of the whole. Every consideration has been rigidly
made to bend to one vast scheme of sheep-farming, and to depopulation as a
supposed necessary concomitant. This was no doubt the most summary, and
seemingly most feasible mode of dealing with the million acres of
Sutherlandshire. The task devolving on the proprietor was, perhaps, too much
for an individual. To conceive of Sutherland-shire, before its vast
fastnesses were made accessible by roads, to realize the consequent
backwardness of the people, and to suppose to one's self the opening up of
lines of communication, ameliorating the social condition of the people, and
to find the means of turning the possession of this great tract of country
to profitable account, is obviously to propose a problem perfectly anomalous
in this country and in this age. The duty was herculean, and we may imagine
the temptation in grappling with it, to adopt the most ready mode that might
be presented to bring it within more manageable compass. This it may have
been which recommended the policy which has directed the course of events in
Sutherlandshire. We would make no invidious reflections. The position of the
noble proprietors and their advisers must have been sufficiently onerous—the
responsibility in itself weighty enough. But the passing traveller cannot
but ponder these things, and ask himself, Can it he so that thus it ought to
be—that sheep should dispossess man, and that while large fertile tracts are
evidently eminently adapted for agricultural purposes? It seems so entire a
reversal of the course of civilization, and would lead to so complete a
reductio ad absurdum; for no doubt, at one time or other, the same reasoning
might have suggested the leaving of the whole of Britain in like manner
waste. We believe Sutherlandshire has proved anything but a profitable
possession. The greater part of the income has, it is understood, for years,
been expended in the course of the great public improvements, roads and
bridges, buildings, &c., which have been carried on. Had not the country
fallen into the hands of so opulent a family as that of Stafford, could such
sacrifices have been made, and public benefits wrought out? In twenty years,
from 1811 to 1831, there were 420 miles of road, and 134 bridges of ten feet
span, and upwards, formed in Sutherlandshire, by the instrumentality of the
Marquis of Stafford, and of Mr. James Loch, his commissioner, seconded by
Mr. Horsburgh, and other local factors, and mainly at the Marquis's expense,
though the other heritors bore their share of greater part, according to
their rentals! Considerable additional length of branch roads has been since
formed. Yet this is but one item. There have been the erection of inns,
harbours, and others, which may be called public works, in addition to all
the details of erection of farm-steadings, plantations, taking in of land,
enclosures, and the public burdens incidental to landed property. Whatever
construction there may be given to the counsels which advised the schemes of
improvement, the greed of pecuniary gain cannot be attributed to the
Sutherland family.
It is but justice to give the
full meed of praise, where there is so much to invite censorious remark. The
roads are most extensive, the inns are really, as a whole, unequalled in the
Highlands, and may well surprise the reasonable Southron. Every thing is
clean, even in the humblest inn, and comparatively comfortable, while in the
best class—and such are to be found from point to point, in all parts of the
county, as Dornoch, Golspie, Helmsdale, Lairg, Aultnaharra, Tongue, Duirness,
Scourie, Loch Inver, Innisindamff, Melvich, and Auchintoul—the conveniences
and style are perfectly surprising. They may well serve as models to the
Highland inns. [These inns, however, cannot be expected to have extensive
accommodation. Two sitting-rooms, and from three to six bed-rooms, is about
the extent of accommodation. A few have shooting-lodges attached, in which,
probably, on a pinch, a bed for a night might be given to a party not able
to rough it otherwise; but in the season there is at times a very
considerable concourse of tourists in Sutherlandshire, and this cannot fail
to increase yearly, and, no doubt, enlarged accommodations will be the
result. meantime, to come early is the best guarantee for room enough—we
would say from the 10th June to the noddle of July, before the great mass of
health and pleasure-seeking Southrons have been able to liberate themselves.
This period also will be found the most likely for a course of steady and
general weather. Here, too, we would correct a mistake we were led into,
page 401. At all the inns there is a conveyance of some sort to be had on
hire, dog-cart or drosky, and even at the smaller inns, as Kyle Skou and
Rhiconich, if nothing better, there will be at least a good spring-cart
forthcoming. We would further remark, that in our notice of the inn of
Stittenbam, between illness and Bonar Bridge, our notice was inadequate. It
was also built by the Marquis of Stafford, when proprietor of Ardross,
though since added to by Mr. Matheson, the present proprietor. It is like
the best Sutherland-shire inns, a really excellent one, and forms a
favourable contrast with, we regret to say, several of the Ross-shire inns.]
The people are universally most civil. They speak better English, and more
generally than in other parts of the Highlands ; and everything bears
testimony to the great and successful efforts for the amelioration of the
population, whatever room there may be for diversity of opinion as to the
line of policy, and however more gravely the means at times adopted may
present themselves in the light of religious responsibility. The people of
Sutherland decidedly rank with the best class of Highland peasantry. They
are universally civil, courteous, and obliging, generally cleanly in their
habits, inured to labour and industry; and the aspect of a country
congregation, in point of neat and respectable attire, is very gratifying.
We also happen to know, that the present noble proprietor not only purposes
subdividing his sheep-farms on the expiry of the current leases, but also
has projected plans of improvement, by bringing land into cultivation, and
generally by the calling into action the energies of a greater number of
experienced tenants, and by the introduction, at the same time, of
agricultural teachers to stimulate and foster intelligent industrial effort.
Much has been done on the larger farms, in keeping progress with the
advancement of agricultural skill and knowledge, and some of the larger
tenants, as we have already indicated, have gone ahead. Still, we believe we
are not mistaken in saying that, generally, pace has hardly been kept on the
Sutherland estates, in drainage and other improvements, with adjoining
counties and estates; but Sutherlandshire is so unique, so gigantic a
possession, that circumspection is required in drawing comparisons. The
demands on the Duke are necessarily so excessive, that few other men in his
situation but himself could contrive to face them at all. For instance, in
the first year of the recent potato failure, he actually expended £27,000 in
the providing means of subsistence, by employment and provision of food, for
the starving population of Assynt, Edderachillis, and Duirness alone.
Credit is now unreservedly
given to the good intentions by which the late Duchess-Countess and her
noble husband were actuated, and the liberal spirit of the present Duke, in
dealing with these his northern possessions in all the specialties of their
position, is universally acknowledged. Let us hope that what has been done
may prove to have been like the cutting down to the roots of a plant or
tree, overgrown and unproductive, despoiling it for a season of its leafy
honours, but only that, after a time, it may spring up anew, luxuriant with
blossom and fruit, Let us believe that in the hand of providence the
excision was permitted, and brought about for good and wise purposes.
But enough of such digression
which we have been led into, because this vast compass of country, so
peculiar in its aspects as Sutherlandshire is, cannot fail to excite the
tourist's speculation as he wends along, and subject the noble owners to
critical comment.
5. The unparalleled moorland
expanse of country intermediate between Lairg and Tongue, treeless and all
but houseless, presents many stretches of delightful verdure, and generally
in Sutherlandshire, except in the deer forests, the heath is kept very
short, being burnt every seven years, so that the livery of the country is
generally pleasing.
Advancing northwards from
Loch Shin, the conical height of the mighty Ben Clibrick, on the south-east
side of Loch Naver, right a-head, fills the eye. To the west and northward
the expanded circuit is occupied by Ben More of Assynt, Ben Liod, Ben Hee
(one of the highest mountains in Sutherlandshire) Ben Hope, and Ben Loyal,
while behind us the Ross-shire hills make a continuous mountain outline. A
striking peculiarity distinguishes the mountain scenery of Sutherlandshire.
The great mass of the country is considerably raised, forming in most
quarters an elevated table land of smooth moorland or rocky eminences. On
this universal base, diversified by river courses and straths, and
inequalities of all sorts, are piled a great array of generally detached
mountains—huge superstructures towering, each in isolated grandeur, from
3000 to 3500 feet above the level of the sea. In consequence there is less
of continuous mountainous screen than in most other parts, while each
giant-like mass stands out in its own full proportions, always, too, in some
of its corries and sides, sheer and abrupt from base to summit, most
variously modelled, and shaping itself differently, according to the point
of view; when the outlines of different mountains comingle, assuming
strongly-defined appearances; and the terminal aspects of the different
masses repeatedly presenting themselves in cones, peaks, and pyramids,
comprising the full elevation of the hulk, and thus of a magnitude seldom
met with elsewhere, and nowhere in the Highlands in such array.
What may be called glen and
valley scenery is of rare occurrence. The river and stream courses are open,
their channels generally shallow, and it is among the lakes and inlets of
the sea, the jutting headlands, and the upper recesses of the mountains, and
in panoramic amplitude and pervading solitude and silence, that we are to
look for the characteristic features of the country.
As we advance to Aultnaharra,
Ben Clibrick rules sole monarch of the waste to the eastward, in which
direction the country is destitute of marked elevations, excepting one hill
on the east side of Loch Loyal; but in the distance, the two well-known
pyramidal hills, called the Paps of Caithness, are descried. Ben Clibrick,
as marked upon the map, is situated as exactly in the centre of the county
as if a pair of compasses had been applied with geometrical precision in
fixing its position; and from its great height, upwards of 3000 feet, and
centrical situation, the view from its summit is as extensive as it is grand
and various, embracing the German Ocean, the great North Sea, portions of
many of the surrounding counties, and even, with the advantage of a clear
day, the Orkney Islands.
After a ride of twenty-one
miles over the dreary Crask (a pass), we reach the solitary inn of
Aultnaharra, or Aultnaherve, near the head of Loch Naver, now as admirable
as it is remote. At a little half-way house a feed of corn, or meal and
water, can be had.
6. At Aultnaharra, a branch
from the Tongue road diverges on either hand, one on the left leading to
Loch Erriboll, the other, through Strathnaver, to Farr. Of the former, the
ascent for the first four miles is constant and considerable; but on pausing
and looking behind, the extensive rich green Lonn (meadow strath) of Moudale,
the commanding and grand view of Ben Clibrick, and a peep of Strathnaver,
prove quite refreshing. Soon the prospect opens on the other hand, and a
great stretch of wild scenery is presented to view. About nine miles from
Aultnaharra we enter Strathmore. Above this strath, which forms a
continuation of the line of Loch Hope (a fresh-water lake running parallel
with Loch Erriboll), there is enjoyed an interesting and varied view of the
rugged Ben Hope, at the south end of the east side of the loch. This
mountain, which on this side exhibits a perpendicular precipice almost along
its whole height, is said to be distinguished by the property of emitting,
previous to tempestuous weather, a hollow sound indicative of the
approaching storm, such as sung by the Mantuan bard
"Altis
Montibus audiri fragor."
[The same phenomenon is said to be characteristic of the Cairngorm mountains
in Inverness-shire.]
7. Aultnacaillich, in
Strathmore, is the birthplace of Rob Donn, the Gaelic poet. Robert Calder
Mackay, or, as he is generally called, Bob Donn, is regarded as the Burns of
the North, as Duncan Ban Jfaclntyre is of the South Highlands; and, indeed,
their poems form the only two miscellaneous collections of note of Gaelic
poetry. The former was born at Aultnacaillich in Strathmore, in 1714; the
latter in 1724, at Drumlairhaig in Glen Ogle, Perthshire. Both were
uneducated men, but their productions bear the stamp of vigorous genius. An
able memoir of the former, by one of the first Gaelic scholars of the age,
has been published, along with his songs and poems. He would seem to have
been a man of no common grasp of intellect; a shrewd observer, possessing
powers of caustic satire, which, however, he employed always, and that with
great independence of spirit, on the side of truth and morality. his
compositions are all extemporary, struck off on the spur of the occasion;
and his facility in building the lofty rhyme was not a little remarkable.
There is much playful vivacity and keen sense of the ludicrous in his
humorous pieces; and, in the more serious efforts of his muse, he displays
justness of thought, propriety of sentiment, tenderness and warmth of
feeling, and correctness of taste. His social powers made him a great
favourite with all classes; but though he would appear latterly to have in
some degree given way under the baneful influence of frequent convivial
excitement, his character generally was unmarked by the aberrations which
too frequently stain the career of genius ; and, indeed, his moral
deportment was such, that he was nominated an elder of his native parish at
a time when the qualifications for that office were rigorously investigated.
His life was successively spent as a drover, gamekeeper, superior cowherd or
bowman, and as a small farmer; and, for a time, he joined the first regiment
of Sutherland Highlanders, but more in the capacity of a privileged
favourite, than of a private soldier. Rob Donn's biographer ranks his
compositions as inferior, in point of rhythmical beauty, to those of some
other bards, especially of Duncan NlacIntyre ; but he accounts for this from
the peculiarities of the dialect in -which he wrote.
"The highest efforts of our
bard's rhythmical powers is undoubtedly to be found in `Piobaireachd
Iseabail NicAoidh,' a song composed in praise of a young lady, to the
well-known air of the pipe tune, `The Prince's Salute.' To those who have
attended to the variations of that air, as played properly upon the great
Highland bagpipe, it cannot appear but as a very respectable effort, that
the bard has met all its variations, quick and slow, with words and with
sentiments admirably suited both to the air and to his subject. Duncan
1facIntyre's 'Beinn D'oblorain,' is an effort of the same kind, which we
grant is superior, indeed almost marvellous. But of the two, and we believe
of some others of the same kind, we may claim priority for Rob Donn."—" If
Rob Donn's poetry be sometimes found deficient in harmony, and its
phraseology be sometimes pronounced by Gaelic critics in a measure uncouth,
it will not be generally denied that he possesses the redeeming qualities,
under these disadvantages, of nerve, and strength of mind and sentiment, a
manly vigour of intellect, a soundness and perspicuity of good sense, that
place him as a bard beside the most popular names of his country's
minstrels. In the properties of true poetic fertility, of wit and humour
when he is playful, elevation of sentiment when he is solemn, soundness of
principle and moral feeling when he is serious, if we dare not say that he
stands the first of Gaelic bards, we may say with his contemporary, Mr. John
Mackay of Strathmelness-
Leis gach breithcamh d'an
eoldan,
Bidh cuimhne gu brath air Rob Donn.'
'With every judge of poet's
fame,
Rob Donn's will live a deathless name."'
We subjoin the following
sensible observations from the same author, on the elegiac poetry of the
Highlands. "This solemn compositions may be said to present the bard's
character in its strength. By these, we mean principally his elegies. It is
generally known, that over the Highlands of Scotland, until days yet not
long gone by, every district had its bard or bards of higher or lower name ;
and when any individual of provincial or public celebrity died, it was
customary for their death to be followed by an elegy, or some poetic praises
to perpetuate the remembrance of their virtues. That such praises should
always be justly bestowed, and not partake, even when merited, of poetic
exaggeration, could not be expected. Feelings of personal regard, of
partiality to the dead, and hopes of benefit from the living, would
frequently, no doubt, enlist poetic talent to say the best that could well
be said. We have good authority for maintaining it as beyond controversy,
that our author on such occasions never once was hired; never was enlisted
by any prospect of interest or advantage, to eulogise where he could not
conscientiously commend. And his commendations bestowed in elegy will
evince, we conceive, even to readers entirely strangers to the history of
the individuals to whose memory they are devoted, an honesty of intention, a
sincerity of mind, a purity of sentiment, that cannot fail to place the
author himself in a conspicuous view, as an upholder of truth, while he
describes the virtues of those whose fame he commemorates. Even the admirers
of Gaelic song will allow that, in elegy especially, our Highland bards
introduced almost universally much of what we cannot more correctly
denominate than rant and bathos. Imams eery excellencies and virtues,
factitious distinctions and pretensions, are dwelt upon with all the
solemnity which the elegiac muse ought to devote alone to solid and
substantial virtues. We have no desire to detract from the reputation of his
brethren, by upholding the character of our author; many of his brethren's
compositions of this kind are excellent, and several of them, abstractedly
considered as poetical effusions, we would rank fully as high as Rob Donn's;
but we cannot but feel hurt at the bombast, and sentences absolutely without
meaning, with which they too frequently abound, and by which they lower, in
the reader's esteem, the character they designed to commend, and give an air
of littleness to their author's character of mind. All this may seem to
those unacquainted with Gaelic song to be somewhat like falling into the
error we would reprove; commending what merits not either censure or praise,
from its very insignificance. What can be the pretensions to excellence of
the 'unlettered muse' of the highlander? It is from an impartial conviction,
we trust, of her numerous and striking excellencies, that we regret the
blemishes which have attached to her achievements. We are well aware, and
can never cease to lament it, that the entrance of the native muse of
Scotland upon the literary stage was singularly unfortunate ; that it
excited prejudices in the public mind which ages may not remove. The Gael
and their friends have stormed and raved about their darling Ossian. The
Saxons have knit their brows, and vented their spleen at pretensions too
arrogantly made, and assuredly not supported by any paramount testimony.
Were we called upon to write an epitaph for the Ossianic controversy, it
would be a short one: `Est in medio veritas.' We wish it had never been
raised. The eliciting of truth, not to speak of the stubborn maintaining of
error, besides the establishment of the one, or the just downfall of the
other, by legitimate argumentation, can seldom be achieved without certain
other effects following the excitement of party feeling, that may prove much
more injurious in the end, than if the actual subject-matter of controversy
had been left to sleep its own sleep. And it does by no means astonish us
that, from the character of the controversy regarding the authenticity of
Ossian, multitudes of our Saxon friends should both experience and testify a
prejudice against all claims to excellence put forth for the native poetry
of our northern land. But while we wonder not at it, we cannot but lament
its existence.
"But to return to our author:
we conceive that we arrogate for him no undue place, in saying that in
elegiac poetry he is, upon the whole, peerless among his fellows. From the
local circumstances of other districts, and of clans in the generations gone
by, there is not only in their other poetry, but also in their elegies, a
martial strain observable ; a spirit bordering on chivalry pervades them.
But our author lived in a region of peacefulness ; he was not brought up in
the habit, or scarcely in the remembrance, of feud, and field, and battle
fray. His elegies, consequently, will be found of a different complexion
from those of most other bards." Rob Donn is buried in the church-yard of
Duirness.
8. At Aultnacaillich there is
a fine waterfall on the right, and on the left the well-known round burgh or
tower of Dornadilla, about twenty feet of a segment of which in height still
remains. It is just about the size of the Glenelg Towers, being twenty-seven
feet inside diameter, and fifty yards external circumference. Cordiner, who
gives a view of this burgh, showing it to have been pretty entire in his
day, supposes it to have been erected by a Scottish prince, DornadilIa. At
Cashel Dhu (the Black Ford) thirteen miles from Aultnaharra, and five from
Erriboll, where the winding river is crossed by a little flat-bottomed boat
or Coble, and where many have been drowned for want of such a shallop, is a
small inn; commanding, in front of it, a view of the mountain Ben Hope,
nowhere in Scotland surpassed for grandeur and sublimity. From Erriboll, the
pedestrian traveller bound for the westward may either proceed round Loch
Erriboll, or go on to Huelim ferry (three miles and a half distant) by a
road which is six or seven miles shorter.
9. The distance from
Aultnaharra, through Strathnaver to the inn of Bettyhill of Farr, is about
twenty-four miles. This road has not been completed, being carried only for
nine miles down the strath, beyond which there is as yet merely a "bridle
road." Loch Naver is about eight miles long, and is succeeded by a river,
one of the best in the north for salmon, bordered by extensive tracts of
luxuriant meadow, and improvable land, lined, as is the loch side, except by
the base of Ben Clibrick, with the most softly inclined slopes, garnished
with occasional copsewood of dwarf birch. Of old there were towers in sight
of each other all along the strath. Latterly, in every township one or more
comfortable tacksmen's houses were to be seen in close succession, and
upwards of 1200 people resided in this strath. Now, for twenty miles, not a
house is to be seen except shepherds' dwellings at measured distances. One
cannot but regret the absence of living beings in such a scene, and of the
want of those little hamlets usually seen in most Highland glens, and by the
sides of clear mountain rivulets. Where are these? Wormwood, and a little
raised turf, alone mark the places where they stood; the down of the thistle
comes blowing from the sod over the roof-tree, the fires are quenched, and
the owners are far from the land of their fathers.
10. A few miles beyond the
inn of Aultnaharra on the north side of the road, commences the boundary of
the Reay country, now the property of the Duke of Sutherland. Ben Loyal's
lofty summit here begins to rear itself conspicuously, presenting to the
fancy at one point of view the form of a lion couchant, and at another a
close resemblance to the royal arms, "the lion and the unicorn fighting for
the crown." Beneath, on the east, lie the still waters of Loch Loyal, with
its verdant islands, on the margin of which the road winds around the foot
of the mountain, forming, along its whole extent (of about six miles), a
truly beautiful and picturesque ride; but as the road keeps the west side
immediately along the base of Ben Loyal, its fantastic outline is almost
lost. On the banks of Loch Loyal, previous to the sheep-farming depopulation
system, dwelt some of the most comfortable tenants in the county of
Sutherland.
This loch is succeeded by two
others, Craggy and Slam, all abounding in trout, char, salmon, and large
pike.
At a short distance from Loch
Loyal, the Kyle of Tongue, a long arm of the sea, with its low rabbit
islands and the large rocky isle of Rona at its mouth, greets the sight, and
in a few minutes the woods and plantations around the old baronial residence
of Tongue present themselves in full view. Tongue house is beautifully
situated at the foot of a lofty craggy mountain, on the neck of a long point
or tongue of land projecting into, and about the middle of, the east side of
the Kyle, the waves of which wash the very walls of the garden; whilst the
"tall ancestral trees" that surround it form at once an ornament and a
shelter, and pretty extensive plantations are flourishing around, a
peculiarity to be noticed where trees are few and far between. The mansion
itself is an old structure, no ways distinguished in its architecture, but
interesting as a specimen of the honest simplicity of taste of our
forefathers, and although every comfort is to be found within its exterior,
the work of successive generations. This fine domain, the ancient seat of
Lord Reay, chief `of the clan Mackay, has now become the property of the
Duke of Sutherland; and although it is natural to feel regret in the
necessity which has denuded the former owner of the hie of his forefathers,
still it is matter of rejoicing to all the numerous tenantry of the estate,
that his successor is their next neighbour, the Duke of Sutherland, than
whom they could scarcely wish a more liberal landlord.
On an eminence near the sea,
projecting from the .foot of Ben Loyal stands Caistil Varrich, the ruins of
an old watchtower. The scenery about Tongue is altogether very grand, an
extensive semicircle of mountains stretching around ; in the centre Ben
Loyal, 2508 feet in height, spreading widely at its base, and cleft above
into four splintered summits, each strongly defined, and receding a little,
one behind the other, and the southern extremity of the western limb of the
mountain ranges, otherwise somewhat mountainous, though of no considerable
elevation, suddenly shooting up in the huge mass of Ben Hope to a height of
3061 feet. On the opposite side of the Kyle, the receding slopes are
partially occupied with cultivated fields.
So much is the surface of
Sutherlandshire interspersed with sheets of water, that from one eminence in
the parish of Tongue, no less than 100 lochs are visible at once—a
peculiarity still more strikingly exemplified in the western section of the
county.
The village of Kirkiboll,
which is pleasantly situated upon the slope of a hill, is within rather more
than a mile of Tongue House, and contains only, besides the manse and a
commodious inn, a few scattered cottages. Kirkibol] is about four miles
north of Loch Loyal, and eighteen from Aultnaharra.
11. Until recently there was
no regularly made road westward from Tongue towards Erriboll. The traveller
required a guide to pilot his dubious way across the rugged mountains, and
over the trackless waste of the Moin, a highly elevated boggy moorland,
stretching from the base of Ben Hope and Ben Loyal to the sea, and between
Loch Hope and the Kyle of Tongue, a width of eight miles; but now, thanks to
the late noble duke, (by whom, on his acquisition of the Reay country in
1829, eighty miles of road were formed at his own expense,) there is an
excellent road in this direction, by which the traveller may proceed,
without fear of broken bones, or the perils of bogs and pitfalls, as
formerly, along the whole west coast to Assynt. Crossing, therefore, the
Tongue Ferry, about a mile wide, the passage of the :Min, which formerly was
the laborious achievement of an entire day, may now be accomplished in an
hour's time with ease and comfort. The expense attending the construction of
this piece of road must have been very great, from the mossy nature of the
ground: the foundation was formed with bundles of coppice wood, laid in
courses across one another, a layer of turf was next placed over these, and
the whole being covered with gravel forms a road of the best description.
Great ditches and numerous smaller drains are excavated in different parts
on either side to contain the moss water.
12. The north coast of
Sutherland is deeply indented by three arms of the sea, the Kyle of Tongue,
Loch Erriboll, and the Kyle of Duirness, or Grudie, occasioning as many
ferries to be crossed between Tongue and Cape Wrath. The river Hope to the
west, and the Naver and Hallowdale to the east, of Tongue, are likewise as
yet unsupplied with bridges. But these rivers are crossed by a large flat
boat, which is moved from one side of the river to the other by means of a
windlass and chain, attached underneath to the boat, and connected also with
the banks. These boats admit a carriage, without the horses being
unharnessed, and the largest is capable of conveying nearly two hundred
passengers, and of carrying seven or eight tons' weight at a time. About the
best views of Ben Loyal and Ben Hope are obtained in crossing the Moin, the
castellated summit of the former coming laterally under the eye, while the
great shelving precipice in which the rounded highest mass of Ben Hope
terminates on the northwest, and to which the mountain rises in long
successive stages, is displayed in its whole extent. More to the west,
Foinnebhein and Benspionnadh, south of the head of Loch Duirness, uproar
their extensive and varied heads and precipitous corries above the lower
ranges which immediately encircle Loch Erriboll.
13. From the banks of the
river Hope, which is crossed at its outlet from the lake, and in the descent
to it, and again ascending the eminence forming the west bank of the river
Hope, one of Nature's grandest scenes, lies displayed before us. The huge
Ben hope, which raises its shaggy head about 3000 feet above the level of
the sea, stands full in view at the eastern head of the lake ; in the
intermediate space lies the wide unruffled expanse of lone Loch Hope,
embossed amid long ascending slopes, and brightened perhaps by the "yellow
radiance" of the setting stn to the appearance of one unbroken sheet of
burnished gold.
"Nor fen nor sedge
Palute the pure lake's crystal edge.
Abrupt and shear, the mountains sink
At once upon the level brink;
And just a trace of silver sand
Marks where the water meets the land;
For in the mirror, bright and blue,
Each hill's huge outline you may view.
There's nothing left to
fancy's guess,
You see that all is loveliness;
And silence adds, though these steep hills
Send to the lake a thousand rills,
In summer tide so soft they weep,
The sound but lulls the ear to sleep;
Your horse's hoof-tread sounds too rude,
So stilly is the solitude."
Leaving this scene, at a
distance of about two miles, we reach the small rather out of the way inn of
Heulim, on the banks of Loch Erriboll, in descending to which, and again
ascending to Erriboll, the view is exceedingly fine.
Immediately below, encircled
by mountains, lies the beautiful bay of Camusinduin, a sheltered indentation
of Loch Erriboll (itself an arm of the North Sea, running about ten or
twelve miles up the country), further protected by a rocky eminence
connected with the shore by a gravelly peninsula, and celebrated among
mariners as one of the finest and safest harbours in the kingdom, deserving,
as much as its rival of Cromarty on the opposite coast, the appellation with
which the ancients honoured the latter of "Portus Salute." Seldom, during
the prevalence of a northerly wind, does this haven want the embellishment
of numerous vessels riding safely at anchor, and with their different yawls
gliding swiftly along in every direction, and many parties of sailors
enjoying their rough sports on the beach, giving animation to a scene
otherwise as sequestered as may be.
From Heulim, the road towards
Rispond passes Erriboll, three miles and a half distant, and then proceeds
along the shore of Loch Erriboll. On approaching the head of this inlet of
the sea, the scenery becomes wild and imposing. Here stands the stupendous
rock of Craignefielin, whose frowning front overhangs the road. A little
farther on, the battlement-looking heights of the rocks of Strathbeg come
into view in a southerly direction; whilst to the S. W. and W. are the hills
of Foinnebhein, Cranstackie, Benspionnadh; and to N.W. and N. the range of
hills called Beauntichinbeg, which terminates above Rispond, in the hill of
Benaheainnabein, forming altogether a mighty mountainous amphitheatre. This
road affords many beautiful views, both of the loch and of the surrounding
scenery; and brings us, at a distance of fifteen or sixteen miles from
Ifeulim, to Rispond, at the western corner of the opening of Loch Erriboll,
an extraordinary-looking place, worth turning aside for a few minutes to
inspect. It is situated on a small creek, on all sides encompassed by one
continued series of naked rocks, and is altogether an out-of-the-world sort
of spot. Rispond is, however, well adapted for a fishing-station, being
situated at the mouth of Loch Erriboll; and of its advantages in this
respect, the intelligent gentleman who resides there for a time successfully
availed himself. Now, unfortunately, it has been discontinued, and as there
is no curing establishment on this part of the north coast, and as that at
Loch Inver has also been abandoned, it is no object for vessels to come the
way, and there being no demand, the energies of the fishing population are
paralysed, and the treasures of the deep are to them comparatively as if
they were not. The view from the summit of the highest rock, towards the
sea, is very fine : in the distance the eye roams, without finding a
resting-place, over the mighty waters of the great Northern Ocean, which, as
they recede from the sight, seem to mingle with the horizon. Nearer at hand,
several small islands, one of which (Island Hoan) is inhabited, with the
numerous vessels that here spread their white wings to the swelling breeze,
give variety to the prospect ; whilst the high perpendicular cliff of Whiten
Head, to the east, forms a prominent object among the many wonders of this
"iron-bound coast."
Instead of making the circuit
of the loch, the pedestrian tourist may cross at the ferry at Ardneachdie to
Port Chamil. It is nearly two miles in width ; but the boat and crew are
good. The road to Rispond (half a mile) turns off to the right three miles
and a half from the ferry, at Calleagag bridge.
14. Two and a half miles
beyond Rispond, and one mile from the inn of Durin, is situated the creek
and Cave of Smoo, or the Uaigh Mhore, a very remarkable natural excavation,
of gigantic dimensions, formed in the face of the solid rock, which is
composed of limestone. Its entrance and interior are of nearly uniform
width, thus affording the broad light of day to its farthest extremity,
which is aided by a circular opening at the top, after the fashion of a
cupola, and called by the Gael "Nafalish," or the sun. It lies at the inner
extremity of a long narrow inlet of the sea and a little way up the course
of a burn, which, instead of falling over the face of the cliff, finds its
way through another vertical opening, forming a remarkably fine waterfall,
into an inner spacious compartment, which communicates with the outer cave.
This last is perfectly dry. Behind the eastern side of the entrance is a
massive spreading pillar, that supports the ponderous projection, and forms
a small arch of five or six yards wide between itself and the interior wall.
The vaulted roof of the cavern reverberates, with loud and repeated echo,
the minutest sounds, and gives to the voice a fulness of intonation that
increases its power many fold. Viewed from the inner extremity, the spacious
archway, of a span wide for its height, and of the great vaulted roof, is
exceedingly imposing. The height of the entrance is fifty-three feet, above
which there is a space of twenty-seven feet of precipitous rock, making the
total height of the rock in the centre eighty feet, but it rises higher as
it advances. The depth of the cavern is 200 feet, and its width 110 feet.
The roof projects about fifty feet beyond the pillar, and of this portion
the centre has given way. On the west side is an opening of about twenty
feet in height and eight feet in breadth, that leads to an interior cavern.
The access to it is over a low ledge of rock which blocks up the lower part
of the entrance, and before which there is a deep pool, formed by the water
oozing from underneath the ledge. A partial and obscure view of the interior
can be obtained by clambering up the rock, as the roof of this chamber is
also perforated. But though the ledge can be reached with a little
scrambling, the visitor ought not to content himself without a closer
inspection, though the assistants make rather an unconscionable demand for
their services, for which they ask fifteen shillings but take less—a rate of
charge which the intelligent postmaster, who lives hard by, should see to
have rectified. The further examination is achieved by having a boat placed
in the outer pool, from which to step on the barrier. It is then lifted
across with some little trouble—as the only boats at hand, and there are
several generally on the beach of the little inlet, are larger than need be
for the purpose of this exploration—and launched on the inner pool, which
entirely fills this chamber. The boatmen supply candles to make the darkness
risible. Embarked on this subterranean lake, we find ourselves beneath a
vaulted roof, which rises high overhead. The opening mentioned from above is
in the roof of a branch at the further end of the excavation, and gives
admission to a cataract of water, formed by the burn alluded to, which comes
foaming down from a height of rather more than eighty feet, on the face of
the limestone rock. This is really a fine waterfall, apart from the peculiar
circumstances of its position, and forms one of the most remarkable features
of the whole. From midway of the wall of the gap through which it pours,
another opening slants up to the surface, giving a further supply of light,
and affording means of viewing from above the central portion of the
cascade, which, by the way, is not discernible from the entrance to this
second cavern. The length of this interior apartment is seventy feet, its
breadth thirty `here narrowest, the pool seemingly of considerable depth.
There is yet a third cavern
extending farther into the bowels of the earth, to which an entrance on the
west side of the cataract we have just mentioned conducts. This entrance is
formed by an opening nine or ten feet high, but bridged over by an arch of
stone, which contracts the opening under which the boat has to be pushed, to
a height barely sufficient to admit the passage of a small-sized boat. To
effect this transit, it is necessary for the party in the boat to dispose
themselves, as best they can, in a recumbent posture, else they run the risk
of acquiring bumps upon their craniums not recognised in the nomenclature of
phrenology. This inner apartment is a region of utter darkness: with the aid
of candles or torches, however, we discover ourselves in a narrow cavern,
which is for one-third of its length occupied with water. This cave
gradually decreases from a height of forty to twelve feet, is about eight
feet in breadth, and extends in length about 120 feet. Not far from the
extremity of the cave is a deep pool, which stretches under the rock, and no
doubt communicates underneath with the waters of the second cavern. Here
terminates the exploratory adventure, and the visitors must retrace their
way as they entered. In doing so, the outlook through the orifices to the
increasing brightness is picturesque.
Having again emerged into the
light of day, and ascending the rock, we discover the brook which forms the
cascade in the second cavern; it dashes headlong down a rocky chasm, meeting
as it descends several projecting shelves, which form minor falls ere it
precipitates itself finally, with "the voice of many waters," into the
gulf beneath. When this brook is flooded after heavy rains, the water nearly
fills the aperture of the chasm, and if there happen to be a strong
northerly wind, the spray is driven upwards, forming a fine natural jet
d'eau.
The cave is immediately below
the public road, the burn making its descent on the left hand, while the
pathway down branches off on the right.
Reviewing the effect which
the appearance of this magnificent cavern has upon the mind, we cease to
wonder that the strange tales that hang by it find implicit believers among
so many of the country people. Its solitude, its dark recesses, and deep
gulfs, are well calculated to aid the suggestions of superstition, for which
there is naturally an aptitude, if not a good foundation, in the mind of
man: this cavern has been accordingly peopled with spirits embodied in all
the forms, and endowed with all the attributes, that distinguish the
multifarious genii of Highland mythology, the "dainty spirits" that knew "to
swim, to dive into the earth, to ride on the curled clouds." But those
spirits are now departed spirits: they have evanished before the meridian of
our intellectual day, and have scarce left a "local habitation or a name" by
which to be known, should they again revisit "the glimpses of the moon."
15. Leaving Smoo, the road
lies through what, compared with the ground over which we have already
passed, may be called a corn country, being more open and level, and having
numerous fine fields; the district between the opening of Loch Erriboll and
the lower portion of the Kyle of Duirness being a table-land of fine
limestone.
Seven miles from the ferry of
Heulim, we reach the excellent inn of Durin. Farout Head, the most northerly
promontory on this part of the coast, stretches out for about three miles,
forming a fine bay on either side. On the shores of the western bight—the
bay of Duirness—stands the old house of Balnakiel, the chosen summer
residence, in times of yore, of the Bishops of Sutherland and Caithness, and
latterly of the Lords of Reay; and the small parish church of Duirness, an
old structure, formerly a cell of the Augustine monastery at Dornoch, which
was an offset of that at Beauly. The interior of this edifice is at present
in a state of untidiness, quite discreditable for a place of worship to be.
On the further side of a broad peninsula, which landlocks the upper part of
the Kyle, Kooldale farmhouse is pleasantly situated. All around Balnakiel
and Keoldale are fine arable fields and the richest pasture land, and the
promontory of Farout Head is, to a large extent, covered with luxuriant
pasture to the summit of the lofty cliffs at the point. These, with
Balnakiel, and the church and churchyard, are worthy of a four miles' walk
from the inn. From the highest point of the headland, the lighthouse and
terminal outlines of Cape Wrath meet the eye; in one direction Whitten Head,
the lofty and precipitous termination of the east side of Loch Erriboll,
forming a prominent object in the long line of coast in sight, as far as
Strathy point to the east; while the hill of Fashbein, near the cape, with
Foinnebhein and Ben Spionnadhlofty mountains south-west of the Kyle—with Ben
Hope and Ben Loyal in the distance, to the south-east, form a fine mountain
screen on one hand—the boundless ocean expanding all to the north of the
coast on the other, with the Orkneys looming in the north-eastern horizon.
The cliffs of Farout Head attain an elevation of 300 to 400 feet. In the
churchyard of Duirness lie the remains of that highly gifted son of song,
already spoken of, Robert Calder, better known as Robert Donn, or Mackay,
which latter surname, however, some maintain to be erroneous: a monument of
neat design, and with appropriate inscriptions in Gaelic, English, Latin,
and Greek, has lately been erected here to his memory by the admirers of his
genius. This cemetery also contains some quaint inscriptions: One on a
sculptured tombstone within the church, over the remains of a person
distinguished in the local history of the district, as a noted freebooter,
and by the appellative of Donald Mac-Mhorchie-icevin-mhoir, abbreviated
Donald Mac-Corachie, and said to have been inscribed by himself, runs thus
:-
"DONALD MACK, heir lyis lo;
vas ill to his frend and gar to his fo, true to his maister
in veird and vo. 1623."
In August 1847, a vessel was
wrecked on a Sunday morning on the high isolated rocks on the east side of
Farout Head, when all hands perished.
About three quarters of a
mile west of the church, near the sea, is the cave, as it is called, of
Poul-a-ghloup, which is, properly speaking, only an immense gap or cavity in
the earth, of great depth, and communicating by a long, subterraneous
passage with the sea, whose waves, as they roll, first into a long narrow
seaward fissure in the limestone cliffs, which are here much and sharply
indented, and then along the passage to its inmost extremity, resound with a
terror-striking growl.
16. Cape Wrath—the Parph of
ancient geography—distant eleven miles from Duirness Ferry, which is two and
a-half miles from the inn, is a remarkably bold headland, forming the marked
and angular north-west extremity of Great Britain; it is, consequently, one
of the extreme points of our island, and on that account—like John-o'-Groat's
or the Land's End—strangers desire to visit it. Cape Wrath, with its
stupendous granitic front, its extensive and splendid ocean scenery, and the
peculiarly wild character of the country by which it is approached, is
invested with an interest which few promontories on the British coast can
equal.
The greater part of the shore
is here so very precipitous and steep, and many of the cliffs so
overhanging, that it cannot with safety be viewed to advantage from the
land, without great trouble and difficulty; so that, with favourable
weather, the survey of this magnificent headland is generally attempted by
sea; but the strong currents and high-swollen waves that at all times roll
at the Cape, joined to the risk of one of those sudden storms or squalls
that characterize this coast, frequently deter persons unaccustomed to
boating from making the attempt. There is no boat to be had nearer than
Duirness, and the demand for one is 30s. The outermost point of the rock
consists of a granitic gneiss, waved in structure, and greatly contorted by
the intrusion of granite veins.
Proceeding by land, we cross
the Duirness Ferry. This road, from one of the ascents of which the views of
Foinnebhein and Spionnadh are particularly fine, does not keep by the coast,
but winds through a high moorland country, the lofty mountain of Fashbein
being on the left hand, and Skrisbein on the right, for about four or five
miles, when a valley leading down to Kerwick affords a view of the sea and
of the very singular pinnacle of Stacko-Chlo. This is a high pillar, rising
probably to the height of 200 feet out of the sea, but so far below the
height of the neighbouring cliffs, as to he remarkable only from its
detached position, and the regularity of the old red sandstone strata of
which it is composed. From this valley the road takes several wide curves,
and, when within two miles of the lighthouse, branches off to a small boat
harbour in the deep and rocky bay of Clash Carnoch; then, winding up a steep
hill, we suddenly, but not until within a few hundred yards of the
buildings, come in sight of the lighthouse, which, with its regular outer
walls and turreted buildings, resembles a small fortification. On a near
approach, the perfect order and cleanliness that pervade the whole
establishment are experienced as quite delightful and refreshing; the stones
used are all of the durable and beautiful granite, dug with much trouble out
of Clash Carnoch; but so difficult of access and remote was the situation,
that the expense of procuring the other materials was very great, and it is
understood that the whole original expense was nearly £14,000 sterling. The
view obtained from the top of the tower more than repays the trouble of the
journey from Duirness. To the south-west, the distant Butt of Lewis is seen
in clear weather, while the wide expanse of ocean that rolls in the same
direction against the rocky shores at the mouth of Loch Inchard, or on the
sandy bay of Sandwood, is, from this elevation, accompanied with an idea of
magnitude and vastness unknown at other points of the coast. To the east,
again, the tall Hoyhead of Orkney, and, in fine weather, even the island of
North Rona, at a distance of fifty miles, is distinctly visible, and also a
long range of bluff, iron-bound coast, on the mainland, as far as Strathy
Head. Several small rocky islands start up at different points, of which
Balque,
"An island salt and bare,
The haunt of seals and auks, and sea-views' clang,"
is the largest. It lies at
some distance from the shore, and appears a lumpish mass on the breast of
Ocean. Nearer the shore is the pinnacle of Buachil (or the Herd), of
considerable altitude, and which, having a wide base and sharp point, might
at this distance be mistaken for a large ship under full sail. Immediately
out from the cape are several sunken rocks, over which the sea foams and
rages in the mildest weather with appalling fury. A reef of perforated
rocks, which juts out into the sea, is very striking. The highest precipice
is not less than 600 feet, and, in one place, a steep declivity of red
granite, remarkably imposing, terminates in a precipice of great height. But
the wonders and magnificent front of the cliffs in this quarter can only be
seen in their true character from the sea. From that direction, abrupt and
threatening precipices, vast and huge fissures, caverns, and subterranean
openings, alternately appear in the utmost confusion, while the
deep-sounding rush of the mighty waters, agitated by the tides among their
resounding openings, the screams and never-ceasing flight of innumerable
sea-fowl, and often the spoutings of a stray whale in his unwieldy gambols
in the ocean, form altogether a scene which none who has witnessed it can
ever forget. |
