Scotland/Scots > Black's picturesque tourist of Scotland

STIRLING TO DUNBLANE AND ARDOCH CAMP.
Miles.
1J Causewayhead.
S Bridge of Allan, cross Allan Water
Miles.
6i Kippendavie on right—(2 miles to
5 Kippenross, on right.
6i Dunblane. [/n»: Kinross’]
4| Kecross Allan Water on right.
and take road to the light.
right from this, Sheriffmuir).
10£ Keep road to left.
11 Cross Allan Water.
12 Ardoch House on right.
12J Cross Bridge of Ardoch—Ardoch
camp on right.
(Railway as far as Dunblane.)
Dunblane village, picturesquely situated on the banks of the river
Allan, is chiefly remarkable for its cathedral, one of the few specimens
of ancient Gothic architecture which escaped the ill-advised fury of the
first reformers. It is partly used as the parish church, and is in tolerably
good condition. The nave is in the oldest pointed style, the choir of a
period rather later, when mullions were filled into the windows, and
decoration was making progress. The tower is evidently the oldest part,
having decided marks of Norman work. Some of the prebends’ oaken
stalls and other pieces of carved work have been preserved, and there is
a recumbent stone effigy of one of the powerful lords of Strathallan in
armour. One of the bishops of the see of Dunblane was the celebrated
Leighton, who left his library, still preserved, to the clergy of the diocese.
He is buried in the cemetery. From the back of the inn a romantic
walk, shaded by a row of aged beech-trees, skirts the banks of the river,
and conducts the tourist to the Bridge of Allan, through the grounds of
Kippenross, the seat of Mr. Stirling. In the lawn of Kippenross is a
plane-tree remarkable for its age and size.
Leaving Dunblane by the north road, and turning to the right
through the plantations of Kippendavie, we may visit the field of
Sheriffmuir, already referred to under the account of Stirling (page
183). It is a bleak muir, now partly covered with a dwarfish plantation of
fir trees, in which stands a stone railed round, called by the country people
the battle stone. The character of the muir explains the awkward nature
of the conflict, from the two armies not facing each other. This arose
from the curve of the ground which prevented them from seeing each other
until close at hand. Hence it came about that the right wing of both
armies was victorious over the enemy’s left, and that the fugitives fled in
opposite directions, justifying the sarcastic poetical description—