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218
CALLANDER TO THE TROSACHS AND LOCH
KATRINE.
Great Minstrel, who was the first to unveil the grandeur of its
scenery, continues year by year to attract crowds of admiring
itinerants. Easily reached from any of the principal towns of
Scotland, and well supplied with all the modern accompaniments
of rapid and comfortable travelling, it holds out inducements
to many who have no desire to penetrate into the remote dis¬
tricts of the Highlands. The wholesale method of conveyance
adopted is apt to create dissatisfaction in the minds of those
to whom solitude and the undisturbed indulgence of fancy are
necessary adjuncts in the enjoyment of the scenery. For such,
however, a plentiful relay of private vehicles and the use of
rowing boats on the lochs supply the means of accomplishing
the journey in the way most congenial to their tastes and
feelings.
The road at first follows the northern border of Loch Vena-
char, which may also be reached by the woods of Carchonzie—
the more inviting route, so far as the two are distinct. Just
as the river widens into the lake, or rather the lake narrows to
the river, we reach, at Coilantogle Ford, the spot to which
Roderick Dhu is supposed to have pledged his faith to convey
the stranger skaithless to the frontiers of his dominions.
“ As far as Coilantogle’s ford,
Clan Alpine’s outmost guard.”