Blair Collection > Celtic monthly > Volume 1, 1893

58
THE CELTIC MONTHLY.
by numerous clusters of scarlet, wax-like flowers.
It is admitted to I"- one of tip oo
' ces in great Britain.
The |i". t .it Ledaig, a born naturalist, is a
skilful, practical florist, so that one is delighted
toe - "ii rare tropical plants growing in the
open air, plants that thrive elsewhere in this
country only in conservatories. A rude stone
wall pillar in front of the house is covered with
ivy. and even the various door entrances and
garden divisions are gracefully spanned with
rustic arches of climbing roses, japoni
lush trails— bright with lilac, scarlet, white, and
golden bloom — rendering the air no less fra-
grant than t In- mse gardens of Gulistan or Shiraz.
Opposite the cottage, between the road and
the sea, is the rock cave, approached through an
arch of roses, in which nature has been helped
by a wall on one side, a window, a door, and a
fire-place. The window looks out on Loch
Nell, Dunstaffnage Castle, Loch Etive, and
Loch l.hinne. In the cave are
I i ase, and a sw inging oil lamp,
while a pane of glass in the roof admits a patch
of sunlight, ur shows tin- stars
The .iiii- in tin- cave is made of that tree-
stump on which King Roberf Bruce lunched
after ei tering Macdougall of Lorn, at the
In. (!■■ of I'.il High (the King's Field).
The cave can accommod ite tiftj children, and,
t',.r the last three ami twenty years , h
usually crowded, Sunday after Sunday. Fathers
and mothers, who in their youth attended the
class, si ill like to come, in ail weal hei . ami
fetch their own little ones with them. Many
young men, formerly Mr. Campbell's scholars,
are now scattered over the earth, and those of
them wlm come bm I on a visil to 1 he clear old
country of their birth, from Australia, New
Zealand, Canada, or the Stair,-, alwaj timl
their w.i\ tu Ledaig, sun- to gel a cordial wel-
come and a lirm grip of the hand from their
mi, h loved ami respi cted teacher. Thus Mr.
Campbell, apart from his poetry, or rather in
to it. I'm' long, ii\ Ins genuine, unselfish
commanding gilts, kindly, genial man-
lier, war ml wide Christian sympathy, diffi-
dent, unobtrusive ways, and earnest, sanctified
endeavour, has really been "a man of I
leading.
I [e has always been active ami busy, his
every efforl having been nobly seconded by his
ill oted wife, who 1ms been a true hearted help
mate, and also bj thi ir intelligenl ami cultured
family. been elloetively given
him, both in the haul battle of daily lifi
tried efforts for the welfare of others,
hou i hold, l"". ,,,.. a, ; , I beloved,
,- _ i., the immediate neighboui hood,
n -I i di tant lands.
Combining gardening with his duties as post-
master, the bard is a busy man ; yet, frank,
IS, and hospitable, he has found time
effectively to aid scientific men, especially in
their botanical and antiquarian researches.
It is interesting to see wild birds, especially
robins, that he has tamed, come at call, perch on
his hand, and, there, confidingly eat the cumins
he has brought fur them. By bis gentle, kindly
ways, the birds soon learn to trust him. as they
did Thoreau, in New England, and Thomas
Aird, in his garden at Dumfries .
Around a home — with sweet humanities
within; greenery and floral wealth without:
and romantic surroundings of sea and mountain-
scenery grand and fair— he has made the
wilderness to rejoice and blossom as the mse.
Dun Valanree, the rock under which the cot-
tage stands, was the site of Queen llynd's
Palace Kurt, and forms the subject of one of
mciful poems. Dun Uisuaeh, which is
half a mile beyond the cottage, was nine the
seat of Government in Scotland. There, the
Coronation Stone of Destiny was kept before
Dunstaft'iiam- was built. From Dunstall'nage
the stone was taken to Scoone, and thence re-
moved by Edward to Westminster. Dun Uis-
uaeh is also called Beregonium, a name which,
although resembling Latin in sound, is derived
from two Gaelic words — Bearradk and Gaiiieumh
— signifying a high rocky eminence on a rocky
beach. Built, or rather rebuilt, by the Sons of
CJisnach, its interesting and tragic story is the
very oldest record in connection with Scottish
history.
The grounds, as already stated, are entirely
of his own creation; several times, high
tides and stormy seas have remorselessly de
vastated his fair paradise, the waves sweeping
away the very soil itself from the laboriously
fo I rock gardi n. ine occasion the sea
broke down the wall of the cave, and swept every-
thing out of it. The Bruce table was fortu-
nately afterwards washed ashore ami recovered.
But, with pluck and praiseworthy perseverance,
he each I ime succeeded in restoring the garden
to its former loveliness, and also rebuilt, the
wall of the cave; thus evolving cosmos from
chaos n function which is notably charac-
■ E all high ai t, and also of the indomi-
table spirit of Scottish indepeinl
Iii 1884, a volume of John Campbell's ad-
mirable and thoughtful < lai li I 'oem ■ w as pub-
ii mil bj Messrs. Maclachlan & Stewart, Edin
burgh, aud a fen of them are accompanied with
English t ram-lai ion 3 bj Profes ior Blackie.
i laelic is M r. I lampbeir i natr\ e tongue, so
thai one would require to know that language
in order to enjoy the natural rythmic gi
thai particular, delicate, subtle aroma which all