Imperial gazeteer of Scotland, or, Dictionary of Scottish topography > Volume 1

BENLITNDIE.
151
BENMORE.
mineral is found near the top, in immense masses,
some of winch must weigh several tons ; these ap-
pear like- patches of snow upon the mountain, even
when seen from Luss. Considerable quantities of
micaceous schistus are found, even at the top, and
many rocks towards the hase of the mountain are
entirely composed of this mineral. Plovers abound
near the middle of the mountain, grouse a little
higher, and near the top ptarmigans are occasionally
seen. To the botanist, Benlomond affords a fund
of great amusement. As wo ascend, we find the
plants we had left below assume a very different ap-
pearanco, and some very rare and beautiful species
are found in abundance. The Alehemilla alpina, or
clnquefoil ladies mantle, grows upon all the upper
part of tho mountain. The Sibbalclia procumbens,
or procumhent silver-weed, distinguished by its tri-
dentate leaves, grows in great quantity, even on the
very summit. The Silene acaulis, or moss catebfly,
the leaves of which form a beautiful green turf, like
a carpet, which is variegated with a fine purple
flower, grows iu large patches. The Eubus chamse-
morus, or cloud-berry, is found in great quantities,
about half-way up the south-east side of the moun-
tain. The blossoms of this plant are of a purplish
white, succeeded by a bunch of red berries, which
are ripe in July, and have a flavour by no means
unpleasant. These berries are much esteemed by
many northern nations, but probably for want of
finer fruits. The Laplanders bury them under the
snow, and thus preserve them fresh from one year
to another. They bruise and cat them with the
milk of the rein-deer. The Azalea procumbens, or
trailing rosebay, the smallest of woody plants, was
first found here by Dr. Stuart of Luss, but is not
very plentiful. The Trientalis Europaia, or chick-
weed-wintergreen — the only British plant of the
class Heptandi'ia — grows in the woods near the base
of the mountain. The Pinguicula vulgaris, Nar-
thecium ossifragum, and Thymus acinos likewise
abound. Very near the inn of Eowardennan, are to
be found great quantities of the Drosera rotundifolia,
or round-leaved sundew, and Drosera Anglica, or
great sundew. These plants catch flies, by shutting
up their leaves, and crushing them to death ; in this
they resemble the Dionoea muscipula, or American
fly-eater.
At Craigrostan, on the western side of Benlo-
mond, is a cave to which tradition has assigned the
honour of affording shelter to King Robert Bruce,
and bis gallant followers, after his defeat by M'Dou-
gal of Lorn, at Dairy. Here, it is said, the Brace
passed the night, surrounded by a flock of goats ;
and he was so much pleased with his nocturnal as-
sociates, that he afterwards made a law that all
goats should be exempted from grass mail or rent.
Next day, tradition adds, be came to the Laird of
Buchanan, who conducted him to the Earl of Len-
nox, by whom he was sheltered for some time, till
he got to a place of safety. Craigrostan was in a
later age the property of the celebrated outlaw, Eob
Eoy M'Gregor; and north of it is a cave, said to
have been used by him as a place of refuge.
BENLOY. See Benlaoidh.
BENLOYAL. See Tongue.
BENLUIBHAN. See Lochgoilhead.
BENLUNDIE, a mountain of 1,464 feet of alti-
tude above sea -level, in the parish of Golspie,
Sutherlandshire.
BENMACDHU, or Bennamacduich, or Ben-
muicdhu, one of the Cairngorm group of mountains,
in the south-west comer of Aberdeenshire, estimat-
ed by Jameson at 4,300 feet in altitude ; by Mr. H.
C. Watson at 4,326 feet; and by others at 4,390
feet. If this last admeasurement be correct, Ben-
macdhu must be higher than Bennevis, hitherto re-
garded as the most elevated spot in great Britain.
The writer of a lively article on this mountain in
Chambers' Journal, after informing us that the at-
tempt to ascend a rough surface, at an angle of
about 25°, and to the height of some 2,000 or 3,000
feet, is no trilling matter, goes on to say: "Your eye
will teach you at a glance the most accessible mode
of ascent, which you will find to resemble a great ill-
constructed stair of unhewn blocks of granite, some
mile or so in length. By degrees you are introduced
to a different tract. The heather and long fern no
longer impede your progress; and you sometimes
walk over a deep-cushioned carpet of alpine mosses,
short and stunted, but rich in variety of colouring,
and fresh and moist from the recently melted snow ;
then you pass over a broad field of snow, hard as ice,
and under which, from a puny archway, trickles
some small stream which feeds the river beneath.
In the hottest noon of a sunimer-day, the summit is
cold and wintry ; the various gentle breezes which
fan the sides of the warm valleys will here be found
concentrated into a swirling blast, cold and piercing
as if it had sprung from the sea on a December morn-
ing; then the snow appears in large patches wher-
ever you look around you, and the bare surfaces ol
the rocks are deserted even by the alpine moss. We
know no mountain so embedded among others as
Benmacdhu. On all sides it is surrounded ; and the
eye, fatigued with tracing their distant outlines, feels
as if the whole earth were covered by such vast pro-
tuberances. Betwixt these hills, and over their
summits, you will see the clouds wandering about
like restless beings who have no fixed habitation.
Benmacdhu, stretching over a considerable space,
has many summits, and presents a vast variety of
aspects; but there is a certain part towards the
north-east where it turns itself into a basin, joining
the contiguous summits of Benaven and Benabourd,
and where it assumes a form peculiarly striking and
grim. Here one rock distinguishes itself from its
brethren by displaying a pointed needle from a
summit of vast height, which appears considerably oft'
the perpendicular, and hangs its head over the glen
below. Betwixt this wild height and another bolder
and broader, there is a deep fissure, down which
tumbles a considerable stream, which, after forming
itself into Loch Aven, descends to join the Spey."
BENMAIGH, a noble isolated mountain, at the
head of Lochbuy, south end of Mull, Argyleshire.
BENMORE, the highest mountain in Mull. It
lies between the head of Loch-na-keal and Loch
Sereidan. Macculloch says : ' ' The ascent is neither
veiy tedious nor difficult. I found it to be 3,097
feet high. The view is various and extensive.
Staffa, Iona, the Treshinish isles, Coll and Tiree,
with Ulva, Gometra, Colonsa, Eorsa, and other ob-
jects, are seen beautifully diversifying the broad face
of the western sea, distinct as in a map : while, to
the southward, Scarba and Jura, with the smaller
isles of the Argyleshire coast, recede gradually in
the distant haze. The rugged surface of Mull it-
self, excludes the objects to the eastward ; but Loch
Sereidan forms a beautiful picture beneath our feet ;
its long and bright bay deeply intersecting with its
dazzling surface the troubled heap of mountains."
BENMORE, a noble mountain of 3,903 feet of
altitude above sea-level, in the parish of Killin,
Perthshire. See Killin.
BENMORE, a mountain-range, with pyramidal
summits, nearly 4,000 feet above sea-level, in the
parish of Glenshiel, Ross-shire.
BENMORE, a mountain in the parish of Lochs,
island of Lewis, Ross-shire, — celebrated in old hunt-
ing-songs of the Outer Hebrides.