Topographical, statistical, and historical gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 2

38
INVERNESS-SHIRE.
vated ridge of country which stretches from Morvan
to this place. From Glenshiel, which is 12 miles
long, the road returns to Inverness-shire, by a pass
called Maam-Raitachan, into Glenelg, which is 8
miles long, and is the richest spot, both in grass and
corn, hitherto mentioned in the Highlands of this
county : See Glenelg, and Glenmoriston.
Fokt-Augcstus [which see], one of the most
pleasant spots in the Highlands, is situated on a
smooth green hill at the west end of Loch-Ness,
having a river on each side, which washes the base
of that hill, and flows gently into the lake. Tra-
velling down the north side of Loch-Ness, a person
of any taste must be struck with the beauty of the
noble sheet of water, nearly 2 miles broad, which
stretches away before him for a distance of nearly
24 miles. The sides present a continued line of
bold rocky ground, rising immediately from the lake
to the height of mountains, without any opening on
either hand, except at Invermoriston, at Urquhart,
and at Foyers. These lofty banks consist of shelves
of earth incumbent upon rock, and afford nourishment
for copse of various kinds. Where the rock is covered
with soil, — hazel, oak, and alder abound, and there is
also a number of aged weeping birches. The thick-
ness of their fretted indented bark indicates their
age ; and the pendulous ringlets of these venerable
birches frequently overhang the face of rocks, and
reach down to the ground. Rocks, rivulets, trees,
and mountains are reflected in the smooth mirror
below, with an effect which neither description in
words can accomplish, nor delineation by the pencil
produce : See Loch-Ness. Passing over a ridge of
high bleak moor, and descending by a northerly direc-
tion into Urquhart, the scene is reversed. In place
of the lofty barriers of Loch-Ness, — which present
nothing but barrenness and the rude grandeur of
Nature,— in Urquhart, a bottom of about 2 miles in
diameter, and flat as a bowling-green, is beautifully
diversified with wood and water and enclosed fields.
Urquhart narrows into a glen, in a westerly direc-
tion, going up to Corrimony, which is more or less
confined in different places, but very much beautified
by neat houses, well-dressed fields, and plenty of
wood, chiefly ash, beech, and birch. Here cultiva-
tion reaches an altitude of 800 or 900 feet above
sea-level.
Crossing westwards over a small barren moor into
Strathglass, which is the most northerly valley of
the county of Inverness, the face of the country pre-
sents a very singular appearance. In the bottom of
this strath the land is almost a dead narrow flat, in
which some meadow and arable land, and several
small lagoons and marshes are interspersed. The
sides of the strath are precipitous, and in most places
are strewed with fragments of broken rock. The
river Glas has in many places the appearance of a
narrow lake, by reason of the slowness of its motion,
which in most places is scarcely perceptible, occa-
sioned by the difficulty it meets with in discharging
its waters at its confluence with the Farra. In the
head of Strathglass there is much green pasture, and
an extensive fir-wood ; and the lower parts of the
valley, in the approach to the castle of Chisholm of
Chisholm, abound with alder on both banks of the
river. The scenery is uncommonly engaging from
the castle of Erchless to the Aird : a majestic river
winding its course through a bottom of considerable
breadth abounding with wood, and the mountains
retiring on either side as you advance, and indicating
approach to the low country : See articles Ard-
meanach, the Beauly, and Kilmorack. Between
the Aird and Urquhart, in the mountains towards
the east end of Loch-Ness, whose summit is toler-
ably level, the vestiges of ridges are very distinctly
seen in the heath, — that in the furrow being uni-
formly shortest for want of soil. Culloden stands
conspicuous a few miles east from the county-
town. The moor, so fatal to the Jacobites in 1746,
extends from near Nairn to the foot of Strath-
errick, and from the river of Strathnairn to the
Murray frith: see Culloden. Fort-George is a
beautiful place, situated on the extremity of a low
promontory or tongue of land, which penetrates far
into the Murray frith, and opposite to a similar
head-land in the county of Ross : see article Fort-
George. In the division of the county of Inver-
ness which lies east from the Great canal, there are
six valleys of various degrees of sinuosity, which
send all their waters to the German ocean. Strath-
glass has been already taken notice of. The tract
of Loch-Ness has also been mentioned. Stratherrick
is situated on the south side of Loch-Ness, and is
supposed to be 400 feet above the surface of the
lake. The river Errick, which flows through this
strath, and gives its name to the country, is singu-
larly romantic, both in its origin and termination.
The small lake which is its source is surrounded
with a circle of rocks through which there is hardly
a possibility of descending into a plat of land called
Killin, — the most beautiful, rich, and verdant, that
can be conceived. This fairy-ground is a mile long,
and half as broad, and lies in the centre of moun-
tains the wildest perhaps in the kingdom : See
Killin.
Leaving Strathnairn, and the Murray frith, on
coming southward, we emerge into the heart of the
Grampians, — bleak, bare, black, and barren. At
length the valley of Moy makes its appearance,
where the eye is refreshed by the view of a rich
extensive plain of arable and meadow land. At a
little distance southward, the traveller arrives at
Freeburn-inn ; from which place all the waters of
this mountainous region are seen flowing from the
north, the west, and south, in their several glens, to
meet below in a point, from which the united stream of
Strathdearn holds its course through a narrow chasm
eastward to Findhorn, where it is lost in the German
ocean. The next place worthy of notice is Sloch-
mhuic-dhu, — 'the Black boar's den,' — which forms
the entrance, in this direction, from the north into
Strathspey. The road over this defile has under-
gone great repairs. From hence there is little
variety all the way to Grantown. Extensive fields
of dark-brown heath, studded by stocks of fir-trees,
with some spots of corn and green ground on the
sides of rivulets, form the prospect for several miles.
On the opposite side of Strathspey, the dark-blue
mountain of' Tullochgorm, and his associates in the
distant horizon beyond the Spey, studded with per-
ennial patches of snow, rear their heads to the clouds.
From the church of Duthil, the country lays aside
much of its gloomy appearance. The Dulnain, a
branch of the Spey, has some good land on its banks,
which increases in fertility and extent as it approaches
the bottom of the strath. By and by the Spey, the
monarch of this vale, comes in full view, winding
his majestic course within green banks to which the
heath dares not approach. The farms are now more
frequent ; patches of turnips and fields of potatoes
appear on either hand ; and lime is wrought for sale.
From Castle-Grant to Aviemore, along the side of
the Spey, the face of the country is very much di-
versified. The natural fir-woods of Rothiemurchus
are the most extensive in the county, or probably in
the island. At a short distance above this place,
and on the opposite side of the Spey, Kinrara is
happily set down. The vale, in which the river
flows, is narrowed considerably at Kinrara. The
banks on both sides are richly wooded by a variety