Perthshire in bygone days

24 PERTHSHIRE IN BYGONE DATS.
in length, full of graceful undulations and romantic wind-
ings ; he erected bridges of matchless workmanship, and
built a mausoleum for his lady and himself that may outlive
the Pyramids. The fine Douglasian pine, presently grow-
ing a little to the west of the site of Lynedoch Cottage,
was planted by him, and through kind nursing it has
become the parent of an offspring that cannot now be
counted. Bare shrubs, Scotch and Belgian roses, are still
to be seen lurking about corners of the old place, and
gigantic silver firs give solemnity to the scattered memo-
rials of bygone times.
"When altering and enlarging the farm steading at Pitten-
dynie, he had ordered a sunk fence to be formed, leading,
by a gentle curve, from the gate on the public road along
the front of the dwelling-house, to the line of the west wing
of the steading. Biding over one morning, he found the
workmen ready to start with the job, but at a loss about
the precise curve which the fence was to take. He ordered
one of them to hand him the stakes, and without leaving
the saddle, he placed them as he rode along the imaginary
line, and after running his keen eye back over the graceful
row, he returned, galloping as if his horse and himself had
been one piece, and ordered the men to proceed. Indeed,
the country was full of tales about his feats of horseman-
ship, such as riding from Balgowan to Edinburgh and back
with a sixpence between the sole of his boot and the
stirrup-iron, and leaping a gate where there was a surmount
of spikes like an inverted portcullis, and leaving his horse
impaled while he called for a fresh one ; but from what I
knew of the character of General Graham, I do not think
he was the man to condescend to such undignified and
cruel escapades. That he took long journeys on horseback,
like James the Fifth, is undoubted, but he never lost sight
of his position as a gentleman.
It was the general feeling about Balgowan and Lynedoch
that Mrs. Graham's death caused her husband to desert
home, and proof of it is not far to seek. He was com-
paratively a young man, and while his fondness for land
and its amenities could not be dissipated, an heir to his
fine possessions must have been his ever dear wish ; but
Mrs. Graham had no children ; and although a second
marriage might have brought him the desired object, his ,
domestic life was scathed, and he did not find himself
equal to the task of surrendering the place in his heart