(35) Plate XV/a

                                                                Plate XV.

                                                   MONZIE.

THE beautiful valley of Strath Earne contains some of the finest scenery in the rich and fertile county of
Perth. It extends from Loch Earne nearly to the town of Perth, a distance of about thirty miles. The
river Earne runs entirely through it from east to west, while it is defended from the north by the Gram-
pian mountains, and bounded on the south by the Ochil-hills. In the course of the Earne through the
vale, it is fed by many tributary streams issuing from the surrounding mountains, which are at once the
source of fertility and beauty. Towards the centre of the Strath, but considerably to the north of the
river Earne, stands Monzie, the seat of General A. Campbell. It is situated at the foot of one of the
hills, and forms a pile of building highly suitable to the surrounding scenery. It is the work of Mr. Pat-
terson, who has very judiciously introduced this style of house into those parts of Scotland, which are
upon a grand and wild scale. It is a gothic building, and partakes in part of the castellated character.
The point, from which the house is best seen, is from an eminence on the east, when it appears with the
bold county about Auchtertyre, in the distance. The wild and romantic small glen, through which a little
stream, called the Shaggie, pours its unquiet waters to the front of the house, is full of fine and picturesque
scenery; and on the banks of this mountain torrent there are many secluded spots, where "a hermit might
build his cell, or a poetic recluse his temporary hut, amid the deep solitude of the mountain dells, the
music of the waterfalls, the verdure of the pleasant banks, and the cool shade and gentle air of the trem-
bling birches."

It is in this neighbourhood, that the remains of Ossian are said to rest; here sleeps the last of the bards
"beneath the four grey stones." This view of Monzie, which is taken from a height in the grounds,
shews on the right the river Shaggie coming through the divisions of the hills towards the centre, while
a small part of the lake, which is on a different level from the river, is seen in the front of some of the
finest larches in Britain. There are four in these grounds; three of which are eighty feet high, and the
fourth ninety-five. The circumference of one of them is more than twelve feet, clear of the swelling
of the roots, at four feet above the ground. The branches of these trees extend all round to the distance
of thirty feet from the centre.—This drawing was made in 1799.