Series 6 > Travels in Scotland 1788-1881

Elizabeth Diggle: Journal of a Tourfrom London to the Highlands of Scotland, 19 April to 7 August 1788
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Perth, Sunday evening. We have spent two very agreeable days at Largo, and
have had a very long jumbling stage hither, with hills rising above hills all the way
before us, but this place is in a delightful valley watered by the Tay, &
wonderfully populous it appears; indeed I never saw any thing equal to the
number of children in every town and village of Scotland.
LETTER 12, MURTHLY, 19 MAY
Largo is a sweet place, an excellent house, well situated in view of the sea,
charming walks romantic den & &. The roads thro Fife are the worst in
Scotland, so we had a long days journey across the country to Perth, we passed
by the magnificent remains of the castle of Falkland, & a few miles before we
reached, broke all once upon one of the sweetest views that can be imagined to
eyes fatigued with looking upon hills, it was a most beautiful, rich and extensive
valley, with the charming river Tay wandering thro’ it, & the whole bounded by
these said tremendous hills. We only changed horses at Perth & got here to
supper. The situation of this place is beautiful the house large but old, both
within and without. From breakfast to dinner we have such delightful rambles by
the rivers side, or sit listening to the waterfalls & singing birds, on the edge of
some den, there are such delightful places to sit down & trees & shrubs & flower
... In the evening we dance reels, & I get great credit for my performance here, &
at Largo. We know Scotch dishes pretty well now & they are very good. The
Grampian hills rise behind the house & Birnham wood is on one side: the
prospect most romantic, on the one side bounded by the Dunsinanfe] hills,
beyond which it seems, for we cannot see it, the rich vale of Strathmore extends
itself, & in it is the castle of Glamis. On the other side, but at due distance for
beauty, we have other lofty hills, the Tay washes their feet & glides sweetly
through the vale below, its banks well shaded with shrubs, and some of the hills
also are well planted. Dunsinane is about eight miles from Birnam. We went
yesterday to the famous rumbling brig, which is a few miles from hence & the
property of Sir John; it is a most magnificent fall of water, a whole river indeed,
tumbling down over stupendous craggy rocks, with the most curious irregular
breaks. We scrambled over some of the most craggy parts, & then sat down, &
read your last letters to the sublime accompaniment of the dashing water....
From hence we visited a building belonging to the Duke of Atholl near Dunkeld,
it is called a hermitage, but has more resemblance to a fairy palace called up in a
moment by the stroke of her wand, & suspended among rocks, & close to a
noble cascade, the entrance is by a rude gothic porch, a painting of the blind bard
Ossian being the only figure that strikes the eye, he disappears at the touch of an
invisible spring, & you are introduced to a most elegant room adorned in the