CHAPTER VIII.
“26th August, 1814.—At seven
this morning were in the Sound which divides the Isle of Rum from that of Egg.
Rum is rude, barren and mountainous; Egg, although hilly and rocky, and
traversed by one remarkable ridge called Scuir-Egg, has, in point of soil, a
much more promising appearance. Southward of both lies Muick, or Muck, a low
and fertile island, and though the least, yet probably the most valuable of the
three. Caverns being still the order of the day, we man the boat and row along
the shore of Egg, in quest of that which was the memorable scene of a horrid
feudal vengeance. We had rounded more than half the island, admiring the
entrance of many a bold natural cave which its rocks exhibit, but without
finding that which we sought, until we procured a guide. This noted cave has a
very narrow entrance, through which one can hardly creep on knees and hands. It
rises steep and lofty within, and runs into the bowels of the rock to the depth
of 255 measured feet. The height at the entrance may be about three feet, but
rises to eighteen or twenty, and the breadth may vary in the same proportion.
The rude and stony bottom of this cave is strewed with the ![]()
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bones of men, women, and children, being the sad relics of the ancient
inhabitants of the island, 200 in number, who were slain on the following
occasion:—The Macdonalds of the Isle of Egg, a people
dependent on Clanranald, had done some injury to the
Laird of Macleod. The tradition of the isle says, that
it was by a personal attack on the chieftain, in which his back was broken; but
that of the other isles bears that the injury was offered to two or three of
the Macleods, who, landing upon Egg and using some freedom
with the young women, were seized by the islanders, bound hand and foot, and
turned adrift in a boat, which the winds and waves safely conducted to Skye. To
avenge the offence given, Macleod sailed with such a body
of men as rendered resistance hopeless. The natives, fearing his vengeance,
concealed themselves in this cavern, and after strict search, the Macleods went
on board their galleys, after doing what mischief they could, concluding the
inhabitants had left the isle. But next morning they espied from their vessel a
man upon the island, and, immediately landing again, they traced his retreat,
by means of a light snow on the ground, to this cavern.
Macleod then summoned the subterraneous garrison, and
demanded that the individuals who had offended him, should be delivered up.
This was peremptorily refused. The chieftain thereupon caused his people to
divert the course of a rill of water, which, falling over the, mouth of the
cave, would have prevented his purposed vengeance. He then kindled at the
entrance of the cavern a huge fire, and maintained it until all within were
destroyed by suffocation. The date of this dreadful deed must have been recent,
if one can judge from the fresh appearance of those relics. I brought off, in
spite of the prejudices of our sailors, a skull, which seems that of a young
woman.
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“Before re-embarking, we visit another cave opening
to the sea, but of a character widely different, being a large open vault as
high as that of a cathedral, and running back a great way into the rock at the
same height; the height and width of the opening give light to the whole. Here,
after 1745, when the Catholic priests were scarcely tolerated, the priest of
Egg used to perform the Romish service. A huge ledge of rock, almost half-way
up one side of the vault, served for altar and pulpit; and the appearance of a
priest and Highland congregation in such an extraordinary place of worship,
might have engaged the pencil of Salvator. Most of the inhabitants of Egg are still Catholics, and
laugh at their neighbours of Rum, who, having been converted by the cane of
their chieftain, are called Protestants of the yellow
stick. The Presbyterian minister and Catholic priest live upon this
little island on very good terms. The people here were much irritated against
the men of a revenue vessel who had seized all the stills, &c., in the
neighbouring Isle of Muck, with so much severity as to take even the
people’s bedding. We had been mistaken for some time for this obnoxious
vessel. Got on board about two o’clock, and agreed to stand over for
Coll, and to be ruled by the wind as to what was next to be done. Bring up my
journal.
“27th August, 1814.—The wind,
to which we resigned ourselves, proves exceedingly tyrannical, and blows
squally the whole night, which, with the swell of the Atlantic, now unbroken by
any islands to windward, proves a means of great combustion in the cabin. The
dishes and glasses in the steward’s cupboards become
locomotive—portmanteaus and writing-desks are more active than necessary—it is
scarce possible to keep one’s self within bed, and impossible to stand
upright if you rise. Having crept upon deck about four in the morn-![]()
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ing, I find we are beating to windward off the Isle of
Tyree, with the determination on the part of
Mr
Stevenson, that his constituents should visit a reef of rocks
called
Skerry Vhor, where he thought it would be
essential to have a lighthouse. Loud remonstrances on the part of the
Commissioners, who one and all declare they will subscribe to his opinion,
whatever it may be, rather than continue this infernal buffeting. Quiet
perseverance on the part of Mr S., and great kicking,
bouncing, and squabbling upon that of the Yacht, who seems to like the idea of
Skerry Vhor as little as the Commissioners. At length, by dint of exertion,
come in sight of this long ridge of rocks (chiefly under water), on which the
tide breaks in a most tremendous style. There appear a few low broad rocks at
one end of the reef, which is about a mile in length. These are never entirely
under water, though the surf dashes over them. To go through all the forms,
Hamilton,
Duff, and I resolve to land upon these bare rocks in company
with Mr Stevenson. Pull through a very heavy swell with
great difficulty, and approach a tremendous surf dashing over black pointed
rocks. Our rowers, however, get the boat into a quiet creek between two rocks,
where we contrive to land well wetted. I saw nothing remarkable in my way,
excepting several seals, which we might have shot, but, in the doubtful
circumstances of the landing, we did not care to bring guns. We took possession
of the rock in name of the Commissioners, and generously bestowed our own great
names on its crags and creeks. The rock was carefully measured by Mr
S. It will be a most desolate position for a lighthouse—the Bell
Rock and Eddystone a joke to it, for the nearest land is the wild island of
Tyree, at fourteen miles’ distance. So much for the Skerry Vhor.
“Came on board proud of our achievement; and, to ![]()
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the great delight of all parties, put
the ship before the wind, and run swimmingly down for Iona. See a large
square-rigged vessel, supposed an American. Reach Iona about five
o’clock. The inhabitants of the isle of Columba, understanding their
interest as well as if they had been Deal boatmen, charged two guineas for
pilotage, which Captain W. abridged into fifteen
shillings, too much for ten minutes’ work. We soon got on shore, and
landed in the bay of Martyrs, beautiful for its white sandy beach. Here all
dead bodies are still landed, and laid for a time upon a small rocky eminence,
called the Sweyne, before they are interred. Iona, the last time I saw it,
seemed to me to contain the most wretched people I had any where seen. But
either they have got better since I was here, or my eyes, familiarized with the
wretchedness of Zetland and the Harris, are less shocked with that of Iona.
Certainly their houses are better than either, and the appearance of the people
not worse. This little fertile isle contains upwards of 400 inhabitants, all
living upon small farms, which they divide and subdivide as their families
increase, so that the country is greatly over-peopled, and in some danger of a
famine in case of a year of scarcity. Visit the nunnery and Reilig Oran, or
burial-place of St Oran, but the night coming on we return
on board.
“28th August, 1814.—Carry our
breakfast ashore—take that repast in the house of Mr
Maclean, the schoolmaster and cicerone of the island—and resume
our investigation of the ruins of the cathedral and the cemetery. Of these
monuments, more than of any other, it may be said with propriety,
‘You never tread upon them but you set Your feet upon some ancient history.’ |
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I do not mean to attempt a description of what is so well-known as the
ruins of Iona. Yet I think it has
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been as yet
inadequately performed, for the vast number of carved tombs containing the
reliques of the great, exceeds credibility. In general, even in the most noble
churches, the number of the vulgar dead exceed in all proportion the few of
eminence who are deposited under monuments. Iona is in all respects the
reverse; until lately the inhabitants of the isle did not presume to mix their
vulgar dust with that of chiefs, reguli, and abbots. The number, therefore, of
carved and inscribed tombstones is quite marvellous, and I can easily credit
the story told by
Sacheverell, who
assures us that 300 inscriptions had been collected, and were lost in the
troubles of the 17th century. Even now many more might be deciphered than have
yet been made public, but the rustic step of the peasants and of Sassenach
visitants is fast destroying these faint memorials of the valiant of the isles.
A skilful antiquary remaining here a week, and having (or assuming) the power
of raising the half-sunk monuments, might make a curious collection. We could
only gaze and grieve; yet had the day not been Sunday, we would have brought
our seamen ashore, and endeavoured to have raised some of these monuments. The
celebrated ridges called
Jomaire na’n
Righrean, or Graves of the Kings, can now scarce be said
to exist, though their site is still pointed out. Undoubtedly, the thirst of
spoil, and the frequent custom of burying treasures with the ancient princes,
occasioned their early violation; nor am I any sturdy believer in their being
regularly ticketed off by inscriptions into the tombs of the Kings of Scotland,
of Ireland, of Norway, and so forth. If such inscriptions ever existed, I
should deem them the work of some crafty bishop or abbot, for the credit of his
diocese or convent.
Macbeth is said to
have been the last King of Scotland here buried; sixty preceded him, all
doubtless as powerful in their day, but now un-
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known—
carent quia vate
sacro. A few weeks’ labour of
Shakspeare, an obscure player, has done more
for the memory of Macbeth than all the gifts, wealth, and
monuments of this cemetery of princes have been able to secure to the rest of
its inhabitants. It also occurred to me in Iona (as it has on many similar
occasions) that the traditional recollections concerning the monks themselves
are wonderfully faint, contrasted with the beautiful and interesting monuments
of architecture which they have left behind them. In Scotland particularly, the
people have frequently traditions wonderfully vivid of the persons and
achievements of ancient warriors, whose towers have long been levelled with the
soil. But of the monks of Melrose, Kelso, Aberbrothock, Iona, &c. &c.
&c., they can tell nothing but that such a race existed, and inhabited the
stately ruins of these monasteries. The quiet, slow, and uniform life of those
recluse beings, glided on, it may be, like a dark and silent stream, fed from
unknown resources, and vanishing from the eye, without leaving any marked trace
of its course. The life of the chieftain was a mountain torrent thundering over
rock and precipice, which, less deep and profound in itself, leaves on the
minds of the terrified spectators those deep impressions of awe and wonder
which are most readily handed down to posterity.
“Among the various monuments exhibited at Iona, is
one where a Maclean lies in the same grave with one of the
Macfies or Macduffies of
Colonsay, with whom he had lived in alternate friendship and enmity during
their lives. ‘He lies above him during death,’ said one of
Maclean’s followers, as his chief was interred,
‘as he was above him during life.’ There is a very
ancient monument lying among those of the Macleans, but
perhaps more ancient than any of them; it has a knight riding on horseback, and
behind him a minstrel playing ![]()
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on a harp; this is
conjectured to be Reginald Macdonald of the Isles, but
there seems no reason for disjoining him from his kindred who sleep in the
cathedral. A supposed ancestor of the Stewarts, called
Paul Pearson, or Paul the
purse-bearer (treasurer to the King of Scotland), is said to lie
under a stone near the Lords of the Isles. Most of the monuments engraved by
Pennant are still in the same state
of preservation, as are the few ancient crosses which are left. What a sight
Iona must have been, when 360 crosses, of the same size and beautiful
workmanship, were ranked upon the little rocky ridge of eminences which form
the background to the cathedral! Part of the tower of the cathedral has fallen
since I was here. It would require a better architect than I am, to say any
thing concerning the antiquity of these ruins, but I conceive those of the
nunnery and of the
Reilig nan Oran,
or Oran’s chapel, are decidedly the most ancient.
Upon the cathedral and buildings attached to it, there are marks of repairs at
different times, some of them of a late date, being obviously designed not to
enlarge the buildings, but to retrench them. We take a reluctant leave of Iona,
and go on board.
“The haze and dullness of the atmosphere seem to
render it dubious if we can proceed, as we intended, to Staffa to-day for mist
among these islands is rather unpleasant. Erskine reads prayers on deck to all hands, and introduces a
very apt allusion to our being now in sight of the first Christian Church from
which Revelation was diffused over Scotland and all its islands. There is a
very good form of prayer for the Lighthouse Service, composed by the Rev. Mr Brunton.* A pleasure vessel lies under
our lee from Belfast, with an Irish
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party related to
Macniel of Colonsay. The haze is fast
degenerating into downright rain, and that right heavy—verifying the words of
Collins—
‘And thither where beneath the showery west The mighty Kings of three fair realms are laid.’ |
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After dinner, the weather being somewhat cleared, sailed for Staffa, and
took boat. The surf running heavy up between the island and the adjacent rock,
called Booshala, we landed at a creek near the Cormorant’s cave. The mist
now returned so thick as to hide all view of Iona, which was our land-mark; and
although
Duff,
Stevenson, and I, had been formerly on the
isle, we could not agree upon the proper road to the cave. I engaged myself,
with Duff and Erskine, in a clamber
of great toil and danger, and which at length brought me to the
Cannon-ball, as they call a round granite stone moved by
the sea up and down in a groove of rock, which it has worn for itself, with a
noise resembling thunder. Here I gave up my research, and returned to my
companions, who had not been more fortunate. As night was now falling, we
resolved to go aboard and postpone the adventure of the enchanted cavern until
next day. The yacht came to an anchor with the purpose of remaining off the
island all night, but the hardness of the ground, and the weather becoming
squally, obliged us to return to our safer mooring at Y-Columb-Kill.
“29th August, 1814.—Night
squally and rainy—morning ditto—we weigh, however, and return toward Staffa,
and, very happily, the day clears as we approach the isle. As we ascertained
the situation of the cave, I shall only make this memorandum, that when the
weather will serve, the best landing is to the lee of Booshala, a little
conical islet or rock, composed of basaltic columns placed in an oblique or
sloping position. In this way, ![]()
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you land at once on the
flat causeway, formed by the heads of truncated pillars, which leads to the
cave. But if the state of tide renders it impossible to land under Booshala,
then take one of the adjacent creeks; in which case, keeping to the left hand
along the top of the ledge of rocks which girdles in the isle, you find a
dangerous and precipitous descent to the causeway aforesaid, from the table.
Here we were under the necessity of towing our Commodore,
Hamilton, whose gallant heart never fails him,
whatever the tenderness of his toes may do. He was successfully lowered by a
rope down the precipice, and proceeding along the flat terrace or causeway
already mentioned, we reached the celebrated cave. I am not sure whether I was
not more affected by this second, than by the first view of it. The stupendous
columnar side walls—the depth and strength of the ocean with which the cavern
is filled—the variety of tints formed by stalactites dropping and petrifying
between the pillars, and resembling a sort of chasing of yellow or
cream-coloured marble filling the interstices of the roof—the corresponding
variety below, where the ocean rolls over a red, and in some places, a
violet-coloured rock, the basis of the basaltic pillars—the dreadful noise of
those august billows so well corresponding with the grandeur of the scene—are
all circumstances elsewhere unparalleled. We have now seen in our voyage the
three grandest caverns in Scotland, Smowe, Macallister’s cave, and
Staffa; so that, like the Troglodytes of yore, we may be supposed to know
something of the matter. It is, however, impossible to compare scenes of
natures so different, nor, were I compelled to assign a preference to any of
the three, could I do it but with reference to their distinct characters, which
might affect different individuals in different degrees. The characteristic of
the Smowe cave may in this case
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be called the terrific, for the difficulties which oppose the stranger are of a
nature so uncommonly wild as, for the first time at least, convey an impression
of terror with which the scenes to which he is introduced fully correspond. On
the other hand, the dazzling whiteness of the incrustations in
Macallister’s cave, the elegance of the entablature, the beauty of its
limpid pool, and the graceful dignity of its arch, render its leading features
those of severe and chastened beauty. Staffa, the third of these subterraneous
wonders, may challenge sublimity as its principal characteristic. Without the
savage gloom of the Smowe cave, and investigated with more apparent ease,
though, perhaps, with equal real danger, the stately regularity of its columns
forms a contrast to the grotesque imagery of Macallister’s cave,
combining at once the sentiments of grandeur and beauty. The former is,
however, predominant, as it must necessarily be in any scene of the kind.
“We had scarce left Staffa when the wind and rain
returned. It was Erskine’s object
and mine, to dine at Torloisk on Loch Tua, the seat of my valued friend
Mrs Maclean Clephane, and her
accomplished daughters. But in going up Loch Tua between Ulva and Mull with
this purpose,
‘So thick was the mist on the ocean green, Nor cape nor headland could be seen.’ |
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It was late before we came to anchor in a small bay presented by the
little island of Gometra, which may be regarded as a continuation of Ulva. We
therefore dine aboard, and after dinner, Erskine and I
take the boat and row across the loch under a heavy rain. We could not see the
house of Torloisk, so very thick was the haze, and we were a good deal puzzled
how and where to achieve a landing; at length, espying a cart-
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road, we resolved to trust to its guidance, as we knew we
must be near the house. We therefore went ashore with our servants,
à la bonne aventure,
under a drizzling rain. This was soon a matter of little consequence, for the
necessity of crossing a swollen brook wetted me considerably, and
Erskine, whose foot slipped, most completely. In wet
and weary plight we reached the house after a walk of a mile, in darkness,
dirt, and rain, and it is hardly necessary to say, that the pleasure of seeing
our friends soon banished all recollection of our unpleasant voyage and
journey.
“30th August, 1814.—The rest
of our friends come ashore by invitation, and breakfast with the ladies, whose
kindness would fain have delayed us for a few days, and at last condescended to
ask for one day only—but even this could not be, our time wearing short.
Torloisk is finely situated upon the coast of Mull, facing Staffa. It is a good
comfortable house, to which Mrs Clephane
has made some additions. The grounds around have been dressed, so as to smooth
their ruggedness, without destroying the irregular and wild character peculiar
to the scene and country. In this, much taste has been displayed. At Torloisk,
as at Dunvegan, trees grow freely and rapidly, and the extensive plantations
formed by Mrs C. serve to show that nothing but a little
expense and patience on the part of the proprietors, with attention to planting
in proper places at first, and in keeping up fences afterward, are awanting to
remove the reproach of nakedness so often thrown upon the Western Isles. With
planting comes shelter, and the proper allotment and division of fields. With
all this Mrs Clephane is busied, and, I trust,
successfully; I am sure, actively and usefully. Take leave of my fair friends,
with regret that I cannot prolong my stay for a day or two. When we come on
board, we learn that Staffa-![]()
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Macdonald is just come to his house of Ulva; this is a sort of
unpleasant dilemma, for we cannot now go there without some neglect towards
Mrs Maclean Clephane; and, on the other hand, from his
habits with all of us, he may be justly displeased with our quitting his very
threshold without asking for him. However, upon the whole matter, and being
already under weigh, we judged it best to work out of the loch, and continue
our purpose of rounding the northern extremity of Mull, and then running down
the Sound between Mull and the mainland. We had not long pursued our voyage
before we found it was like to be a very slow one. The wind fell away entirely,
and after repeated tacks we could hardly clear the extreme north-western point
of Mull by six o’clock—which must have afforded amusement to the ladies
whose hospitable entreaties we had resisted, as we were almost all the while
visible from Torloisk. A fine evening, but scarce a breath of wind.
“31st August, 1814.—Went on
deck between three and four in the morning, and found the vessel almost
motionless in a calm sea, scarce three miles advanced on her voyage. We had,
however, rounded the northwestern side of Mull, and were advancing between the
north-eastern side and the rocky and wild shores of Ardnamurchan on the
mainland of Scotland. Astern were visible in bright moonlight the distant
mountains of Rum; yet nearer, the remarkable ridge in the Isle of Egg, called
Scuir-Egg; and nearest of all the low isle of Muick. After enjoying this
prospect for some time, returned to my berth. Rise before eight—a delightful
day, but very calm, and the little wind there is decidedly against us. Creeping
on slowly, we observe, upon the shore of Ardnamurchan, a large old castle,
called Mingary. It appears to be surrounded with a very high wall, forming a
kind of polygon, in order to adapt itself to ![]()
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the angles
of a precipice overhanging the sea, on which the castle is founded. Within or
beyond the wall, and probably forming part of an inner court, I observed a
steep roof and windows, probably of the 17th century. The whole, as seen with a
spyglass, seems ruinous. As we proceed, we open on the left hand Loch Sunart,
running deep into the mainland, crossed by distant ridges of rocks, and
terminating apparently among the high mountains above Strontian. On the right
hand we open the Sound of Mull, and pass the Bloody Bay, which acquired that
name from a desperate battle fought between an ancient Lord of the Isles and
his son. The latter was assisted by the M‘Leans of
Mull, then in the plenitude of their power, but was defeated.
This was a seafight; gallies being employed on each side. It has bequeathed a
name to a famous pibroch.
“Proceeding southward, we open the beautiful bay of
Tobermory, or Mary’s Well. The mouth of this fine natural roadstead is
closed by an isle called Colvay, having two passages, of which only one, the
northerly, is passable for ships. The bay is surrounded by steep hills, covered
with copsewood, through which several brooks seek the sea in a succession of
beautiful cascades. The village has been established as a fishing station by
the Society for British Fisheries. The houses along the quay are two and three
stories high, and well built; the feuars paying to the Society sixpence per
foot of their line of front. On the top of a steep bank, rising above the first
town, runs another line of second-rate cottages, which pay fourpence per foot;
and behind are huts, much superior to the ordinary sheds of the country, which
pay only twopence per foot. The town is all built upon a regular plan, laid
down by the Society. The new part is reasonably clean, and the old not
unreasonably dirty. We landed at an excellent quay, which is not yet finished,
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| DIARY—AUGUST 31, 1814—TOBERMORY. | 253 |
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and found the
little place looked thriving and active. The people were getting in their
patches of corn; and the shrill voices of the children, attending their parents
in the field, and loading the little ponies which are used in transporting the
grain, formed a chorus not disagreeable to those whom it reminds of similar
sounds at home. The praise of comparative cleanliness does not extend to the
lanes around Tobermory, in one of which I had nearly been effectually bogged.
But the richness of the round steep green knolls, clothed with copse, and
glancing with cascades, and a pleasant peep at a small fresh-water loch
embosomed among them—the view of the bay, surrounded and guarded by the island
of Colvay—the gliding of two or three vessels in the more distant Sound—and the
row of the gigantic Ardnamurchan mountains closing the scene to the north,
almost justify the eulogium of
Sacheverel, who, in 1688, declared the bay of Tobermory might
equal any prospect in Italy. It is said that Sacheverel
made some money by weighing up the treasures lost in the Florida, a vessel of the Spanish Armada, which was wrecked in the
harbour. He himself affirms, that though the use of diving-bells was at first
successful, yet the attempt was afterwards disconcerted by bad weather.
“Tobermory takes its name from a spring dedicated
to the Virgin, which was graced by a chapel; but no vestiges remain of the
chapel, and the spring rises in the middle of a swamp, whose depth and dirt
discouraged the nearer approach of Protestant pilgrims. Mr Stevenson, whose judgment is
unquestionable, thinks that the village should have been built on the island
called Colvay, and united to the continent by a key, or causeway, built along
the southermost channel, which is very shallow. By this means the people would
have been much nearer the fishings, than retired into the depth of the bay.
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“About three o’clock we get on board, and a
brisk and favourable breeze arises which carries us smoothly down the Sound. We
soon pass Arros, with its fragment of a castle, behind which is the house of
Mr Maxwell (an odd name for this country), chamberlain
to the Duke of Argyle, which reminds me of
much kindness and hospitality received from him and Mr
Stewart, the sheriff-substitute, when I was formerly in Mull. On
the shore of Morven, on the opposite side, pass the ruins of a small fortalice,
called Donagail, situated as usual on a precipice overhanging the sea. The
‘woody Morven,’ though the quantity of shaggy diminutive
copse, which springs up where it obtains any shelter, still shows that it must
once have merited the epithet, is now, as visible from the Sound of Mull, a
bare country—of which the hills towards the sea have a slope much resembling
those in Selkirkshire, and accordingly afford excellent pasture, and around
several farm-houses well cultivated and improved fields. I think I observe
considerable improvement in husbandry, even since I was here last; but there is
a difference in coming from Oban and Cape Wrath.—Open Loch Alline, a beautiful
salt-water lake, with a narrow outlet to the Sound. It is surrounded by round
hills, sweetly fringed with green copse below, and one of which exhibits to the
spy-glass ruins of a castle. There is great promise of beauty in its interior,
but we cannot see every thing. The land on the southern bank of the entrance
slopes away into a sort of promontory, at the extremity of which are the very
imperfect ruins of the castle of Ardtornish, to which the Lords of the Isles
summoned parliaments, and from whence one of them dated a treaty with the Crown
of England as an independent Prince. These ruins are seen to most advantage
from the south, where they are brought into a line with one ![]()
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high fragment towards the
west predominating over the rest. The shore of the promontory on the south side
becomes rocky, and when it slopes round to the west rises into a very bold and
high precipitous bank, skirting the bay on the western side, partly cliffy,
partly covered with brushwood, with various streams dashing over it from a
great height. Above the old castle of Ardtornish, and about where the
promontory joins the land, stands the present mansion, a neat white-washed
house, with several well enclosed and well cultivated fields surrounding it.
“The high and dignified character assumed by the
shores of Morven after leaving Ardtornish, continues till we open the Loch
Linnhe, the commencement of the great chain of inland lakes running up to
Fort-William, and which it is proposed to unite with Inverness by means of the
Caledonian Canal. The wisdom of the plan adopted in this national measure seems
very dubious. Had the canal been of more moderate depth, and the burdens
imposed upon passing vessels less expensive, there can be no doubt that the
coasters, sloops, and barks, would have carried on a great trade by means of
it. But the expense and plague of locks, &c. may prevent these humble
vessels from taking this abridged voyage, while ships above twenty or thirty
tons will hesitate to engage themselves in the intricacies of a long lake
navigation, exposed, without room for manoeuvring, to all the sudden squalls of
the mountainous country. Ahead of us, in the mouth of Loch Linnhe, lies the low
and fertile isle of Lismore, formerly the appanage of the Bishops of the Isles,
who, as usual, knew where to choose church patrimony. The coast of the Mull, on
the right hand of the Sound, has a black, rugged, and unimproved character.
Above Scallister bay are symptoms of improvement. Moon-![]()
| 256 | LIFE OF SIR WALTER SCOTT. | |
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light has risen upon us as we pass Duart castle, now an indistinct mass upon
its projecting promontory. It was garrisoned for Government so late as 1780,
but is now ruinous. We see, at about a mile’s distance, the fatal shelve
on which
Duart exposed the daughter of
Argyle, on which
Miss Baillie’s play of
the Family Legend is founded,
but now,
‘Without either sound or sign of their shock, The waves roll over the Lady’s rock.’ |
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The placid state of the sea is very different from what I have seen it,
when six stout rowers could scarce give a boat headway through the conflicting
tides. These fits of violence so much surprised and offended a body of the
Camerons, who were bound upon some expedition to Mull, and had been accustomed
to the quietness of lake-navigation, that they drew their dirks, and began to
stab the waves—from which popular tale this run of tide is called
the Men of Lochaber. The weather being delightfully
moderate, we agree to hover hereabout all night, or anchor under the Mull
shore, should it be necessary, in order to see Dunstaffnage to-morrow morning.
The isle of Kerrera is now in sight, forming the bay of Oban. Beyond lie the
varied and magnificent summits of the chain of mountains bordering Loch Linnhe,
as well as those between Loch Awe and Loch Etive, over which the summit of Ben
Cruachan is proudly prominent. Walk on deck, admiring this romantic prospect
until ten; then below, and turn in.
“1st September, 1814.—Rise
betwixt six and seven, and having discreetly secured our breakfast, take boat
for the old castle of Dunstaffnage, situated upon a promontory on the side of
Loch Linnhe and near to Loch Etive. Nothing could exceed the beauty of the day
and of the prospect. We coasted the low, large, and fertile isle of ![]()
| DIARY—SEPT. 1, 1814—DUNSTAFFNAGE. | 257 |
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Lismore, where a
Catholic Bishop,
Chisholm, has
established a seminary of young men intended for priests, and what is a better
thing, a valuable lime-work. Report speaks well of the lime, but indifferently
of the progress of the students. Tacking to the shore of the loch, we land at
Dunstaffnage, once, it is said, the seat of the Scottish monarchy, till success
over the Picts and Saxons transferred their throne to Scoone, Dumfermline, and
at length to Edinburgh. The Castle is still the King’s (nominally), and
the Duke of Argyle (nominally also), is hereditary keeper.
But the real right of property is in the family of the depute-keeper, to which
it was assigned as an appanage, the first possessor being a natural son of an
Earl of Argyle. The shell of the castle, for little
more now remains, bears marks of extreme antiquity. It is square in form, with
round towers at three of the angles, and is situated upon a lofty precipice,
carefully scarped on all sides to render it perpendicular. The entrance is by a
staircase, which conducts you to a wooden landing-place in front of the
portal-door. This landing-place could formerly be raised at pleasure, being of
the nature of a drawbridge. When raised, the place was inaccessible. You pass
under an ancient arch, with a low vault (being the porter’s lodge) on the
right hand, and flanked by loopholes, for firing upon any hostile guest who
might force his passage thus far. This admits you into the inner-court, which
is about eighty feet square. It contains two mean-looking buildings, about
sixty or seventy years old; the ancient castle having been consumed by fire in
1715. It is said that the nephew of the proprietor was the incendiary. We went
into the apartments, and found they did not exceed the promise of the exterior;
but they admitted us to walk upon the battlements of the old castle, which
displayed a most splendid prospect. Beneath, and far projected into the loch,
were
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| 258 | LIFE OF SIR WALTER SCOTT. | |
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seen the woods and houses of
Campbell of Lochnell. A little summer-house,
upon an eminence, belonging to this wooded bank, resembles an ancient monument.
On the right, Loch Etive, after pouring its waters like a furious cataract over
a strait called Connell-ferry, comes between the castle and a round island
belonging to its demesne, and nearly insulates the situation. In front is a low
rocky eminence on the opposite side of the arm, through which Loch Etive flows
into Loch Linnhe. Here was situated
Beregenium, once, it
is said, a British capital city; and, as our informant told us, the largest
market-town in Scotland. Of this splendour are no remains but a few trenches
and excavations, which the distance did not allow us to examine. The ancient
masonry of Dunstaffnage is mouldering fast under time and neglect. The
foundations are beginning to decay, and exhibit gaps between the rock and the
wall; and the battlements are become ruinous. The inner court is encumbered
with ruins. A hundred pounds or two would put this very ancient fortress in a
state of preservation for ages, but I fear this is not to be expected. The
stumps of large trees, which had once shaded the vicinity of the castle, gave
symptoms of decay in the family of Dunstaffnage. We were told of some ancient
spurs and other curiosities preserved In the castle, but they were locked up.
In the vicinity of the castle is a chapel which had once been elegant, but by
the building up of windows, &c., is now heavy enough. I have often observed
that the means adopted in Scotland for repairing old buildings are generally as
destructive of their grace and beauty, as if that had been the express object.
Unfortunately most churches, particularly, have gone through both stages of
destruction, Laving been first repaired by the building-up of the beautiful
shafted windows, and then the roof being suffered to fall in, they became ruins
indeed, but without
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| DIARY—SEPT. 1, 1814—DUNOLLY. | 259 |
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any
touch of the picturesque farther than their massive walls and columns may
afford. Near the chapel of Dunstaifnage is a remarkable echo,
“Reimbarked, and rowing about a mile and a half or
better along the shore of the lake, again landed under the ruins of the old
castle of Dunolly. This fortress, which, like that of Dunstaffnage, forms a
marked feature in this exquisite landscape, is situated on a bold and
precipitous promontory overhanging the lake. The principal part of the ruins
now remaining is a square tower or keep of the ordinary size, which had been
the citadel of the castle; but fragments of other buildings, overgrown with
ivy, show that Dunolly had once been a place of considerable importance. These
had enclosed a courtyard, of which the keep probably formed one side, the
entrance being by a very steep ascent from the land side, which had formerly
been cut across by a deep moat, and defended doubtless by outworks and a
drawbridge. Beneath the castle stands the modern house of Dunolly, a decent
mansion, suited to the reduced state of the MacDougalls of
Lorn, who, from being Barons powerful enough to give battle to
and defeat Robert Bruce, are now declined
into private gentlemen of moderate fortune.
“This very ancient family is descended from
Somerled, Thane, or rather, under that name, King of Argyle and the Hebrides. He had two sons, to one
of whom he left his insular possessions—and he became founder of the dynasty of
the Lords of the Isles, who maintained a stirring independence during the
middle ages. The other was founder of the family of the MacDougalls
of Lorn. One of them being married to a niece of the
Red Cumming, in revenge of his slaughter at Dumfries,
took a vigorous part against Robert Bruce in
his struggles to maintain the independence of Scotland. At length ![]()
| 260 | LIFE OF SIR WALTER SCOTT. | |
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the King, turning his whole strength towards
MacDougall, encountered him at a pass near
Loch Awe; but the Highlanders, being possessed of the strong ground, compelled
Bruce to retreat, and again gave him battle at Dalry,
near Tynedrum, where he had concentrated his forces. Here he was again
defeated, and the tradition of the MacDougall family
bears, that in the conflict the Lord of Lorn engaged hand to hand with
Bruce, and was struck down by that monarch. As they
grappled together on the ground, Bruce being uppermost, a
vassal of MacDougall, called
MacKeoch, relieved his master by pulling
Bruce from him. In this close struggle the King left
his mantle and brooch in the hands of his enemies, and the latter trophy was
long preserved in the family, until it was lost in an accidental fire.
Barbour tells the same story, but I
think with circumstances somewhat different. When Bruce
had gained the throne for which he fought so long, he displayed his resentment
against the MacDougalls of Lorn, by depriving them of the
greatest part of their domains, which were bestowed chiefly upon the Steward of
Scotland. Sir Colin Campbell, the Knight of Loch Awe, and
the Knight of Glenurchy, Sir
Campbell, married
daughters of the Steward, and received with them great portion of the
forfeiture of MacDougall. Bruce even
compelled or persuaded the Lord of the Isles to divorce his wife, who was a
daughter of MacDougall, and take in marriage a relation of
his own. The son of the divorced lady was not permitted to succeed to the
principality of the Isles, on account of his connexion with the obnoxious
MacDougall. But a large appanage was allowed him upon
the Mainland, where he founded the family of Glengarry.
“The family of MacDougall
suffered farther reduction during the great civil war, in which they adhered to
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| DIARY—THE MACDOUGALLS OF LORN. | 261 |
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the Stewarts, and
in 1715 they forfeited the small estate of Dunolly, which was then all that
remained of what had once been a principality. The then representative of the
family fled to France, and his son (father of the present proprietor) would
have been without any means of education, but for the spirit of clanship, which
induced one of the name, in the humble situation of keeper of a public-house at
Dumbarton, to take his young chief to reside with him, and be at the expense of
his education and maintenance until his fifteenth or sixteenth year. He proved
a clever and intelligent man, and made good use of the education he received.
When the affair of 1745 was in agitation, it was expected by the south-western
clans that,
Charles Edward would have
landed near Oban, instead of which he disembarked at Loch-nan-uagh, in Arisaig.
Stuart of Appin sent information of his landing to
MacDougall, who gave orders to his brother to hold the
clan in readiness to rise, and went himself to consult with the chamberlain of
the Earl of Breadalbane, who was also in the secret. He
found this person indisposed to rise, alleging that
Charles had disappointed them both in the place of
landing, and the support he had promised. MacDougall then
resolved to play cautious, and went to visit the
Duke
of Argyle, then residing at Roseneath, probably without any
determined purpose as to his future proceedings. While he was waiting the
Duke’s leisure, he saw a horseman arrive at full gallop, and shortly
after, the Duke entering the apartment where MacDougall
was, with a map in his hand, requested him, after friendly salutations, to
point out Loch-nan-uagh on that map. MacDougall instantly
saw that the secret of Charles’s landing had
transpired, and resolved to make a merit of being the first who should give
details. The persuasions of the Duke determined him to remain quiet, and the
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reward was the restoration of the little estate of
Dunolly, lost by his father in 1715. This gentleman lived to a very advanced
stage of life, and was succeeded by
Peter
MacDougall, Esq. now of Dunolly. I had these particulars
respecting the restoration of the estate from a near relation of the family,
whom we met at Dunstaffnage.
“The modern house of Dunolly is on the neck of land
under the old castle, having on the one hand the lake with its islands and
mountains, on the other, two romantic eminences tufted with copsewood, of which
the higher is called Barmore, and is now planted. I have seldom seen a more
romantic and delightful situation, to which the peculiar state of the family
gave a sort of moral interest. Mrs MacDougall, observing
strangers surveying the ruins, met us on our return, and most politely insisted
upon our accepting fruit and refreshments. This was a compliment meant to
absolute strangers, but when our names became known to her, the good
lady’s entreaties that we would stay till Mr
MacDougall returned from his ride, became very pressing. She was
in deep mourning for the loss of an eldest son, who had fallen bravely in Spain
and under Wellington, a death well becoming
the descendant of so famed a race. The second son, a lieutenant in the navy,
had, upon this family misfortune, obtained leave to visit his parents for the
first time after many years’ service, but had now returned to his ship.
Mrs M. spoke with melancholy pride of the death of her
eldest son, with hope and animation of the prospects of the survivor. A third
is educated for the law. Declining the hospitality offered us, Mrs
M. had the goodness to walk with us along the shore towards
Oban, as far as the property of Dunolly extends, and showed us a fine spring,
called Tobar nan Gall, or the Well of the Stranger,
where our sailors supplied them-![]()
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selves
with excellent water, which has been rather a scarce article with us, as it
soon becomes past a landsman’s use on board ship. On the sea-shore, about
a quarter of a mile from the castle, is a huge fragment of the rock called
plumb-pudding stone, which art or nature has formed into
a gigantic pillar. Here it is said Fion or
Fingal tied his dog Bran—here also the celebrated Lord of the Isles tied up his dogs
when he came upon a visit to the Lords of Lorn. Hence it is called
Clack nan Con; i. e. the Dog’s Stone. A tree grew
once on the top of this bare mass of composite stone, but it was cut down by a
curious damsel of the family, who was desirous to see a treasure said to be
deposited beneath it. Enjoyed a pleasant walk of a mile along the beach to
Oban, a town of some consequence, built in a semicircular form, around a good
harbour formed by the opposite isle of Kerrera, on which Mrs
M. pointed out the place where
Alexander II. died while, at the head of a powerful armament,
he meditated the reduction of the Hebrides.—The field is still called
Dal-ry—the King’s field.
“Having taken leave of Mrs
MacDougall, we soon satisfied our curiosity concerning Oban,
which owed its principal trade to the industry of two brothers, Messrs
Stevenson, who dealt in ship-building. One is now
dead, the other almost retired from business, and trade is dull in the place.
Heard of an active and industrious man, who had set up a nursery of young
trees, which ought to succeed, since at present, whoever wants plants must send
to Glasgow; and how much the plants suffer during a voyage of such length, any
one may conceive. Go on board after a day delightful for the serenity and
clearness of the weather, as well as for the objects we had visited. I forgot
to say, that through Mr
MacDougall’s absence we lost an opportunity of seeing a
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bronze figure of one of his ancestors, called
Bacach, or the lame, armed and mounted as for a
tournament. The hero flourished in the twelfth century. After a grand council
of war, we determine, as we are so near the coast of Ulster, that we will stand
over and view the celebrated Giant’s Causeway: and Captain
Wilson receives directions accordingly.
“2d Sept. 1814.—Another most
beautiful day. The heat, for the first time since we sailed from Leith, is
somewhat incommodious; so we spread a handsome awning, to save our complexions,
God wot, and breakfast beneath it in style. The breeze is gentle, and quite
favourable. It has conducted us from the extreme cape of Mull, called the Black
Head of Mull, into the Sound of Hay. We view in passing that large and fertile
island, the property of Campbell of
Shawfield, who has introduced an admirable style of farming
among his tenants. Still farther behind us retreats the island of Jura, with
the remarkable mountains called the Paps of Jura, which form a landmark at a
great distance. They are very high, but in our eyes, so much accustomed of late
to immense height, do not excite much surprise. Still farther astern is the
small isle of Scarba, which, as we see it, seems to be a single hill. In the
passage or sound between Scarba and the extremity of Jura, is a terrible run of
tide, which, contending with the sunk rocks and islets of that foul channel,
occasions the succession of whirlpools, called the Gulf of Corrievreckan. Seen
at this distance we cannot judge of its terrors. The sight of Corrievreckan and
of the low rocky isle of Colonsay, betwixt which and Hay we are now passing,
strongly recalls to my mind poor John
Leyden and his tale of the Mermaid and MacPhail of Colonsay.*
Pro-
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bably the name of the hero
should have been MacFie, for to the
MacDuffies (by abridgement
MacFies) Colonsay of old pertained. It is said the
last of these MacDuffies was executed as an oppressor by
order of the Lord of the Isles, and lies buried in the adjacent small island of
Oransay, where there is an old chapel with several curious monuments, which, to
avoid losing this favourable breeze, we are compelled to leave unvisited.
Colonsay now belongs to a gentleman named
MacNiel. On the right beyond it, opens at a distance the
western coast of Mull, which we already visited in coming from the northward.
We see the promontory of Ross, which is terminated by Y-Columb-kill, also now
visible. The shores of Loch Tua and Ulva are in the blue distance, with the
little archipelago which lies around Staffa. Still farther, the hills of Rum
can just be distinguished from the blue sky. We are now arrived at the extreme
point of Hay, termed, from the strong tides, the
Runs of
Ilay. We here only feel them as a large but soft swell of the sea, the
weather being delightfully clear and serene. In the course of the evening we
lose sight of the Hebrides, excepting Hay, having now attained the western side
of that island.
“3d September, 1814.—In the
morning early, we are off Innistulhan, an islet very like Inchkeith in size and
appearance, and, like Inchkeith, displaying a lighthouse. Messrs Hamilton, Duff, and Stevenson go
ashore to visit the Irish lighthouse and compare notes. A fishing-boat comes
off with four or five stout lads, without neckkerchiefs or hats, and the best
of whose joint garments selected would hardly equip an Edinburgh beggar. Buy
from this specimen of Paddy in his native
land some fine John Dories for threepence each. The mainland of Ireland
adjoining to this island (being part of the county of Donegal) resembles
Scotland, and though hilly, seems ![]()
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well cultivated upon
the whole. A brisk breeze directly against us. We beat to windward by
assistance of a strong tide-stream, in order to weather the head of Innishowen,
which covers the entrance of Lough Foyle, with the purpose of running up the
loch to see Londonderry, so celebrated for its siege in 1689. But short tacks
and long tacks were in vain, and at dinner-time, having lost our tide, we find
ourselves at all disadvantage both against wind and sea. Much combustion at our
meal, and the manoeuvres by which we attempted to eat and drink remind me of
the enchanted drinking-cup in the old ballad,—
‘Some shed it on their shoulder, Some shed it on their thigh; And he that did not hit his mouth Was sure to hit his eye.’ |
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In the evening, backgammon and cards are in great request. We have had our
guns shotted all this day for fear of the Yankees—a privateer having been seen
off Tyree Islands, and taken some vessels as is reported. About nine
o’clock weather the Innishowen head, and enter the Lough, and fire a gun
as a signal for a pilot. The people here are great smugglers; and at the report
of the gun, we see several lights on shore disappear. About the middle of the
day too, our appearance (much resembling a revenue cutter) occasioned a smoke
being made in the midst of a very rugged cliff on the shore a signal probably
to any of the smugglers’ craft that might be at sea. Come to anchor in
eight fathom water, expecting our pilot.
“4th September, 1814.—Waked
in the morning with good hope of hearing service in Derry Cathedral, as we had
felt ourselves under weigh since daylight; but these expectations vanished
when, going on deck, we found ![]()
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ourselves only half-way up Lough Foyle, and at least ten miles from Derry. Very
little wind, and that against us; and the navigation both shoally and
intricate. Called a council of war; and after considering the difficulty of
getting up to Derry, and the chance of being wind-bound when we do get there,
we resolve to renounce our intended visit to that town. We had hardly put the
ship about, when the Irish Æolus shifted his trumpet, and opposed our
exit, as he had formerly been unfavourable to our progress up the lake. At
length, we are compelled to betake ourselves to towing, the wind fading into an
absolute calm. This gives us time enough to admire the northern, or Donegal,
side of Lough Foyle—the other being hidden from us by haze and distance.
Nothing can be more favourable than this specimen of Ireland.—A beautiful
variety of cultivated slopes, intermixed with banks of wood; rocks skirted with
a distant ridge of heathy hills, watered by various brooks; the glens or banks
being, in general, planted or covered with copse; and finally, studded by a
succession of villas and gentlemen’s seats, good farm-houses, and neat
white-washed cabins. Some of the last are happily situated upon the verge of
the sea, with banks of copse or a rock or two rising behind them, and the white
sand in front. The land, in general, seems well cultivated and enclosed—but in
some places the enclosures seem too small, and the ridges too crooked, for
proper farming. We pass two gentlemen’s seats, called White Castle and
Red Castle; the last a large good-looking mansion, with trees, and a pretty
vale sloping upwards from the sea. As we approach the termination of the Lough,
the ground becomes more rocky and barren, and the cultivation interrupted by
impracticable patches, which have been necessarily abandoned. Come in view of
Green Castle, a large ruinous castle, said to have belonged to
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| 268 | LIFE OF SIR WALTER SCOTT. | |
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the Macwilliams. The remains are
romantically situated upon a green bank sloping down to the sea, and are partly
covered with ivy. From their extent, the place must have been a
chieftain’s residence of the very first consequence. Part of the ruins
appear to be founded upon a high red rock, which the eye at first blends with
the masonry. To the east of the ruins, upon a cliff overhanging the sea, are a
modern fortification and barrack-yard, and beneath, a large battery for
protection of the shipping which may enter the Lough; the guns are not yet
mounted. The Custom-house boat boards us and confirms the account that American
cruisers are upon the coast. Drift out of the Lough, and leave behind us this
fine country, all of which belongs in property to
Lord
Donegal; other possessors only having long leases, as sixty
years, or so forth. Red Castle, however, before distinguished as a very
good-looking house, is upon a perpetual lease. We discharge our pilot—the
gentlemen go ashore with him in the boat, in order to put foot on Irish land. I
shall defer that pleasure till I can promise myself something to see. When our
gentlemen return we read prayers on deck. After dinner go ashore at the small
fishing-village of Port Rush, pleasantly situated upon a peninsula, which forms
a little harbour. Here we are received by
Dr
Richardson, the inventor of the fiorin-grass (or of some of its
excellencies). He cultivates this celebrated vegetable on a very small scale,
his whole farm not exceeding four acres. Here I learn, with inexpressible
surprise and distress, the death of one of the most valued of the few
friends whom these memoranda might interest.* She
was, indeed, a rare example of the soundest good sense, and the most exquisite
purity of moral feel-
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ing, united with the utmost
grace and elegance of personal beauty, and with manners becoming the most
dignified rank in British society. There was a feminine softness in all her
deportment, which won universal love, as her firmness of mind and correctness
of principle commanded veneration. To her family her loss is inexpressibly
great. I know not whether it was the purity of her mind or the ethereal cast of
her features and form, but I could never associate in my mind her idea and that
of mortality; so that the shock is the more heavy, as being totally unexpected.
God grant comfort to the afflicted survivor and his family!
“5th September, 1814.—Wake,
or rather rise at six, for I have waked the whole night, or fallen into broken
sleeps only to be hag-ridden by the night-mare. Go ashore with a heavy heart,
to see sights which I had much rather leave alone. Land under Dunluce, a ruined
castle built by the MacGilligans, or
MacQuillens, but afterwards taken from them by a
Macdonnell, ancestor of the Earls of Antrim, and
destroyed by Sir John Perrot,
Lord-Lieutenant in the reign of Queen
Elizabeth. This Macdonnell came from the
Hebrides at the head of a Scottish colony. The site of the castle much
resembles Dunnottar, but is on a smaller scale. The ruins occupy perhaps more
than an acre of ground, being the level top of a high rock advanced into the
sea, by which it is surrounded on three sides, and divided from the mainland by
a deep chasm. The access was by a narrow bridge, of which there now remains but
a single rib, or ledge, forming a doubtful and a precarious access to the
ruined castle. On the outer side of the bridge are large remains of outworks,
probably for securing cattle, and for domestic offices—and the vestiges of a
chapel. Beyond the bridge are an outer and inner gateway, with their defences.
The large gateway forms one angle of the square ![]()
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enclosure of the fortress, and at the other landward angle is built a large
round tower. There are vestiges of similar towers occupying the angles of the
precipice overhanging the sea. These towers were connected by a curtain, on
which artillery seems to have been mounted. Within this circuit are the ruins
of an establishment of feudal grandeur on the large scale. The great hall,
forming, it would seem, one side of the inner court, is sixty paces long,
lighted by windows which appear to have been shafted with stone, but are now
ruined. Adjacent are the great kitchen and ovens, with a variety of other
buildings, but no square tower, or keep. The most remarkable part of Dunluce,
however, is, that the whole mass of plum-pudding rock on which the fort is
built, is completely perforated by a cave sloping downwards from the inside of
the moat or dry-ditch beneath the bridge, and opening to the sea on the other
side. It might serve the purpose of a small harbour, especially if they had, as
is believed, a descent to the cave from within the castle. It is difficult to
conceive the use of the aperture to the land, unless it was in some way
enclosed and defended. Above the ruinous castle is a neat farm-house.
Mrs More, the good-wife, a Scoto-Hibernian, received
us with kindness and hospitality which did honour to the nation of her birth,
as well as of her origin, in a house whose cleanliness and neatness might have
rivalled England. Her churn was put into immediate motion on our behalf, and we
were loaded with all manner of courtesy, as well as good things. We heard here
of an armed schooner having been seen off the coast yesterday, which fired on a
boat that went off to board her, and would seem therefore to be a privateer, or
armed smuggler.
“Return onboard for breakfast, and then again take
boat for the Giant’s Causeway having first shotted the guns, and agreed
on a signal, in case this alarming stranger ![]()
| DIARY—GIANT’S CAUSEWAY. | 271 |
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should again make his appearance. Visit
two caves, both worth seeing, but not equal to those we have seen; one, called
Port Coon, opens in a small cove, or bay—the outer reach opens into an inner
cave, and that again into the sea. The other, called Down Kerry, is a sea-cave,
like that on the eastern side of Loch Eribol—a high arch, up which the sea
rolls:—the weather being quiet, we sailed in very nearly to the upper end. We
then rowed on to the celebrated Causeway, a platform composed of basaltic
pillars, projecting into the sea like the pier of a harbour. As I was tired,
and had a violent headach, I did not land, but could easily see that the
regularity of the columns was the same as at Staffa; but that Island contains a
much more extensive and curious specimen of this curious phenomenon.
“Row along the shores of this celebrated point,
which are extremely striking as well as curious. They open into a succession of
little bays, each of which has precipitous banks graced with long ranges of the
basaltic pillars, sometimes placed above each other, and divided by masses of
interweaving strata, or by green sloping banks of earth of extreme steepness.
These remarkable ranges of columns are in some places chequered by horizontal
strata of a red rock or earth, of the appearance of ochre; so that the green of
the grassy banks, the dark-grey or black appearance of the columns, with those
red seams and other varieties of the interposed strata, have most uncommon and
striking effects. The outline of these cliffs is as singular as their
colouring. In several places the earth has wasted away from single columns, and
left them standing insulated and erect, like the ruined colonnade of an ancient
temple, upon the verge of the precipice. In other places, the disposition of
the basaltic ranges present singular appearances, to which the guides give
names agreeable to the images which they ![]()
| 272 | LIFE OF SIR WALTER SCOTT. | |
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are supposed to
represent. Each of the little bays or inlets has also its appropriate name. One
is called the Spanish Bay, from one of the Spanish Armada having been wrecked
there. Thus our voyage has repeatedly traced the memorable remnants of that
celebrated squadron. The general name of the cape adjacent to the Causeway, is
Bengore Head. To those who have seen Staffa, the peculiar appearance of the
Causeway itself will lose much of its effect; but the grandeur of the
neighbouring scenery will still maintain the reputation of Bengore Head. The
people ascribe all these wonders to Fin
MacCoul, whom they couple with a Scottish giant called Ben-an
something or other. The traveller is plied by guides, who make their profit by
selling pieces of crystal, agate, or chalcedony, found in the interstices of
the rocks. Our party brought off some curious joints of the columns, and, had I
been quite as I am wont to be, I would have selected four to be capitals of a
rustic porch at Abbotsford. But, alas! alas! I am much out of love with vanity
at this moment. From what we hear at the Causeway, we have every reason to
think that the pretended privateer has been a gentleman’s
pleasure-vessel.—Continue our voyage southward, and pass between the Main of
Ireland and the Isle of Rachrin, a rude heathy-looking island, once a place of
refuge to
Robert Bruce. This is said, in
ancient times, to have been the abode of banditti, who plundered the
neighbouring coast. At present it is under a long lease to a Mr
Gage, who is said to maintain excellent order among the
islanders. Those of bad character he expels to Ireland, and hence it is a
phrase among the people of Rachrin, when they wish ill to any one,
‘
May Ireland be his hinder
end.’ On the Main we see the village of Ballintry, and a number
of people collected, the remains of an Irish fair. Close by
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is a small islet, called Sheep
Island. We now take leave of the Irish coast, having heard nothing of its
popular complaints, excepting that the good lady at Dunluce made a heavy moan
against the tithes, which had compelled her husband to throw his whole farm
into pasture. Stand over toward Scotland, and see the Mull of Cantyre light.
“6th September, 1814.—Under
the lighthouse at the Mull of Cantyre; situated on a desolate spot among rocks,
like a Chinese pagoda in Indian drawings. Duff and Stevenson go
ashore at six. Hamilton follows, but is
unable to land, the sea having got up. The boat brings back letters, and I have
the great comfort to learn all are well at Abbotsford. About eight the tide
begins to run very strong, and the wind rising at the same time, makes us
somewhat apprehensive for our boat, which had returned to attend
D. and S. We observe them set off
along the hills on foot, to walk, as we understand, to a bay called Carskey,
five or six miles off, but the nearest spot at which they can hope to re-embark
in this state of the weather. It now becomes very squally, and one of our
jibsails splits. We are rather awkwardly divided into three parties—the
pedestrians on shore, with whom we now observe Captain
Wilson, mounted upon a pony—the boat with four sailors, which is
stealing along in-shore, unable to row, and scarce venturing to carry any
sail—and we in the yacht, tossing about most exceedingly. At length we reach
Carskey, a quiet-looking bay, where the boat gets into shore, and fetches off
our gentlemen. After this the coast of Cantyre seems cultivated and arable, but
bleak and unenclosed, like many other parts of Scotland. We then learn that we
have been repeatedly in the route of two American privateers, who have made
many captures in the Irish Channel, particularly ![]()
| 274 | LIFE OF SIR WALTER SCOTT. | |
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at
Innistruhul, at the back of Islay, and on the Lewis. They are the Peacock, of twenty-two guns, and 165 men, and a schooner
of eighteen guns, called the Prince of Neuchatel.
These news, added to the increasing inclemency of the weather, induce us to
defer a projected visit to the coast of Galloway; and indeed it is time one of
us was home on many accounts. We therefore resolve, after visiting the
lighthouse at Pladda, to proceed for Greenock. About four drop anchor off
Pladda, a small islet lying on the south side of Arran. Go ashore and visit the
establishment. When we return on board, the wind being unfavourable for the
mouth of Clyde, we resolve to weigh anchor and go into Lamlash Bay.
“7th September, 1814.—We had
amply room to repent last night’s resolution, for the wind, with its
usual caprice, changed so soon as we had weighed anchor, blew very hard, and
almost directly against us, so that we were beating up against it by short
tacks, which made a most disagreeable night; as between the noise of the wind
and the sea, the clattering of the ropes and sails above, and of the moveables
below, and the eternal ‘ready about,’ which
was repeated every ten minutes when the vessel was about to tack, with the
lurch and clamour which succeeds, sleep was much out of the question. We are
not now in the least sick, but want of sleep is uncomfortable, and I have no
agreeable reflections to amuse waking hours, excepting the hope of again
rejoining my family. About six o’clock went on deck to see Lamlash Bay,
which we have at length reached after a hard struggle. The morning is fine and
the wind abated, so that the coast of Arran looks extremely well. It is
indented with two deep bays. That called Lamlash, being covered by an island
with an entrance at either end, makes a secure roadstead. The ![]()
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other bay, which takes its
name from Brodick Castle, a seat of the
Duke of
Hamilton, is open. The situation of the castle is very fine,
among extensive plantations, laid out with perhaps too much formality, but
pleasant to the eye, as the first tract of plantation we have seen for a long
time. One stripe, however, with singular want of taste, runs straight up a
finely-rounded hill, and turning by an obtuse angle, cuts down the opposite
side with equal lack of remorse. This vile habit of opposing the line of the
plantation to the natural line and bearing of the ground, is one of the
greatest practical errors of early planters. As to the rest, the fields about
Brodick, and the lowland of Arran in general, seem rich, well enclosed, and in
good cultivation. Behind and around rise an amphitheatre of mountains, the
principal a long ridge with fine swelling serrated tops, called Goat-Fell. Our
wind now altogether dies away, while we want its assistance to get to the mouth
of the Firth of Clyde, now opening between the extremity of the large and
fertile Isle of Bute, and the lesser islands called the Cumbrays. The fertile
coast of Ayrshire trends away to the south-westward, displaying many villages
and much appearance of beauty and cultivation. On the north-eastward arises the
bold and magnificent screen formed by the mountains of Argyllshire and
Dunbartonshire, rising above each other in gigantic succession. About noon, a
favourable breath of wind enables us to enter the mouth of the Clyde, passing
between the larger Cumbray and the extremity of Bute. As we advance beyond the
Cumbray and open the opposite coast, see Largs, renowned for the final defeat
of the Norwegian invaders by
Alexander
III. [A. D. 1263.] The ground of battle was a sloping, but
rather gentle ascent from the sea, above the modern Kirk of Largs. Had
Haco gained the victory, it would have opened all the
south-
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| 276 | LIFE OF SIR WALTER SCOTT. | |
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west of Scotland to his arms. On Bute, a fine
and well-improved island, we open the
Marquis of
Bute’s house of Mount Stewart, neither apparently large
nor elegant in architecture, but beautifully situated among well-grown trees,
with an open and straight avenue to the sea-shore. The whole isle is prettily
varied by the rotation of crops: and the rocky ridges of Goat-Fell and other
mountains in Arran are now seen behind Bute as a background. These ridges
resemble much the romantic and savage outline of the mountains of Cuillin, in
Skye. On the southward of Largs is Kelburn, the seat of
Lord Glasgow, with extensive plantations; on the
northward Skelmorlie, an ancient seat of the Montgomeries.
The Firth, closed to appearance by Bute and the Cumbrays, now resembles a long
irregular inland lake, bordered on the one side by the low and rich coast of
Renfrewshire, studded with villages and seats, and on the other by the Highland
mountains. Our breeze dies totally away, and leaves us to admire this prospect
till sunset. I learn incidentally, that, in the opinion of honest
Captain Wilson, I have been myself the cause of all
this contradictory weather. ‘It is all,’ says the Captain to
Stevenson, ‘owing to the
cave at the Isle of Egg,’—from which I had abstracted a skull.
Under this odium I may labour yet longer, for assuredly the weather has been
doggedly unfavourable. Night quiet and serene, but dead calm—a fine contrast to
the pitching, rolling, and walloping of last night.
“8th September.—Waked very
much in the same situation—a dead calm, but the weather very serene. With much
difficulty, and by the assistance of the tide, we advanced up the Firth, and
passing the village of Gourock, at length reached Greenock. Took an early
dinner, and embarked in the steam-boat for Glasgow. We took leave of our little
yacht under the repeated ![]()
| DIARY CONCLUDED—SEPT. 8, 1814. | 277 |
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cheers of the sailors, who had been
much pleased with their erratic mode of travelling about, so different from the
tedium of a regular voyage. After we reached Glasgow—a journey which we
performed at the rate of about eight miles an hour, and with a smoothness of
motion which probably resembles flying—we supped together and prepared to
separate.—
Erskine and I go tomorrow
to the Advocate’s at Killermont, and thence to Edinburgh. So closes my
Journal. But I must not omit to say, that among five or six persons, some of
whom were doubtless different in tastes and pursuits, there did not occur,
during the close communication of more than six weeks aboard a small vessel,
the slightest difference of opinion. Each seemed anxious to submit his own
wishes to those of his friends. The consequence was, that by judicious
arrangement all were gratified in their turn, and frequently he who made some
sacrifices to the views of his companions, was rewarded by some unexpected
gratification calculated particularly for his own amusement. Thus ends my
little excursion, in which, bating one circumstance, which must have made me
miserable for the time wherever I had learned it, I have enjoyed as much
pleasure as in any six weeks of my life. We had constant exertion, a succession
of wild and uncommon scenery, good humour on board, and objects of animation
and interest when we went ashore—
‘Sed fugit interea—fugit irrevocabile
tempus.’” |
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