succession of walks and drives in great variety and beauty, the extent of the walks being fifty miles, and of the drives thirty. The larch woods alone cover 11,000 square acres; the number of these trees planted by the late Duke of Atholl being about twenty-seven millions, besides several millions of other sorts of trees. It is indeed the property of few places, perhaps of no one in all Britain, to admit within so small a space of such a prolongation of walks, and everywhere so much variety of character and beauty.

The Cathedral, a most interesting object, "reposes on the margin of the majestic Tay, in the deep bosom of wood, crag, and mountain. Early chosen as a religious home, both St. Columba and St. Cuthbert appear in the traditions of Dunkeld, which seems to have preceded St. Andrews as the seat of the primate or High Bishop of Albany, and could boast that among its lay abbots in the eleventh century was numbered the progenitor of a race of kings.* This minster was the scene of violence to the last. When the most illustrious of its prelates, Gawin Douglas, he who

' in a barbarous age

Gave to rude Scotland Virgil's page,'

The

* "The annals of the modern cathedral are not free from perplexity. piers of the nave seem Romanesque, and the pier-arches, the triforium, and the clerestory seem first pointed; yet we are told by the Abbot of Cambuskenneth, writing the history of the see early in the sixteenth century, that the foundations of the nave were laid in 1406 by Bishop Robert of Cardeny, who carried the work as high as the second tier of arches, 'commonly called the blind storey;' leaving its completion to Bishop Lauder, by whom the cathedral was dedicated in 1464. Commending the difficulty which these statements raise to the judgment of the 'Oxford Architectural' and the 'Cambridge Camden' Societies, we pass to the aisleless choir, built between 1318 and 1337, by 'Master Robert the Mason,' during the pontificate of William de St. Clair, that stout warrior whom Bruce is said to have styled 'his own bishop.' The great eastern window was filled with coloured glass by John of Peebles, who ruled the see from 1377 to 1396. The rest of the choir was glazed by his successor, who died in 1437. Bishop Lauder built the great tower and the chapter-house between 1470 and 1477. In the latter year the diocesan synod was held at Dunkeld for the first time, the clergy hitherto having been compelled, by terror of the Highland 'catheran,' to meet in the church of the Friars of Mount Carmel at Tulilum under the walls of Perth. But a few years before, an Atholl chief burst into the cathedral on the solemn festival of Pentecost, and the bishop, who was celebrating high mass, only escaped the swords and arrows of the clan Donnoquhy by clambering to the rafters of the choir."

came to take possession of his throne in 1516, he was opposed by a shower of shot from the cathedral tower and bishop's palace; and it was not until the power of the great family to which he belonged had been gathered from Fife and Angus, that he obtained access to his church, thanks to the intercession of St. Columba,' says the chronicle, without loss of life or limb."

In 1689, a regiment of 1200 Cameronian recruits,† under Lieutenant-Colonel Cleland, who had been stationed here after the battle of Killiecrankie to protect the Lowland frontier, were suddenly surrounded by a Highland army, more than double their number. They wisely took up a strong position in and around the church and the Duke's house, and there withstood one of the most dreadful onslaughts recorded in history. Cleland and the other two officers who rose in the emergency to fill his place fell in the contest, which terminated in the defeat of the Highlanders. Cleland's grave is still to be seen in the church-yard.

The great aisle measures 122 by 62 feet, the walls are 40 feet high, and the side aisles 12 feet wide. It is now roofless, but the choir was rebuilt and converted into a place of worship by the late Duke of Atholl, at an expense of £5000, including a Government grant of £1000. The new church is handsomely fitted up. In the lobby there is a statue in armour, of somewhat rude workmanship, which was formerly placed at the grave of the notorious Wolf of Badenoch, who burned the cathedral of Elgin. Immediately behind the cathedral stood the ancient mansion of the Dukes of Atholl. A new mansion was commenced by John, fourth Duke, but his death in 1830 suspended the progress of the building. At the end of the cathedral are two of the first larches introduced (1737) into Britain from Switzerland.

From the base of Craigvinean, a long wooded eminence projects, across which a path leads to OSSIAN'S HALL, situated beside a cataract formed by a fall of the Braan. This hermitage or summer-house, generally esteemed the greatest curiosity of Dunkeld, is forty feet above the fall, and placed in such a manner that the cascade is entirely concealed by its walls.

*

Quarterly Review, No. 169.

Now the 26th Foot.

Opposite to the entrance is a picture of Ossian playing upon his harp, and singing the songs of other times; but the panel upon which the picture is painted being suddenly drawn aside by the guide, discloses the cataract foaming over its rocky barriers, and roaring with a voice of thunder. The sides and ceiling of this inner apartment are lined with mirrors which reflect the waterfall under a variety of aspects, sometimes as if precipitating its torrents upon the spectator, sometimes inverted, as if rushing upwards into the air.

About a mile higher up the Braan, is the Rumbling Bridge, thrown across a narrow chasm 80 feet above the waterway. Into this gulf the Braan pours itself with great fury, foaming and roaring over the massive fragments of rock which have fallen into its channel, and casting a thick cloud of spray high above the bridge. In picturesque features this fall is inferior to that already described, but both depend much on the state of the weather.

Several walks, communicating with each other, are cut along the face of Craigvinean, and rustic seats mark the principal points from which commanding views of the grounds of Dunkeld and of the distant scenery to the northward may be obtained.*

The tourist, while at Dunkeld, will have occasion in the course of his rambles to pass through the hamlet of Inver, in which may still be seen the ruins of the small house long occupied by Neil Gow, the celebrated composer of Scotch reel tunes.

The beautiful grounds of Murthly, on the south side of the river Tay, about three miles east of Little Dunkeld, are open to all visitors, and the proprietor, Sir William Stewart, is doing so much for their improvement, that it is not improbable the old rhyme may yet be verified to some extent, and

"Little Dunkeld be muckle Dunkeld,

When muckle Dunkeld is gane.'

A walk of about three miles in length has been made round Birnam Hill to its summit, which commands a view of Dun

* Unfortunately for the public, the walks among the romantic woods that cover Craig-y-Barns are entirely closed. They commence at the curling pond of Polney and proceed in various directions through a wilderness of forest, till they emerge on the open summit.

keld and the valley of the Tay, second only to that from Craig-y-Barns, and in some respects superior.

From Dunkeld the tourist may go off to the east by Cluny to Blairgowrie, distant twelve miles; a route which comprises scenery of a pleasing nature, though not romantic. The road winds in succession along the Lochs of the Lowes, Butterstone, and Cluny. On a small island near the southern shore of the last named, is the ancient castle of Cluny, a seat of the Earl of Airlie, said to be the birth-place of the admirable Crichton, after which we pass Forneth (Speid, Esq.); the Loch of Marlie, Kinloch (John Stewart, Esq. of that ilk); Baleid (Campbell, Esq.); the house of Marlie (Alexander M‘Laren Brown, Esq.); and the church and inn of Marlie or Kinloch, the latter a favourite resort of anglers in the lochs. Two miles farther, on the west bank of the Ericht, is

BLAIRGOWRIE,

[Population, 4500. Hotels: Queen's; Maclaren's.]

a burgh of barony, created by Charles I. in 1634, possessing a spacious market-place, some handsome dwelling-houses, and there are numerous chastely designed villas. Near it is Blairgowrie House (Allan Macpherson, Esq.), the superior of the village. The river Ericht furnishes water-power for eleven or twelve flax spinning factories, which are in active operation. The thriving villages of Old and New Rattray, on the east banks of the Ericht, are only separated from Blairgowrie by the river, and about a mile north is Craighall (Capt. Clerk Rattray), one of the most picturesquely situated mansions in Scotland, being built on the top of a perpendicular rock of great height on the banks of the Ericht.

DUNKELD TO BLAIR ATHOLL* BY THE PASS OF KILLIECRANKIE.-(20 miles).

Though the pass of Birnam has brought the tourist into the Highlands, he has scarcely made his footing good until he has emerged from the King's Pass, the entrance to which is at Polney-gates, a small pond at the base of Craig-y-barns, where the tourist cannot fail to be struck with the romantic abruptness of the overhanging rocks, and the richness of the foliage the trees seeming to vie with each other in gaining a footing among the inaccessible precipices.

The road, which for some time remains exposed, is closed in, about the fourth mile-stone, by noble rows of overhanging beech and elm trees, while innumerable wild flowers and shrubs spring from amongst the rocks. The traveller scarcely perceives that he has been for sometime on the edge of a steep wooded declivity till some gap amid the trees discloses the river rolling broad and deep underneath. At the distance of five miles we reach Dowally village and church,† on passing which the road is skirted by birch trees, the beauty of which few will not admire. On the opposite side of the river may be seen Dalguise (Stewart, Esq.), and Kinnaird House (Duke of Atholl). The inn and village of Logierait, are situated on the tongue of the peninsula formed by the junction of the

* Sometimes spelt Athole. The late Duke spelt Atholl, the present Athole. At one of the doors of this church may still be seen hanging the iron instrument called "the Jougs," for confining prisoners by the neck.