THIRD TOUR. FROM EDINBURGH TO DUNKELD, BLAIR-ATHOLL INVERNESS, THE HIGHLAND PORTS, THE CALEDONIAN CANAL, AND THE WESTERN ISLANDS. IN commencing this, which is called the GREAT NORTHERN TOUR, the tourist may suppose himself at Dunkeld, the road from thence to Edinburgh having been described in the FIRST TOUR, 393 The road to Blair-Atholl passes through the beautiful valley extending from Dunkeld to Logierait, which has been particularly noticed in our FIRST TOUR, in describing the road to the former place from the village of Kenmore, with which this road runs nearly parallel, but on the opposite or east side of the river Tay. Leaving Dunkeld, and proceeding northward along the bank of that river, at the distance of five miles, the tourist reaches Dowally. Dalguise, Glenalbert, Kincraigie, and Kinnaird, are seen in succession upon the opposite side of the river; and among the hills, about two miles to the eastward, is Ordie, a small lake, celebrated for its trout. About two miles farther on, the straths of the Tay and the Tummel unite, the former stretching westward to Kenmore, the other towards the north. Here also the two great rivers join; and by their confluence form a tongue of land, upon which stands the village of Logierait, opposite to the village of Ballinluig, through which the road passes. The country here is remarkably beautiful. An eminence not far from the church of Logierait commands a prospect that for richness and variety is rarely surpassed. Between the two villages there is a regular ferry; and as Logierait was anciently a place of some consequence, the tourist may be inclined to visit it. Before the baronial jurisdictions were abolished, this was the seat of justice for the district of Atholl; and upon the hill behind the town, malefactors were executed. That such exhibitions were not unfrequent, may be presumed from the fact of a common executioner having been maintained here at the expense of the Duke of Atholl. On the eastern side of the hill is an open terrace, where are still to be seen the traces of a castle, surrounded by a fosse. To this castle Robert II. retired to indulge his grief, after delegating the regal power to his brother the Duke of Albany. A battery is said to have been erected near the castle, upon a spot still called the Cannon Brae. The narrow pass which conducts to the ruins is called Glachn'-ri, or the King's way. From the summit of the hill a most extensive view is obtained, comprehending two great valleys and their mountainous boundaries. rivers, uniting below, form a great body of water. The To the right of Ballinluig is seen Tullimet House (Dr. Dick), and two miles beyond Ballinluig, the road, which proceeds along the east bank of the Tummel, enters Moulinearn, where there is an excellent inn. The celebrated Sheridan, it is recorded, when on a visit to Blair-Atholl, here poured out libations of Atholl brose to the rosy god, and was astonished at the sudden hallucination produced by the favourite beverage of this country. A mile beyond Moulinearn is Donavourd (— Macfarlane, Esq.) on the right, and Dunfallandy (General Fergusson) on the western bank of the Tummel. Here the main body of the river makes a sudden turn, forming a number of small islands. Edradour (Duke of Atholl) next appears in view, at which place there is a fine waterfall; and at the top of a steep dell are the remains of a circular building, called the Black Castle, about sixty feet in diameter within, and the walls about eight feet thick; it is supposed to have been inhabited by an English baron, who married a Scottish heiress in the reign of Edward I. Remains of similar towers are to be discovered along the whole of this track. Some conjecture that they were used for making signals by fire in case of invasion; others think they were Tigh-Fasky, or storehouses for the security of property, in case of sudden inroads. Mr. Pennant inclines to the former opinion, and mentions that he and his fellow-traveller, Mr. Stuart, traced a chain of such circular buildings, extending from the Hill of Drummond, near Taymouth, towards the Western Ocean. At the village of Pitlochrie, a mile beyond Donavourd and Dunfallandy, a road strikes off to the right by Moulin, through Glen-Briarachan and Strathairdle,* and an other to the left, leading to the Tummel, on the beautiful green banks of which, opposite to Pitlochrie, stands the neat cottage of Fonab (Macgregor, Esq.) The hills now begin to close in, and a mile and a half beyond Pit • Moulin is upon the road, 11⁄2 mile from Pitlochrie. In its romantic neighbourhood are the ruins of the Castle of Moulin, supposed to have belonged to the Cummins, Earls of Atholl and Badenoch. Tradition says that a number of persons infected with the plague were shut up and died in it, on which account the country people are afraid to remove its stones. |