Historic interest will draw you to Iona; the interest of wild nature
will attract you to Staffa. On the Isle of Staffa is Fingals Cave, one
of Nature’s curiosities, extraordinary in its formation and offering
features of a wonder-compelling kind. The island is a rounded tableland
which has been thrust up through the sea by volcanic action. It is
about two miles in circumference, and rises nearly 150 feet above the
surface of the ocean. The cave, which is crowned by a high arch of
land, rises sixty feet above the sea, and through its interior length
it varies from twenty to forty feet in width. Staffa has many caves;
but the extraordinary size and character of Fingals Cave centers the
interest of all visitors there. It is impossible in rough weather to
enter the cave by boat. The method of visiting is to land some distance
away and enter by a protected footpath. Once inside, the effect of
surging, roaring waves overarched by echoing walls of basalt is most
impressive. The basaltic columns--similar in formation to those of
the Giants Causeway, across the sea on the coast of Ireland--rear
themselves in parallel lines like a formidable palisade constructed for
the support and protection of the cave.
[Illustration: BALMORAL CASTLE
_The highland home of British royalty--Queen Victoria’s favorite summer
residence. Purchased by the Crown from the Duke of Fife._]
We have visited but a few of the many places renowned for beauty and
romance in the land of the heather. We have not seen Ben Nevis and the
ruins of Inverlochy Castle; nor Swan Island in Loch Lomond; nor yet
Lochleven Castle with its thrilling tradition of Queen Mary’s escape.
“No warden’s fire shall e’er again
Illume Lochleven’s bosom fair;
No clarion shrill of armed men
The breeze across the lake shall bear;
But while remains a stone of thine,
It shall be linked to royal fame,--
For here the Rose of Stuart’s line
Hath left the fragrance of her name.”
And while we have pointed out the unique attractions of the Scottish
Isles, we have said nothing of the wild, romantic beauty of the
Highlands. The picturesque old ruin of Linlithgow Castle, Bothwell
Castle, Loch Ness, the noble Northern peaks and their surroundings--all
have been celebrated in glowing prose and verse, and around them
clusters history and romance enough to make many volumes.
It is not easy to sum up the beauties of Scotland within the space of
a few pages. It is a land where Nature and Romance go hand in hand,
Nature affording a background of rare beauty, while Romance invests it
with vital human interest. Picture an ideal tour in which each day is
filled with profit and pleasure, and all Nature’s resources in land,
sea, and sky combine to delight you and draw you on--then call that
tour a “Summer in Scotland.”
[Illustration: TOMBS OF THE KINGS
_A part of the historic old graveyard on Iona Isle. Among forty kings
of Scotland buried here are King Duncan and Macbeth, made famous by
Shakespeare._]
_SUPPLEMENTARY READING_
[Illustration]
The Land of Heather _Clifton Johnson_
Scotland of Today _T. F. Henderson and F. Watt_
Tales of a Grandfather _Sir Walter Scott_
Scotland, Historic and Romantic _M. H. Lansdale_
History of Scotland _P. Hume Brown_
A Literary History of Scotland _J. H. Miller_
[Illustration]
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