Eilean Ruaridh Mor is called after a celebrated chief of the Macleods.

On this island, as well as on Garbh Eilean and Eilean Suainne, the

illicit distillation of whisky was extensively conducted in the early

part of the nineteenth century.

To the west of Eilean Ruaridh Mor is the small island known as Eilean

Ruaridh Beag (or "the little island of Rorie"), formerly the residence

of Ruaridh M'Leod, and subsequently of John Roy Mackenzie (Part I.,

chap. xxi.).

The steamer passes between Eilean Suainne and the mainland to the south

of it, and soon reaches the Loch Maree Hotel (described in chap. iv. of

this Part).

There is a fine view from the steamer, looking up the glen down which

the Talladale river flows. To the right is the eastern shoulder of Beinn

an Eoin. The mountain further back, and some distance to the right, is

Bathais (or Bus) Bheinn. It is better seen from further down the loch.

After a brief call at Talladale the steamer proceeds in a northerly

direction. For a mile or so the Talladale woods continue alongside, and

then comes the Garavaig water, where the Slatadale farm begins. About

three hundred yards from the loch may be seen through the trees the

Victoria Falls (Part III., chap. i.). Close to the loch, at this point,

are remains of iron-smelting (Part I., chap. xx.).

The Slatadale farm-buildings are a quarter of a mile further on. Above

this farm the road to Gairloch is seen climbing the hill, but taking

advantage of a depression.

The steamer now passes between Garbh Eilean, on the right, and Eilean

Ruaridh Mor, on the left. Notice the fine views of Slioch.

Beyond Slatadale, _i.e._ to the west and north-west of the _Mabel's_

course, not a dwelling of man is to be seen, except a shepherd's cottage

(now uninhabited) at a place called Doire. The old road, which was

formerly the main road to Poolewe, may be traced here and there, until

it disappears behind the range of Craig Tollie.

A large bay now opens out, with a small wooded island; it is called Ob

Choir 'I, _i.e._ "the bay of the island corrie." This name is Anglicised

into the "bay of Corree." Here, in the summer of 1868, I was fishing

with a friend, who succeeded, after a struggle extending to forty

minutes, in landing a magnificent yellow trout of twenty-one lbs. (Part

IV., chap. xvii.).

Leaving Corree bay well to the left, we reach the point called Rudha

aird an anail, or "the high point of breathing," this being a favourite

spot for a few minutes' breathing-time when rowing up or down the loch.

Observe how the rocks are rounded by ancient glacial action.

From this point the first spur of the range of rocky hills called Craig

Tollie begins to rise. A quarter of a mile further on is a rugged cliff,

with a precipitous face, 300 feet high, which descends sheer into the

loch (here thirty fathoms deep), and is often called the "Black Rock,"

from its generally dark colour. The peregrine falcon builds her nest on

a tiny ledge of this cliff, on which the young falcons are reared,

unless the wary keeper shoots or traps the old birds; or else, let down

by a rope fastened round his armpits, robs the nest of eggs or young, as

I have witnessed.

On the Black Rock it is said there was formerly an eyrie of the golden

eagle, until the ledge where the nest used to be built was destroyed or

detached by a flash of lightning.

In the face of the Black Rock, on the northern end, is a cave, hidden by

a mass of ivy, about twenty yards above the water, and almost

inaccessible. The hardy and sure-footed Highlander, John Mackenzie,--who

was the last post-runner from Dingwall to Gairloch, and was called Iain

Mor am Post (Part II., chap. x.),--succeeded in entering this cave, and

reported that twelve men might sit in it. The cave is called in Gaelic

Uamh gu do roghiann, or "the cave for your choice," a name supposed to

refer to some love story now forgotten.

The steamer proceeds alongside the slopes and below the crags of Tollie.

The highest point of this range is 1123 feet in height. Some forty years

ago a sad event occurred on the side of Craig Tollie. Heather burning,

which is carried on in the months of March and April every year, in the

interests alike of grouse and sheep, was in hand, and a newly engaged

fox-hunter or trapper was assisting. Smothered by the smoke and

overtaken by a sudden rush of flame, he was burned to death. Grand

effects, as if blazing lava were pouring down the hillsides, are often

witnessed during the annual seasons of heather-burning.

Stepping on to Tollie pier, we have completed the tour of Loch Maree,

and again enter the carriage or "machine," which returns to Gairloch by

the way we came.

Chapter XIV.

THE FIONN LOCH AND ITS DUBH LOCH.

By WILLIAM JOLLY.

There is no royal road to learning, and there is no "royal route" to our

finest scenery. The common tourist, like the sheep, meekly follows the

beaten tracks, missing the better bits, which only the hardier and more

adventurous pedestrian finds, like the more independent goat. There are

a hundred nooks of rarest beauty and wildest grandeur hidden away in our

mountainous land, far from the sheep runs of coaches and hotels, and

their mere enumeration would be longer than a Gaelic song or a Highland

sermon.

One of these nooks may be found not far from Loch Maree. Immediately to

the north of the lake stretches one of the least frequented tracts in

broad Scotland,--the region that surrounds the beautiful, many-islanded,

salt-water Loch Gruinard. Here, right across the high range which skirts

the north shore of Loch Maree from Beinn Aridh Charr to Slioch, lies the

Fionn Loch, with its upper chamber, the Dubh Loch. Fionn Loch--that is

"the fair lake"--is so called from its contrast to its darker portion,

the Dubh or "black" Loch. Its name contains the word that has become

classical in the famous name of the heroic Fingal, "the fair stranger"

of some interpreters; and in the less known but real name of the equally

famous Flora Macdonald, Fionnghal, "the fair one."

The Fionn Loch may be reached by the hardier climber by crossing Loch

Maree from Talladale, and dropping down on it through the pass behind

Letterewe. But the easier, and in a scenic point of view better, way is

to go from Gairloch or Poolewe by the good road which runs to its very

shores. From Gairloch the way is unusually fine, commanding one of the

best views of the queen of Scottish lakes, from the very spot rendered

famous by Horatio Macculloch's great picture; passing the sweet sea gulf

of Loch Ewe, and skirting the picturesque banks of the swift-flowing

Ewe, which carries the waters of the great lake to the ocean. Leaving

this clear stream you enter on a wild heathery region, till lately

trodden only by the firm foot of the hunter or the pedestrian in search

of game or the picturesque. You soon catch a view of Loch Kernsary,

holding its prehistoric artificial island, and of its knots of trees, a

pretty picture, with Loch Ewe looking like a lake, and the sea in the

distance. You soon leave the Torridon sandstone and enter on the ancient

barrenness of the Hebridean gneiss, covered by innumerable erratic

blocks, the representatives of the Arctic era when ancient Caledonia was

a Greenland and Fionn Loch was swathed in ice. From an eminence on a

spur of the Rowan Tree Hill, you at last look down on Loch Fionn. It is

a large sheet of fresh water, seven miles in length, enclosed within

winding shores, diversified by islands, and surrounded by a magnificent

range of mountains, which stand about it on every side but the one next

the sea. In fine weather it forms a splendid mirror set in a fretted

frame of alpine carving, seldom surpassed for wild and picturesque

beauty. In storm it becomes a furious sea of crested waves, under

driving rain, rolling mist, and howling winds. These descend with

uncommon strength from frowning mountains, which guard a scene then

almost as wild, dark, and grand as Coruisk itself. From its character

and surroundings the lake assumes either aspect with equal ease.

Right in the centre of the view stands Craig an Dubh Loch, or the "black

loch crag," a bare precipitous mountain, whose white front at once

catches the eye and unifies the wide-sweeping view. On both sides of

this central point there extends a semi-circle of mountains, a splendid

range of rocky masses,--those to the right, pointed and craggy; those to

the left, more rounded and sloping, and grassed to the summit. The

striking peak farthest to the right is Beinn Aridh Charr, "the ben of

the rough shieling." It presents a front of steep precipice, two

thousand feet in height, and has a cairn of immense blocks at its base,

called the Cairn of the Caves, till a few years ago an eyrie of the

golden eagle. The hill next it is Meall Mheannidh, or the "middle

mountain," so named as lying between it and the grander mass beyond.

That is Beinn Lair, or "the ben of the mare," which rises right from the

widest part of Loch Maree. From the left of the central Craig an Dubh

Loch stretches a series of mountains with different trying names. The

fine peak next to it bears the pretty title of Maighdean, "the Jungfrau,

or Maiden." The highest is Beinn a Chaisgean Mor, and the farthest to

the left is Fhridh Mheallan. This long mountain screen is singularly

varied in outline and aspect, being both precipitous and rolling, peaked

and rounded, and greatly diversified in contour and colouring. The hills

are separated from each other, especially those to the right, by deep

narrow glens, which afford passage across the range, and increase their

picturesqueness.

On the right hand, the loch is separated from the steep mountains by a

narrow stretch of rough heathery moorland, containing many small lakes;

to the left, the hills swell right from the water in green rounded

slopes. At the lower end, the lake divides into several sinuous

branches, with numerous tributary lochans, and its waters are discharged

by a stream, a few miles in length, which falls into the sea at the head

of Gruinard Bay.

It is nigh twenty years since I first visited this romantic spot, along

with some scientific friends, intent on geologic and scenic pursuits;

one of whom, Dr James Bryce, has since perished in the pursuit of

science, near the Fall of Foyers, where a monument, subscribed by his

admirers, marks the tragic spot. We followed the wild mountain track

between Beinn Aridh Charr and the lake, up to its head, and had a

glorious day.

Many years after I paid the scene a second visit, accompanied by other

friends; one of these, the proprietor, Mr Osgood Mackenzie, whose

unrivalled knowledge of the country, and especially of its birds,

completed our enjoyment.

The morning was lovely, the sky blue and flecked with light fleecy

clouds, though the air was electrical, with threatening masses of

raincloud which darkened part of the day. The colouring was unusually

fine, the shadows transparent, the sunshine warm and mild, and the sheen

on the water such as our artist declared could be painted only by Alfred

W. Hunt. The severity of the retreating winter was revealed in July in

several patches of snow, which gleamed in some of the corries, chiefly

in the group at the head of the lake. Everything was favourable to high

influence and happiness,--the threatening possibilities of storm only

adding new elements to the scene.

Embarking at the pier, we rowed slowly up the smooth lake, enjoying the

scenery and passing several islands, the haunts of some of our rarer

birds. Reaching a sandy bay, about half-way up the loch on the right, we

landed beneath a projecting cliff called Rudha Dubh, or "the black

cape," which bears a singular resemblance to a Highland bonnet, a

perched block on its crest appropriately completing the likeness by way

of tassel. We ascended till we came in sight of two other lochs with

islands, called Lochanan Beannach, or "the lakelets of the bens." There

we rested for lunch, in view also of the Fionn Loch and its opposite

hills, and beneath the crags of Beinn Aridh Charr. From this point the

nearest of the peaks of this Beinn presents a perfect natural dome,

which at once suggests a gigantic St Paul's. The pass between this peak

and its neighbour, the Middle Hill, is unusually low, some two thousand

feet under the enclosing mountains. It forms a grand inverted curve,

almost as fine in sweep as the hollow of Glen Rosa in Arran, with the

peaks of Beinn Eay and Liathgach on Loch Torridon, visible through it in

blue distance.

The situation was simply charming, and luncheon there amidst such

surroundings, with genial friends, pure pleasure. Its interest and

beauty were increased by watching two black-throated divers (_Colymbi

Arctici_) on one of the lakelets below, a very rare sight in this

country. They had a pair of tiny babies, just hatched, whom they tended

with pretty care, keeping them between them as they quietly oared

themselves onwards, circling round them at times, and gently leading

them to greater effort, and wider range,--altogether a pretty group of

nature's nurslings.

Taking boat again and rounding the Black Cape, we left our artist and

his wife at the next rocky point, which charmed them, there to sketch

the remarkable mountains round the Dubh Loch, while we explored the

upper reaches of the lake. The precipitousness and grandeur of the hills

increased with nearness. Fresh peaks rose into view, and the old took

new and more striking forms with each new point of sight. Many tops,

unseen before, opened up to the left of the Maiden,--the Ruadh Stac, or

"red peak," so called from its red Cambrian strata, a fine contrast to

the Carn Bhan, or "white cairn," in front of it, formed of bare

glistening pegmatite; and a remarkable hill called Scuir a Laocainn,

which means either "Scuir of the calf-skin," so named from some ancient

legend or fancied appearance, or, according to one of my friends, the

"Scuir of the heroes."

We landed in a flat bay called Poll Fraochainn, or "the heathery pool,"

on the right of Craig an Dubh Loch, in order that I might reach the

precipices of Beinn Lair. The way to them, through a narrow pass right

ahead, is steep and trackless, but the reward is well worth the toil. It

skirts the base of a high cliff on the right, where you are greeted by

the mountain sorrel, last seen on Ben Nevis, with its bright green and

russet leaves, which will refresh your parched throat; the rare _Cornus

suessica_, or dwarf dogwood, occurring also near the big Ben; the

beautiful European globe flower; and by abundant oak fern and other

charms for the lover of wildflowers.

With stout heart you soon reach a green platform between two valleys,

where a wonderful scene at once bursts on your sight,--a straight,

narrow, long-drawn glen stretching for miles before you, with Loch Fada

at its farther end, skirted all along its right side by a continuous

wall of gigantic cliffs, which are the back of Beinn Lair. These cliffs

are practically vertical, forming a sheer precipice above fifteen

hundred feet in height. They are singularly barren of vegetation except

on the ledges of the rock, and strangely mottled in colour, with grey

lichen on dark rock. They are scarred and fissured with countless deep

vertical cracks running from base to summit, which, by carrying the eye

upwards, increase the apparent altitude. Their crest is jagged, pointed,

domed, and battlemented, in a wonderful serrated edge. Seen from this

point the long cliffs stretch down the glen in splendid succession,

rampart behind rampart, which are separated by the vertical fissures of

the gneiss. The whole is clothed in sombre deep purple, tending to

black. Except for the trickling runnels from the rock, the scene is

solitary and silent even to sadness, with a powerful grandeur which

becomes painful from its impressiveness. In a thunderstorm it must pass

conception. The Honister Crag, near Borrodale, in Cumberland,

magnificent as it is in a dying sunset, is narrow and poor in

comparison.

In returning by the top of the hill that rises above the pass to the

south, I passed a great perched block, fifteen feet long and ten feet

high, a standing witness of the Ice Age. An old hill fort on the head of

this ridge, formed by a strong enclosing wall, was an unexpected sight

in such a retired region, indicating more inhabitants in the old days.

It commands an unsurpassed prospect over the whole lake country below,

westwards to the open Minch with the dim Uists in the far horizon.

Descending, I caught the old road to Loch Broom, which crosses the

Bealloch from Letterewe on Loch Maree, and which led me straight to the

boat.

After embarking, we pulled till just under the front of Craig an Dubh

Loch, a precipice above a thousand feet high, whose remarkable whiteness

had arrested the eye from the first. This is caused by the presence of

the pale granite, called pegmatite, which runs over the face of the

cliff in serpentine lines and masses, expanding and contracting, and

stretching in tongue-like extensions to the summit, where it is again

broadly developed. This curious granite gives the cliff the general

aspect of the precipices of Cape Wrath or Skye, with their volcanic

intrusions and contortions, as figured by Macculloch and Nicol.

The upper part of the Fionn Loch glen narrows into a steep close corrie,

occupied by the waters of the Dubh Loch, and a higher green _cul de

sac_, with its mountain streamlet, enclosed by Craig an Dubh Loch on the

right, and the Maiden and her rugged companions to the left or north.

The Dubh Loch is a dark, deep pool, grand in a scenic and most

interesting in a geological view. It forms a marked contrast to the

expansive and brighter Fionn Loch, of which, nevertheless, it is merely

an alpine chamber; and the contrasted names given by the old Celts to

two parts of the same water, the "white" and the "black," are as true as

they are descriptive. Their general aspect shows this sufficiently, but

when viewed from any of the neighbouring hills, the truth of the

description is more evident. The Dubh Loch always bears a dark look if

not a sullen frown, even in a calm, looking then like a pavement of

black Galway marble.

The Dubh Loch forms a well-curved crescent, its concave side being

occupied by Craig an Dubh Loch. Crossing the causeway between the lakes,

the traveller should ascend the steep rocky hill, called Carn na Paite,

some three hundred feet high, which is isolated from the mountains

beyond by a deep valley. Its top commands a wonderful view of the whole

alpine scene, and enables you to see the steep silent corrie at the head

of the Dubh Loch, and thus complete your survey. The scenery from this

central point of vantage is very grand, being wild, desolate, and

imposing, unusually stern in character and colouring, and as lonely and

separate from the world as Manfred or the most misanthropic could

desire.

When we left the Dubh Loch, a fierce thunder shower burst, the big drops

being sent sharply into the lake like hail, with a pellet-like force and

high upward rebound of water. Viewed through this wonderful screen of

rain and mist, the great mountains became mere flat shadows. Then it

changed to a misty gauze, returned again and again to a black

obliterating denseness, and then cleared off till the hill-tops held the

upper clouds like volcanic smoke from active craters, the whole scene

passing through many grand and beautiful phases from thundery rain to

sunshine. It was a splendid exhibition of the scene in its alpine

aspects, and completed the pictures of the varied day.

In the middle of the falling rain we picked up our artists, drenched,

but delighted, though with unfinished canvas. The wet prevented a visit

to some of the islands in this part of the loch which we wished to see,

the haunts of some of our rarer birds that still linger in this wild

Highland loch. In Eilean a Chuillin, on the north side, a heronry is

said to have been destroyed by golden eagles from the rocks on Beinn

Aridh Charr, one of the accused being poisoned in consequence. In Eilean

nan Corr-sgreach, that is the "heron's isle," the largest heronry

perhaps in the country still flourishes on stumpy crooked birch and

holly trees, the flapping wings of the birds being visible through the

mist. On another island close by this one, the very rare goosander used

recently to build, Mr Mackenzie being the first discoverer of its nest

in Scotland. On another islet close by the opposite shore the

white-tailed eagle nested more than twenty years ago. On Eilean Molach,

near the pier, the black-throated diver still exists. The peregrine

falcon then haunted the scene, having its eyrie on the cliffs of Beinn

Aridh Charr, and one flew over our heads, chased close to his nest by

two angry curlews; but he has, it seems, now deserted the place. Other

still rarer species yet linger in this retired spot.

It is devoutly to be hoped that they will long continue to do it honour,

guarded by the proprietors, and all good and true men. Happily none are

allowed on the lake unless under the care of sanctioned boatmen; and the

whole has now been forested. These means of protection, we trust, will

preserve these rare creatures as a beauty and a boast for generations to

come. In this connexion, nothing shows the defects of the moral and

æsthetic training of our people more than the prevalent desire, in even

the so-called cultivated classes, to destroy such unusual visitants,

some of them harmless. If individual kindliness and sense will not do

it, public indignation and penal enactment should be invoked for their

preservation.

Our artist and his wife returned by carriage to comfort and shelter.

Wishing to see more we crossed the rough country, covered with boulders,

lakes and bogs, that lies between this and Loch Ewe. We were

disappointed at not reaching Loch an Iasgair, that is the "loch of the

fisher or osprey." This rare and interesting bird seems now to have

quite deserted this alpine region, though once abundant both here and in

the islands of Loch Maree. We visited, however, an immense block of

gneiss not far from the loch, borne hither in glacial times, twenty feet

long, ten broad, and fifteen high, with steep inaccessible sides,

crowned by two feet of moss, and adorned with grass, heather and bushes.

Forty years ago a pair of marten cats committed such havoc amongst the

lambs that they were watched and followed, but they were always lost

sight of just when their lair was thought to be reached. Both dogs and

men were long at fault, till a pair of sharper eyes one day observed the

clever martens leap to the top of our boulder in two bounds. That was,

of course, the end of their history, of the Martens of Castle Marten, as

they were called by my friend; for they were followed, and themselves

and their young exterminated. This big block is but one of countless

others of all sizes scattered over this rude mossy territory, in which

they form a special feature; their glacial history being further

corroborated by the abundant, well rounded, polished, and striated

_roches moutonnées_, here so abundantly scattered between the hills and

the sea.

Reaching an eminence which commanded the whole of the Fionn Loch and its

enclosing peaks, the last look we had of it revealed it in a bright,

pearly light, exquisitely fresh after the rain, its now smooth surface

reflecting a silvery sheen in the descending sun, and showing the

appropriateness of its name, the "fair lake."

Chapter XV.

LOCH GRUINARD.

By WILLIAM JOLLY.

Of all the sea-lochs in the West Highlands, I long thought that Loch

Duich, the southern branch of Loch Alsh, bore the palm on the mainland,

not only as viewed from the road above the kirk of Loch Alsh, but as

enjoyed on the surface of the loch itself, amidst its picturesque and

elevated peaks. But after seeing Loch Gruinard, many years ago, in its

smiling and varied beauty, homage has been divided. Yet the two scenes

are scarcely comparable, so different are they in type,--the one with

even shores and unbroken surface, and closely beset by towering

mountains; the other open and expansive, and varied with numerous isles.

Each is to be admired for its own sake, and both reveal somewhat of the

wealth of scenic loveliness created by the union of "the mountain and

the flood" in our beautiful land.

Seven miles from Poolewe is Aultbea, with the smooth green Eilean Ewe in

front of it, in the middle of Loch Ewe, a transcript of southern

cultivation amidst Highland crofts. Before descending on the village the

road rises high above the sea, and shews a wonderful view. At your feet

lies an upper reach of Loch Ewe, called Tournaig Bay, in calm, smooth as

a mirror, which forms the eye of the picture. Beyond it stretches a

rolling plateau of bare parti-coloured rock in front, and a screen of

great summits round Loch Fionn and Loch Maree behind. You can

distinguish, from the left, the fair Maiden, the pointed Beinn Aridh

Charr, the bright Beinn Eay, the dark Beinn Alligin, and their numerous

fellows, onwards to the lesser eminences behind Gairloch. The crowded

sandstone peaks, crowned with the white Quartzite, like Beinn Eay, look

in the distance like the white crests of gigantic billows suddenly

arrested in wild tumult and transformed to stone.

Near Aultbea you turn to the right, and cross the neck of the peninsula

of flat Cambrian sandstone that terminates in the Greenstone Point. Near

the top of the ridge the road passes through several long serpentine

ridges of gravelly _débris_, with countless embedded blocks. These are

the lateral moraines of the huge glaciers that pushed their resistless

march from the mountains above out to sea. They are good and patent

examples of their class, interesting as existing so far from the parent

source of the great ice-sheet of which they were the enclosing walls,

and which has left its footprints in well-marked scratchings and

polishings on all the exposed rocks round.

A little beyond the highest and best moraine a point is attained where

the whole expanse of Loch Gruinard suddenly comes into view. It forms a

broad bay, land-locked on right and left, and open to the Minch on the

north. On a day of sunshine and shadow it is truly a fair and

picturesque scene.

The free sea in front is soon broken up by islands. Eilean Gruinard lies

to the right; Priest Island is the nearest in front; and behind it is an

archipelago of rocks and islands, of varied size and outline, called by

the pleasant name of the Summer Isles. Bold headlands stretch far

beyond. To the left is the wide Minch, with the low lands of the Lews in

the dim horizon, terminating in the Butt. On the right the bay is

enclosed by the indented shores of the mainland, at the entrances of

Great and Little Loch Broom.

Inland extends a long succession of mountain summits, similar to those

already seen above Aultbea. Over Rudha Coigeach, tower the great peaks

round Loch Assynt and Kyle Skou, conspicuous among which is the cone of

Suilven, flanked by Queenaig and Canisp. Next comes the mountain group

of Coigeach, crowned by the broad Beinn Mhor. Then, isolated and steep,

the dark double-peaked Beinn Gobhlach heaves itself between the two Loch

Brooms, and, being separated entirely from the rest, stands as a grand

centre to the picture. Finally, closing the line to the right, rise the

domed Sail Mor and the pointed peaks that stand round Loch na Sheallag.

This wide expanse of mingled sea and shore, island and mountain, becomes

an indelible memory, especially under a favourable sky, bearing with it

the proverbial joy.

One extraordinary feature of the scene is the absolute want of trees,

except a few at the head of Loch Gruinard. The country looks to the eye

as bare of wood as Caithness or the Uists.

But more remains. Descend the road a short distance, and climb a slight

eminence on the left, which will tax the strength of none. From its top,

low as it is, a still more magnificent prospect may be had, unusual in

its sweep and remarkable for the number of hill tops in sight. At one

glance your eye commands the whole series of mountains comprised in both

the views already obtained, from Sutherland to Applecross, the peaks

crowded round Loch na Sheallag and Fionn occupying the centre of the

splendid circle. In the far north, in clear weather, the isle of Handa

at Scourie is distinctly seen, and under very favourable conditions Cape

Wrath itself is reported at times to be visible. Behind you, to the

west, appear the outlines of the Lews and Harris, the shadowy

representatives of Atlantic lands. This remarkable outlook should by no

means be missed.

But there are other matters besides the scenery that will interest not a

few. On the shore, where the road strikes the coast, the picturesque old

chapel, amid its overgrown graveyard, will draw the antiquarian and the

sentimentalist to observe and to meditate. The sandstone cliffs will

attract the geologist; and these should interest even the common

traveller. The coast consists of a series of steep cliffs, whose unusual

redness arrests the eye. Here, hidden away, as it were, in this remote

bay, occur two patches of the Trias, one of the rarest systems in

Scotland, only a few scattered patches representing that comparatively

modern epoch, here enclosed by the two most ancient systems of Britain,

the Hebridean gneiss and the Torridon sandstone, as elsewhere explained.

Beyond the sandy bay to the east, the shore rises into high precipices,

unusually contorted and picturesque, with isolated stacks and projecting

capes, which shew varied forms and remarkable "weathering." A footpath

leads down the cliff, and should be followed to the beach. There one of

the old caves, excavated by the sea in a crack of the Trias, has been

enclosed by a wall and put under lock and key. It is regularly used as a

chapel by the Free Church, and there numerous worshippers gather on

Sabbath, and, seated on the boulders that form the pews, listen to

sacred words and sing their weird Gaelic psalms. This cave is cold and

comfortless compared with another at Cove on the other side of Loch Ewe,

also utilised as a church. This other is formed in the Torridon

sandstone, and is roomy and dry, and well seated with planks laid on

stones. The entrance is festooned with wild plants and flowers, and the

interior shews a full view of the open bay and the land beyond. Worship

under such conditions must be at once picturesque and impressive.

Close to this cave on Gruinard Bay another exhibits a still more

interesting sight,--a modern example of the ancient cave-dwellers. It is

the home of an old woman of seventy, and a girl her sole companion. The

front of the shallow cave has been rudely closed in with stones, turf,

and cloths, leaving an opening above through which escapes the smoke of

the peat fire. The interior is barely furnished with the simplest of

necessities. The fire is close by the door on the left, and the bed lies

on the ground on the right just under the open roof, though protected by

the projecting rock. The old dame seemed bright as the sunshine when we

visited her this summer (1886), and declared that, though rough, the

place was more comfortable than it looked. As she drank her simple cup

of tea from the top of a box, after putting some clothes to dry upon the

shore, with her wrinkled but intelligent face, her Gaelic Bible her only

literature, the wild rocks round, and the splash of the restless waves

in the ear, this simple, solitary old woman looked as picturesque and

pathetic an object as I had ever seen, much more so than the wildest of

gipsies at a camp fire. But this is not the place to enter into her

story.

Beyond this the road passes through two townships called Coast. These

stand where an interesting junction occurs between the Trias system and

the Torridon sandstone; while a little further on exists another

junction between the Torridon sandstone and the grey contorted gneiss.

The numerous blocks along the shore, mostly foreign to the ground, are

monuments of the great Ice Age.

At the very head of Gruinard Bay a large white mansion may be seen

embosomed among trees. That is Gruinard House, situated at the mouth of

the Gruinard river, perhaps as out-of-the-world a dwelling-place as may

be found in broad Scotland. Towards this point the traveller should make

his way either by the good road past Fisherfield, or still better by

boat from Coast.

The position of the mansion is admirable, being cosily set close by the

pebbly shore, on the edge of a fertile old sea terrace, enclosed by

crags, knolls, and mounds. These are wild and steep, and clothed with

trees and shrubs on their lower flanks, but bare and grand above, one

lion-shaped precipitous rock being specially striking. The place is

protected from every wind but the north-west, and has a climate as

genial as in the south of England. A road runs by the side of the river,

which has cut its way through a rocky pass and plunges over a cataract

of huge boulders in foaming grandeur. Beyond a little school you come to

a flat green meadow, the bed of an ancient lake. At its far extremity

the dark craggy peaks of Ben Dearg form a powerful picture, which has

been well rendered in a painting by Weedon. Crossing this plain and

ascending the steep ridge at its head, you there command a grand view of

the great mountains that enclose Loch na Sheallag,--that is "the loch of

the hunting,"--the very name shewing that the old Celts looked on this

region as the peculiar habitat of wild creatures. The lake itself is

hidden by high ranges of the Hebridean gneiss, but you get a full view

of the precipitous peaks which rise right from its waters. On the left

you have the great mass of Sail Mor, the pointed Scuir a Fiann, and

Scuir an Fhithich, the Raven's Rock; and on the right the grand purple

peaks of the bold Beinn Deargs, an unusually fine group, excelled by few

in the Highlands. In some features Loch na Sheallag and its mountains

surpass those of the Fionn Loch, grand as these are. The whole scene is

one of remarkable wildness and grandeur, and of unexampled solitariness.

The traveller may return by road to Gairloch back the way he came. But

if he is able to face it, he should recross the Meikle Gruinard river,

and, ascending the Little Gruinard river, which drains the Fionn Loch,

reach Poolewe by the skirts of the mountains, through as rough and

picturesque a country as could well be imagined. He has still another

course open to him, which will bring him back to the common-places of

life. He may order a carriage from Dundonell Hotel, at the end of Little

Loch Broom, ten miles distant, or he may take himself thither on foot.

There he will find a most comfortable resting-place, and he will

certainly think himself fortunate in seeing also the picturesque

combinations of glen and mountain, wood and water, which adorn the

beautiful Loch Broom.

Chapter XVI.

ANGLING IN SEA LOCHS.

The north-west Highlands of Scotland are a favourite resort of many

anglers. Here the accomplished veteran of the gentle art can find full

scope for his consummate skill, and the tyro may often obtain fair

sport, inexperienced though he be. There are several classes of anglers

who visit the Highlands,--the wealthy man with ample leisure, who takes

salmon or trout fishing on lease, together with or apart from shootings

and a house or lodge; the determined angler, who spends his annual

holiday in this delightful recreation, and usually settles down for

several weeks or even months at a hotel at some well-known centre; the

less persistent and less fortunate brother of the craft, who in a more

desultory manner devotes to it a part or the whole of his briefer

holiday; and the tourist, who scarcely claims the name of angler, but

carries a rod about with him in his peregrinations, and occasionally

takes advantage of such opportunities as may present themselves. For

each of these classes there is ample scope in the parish of Gairloch,

and my remarks are addressed to all of them.

The angler visiting this country should be provided with at least two

rods, viz., first, a trolling rod, strong enough for the powerful lythe

of the sea lochs, and yet light enough to be used when trying for the

so-called ferox, or large trout of the fresh-water lochs; and secondly,

a light single-handed rod, to be used in fly-fishing for the lively

sea-trout, or the brown or yellow trout which are to be found in almost

all the fresh water in the district. These rods, with a supply of

guttapercha sand-eels and strong traces for lythe fishing, lighter

traces and artificial minnows for the ferox, and fine gut casts and a

variety of flies for trout-fishing, will suffice for all ordinary

purposes. The sand-eels and strong traces for the sea can generally be

had at the Gairloch Hotel, or may be procured beforehand from Messrs

Brooks, Stonehouse, Plymouth. The artificial minnows, and the traces for

them and the artificial trout flies, may, of course, be purchased from

any good fishing-tackle maker. I recommend Mr W. A. M'Leay and Messrs

Graham & Son, both of Inverness, as being well acquainted with local

requirements. Perhaps two or three flights of hooks for spinning natural

bait for ferox may prove a useful addition. The tackle necessary for

salmon fishing is not described, as the visitor to Gairloch is hardly

likely to get a chance of this noble sport, unless he has arranged for

it before his arrival, or unless he be personally acquainted with those

who have rights of salmon fishing in the parish. Waders are not

required, except perhaps for trout-fishing in some lochs which have no

boat.

With these equipments the angler, or even the tyro, staying at any of

the hotels, or taking a lodging, may meet with fair fishing, and ought

to be able to keep the table supplied.

Let us begin with a visitor to Gairloch, Poolewe, or Aultbea, who wishes

to "sniff the briny," and become acquainted with some of its

inhabitants. By arranging the day before, a boat with boatmen may be

procured, and they will know the best places to be tried. There are two

usual modes of sea-fishing for anglers, viz., trolling for lythe, and

hand-line fishing for smaller specimens of the finny tribes of the salt

water. For lythe the artificial sand-eels recommended above seem to be

the best lure. As a rule the smaller sized sand-eel is the most killing,

and the pattern coloured red often beats the white. There is a nearly

black form of the artificial sand-eel which is sometimes very

attractive. Occasionally the sand-eel answers better with the bright

metal spinner at the head. Take care that your trace (which ought to be

of very stout triple gut) is sound, and that the swivels on it are

working freely. The lead weight, about a yard from the sand-eel, should

not be a heavy one. The lythe, which is called the whiting-pollack in

England, varies in weight from half a pound to 16 lbs., at least that is

the greatest weight up to which I have taken them in Gairloch waters.

Many of them run from four to seven pounds, and these are the best fish

for the table. The lythe is rather soft, but is an excellent breakfast

fish when properly fried, and is sometimes firm enough to boil well. It

is a very game fish, and is therefore called by some the salmon of sea

fishing. If you hook a good one, be hard upon him at first, for if he

once gets down to the sea-weed you will probably lose him and your

sand-eel and trace into the bargain. This fish appears to be in season

from June to December, but it is not always to be met with, at least in

any number. I have had splendid sport with them in June, and equally

good in November. On 31st October 1879 we captured (two rods) in Loch

Ewe, in an hour and a half, twenty-seven lythe weighing 176 lbs., and a

good cod weighing 17 lbs., being a total of 193 lbs.; but this was an

exceptionally good bag. Sometimes a cod or coal-fish (saythe) takes the

sand-eel, when, if the fish be a large one, the captor thinks he has

caught a whale. The lythe are generally found near rocky headlands or

round island rocks.

Hand-line fishing is not to be compared with rod fishing for lythe, and

therefore I have not recommended the angler to carry hand-lines about

with him, but they can generally be borrowed if desired. The boatmen

know the best "scalps," or banks, and can also obtain mussels for bait.

The fish most commonly taken are whiting, haddocks, gurnard, millers or

"goldfish," sea-bream or "Jerusalem haddies," and rarely rock-cod and

flounders. For sea-bream you must go further out than for the others.

Mackerel are not plentiful in Gairloch waters, and are generally taken

with spinning bait. Hand-line fishing requires very close attention and

a light touch. If you are not smart the smaller fish will continually

get away with your bait. For all kinds of sea-fishing the evening is the

best, and a half-tide, either rising or falling, is considered most

favourable. It is little use fishing where there are many jelly-fish

about.

Sometimes the hand-lines will capture a specimen of the larger fishes

(more usually taken by the professional fishermen, who set long lines),

such as cod, ling, conger-eel, skate, and even the halibut, locally

termed turbot. The conger-eel, as well as the fresh-water eel, are not

eaten by the natives, who regard them as allied to the serpent tribe,

and therefore related to the tempter! The halibut here frequently attain

a large size. In January 1885 I purchased from a fisher-lad his

one-third share of a halibut. On arriving at home with my prize I found

it scaled fully thirty-three pounds, so that the fish when entire must

have weighed 100 lbs. Wonderful stories are told of enormous skate taken

on this coast. I have heard 2 cwt. stated as the weight of a single

skate! Dr Mackenzie mentions john-dory and mullet as being sometimes

captured in Gairloch, but not with bait.

Chapter XVII.

ANGLING IN LOCH MAREE.

Loch Maree reigns supreme amongst the angling waters of the parish of

Gairloch, with the exception of course of its outlet the River Ewe.

It is true that the excessive fishing which followed on the opening of

the Loch Maree Hotel at Talladale has to some extent injured the

angler's chances, especially by diminishing the number of large black

trout usually called ferox. But there is still excellent sport to be had

with sea-trout and loch trout.

The angling of Loch Maree is open to visitors staying at the hotels at

Kenlochewe and Talladale, except the lower part, about two miles in

length, which is reserved by the proprietor for himself and his

shooting-tenants. The reserved water includes the whole of the narrow

part of the loch lying to the north or north-west of Rudha aird an anail

on the west side of the loch, and An Fhridh Dhorch on the north-east

side.

The best fishing ground is to be found amongst the bays and shallow

banks around the islands and off the points.

The fish in the loch are salmon, sea-trout, and brown trout; no doubt

there are also char in the loch; I believe they occur in most Highland

lochs, but they are very difficult to take. I never heard of one being

caught in Loch Maree; but they say the last Lord Seaforth used to visit

Loch Maree every autumn to net char in shallow waters, and that he got

them of remarkable size running up to 1 lb. weight. The char is a

deep-water fish, and only comes towards the shores for about a fortnight

at the end of autumn to spawn.

Salmon are but rarely taken in the loch, though they must be numerous in

its waters. I have known one taken with a blue artificial minnow off the

Fox Point, and two were bagged in Tollie bay in 1882 with ordinary

sea-trout flies and a light rod; one of these weighed 15 lbs. I have

heard of other instances of salmon being captured in different parts of

the loch; several at its very head, others among the islands, and others

again at places I need not specify. The statement made by some gillies

that salmon are never taken in Loch Maree is a delusion; that they are

not generally taken, I admit; but every angler on Loch Maree, at any

time of the year, whether throwing the fly or trolling the minnow, has a

chance of hooking a specimen of the monarch of fishes.

Sea-trout come next. In some years they are very abundant, in others

comparatively scarce. This fish has different names in different parts

of the kingdom. Sometimes it is called the white trout; sometimes the

salmon trout; sometimes the sewin. Again the term white trout includes

the bull-trout, which is an immigrant from the salt water. The sea-trout

of Loch Maree appear to be of three distinct species:--

I. The sea-trout or salmon trout (_Salmo trutta_); II., the bull-trout

(_Salmo eriox_); III., the finnock or whitling (scientific name unknown

to me). Some say the finnock is a samlet.

Of these No. I. is abundant; No. II., scarce; and No. III., which never

exceeds half a pound in weight, is also abundant. The sea-trout here

vary from ¾ lb. to about 6 lbs.; they afford excellent sport, and are

good eating. The sea-trout fishing is at its best in the months of July,

August, and September. The finnocks are nice little fish, and for their

size give pleasant sport. The only bull-trout I have known were taken

from the Ewe.

Salmon and sea-trout fishings in Scotland belong exclusively to the

crown and its grantees. In Gairloch the fishings are held by Sir Kenneth

Mackenzie, Bart. of Gairloch, under an ancient charter from the crown.

Any person taking a salmon or sea-trout, without the permission of Sir

Kenneth, is simply a poacher.

Brown trout are not so plentiful nor so large as they used to be. In

Part IV., chap. xiii., I have mentioned the large trout killed in the

bay of Corree, or Ob a Choir 'I, in the summer of 1878, when I was

fishing along with a friend. This splendid fish weighed 21 lbs. when we

got it to the nearest railway station, then at Dingwall. It was

certainly not a sea-fish, _i.e._ not a bull-trout, salmon, or sea-trout,

and it had not the large head and wild look of the fish usually called

ferox; in my opinion it was just a brown trout.

Here I must propound my pet theory, that the so-called ferox and the

brown or yellow trout are one and the same species. I have caught, or

known caught, a number of large trout out of Loch Maree and other

smaller Gairloch lochs, weighing from three to twelve lbs., besides the

21 lb. fish of 1878. I am quite aware of the number of large fish taken

during years past in Fionn Loch, and I have shared in the capture of

some of them. I know that the greater part of these fish would generally

be classed under the head of _Salmo ferox_. I feel sure they were only

ordinary trout which had grown to an extraordinary size; many of them

were completely out of condition, like a spent salmon; one or two,

indeed, were not trout at all, but were spent salmon. I have talked with

several old anglers, who professed to know the points of a ferox; none

of them agreed in their diagnosis, and the characteristics they tried to

point out were obscure, and to my mind not distinctive. Everyone knows

that trout vary greatly in size, form, and appearance, according to the

nature of the water and the bottom, and the quality and quantity of

food. Even from the same loch I have seen trout, taken on the same day,

so unlike each other that a tyro would have been pardoned for calling

them different species. I have noticed no differences between the

so-called ferox and any other large brown trout, that have not

corresponded with the differences between various specimens of the

smaller fish. It seems to me that whenever some anglers capture a trout

above 3 lbs. weight they call it a ferox.

The ordinary loch trout are taken with similar flies to the sea-trout,

but if you want the big ones you must troll either natural bait or the

artificial minnow. The large brown, or rather black, trout (the

so-called ferox) are never worth eating, and are rarely beautiful

objects to look at; they would be seldom sought for, but that salmon

fishing is so costly that many anglers can only realise the excitement

of playing a salmon when they succeed in hooking what they call a _Salmo

ferox_.

Sir George Steuart Mackenzie wrote:--"In Loch Maree is that species of

trout called the gizzard trout." I suppose he meant the variety commonly

called the gilaroo trout, which occurs in a loch near Inchnadamph, in

Sutherland. I can only say I never caught one, nor heard of one being

caught, in Loch Maree or any other loch in Gairloch.

Chapter XVIII.

ANGLING IN FRESH-WATER LOCHS.

Besides Loch Maree there are many other fresh-water lochs within the

parish of Gairloch; they are enumerated in Part III., chap. i. Those

which are within deer forests or grouse shootings are nearly all

strictly preserved, but permission to fish several good ones may be

obtained by visitors staying at the different hotels. Those in private

lodgings may sometimes get limited permission to fish, but except at

Poolewe this cannot be easily obtained.

There are very few lochs which do not contain trout of more or less

respectable quality, yet trout are not so numerous in Gairloch waters as

they were formerly. Writing of trout as they were in the early part of

the nineteenth century Dr Mackenzie says:--"Seventy years ago (about

1815) there were in every pool of water in our west (Gairloch) the most

marvellous quantities of trout. Our lakes were, I suppose, never

counted. Innumerable, like the trout, some contained good, well-fed,

pink-fleshed trout, and others a mere mob of say four ounce bags of

water. These filled the pools that ran to the sea from every loch in

shoals, and, singular to say, sometimes as plentiful above falls, far

too high for any fish to swim up, as below them. I have been told that

water beetles, all of whom can fly, have been caught fresh from a feast

on fish roe, with some of the roe adhering to their back; and in this

way it is supposed fish have been planted in lakes from which there was

no stream, or none up which they could have found their way.

"I have often filled a large fishing-basket twice over in a few hours in

a hill burn not two miles long, and requiring much cookery help ere

their consumers praised them.

"I have never yet heard an explanation why there are only about one

trout in the same burns and lochs for every ten now that there used to

be seventy years ago; unless it be that then the moors washed into the

lochs far more cattle _débris_ than there happens now, when sheep with

their horrid anti-fish 'tarry-woo' are everywhere, with a flavour as

hateful to fish as it is to game; no eatable insect growing in sheep

_débris_, while from cattle and horses crowds go to feed fish."

The Doctor's theory, that the falling off in the numbers of trout is due

to the substitution of sheep for cattle, is generally accepted.

Something is also due to unconscious expansion in reminiscences of the

good old days, surrounded as they are by the halo of youthful

enthusiasm; and no doubt there is too a real falling off in the number

and weight of trout, owing to increased travelling facilities bringing

north a far larger number of tourist-anglers. However extensive a loch

may be, it must be remembered that its deepest parts are seldom feeding

ground for trout, which mostly congregate in the shallows adjoining the

shores and on the few banks there may be further out.

Next to Loch Maree itself, Fionn Loch, which is five hundred feet above

the sea level, is the best known. It used to be celebrated for its yield

of the so-called ferox. There is a wonderful record of the large number

of these monsters that were captured in the months of March and April

some thirty years ago by a celebrated sportsman.

My own experience of Fionn Loch is, that the trout have slowly but

surely fallen off in number and size. In 1871 I remember making some

grand baskets on this high-level loch. We used to pass the night at the

shepherd's house in the bay of Feachasgean, and the evening and the

morning made our day. Our bags generally included two or three fish of

four or five pounds, and a dozen or two ranging from one to two pounds,

at which last weight we could have got as many as we wished with a

favourable breeze. At this time it was almost a virgin loch, and there

was no road within four miles of it.

Perhaps the best day's trout fishing I ever had was on a glaring hot day

in June 1874, when in the upper pools of the Little Gruinard river, a

short distance below Fionn Loch, I caught with ordinary trout flies one

monster of ten pounds, about a dozen from two to three pounds, and a

large number of lesser fish.

Permission must now be obtained to fish Fionn Loch, and no angler need

expect to make the bags of the old times, either in number or size.

At the head of Fionn Loch is a smaller loch, called the Dubh Loch,

swarming with large trout. In 1876 and 1877 this sheet of water was the

subject of litigation. The Lord Ordinary, in the Outer House of the

Court of Session, decided that the Dubh Loch was not a separate loch

from the Fionn Loch, and that Mr O. H. Mackenzie had a joint right of

fishing in it as well as in the Fionn Loch, part of the shores of which

belong to him. This decision was reversed by the Inner House, whose

judgment was (on appeal) finally upheld by the House of Lords. The issue

raised was a nice one, and depended on the determination of several

interesting questions.

In a small loch on the Inverewe ground, on 24th September 1874, I hooked

three trout of one pound each at one cast, and succeeded in landing them

all. I have several times landed three small trout on the same cast when

fishing the Little Gruinard river, but I never got three really good

ones except that once.

All the lochs open to visitors at the hotels yield fair sport to the

fly-fisher, and those who like bait fishing will be sure of a nice bag

of trout from any of the smaller lochs, if the tempting worm be tried in

the "gloaming," or twilight.

Large trout may be captured by trolling on Loch Kernsary, which is, I

believe, open to visitors staying at the Poolewe Hotel. It is my

opinion, as already said, that char exist in most Highland lochs. I have

only known these pretty little fish to have been actually taken from

four of the lochs in Gairloch. Loch Kernsary is the only one of these

lochs which is open to tourist-anglers. Char may be taken by the angler,

and possibly may be thrown into the creel without the captor noticing

the red belly which is the chief distinction between the char and the

trout. Very few char are taken in Gairloch, and they are usually small,

about four or five to the pound. In flavour they are not to be

distinguished from trout, any more than the pink-fleshed trout are to be

distinguished from those with white flesh. If you doubt me, try an

experiment; let some one whose palate you can trust be blindfolded, and

he or she will, to your surprise, be unable to discriminate between char

and trout, and between pink and white-fleshed trout. Take care the

experiment be tried fairly, and it will not fail.

The ordinary trout of the country do not rise to the fly before May, and

then in no great numbers. In June they yield good sport, but July is the

month in which the largest bags of well-conditioned trout may be

expected. Trout fishing requires more delicate skill than salmon

fishing, and is grand training of the senses of sight and touch.

There are eels in all the lochs and streams, but they are seldom hooked,

and, when they are, what a mess they make of your tackle!

The only other fish in the fresh waters of Gairloch is the voracious

pike. I believe this monster only occurs in the Feur (or Fiar) Loch and

Loch Bad na Sgalaig, and in the river Kerry, all in connection, and I

only hope he will not spread further. Dr Mackenzie gives the following

account of the importation of pike to Gairloch. Writing of his boyhood,

he says:--"No loch had pike till one black day my eldest brother

inveigled me into catching a dozen small pike in the east coast

Blackwater and driving them to the west, where I launched them safely

into Fiar Loch, a small twenty acre sheet surrounded with bullrushes,

and just boiling with innumerable trout. It only communicated with one

other lake, and from it the pike flew to the sea over a high waterfall,

down which we never dreamed that the abominable creatures would go. Very

soon the lochs were not boiling with trout on a summer evening as of

old, and plans were laid for famous pike-fishing with trimmers, or a

flock of geese with trout-baited hooks fastened to their legs and sent

across the loch. But ere this ploy came off a salmon fisher in the river

below the falls caught a fine pike on his salmon hook; the abomination

was one of those I had launched into Fiar Loch, and who ought to have

broken his neck when shooting the Kerry falls; alas, it was quite ower

true a tale! The vermin had learned that the Kerry was a salmon river

with lots of delicious smolts there in May, and parr, _i.e._ young

salmon, all the rest of the year. So they soon stocked every pool in the

Kerry, and a salmon in that river has for years become a greater wonder

than a white blackbird; the fry all carefully eaten up, and few salmon

return to the Kerry."

Sir Kenneth Mackenzie, the present baronet of Gairloch, states that none

of the pike above-mentioned as having been put into Feur Loch survived,

and that pike were introduced (or re-introduced) in his day--about 1848.

With this I commend the fish of Gairloch to all jolly anglers, only

begging them not to angle where they have no permission, and not to

interfere with other people who have a superior right.

May good sport wait on the patient angler!

Chapter XIX.

SALMON ANGLING.

Salmon fishing is undoubtedly at the head of all angling, whether in

Gairloch or any other part of the world. Here it may be enjoyed under

very pleasurable conditions, and with fair prospects of sport.

There are five salmon rivers in the parish of Gairloch, viz.:--the

Kenlochewe or Garbh river, the Kerry, the Badachro, the Ewe, and the

Little Gruinard river.

The river Ewe is by far the best of them. It has, or had, the reputation

of being one of the best salmon rivers in the Highlands, but since the

removal of the last of the cruives it has not yielded large bags to the

angler, except in a few unusually good seasons. The cruives were removed

about 1852, with the object of lowering Loch Maree, and so draining land

at the head of the loch. The cruives consisted of dams or weirs

constructed across the river, containing openings; in these were

inserted boxes or large creels, through which the water could pass down

the river, but fish could not pass up except at certain times when the

cruives were open. The oldest cruive on the Ewe was that which is still

called "the old cruive," a little below the Poolewe manse. A great part

of the dam still remains. The lower banks of stones were the original

cruive; the higher dam was more recent. When entire the old cruive was

frequently used by pedestrians as a means of crossing the river, which

had then no bridge. Some deaths by drowning occurred here. For instance,

the piper Roderick Campbell (Part II., chap. xvi.) was drowned whilst

endeavouring to cross this cruive. Again, an American merchant was

drowned in the pool below the old cruive about sixty years ago. He was

crossing the cruives when his tall hat flew off; he swam across the pool

to recover it, and he got to it on the little island, and stood there a

minute. In returning, the stream at the tail of the pool was too strong

for him, and carried him down to the rough water, where Alexander

Maclennan, the old mason of Moss Bank, saw him dashed against a large

stone or rock opposite the Poolewe Free church, and so killed. He saw

the poor man no more; the body was found, a fortnight after, at the ebb,

on the Ploc-ard side of the head of Loch Ewe. It was long after this

time that the old cruive was abandoned, and the new cruive was erected

just at the foot of the navigable water of the Ewe, where are the

remains of the old ironworks called the "Red Smiddy." This cruive

appears to have only existed for some ten years; it was removed about

1852, as already stated. Great numbers of fish were taken in these

cruives. Bag-nets and other engines for taking salmon in the sea are

still sanctioned by the legislature, and some people think the gradual

but certain diminution in the stock of fish is due to them, though this

charge is by no means proved. There is sometimes a good year, like 1883,

but on the whole the tendency is downwards, as both the net-fisher and

angler complain.

The fortunate angler who has permission to fish the Ewe must first learn

something of the pools on the river. The Ewe is nearly two miles long

from the place where it leaves Loch Maree, close above Inveran, to the

bridge at Poolewe. Taking the casts from Loch Maree downwards, we find

on the east side of the river (whose course is very little west of due

north) the following pools or casts:--There is a cast, almost useless,

at the lower end of the kitchen garden at Inveran; it is difficult to

fish from the shore, and I have never known anything but a chance

sea-trout taken from it. Sir Kenneth Mackenzie once captured two

bull-trout here. The Upper Narrow below the fir wood comes next; it is

an excellent cast when the river is high. Below this the river expands,

and at the end of the birch wood, where it begins to contract again, is

a cast called the "Kelt corner;" it is of little use, but sometimes a

grilse is hooked in it. The Middle and Lower (or Little) Narrows are the

next casts, and are both good; indeed, I would rather have the Middle

Narrow than all the rest of the river. The Lower Narrow is a favourite

resting-place of running fish, after struggling through the rough water

below. Then comes the New Cruive Pool, which is excellent, and fishes

best from this side. Below is a stream called Mac Cordaigh; in Gaelic

the name signifies "the pool of the son of Mac Cordaigh," who was

probably a noted angler, but whose deeds are lost in the obscurity of

the past. Below is the Ash Pool, a good place for grilse. Some distance

further on is the Craig Pool, or Manse Pool, which is difficult to fish

from this side, owing to the high rough rock which juts down into it.

The flat between this pool and the old cruive affords a considerable

stretch of good fishing when the river is in spate, but is useless when

the river is low. The Old Cruive Pool, immediately below the cruive

wall, is an uncertain place. Alongside the Free Church meeting-house is

the Sea Pool; it fishes better from the other side. From the other side

of the river are the following casts, viz.:--The Middle and Lower

Narrows, same as the other side; the New Cruive and Mac Cordaigh; and

then the Ash Pool and the Hen Pool. The Manse Pool, which comes next, is

best fished from this side. It often holds good fish, but they are "very

stiff." The "flat" is well worth fishing from this side; it requires a

pretty long cast, and there is a bank behind. The Old Cruive Pool being

out of reach, the next and last pool on this side is the Sea Pool, an

excellent cast. There is a beautiful dark pool below Poolewe bridge. It

looks very tempting, but it is very rarely indeed that a salmon is taken

in it. I have, however, known a grilse of 7 lbs. weight, and several

good sea-trout, taken from it.

The Ewe is not an early river, and many of the fish that do come in the

spring run through into Loch Maree, and as far as Loch Clair. The kelts,

or spent fish, often remain in the river until May or even June. There

is generally a run of salmon early in May. The grilse and more salmon

come in June and July, especially July, and fish continue running until

the breeding season in November; indeed, some say there are always

fresh-run fish in the water. If a low state of the water hinders the

kelts from going down to the sea, they become very numerous in the Ewe

in the spring, and I have landed as many as eight in one day. Of course

they had to be returned to the river, pursuant to law. The Ewe salmon is

a handsome fish when fresh run. I once caught a fresh-run bull-trout in

the river weighing 21 lbs., a very handsome fish. The natives call these

bull-trout Norwegian salmon. Mr Osgood H. Mackenzie, some years ago,

caught one of them which weighed 27 lbs., the largest fish he ever took

from the Ewe. I have caught several large sea-trout, which were of the

same species. A few of the ordinary sea-trout are got in the river when

they are running up to Loch Maree, and occasionally a respectable brown

trout. The largest salmon on record from the Ewe weighed, I believe, 34

lbs., and was taken from Mac Cordaigh by an angler fishing on the west

bank of the river. I got a fine hen salmon of 30 lbs. from the Middle

Narrow in August 1876. The best flies for the Ewe have yellow or black

bodies rough and full, and mixed wings also pretty full, jay hackle or

heron hackle, and a gold pheasant tail. Small flies kill best, unless

the river be in spate.

If the Ewe could tell its own tale, it would mention many illustrious

characters, and would no doubt give us some good stories of them. Here

is an amusing yarn of Dr Mackenzie's. Speaking of the landlady (about

1808) of the Kenlochewe Inn, the doctor writes:--

"She would wait long for a character from the late Sir Humphrey Davy,

who used to fish and write 'Salmonia' on the river Ewe. Once going east

with Lady Davy, he had put up a 20 lb. pattern salmon, probably to show

his friends what sort of fish he was catching. They arrived at the inn,

when, I suppose, the larder was rather empty, and the landlady, who

valued a salmon no more than any other fish, imagined the twenty pounder

was being carried by Siromfredavi (as a foreigner once addressed him by

letter) to help empty Highland larders as he moved through the land; so

she chopped Mr Salmo in two, without a hint or 'by your leave,' and

astonished her guests by presenting it boiled as their mainstay for

dinner! It was reported that Sir Humphrey's ugly language was audible

half a mile away, and that listeners suspected he was on his way to an

asylum."

Not many years ago I was walking along the road from Inveran to Poolewe,

and saw, as I thought (and rightly), a well-known politician fishing the

river. His attendant was the water-bailiff, John Glas, who came up to

speak to me about something or other. I asked him, "Who is that

gentleman fishing?" He replied, "One Bright." I said, "The great John

Bright, you mean?" His answer was, "I never heard of him, but he is a

good fisher." Such is fame!

How many odd little incidents happen to the angler; they seem so

extraordinary at the moment, but perhaps lose their effect by

repetition. When a salmon is in good humour, or hungry, or irritated, or

vicious, or whatever it may be, he will take any sort of fly. Having

gone out one day to fish the Ewe without my fly book, I suddenly

discovered the old fly I was fishing with had come to pieces; there was

little left of it but the hackle, untwisted, and attached to the hook at

one end. I shortened it to the length of the hook, and got a salmon with

it at once.

What a pleasant incident it is, how flattering to one's self-esteem,

when a friend who has toiled in vain all day begs you to try his rod,

and you immediately get a salmon from a pool he has just fished! This

has happened to me more than once, each occasion being a palpable fluke.

I remember hooking a very lively fish one day in May 1881 at the Middle

Narrow; he jumped, he flashed hither and thither; he now had out almost

the whole of my line, and in another instant was at my very feet. After

a little of this sort of work, he got off; I was horrified when the line

came slack, and in a bit of a tiff jerked the rod up, drew the line, and

threw it again. At the moment the fly touched the water another fish

took it, which I ultimately bagged. A friend standing by positively

never noticed that I had parted company with the first fish!

Fishing a year later at the same Narrow, I felt a slight suction as my

fly approached a well-known yellow stone in the water. I pulled the fly

away, thinking it might be a fish. My gillie said he saw nothing. After

a brief pause I began again, and again felt the slight suction at the

same spot. My gillie had seen nothing, and assured me it was but the

eddy round the stone that I had felt. However, I allowed the usual

interval, and, instructing my attendant to place himself where he could

command the best view, I re-commenced. The same suction, the same remark

by the gillie. So without further pause I threw again, and this time

hooked a good fish at the same stone, which, after a sharp struggle, I

brought to bank. It was he who had been at me all the time.

On another occasion, after I had fished the New Cruive Pool, I was

coming ashore from the stone I had stood upon, and carelessly left the

line dangling in the water. On lifting the rod I found there was a fish

on, and I soon grassed a fresh run grilse of 7 lbs.

How well I remember the February fish which my faithful attendant

declared (wrongly) was a kelt, and the other one, really a kelt, which I

landed above the Middle Narrow, marked and returned to the water, and

caught again two days later in the Old Cruive, when he received quite a

cordial greeting and a second benediction to help him further on his way

down to the sea!

It was in the spring of 1883 that, fishing the Lower Narrow one

afternoon, two fish, almost elbowing each other, came at my fly at the

same moment, an incident that had never occurred to me before. I hooked

one of them, but it proved to be a kelt; these kelts are greedy beasts.

A friend with me one day hooked a big fish in the New Cruive Pool; the

fish ran and leaped for some minutes, and then went down. We alternately

held on from eleven A.M. till five P.M., when a growing suspicion proved

true that the fish had got the line fast under a stone, and had escaped.

I shall never forget the Rev. Gordon Calthorp, minutely cross-examining

me at a lunch one day on the subject of salmon fishing, and, a day or

two afterwards, during a church mission, using the information he had

thus acquired to illustrate, in his telling way, the wiles of Satan. Of

course, the successful angler represented the Evil One! I was meekly

sitting near.

The present water-bailiff of the Ewe is John Mackenzie (Iain or John

Glas), of Moss Bank, Poolewe. He is a silent man, but knows the river

thoroughly. His predecessor was Sandy Urquhart, well remembered for his

stupendous loquacity. He had many good stories,--one, of the "fine

gentleman" who had a day on the Ewe, killed a salmon, and gave Sandy a

five pound note (!); another, of a well-known Ewe angler, who, Sandy

said, being annoyed by the long sulking of a fish, stripped and dived

down to the hole where the salmon lay. He succeeded in pulling the fish

from his lair, but also pulled the hook from the fish's mouth.

The Ewe is easy to fish. There are few trees or banks, and all the casts

are accessible. Waders are not necessary, and a long cast is seldom

required. There are convenient "toes" for many of the casts, though not

always quite in the right places. A north-west or north wind is the best

for the Narrows, as it rouses a useful ripple against the scarcely

apparent stream. I have said nothing about rod and line; they should be

light. It is no use the angler wearying himself with a heavy nineteen or

twenty foot rod. A sixteen or seventeen foot rod is quite enough,

remembering the elementary principle that the shortest line which will

cover the water is the best. I never now use a gaff on the Ewe. It is

quite unnecessary, as there are no steep banks. I never lost a fish for

want of a gaff, but many I have hooked have got off during vain attempts

to gaff them, even when the gaff has been wielded by an experienced

hand. To gaff a kelt involves an almost certain breach of the law, for

the kelt is nearly sure to die. To gaff a clean fish is to mar one of

the most beautiful objects of sport. My plan is to draw the nose of the

fish to the edge of the water, then lay down the rod, and

instantaneously grasp the root of the tail firmly with one hand, whilst

the other hand, under the head of the fish, assists to place it the next

moment high and dry upon the bank. Dr Hamilton of Windermere has

invented a spiked glove to be worn on the hand tailing the fish, but I

see no need for it; and between the difficulty of putting it on at the

right moment and the clumsiness that must accompany its use, I would

rather be without it.

The number of salmon and grilse taken from the Ewe is insignificant as

compared with the quantities captured in the bag-nets. The largest

number I have ever known killed in one day was eight clean fish; this

was in 1874. I never got more than five clean fish myself on the same

day. Sir Kenneth Mackenzie once killed ten fish in a day on the

Ewe,--his best bag. Mr O. H. Mackenzie of Inverewe about 1853 killed

seven salmon in one day, and five the next day. He was only a boy at the

time, and was not fishing long on either day. For a notice of the sport

the late Sir Hector Mackenzie and others had in the Ewe many years ago

see Appendix E.

Sir Hector had a singular mode of fishing. His son, Dr Mackenzie,

writes:--"Few were better able to handle a rod than our father, and then

there were no wading mackintoshes dreamed of to keep all dry. And as

many pools in our river needed to be waded into or a boat to fish them

rightly, wicked knowing old white Trig was ridden by my father into the

pool, which thus was commanded by his rod all over it; and very soon

Trig became quite interested in the sport, and the moment he saw a rush

from a salmon or sea-trout, he backed slowly and steadily to the bank

and let my father dismount and land the fish." This was on the river

Conan.

The charms of the Ewe are manifold,--the wooded knolls on its upper

reaches; the lovely peeps of the mountains of Loch Maree, and of the

nearer range of Craig Tollie; the stories of the past that linger about

its neighbourhood; the beauties of the river itself, replete with bird

life and with wild flowers; and above all the exciting sport, are

attractions which cannot fail to delight the angler, especially if he be

successful. And there are pools in the Ewe that yield an occasional

fish, even when the river is at its lowest. After August the fish are

mostly dark in colour, though I have known a bright grilse bagged as

late in the season as 11th September.

The other salmon rivers in Gairloch depend more on a good supply of

water than the Ewe. They fish best in July if there be water. Each of

them has had cruives at some time. They are all in private hands. For

the benefit of any angler who, being a friend of the tenant of any of

these rivers, obtains permission to fish, I may mention that the river

running from Loch Clair to the head of Loch Maree, called the Garbh, is

best fished from Kenlochewe, and is let with the Kenlochewe shootings;

the Badachro river is let with the Shieldaig shootings; and the Kerry

river is let with the Flowerdale shootings. The Little Gruinard river is

not exclusively in one hand; the principal right to it is let with

shootings.

Chapter XX.

DEER FORESTS AND GROUSE SHOOTING.

The red-deer of the Highland mountains form the subject of a branch of

sport largely used as a means of recreation and recuperation by many of

our most busy and often overworked statesmen, soldiers, and commercial

and professional men.

The red-deer is indigenous in the northern parts of Scotland, as it used

to be throughout the kingdom. There are so few obstructions that I

believe it would be possible for these wild deer to roam if they pleased

from the north of Caithness to the south of Argyleshire, but as a rule

the deer attach themselves to particular localities. Their numbers do

not increase rapidly, even under favourable circumstances. The antiquity

of the red-deer in Gairloch is proved by their cast-off horns having

been found deep in peat bogs, where they must have lain many centuries

(Part III., chap. v.).

Deer are said to have been scarce in Gairloch in former times, when,

notwithstanding rigorous penal statutes to the contrary, there was much

poaching. In the reign of James I. (1424), there was an enactment that

"alsoone as onie Stalker may be convict of slauchter of Deare, he sall

paie to the King fourtie shillings; and the halders and mainteiners of

them sall paie ten poundis;" and there were statutes of a similar

character in almost every succeeding reign, the penalties becoming more

serious as time went on. Since the time when the present system of

letting deer forests was introduced, the number of deer in Gairloch has

greatly increased.

A considerable part of the hill ground is now under deer, or, to use the

popular but (to the uninitiated) misleading expression, is "forested."

This word is supposed by some to be a corruption from the Gaelic word

_fridh_, which they say was originally synonymous with the English

"free;" not meaning that forests were free and open to the public (for

nothing was less so under the old Scots acts), but signifying that the

ground had been "freed from," or made clear of, cattle and sheep. If

this were so, the word "forest" as thus used would of course have

nothing whatever to do with trees. But the better opinion seems to be

that the Gaelic word _fridh_ always meant a forest in the usual

acceptation of the English word, and so was really covered with wood.

The forests of timber which formerly clothed the Highlands have been

previously mentioned, and the causes of their disappearance in recent

times have been discussed (page 74). It was mostly the woodland that was

kept unpastured, and so became the resort of wild animals, including

deer. The _fridh_ was most strictly preserved, and exactly corresponded

to the "forest" of the old Scots acts. In a Scots act of 1535,

prohibiting the intrusion of "gudes, nolt, scheepe, horse, meires, or

uther cattle," into "forrestes" reserved for "wild beastes and hunting,"

the "forrestes" are classed with "haned wooddes." Now "hained" is a

Scotch word still in use; on the Borders they constantly speak of a

grass field being "hained" when the stock are withdrawn from it, either

to take a hay crop from it or to rest it. If _fridh_ (_Anglicè_, forest)

was in 1535 considered equivalent to a "hained" wood, it appears

unlikely that it ever meant a "free" wood. In any case, there is

abundant evidence that for at least nearly five centuries deer forests

have been private hunting grounds strictly protected by the legislature.

The deer forests of Gairloch are to a great extent unsuitable for sheep.

The recently formed deer forests have been constituted by putting the

sheep off what were previously sheep farms. It may surprise some readers

to learn that in this part of the Highlands, as well as in many other

parts, it generally requires at least ten acres of hill ground to

support one sheep.

There are the following deer forests within the parish of Gairloch:--

{Kenlochewe.

South-west of Loch Maree. {Flowerdale.

{Shieldaig.

{Letterewe.

North-east of Loch Maree. {Ardlair.

{Kernsary (new).

These forests will by-and-by probably yield altogether about two hundred

stags a year, besides a like number of hinds in the winter, but not

until the newer forests have had a year or two more to allow of an

increase of their stock of deer. It is impossible to estimate accurately

the number of wild red-deer in Gairloch. Considering, however, the

number of deer that may probably be killed in Gairloch after the next

year or two, I would suppose that the stock when that time arrives will

number about two thousand five hundred deer. This is a mere guess, based

upon a comparison of the number killed and the stock on the ground,

ascertained approximately by census, in some old deer forests that have

come within my knowledge.

Stags are usually in condition for killing between 15th August and 8th

or 10th October. These dates depend upon the season. In the case of a

stag with a very fine head, the sportsman will probably not wish to

shoot it until the horns are quite free from velvet, which perhaps may

not be until well into September. Roaring begins in the last days of

September, and a week or ten days later the stags are out of condition.

There is no close time fixed by law for killing stags, and some

proprietors do not even limit the season, which really fixes itself by

the condition of the deer.

A stag which has twelve points to its antlers is called a royal, but a

royal head is not necessarily first-rate. The best heads are

distinguished by their wide span, thickness, and long points. A good

stag is generally eight or ten years old at the least. The stag casts

its horns every spring, and it is said the hinds eat the old horns;

certainly they are seldom found.

Hinds are in the best condition for shooting in November and December.

The hinds have only one calf in a year, though there have been rare

cases known of a hind having two calves.

Deer-stalking is an arduous and absorbing sport,--its difficulty is its

glory. This is especially so in the stag season, for in summer and

autumn the deer often keep to the higher parts of the mountains.

Frequently a stalk is only attempted when a good stag has been spied in

the early morning, or even the day before. If it be decided to stalk a

particular stag, the sportsman and his attendants endeavour to approach

by such a route as that, if possible, they may not be visible, and so

that no breeze may convey their scent to the wary deer. Notwithstanding

every precaution, it will sometimes happen that the suspicious stag gets

an alarm from a previously unseen sheep that has strayed into the

forest, or from a crowing grouse, or a frightened mountain hare, or even

an eagle, and it may be the chance of a shot is lost to the sportsman

for that day.

Hence it will be seen how fatal to a successful stalk would be the

sudden presence upon the scene of a thoughtless rambler upon the

mountains, who, quite unintentionally it might be, would thus mar the

pleasure and success of the hard-earned and well-paid-for sport of the

deer-stalker.

Until late years the deer were hunted by staghounds, and the present

method of deer-stalking was rarely practised. Now-a-days dogs are not

much used except for the purpose of tracking wounded deer; and

cross-bred dogs, including strains of the collie, pointer, lurcher, and

other breeds, are found to be better adapted to this use than the

handsome staghounds so grandly depicted by Sir Edwin Landseer, scent

being more important than speed. Even for tracking, dogs are little used

in the smaller forests, lest their baying might drive deer away to other

ground.

In "The Pennylesse Pilgrimage," by John Taylor, "the King's Majestie's

Water Poet," printed 1633, an excursion he made to Scotland is

described. He visited the Earl of Mar at Braemar, and made the following

quaint record:--

"There did I find the truely noble and Right Honourable Lords John

Erskine, Earle of Marr; James Stuart, Earle of Murray; George Gordon,

Earle of Engye, sonne and heire to the Marquise of Huntley; James

Erskin, Earle of Bughan; and John, Lord Erskin, sonne and heire to the

Earle of Marr, with their Countesses, with my much honoured, and my best

assured and approved friend, Sir William Murray, Knight, of Abercarny,

and hundreds of others, knights, esquires, and their followers; all and

every man in general in one habit, as if Licurgus had been there and

made lawes of equality. For once in the yeere, which is the whole moneth

of August, and sometimes part of September, many of the nobility and

gentry of the kingdome (for their pleasure) doe come into these Highland

countries to hunt, where they doe conforme themselves to the habite of

the Highland men, who, for the moste parte, speake nothing but Irish;

and in former time were those people which were called _red-shanks_.

Their habite is shoes with but one sole apiece; stockings (which they

call short-hose) made of a warme stuff of divers colours, which they

call tartane. As for breeches, many of them, nor their forefathers,

never wore any, but a jerkin of the same stuffe that their hose is of,

their garters being bands or wreathes of hay or straw, with a plaed

about their shoulders, which is a mantle of divers colours, much finer

and lighter stuffe than their hose, with blue flat caps on their heads,

a handkerchiefe knit with two knots about their necks; and thus are they

attyred. Now, their weapons are long bowes and forked arrowes, swords

and targets, harquebusses, muskets, durks, and Loquhabor axes. With

these weapons I found many of them armed for the hunting. As for their

attire, any man of what degree soever that comes amongst them must not

disdaine to weare it; for if they doe, then they will disdaine to hunt,

or willingly bring in their dogges; but if men be kind unto them, and be

in their habite, then they are conquered with kindnesse, and sport will

be plentifull. This was the reason that I found so many noblemen and

gentlemen in those shapes. But to proceed to the hunting.

"My good Lord of Marr having put me into that shape, I rode with him

from his house, where I saw the ruines of an old castle called the

castle of Kindroght," &c.

It thus appears that lowlanders were in the habit of visiting the

Highlands nearly three hundred years ago for the purpose of hunting the

red-deer, and that to please the natives they adopted the Highland dress

whilst in the north.

It was not, I believe, until between 1830 and 1835 that the present

system of letting deer forests became general in the Highlands. The

rents paid to the proprietors have enabled them in many cases to free

their estates from encumbrances, and to effect material improvements,

whilst the annual visits of wealthy southerners have conferred

considerable benefits on the native population.

The well-remembered Colonel Inge, who (about 1832) began his sporting

visits to the Highlands, is often spoken of as one of the pioneers of

English sportsmen in the north. At that time he rented deer-stalking in

Gairloch from Sir Francis Mackenzie, and the military discipline he

maintained among the forty keepers and gillies he always employed is

still spoken of, as are also his passion for method and order, and his

love of a good joke.

There are many misconceptions abroad with regard to deer forests, even

among those who might be expected to be better informed.

In 1883 a Royal Commission inquired into the condition of the crofters

and cottars in the Highlands and islands of Scotland. In the report of

the Commissioners a large section is devoted exclusively to deer forests

and game. The Commission was considered to be decidedly friendly to the

interests of the crofters. The report can be purchased through any

bookseller for 4s. 8d., and ought to be perused by all who are

interested in the subject. The following quotations speak for

themselves:--

The Commissioners say:--"The principal objections advanced against deer

forests, as presented to us, are the following:--

"1. That they have been created to a great extent by the eviction or

removal of the inhabitants, and have been the cause of depopulation.

"2. That land now cleared for deer might be made available for

profitable occupation by crofters.

"3. That it might at all events be occupied by sheep farmers, and that a

great loss of mutton and wool to the nation might thus be avoided.

"4. That in some places, where deer-forests are contiguous to arable

land in the occupation of crofters, damage is done to the crops of the

latter by the deer.

"5. That deer deteriorate the pasture.

"6. That the temporary employment of gillies and others in connection

with deer forests has a demoralising effect.

"1. In regard to the first of these objections, we have to state that we

have only found, during the course of our inquiry, one clearly

established case in evidence of the removal of crofters for the purpose

of adding to an already existing forest. Depopulation, therefore, cannot

be directly attributed to deer forests, unless it can be shewn that they

employ fewer people than sheep farms.

"2. The evidence on this head is, as might be supposed, very

conflicting. It is of course true that there are few deer forests where

an occasional spot of hard green land might not be found which would be

available for a crofter's residence, and cultivation; but, looking to

the small proportion of arable to pasture land in such places, it may

fairly be assumed that almost insuperable difficulties would be offered

to the settlement of crofters in these deer forests, as they would find

it impossible to defray the expense of purchasing the large sheep stock

which the ground is competent to carry, even though they would not in

this case be obliged to take over the stock on the ground at a

valuation.

"3. Suffice it to say, that as sheep in the Highlands do not come into

the market until they are three years old, and, making no allowance for

losses, there would be an additional annual supply of about 132,000 if

all these forests were fully stocked with sheep; it is thus abundantly

evident that, in view of the sheep in the United Kingdom amounting to

27½ millions,--besides all the beef grown at home, and all the beef and

mutton imported, both dead and alive, from abroad,--the loss to the

community is not only insignificant but almost inappreciable; while

owing to the large importation of wool from abroad, the additional

supply of home-grown wool would be altogether unimportant, if the area

now occupied by deer were devoted to sheep."

"4. This complaint has been brought several times under our notice. In

some cases the proprietor has, when appealed to by the crofters, shewn

readiness to erect a fence to protect their crops from depredation, or

to afford aid in warding off the deer; but in others the small tenant

has been left without protection and without assistance." To meet these

latter cases simple remedies are suggested.

5. The Commissioners state that the evidence on the fifth objection is

conflicting; they express no definite opinion of their own upon it.

6. In discussing the last objection, the Commissioners state the pros

and cons, which they seem to balance pretty evenly. They add: "It must

be remembered, however, that temptations to dissipation are not tendered

to the youth of the Highlands by sporting employments only. They may be

found with equal facility, and less qualified by wholesome influences,

in connection with the existence of a sea-faring man, a fisherman, or a

casual labourer in the lowlands,--in fact, in all the other walks of

labour and of gain to which the Highlanders betake themselves, and

betake themselves with confidence and success. That there is a certain

number of persons living loosely on the custom of tourists, anglers, and

occasional sportsmen in the Highlands, and thus engaged in pursuits

unfavourable to habits of settled industry, is undoubtedly true; but

these people are not attached to forests, and their existence is

inseparable from the general attractions of the country."

The Commissioners then summarise the subject in discussing two

comprehensive questions. The first is, whether "the occupation of land

as deer-forest inflicts any hardship or injury upon any class of the

community, and if so upon what class?" and in reply to this question

they say, "It has been shewn that crofters have rarely, at least in

recent times, been removed to make or add to deer forests; that

comparatively little of the land so occupied could now be profitably

cultivated or pastured by small tenants; that no appreciable loss is

occasioned to the nation, either in mutton or wool; and that the charge

of inducing idle and intemperate habits among the population is not

consistent with experience. There remains the class of sheep-farmers, of

whom it may be said, that if they are affected at all, it is only in

connection with the cost of wintering their hill sheep, and that in this

respect deer forests have undoubtedly benefited those who remain by

diminishing competition.

"We next have to inquire, Whether deer forests are of substantial

benefit to the various classes which compose the community in the

Highlands? There can be no doubt that in the case of landowners this is

so. If it were otherwise, they would clearly not let their land for the

purpose. The advantage is especially felt at the present moment, when

sheep farms are very difficult to let. We believe that if it were not

for deer forests, and if the present condition of sheep farms is

prolonged, much of the land in the Highlands might be temporarily

unoccupied, or occupied on terms ruinous to the proprietor.

"It has been shewn in evidence that not only does the proprietor derive

pecuniary benefit from the system, but that, either through himself or

his shooting tenant, substantial advantages have accrued to other

classes of persons resident in the district. In the first place, the

high rents given for deer forests must have the result of reducing local

taxation, and this affects the smallest crofter as well as the largest

farmer. The material advantage to the inhabitants of such districts does

not, however, stop here. We have evidence that a very large expenditure

has been effected, both by owners and lessees of deer forests, which

would not certainly have been the case in their absence. Especially as

regards those who have recently purchased Highland properties, it seems

that while a deer forest formed the chief original attraction, this may

subsequently become only an incident in the charm of a Highland

residence, and that a great portion of the improvements made by new

proprietors has little direct reference to sport. As instances of the

latter may be mentioned the erection of houses of a class far superior

to mere shooting-lodges, roads, farm buildings, and, above all,

plantations, which in some cases are on a very large scale, and which,

so far from being immediately dependent on or connected with deer,

require to be carefully protected from them by six-foot wire fences. The

expenditure directly connected with deer forests occupied by tenants

includes bridle-paths, shooting-lodges, and keepers' houses, besides a

good deal of wire-fencing, sometimes between sheep and deer, and

sometimes between one deer forest and another. Taken together, the

expenditure is very large. It will be thus seen that, contrary to what

is probably the popular belief, deer forests in a far greater degree

than sheep farms afford employment to the various classes above

mentioned, and this consideration forms, in our judgment, the most

interesting of all those which have been submitted to us."

In the above extracts detached sentences and paragraphs have been

quoted, but any reader who cares to compare the quotations with the

original report will, I am sure, allow that the extracts present a fair

epitome of the Commissioners' views.

It is but right to add, that the Commissioners make the following

recommendation on this subject:--

"It is our opinion that provisions should be framed, under which the

crofting class would be protected against any diminution, for the

purpose of afforestment, of arable or pasture area now in their

possession, and by which the areas which might hereafter form the most

appropriate scene for expanding cultivation and small holdings, should

be preserved from curtailment; if this were done, the interests of the

class for whom we are specially concerned would be effectually secured."

* * * * *

Grouse shooting is of course a sport largely indulged in by sportsmen

tenants in Gairloch, as in other parts of the Highlands. Grouse are not

so abundant on the west coast moorlands as in some other districts. This

is principally due to two causes,--the larger proportion of bent-grass

and rushes to heather, which is the food of grouse; and the cold hail

and rain which often occur just at the time the grouse are hatching.

There is one compensation, viz., the grouse disease does not appear so

frequently, nor wreak such wholesale destruction, on Gairloch moors as

on other better stocked grounds elsewhere. In many years nearly all the

first nests produce no young birds, so that by the Twelfth "cheepers"

are still abundant, and it is far pleasanter to defer grouse shooting

until a fortnight later.

The delights and the healthfulness of grouse shooting have been

favourite subjects of sporting writers. There are few peculiarities in

grouse shooting in Gairloch. Perhaps it is worth mention that mixed bags

are more frequent here than in many districts, and this is especially

true in the latter part of the season, which by-the-by yields out and

away the most enjoyable and invigorating sport. It is a pity that so

many sportsmen from the south run away to their partridges and

pheasants, and leave untouched and unenjoyed the very pick of Highland

sport. Many sportsmen, even of some experience, would be surprised to

find how well grouse lie to dogs on the west coast up to the very last

day of the season. In and after October the following varieties may be

added to the bag of grouse, viz., woodcock, snipe, wild duck, teal,

golden plover, rock-pigeon, hares, and rabbits. Of course black game and

partridges are also frequently met with, as well as roe-deer.

Grouse and ptarmigan are shot in all the deer forests of Gairloch. There

are only three separate grouse shootings in the parish, viz., those

attached to Inveran, Poolhouse, and Drumchork.

List of Books and MSS. quoted or referred to.

BEAUTIES OF GAELIC POETRY. By JOHN MACKENZIE.

BENNETSFIELD MS.

BISHOP R. FORBES' JOURNALS, AND CHURCH IN ROSS. By Rev. J.

B. CRAVEN, 1886.

BLAEU'S MAP OF THE NORTH OF SCOTLAND, 1660.

BRITISH BIRDS. By WILLIAM YARRELL, V.P.L.S., F.Z.S.; revised

and enlarged by NEWTON and SAUNDERS; completed 1885.

BRITISH LICHENS. By W. LAUDER LINDSAY, M.D., &c., 1856.

BRITISH WILD FLOWERS, illustrated by JOHN E. SOWERBY; with

Supplement by SALTER and SOWERBY, 1876.

BRONZE WEAPONS AND OTHER REMAINS FOUND NEAR POOLEWE. By

WILLIAM JOLLY, F.G.S., F.R.S.E.

BURT'S LETTERS FROM THE NORTH OF SCOTLAND (1726). Reprinted

1876.

CARMEN POOLEVIENSE. By H. F. WILSON, M.A., &c., Cambridge,

1885.

CELTIC MAGAZINE. Edited by ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, F.R.S.

DESCRIPTION OF THE WESTERN ISLANDS OF SCOTLAND. By MARTIN

MARTIN, _circa_ 1695; reprinted 1884.

DOUGLAS'S PEERAGE.

DR SCOTT'S FASTI ECCLESIÆ SCOTICANÆ.

EARLY RECORDS RELATING TO MINING IN SCOTLAND. Collected by

R. W. COCHRAN-PATRICK, M.P., LL.B. Cantab., F.S.A. Scot.,

&c., 1878.

ETTRICK SHEPHERD'S WORKS. Revised by Rev. THOMAS THOMSON,

1873.

GAELIC TOPOGRAPHY OF SCOTLAND. By Colonel JAMES A.

ROBERTSON, F.S.A. Scot., 1869.

GENEALOGICAL ACCOUNT OF THE MACRAES. By Rev. JOHN MACRAE,

who died 1704.

GENERAL SURVEY OF THE COUNTIES OF ROSS AND CROMARTY. By Sir

GEORGE STEUART MACKENZIE of Coul, 1810.

GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE.

GEOLOGICAL SKETCHES AT HOME AND ABROAD. By ARCHIBALD GEIKIE,

LL.D., F.R.S.

GEORGE JAMESONE, THE SCOTTISH VANDYCK. By JOHN BULLOCK,

1885.

GUIDE TO THE ENGLISH LAKES. By HARRIET MARTINEAU.

GUIDE TO THE HIGHLANDS. By GEORGE and PETER ANDERSON.

HIGHLANDS AND WESTERN ISLES OF SCOTLAND. By JOHN MACCULLOCH,

M.D., F.R.S., L.S.G.S., 1824.

HINTS FOR THE USE OF HIGHLAND TENANTS AND COTTAGERS. By Sir

FRANCIS MACKENZIE, Bart. of Gairloch, published 1838.

HISTORY OF THE MACKENZIES. By ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, F.R.S.,

F.S.A. Scot.

HISTORY OF THE WESTERN HIGHLANDS AND ISLES OF SCOTLAND FROM

A.D. 1493 TO A.D. 1625. By DONALD GREGORY, F.S.A. Scot.,

1836.

LEABHAR NA FEINNE. By JOHN F. CAMPBELL of Islay.

LETTERFEARN MS. HISTORY OF THE MACKENZIES.

LETTERS FROM THE HIGHLANDS. Reprinted from the _Times_,

1884.

MACALPINE'S GAELIC DICTIONARY.

MANUFACTURE OF IRON IN GREAT BRITAIN. By GEORGE WILKIE,

Assoc. Inst. C.E., 1857.

MAP OF "THE KINGDOME OF SCOTLAND." By JOHN SPEED, 1610.

MORE LEAVES FROM THE JOURNAL OF A LIFE IN THE HIGHLANDS. By

HER MAJESTY QUEEN VICTORIA, 1883.

MY SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLMASTERS. By HUGH MILLER.

NATURAL HISTORY NOTES FROM RUSSIAN ASIA. By A. H. M., FIELD,

October, 1883.

ODD AND END STORIES OF DR JOHN MACKENZIE, Eileanach (in

MS.).

ORIGINES PAROCHIALES SCOTIÆ. Vol. II.

PENNYLESSE PILGRIMAGE. By JOHN TAYLOR, printed 1633.

PRESENT STATE OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. Printed by J.

BROTHERTON, London, 1747.

POEMS OF WILLIAM ROSS, the Gairloch Bard.

QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON.

RECORDS OF THE PRESBYTERY OF DINGWALL.

RECORDS OF THE PRESBYTERY OF GAIRLOCH AND LOCH CARRON.

REMARKS ON DR SAMUEL JOHNSON'S JOURNEY TO THE HEBRIDES. By

Rev. DONALD M'NICOL, A.M., 1779.

REPORT OF THE ROYAL COMMISSIONERS ON THE CROFTERS AND

COTTARS OF THE HIGHLANDS AND ISLANDS OF SCOTLAND, 1884.

ROUGH NOTES ON BRITISH BIRDS. By E. T. BOOTH.

SAINT MAELRUBHA: HIS HISTORY AND CHURCHES. By WILLIAM

REEVES, D.D., M.B., Vice-Pres. R.I.A., &c., 1859. Printed

Vol. IV. of Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of

Scotland.

SCENES AND LEGENDS OF THE NORTH OF SCOTLAND. By HUGH MILLER.

SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS. By Rev. THOMAS MACLAUCHLAN, LL.D.,

F.S.A.S.

SCULPTURED STONES OF SCOTLAND. Published by the Spalding

Club, Vol. II.

SONGS AND POEMS. By DUNCAN MACKENZIE, "The Kenlochewe Bard."

Edited by ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, F.R.S.

STATEMENT IN MS. By the Dowager Lady MACKENZIE of Gairloch,

1885.

STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF SCOTLAND. Compiled by Sir JOHN

SINCLAIR, 1792; referred to in this book as the Old

Statistical Account.

STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF SCOTLAND, 1836; referred to in this

book as the New Statistical Account.

THE YORK BUILDINGS COMPANY: A CHAPTER IN SCOTTISH HISTORY.

By DAVID MURRAY, M.A., F.S.A. Scot., 1883.

TOUR IN SCOTLAND. By THOMAS PENNANT, in 1772.

TOUR THROUGH THE HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND AND HEBRIDE ISLES IN

1786. By JOHN KNOX.

VALUATION ROLL OF THE COUNTIES OF ROSS AND CROMARTY.

VARIOUS SUPERSTITIONS IN THE NORTH-WEST HIGHLANDS AND

ISLANDS OF SCOTLAND, ESPECIALLY IN RELATION TO LUNACY. By

ARTHUR MITCHELL, A.M., M.D., &c. (1860), printed in Vol. IV.

of Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.

WORDS AND PLACES. By Rev. ISAAC TAYLOR.

Statement of Authorities for Traditions, &c., embodied in this Book.

TRADITION. AUTHORITY.

{Old inhabitants.

Tragedy of Isle Maree {Anderson's Guide.

{Dr Arthur Mitchell.

Black Murdo of the Cave and Leod {History of the Mackenzies.

Mac Gilleandreis {James Mackenzie.

{The Ettrick Shepherd, on

Ewan Mac Gabhar, the son of the {the authority of Mr

Goat {M'Intyre of Letterewe.

{Old inhabitants.

Expulsion of Mac Beath from Loch {_Celtic Magazine._

Tollie island {James Mackenzie.

Murder of Allan M'Leod and his two {James Mackenzie.

boys {Old inhabitants.

Mac Gille Riabhaich's oak cudgel {Duncan Darroch, proprietor

{of Torridon.

Donald Dubh Mac Gillechriosd {History of the Mackenzies.

{Donald Gregory's History.

Vision of Hector Roy and his bodyguard Ruaridh an Torra.

Hector Roy and "The Gairloch." {Dr Mackenzie, Eileanach, on

{the authority of the late

{Alexander Campbell.

Battle of Park {History of the Mackenzies.

{Other histories.

Big Duncan of the Axe History of the Mackenzies.

Battle of Drum a Chait History of the Mackenzies.

Hector Roy, Mac Cailean and the King _Celtic Magazine._

Fight at Beallach Glasleathaid History of the Mackenzies.

Fidelity of Iain Gearr to John Glassich History of the Mackenzies.

Donald Gorm's invasion of Kenlochewe {Origines Parochiales Scotiæ.

{History of the Mackenzies.

John Roy's youth, and recovery of} {_Celtic Magazine._

Gairloch } {Kenneth Fraser, Leac nan

{Saighead.

How Ruaridh Mackay became piper} Iain Buidhe Taillear.

to John Roy }

John Roy's visit to Lord Mackenzie at} Iain Buidhe Taillear.

Torridon }

Mac Iain Dhuibh MacLeod {Sir Kenneth S. Mackenzie,

{Bart.

{Old inhabitants.

Ruaridh Mac Allan M'Leod murders }

Iain Mac Ghille Challum and his} Donald Gregory's History.

two sons }

Affair of Leac nan Saighead Ruaridh an Torra.

Fionnla Dubh nan Saighead and young} Ruaridh an Torra.

Macleod of Assynt }

Fionnla Dubh nan Saighead slays Neil {Alexander Maclennan.

M'Leod {Old inhabitants.

{History of the Mackenzies.

Fight at Lochan an Fheidh {Old inhabitants.

Affair at Raasay History of the Mackenzies.

Alastair Buidhe Mackay slays Iain}

Geal Donn and other Lochaber } _Celtic Magazine._

cattle-lifters }

The guard of the Black Corrie _Celtic Magazine._

The watch at Glac na Sguithar Ruaridh an Torra.

Murder of the Gille Buidhe {George Maclennan, Londubh.

{James Mackenzie.

{Old inhabitants.

Duncan M'Rae hides the keg of gold {James Mackenzie.

in the Fedan Mor {Old inhabitants.

Man-of-war fires a broadside at} Dr Mackenzie, Eileanach.

Flowerdale House }

Rev. John Morrison exposed to} Old inhabitants.

midges at Letterewe }

Christmas Eve at Tollie James Mackenzie.

Rev. Mr Sage's muscular Christianity James Mackintosh, postmaster,

Poolewe.

The Hay tombstone James Mackenzie.

Old manner of administration of justice Simon Chisholm.

Memoirs of Bards and Pipers.

Ruaridh Mackay, piper Iain Buidhe Taillear.

John Mackay, piper and bard, called {Beauties of Gaelic Poetry;

Iain Dall {corrected by Iain Buidhe

{Taillear.

Angus Mackay, piper } Iain Buidhe Taillear.

John Mackay, piper, his son}

William Mackenzie and Malcolm Maclean,} Beauties of Gaelic Poetry.

bards }

William Ross, the Gairloch bard Beauties of Gaelic Poetry.

Alexander Campbell, bard to Sir Hector {Roderick Campbell.

{James Mackenzie.

Alexander Grant, the bard mor an t'} James Mackenzie.

Slaggan }

John Mackenzie of the "Beauties" {_Celtic Magazine_; corrected

{by James Mackenzie, his

{brother.

Roderick Campbell, piper and fiddler {Ali' Iain Ghlass.

{James Mackenzie.

The History of the Mackenzies above referred to is that of

which Mr Alexander Mackenzie, a native of Gairloch, is the

author. The _Celtic Magazine_ is edited by the same

Alexander Mackenzie. The Gairloch traditions taken from it

are believed to have been mostly communicated to the Editor

by Kenneth Fraser, of Leac nan Saighead, now an old man.

Where the traditions obtained from the sources stated above

differ from the accounts of the same incidents given in old

MSS., I have preferred to adopt the versions supported by

the authorities referred to, believing them to be quite as

reliable.

TABLES.

I. MOUNTAINS OF GAIRLOCH.

II. DISTANCES.

III. POPULATION OF GAIRLOCH.

IV. MINISTERS OF GAIRLOCH.

V. LAIRDS OF GAIRLOCH.

I.

Mountains of Gairloch.

THE TERM "MOUNTAIN" IS HERE TAKEN TO INCLUDE ALL HILLS OF TWO THOUSAND

FEET AND UPWARDS IN HEIGHT.

NAME. HEIGHT

IN FEET.

The range {Beinn nan Ramh (shoulder) 2000

on the {Meallan Chuaich 2250

north-east {Groban (one face) 2424

boundary {Beinn Bheag (one face) 2000

of {Mullach Coire Mhic Fhearchair 3000

Gairloch. {Beinn Tarsuinn (one face) 2750

{A Mhaighdean, or the Maiden 2500

{Beinn Tarsuinn Chaol 2000

The range {Beinn a Mhuinidh 2231

along the {Slioch or Sleugach 3217

north-east {Beinn Lair 2817

of Loch {Meall Mheannidh 2000

Maree. {Beinn Aridh Charr 2593

The group {Beinn Eighe [Eay] 2750

to the {Do., spur called Sgurr Ban 3188

south-west { " Ruadh Stac 3309

of Loch { " Sail Mor 3217

Maree. {Meall a Ghuibhais 2882

{Beinn a Chearcaill 2376

{Beinn an Eoin 2314

{Bathais [Bus] Bheinn 2869

{Beinn Bhreac (a spur of Beinn Alligin) 2031

{Beinn Dearg (one face) 2500

This Table is compiled from the Ordnance Survey; the heights are taken

exclusively from it.

Where not otherwise expressed the mountains are wholly in Gairloch.

II.

Distances.

PLACES ON THE LINE OF THE COUNTY ROAD THROUGH GAIRLOCH PARISH AND ON THE

CONTINUATIONS TO RAILWAY STATIONS.

_Achnasheen Station_ 0

Luibmhor 4

Kenlochewe 10

Tagan Farm 11½

Ru Nohar Pier 12

Grudidh Bridge 15½

Talladale (Loch Maree Hotel) 19½

Victoria Falls 21

Slatadale 21½

Kerry Falls 25

Kerrysdale 27

Charlestown 28½

Gairloch Hotel 29½

Achtercairn 30

Tollie Farm Road 34½

Croft, or Cruive End 35

Poolewe 35½

Inverewe 36½

Tournaig 38

Drumchork 42½

Aultbea 43

Laide House 45

Sand of Udrigil 45½

First Coast 47

Second Coast 47½

Little Gruinard 49

_Meikle Gruinard River_ 50½

_Gruinard House_ 51¼

_Dundonell Inn_ 61

_Fain, or Feithean Inn_ 69

_Braemore Junction_ 76

_Garve Station_ 95

The short piece of road between the ford and ferry on the Meikle

Gruinard river and the commencement of the county road near Gruinard

House is very rough, but can be traversed by carriages.

The places printed in italics are outside the parish of Gairloch.

PLACES ON THE ROAD FROM KENLOCHEWE TO TORRIDON.

Kenlochewe Hotel 0

Loch Clair 4

_Bridge on the "burn of the Great Black Corrie"_ 6½

_Torridon village_ 11

_Torridon House_ 13

This road is within the parish of Gairloch only for the first six miles

after leaving Kenlochewe, the places printed in italics are therefore

outside the parish.

The road beyond the village of Torridon is the private approach to

Torridon House.

PLACES ON THE ROAD ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF GAIRLOCH (THE SEA LOCH).

Gairloch Hotel 0

Charlestown 1

Kerrysdale 2½

Shieldaig 4

Badachro 7

Port-Henderson 8½

Openham, or Opinan 9½

South Erradale 10½

Point, or Red Point 13

The road is not passable for carriages beyond South Erradale, but its

continuation is a good foot or bridle road.

PLACES ON THE ROAD TO THE NORTH OF GAIRLOCH (THE SEA LOCH), BEING THE

SOUTH AND WEST SIDES OF THE NORTH POINT.

Gairloch Hotel 0

Achtercairn 0½

Strath, or Smithstown 1½

Lonmor 2

Carn Dearg House 3½

Little Sand 4

Big Sand 4½

North Erradale 6½

Altgreshan 10

Melvaig 11

PLACES ON THE ROAD ALONG THE WEST SIDE OF LOCH EWE.

Poolewe Inn 0

Boor 1

Naast 3

Inverasdale (Midton) 4

Do. (Coast) 5

Do. (Firemore) 6½

Meallan na Ghamhna (Stirkhill) 7½

Cove 9

The road will not do for carriages beyond Stirkhill, but its

continuation is an excellent foot or bridle road.

PLACES ON THE PRIVATE ROAD FROM POOLEWE TO FIONN LOCH.

Poolewe Inn 0

Inveran Farm 2

Inveran Bridge 2½

Kernsary 3½

Fionn Loch 6

The road beyond the Inveran Bridge is kept strictly private, and the

gate there is locked.

PLACES ON THE ROAD NORTH OF AULTBEA TO THE EAST OF LOCH EWE, BEING ON

THE WEST SIDE OF THE GREENSTONE POINT.

Aultbea 0

Aird House 0½

Buaile na luib 1

Ormiscaig 2

Mellon Charles 3

The road beyond Aird House is not a good carriage road.

PLACES ON THE ROAD NORTH OF LAIDE, ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE GREENSTONE

POINT, STARTING FROM AULTBEA.

Aultbea 0

Laide Village 2

Udrigil House 3½

Mellon Udrigil 5

The road beyond Laide is rough, but passable by carriages.

Those wishing to visit the places on the shores of Loch Ewe and to the

north and east of Aultbea are recommended to stay at the Poolewe Hotel.

The distances of the above-named places from Poolewe may be calculated

by adding 7½ miles to the distance as stated from Aultbea.

DISTANCES OF PLACES ON LOCH MAREE ACCESSIBLE BY MEANS OF THE STEAMER

FROM TOLLIE PIER.

Tollie Pier 0

Ardlair (by signal) 2½

Talladale (Loch Maree Hotel) 6

Letterewe 9

Ru Nohar 14

A special trip of the steamer may at any time in summer be arranged (at

an hour not to interfere with her regular trips) to convey a party

direct from Tollie Pier to Ru Nohar or _vice versâ_. In that case the

distance between the two extremities of the voyage measures exactly

twelve miles.

DISTANCES OF PLACES (ACCESSIBLE BY ROAD) FROM THE GAIRLOCH HOTEL.

Achnasheen 29½

Achtercairn 0½

Aird House, near Aultbea 14

Altgreshan 10

Aultbea 13½

Badachro 7

Big Sand 4½

Boor 7

Buaile na luib 14½

Carn Dearg House 3½

Charlestown 1

Cove 15

Croft, or Cruive End 5½

Drumchork 13

Fionn Loch (private road) 12

First Coast 17½

Grudidh Bridge 14

Inveran Bridge 8½

Inveran Farm 8

Inverasdale (Midton) 10

Do. (Coast) 11

Do. (Firemore) 12½

Inverewe 7

Kenlochewe 19½

Kernsary (private road) 9½

Kerry Falls 4½

Kerrysdale 2½

Laide House 15½

Laide Village 16

Little Gruinard 19½

Little Sand 4

Loch Clair 23½

Lonmor 2

Meallan na Ghamhna (Stirkhill) 13½

Mellon Charles 16½

Mellon Udrigil 19

Melvaig 11

Naast 9

North Erradale 6½

Openham, or Opinan 9½

Ormiscaig 15½

Poolewe Bridge 6

Port-Henderson 8½

Ru Nohar Pier 17½

Sand of Udrigil 16½

Second Coast 18

Shieldaig 4

Slatadale 8

South Erradale 10½

Strath, or Smithstown 1½

Tagan Farm 18

Talladale (Loch Maree Hotel) 10

Tollie Farm Road 5

Tollie Pier 6

Torridon Village 30½

Tournaig 8½

Udrigil House 17½

Victoria Falls 8½

III.

Population, &c., of Gairloch.

The only estimates of the population of the parish of Gairloch given in

the old accounts of the parish are manifestly mere approximations. They

are as follows:--

Sir George Steuart Mackenzie says the population in 1755 was 2050

Pennant in his Tour says the population " 1772 " 2800

The Old Statistical Account says the population " 1774 " 2000

Sir G. S. Mackenzie says the population from 1790 to 1798 " 2200

The Registrar-General's returns of the population and numbers of houses

at the census taken in each of the following years is given below. The

census of 1801 is believed to be imperfect, and that of 1811 gives a

slightly less figure than the Rev. James Russell's estimate (see page

114). The population of Gairloch in 1801 was probably over 2000.

+--------+------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+

| Sex. |1801. | 1811. | 1821. | 1831. | 1841. | 1851. | 1861. | 1871. | 1881. |

+--------+------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+

|Males | 740 | 1434 | 2410 | 2164 | 2346 | 2527 | 2617 | 2452 | 2253 |

|Females | 697 | 1321 | 2108 | 2281 | 2534 | 2635 | 2832 | 2596 | 2341 |

+--------+------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+

| Totals |1437 | 2755 | 4518 | 4445 | 4880 | 5162 | 5449 | 5048 | 4594 |

+--------+------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+

_Number of Houses._

+-----------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+

|Description. | 1841. | 1851. | 1861. | 1871. | 1881. |

+-----------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+

|Inhabited Houses | 925 | 947 | 1042 | 1001 | 966 |

|Uninhabited Houses | 3 | 10 | 8 | 29 | 28 |

|Houses in course of erection | 2 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 9 |

+-----------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+

|Totals | 930 | 961 | 1052 | 1033 | 1003 |

+-----------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+

IV.

Ministers of the Parish of Gairloch.

NAME. DATE OF PRESENTATION.

Sir John Broik, rector, about 1530

Alexander Mackenzie, 1582 or 1583

Farquhar M'Rae 1608

Farquhar Mackenzie 1614

Roderick Mackenzie 1649

John Morrison 1711

James Smith 1721

Æneas M'Aulay 1732

John Dounie 1758

Daniel Mackintosh 1773

John M'Queen, presented but refused to accept 1802

James Russell 1802

John Campbell 1845

Duncan Simon Mackenzie 1850

MINISTERS OF THE QUOAD SACRA PARISH OF POOLEWE.

Donald M'Rae 1829

Hugh Ferguson Macdonald 1846

John Sutherland Mackay 1848

William G. G. M'Lean, assistant 1884

V.

Lairds of Gairloch.

NAME. BORN. SUCCEEDED. DIED.

Hector Roy Mackenzie 1440 1494 1528

John Glassich Mackenzie 1513 1528 1550

Hector Mackenzie 1542 1550 1566

John Roy Mackenzie 1548 1566 1628

Alastair Breac Mackenzie 1577 1628 1638

Kenneth Mackenzie 1605 1638 1669

Alexander Mackenzie 1652 1669 1694

Sir Kenneth Mackenzie, Bart. 1671 1694 1703

Sir Alexander Mackenzie, Bart. (ninth laird) 1700 1703 1766

Sir Alexander Mackenzie, Bart. (tenth laird) 1731 1766 1770

Sir Hector Mackenzie, Bart. 1757 1770 1826

Sir Francis Alexander Mackenzie, Bart. 1799 1826 1843

Sir Kenneth Smith Mackenzie, Bart. 1832 1843 ----

Hector Roy received a grant of Gairloch from King James IV.

in 1494. He is believed to have had a similar grant some

years before.

Several of the dates given above are conjectural, especially

among the earlier generations. For fuller details and

evidence of dates see the History of the Mackenzies by

Alexander Mackenzie, F.S.A. Scot.

Since John Roy Mackenzie, each laird of Gairloch has been

the eldest or eldest surviving son of the preceding laird.

John Roy was third son of John Glassich, who was the eldest

son of Hector Roy. John Roy's elder brothers, Hector and

Alexander, died without issue.

APPENDICES.

Extracts from Old Writers and Records, &c.

A. Genealogical Account of the MacRaes, by Rev. John Macrae, who

died 1704.

B. Tour in Scotland, by Thomas Pennant, in 1772.

C. Old Statistical Account of Scotland, 1792.

D. Dr MacCulloch's Highlands and Western Isles of Scotland, 1811 to

1821.

E. New Statistical Account of Scotland, 1836.

F. Records of the Presbytery of Dingwall.

G. Records and Extracts relating to Sir George Hay and the Manufacture

of Iron.

H. Addenda on St Maelrubha and Ecclesiastical History.

A.

EXTRACT from the "Genealogical account of the Macras, as

originally written by Mr John Macra, sometime minister of

Dingwall in Ross-shire, who died in the year of our Lord

1704. Transcribed by Farquhar Macra of Inverinate in the

year 1786. Printed, Camden, South Carolina, 1874."

The following are some passages in the life of a Highland minister, who

was vicar of Gairloch for ten years in the seventeenth century.

Note:--the title "Mr" is applied in old books and documents only to

those who held the degree of M.A. "Saint Johnstown" is the old name of

Perth.