UNKNOWN

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 13879, 2 November 1910, Page 2

UNKNOWN

— * ("AVf-ekly Trc?3 and Referee.") XoTl. Illness in my family delayed 1110 in London seven necks instead oi' t'ottr, which, period I hud allocated to that I lity and England generally ; thus, 1 was I compelled to eunau tho duration of my j .-v.t.ish visit. 1 hope next summer t" ] return and complete ut.v exploration. Tho more modern Edinburgh is a lino j city, every visitor says so ; also tho in- | habitants. It has several good streets. ; .-.-tit the ono the citizens take most pride jin is tho Prince?. It is oniv half a I street, tho opposite side bom_ a large I gully, on tho l-rink ol" the other side of jv. inch i' tho cnstlo. Tin's street and j footpaths aro vido and welt kept. Tho shops i'aco tho sun when there is any, jar.d make a brave display of their | wares, mostly tartans, Scottish gems, j and cookery. In old EdailmrghT the I stioeis aro very narrow. Wo looked up ' J'.isturical streets, stick ns the Canon- | gale, Cowgato, and others of like ! calibre. These streets at one time must havo boon tho fashionable quarter ot" \ ihe city. Our cicerone pointed out j buildings tho i evidences of titled history - I inak'Ts. Xow tho streets swarm with ragged, dirty urchins. Our guide told ; us this quarter was dangerous on Satur- , day nights; the air hurtled with empty | bottles. Tne street boys around hero | are strategists. They take up positions |on the tourist routes to places of his- ■ toriea! interest, dozens of thorn turning ; cart-wheels, and at intervals shouting, I ••('itc us a penny and come awa', and 1 a will show ye a cannon ha" stuck in a : wa' and John Knox's hoose." -Sure ' enough, tho oa' is there, half in tho • wall, tho oti'ier half out. It is small, ! perhaps two or three pounds in weight. : and fixed with modern mortar. It ; looks lik.-> ;i fake. If it isn't, it must j havo been fired at close range. Tho I street children, though ragged, have a i fairly well-fed appearance; in this rej spect altogether unlike the thin, pineh- | ed, hungry-faced children in the Dublin | streets, whoso faces haunt ono. In I Edinburgh, as in all other parts of ! .Scotland, thero aro plenty of young j Sandies —no lack of children. Wo wero forcibly struck with the number of ! people with red heads in Scotland ; this is most noticeable in tho bareheaded : children, and l did some counting for statistical purposes; they average about lo per cent. This percentage is approximately double that of England and Ireland. Leitii. Edinburgh's seaport, is old j and shabby. Edinburgh is tho literary J capital, Glasgow tlio commercial capital of Scotland. The latter is a busy place, with clean, wide streets, and tiio shop windows make a groat display. I think tho population is upwards of 700,(100. We struck a first-class hotel both in Edinburgh and Glasgow, with 50 per cent, tower tipees than tho more pretentious hofei which we honoured with our presence -n London. Whilst on the subject of hotels, I may hero mention that those on the tourist routes tiro excellent, but they are quite metropolitan in tho magnitude of thoir charges. Tune did not permit of our visiting tho Western Highlands, but wo did tho Trossachs and the 'nvorncßs-Caledonian canal crips. In doing the Trossaclis tip. v.n railed to Loeli Lomond, via Glasgow, ami there took steamer. This lodi is quite a sea in size, with trees and shrubs prettily fringing (ho shore, and small timber-clad islets. Tho settlement along the coast reminded mo of a new country more than an old ono; cottages amid bush Hearings. From Loch Lomond we coached to Loch Katrine, took sieatner again, and thence by coach to the Trossachs, where we stayed for the night. The hotel is a large, handsome, dressedsfone. building, erected at tho expense of tho local magnate, who owns the land on which it i<; situated. It does not pay. The accommodation hero is good. -Scotch coo! Hack-fared •wether' mutton, bla< —■ polled steer beef, and oatmeal po ridge, cosy room«, and blazing lire Thero is just one blot—(there alwai is)—no lift. Tho stairs are steepvery sleep—mountaineers, manage i climb them without great effort, but is otherwise with the elderly and th obese. The noble owner, if possosso of a spark of gratitude, should instrut his manager to put mc on his free lis for this qualified puff. Where (her isn't, a steamer on tlie loch, a woll graded, well-kept road runs throng the forests, nio.dly oak, which horde ) theso sheets of wafer. Shortly afto j entering these forests, wo heard, awa; in tho distance, the skirl of the ba.g pipes. On arrival at the place whene the music emanated, wo saw tw< sturdy, grimy, young men in Ilighlaix carb. I won't- mention the tartan lost it give offence to some of tn\ Gaelic griends. Further afield, w< enine to other music renders. I hac read—l suppose we all have—of the o'd-time bravery of the Highland clans They were, then said to bo the finest fighting men in the world. Many year? ago, I remember a. newly-arrived shepherd from lloss-shire, whose imagination beoatno so inflamed through reading these stories of Highland valour, that he, in his sleep, knocked his hands to pieces Against the cob walls of h?B whare, killing 'Englishmen. As I looked at these degraded creatures — tho pipers standing by the roadside, paying for coppers chucked them from the coach by the passing tourist, the thought, passed through mv mind, "iiirely they can't be descendants of the mighty warriors who bled with Bruce, and did something equally bravo with Wallace. They were. Above tho timber zone, the hills aro covered with heather aud bracken —a. t< ugh species of fern. Ordinarily they ]ook_ gloomy, but in late summer are brightened by great, splotches of pur-ple-bloomed heather. About the hills —they are not mountains—there is no grandeur as we understand grandeur. Long sloping range",, mostly not excreting 3000 ft in altitude, with astray Ben something or other rising a thousand le«-t or more above tho surrounding hills. It is a damp land, mostly raining. When the sun peeps out there are patches of fog scattered | about- the hills. We were two days jin the Trossachs region. On one of r.bom it rained all day, en the other 50 points of mist folk We reached from the Trossachs, passing en j oat ft I some -miall lochs, to Cnl lender, where we entrained for Edinburgh. On our way we saw Siirh'mr. Castle, a largo building on top ot a hill overlooking the town of that name, and the si7i of the battle of BannookI M.m was pointed out to n*. Later I oil we took the Inverness-Caledonian trip. We left behind us tbo «cod lamiing | ;11 ,d ; ,i Callender, and entered the kills. The scenery is rather Pi.'tty in a small way. Lots of plantations, fine creeks and little rivers, -'ith neat cottages along the line, -.«h ; ch, with th.-ir kail yards, had a eomiortahle look. The hills are covered with heather. At the greatest height Attained by the rallwav ttiere i* a large bog, called a moor, ( and oil this moor grows stunt-vl I About, the moor and on tho j lower hillsides grazed a number "t 1 'lack-fared sheep. By the roadside. i which run-; parallel to the railway line. | there were snowpolcs. Some miles I <ut oi Inverness we struck ' really good agricultural land, rather to my surprise, as I had ' looged neon fn'-erne'* as an Clnma Ti:::io—!iotiimg but rocky m-rimaiii.-'. There is a considerable area of good land around the town. Wo saw parti- J (iii'.irlv goo-l crojvs of t-trnips. potatoes j and in the neighbourhood of the j site of the battle of Cuiloden, six miles j our irom Inverness. We were driven there on a sunshiny S::nd.-.y att-.-rrioon, and were the large fiat-topped >ione on which the Duke of Cumberland sf-od. as Ik- anxiously the progress o: the hght. There were .-» number of earth mounds, beneath which lav t'tie bones «-f the members of the dif;.,ent elans That tell in the battle, and jo one the remains -..>:' those v.iv coui.l not be distinguished. The English dead

:. H Cboß7 I elbJL_.__-_. _ill_ pU_yt __.JLLv_-.__wW*™** >.*-_.* r < _™_ir._. ;. wero buried side by side in one j^ravo s near by. There is a circular cabin ot - stones, thirty or forty leef high, erected 0 in memory of tbe ha tile. t Tho Caledonian Canal was made some y timo during tbe eighteenth century, 1 primarily for the purpose ot (riving enit ployment to a larso number 01 men out b of work. It scorned to mo a.s if tlie > outlet of tlio first loch liau been dammed • nnd several lochs put in. .\ll alonii tlio i canal the .scenery is varied and pretty—- ' plantations, cultivation, more or iess ■ ' barren hills, and .some f-.cQlements — j (th-'/v are not crowded) and castles ! anyway, they are dignified by the name j lof castle: they have been just little | forts. "With the exception of eiirht or j ten miles between a lech and tort William by rail, tliti trip from Inverness I to Oban is by water. Fort William i« '< a small town on a hiil side, with a wharf. In the citdiieeiit h century there was a. fort manned by Kurdish soldiers str.tioncd there, for tho purpose of' keeping the rebellious clansmen in check. As wo .steamed down the coast, : bound for Oban, Glencoe—in the <-is- i taneo —was pointed out to ut-. k was there that the treacherous Campbells • nearly wiped out a branch of the .We- : Donalds. "We arrived at Oban .as ibe. ' sun was set tins- It had been a lovely : day, with water on which there was! bin little more than a ripple. Cood ' meals were served on board, ;it a rea- i sonable price, and the tippintc was mild. :* Thero was a considerable. party of ; ' An rieans on board. It fcoms 1u mc i : as if about half the tourists are of that ! ' nationality: they are cheery people, and * a roused us by their quaint .Mark Tivam- \ ' ish sayinps. There is a brand of j ' Yankee—l. think the "Down Kaster'— !j v/ho talks much, ami blows more. lie ■ |'"neknn«" and "calculates.'' and speaks I with .->. nasal iwan_. similar to (bat of a |" forty horse-power Jew's harp. We only ! met one or two of thi.s bran.-l. anil ! did.it want to meet any more. 'I ho j ordinary Americans--one knows them : by their voices, but their voices don't | £ratt> upon one's ear;;-whom we bad. the pleasure of !-:iiowin_. did not, as i the common brand ot Kn-ilish do. apo- ■)' lor7e if they lei off an involuntary : laey-'h. and require a formal introilue- i lion before performm;.; a kindly action ; ' for i stranger. * j f