PERTHSHIRE GLENS

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 59, Issue 4218, 1 December 1939, Page 7

PERTHSHIRE GLENS

AROUND MONACHYLE. A LAND OF DELIGHT FOR THE TRAMPER AND CLIMBER. (By W. J. Macarthur.) Some twenty years ago I spent my summer holidays at Monachyle, occupying rooms in the shepherd’s house at Monachyle Beg. The route we took was to Kingshouse by train, thence by pony trap to our destination, this being considered in those days to be the only route. During the fortnight of our stay the only people we met were the inhabitants of the glens. I have returneo many times since then, by various routes, through glens and over mountains, and have met a great number of people from the cities in addition to the dwellers in the glens. In summer time every weekend there is a constant stream of hikers. It is a fortusate circumstance for the dwellers in our principal cities, that within two hours by rail and little more by bus there are available such fine facilities for healthy and delightful outdoor exercise. FROM LUIB TO LOCH DOINE. Take a map of Central .Perthshire and describe a circle of ten miles radius from the Youth Hostel at Monachyle Beg. Within the circle you will find a dozen glens through which any ordinary hiker may tramp and for the more energetic there are various mountain traverses, all leading more or less directly to the hostel. You may go by rail to Collander, Strathyre, Balquhidedr, Killin Junction, Crianlarich, Ardlui, or by bus, which confers the additional convenience of alighting at intermediate points and wherever you may stop you will find one or more ways through the glens of over the tops. A favourite traverse is that from Crianlarich or Luib over Ben More, Am Binnein, Stob Coire an Lochan, and Stob Invercarnaig to the road at the head of Loch Dolne. On one occasion when I did this traverse I was favoured with perfect visibility. The view extended from the North Sea on one side to the Firth of Clyde on the other. The Arran hills were standing out dark and lacking detail, as is their usual custom. The houses at Langbank, tiny dots, were visible to the naked eye, but the water of the river was just out of sight below the Intervening hills. Of Loch Lomond only a little corner could be seen—lnveruglas Bay, I think. The view down Lochs Doine and Voil from the slopes of Invercarnaig is very fine, with Ben Voirlich an impressive cone in the background. IN GLEN FALLOCH. On a fine morning last summer I left Ardlui at 7.15 a.m. with two companions. We went up Glen Falloch to the bridge above Inverarnan, thence up the steep hillside which divides the Falloch from the head of the Lochiarig river. It becomes less steep and rather boggy aftei- a bit, and we say in the bog the great roots which are all that remain of the old Caledonian Forest in this part of Glen Falloch. On past Loch-an-Amhghair, after pasing the water shed, keep due east for Monachyle and south east for Glen Gyle and Loch Katrine. Our progress down Lochiarig Glen was Interrupted many times when we stopped to admire the fine grouping of the hills, and the wonderful colour of the scene. How cunningly nature has done her work here! Green is the dominant colour but is of such subtle variety arid masterly blending of shades that one involuntarily quotes:— With verdure clad the hills appear Delightful to the ravished sense. At the base of Stob Choin are the ruins of Drumlich, a village of considerable importance in Rob Roy’s time. Large areas now given over to sheep grazing were under cultivation then. ROB ROY’S LIFTING STONE. A little farther down the glen there is a huge rock with a flattened recess or shelf at one end. On this shelf rests Rob Roy’s lifting stone, which weighs about 28 lbs, and has three different finger grips. Rob, it is said, could take it up with his fingers and walk three times round the big rock, then replace it on its shelf. With an effort one of my companions could take it half way round the rock before dropping it. Resuming our tramp we met a resident of the glen. He pointed out a golden eagle circling high in the sky above his house, and said that it was one of .a pair which have their eyrie on an inaccessible cliff top on Stob Choin. The eyrie has been there for several years. Across the river the road runs along the hillside above Loch Doine, is hilly and winding with lovely views at every bend. A steep descent brings the traveller to Monachyle, and half a mile further on, at Rhuveag, is a spot of great interest to all Scottish lovers of liberty. BRUCE’S ROCK AND WINDOW. Robert the Bruce after his defeat at Dalrigh by Alastair Macdougall of Lome, fled down Strathflllan pursued

by a number of his enemies. At Portnellan the fugitives turned up Benmore burn and through the pass to liverlochlarig, where Bruce somehow got separated from his followers. Near Rhuveag he was suddenly and fiercely attacked by a small band of the the Lome men. The sorely pressed King managed to mount a rock on the verge of the loch, where he held Ms pursuers at bay, slaying one of their number. The unequal combat was raging furiously when a number of Bruce’s followers appeared on the scene, and quickly slaughtered the remainder of the Lome men. Bruce’s stone, (Clach-an-Righ) is still to be seen here, and on the hill directly above it "Bruce’s window” can be seen from the road, a curiously formed cave in the face of a precipitous rock known as Craig-an-Rich—the King’s Rock. This is one of the loveliest nooks on Loch Voil side, and seeing it calm and smiling on a summer day it is difficult to visualise such a scene of blood and strife. BEAUTY OF LOCH VOIL. Loch Voil is "beautifully wooded all its length on the north side and many a delightful vista of sparkling water and smiling green slopes is seen from the road. But to see it in all its glory one has to climb above the wood, when assumes majesty and grandeur which are hidden when one is near the water level. The little village of Kirkton is perhaps the most interesting place in the district. Here are located the ruins of the ancient kirk of Balquhidder, where lie the mortal remains of Rob Roy, his wife Helen, his eldest son Coll, and his youngest, Rob Og. Three flat tombstones lie side by side, the centre one with a rude carving of a fii- tree crossed by a! sword supporting a crown is generally supposed to cover the remains of the famous Rob Roy. It is interesting to note that ninety years ago the late David Carnegie, of Stronvar, after he had built the new church solely at his own expense, had the old kirk carefully demolished so as to simulate a hoary old ruin, only the south wall and east gable, the latter with its quaint little belfry, being left intact. The foundation of the west gable and part of the north wall were left as though they had crumbled away by the weather of ages. The effort has been singularly happy, and the ancient air is further enhanced by the luxuriant growth of ivy which now covers the ruin. The bell in the old kirk was originally placed in position 250 years ago, and until a few years ago was used regularly every Sunday morning. The old bell has the following inscription on it: "M. Robert Kirk, for Balqvidder Chvrch, 1684. Love and Live. Live and Love.” It is now housed in the vestry of the new church. “CLASH AENAIS.” Some time in the sixth century A.D., Saint Angus, a disciple of Saint Columbus, settled in Balquhidder. He was the first Christian missionary in this part of the country, and he died here. In the floor of the old church, in front of the altar, which stood against the south wall, there was a large stone slab called “Clach Aenias,” which covered the grave of St. Angus., It seems to be of imperishable material, as the life size figure of a man clad in ecclesiastical robes carved upon it was plainly seen when the sun shone on its after a shower of rain. The stone of Saint Angus and the ancient baptismal font were recently removed to the new church. The view from the old church is exquisite. The mountain behind rises steeply in terraced crags. A stream careers down in a series of beautiful cascades, subduing itself to a rapid murmuring run where it passes the church. In front at a lower level stands the picturesque Kirkton of Balquhidder. Beyond the clachan, Loch Voil, fringed with overhanging foliage on either side is seen stretching for miles westward with the classic Braes towering over all. The Balvaig river leaves the loch just beyond the clachan and winds

placidly through thre meadow to join Loch Lubnaig. Glen Buckie stretches southward invitingly. Here the tTamper will find a track through among the. hills to Brig-o-Turk and the Trossachs. HILL OF THE FAIRIES. We crossed the Kirkton bridge and went up Glen Buckie on the final stretch of our journey. At Bailemore Farm the track divides and we took the branch going left over the shoulder of Ben Sithean (the Hill of the Fairies) and joining the road at Ardoch. This route from Kirkton is one that I strongly recommend as the view of Strathyre and Loch Lubnaig which suddenly unfolds itself on topping the rise is one of the loveliest, in the Scottish Highlands. At Ardoch, across the river from Strathyre, you may see the only constructive work done here by Cumberland's Hanoverians after the '45. It is known as Cumberland's Bakehouse, and is now used as a byre.