The Potter journal and news item. [volume] (Coudersport, Pa.) 1872-1874, 1873-10-01
Scotland.
MELRosB, Scotland, Aua

whether | have written you or not
l have intended to do it, at the least
From Galunder we took stage fol
the first time, riding nine miles
through the Trcssachs, very celebra.
ted in Scotch history and song. tc
Lake Katrine, where we embarked
on small steamer aud sailed to the
other end Of the lake. This. YOU
know, is the scene of Walter Scott'e
Lady of the Lake. 1t is but ten
miles in length, and is more beauti-
ful than Seneca Lake only because
Of the rugged mountain upon either
side. The city of Glasgow is sup
piled with water from this lake. con.
Quoted through the highlands for six
ty miles. Every mountain glen and
cave in its vicinity has its legends of
romance or real history. From Lake
katrine we rode five miles to Lake.
or, as it is called in Scotland. Loeb
LomOnd, taking another boat at In
versnaid. A little way above is the
celebrated cave of Rob Roy, a bandit
chief, who was leader Of the clan of
McGregOrs, and ruled this part of
the Highlands and defied the Kings
armies for years. The government
Outlawed the whole elan and at
tempted several times their entire ex-
termination. Last Sunday | heard
in Edinburgh, from the pulpit of the
Iron church, a powerful and spirit
uaI sermon from one of these out
laws, Rev. Dir. McGregor. Presby-
terlanlsm never amounts to much in
valleys, but it is The church of the
mountains. Loeb Lomond is about
thirty miles in length. We sailed
down it for eight or ten miles and
landed at the Rowardennan Hotel. at
the foot Of Ben Lomond, the father
Of the Highlands. 1t was a clear
day, and Selling the opportunity, we
started at once for the summit. with
q guide, up a fiye-mile ascent, nearly
every foot of which is as steep,
judge, as the roof Of your house.
Neither one Of us would have dared
undertake it if we had foreseen the
real difficulty of the ascent. and
suspect that before we were half way
to the top each one taxed his strate-
gy to get from the other the first Of
fer to back out. By the time we
were halfway up. a storm had burst
upon the highlands to the west of us.
while for fifty miles to the east the
magnificent landscape was reposing
in sunshine. Upon the top ofone of
the mountains below us, there was
just the end (apparently straight and
about two feet in lengthy of rain
bow, the most brilliant, by far, in
color, either we or our guide had ev-
er seen. With Ben Lomond stand
ing before, as the officiating high
priest, wearing a breast-plate Of
quartz-rock and Towering heather,
and Ben Noirlich, Ben Cruachan,
BenmOre, Ben Lawers and the Cob
bier and Grampian Hills gathered
behind and around as attendant
priests. solemn and with uncovered
heads, this piece Of rainbow seemed
like the flame of praise-offering up
on great altar Of unhewn stones.
We stood in almost speechlcss awe
till the storm overwhelmed us also.
But we had seen too much to stop
now and toiled on in the rain. dis
covering that the rocky crests Of the
"Cobbler and his wife" had torn the
clouds asunder and the sun was COM
ing to our relief. We reached the
summit in about three hours and a
half, wet completely through with
rain and perspiration, and more dead
than alive. The sotrm had passed
and the sky was almost clear. The
view from the summit is altogether
indescribable. Any attempt to pic
ture it would seem to you like high
| falutin. The crest of the mountain
is not so large as the floor Of your
sitting-room. Upon one side of it
there is a perpendicular rock,
should judge five or six hundred feet
in height. Directly at the foot OF
the mountain rises the Forth, which
we could follow with the eye, till ii
becomes navigable and widens into
the Firth of Forth, and becomes s
part of the German Ocean. On tht
southwest we could follow the Clyde
I till it reaches the Firth of Clyde anC