The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-01-21
Bit Of Scotland Gdpe Setting To Famous
 Authors

distance back from the jagged coast of Scotland, are laid the scenes of three of the most famous of Scotland tales 1: Scott's Fair Maid of Perth" Shakes peare's Macbeth and Barrie's "A Window in Thrums."
 Few tourists realize how short is the distance between Perth, Glamis and kirriemuir, says the Christian Science Monitor. And it is scarcely to be won. dered at when it is known that some of the villagers themselves have never seen all three places, fact probably accounted for by the slow and infre- quent excursions made by the railway train before the i4lotor car snatched the passengers away and gave the steel rails harder fight than ever against rust.
 It is, perhaps, better that these pie turesque spots have eluded, as group the financial eye of the char-a-bancs operator, for they have managed to re- tain much of their old world charm, the charm that inspired novelists and playwrights alike to produce some of
 A Change Of Outioos.,
 4 his tale of the fair maid, whose lowly birth entrusted sharply with the noble gallants who showered their attention upon her. He chose an unpretentious dwelling up narrow alley to shelter his heroine, never dreaming that 1t would look out upon the drah wall of an extensive dyeworks, and revived for novelty the story of the clans that fought out on the North Inch their quarrel of long standing. Alterations have been few in this part of the coun- try, and the North Inch continues much as Scott described it: a large meadow with swift-flowing stream along its edge.
 Curiously enough, he only hinted at Kinnoul, around the top of which birds love to hover, as if they never tired of the bewitching scene below, where the silver Tay threads its course through the fertile Carse O Gowrie, past the fauns of ancient memory, and under the Aud Brig O Perth.
 A Castle Hard To Reach.
 On the crest of the hill the ruins of an old castle, whose origin is lost in mists of antiquity, have survived de- cay, and from it's turrets can be seen wonderful panorama, of deep green woods, heathery hills and waters that glitter in the sunshine. The sides of the eminence are clothed with fir, bracken and fern, to which a dash of cvlor IS added by the tiny bluebell and the pink wild rose. Is it to be won dered at that Scott chose this site for his delightful novel?
 Shakespeare went to Glamis for his setting. He could hardly have gone to spot so difficult to reach before the advent of the motor car. Glamis nestles in the foothills of the Gram pans, the highlands of Scotland, and draws it's interest from the pages of history and its own natural beauty. 1t Is reached from Perth or Dundee, after succession of small but substantial stations are passed-usually mile or two from the villages which give them their name-plowlnen tilling the soil, stone dwellings with sunbrowned chil- dren on the qoorstep, open field, wood, rlvulets, and hills. And when you Ieacn 1t you must hire trap, or use "snanks' naagy, to take yeu to the y.lauge, for It IS two miles away, over U hard country road.
 sa, But when you are bent on seeing a Castle dating buck to the eleventh cen. 4 %tury, a castle that is in AA amazing sla.e of preservation, it's rich red saf1d- s.oiie looklng as if it had not yet weauhered the storms of decade, let aione hundred; that contains in its els pI the armor of the barons who marched to the lists in the days when browess determined the man; that has secret passages aud rooms known to ybuL three persons at one time; that contains masterpieces of art in the
 ,<.k la ka tft 10 and priceless relics which adorn its musty chambers; that was the abode of kings, princes and "Macbeth,,' which Shakespeare adapted to a play to shed light on the vaccinations to that kept royalty in d constant state of turmoil when you are bent on seeing such historic structure, your. step Is light and time is forgotten.
 The castle IS approached by long drives, on either slde Of which are shady trees. In front of the door, which is very small, and above which is an old wooden clock, Is a neatly trimmed lawn, and at one end of the building is conservatory of vast dimensions. Three stairs lead from the doorway, one going down to the crypt, one up to Duncans room (King Duncan), and the other to various parts of the bullu- ing.
 The Mind Goes Back.
 The sound of the voice in the solid stone passage carries one back to the hoary ages of antiquity--a thousand years depart, and there reverberateS in memory the clangor of clashing coats of mail. So fascinating is the old man. sion that the temptation is to finger there, and to re-enact in imagination the most striking scenes in the play.
 Barrie chose a town for kls ma terial. Or did Kirriemuir choose Bar rie! At any rate, it furnished him with everything but the implements of his trade. 1t gave him the Tammas Haggart, whose humor was the delight of the village and who insisted that a humorist should not be expected to make the joke and see 1t; and Sneky Hobart, the bellman, whose calling gave way before the onrush of adver-e tisement; and little Jimsy, who, in printing his magnum opus, ran out of type and used a note of interrogation after "alas" instead of an exclamation mark. 1t offered him other charac- ters that he did not touch, and the craftsmanship of men to which he failed to make allusion.
 Such craftsmanship is seen in the furniture on which is carved Tam O Shanter" and "Souter Johnny" and the words of the poem that pointed the L.-s AL.