PERTHSHIRE.

AMONG all the provinces in Scotland, if an intelligent stranger were asked to describe the most varied and the most beautiful, it is probable he would name the county of Perth. A native, also, of any other district of Caledonia, though his partialities might lead him to prefer his native county in the first instance, would certainly class that of Perth in the second, and thus give its inhabitants a fair right to plead, that— prejudice apart-Perthshire forms the fairest portion of the northern kingdom. It is long since Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, with that excellent taste which characterises her writings, expressed her opinion, that the most interesting district of every country, and that which exhibits the varied beauties of natural scenery in greatest perfection, is that where the mountains sink down upon the champaign or more level land. The most picturesque, if not the highest hills, are also to be found in the county of Perth. The rivers find their way out of the mountainous region by the wildest leaps, and through the most romantic passes connecting the Highlands with the Lowlands. Above, the vegetation of a happier climate and soil is mingled with the magnificent characteristics of mountain scenery, and woods, groves and thickets in profusion clothe the base of the hills, ascend up the ravines, and mingle with the precipices. It is in such favoured regions that the traveller finds what the poet Gray, or some one else, has termed Beauty lying in the lap of Terror.

From the same advantage of situation, this favoured province presents a variety of the most pleasing character. Its lakes, woods and mountains, may vie in beauty with any that the Highland tour exhibits; while Perthshire contains, amidst this romantic scenery, and in some places in connection with it, many fertile and habitable tracts, which may vie with the richness of merry England herself. The country has also been

the scene of many remarkable exploits and events, some of historical importance, others interesting to the poet and romancer, though recorded in popular tradition alone. It was in these vales that the Saxons of the plain and the Gael of the mountains had many a desperate and bloody encounter, in which it was frequently impossible to decide the palm of victory between the mailed chivalry of the Low country and the plaided clans whom they opposed.*

To the Tourist it presents attractions of almost every kind. It is a sort of shifting diorama, in which new scenes remarkable for new beauties continually present themselves to his view, leaving upon his mind the impression that the last is, in some respects, the finest he has yet beheld. Fertility and barrenness, the wildest alpine magnificence, and scenes upon which the eye of the lover of natural beauty could desire to rest; the rugged mountain towering in rude majesty, and the sweet glen enlivened with sunshine or curtained with mist; the rich alluvial plains of England contrasting with the glories of Switzerland in a more softened and subdued form; these are the general and prominent features by which this county is distinguished.

To the Sportsman it opens a boundless field of amusement in its beautiful streams and its extensive moors, where the grouse, undeterred by the deadly hostility of man, renew their race, but only to invite renewed destruction. Feathered game of every description abounds in the upland districts of Perthshire, and affords a rich treat to the sportsman. Many of the moors are let, and bring large sums annually. The deerforest of Athole is said to contain about 100,000 acres; and the number of deer in the whole county is estimated at 6000, of which about 100 are annually killed. Harts are destroyed in the months of August and September, and hinds in January, the last month of the season. From several of the large proprietors having combined to preserve the deer, it is considered that their number must be greatly upon the increase.

Salmon

is plentiful, especially in the Tay, and is also found in the tributaries of that river. The fisheries on the Tay alone are understood to bring a rental of £10,000 a year.

* Quotation from Fair Maid of Perth.

contour.

The Mountains are noted for their height and elegance of Benlawers (the highest) is 3984 feet, and many of the others are not far behind it, the heights vary as follows:Benmore, 3835; Stobinian, 3813; Schehallion, 3547; Benvoirlich, 3300; Benvenue (South), 2388; Benledi, 2381; Bencleugh (Ochils, in Stirlingshire), 2358; Damyat (Ochils), 1345; Birnam Hill, 1580; Dunsinnane, 1040.

The lochs of Perthshire may be divided into three principal groups-1. Lochs Katrine, Achray, Venachar, Monteith, Ard, Chon, Lubnaig, and Voil, forming a nucleus in the southwestern portion of the county, and well known in connection with the scenery of the Trosachs. 2. Lochs Tay, Earn and Dochart, in the centre of the county. 3. Lochs Tummel, Rannoch, Lydoch, Garry, and Ericht, in the northern part of the county-the last, from their position and features, being less visited than the other two. In the eastern quarter of the county, the Lochs of the Lowes, Marly, and Clunie, a minor chain of small lakes, extends from near Dunkeld towards Blairgowrie.

The principal Rivers are the Tay, with its tributaries— Almond, Shochie, Ordie; Isla, Ericht, etc.; Braan; Tummel, Tilt, Bruar, Garry, and Ereochy; Lyon; Lochay; and Dochart. The Earn with its tributaries, Ruchill, Ruthven, and May.

The principal Towns are Perth, Culross, Crieff, Callander, Kincardine, Doune, Comrie, Dunblane, Auchterarder, Dunkeld, Pitlochrie, Aberfeldy, Killin, Rattray, Blairgowrie, CouparAngus, and Alyth.

STIRLING TO CALLANDER.

Following the line of railway, shortly after leaving Stirling we cross the river Forth, and shoot across an extensive but beautifully fertile plain, to

THE BRIDGE OF ALLAN.

[Hotels Philp's Royal; The Queen's.]

By railway, 39 miles from Edinburgh; 32 from Glasgow ; 3 from Stirling. To Doune, 5 miles; Rumbling Bridge, 17; Alloa, 7; Ardoch, 9; Callander, 13; Aberfoyle, 18.

This popular watering-place may almost be called a suburb of Stirling, as there is frequent and easy intercourse betwixt the two places, both by road and railway. On the east it commences with the villa of Coney Hill, nor far from Lord

The road skirts at its commencement the northern base of the Castle Rock, and at the second mile crosses the Forth. The first mansion-house passed on the left is Craigforth, long possessed by the family of Callander, nestling among trees under the shadow of the rock whose name it bears.

On the left is the corner, as it were, of the original cake of moss which lay heavy over all the now fruitful carse, and still covers a large portion of its interior surface. Part of it is called Flanders Moss, evidently from its similarity to the tracts of heath land near the lower Rhine; and one part of the reclaimed territory is named the Polder-the term applied to fields recovered from the sea in Holland. Near this is Ochtertyre House (Sir David Dundas) on the right, once the residence of Mr. J. Ramsay, the friend of Blacklock, of Burns, and of Scott. A mile and a half farther on, the road passes the mansion of Blair-Drummond (Home Drummond, Esq.), embosomed in fine woods and plantations. The celebrated Lord Kames was proprietor of Blair-Drummond

Abercromby's Lodge,* and from this the whole southern slope of the hill westwards to that quarter called Sunnylaw is studded with neat and elegantly-constructed villas, most of which are built and fitted up expressly as lodging-houses.

Its primary attraction is the Airthrey mineral water, of a saline nature, and which is collected in cisterns formed in an old copper mine. The well-house to which the water is raised, is on the brow of the hill at the back of the Royal Hotel.

The river Allan, which contributes much to the amenity of the place, rises in Glen-eagles, on the northern side of the Ochils, and where it has not been polluted by mills, contains both burn and sea trout. In the last part of its course it is rapid, its banks steep and mostly covered with wood. It falls into the Forth a little above Stirling. The seats at the Bridge of Allan and its immediate neighbourhood are, Westerton Park, Airthrey Castle (Lord Abercromby), Keir (William Stirling, Esq.), Kippenross (John Stirling, Esq.)

The Keir grounds are open to the public on Fridays from 2 to 6 P.M. The Kippenross grounds on Wednesdays and Saturdays, from 10 to 5 P.M.

Three miles westward from the Bridge of Allan is Dunblane [Kinross' Private Hotel], picturesquely situated on the banks of the river Allan. The cathedral, of which we have a good view from the railway, is one of the few specimens of Gothic architecture which escaped to a great extent the ill

towards the close of last century, and under his auspices was commenced that series of operations, by which what was once a bleak and marshy moor has been turned into rich corn fields.

Leaving the flat carse land, we edge up through gently broken ground, and at the sixth mile, near the modern church of Kincardine, the roads fork-that to Doune taking the right hand across the Teith, while the way to Menteith and Aberfoyle is to the left.

* "In the year 1819 there was found the entire skeleton of a whale, which must have been 70 feet long, in the course of some draining operations carried on by the late Sir Robert Abercromby, on the estate of Airthrey. The place where it was found was adjoining the south side of the turnpike road, east from the eastern porter's lodge, which leads to Airthrey Castle, and near to the north verge of the alluvial deposit of the river Forth. The bones were in general hard and undecayed, and lay in regular connected order from the head to the tail. They were imbedded in the blue silt, immediately under the silt clay. It was found, from very accurate levels taken, that this skeleton lay 22 feet higher than the pitch of the present highest stream tides of the river Forth, immediately opposite."