(Capt. Kennedy Erskine), Broomley, and the lime-kilns of Hedderwick, we speedily arrive at Dubton Station (50 miles). Adjacent to the station on the right is the ancient mansion of Hedderwick, and beside it Dubton house. On the left lies the considerable village of Hillside, having some tasteful villas, the residences chiefly of citizens of Montrose. Leaving Dubton, the line is carried up a high embankment, on the right of which is Charlton House, and on the left Rosemount. At Sunnyside, to the east of Rosemount, is the new lunatic asylum of Montrose, commanding a grand view of sea and land. The line now enters a deep cutting, on emerging from which is seen, on the right, the river North Esk, and at a distance the spacious stone bridge, on the turnpike road between Montrose and the north. Standing on an eminence beside it is Kirkside House. Skirting the slopes of the valley of the North Esk, on the right, are the manufacturing works of Logie and Craigo, and Craigo Station (53 miles). Leaving this, on the opposite side of the river, a fine view is obtained of Kirktonhill House (George Taylor, Esq.), and on the left are Craigo, Gallery, and Balmakewan. We then cross the North Esk by means of an extensive viaduct to Marykirk Station (54 miles), on the right of which is the village of the same name. The line has now entered Kincardineshire, and inland is a distant view of the Grampians. On the right is seen the hill of Garvock, with its tower. About four miles to the left of Garvock is the village of Fettercairn, adjoining which are the houses of Fasque (Sir Thomas Gladstone, Bart.) and Fettercairn (Sir John Stuart-Forbes, Bart.) The long-wooded hill, stretching eastward, from near Fettercairn to Fordoun, is called Strathfinla, near the western point of which are the remains of the royal castle of Kincardine, where tradition says, Kenneth III. was murdered by Lady Finella, in A. D. 994. The town of Laurencekirk was the birthplace of Dr. Beattie, and here the celebrated Ruddiman was once schoolmaster, as was also Ross, the author of the popular song of “The rock an' the wee pickle tow," etc. The village was founded by Lord Gardenstone, and was long remarkable for the manufacture of snuff-boxes. Leaving Laurencekirk, the line passes through the richly cultivated district known as the "Howe o' the Mearns." The spire of the church of Fordoun may be seen on the left, shortly before reaching the station of that name. George Wishart, the reformer, is said to have been a native of Fordoun parish, and a granite monument has recently been erected to his memory by the parishioners. After leaving Fordoun Station, on the left is Monboddo, the seat of the late Lord Monboddo, and on the right the house of Kair. Passing Drumlithie Station a glimpse is obtained of Glenbervie (Mrs. Nicholson), the line is now carried along an extensive viaduct, and turns northwards. On the right, at a considerable distance, may be seen the ancient castle of Fiddes. On emerging from an immense cutting through the solid rock, the line enters the valley of the Carron water, with the woods of Dunnottar on the right, and the lands of Fetteresso on the left. We then cross the Carron, and enter the woods of Fetteresso. On the left is Fetteresso Castle (R. Duff, Esq.), the ancient residence of the Earls Marischal of Scotland, situated on the north bank of the Carron, and surrounded with extensive policies. On the right, surrounded with trees, but not seen from the railway, is the parish church of Dunnottar, in the churchyard of which there is a grave-stone in memory of certain Covenanters who were killed in endeavouring to escape from the "Whig's vault" in Dunnottar Castle. In the churchyard of Dunnottar, Sir Walter Scott saw, for the first and last time, David Paterson, the famous "Old Mortality," engaged in his favourite occupation of renewing the epitaphs on the tombs of the Covenanters. Beyond this is also seen the modern house of Dunnottar and the town of Stonehaven—(73 miles). [Inn: Melvin's Railway. Population, 3240]-which is rapidly rising into repute as a watering-place. The ruins of Dunnottar Castle, anciently the seat of the Keiths, Earls Marischal, stand upon an isolated rock, about three miles southeast of the railway station. The area of the castle measures about three acres, and is separated from the land by a deep chasm, the only approach being by a steep path winding round the body of the rock. In 1296 the rock and kirk of Dunnottar, which were then garrisoned by the English, were taken by Sir William Wallace. Edward III. also occupied it in his progress through the kingdom in 1336, but as soon as he quitted the kingdom it was again captured by Sir Andrew Murray, Regent of Scotland. The first castle was built upon the rock of Dunnottar by Sir Wm. Keith, about 1394, and the keep or donjon is supposed to be the oldest remaining portion. During the time of the Commonwealth, being the strongest place in the kingdom, it was selected for the preservation of the Regalia. The garrison, under the command of Ogilvy of Barras, made a vigorous resistance to the English army, but were at length compelled to surrender by famine. Previously to this, however, the regalia had been secretly conveyed away, and buried beneath the pulpit of the church of Kinneff, by Mrs. Granger, the wife of the minister of that parish; while, to divert the suspicions of the enemy into a false channel, the Countess of Marischal spread a report that these national treasures DUNNOTTAR CASTLE. 319 had been carried abroad by Sir John Keith, her younger son. At the Restoration, all the persons connected with this affair were rewarded, but in inverse ratio to their merits. Sir John Keith, who had no real share in the transaction, was created Earl of Kintore, and Knight-Marischal of Scotland, with a salary of £400 a year. Ogilvie, whose patrimonial estate had been impoverished by the fines and sequestrations imposed by the English, received the merely honorary reward of a baronetcy, while Mrs. Granger was rewarded with a sum of 2000 marks Scots. During the reign of Charles II., Dunnottar was used as a state prison for confining the Covenanters. The prisoners were, without distinction, packed into a dungeon, having a window open to the sea, in front of a huge precipice. They were allowed neither bedding nor provisions, except what they bought, and were treated by their keepers with the utmost rigour. The walls of this place, still called the Whig's Vault, bear evidence of the severities inflicted on those unhappy persons. There are, in particular, a number of apertures cut in the wall, about a man's height, and it was the custom, when such was the jailor's pleasure, that any prisoner who was accounted refractory should be obliged to stand with his arms extended, and his fingers secured by wedges in the crevices described. In this cruel confinement many died, some were deprived of the use of their limbs, and as before said several lost their lives by desperate attempts to descend from the rock on which the castle is founded. The fortress was dismantled soon after the Rebellion of 1715, on the attainder of its proprietor, James, Earl Marischal. "The battlements, with their narrow embrasures, the strong towers and airy turrets, full of loopholes for the archer and musketeer; the hall for the banquet, and the cell for the captive, are all alike entire and distinct. Even the iron rings and bolts that held the culprits for security or torture still remain to attest the different order of things which once prevailed in this country." From the railway station at Stonehaven, and on the left, a good view is obtained of the mansion-house of Ury, lately rebuilt by Alex. Baird, Esq., previously the property of the late Captain Barclay Allardyce. On leaving the station, the new parish church and manse of Fetteresso are passed on the right, and the line crosses the water and valley of the Cowie, by an extensive viaduct. Emerging from a deep cutting behind Cowie House (Innes, Esq.), and crossing the turnpike by a viaduct, a view is obtained, on the right, of the town of Stonehaven and Castle of Dunnottar, also of the picturesque ruins and burial-ground of the chapel of Saint Mary of Cowie, situated upon the top of a cliff overhanging the sea. The country from Stonehaven to Aberdeen is remarkably bleak and sterile, presenting, for the most part, barren eminences and cold swampy moorlands: the old castle of Muchals, with its large hall and fine stuccoed ceiling, and the bold line of coast, being the chief objects of interest: the line passes near the fishing village of Findon, which lies by the margin of the sea, hidden from the view of the railway traveller, and from which the celebrated Finnan haddocks derive their name. Proceeding for a short distance along the shore, it sweeps round Girdleness (the eastern termination of the great chain of the Grampians), and, crossing the River Dee by means of an extensive viaduct, reaches Aberdeen (described page 327). BRECHIN TO LOCHLEE OR GLENESK, BY EDZELL. On leaving Brechin for the north (11⁄2 mile), is Cairnbank House on the right, past which a road leads to Craigo Station, by Huntly Hill, the scene of the battle of Brechin, in 1452. Half a mile further on the turnpike, and the first road which turns to the left, leads to Edzell, Lethnot, and Lochlee, passing the mansion-houses of Keithock and Newtonmill. Cross the bridge of Cruik and a fine view is obtained of the Grampians, with the celebrated Forts of the two Caterthuns, three or four miles to the left. On the right are the kirk and kirkyard of Stracathro, the scene of King John Baliol's penance to Edward I., in 1296; and previously, in 1130, a battle was fought in the same neighbourhood between David I. and Angus, Earl of Moray, which ended in the defeat of the latter. To the east of the kirk is seen the fine mansion-house of Stracathro (Sir J. Campbell); and on the north-east the old turreted castle of Inglismaldie (Lord Kintore) rises above the adjoining woods. The next bridge which is crossed, is that of the West Water, and a drive of about 2 miles along a good, but rather bleak road, brings the traveller to the clean and salubrious village of Edzell, where there are two good inns. A mile to the left, along the Lethnot road, are the extensive and imposing ruins of Edzell Castle, an old seat of the once powerful family of Lindsay, now the property of Lord Dalhousie. With, perhaps, the exception of the Stirling Tower, or the large square keep on the south side of the castle, the whole had been built by David, ninth Earl of Crawford, and his son, Lord Edzell. The garden-wall is ornamented by a number of elaborate carvings in stone. On the east wall are the celestial deities, on the south the sciences, and on the west the theological and cardinal EDINBURGH TO ABERDEEN. 321 virtues, forming one of the most interesting memorials of the kind in Scotland. The foundations of old bathing-rooms were lately brought to light at the south-west corner of the garden,* and, along with the ruins of the castle, they have been put into a good state of repair by the noble proprietor, who has also fitted up the old picturesque summer-house for the reception of visitors, of whom, since the ruins were cleared of rubbish, and otherwise put in order, there has been nearly 2000 annually. It was within the flower garden, on 2d October 1856, that the Earl of Dalhousie, then Lord Panmure, was entertained to dinner by his tenantry, when, for the first time since the castle was deserted by "the last of the Lindsays of Edzell" in 1715, a fire was kindled in the old kitchen, and a dinner cooked for the proprietor. The Gannochy Bridge, and The Burn (Major M'Inroy), about a mile north-east of Edzell village, are also favourite resorts for tourists, and among the most romantic spots in the neighbourhood. On crossing the bridge, the first road to the left strikes off to Lochlee, that to the right leads to Fettercairn. The drive from Edzell to the old kirkyard of Lochlee (beyond which visitors are not admitted), is pleasing and romantic. Four miles from Gannochy, on the right, stood the old castle of Auchmull, where young Lindsay took refuge after his accidental murder of Lord Spynie, on the High Street of Edinburgh, 5th July 1607.† The snug shooting-lodge of Millden is about four miles farther, on the left, and on the same side, nearly a like distance, is the neat Free Church, then the hamlet of Tarfside, with Episcopal church and schools. The parish church and school, the picturesque and ruinous tower of Invermark Castle, Invermark Lodge, the shooting quarters of the Earl of Dalhousie, and the romantic kirkyard of Lochlee, in which were interred the remains of Alex. Ross, author of Lindy and Nory, or the Fortunate Shepherdess, etc., and to whom a monument is erected, are the remaining objects of interest. The traveller is now about twenty-two miles from Brechin, and there being no inn in the Glen, it will be well to provide both for "man and beast," before taking the journey. From Invermark there is a pony road to Deeside, by Mountkeen, and another from Tarfside to Charleston of Aboyne. * Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, vol. ii., p. 226. Y |