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PREFACE.
PREFACE.
The greater part of "Our Journey to the Hebrides" was published originally in Harper's Magazine . When it appeared it was severely criticised, and we were taken to task for not discovering in Scotland and the Scotch what has been made the fashion to find there—for not giving second-hand descriptions, which are the stock in trade of Scotch guide-books, whether romantic or real; in a word, for not staying at home and manufacturing our journey in the British Museum. It is gradually dawning upon us
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EDINBURGH,
EDINBURGH,
"a city too well known to admit description." If Dr. Johnson thought so a hundred years ago, it is not for us, who propose to be his followers, to differ from him. Indeed, during our stay in that city, so eager were we to be faithful to him in all things that we should have allowed ourselves to be dined, teaed and suppered, even as he was, but for an obstacle. The only person whom we knew in Edinburgh was away, and the fame of our coming had not, as with Dr. Johnson, gone before us. We were care
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GLASGOW
GLASGOW
is unnecessary," and again we are willing to take his word for it. But its Cathedral was the first of the many surprises Scotland had in store for us. We had heard of it, but that was all. One young lady of Glasgow, fresh from a tour on the Continent, told us that she had never seen it. We were therefore prepared to find it no great thing. The exterior did not disappoint our expectations, but we have seldom been more impressed with an interior, and this though we had just come from the loveliest
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LOCH LOMOND.
LOCH LOMOND.
It was the first Scotch lake we saw, and we thought it very like any other lake. We were off by eight in the morning. It was clear and cool, like an October day at home. Our road lay for a while close to the loch, then turned and went round the parks and lawns that sloped gently to the shore, so that it was only over a stone wall or through a gap in the hedge we could see the blue water and the wooded islands. We were now on the fighting-ground of the Colquhoun and the MacGregor, we learned from
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TARBET,
TARBET,
and were received by a waiter in a dress-coat. It was a big hotel low down by the loch, with Ben-Lomond for opposite neighbor. The company at dinner was made up of Englishmen and Englishwomen. But everybody talked to everybody else. An Englishman, it seems, becomes civilized in the Highlands. There, those he sits down with at dinner, as is the way with Frenchmen, are his friends; at home, he would look upon them as his enemies. After dinner we went to walk with the cyclers. As a great theatrical
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CAIRNDOW,
CAIRNDOW,
and I do not know why we made it, except that in mapping out our route we had little help from Black. We had to learn from experience, which is but a poor way, if you find out your errors when it is too late to mend them. We were bound to Inverary, Dr. Johnson's next stopping-place. At the top of Glencroe, we should have turned to our left and walked down Hell's Glen to St. Catharine's, where there is a steam ferry to Inverary on the opposite shores of Loch Fyne. As it was, we had turned to our
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GLENCOE,
GLENCOE,
where rocks lay on the road and in the stream and on the hill-sides. The mountains rose bare and precipitous from their very base, and trees and grass found no place to grow. The guard gave us the story of the massacre, with additions and details of his own which I have forgotten. At the end of the drive he charged two shillings—for his trouble, I suppose. People write of the emotions roused by scenery and associations. I think it is afterwards, by reading up on the subject, that one becomes fir
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BALLACHULISH.
BALLACHULISH.
Almost at once it brought us to a field overlooking the loch, where, apparently for our benefit, sports were being held. The droning of the pipes made quite a cheerful sound, the plaids of the men a bright picture; and when, two miles beyond, we found the hotel with its windows turned towards the loch, we made up our minds not to push on to Oban, but to stay and spend Sunday here. And so we had a second and longer look at the sports. Young men vaulted with poles; others, in full costume, danced
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OBAN—
OBAN—
the most odious place in the Highlands, I have heard it called; the most beautiful place in the world, Mr. William Black thinks. When the west wind blows and the sun shines, there is nothing like it for color, he told J——. We had to take his word for it. We found an east wind blowing and gray mist hanging over town and bay, and we could not see the hills of Mull. When we walked out in the late afternoon, it seemed a town of hotels and photograph shops, into which excursion trains were forever em
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TOBERMORY
TOBERMORY
is a commonplace town with a semicircle of well-to-do houses on the shores of a sheltered bay. At one end of the wooded heights that follow the curve of the town is a big hotel; at the other, Aros House, a brand-new castle, in among the trees. The harbor is shut in by a long, narrow island, bare and flat. It seemed a place of endless rain and mist. But when we thought the weather at its worst, the landlady called it pleasant, and suggested a two miles' walk to the light-house on the coast. Child
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SALEN,
SALEN,
where we faced wind and rain to walk about a quarter of a mile to the hotel. Here, as Dr. Johnson said in Glenelg, "of the provisions, the negative catalogue was very copious." The landlady asked us what we should like for supper; she might have spared herself the trouble, since she had nothing to give us but ham and eggs. However, we found the outlook less depressing than at Tobermory. There was no commonplace little town in sight, but only bare rolling grounds stretching to a bay, and on the s
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ULVA
ULVA
lay so close to the shores of Mull as scarce to seem a separate island. But the waters of the narrow Sound were rough. The postman, who had just been ferried over, held the boat as we stepped into it from the slippery stones of the landing. As he waited, he said not a word. They keep silence, these people, under the yoke they have borne for generations. The ferryman was away, and the boy who had come in his place had hard work to row against wind and waves, and harder work to talk English. "I be
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KINLOCH
KINLOCH
was a two-storied cottage, with kitchen full of women and tap-room full of geese and hens below stairs, dining and sleeping rooms above. The bed-rooms were all occupied—by the family, I suppose, since we were given our choice; but after choosing, everything had to be moved out before we could move in. However, we made a shift to change our shoes and stockings, and in the dining-room we crouched over a big fire, while the steam rose in clouds from our soaked tweeds. The landlady came up at once w
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BUNESSAN
BUNESSAN
came as a surprise. We were looking sadly at the endless line of road over the moors in front of us, when we turned a corner, and there was the little white town, with a pleasant inn, close to the waters of Loch Slach. We had to wait—we were growing used to waiting—for our lunch; but at last when it came it seemed a banquet. We were not asked to eat either ham or eggs. Altogether, we were so well pleased that we brought the day's walk to an end. But it seemed that the maid who came to the door w
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"DUNARA CASTLE,"
"DUNARA CASTLE,"
which had dropped anchor in the middle of the Sound. On deck we found four young sportsmen in knickerbockers and ulsters, their backs turned upon the cathedral, firing at sea-gulls and missing them very successfully. In fact, I might as well say here, they kept on firing and missing so long as they were on the steamer. A man with a wife, four children, three maids, and a deckful of baggage, was already preparing to get off at Bunessan. The domestic energy of the Englishman is only less admirable
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HARRIS,
HARRIS,
a little old lady came bustling up. When the steamer stopped in the Sound the men in the boats all touched their bonnets to her, a few even got on board to speak to her. She was better than a guide-book, and told the passengers near her all about Harris. She explained the difficulties of the channel through the Sound, which, like all Hebridean waters, is full of islands and rocks hidden at high tide, and is unprotected by lights. She pointed out Rodil Church, whose gray tower just showed above t
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TARBERT.
TARBERT.
The principal building in the village was the large white manse, half hidden in trees. A parson's first care, even if he went to the Cannibal Islands, would be, I fancy, to make himself, or have made for him at somebody else's expense, a comfortable home. There were also on the outskirts of the village two or three new, well-built cottages for men in Lady Scott's, the landlord's, direct service, and a large, excellent hotel, the only place in Tarbert where spirits could be bought. The rich may h
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SKYE,
SKYE,
one morning while the day was still young. The shores were circled about with patches of grain and potatoes and many cottages; and Skye, as we first saw it, seemed fair and fertile after the rocks of Harris. Its people are little better off, however. It was here, about Uig, on the estates of Captain Fraser, that crofters rebelled in 1884 as those of Lewis are rebelling to-day. Their rents in many cases have been reduced, their arrears cancelled. But landlords as they exist, or crofters, must go
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DUNVEGAN.
DUNVEGAN.
The road lay over long miles of moors, with now and then beautiful distant views of the mountains of Harris, but pale blue shadows oil the western horizon, and of the high peaks of the Cuchullins, dark and sombre above the moorland. Here and there at long intervals we came to the wretched groups of cottages we had begun to know so well. Old witch-like women and young girls passed, bent double under loads of peat or sea-weed, so heavy that were the same thing seen in Italy, English people would l
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STRUAN
STRUAN
it was all moorland. The shadeless road ran for miles between the heather, from which now and again, as we passed, rose the startled grouse. Far in front were the Cuchullins, only their high, jagged peaks showing above the clouds that hung heavy about them. The little Struan inn, which we had to ourselves, was low down by the water, at the foot of a wide hill-side planted with turnips. On the brow of the hill, like so many bowlders in the mud, were strewn the huts of a miserable village. Manse a
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SLIGACHAN.
SLIGACHAN.
We wanted to see the Cuchullins and the much-talked-about Loch Coruisk. But here we found that we were again on the tourist route from which we had gone so far astray. There was not a room to be had in the inn. It was full of immaculately dressed young ladies and young Oxford men, all with their knickerbockers at the same degree of bagginess, their stockings turned down at the same angle. We might have thought that the landlady objected to tramps when the company was so elegant, had she not offe
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INVERNESS,
INVERNESS,
we passed the stage of the Caledonian Hotel. In it sat the Macdonell with a family of Jews, and an Englishman and his daughter who, throughout the journey, had shown themselves so superior, we should not wonder some day to find them behind the counter of an Oxford Street store. They were all on their way to mingle with the real society of England and Scotland. It probably was a pleasure to Mr. Macdonell to find that the tobacconist next to the hotel, and the dry goods merchant but a few doors of
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NAIRN,
NAIRN,
"Well," said J——, in triumph, "we've got through a day's work in half an hour;" and we dropped our knapsacks at the hotel and set out for Cawdor, which is five miles from the town. The day so far had been fine. Once we were on the road again the sun went behind the clouds, mist fell over the country before us. A lady in a dog-cart warned us of rain, and offered us a lift. To make up for the morning's weakness, we refused heroically. There was nothing by the way but broad fields of grain, which s
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ELGIN
ELGIN
we were in the humor to moralize on modern degeneracy among the ruins. A distillery is now the near neighbor of the cathedral. Below the broken walls, still rich with beautiful carving, new and old gravestones, as at Iona, stand side by side. In nave and transepts knights lie on old tombstones, under canopies carved with leaves and flowers; here and there in the graveyard without are moss-grown slabs with the death's-head and graceful lettering of the seventeenth century; near by are ugly blocks
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BUCKIE,
BUCKIE,
a place of which we had never heard before that afternoon. How J—— happened to buy tickets for it I cannot explain, since he never made it quite clear to me. We found it a large and apparently thriving fishing town, with one long line of houses low on the shore, another above on the hill, and a very good hotel, the name of which I am not sure we knew at the time; certainly we do not remember it now. FISHER-BOATS HAULED UP NEAR BUCKIE. It was at Buckie that J—— made several of the best sketches i
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BANFF
BANFF
late in the afternoon, just as the fishing-boats were putting out to sea, one beyond another on the gray water, the farthest but faint specks on the horizon. The best thing about Banff is that in fifteen or twenty minutes you can be out of it and in Macduff. The shore here makes a great curve. On one point is Banff, on the other Macduff; half-way between, a many-arched bridge spans the river Deveron, and close by the big house of the Earl of Fife shows through the trees of his park. High on the
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FRASERBURGH.
FRASERBURGH.
We walked out after supper. Rain was falling, and the evening was growing dark. Down by the harbor carts were still going and coming; men were still busy with their nets. Along the quay was a succession of basins, and these opened into others beyond. All were crowded with boats, and their thickly clustered masts seemed, in the gathering shadows, like a forest of branchless, leafless trees. One by one lights were hung out. On the town side of the quay, in crypt-like rooms and under low sheds, tor
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ABERDEEN,
ABERDEEN,
where we at once fell back into ordinary city life. We even did a little shopping in its fine new streets. Its large harbor seemed empty after that of Fraserburgh. Many fishing-boats were at sea; many had gone altogether. The fishing season here was really well over. We walked to the old town after dinner. In it there is not much to be seen but the university tower with the famous crown atop, and the cathedral, which looked massive and impressive in the twilight. We saw much more of Aberdeen; bu
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MONTROSE,
MONTROSE,
where, like Dr. Johnson, and for that matter, every one else who comes here, we looked to the Grampian Hills in the distance. The town itself was not picturesque. The guide-book calls it neat and Flemish, probably because it has fewer houses with high gables turned towards the street than can be seen, as a rule, in any Scotch town. But the harbor, of which the guide-book says less, was fine. We spent hours near the mouth of the river, looking over to the fishermen's houses on the opposite shore.
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ARBROATH,
ARBROATH,
the sight of which seemed worth his whole journey to Dr. Johnson. Little is left of the abbey save the broken walls and towers. A street runs through the old gate-house. The public park and children's play-ground lie to one side of the ruined church. A few old tombs and tablets and bits of ornament have been gathered together in the sacristy, which is in better preservation than the rest of the building. We found them less interesting than the guide who explained them. He gave a poetical touch t
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St. Nicholas Magazine
St. Nicholas Magazine
FOR YOUNG FOLKS. Edited by Mrs. Mary Mapes Dodge . Price 1s. Monthly. With the beginning of the Seventeenth Volume ( November, 1889 ) ST. NICHOLAS will be enlarged by the addition of eight or more pages to each number, and the Magazine will be printed in a new and clearer-faced type. During the year there will be four important Serial Stories by well-known authors, and also Notable Papers on Athletics and Outdoor Sports , as well as a multitude of Occasional Papers, Stories, Illustrated Articles
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The Century
The Century
ILLUSTRATED MONTHLY MAGAZINE. Price 1s. 4d. Monthly. FOR 1889-90 , Will include among other features:— The Autobiography of Joseph Jefferson ("Rip Van Winkle"); " Friend Olivia ," a Serial Story by Mrs. Barr , Author of "Jan Vedder's Wife," &c.; " The Merry Chanter ," in Four Parts, by Frank R. Stockton ; Letters from Japan , by John La Farge ; and The Gold Hunters of California , being Personal Narratives of most Romantic Interest. Besides the above Special Features there will be valuab
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The Century Dictionary.
The Century Dictionary.
In 24 Monthly Parts, Price 10s. 6d. each. Part I. Now Ready. When completed the work will form Six Volumes, price £2 2s. each. A LIBRARY IN ONE BOOK. Purchasers of this Dictionary will obtain a reference library which does away with a great number of other books. They will have— 1. A complete defining dictionary of english words. 2. A dictionary of etymologies, unequalled by any work yet published. 3. A standard dictionary of spelling and pronunciation. 4. An encyclopædia of general information,
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Belles Lettres.
Belles Lettres.
The Letters of Horace Walpole. Selected and Edited, with Introduction and Notes, by Charles Duke Yonge , M.A. Portraits and Illustrations. Limited Edition of 750 copies in Two Vols., medium 8vo., cloth, 32s. The present selection comprises the more valuable portion of the famous letters to Thomas Gray the poet, Sir Horace Mann, and George Montagu, and is designed chiefly for those who, while lacking leisure to attack the bulk of the correspondence, may welcome the opportunity of becoming acquain
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History.
History.
Battles and Leaders of the American Civil War. An Authoritative History, written by Distinguished Participants on both sides. Edited by Robert U. Johnson and Clarence C. Buel , of the Editorial Staff of "The Century Magazine." Four Volumes, Royal 8vo., elegantly bound, £5 5s. Lord Wolseley , in writing a series of articles in the North American Review on this work, says: "The Century Company has, in my judgment, done a great service to the soldiers of all armies by the publication of these recor
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Biography.
Biography.
Sir John Hawkwood (l'Acuto). Story of a Condottiere. Translated from the Italian of John Temple-Leader and Guiseppe Marcotti, by Leader Scott . Illustrated. Royal 8vo., bound in buckram, gilt tops. Limited Edition. Extract from Preface. —"He was for more than thirty years one of the most effective dominators of Italian affairs, and in her history—military, political, and social—he figures as a personage whose character and actions have an importance more than sufficient to justify the simple cur
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Theology and Philosophy.
Theology and Philosophy.
The Treasure Book of Consolation: For all in Sorrow or Suffering. By Benjamin Orme , M.A. Popular Edition. Crown 8vo., cloth extra, gilt edges, 3s. 6d. The Questions of the Bible, Arranged in the Order of the Books of Scripture, with Connective Readings and Tables. By W. Carnelley . Demy 8vo., cloth, 7s. 6d. "The book will be a useful one for theologians and students."— Fireside News. "A book of peculiar value to all who study the Bible."- Christian. The House and Its Builder, with Other Discour
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Travel.
Travel.
Our Journey to the Hebrides. By Joseph Pennell and Elizabeth Robbins Pennell . 43 Illustrations by Joseph Pennell. Crown 8vo., cloth, 7s. 6d. "It will be easily understood that we could not plan a route out of our ignorance and prejudice. It remained to choose a guide, and our choice, I hardly know why, fell upon Dr. Johnson." Studies in the South and West, with Comments on Canada. By Charles Dudley Warner , Author of "Their Pilgrimage." Crown 8vo., 10s. 6d. Studies of Kentucky, The Blue Grass R
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Miscellaneous
Miscellaneous
The Letters of the Duke of Wellington to Miss J., 1834-1851. Edited with extracts from the Diary of the latter by Christine Terhune Herrick . Crown 8vo., paper boards, 6s. How Men Propose. The Fateful Question and Its Answer. Love scenes from popular works of Fiction, collected by Agnes Stevens , Square Imp. 16mo., cloth, 6s.; Presentation Edition, cloth elegant, bevelled boards, gilt edges, in box, 7s. 6d. (Uniform with "How to be Happy Though Married.") This work presents a collection of extra
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Books for Children.
Books for Children.
Daddy Jake, the Runaway; And Short Stories told after Dark. By " Uncle Remus " (Joel Chandler Harris). Many Illustrations. Medium 4to., cloth, gilt edges, 6s. (Uniform with "The Brownies.") When Mother was Little. By S. P. Yorke . Thirteen Full-page Illustrations by Henry J. Ford. Small square 8vo., cloth, 3s. 6d. The Butterfly: Its Nature, Development, and Attributes. By John Stuttard . Dedicated to Sir John Lubbock, Bart. Illustrated. Fscap. 8vo., limp cloth, 1s. Æsop's Fables for Little Reade
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THE CAMEO SERIES
THE CAMEO SERIES
Half-bound, paper boards, price 3s. 6d. each. Fine Edition, bound in parchment, printed on Japan paper, numbered and signed, 30 copies only printed, 25 being for sale; terms on application from Booksellers or the Publisher. The Lady from the Sea. By Henrik Ibsen . Translated, with the author's permission, from the Norwegian by Eleanor Marx Aveling . With a Critical Introduction by Edmund Gosse . Portrait of the Author and Autograph. A London Plane-Tree, and Other Poems. By the late Amy Levy , Au
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"UNWIN'S NOVEL SERIES."
"UNWIN'S NOVEL SERIES."
The Volumes average about 300 pp., small cr. 8vo., limp cloth, price 2s. each. Gladys Fane. By T. Wemyss Reid . Fifth Edition. Mrs. Keith's Crime. By Mrs. W. K. Clifford . Concerning Oliver Knox. By G. Colmore . Miss Bayle's Romance; Or, An American Heiress in Europe. By W. Fraser Rae . Isaac Eller's Money. By Mrs. Andrew Dean . Chronicles of a Health Resort. By A. Herder . London: T. FISHER UNWIN, Paternoster Square, E.C. ...
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