Free Opinions, Freely Expressed on Certain Phases of Modern Social Life and ConductCorelli, Marie
Religion
Free Opinions, Freely Expressed on Certain Phases of Modern Social Life and Conduct
Corelli, Marie
English essays -- 20th century; Great Britain -- Social life and customs -- 20th century
had been offered by the people of Scotland against the destruction of
Foyers!
And what of the pitiful ruin of Loch Katrine?--once an unspoilt gem of
Highland scenery, doubly beloved for the sake of Sir Walter Scott’s
“Lady of the Lake”? What of the submerging of “Ellen’s Isle”?--the
ruthless uprooting of that “entangled wood”--
Where Nature scattered, free and wild.
Each plant or flower, the mountain’s child,--
Here eglantine embalmed the air,
Heather and hazel mingled there.
* * * * *
The wanderer’s eye could barely view
The summer heaven’s delicious blue--
So wondrous wild!--the whole might seem
The scenery of a fairy dream!
I have been assured on the very best authority that all the beauty of
Loch Katrine could have been left undisturbed, had the Scottish people
taken any actively determined measures towards preserving it. The
increasing water-supply necessary for Glasgow could have been procured
from Loch Vennachar, which is a larger loch, and quite as good for the
purpose. Only it would have cost more money, and that extra cash was
not forthcoming, even for Sir Walter’s sake! It is a poor return to
make to the memory of him who did so much for the fame of Scotland,
to mutilate the scene he loved and immortalized! The struggles and
disasters of the Jacobite Cause, and the defeat at Culloden brought
more gain than loss to Scotland, by filling the land with glorious song
and heroic tradition,--the result of the noble idealistic spirit which
made even failure honourable,--but the defacement of Loch Katrine, the
scene of “The Lady of the Lake” is nothing but a disgrace to those who
authorized it, and to those who kept silence while the deed was done.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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