Literary Tours in The Highlands and Islands of Scotland

Name: Literary Tours in The Highlands and Islands of Scotland
Author: Holmes, Daniel Turner

Holmes, Daniel Turner

Scottish literature -- History and criticism

"Autumn is dark on the mountains; grey mist rests on the hills."


AT THE FOOT O' BENNACHIE.

I have on several occasions, during the last year or two, visited that
part of Aberdeenshire which is immediately under the glorious ridge of
Bennachie. Like all lovers of ballad lore, I know by heart the poem of
the little wee man who had such prowess, and who invited the poet to go
with him to his green bower. After seeing magnificent examples of
dancing, the poet found himself lying in the mist at the foot of
Bennachie:--

    "Out went the lichts, on cam' the mist,
      Leddies nor mannie mair could I see;
    I turned aboot, and gave a look,
      I was just at the foot o' Bennachie."

The exquisite little ballad from which I quote is calculated to raise
expectations of beauty which the picturesque surroundings of Bennachie
are well able to satisfy. Great tracts of Aberdeenshire are flat,
treeless, and painful in their monotony; in winter, great gusts sweep
the cold plains, and make driving or walking a trying ordeal; the
country is thinly peopled, and the impression of the visitor is that, in
some districts, railway stations are more numerous than villages. Round
Bennachie, however, the scenery is most pleasant and picturesque. The
villages of Oyne and Insch, in which hospitality to strangers is a
religion, are beautifully placed and well-foliaged all around. The
region is, indeed, one of romance, and the little brook of Gadie ripples
on in the radiance and glamour of pathetic song.


HARLAW.

Those who consider, like Ruskin, that the stories of the past add no
inconsiderable item to the beauty of a landscape, as it appears to the
eye and intelligence of modern observers, will not fail to remember the
momentous issues decided at no great distance from the foot of
Bennachie, in 1411. Teutonic and Celtic Scotland came to grips at
Harlaw, near by:--

    "The Hielandmen, wi' their lang swords,
      They laid on us fu' sair;
    And they drave back our merry men
      Three acres' breadth and mair.

      . . . . . . . . . .

    Gin anybody speer at ye
      For them we took awa',
    Ye may tell them plain and very plain,
      They're sleeping at Harlaw."

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

Literary Tours in The Highlands and Islands of ScotlandHolmes, Daniel Turner

History

Literary Tours in The Highlands and Islands of Scotland

Holmes, Daniel Turner

Scottish literature -- History and criticism

"Autumn is dark on the mountains; grey mist rests on the hills."


AT THE FOOT O' BENNACHIE.

I have on several occasions, during the last year or two, visited that
part of Aberdeenshire which is immediately under the glorious ridge of
Bennachie. Like all lovers of ballad lore, I know by heart the poem of
the little wee man who had such prowess, and who invited the poet to go
with him to his green bower. After seeing magnificent examples of
dancing, the poet found himself lying in the mist at the foot of
Bennachie:--

    "Out went the lichts, on cam' the mist,
      Leddies nor mannie mair could I see;
    I turned aboot, and gave a look,
      I was just at the foot o' Bennachie."

The exquisite little ballad from which I quote is calculated to raise
expectations of beauty which the picturesque surroundings of Bennachie
are well able to satisfy. Great tracts of Aberdeenshire are flat,
treeless, and painful in their monotony; in winter, great gusts sweep
the cold plains, and make driving or walking a trying ordeal; the
country is thinly peopled, and the impression of the visitor is that, in
some districts, railway stations are more numerous than villages. Round
Bennachie, however, the scenery is most pleasant and picturesque. The
villages of Oyne and Insch, in which hospitality to strangers is a
religion, are beautifully placed and well-foliaged all around. The
region is, indeed, one of romance, and the little brook of Gadie ripples
on in the radiance and glamour of pathetic song.


HARLAW.

Those who consider, like Ruskin, that the stories of the past add no
inconsiderable item to the beauty of a landscape, as it appears to the
eye and intelligence of modern observers, will not fail to remember the
momentous issues decided at no great distance from the foot of
Bennachie, in 1411. Teutonic and Celtic Scotland came to grips at
Harlaw, near by:--

    "The Hielandmen, wi' their lang swords,
      They laid on us fu' sair;
    And they drave back our merry men
      Three acres' breadth and mair.

      . . . . . . . . . .

    Gin anybody speer at ye
      For them we took awa',
    Ye may tell them plain and very plain,
      They're sleeping at Harlaw."

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Literary Tours in The Highlands and Islands of Scotland

Literary Tours in The Highlands and Islands of Scotland

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