The Genius of Scotland; or, Sketches of Scottish Scenery, Literature and ReligionTurnbull, Robert
Religion
The Genius of Scotland; or, Sketches of Scottish Scenery, Literature and Religion
Turnbull, Robert
Scotland -- Description and travel
back, or overhanging, mounts beautiful in their bareness, for they are
green as emerald; others, scarcely more beautiful, studded with fair
trees, some altogether woods. They soon form into mountains, and the
mountains become more and more majestical, yet beauty never deserts
them, and her spirit continues to tame that of the frowning cliffs."
"The islands," continues Professor Wilson, from whom we make this fine
extract, "are forever arranging themselves into new forms, every one
more and more beautiful; at least so they seem to be, perpetually
occurring, yet always unexpected; and there is a pleasure even in such a
series of slight surprises that enhances the delight of admiration."
The southern part of the lake is the most beautiful, but the northern
the most sublime. The channel narrows, and the mountains rise higher and
higher, casting dark shadows into the water. For a moment it seems
gloomy, but high up in the mountains you discover spots of green; and
the sunlight glancing down, between the masses of shadow, lights up the
waves of the lake with a strange beauty, as if it were something purer
and more spirit-like than the beauty of the ordinary world.
But we will stop at the village of Luss, near the edge of the lake,
surrounded by mountain scenery, in some places rough and bleak, but
charmingly diversified by deep wooded glens, and romantic ravines.
The sun is sinking behind the western hills--the evening shadows are
resting in the vallies, while the tops of those craggy heights around us
are still burning with the last rays of departing day. We wander towards
the southern part of the parish, with feelings subdued by the
magnificent scenery which everywhere meets our gaze, and the solemn
stillness which reigns among the mountains, broken only by the tinkling
of a small stream winding its way to the lake, as if seeking a home in
its bosom, like the soul of a true Christian, which is ever tending
onward to the infinite and immortal. At length, while the sweet and long
continued "gloaming" of the Scottish summer envelopes everything in its
soft and dubious light, we reach the remains of a large cairn, a mound
of stones and earth, called "Carn-na-Cheasoig," the cairn of St. Kessog.
Here then, according to tradition, lies the dust of St. Kessog, who is
said to have suffered martyrdom near the site of this cairn, in the
sixth century, and who anciently was venerated as the guardian saint of
Luss. Was St. Kessog a true martyr? We trust he was, and can easily
imagine the cruel but triumphant death of the holy man. At such an hour,
and in such a scene, with the shadow of these great, sky-pointing
mountains, resting on our spirits, we might almost believe anything;
anything, at least, lofty and heart-stirring. It is not surprising that
the Highlanders are superstitious: but it is surprising that they are
not more religious. An infidel or a fanatic among the hills seems an
impossibility. Nor are the inhabitants of these high regions inclined
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