before us. From the edge of this lengthened cataract rise abrupt rocky acclivities, covered with moss and fern, whence shoot up tall slender ashes and elms. These partially veil two lichen-clad mural cliffs, converging towards the uppermost fall, above which they rear two high vertical lines: on the top of these cliffs, nod serried groves of pine and birch, while a row of airy birches wave on the slanting summit of the bank which closes in the rocky gap. The last and highest cascade is a perpendicular fall of about fifty feet, but possessing no particular interest." Burns, wishing to commemorate this fine place in verse, composed his well known song of the Birks of Aberfeldy. The form taken by the product of his muse, was ruled by a homely popular song, the air of which has been found in a musical collection of the time of the Commonwealth, and the theme of which is the invitation of a lover to his mistress to go with him to the Birks of Abergeldy-meaning a certain birch-bearing tract on the banks of the Dee in Aberdeenshire. Burns had only to alter a single letter in the chorus of this old ditty to make it suit his own song, which is here appended: "Bonnie lassie, will ye go, will ye go, will ye go, "Now simmer blinks on flowery braes, And o'er the crystal streamlet plays, Bonnie lassie, &c. "While o'er their heads the hazels hing, The little birdies blythly sing, Or lightly flit on wanton wing In the Birks of Aberfeldy. "The braes ascend like lofty wa's, The foaming stream deep-roaring fa's, The Birks of Aberfeldy. Bonnie lassie, &c. "The hoary cliffs are crown'd wi' flowers, Bonnie lassic, &c. "Let fortune's gifts at random flee, Supremely blest wi' love and thee. In the Birks of Aberfeldy. Bonnie lassie," &c. When visited by Burns, the beautiful domain of Moness was the property of a gentleman named Fleming. For the last forty years, it has belonged to the Breadalbane family. It is annually visited by an unintermittent succession of tourists. Anderson's Guide to the Highlands, p. 443 AUCHTERTYRE. . AUCHTERTYRE (or less correctly, though more generally, Ochtertyre)* is a place of famed beauty in Perthshire, situated on what may be described as the last and lowest terrace of the Highlands, with a view towards the more fertile south. By the readers of Burns it is to be carefully distinguished from another place of the same name, on the Teith, near Stirling, which the poet also visited, being then the residence of his friend Mr Ramsay. He visited Auchtertyre in Perthshire in 1787, apparently in the month of June, though this is a point on which we are somewhat uncertain. The proprietor, Sir William Murray, and his wife, lady Augusta Murray,† did all that lay within their enlightened and liberal natures to render the poet's stay in their house, which was of a few days' continuance, agreeable to him. In a letter to his friend Nicol, written from the house, he says, "I feel myself very comfortably situated in this good family; just enough of notice to make but not to embarrass me." There is some reason to think that the poet paid a second visit to Auchtertyre in the autumn of the same year; if such was the case, it would be doubtful if it was on this, or the second occasion, that the beautiful Euphemia Murray of Lintrose was present to add to the charms of one of the loveliest spots in Scotland. Certainly it was here that he met that young lady, who, as will be elsewhere more particularly indicated, was a near and favourite relation of Sir William, and frequently an inmate of his house. The muse of Burns was active at Auchtertyre. He celebrated the meek grace of Miss Murray in the song of "Blythe was she," and he poured forth the kindly feelings which he cherished for all that was beautiful and innocent in the lower walks of animated nature, by his "Verses on Scaring some Water-fowl in Loch-Turit,”Loch-Turit, as elsewhere stated, being a wild and romantic scene in the hills of Auchtertyre. me easy, The situation of Auchtertyre, on a richly wooded slope, on the sun-exposed side of Strathearn, about two miles from Crieff, is extremely fine. The present view is taken from a point on the east approach near the family mausoleum. In the lake, which is partly the work of art, there are several wooded islands, one of which bears the remains of an ancient fortalice, which perhaps the early proprietors found an useful defence against the freebooters of the neighbouring glens. There is good fishing in the lake, and excellent marle is found in it. The woods are of a noble character, both in extent and age, and are intersected by a vast number of carriage-drives and foot-paths, mostly the work of the late Sir Patrick (son of Burns's entertainer), who here lived for many years among his people, the very beau * Etymologically, the carpenter's field. This lady must have borne some interest in the eyes of our Jacobite bard, as one of the daughters of the Earl of Cromarty, who was out in the Forty-five, and had nearly forfeited his life on that occasion. When the unfortunate earl was condemned to suffer with Kilmarnock and Balmerino. his wife made strenuous personal exertions in his behalf, throwing herself at the king's feet, and beseeching also the intercession of the female members of the Royal Family. Lady Augusta, born a few months after the pardon was obtained, was found to bear a strange memorial of the anxieties of her mother, in the form of an axe imprinted by nature upon her neck. |