B u c h a n a n .
M a r ^u i s s of
M o n t r o s e *
river Clyde form the principal waters. The mountains of Arran»,
pear very diftinft, and to the North Alps upon Alps fill ig¿ J
amazing view.
Return the fame way, and vifit Buchanan, the feat o f the Duke si
Montrofe, in alow and molt difadvantageous fituation, within a m¡|¡
o f the lake, without the left view of fo delicious a water. This«
been the feat o f the Buchanans for fix or feven ages, till it was pin,
chafed by the family of Montrofe, lbmetime in the laft centum
Trees grow well about the houfe ; and the country yields a good
deal o f barley and oats, fome potatoes, but very little wheat.
His grace has in his polfeffion a portrait of his heroic ancelfo
James Márquifs of Montrofe: his fix victories, great as they were,do
him lefs honor than his magnanimity at the hour of his death: kt
afcended the gibbet with a dignity and fortitude thatcaufed the ig.
nominy of his punifhment to vanilh: he fell with a gallant contempt
of the crueleft infults ; with that intrepid piety that blunted the
malice of his enemies, and left them filled with the confufion natural
to little minds, difappointed in the ftrained contrivances of mean
revenge.
It is amufing to read the weak effedts of fear, envy and rancour
in the reports o f the times : ‘ The witches (laid the wretched covenanters)
were confulted at his birth; it was predicted that the bop
would trouble Scotland', and while he was a fucking child (add
* they) he eat a venemous toad.’ *
Walk in the afternoon over the neighboring environs. See the
* Staggering ftate of Scots flatefmen, p. 14.
water
■ja ter of Enneric that difcharges itfelf here into the lake. Salmon
ill their annual migration pafs up the Leven, traverfe the lake, and
i:|bek this river to depofit their fpawn.
■The furface of Loch-Lomond has for feveral years paft been ob-
ferved gradually to increafe and invade the adjacent Ihore: and
there is reafon to fuppofe that churches, houfes, and other buildings
have been loft in the water. Near Lufs is a large heap of
ftones at a diftance from the Ihore, known by the name of the old
Ifcurchj and about a mile to-the South of that, .in the middle of
aRaro-e bay, between Camftraddan and the ifle Inch-lavenack, is ano-
itkr heap, faid- to have been the ruins o f a houfe. T o confirm
this it is evident by a paflage in Camden's Atlas Britannica, that
an ¡(land, exifting in his time, is now loft, for he fpeaks of .the
ifle of Camftraddan, placed between the lands of the fame name
apd Inch-lavanack, in which, adds he, was an houfe and orchard.
Betides this proof, large trees with their branches, ftill adhering
are frequently found in the mud near the ihore, overwhelmed in
former times by the increafe o f water. This is fuppofed to be
ofccafioned by the vaft quantities of ftone and gravel that is continually
brought down by the mountain rivers, and by the falls of
the banks of the Leven: the firft filling the bed of the lake ; the
laft impeding its difcharge through the bed of the river.
■ Mr. Golborne, at the requeft of the feveral proprietors, has
made a voyage and furvey of the lake, in order to plan fome relief
from the incroachment of the water. He propofes to form a
flonftant navigation down the Leven, by deepening the channel,
and cutting through the neck of two great curvatures, which will
not only enable the inhabitants of the environs of Loch-Lomond, to
A a convey
i l l 'I
L o c h - lomo nd *
I t s in c r e a s e »
P r o j b c t t o
LOWBR THE
SURFACE*