Excursion to Braeriach & Cairn Toul

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THE CAIRNGORM CLUB.

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EXCURSION

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THE

CAIRNGOR·M CLUB.

1'restbent-3ames :t3rece, 11.E>., .m.l).

0tce==1'restbents-llier <trufc'ksbank, 111D, anb lle�b. G. a Smttb. <tbatrman-llieranber <topianb.

Secretare1treasurerll. 3, il)'<tonnocbfe, <t.ll., llobert 1'ance, 54 Great 1Rllestem 1to�.

74 11lnfon Street.

74 UNION STREET,

ABERDEEN, 14th June, 1890.

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DEAR SIR, The Committee has arranged the SUMMER OUTING of the Members for MONDAY, 14th juLv-the Aberdeen Annual Holiday-to BRAERIACH and CAIRN TOUL. Mr. Norman G. Lampson, the lessee of the Rothie­ murchus Deer Forest, has very kindly given facilities to the Club for· the comfortable carrying out of the Excursion.

Boat of Garten Hotel will be the head-quarters on that occasion, and as the accommodation there., and in the Village is limited, the Committee has confined the Excursion to Members and, should arrangement s permit, to friends qualifying for membership.

Should you intend being present, please fill up the enclosed slip and return it to me by, at ,latest, 3oth INSTANT. A meeting of those proposing to. take part

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the Excursion will be called thereafter, when the arrangements will be completed.

The Railw ay Company will provide through' Carriages, which will be labelled '' Engaged-The Cairngorm Club."

The accompanying Monograph has been revised and approved by the Committee. Additional Copies may be had, price 1 /- each.

Those Members who have not paid their subscrip­ tions for the current year will please send payment to the Treasurer.

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Yours faithfully, ALEX. INKSON M'CONNOCHIE, Secretary

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PROGRAMME. MONDAY, 14th JULY, 1890.

3.35*p.m. Train leaves Aberdeen.

8.25 ,, ,, arrives at Boat of Garten.

8.45 ,, Supper at Hotel.

TUESDAY, 15th JULY, 5.30 a.m. Walk to Ferry across River Spey.

5.35 ,, Driv� from Ferry to Bothy at Little Bennie, Glen Eunach.

8.o ,, Arrive at Little Bennie Bothy.

9.0 ,, Leave do. to ascend Braeriach.

12.30 p.m. Arrive at summit of Braeriach. r.o ,, Leave for Cairn Toul.

3.0 " Arrive at summit of Cairn Toul.

3• I 5 " Leave for Loch Eunach.

5.45 ,, Arrive at Bothy at Loch Eunach.

6.45 " Carriages start from Loch Eunach Bothy v£a Loch an Eilean and Aviemore for Boat of Garten.

9.15 ,, Arrive at Boat of Garten.

9.30 ,, Supper at Hotel.

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WEDNESDAY, 16th JULY. 5.25 a.m. Train leaves Boat of Garten.

11.35 ,, ,, arrives at Aberdeen.

10.25 ,, Train leaves Boat of Garten.

3.15 p.m. ,, arrives at Aberdeen.

Note.-Should a sufficient number wish to go on to Braemar from Cairn Toul, instead of returning to Boat of Garten, the Se,cretary will arrange for their con­ veyance from Derry Lodge to Castleton of Braemar.

* The Railway Time Tables for July being not yet prepared, there may be slight changes.

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EXCURSION TO TAP A' NOTH. The AUTUMN OUTING of the Club has been fixed for the Aberdeen Autumn Holiday, MONDAY, 22ND SEPTEMBER, to TAP A' N 0TH. A complete Programme will be duly issued.

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BRAERIACH AND CAIRN TOUL.

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IRE mount.a.ins B�eriach and Ca!rn Toul �ank sec<?nd and �bird for height of the Carmgorm range-Ben Mm� h Dhm and C_a1�gorm being first and fourth respectively-while Ben Nevis 1s t�e only other mount.a.in in the British Isles which overtops them. . In this Monograph-which is the second issued to the members of the Carmgorm Club, Mount Keen having been the first-it is proposed to give_ an account of Braeriach and Cairn Toul, to be followed, as Excursions require them, by other Monographs, whereby it is intended that a tolerably complete description of the mountain range from which the Club takes its name will be presented to the members. This will, it is believed, so far meet one of the objects of the club-" the publication of any work on the Cairngorm mountains the Committee may deem suitable."

Braeriach and Cairn Toul stretch from north-west to south-east from near the mouth of Glen Eunach in the Forest of Rothiemurchus in Invernessshire to Glen Geusachan, a tributary Glen of Glen Dee in the great Forest of Mar in Aberdeenshire. The eastern boundary sepa­ rating them from their neighbours, Ben Muich Dhui and Cairngorm, is the Learg Ghruamach, often simply called the '' Larig " (Pass), and Glen Dee, while the western boundaries are Glen Eunach and a high table land, perhaps the highest in the British Isles of such extent, sloping on the west to Glen Feshie. The southern boundary is Glen Geusachan.

Braeriach drains both into the Spey and the Dee, but Cairn Toul sends its streams to the Dee only. They will be treated of at length individu­ ally in the Monograph ; a few remarks also being made about the other points to be Yisited in the course of the Excursion.* The Cairngonn mountains have probably received that name from the ancient inhabitants of the valley of the �pey. They are seen from a lower level above the sea, and thus appear to much better advantage, and to the eye bulk more largely in extent and height on that side than they do when looked at from Deeside. t The great highland road from Perth to Inverness, passing for so many miles along their northern base and affording magnificent views of their grandeur, has doubtless contributed to individualise the group, there being no such thoroughfare along them on the Braemar side; and Cairngorm itself being so prominent has sug­ gested a name to the range at a time when the heights of mountains had not been ascertained. Indeed it was not till so late as 1810 that the heights of the loftiest Caimgonns were measured or approximately ascertained. The Rev. George Skene Keith, D.D., Minister of Keithhall, made in that year two surveys with very satisfactory results, using no other instruments than the mercurial barometer and spirit level. The Ordnance Trigonometrical Survey p roves how carefully his observations ��n��J

• The whole ground to be visited in the Excursion is contained in the map of the Upper Spey and Braemar District, 2 miles to 9D inch; and the 1 mile to an inch O.S. map II Sheet 74-Grantown" contains the ground from Boat of Garten to Loeb Mhie Ghille-cbaoile in Glen Eunaeh," Sheet 64-Kingussie '' containing the remainder. t The Dee in the neighbourhood or the Linn is nearly 600 feet higher than the Spey at Aviemore.

6 C •rngorm signifies the blue cairn or mountain, and, while the name canno:�e called inappropriate �nder certain at�ospheric c?nditions, the bluish tint of a distant mou1;1t3:m cannot. be claimed as bemg a special eculiarity of this range, as It IS of not mfrequent occurrence on other �ountains in the Hig �ands. . The. older name, �owever, was Monadh­ ruadh (the red mountams), d�r1_ ved from t�e r�dd1sh col�ur of the granite and its rough debris so consp1c10us on their higher portions and torrent­ scarred slopes. But this name has f=;t,llen into desuetude and has been dropped out of modern ma_Ps,. though Its counte�part, Monadh-liath (the grey mountains), as descr1pt1ve of the mountams. to the north-west of Aviemore is still retained for the lower mountam range composed of grey gnie;s and schists between the valleys of the Spey and the Findhorn, and which stretches towards the upper end of Loch Ness. It may be noted here that the great flood of 1829 was caused mainly by a deluge of rain that fell on the Monadh-ruadh and Monadh-liath mountains.

The Cairngorm mountains suggest to many the existence of Cairn­ gorm stones, or simply Cairngorms as they are generally called, a black, brown; and yellow variety of the mineral quartz found in granite and alluvium. Cairngorms, however, have not now the value which they once had, translucent crystalline stones of a similar character suitable for ornamental jewellery, &c., being now found in other countries, so the search for them, which at one time bad almost reached the dignity of an industry, has ceased, except in a desultory manner.

In the end of the last and the beginning of the present century many persons might have been seen digging for these stones, some on their own account, others as hired labourers, the latter at the then extraordinary wage of 21 s. a week. In those days such efforts were not taxed by artificial restrictions, for neither royalty nor rent was then paid to any one-except to the proprietor of Ben Muich Dhui, who, according to Nicol's G11ology of Scotland (1844), received £150 to £200 annually for liberty to search for these crystals. On Cairngorm itself from one little "mine", about 15 feet in diameter and 5 feet in depth, no less than £75 was realized in one summer. Ben Avon also produced a species of beryl; one specimen, now at Invercauld House, being valued at no less a sum than £1000. Other specimens of these precious stones are reported to have been valued at £500 each, and one crystal was cut into nearly £400 worth of jewellery by an Edinburgh lapidary. Braeriach itself was noted as " the resort of gem-collectors of the Cairngorm quartz."

For some time people flocked in whole familes during the summer months to search for these stones, the counties of Aberdeen, Inverness, and Perth furnishing contingents, and London jewellers also came north to purchase the then popular gems. Like most other mining industries of that nature the results were variable and uncertain though the search was. gone about in a systematic manner, many ac�s of mountain soil havmg been turned ?Ver in �he quest. The artificial features thereby lef_t have been not a httle puzzling to the mountaineer, not a few traces bemg see� on Ben Avon. In the lower fork of its summit-burn, Allt an Eas Mhoi� (the burn of the big waterfall may be seen the ruins of a house whi�h was the temporary residen), over yet sevent y years ago of _a ce party of mmers? no less than eigh,t to have met their reported are whom of �eaths from a disease said to have been contracted through drinking the impure (perhaps from decay ing organic matter) water of the moun tain burns. �

NOTE ON THE GEOL OGY OF THE CAIRNGORM MOUNTAINS. These mountains consist of coarse-grained granite, which is corn-

7 p�ed of flesh-coloured <:ommon felspar, dark grey quartz, and black mica, the latter often m small quantity. The felspar forms above half the mass, and occurs in concretions up to an inch in diameter. It is almost exclusively in the fragments or detritus of the rock lying on the surface that large crystals of quartz, called Cairngorms, have been found.

The rock where exposed, especially in the protuberances and the upper parts_ _of the corries, has been split into tabular masses. By weathering 1t d1smtegrates and crumbles into fragments, the felspar decomposing an� _being washed away. In the beds of torrents the felspar becomes wh1t1sh. The slopes of the mountains and bases of the precipices abound in fallen blocks and disintegrated fragments of the rock. Large areas of the mountain surface are paved, as it were, with flat slabs of the granite and covered with angular gravel and sand, mixed often with fragments of rock,. the whole being remarkable for desolation and scanty vegetation. Not a fiftieth part of the top of Ben Muich Dhui is covered with plants, and the tops_ of Braeriach and Cairn Toul are nearly as barren. The mountam tops and sides abound in springs of pure and limpid water, the rills from which unite into streams, which, enlarged by rains and melting of snow, carry down the rock debris. Dr. A. Geikie, in speaking of the Caimgorms, postulates a lofty granitic plateau, which, by the action of air, heat and cold, ice and water, has been worn down to its present inequalities of surface, viz. :-rounded and flattish mountain tops forming parts of the original plateau, and much more wasted deep intervening rugged glens, ravines, and corries: The waste of the rock and its abrupt vertical joints combine to form a wide smooth table land of hill tops with grand lofty cliffs often 2000 feet high. The 100 square miles between the Feshie and the Quoich comprise the widest area of the wildest scenery in Britain, which contains no other area of the same size of so great a mean height above the sea level. In mean height above the sea the next highest 100 square miles in Britain is the tract of country just to the south, and opposite �e Cairngorms, and comprising the mountains and table lands from Lochnagar to Beinn a' Ghlo, An Sgarsoch, and Beinn Dearg. These two hundred square miles, the highest (on the mean) in Britain, surround the upper part of the valley of the Dee. Accumulations of gravel and sand in mounds, ridges, &c., occur in the glens and ravines of the Cairngorms similar to those near the east coast between Belhelvie and Nigg, which Agassiz in 1840 pronounced to be Glacial Moraines, and Mr. F. J. Jamieson, F.G.S., Ellon, has traced along the Dee similar accumulations, which are very conspicuous at certain intervals where the Dee valley Glacier halted for a time in its disappearance up the valley, and which he regards as the remains of the last stage of the Glacial Period in North Britain.

A. C.

PLANTS FOUND ON BRAERIACH AND CAIRN TOUL.

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By JOHN ROY, LL.D.* Thalictrum apinum-alpine meadow rue.

Ranunculis acris-alpine form-upright meadow crow-foot.

Caltha palustris, var-minor-common marsh marygold.

Arabia petrrea-alpine rock cress.

Cochlearia Grrenlandica-a variety of common scurvy grass.

(Subularia aquatica._:_Should be looked for, Loch Eunach).-water awl-wort.

• Most of the species which are general over tiv, country are omitted, otherwise the list is believed to be pretty complete. The mire peculiarly alpine species are printed in italics.

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8 Viola pa.Iustris-marsb vioJet. Silene acaulis:-:-moss ?ampion. o Sagina saxatilis--alpm� pearl:w rt..

Cerastium alpinum-hairy alpme chick-weed. ompactum-.�road l�aved alpin� chick-weed. c. latifolium var-�icum, and nu:ale-,stit?hwort chick-weed.

C. tri,qynum, arct_ od crane s bill.

-wo ticum Geranium sylva s.. drya ite -wh etala Dryas ortop ountai� brn:mble or cloud berry. m�rus-m Chamre Rubus _ Potentilla alpestris-orange alpme cmque-foil. do.

P. Tormentilla-tormentil P. sibbaldia-procumbent sihbaldia.

Alchemilla alpina-alpine lady's mantle.

Epilobium alsin�folium-chickweed leaved willow-her b.

E. alpinum-alpine willow-herb..

Montia fontana-water blinks.

Sedum Rhodiola-rose-root stonecrop.

Saxifraga stellaris-starry saxifrage.

S. niva/is-alpine-clustered saxifrage.

S. oppositifolia-purple mountain saxifrage.

S. rivu/aris-alpine brook saxifrage.

Cornus suecfra--dwarf cornel.

Galium saxatile-smooth heath bed-straw.

Scabiosa succisa-devil's-bit scabious.

Apargia autumnalis-autumnal hawk-bit.

Leontodon Taraxacum-common dandelion.

Hieracium ; many species. The head-quarters of the Alpine forms.

-hawk-weed.

Saussurea alp£na-alpine saussurea.

Gnaphalium supinum-dwarf cudweed.

Erigeron alp inw?-alpine flea-bane.

Solidago virgaurea, var.-common golden-rod.

Campanula rotundifolia-hairbell.

(Lobelia Dortmanna. Is it in Loch Eunach ?)-water-lobelia.

Vaccinium Myrtillus-blaeberry.

V. uliginosum-bog whortleberry.

V. Vitis Idrea-cranberry, or red whortleberry.

V. Oxycoccos ?-marsh whortleberry or cranberry.

Azalea procumbens-trailing azalea.

Arctostaphylos Uva-ursi ?-red bear-berry.

Veronica serpyllifolia var. humifusa-thyme-leaved speedwell.

V. alpina-alpine speedwell.

Euphrasia officinalis-common eyebright.

Utricularia intermedia-intermediate bladderwort.

Armeria maritima-common sea pink.

Polygonum viviparum ?-viviparous alpine bistort.

Rumex Acetosa-common sorrel.

Oxyria ren(formis-kidney-leaved mountain-sorrel.

Empetrum nigrum-black crowberry.

Betula nan.a-dwarf birch.

Salix L�pl?onum-downy willow.

S. Myrsinite.�-small tree willow.

S. Herbacea-least willow.

Junil?erus communis, var. nana-common juni'per.

Orchis _ maculata spotted palmate orchis. :Tofleldia palustris -mountain Scottish asphodel.

Juncus trzjidus-trifl.d rush J. triglumis-three-fl.owered rush.

9 Luzula campestris-field wood-rush.

L. a,·cuata-curved mountain wood-rush.

L. spicata-spiked mountain wood-rush.

Narthecium ossifragum-bog-asphodel.

Scirpus crespitosus-scaly-stalked club-rush.

Eriophorum vaginatum-hare-tail cotton-grass.

E. angustifolium-narrow-leaved cotton-grass.

Carex pulicaris-flea sedge.

C. curta, var. a/pico/a-white sedge.

C. lagopina-hare's-foot sedge.

C. atrata-black sedge.

C. rigi'da-rigid sedge.

C. saxatilis-russet sedge.

C. binervis-green-ribbed sedge.

C. vaginata-short brown-spiked sedge.

C. panicea-pink-leaved sedge.

C. capillaris-dwarf capillary sedge.

C. pilulifera-round-headed sedge.

Nardus stricta-common mat-grass.

Alopecurus a/pinus-alpine fox-tail-grass.

Phleum alpinum-alpine cat's-tail-grass.

Agrostis vulgaris-fine bent-grass.

Aira crespitosa, tJiviparous form-tufted hair-grass.

A. alp£na-smooth alpine hair-grass.

A. flexuosa, var. montana-waved hair-grass.

Molinia crerulea-purple molinia.

Melica nutans-mountain melic-grass.

Poa pratensis, var. creru/ea-smooth-stalked meadow-grass.

P. alpi'na-alpine meadow-grass.

Festuca ovina, var. v£mpara-sheep's fescue-grass.

Avena alpi'na '/-alpine oat.

Polypodium Phegopteris-pale mountain polypody.

P. Dryopteris-tender three-branched polypody.

Pseudathyrium apestre-alpine polypody.

Polystichum Lonchi'ti's-holly fern.

Lastrrea Oreopteris-sweet mountain fern.

L. Filix-mas-male fern.

L. dilatatum-shield fern.

Cystopteris fragilis-brittle bladder fern.

Asplenium vfride-green spleenwort.

Athyrium Filix foomina-lady spleenwort.

Cryptogramma crispa. (3900 feet on Cairn Toul).-parsley fern.

Blechnum boreale-hard blechnum.

Lycopodium annoti'num-interrupted clubmoss.

L. alpinum-alpine clubmoss.

L. selago and selaginoides-fir clubmoss and lesser clubmoss.

Isoetes lacustris-European quillwort.

B OA T

B

OF

GA R TE N.

OAT OF GARTEN STATION (706 feet above sea level) is 101 miles from Aberdeen by the Great North of Scotland Railway g (Strathspey �ection), 55} miles from Inverness and 88½ miles

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a!ld 61 m_iles as the crow flies wes .R�ilway, from Perth by the Highland t­ the !n 1s t united parish: of Duthil* and Rothie­ ! . . n ee_ Aberd north-west of a�other _ um�ed parish, Aberneth murchus, the Spey d1v1d1�g it.from till 87� h, m E�gmsh1re, now in Inverne si­ paris The e. ardin } and Kinc 2�s mil es, of with a breadth of 10! miles, a gth len e rem ext an shire, has ntle� cou Here . the Great North joins the som� than nt exte greater Highland Ra!lway, runnmg alongside fo_r a�out 3 miles after the Spey has been crossed. At present on _the mam line of the Highland Railway, it will, at no distant date,. fin? itself stranded on a branch-when the A viemore to Inverness section 1s completed. There is a 8mall village with a nice comfo rtable hote� (newly enlarged), to the west of the station' all sprung up since the openm� �f the Railway in 1863. The hotel wa� visited by the Empress Eugenie m 1872, the Empress landing there at an early hour on a Sunday rnorninp,, finding, howe,•er, the accommodation in­ ferior to what she had expected. �er Majesty the Queen passed by the village, at the distance of about a mile, on her" First Great Expedition" to Glen Feshie and Grantown in 1860, making a short halt at Drumullie, a small roadside inn now closed on account of the diversion of traffic' about a mile north of the station.

The Village is about two miles to the east of the Inverness and Perth road and stands at a height of between 700 and 800 feet above sea level. The country in the immediate neighbourhood might be considered somewhat flat and uninteresting, but it is a capital place to spend a holiday. The mountaineer, indeed, could desire nothing better; for the Cairngorm mountains are in full -view to the south-east and south.

There is a post and telegraph office in the Village. As may be inferred from the name, there is a ferry over the Spey, horses and carriages also being ferried over, a platform on two boats, worked by a chain, being used for that purpose.

BOAT OF

GARTEN

TO

COYLUM

BRIDGE.

(VIA THE FERRY.)

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\HE distance from Boat of Garten to Loch Eunach, where the carriage road ends, by Coylum Bridge, is, as the crow flies, n�arly - 12 miles. The route is southerly all the way, and tolerably direct, the actual length being estimated at about 14 miles. From Boat of Garten to Coylum Bridge the distance is 7 miles. . .

Having crossed the Spey, the parish of Abernethy-Kincardme 18 entered. Loch Garten, a good trouting loch, is about 1½ miles t� the eastward, through the wood which reaches down here almost to the Spey.

T�e old �hurch of Kincardine (or Kinchardine-said to mean the clan of friends) 1s passed on the left nearly three miles from the Ferry. A few yards beyond the church the Miltun Burn joins the Spey. The road to Loch Morlich and Glenm ore Lodge mostly lies along the left bank of this stream, leaving the Speyside road fully a quarter of a mile beyood the church.

There are not a few families in the parish of Abernetby-�incardin� of the name of " Cameron," known as of the " Sliochd na'n g11lean mao dubh" (race of the black bonnetless lads). Originally they came from Lochaber where Lochiel was a chieftain among chieft ains, though n ot �ea r­ * Duthil=Tuathil, North. The old name of the parish, however, was Gie nch . mch (Gleann a Cheatternich), the Heroes' Glen.

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haps over-endowed with readily convertible means. Tradition accounts for the Camerons' appearance here by the marriage of the "Baron of Kincardine" with one of Lochiel's daughters. She was dowered with, and accompanied to Kincardine by, a dozen of her father's numerous clansmen, and as they dispensed with a head-covering they were distin­ guished as maol, bald or bonnetless, with the addition of dubh, dark or black-haired, from their complexion. In the fullness of years the Loch­ aber lady died, and as she had expressed a desire to sleep in her native earth, the" Baron" contented himself with sending for a couple of creel­ fulls of Lochaber soil, and, so satisfying the claims of conscience, interred her in Kincardine churchyard, where her grave is still known as "The Baron Lady's Vault." The " Baron of Kincardine " was of the Royal Family of Stewart,· being a descendent of the famed Wolf of Badenoch.

John Roy Stewart, commonly known as Colonel Roy Stewart, the famous Gaelic soldier and poet, was born in the year 1700 at Knock of Kincardine, which is passed about l½ miles north-by-east of the church of Kincardine. His ancestors were the Barons of Kincardine. The Barony remained in the family for ten descents and was transferred(?) by the colonel's grandfather,in whose lifetime it became the property of the Gordon family. Colonel Roy Stewart became an officer in the British Army, but having strong Jacobite proclivities he left it and took part in the 17 45 Rebellion. In the Pretender's short and disastrous campaign he attained a great reputation for his feats of daring and martial exploits. After Culloden he had to seek safety in France, but hid for some time in Uaimh Iain Rhuaidh (John Roy's Cave) on Craiggowrie, a hill on the east side of the Milton Burn. The last of his race, in the per:;on of an old lady, died in Kincardine about 30 years ago.

About 1:1- miles above the church, Loch Phituilais, on the east side of which is Callort Hill, is reached, the road keeping between the loch and the Spey. It is a narrow loch, about 5 furlongs in length. The boundary between Abernethy-Kincardine and Duthil-Rothiemurchus, and the property of the Duke of Richmond and Gordon and Sir J.P. Grant of Rothiemurchus, crosses the upper end of the loch proceeding north-westward to the Spey. Coylum Bridge (Coylum=narrow leap) is a neat stone bridge over the Druie, with a small hamlet in the vicinity.

The Druie is formed by the junction, a few yards above the Bridge, of two streams, the "River" Luineag from Loch Morlich, and the Allt na Beinne Moire from Loch Eunach, with a noted tributary from the Learg Ghruamach,* the Allt na Leirg Gruama.ich. The latter stream rises near the Inverness-Aberdeen watershed at the greatest elevation of the Pass, to the northwards of the(popular) Wells of Dee.

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ROTH I EM UR CHU S.

fi OTHIEMURCHUS, now a quoad sacra, was, till its junction with � Duthil, a quoad civilia parish, and is in the county of Inverness, - - on the right bank of the Spey. Three glens converge on the lower ground-Glen More, Learg Ghruamach, and Glen Eunach. The sole landowner is Sir John Peter Grant, K.C.B., G.C.M.G. (Lieut. Governor * At the time the Cairngorms were known as Monadh-ruadh, this Pass was also known (very appropriately) as Larig-ruadh-the red pass. Even at that time, some fifty years ago, the task of bringing cattle through this Pass was considered difficult and dangerous.

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and Gov�mor of Jamaica, 1866-1873) of Rothie­ f Bengal, 1859-1862,sion house 1s know!l as the " Doune," situated on the �urchus. His man ey about tw� m!les south-south-west of Aviemore ri ht bank of the Sp d Church 1s �1st�nt about half a mile south from st!tion. The Establishe e . Church 1s �1tuated on the left bank of the the" Donne," and the Fre _ sta.��on. The name of the parish· is Druie fully a mile from. Av1emore pm l of tal �s said to signify " the plam ct Rothiem of aspe and �rchus are unsurpassed. On its tion The situa e rocky great mence of Craigellachie, while on the is � there border north the Ca1 by mgorm ded range. Diversified with boun is it the south and hi tarns, hla nd in mount � burns, � brattling _ lochs �nd clad here and there with pine and birch, and abound�ng m mountams and glens, the beautiful, the picturesque,. and the sublime are so harmoniously blended that the very name, Rothiemurchus, suggests all that is attractive in highland scenery. A sept of the famed Clan Chattan, the Shaws, formerly possessed the district. Indeed, tradition has it that Shaw Sgor-fhiaclach, Shaw of the buck teeth, whose dust it is believed lies in the R.othiemurchus churchyard, was at the head of the party of the Clan Chattan, who in 1396 fought so ferociously on the North Inch of Perth. The Shaws also from this quarter, to the number of fourteen, fought at Harlaw in 1411 on the side of Donald, Lord of the Isles.

As shewing the deadly strife that sometime subsisted between the Shaws and the Grants, who ultimately acquired the district, tradition says that one of the latter on his death-bed asked to be buried near the gate of the Rothiemurchus churchyard-the Shaws' burying ground being well within-so that at the resurrection he might have an opportunity of making good his escape from his inveterate enemies I According to the Sportsman's Guide Rothiemurchus Deer Forest extends to about 19,000 acres, and is capable of yielding yearly from 50 to 60 stags and 150 brace of grouse, besides other highland game.

GLEN

EUNACH.

£. T Coylum Bridge the road proceeds eastward to Glen More and M. Loch �orlich (near which the carriages stopped in the Club's

- - Excursion last summer); westward to Aviemore station, and southward to Glen Eunach. Crossing the Druie the Glen Eunach r�ad keeps bY_ the b:i,n�s of Allt na Beinne Moire (burn of the big mou�tam) or Benm� as it 1s better known, the latter name being a corrup�1on of the spellmg and an approximation of the pronounciation of Bumne, a stream. As_ the glen road is entered a little gate on the right may be noted. It is t�� e�trance to the path leading to Learg G�ruamach, now mark�d by a Rights of Way " direction post. The high ground on the nght (wes�) is Tulloch Grue. . . Th� Roth1emurchus Forest is now fairly entered on. The comcal hill facmg the north is Carn (2435), situated in the angle e formed by the Bennie and theElrick* Allt na Leirg Gruamaich ; on th e opposite ('!"est) side of the Bennie es h !

3). is Cadha Mort (231 two summits guard the entrance to Glen of e sid st ea Eunach. On the "' From some points of view not unlik e. lion couchs.nt. e scs.r ms.de by s.n " s.vals.ncbe " ms.y be s een on Oadha Mor on the p the glen.

. ws.y ut A recent

13

I

Carn Elrick is the Learg Ghruamach, the great hi,qhway in olden times between Speyside and Deeside. To the south of Carn Elrick is a good deal of flattish high ground between the two glens (Glen Eunach and Learg Ghruamach) which, when the late Earl of Stamford and Warring­ ton leased the Glen More and Rotbiemurchus Forests, was used as a " Sanc­ tuary." On one occasion as many as from 2000 to 3000 stags were seen here together. Having passed Carn Elrick on its west side we :find ourselves in a treeless glen, a solitary straggler here and there now telling of the glen once tree-clad throughout. Nearly a mile beyond Carn Elrick the road, a fairly good carriage one made by the late Lord Stamford, crosses the Bennie and keeps to its right bank.

Just before this crossing a little burn, Allt Ruigh na Sroine (the red burn of the nose), joins the Bennie on the left bank, near a hillock which represents the '' Sron." At the foot of this hillock there was formerly a shieling where some sixty years ago a man mentally weak left what clothes he had, and was never heard of again. Near the source of the Allt Ruigh na Sroine, at a height of about 2710 feet is the so-called Clach Mhic Ailein (Mac-allum [More'sJ stone), a rocky hump on Inch­ riach, but nearly a quarter of a mile further to the north is a nameless cairn (2766 feet) a few feet to the north-west of which is a large rock generally known as the '' Argyle Stone," so named also in Robertson's Aberdeen, Banff, Kincardine, &c., Map (1822). Here the Earl of Argyll halted with bis army before the battle of Glen Livet, where he encountered and was defeated by the '' Popish Lords," headed by the Earl of Huntly in 1594. Tradition says that Argyll breakfasted here on the occasion.

In some maps it is named the Earl of Athole's Stone, Athole having accompanied Argyll. According to the New Statistical Account, an Earl of Athole fleeing took shelter behind a large stone near the summit of Inchriach, called to this day, in allusion to this event, Clach Mhic Allan, the Earl of Athole's Stone. Her Majesty the Queen says (in her Leaves):" Lord Alexander Russell.........showed us ' The Duke of Argyll's Stone'-& cairn on the top of a hill to our right, celebrated as seems most probable, from the Marquis of Argyll having halted there with his army."

On the west the '' Argyle Stone" bill slopes down to Glen Feshie.

Shortly after crossing the Bennie we pass on the left Dr. Quain's Well, and soon reach the junction of the Allt na Beinne Bige (the burn of the little mountain), otherwise the Little Bennie, with the Bennie.

The Little Bennie takes its rise in Loch Coire an Lochain and the northern corries of Braeriach, so why it should have been so named is not very apparent. Here there is a keeper's sbieling with a stable while on the other side of the Bennie is Loch Mhic Gbille-chaoile (the loch of the slender black boy), where a party of cattle lifters were overtaken.

In the skirmish that ensued one of the pursuers was killed-hence the name of the loch. Lately an old dirk was found close to its banks.

Touching the sbieling Our Tour (1880)-a very interesting little work describing mountain excursions by two gentlemen, well known as mem­ bers of the Cairngorm Club, who thinly disguise themselves under the pseudonyms of Dryas Octopetela and Thomas Twayblade, has something to say:-

,, Alon� the snowy diadem resting on the black rocky brows of lofty Braeriach thick clouds of mist roll down the glen of the Allt na Beinne Bige towards us........... .

Imagine with what satisfaction we now descried on the south bank of the stream a comfortable-looking shieling, to which we hastened, sure of a highland and cordial welcome. We knocked at the hospitable door in our politest manner-no response. At length (for what restraints can necessity be �ound by?) we looked through the win� dows at the elysium of comfort within, flattenmg our noses against the window-panes and making mental inventories of the stoneware and culinary utensils, so tantalisingly pe�son had inexcusably neglected to leave placed out of our reach. S_ome tl10ughtless _ the key in the door, and an 1mpo s�g and abommably honest lock barred our ingress. .........So for us the night, damp, dismal, and uncomfortable was fast settling down The red deer came down the ravine from the corries....... ,-.of Braeriach to feed around

14 own the glen. But we slept the sleep of· the ling mi st folledg d ood fires, a.nd supera.bunda.nce ot bed clothes nd the thick drizz w in a.z b 8 hot 8 nt delusion!" a. s '!1:;ta dreaming of plea a. t P wha. d o i n the wil s f Ba.den?i° · b e this shiel ing a l arger one is r eached near the es a

'if

About two mi ��h where the carriage road ends. There is a lower end of Loch Eun eat ground' below t he loch which renders the c?nsiderable extent�[kfn Jownwards, rathe r uninteresting, but l?oking view of the le , and its sides all is grand and mag�ificent. towards the :ead Of the foch the middle of the glen, is w orthy of more The black_ bog, h ever' in c as from the number of tree roots and stumps than _passmg �o/: this portion· of the glen was at • • standing erect m ithe' bog ' it is obvious .... ere d wi· th pme · . ns, o cov one ti.me, and und er different conditi

LO C H

E UN A C H.

EUNACH is at th head f th gl n f that name at an ILOCHa titude f feet ab v sea eve : It li s al°:'ost du� n rth and l

o

1650

e o e

e

o

l

l

e o e

o

� south in the Rothiemurchus portion of Duth1l-Roth1emurchus, having a length of about 1¾ miles, with a breadth of 2� furlo ngs. At the northern end may yet be seen the remains of a sluice, which was in operation when the Rothiemurchus forest was being cut down, th e loch being dammed up so as to accumulate sufficient water to float down the timber to the Spey at Aviemore. There is a considerable extent of very fine sand at this end, but at th e upper end it appears o nly as gravel, showing " which way the [prevailing] wind blows." The waters are gathered from the mountains that bound, almost grasp, the loch ; on the east the mighty Braeriach, on th e west the rocky wall (well-named Sgoran Dubh, the black peaks) which extends along the whole length of the loch and rises 2000 feet abo ve it, the highest point being 3658 feet. On the south it is shut in by rocks in much the same manner as the upper end of Loch Avo n, to whieh, indeed, it bears in many ways a certain resemblance.

Its principal feeder is a stream that tumbles headlong in "break-neck" falls from Lochan nan Cnapan (the lochlet of the Knaps-wel l named) a mi le and a quarter from the hea.d of the loch. A smaller burn also enters at the southern end, call ed Allt a' Choire Odhair rising a little to the south of the highest top of Sgoran Dubh, and east of 'earn Ban (3443). Braeriach sends a small stream, the Coire Gound Burn enters the loch on its e!Lst side half a mile from its outlet.le Eundchwhich is co rrect spelling, the bu� it often appears in different forms owing to the pronu iation, eun bemg pronounced enn, Eunach meaning abo undin in birds nc are to Charr g . be found in the loch in great abundance n o less than twenty dozen having been_ caught by one rod in a few hodrs ,.and tro ut are very plentiful, despite the fact that the Sportsman's Guid e dismisses this loch as "of no great fishing importance."

Lochan nan Cnapan lies at a ight of nearly 3000 feet above sea he lev�l, and thus bears much the same relation to Loch Eunach as Lochan Buidhe does to_ Loch Avon. Bo the th th sources of considerable Spey tributari e se loGhlets ,may be considered es-t e Avon from Lochan Buidhe h and the Druie from Lochan nan Cna At the upper end of the loch, pan. on the right bank of the Lochan

na� Cnapa� Burn, there is a large stone, some twen which, havmg doubtless fallen many years ago fromty tons in weight, the crags at th south-east. end of the loch, _moved in 1873 a short dista nce loc�, turmng OTer several times, the scars on the ground nearer th! noticeable. . The pre�sure of snow is believed to have being still cause of this, othe�wise, mysterious movement. Jn the been the vicinity is found the !,>es� feeding ground for deer in the Rothiemurchus forest.

In the begmnmg of t�e pr�se�t century all around this neighbourho was a great s_heep grazmg d1str1ct, and the remains of several sheph od erds' h uts may s_till be s�en, the mountains and glens herP, and for a con­ _ siderable d1sta!1ce mto Aberdeenshire even, being let to Badenoch farm.ere.

Cur1ousl� e!1ough, deer were plentiful in Rothiemurchus previous to the begmnmg of the century, but they had to gitte way to sheep.

A Grant of Rothiemurchus was born at the head of Loch Eunach in a summer shieling, the ruins of which are still visible close to the l �rge stone just me�tioned, receiving the name, from the place of his birth, of John of C01re Odhar. ·ne entered the army, and having made a moderate competence, left money to build Coylum Bridge and a house at the head of . L<><;h Eunach, which .,;hould always have meal in it. The latter part of his Wish was not, however, carried out, for fear of disturbing the deer.

Loch Eunach, with its bounding mountains, is a magnificent sight, and a few hours can very pleasantly be spent by its margin. Its sur­ roundings are superior in grandeur to even Loch Avon-the engirdling mountains being much steeper than those of the "river loch." Some even prefer Loch Eunach for its solitary �randeur and rock-bound situation to the famed Loch Coruisk of Skye. The artist, George Fenwell Robson, says, in his Scenery of the Grampian Mountains published in 1814 (a valuable work in which the Cairngorms get full justice), of Loeb Eunach that its '' bold and dreary shores rival in grandeur those of Loch Avon."

So steep are the Sgoran Dubh towards the loch on its west side that one dare not stand on the very summit-the writer at least had to content himself with a less dignified position and view the loch face downwards. And what a view, looking down an almost sheer height of 2000 feet. On that occasion it was calm above, but the wavefl on the loch below shewed that the wind was not at rest there.

" Some of the rocky peaks on the west side appear as if they were about to topple over a.nd the probability is that after a few more storms part of them will fall to the loch below as ma.ny of the rocks there have done in times past. These rocks 110 overhang the l�ch that when on the top of them it appears as though one could jump right down on to the centre of the loch. The view there is very fine-the pros­ pect being little inferior to Braeriach-and pieces of r�ck may be detached by the tourist and sent thundering down to the loch. It sometimes happens that a strong wind may blow up along the glen and the loch, making a loud, rushing noise, and yet at the top of these rocks there may be perfect stillness-so rapidly do local changes of weathP.r take place at such altitudes. On the rocks there may not be a brea.th of air, but by leaning over them the rushing of the wind has been distinctly felt." * u Speaking of rugged strands, find us (says Our T'!"r) it you can, a better sample of nature's brobidignagian pitching tha� that �hich Imes the eastern shore of Loch the Eunach. These granite blocks a.re...... disposed m a rough sort of causeway along ahore of the lake and afford much better footing than the long heather, or soft, boggy ou�lying ground forming the adjoining banks. These stones have.r?lled from thegran the es smtegrat the lake d of ... �te by wash constant ! the ank and h, of Braeriac 11. the m ess first_p:r:oc the parts, bemg that softer the out gradually wearing and washing production of the rough and fine sand found at the ends of the loch and m its sheltered bays."

On Sgoran Dubh, a little to the north of the source of the Allt a'

and His Neighbour, : * Thie and one or two other passages are from " Ben Muic?i Dhui en.

Aberde nochie, I. A. McCon by ins,'' Mounta A Guide to the Cairngorm

16

Sgor . between s or Dubh Mor* on the north and Choire Odha1r and m be see� at a height of about 3550 feet, and almost Ghaoith �n the south remains of a semaphore, with the necessary overhangmg th 1?C�' � signalling the position of deer to the sports­ keeper's box a 3oim�g, f r But the use of this contrivance has been men in the glen b � ow. elements will doubtless eoon cause its given up for some t1me, and the total disappearance. of the loch. That on the There are now pony -tracks on• both sides to Carn r Ban and goran D ubh , that west 1eads bY Allt a' Choire Odh1u T 1 d Braer1· ach. an airn ou on the east by Coire Goundle to

3.

, :J

c·

s

BRA ERIAC H.

B

RAERIACH(the contractedform of Braig�-ria_bhach)-t�e str�aked, speckled, or brindled brae or mountam-1s the third highest Q mountain in the British Isles, reaching a height of 4248 feet above sea level. t It may be said to stretch from Carn Elrick on the north to Cairn Toul on the south, a distance of about four miles. The boundary between Braeriach and Cairn Toul is rather an arbitrary one, the one mountain merging into the other, somewhat after the manner of Ben Muich Dhui and Cairngorm. It may for practical purposes be held as the little branch of Allt a' Gharbh-choire which rises, at a height of about 3250 feet to the westward of Lochan Uaine of Cairn Toul. Braeriach is considered 'by those who have an intimate acquaintance with the Cairngorm mountains to be the most interesting of the group, and certainly Aberdonians should not be inclined to object to this view,. for near its summit, at over 4000 feet above sea level, emerge the sprmgi, and rills which form the main and highest sources of the Dee-and no other river in our islands rises at so high an altitude.

The boundaries of the counties of Aberdeen and Inverness, and the parishes of Crathie-Braemar, Duthil-Rothiemurchus and Kingussie­ Insh meet on Braeriach. On the north it slopes down towards Carn Elrick and Glen More ; on the east to Learg Ghruamach; .on the south it forms the north side of Glen Garchary and fronts Cairn Toul; and on the west it bounds Loch Eunach and Glen Eunach. It is remarkably steep on all sides on account of the great precipitous rock-walled corries which are n2arly perpendicular and are deeply recessed in its west, south, and north sides. Indeed, it is mainly to these corries that Braeriach owes its grandeur. As it is approached from the Spey by Glen Eunach its three northern corries are magnificent features that cannot fail to arrest the tourist's attE:ntion and wonder. These three corries lie alongs each other, rangmg from the east westwards, and, while differing ide the one from the other, in some respects they have a. general resem blanc e.

As seen even at the distance, say, of the A viemore statio befor n, e the summer sun has melted the last patches of snow that linger in their

. •. Sgoran Dubh ie the general name of the serrated rocky range of tremendous· pre�1p1�es on the weet. eide of the loch . The individual name of the most prominent oJectm g tops of this precipitous range are-taking thems from tubh the north-Sgor :Beg (3635), a rounded peak a little Sgor Dubh Mor (3658) the highest peak, below the line of the lower end of the loch and Sgor Ghao _ belo� the lme of the head of the loch. From most pointith (the windy peak) a. UttlJ s of view the latter appears the highest. t Riach a.e applied to a mount occurs aleo in Inchriach, the name of the ridge on the weet Bide of Glen Euna.eh. Ia.in t is a common name on Speyside.

'

'

depths and on their almost sunless sides no finer object could be presented _to a m?untaineer's gaze. The Allt na Beinne Bige rises in these corr1es, which are named, respe�tively, Coire an Lochain (the one nearest Glen Eunach), Coire Ruadh (in the centre), and Coire an Beinne (to tha east). The two latter are marked on the 6-inch Ordnance Survey !'fap, ·' 9oire_ Odha_r an Lochain Duibh," but this, according to local a i:n1stake, Coire Odhar being more to the north at the mformat1on, 1s so�rce of Allt D�mdh, the p�incipal tributary of Allt na Leirg Gruamaich.

Co�re an Locha�n (t�e _corr�e of the lochlet) contains a small loch, Loch Co1re an Locham, d1stmgmshed as the largest of its size in Scotland at _ such an alt1tud 3250 feet above sea level). The lochlet is frozen (about � ·for a great period of the year, but at other times when a strong wind is blowing! the water is dashed up in great sheets against the rocky sides of th� corr�e. In c�lm weather, with the sunlight reflected from its surface, it shmes hke a mirror. A tiny burn unmarked even on the 6-inch map, rises on the boundary line between .Aberdeen and Inverness, and, flowing northwards, falls almost perpendicularly over the precipice down to the lochlet. �t the source of this burn the ground is very gravelly and some­ what flattish, the water apparently issuing from five gravelly wells, so the name that has recently been proposed for it, Coig-fuarain, may be con­ sidered not altogether inappropriate. The ridge between Coire an Lochain and Coire Ruadh (the red corrie) is very narrow, so narrow, indeed, that from the distance of A viemore it seems to the inexperienced eye as though there could be " no thoroughfare " that way. Yet there is ; indeed, it is a good route for the summit of Braeriaah. Crossing Braeriach in winter from Braemar to Speyside, it is the only safe place to make the descent on Glen Euoaeh. Coire Ruadh is of considerable depth and well defined ; in fact, it might be considered a typical corrie, stony all along its three sides and verging on the perpendicular.

The third corrie, Coire an Beinne, contracted to Corbennie (the mountain corrie), is separated from its neighbour by rather a wider ridge than that between the other two, and also slopes more gradually.

Towards the Learg Ghruamach from this corrie is a small circle of stones, the remains of a shelter known as the Tailor's Cave. Here for some time a tailor took up his abode, it being generally believed that he procured a livelihood mainly by shooting deer.

The corrie on the east side is also named Coire Ruadh and is wholly in Aberdeenshire. It is steep, but has not the picturesque appearance of the corries on the other sides. It slopes downwards to the (popular) Wells of Dee, which are little more than half a mile from the top of the ridge. A pony-track goes a considerable distance up the mountain side here from the neighbourhood of the lowermost of these Wells. The principal corrie on the west side is Coire Goundle-so named from a giant of Ossianic renown. It is large, deep and precipitous, with the track leading, as already mentioned, to Cairn Toul and Braeriach.

But it is the great corries on the south-east side, seen from the head of Glen Dee and from Ben Muich Dhui and Cairn Toul, that mainly dis­ tinguish Braeriach from its neighbouring mountains. Between Brae­ riach and Cairn Toul flows Allt a' Gharbh-choire-a burn which is really the Dee. Its stream, after tumbling over the lofty preqipice of the F�ar Gharbh-choire, flows in the great chasm between these two mountams and forms one of the most conspicious features viewed from the top of Ben Muich Dhui-like a silver thread in the distance in summer, but mostly confined to a snow-tunnel in winter. It receives as a tributary, at the bottom of Glen Garchary, where geographieally Glen Dee begins, the lesser stream from the (popular) Wells of Dee known as (the Aber­ deenshire) Allt na Leirg Gruamaich, the burn of the Gruesome Pass. This rift or cut is known by the name of Glen Garcbary from the burn it8elf

being commonly called the, Garchary Burn. On the right bank of this burn-the "infant Dee "-we have An Gharbh-choire, "the rough corrie." Never was corrie better named, but unfortunately the poverty of language makes the name rather common in the Highlands. On the left bank, the Braeriach side, we have, near the top of the burn, _Fuar Gharbh-ehoire "the cold rough corrie," and, south-east of the highest cairn of Braeriach, Coire Bhrochain,"the gruel or porridge corrie." The latter is so named, it is said, from a herd of deer that fell over the stu­ pendous precipitous walls of this corrie and were smashed . to "brochan ". Here it may be mentioned that the ridge on the mountam's summit, between Coire Bhrochain and Coire Ruadh (of the Northern corries) is only about 800 feet in breadth, Httle margin in mist, between Scylla and Charybdis I Some authorities contend, and apparently not without reason, that the name Allt a' Gharbh-choire should be restricted to the little branch referred to in the first paragraph, and that the proper name of the stream that descends the Fuar Gharbh-choire is Dhaidh (Dee). It is of interest to note, in this connection, that Allt Dhaidh Mor (the big Dee burn) and Allt Dhaidh Beag (the little Dee burn) are both tributaries of the Geldie (the Whlte Dee), which joins the Dee about three miles above the Linn .

There are three principal cairns on Braeriach; the Northern (the highest), 4248 feet, on the ridge between Coire Ruadh (of the Northern corries) and Coire Bhrochain; the Western, 4061 feet, between the source of Allt a' Gharbh-choire and Loch Euna.eh ; and the Southern, 414-9 feet, -west of Lochan Uaine at the meeting point of three parishes, Crathie-Braemar, Duthil-Rothiemurchus and Kingussie-Insh. There is also another cairn a little to the east of the highest. A branch of the Garchary Burn, unmarked on the maps, rises near the highest cairn, between which and the Western cairn are situated the sources of the Dee-the real" Wells of Dee." The lochans or lochlets in the Aberdeen­ shire portion of Learg Ghruamach, at a height of nearly 2700 feet above the sea level, between Braeriach and Ben Muich Dhui, though popularly known as the Wells of Dee, are by no means entitled to that honour.

The real " Wells " number three. One of them is the source of the unmarked stream just mentioned, which, rising near the Northern cairn, joins the stream from the Western cairn just before it falls headlong down the Fuar Gharbh-choire; the other two are the sources of the Allt a' Gharbh-choire, rising near the latter cairn. All these" Wells" are in the gravelly bosom of the mountain at heights of over 4000 feet. Often they are covered, especially the Northern one, with snow till com­ parative_Iy late in the season, even into the month of July. It is matter of surprise to_ observe the steady considerable spring of water from these Wells, �o unlike the sources of many mountain burns that are only to be �ound m oo�y ground . Round about the " Wells " may be seen n:�numerable httle �ravelly channels or"tear tracks" (the particles of . d1smte�rated gramte r�aching often the size of peas or hazel nuts) that add their �uota to the mfant river when a rain-storm sheds its water.

The view alone from t�e top of Braeriach well repays the labour of t�e a�cen�. Robson, the artist already referred to, says that here"admira­ tion IS ra},sed to enth?siasm 11;nd seems to expand with the extent of the pros�ect .

Wh�t will especially delight Ben Muich Dhui mountain­ r 18 the i'I!e yiew �hat is _obtained of the western sirle and summ it of :� a� moun/am m al 1 its ma.Jes ty and bulk-such a view as can nowhere . ·except fro Cairn Toul, :}!t g more t :aD: 2200 feet, be had. There is but the narrow, deep glen between the two, with the Dee, tiny and sle JI} meanderi � along at the botto m. The foot-track along Gl� tiee a ears � 1 ik a mere scratch on the grouµd, but is perfectly distinct · ¥b en, ootng Garchary-wards, how wild, and grand, and

19

aw�ul seem the desolate co�ries that separate us from Cairn Toul .

Poised on t�e shoulder of Cairn Toul, at an altitude of over 3000 feet, _ Ua�n ocha looks n e L_ a solitary gem in a setting of desolation of Cairn Toul, only 1¾ mil�s to the south-south-east, is. The end view fine.

Away to the south-east we readily r cognise Lochnagar, whilevery more ; the westward are the great mountams at the head of Glen Ey, Beinto n _ Iutharn Mhor and Bemn I�tbarn Bbeag, on the Perthshire boundary: Away to the weflt Ben � evis may be seen, and more to the north Loeb 1:,aggan and t?e moun�ams �long _ the Caledonian Canal. The Monadh­ hath mountams !ook imposmg m the near distance, but less interesting than the mount!l'ms on the other side of the Moray Firth should the day be clear and a httle snow be left on their summits. At our feet we have Strathspey and Bad��och, with several lochs shining brightly in the foreground. In addition to Ben Muich Dhui and Cairn Toul of the giants of the Cairngorms the following principal summits of the group . are also seen from Braeria ch ; Cairngorm ' Beinn Mheadhoin Beinn a' ' Bhuird, Ben Avon and Sgoran Dubh.'

There are three rou�s for ascending Braeriach from Glen Eunach ; _ first, by the Little Benme and the ridge between Coire an Lochain and Coire Ruadh; second, by a zig-zag pony-track made seven years ago, to �he sou�h-west of �llt Coire an Lochain (a tributary of the Allt na Bemne B1ge) ; and third, another track that goes by the east side of the loch up Coire Goundle. The second route i11 the most convenient for the m1cent in this excursion, the third route being taken for the descent.

The height to be surmounted is about 2700 feet, and the route is gene­ rally in an easterly direction. When the level of the crags above Loch Coire an Lochain is reached, at a height of about 3750 feet, the top of Braeriach is only about a mile to the east. Keeping along the edge of the precipices girdling Coire Brochain and Fuar Gharbh-choire (after visiting the top) the whole party will make for the direction of the West­ ern cairn, so that all the Wells of Dee may be visited. In the neighbour­ hood of the latter cairn the party will, if so disposed, divide, one section proceeding direct to Loch Eunach, the other going on to Cairn Toul.

Returning from Cairn Toul the route is by the Ang�l's Peak, and to the right of the Southern cairn, a little to the west of which the source of a burn will be reached which leads in about half a mile to the com­ mencement of the pony-track of the third route. Descend by this path.

Dr. Skene Keith's account, in his Agricultural Survey of Aberdeen­ shfre (1811),of his ascent of Br�eria<-:h an� Cairn Toul, made on 17th July, 1810 is interesting. He carried with him all the way from Aberdeen a mou�tain mercurial barometer to ascertain the heights of the Cairngorm mountains as well as the various places he passed in his journey up Deesid�, while bis friend P�ofessor Coplan�, ?f Marischal College, kept, for after comparison, a register of the var1at1ons of the barometer at his residence at Fountainhall, Aberdeen:

. ,, At 2 o'clock p. m. we set out [from the junction of the Garchary Burn with the stream from the (popular) Wells of Dee] to climb the mountain [Braeriach], still keeping in eight of the river. In a few minutes we came. to the foot of a cataract, whose height we found to be above 1000 feet, and which contamed about a fourth part of the water of which the Garchary was now composed. I� about half-an-ho�r after, _we perceived that this cataract came from a lake in the ridge of the mountam of Oairn Toul, and that the summit of the mountain was another 1000 feet above the loch, which is called Lochan Uaine, or the "blue [green] lake.. A �h�rt ti�e after1 we saw the Dee (here cal�ed the Garchary, from this rock y bed, wh�ch signifies, m Gaehc, the rugged quarry) tumb­ ling in great majesty over the mountam, down anothe:r cataract; or, as we afte_rw�rds found it a chain of natural cascades, above 1300 feet high. It was in flood at this trme, from th� meltiQg of the snow and the late rains; and, what was most remarkable, an arch of snow covered the nar;ow glen from which it tumbled over the rocks. Here our landlord and our guide ascended the mountain by an e!l'sier, though more circu�tous course· but I was determined not to lose sight of the nver, and Mr. Warren kindly accompanied me. we approached so near to th_e cataract as to know that t�ere was no other lake or stream ; and then we had to chmb among huge rocks, varymg from

c&tch hold of the stones or frag ments that r . cte one to ten tons and to of 70 or 80 degrees. A little before 4 o'clock P ;Je it, while we �ngle n ded in & & . . . I knew to be Bra.aria.eh, or the speckl�d !o�nt <;>inth� top which ofB�t� mounts.in,hest Well, which we afterwards learned was called Welt D a. d Here fou nd the hig other ::a copious fountains, which make a considerable stream, b efore they than a over the exhaust ly ed, at complete 4 down, o'cloc k sat p m and reci ice We o the to be,4060 feet above the level �f the seadr !�� Eighfst Well, which we found h on heat e of �b 17t� of �uly, or a degre�s abo�e �gee d �egrees founts.in was only 36mixe w h �oo is k Y some d with this We water, . and recrui freezing point. ur , as a hba.t1on, into the fountain, a little of the eted xcell� t strength. Then we pouredhad &lon rought with him . After resting half -an-hou� g � whisk y which our landlord n ach at� p.m. s.�d found it to be 4280 feet above th� we ascended to the top of Brae ded a.midst a thick fog, which suddenly overwh level of the sea. We then descen t�e top of Os.irn Toul, on the other side elm d to get t to nex pted ttem & and us, tte obJect at above 100 yards' distance . and atoflast an Garehary. We could not see but afterwar peaks, ds or inferi climbed the up the rocks to the highest ascended one of found to be only lS feet higher than Braeris.ch summit of Oairn Toul, which we occasioned and by the weigllt of the atmosphere." fu&t apparent difference was only

Dr. Macgillivray, Prof�ssor. of Natural History in Marischal College, Aberdeen, relates, m his Natural H£stor1/ of Deeside and Braemar, a work printed in 1855 by command of the Queen and now ex­ ceedingly scarce and expensive, an interesting ascent �f Braeriach made in September, 1819, by "a poor student of King's College Aberdeen . . . on his way to Kingussie and Fort William," " the poo; student " being himself : "About a mile above it [the junction of the Geldie with the Dee), I came in sight of a most magnificent rock1, with a mounts.in pes.k2 behind it, of a greater elevation.

When I reached this rock I learned by the light-scarlet colour of the clouds on the ridges, that the sun was setting. Passing the rock, I entered a valley bounded on both sides by very lofty and rugged mounts.ins, and terminating in a vast mass, towering above the whole3• Before I reached the upper end of this magnificent, though wild and desolate valley, night fell .........Near the upper end of the valley, the stream4 which I had followed separated into two. It was with great difficulty that I clambered to this pa.rt, to see which was the larger, that I might follow it. Having ascertained that the larger stream came from a valley which br.a.nched off a.t a right angle5 from the extremity of the ms.in one, I entered this valley, and proceeded a.bout three-quarters of a mile. It was by this time completely dark, and I determined to rest myself." The narrative goes on to state that the night was passed here, in a sheltered place, but with little sleep, some shivering, and many melancholy thoughts.

"About midnight I looked up and saw the moon, with some stars. They were at times obscured by masses of vapour, which rolled along the summits of the moun­ ts.ins. I had now a better view of my situation. I was near the upper end of a bJgh valley, completely surrounded by enormous masses of rock. Behind me, my f!lce being towards the mouth of the vs.lleyG, there rose at the upper end a high mounts._m7, involved in clouds: on the right band was another, in the form of a pyrami!1s.l rock8; and, contiguous with it, a peak of less elevation9; on the left hand, a high ridgeio, running from the mountain in the north-west, and terminating at the mou1h of th� valley in a dark conics.I mass; and, straight before me, in the south- east, at the distance of nearly a mile, another vast mounts.inn. The summits of all were at times enveloped in clouds. The wind, which blew from the west, was not keen, and the nigl?-t was such as in comfortable circumstances might be called ws.r!D. Yet, on awakenmg from my slumber, I felt chilly and soon after began to shiver. I then roe�, and gathered a few large stones, and i good deal of grass and short heath, _:with which I form� a somewhat snug sort of couch. Unloosing my pa.ck, J took a mght­ cap and a ps.ir of_ stockings from it, which I applied to their proper use, for my feet had been wetted m crossing a brook and my hat alone did not keep my bead warm after the perspiration it had underg�ne. Then, eating a little of my scs.ntY: stor_e ,-0f rarley bread, and drinking two or three cupfuls of water from a neighbounng rill, I ay down, put heather and my knapsack over my feet placed myself in an easy posture, and fell asleep. awoke fresh, but weak about sunrise. The strea.m which I had followe� here divide'i into two12, and I chose, the corry13, m the f �r:J'f bdeep hollow scooped out largerg It led me to a magnificent glen, as des­ the of left the of on ridge th e reat c ' ut now on my right hand in ascending it ' The sides of this corry were f ce?t� °cf slop�ng rocks of height The rivulet �s.me tumbling down tberm f Jm O a cataract.vast dete I but · m o · Her e abrupt the rocks were most t proce -at least to attem pt the ascent. Before I reached th� base of the rock �

��:1

1 The Devil'• Point .

4 The Dee. 3 Braeriach f 2 Ca.!n1 Tou.l · II Th e Allt a.' Gha.rbh h . r by the Garchary Glen: Dr. Hill Burton sta.tes, incorrectly, m TM O�t� e Nou �hat the other stream is the la;ger. .

7 Br!.e°:-m 6 Glen Garchary. g 's iac h• n:tatn, 8 Ce.u-n Toul.

9 Sgor an Locham Uame--or All el peak, 10 Braer1ach.

11 B en llluich Dhui.

1� .At a height of 2750 .feet. See page 21• 13 Fuar Gharbh•c h oire.

I

21 I felt very we&k, and was obliged to h&lt every now and then. However I proceeded, and at lengt�, being well accustomed to rock-climbingi, found myself on the very summit of this vast mass of rock. It was covered with mist, which rolled rapidly along the .ridges. T�e sun now and then appeared through it. The view down the corry, which I had Just ascended, was delightful-dreadful it might have been to aome:-the whole gle�, the deep corry just beneath, with its fearful rocks, the opposite mountains with an alpine lake2 before me. The scene was truly sublime ' and I11contemplated it with great delight...

I had now reached th_e �ound� summit of the ridge, and proceedmg along the streamlet, which was the prmcipal obJect of my research, I traced it to two fountains, and several sma.ller s:prings. I took a gla.ssful from ea.eh of the la.rger, and drank it to the health of my friends......... " Descendi�g on the northern side or the mountain, I came upon a precipitous corry3, down which � did not venture---a�d farther on, found myself on a. precipice, from which I had a view of a deep valley, with a lake• and a stream5 ending in a plain partially covered with flr6. The view from this pl�e was va.st, and I thought I dis­ tinguished the sea; but of this I wa.s not certs.in' a.s the mist obscured the view at tinles."

He then proceeds to give an account or a botanising expedition made on 14th August,1850, the report of which was written by his son. " Mr Backbouse and I then ascended out of the corry, a.nd walked round the top or the Braeriach to the source of the Garchary. On our way we raised several flocks of Ptarmigan; but these, besides a few Snow Buntings,.were the only birds we saw in the whole of this range. In the co�ry farthest up w.h1ch is also the largest, and seems to separate Braeriacb from Cairn Toul. was an immen11e unmelted mass of snow, frozen so hard that it did not even giye ris� to a rill .........Shortly after this, we came upon the Wells of the G ar­ chary, m a shgbt hollow near the top of the mountain. Thie stream, which we after­ wards ascertained to be the main scource of the Dee, springs from several wells of limpid water. situated among clear granite sand, without any vegetation, even the slightest, and immediately forms a considerable torrent. . .......From the top of Brae­ riach we had a splendid view of most of the Highlands of Scotland. On the one side we saw the Perthshire hills, rising ridge after ridge as far as the eye could reach; to the west Ben Nevis, and what we supposed to be the mountains of Argyll and Skye, and to the north, those of Sutherland and Caithness, in the dim distance scarcely distinguishable from the clouds, with the Moray Firth between us. Below us, to the north, was the large valley of Strathspey, clothed with vast and sombre-looking forests of pine."

Dr. John Hill Burton does not omit to make due mention of Braeriach in The Cairngorm Mountains, a work published in 1864-now rather scarce :

11 At last the conical peak of Cairn Toul appears overtopping all the surrounding heights; and then a rent intervening, we approach and soon walk under the great mural precipice of Braeriach .........The adventurer is now on the spot which to me, of all this group of scenery, appears to be the most remarkable, as being so unlike any other part of Scotland, or any place one c·an see elsewhere. The narrowness of the glen and the height of its walled sides are felt in the constrained attitude in which one looks up on either side to the top, as if one were surveying some object of interest in a tenth-storey window of our own High Street. Thie same narrowness imparts a sensation as if one could not breathe freely.........Oairn Toul resembles these [Glencoe] hills though it is considerably more precipitous; but Braeriach is as much unlike the� as a tower is distinct from a dome."

The following account of an ascent of Braeriach rriade from the Shelter Stone is taken from Cairngorm Wanderings from the Shelter Stone, a series of articles that appeared in a local newspaper in August and September 1886 :-

,, We kept the Garchary Burn close on our left and reached the fork, at a height of2750 feet,atl.46 p. m. We ha.d fairly good walking by the burn-side, the weather being warm and pleasant. As we ascended, the burn from Lochan Ua.ine (of Oairn Toul) wa.s a pretty sight, descending to the Garcbary by a fall of nearly a thousand feet, �nd leaving the loch mostly in the form of spra.y from the wind that was then blowing.

We started a.gain at 2.10 for Braeriach, the beat now rather uncomfortable for climb­ ing, the thermometer standing at 80 deg., while at the same time the mist could be seen playing round the top of Ben Muich Dhui. Above us was the lonjl'er branch of the Garcbary, dashing right down over the top of the corrie. It bas there !I' very much • steeper fall-being indeed perpendicular-than the burn from the Feith Bmdhe to Loch Avon. As it fell over the edge of the precipice it was completely cov�red with sno.w [in the middle of June] but lower down it reappeared white and foammg, only agam to disappear in snow. Discussion bas waxed strong as to which stream, the one from the (popular) Wells of Dee, in Glen Dee or the Allt a' Gharbh-cboire, is the real source 2 Lochan Ue.ine of Cairn Toul.

1 Otherwise the result would probably have been different.

4 Looh Eune.ch.

3 Probably Colr e Ruadh of the three northern corries.

IS Allt na Beinne Moire .

6 Glen More.

22 seen a.nd compa.red the two burns the verdict mus t be in t when one ha.sfrom its length as ite volume. of the Dee, bu well as of the la.�t e��tween the 2750 feet fork and the to� of Braeria.ch wa.e both stony fa,vour"Our rou ult or dangerous. The _cairn was reached at 3.40 in a ut far from diffic and steep, bfor -enemy of the mounta.meer wae present to annoy ue arch that in on a small platform of etonee, and fro m ite situ atio� th ick I1;1ist! uilt is b nd e a. ff:rg The cairn 18 0�1 lined to thin k that if the Royal Engineers had gone a. foot or two one would be f1ce they could have erected it on slightly higher ground. But perha. e p c nearer gri8 if ve room for visit ors to go round it without ea.using risk to life I T he they wi s e 0 awed was water top e and " trickling from , snow th on .

6 there 4 deg thermometer eho

tt

ascent from Loch Eunach is taken from The follo wing account of an which appeared in a local daily in June, , From the .Druie to the Ge/die 1889: our explorations up

Glen Eunach for Cairn Toul "The next day we extended neared there is h a is shieling, a few yards from which Euna.e Loch .AB riach and Brae joins the Bennie, and has a pretty waterfall. burn-Allt Coire an Doun-taoibh!cross this burn our track, a pony one, now lies, leading towards the tops of Brae­ riach and Cairn Toul. The former mountain has three corries towards Loch Eunach -Bogha-cloiche Clach, and Goundle-and it is by the burn in the latter that the track proceeds �fter it has reached the level of a big plateau. The track becomes steep enough latterly. We lunched above a fork near the head of the burn at a height of 3400 feet and in half-an-hour started for the .Angel's Peak of Cairn Toul keeping low by the streamlets that form the Allt Linneach, the easterly head stream of the Eidart. The Peak runs to a point and forms the boundary between Aberdeen and Inve rness-shires; distinct enough (one can almolilt fancy the dotted boundary lines on the map I) even without the little cairns. Along the Peak the ascent is very stony, with the stones covered by a greenish-yellow lichen. Silent acaulis, is seen here in unusual abundance. Here also is the place for the best views of the terrible corries between Braeriach and Cairn Toul, looking down to a depth varying from 1400 to nearly 2000 feet. We see the Allt a' Gharbh-choire, otherwise the 'infant Dee' or Dhaidh, slipping out from beneath a large snow-fidd and tumbling headlong over the precipitous Fuar Gharhh-choire, only to subside into snow again near the bottom of the corrie. .And Lochan Uaine-how peaceful it looks! Not as though it had only recently been emancipated from its icy covering of more than half the year, and was quite unused to having its waters blown up a hundred feet in the air and over the corrie. At our feet Glen Dee; across the glen the bulky mass of Ben Muich Dlmi ; on our right the double-cairned Cairn Toul But the Spey sends across a huge cloud of mist, and soon we are enveloped in its chilly fold. Cairn Toul has to be given up for want of time, so we make for Brae­ riach, round the edge of the corries all the way, but turning aside to visit the two lesser cairns. The first was the 4149-feet cairn, which, low and flat, is on the county boundary. Then we strike the real 'Wells of Dee,' and partake of the river as it leaves the gravel. Even here the ptarmigan and her brood were fonnd. Hence we are on to the 4061-feet cairn, near which, indeed, the river rises. This latter cairn is of some appearance, 6 feet in height and in good order; the view good, with Lochan Dorbh prominent. Striking once more Dee-wards, we keep by the gravelly banks till the snowfield we saw from the Angel's Peak is reached. The snow overhung the edge of th$l corrie-3915 feet we made it-where the water topples. down. But what of the map-unmarked stream which joins the main stream here, coming from the summit-cairn (4248 feet) direction? It has frittered itself away, and is lost among t?e stones. But it is not always so. It also rises in a bed of gravel, more preten­ tiously even than the main stream; but just now snow patches obscure its source.

So we hurry to the cairn, with its rough platform of stones ; snow here even. Take a look over at the Coire Bhrochain-steep, overhanging, and terribly ugly; no mercy here _ for th� unwary mountaineer; one false step in the mist and he falls, falls �ot to nse agam. To add to the shivers of the nervous look at that swarthy, slopmg roc k, a�d think of the hopeless ness of recovering o�eself there once on the down• ward shde."

CAIRN TOUL.

fr'\ AIRN

TOUL is wholly in the parish of Crathie-Braemar, in the � county of Aberdeen and forms part of the great deer forest of Mar belonging to th� Duke of Fife. Its height is 4241 feet a�ove sea level, only seve n feet less than that of Braeriach. It extends in a

pretty straight line from Allt a' Gharbh-choire on the north to the junction of the Geusachan Burn with the Dee on the south, a distance of over three miles. On the north-east it is separated from Ben Muich Dhui by Glen Dee-a space of about two miles as the crow flies between the two tops -while the bottom of the glen between them is only 1873 feet above the sea level; and it is mainly bounded on the south and west by the Geusachan Burn. The etymology is rather obscure ; some say it means the barn­ shaped mountain, others, the Devil's Peak, cf. " Devil's Point" (for Bod-an-diaouil) the name of its Southern top, and the popular name, the Angel's Peak, given to Sgor an Lochain Uaine, the rocky point about a mile to the west of the Cairn. But, properly speaking, Braeriach and Cairn Toul are but one mountain with particular names to individual summits.* Cairn Toul is the most peaked of any of the summits of the Cairn­ gorm group and is marked with two cairns about 150 yards apart. The higher is the Northern one (4241 feet), but the lower is only 14 feet short of that. There is a remarkably shaped corrie (part of An Gharbh-choire) on the very top, facing Glen Dee, somewhat like a gigantic saucer, and visible at a great distance. t A little to the south of the " saucer" is the famed Coire an t-Saighdeir-the soldier's corrie, the "soldier " being of course an "archer "-where the snow bunting is frequently seen.

"We found these rocks frequented, as are other summits of the Cairngorms, by snow buntings, which flew around us with their peculiar flight, apparently not half afraid of us. In Good Words (1887) there is a very interesting article on this bird, with au account of a week's unsuccessful hunt [in this neighbourhood] for its nest.

A snow bunting's nest appears to be almost impossible to find, at least on the Cairngorms; even the promise of a five-pound note for a nest wit, h eggs failing to get one. We think this peculiar circumstance can be accounted for-the bird has its nest in inaccessible places a long way under the great masses of stones and rocks that are so common on these mountains."

From Glen Eunach the ascent of Cairn Toul alone is best made by the Coire Goundle path. ]from Braemar there are three routes to it all from Glen Dee; :first, crossing the Dee above its junction with the Geusachan Burn and going up Glen Geusachan mostly alongside the burn; second, crosi.-ing the Dee near the mouth of Allt Coire an t­ Saighdeir-the burn from the soldier's corrie which enters the Dee opposite Clach nan Taillear of Ben Muich Dhui-and then making tolerably direct for the cairn in a north-westerly direction; and third, crossing the stream from the (popular) Wells of Dee immediately above its junction with the Allt a' Gharbh-choire, and then, crossing the latter stream and placing Lochan Uaine close on the right.

South of Coire an t-Saighdeir is Coire Odhar, the dun corrie, from which a burn proceeds called Allt a' Choire Odhair, near the mouth of whi ch is a '' watcher's " shicling or hut, pretty well known to tourists walking through Glen Dee. It is generally called " Corrour," the exact pronunciation, and a corruption in spelling of '' Coire Odhar." lformerly there was a shieling here when the glens in the neighbourhood were rented by Badenoch farmers. The ascent of the Devil's Point is best made al ong this burn by the back of the hut, but if a really stiff ascent is wanted let the mountaineer try the Glen Geusachan route, keeping the lowermost of the Geusachan Burn's left bank tributaries close to the left.

The Devil's Point is one of the most remarkable summits of the Cairn­ gorm� from having three steep rocky sides. Time, however, does not permit of a visit to it on the present excursion. * A small portion of the top of Cairn Toul, according to a sketch prepared in ��9 �¥ Dr. Cruickshank, is seen from the Blue Hill (465 feet), Banchory-Devenick.

. st i ance is 70 miles, and the par t visible is seen ov er the south slope of Beinn a' BheUll' d, tMessrs. G. & W. M organ have published a photograph of it, ta.ken from Ben .w. uich Dhui.

iI

I

not fail to be impressed with the grandeur of the view Tge. to�•st lcanH ere it is the near prospect, as well as the distant view, fro m. attD ou The sublime approaches the terrible. es its�lf on the spectator. tha P��� of the Dee, nearly two thousand gorge s ndou to the treme mg Loo� Glen Dee to the top of huge across then us, dred feet below ve two miles to the north-east; is but h whic of i en �ich Dhui the cairn is only 1¾ miles to the northc':oss to Br�eriach, the top ofuswhich th the terrible abyss of . Glen by from ated :h�west but separ be asserted that this is safely may it below, feet t�rchary 'about 2000 the Caiapgorms, but among only views, not in one of th� grandest mounta by the view from Braeriach. only in Scotland-equalled The Rev. James M. Crombie, M.A., had a proper appreciation of Cairn Toul as the following extract from his l:Jraemar : 1 ts Topography and Natural History (published in 1861) shews:

y "But of them all, our ey e lingers longest upon Cairn Toul, which is undoubtedlin e others th all from rs e in diff ins a Braemar and mount , the of g n looki noblest the its summit being peaked. Taken in connection with the n e arest ridge of Braeriach, and vi ewed from the western extremity of the mountain, where its whole outlin e from its base is distinctly visible, it presents a picture of sublimity which probably nowhere else we could look upon n ear e r than the Alps-to some of which, befor e the Its corri es, the snow has disapp e ared fro m its summit, it bears a great resemblance. largest of which is visible be fore usi , with the small circular loch of Uaine in its bosom, form the richest botanising grou nd in the district for Alpine plants ; and were we to spend a night upon the hills, and commence our search early in the morning, we would fi nd that before sunset we had collected a rich harvest indeeda richer, probably, than any catalogue of their flora yet contains."

Dr. Macgillivray (Natural Histor_y of Deeside und Braemar) thus writes concerning his ascent of Cairn Toul on 12th August, 1830, from Glen Dee:

"Passing the Geusachan, we proceed towards the base of Cairn Toul, and, fording th e stream . . . w e forthwith ascend the steep acclivity, keeping as near as we can to the brook which comes gliding and rushing down from a corrie2 high up on the mountain. . . . The a scent was difficult ; but 'at length we reached � space covered with great blocks of granite, passing over which with comparative ease, we entered a spacious corrie 2 of a s emicircular form, with fissured crags a�d s_tee p, stony slopes. T� e concave bottom or basin of this magnificent excavation 1s 9:1tog�ther �ov ered with blocks and stones, among which the rills th at desce_nd f�om its sides di�app�ar . . . . E mergi ng, as it were, into open space, and mhalm� the cool air _ with delight, we now found ours elves o n the back of the mountam, acros s which we proceeded toward a ridge that ove rlooked the Glen of the Garchary."

Having descended to Lochan Uaine the learned professor says:­

" _In the �ollow i_s a lak�, whose stony banks presented little of interest, e ceptmg a solitary �ipper (Cinches aquaticus). This elevated corrie, which is on h e rn side of C n Toul and slan�s down from its highest peak, is separated �:e e of theair Garchary by a high rocky bank, along which we descende d wi� grea 1di�fficulty and so me dang er . . . H e r e , towards th e mouth of th e G a ha Glen, and that of the narrow glen 3 betwe,m the Braeriach and Ben M;i�h 1j3'h 1 a e re han_ a mounds of a size v arying from a few feet to thirty foJ, • �r ru? leet m h�ndred iuncti�n olthe t oY st eams,diameter . . . Farther down, a little beyond th e is a large barrow, or elongated mound, about two hundred pnces in length · It is laid across the valley and is cut through, toward one end, b the s'tre·am."

Y

iri

f

Dr Macg ·11·ivray nts for these mounds as having been formed by the �et·1 n °\ water,accou not by glaciers. They are most probably glacial . moraines, � w_h1c h re f eren ce has already been made. , .

The .

Scottish Mou ta · eer .n i� i g Club Journal contams the followmg account of an aseent fn C a1rn Toul, contributed by the present writer: "Next year we tried cairn ng

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Toul in April . . . but though it was spri on the lower grounds . . . Glen Dee to the it. wa� winter on the mountain tops. W e went, by JU ctio n of the Allt na L eirg Gruamaich of Aberdeenshire with the 'infant, Dee from B raeriach and Cairn Toul, and there i n a snow storm, commenced the asce nt of t e l the level of Lochan Uaine t a.tter mountain. We reached, with a little trouble, ' ut there our r eal difficulties began, and indeed at one 1 From the top of Beu Muich Dhut.

2 Doubtless the Coire an t-Saighdeir.

3 Glen Dee.

time we had all but resolved t.o descend and proceed to the Spey b th Gbrnamach. The ascent from Lochan Uaine is steep enough in sumJer . !hLeai:i was a long, smooth, snow slope, y.ith here and there a black rock juttin �nt :t; the snow. These we used as COlg"D;S of Vtl.Iltage and rest, but the last siage almoset compelled a retreat. We had t.o �1g our feet into the snow and clutch above with our bands before we succeeded m getting on to Sgor an Lochain u · e at height _ of about �750 feet. The top of Cairn Toul was now within a m°j� �n ou� left, with exceed1�gly easy ground [on account of the snow] for walkina, but 80 strong was the wmd _and. dense the falling snow that it was deemed judicious to make fo_r the Fesh1e direct. . • . For six hours continuously we had anow, sleet, or nun."

The following description of an excursion to Cairn Toul is taken from Two Days and a Night in the Wilderness-the authors of Our Tour being also the writers of this interesting brochure :

"We sk�ed the base of the Devil's Point, and entered Glen Geusachan to turn th_e position and scale the mountain from the south-west. Keeping along the north side of the Glen, and gradually shogging up the south flank of Cairn Toul. we turned northwards at Buidh�ach of �aim Toul, and following and keeping �ell above the Geusachan burn, which rises m Cairn Toul at a height of about 3600 feet we gradually wro�ght up towards the source of the burn, intending to lunch and rest there before makmg our final effort for the peak. . . . Our view to the far west was �un�ed by Ben Nevis, while in the near foreground and below us lay, on the opposite side of the glen, Lochan Suarach, a beautiful blue mountain pool at an elevation of 2840 feet. An extensive tableland extended to the west of this 10::h and in the far distance we could discern, through the haze, shining like ingots or' gold and silver, Loch Laggan, and several small lochans in its neighbourhood beyond the line of the Highland Railway. Numerous deer were feeding around Lochan Suarach . . .

"Keeping a little to the south-east, we soon reach the edge of the ridge, and look down upon the Dee from the edge of the Coire an t-Saighdeir, 2100 feet right down. This is the corrie near the summit which fronts, and is so well seen from the Chapelhill or Morrone at the Castleton. The corrie is semi-circular, of vast extent, with fissured crags, and steep stony slopes.

Its concave bottom is covered with blocks and stones, and the vegetation appears to be of the scantiest. We keep along the ridge and make for the peak, which, so far as we can discern by what we are climbing amongst, consists of a huge mass of blocks of granite, of all shapes and sizes. Millions of tons of stones are here piled one above the other.

At 4.30 p.m. we reached the highest cairn, and stood at an elevation of 4240·5 feet above the sea level. The view was extensive to the south-east, south-west, and north-west. We could see Morven, Mount Keen, Lochnagar, Carn an Tuirc, Glas Maol, Beinn Iutharn, Bcinn a' Ghlo, and other Be�s far to the s�uth an� south-west.

But in the east it was interrupted by the summit of Ben Mwch Dhw, about two miles distant, and on the north by the precipit:ous rid�e of Braeriach. . . . The view was restricted by the haze, and so we did not hng_er long, _but prepared to descend to Lochan '(iaine. . . . The descent from the cairn to thlS Lochan • . • is about 1200 feet and the walls of the corrie are exceedingly steep, with much of the disintegrat�d granite as difficult to walk among as scoriae.

"We had to spread out and climb parallel to each other, as the stones set loose by our progress often went thundering down before us, and would have been dangerous to one climbing below another. . • . We made for the north edge of the corrie, so as to descend t� the Glen of �archary, but found, ourselve s on a high, rocky, precipitous ridge, with water pourmg over deep shelvmg rocks, and after climbing down several hundred feet w� could g�t no further, and had to climb back again and seek another outlet. This was ultimately foun<l;, and we about got to the glen below' not without difficulty " and danger, the descent bemg another 1200 feet, and exceedingly steep.

LOCH AN EILEAN.

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the parish OCH AN EILEAN is in the Rothiemurchus portion ofend, about of Duthil-Rothiemurchus, towards the north-west feet 840 of t heig � � three miles from A viemore station. It lies at 8: erence Cll'C a with ab ove the sea level, and if.;1 rather irregularly shaJ>?1-, � of about three miles. Near the south end there 1s a lochlet which over-

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. to Loch an • Eilean. The name signifies the loch of the island ' :flows ID t, near the west . s1"de an d towards the north end ' . there bem. g a tiny sisle e, w 1c h' h f tl m ormer cas times a was of occup ied by ed by the ruin wn in_ history as the Wolf_ of Baden och. Viewed ���ander Stewart, knooppo site to the castle rums the scene, from an from the west margin an almost faultless composition. form to said artistic point is undoubtedly one of the prettiest little lakes is n Eilea Loch a� among omed fir and birch trees and sheltered on embos is in Scotland. It the Mor, a north-western Cadh guardian of Glen by the south-east north-west by Ord Bain, the the latter between on Eunach and Bain Ord signifies the Spey. white (so named hill the the loch and stone on it) limeand is finely the wooded on the side from ess doubtl towards the loch. A good view of the district may be had from its top (about 1300 feet)-one not knowing which to admire most, the view down the Spey towards Grantown, or up the river in the direction of Kingussie.

In olden times signal fires were lighted on the summit.

The castle ruins in the islet have now passed into the undisputed possession of the Iolair Uisge, the Water Eagle or Osprey (Balbusardus Haliretus of Fleming 1828, and Pandion Haliretus of Macgillivray 1840).

For many years, with one or two breaks, the Osprey has tenanted the old ivy clad ruins, and its nest occupies the top of the south-west corner.

The Osprey feeds on fish chiefly, darting upon them in the water. It lays three or four eggs, few birds laying eggs so beautiful or so rich in colouring, and the young birds before flight have the breast feathers yellow, with dusky or brown spots.

But while to not a few admirers of nature Loch an Eilean has long been a favourite for its scenery and position, both equally charming, it was not till Mr. Jolly described it and the Ospreys in Good Words (1880) that it attained a national reputation. Now no loch, great or small, is more admired or better known. Beattie in his Scotland Illustrated (1838), however, does full justice to the scene :

"The castle, though neither extensive nor elegantly constr ucted, is of solid materials, and capable of affording, during the period to which it refers, ample security against all the weapons of ancient warfare. The island on which it stands is nearly covered by th e mason work; so that the m assy walls seem as if they rose through the surface of the lake, which encloses them like an impassible moat, reflecting the dark rampart on its bosom. Over the rocky precipices that skirt the water, birch, hazel, and mount ain pine throw their intermingling shade, and where more densely grouped, impart a melancholy gloom that well becomes the scene. In other parts, the shore 1s beautifully varied with miniatures of bay and promontory . . . "

The '' nest " is a huge pile of twigs-some 'of them of the dimensions of branches-of which there is a good cart-load. The Ospreys may, in the season, be seen attending to their noisy youngsters, laying even Loch Insh and Loch Morlich under contribution for food. The castle is about a furlong from the edge of the loch and a fair view of the Ospreys can be h8;d, This year, however, they have taken up their residence at Loch Morhch. A b_ ttle to the west of the castle, by shouting towards it, a very good_ echo, which sometimes affords amm;ement to visitors, may be obtamed.

The following extra is from a series of articles on the Ca":ng�rms that �ppea�, under thecttitle 'Twixt Dee and Spey, in a local pubhcat10n: . down tin t hIS old �astle the defe ated at th e battle of Cromdale, a few miles further pey, vaml;v sought shelter. In our circuit round the Loch we found the \ road 1 e te si de sadly deteriorating a fact which need not b� wondered at ;� i , seein ha a. :e�rrnfence �as bee n made across it at th e south end, which completely prevents elig h tful c rcul ar i drive. A sluice at th e outlet of the loch form er ly enab led tte � �ater to �e stor ed up for driving a meal mill near the loch, t1;1-1 e remains of wh c are till i vis ib le, and th e thus extended boundary can be seen d several places. te vis� ited the lochlet at the upper end-Loch Gamhna (prono�ce ..

Gaun� h. es �t � height of 895 feet, 55 feet high er than its bigger ne � i hbour. Its s\t�t on U! picturesque enough, but marred.somewhat by the devastati on

27 which the woodman's axe has caused. It is skirted by an old road, Rathad-na­ meir lich (the thieves' road), along which the Lochaber me ade their cattle-lifting excursions into Strathspey. Hence possibly the me Of th e Loch, which means G Loch From Loch. ks' amhna w e h�ld 0:� ards the Stir d Bain. . . . The ascent of course is sligh t, but a capital view is gOr� rom Pi�e top, both up and down the river. Badenoch is to be seen lookin u t e. Spe an �t�thspey looking down, Craigellachie, on the other side of the !pe�' temg ih.e fiv.isio� of these two well-known districts. . . . Opposite us is the T r of vie, w_ith its graceful 90 1 a 0 aim to the feet monument to th e last of the old Dukes of Gord on, an memory ig h landers of the 42nd t and 92nd who fe ll of he H aterloo, the 92nd h aving been raised in Strathspey and other portions of th 0! try, especially in Strathbogie, in 1794. Below the cairn is Kinrara � [.f� rara., the favourite th e and burial place of Jean, Duchess �f G��d�n." residence

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K1�n

A VIE MORE.

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£.. VIEMOR� STATION (692 feet above sea level) is the next station

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up the river from Boat of Garten, from which it is five miles - - distant. The name (Abh-mor) signifies the great water, and do �btless refers to the Spey. It is in the parish of Duthil-Rothiemurchus lymg close to the left bank of the river. There is now no hotel here th; railway having ki?ed the road traffic, and .so caused the shutting up of the Inn, a large white house, now a shootmg box, known as Aviemore House, nearly half a mile north from the station. This Inn was formerly a �oted station on the.old Hi _ghland road from Perth to Inverness by Carr of 1t would be a great convenience for the many Bridge. The re-openmg tourists and mountaineers that now visit the district and would fain make Aviemore their head-quarters . Perhaps when the Highland Railway Company complete their shorter or direct line from here to Inverness, in the line of the old road just referred to, a hotel will follow. The nearest hotel at present is at Lynwilg, a pretty spot near Loch Alvie (Alvie= ealabhi-the island of swans, swans being frequent visitors here) about 2½ miles up the river and on the same side as Aviemore.

The Spey is here crossed by a handsome iron girder bridge which replaced a wooden one. Previously there was only a ford and a ferry, the old Boathouse being about half way between the present bridge and the Doune. All that need be said of the Spey here is that about this part it is seen at its best. A little to the east of the bridge is the Inverdruie Saw Mill ; and a little further along the same road is the Public School and the Free Church of Rothiemurchus, beyond which is Coylum Bridge.

The well known Rock of Craigellachie, composed of gneiss, is to the west of the station and opposite the bridge over the Spey. The name signifies the rock of alarming, and was, in the form of "Stand fast, Craigellachie," the slogan of the Clan Grant. A dyke built on Craigel­ lachie, which comes down to the road, divides the two districts Strathspey and Badenoch the former being the lower, the latter the upper divisions of th� valley of the Spey. It also divides the parish of Alvie from Duthil and was formerly the boundary of the counties of Inver­ ness and Elgin, and of the Gordon property of Kinrara and· Grant of Castle Grant. The (lower) Craigellachie at Craigellachie station, some 38 miles lower down the Spey, must not be confounded with this, the real Craigellachie.

The return journey to Boat of Garten is, as _arranged in the programme, by Aviemore. Passing the station, on the right, Aviemore House is passed on the left by the old Highland road. Several small

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.. lochs are also passed, and about half-way between Aviemore and Boat of Garten the new railway crosses the road by an overhead bridge. A little beyond the hamlet of Kinveachy the road forks-on the left via Carr Bridge to Inverness, on the right to Grantown. The latter is our route, and a branch road to the right soon lands us at Boat of Garten.

Almost all the way from A viemore to Boat of Garten the view of the Cairngorms is magnificent. The late Lord Cockburn (died 1854) thus wrote (in Circuit Journeys) of this view from the neighbourhood of Aviemore:

11 T he full prospect of these glorious Cairngorms, with their forests and peaks and valleys, exhibits one of the finest pieces of mountain scenery in Britain." . • • " 'l'he mountains were in great splendour, with their perpetual darkness, relieved by much bright snow, and all their forms, a.nd valleys, and gulleys, and corries "0 ye Cairngorms, how have ye never produced a poet palpably near us." . of your own? . . • I cannot look upon you, and doubt that your bard is rearing."

A. I. M.

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