Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland .. - National Library of Scotland

'—';LOMONDtooli: place of each other, traversing the lake in everydirection. The whole was indeed a strange mixture ofsoothing and restless images, of images inviting to restand others hurrjing the fancy away into an activity morepleasing than repose. Yet, intricate and homeless, thatis without lasting ahiding-place for the mind, as theprospect was there was no perplexit)' ; we had still aguide to lead us forward. Wherever we looked, it was adelightful feeling that there was something beyond.Meanwhile, the sense of quiet was never lost sight of.. . . The whole scene was a combination of naturalwildness, loveliness, beauty, and barrenness, or ratherbareness, yet not comfortless or cold, but the whole wasbeautiful.Professor Wilson, dealing with the remarks ofWordsworth already given, says, The ' " diffu.sion ofwater " is indeed great ; but in what a world it floats !At first sight of it how our soul expands ! The suddenrevelation of such majestic beauty, wide as it is andextending afar, inspires us with a power of comprehendingit all. Sea-like indeed it is, —a Mediterranean Sea,—enclosed with lofty hills and as lofty mountains,and these indeed are the Fortunate Isles ! We shallnot dwell on the feeling which all must have experiencedon the first sight of such a vision—the feeling ofa lovely and a mighty calm ; it is manifest that thespacious " diffusion of water" more than conspires withthe other components of such a scene to produce thefeeling ; that to it belongs the spell that makes ourspirit serene, still, and bright, as its own. Nor whensuch feeling ceases so entirely to possess, and so deeplyto affect us, does the softened and subdued charm ofthe scene before us depend less on the expanse of the"diffusion of water." The islands, that before had lainwe knew not how—or we had only felt that they wereall most lovely—begin to show themselves in the orderof their relation to one another and to the shores. Theeye rests on the largest, and with them the lesser combine; or we look at one or two of the least, away bythemselves, or remote from all a tufted rock ; and manyas they are, they break not the breadth of the liquidplain, for it is ample as the sky. They show its amplitude; as masses and sprinklings of clouds, and singleclouds, show the amplitude of the cerulean vault. Andthen the long promontories—stretching out from oppositemainlands, and enclosing bays that in themselvesare lakes—they too magnify the empire of water ; forlong as they are, they seem so only as our eye attendsthem with their cliffs and woods from the retiringshores, and far distant are their shadows from thecentral light. Then what shores ! On one side wherethe lake is widest, low-lying they seem and thereforelovelier — undulating with fields and groves, wheremany a pleasant dwelling is embowered, into lines ofhills that gradually soften away into another land. Onthe other side, sloping back, or overlianging, mountsbeautiful in their bareness, for they are green asemerald ; others, scarcely more beautiful, studded withfair trees — some altogether woods. They soon forminto mountains—and the mountains become more andmore majestical, yet beauty never deserts them, andher spirit continues to tame that of the frowning cliffs.Far off as they are, Benlomond and Benvoirlich areseen to be giants ; magnificent is their retinue, butthey two are supreme, each in his own dominion ; andclear as the day is here, they are diademed with clouds.It cannot be that the "proportion of diffused water ishere too great "; and is it then true that no one " evertravelled along the banks of Loch Lomond, variegatedas the lower part is by islands, without feeling that aspeedier termination to the long vista of blank waterwould be acceptable, and without wishing for an interpositionof green meadows, trees, and cottages, and asparkling stream to run by his side?" We havetravelled along them in all weathers and never felt sucha wish. For there they all are—all but the "sparklingstream to run by our side, " and we see not how thatwell could be in nature. "Streams that sparkle asthey run," cross our path on their own ; and brighterLOMONDnever issued from the woods. Along the margin of thewater,as far as Luss— ay, and much farther—the variationsof the foreground are incessant. "Had it noother beauties," it has been truly said, "but those ofits shores, it would still be an object of prime attraction; whether from the bright green meadows sprinkledwith luxuriant ash trees, that sometimes skirt itsmargin, or its white pebbled shores on which its gentlebillows murmur, like a miniature ocean, or its boldrocky promontories rising from the dark water rich inwild flowers and ferns, and tangled with wild roses andhoneysuckles, or its retired bays where the waves dash,reflecting, like a mirror, the trees which hang overthem, an inverted landscape."'The islands are for ever arranging themselves intonew forms, every one more and more beautiful ; at leastso they seem to be, perpetually occurring, yet alwaysunexpected, and there is a pleasure even in such aseries of slight surprises that enhances the delight ofadmiration. And alongside, or behind us, all thewhile, are the sylvan mountains, "laden with beautj';"and ever and anon open glens widen down upon usfrom chasms ; or forest glades lead our hearts awayinto the inner gloom — perhaps our feet ; and there, ina field that looks not as if it had been cleared by hisown hands, but left clear by nature, a woodman's hut.Half-way between Luss and Tarbet the water narrows,but it is still wide ; the new road, we believe, windsround the point of Firkin, the old road boldly scaled'the height, as all old roads loved to do ; ascend it, andbid the many-isled vision, in all its greatest glory,farewell. Thence upwards prevails the spirit of themountains. The lake is felt to belong to them—to besubjected to their will—and that is capricious ; forsometimes they suddenly blacken it when at its brightest,and sometimes when its gloom is like that of the grave,as if at their bidding, all is light. We cannot helpattributing the "skiey influences" which occasion suchwonderful effects on the water, to prodigious mountainsfor we cannot look on them without feeling that theyreign over the solitude they compose ; the lights andshadows flung by the sun and the clouds imaginationassuredly regards as put forth by the vast objects whichthey colour ; and we are inclined to think some suchbeliefis essential in the profound awe, often amountingto dread, with which we are inspired by the presences ofmere material forms. But be this as it may, the upperportion of Loch Lomond is felt by all to be most sublime.Near the head, all the manifold impressions ofthe beautiful which for hours our mind had beenreceiving begin to fade ; if some gloomy change hastaken place in the air, there is a total obliteration, andthe mighty scene before us is felt to possess not thehour merely, but the day. Yet should sunshine come,and abide a while, beauty will glimpse upon us evenhere, for green pastures will smile vividly, high upamongthe rocks ; the sylvan spirit is serene th&moment it is touched with light, and here there is notonly many a fair tree by the water-side, but yon oldoak wood will look joyful on the mountain, and thegloom become glimmer in the profound abyss. Wordsworthsays, that "it must be more desirable, for thepurposes of pleasure, that lakes should be numerous,and small or middle-sized, than large, not only for communicationby walks and rides, but for variety, and forrecurrence of similar appearances." The Highlandshave them of all sizes—and that surely is best. Buthere is one which, it has been truly said, is not only" incomparable in its beauty as in its dimensious,exceeding all others in variety as it does in extent andsplendour, but unites in itself every style of scenerywhich is found in the other lakes of the Highlands."He who has studied and understood and felt all LochLomond, will be prepared at once to enjoy any otherfine lake he looks on ; nor will he admire nor love itthe less, though its chief character should consist inwhat forms but one part of that of the Wonder inwhich all kinds of beauty and sublimity are combined.Elsewhere he says again : ' Loch Lomond is a sea !553