Volume 6

A collection of modern and contemporary voyages and travels containing, I. Translations from foreign languages ... II. Original voyages and travels ... Analyses of new voyages and travels / [Edited by F.W. Blagdon].

Date:
1805-1810
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A collection of modern and contemporary voyages and travels containing, I. Translations from foreign languages ... II. Original voyages and travels ... Analyses of new voyages and travels / [Edited by F.W. Blagdon]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    118/180 (page 114)
    with numerous and various sorts of warlike instruments, arranged in the nicest order along the walls, and well suited to the style of grandeur and power there long was, and still is, attached to the chieftain of a clan of brave and hardy Highlanders. Seldom inclined to spend much time in viewing the interior of what are termed grand houses, and still seldomer to describe them, I shall only briefly state, that at Inverary-castle the apartments shewn to strangers are spacious, and elegantly fitted up ; contain some excellent paintings, and appear to unite convenience, gran- deur, and comfort, with a share of splendour and magnificence equal to what is to be seen in most of the dwellings of the affluent and great. The castle is seated on an extensive lawn, nearly a quarter of a mile from the Loch, which spreads itself into a noble bason immediately in view of the building ; and the plain stumps of majestic trees and avenues of spreading beeches, give an appearance of grandeur to the whole which it Is impossible for me to convey a just idea of. At a little distance from the castle runs the river Roey; close by the foot of a high and peaked mountain, rising abruptly from, and forming a boun- dary to, the plain upon the right; while on the opposite side, and along the back of the lawn, huge mountains, piled in strange confusion above each other, form a barrier against the fury of the winter’s storms. These for the most part are entirely covered with wood, intermixed with grey rocks : and on the steep sides of the singular and abruptly towering Dmiequoich already mention- ed, trees of all hues, broom whins and craggy precipices, form a complete covering ; leaving only at the top a small plat of grass, on which is a watch-tower, commanding a most admirable and extensive prospect over the circumjacent country. From the castle there is a charming view of the Loch and its opposite shores, a part of the town, and an almost boundless extent of woods, mountains, verdant meads, and rugged precipices, the bridge across the Arey, and such an assemblage of the pictur- esque and romantic, the rural and the beautiful, as have seldom, if ever, been combined in one view, but at that truly charming place. The Shira, another river, whose waters likewise unite with those of the Loch, after embellishing the park at Inverary, runs through a valley that forms a part of the domain, where rural beauty and diversity of objects are displayed in the most charming manner imaginable: where herds of cattle, sheep, and horses, feed in countless numbers; and where there are buildings raised for the purposes of barns, dairy, sheds, &c. in such situations, and with such taste and judgment, that each appears an ornament to the picture, and affords another of the many proofs to be observed at Inverary, of the noble spirit and tasteful •fancy of the designer of the various improvements. But lovely