Chapter 18 Chapter Eighteen From Loch Soft Dream to Loch Catlin

Harry carried Nell on his arms and walked down the slope of Arthur's house, James.Starr and Jack.Ryan followed behind him.After a few hours' rest and a refreshing lunch at the Longbury's, they intended to top up their excursion with a walk through the country of the lakes. Nell regained her strength.From then on her eyes could be opened wide in the light, and her lungs breathed abundantly this refreshing and hygienic air.The green of the trees, the nuances of plant color, the azure blue of the sky, the series of colors unfolded before her eyes. A train at a mainline station brought Nell and her traveling companions to Glasgow.There, from the last bridge over the Creed, they could admire the river's curious coastal movements.They then spent the night at the Royal Hotel in Kemre.

The next day, from the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway station, trains would quickly take them to the southernmost tip of Loch Romney, via Dumbarton and Baruch. That's Robert.Lowe and Fergus.mark.Gregor's hometown!James.cried Starr, and was taken by Walter.The territory Scott so poetically celebrates!You don't know this place, Jack? I know it from its songs, Mr. Starr, Jack.Ryan replied that when a place is sung so well it must be proud! Yes, indeed, cried the Engineer, and our dear Nell will remember it most fondly! With a guide like you, Mr Starr, replied Harry, it would be doubly rewarding, because you'd be telling us the local history as we watched.

Yes, Harry, said the engineer, and I will speak as well as I can remember, but on one condition: that happy Jack come to be my assistant!When I get tired of talking, he sings! Don't have to tell me a second time, Jack.Ryan retorted, trilling as if he were going to raise his voice to the la range. On the railway from Glasgow to Baruch, it is only about twenty miles between the commercial metropolis of Scotland and the southernmost tip of Loch Loch. The train passed Dumbarton, the royal town and county capital, whose castle, forever fortified by the Treaty of Union, was elegantly and securely built on the two summits of a gigantic basalt crag.

Dumbarton is located at the confluence of the Creed and Lewin rivers.On this topic, James.Stahl told Mary.Several features of Stuart's adventure stories.Indeed, it was from this town that she set off to marry Francis II and become queen of France.It was also there that after 1815, the British cabinet planned to imprison Napoleon, but the choice of Santa Elena prevailed, which is why the British prisoner later died on a rock island in the Atlantic Ocean and became the most used legendary record material. After a while, the train stopped at Baruch, near a wooden barrier that dropped to the lake.

A steamboat called the Sinclair waited for travelers on the lake.Nell and her traveling companions bought tickets to Infansney, at the northern end of Lake Sweet Dreams, and boarded the boat. The day began with a good sun, sweeping away those British mists that so often obscured it.Not a single detail of the scenery that unfolded during this thirty-mile voyage could have been missed by the tourists on the Sinclair.Nell sat in the back of the boat James.Between Starr and Harry, absorbing with all her senses the gorgeous poetry so powerfully inscribed by this beautiful Scottish nature. Jack.Ryan walked up and down the deck of the Sinclair, asking the engineer constantly, but the latter didn't need someone else to ask.With Robert.This hometown of Lowe's was unfolding before his eyes, and he described it with gusto.

In the water at the forefront of Lake Roumeng, many islands or islets first appeared.Scatter like sowing seeds.The Sinclair followed their steep banks, and the gaps between the islands presented either a solitary valley or an irregular throat lined with precipitous rocks. Neil, James.Each of these small islands has its legend, perhaps its song, as do the mountains by the lake, Starr said.It can be said that without too much extravagance, the history of this place will be written with the magnificent characteristics of the island and the mountain. Do you know, Mr Starr, said Harry, what this part of Soft Dreams reminds me of?

What does it remind you of!Harry? The thousands of islands of Lake Ontario so admirably described by Cooper.You should be as moved by this vision as I am, my dear Neil, because I read to you a few days ago the novel which is rightly regarded as the masterpiece of this American author. Indeed, Harry, replied the maiden, it looks exactly the same, and the Sinclair sailed between the islands as the freshwater Jasper's dhow sailed between the islands of Lake Ontario! Well, went on the engineer, it shows that these two landscapes are equally worthy of being sung by two poets!I don't know about the thousands of islands in Lake Ontario, Harry, but I doubt they'll be more varied than this archipelago in Loch Loch.Look at this view!This is the Isle of Morey, with Lenox's old fort on it, where the Duchess of Albany lived after her father, her husband, and her two sons were beheaded by the order of Jacques I.These are the islands of Kra, Cro, and Tor. Some islands are full of rocks, deserted, and seem to have no vegetation, and some islands show green round mountain tops.Here, larch and birch, there, a patch of yellow dry heather.real!It's a little hard for me to imagine that the thousands of islands in Lake Ontario can present such a variety of scenery!

What kind of port is that?asked Nell, who had turned to the eastern shore of the lake. That's Balmaha, which forms the entrance to the Heights, James.That's where our Scottish Highlands began, replied Starr.Those ruins you see, Neil, are the ruins of a convent, and those scattered graves lie with Mark.Various members of the Gregor family whose names are still well-known throughout the place. Famous for the blood shed by this family and the blood shed by others!Harry pointed out. You are right, James.Starr replied that it must be admitted that fame due to fighting is still the most sensational.Those battle stories are old

But they live forever in song, Jack.Ryan added. Then, in confirmation of his words, the brave boy sang the first verse of an old war song, which tells of Grand.Alexander of Slay.mark.Gregor attacked Humphrey of Luce.Ser Kirqueava's exploits. Nell listened, but she got only a bleak impression from these battle stories.Why did it seem to her that so much blood would be spilled on this endless plain, when the stronghold there should offend no one? The shore of the lake is estimated to be three or four miles long, and tends to approach the perimeter of the little port of Luce.Nell was able to see the old tower of the castle.Then, the Sinclair sailed north again, and Ben︱Soft Dream appeared before the eyes of the tourists, which was about three thousand feet above the lake.

Admirable mountain!cried Nell, and how beautiful it must be from the top of it! Yes, Nell, James."Look how proudly that hilltop is free from the oak and larch ornamentation that blankets the lower part of the hill," replied Starr!Beyond that, two-thirds of our ancient Caledonia can be seen.mark.Clan Gregor usually lives there, to the east of the lake.Not far away, the battle between the Jacobites and the Hanofrins bloodbathed these ravaged valleys.There, on those fair nights, rose the pale moon that old legend calls Mark.Lanterns of Farlana.There, the echo was still repeating Robert.Lowe and Mark.Gregor.Campbell's immortal name!

Ben︱Soft Dream, the last peak of the Grampians, is indeed worthy of the praise of the great Scottish romancer.Just like James.Stahl points out that there are mountains taller and capped with snow all year round, but there is probably no mountain more poetic anywhere in the world. And, he added, when I think that this book, Soft Dreams, belongs entirely to the Duke of Montrose!His lordship has a hill, as a bourgeois in London has a lawn in his little garden. By this time the Sinclair had reached the country of Tabe, where she was to carry the tourists for Inverelle on the opposite bank of the lake.Seen from this place, all the beauty of Ben︱Roumeng is displayed.Its slopes were troughed by those torrents, shining like some molten silver disks. The village got steeper and steeper as the Sinclair made its way down the foothills.Here and there there were barely a few solitary trees, among them a few willows, the twigs of which had formerly been used to hang the lowly. In order to save the noose, James.Starr pointed out. However, the lake narrows as it extends northward.The mountains on both sides narrow it even more.The steamship still sailed along several islands and islets, Infruglass, Aled.Huh, there stands the mark that belongs to Mark.Remains of a fortress of the Farlana family.Finally, the shores of the two lakes came together, and the Sinclair stopped at Inversine Station. There, while waiting for lunch to be prepared for them, Nell and her traveling companions went to visit a rapid that plunged into the lake from a considerable height near the disembarkation point.It stands there like a scenery, arousing the interest of tourists.A trembling bridge rests on the turbulent water, and the bridge is filled with mist.From this place a large part of Loch Romney could be seen, and the Sinclair was like a point on the surface. After lunch, it's time to consider Lake Catlin.Several of the cars were decorated with Robert Brydarbana, a family that had previously guaranteed escape.Lowe's firewood and water coat of arms cars are available to tourists and offer them the superior comfort of English bodies. Harry had Nell sit on the top floor the way he would sit during the day, with his traveling companions sitting beside him.A stately coachman in a red livery holds the reins of his four horses in his left hand, and the harness begins its climb up the winding course of the rapids. The road is extremely steep.As the road surface rises, the shape of the surrounding hilltops seems to change.The whole chain of shores across the lake was seen to grow proudly, and the peaks of Aroka looked down upon the valley of Infrugrass.On the left, Ben︱Roumeng Mountain emerges, displaying its rugged steepness with its northern slope. The area between Loch Sweetheart and Loch Catlin has a wilderness feel to it.The valley begins with some narrow defiles that end in the glen of Aberfoyle.The name brought back to the young girl painful memories of those dreadful abysses where she had spent her childhood down the wells.So James.Starr hurriedly told a story to distract her. Besides, this place has stories to tell.It was by little Loch Ard, Robert.Lowe lived through the major events of his life.There rose limestone, eerie in appearance, mingled with gravel hardened by time and the atmosphere as cement.Some dilapidated thatched huts, like dens, they called Broches, and in the middle of the abandoned sheep sheds lived people.It is almost possible to ask whether this is inhabited by humans or by beasts.Several children, their hair bleached from the weather, stared in amazement at the passing vehicles. That is, James.Starr said that people can more specifically call Robert.Roy's territory.Here, the excellent Justice Nicholas.Javi, as expected of his father Liupin Xiugan's son, was captured by Earl Lenox's army.It was in this very place that he was hanged with the backing of his breeches, luckily it was made of good Scotch tweed and not of the light feathers of France!Not far from the source of the Worth, from which the rapids of this soft dream feed it, the place where the hero waded to escape the Duke of Montrose's soldiers can still be seen.ah!Had he known the shadowy hiding-places in our mines, he would have lost all pursuit!Know, my friends, that at every step in this marvelous place that bears so many titles, you meet these memories of the past, Walter.Scotus will call up Mark.Clan Gregor's army took inspiration from it when rewritten into gorgeous stanza! That's all very well said, Mr. Starr, Jack.Ryan countered, but if Nicola.Jarvie was really hanged with the backing of his breeches, how should our proverb be the cruelest man who never gets his breeches from a Scot? No doubt, Jack, you are right, James.Starr replied with a smile, and it could not be more simply confirmed that our Lord Chancellor was not dressed the way his ancestors were dressed that day! He's talking nonsense, Mr. Starr! I disagree, Jack! After climbing the steep shore near the rapids, the set car descended into a valley where there was neither tree nor water, but a barren cover of a kind of heath.In some places, several pyramid-shaped stone piles rise. Those are Celtic cairns, James.Before, Starr said, every passerby had to place a stone on it to pay tribute to the heroes who lay in these graves.Hence the Gaelic motto: Misfortune to him who passes a Celtic stone house without laying a last stone of homage!If the children had maintained this belief of the parents, these stone piles would be hills now.In fact, in this place, all the people are dedicated to developing this poem that was naturally conceived in the hearts of the mountain people!All mountains are like this.The imagination is overstimulated there by the wonders, but the Greeks must not have invented ancient myths if they lived in a plain! While saying these words and many other things, the car drove into the defiles of a narrow valley, which was very suitable for the great Meg.The familiar ghosts and ghosts of Melili played here.The little lake of Akritus was left on the left, and a steep road appeared, which led to the inn at Strnacilaka on the shore of Lake Katrin. There, at the head of a jetty of a slender barrier, rocked a little steamer, of course, the name of Robert.Lowe.The travelers got on board immediately, and the ship was about to sail. Lake Catlin was only ten miles long and never more than two miles wide.The frontmost hills along the lake still stamped something of great character. That's the lake, James.exclaimed Stahl, and it is quite accurately compared to a long needle!It is asserted that the lake does not freeze.I don't know anything about it, but it must not be forgotten that it was used as the stage for the Lady of the Lake's exploits.I believe that if our friend Jack looked carefully, he would see the beautiful Elena.Douglas's light shadow still glides across the lake! Of course, Mr. Speer, Jack.Ryan replied, why would I never see her?Why couldn't this pretty woman be seen on the waters of Lake Catlin like the goblins in the coal mines were on the waters of Lake Maltham? Just then, Robert.The clear sound of bagpipes sounded from the stern of the Lowe. There a Highlander in national dress was tuning on the bassoon of his bagpipe, the thickest sounding so, the second si, and the smallest eighth to the original.As for the bassoon with eight holes, he gave the so scale a major third, in which fa is the natural sound. The Highlander's Refrain is a simple, soft and earthy song.It may be considered, indeed, that the melodies of those peoples were not composed by anyone, but were a natural blend of the breeze, the murmur of the water, and the rustling of the leaves.The form of the refrain, which returns regularly to intervals, is odd.Its sentences consist of three-meter sections with two pauses, and end with one-meter section with three pauses, on weak pauses.Contrary to the songs of the old days, this song is of great intervals, and it can be written in a number language not for notes but for intervals as follows: 51.235251.76522.22 1.235251.76511.11 One person was really happy at this time, and that was Jack.Ryan.He can sing the song of the Scottish lake.So, to the accompaniment of the Highlander on his bagpipes, he sang in his sonorous voice the hymn that perpetuates the old Caledonian legend: The beautiful lake where the waves sleep, keep forever your moving legend, Beautiful Scottish loch! footprints found beside you From such a deplored hero, These descendants of noble blood, Our Walter sang for you! it's tricks or wizards Prepare their meager meals; There, the vast heather fields, Back Fincal's Shadow. pass here in the dark night The crazy dance of goblins. There, ominously, appeared in the shadows The faces of the old Puritans! And among the hideous cliffs, At night, I can still hear Waverly, he, to your lakeside, Take Flora.mark.Ivo! Mrs. Lake is undoubtedly coming Roaming there on her horse, And Diana, not far away, listens Robert.Roy's horn is sounding! Not so long ago people didn't hear Fergus among his clan, For the bagpipe variations of his war, Awakened the echoes of the Highlands. So far from you, poetic lake, led by fate, ravines, crags, ancient caves, Our eyes will not forget you! oh!Visions that fade prematurely, Can you come back to us! Salute you, ancient Caledonia! Hats off to you, all our memories! The beautiful lake where the waves sleep, keep forever your moving legend, Beautiful Scottish loch! It was already three o'clock in the afternoon.The west shore of Lake Catlin, which had appeared to be a little smoother, was now clearly visible in Ben.Ann and Ben.Fanu's dual background.Half a mile away, the narrow anchorage was revealed, Robert.The Lowe will disembark the tourists at the innermost point of the anchorage, and they will go to Stirling via Callander. Nell seemed worn out by the constant mental tension.Whenever a new object that surprised her came into her sight, she just spit out a word from her lips: My God!my God!She would have rested for hours, if not for the memory of so many spectacle to stick more consistently. Then Harry took her hand again.He looked at the girl affectionately and said to her: Neil.My dear Nell, soon we will be back in our dark realms!Do you not regret at all what you have seen in the full light of day in the last few hours? No, Harry, replied the young girl, I will reminisce, but happiness will be with you back to our beloved coal mines. Nell, asked Harry in an irresistibly excited voice, will you allow a divine union, before God and before all men, to unite us forever?Would you like me to be your husband? I would, Harry, replied Nell, looking at him with such pure eyes, I would, if you thought I could satisfy your life Nell hadn't finished the sentence, in which she summed up the whole of Harry's future she had to say, when an inexplicable thing happened. Robert.Although the Lowe was still half a mile from shore, she felt the jerk.Its keel had just hit the bottom of the lake, and no amount of effort from its machinery could get the boat free. And this accident happened because the western part of Catlin Lake had just been emptied almost suddenly, as if a vast opening had been opened in the bottom of the lake.Within seconds, the lake is dry, like a coastal strip after a spring or autumn equinox.Almost all of its lake water has escaped through the depths of the earth. Friends, James.Starr cried out, as if the reason for this incident was suddenly realized by him, God bless New Aberfoyle!