| Nothing can be more beautiful than the approach to Castle Caldwell; the promontories of thick wood, which shoot into Loch Earne, under the shade of a great ridge of mountains, have the finest effect imaginable: as soon as you are through the gates, turn to the left, about 200 yards to the edge of the hill, where the whole domain lies beneath the point of view. It is a promontory, three miles long, projecting into the lake, a beautiful assemblage of wood and lawn, one end a thick shade, the other grass, scattered with trees, and finishing with wood. A bay of the lake breaks into the eastern end, where it is perfectly wooded: there are six or seven islands among them, (that of Bow three miles long, and one and a half broad) yet they leave a noble sweep of water, bounded by the great range of the Turaw mountains. To the right, the lake takes the appearance of a fine river, with two large islands in it, the whole unites to form one of the most glorious scenes I ever beheld. Rode to the little hill above Michael Macguire's cabin; here the two great promontories of wood join in one, but open in the middle, and give a view of the lake, quite surrounded with wood, as if a distinct water; beyond are the islands, scattered over its face, nor can any thing be more picturesque than the bright silver surface of the water breaking through the dark shades of wood. Around the point on which we stood, the ground is rough and rocky, wild, and various, forming no bad contrast to the brilliant scenery in view. Crossing some of this undressed ground, we came to a point of a hill, above Paddy Macguire's cabbin; here the lake presents great sheets of water, breaking beyond the woody promontories and islands, in the most beautiful manner. At the bottom of the declivity, at your feet, is a creek, and beyond it the lands of the domain, scattered with noble woods, that rise immediately from the water's edge; the house, almost obscured among the trees, seems a fit retreat from every care and anxiety of the world: a little beyond it the lawn, which is in front, shews its lively green among the deeper shades, and over the neck of land, which joins it to the promontory of wood, called Ross a Goul, the lake seems to form a beautiful wood-lock'd bason, stretching its silver surface behind the stems of the single trees; beyond the whole, the mountainy rocks of Turaw, give a magnificent finishing. Near you, on every side, is wild tossed-about ground, which adds very much to the variety of the scene. From hence we passed to the hill in the mountain park, from whence the scenery is different; here you see a short promontory of wood, which projects into a bay, formed by two others, considerably more extensive, that is Ross a goul and Rossmoor east. The lake sketching away in vast reaches, and between numerous islands, almost as far as the eye can command. In the great creek, to the right, which flows up under the mountain of Turaw, are two beautiful islands, which, with the promontories, scattered with trees, give it the most agreeable variety. [p. 164] |
