Chapter III (5)

To say the truth, we have observed with great pain, that a far too exclusive spirit has of late manifested itself in certain high places, and among persons whom we regard too much to be wholly indifferent to their conduct. This very summer the public press has been indignant in its denunciation of the Dukes of Atholl and Leeds--the one having, as it is alleged, attempted to shut up a servitude road through Glen Tilt, and the other established a cordon for many miles around the skirts of Ben-na-Mac-Dhui, our highest Scottish mountain. We are not fully acquainted with the particulars; but from what we have heard, it would appear that this wholesale exclusion from a vast tract of territory is intended to secure the solitude of two deer-forests. Now, we are not going to argue the matter upon legal grounds--although, knowing something of law, we have a shrewd suspicion that both noble lords are in utter misconception of their rights, and are usurping a sovereignty which is not to be found in their charters, and which was never claimed or exercised even by the Scottish Kings. But the churlishness of the step is undeniable, and we cannot but hope that it has proceeded far more on thoughtlessness than from intention. The day has been, when any clansman, or even any stranger, might have taken a deer from the forest, tree from the hill, or a salmon from the river, without leave asked or obtained: and though that state of society has long since passed away, we never till now have heard that the free air of the mountains, and their heather ranges, are not open to him who seeks them. Is it indeed come to this, that in bonny Scotland, the tourist, the botanist, or the painter, are to be debarred from visiting the loveliest spots which nature ever planted in the heart of a wilderness, on pretence that they disturb the deer! In a few years we suppose Ben Lomond will be preserved, and the summit of Ben Nevis remain as unvisited by the foot of the traveller as the icy peak of the Jungfrau. Not so, assuredly, would have acted the race of Tullibardine of yore. Royal were their hunting gatherings, and magnificent the driving of the Tinchel; but over all their large territory of Atholl, the stranger might have wandered unquestioned, except to know if he required hospitality. It is not now the gate which is shut, but the moor; and that not against the depredator, but against the peaceful wayfaring man. Nor can we as sportsmen admit even the relevancy of the reasons which have been assigned for this wholesale exclusion. We are convinced, that in each season not above thirty or forty tourists essay the ascent of Ben-na-Mac-Dhui, and of that number, in all probability, not one has either met or startled a red deer. Very few men would venture to strike out a devious path for themselves over the mountains near Loch Aven, which, in fact, constitute the wildest district of the island. The Quaker tragedy of Helvellyn might easily be re-enacted amidst the dreary solitudes of Cairn Gorm, and months elapse before your friends are put in possession of some questionable bones. Nothing but enthusiasm will carry a man through the intricacies of Glen Lui, the property of Lord Fife, to whom it was granted at no very distant period of time out of the forfeited Mar estates, and which is presently rented by the Duke of Leeds; and nothing more absurd can be supposed, than that the entry of a single wanderer into that immense domain, can have the effect of scaring the deer from the limits of so large a range. This is an absurd and an empty excuse, as every deer-stalker must know. A stag is not so easily frightened, nor will he fly the country from terror at the apparition of the Cockney. Depend upon it, the latter will be a good deal the more startled of the two. With open mouth and large gooseberry eyes, he will stand gazing upon the vision of the Antlered Monarch; the sketch-book and pencil-case drop from his tremulous hands, and he stands aghast in apprehension of a charge of horning, against which he has no defence save a cane camp-stool, folded up into the semblance of a yellow walking-stick. Not so the Red-deer. For a few moments he will regard the Doudney-clad wanderer of the wilds, not in fear but in surprise; and then, snuffing the air which conveys to his nostrils an unaccustomed flavour of bergamot and lavender, he will trot away over the shoulder of the hill, move further up the nearest corrie, and in a quarter of an hour will be lying down amidst his hinds in the thick brackens that border the course of the lonely burn.

We could say a great deal more upon this subject; but we hope that expansion is unnecessary. Throughout all Europe the right of passage over waste and uncultivated land, where there never were and never can be inclosures, appears to be universally conceded. What would his Grace of Leeds say, if he were told that the Bernese Alps were shut up, and the liberty of crossing them denied, because some Swiss seigneur had taken it into his head to establish a chamois preserve? The idea of preserving deer in the way now attempted is completely modern, and we hope will be immediately abandoned. It must not, for the sake of our country, be said, that in Scotland, not only the inclosures, but the wilds and the mountains are shut out from the foot of man; and that, where no highway exists, he is debarred from the privilege of the heather. Whatever may be the abstract legal rights of the aristocracy, we protest against the policy and propriety of a system which would leave Ben Cruachan to the eagles, and render Loch Ericht and Loch Aven as inaccessible as those mighty lakes which are said to exist in Central Africa, somewhere about the sources of the Niger.

INDEX TO VOL. LX.

Abd-el-Kader, sketches of, 348.

Adelaide, Queen, anecdote of, 584.

Advice to an intending Serialist, 590.

Affghanistan, sketch of the recent history of, 540.

Agave Americana, the, 266.

Agriculture in Mexico, 266.

Aird, Thomas, a summer day by, 277.

Aire, siege of, 529.

Algeria, 534.

America, effects of the discovery of, 261.

Americans and Aborigines, the, a tale of the short war--Part
Last, 45.

Anhalt, Prince of, 529.

Annals and antiquities of London, 673.

Anti-corn-law league, the, 250.

Arabs, sketches of the, 341.

Army, the, 129
--present defects in, and their improvement, 131
--punishments, 133
--rewards, 136
--sale of commissions, 137
--education, 138
--dress, 142.

Arras, siege of, 527.

Ascherson, Herr, 101.

Badger, habits of the, 497.

Barrados, General, defeat of, 274.

Barrett, Miss, poems by, 488.

Bautzen, battle of, 579.

Ben Douda, an Arab chief, 341.

Bethune, capture of, 528.

Blanco, General, 2.

Blidah, town of, 339.

Bocca di Cattaro, the, 431.

Bona, town of, 344.

Boston, town of, 474.

Bouchain, siege of, 537.

Bright, Mr, on the game laws, 757.

British Association, remarks on the, 640.

Burnes, Sir Alexander, murder of, 553.

Bustamente, president of Mexico, 274.

Cabanero, General, 302.

Cabellos' life of Cabrera, 295.

Cabrera, sketch of the career of, 293.

Callao, fort of, 3.

Canada, sketches of, 464.

Carbunculo of Peru, the, 193.

Carlist war, sketches of the, 293.

Carnicer, Colonel, 293, 294.

Carnival in Peru, the, 9.

Castel Fuerte, viceroy of Peru, 7.

Cathedral of Mexico, the, 269.

Cattaro, town of, 431.

Cerro de Parco, silver mines of, 182.

Change on Change, 492.

Charles Russell, the gentleman commoner, Chap. I., 145
--Chap. II., 309.

Chili, war of, with Peru, 2.

Christina of Spain, notices of, 741.

Coco-tree of Peru, the, 189.

Columbus, from Schiller, 333.

Commissions, sale of, in the army, 137.

Condé, Prince of, 704.

Conde's Daughter, the, 496.

Condor, the, 3.

Cookery and Civilisation, 238.

Cordilleras of Peru, the, 181.

Corn-law repeal, on the, 249.

Cortes, armour of, 270
--conquest of Mexico by, 272.

Coursing, passion for, in Peru, 15.

Creoles of Peru, the, 8.

Criminal law, on the, 721.

Dance, the, from Schiller, 480.

Dead Rose, a, by E. B. Barrett, 491.

Death of Zumalacarregui, the, 56.

Dedomenicis, Signor, 103.

Dejazet the actress, 413.

Denmark, sketches of, 645.

Diseases of Peru, the, 179, 181.

Ditmarschers, the, 646.

Dost Mohammed, sketch of the life of, 540.

Douay, siege of, 525.

Drama, the romantic, 161.

Dramatic mysteries in Peru, 187.

Dress of the army, the, 143.

Dudevant, Madame, 423.

Dumas, Alexander, notices of, 417.

Earthquakes in Lima, 13.

Education of the soldier, on the, 138.

Elinor Travis, a tale, Chap. II., 83.
--Chapter the Last, 444.

England in the new world, 464.

English Hexameters, letters on,
--Letter I., 19
--Letter II., 327
--Letter III., 477.

English Poor laws, operation of the, 555.

Epic poem, on the, 163.

Espartero, General, 301.

Espinoza, Major, anecdote of, 303.

Esteller, death of, 303.

Eugene, Prince, 34, 698.

Fergusson's notes of a professional life, review of, 129.

Fishes of Peru, the, 18.

Flogging in the army, on, 133.

France, state of criminal procedure in, 721.

Free trade, on, 249.

Frieslanders, the, 651.

From Schiller, 333.

Game laws, on the, 754.

Gaming, prevalence of, in Mexico, 267.

Germany, state of criminal law in, 721.

Ghent, capture of, by Marlborough, 23.

Girardin, M., 420.

Gomez, General, 299.

Guano deposits in Peru, the, 17.

Gutzkow's Paris, review of, 411.

Hanging bridges of Peru, the, 182.

Hector in the garden, by Elizabeth B. Barrett, 493.

Heron, habits of the, 397.

Hexameters, English, letters on
--Letter I., 19.
--Letter II., 327.
--Letter III., 477.

Hidalgos, insurrection of, in Mexico, 272.

Highland wild sports, 389.

Historical romance, on the, 162.

Hochelaga, or England in the New World, review of, 464.

Holsche, Lieutenant, anecdotes of, 587, 588.

Holstein, sketches of, 645.

Honour to the Plough, 613.

Horses of Algeria, the, 345
--of Peru, 11.

How I became a Yeoman--Chap. I., 358
--Chap. II., 362
--Chap. III., 366
--Chap. IV., 371.
--Chap. V., 374.

How to build a house and live in it--No. II., 349.

Howden, Lord, death of Zumalacarregui by, 56.

Hydropathy, on, 376.

Ignazio, 102.

Imprisonment as a punishment, on, 722.

Indians of Peru, the, 183, 185.

Inns of Peru, the, 181.

Inquisition in Peru, the, 7.

Isabella of Spain, marriage of, 740.

Iturbide, rise and fall of, 273.

Jalapa, city of, 265.

Jamaica, Metcalfe's government of, 662.

Janin, Jules, 421.

Jesuits, expulsion of the, from Peru, 6.

Jews in Algiers, the, 344.

Juan Fernandez, island of, 3.

Juan Santos, insurrection of, 190.

Kabyles, the, 345.

Kennedy's Algeria, review of, 334.

Kingston, town of, 470.

Kleist, General, 579.

Kohl in Denmark and the Marshes, review of, 645.

Kulm, battle of, 581.

Lal, Mohan, Life of Dost Mahommed by, 539.

Last recollections of Napoleon, 110.

Late and present Ministry, the, 249.

Lays and legends of the Thames, 729.

Law, the, and its punishments, 721.

Letters and impressions from Paris, 411.

Letters on English Hexameters
--Letter I., 19.
--Letter II., 327.
--Letter III., 477.

Life at the water cure, review of, 376.

Lille, siege and citadel of, 22.

Lima, town of, 5.

Lodge, A., the Minstrel's Curse, by, 177.

London, annals and antiquities of, 673.

London Bridge, 730.

Louis XIV., character of, 517
--contrasted with William III., 522.

Louis Philippe and the Spanish marriages, 742.

Lowe, Sir Hudson, 122, 126.

Luigia de Medici, 614.

Lutzen, battle of, 578.

Maconochie, Captain, on punishment, 725.

Malplaquet, battle of, 33.

Man's requirements, by Elizabeth B. Barrett, 489.

Marey, General, 340.

Market of Lima, the, 12.

Marlborough's Dispatches, 1708, 1709, 22
--1710, 1711, 517
--1711, 1712, 690
--his death and character, 702.

Marshall's Military Miscellany, review of, 129.

Maude's Spinning, by E. B. Barrett, 490.

Medeah, town of, 340.

Mesmeric mountebanks, 223.

Metcalfe, Lord, government of Jamaica by, 662.

Mexico, its history and people, 261
--valley and city of, 269.

Mildred, a tale--Part I., chapter I., 709
--chapter II., 713
--chapter III., 718.

Military Education in Prussia, 573.

Mine, forest, and cordillera, the, 172.

Minstrel's Curse the, from Uhland, 177.

Mohan Lal in Affghanistan, 539.

Monasteries of Spain, state of, when suppressed, 295.

Mons, siege of, 31.

Montalban, siege of, 305.

Montenegro, visit to the Vladika of, 428.

Montesquieu, Marshal, 525.

Montholon's Napoleon, review of, 110.

Montpensier, Duke of, 751.

Montreal, town of, 470.

More Rogues in Outline--the sick antiquary, 101
--Signor Dedomenicis, 103
--Scaling a coin, 107.

Moreau, death of, 580.

Morella, capture of, by Cabrera, 301.

Morellos, insurrection of, 272.

Moriamur pro Rege Nostro--Chap. I., 194
--Chap. II., 201
--Chap. III., 210
--Chap. IV., 216
--Conclusion, 221.

Morning and other poems, review of, 62.

Mules of Peru, the, 12.

Museum of Mexico, the, 270.

My College Friends--No. IV., Charles Russell, the gentleman commoner
--Chap. I., 145
--Chap. II., 309.

Napoleon and Louis XIV., parallel between, 520
--last recollections of, 110.

Negro carnival in Peru, the, 17.

Negroes of Peru, the, 9.

Niagara, Falls of, 471.

Nogueras, General, 297.

North America, features of, 262.

New Scottish Plays and Poems, 62.

New Sentimental Journey, a--At Moulins, 481
--Clermont, 484
--on a stone, 606
--the Philosopher, 608
--a Shandrydan, 611.

Newspapers, on, 629.

Odysseus, from Schiller, 333.

Ogilvy's Highland Minstrelsy, review of, 62.

Old Ignazio, 102.

Opera in Paris, state of the, 415.

Operation of the English Poor-laws, 555.

Orizaba, mountain of, 265.

Palace of Mexico, the, 269.

Pardinas, General, defeat and death of, 303.

Paredes, General, 275.

Paris, letters and impressions from, 411.

Peel, Sir Robert, policy of, 249
--his financial system, 252.

Pellicer, Colonel, cruelties of, 306.

Perote, town of, 265.

Peru, 1
--the mine, forest, and cordillera, 179.

Poaching in the Highlands, 403.

Poems by Elizabeth Barrett Barrett
--a woman's shortcomings, 488
--a man's requirements, 489
--Maude's spinning, 490
--a dead rose, 491
--change on change, 492
--a reed, ib.
--Hector in the garden, 493.

Poetry--The minstrel's curse, 177
--a summer day, by Thomas Aird, 277
--Columbus, &c., from Schiller, 333
--the Dance, from Schiller, 480
--poems by Miss Barrett, 488
--honour to the plough, 613
--London Bridge, 730
--Song for the million, 733
--Thames Tunnel, 736
--St Magnus', Kirkwall, 753.

Poor-Law, operation of the, 555.

Prussian military memoirs, 572.

Puebla, city of, 268.

Pulque, manufacture of, 266.

Puna of Peru, the, 186.

Punishment, state of, under the English law, 722
--objects of, 724.

Punishments in the army, 134
--of the law, 721.

Quebec, city of, 465.

Quesnoy, capture of, 694.

Quinté, bay of, 470.

Rachel the actress, 413.

Rahden's wanderings of a soldier, review of, 572.

Raven, anecdotes of the, 402.

Recent royal marriages, on 740.

Red deer, habits of the, 408.

Reed, a, by Elizabeth Barrett Barrett, 492.

Reichenbach, count, anecdote of, 577, 584.

Requiera, Padre, 15.

Rewards for the army, on, 136.

Roads of Peru, the, 80.

Robbers of Mexico, the, 267
--of Peru, 14.

Romantic drama, the, 161.

Russell minstry, the, 257.

St John's wild sports of the Highlands, review of, 389.

St John's, town of, 464.

St Juan D'Ulloa, fort of, 265.

St Magnus', Kirkwall, 753.

St Marie's Algeria, review of, 334.

St Venant, capture of, 529.

Salcedo silver mine, the, 184.

San Jose silver mine, 185.

Sand, George, 423.

Santa Anna, rise of, 273.

Santa Cruz, protector of Peru, 2.

Santos, Juan, 190.

Scaling a coin, 107.

Schiller, translations from, 333, 480.

Scorpion eaters among the Arabs, 342.

Scottish plays and poems, 62.

Seal, habits of the, 401.

Segura, destruction of the town of, 304.

Serialist, advice to an intending, 590.

Shark, combat with a, 3.

Short enlistments, advantages of, 132.

Shujah, Shah, sketches of, 541.

Sick antiquary, the, 101.

Signor Dedomenicis, 103.

Silver mines of Mexico, the, 271
--of Peru, 182.

Smith, Hannibal, letter to, 590.

Smith's antiquarian ramble in the streets of London, review of, 673.

Solitary confinement, on, 725.

Song for the million, 733.

South America, features of, 262.

Soyer's cookery, review of, 238.

Spanish marriage, on the, 631-740.

Steffens, Professor, anecdote of, 577.

Storms of Peru, the, 182.

Summer day, a, by Thomas Aird, 277.

Superstitions of Mexico, the, 275.

Surville, defence of Tournay by, 29.

Swan, wild, habits of the, 398.

Thames, Lays and Legends of the, 729
--tunnel, 735.

Things in general, 625.

Tournay, siege of, 28.

Tower of London, the, 732.

Tschudi's Peru, review of, 1, 179.

Tupac Amaru, 191.

Turenne, Marshal, 704.

Uhland, the minstrel's curse by, 177.

United States, sketches of the, 471.

Utrecht, peace of, 693.

Valparaiso, town of, 3.

Vampire bat of Peru, the, 192.

Vandamme, General, 581.

Vera Cruz, town of, 263.

Vigo, General, death of, 304.

Villars, Marshal, 33, 526.

Visit to the Vladika of Montenegro, a, 428.

Von Rahden's wanderings of a soldier, review of, 575.

Water cure, the, 376.

Waterloo, Napoleon on, 123.

Welford's evidence on the game laws, 757.

West Indies, recent history of the, 662.

White's Earl of Gowrie, &c., review of, 62.

Wild Sports and Natural History of the Highlands, 389.

Wild swan, habits of the, 398.

William III., parallel between, and Louis XIV., 522.

Woman's shortcomings, by E. B. Barrett, 488.

Woods of Peru, the, 192.

Yanez, colonel, death of, 268.

Yca, province of, 17.

Yussuf, an Arab leader, 347

Zettinié, city of, 439

Zumalacarregui, death of, 56.

_Edinburgh: Printed by Ballantyne and Hughes, Paul's Work, Canongate._

* * * * *

Transcriber's note:

Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. Irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have been retained as printed.

Mismatched quotes are not fixed if it's not sufficiently clear where the missing quote should be placed.

The cover for the eBook version of this book was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.

Page 727: "that a ower should reside somewhere" ... the transcriber has added the missing "p" in "power".

Page 734: "All the sevants' hall combined," ... the transcriber has added "r" to read "servants'".