The steam boat companion; and stranger's guide to the Western islands and Highlands of Scotland |
Common terms and phrases
Ailsa antiquity Argyle Arran Arroquhar Balloch banks basalt beautiful Belfast Belfast Loch brecchia bridge Buchanan Bute Campbell Campbelton Canal Cave close Clyde coast considerable course Crinan crosses Cruachan distance Dunbarton erected extensive feet high Frith Giant's Causeway glen Goatfield Greenock head of Loch Highlands hill immense Inveraray Iona Ireland island Isle Kintyre Kyles of Bute lake Lanark land Leven Liverpool Loch Awe Loch Etive Loch Goyle Loch Lomond Loch Long Lord Luss magnificent mansion miles distant miles farther miles forward moun mountains Mull numerous Oban old castle pass picturesque pillars Port Patrick prospect rising river road Robert the Bruce rock romantic Rothesay rugged ruins scenery Scotland Scottish seat seen shore short situation Staffa Steam Boats steam vessels steep Stirling stone stranger sublime summit tains Tarbert tion town traveller Trosachs village wild wood
Popular passages
Page 2 - Smooth to the shelving brink a copious flood Rolls fair and placid; where collected all, In one impetuous torrent, down the steep It thundering shoots, and shakes the country round. At first, an azure sheet, it rushes broad ; Then whitening by degrees, as prone it falls, And from the loud-resounding rocks below Dash'd in a cloud of foam, it sends aloft A hoary mist, and forms a ceaseless shower.
Page 2 - With wild infracted course, and lessen'd roar, It gains a safer bed, and steals, at last, Along the mazes of the quiet vale.
Page 91 - ... Nature in her wildest and most awful form is here to be contemplated. Mountains rise upon mountains in all the dignity of irregularity, till the eye is lost in the vastness and astonishing variety of the prospect. Valleys, lakes, and rivers, diversify the surface of the country, to a great extent; from this all the principal mountains of Scotland, and no less than nineteen lakes, are visible; indeed, so extensive is the view from the summit of Ben Lomond, that it is impossible for any description...
Page 90 - Umaardenan on the east side of the Loch. Should the enterprising stranger incline to ascend the top of Ben Lomond, Rowardenan is the most eligible place for him to land. Here is a neat comfortable inn, where guides and every requisite for the journey can be procured. The distance from the inn to the summit of the mountain is computed at 6 miles ; but it is probably more, and generally occupies above 3 hours. The first part of the path will appear the most disagreeable, as it is principally over rock...
Page 87 - Eock renders it the finest object on the Clyde, It must, however, have been an arduous undertaking, in rude ages, to render the summit accessible, and to give it the necessary means of defence. It is now ascended by different flights of steps, before the placing of which considerable cutting of the rock appears to have been requisite. The view from the western pinnacle, which is 30 feet higher than the eastern, is exquisitely grand, and no stranger should pass without enjoying it, though the ascent...
Page 90 - This singular and curious appearance is occasioned by the unequal agitation of the atmosphere in the vicinity of lofty mountains, which produces a corresponding inequality on the surface of the water, some parts being gently ruffled by the air, while others remain quiescent; and gives the appearance of long stripes or belts, very equably defined.
Page 87 - ... western pinnacle, which is thirty feet higher than the eastern, is exquisitely grand. On the north are seen the smiling vale and silver meanderings of the classic Leven — Smollett's " Leven." Beyond, is the lake of Loch-lomond, from the margin of which rises in awful majesty the cloud-capt Ben-lomond. Looking up the Clyde, the prospect, as far as Glasgow, is exceedingly beautiful ; while the view down the river is no less striking for its extent, than for the irregular mountain outline of Argyll,...
Page 90 - ... defined. From the same cause proceed the waves, that are said to arise in this Loch without wind; for sudden squalls often descend from the tops of mountains, when the atmosphere, at some distance, is undisturbed. During the dreadful earthquake at Lisbon, in 1755, the surface of this Lake was greatly agitated; the water rose suddenly far above its ordinary level, and again quickly retiring, sunk greatly below the usual height; and this unnatural motion continued for a considerable time. A boat...
Page 27 - Danish fort ; the walls are of great thickness, but were mutilated by a late proprietor, who removed all the freestone he could quarry from it, to assist in the building of the modern family mansion, which is seen near it. Venerable by its antiquity,
Page 81 - Roy," a steamer of 90 tons and 30 horse-power, was the first to make the trip to Belfast ; and the first to ply to Liverpool was the " Robert Bruce," of 150 tons and 60 horse-power, in 1819. Of another — the " Superb" — the Steamboat Companion for 1820 says : — " The ' Superb' is at this moment the finest, largest, and most powerful steam vessel in Britain. She registers 241 tons and is impelled by two very fine engines of 36 HP each, to which copper boilers are attached. The average duration...