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In the following pages I essay to guide my readers to new ground, even to "the Land's End" of Scotland, — for such is the English meaning of the Gaelic word Cantire, Ceantire, "the Land's End," which is the southern part of the county of Argyle, and is a peninsula only twelve miles removed from Ireland, washed by the Atlantic, and flanked by the Isles of Arran and the southern Hebrides. I venture to call Cantire new ground, for in truth it is somewhat of a terra incognita, and is but rarely visited, and has been but barely mentioned by the guide-books, some of which indeed do not bestow any description upon Cantire, evidently regarding it as a "Western Highland district which no tourist would desire to explore.
For, it is a country which must be visited for its own sake; and the traveller, in quest of Highland celebrities, need not, on his way to them, pass through Cantire. It lies south and west of the better-known portions of the Scottish Highlands; and although so many thousand tourists annually visit those spots which fashion has very justly pronounced to be so invitingly beautiful,—but which, rather more than a century ago (as they were hard to be got at), were deemed to be the types of all that was uninteresting and repulsive,— yet not even a driblet of this annual stream is filtered through Cantire. It lies out of the beaten track; it is somewhat of a journey to get at it, to get through it, and to get away from it; and, in these days of rapid locomotion, when the British tourist can breakfast in Glasgow, and "do" Dumbarton, Loch Lomond, Rob Roy's country, Loch Katrine, the Trossachs, and Stirling, within the limits of one summer's day, and can sleep in Edinburgh the same night, he can get more for his money and for his after-conversation out of such a tour as this, than he can do by going out of his way to see a district of the Highlands, which must consume at the very least three or four days of his time to get to and away from, and in which his home friends will probably not take the slightest interest. For the British tourist is a gregarious and sheep-like animal, and Brown's instinct leads him along the beaten track, where he is sure to meet with Smith, Jones, and Robinson, and where railways, steamers, coaches, and well-appointed inns fit into each other with ease and comfort.
This is thus yet another history of parts of Scotland that we've been bringing you over the past weeks. We have the first chapter up now and this can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/glencreggan
For, it is a country which must be visited for its own sake; and the traveller, in quest of Highland celebrities, need not, on his way to them, pass through Cantire. It lies south and west of the better-known portions of the Scottish Highlands; and although so many thousand tourists annually visit those spots which fashion has very justly pronounced to be so invitingly beautiful,—but which, rather more than a century ago (as they were hard to be got at), were deemed to be the types of all that was uninteresting and repulsive,— yet not even a driblet of this annual stream is filtered through Cantire. It lies out of the beaten track; it is somewhat of a journey to get at it, to get through it, and to get away from it; and, in these days of rapid locomotion, when the British tourist can breakfast in Glasgow, and "do" Dumbarton, Loch Lomond, Rob Roy's country, Loch Katrine, the Trossachs, and Stirling, within the limits of one summer's day, and can sleep in Edinburgh the same night, he can get more for his money and for his after-conversation out of such a tour as this, than he can do by going out of his way to see a district of the Highlands, which must consume at the very least three or four days of his time to get to and away from, and in which his home friends will probably not take the slightest interest. For the British tourist is a gregarious and sheep-like animal, and Brown's instinct leads him along the beaten track, where he is sure to meet with Smith, Jones, and Robinson, and where railways, steamers, coaches, and well-appointed inns fit into each other with ease and comfort.
This is thus yet another history of parts of Scotland that we've been bringing you over the past weeks. We have the first chapter up now and this can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/glencreggan