GLENESK-THE BURN, LORD A. GORDON. 121 landscape, and unconsciously suggested the presence of some "auld Mause," "that for sma' price Can cast her cantrips an' gie sage advice, Within a mile and a half of Auchmull, the North Esk enters the woods of The Burn, and thence forms in general the boundary betwixt the counties of Angus and Mearns. It has hitherto traversed solely the property of Lord Dalhousie, and, as it now divides these shires, so does it the possessions of that nobleman on the west from those of Colonel M'Inroy on the east, and sweeps along a course of several miles, that, for extent of rugged wildness and silvan beauty, surpasses anything betwixt it and the famous Hall of Ossian. It would be idle to attempt a description of "the dread magnificence" of the scene; but we cannot help observing, that of all points of the river, apart from the above, none is perhaps more strikingly romantic than its entrance into the woods a little above the Dooly Tower, and just below the burn of Mooran. Here the stream is confined into a very narrow space by a great mass of clay-slate, to which the ceaseless action of the water has imparted so fantastic and picturesque forms that the rocks seem to grow, as it were, out of the channel in a flat-sided, conical form, with sharp sword-like points, rising from thirty to forty feet above the river, and in snow or frosty weather they present quite the appearance of so many icebergs in miniature. One of the cliffs, on the west side, is enriched by a fine vein of jasper, stretching down the whole depth of the cliff, and varying from about one to twelve inches in breadth.1 The North Esk is believed to have overflowed the lands of The Burn in ancient times, and evidences yet remain, both in 1 For a lengthened and minute description of the geological varieties of the channel of the North Esk, etc., see Colonel Imrie's paper, with Plate showing the geological formations to the top of Mount Battock, in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, vi. pp. 3 sq. the quality of the soil and in the appearance of the neighbouring lands, to prove the truth of this. Down to about the year 1780, when Lord Adam Gordon bought The Burn, the now beautifully ornamented and wooded banks of the North Esk, together with the lands, were almost destitute of trees or shrubs, and of all sort of cultivation. No sooner, however, had Lord Adam acquired possession, than the work of improvement began to manifest itself-the barren heath was broken up, and means employed to render it available for the production of crops and forest trees. A spacious mansion-house was reared in 1791, and excellent gardens and extensive plantations laid out. Even the hill and banks on the opposite side (the property of Lord Panmure) were made available by Lord Adam for beautifying purposes, and these he covered with plantations to the extent of about ninety acres, from which he could never reap the slightest pecuniary advantage. It has indeed been well said that "there is perhaps not another instance of such a disinterested disposition to ornament a country as this by Lord Adam Gordon," who, in less than a score of years, "created a desert into an Arcadian grove !"1 The road by the Gannochy Bridge divides the properties of The Burn and Arnhall, both of which, under the designation of the latter, formed a barony belonging to the noble house of Southesk down to a comparatively recent date. Some mementoes of the occupancy of that family are yet visible on a sculptured stone at the Chapelton of Arnhall, and in some parts of the old mansion-house. It was from the grandfather of 1 Robertson, Agricultural Survey of Kincardineshire. 2 These relics of the Southesk family consist of a stone, built into the wall of a cottage at Chapelton, bearing an erroneous sculpture of the family arms, as the spread eagle, instead of being single, is double headed. These initials and dates, which refer to the second and fifth Earls, are also upon it-"ANNO 1668. E. IE. I. S. 1704;" and, within the house of Arnhall, but now plastered over, is the date 1669, as is also 1709 over the front door. In 1691, this barony consisted of the following farms :Mayns, Milne Eye of Disclune, and Milne Lands, Inch,* Chapeltoune and Hill of * The tenant of Inch of Arnhall, whose surname was Pressock (see Old Rental-Book), was bound in the lease of his farm to render a certain quantity of ropes made from the roots of trees dug from the north moss of Arnhall.-(Inf. from the late W. R. Valentine, farmer, Bogmuir, who had seen the old tack of Inch, and was a descendant of Pressock.) GLENESK-GANNOCHY BRIDGE. 123 the present Earl of Southesk, in 1783 and 1796, that Lord Adam Gordon and Mr. Brodie purchased The Burn and Arnhall. On the death of the former gentleman in 1801, the latter added The Burn lands to Arnhall, and continued the improvement which had been so ably begun by his predecessor. Since then, both estates have been under one proprietor, and Mr. Brodie was succeeded by his only child, the Duchess of Gordon, who disposed of her patrimony in 1814 to Mr. Shand, a West India merchant, from whose trustees the estates were purchased by Colonel M'Inroy, now Convener of Kincardineshire. The vicinity of the Gannochy Bridge (on the Edzell side of which a shooting lodge was erected in 1853) has long been an object of admiration to the lovers of sublime and romantic scenery. The picturesque view from it both up and down the river, particularly after heavy rains, can scarcely be overrated; and here the language of Thomson is peculiarly applicable "Nor can the tortured wave here find repose : The bridge was originally built in the year 1732, at the sole expense of James Black, then tenant of the adjoining farm of Wood of Edzell, who also left fifty merks in the hands of the kirk-session of Fettercairn for "supporting and upholding the bridge," of which he is said to have built the parapets with his own hands. It was then only half its present width, and Dillydyes, Bogge-side, Moss-end, Dean-Strath, Steill-Strath, Tillytogles, Burne, Satyre, and Wood-myres. The number of tenants on these was nearly seventy; and the gross rental amounted to 185 bolls 2 firlots 2 pecks and 3 lippies bear; 296 bolls 3 pecks meal; £906, 0s. 8d. Scots; 744 capons, 65 hens, and 440 poultry.— (Southesk Rental-Book, 1691 to 1710 inclusive, in possession of Earl of Southesk.) 1 Old Stat. Acc. Scot. iv. p. 18; infra. p. 130. remained so down to 1795, when it was widened, as it now stands, by Lord Panmure and Lord Adam Gordon. The traditional origin of this bridge, as preserved by Black's relatives, is nearly as romantic as the site of the bridge itself. This worthy man, who had no family, was understood to be wealthy, and, as his neighbours had often experienced the inconvenience of round-about roads, and the dangerous fords of the North Esk, and were aware at the same time of his "weak side" and heavy purse, they adopted the following wily scheme that induced the farmer to confer this great and lasting boon on the district. During the winter of 1731, when several lives were lost in the river, the spirit of one of those unfortunate individuals is said to have called upon him on three successive nights, and implored him to erect the bridge, and save further loss of life. Unable to find peace of mind, or to withstand the injunction of his nocturnal visitor, Black yielded to this request, and had the bridge erected at the very spot that the spirit pointed out! CHAPTER III. Nabar and Lethnot. SECTION I. Lone Navar's church-deserted tombs. Beneath those rugged elms, that yew-tree's shade, The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep. GRAY'S ELEGY.' Navar and Lethnot-Lethnot a prebend of Brechin Cathedral-Ministers-St. Mary's Well-Episcopacy in Navar-Rev. John Row, parish minister-Monumental inscriptions-"Dubrach "-His great age-" His Majesty's oldest enemy" "Lady Anne"-Navar belfry and bell-Jonathan Duncan, Governor of Bombay. As shown in the preceding Chapter, the districts of Lethnot and Glenesk were served of old by one clergyman, who preached twice at the former place for every once that he did so at the latter; but in 1723, when Glenesk or Lochlee was erected into a separate charge, the parish of Navar was joined with Lethnot in its stead. The road by which the minister went to Glenesk by the Clash of Wirran still bears the name of the Priest's Road, and is the nearest, though the most steep and lonely, way from Brechin to Lochlee. Navar was only divided from Lethnot by the West Water, and the churches lay within a mile of each other. Both were attached to the bishopric of Brechin, and, for some time after the Reformation, were under the superintendence of one minister, who had also Edzell, Lochlee, and Dunlappie, for in the year 1574 James Foullartoun had a stipend from the first two of some twenty-six pounds Scots, while each had its own reader, with salaries of twenty pounds apiece.1 1 The etymology of LETHNOT seems doubtful, and "Lethnoth" is the spelling in the ancient Taxatio; but some suppose that Levenach was the original name, and |