Antiquities. about eight feet high and twenty-one feet in circumfe

rence.

Incheffray In the parish of Madderty are some remains of the ceAbbey. lebrated Abbey of Incheffray. This religious house was founded in the year 1200 by Gilbert Earl of Strathearn, and his Countess Matilda. It was dedicated to the honour of God, the Virgin Mary, and John the Apostle and Evangelist. The site of this famous abbey is on a small rising ground, which seems, from its situation and name, to have once been an island surrounded by the water of the Pow. In Latin it is denominated Insula Messarum; which is said to be a literal translation of its common name Inch-effray, or Inch petfory, the "Island of Masses," or the "Island where Mass is said." It was endowed with many privileges and immunities by David and Alexander kings of Scotland. The edifices of this abbey, which were once extensive, are now in ruins, and have on several occasions supplied abundance of stones for building houses and making roads in the neighbourhood. The few remains of this ancient abbey, with six or seven acres of land in the immediate vicinity, belong to the Earl of Kinnoul; who, in consequence of this comparatively small possession, is patron of about twelve parishes that formerly were attached to the abbey, Mauritius, abbot of this place, was present with Robert the Bruce at the battle of Bannockburn; and is reported to have brought along with him the arm of St Fillan, to inspire with courage the defenders of their country.

Supersti. tions.

. In connection with the subject of antiquities, we may take notice of some old remains of superstition which still exist in the country. In many places a singular faith is reposed in the virtues of certain wells, by bathing in which, or drinking of the waters of which, relief from various diseases is obtained. Of these none is more re

well.

nowned than the well consecrated to St Fillan, who is Antiquities. the Popish saint of Breadalbane. The well is at the St Fillan's west end of Strathearn. This spring, tradition reports, reared its head on the top of Dun Fhaolain (Fillan's hill) for a long time, doing much good; but in disgust (probably at the reformation) it removed suddenly to the foot of a rock, a quarter of a mile to the southward, where it still remains, humbled indeed, but not forsaken. It is still visited by valetudinary people, especially on the 1st of May and the 1st of August. The invalids, whether men, women, or children, walk or are carried round the well, three times, in a direction deishal; that is, from east to west, according to the course of the sun. They also drink of the water, and bathe in it. These operations are accounted a certain remedy for various diseases. They are particularly efficacious for curing barrenness; on which account it is frequently visited by those who are very desirous of offspring. All the invalids throw a white stone on the saint's cairn; and leave behind, as tokens of their confidence and gratitude, some rags of linen or woolThe rock on the summit of the hill formed of itself a chair for the saint, which still remains. Those who complain of rheumatism in the back must ascend the hill, sit in this chair, then lie down on their back, and be puiled by the legs to the bottom of the hill. This operation is still performed, and reckoned very efficacious. At the foot of the hill there is a bason made by the saint on the top of a large stone, which seldom wants water, even in the greatest drought; and all who are distressed with sore eyes must wash them three times with this wa

len cloth.

ter.

the sun.

It would seem that among our pagan ancestors, before Worship the introduction of Christianity, the first day of May was the great festival in honour of the sun, and that fires were

In

Antiquities then kindled and rejoicings made. The first of May is still called Beltan or Baal-tein, "The fire of Baal.” some parts of the country the shepherds still make festivals of milk and eggs on that day, but the custom is rapidly wearing out. In some places the festival is still conducted in the Highlands with singular ceremonies. On Beltan day all the boys in a township or hamlet meet in the moors; they cut a table in the green sod, of a round figure, by casting a trench on the ground of such circumference as to hold the whole company; they kindle a fire, and dress a repast of eggs and milk in the consistence of a custard; they knead a cake of oat-meal, which is toasted at the embers against a stone. After the custard is eaten up, they divide the cake into so many portions, as similar as possible to one another, in size and shape as there are persons in the company. They daub one of these portions all over with charcoal until it be perfectly black; they put all the bits of the cake into a bonnet; every one blindfold draws out a portion. He who holds the bonnet is entitled to the last bit. Whoever draws the black bit is

the devoted person, who is to be sacrificed to Baal, whose favour they mean to implore in rendering the year productive of the sustenance of man and beast. There is little doubt of these inhuman sacrifices having been once offered in this country as well as in the east; although they now pass from the act of sacrificing, and only compel the devoted person to leap three times through the flames, with which the ceremonies of this festival is closed. That the Caledonians paid a superstitious respect to the sun, as was the practice among many other nations, is evident, not only from the sacrifice of Beltan, but from many other circumstances. When a Highlander goes to bathe, or to drink water out of a consecrated fountain, he must always approach by going round the place from east to

west on the south side, in imitation of the apparent diurnal Antiquities. motion of the sun. When the dead are laid in the earth, the grave is approached by going round in the same manner. The bride is conducted to her future spouse in the presence of the minister; and the glass goes round a company in the course of the sun. This is called in Gaelic going round in the right or lucky way; the opposite course is the wrong or unlucky way.

E'en.

Hallow E'en, or All Saints Eve, is a period on which Hallow many superstitious rites are practised. Those used in the south of Scotland on that occasion are described accurately by Burns in his poem of Hallow E'en. One of these ceremonies, in some places of the Highlands, consists of making bonefires in every village. When the bonefire is consumed, the ashes are carefully collected in the form of a circie. There is a stone placed near the circumference for every person of the several families interested in the bonefire; and whatever stone is moved out of its place, or injured before next morning, the person represented by that stone is devoted or fey, and is supposed not to live twelve months from that day.

Though superstition declines rapidly, yet lucky and unlucky days are not entirely disregarded. No person will be proclaimed for marriage in the end of one year, and be married in the beginning of the next; and over all Scotland the month of May is accounted unlucky for solemnizing that important engagement. Some persons

in the remoter districts are still believed to have lucky, and others to have unlucky feet; that is, it is particularly unfortunate to be met with or be approached by such persons at the commencement of any undertaking. Though faith in witchcraft has generally ceased, yet the power of an evil eye is sometimes acknowledged. In some districts of the Highlands, immediately before the celebration of

Seats.

Modern the marriage ceremony, every knot about the bride and bridegroom (garters, shoe-strings, strings of petticoats, &c.) is carefully loosened. After leaving the church the whole company walk round it, keeping the church-walls always upon the right hand. The bridegroom, however, first retires one way, with some young men, to tie the knots that were loosed about him; while the young married woman, in the same manner, retires somewhere else, to adjust the disorder of her dress.

Taymouth.

There is a disease called glaeach by the Highlanders, which, as it affects the chest and lungs, is evidently of a consumptive nature. It is also called "the Macdonald's disease;" because there are particular tribes of Macdonalds who are believed to cure it with the charm of their touch, and the use of a certain set of words. There must be no fee given of any kind. Their faith in the touch of a Macdonald is very great.

The modern mansions belonging to the nobility and gentry of this county are too numerous to admit of a particular description here.

Lord Breadalbane's house at Taymouth stands in the midst of very magnificent scenery. It is placed on a lawn between two mountains which open to Loch Tay; but the house has no view of the lake; a circumstance which has been censured by travellers, although perhaps without reason, because, to the inhabitants of the mansion, this fine piece of water must soon have lost its beauty, had it been placed continually under their eyes. The lawn is about a mile in breadth, diversified by a great variety of ground. Under the southern mountain, a quarter of a mile behind the house, runs the Tay, which even here is a noble and rapid stream. The banks of the river, the lawn, and the mountains, are richly clothed with wood; the walks about Taymouth are all extremely