MOTHER.

The winter abode of herrings is within the arctic circle, where the seas abound with insects in a greater degree than those of warmer latitudes. The herrings begin to move in spring in immense shoals, which occupy a space of several miles in length, and proceed towards the south with such force, that the fishermen can perceive, by the rippling of the water, where the fish are. The first opposition they meet with in their progress is from the Shetland Islands, where they divide into two smaller shoals; one of which goes along the eastern coast of Great Britain, and the other down the western side to the shore of Ireland. The name of herring is derived from the German word haer, an army, to express the large bodies in which they move.

The capital of the Shetland Islands is Lerwick, and that of the Orkneys, Kirkwall. The Pentland Frith divides these islands from the county of Caithness; the chief town of which is Wick, a sea-port, where a good deal of fishing is carried on. It is situated near the village called John o' Groats' House from whence there is a ferry to the Orkneys. This village takes its name from the remains of an old house that belonged to a family called Groat. I know nothing worth telling you about Caithness; and there is but

little to be said of the next three counties, Sutherland, Ross, and Cromartie.

The capital of Sutherland is Dornock, on the Frith of Dornock. Some parts of this county are still called forests, and were once covered with wood, but they are now quite destitute of trees. The north-west part of Rosshire is nearly as desolate, and nothing is to be seen for several miles but rugged mountains. The coast is well supplied with fish, and the moors abound with game. Ptarmigans are found on the tops of the mountains, and a very beautiful bird, called the cock of the wood, which is of a bright blue colour, and nearly the size of a turkey, is sometimes met with in the woods. The ptarmigan is a small bird, rather larger than a partridge, of a grey colour, very like the stones among which it lodges; and to this circumstance it is often indebted for its safety. In winter its colour changes to pure white, so that it can scarcely be distinguished from the snow in which it sometimes buries itself.

The principal towns of Rosshire are Tain, on the Frith of Dornock; Dingwall, on the Frith of Cromartie; and Fortrose, on the Murray Frith.

Cromartie is the smallest shire in Scotland. It is only twelve miles long, from east to west, and not more than three miles broad.

WILLIAM.

How very small! It is hardly worth being called a county by itself.

ELIZABETH.

The town of Cromartie is very near a fine bay, with which the Romans were well acquainted, and which is the best harbour in Scotland.

MOTHER.

Invernesshire, which we are to look at next, is the largest county in Scotland. The whole of this county is very mountainous, and the southern part is supposed to be the highest ground in Scotland. The view from the summit of Ben Nevis, which is the most remarkable of its mountains, extends above eight miles round, and snow remains in its crevices the whole year.

In the northern part of Invernesshire, there are several lakes, the largest of which are, Loch Ness, Loch Lochie, and Loch Eil. The principal rivers of the county are the Spey, the Ness, the Fyers, and the Glass.

The town of Inverness is the capital of the northern Highlands: Culloden Muir, a wide heath a few miles to the east of it, was the field of battle where the Duke of Cumberland gained a

great victory over the Highland rebels in the year 1746; and the barren and mountainous district called Lochabar, in the southern part of Invernesshire, is celebrated as having been the abode of Banquo, its valiant thane or baron. Banquo was murdered in the year 1050, by Macbeth, King of Scotland, who usurped the throne from Duncan the First, whose general and friend he had once been. The treachery and unhappiness of Macbeth are beautifully described by Shakspeare in one of his plays.

310

CHAPTER THE SEVENTEETH.

MIDLAND AND SOUTHERN DIVISIONS OF SCOTLAND. WESTERN ISLANDS OF SCOTLAND.

MOTHER.

Argyleshire, or Inverary, the first county in the midland division of Scotland, is situated to the south of Invernesshire, which it resembles in being very mountainous, and well watered by rivers and lakes. Inverary, the capital, is on the borders of Loch Fine, and its castle belongs to the Duke of Argyle. There is a considerable iron work near the town, to which ore is brought from the west of England to be smelted with charcoal, made from the woods of Argyleshire. The Vale of Glencoe, of which you have read a melancholy tale in history, is in the neighbourhood.

The county of Bute is a fertile island, about twelve miles long and four broad, and is separated