Page:A Companion and Useful Guide to the Beauties of Scotland.djvu/199

Rh and if she could not keep on the farm her husband held, some cot or other, with a very pretty piece of ground, was given her. His worthy son, the present Gask, continues the same benevolent plan his father long practised; and in 1796, when he brought home his new married lady, he gave a dinner to his tenants, consisting of more than three hundred.

The views from Gask are very pleasing;—to the south, the bold Crag Rossie, one of the Oichills, raises its head; and the river Earn, in the vale just below Gask-house, is meandering from west to east; over which is a simple bridge, in sight of Gask, leading to the small town of Duning. To the north of the house, about two miles, is a beautiful view of the Grampions, from east to west, as far as the eye can reach: the town of Crieff, at a distance, is also plainly distinguished by its white houses at the bases of the small hills, standing like beautiful lodges, in front of the pile of mountains, so grandly and so beautifully thrown together around Loch Earn. The white walls of Drummond Castle also, to the south of Crieff, surrounded by woods and crags; crowned by the brown and rich yellow sides of Top Turloch, form a fine feature in the distant landscape.