FINGALS CAVE
Historic interest will draw you to Iona; the interest of wild nature will attract you to Staffa. On the Isle of Staffa is Fingals Cave, one of Nature’s curiosities, extraordinary in its formation and offering features of a wonder-compelling kind. The island is a rounded tableland which has been thrust up through the sea by volcanic action. It is about two miles in circumference, and rises nearly 150 feet above the surface of the ocean. The cave, which is crowned by a high arch of land, rises sixty feet above the sea, and through its interior length it varies from twenty to forty feet in width. Staffa has many caves; but the extraordinary size and character of Fingals Cave centers the interest of all visitors there. It is impossible in rough weather to enter the cave by boat. The method of visiting is to land some distance away and enter by a protected footpath. Once inside, the effect of surging, roaring waves overarched by echoing walls of basalt is most impressive. The basaltic columns—similar in formation to those of the Giants Causeway, across the sea on the coast of Ireland—rear themselves in parallel lines like a formidable palisade constructed for the support and protection of the cave.
BALMORAL CASTLE
The highland home of British royalty—Queen Victoria’s favorite summer residence. Purchased by the Crown from the Duke of Fife.
We have visited but a few of the many places renowned for beauty and romance in the land of the heather. We have not seen Ben Nevis and the ruins of Inverlochy Castle; nor Swan Island in Loch Lomond; nor yet Lochleven Castle with its thrilling tradition of Queen Mary’s escape.
“No warden’s fire shall e’er again
Illume Lochleven’s bosom fair;
No clarion shrill of armed men
The breeze across the lake shall bear;
But while remains a stone of thine,
It shall be linked to royal fame,—
For here the Rose of Stuart’s line
Hath left the fragrance of her name.”
And while we have pointed out the unique attractions of the Scottish Isles, we have said nothing of the wild, romantic beauty of the Highlands. The picturesque old ruin of Linlithgow Castle, Bothwell Castle, Loch Ness, the noble Northern peaks and their surroundings—all have been celebrated in glowing prose and verse, and around them clusters history and romance enough to make many volumes.
It is not easy to sum up the beauties of Scotland within the space of a few pages. It is a land where Nature and Romance go hand in hand, Nature affording a background of rare beauty, while Romance invests it with vital human interest. Picture an ideal tour in which each day is filled with profit and pleasure, and all Nature’s resources in land, sea, and sky combine to delight you and draw you on—then call that tour a “Summer in Scotland.”
TOMBS OF THE KINGS
A part of the historic old graveyard on Iona Isle. Among forty kings of Scotland buried here are King Duncan and Macbeth, made famous by Shakespeare.
SUPPLEMENTARY READING
| The Land of Heather | Clifton Johnson |
| Scotland of Today | T. F. Henderson and F. Watt |
| Tales of a Grandfather | Sir Walter Scott |
| Scotland, Historic and Romantic | M. H. Lansdale |
| History of Scotland | P. Hume Brown |
| A Literary History of Scotland | J. H. Miller |
QUESTIONS ANSWERED
Anyone desiring further information concerning this subject can obtain it by writing to
The Mentor Association
222 Fourth Avenue, New York City