Dunolly Castle

Dunolly Castle is an ivy-clad square keep, which formed another of the ancient seats of the Macdougalls of Lorn. It is supposed to have been originally a Danish fort; the walls are of great thickness, but were mutilated by a late proprietor, who removed all the freestone he could quarry from it, to assist in the building of the modern family mansion, which is seen near it. Venerable by its antiquity, " it is somewhat surprising," says a writer who has well described the locality, " that a gentleman very tenacious of the title of chief should destroy this monument of his clan." It may be superfluous to remind the reader, that, around the ancient fastness, the Wizard of the North has waved his magic pencil, " and conjured up a living drama of love and war, of maidens fair and chieftains bold, that will be rehearsed by Gael and Sassenach, when these very ruins shall have disappeared in the boiling wave at their base."

Oban is a neat, handsome, and beautifully situated village; its appearance from the bay is particularly striking. The houses, drawn out in a semicircle, rise from the water's edge, and with a fine basin in front, and a bold undulating range of mountains behind, present an appearance highly picturesque. During the gay season, when the shore is crowded with spectators, and the bay enlivened with numerous small craft-as happens during the regatta, when the prize is contested by pleasure yachts-the scene becomes doubly animated.

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