7J0
THE WEST SHORE.
purple specimens occur. But that the
rocks do positively contain fine agates,
known as " Kinnoull stones," we had oc
cular evidence. The castle of Kinnoull
formerly stood on the slope of the hill,
though there are no traces of it now, but
the "Castle of Kinfanus" may yet be
seen, described by Smith of the Wynd,
in " The Fair Maid' as " a goodly forta
lice, indeed. A brave castle, the breast
plate and target of the bonnie course of
the Tay."
The chivalrous and romantic history
of its first settler, in connection with the
origin of the knightly family of Char
ting, Lords of Kinfanus, is interesting.
The citizens of Perth had, for several
generations, found a protector and pro
vost in tho family of Kinfanus, which
was often necessary at tho peri:xl when
tho strength of tho feudal aristocracy
frequently controlled their rights and in
sulted their privileges. When Sir Wil
liam Wallace had expelled the English
invaders from his native country, he
sailed for France, in hopes to obtain as
sistance from the French monarch, to
aid tho Scots in regaining their inde
pendence. When near Dieppe, his ves
sel was boarded by the ship of a cele
brated pirate, bearing tho blood-red flag,
called the " Red Rover," and command
ed by Thomas do Longucville, who called
himself a friend of tho sea and an ene
my to all who sailed upon it His suc
cessful piracies, courage, wonderful pow
er, etc, mado him a terror to all, and tho
capture of tho ship having Wallace on
board was declared inevitable by the
cnpUin, as no vessel could escape the
Rod Rover.
Wallaco smiled and sternly replied, " I
will clear tho seas of this rover." Call
ing all his men together, Lo directed
them to arm themselves, and lie flat up
on deck, so as to bo out of sight He
then permitted tho Red Rover to cast
out his grappling irons, but received him
and his men on deck with a desperate
and unexpected rencounter. Wallace
dashed the sword from the Rover's hand
and they fell on deck, locked in each
other's arms in a desperate grip. Wal
lace conquered; the Rover's men threw
down their arms and begged for mercy.
The victor granted them their lives, but
took possession of their vessel and sailed
into harbor with the flag of the Scottish
lion on his shield of gold, raised above
the piratical flag. At Wallace's request,
the robberies which the pirate had com
mitted were forgiven by the French
king, who offered to take him into his
service, but the Rover had contracted so
great a friendship for his generous con
queror, that he insisted on uniting his
fortunes with those of Wallace. He re
turned with him to Scotland, and fought
by his side in many a bloody battle,
where the prowess of Sir Thomas de
Longueville was inferior to that of none,
save of his heroic conqueror. His fate
was more Lrtunate than that of his pa
tron. Being distinguished for the beau
ty as well as strength of his person, he
rendered himself acceptable to the heir
ess of the ancient family of Charteris,
who bestowed on him, with her hand,
the fair baronial castle of Kinfanus and
the domains annexed to it
The lordly place, or a more modern
successor, upon which I looked from the
hill of Kinnoull, while recalling the ro
mance of chivalry of its origin, stands
amid the fertile scenes adjoining it, over
hanging the broad and winding Tay, the
queen of the valley.
A pleasant incident is associated with
my Kinnoull day. I accosted a benevo
lent looking Scotch lady in the street, in
quired the direction, and was answered
that she herself was going that way, as
she lived on the slope of the hill, and if
I would permit, would bo pleasod to join
me in my walk. We entered into con
versation, and I derived much intelli