CHAPTER IX.

TELFORD'S SCOTCH HARBOURS.

No sooner were the Highland roads and bridges in progress than attention was directed to the improvement of the harbours around the coast. Very little had as yet been done for them beyond what nature had effected. Happily, there was a public fund at disposal the accumulation of rents and profits derived from the estates forfeited in consequence of the rebellion of 1745-which was available for the purpose. The suppression of the rebellion produced good in many ways. It broke the feudal spirit, which had lingered in the Highlands long after it had ceased in every other part of Britain; it led to the effectual opening up of the country by a system of good roads; and now the accumulated rents of the defeated Jacobite chiefs were about to be applied to the improvement of the Highland harbours for the benefit of the industrial population.

The harbour of Wick was one of the first to which Mr. Telford's attention was directed. It will be remembered that Mr. Rennie had reported on the subject of its improvement as early as the year 1793, and his plans were not adopted only because their execution was beyond the means of the locality at that time. The place had now, however, become of increased importance. It was largely frequented by Dutch fishermen during the herring season; and it was hoped that, if they could be induced to form a settlement there by improving the accommodation of the harbour, their example might exercise a beneficial influence upon the population generally. Mr. Telford reported that, by the expenditure

of about 58907., a capacious and well-protected tidebasin might be formed, capable of containing about two hundred herring-busses. The Commission adopted his plan, and voted the requisite funds for carrying out the works, which were begun in 1808. The new station was named Pulteney Town, in compliment to Sir William Pulteney, the Governor of the Fishery Society; and the harbour was built at a cost of about 12,000l., of which 85007. was granted from the balance of forfeited estates. A handsome stone bridge, erected over the river Wick in 1805, after the design of our engineer, connects these improvements with the older town: it is formed of three arches, having a clear waterway of 156 feet. The money was well expended, as the result proved; and Wick is now, we believe, the greatest fishing station in the world. The place has increased from the dimensions of a little poverty-stricken village to those of a large and thriving town, which swarms during the fishing season with lowland Scotchmen, fair Northmen, broad-built Dutchmen, and kilted Highlanders. The bay is then frequented by upwards of a thousand fishing boats, and the take of herrings in some years amounts to more than a hundred thousand barrels. The harbour has of late years been considerably improved to meet the growing requirements of the herring trade, the principal additions having been carried out, in 1823, by Mr. Bremner,' a native engineer of great ability.

work is still to be seen quite perfect. The most solid mode of laying stone on land is in flat courses; but in open pier work the reverse process is adopted. The blocks are laid on end in columns, like upright beams jammed together. Thus laid, the wave which dashes against them is broken, and spends itself on the interstices; whereas, if it struck the broad

Hugh Millar, in his 'Cruise of the Betsy,' attributes the invention of columnar pier-work to Mr. Bremner, whom he terms "the Brindley of Scotland." He has acquired great fame for his skill in raising sunken ships, having warped the Great Britain steamer off the shores of Dundrum Bay. But we believe Mr. Telford had adopted the practice of columnar pier-work before Mr. Brem-solid blocks, the tendency would be

ner, in forming the little harbour of Folkestone, built in 1808, where the

to lift them from their beds and set the work afloat; and in a furious

Improvements of a similar kind were carried out by the Fishery Board at various other parts of the coast, and many snug and convenient harbours were provided at the principal fishing stations in the Highlands and Western Islands. Where the local proprietors were themselves found actively at work expending money in carrying out piers and harbours, the Board assisted them with grants to enable them to complete the works in the most substantial manner and after the most approved plans. Thus, along that part of the bold northern coast of the mainland of Scotland which projects into the German Ocean, many old harbours were improved or new ones constructed as at Peterhead, Frazerburgh, Banff, Cullen, Burgh Head, and Nairn. At Fortrose, in the Murray Frith; at Dingwall, in the Cromarty Frith; at Portmaholmac, within Tarbet Ness, the remarkable headland of the Frith of Dornoch; at Kirkwall, the principal town and place of resort in the Orkney Islands, so well known from Sir Walter Scott's description of it in the 'Pirate; at Tobermory, in the island of Mull; and at other points of the coast, piers were erected and other

improvements carried out to suit the convenience of the growing traffic and trade of the country.

The principal works were those connected with the harbours situated upon the line of coast extending from the harbour of Peterhead, in the county of Aberdeen, round to the head of the Murray Frith. The shores there are exposed to the full force of the seas rolling in from the Northern Ocean; and safe harbours were especially necessary for the protection of the shipping passing from north to south. Wrecks had become increasingly frequent, and harbours of refuge were loudly called for. At one part of the coast as many as thirty wrecks had occurred within a very short time, chiefly for want of shelter. The situation of Peterhead was peculiarly well adapted for a haven of refuge, and the improvement of its port was early regarded as a matter of national importance. Not far from it, on the south, are the famous Bullars or Boilers of Buchan-bold rugged rocks, some 200 feet high, against which the sea beats with great fury, boiling and churning in the deep caves and recesses with which they are perforated. Peterhead stands on the most easterly part of the entire mainland of Scotland, the town standing on the north-east side of the bay, and being connected with the country on the north-west by an isthmus only 800 yards in breadth. In Cromwell's time the port possessed no more than twenty tons of boat tonnage, and its only harbour was a small basin dug out of the rock. Even down to the close of the sixteenth century the place was but an insignificant fishing village. It is now a town bustling with trade, having long been the principal seat of the whale fishery, 1500 men of the port being engaged in that pursuit alone; and it sends out ships of its own building to all parts of the world, its handsome and commodious harbours being accessible at all winds to vessels of almost the largest burden.

It may be mentioned that about sixty years since

the port was formed by the island called Keith Island, situated a small distance eastward from the shore, between which and the mainland an arm of the sea formerly passed. A causeway had, however, been formed. across this channel, thus dividing it into two small bays; after which the southern one had been converted into a harbour by means of two rude piers erected along either side of it. The north inlet remained without any pier, and being very inconvenient and exposed to the north-easterly winds, it was little used.

The first works carried out at Peterhead were of a