"IN THE WESTERN HIGHLANDS."
[To' THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] have read with interest the review of Mies Donaldson's book In the Western Highlands in your issue of May 28th. I observe that your reviewer characterizes her account of -the restoration of the cathedral at Iona as a,gross perversion of the facts. She has also been far from accurate in some pas- sages which refer to a matter about -which she had ample opportunity of informing herself. Not content with failing to do this, she goes out of her way to attribute unworthy motives to the dead, surely the meanest form of slander. In a note to p. 61 she alludes to an old house as " Demolished by the vandal proprietor by purchase in pursuit of his ` improve- ments.' Annoyed that the- humble building was persistently called by the natives Clanranald's Castle' he removed it that his new mansion might be • without rival." The grotesque absurdity of this insinuation is apparent to anyone who knew the person alluded to .even by repute, and can only bring ridicule upon the writer. The " castle" referred to was built in the nineteenth century by .the trustees of the then Clan- rarald during his minority as a temporary •residence pending the erection of a larger house in a more suitable situation. It was always - known locally as Glen Cottage, and never as Clanranald's Castle, so far as the writer (with sixty years' experience) is aware. It was indeed hardly completed when the•Arisaig .estate was bought by the late F. D. -P. Astley, who subsequently built the existing Arisaig -House on what has been described as the most beautiful site ever chosen for a human habitation. The appearance of the " aggressive modern mansion house," as she calls it, does not appeal to Miss Donald- son's taste, and her comments upon it are really amusing. As the architect had the misfortune to be a Sassenach, it would avail little to tell her that Philip Webb was -the friend of, and a co-worker with, Morris and Burne-Jones, a purist in art, and a well-known and active member• of the Society for- the Protection- of Ancient Buildings. Mies Donaldson certainly possesses great energy and enthusiasm. Is it too much to hope that she will one day realize that these gifts may lead her sadly astray if they are not tempered by the sense of justice, or. guided by good• taste. and a regard for truth?—I
Arisaig House, Arisaig, R.S.O., Inverness-shire.
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