ER OF BUCHAN

We came in the afternoon to Slanes Castle, built upon the margin of the
sea, so that the walls of one of the towers seem only a continuation of a
perpendicular rock, the foot of which is beaten by the waves. To walk
round the house seemed impracticable. From the windows the eye wanders
over the sea that separates Scotland from Norway, and when the winds beat
with violence must enjoy all the terrifick grandeur of the tempestuous
ocean. I would not for my amusement wish for a storm; but as storms,
whether wished or not, will sometimes happen, I may say, without
violation of humanity, that I should willingly look out upon them from
Slanes Castle.

When we were about to take our leave, our departure was prohibited by the
countess till we should have seen two places upon the coast, which she
rightly considered as worthy of curiosity, Dun Buy, and the Buller of
Buchan, to which Mr. Boyd very kindly conducted us.

Dun Buy, which in Erse is said to signify the Yellow Rock, is a double
protuberance of stone, open to the main sea on one side, and parted from
the land by a very narrow channel on the other. It has its name and its
colour from the dung of innumerable sea-fowls, which in the Spring chuse
this place as convenient for incubation, and have their eggs and their
young taken in great abundance. One of the birds that frequent this rock
has, as we were told, its body not larger than a duck's, and yet lays
eggs as large as those of a goose. This bird is by the inhabitants named
a Coot. That which is called Coot in England, is here a Cooter.

Upon these rocks there was nothing that could long detain attention, and
we soon turned our eyes to the Buller, or Bouilloir of Buchan, which no
man can see with indifference, who has either sense of danger or delight
in rarity. It is a rock perpendicularly tubulated, united on one side
with a high shore, and on the other rising steep to a great height, above
the main sea. The top is open, from which may be seen a dark gulf of
water which flows into the cavity, through a breach made in the lower
part of the inclosing rock. It has the appearance of a vast well
bordered with a wall. The edge of the Buller is not wide, and to those
that walk round, appears very narrow. He that ventures to look downward
sees, that if his foot should slip, he must fall from his dreadful
elevation upon stones on one side, or into water on the other. We
however went round, and wer