Telford had now come to be regarded as the great practical
authority upon all that concerned roads or communications; and he
was reaping the due money-reward of his diligence and skill. Every
day he was called upon to design new bridges and other important
structures in all parts of the kingdom, but more especially in
Scotland and on the Welsh border. Many of the most picturesque
bridges in Britain, which every tourist has admired, often without
inquiring or thinking of the hand that planned them, were designed
by his inventive brain. The exquisite stone arch which links the
two banks of the lesser Scotch Dee in its gorge at Tongueland is
one of the most picturesque; for Telford was a bit of an artist at
heart, and, unlike too many modern railway constructors, he always
endeavoured to make his bridges and aqueducts beautify rather than
spoil the scenery in whose midst they stood. Especially was he
called in to lay out the great system of roads by which the Scotch
Highlands, then so lately reclaimed from a state of comparative
barbarism, were laid open for the great development they have since
undergone. In the earlier part of the century, it is true, a few
central highways had been run through the very heart of that great
solid block of mountains; but these were purely military roads, to
enable the king's soldiers more easily to march against the
revolted clans, and they had hardly more connection with the life
of the country than the bare military posts, like Fort William and
Fort Augustus, which guarded their ends, had to do with the
ordinary life of a commercial town. Meanwhile, however, the
Highlands had begun gradually to settle down; and Telford's roads
were intended for the far higher and better purpose of opening out
the interior of northern Scotland to the humanizing influences of
trade and industry.