FROM STIRLING TO DUMFERMELING. BEING not far from Sheriffmuir already mentioned, I felt a strong desire to visit it and Dumblane, in its neighbourhood, once the seat of a bishop; but, except an insignificant village, with few manufacturers, and as few marks of its former grandeur, and the appearance of the graves where the men, who fell in the battle, were buried, I saw nothing worth notice; therefore, returning almost to Stirling Bridge, and then eastward, I made the best of my way through the Carse of Clackmannah, along the north bank of the Forth, to view the woods and pleasure grounds about Alloa House, laid out by the Earl of Mar just mentioned. The trees, chiefly oak, fir and other pines, beech, hornbeam, and elms, are among the first planted in Scotland, and among the noblest of the kind at this day. In my way through the Carse of Clackmannan, particularly about Tillibody, the birth-place and property of the late Sir Ralph Abercrombie, who fell fighting the battles of his country on the banks of the Nile, I could not help admiring the beauty and verdure of the country, the richness of the soil, the neatness of the fences, and the evident skill and taste of the farmers. Indeed, few places seem better cultivated, or more capable of cultivation, than the straths on the banks of the Forth. The water here, as well as in most other low-lying places, is often muddy, and the people apt, though not so much as formerly, to be attacked with agues, or intermitting fevers. I was surprised that they had not adopted the method of purifying the water they use through filtering stones, which are now common, and may be had at an easy rate. The people here, as in some other parts of the world, imagine that briars and thorns, being the effect of the fall of man, are sent as a curse, though they find them so useful in this their fallen state, not only in restraining the inferior animals from wandering beyond their bounds, but also in preventing men from encroaching on one another's property. Perhaps there is nothing here on earth but what is, or may be, useful to man. The fox, it is true, preys on our poultry, and otherwise injures our property; but they who argue that he is of no use forget that matters would be worse without him; that, if it were not for him, the earth would be overrun with polecats, ferrets, land and water rats, mice, &c. &c. That the lion, the bear, the tyger, the leopard, and the like, which indeed, at first sight, one would think sent as curses, are certainly ordained by providence for the wisest of purposes; to assist in keeping under the numerous tribes of animals that would otherwise plague us. The eagle, the hawk, the vulture, &c. sometimes carry off our lambs, chickens, and otherwise injure us; but, in return, they rid us of thousands of rats, mice, frogs, &c. &c. that would annoy us; and if it happen that any of these are saved from the claws of the kite, the hawk, the ea gle, &c. by day, the owl makes her appearance in the evening to pick up and destroy what, during the day, has escaped. Sparrows, and many other little birds, no doubt eat our grain and spoil our fruit, but then in return they pick up and destroy millions of millions of insects, and the ova of little animals that would distress us. The thrush, the blackbird, the starling, and the like, spoil our fruit; but as they ask none of our money, they are entitled to what they take, for their repeated morning and evening song. As I was riding along, admiring the beautiful scene around, a genteel young man with a servant overtook me. Being well acquainted with this part of the country, he told me, that the whole Aichil Hills, on our left, which stretch from the Frith of Tay to Stirling, were once covered with oak; that the word Aichil means woody hills; that at Menstrie, near Stirling, there is a dell, or hollow, three hundred feet deep, generally filled with snow, which, though exposed to the south, is often not all consumed when the summer is ended. Upon inquiry at the inn at Alloa, I found the person who accompanied me thither to be Mr. B-r, a young gentleman of considerable property near St. Andrews, in Fife; that some years ago, having been on a jaunt to see Edinburgh, Carron Works, &c. &c. as he was riding between Stirling and Alloa, a fine young healthy woman on horseback, who had been at Stirling, came galloping up, intending to pass him; but that when her horse came exactly opposite to his, notwithstanding repeated attempts on her part, and the servant attending her, her horse would not go one inch past this gentleman's. This naturally brought on a conversation, and they travelled some miles together. At last, where two roads separate, her horse suddenly galloped off the great |