about a mile below, is seen the massy old castle of Elcho, now in ruins, belonging, and giving the title. of lord Elcho to the eldest son of the earl of Weemyss; and the whole east and north-east slope of the hill of Moncrieff, divided into neatly-inclosed and well-cultivated fields, interspersed with stripes of trees, or surmounted with large plantations of wood. I had a view also of BALTHAIK and GLENDOICK, gentlemen's seats, the former situated above a lake, in a kind of recess of the hills, that bound the Carse of Gowrie, and the other, at the bottom of one of these; both residences adorned with extensive and thriving plantations. The fine house and gardens, formerly belonging to Mr. Crawfurd, of Auchnames, at Errol, would also be distinctly seen, if they were not concealed with groves and allies of lofty trees.

NEWBURGH.

Newburgh consists of one very long street, on the south bank of the Tay, with suburbs at each end, and alane, near the east end, leading to the shore. A hill rises on the south, the base of which, in that quarter, is covered with gardens and orchards, belonging to the citizens of Newburgh. On the shore are three continuous piers, which form very safe stations for trading vessels of almost any size. Many of these unload part of their cargoes here, before they proceed up to Perth, which does not admit of ships above two hundred tons. The principal manufacture of Newburgh is that of Silesias, Osnaburgs, and brown linens. A considerable trade

in wood and iron is carried on at the shore; and wheat, barley, and malt, are exported to Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Almost adjoining to the town of Newburgh, on the south-east, is a lofty precipice, or cliff, the grandest and most majestic I ever saw, except that of Kinnoull. The hill, which it terminates, is by no means to be compared, for extent or height, with that of Kinnoull: but the cliff is not inferior in proportion to these circumstances. The cliff of Kinnoull rises to a prodigious height above the level of the Tay, and the road that runs at its foot; but a mass, or mound of matter, composed of stones that have fallen from the rock in the lapse of ages, rises from the bottom in a slope, or as the section of a cone, the summit of which reaches at one part near midway to that of the rock; whereas, that of Newburgh is perpendicular, almost to the very bottom, and hangs over the traveller below, with a more frowning and terrific aspect. The fissures, or clefts of the rock, bear shrubs, and even tall trees, inhabited by kites, rooks, wood-pigeons, and other birds, whose cooing and cawing never ceases. I walked up to the top of this cliff, and creeping as near as I thought safe, on my hands and feet, looked far down, on the top branches of ashes and other trees, and enjoyed the economy of the birds in their nests, fetching food to their young, or teaching them to fly.

Near the base of the cliff, there is a rivulet, on which there are some mills, issuing from the Loch or Lake of Lindores, about a mile to the right, and running through a very narrow but deep den or dell, which, at the Rock of Newburgh, expands into a flat of about sixty or seventy acres, of very

rich

land, of the same nature with that of the Carse of Gowrie, on the opposite side of the Tay. So, also, no doubt, is the island of Mugdrum, in the middle of the river, opposite to Newburgh, which appears to be about two miles in circumference; though it is never ploughed, being subject, I suppose, to inundations, but appropriated to pasturage, to which it is well adapted. This island, with the cattle grazing on it, adds not a little to the beauty of this rich scene, of which it forms a part. At the north side of the Loch of Lindores is an old mansion, but still, or lately, inhabited. This was formerly the residence of the Lindsays, lords of Lindores.

The hilly district around the Loch of Lindores, which appears to be about two miles in circumference, forms the sequestered parish of Abdie.

The corn fields of the level, and rich tract of land between the hills and the Tay, just mentioned, are every where interspersed with very old fruit trees. This is not an uncommon thing in the cyder counties in England. But it appeared to me a great wonder, as certainly it is, in Scotland. I was not, however, at a loss to account for this appearance, when I was told, that the ruins I had seen, not far from my majestic speculatorium, were those of the rich Abbey of LINDORES. It is well known that the monks imported into this country, as well as others, at a very early period, the arts of Italy, particularly those of gardening and agriculture.

About two miles below Newburgh, on the south bank of the Tay, just by the river, yet on an elevated and commanding situation, where a hill juts a little into the Frith, stands one of the most venerable,

grand, and impressive monuments of former times, that I ever saw in Scotland. I have seen it from a variety of points of view, and it always commanded my attention. This is the old and ruinous Castle of Bambriech, with its thick wood fringing the Tay, and extending a good way up the hill behind the castle. It appears to have been of very great dimensions, and is said to have been a very strong place. It formerly belonged to the family of Rothes; but Bambriech, with other lands in this corner of Fife, have now passed into the hands of lord

Dundas.

One cannot travel long in any habitable part of Scotland, without seeing ruined castles and other mansions. But there seems to be a much greater number of these in Fife than in any other part of Scotland. This is no doubt connected, in some degree, with a circumstance I had occasion to notice before; namely, that landed property is more equally divided, that is, divided among a greater number of hands in Fife, including Kinross and Clackmannan, than in any other district of Scotland. There is a greater number of old castles, because there was formally a greater number of new ones.

Among the peculiarities of Fife, it has also been noticed by every one, that there are more dove-cots, or pigeon-houses, than in any other county in Scotland. Every gentleman, fcuer, and substantial farmer, has his dove-cot: and certainly a flourishing dove-cot is very convenient in house-keeping. But when once the Fife farmers become in general as good agriculturalists as they are in the Lothians, Stirlingshire, Airshire, and the lower parts of Perth

shire, &c. &c. Fife will probably become less famous for its dove-cots.

Ferhaps the splitting of the land into so many estates, in Fife, may have been owing to that superiority in commerce which Fife, before the union, enjoyed above any other part of Scotland; the ports of Leith and Dunbar, and, perhaps one or two morę only excepted.

At Newburgh, as well as every other little town, or village of any consideration, situated at some passage into the Aichils, on either side, in their whole extent from Stirling to the Frith of Tay, there is a number of places of worship for different sects of religion. The sect of which I heard most, on inquiry at Newburgh, was the Bereans. It was founded by a Mr. John Barclay, a native of the parish of Muthill, in the Upper Stratherne, a man of lively parts, and sanguineous temperament, who was educated at the university of St. Andrews, where he was accounted an excellent scholar, and who was ordained to be a preacher, or probationer in the established church. Having officiated as assistant to different ministers, for many years, he broke off from communion with the kirk, and established a congregation of his own, which branched into a number of other congregations. In points of ecclesiastical order, government, or administration, he seems to have coincided very nearly, if not entirely, with the Sandemanians, or Glassites; if this be not peculiar to the Bereans, that a mere assent to the historical and doctrinal truths of the gospel, is sufficient for salvation, without any of that extraordinary and almost violent working of faith, which, according to certain systems, takes place in the first moments of effectual calling and conversion,