mountains, form a picture which surpasses the most sanguine anticipations of fancy.

On crossing the border, Miss Spence takes some notice of the immediate change in the habits of the people and the aspect of their dwellings, but is by no means sufficiently explicit on this curious point. Two hundred years of pacific intercourse have done much less towards assimilating the respective frontiers, than would be supposed by persons who had not actually visited the border-line. On the well-built town of Dumfries, situated near the banks of the "winding Nith," Miss Spence bestows the same encomiums that were passed on it forty years ago by Dr. Smollett. Her partiality to the poetry of Burns leads her to make an elaborate effort to exculpate his memory from the heavy charge of intemperate and profligate habits, but the testimony of his townsmen of Dumfries supplied no corroboration to this well meant effort.

Having crossed the dreary hills on the Sanquhar road, the bustling streets of Glasgow afforded Miss Spence a welcome contrast, and revived the recollection of the British metropolis. The recency of her observations gives here, as in other parts, considerable interest to her detail. She admired the elegance of the Glasgow theatre, the magnificence of the infirmary, and the venerable aspect of the cathedral, one of the few religious edifices in Scotland which escaped destruction at the Reformation. From Glasgow, she made several excursions to the neighbouring towns.

July 17. 1810.-This day was spent at Paisley, with an intention to view its manufactories. Paisley was formerly celebrated for coarse chequered linen cloth, afterwards for those of a lighter fabric, fancifully ornamented. Its thread has long been famous; and the introduction of the manufactory of silk gauze is an imitation of Spitalfields: every mean-looking habitation was filled with looms. In some houses young women were seated at frames, tambouring muslin, and the ingenuity of clipping the woven muslin into flowers, by groups of children engaged in this branch, and the rapidity with which they used the scissars, surprised me extremely.'

The ride from Glasgow to Paisley is on a very cheerful as well as interesting road.'

Numerous are the spots in Scotland which have some connexion with the life of Queen Mary. Cruickstone Castle, to which beautiful retreat she withdrew with Darnley, is situated about three miles from Paisley.'- The yew-tree is shewn, beneath which she spent many hours with him.' Two miles beyond Glasgow, on an eminence, is Langside, where she was defeated after her escape from Lochleven. It was here she stood to view, in painful agitation, wrought almost to agony between the suspension of hope and fear, the unhappy termination of a battle so fatal to her interests and her power, and fled thence in wild despair, a fugitive and defeated queen, from her country for ever.'—

• Not

Not far distant from Paisley is Ellerslie, remarkable for being the birth place of the renowned and heroic Sir William Wallace.'. Hamilton, July 18.

• From Lanark I walked by a steep descent into the dale, where amidst the wildest scenery, commerce seemed to have sprung up, and industry to have fixed her thousand wheels, to enrich with her useful hand the poor and indigent. The magnificent stone buildings, three in number, of Mr. Owen's cotton mills, must inspire all strangers with a sensation of pleasure and surprize, when they first perceive them. The order, the regularity, the clean, the healthful appearance of the children, the rapidity of their little fingers in their different employments, and the very ingenious mechanism of these mills, present a scene so novel and so pleasing, that when its great utility is considered, it is impossible not to attach the highest praise to the first projector of so important a concern; and although manufactories have sometimes been thought destructive to the health and morals of women and children, yet in this instance it is by no means the case. The children here have clean and wholesome apartments allotted to them. They are washed, combed, neatly drest, and after the employment of the day is over, a portion of the evening is devoted to instruction in reading and writing. The very hills which surround them breathe health; and the valleys are watered by so fine a river, that sickness with its withering hand seems banished from this industrious little territory.' –

July 19.- From the busy din of Mr. Owen's cotton mills, I proceeded above the deep and woody glen which overhangs them; and directed my steps by the edge of a precipice overshadowed by dark and luxuriant woods, noble and varied, which led me to the Corra Linn. All here was perfectly serene, except the tremendous roar of the cataract pouring down the perpendicular rock, which is eighty-four feet in height: it is broken in its progress by three different falls, which divest it of the terrific grandeur it would otherwise The Corra Linn smokes like a caldron, in consequence possess. of the precipitate fall of water. On the opposite rock the ruin of Corra Castle appears, proudly seated on its summit. Leaving the grand scenery of Corra Linn, I next viewed that of Bonniton; more sublimely awful, in my opinion, from the water-fall presenting one precipitate, tremendous, and unbroken volume of water, thundering amidst the rocks over which it hurries in a foaming

torrent.

Taking leave of these falls I returned to Lanark, and visited Cartland Craigs, a place I was very anxious to see, having been the retreat of Wallace in perilous times. This scenery far surpasses in wild magnificence that of Corra and Bonniton Linn. Here nature has done every thing to form the awful and sublime; as far as the most savage grandeur can extend, Cartland Craigs possess it. It was terrific as I passed along this gloomy solitude to look down on the fearful chasm below, which is four hundred and thirty feet in depth, from where I stood. This craig, or huge precipitous rock, richly fringed with coppice wood, extends at least three miles in length, far from any human retreat, and frowns upon the wanderer, who boldly

daree

dares to invade its solitude. Every feathered songstress seemed fled, as if affrighted by those birds of prey which nestle amidst these stupendous craigs. The only sound I heard was my own voice reverberated from rock to rock, for there is a distinct echo, which could be rendered as beautiful as the sound of music.'—

July 21.-The country people of Scotland are in general extremely inquisitive; and though they seldom give a very direct or laconic answer; the presence of strangers excites in them an eager curiosity to know whence they came, what is their pursuit, and whither they are going. The manners too of the common people, though civil and marked with good nature, are sometimes less ceremonious than in parts of England: their children, when a stranger is passing through the villages, seldom drop a curtesy. The want of gardens before the cottages deprives them of that social aspect which marks the habitations of the industrious.'

July 24. Yesterday I went into some of the cottages near Craigbarnet; they were built of mud, with thatched roofs; before the door were a dirty puddle for ducks, a littered entry, and no path-way to approach by. It is with too much truth, Mrs. Hamilton describes the want of neatness in the Scotch peasantry. These habitations were constituted of what are called a but and a ben · a kitchen and sleeping-room, which forms parlour, chamber, place for cooking, in short, for every thing; and another compartment, which is generally used as a cow-house, stable, &c. The chief light admitted was from the door; for the window was so small and choaked up, that it was not possible to see out of it, and a wide hole in the roof formed the chimney, which drew down a sufficient quantity of smoke and air the latter highly requisite to prevent suffocation. miserable dwelling was neither lathed nor plastered, and had no other roof than the sticks, which supported the straw, perfectly black, from being smoke-dried. The floor was earthen, with several puddles in it, where the chickens and ducks were picking up what they could find. The beds in Scotland are a sort of wooden press, fixed in a hole in the hall; this sort of bed is universal in all the cottages, nay often in the better sort of farm-houses,'

This

Miss Spence also made a short tour into the West Highlands, proceeding in the first place to Dumbarton and the new watering place of Helensburgh, situated towards the mouth of the Clyde, and which joins to the advantage of sea-bathing an easy access to the romantic scenery of Lochlomond. She hired one of the small chaises that are kept at Helensburgh for the accommodation of the visitors of the Highlands, and directed her course through the wild mountains which lead to the solitary inn of Arcquhar. Truly may she observe, (Vol. i. p. 167.) that those who are strangers to mountain-scenery can form no idea through what a region she journeyed. The dark and apparently inaccessible summits of these stupendous masses seem to frown on the wondering traveller, and to threaten to shut him out

from

from the rest of the world. On one side of the road, is the beautiful water of Loch Long, transparent, like Windermere, to the bottom; on the other, are deep and melancholy woods. From Aroquhar, Miss Spence proceeded to Lochlomond, and stopped at the small sequestered town of Luss, a spot particularly calculated for pensive contemplation. From an adjoining hill, she had an extensive view of Lochlomond, and counted sixteen islands on its broad expanse. In grandeur, she admits that it surpasses Windermere, but in beauty, and particularly in cheerfulness of aspect, the English lake is greatly superior. The weather in which she visited each seemed to be in correspondence with their respective characteristics: when on the water of Windermere, all was still and tranquil, but, while traversing Lochlomond, the atmosphere was illuminated by lightning, and distant peals of thunder rolled from mountain to mountain.Turning her course to the southward, she had an opportunity of admiring the perpendicular rock of Dumbarton, consisting of basaltic columns ranged one above another, and rising apparently out of the waters of the Clyde. In this neighbourhood, at the village of Renton, she was gratified with a sight of the column erected to Dr. Smollett near his native place. She pays a tribute to many characters of note as she passes the scene of their birth: but Wallace is her favourite, and no oppor tunity is omitted of introducing his daring exploits, whether performed in a desultory warfare in Lanarkshire or in scaling the seemingly impregnable walls of Dumbarton. Her attention was particularly awakened by the spot, about three miles distant from Glasgow, at which he was treacherously apprehended, and hurried off in chains to the English border.

Being a native of Scotland, and having relations in various parts of the country, Miss Spence was induced to prolong her stay at several retired places, which escape the notice of those travellers who direct their chief attention to the towns along the high road. It is to this circumstance that we owe her account of Dunkeld and Taymouth.

• Dunkeld, August 21.

I had long entertained a wish to visit Dunkeld, and find in my native place a melancholy pleasure in viewing scenes hitherto un known to me. There is a romantic air attached to every Highland spot, different from any other, and this one is singularly beautiful.'

Dunkeld lies so beautifully scattered on the banks of the river, with its fine bridge, lofty mountains, luxuriant and sombre looking woods, as to render it most attractive from its romantic situation and picturesque scenery.

The gloom of Dunkeld seems to be suited to the pensive character of the Athol Highlanders, who are a people very distinct, both from the more remote Highlanders, and from the natives of the low

country.'

country. Though their valleys abound in all sylvan and pastora beauty, their mountains are bare, and devoid of pasturage; and their country is walled in by distinct and almost impassable boundaries. Hence they are forced to be more stationary than the interior Highlanders, who range during the summer over a wide extent of moun tains, and removing to different habitations, at different seasons of the year, are enabled to indulge more of the wild peculiarities that marked the manners of their ancestors.' The scenery of Dunkeld is greatly embellished by the Duke of Athol's magnificent grounds, which embrace a romantic combination of the sublime and beautiful. Inviting walks are formed on the borders of the Tay, which are overshadowed by high trees; and on the opposite side of the river, the naked and rocky hills, which almost touch the heavens, give a grandeur to these polished lawns and walks, which really exceed in beauty all description. The hermitage, or what is called Ossian's Hall, is buried in trees, on an elevated situation, whence is seen the river Bran impetuously precipitating itself through the declivities of the rocks, and forming a natural cascade. This fall is not so high as those on the Clyde; yet when reflected by the various mirrors which are placed in the hall, the effect is almost magical.

The hall of Ossian displays the Celtic bard singing some of his heroic tales to a group of females, who are listening to his strains. This picture, on being drawn aside, presents not a rustic temple, the residence, one would suppose, of the wood nymphs, who haunt these shades; but an elegant saloon, more appropriate to the fashionable females of a midnight city ball, than to such a rural place.' — Kenmore, August 23.

It is necessary to make the Lowlands the first part of a tour into Scotland, if they are to be viewed to any advantage. To describe the enthusiastic delight which fills and elevates the mind, as the magnificent scenery of rocks, mountains, woods, and rivers, spread into the finest landscapes, one after another, to meet the eye, is impossi ble; and Scotland as far exceeds Wales, as Switzerland, no doubt, exceeds Scotland. I yesterday thought nothing could surpass the romantic wildness and picturesque scenery of the Duke of Athol's at Dunkeld; but to day, as the grandeur of Taymouth unfolded itself, 1 was undeceived. To behold woods of the most luxuriant growth almost touching the heavens, and springing from huge and perpendicular heights, with the beautiful Tay meandering at their feet, astonishes even the traveller who goes in quest of such scenes.'

August 24.-Embosomed in this wild solitude, stands the superb castle of Lord Braidalbane, now almost completed. The pleasuregrounds are embellished in the first style of elegant taste. Velvet walks are formed on the banks of the rapid Tay, which Pennant justly remarks, from its pellucidness, and yet dark colour, looks like "brown crystal."'-'At a short distance from his Lordship's seat, scattered on the greensward, are the few white houses, and picturesque church, which form the peaceful village of Kenmore; standing on a promontory, boldly jutting into the lake, with an ample bay, and an elegant stone bridge thrown over the Tay, whose gentle, waters meet and unite themselves with the lake. A small island,

tufted