FROM ST. ANDREWS TO FALKLAND.

From St. Andrews I set out for Cupar of Fife, the head town of the county. I was sorry to find the internal parts of Fife neither so rich nor so well cultivated as the borders, and the comparison verified, that Fife, like a laced coat, is richest about the edges. But the north banks of the Eden, exhibiting as you descend from the moor of Strathkinnes, to Dairsie mill and bridge, inclosed and well cultivated fields, for a great extent, is an exception. In this corner of Fife. I mean that included between this part of the Eden and the Tay, I should suppose that improvement in agriculture would be not a little stimulated by the vicinity of the flourishing town of Dundee. The late laird of Pitcullo, in this, the NORTH NOOK of Fife, was one of the best farmers in Europe.

Having put up my horse at the best Inn in Cupar of Fife, I found there a gentleman scarcely recovered from a fright he had got the night before. A person, it seems, was carrying, from the east coast of Fife, an hundred rabbits, to occupy a warren in the West Highlands. The person, who had the care of the animals, hired a room for them for the night: putting them all into it, and giving them greens, and other food, he shut the door; and, having refreshed himself, went to bed. The gentleman, whom I saw, being just arrived, and a stranger, asked for supper and a room, and went to bed; which happened to be

the room contiguous to the rabbits; but knew nothing of their being there. About the middle of the night, and in the midst of his sleep, the door between his room and the rabbits not being locked, a gale of wind arising, the door suddenly opened, and the whole of the rabbits, rushing from their own room, ran into the gentleman's; some running over his face, hands, and other parts of his body, both above and below the bed, and many of them seeking for shelter below the blankets. The gentleman, awaking suddenly, was much alarmed, and roared for help, but none appeared. Their keeper was. asleep, as well as every one else in the house. Thinking himself surrounded by a thousand devils, which he found before, behind, and round about him, he, at length, found the door, and ran down stairs naked in the dark. The rabbits, as much afraid as the gentleman, following him, were down stairs before him; and, it was not many minutes till the whole house was in an uproar. When the candle was lighted, nothing appeared. The rabbits had dis-persed, and hid themselves in different parts of the house. Hungary waters, spirits, &c. were brought to recover the gentleman; and it was not till the rabbit man appeared, and found his rabbits gone, that he could comprehend what had happened to him.

In viewing this town, which is neither large nor populous, I was astonished to find so many meeting-, houses, and different modes of worship. A gentleman here had assumed the clerical character, I found, of his own accord, and taught a variety of unusual doctrines; among others, that the holy

kiss, spoken of by St. Paul, ought literally to be practised. Having a large and commodious house, he appropriated one of the rooms for public worship, and invited all to attend it. He had a large family, and among the rest three grown-up elegant daughters, who attended regularly on Sunday, and were saluted by every one that sat near them. How far this gentleman was right in his opinion of the sanctum basium I leave it to the critics to decide.

Our Saviour often discommended the long prayers of the Scribes and Pharisees, and their want of sincerity, while performing religious duties. But, as there have been hypocrites and pretenders to sanctity in all ages, so I am afraid there are in the present. Among these, I fell in with one here, who, though he frequently prayed for hours at a time, with his family, yet could circumvent, and impose on his neighbours; and it was a maxim of his, that there was no sin in taking cent. per cent. profit, where the buyer was so ignorant as not to know the value of the goods. Indeed, upon many occasions, he asked more than double what he would take; and, as they do with fish-women, they that knew him, generally offered him much less than he asked. Having determined to make Cupar my head-quarters for some days, I sent something to this gentleman to be repaired; as he was a mechanic, as well as a shopkeeper, and went one evening myself to inquire if it was ready. Upon knocking at the door, a servant maid soon answered it. While I was waiting till she came, I heard a person praying. The servant asked what I wanted. I told her, but said I would wait till prayer was over. She replied, She replied, "that is unne

cessary, for I will go and ask my master." I said, you may when he is done. Saying again, "that is unnecessary," she went ," she went up to him, while on his knees, in the midst of his family, and whispered so loud, that I heard her at the door. Are the articles belonging to the stranger gentleman ready? No, he replied, but tell him, with my compliments, they will to-morrow; or at farthest the day after; and immediately resumed his prayer, saying, O Lord remember poor deserted Scotland! But the maid coming to me with his answer, I did not hear what followed.

The land proprietors, or heritors, heré, were, some years ago, rather unfortunate respecting their church. Having occasion for a new one, and wishing it to be built economically, they agreed with a builder for about 15001. sterling, and paid the money; but, after the church was finished, and the keys delivered to them, the foundation began to sink, the walls to crack, insomuch, that no body would go into it. At length it was condemned, taken down, and rebuilt from the foundation.

Being so near Falkland, where there is a royal palace, that was much frequented by the Jameses, kings of Scotland, I went to see it; passing through what is called the How, that is the Hollow of Fife. This is formed by the eastern part of the Aichil Hills, tapering off and dying away in the German Ocean on the north side, and the hilly land continued from the roots of the Lomond Hills at Falkland to Nidy Knockhill at Dairsie, on the south. The high land, on either side, bends inward, both at the east end at Dairsie, and the west end at

Strathmeiglo where the Lomond Hills approach so near to the Aichils, as to form a valley little more than a mile in width. The How of Fife, where longest is about nine miles, where broadest somewhat above three. It is watered in its whole extent by the Eden; which, however, runs on the whole nearer to the south side than the north. The middle part of this oval district, which is sandy and moorish, is in many places covered with fir woods. Those on the estate of the earl of Leven, near his magnificent and beautiful seat, called Melville house, are of great extent, and great value. The trees grow to a large size; and, when plots are cut down, they are sometimes converted, after the rotting of the roots, into arable land, and sometimes planted again, not only with firs, but other kinds of wood. The village and parish of Monimail, in which Melville house is situated, is celebrated for both its amenity and salubrity, by the historian, George Buchanan. It has a southern exposure, on the foot of a hill, or rather hilly ground, by the incurvation of which it is protected from every wind, except that from the south, and south-west. The soil, though only a light loom, is not unfertile, and the air is dry, and very conducive to health and comfort. A woman died lately here at the advanced age of 105.

In passing from Cupar to Falkland, three objects, which emphatically mark the character of different periods in the history of Scotland, arrest attention. These are Scots-Tarvet, or Tarbat Tower, perched on a lofty eminence in that hilly ridge, which bounds the How of Fife on that side; the old and deserted house or castle of Fairney, formerly belonging to the