sack. After sailing up the Forth, to Stirling, I will proceed on foot to Loch Katrine, and the scenery described in the Lady of the Lake, where "boon Nature scatters, free and wild, each plant and flower"-You can easily imagine the delight which such an exquisite treat will afford me. I will indulge my romantic feelings to the utmost in gazing on the

“Rough quarries, rocks, and hills whose heads touch heaven,”

and on the other belles horreurs of Perthshire. After this journey, I will pay a visit to Ireland, and go to London by the way of Liverpool.

LETTER XVII.

"Descriptiones locorum, quæ in his epistolis frequentiores erunt, non historicè tantùm, sed propè poeticè prosequi fas est."

ult.

PLIN. Epist. Lib. 2d.

Perth, May 1st, 1819.

IN company with three intelligent Scotchmen, I took my passage on board the Lady of the Lake steam-boat for Stirling, on the 29th The banks of the Forth are romantically mountainous. At Queensferry it suddenly contracts to two miles breadth, and as suddenly bulges out again into a sort of bay. Near Stirling, the Ochill hills adorn the scenery; this whole ridge is of a beautiful green, and affords

excellent pastures for sheep. The Forth serpentines in the most tortuous manner from Alloa to Stirling; which will not appear astonishing, when it is remembered that by land the distance is only 6 miles, whilst by water it is 24.

The castle and town of Stirling are said to exhibit a miniature of the castle and old town of Edinburgh; but, in my opinion, Stirling castle exceeds its metropolitan prototype in the picturesque effect, and the beauty of the surrounding scenery. The view from the esplanade is very fine. The mountains of Argyleshire, of Dumbartonshire, and of Perthshire are seen to the west; to the east stands the metropolis, whilst to the south the river Forth meanders in its tortuous course through a rich and lovely vale. These windings of the river, call up the idea of some fabled serpent, (says Dr. Graham,*) stretching its enormous volume over an extensive region, not, however, to destroy, but to fertilize; a region which presents to the elevated spectator a picture of plenty, partly the gift of nature, and partly the just mead of industry. I walked through the royal park, which reaches to and surrounds the rock upon which the fortress is situated. As I proceeded, I took a volume of " Waverley" from my pocket, and read the following interesting passage: "With a mind more at ease, Waverley could not have failed to admire the mix

* Sketches of Perthshire.

ture of romance and beauty which renders interesting the scene through which he was now passing the field which had been the scene of the tournaments of old-the rock from which the ladies beheld the contest, while each made vows for the success of some favourite knight -the towers of the Gothic church where these vows might be paid-and surmounting all, the fortress itself, at once a castle and a palace, where valour received the prize from loyalty, and knights and dames closed the evening amid the revelry of the dance, the song and the feast: all these were objects fitted to interest a romantic imagination."

Stirling Castle can hold 11,000 men, with 39 pieces of ordnance, 6 pounders. It is built on a basaltic rock, remarkable for its columnated appearance. Scarcely any thing but the castle, seems to deserve attention in Stirlingso that, after a very pleasant walk round the battlements, and after a hearty breakfast, we proceeded à pied in our way to Perth, 38 miles from Stirling. The view of the castle, town and landscape is very fine on the road to Perth. We turned round and saw the glorious radiant outlines of the castle, with its irregular rocks and towers, painted black on the azure canopy of heaven; and in doing so, we felt a delightful sensation in beholding the harmonious blending together of so much earthly and celestial magnificence.

The villages we passed through were not very alluring; the huts are thatched with straw,

and the interior corresponds with the exterior. I saw but little woodland scenery on the road, and no oaks whatever; the principal trees were firs. In our approach to Perth, we visited the vault of the Montrose family, a few miles from Auchterarder. I distinguished 4 coffins covered with crimson velvet, containing the bodies of the father, mother, wife and child of his present grace. The humble repositories of the dead in the adjacent grave-yard, when compared to the superb vault of Montrose, recalled to my mind the melancholy observation of the poet,

"Metit Orcus

Grandia cum parvis, non exorabilis auro!"

Soon afterwards, we found ourselves at Duplin, the seat of the earl of Kinnoul. The beautiful river Earn meandered near the road which leads to the mansion house, which we visited in all its details. Most of the rooms are adorned with family paintings, and one or two by B. West.

The battle of Luncarty was the origin of the Kinnoul family. An old man with his two sons at the plough, rushed into the field and gained the victory. Being afterwards asked to name their title and coat of arms, the hawk and earldom of Kinnouil were chosen. The present earl is a young unmarried man; he was colonel in the Perthshire militia in the last war. He has two sisters; one married to the duke of

Athol in the Isle of Man, and the other to the celebrated banker Drummond.

The trees in the park are loaded with rooks which produce a melancholy croaking, and we observed here and there the carrion-bird,

"Heavily flapping his clogg'd wing,

Which reek'd with that day's banqueting."

We had the Earn to our right, beautifully meandering in a gently tortuous sweep along the vale. The prospect of Perth, in our approach to that city, with the picturesque appearance of the surrounding scenery, gave us a pleasing avant goût of the delight we will experience in the remainder of our excursion.

The new town of Perth is very elegant. A neat bridge stretches over the Tay, whose water is as clear as crystal. History relates that when the army of Agricola, (Augustus' general) saw this fine river and beautiful common, they enthusiastically cried out ecce Tiberim! The most agreeable Belvidere of Perth is Kinnoul craigs. From this spot, the Tay is seen sweeping with gentle curves over the fertile common below. The depôt, built for the French prisoners, next attracts the eye, and then the city of Perth is seen, shaped like two ellipses meeting each other. The Romans, who compared the Tay to the Tiber, might have taken the craigs for the Tarpeian rock, such is their precipitous appearance! And their elevation is such, that the jackdaws