point for embarkation, on account of its vicinity to Hopetoun House, to the noble owner of which he had promised a visit on that day, and where preparations had been made in a style and splendour that well corresponded with the occasion. For ten days previous to the royal visit, nearly a hundred workmen had been employed on the picturesque road which winds along the right bank of the Forth, and opens on this magnificent mansion. Under the two colonandes which connect the wings with the centre of the house, ranges of tables were fitted up and covered with the choicest viands. On the north side were the West-Lothian cavalry, and on the south, the tenantry resident on the Hopetoun estate. In the park was an extensive range of tents, tastefully decorated with laurel and other evergreens, and furnished with every variety of refreshments which the best larders and wine-vaults in the kingdom could supply. The eastern division was set apart for the company invited to meet his Majesty, amounting to about four hundred. The other division was destined for the Royal Archers, and in the intermediate space were green bowers for the accommodation of bands of music. Detachments of the "Scots Greys," the county yeomanry, and about a hundred of the earl's tenantry, well mounted, and stationed at intervals among the multitude assembled on the lawn, produced a highly animated and picturesque effect--reminding us of the scene in the "Thane of Fife:"

"All these, with all the various bands from all

Their coasts, with banners spread, and trumpet's blast,
To meet their king-"

"Congratulant in sounding tumult past. ...

And with the gleam and gairishness of war

Emblazing half the soil that swarms with life afar."

In the mean time, the king having left Dalkeith House and passed through Edinburgh, under salutations from the guns of the Castle, entered the grounds of Dalmeny-followed by continued acclamations of loyalty from the crowds of spectators that lined the road.* This manor was acquired in the reign of

Dalmeny Park is alike remarkable for the beauty of its position and the richly diversified scenery of which it forms the centre. Its bold waving surface; pleasant pastures, fringed with long ridges of rocks, shaded by trees of luxuriant growth; the majestic Forth, studded with islands, and seen commencing its serpentine course at the base of those mountains which form the august boundary of the Highlands; the rich and rugged scenery on either side; the ancient castellated buildings upon the coast-nodding to their foundations, but rich in the "traditions of eld"—presented a scene from which both painter and poet have drawn inspiration. From Monshill in this neighbourhood the panorama takes in a portion of sixteen different counties, and is entitled to a place among the finest prospects in Europe. In this neighbourhood is" Barnbougle Castle, once the noted seat of the gallant Mowbray,"

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Charles II. by Archibald Primrose, who was created Viscount Primrose in 1700, and three years later, earl of Roseberry. The Queensferry sent forth its joyous acclamations as the king approached, and the vessels composing the royal squadron at anchor off the pier, exhibited their masts gaily festooned with flags of every nation and colour. The cavalcade as it entered and winded along the great avenue, assumed a still more royal appearance; and now, augmented by an additional escort, presented a picture of the most novel and ímposing features. Never, perhaps, did sovereign meet with a reception more worthy of the royal dignity, more honourable to his noble host, or more creditable to the loyalty of his subjects. But as our limits do not permit us to indulge in minute description, we shall conclude the subject with a very few remarks.

Early in the afternoon, the king took leave of the Hopetoun fête*—the most strikingly novel and impressive, probably, of any that had yet hailed his arrival. Attended by a retinue of nobles, he entered his barge manned with eighteen rowers; while a royal salute, fired by all the ships of the squadron, and answered from the opposite shore by the guns at Broom-hall, the seat of Lord Elgin, announced the king's departure from Caledonia. His embarkation on board the royal yacht was similar in many respects to the gorgeous scene already displayed on his first landing at Leith. The yacht was soon under weigh, and, followed by the rest of the squadron, bore down for Leith “roads." At six o'clock, a third salute was given from Leith Battery, the Castle, Caltonhill, and Salisbury Crags, announcing that the royal squadron was fairly at sea, and the national pageant concluded.

"Then sons of the mountain and sons of the vale

Return to the roar of the forest and flood;

And whether the tartan be purple or pale,
Be brothers in spirit, as brothers in blood!"

The official expression of the King's sentiments towards Scotland and its inhabitants, as published the same day, concludes in these terms:-" His Majesty's residence in Scotland has proved to him a source of unalloyed satisfaction. It has confirmed every favourable impression which he had previously entertained of the character and habits of the people; and it has afforded to him that

While at Hopetoun-house the king gave a flattering proof of his esteem for native merit, and of his zealous desire to encourage the fine arts, of which he had always been an ardent admirer and a generous patron, by conferring the honour of knighthood upon Mr. Henry Raeburn and Captain Adam Fergusonnames too well known to the public to call for any notice in this place.

N N

which must ever constitute his chief gratification-the opportunity of witnessing the happiness of his subjects, and of receiving the most convincing proofs of their faithful attachment and loyalty. He takes leave of Scotland with the most cordial feelings of affection towards her people, and with the deepest anxiety to promote their welfare." The same flattering sentiments are expressed in a letter to Sir Walter Scott, of which the annexed is a copy:-"The king wishes to make you the channel of conveying to the Highland chiefs, and their followers, who have given to the varied scene which we have witnessed so peculiar and romantic a character, his particular thanks for their attendance, and his warm approbation of their uniform deportment. He does justice to the ardent spirit of loyalty by which they are animated; and is convinced that he could offer no recompense for their services so gratifying to them, as the assurances which I now convey of the esteem and approbation of their Sovereign.'

We now close our brief, and necessarily imperfect, account of the King's Visit to Scotland, and prosecuting our tour westward, revert to the scenery of West Lothian, of which Hopetoun-house, with its immediate landscape, forms one of the most striking features. The building was commenced by Charles, first earl of Hopetoun, in 1696, after a plan by the celebrated architect, Sir William Bruce of Kinross, and completed within the last century by Mr. Adam, to whom the country is indebted for many specimens of correct taste and classic architecture. The great natural advantages of the spot selected for this baronial edifice contributed most materially in giving effect to the labours of art. Every embellishment, to a certain extent, was made to harmonize with those beauties which nature with liberal hand had scattered around. Under the direction of skill and taste, the lawn, gardens, and shrubberies, were planned so as to enhance the general effect without hurting any of its proportions; and present single points of view and combinations of scenery which excite universal admiration. The house crowns a gentle acclivity, gradually rising from the water's edge, and from its magnificent terrace commands a prospect which the united testimony of all northern travellers has rendered proverbial. The Frith, whose broad estuary partakes at this point of the combined character of ocean and river-but during a storm assumes all the distinctive grandeur of the former-may be traced in all its sinuous crystal "links" to the base of the mountain chain from which it descends. From the more elevated points the spectator takes in at one view the whole valley, and

Both letters dated Edinburgh, August 29th, 1822, and signed,—" Robert Peel."

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its extended mass of waters, from "Strevelin's towers to the sea-girt Basswith all the towns, abbeys, hamlets, and villas, on its

"Coasts so rife

Of villagery, and fringed with townships so ;"—

its busy harbours, the islets that seem to float on its surface, the bold Grampians on the north, and the Ochil hills on the west, backed in the extreme distance by the "lofty Benlomond." lofty Benlomond." But Hopetoun-house is not more remarkable for the scenery it commands, than for the noble and imposing features which it imparts-meeting the spectator at a great distance on both sides of the Forth, and continuing long in view. Dr. Cririe thus apostrophises it

"Fair Hopetoun, seated on thy spreading lawn

In princely state....

Nor can Italia vaunt a brighter scene

Nor generous Britain boast a better lord."

The town of Queensferry,† so greatly improved within the last twenty years, derives its name and origin from the following historical fact:-After the fatal battle of Hastings, which placed the Norman dynasty on the English throne, Edgar Atheling, with his mother Agatha and his sisters Margaret and Christina, in their flight from the Conqueror, being driven by stress of weather into the Frith of Forth, landed at a small village called the Binks, at the west end of the present burgh, where a ready asylum was offered to the royal fugitives, and their numerous retinue of Anglo-Saxons. Margaret, having afterwards become the queen of Malcolm Canmore, in grateful remembrance of her first reception on the Scottish shore, procured for this village the privileges of a burgh of regality. Edgar Atheling, who the very next year was once more forced to consult his safety by flight, landed at a rock a little further to the westward, which has since borne the name of Port Edgar, and was selected, as already stated, by his late Majesty for embarkation. The town of Queensferry has been repeatedly honoured in later times by the visits of princes,

* Sir James-son of the eminent Sir Thomas Hope, who was appointed a senator in 1649, by the designation of Lord Hopetoun-was the ancestor of the earls of that title, created in 1703. The present representative is the wealthiest peer connected with the county.

In 1215, Pope Gregory confirmed to the Abbey of Dunfermlin-Dimidium passagii sanctæ Margareta Reginæ.'

↑ A singular custom prevails in this burgh, which may have had its origin in some circumstance connected with the landing of Edgar, his mother, and sisters. It is this:-On the evening preceding the annual fair, the boys choose two of their number as king and queen. These puerile representations of

among which was that of Prince Leopold of Saxe Coburg, now king of Belgium, when on a visit to the earl of Hopetoun.

On the right, "old Garvey's castled Cliff"-a small fortified rock, rising abruptly from the waters of the Frith, forms a fine and picturesque object; while, on the opposite shore, as celebrated by Cririe

"Rosyth across the brine

Lifts high her towering head, in ruins now,

Of noble Stuarts once the fortress strong."

In this castle, according to tradition, the mother of Cromwell, a lady of the Stuart family, was born. The "Protector" is said to have visited the castle during his operations in Scotland. Near the western extremity of this borough is part of a church, the only remains of the Carmelite monastery, founded here by the laird of Dundas early in the fourteenth century, and dedicated to the Virgin Mary. But of the many religious houses that once flourished in this county few vestiges remain. Dundas-hill is well deserving of the attention of geologists for the remarkable range of basaltic columns which it presents. These are between seven and eight hundred feet in length, two hundred in breadth, and nearly perpendicular. Between five and six miles to the westward is the royal and once important fortress of Blackness castle. It stands on a narrow point of land running into the Frith, and was well adapted for the purposes of a state prison, to which it was formerly applied. According to the articles of the Union, it is one of the four garrisons ordered to be kept in repair. This was the ancient harbour of Linlithgow

"Where Rome's strong galleys found a safe retreat,

And commerce moored her richly freighted fleet".

till Borrowstounness, which succeeded as a sea-port, became the most frequented. At the commencement of the present century, however, the importance of the latter being overlooked in its turn, the fluctuating spirit of commerce transferred its favours to Grangemouth. The pier, basin, and docks cover about two Scotch acres; the access is easy, and with a depth of water in spring-tides of seventeen feet or upwards. In 1792, the trading vessels belonging to this

majesty have then their heads and faces covered with woollen caps, on which, as well as on every other part of their dress, burs (the pods of the burdock) are stuck in profusion; and in this grotesque guiserelieved by farther decorations of flowers and feathers-they are paraded through the streets amidst the boisterous cheers of the citizens. Port Edgar has lately been most substantially improved-the rock is, covered by a commodious quay and breakwater, among the most perfect in the United Kingdom.-Statist.