titute of trees; there is no "flowery broom" and there are no "verdant braes," nor is there anything to indicate the presence in this neighbourhood of a pastoral community such as is depicted in "The Gentle Shepherd." As a matter of fact, the Glencorse site has now been given up. It used to be a favourite resort of the Edinburgh citizens twenty-five years ago; it is still frequented, but not as the Habbie's Howe of Allan Ramsay.

By common consent the Carlops, or Newhall Habbie's Howe, is now regarded as the genuine article-the true scene of the loves and the quarrels of Patie and Peggy, of Roger and Jenny, and of the humours of Bauldy and Madge. It is, in fact, a lovely dell, clothed in the richest verdure, and reminding one of such Highland

scenes as the Bracklin Falls, near Callander, and the Moness Valley, near Aberfeldy. One

cannot help

marvelling

herd" is confirmed by the fact, mentioned. by Tytler, the antiquary, that Allan Ramsay, like the other literary men of Edinburgh in his day, was a frequent visitor at Newhall, then the residence of Mr. Forbes. Tytler met him there, and remembered to have heard him recite several passages of "The Gentle Shepherd," within reach of the scenes described.

The burn which flows through the glen is the North Esk, here clear and lively, and worthy of being a classic stream. It owes its classical character, however, not to Habbie's Howe alone. A few miles lower down we find, on banks

the

of the same river, Roslin (or Rosslyn) Castle andChapel, and Hawthornden, the abode of the poet Drummond. The pilgrim who pauses at Roslin will be well rewarded. The chapel is one of the most exquisite and most finely concentrated specimens of ecclesiastical archi

tecture in Scotland.

a distance of Edinburgh; it answers exactly to the description of the poet :

"A flowery howm between twa verdant braes,
Where lasses use to wash and spread their claiths;
A trotting burnie wimpling through the ground,
Its channel pebbles shining, smooth and round."

No less appropriate is the description of the little waterfall, in the words of Jenny :

"Gae farrer up the burn to Habbie's Howe,

Where a' that's sweet in spring and summer grow; Between twa birks, out o'er a little lin, The water fa's and makes a singan din; A pool breast-deep, beneath, as clear as glass, Kisses with easy whirls the bord'ring grass." The theory which makes the Newhall dell the Habbie's Howe of "The Gentle Shep

were left to his own sweet will; but the pleasure of the visitor is greatly marred by the officiousness of a professional guide, who runs his story off the reel in a way that would be amusing if it were not exasperating in its obtrusive illiterateness. The striking point in Roslin Chapel is the richness of the architectural detail, not only in the famous 'prentice pillar, but also in the friezes and sculptures of the level arches.

The Chapel is a fragment, but not a ruin; it has been judiciously restored, and is still used as a place of worship; it is also used

In that character, however, the fame of the Castle is assured beyond all question. It is certainly one of the most striking relics of Scottish feudalism. The view from the gardens, now famous for strawberries, is in the highest degree picturesque and impressive.

Hawthornden stands on the summit of a pine-clad rocky eminence on the right bank of the Esk, a mile lower down the glen. The walk from the one to the other leads the pilgrim through delightfully romantic scenery. The house itself is well worth examination. It is a venerable and picturesque-looking pile of hoary masonry, in part ivy-clad, and relieved with gables and an antique turret. The place owes its charm, however, mainly to its literary associations, as the home of "the Scottish Petrarch," and as the temporary abode of Ben Jonson in 1618, when he walked all the way from London to Edinburgh in order to visit his congenial friend. The only relic of that famous visit which survives is a great sycamore in the grounds, which is called "Ben Jonson's Tree;" but the whole scene would be a

The birks of Abergeldie are celebrated in an older melody, and Burns is supposed to have transplanted their fame, either in sheer caprice, or for the sake of a euphonious refrain. In other respects Burns's description is strikingly appropriate :

poem, even if it were not redolent of poetry and poets.

Just as Tantallon is suggestive of Scott, and Habbie's Howe of Allan Ramsay, and Hawthornden of Drummond and Ben Jonson, so do the Falls of Moness and the "Birks of Aberfeldy" remind the pilgrim of Robert Burns. The last-named scene is one of varied and surpassing beauty, although it is questionable whether Burns was warranted in selecting the "birks" as its distinguishing feature. According to Dorothy Wordsworth, who visited the glen in 1803sixteen years after Burns-there were no birch-trees visible at that time, so that those which now exist must be of later growth.

"The braes ascend like lofty wa's,

The foaming stream deep-roaring fa's, O'erhung wi' fragrant spreading shaws, The birks of Aberfeldy.

The hoary cliffs are crowned wi' flowers,

White o'er the lin the burnie

pours,

And, rising, weets wi' misty showers,

The birks of Aberfeldy."

The glen is watered by the Moness burn, which flows from the Urlar Hills through the village of Aberfeldy, to the Tay. About a mile above the village, the stream flows over a ledge of rock into a deep chasm, thus forming the upper Fall of Moness, which, when the burn is in flood, is a really fine waterfall, as seen from the high ground on the right bank of the stream. do The fall is crossed by a rustic bridge, from which a powerful idea is obtained of the force of the cascade in its descent. Half-way down the glen there is a lower fall, which has beauties of its own. It is rather a

d

From

succession of cataracts than a single cascade, and the point from which it is seen to greatest advantage is a ledge of rock almost on the level of the stream. that point the best view is obtained of "the braes" ascending "like lofty wa's," and of "the hoary cliffs crowned wi' flowers," to which Burns refers. The walks through the dell, on both sides of the stream, are charming, as they wind about, in and out, now revealing striking vistas of sylvan beauty, now affording pleasant glimpses of the brawling burn as it threads its course through heathery and flowery mazes. The sentimental pilgrim could not desire a more exquisite scene in which to close his pilgimage.