imitable strokes of the describer of Ravenswood. Tantallan has been imagined by some to represent Wolf's Crag; which is not improbable, as it exhibits some resemblance, in point of situation, and lies in the immediate vicinity of Tyne-Sands, a dangerous quicksand where many accidents have at various periods occurred similar to the fate of the last heir of Ravenswood.' In the middle of the seventeenth century, a Lord Bellhaven, who seems to have been nursed and brought forward by the Duke of Hamilton for the same purposes, for which the Master of Ravenswood was protected by his kinsman the Marquis of A- was lost on Solway Sands, and neither himself nor his horse were ever seen again. But we are informed that the tragic events of this melancholy Tale are founded upon facts which took place, at some former period, in the family of the Earl of Stair; the scene being laid not in the east, but in the west of Scotland. ELLANGOWAN. On the terminating point of that rocky shore called the Heads of Carrick, in Ayrshire, stands Dunure Castle, a fine old building, in some parts overhanging the sea. From the peculiarities of its situation and appearance, it is supposed to have furnished the Author of Waverley with the description of Ellangowan ; though Caerlaverock Castle, in Dumfriesshire, on the shore of the Solway Firth, has also been pointed out. The former has a most extensive view to the west, over Arran, Kintyre, and the isles of Ailsa and Bute, as far as the coast of Ireland. It seems to have been a place of great strength and importance; and was the ancient residence of the family of Kennedy, from whom the Earl of Cassilis is descended. Caerlaverock, in its * See a description of Ailsa, passim. principal front, strongly resembles Ellangowan, as it is described in the novel. It was formerly the residence of the powerful family of the Maxwells, whose crest and motto yet remain over the great gateway, as those of the Bertrams are represented to have done in Ellangowan. TILLIETUDLEM Is supposed to have been described from Craig Nethan Castle, in Lanarkshire, lying near the road between Lanark and Hamilton. It must be confessed that, both in locality and appearance, they closely resemble each other. The following fragment of some romantic and sentimental itinerants, with whom we have not the pleasure to be acquainted, is so lively a picture that the imagination will require comparatively little efforts to transport one to the scene itself. On the 27th of July, 1831, we parted with 'Bonnie Dumfries,' as the Duchess of Bedford very truly calls it -bade farewell to Criffel,† the fairest of mountains— and Solway, the sweetest of all seas-and penetrated into the vale of Yarrow, by the way of Moffat. bowed as we went along to Bodsbeck, the abode of the We *From the Athenæum. We like the pleasing, sentimental and picturesque style of our tourists; the sketch is natural, welldrawn, and chimes in admirably with our subjects; and equally so in accordance with our feelings, from local knowledge, and other agreeable associations.-ED. † An excellent local barometer for many miles round. It is an old saying that when Criffel has got hernight much on,' it is an infallible sign of wet weather. last of those drudging goblins called Brownies,* and the scene of one of Hogg's tales, and visited the Gray Mare's Tail, a wild torrent of that name, which Loch Skene flings from the summit of her pasture mountains over cliffs, the abode of the eagle, into the great pass of Moffatdale. We had never been in that land before; and on reaching Birkhill, where the waters of Dumfriesshire run one way, and those of Selkirkshire another, we were conscious of being about to enter the enchanted region of poetry and romance. The hills on either side rose lofty, steep, and green; white, in many places with innumerable sheep, and differing from the brown heathery eminences of Dumfriesshire and Galloway in one important feature of beauty-namely, they were one and all covered with the greenest grass from base to summit. Between them St. Mary's Lake lies like a fine mirror, in which the hills on either side, with all their sheep and shepherds, are reflected calm and fair. We looked for the Chapel of the Lowes; but it is past and gone, and lives only in the 'Lay of the Last Minstrel' and we looked for Wordsworth's swans, but they are gone too-swan and shadow. In truth, the wild swan is but the winter guest of this fine lake; and even in winter, it comes seldom. The last of the race was of great size and beauty, and was shot some years ago by a gentleman, who sent it to Altrive; the shepherd presented it to Sir Walter Scott, who, in his turn, bestowed it upon the Edinburgh Museum, where the majestic bird may be seen stuffed. If we did not see Wordsworth's swans, we felt that pastoral melancholy of which the poet speaks; and in this mood we parted with the lonely lake and Dryhope Tower, the residence of Mary Scott, the Flower of Yarrow, and followed the course of the water of that name on its way to the banks of the Tweed. *See Fairies. Passim. Though the mark and aim of our journey was Abbotsford and Chiefswood, we had promised ourselves pleasure by the way; and accordingly, on moving along, we looked out for Altrive Lake, the abode of the 'farkenned and noted' Shepherd of Ettrick. Now, in this land the population is thin-there are no mile-stones, and, what is better, no toll-bars-and what is sorrowful, no houses of refreshment: and moreover, to a citizen of 'credit and renown,' the whole vale, with all its associations of verse and prose, may seem naught and barren. But to him who knows how to seek such things, there is milk and honey, and trout and lamb, and as much information, old and new, as would fill a hundred pages of a traveller's volume. Any maiden, whom ye may chance to meet, will, with small entreaty, supply you with milk, if you ask for water; and any shepherd will give you information on any subject reaching from the present hour to the days of Robert Bruce. We had arrived at that part of the valley where the growing corn and natural grass meet, when we inquired of a boy where Altrive was, and if Hogg was at home. 'Yon house is Altrive, (said the boy,) and yon man fishing is Mr. Hogg: cry, and he'll hear you.' We lifted our voice, but the murmur of the stream drowned it; and as we advanced upon him, 'bout ship went the Shepherd, and, with a heavy creel of trouts, began to wend his way home: at length he heard us, and marvelling, no doubt what manner of people we werc, came slowly to meet us. Now, we were known to the poet of old-he had heard, too, that we were in these parts; so he began to quicken his pace, and before we met, his whole face was radiant with joy— dilated with gladness. God, man! but I'm glad to see you!' was the first exclamation, followed by a hearty, vigorous shake of both hands, after the manner of that Great Minstrel of Abbotsford. You must come and dine with me, you and all your following; na, nae 6 murmuring, man-I am omnipotent here, and can command you. I have two friends also who will be glad to see you; besides, you must taste our Yarrow cheer-our mutton, our trout, and our whiskey.* *The glens and the mountains of Etterick and Yarrow combine almost all the soft and wild sublimity that Highland scenery exhibits. In the lower district of Yarrow, that lovely stream winds among hills of no great height, gently swelling, and green to the summits; in some places finely wooded, but generally naked, and well suited to the pasture of flocks. This is their common character, but some miles from the mouth of the valley, dark heathy mountains are seen towering to a considerable height above the surrounding hills, and give a variety to the scene. Towards the head, the glen widens, and embosoms St. Mary's Loch, and the Loch of the Lowes; and above these sweet lakes, terminates in a wild mountain-pass that divides it from Moffatdale. In the loftiest and most rugged regions of this pass, the greymare's tail, a waterfall 300 feet in perpendicular height dashes and falls over stupendous rocks. This celebrated fall is formed by a stream that flows from dark Skene, a dark and mountain lake, about a mile above it, surrounded by inaccessible heights on all sides save one, and that is strewed by a thousand black heathery hillocks of the most grotesque and irregular forms. This place is so solitary that the eagle has built her nest in an islet of the lake for ages, and is overhung by the highest mountains in the south of Scotland. The character of Etterick is similar to that of Yarrow, except perhaps, that its tints are softer and more mellow, and it is destitute of lakes. These valleys, so celebrated in border legend and song, are skirted by hills, extending many miles on both sides, and, as there is no great road through them, the people have long lived shut out from the rest of mankind in a state of pastoral simplicity and virtuous seclusion, alike remote from the vices of boorish rusticity and fawning servility. Among the wild mountains at the head of Etterick and Yarrow, the sturdy champions of the covenant found an asylum when they were chased like wild beasts, by a relentless persecution, from every other part of the country. Their preachers held their conventicles in the most sequestered glens, and made many converts, from whom a number of the present race are descended; but while they cherish the memory of these glorious men, and as well they may, retain all the noble-mindedness that arises from the consciousness of an illustrious ancestry, their moral features have lost much of the sternness of their fathers, and are softened down into the gentler virtues of more peaceful times; yet if we were asked what people |