EDINBURGH TO ABERDEEN, BY STEAMER.

The steamers sail in the morning from Granton Pier on the arrival of the trains and coaches from Edinburgh. They do not touch at any of the intervening towns between Edinburgh and Aberdeen. The time occupied is from eight to nine hours, according to the weather. By railway, Aberdeen should be reached from Edinburgh in six hours and twenty minutes; but it is often seven and sometimes eight hours.

After leaving Granton, the first object of interest is the island of Inchkeith, which received its name from the ancient family of Keith, to whom it formerly belonged. It was fortified by the English in the reign of Edward VI., but the fortifications were afterwards demolished by order of the Scottish Parliament. During the regency of Mary of Guise, it was occupied by the French, who designated it L'Isle des Chevaux, because the grass which it produced formed a nutritious food for horses. The lighthouse on this island is a work of great neatness, and the machinery by which the lights revolve is very interesting. From the middle of the firth a fine view is obtained of the city of Edinburgh, with the harbours of Leith, Newhaven, and Granton, and the coast of Fife, thickly studded with towns. In allusion to this striking characteristic of Fife, King James VI. is said to have likened it to "a grey cloth mantle with a golden fringe." A little further east is Pettycur point, supposed to have derived its name (petit corps) from the landing of a small body of French troops during the regency of Mary of Guise. Close to it is the royal burgh of Kinghorn, which gives the title of Earl to the Strathmore family. About half a mile west of the town, close between the turnpike and railway, is "the ivy rock," over which Alexander III. fell from his horse and was killed, 19th March 1285-6. Below Kinghorn is a square tower, the remains of Seafield Castle.

KIRKCALDY [Inns: George; National] is a short way further on. Population, 15,568. Its streets are extremely irregular, narrow, crooked, ill-paved and dirty. Dr. Adam Smith, author of the "Wealth of Nations," was a native of this town. Balwearie, in the neighbourbood, was the birth-place of Sir Michael Scott, the famous wizard immortalized in the Lay of the Last Minstrel. The ruins of the old tower of Balwearie are still to be seen. On a rising ground behind Kirkcaldy is Raith House, the handsome seat of Colonel Ferguson, M.P. The situation is commanding, and the pleasure-grounds are extensive and very beautiful. At a short distance is Dunnikier House, the seat of Oswald, Esq. To the east of Kirkcaldy is Ravenscraig Castle,

the property of the Earl of Rosslyn, situated upon a rock overhanging the sea. It has been in the possession of the St. Clair family since the reign of James III., and was entire and habitable till the time of Cromwell. About half a mile further on is Dysart House, a seat of the Earl of Rosslyn, and close to it is the town of Dysart, a royal burgh of great antiquity, and two or three centuries ago a place of considerable trade. Two miles further on is West Wemyss, a burgh of barony, containing about 800 inhabitants, a dingy, dirty, ruinous, looking place. The steamer now passes Wemyss House, the seat of J. Hay Wemyss, Esq., M.P., situated on a steep rock overhanging the sea. In Wemyss Castle, now a ruin, Darnley was first introduced to Queen Mary. Further on is Easter Wemyss, a burgh of barony, principally occupied by weavers. Wemyss derives its name from the number of caves on this part of the coast- Wumb or Weem being the Gaelic word for a cave. One of these, called the King's Cave, received its designation from an adventure related of James IV.† A short way further east are the ruins of Macduff's Castle, said to have been built by Macduff, created thane of Fife about the year 1057. A mile further down is Buckhaven, a curious antique fishing village, inhabited by a singular race of fishermen, alleged to be the descendants of the crew of a vessel from the Netherlands, which was wrecked near this place in the reign of Philip II. They were severely ridiculed more than a century ago in a celebrated satirical pamphlet called the "History of the College of Buckhaven, or the Sayings of Wise Willie and Witty Eppie," well known to the book-stall collectors of pamphlets and broadsides. A mile further on is the small village of Methill, and, at the distance of another mile, the village of Leven, situated at the mouth of the river of the same name, which issues from Loch Leven. A short way in the interior is Durie House (C. M. Christie, Esq.)

The steamer is now in Largo Bay, familiar to every Scotsman from the allusion made to it in the fine old song, Weel may the

See the beautiful ballad of "Rosabelle" in the Lay of the Last Minstrel. + Travelling through Fife on foot and incognito, that monarch happened to ́be benighted, and was obliged to enter a cave for shelter. He found it already occupied by a band of robbers, but having gone too far to retreat, he was under the necessity of joining the company. After some time, supper having been served up, two of the gang approached him with a plate on which lay two daggers a signal that he was to be put to death. He instantly snatched a weapon in each hand, laid the two robbers prostrate at his feet, and rushed through the rest toward the mouth of the cave. Having fortunately succeeded in making his escape, he returned next day with a sufficient force and captured the whole band.

boatie row." In the centre of the bay is the village of Lower Largo, the birth-place of Alexander Selkirk, whose singular adventures form the groundwork of Defoe's charming novel of "Robinson Crusoe." The house in which he was born still stands, and is occupied by a female relation, who is in possession of the chest and cup which he used on the uninhabited island. The gun with which he killed his game is now at Lathallan House. Upper Largo was the birth-place of Sir Andrew Wood, the Scottish admiral, who received the barony of Largo from James IV. as a reward for his services at sea against the English. Largo also gave birth to Sir John Leslie, the celebrated philosopher. Near Upper Largo, in the midst. of a beautiful park, and surrounded by trees, stands Largo House. To the north of the village, a fine hill called Largo Law rises to the height of 965 feet above the level of the sea. A short way to the west of Largo, in the midst of a park, are three straight, sharp stones, several yards high, called "the Standin' Stanes o' Lundie," supposed to be of Danish origin. A considerable quantity of silver armour and other relics were found beside these stones in 1817, by a pedlar, by whom they were unfortunately sold piecemeal and melted.*

Four miles east from Largo is the royal burgh of Earlsferry, and the village of ELIE, and Elie House, formerly the seat of the Anstruther family, now the property of William Baird, Esq. Two miles further on is St. Monance, noted for its curious little old church which is a good example of the decorated or second-pointed style of architecture. The ruins of Newark Castle, the seat of the celebrated General Leslie, stand on a bold part of the shore, about a mile to the west of the village. A mile to the east is the ancient royal burgh of Pittenweem, the birthplace of Bishop Douglas of Salisbury, and long the residence of the facetious Bishop Low of Argyll and the Isles. Here are the ruins of some curious antique religious buildings. Pittenweem contains the house in which Wilson and Robertson committed the robbery upon the collector of excise, which led to the famous Porteous Mob. A mile from Pittenweem is ANSTRUTHER (population, 1526), commemorated in the popular song of “Maggie Lauder." "Anster Fair," also, has been made the subject of an amusing poem by Mr. Tennant, late Professor of Oriental Languages in the University of St. Andrews, who was a native of the parish. Dr. Chalmers too was born here, also Captain C. Gray, the Scottish poet.

Opposite to this part of the coast is the Isle of May. The light

* See Dr. Daniel Wilson's Prehistoric Annals of Scotland, p. 512.

house was built in the reign of Charles I., on the site of a considerable religious establishment. It is about three miles in circumference, and is now inhabited only by the persons who attend upon the lighthouse. A fine view is obtained here of North Berwick Law, the Bass, and the coast of East Lothian. About a mile further down the coast from Anstruther stands Kilrenny, another royal burgh, within which parish, and by the sea-side, is situated the populous and thriving fishing village of Cellardyke. Population about 1862.

In the church of Crail (the next town to the east; population, 1247), John Knox, on the 29th of May 1559, preached a sermon against popery, which so inflamed the populace that they immediately rose, and in a very short time demolished all the monasteries and ecclesiastical buildings in Crail, Anstruther, and the adjacent towns along the coast. The well-known Archbishop Sharpe, by the interest of the Earl of Crawford, was appointed minister of Crail, where he conducted himself, it is said, in an exemplary manner; his handwriting is still to be seen in the session records. Crail was a town of some note as early as the ninth century. David I. had a palace here, now entirely demolished, except á fragment of a wall. It was anciently the seat of a priory, the ruins of which are still to be seen below the east end of the town, and some of the old houses of Crail are of that massive and antique description which indicate better days. About a mile from Crail is the East Neuk of Fife, which gives name to a popular Scottish air. Beyond this promontory is the Carr Rock, on which there is a beacon of iron, after rounding which the coast stretches towards the north-west, forming the extensive bay called St. Andrews Bay. At the bottom of this bay, on a ridge of rock projecting into the sea, stands the ancient city of St. Andrews (described page 247).

About two miles from St. Andrews is the estuary of the river Eden, and at a short distance inland the village of Leuchars (described page 248). A little to the east of Leuchars is Tentsmoor Point, the south-eastern point of the firth of the Tay, and on the opposite shore, in Forfarshire, is Button-Ness, the north-eastern point of the same estuary. There are two lighthouses on this promontory, and two others on the south shore, nearly opposite to the village of Broughty Ferry. About six miles up the Firth of Tay, on the north shore, is DUNDEE (described page 252).

About twelve miles east from this part of the coast is the famous BELL ROCK, or Inch Cape Rock, which, from a very remote period, had been the cause of numerous shipwrecks. The top of the rock only being visible at low water, one of the abbots of Aberbrothock

attached to it a frame-work and a bell, which being rung by the

waves, warned mariners to avoid the fatal reef. A tradition respecting this bell has been embodied by Dr. Southey in his ballad called "Ralph the Rover." A famous pirate of this name is said to have cut the bell from the frame-work

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to plague the Abbot of Aberbrothock," and some time after to have received the just punishment of his malice by being shipwrecked on the spot. An elegant lighthouse, 115 feet high, has now been erected by the commissioners of the Northern Lighthouses at an ex

pense of £60,000. It is one of the most prominent and serviceable beacons on the Scottish shores, and has been the means of preventing innumerable shipwrecks. About nine miles from ButtonNess is ARBROATH, described (page 314).

The rest of the places, as seen from the steamer between Arbroath and Aberdeen, are the same as described in the former route.