NORTH BERWICK.

[Hotels: The Dalrymple Arms; M'Donald's.]

North Berwick is a favourite resort during the summer months for bathing, for which its firm beach affords facilities. The air is clear and bracing, and the extensive links are suitable for the game of golf. Immediately south of the town rises the conical hill called North Berwick Law, from which an extensive view may be obtained. The principal object seaward is the Bass Rock, or rather island, which lies about two miles from the shore, and rises 400 feet sheer out of the sea. The Bass is about a mile in circumference, and is conical on the one side, presenting on the other an abrupt and overhanging precipice. It is remarkable for its immense quantities of seafowl, chiefly solan geese, and is visited in summer by numerous pleasure parties. In order to perform the visit, it is necessary to apply for a boat either at North Berwick, or at Canty Bay, near Tantallon.

About two and a half miles eastward from North Berwick, are the ruins of the famous Castle of Tantallon, the following description of which is taken from Scott's Marmion.

"Tantallon vast;

Broad, massive, high, and stretching far,

And held impregnable in war.

On a projecting rock they rose,

And round three sides the ocean flows,

The fourth did battled walls enclose,
And double mound and fosse.
By narrow drawbridge, outworks strong,
Through studded gates, an entrance long,
To the main court they cross.
It was a wide and stately square :
Around were lodgings, fit and fair,
And towers of various form,

Which on the court projected far,
And broke its lines quadrangular.

Here was square keep, there turret high,
Or pinnacle that sought the sky,
Whence oft the warder could descry
The gathering ocean storm."

C. v. st. 33.

Tantallon was a principal stronghold of the Douglas family; and when the Earl of Angus was banished in 1526, it con

tinued to hold out against James V. About the beginning of the eighteenth century, the Marquis, afterwards Duke of Douglass, sold the estate of North Berwick, including the castle

of Tantallon, to Sir Hew Dalrymple, President of the Court of Session, and it now remains in the possession of his descendant, Sir Hew H. Dalrymple, Bart., of Bargeny and North Berwick.

EDINBURGH TO MELROSE, ABBOTSFORD, AND DRYBURGH, BY NORTH BRITISH RAILWAY.

NOTICE.-Visitors will not be admitted to Abbotsford House during the months of December and January.

In November, February, and March, the Admissions will be restricted to Wednesdays and Fridays, from 10 A.M. till dusk.

At other times, the Principal Objects of Interest will be shown daily (Sundays excepted) from 10 A.M. to 6 P.M.

Visitors cannot pass through the House in parties of more than 10 at one time. Passengers by Excursion Trains cannot be admitted except under special circumstances, and by previous arrangement. Applications on this subject should be addressed to Mr. JOHN SWANSTON, Abbotsford, Melrose, at least a week beforehand.

A separate Entrance and a Waiting Room have been provided for Visitors, and it is hoped that they will abstain from causing annoyance to the Family by endeavouring to obtain admission at other times than those above specified, or by trespassing on the Reserved Parts of the House and Grounds.

ABBOTSFORD, May 1858.

To accomplish this tour in one day from Edinburgh, leave by an early train from the Station at Waverley Bridge, and take a return ticket for Melrose, which is reached in about two hours.

Order a carriage for visiting Abbotsford and Dryburgh, and while it is getting ready, visit the ruins of Melrose Abbey; then drive to Abbotsford, which is three miles westward, and on returning to Melrose, proceed to Dryburgh, four miles eastward of Melrose.

On returning to Melrose, take the evening train to Edinburgh.

The scenery of the country traversed by the railway from Edinburgh to Melrose is pleasing, although not particularly striking.

On emerging from the tunnel, shortly after leaving the station at Edinburgh, a fine view is obtained, on the right, of Arthur's Seat, Holyrood Palace, and ruins of St. Anthony's Chapel. Passing Portobello, the principal watering-place of the inhabitants of Edinburgh, and the village of Dalkeith, the line skirts the grounds of Dalhousie Castle, affording in its progress a beautiful prospect of the Pentland Hills to the right. Close to Gorebridge Station, on the left, are the ruins of Gorebridge Castle. A little beyond the station, after passing through two short tunnels, a glance may be had, on the right, of Arniston House, the ancient seat of Dundas of Arniston, a family conspicuous in the legal and political history of Scotland.

About two miles further on, we come in sight of Borthwick village and the ruins of Borthwick Castle on the right, and those of Crichton Castle on the left, both beautifully situated in the valley of the Tyne.

Borthwick Castle is an ancient and stately tower, rising out of the centre of a small but well cultivated valley, watered by a stream called the Gore. In form it is a double tower, 74 feet in length, 68 in breadth, and 90 feet in height; and it is enclosed within an outer court, fortified by a strong outward wall, having flanking towers at the angles. The hall is a stately apartment, with a vaulted ceiling of smooth ashler work. The license for building Borthwick Castle was granted by James I. to Sir William Borthwick, 2d June 1430; and it was here that Queen Mary resided, three weeks after her unfortunate marriage with Bothwell, and which caused her to flee, a few days afterwards, to Dunbar in the disguise of a page. Borthwick held out gallantly against Cromwell, and the effect of his battery. still remains on the freestone facing of the eastern side of the castle. Borthwick is now the property of John Borthwick, Esq. of Crookstone, a claimant of the ancient peerage of Borthwick, which has remained in abeyance since the death of the ninth Lord Borthwick, in the reign of Charles II. In the old manse of Borthwick, Dr. Robertson, the historian, was born.

The ruins of Crichton Castle stand a mile and a quarter to the eastward of Borthwick, on the banks of the Tyne, twelve and a half miles south from Edinburgh. It was built at different periods, and forms a square pile, enclosing an interior court-yard. The eastern side is the most modern, and afford an example of architecture unusually decorated for Scottish castles, and the interior is correspondingly elegant. Crichton

*

The towers in different ages rose;
Their various architecture shows
The builders' various hands;
A mighty mass, that could oppose,
When deadliest hatred fired its foes,

The vengeful Douglas' bands.
Still rises, unimpair'd, below,
The court-yard's graceful portico;
Above its cornice, row and row
Of fair-hewn facets richly show
Their pointed diamond form,
Though there but houseless cattle go.

was the patrimonial estate and residence of the celebrated Sir William Crichton, Chancellor of Scotland, whose influence during the minority of James II. contributed so much to destroy the formidable power of the Douglas family.*

A little beyond Heriot Station, to the left, is Crookstone (J. Borthwick, Esq.)

Proceeding onwards, we reach Stow Station, opposite the ancient village of the same name, situated in the middle of a district which formerly bore the name of We-dale (the Vale of Wo). The whole of this territory belonged at one time to the Bishops of St. Andrews, and many of their charters are dated from We-dale. The line now crosses the Lugate Water by a viaduct, and reaches Crosslee, on the confines of the county of Roxburgh. The boundary between the counties of Roxburgh and Selkirk is here formed by the river Gala, celebrated in Burns's well-known beautiful lyric of "Braw Lads of Gala Water." In the immediate neighbourhood, but not visible from the line, is TORWOODLEE, the mansion of Pringle of Torwoodlee.

For a further description of the place, see Scott's Marmion, or his Provincial Antiquities of Scotland.