ENVIRONS OF EDINBURGH. HABBIE'S HOWE. A very delightful excursion may be made from Edinburgh to Newhall, distant about twelve miles, supposed, with great probability, to be the scene of Allan Ramsay's celebrated pastoral, " The Gentle Shepherd." Leaving Edinburgh by Burntsfield Links, the tourist passes on the right Merchiston Castle, the birth-place of the celebrated Napier, the inventor of Logarithms. A little further on is the village of Morningside, and a number of villas and country boxes. Two miles from Edinburgh is the Hermitage of Braid, (J. Gordon, Esq. of Clunie,) situated at the bottom of a narrow and thickly wooded dell, through which a small rivulet, called the Braid Burn, strays. Braid once belonged to a family called Fairly, and the Laird of Braid, during the Reformation, was a personal friend and zealous defender of John Knox. The road now skirts the rocky eminences called the Hills of Braid, which command a most beautiful view of the Scottish metropolis, with the Firth of Forth, its islands, and the shores of Fife in the background. The more northern side, called Blackford Hill, the property of Richard Trotter, Esq. of Mortonhall, is the spot mentioned in "Marmion." "Still on the spot Lord Marmion stay'd, For fairer scene he ne'er survey'd," &c. The space of ground which extends from the bottom of Blackford Hill to the suburbs of Edinburgh, was formerly denominated the Borough Moor. We are informed by historians that it was studded with magnificent oaks at the time when James IV. arrayed his army upon it, previous to his departure on the fatal expedition which terminated in the Battle of Flodden. The Hare Stone, in which the Royal Standard was fixed, is still to be seen built into the wall, which runs along the side of the footpath at the place called Boroughmoor-head. At about half a mile's distance to the southward, there is another stone called the Buck Stone, upon which the proprietor of the barony of Pennycuik is bound, by his charter, to place himself, and to wind three blasts of a horn, when the king shall visit the Borough Moor. On the right, at some distance, is Dreghorn (A. Trotter, Esq.,) the village of Colinton, delightfully situated at the bottom of the Pentland Hills, and Colinton House, (Lord Dunfermline.) About five miles from Edinburgh, on the southern slope of the Pentland Hills, is Woodhouselee, the seat of James Tytler, Esq., surrounded by fine woods. The ancient house of the same name, once the property of Bothwellhaugh, the assassin of the Regent Murray, was four miles distant from the present site. Woodhouselee had been bestowed upon Sir James Ballenden, one of the Regent's favourites, who seized the house, and turned out Lady Bothwellhaugh naked, in a cold night, into the open fields, where, before next morning, she became furiously mad.* The ruins of the mansion are still to be seen in a hollow glen beside the river. Popular report tenants them with the restless ghost of the lady. The *This event forms the subject of Sir Walter Scott's fine ballad of "Cadyow Castle," which will be found quoted entire in the SEVENTH TOUR. road now passes the hamlet of Upper Howgate, and a little farther on Glencorse Church, embosomed in a wood. On the right is the vale of Glencorse, watered by a little rill, called Logan Water, or, more commonly, Glencorse Burn. The head of this valley is supposed by some to be the scene of Allan Ramsay's Pastoral Drama, "The Gentle Shepherd," but the appearance of the scenery, as well as the absence of all the localities noticed by Ramsay, render this opinion extremely improbable. The sequestered pastoral character of this valley, however, renders it well worthy of a visit. After crossing Glencorse Burn, the road passes House-of-Muir, in the neighbourhood of which is the place where the Covenanters were defeated, 28th November 1666. The insurrection, which ended in this skirmish, began in Dumfries-shire, where Sir James Turner was employed to levy the arbitrary fines imposed for not attending the Episcopal churches. The people rose, seized his person, disarmed his soldiers, and, having continued together, resolved to march towards Edinburgh, expecting to be joined by their friends in that quarter. In this they were disappointed, and being now diminished to half their numbers, they drew up on the Pentland Hills, at a place called Rullion Green. They were commanded by one Wallace, and here they awaited the approach of General Dalziel of Binns, who, having marched by Calder to meet them on the Lanark road, and finding that, by passing through Colinton, they had got to the other side of the hills, crossed the mountains, and approached them. Covenanters were drawn up in a very strong position, and withstood two charges of Dalziel's cavalry, but upon the third shock they were broken, and utterly dispersed. There were about fifty killed, and as many made prison The ers. Passing through the village of Silver Burn, the road reaches NEWHALL, on the hanks of the North Esk, about three miles from Pennycuik House, and twelve south-west from Edinburgh. Newhall is now the property of Robert Brown, Esq. At the era of Ramsay's drama, it belonged to Dr. Alexander Pennycuik, a poet and antiquary. In 1703, it passed into the hands of Sir David Forbes, a distinguished lawyer; and, in Ramsay's time, was the property of Mr. John Forbes, son to Sir David, and cousin-german to the celebrated President Forbes of Culloden. The scenery around Newhall answers most minutely to the description in the drama. Near the house, on the north side of the vale, there is a crag (called the Harbour Crag, from having afforded refuge to the Covenanters,) which corresponds exactly with the first scene of the first act: "Beneath the south side of a craggy bield, Where chrystal springs the halesome waters yield." Farther up the vale, and behind the house, there is a spot beside the burn, which corresponds to the description of the second scene: "A flow'ry howm between twa verdant braes, Where lasses used to wash and spread their claes; Its channel pebbles shining smooth and round." A little farther up the vale there is a place called the Howe Burn, where the stream forms a small cascade, and where the scenery in every respect corresponds with the exquisite description of the spot called "Habbie's Howe," "Gae farer up the burn to Habbie's Howe, Where a' the sweets o' spring and summer grow, |