der wars, and has been often taken and retaken both by the Scots and English. It was finally ceded to the English in 1482, and, since then, has remained subject to the laws of England, though forming, politically, a distinct territory. Its castle, so celebrated in the early history of these kingdoms, is now a shapeless ruin. FOURTH TOUR. ** The Map of the Royal Progress annexed, exhibits the various routes from Edinburgh to Stirling. Of these the most expeditious is by the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway to Falkirk, where coaches are in attendance to carry on passengers to Stirling. Tourists adopting this route may consult the Map of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway at the end of the volume, and the description of the Railway in the Itinerary. It has not been deemed necessary to give a special description of the Royal Route, as the places visited by Her Majesty are all described in one or other of the Tours into which the work is subdivided. Her Majesty's Route is indicated on the Map by a conspicuous double line dotted in the centre; and by consulting the Index, the reader will be directed to the page of the volume where the several places of interest which she visited are described. EDINBURGH-LINLITHGOW-FALKIRK-STIRLING. LEAVING Edinburgh by Princes Street, the tourist passes along the side of Corstorphine Hill, richly wooded and studded with villas, and, three miles from Edinburgh, reaches the village of Corstorphine. At the seventh milestone the road crosses Almond water, and enters Linlithgowshire. A short way farther on is the village of Kirkliston. Near the village is Newliston, (Hog, Esq.) formerly the seat of the great Earl of Stair, who is said to have caused the woods around the house to be planted so as to resemble the position of the troops at the battle of Dettingen, where he commanded under George II.* A short dis "During the rebellion of 1745, the route of the Highland army having brought them near Newliston, an alarm arose in the Councils of Prince Charles, lest the MacDonalds of Glencoe should seize the opportunity of marking their recollection of the massacre of Glencoe, by burning or plundering the house of tance beyond, to the left, are the ruins of Niddry Castle, where Queen Mary passed the first night after her escape from Lochleven. It was at that time the property of the Earl of Seton it now belongs to the Earl of Hopetoun. The road now passes through the village of Winchburgh, where Edward II. first halted in his flight from the battle of Bannockburn. About the sixteenth mile-stone, the road crosses the Union Canal, under an aqueduct bridge, and a short way farther on enters LINLITHGOW,* an ancient royal burgh, and the county town of Linlithgowshire, situated in a hollow, along the borders of a beautiful lake. So early as the beginning of the twelfth century, Linlithgow was one of the principal burghs in the kingdom. It contains a considerable number of old fashioned houses, many of which belonged of old to the knights of St. John, who had their preceptory at Torphichen, in this county. The most interesting object in Linlithgow is the Palace, a massive quadrangular edifice, situated upon an eminence which advances a little way into the lake. It occupies about an acre of ground, and, though in ruins, is still a picturesque and beautiful object. The internal architecture the descendant of their persecutor; and it was agreed that a guard should be posted to protect the house of Lord Stair. MacDonald of Glencoe heard the resolution, and deemed his honour and that of his clan concerned. He demanded an audience of Charles Edward, and, admitting the propriety of placing a guard on a house so obnoxious to the feelings of the Highland army, and to those of his own clan in particular, he demanded, as a matter of right rather than of favour, that the protecting guard should be supplied by the MacDonalds of Glencoe. The request of the high-spirited chieftain was granted, and the Macdonalds guarded from the slightest injury the house of the cruel and crafty statesman who had devised and directed the massacre of their ancestor."-Tales of a Grandfather, vol. iv. p. 23. It was in the family of the first Lord Stair, that the tragic incident occurred which forms the groundwork of Sir Walter Scott's tale of the "Bride of Lammermoor." * Popularly denominated "the faithful town of Linlithgow." "Of all the palaces so fair Built for the royal dwelling In Scotland, far beyond compare Linlithgow is excelling. And in its park in genial June, How blyth the blackbird's lay! |