the gallant Sir Alexander Ramsay of Dalwolsey, with a band of chosen patriots.

Passing through scenery of great natural beauty, the footpath down the river conducts the tourist to

HAWTHORNDEN,

the classical habitation of the poet Drummond, the friend of Shakspeare and Jonson; it is now the property of Sir James Walker Drummond. "This romantic spot seems to have been formed by nature in one of her happiest moments. All the materials that compose the picturesque seem here combined in endless variety: stupendous rocks, rich and varied in colours, hanging in threatening aspect, crowned with trees that expose their bare branching roots; here the gentle birch hanging midway, and there the oak, bending its stubborn branches, meeting each other; huge fragments of rocks impede the rapid flow of the stream, that hurries brawling along unseen, but heard far beneath, mingling in the breeze that gently agitates the wood." Being built with some view to defence, the house rises from the very edge of the grey cliff, which descends sheer down to the stream. An inscription on the front of the building, testifies that it was repaired by the poet in 1638. It is well known, that Ben Jonson walked from London, on foot, to visit Drummond, and lived several weeks with him at Hawthornden. Under the mansion are several subterraneous caves, hewn out of the solid rock with great labour, and connected with each other by long passages; in the courtyard there is a well of prodigious depth, which communicates with them. These caverns are supposed to have been constructed as places of refuge, when the public calamities rendered the ordinary habitations unsafe. The walks around the house are peculiarly fine, but admission to them is limited to Wednesday of each week, and can only be obtained by an order from the proprietor, application for which must be made at the office of Walker and Melville, Esquires, Writers to the Signet, 110, George Street.

Farther down the river is the pretty village of Lasswade, the name of which is said to be derived from a lass, who, in