CARTLAN CRAIGS. BONNINGTON. 133 



like a Cyclopean rampart of vast rocks, and covered with a verdant netting of 

 trees and underwood, rises to a height of four hundred feet, at the hase of which 

 the struggling torrent rushes on in foaming precipitation to the Clyde. 



To see the Cartlan Craigs under the most picturesque colouring, the tourist 

 must thread his way along the rocks, and vary his station so as to take in every 

 combination of objects in succession. At every turn of the river, a new and 

 varying scene of rocky grandeur, heightened by the accompaniments of the 

 stream, and a rich and brilliant foliage, bursts on the view. What gives peculiar 

 interest to this romantic solitude is, that, in a natural cave of the ravine, the 

 renowned Wallace once found refuge from his pursuers, and at length emerged 

 to hoist the standard of liberty.* The recesses of the craigs present a rich variety 

 of plants to the botanist, and above the falls several rare species of mosses. 



The new bridge, which, like a lofty aqueduct, spans the chasm, is an elegant 

 specimen of modern architecture. The height of this noble structure is one 

 hundred and thirty-six feet above the water. The view which it commands is 

 among the finest in the country, including, with the more remote, the immediate 

 features of 



" Cartlan craigs, that high 

 O'er their pent river strike the eye, 

 Wall above wall, half veiled, naif seen, 

 The pendent folds of wood between, 

 With jagged breach, and ritt, and scaur, 

 Like the scorched wreck of ancient war, 

 And seem, to musing Fancy's gaze, 

 The ruined holds of other days." JOANNA BAILLIE. 



In following the banks of the Clyde, we shall not deem it necessary to describe 

 each of the " haunted localities," as they occur to the tourist ; but, proceeding 

 at once to the Falls, as the great attraction, touch on the other objects illustrated 

 as we again descend tr Hamilton and BothwelL In this notice of the scenery, 

 where mere prose would fall far short of the subject, we have gladly availed 



" If through the greenwood's hanging screen, high o'er the deeply-bedded wave, 

 The mouth of arching cleft is seen yawning dark, 'tis ' Wallace' Cave !' 

 If o'er its jutting barrier gray, tinted by time, with furious din, 

 The rude crags, silvered with its spray, shoots the wild flood 'tis 'Wallace* Linn!'" 



The habit of identifying every thing most remarkable in its natural or artificial properties with the name 

 of Wallace, is well known, and thus alluded to by Joanna Baillie, who adds: " I cannot help mentioning 

 the pleasure 1 lately received in being shown by two simple country children on the Blantyre Crags, oppo- 

 site Botliwell Castle, the mark of ' Wallace's footstep' in the rocky brink of a linlr well." Poem "f 

 " H'dtiam H'allace." METRICAL LEGENDS. 



VOL. II. M M 



