SMOLLETT. ST. 1'ATRICK. DALNOTAR HILL. 127 



on the Clyde, proceeded on his way to Ireland, where he was much needed. 

 Exasperated at this escape, and well knowing that so long as he lived the 

 fugitive would preach open rebellion against Satan their master, the magicians, 

 like the giants of old, snatched up huge rocks from the mountains adjoining, 

 and hurled them, like hand-grenades, against the saint! The whole scheme, 

 however, proved abortive St. Patrick was beyond their reach ; but the reader 

 will hear with amazement that the colossal rock of Dunbarton was one of the 

 identical fragments used by the magicians on that memorable occasion. 



Among the eminent men to whom this county has given birth, is the celebrated 

 Dr. Tobias Smollett, whose writings as a novelist, poet, and historian, have 

 secured for him a lasting fame in the literature of his country. He was the 

 grandson of Sir James Smollett, of Bonhill, Bart., a gentleman of property in 

 the county, member of the last Scottish parliament, and a commissioner in 

 framing the Union. The monument erected to the memory of Smollett, 

 with a very classical inscription, is a lofty pillar of the Tuscan order, judiciously 

 placed on the banks of his native Leven.* His tomb in the cemetery of Leghorn, 

 near which he died, we have often visited in company with his countrymen, whose 

 first step of pilgrimage on that part of Tuscany is generally to the " grave of 

 Smollett,"^ the marble obelisk of which is covered with their names. 



One of the most beautiful views on the river Clyde, is that from Dalnotar hill, 

 near the village of Kilpatrick. Here the river is of ample breadth ; its shores 

 are highly cultivated ; and beyond, in lofty gradation, successive ranges of moun- 

 tains form a magnificent back-ground. On a point of land stretching from the 

 right to the middle of the picture, the ruined castle of Dunglas presents an inte- 

 resting feature ; while in the distance, the twin-crested rock of Dunbarton rises in 



In the neighbouring parish of Killearn, across the Stirling frontier, a handsome obelisk announces 

 the birthplace of George Buchanan. The whole of this romantic district is richly studded with gentle- 

 men's seats, embosomed in woods, and commanding the most varied prospects of lake and mountain. 

 Among these is Buchanan House, the superb family seat of the duke of Montrose. MS. 



f In a diary written many years ago, the author finds the following memorandum : " Leghorn, Sept. 27, 

 Rode out to view Smollett's Villa ; it is situated about two hundred yards up the western flank of Monte 

 Nero, opening on the Mediterranean, with its islands in front, and the bold chain of the Apennines on 

 the right. Behind, it is completely sheltered by the hill, which is here ploughed into numerous narrows 

 and ravines by the sudden torrents that swell on the summit after rain, and precipitate themselves into 

 the sea. These, however, are concealed by a luxurious underwood of myrtle and other shrubs and plants, 

 impregnating the whole air with aromatic odours. A high wall surrounds the whole, and the garden 

 appears to have been laid out in the English style. Nothing seems here wanting to have realized the 

 gifted proprietor's warmest anticipations of an ' Otium dignhate,' Scarcely, however, had he entered the 

 house, (too rashly, says his friend Mrs. Parbridge,) and slept in a green painted room not then quite dry, 

 when he was seized with the fatal malady which speedily carried him off. But the residence of Genius. like 

 some spot where we have held converse with spirits, is stamped with an impression which no circumstance 

 of time or change can obliterate." 



