5^# Natural History m Scotland : — 



gula nodosa, Parnassia palustris, and ^lisma ranunculoides. 

 ^quisetum variegatum, Sagina maritima, and Ophioglossum 

 vulgatum are said to be also found on these sands ; but they 

 have as yet escaped my research. Among the myriads of 

 splendid insects that embellish this desert scene, I might 

 enumerate the admirable butterfly (Vanessa Atalant«), the 

 tortoise-shell butterfly (Polychloros urticoe), the great silver- 

 spot fritillary (Argynnis Aglaia), the copper butterfly (Papilio 

 Phlae'as), many beautiful Coccinellae, >Scarabae^i, ilfuscae, ^ra- 

 neae, &c. I observed one large specimen of the ^ranea dia- 

 dema [Epeira diadema], which had entangled in its web a 

 full-sized Polychloros urticae. Leaving these downs, and 

 passing the villages of Carnoustie, West and East Haven, I 

 advanced towards the royal burgh of Aberbrothwick, at which 

 place I arrived before sunset. Next morning, when the glory 

 of Sol was gleaming from the calm breast of the ocean, and 

 the lark trilling his gladsome song in the sky, I resumed my 

 journey, accompanied by a friend, who volunteered to escort 

 me a mile or two to the eastward, and direct my attention to 

 the most remarkable features of the rugged coast. With 

 enthusiastic delight I contemplated the wild and romantic 

 scenery along the shore, which, for picturesque grandeur and 

 subhmity, far exceeded my warmest anticipations. The vast 

 towering cliffs, the dreadful ravines, gloomy caverns, and 

 subterranean passages, with the waves foaming, dashing, and 

 roaring in their bottoms, filled the mind with emotions of ter- 

 ror, blended with wonder and admiration. We called at a 

 cottage near the Masons' Cove, one of the most remarkable 

 of those excavations in the rocks called the coves ; and, after 

 partaking of some refreshment, visited this natural curiosity, 

 attended by a curly-haired girl bearing tinder and a lamp. 

 This grotto, which is of considerable extent, derives its name 

 from being occasionally used by the "free and accepted masons" 

 in lieu of a festive hall. With our light we explored its dark 

 recesses, and drank from a cool spring that issues from a 

 limestone rock near the inner extremity. Another of these 

 coves is called the Forbidden Cove (forbidden to us only from 

 its inaccessibility without a boat), of which Tradition has her 

 tale. A piper, says she, once had the hardihood to enter this 

 dreadful cavern, but paid dearly for his temerity ; for he was 

 never again permitted to breathe the pure air, nor enjoy the 

 cheering sunshine of heaven. He had taken his bagpipes 

 along with him, playing a " merry rant," to keep himself 

 from being " eerie " as he paced its midnight darkness ; and 

 his instrument was heard for the last time, about a mile up 

 the country, by some peasants convened around their fire- 



