168 FINK ARTS. 



tains in myriad petty cataracts, leapina: from rock to rock, among 

 the grassy knolls where the goats and sheep are browsing ; clouds 

 hang round the mountain's crairgy sides, and above them, in the 

 clearer air, are seen the peaks, where the eagle has her eyrie. In 

 the forei!^round_, a shepherd and his dog are crouching side by side, 

 and with these alone, how intensely beautiful — in feeling, as design 

 —had been this splendid view : but in the very centre of the wind- 

 ing road, a stage coach is rattling along and desecrating the holiness 

 of the whole scene. The views of Stirling Castle, and Linlithgow 

 are extremely fine: the architectural magnificence of these once 

 royal dwellings is admirably represented in the plates ; but the 

 " dark abbaye" of holy Melrose excels even these in beauty and 

 interest ; the " broken arches," the '^ shafted oriels," and " the 

 ruined central tower," as here delineated, worthily embody the 

 poet's graphic description. Inverness, Bothwell Castle, and the 

 Bridge of Don, have a degree of flatness given them from their 

 style of engraving, which fails in distinguishing the foliage of the 

 trees. But the last-named plate, the Brig o' Balgownie, is inte- 

 resting, from the Byron anecdote connected with it. — " Cartlane 

 Crag's Bridge," thouuh a stupendous and beautiful erection, seems 

 like a new arrival, not yet properly located in the picturesque dingle 

 it spans. — The cascade of '^ Corra Lynn, on the Clyde," is a most 

 bright and animated one, reminding us of Southey's Lodore, — 

 " Here it comes sparkling, there it lies darkling, this way the wa- 

 ter comes down at Lodore." — " Loch Long, from Glencroe ;" and 

 " Glencroe, between Loch Long and Cairn Dhu," are two magni- 

 ficent mountain-scenes. The latter is invested with all the terrific 

 sublimity of a thunder-storm, and the ridiculous accompaniment of 

 a barouche and its screaming occupants being dragged through the 

 defile by frightened horses, at the imminent risk of their lives : we 

 say ridiculous, because, in a picture, such a thing seems a caricature 

 of terror and jeopardy. Perhaps the most perfect design in the 

 volume, is the one representing " West Bow, Edinburgh," with a 

 band of unfortunate Covenanters forced away by soldiery, amid the 

 grief, attempted rescue, and execrations of their friends and rela- 

 tives : it is but too true a picture of the misery which political and 

 religious intolerance has in all ages inflicted on its unhappy victims. 

 — '* Loch Fine," with its busy fishing-boats, is a calm, sunshiny 

 picture ; so is '* Loch Lomond, from below Tarbet," and here the 

 figures of some Roderic Dhu-like Highlanders embarking on the 

 lake, harmonize well with the subject, and do really improve the 

 picture. 



We have thus given our critical analysis of the plates, and at 

 such length as to leave small space for any notice of the learned 

 editor's topographical and historical lore. His portion of the work 

 is hi'^hly interesting, and interspersed with many amusing and 

 original anecdotes. Allom, Beattie, and Co., merit the highest en- 

 couragement in their most beautiful illustrations of Scottish scenery 

 and antiquities. 



