COUNTIES OF EDINBURGH AND LINLITHGOW. 3 



Drumcross-liills ; and in the west, Cuckold-le-Eoi, with an 

 elevation of about 500 feet. Generally, the eminences are in- 

 considerable hills or elevated grounds, covered with fields of 

 waving corn, ornamental plantations, or pasture lands dotted over 

 with sheep. About three-fourths of the land is arable, and the 

 soils are generally fertile and well-drained. 



Liidithgow is very well watered. Logie-water, a tributary of 

 the Avon, and its affluents Barbauchlaw-burn and Ballencrieff- 

 water, drain much of the western division; while Broxburn and 

 several inferior streamlets drain the eastern, and find their way 

 into the Almond. Flowing into the Forth are Xethermill-buru, 

 Dolphinston-burn, and some tiny brooks. These several streams, 

 though totally insufficient for navigation, are useful in supplying 

 power for driving machinery, and furnishing never-failing supplies 

 of water for other purposes. The principal lakes are Loch-coat 

 in Torphichen, and Linlithgow-loch in the parish whose name it 

 bears, with two or three smaller ones on the boundary. 



Interesting associations crop up in the mind of any one wdio 

 " loves to dwell on bygone scenes," as he visits the various towns 

 in Mid and West Lothian. Edinburgh, the capital of the former, 

 and the metropolis of Scotland, is delightfully situated upon a 

 group of hills overlooking the Firth of Forth. On the highest 

 of these the old town is built. From the castle, which stands 

 upon an elevation 380 feet high, a commanding and magnificent 

 prospect may be had. This gorgeous view has been well de- 

 scribed by Sir Walter Scott, in his "Marmion." The Gaelic 

 form of the name of the city was Dunedin, from dun, a Celtic word 

 meaning hill or fort, and Edin or Edwin, king of Xorthumbria, 

 617 A.D. Hence Dunedin and Edinburgh have the same meaning. 

 When the fine palace of Holyrood Abbey was erected in 1128, the 

 city was a royal burgh, and a royal residence was supposed to 

 have been built a short time afterwards. Until the 15th century 

 Edinburgh remained defenceless, when King Jame^ II. granted 

 a licence for fortifying it. Great improvements and enlarge- 

 ments in buildings have been made within the past seventy 

 years, but the union of the two kingdoms doubtless checked 

 very much the advancement of the city. The new town, for 

 beauty of design and excellence of architectui'e, is not rivalled 

 by any town in Great Britain. Julinburgh is supplied with 

 water from the Pentlands, and the sanitary condition has much 

 improved of late years. The population in 1871 was 196,500. 

 Two members are returned to the House of Commons. Dalkeith 

 is distant from Edinburgh al)Out 6 miles in a south-east direction. 

 The town is well built, and has a large weekly market for grain. 

 It has also manufactures of brushes, woollen stuffs, and felt, 

 beaver, and straw hats. In the ni'ighbourhood are some larg(3 

 collieries. The population in 1871 was 7114. Standing upon 



