12S SCOTLAND ILLUSTRATED. 



Leith is remarkable as the *' royal port" of Scotland. Here, on the nine- 

 teenth of August, 1561, Queen Mary set foot on her native shore, to assume a 

 crown entwined with many thorns. Elizabeth having refused her a safe-conduct 

 from the shores of France, the EngUsh ships of war, it is said, had orders to 

 intercept the widowed queen in her voyage. Owing to continued fogs, how- 

 ever, Mary's galleys escaped observation and arrived safely at Leith. The 

 preparations for her reception had been hasty and imperfect, and the equipage 

 provided for herself and suite was so poor, when contrasted with her brilliant esta- 

 bUshment in the French capital, that she appeared deeply affected by the sudden 

 transition. As she landed, her subjects crowded the beach and rent the air 

 with their acclamations. She was scarcely yet nineteen years old ; and 

 softened by the recollection of her early misfortunes — charmed with the excel- 

 lence of her mien, the dignity of her deportment, and the delicacy of her 

 unrivalled beauty — they were almost overpowered by the mingled feelings of 

 joy, sympathy, and admiration. On her arrival in the palace of Holyrood, two 

 or three hundred native musicians assembled under the windows of the royal 

 apartment and commemorated her welcome by a serenade, which, by her desire, 

 was repeated the following night.* 



" For Mary's heart, to nature true, the powers of song and music knew ; 

 But all the choral measures hland, of anthems sung in southern land, 

 Appeared an useless pile of art, unfit to sway or melt the heart, 

 Compared with that which floated by — her simple native melody." 



The landing of his late Majesty, George IV., in the same port, after an 

 interval of two hundred and sixty-one years, forms, in all its attendant circum- 

 stances, a most striking contrast to the preceding. Having already introduced 

 passages from several of the ancient chronicles, a few " picturesque features" 

 selected from the " modern pageant" may not be unacceptable to the general 



ruinous state, was occupied by Macintosh of Borlam, one of the prominent chiefs in the rebellion of 1715. 

 Over this military post, however, commerce has now spread her mantle, and the space once occupied by 

 the cannon of discordant governments has been at last converted into the docks already named. A strong 

 battery still exists for the protection of the port and its anchorage. 



The imports of Leith are wines, brandy, and fruit, rice, sugar, rum, and dying materials The principal 

 trade is with the Baltic. The chief manufactures are glass, sugar, ropes, sail-cloth, and ship-building. It 

 contains several banking establishments. One of the principal public buildings is the Custom-house, 

 the seat of the board of customs for Scotland. The town is divided by the harbour into North and South 

 Leith. The industrious portion of the inhabitants is subdivided into mariners, maltsters, traders, and 

 traffickers, who are incorporated by charters. — I'ide AjipeiHlix. 



* It is to this circumstance attending Queen Mary's arrival in Holyrood Palace, that wc are indebted 

 for the justly celebrated poem of " The Queen's Wake," by James Hogg. 



