MELVILLE CASTLE. — NEWBATTLE ABBEY. lo5 



bonds broken, and the prisoners set free by British valour under the walls of 

 Algiers ! — thus gloriously terminating the achievements of our gallant countrymen, 

 to vi^hom tliis tribute of national gratitude is so justly due." 



On the same day, his Majesty honoured Lord Viscount MelviUe by a visit to 

 his noble mansion,* when the Midlothian cavalry, with which he had lately 

 expressed so gratifying an opinion, were drawn up on the lawn. On his return 

 to town in the evening, the king appeared at the theatre. In the pit and 

 galleries, the audience were so closely packed that it would have been difficult, 

 says an observer, to have introduced even the point of a sabre between any 

 two. The boxes were filled with a dazzling galaxy of the rank, wealth, and 

 beauty of Scotland. The waving of plumed bonnets and tartan scarfs produced 

 a perfect hurricane of acclamation. The play, commanded by his Majesty in 

 honour of the country, was " Rob Roy."f 



On Wednesday the 28th, the marquis of Lothian was honoured by a visit 

 from his Majesty at his seat of Newbattle Abbey,:}: on which occasion a new 

 approach was opened and styled the King's Gate, in commemoration of the 

 event. The fine avenue leading to the mansion was lined with the staff of 

 the Edinburgh militia and a long retinue of the marquis's tenantry, all testi- 

 fying their loyalty by voice and gesture. 



The time during which his Majesty resided in Scotland had been one con- 

 tinued roimd of magnificent processions, rejoicings, and festivities. These were 

 now fast drawing to a close ; and Thursday the 29th being fixed as the day for his 

 departure, his Majesty selected Port Edgar, near Gueensferry, as the most eligible 



• Melville Castle, near Lasswade— a building of great architectural elegance, and surrounded by a 

 finely wooded park, of which the king expressed much admiration. 



f The passages at which the " king laughed heartily" were those, where the Baillie displays his prowess 

 with the het poker, where he says to Frank Osbaldiston, " Nane o' your Lon'on tricks!" — where he 

 mentions the distinguisliing appellation of " auld Nick and young Nick;" — where he testifies his distrust 

 of Major Galbraith, who has " Mair brandy than brains ;" — where he says of the highlanders, "They may 

 quarrel among themsels' now and then, and gie ane anither a stab wi' a dirk, or a slash wi' a claymore, but 

 tak ray word on't, they're aye sure to join in the lang run against a' wha hae purses in their pockets, and 

 breeks on their hinder ends ;" — and when he says to the boy who returns him his hat and wig, " That's a 

 braw callant, ye'll be a man afore your mither yet." Tliough greatly pleased with the Scotch music gene- 

 rally, the popular ditty — " I'll gang nae mair to yon town," seemed to be the king's decided favourite. 



♦ Situated on the South-Esk, about a mile or little more from Dalkeith. This sumptuous mansion 

 occupies the site of the ancient abbey of Newbattle, founded by the pious King David— that " sair sanct 



for the crown" as a monastery for the Cistercian order, of which the ancestor of the present marquis 



was the last abbot. The mansion contains many fine paintings, and is surrounded by an extensive park, 

 interspersed with trees of gigantic size, among which, says Scotstarvet, the deer have displaced the monks. 

 It was dissolved at the Reformation, and erected into a temporal lordship in favour of Mark Ker, Master 

 of Requests to James VI., and in whose person, in the extravagance of superstition, the above writer relates 

 an extraordinary tale of witchcraft. 



