QUEENSFERRY AND PORT EDGAR. 1S9 



its extended mass of waters, from " Strevelin's towers " to the sea-girt Bass — 

 with all the towns, abbeys, hamlets, and villas, on its — 



" Coasts so rife 

 Of villagery, and fringed with townships so ;" — 



its busy harbours, the islets that seem to float on its surface, the bold Gram- 

 pians on the north, and the Ochil hills on the west, backed in the extreme 

 distance by the " lofty Benlomond." But Hopetoun-house is not more remark- 

 able for the scenery it commands, than for the noble and imposing features 

 which it imparts — meeting the spectator at a great distance on both sides of 

 the Forth, and continuing long in view. Dr. Cririe thus apostrophises it — 



" Fair Hopetoun, seated on thy spreading lawn — 

 In princely state .... 

 Nor can Italia vaunt a brighter scene— 

 Nor generous Britain boast a better lord." 



The town of Queensferry,f so greatly improved within the last twenty years, 

 derives its name and origin from the following historical fact : — After the fatal 

 battle of Hastings, which placed the Norman dynasty on the Enghsh tlirone, 

 Edgar Atheling, with his mother Agatha and his sisters Margaret and Christina, 

 in their flight from the Conqueror, being driven by stress of weather into the 

 Frith of Forth, landed at a small village called the Binks, at the west end 

 of the present burgh, where a ready asylum was oSered to the royal fugitives, 

 and their numerous retinue of Anglo-Saxons. Margaret, having afterwards 

 become the queen of Malcolm Canmore, in grateful remembrance of her first 

 reception on the Scottish shore, procured for this village the privileges of a 

 burgh of regality, Edgar Atheling, who the very next year was once more 

 forced to consult his safety by flight, landed at a rock a little further to the 

 westward, which has since borne the name of Port Edgar, and was selected, 

 as already stated, by his late Majesty for embarkation. The town of Queens- 

 ferryj has been repeatedly honoured in later times by the visits of princes, 



* sir James — son of the eminent Sir Thomas Hope, who was appointed a senator in 1649, by the 

 designation of Lord Hopetoun— was the ancestor of the earls of that title, created in 1703. The present 

 representative is the wealthiest peer connected with the county. 



f In 1215, Pope Gregory confirmed to the Abbey of Dunfermlin — ' Dimidium passagii sanctae Margareta 

 Reginse.' 



X A singular custom prevails in this burgh, which may have had its origin in some circumstance con- 

 nected with the landing of Edgar, his mother, and sisters. It is this: — On the evening preceding the 

 annual fair, the boys choose two of their number as king and queen. These puerile representations of 



