AROUND EDINBURGH 



it is hard to solve. 



Ignoring this proposed digression to Dal- 

 keith and Hawthornden, the visitor may, from 

 the Nether Liberton dovecote, take the hill to 

 the Upper village; notingon his way, it isto be 

 hoped, the experimental stone causeway on the 

 left side of the road, which, while it gives a 

 smooth and easy surface for the wheels of an 

 ascending cart, provides security of grip for 

 horses' feet. It was suggested and laid down 

 by Robert Stevenson, grandfather of Robert 

 Louis, a century and more ago. 



From the hill-top a road upon the right will 

 lead us to the Braids and Morningside. A short 

 half-mile along it is a dovecote on the left; one 

 similar in style to that just seen, but covered 

 with rough-cast, and having a well-groomed 

 and somewhat modern air. 



Beyond it, on our right, is Liberton Tower; 

 not a dovecote, but an ancient **peel," though 

 pigeons have been quartered in its upper story 

 now and then. Still farther, where the Braid 

 Burn flows in a deep glen between the Braid 

 and Blackford Hills, there is another dovecote, 

 snugly hidden from sight. Indeed the house 



249 



