16 
terrace is a remarkably fine beech tree, which girths nearly 17 
feet. A winding road leads down to the river and up the other 
side of the valley to the Duchess Gate. Looking from there to 
the north, the East Lomond Hill is seen to great advantage ; 
and looking round from this coign of vantage towards the 
south-east, a deep gorge lies immediately below, well planted 
with trees, with a glorious view of the sea some miles off, and 
also the Bass Rock, North Berwick Law, and Tantallon Castle, 
all of which are clearly seen on a fine day. 
On Leslie green stands the parish church, said to be King 
James V. “Christ’s Kirk on the Green,” also a remarkable 
stone called the “Bull Stane,” so named from the fact that 
bulls were chained to it, for the semi-barbarian pastime of 
baiting. Two famous trees also stand on the green; one, an 
oak, under which King James V. is said to have sat and dealt 
out justice to his lieges; and another, the “Dieul” tree, a 
sycamore, from the boughs of which culprits were hung for 
crimes worthy of death. 
In the gardens at Leslie House are several very fine coniferous 
trees, from twenty to thirty years of age, among which is an 
Abies Albertiana, supposed to be one of the finest of its kind in 
Scotland. 
FALKLAND. 
Towards five o’clock the carriages left Balbirnie for Falkland 
Palace, the seat of the Marquis of Bute. The road traversed a 
pleasant and level country, a part of the “ Howe o’ Fife,” and at 
about four miles from Balbirnie, the picturesque old burgh of 
Falkland, in the centre of which the old. palace stands, was 
reached. Here there was only time to make a limited inspection 
of the rich sylvan wealth and beauties of this ancient hunting- 
seat of the Scottish Court. The palace, begun, it is said, by 
James III., was finished in 1537 by James V., who, after his defeat 
at Solway Moss, returned here to die on the 13th December 
1542. His daughter, Mary Queen of Scots—of whose birth at 
Linlithgow he heard shortly before he expired, and exclaimed, 
“Tt came with a lass, and it will go with a lass,” referring 
to the royal titles—often resided within its stately walls. It 
suffered long from decay after being deserted by royalty :— 
‘¢ The fretted roof looked dark and cold, 
And tottered all around ; 
The carved work of ages old 
Dropped wither’d on the ground ; 
The casement’s antique tracery 
Was eaten by the dew ; 
And the night breeze, whistling mournfully, 
Crept keen and coldly through.” 
