t 217 ] 



A'" 





BARNCLUITH, 



THE SEAT 



or 



. . HAMILTON. LORD RUTHVEN. 



THE romantic hillside Scottish gaiden t Lord Ruthv.-n 

 lies in a glorious p.irt of the Middle Ward of Lanark, 

 a res-ion full of history, where tlu- stern walls of 

 many a fortalice still rise on tin- m mntain crest, or 

 frown mi the brink of the chasm ivy-mantl d ruins, 

 .; from the days <>i Imimclog and B >thwell Brig, and long 

 Beautiful gardens they are, lying like a gem in a 

 : country <>f p^at-stained burns, which linger in dark po I- 

 beneath umbrageous wMKll.inds. ;inJ break then into yellow 

 torrents over rocky ledges in t!i.-:r haste it join the bn-.i !i-r 

 w a ters of 

 Avon and 

 Clyde. A 

 luxuriance 

 characterise! 

 this district 

 which is not 

 t'Hind every 

 where in 

 Scotland, and 

 N.iture has 

 dealt kindly 

 with t h e 

 i. It is 

 true that the 

 higher hills 

 are often 

 waste, and 

 xiven up to 

 tlie swelling 

 moorland, but 

 along the 

 river course- 

 the sylvan 

 scenery is of 

 the most 

 enchanting 

 beauty. It is 

 the country 

 -ibed by 

 Scott in "Old 

 Mortality," 

 and he speaks 

 of the grand 

 woodland 

 character of 

 the landscape 

 along the 

 Clyde valley, 

 where the 

 lorest breaks 

 i n to level 

 ground and 

 gentk- slope- 

 near the river, 

 forming cul- 

 tivated fields, 

 inters pi 

 wi.h hedge- 



^L EbN MAk 



r> ws, tre -, and c..p-e-, " the ri'.il.'-nri-- - i-nriv. 1 .is it w '-rr to 

 ': BVC 1> en cleared out o| the torc-t wi.uh surround- thi-.n. and 

 which occupies, in unbroken masses, the -teeper declivities and 

 moredistant hanks." From the peat on the moors the -tream- 

 take tlieir colour, "a ilear and sparkling blown, like the luieof the 

 cairngorm pebbles," and go rushing through this romantic region 

 in bold s wet- ps an. I curves, paitly *een and partly ..'i::. i-aled by 

 the trees wh \li clothe their banks. Such is the tomai.tu setting 

 of Lord Ruthven's remark. ible teir.uv.l gardens, masterfullv 

 formed upon t!ie rocky steep above the \\"'.\. The visitor 



approac hin^ 

 troin (ilas- 

 gow to Hamil- 

 ton will pa-- 

 by Kuthet- 

 glen and by 

 H o t h w e I I 

 Caslle, on the 

 lotty bank ot 

 the Clyde, 

 one o| the 

 most imposing 

 baronial rum- 

 in Scotland. 

 At Both well 

 Bi idge w as 



toUgllt, III 



!'>;). the 

 lamous b.iitl 

 KlAi-en the 

 Royalist 

 t-o 'p- under 

 M o n mou t h 

 an.l tb.e I 

 of the rex oiled 



Covenanters, 



wherein the 



Covenanters, 



who had been 



victorious at 



D r u m c I o g, 



were a 1 1 



gether over- 

 thrown. \ 

 graphically is 

 the fight 

 described 

 in "Old 

 tality." 

 Hamilton, .1 

 chc-erful and 



prosperous 



town, was 



once distltl- 



,l .1- a 

 .1 1 resi- 

 dence, and 

 a f t e r w .1 r d s 

 was the chief 





