252 NORTHERN MEMOIRS. 



muzzle mercenaries, and make them a golden 

 bridg to pass over. 



Theoph. Is this fair fabrick the Parliament- 

 House, where the grandees sit on national af- 

 fairs ? 



Am. Yes, this is their palace where the par- 

 liament sits to accommodate the kingdom ; 

 whose famous ports we now relinquish to take 

 a review of the bars of Musselburg. But that 

 on our right hand is delicate Dalkeith, sur- 

 rounded with a park ; and that on our left 

 hand is Preston-pans, where the natives make 

 salt from the brine of the ocean. That other 

 town before us is the corporation of Hadding- 

 ton ; and this is the Brill ; but the Bass you 

 may see is a prodigious rock, that makes an 

 island on the skirts of the ocean. 



Theoph. Is this the place where the solon 

 geese breed, that are flesh in hand, but fish in 

 the mouth ? a mystery I fancy not inferiour to 

 the barnicle. 



Arn. You say true, it's a great mystery, if 

 seriously to consider the footsteps of nature ; 

 which I shall explain without a paradox. Do 

 but observe that elevated rock that breaks the 

 air, in that seeming solitary floating island ; it's 

 upon that rock, and only there, that she hatches, 

 and initiates her young ones into the world, by 



