64 BOTANICAL TqUR IN THE 



the vicinity of places justly celebrated in the historical annals of 

 the kingdom. Most visitors will look with greater pleasure on 

 the hills near Dollar, on Abbey Crag, and on the beautiful mo- 

 dern village of Bridge of Allan, than on the fields of the battle 

 of Stirling, the old bridge, Bannockburn, and Sauchie; but 

 de gustibus nil disputandum ; the lover of the picturesque, as 

 well as the historical antiquary, will find something to admire 

 in this view, especially if taken from the ramparts, with one of 

 the fine old bombardiers for a cicerone, one who will deliver 

 his historical, pictorial, and traditional lore, with the precision 

 and dignity of a man who fully comprehends his subject, and 

 appreciates its importance. 



Stirling is enlarging its bounds, many houses and handsome 

 villas have been built in it and round about it since the railway 

 system was developed in the south and west of Scotland. This 

 cannot be said of the capital in the summer of 1856; Edinburgh 

 was then stationary. Princes Street, the Railway-stations, the 

 Castle, the Piers of Leith, and the Fish Market were the only 

 places that exhibited any signs of industry or even of vitality. 

 New erections in Edinburgh would appear to be quite superfluous, 

 and in all our walks about it we saw none in progress. 



The Bridge of Allan is the most popular watering-place (a 

 strange term) in Scotland. Scotland is celebrated for its Spas 

 (a word used chiefly in Scotland), and the owners of them gene- 

 rally make arrangements for the convenience of the public who 

 come to drink the water. Among the neighbouring nations 

 Scotland is more celebrated for its beautiful natural scenery than 

 for its medicinal springs ; and it was with some surprise that we 

 heard of a London patient resorting to the Bridge of Allan as 

 many do now to Montpelier, Naples, and the Islands of Madeira. 



Stirling, like Edinburgh, is not rich in its botanical productions ; 

 and even if it produced more rarities than'it does, these would 

 hardly induce a botanist to tarry here who had the intention of 

 visiting the interesting mountains of Breadalbane. At Callander 

 a day or two might be well spent, not only in observing the rare 

 plants in that neighbourhood, but in contrasting the progress of 

 vegetation with that of England on the one hand, and with the 

 upper parts of Perthshire on the other. 



Probably there are but few plants about Callander which are 

 not also growing about Killin, but there is a considerable differ- 



