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tain is of the richest kind. The hills around are not 

 clad with heather, but covered with deep verdure. 



The history of bygone times, and religious asso- 

 ciations, impart a lively interest to our rambles in 

 these districts. The solitudes of the upper parts of 

 the river were favourite places of refuge for the 

 Covenanters in the days of persecution and bigotry. 

 The imagination is deeply affected in visiting such 

 localities. One can scarcely conceive retirements 

 more sterile and dreary than those which lie towards 

 the north-west of Sanquhar. From the summit of 

 the loftiest hills we discover nothing but an inter- 

 minable range of rugged mountains, covered with 

 brown heath. Vast tracts of dark moorland stretch 

 for miles in the distance, and here and there the eye 

 and the heart are relieved by the blue smoke curling 

 from the chimneys of the lonely shepherds' huts and 

 cottages. When we connect the scenes around us 

 with the struggles for religious and civil freedom, 

 made in these dreary solitudes, by a noble-hearted 

 set of men, there is life and interest imparted to every 

 spot and rood of ground we travel over. 



Nor is this at all surprising. The fate of these 

 high-minded men touches some of the deepest sym- 

 pathies of the human soul. They have long passed 

 into another state, and are no more cognizable to 

 human eye ; but their memories will prove as 

 enduring as the rocks and glens in which they took 

 refuge. The shadows which fleeted over the moun- 

 tain's brow, and on which they were wont to gaze ; 

 the deep wilderness around them, speaking more 



