London to John O Groat's. 341 



Scotland, but in ruin. It looks natural, though not at 

 first glance what one expected. The familiar engraving 

 does not give us the real flesh and blood of the 

 antiquity, or the complexion of the stone ; but it does 

 not exaggerate the exquisite symmetries and artistic 

 genius of the structure. These truly inspire one with 

 wonder. They are all that pen and pencil have 

 described them. The great window, which is the 

 most salient feature in the common picture, is a magni- 

 ficent piece of work in stone, twenty-four feet in height 

 and sixteen in breadth. It is all in the elm-tree order 

 of architecture. The old monks belonged to that 

 school, and they wrought out branches, leaves and 

 leaf- veins, and framed the lacework of their chisels with 

 colored glass most exquisitely. 



Melrose Abbey was the eldest daughter, I believe, 

 of Bievaulx Abbey, in Yorkshire, which has already 

 been noticed; a year or two older in its foundation 

 than Fountain Abbey, in Studley Park. The fecundity 

 with which these ecclesiastical buildings multiplied and 

 replenished England and Scotland is a marvel, con- 

 sidering the age in which they were erected and the 

 small population and the poverty of the country. But 

 something on this aspect of the subject hereafter. Here 

 lie the ashes of Scottish kings, abbots and knights 

 whose names figured conspicuously in the history of 



