44-4 Dinbar Castle, its Gardens and Gardeners. 



much to condemn. I am sorry you did not find it convenient to 

 call at Dinbur Castle, not on account of its combination of 

 ancient and modern architecture. There you would have seen 

 some of the remains of feudal times, such as the spot where the 

 " wooden bastile" stood, or where the Juggs hung on the 

 gallows tree, the iron-studded gate, the portcullis, and the re- 

 mains of the old drawbridge, or 



" The battled towers, the donjon keep, 

 The loophole grates where captives weep, 

 The flanking walls that round it sweep." 



Or, perhaps, you would have been better pleased with the more 

 elegant display of Grecian architecture. There is many a Doric 

 column with its guttae, metope, triglyph, mutule, corona, &c. 

 Also the work of the sculptor is displayed on the arms of the 

 family; the supporters upholding the escutcheon with stone 

 chains dangling by their sides, and the crest and the scroll, are 

 done in a very tasteful manner : but, leaving the castle, we may 

 proceed to the gardens. 



The kitchen-garden is nearly a century old, an irregular piece 

 of ground, enclosed by an unfinished wall, part of it without 

 coping, and the teeth of time making inroads upon the bricks 

 and mortar. There are old fruit trees in it that bear good crops, 

 and broad grass walks considerably raised above the borders. 

 Little attention had been observed in levelling the surface ; there 

 are small hills and valleys in it; and here and there large blocks 

 of whinstone rocks rear their heads above the ground, so that 

 the gardeners may have lessons in geology along with their 

 botanical studies, when they are cultivating fruits and vegetables. 

 In the flower-garden there are remains of the time when Adam 

 and Eve were cut in yew, Cain's cradle in box, and the Tower 

 of Babel in variegated holly ; in another part, the modern system 

 of flower-gardening is practised ; in this manner combining 

 the past and the present. The undulating nature of the surface 

 prevents the eye from resting on the whole at once, and from 

 the crests of the waves some beautiful views are obtained. On the 

 bosom of a wooded hill is seen the white foam of the cataract, 

 and at intervals would be heard its sound dying upon the ear ; 

 the waters rushing with headlong fury into the sequestered 

 valley, and there forming the " music-making stream ;" burst- 

 ing from the glen, it winds in graceful turns among the rich 

 pasture, and becomes the " low-voiced river ; moving slowly 

 along, it joins the briny waters of the Forth. Turning in 

 another direction are beheld the perpendicular columns of ba- 

 saltic rocks, the debris covered with blackthorn, hazel, and 

 mountain ash, and their summit crowned with dark firs; and 

 in the distance are the peaked mountains, at one time covered 

 with clouds and tempests, and at another time pavilioned in 



