323 THE BRITISH ISLES. 



arc Dalkeith Palace, a seat of the Duke of Buccleuch, and Newbattle Abbey, the 

 resitlcncc of the Marquis of Lothian. Borthwick Castle, where Queen Marj^ 

 resided after her unfortunate marriage with Bothwell, lies to the south-east. 

 Full of interest are the bunks of the North Esk, which flows along the eastern 

 foot of the Pentland Hills. Beyond the manufacturing village of Lanmrade we pass 

 Bos/in, with the ruins of its beautiful Gothic chapel ; the moor on which the 

 Scots, led on by Coinyn, scattered three English hosts " beneath one summer 

 sun ; " and JLi/rf/ionK/cn, the seat of Drummond, the poet and friend of Shakspere 

 and Ben Jonson. Higher up still we pass through the romantic scenery 

 described in Allan Ramsay's pastoral poem, " The Gentle Shepherd," and finally 

 reach the small town of Pennycuick and its paper-mills. 



Far less interesting is the region to the south-west of Edinburgh. The only 

 villages there are Mid-Ca/dcr, on Almond Water, and West Calder, still higher up 

 in the hills, where oil is distilled from shale. 



The county of Linlithgow, or West Lothian, is a hilly tract of country, for 

 the most part of great fertility, and rich in iron and coal, which stretches from 

 the Firth of Forth into the valley of the Clyde. LhiUthgou-, the county town, 

 seated on a little Un, or lake, was anciently the Versailles of the Kings of 

 Scotland, and in its royal palace, burnt down in 1746, Mary Stuart was born. 

 Borroicsfoif)i)icss, or Bo'ness, to the north of Linlithgow, on the Firth of Forth, is 

 a shipping port and colliery town, and its galleries extend beneath the Firth 

 until they nearly meet those driven from the coast opposite. Towards the close 

 of last century the owner of these mines, the Earl of Kincardine, had a circular 

 quay constructed in the middle of the Firth, from which a shaft gave direct access 

 to the mine. This curiosity existed for many years, until an exceptionally high 

 tide washed over it, flooded the mine, and drowned the miners that were in it. 

 Up to 177Ô all miners and salt-makers of Lothian were serfs, attached to the soil, 

 and sold with it. Their definitive liberation only took place in 1795, and there 

 still live old men in Scotland who were born slaves.* Travellers described these 

 miners as reduced by misery to the level of beasts ; but their descendants have 

 much improved in appearance, and no longer attract attention by their gauntness 

 and hollow eyes. 



Quecmferry, at the narrowest part of the Firth, will, in the course of a few 

 years, be joined to North Queensferry by one of the most stupendous suspension 

 bridges ever constructed. The roadway of this bridge will lie 150 feet above high 

 water, and its chains will be supported upon eight towers, of which those on the 

 island of Inchgarvie, in the middle of the Firth, will rise to the extraordinary height 

 of 596 feet. The spans on either side of the island will be 1,600 feet in width. 



Bathgate is the principal town in the interior of the count}^ It has an oil- 

 shale distillery, and depends largely upon its trade in corn and cattle, and the 

 neighbouring collieries. Near it are Armadale, Croftlicad, and Torphichen, the 

 latter with the ruins of a preceptory of the Knights of St. John. 



* Hugh ililler, "Edinburgh and its Neighbourhood," Lord Roseben-, at the Social Science 

 Congress, Orlasgow, 1874. 



