SCOTLAND. 



the pefrod of nearly twerjty years, and was at laft tried and 

 execated upon an accufation of high treafon. See Mary. 



In the meantime the regent Murray, by his vigorous ad- 

 minillration, foon reftored Scotland to tranquillity ; and 

 continued to govern without any ferious moleltation till his 

 death in 1570, by the hand of Hamilton of Bothvvellhaugh. 

 He was fiicceeded in his high ofBce by the earl of Lenox, 

 during whofe rule, and that of his fucceflbrs Marr and 

 Morton, the kingdo;ji was d'.ftrafted by civil war. " Fellovir 

 citizens, friends brothers, took, different fides, and ranged 

 themfelves under the ftandards of the contending faftions. 

 In every county, and almoll in every town and village, 

 king's men and queien's men were names of diilindlion. 

 Political hatred dellroyed all natural ties, and extingui(hed 

 the reciprocal good will and confidence which hold mankind 

 together in fociety. Religious zeal mingled itfelf with thefe 

 civil diftinftions, and contributed not a little to heighten and 

 inflame them." 



Morton, the laft regent, during the minority of James, 

 having excited the enmity of fevcral of the nobility, was 

 accufed of being accelTary to the murder of Darnley, and 

 futfered for that crime in 1581, though the proofs of his 

 guilt were far from being fatisfaftory. After this event, 

 James himfelf began to exercife the fovereign authority ; 

 but his love for favouritifm proved prejudicial to his own 

 peace and that of his kingdom, by fomenting jealoufy 

 among his nobles. One of thefe favourites, the earl of 

 Arran, condufted himfelf in fo arrogant and tyrannical a 

 manner, that a confederacy was formed againit him ; and 

 the king was forced to deprive him of all his offices and 

 honours, and to declare him an enemy to the country. 



James having been bred in the principles of the Proteftant 

 faith, exerted himfelf on every occafion to fecure the re- 

 formed church from the danger of being overthrown by the 

 Catholic party, which was fynonimous with the queen's 

 party, and continued to be very formidable fo long as Ihe 

 lived. When his mother was put to death by queen Ehza- 

 beth, however, he remonftrated ftrongly againft her conduft, 

 and even declared war ; but that wily princels foon found 

 means to foothe his anger, and regain his friendlhip. During 

 the whole of his reign, James was conft antly in danger of his 

 life from the plots of the Popifh lords, towards whom he 

 fhewed more lenity than was probably politic or prudent. 

 On one occafion his perfon was feizcd by Bothwell, but he 

 happily contrived to efcape from his power, before any of 

 the ulterior objedts of that bold meafure could be effeded. 

 Several attempts to murder him were likewife made, by 

 various perfons ; but the moft dangerous, though unfuc- 

 cefsful, confpiracy formed againft his life, was that ufually 

 denominated the Gowrie confpiracy, from the title of the 

 principal adlor, John Ruthven, earl of Gowrie. From the 

 myftery in which all its circumftances are involved, it has 

 greatly excited the attention of hillorians ; I'ome even quef- 

 tioning the exiftence of any plot, and maintaining that the 

 king murdered the Ruthvcns without any reafonablc caufe. 

 This opinion, however, is juftly confidered by Dr. Ro- 

 bertfon as extremely improbable ; though it muft be con- 

 fefled that the conduA of James, and the impreffion on the 

 public mind againit him at the time, caft an air of great fuf- 

 picion over the whole tranfaftion. 



From this period no event of material intereft in the hif- 

 tory of Scotland occurred till the year 1603, when the 

 death of queen Elizabeth opened the way for the acceflion 

 of James to the throne of England, and laid the bafis of 

 that more intimate union, which has fince confolidated the 

 power and refonrces, and raifed to an unparalleled height 

 the happinels, profperity, and glory of our ifland. The 



annals of the two kingdoms are henceforth fo much iden- 

 tified, that it is fcarcely poffible to treat them feparatcly. 

 The reader is, therefore, referred for the continuatio 1 of 

 the hiftory of Scotland to the article Englanh. He will 

 alfo find fome details of portions of the lub|e<5l under the 

 words Union, Stuart, Prince Charles, and others, de- 

 fignating leading events or charafters. 



General AfpeS of the Country, the Soil, and Climate. — The 

 moll prominent featares in the general afpeit of Scotland 

 are its barren hills and mountains, and the numerous and 

 extenfive lakes which fill the intervening vallies. In fome 

 diftrifts the hills are covered with herbage, but in general 

 they exhibit only heath vegetating above peat, rock, or 

 gravel : hence, whether the eye afcends the mountains, or 

 glances over the vales, the fcenery which is prefented to the 

 view, though often grand and pidturefque, is feldom na- 

 turally rich. On the former, the figiis of fteriHty are al- 

 ways apparent ; and as the foil of the latter is ufually mixed 

 with the fubilanccs compofing the hills, no high degree of 

 fertility can be expefled. Thefe remarks apply to almofl 

 every part of the Highlands, which comprehend about 

 three-fifths of the whole extent of Scotland. South of the 

 Forth, however, and even in a few of the eaftern coimties 

 farther to the northward, the charadler of the fcenery is 

 more improved, and the foil, though extremely various, is 

 frequently as fertile as in any diilrift of England. As to 

 the climate of this kingdom, it is fuch as a knowledge of 

 its latitude, and of its pecuhar fituation with regard to the 

 Northern and Atlantic oceans, would point it out to be. 

 Both on the ealtern and weitern coalls, but particularly on 

 the latter, rains are extremely prevalent throughout the 

 whole year. Snow in general lies only for a fhort time, 

 even in the central dillricls ; for though it often falls in con- 

 fidcrable quantities, it is feldom attended, as in fome more 

 fouthern counties, by intenfe and long continued frofts. 

 The loweft average heat is4i°.ii of Fahrenheit, and the 

 highell 50°.32(5; fo that the annual average temperature 

 of the whole kingdom may be computed to be from 45° to 

 47^ of the fame Icale. It is remarkable that, in fome of 

 the vallies of Moray, the influence of the fun's rays is fo 

 aflilled by circumftances, that corn ripens there as foon as 

 in Yorkftiire or Northumberland. 



Ri-vers. — Scotland abounds with ftreams of various mag- 

 nitude, moft of which fall into the Northern or German 

 ocean. The principal of them are the Tweed, Forth, and 

 Tay, on tlie ealt coaft ; and the Clyde on the weft coaft. 

 Tweed is a beautiful and paftoral river, which difcharges 

 its waters into the fea at Berwick. It is noted for its 

 falmon fiftieries, and for the circumftance of its forming the 

 boundary for feveral miles between England and Scotland. 

 The Forth aad Tay both form large eftuaries, called the Friths 

 of Forth and Tay, which ferve important purpofes in com- 

 merce. On the former are fituated the town and port of 

 Leith, and on the latter the towns of Dundee and Perth. 

 The falmon fifheries of the Tay are the molt valuable in 

 Great Britain, and afford 3 conitant fupply to the markets 

 of London and Edmburgh. But Clyde claims a pre- 

 eminence over all thefe rivers in commercial utility, and per- 

 haps alfo in picturefque beauty. Taking its rife from a hill 

 in Tweedale, it flows firft in a northerly, and afterwards in 

 a wefterly direftion, exhibiting in its progrefs much in- 

 terefting fcenery. On its banks are fituated the towns of 

 Lanark, Hamilton, Glafgow, Rutherglen, Dumbarton, 

 Port-Glafgow, and Greenock. 



The other rivers of Scotland, which deferve notice, are 

 the Annan and Nith-in Dumfriesfhire, the Eden in Fife- 

 (hire, the Dee and Don in Aberdeenfhire, the Spcy in 



Banffdiire, 



