KIDD'S LONDON JOURNAL. 



151 



hills, served to call to mind the words of 

 the mighty spirit who once presided over 

 the scene. : — *' If I did not see the heather 

 at least once a-year, I think I should die ! " 



We shall not stay to describe the habita- 

 tion of the poet ; leaving that, with the 

 Abbeys of Melrose and Dryburgh, for the 

 archaeologist, and must content ourselves 

 with a quotation from one who wrote in Sir 

 Walter Scott's own time. The writer of the 

 article Roxburghshire, in the Edinburgh 

 Encyclopaedia, says : — ■ 



" The most interesting of these mansions 

 is Abbotsford, a fine Gothic castle, the in- 

 ternal and external decorations of which 

 characterise it as the residence of the poet 

 and antiquarian of Scotland. But it is not 

 merely in his residence that Sir Walter has 

 evinced his taste and judgment. He has 

 covered his extensive property with the 

 most thriving and judiciously laid- out planta- 

 tions ; and in improving and planting his 

 estate, he has set an example which has 

 greatly contributed to ornament that beauti- 

 ful portion of the valley of the Tweed." 



Fair Melrose was next visited, and many 

 of our names inscribed in the visitors' book ; 

 but being toward the latter part of our 

 journey, very little was clone in botany. 

 The interior was, as might be expected, 

 covered with grey lichens, and in many 

 places by soft green moss ; while between 

 the flags of the pavement, where such ex- 

 isted, " green grass grew up." The glory in 

 a great measure has departed from it ; the 

 pealing organ and the swelling anthem are 

 silent ; and the solitary chirp of the sparrow, 

 or the hollow sighing of the wind, alone 

 awake its echo. Truly, 



" If thou wouldst view fair Melrose aright, 

 Go visit it by the pale moonlight ; 

 For the gay beams of lightsome day 

 Gild but to flout the ruins grey." 



The carving on the pillars and windows is 

 very beautiful, and to a poetic mind give the 

 idea of reality : — 



" Nor herb nor flow'ret glistened there, 

 But was carved on the cloisters' arches as fair." 



By far the most interesting spot to us was 

 the romantic resting-place of him whose fame 

 sheds a halo round the locality — Dryburgh, 

 a fine old abbey, the favorite resort of the 

 poet when living, and his grave-yard when 

 dead. It appears almost sacrilege to touch 

 anything belonging to the great departed. 

 " Touch not the flowers, they are sacred to 

 the dead," continually rang in our ears ; and 

 yet we reverently lopped a few twigs from 

 off a fine old yew tree, Saxus haccata, once 

 his favorite shade, and even cut a morsel of 

 the ivy, Hedera helix, and honeysuckle, 

 Lonicera peryclyrnenum, which shaded his 

 grave. 



Another relic brought up before us the 

 sturdy antiquarian ; it was an old stone cof- 

 fin, which had been dug from the banks of 

 the Tweed some twenty years before. It 

 had now a rich lining of green moss. This 

 was immediately in front of the tomb of the 

 poet. Enclosed within an iron grating, and 

 wreathed over with ivy and honeysuckle, 

 was a simple block of granite, covering the 

 once robust frame of the Border Minstrel. 

 Beneath that simple block, rested the ashes 

 of one who will ever live in the hearts of his 

 countrymen, in fellowship with their adored 

 Wallace and well-beloved Burns. 



There crumbled into dust the earthly 

 tenement of one of the most powerful minds 

 that ever lightened up the fireside's evening 

 glow, or set the world a speculating as to 

 where they should find his fellow. 



" Sic transit gloria mundi 



! " 



' J. B. D. 



The Moon's Influence on the Atmosphere. 



From the comparison of a series of observa- 

 tions made at Munich, Stuttgard, and Augsburgh, 

 by Professor Schubler, and continued for twenty- 

 eight years, it appears that it rains more fre- 

 quently during the increase than during the wane 

 of the moon — the proportion being that of 845 to 

 696 ; or, in round numbers, of 6 to 5. The same 

 fact has been confirmed by the observations of 

 Pilgrim, at Vienna. From some observations 

 made by an astronomer at Viviers, it appears, 

 that during the last twenty years, the number of 

 wet days at the New Moon was 78; at the First 

 Quarter 88 ; at Full Moon 82 ; at the Last Quar- 

 ter 65; at the Moon's perigee 96; and at her 

 apogee 84. It appears also that the mercury in 

 the barometer is, on an average, 2-10ths of an 

 inch higher during the two weeks of the Moon's 

 greatest illumination than during the other half 

 of her course. The time of the Moon's changes 

 has long been popularly supposed to be attended 

 by changes of the weather. M. Toaldo gives the 

 following as the probabilities of a change — the 

 results of 48 years' observation; New Moon 6 to 

 1 ; First Quarter 5 to 2; Full Moon 5 to 2; Last 

 Quarter 5 to 4 ; perigee 7 to 1 ; apogee 4 to 1 ; 

 from which it will be seen that a change is much 

 more probable at the New Moon than at any other 

 period. When two of these points coincide, the 

 probabilities are as follows: — New Moon and 

 perigee 33 to 1 ; New Moon and apogee 7 to 1 ; 

 Full Moon and perigee 10 to 1 ; Full Moon and 

 apogee 8 to 1. These positions usually cause 

 storms and tempests, especially if the Moon is 

 near the equator. The changes will not be found 

 to take place on the exact days of the Moon's 

 phases, but in the winter months to precede, and 

 in the summer months to follow them. — From 

 Donovan's Meteorological Almanac. 



Time. — Since Time is not a person we can 

 overtake when he is past, let us honor him with 

 mirth, and cheerfulness of heart, while he is passing. 



— Goethe. 



