PART HI. ARCHITECTURE. 159 



deranged. Many are the advantages that result from placing 

 a house in a striking situation. One of these, and which is of 

 no small importance, is, that less expence is required in build- 

 ing; because a simple edifice, in a remarkable situation, strikes 

 much more forcibly than the finest piece of architecture set 

 down in a mere field or plain space. This might be instanced 

 from hundreds of examples : I shall only mention two ; the 

 first is Hawthornden, built upon the summit of a prominent 

 rock on the banks of North Esk, which though composed of the 

 most vulgar shapes, forms a singularly picturesque scene ; the 

 second is Keddleston, one of the finest in the kingdom ; but 

 appearing as if placed in a flat grass field, it is so uninteresting, 

 that, except for the architecture, no one would ever think of 

 making a drawing of the scene. 



Buildings in the country require much more attention, on 

 this account, than those in towns ; in the latter, they may be 

 rendered sufficiently striking by architectural decoration ; but 

 in the former, it is not the style of the building, so much as its 

 situation, and connexion with the surrounding scenery, that 

 renders it picturesque. It is mortifying, however, to see the 

 buildings that are every where erecting in spots undistinguished 

 in either of these respects. The side of a hill, it is true, is 

 sometimes chosen instead of the base of it; but even there a 

 miserable taste is often displayed in neglecting some spot natu- 



