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THE LADIES MAGAZINE OP GARDENING. 
old park. I have only to add that the park contains a great number of 
stately trees, some of which are of extraordinary beauty, as well as size. 
July 28th.— Hamilton .—We stopped at a most excellent inn in the 
principal street of the very handsome little town of Hamilton; and the 
following morning we first went to visit a very curious garden at Barn- 
cleugh. This garden is cut in terraces on the side of a steep rock, 
bordering the river Aven, celebrated by Burns in the following beautiful 
verses:— 
Ye lofty banks that Aven bound, 
Ye lavish woods that wave around, 
And o’er the stream your shadows throw, 
Which sweetly winds so far below ; 
What secret charm to memory brings 
All that on Aven’s border springs ? 
Sweet banks ! ye bloom by Mary’s side, 
Blest stream ! she sees thee haste to Clyde. 
I could not help being powerfully struck with the justice of the poet’s 
description : the lofty banks are still crowned with lavish woods, which 
throw their shadow over the stream u which sweetly winds so far below 
and which still seems hastening on to Clyde. The garden at Barncleugh 
has a ruined and desolate appearance; the steps leading from one terrace 
to another are broken, the fountains have long been dry, and the summer¬ 
houses are hastening to decay; but the clipped trees still remain as 
when first formed, and a few flowers, the pride of the old gardener, 
ornament the beds, like wreaths hung over a broken tomb. This little 
property, only thirty-six acres in extent, lies in the centre of the Duke 
of Hamilton’s widely-extended domain ; and the proprietor, or the pro¬ 
prietress, for I believe the owner is a lady, has hitherto resisted all the 
efforts which the Duke’s agents have made to purchase the freehold. So 
there it remains in all its independence, going to ruin according to its own 
fashion, and affording in its decay a striking contrast to the admirably 
kept plantations and lands around it, which the immense wealth of the 
duke, and the science and skill of his numerous agents and factors, have 
advanced to the highest pitch of modern improvement. 
Cadyow Castle is a very interesting ruin, belonging to the Duke of 
Hamilton, with its legend attached, (for what Scottish castle is without 
one ?) of the unfortunate Mary having once lodged within its walls. The 
adjoining forest is remarkable for its immense oaks, which are some of 
the oldest and largest in Scotland, and its breed of wild cattle. These 
beautiful creatures are white, with black ears and muzzles. We came 
upon a herd of them lying asleep under the trees ; and I shall never forget 
the low, half-suppressed lowing from the younger cattle, deepening by 
