The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1870-07-12

VI IIlbfG GlJS9t ~ OlAAtSl SAA
which Is emblazoned the Douglas dragon
guarding the heart Of Bruce bitter
sstire, methlnks, on the gratitude Of kings.
But more interesting to US than these
memorials Of past baFbRriHm, Is the glort'
Gus view from the ramparts, where we
may feast ones eyes upon all the varieties
Of natural scenery. u.
Before .uB, the bonnY links Of Forth
cleaning In the sunlight like golden
chain, stretches to the horizon, where It
seems to link the heavens with the earth
Far TO the lelt, Ben Lomond and Ben
Venue lit up their giant heads from out
the mist, while Ben Ledl and Ben Aar
and their kindred peak meet the. eye as
litysweeps round the horizon to the dark
outlines Of tho, distant Grampian hills.
Within this circle Abbey Craig Lifts up
its toWerscfowncd head, near whose
base Wallace defeated the English
in o memorable engagement, land
hot far distant, can be secn the ruins
Of "CambuSkenrieth Abbey Grey" ming:
ling its Wondering dust with the dust Of
buried SoEereignS, &; -
Tosthe sFight at the loot Of the Castle
Cliff Is the Kings garden; laid out in fan.
tastic mounds and ridges which are still
kept in form. A lilelcsS body, from
whence the soul, the breathing beauty
Of the senuent flowers which animated it
have long since fed. In the center Is d
circular spaCs. iniwhiCh, the ancient kings
were said toshRYe held their mes,of the
table round. Tho Whole was surrounded
by canal on which foated pleasure
barges, but Of which no Vestigc now re-
mains.
5 There Is small loophole in the battle
ment overlooking tho garden, which is
called Queen MafyS' lookout, where she
Is said TO have sat and watched her gal
liant cavaliers tourneying below. This
was ip her happy days when first she
came 10 take possession .of the throne
I6f Scotland, flushed with all The glorious
hopes and .gaity Of a youthful Sovereign;
bringing with her the cavaliers and ladies
OF France, with mask, and revel, and end
less merriment Alas, her golden morn
ing was soon ytobbe darkeneds by the
gloomy clouds o6 sorrow. Tie. frosted
air Of scotland sOop blighteda the oses.ot
sunny France. Alas for her; lowered
with the fatal gift Of beauty, fatal alike
to herself and 70 those who gazed upon 1t.
Prosecuted alike by the Jealousy Of the
feeble Darnley, and the wild passion OF
the fierce and impetuouS Boutwell,, by
the brutal bigotry Of Knox, and the mis-
begotten ambition Of hurry, by the
vicious spitefhlnesS Of Elizabeth, and the
cold MachiaVellian craftsmanship Of Bur
liegh, what wonder that she should be
overcome and pefiai., sjt4 a III ri
U But the memory Of her beauty and her
sorrows will move the admiration and the
tears Of the world throughout all time,
while her mournful'iate will forever cast
q blot on the fame Of those who tri-
umphed in her destruction.
Farther TO the right and beyond the
garden Is the Kings Cllnse-it imagina-
ton can fill these cultivated fields with
lthick forests, people It with the bristled
Eboar and antlercd stag, or paint groups OF
knights and ladies', hawk on hand, upon
their prancing steeds beneath the green
wood branches, or hear tho huntsmans
Winded horn and the deep-mouthed bay
ing Of the hounds in chase.
\ Fothe~ south, fin the distance is that
battle.feld1 whose very, name is as the
sound Of a trumpet to stir the blood
BannOckburn.. = .--I,.
Reluctantly I take my leave Of this 10:
mantle place, SO rich in scenes Of natural
beauty and grand sublimity, and 10
memorials Of heroic deeds. .Fain would
linger along the shady avenues beside
the Forth, that, 10th as l to depart, loiters
like o truant amid the sunny, meadows
and, after making widesweep, again re-
turns to the place from whence 1t set
forth. Every brae, every stream, every
ruin whispers some legend, and all the
land Is consecrated by song-song such as
only Scotland can inspire.
L. G. THOMAS,