Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1878-10-24
NOTES OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL.
Interesting Extracts from Private
Letters of Miss Kate MilIikan to
her Family.
OsRoRE Ang. y Ia7s.

neaGher-cOFered slopes, ana ShOC through
tunnels, till the tall shafts and twinkling
lights of EdinbOro town met the eye.
Glancing away from the hurrying.
bustling crowd at the station, the eye
glanees upward to Arthur's Seat and Cal
ton Hill; to HolyrOod and Castle Rock.
Truly, Edinburgh is unlike any other
town in the world; the longer you remain
here the more it grows upon you; and
there abides, above all things, sense of
its beauty. Hill, craig, castle, rock, blue
stretch of sea; the picturesque ridge of
of the Old Town, and the squares and
terraces of the New. These things once
seen are never forgotten. Across the ra-
vine, Time has filled up the old town,
ridge upon ridge, gray as a rocky coast,
washed and worn by the foam of centu-
ries; peaked and jagged from basement
to roof and the whole surmounted by st.
Giles airy crown.
Wonderful is it of nights, when the ra-
vine is filled with darkness. and out of it
| there arises against the sombre blue and
glittering stars a mass and bulwark of
| gloom, pierced and quivering with innu-
merable lights. During the day the Cas-
! tie looks down upon the city, as if out of
another world; stern, with all its peace
fulness, its garniture of trees, and its soft
green slopes of grass.
We drove up the Canongate, the oldest
street of the Old Town, filed with all the
squalor, poverty and rags, and gazed at
the old, old houses, piledFup, story upon
story, with outside stairways and quaint
wooden pannelings; old armarial bear
ings yet traceable above the doorways.-
Two hundred and more years ago, when
this street was the grand thoroughfare,
and was filed with the pomp of royalty,
fair eyes looked down from yonder win
dows upon glittering arrays below; eve
ry crazy tenement has its tragic story;
every crumbling wall could tale unfold.
The Canongate is Scottish History fossil
| lied. The ghosts of kings and queens
walk there. In fancy, the ear hears the
strife of steel-clad cavaliers, and the
minds eye sees wretches borne along
those thrOnged streets to the grim en-
brace of ssThe Maiden"
Again, there is hurrying of burgesses
to arms, and clashing of steel, at the
rumored approach of the Southron; and
the streets ring with lamentations over
disastrous battle days. Once James rode
up this street, on HE way to Flodden,
and Montrose was dragged up hither on
hurdle; and here Jenny Gaddes flung
her stool at the priests head; and John
Knox came up here, to his home, after
the stormy interview with the Queen, at
Holyrood.
The young Rretender rode down here,
while jeweled ladies leaned from win
dOws to admire his manly form, and long
yellow hair. David Hume had his dwell
ling on this street, and one day burly
Ayershire plowman came here and turn
ed into yonder church-yard, to stand by
the grave of poor Ferguson, then un-
marked by stone. Down this street often
limped little boy, Walter Scott by name,
and now, on the opposite side of the ra-
vine, rises the proudest monument eyer
erected to mortal genius.
All good Americans make pilgrimage
to Arthur's Seat and Holyrood, and there.
fore did we, in a pouring rain, with many
sighs and groans of spirit, at the vast
, crowd of damp barbarians who jostled
pushed and elbowed their way-and us
on every side, and mercilessly infringet
the corn laws. We crowded into Queer
Mary's apartments through the singular
+ ly narrow and inConvenient corridors, ,anG
n glanced curiously at the worn and fadeC
d hangings and quaint furniture; at thl
y portrait of Mary herself, in her youthful
bloom and beauty, and not far away an
| ftoy- ;, 70
and you fancy some presentment of tn
terrible fate the future had in store 70
her shines in those soft, beseeching haze
eyes, which look into your own SO softly
sadly and tenderly. Here is large gal
lery filed with portraits Imaginary
probably-as there is sameness in then
all, which you notice in court beautie
> and cOurtiers, when whole gallery full
is painted by the same artist. In th
Chapel Royal, the only part now remain
2 ing of the ancient Abbey of Holyrood
lie the remains of King David II, Jane
IL and James v, Lord Darnley and man
others; and it was here Charles Ist wa
: crowned, as also the first four James, an
here Mary Stewart was united to Lor
Barnley; and here Charles the 1st cause
to be inscribed on a tablet these lines
"He shall build one house for my name, and
shall establish the throne of his kingdom forever
We walked to CaldOn Hill, while th
a stars shown overhead, and the lighr
twinkled in the fathomless ravine at OF
feet; we desired to see it by prosiac day
light, but it was shrOuded in mist on Sa
urday morning and the mist dissolved ii
to a chilly rain, which ever augmente
its volume and force, defying umbrella
and waterproofs. It was in vain thi
our guide pointed out and expatiated VI
on the beauties of this, that and the 9th,
> noble monuments, to the memories of f
nous men: Burns, Allen Ramsey, We
lingtOm, Pitt, Dugald Stewart, John Wi
son, and many others, were scarcely hee
ed-even Sir Walter Scott's noble mon
y ment awakened but faint enthusiasm
. Salisbury Craig was invisible, in Il
binding storm, while the Mid Lethi,
. Hills and the Firth of Forth were ali
gray with driving fog and storm; sens
tion got the better of sentiment, and ha
tily getting into our carriages, dro
back to our hotel, and from its windo,
beheld the striking Trade Unions marc
ing bravely through mud and rain, wi
banners flying and music filling the a
. Twas pity they had not a more mol
cause to sustain. Still later in the ola
. an open air meeting was held in t
square in front of our hotel, by lit
band of street missionaries, and the 1
nlilliar notes of the Sankey and Moo
MT, hymn, ''Ninety and Nine,' filed t