The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1886-01-06
OUR FOREIGN LETTER.

OUR FOREIGN LETTER.
Especial Correspondence OF the PREss.]
Acting upon the advice Of our sailor friend
to aim for 'the four horse team and biggest
coachman,'' as soon as we touched the wharf
opposite the Isle, we leaped upon the pier
and entered into a running match with few
others who were on the alert for the main
chance as well as ourselves, this side and
that up steep ascent, like string of team
horses. Having several times been nettled
that out of excessive modesty, a trait wholly
unappreciated in England, we had permit
ted ourselves to be crowded into tight cor
ners, we mounted to the topmost seat and
sat down with chuckle of satisfaction close
by the Great Panjandrum himself, from
whom we were told to expect treat-lt we
were careful to brush his coat in the rlght
way. The drive now crosses the glens ana
glades Of the Trosachs, passing htlie
matched cottage, which has sheltered Gull
dren of each generation in its turn, LOT three
hundred years. Beneath this humble rooI
the Queen of the Gipsies, or Scotchs Ilnkers,
entertained Queen Victoria while Journey
ing with the Prince Consort through Scot
land Happily our driver was in good mood
and we easily touched sympathetic chord.
At every turn he broke out in recital OF
long passages of the Lady of the Lake,
with such feryor and national pride that we
fancied we could see the chieftain's daugh-
ter. s.her satin snood, her silken plaid, her
golden brooch, such birth betrayed" as she
stepped 'sfrom the silver strand and pushed
her light shallop from the shore, kissing with
whispering sound and slow, the beach Of
pebbles white as snow" We peered into
the deep gorge beneath the cliff, where Fitz
James stopped over his dying steed and ut
tered his impassioned wall of grief ''Woe!
worth the chase: woe worth the day that cost
thy life, my gallant gray" He would sand
witch these quotations in with his own char
acteristic comments in such droll way that
it is quite too bad that you should lose them.
But back to our seats ON the stage, which luck
lily are always kept for you, no matter how
many times the passengers may alight Our
orator fairly lost himself in the drdnadtis
perSong and raised our enthusiasm to the
highest pitch in his recitation of James's in
terview with Roderiek, where he says, "Can
naught but blood our feud atone? Are there
1O hCcAc NV oulclSvAs hOuOt w lCh SdAlO
an ominous sound, faint and far from dis
lance borne" swelling as it approached, till
the whole vale resounded with the echoes,
and themountain peaks seemed to shiver and
crash beneath the lightning stroke. Peal
mingled with peal, the thick clouds enveloped
as in darkness, and before we could plunge
from our ecstasy to sense the tremendous
CONFUSION in the elements, the very heavens
opened and the pitiless floods poured upon
our poor unprotected heads.
We heard not another word of poetry, our
driver was SO blinded by the rain he could
hardly keep his horses in the road. That
morning, wearied with Juggling about water
proof packs and umbrellas, with child like
trust in the smiling face of the heavens and
the genial winds, we had forwarded every
ounce of encumbering baggage to Edinburgh.
We could do nothing but patiently bow our
heads to the storm for nearly two hours.
After a space, when there was not feather
or ribbon left to be spoiled, we tried to find
the little compensation we might in listen
ing to the awful voice of the tempest,
and the jokes of jolly Westerner, whose
spirits could not be wet down by heavy
Scotch mist. In this sad plight, we babe
adieu to James, Lord of Showdown, and the
fair Ellen, and sought the shelter of a rail
road station at Collander. Here we shivered
and wrung out rivers from our garments for
two hours longer, waiting for the train, nev-
er so slow and tardy. Late in the evening
we found resting place at the Windsor
Hotel, Edinburgh, under the very shadow of
the Old Castle.
EDINBURGH
The next morning was spent at haber-
dashers to repair the damage done by yes
terday's drenching, that we might make our
selves respectable representatives of our
glorious republic. We discussed the proba-
BILE merits of the various objects of interest
in the city, and concluded to take Edinburgh
in chronological order, beginning with the
old Castle, the cradle of Scotland's early
renown and the home of many of her rulers,
from Bruce down to the time of Charles /.
Like all similar structures of early days,
this fortress served alike for the abode of
the royal family, fort of defense against an
invading army, and refuge for the peasant
ry in times of distress. 1t is kept in order
by squad of soldiers, as arctic of Scotland's
Cdliy HloLOAy. OAO lulSut tdlLy lOAo }tluiC
and ruminate over the mysterious providen-
cies of the past, in the unattractiye room,
not over eight feet square, with single case
ment window, the whole suggesting anything
but the luxurious appointments of royalty,
where few weeks after Mary, Queen of
Scots, witnessed the bloody scenes of Holy
rood, she gave birth to her first born son,
James VI. of Scotland, and more familiar to
the people of the New World as James |. of
England. We looked from the window down
the perpendicular wall 200 feet high, where
tradition says, when only few weeks old,
he was lowered in basket and taken to a
place Of safety. Such was the intense bit
terness of feeling between the Catholics and
Protestants after Mary came from France,
that each church was determined by fair
means or foul, to baptize the young prince
into its fold. Could these grim walls reveal
the secrets of state and domestic life en-
trusted to their stony silence, we might hear
startling facts, which would seriously de-
range the most enduring institutions and
social fabrics of the present time.
NJ G. P. B.
THE NEW YEARS TOILETS.