The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1889-08-24
THE EDITOR ABROAD.
Random Notes of Foreign Travel

STIRLING, SCOTLAND, Tuesday night,
July 80, 1889
Ny Dear .My:-I sit down to write
this under the frowning battlements OF
old Stirling Castle, one of the most his
toric and interesting points in Southern
Scotland. The town occupies most de
lighful and romantic situation near the
south bank of the river Forth. The emf
nence on which the town is situated rises
gradually from the east, and terminates
on the west in an abrupt crag on which
the Castle is built. The seges which this
old Castle has stood and the battles
which have been fought in it's immediate
vicinity are the most noted events in
Scottish history. The views from the
parapets of the Castle are charming, en-
bracing the battle-fields of Bannockburn,
the old bridge of Stirling, Wallace's
| Monument, and other most interesting
localities which | have neither the time
nor space to notice. In the chapel Royal
of the Castle, now the armoury, there is
a small collection o. old arms and historic
relics, the most interesting to me being
an old oak pulpit from which John Knox
preached. shall make it the business of
this letter to tell you how came here,
my first letter having closed with my ar
rival at Glasgow, after most delightful
sail up the Clyde on Sunday afternoon
10 tell my story more inteligently, l
shall retrace my steps moment. The
impress on mad upon you by your tils
glance al Scottish highland scenery is
heig by the fact that for days the
enveloping fogs and mists of the ocean
have made HE a comparative blank to
you. You are for the momeLt abnorm-
ally impressionable. The grand sweep
of mountain and vale, painted by natures
lnimitable brush, in tones and colors, to
which we of the Western Continent are
unused, comes upon you like revelation.
As we steamed up the channel, | felt
while viewing the charming picture. that
had, even in that pleasure. been amply
repaid for the trouble Of the coming.
You pass in succession Cantyne, Arran
and Butte as you approach the entrance
to the Clyde, the first islands in their
immense extent, being part of the estate
of the Duke of Hamilton, while the last
is owned by the Marquis of Butte. You
catch glimpse as you pass Of Mount
Stewart, the recently rebuilt summer
residence of this nobleman. He owns
also immense estates IN South Wales.
The staircase of marble alone i'll his royal
residence cost four hundred Thousand dol
lars. The view of these immense estates |
held by these titled gentlemen, to whom
the common people of this county pay
enforced tribute, stirs your Democratic
blood and provokes your Republican re-
sentiment against the system which toler- |
ates it. It's jolly good thing for my
lord, of course, but terrible oppres
sion of the masses of the people. My |
lord owns the soil and all the thousands |
and millions whom God hath created be- |
sides live on it by his sutferance Take |
the city of Greenock for instance, the |
most important steamship building city. |
not only of the British empire but of the |
world-for there are more Clyde built |
steamers at1oat than all the rest put to. |
gether-this city of nearly seventy thous-
and Inhabitants, is, so far as the ground |
on which it stands is concerned, all owned |
by one man Sir Michael Robert Shaw |
Stewart. Except in rare instances no man |
can build his dwelling and hold it in fee. |
The ground is leased of his lordship upon
an irredeemable ground rent. Placards |
can be seen on every hand offering lots |
for rent and leasing, or as the latter is To-
cally termed in Scotland tieuing. But |
pardon me for this DEPRESSION on the ten
ures by which the lands are held here. |
AS we pass Greenock, Dumbarton, and |
other ship building points l view with |
amazment the industrial development
witnessed on every hand. The frame |
works of wholly or partially completed
from Greenock clear up to Glasgow.
Here and there the monotony of iron
hulks is broken by some rich stretch OF |
lawn and foliage. There for instance
close by the spot where the firm of the
Messrs. Thoml sons a little while ago
launched those famous ocean racers, the |
City of Paris and the City OF New York,
is the grand estate OF Biytheswood,
where Sir Archibald Campbell, it's here
ditary owner, last year entertained his |
gracious sovereign the Queen. had al
most forgotten to say that Greenock is
the birthplace of James Watt, the inven-
tor of the steam engine, and the admirers |
of Robert Burns respect it because his
Highland Mary lies buried there. AL
though hurried along, cannot pay old
Dumbarton Castle the indignity of ST.
lence, near which also stands the monu-
ment to Henry Bell, the pioneer of steam
ship building on the Clyde. What an
historic halo rests DER old Dumbarton,
stern and grim, still frowning at you as |
you pass! Its glory has fled and although |
a mere handful of the Queens soldiers |
now garrison the old Castle, still it was |
there that King Robert, the Bruce, spent |
the last Two years of his life. For the |
lover of Scottish history, this were glory |
enough for any one locality. To the left |
as we near Glasgow an immense stretch |
of manufacturing buildings attracts you. |
They bear familiar name, "Singer," for |
here the well-known American sewing |
machine is manufactured, e portion of |
them at least, while on every hand are |
the multiplied evidences of industrial ao- |
tivi:y. The grImy walls and time stained |
look of every building show we at the |
quay of an aged city We are soon landed |
aud after short detention by customs |
officers, whose search seemed directly |
only against contraband tobacco and |
cheap American reprints of English copy
righted books, We are comfortably quar-
tered at the st. Enoch's Station Hotel, |
which is the terminus of the Glasgow |
anu - JUN "tsIerH hail"ay. All Inc
leading railway systems conduct hotels |
here. You It p from the platform into |
the corridor of your hotel, and while you |
appreciate the convenience OF the thing,
ind that you pay we'll for it when your |
bill is handed you. The St. Enoch's is a |
pretentious upholstery and may be |
taken as fair type of the best establish
menfs of its L ind throu nhont tho IInitad