Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1895-11-24

the winds. and round about It is so
quiet, that the inmates could easily
hear the ripple OF the shallow water
over its stony bed.
A small charge admits visitors to the
hall. study, library, drawing room and
armory. Each is well stored with an
tiQuiues, curious and ancient armor,
q very brief description of which is me-
chanically ratified off by the female at
teudant, who makes one feel that his
alleged guide has a hurry-up, don't
care. get-Out-of-here sort of way that is
both distracting and deUacting. This
attendant should be replaced by some
one who could appreciate the time and
expense which thousands Of Scott's ad-
mirers impose upon themselves to DO
honor to his memory. Many of the col
lectious are not worth seeing, but those
which are one wants to examine with
care and eniOyably. A picture CT Queen
Mary's head, taken the day following
her execution, arrests the attention OF
more visitors than anything else in the
collection; even the last suit Of clothes
worn by Scott doesn't hold a candle in
INTEREST TO THE CHASTITY FACE
of the Queen of Scots. It is supposed
TO be accurate, as il is known that
permission was given to Artist Cawood,
brother of one of the ladies in waiting
at the time OF the execution, TO paint
such a picture. While glancing over
the collection l wondered if Sir Walter
didn't draw many an idea from them to
embellish and enrich his writings. and
as his works were peTused, the desire
grew and grew upon owners OF relics
i'm any way identified with noted peo
pie. civil or military, or with the his
tory of Scotland. to present them to the
great author. who could not only utilize
but surround them with an Importance
that they could never have attained if
kept in the secluded possession Of first
hands.
A short walk from the railway sta
tion brings one to a narrow street, very
little wider than the alley just below
the REGISTER Office. Passing down this
he meets a lane, and fifty steps away
is the entrance to the home Of the Ces-
terian Order OF Monks. who titled the
land and left the cure of souls to others.
According TO the chronicles Of the times,
they lived well, Tor they received from
the Crown annually sixty bOlls Of
wheat and three hundred casks of ale
another practical proof Of the generous
and pious character of the founder,
King David the First A tavern stands
at the intersection Of the lane and the
street As our party passed, the hale
hostess gently intercepted progress
with an intimatlOn that it would be
more enjoyable If we refreshed our
selves before the labor of inspecting
the Abbey. Although a ruin, there IL
sufficient standing Of this celebrated
AND BEAUTIFUL GOTHIC STRUC-
TURE
for the observer to form an intelligent
idea of its appearance when in its un-
injured state. l have seen no eccle-
siaStical relic in the kingdom which
gave me so much to think about as the
old walls of MelrOse. When they so
arouse the admiration of the uninitiate
in the STYLES. rules and difficulties at
tending the erection of the stately ar
chitecture Of the past ages, what must
be the effect on the antiquary whose
knowledge Of such matters enable him
to intelligently follow the minutia Of
such work. with the attending circum-
stances. Here are turrets, inches con-
tanning statues and inches without
them; there flying buttresses quarter
foil and multifoil windows; elsewhere
holdings. carvings. tracery work, queer
corbels. and goodness knows what else,
to excite wonder and invite study. In
n sentence. since it's Wondering frag-
ments exhibit such rich traces of
beauty and grandeur, what a noble
building in It's entirety. I had but an
hour and half to spend in its contem-
plation. and the time was up much too
soon. Before so many habitations Of
an inferior character contracted the
space around the Abbey, the view must
have been much finer. for the contrast
mars it greatly. 1t is like building
palace amid novels and dirt.
I had read somewhere that King Rob
ert Bruce had left request that his
heart should be taken to Jerusalem and
inferred in the Church OF the Holy Sep
ulcbre. failing in that it should be
buried in AIelrose Abbey. One Of the
Douglasses was entrusted with the haz-