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BESSY BELL AND MARY GRAY.

some mansions to be met with in these excursions, the principal of which is Duplin-house, the seat of Lord Kinnoul.

The ride to Methven is also well worth the exertion of the traveller, particularly of the romantic wanderer, who, in this ramble, near to the bridge of Dalcrue, may

"From rose and hawthorn shake the tear,"

upon the grave of Bessy Bell and Mary Gray, so celebrated in Scottish song. The tradition which loves to dwell upon the memory of these unfortunate young ladies relates that the father of Miss Bell was Laird of Kinvaid, in the neighbourhood of Lednoch; that the girls were both very beautiful, and loved each other with all the ardour of romantic friendship; that the plague broke out in 1666, when Miss Bell was visiting Miss Gray, to escape the contagion of which they erected for themselves a bower, about three quarters of a mile west from Lednoch-house, in a secluded spot, called Burn-braes, on the side of Brauchie-burn, where they resided in the happy society of each other for some time, till at length the pestilence spreading with great fury, they imbibed it from a young gentleman, who, with a liberality of love somewhat uncommon, was enamoured of them both; and that in this sylvan asylum they perished, and were buried in another part of Mr. Gray's ground, called the Dronach Haugh, at the foot of a brae of the same name, near the bank of the river of Almond.

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The staple manufacture of Perth is linen, which, it is said, was at first insensibly established by several itinerant merchants, who used to travel through the Highlands to Perth and its vicinity, and, having acquired some little property by their erratic enterprise, at length settled as shopkeepers at Perth, and augmented the industry of the city by their little capitals and their experience. The linen manufacture was also not a little indebted to the trustees of the forfeited estates, (part of the rents of which were applicable to the improvements of the country,) who encouraged the culture of lint, and the spinning of linenyarn. The salmon-fisheries of the river are very extensive. Fish packed in ice are sent to London every spring and part of the summer, and there used to be a considerable exportation to the ports of the Mediterranean. So abundant are the fisheries, that three thousand salmon have been caught in one morning, weighing altogether eight-and-forty thousand pounds. The cotton-manufactures are also in a flourishing condition; and cotton-mills, bleach-fields, and print-fields, have been erected and formed in various situations in and adjoining to the city. The agricultural improvements of the country are coincident with the progress of its manufactures; and wheat, barley, and other kinds of grain, are annually exported to London and Edinburgh, to a large amount. Owing to the vicinity of the Highlands, manufactures of doe-skins and buck-skins have been also established; and tallow, bees-wax, dressed sheep-skins, dressed and raw

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calf-skins, and raw goat-skins, are shipped from this place; boots, shoes, and gloves, are also manufactured in large quantities. Paper-mills too are established here.

Much of the prosperity and opulence of Perth are traceable to those causes which seldom produce any thing but desolation and poverty. In those unhappy times of public broil, which so frequently occur in Scottish history, this town was occasionally occupied by opposing armies, which rendered it a market for every necessary commodity. Dealers created capitals, and, by their prudence and enterprize, laid the foundation of all the good fortune which has attended this city since the Union.

The prevailing religion is High Calvinism, and the places of worship are numerous. The inhabitants have a high character for sobriety and decorum of manners. Owing to the number of people of rank and respectability, in commerce and trade, in the city and its vicinity, the streets are frequently enlivened with elegant equipages. The style of living is very handsome, and the ladies dress with considerable taste and fashion. On a Sunday 1 observed the philibeg worn, but not generally. The whole of this delightful place and its environs strongly reminded me of the city of Bonn, on the left bank of the Rhine, known in that romantic region by the name of "the Little Pearl."

TRANSPORTATION.

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I inspected every part of the prison, which is subject to the objection of its having no court-yard, a defect in all the prisons of Scotland; but it is clean, well aired, and spacious, compared with the tolbooth of Edinburgh. The prison-allowance is poor. The felons were very few. The gaoler informed me that some time since a young girl received sentence of death, for some rather heinous crime; and that, upon being pressed to petition to have her punishment commuted to transportation for fourteen years, the success of which was assured to her, she for a long time persisted in preferring death to banishment, and was at last, with great difficulty, prevailed upon to sue for the exchange, which was conceded to her in pity to her youth. The principal reason, I was afterwards informed, which induced her to prefer death to banishment, arose from her having been told, what is the fact, that Government provides no means for the return of the convict sentenced to transportation, after the expiration of the sentence, so that she, in all human probability, would be transported for life. This is a point highly deserving the attention of Government, whose faith ought not to be violated even with those who, for a period, have by their delinquency forfeited all claims to its ordinary protection. In the front of this prison is the following whimsical inscription:-"This house loves peace, hates knaves, crimes punisheth, preserves the laws, and good men honoureth."

CHAP. XV.

SCONE-MONKISH PROPHECY-OMNIS TERRA-ROUND TOWERSTHE CARSE OF GOWRIE-FARM-SERVANTS-DUNDEE-BOETHIUS -DR. JOHNSON-ABERBROTHICK-THE ABBEY-MONTROSEDONNOTTER-CASTLE-STONEHAVEN-ABERDEEN

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EPIGRAM

THE PIER MARISCHAL COLLEGE

DR. BEATTIE-THE PRISON LUNATIC ASYLUM.

BEFORE I quitted Perth I visited Scone, a little village

which stands about a mile and a half north of Perth, on the opposite side of the river, once famous for the royal palace which there, till very lately, gratified the curiosity of the traveller, having been the residence of the Scottish Kings, and the place where they were crowned. The Abbey I before mentioned also stood here. Upon the site, and I believe upon the foundation, of the palace of Scone, which was begun by the Earl of Gowrie, and finished by Sir David Murray, a favourite of King James VI., a magnificent Gothic mansion, of a red stone, apparently from the same quarry out of which the bridge was built, has been commenced and nearly finished by the present Lord Mansfield. The situation of this princely structure is exquisitely fine: it

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