examples of the old English water-colouristsDavid Cox (no less than fourteen examples, some of them very choice), William Hunt, W. J. Müller, R. B. Bonnington, J. D. Harding, all painters of the old school. For the donor, Mr. Thomas Stuart Smith of Glassinggall, near Stirling, was himself an artist, who lived just before the days of the modern school. I say just before, for in the collection are one or two exquisite early examples of the work of James Maris. One in particular, a water-colour of a Venetian girl feeding doves-red apron, rich red skirt-up against a cool blue sky, is charming in its refinement, so delicate, yet so fresh and strong. It is signed J. Maris '67. Another, a little oil, is still earlier in date, it is signed J. Maris '65; and in a pair of larger oils, dated 1869, one a seascape, the other a river scene with barges, we get a nearer approach to the master's mature style.

In addition to these examples of fifty years ago, the gallery has at present an excellent series of works by modern Scotch artists, lent by the Scottish Modern Arts Association.

A very fine example, "Criffel," by D. Y. Cameron; "Pittenweem," with its wind-swept little harbour, by Alexander Roche; "A typical view of Edinburgh," by James Paterson; a fresh landscape by Walton; and one of Hornel's fairylike patchworks of brilliant colour, children playing by the seashore.

In addition to the picture gallery, the building contains a most complete and interesting museum. Here we may find relics of prehistoric days, stone implements, bronze weapons and ornaments, and curious examples of early pottery. The cases illustrating early Scottish life and character are most fascinating. Quaint agricultural implements, whose use has long been superseded, toothed reaping-hooks, turf and peat spades. Then a number of cases of arms and armour, in one of which is a caltrop, picked up on the field of Bannockburn. Among the weights and measures is the famous "Stirling jug," dating from about 1457, the oldest Scottish measure in existence, and in a series of cases round the walls is a fine collection of old pottery and metal work.

CHAPTER VII

DUNFERMLINE

SOME four or five miles inland from North Queensferry lies the ancient royal burgh of Dunfermline, now a busy manufacturing town.

It is blessed with a most beautiful situation, lying outspread on the southern slope of the high ground facing the Firth. To the left, rising above the green woods of Pittencrieff, are the towers of the Abbey, and the line of grey stone houses, purple-grey slates, with patches of clear red tiles, stretches along the ridge.

From Dunfermline itself one commands a magnificent view of the Firth. In the foreground, the rich green fields of the undulating land between it and the ferry, with the massive red ironwork of the Forth Bridge peeping over the hills like a gigantic switchback; beyond, the glimmering water and the dim southern

shore. Edinburgh with its Castle and Arthur's Seat, and higher still the rampart of the Pentlands barring the way. Then to the left, the wide sweep leading to North Berwick Law and the Bass.

Dunfermline in its long eventful history has passed through many phases. First we know of it as a royal residence.

"The King sits in Dumfarlin town
Drinking the blude red wine."

It was here that Malcolm Canmore brought his gentle bride, and within the precincts of the Abbey lie the remains of many of the Scottish royal house.

During the days when Dunfermline Abbey was the Scottish Durham, it played a leading part in the ecclesiastical history of Scotland. Even now, the fragment that remains to us of the old Abbey Church is one of our noblest specimens of Norman architecture.

But the ancient glory of the old burgh faded, and in the year 1600 it had sunk to the position of a quiet little country town of only one thousand inhabitants. Now this is all

changed. Dunfermline is right in the midst of one of the richest coal-fields in Fife, and the coming of steam-power has revolutionised the old weaving industry, and made the town the chief seat of the linen manufacture in Scotland.

Dunfermline's history begins with the eventful day when the three Saxon fugitives, Edgar the Atheling, and his two sisters, Margaret and Christina, members of the old royal house of England, landed in the Forth near Dunfermline. St. Margaret's Hope is the name still borne by the little sheltered haven where her boat touched the shore, and the fact is typical of the way the gentle Saxon princess impressed her personality on all her surroundings. To the court of Malcolm Canmore, the warrior king of Scotland, they were bound, and to the king's peremptory wooing, her brother could not, if he wished, have opposed his will.

The marriage took place at Dunfermline in 1070. The story reads like a tale from the Faerie Queene:

"The Lyon would not leave her desolate,

But with her went along, as a strong gard