R a i n ,
Edinburgh*. When Henry VIII. propofed the match betwe
.his fon Edward and Mary, he followed his demand in a man]
worthy fo boifterous a prince. In this rough courtfhip, as it,
humouroufly ftyled, he fent the Earl of Hertford with a nuni
rous army to fecond his demand, who burnt both this piaceli
Edinburgh.
After that it was fortified by the French, and underwent a 1
fiege ; the French behaved with fpirit, and for a great length 1
time baffled all the attempts of the Englijh, who fupported ti
lords of thè congregation. At length it was yielded on c o l
pofition, and the fortification razed. In 1571, it was re-fortifil
by the Earl of Morton ; and in little lefs than a century aftel
wards, a citadel was added by general Monk, demolilhed on t l
reftoration.
The harbour is but indifferent ; yet by means of a fine pier lari
veffels lie here with fecurity. The fouthern ihore of th e Forth i]
ihallow and fandy : no part between Leith and Inch-Keith is abovj
ten fathom deep. The northern is of a great depth, and h a s a rodi
or foul bottom. Oppofite to Kinghorn is a ledge o f r o c k s called thi
Blae, which at a low ebb are only four fathom from th e furiaci
Yet the water deepens to fifty fathoms within a i h i p ’s lengtl
The pier is a beautiful and much frequented walk r and th e annuali
races are on the fands, near low-water mark. It has h a p p e n e d oftcij
when the heats have been long, that the horfes run b e ll y deep I
the- flowing tide.
The difproportion of rain between this and the weftern fide of tha
kingdom has been ftrongly exemplified here. Leith lies in-a lini
# Robert/on, I. 342,
fixtl
■ miles diftant from Greenock. Some years ago, when the rope-
■s of both places were uncovered, it was obferved that the
Mmen at the laft were prevented by the wet from working eighty
■ more at Greenock, than at Leith, and only forty days more at
i ; fo fudden is the abatement of rain, and fo quick is the
of climate, on receding from weft to eaft.
|i my return to Edinburgh, paffed by Reftalrig, the antient reft-
jce of the Logans. The laft poffeffor was accufed' (five years after
¿death) of being concerned in the Gowrie confpiracy; and was
Bid to appear, but proving contumacious, his eftate was forfeited,
his bones burnt, and his heirs declared infamous.
J)n the 21ft of this month I vifited Hawthorden, the feat of the
c|ebrated hiftorian and poet, Drummond, about feven miles fouth of
mtihurgh. The houfe and a ruined caftelet are placed on the brink
J vaft precipice of free-ftone, with the North-EJk running in a deep
d§ beneath. In. the houfe are preferved the portraits of the poet
a|d his father.
Jnthe front of the rock, juft beneath the houle, is cut a flight of
[twenty-feven fteps. In the way, a gap, paffable by a bridge of
feds, interrupts the defcent. Thefe fteps lead to the entrance of
tpe noted caves, which have been cut with vaft labor out of the
■fc. The defcent into the great chambers is by eight fteps ; but,
Wrft entrance, on right and left, are two rooms; that on the right
¡•lifts of a gallery, fifteen feet long, with a fpace at the end (twelve
[fat by feven) whofe fides are cut into rows of fquare holes, each.
|iune inches deep, and feems to have been the pigeon-houfe of the
pk - there being an entrance cut through the rock. On the left
Pft is another gallery, and through the front of this is a hole,, facing
the
H a w t h o r d e n .