TO

SIR WALTER SCOTT, BART.

OF ABBOTSFORD,

THIS WORK

IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED

BY

THE PUBLISHERS.

Edinburgh, 29th August 1825.

PREFACE.

TOURS in Scotland, have of late become so fashionable, that no apology seems necessary in offering to the Public, a work, which is designed as a guide to the romantic and sublime scenery of that country. To the admirer of Nature, no part of Europe affords more varied landscape than its Lowland dells and Highland wilds.

On other accounts also, Scotland is highly interesting. It never was conquered. The Romans, indeed, subdued the Lowlands; but to gain the heath-covered mountains of Caledonia, all their endeavours were fruitless. The Norwegians and Danes, those terrible northmen, who made important conquests, and alarmed every coast of Europe, made no impression on the mainland of Scotland. The utmost efforts of powerful and warlike England to reduce this country, were successfully resisted for five hundred years, by a nation that justly considered foreign domination as the greatest of misfortunes. Here, too, in the sixteenth century, a noble stand was made for the civil and religious liberties of the nation. A king of Scotland succeeded to the royal throne of England, and now his descendant, our beloved Sovereign, William IV. sways the sceptre of the most powerful nation in the world. In hardy deeds of arms, the Scotch of this day have eminently upheld their ancient renown in every quarter of the globe; as in arms, so in Arts and Sciences,

and in solid learning, the Scotch are inferior to none: if the population, which by the census of 1821 amounted only to 2,092,014, be taken into the account, they may justly be reckoned superior to any nation in Europe. Till of late, however, the matchless scenery of Scotland was almost unknown to the world, and even the inhabitants of the Lowlands were ignorant of the magnificent landscapes to be found in the Highlands.

The appearance of M'Pherson's translation of the Poems of Ossian, about sixty years ago, astonished the world, and induced many admirers of the Celtic bard to visit the country. The poems of Burns, and particularly his exquisite lyrics, attracted the attention of our English neighbours. Burns, however, was little acquainted with the grandeur of Scottish scenery; and it was not in description, but in the expression of sentiment and of passion, that his genius delighted. The bolder notes, and chivalrous strains of Sir Walter Scott, resounded from shore to shore, and crowds hastened to the north, to behold the scenes so admirably delineated by his magic pencil. Above all, the fascinating works of "The Author of Waverley," have spread the fame of this country far and wide, as far indeed as the world is inhabited by civilized man. In these delightful novels, the manners and customs of the inhabitants of Scotland are so happily illustrated, and Scottish scenery so finely depicted, that vast numbers of foreigners, from every part of Europe, are induced to visit "the land of gleaming lakes and heathy mountains." Many of the natives of Switzerland, and of Italy, have frankly acknowledged that the scenery of the Highlands of Scotland is su