grandeur of its ruins attracted the sweetly pathetic muse
of the late Mr John Finlay *, who thus describes it,
"THOU hoary warrior! bent with years
And swiftly mould'ring to decay,
Faint-gleaming on my raptur'd sight,
While thro' the Vale of Clyde I stray,
And view from far the rocky steep

The moon with mellow ray adorning,
Pouring her beams o'er hill and vale,
Far sweeter than the smiles of morning!
Behold! she flings her lustre wide

And calms the brownness of the wood!
Where tow'ring high in stately pride,
Thy walls frown awful o'er the flood.
Thy walls, from ancient grandeur chang'd,
How sullen o'er the wave impending !
And with the ivy's mantling green,

Their hoary moss-grown fragments blending."—

THIS harmonious and accomplished Poet was a native of Glasgow, in the University of which city he was educated. His attainments in literature were of considerable eminence, and adorned by the polished elegance of a chaste and refined taste. In 1802, he published his “ Wallace, or the Vale of Ellerslie,” a sweet poem, distinguished in a great degree by fine sentiment conveyed in a diction, at once simple, melodious, spirited, and pure. The merit of this work being generally acknowledged, a second edition was soon required, and which he greatly enlarged, Attached to it, is a selection of shorter pieces, finished in the same genuine spirit of ease, pathos, and energy. He also edited a collection of Ancient Ballads, accompanied with very ingenious illustrative notes. While engaged in the execution of a new original work, of which the highest expectations were formed, he died, December, 1810, in the twenty-eighth year of his age, at Moffat, on his way to England, whither he was going for the benefit of his health.

BOTHWELL-CASTLE is a noble monument of antiquity, and is indeed one of the most magnificent ruins in Scotland. The structure itself is superb, and all the neighbouring objects have an aspect of grandeur. The Clyde takes a fine sweep round the castle, where its breadth is considerable, and its stream spreads over a flat rocky bottom. Its banks on both sides are very lofty, romantic, and adorned with natural wood. On the southern side is the Craig of Blantyre, with an ecclesiastical ruin upon the brink of the perpendicular rock; while, on the northern bank of the Clyde, stands the castle of Bothwell, with a bold aspect towards the south, and rearing, at both ends, its lofty towers.

THE whole work is executed with polished stone of a red colour, and the roofs of the apartments are very lofty. What of it remains occupies a space, in length 234 feet, and in breadth 99 feet, over the walls. The lodgings were confined to the east and west ends, and many of them are sufficiently distinguished. The chapel is marked with a number of small windows, and has a chamber of state off it, with two large windows to the south. An old well in the corner of one of the towers, penetrating through the rock to a good spring, was discovered a few years ago. The stair of one of the highest towers is almost entire to the top, which presents an immense height above the river. The court in the middle was probably designed to contain the cattle and provisions in case of an assault; an arrangement peculiar to many ancient castles. The entry is on the north, about the middle of the wall: vestiges of the fosse are yet visible. It appears to have been built and enlarged at dif

ferent times, and by the several proprietors who occupied it; but, after having been in the possession of different families, it has again returned to the noble house of Douglas. The Priory of Blantyre, opposite, was founded in the thirteenth century; and a prior of this monastery was one of the Scottish commissioners appointed to negociate the ransom of King David Bruce, taken prisoner in the battle of Durham in 1346. Thus upon this spot, to whatever point we turn, and whether we consider the majestic ruins around us, or the singular variety of changes in their history, which have occurred during the lapse of ages, few places will be found affording such awful monuments of the devastations produced by time. We are reminded of the words of

the poet, Prior,

"Time has seen, that lifts the low,

And level lays the lofty brow;

Has seen this broken pile complete,
Big with the vanities of state.
A little rule, a little sway,
A sun-beam in a winter's day,

Is all the proud and mighty have

Between the cradle and the grave."

BOTHWELL-CHURCH is an old structure in the Gothic stile, seventy feet in length over the walls, and thirtynine in breadth. It is covered with large polished stones laid over an arched roof. The whole edifice is composed of stone, strengthened by pilasters, to support the weight of the roof. The date of its construction is not known; but the Douglas arms are upon one of the windows quartered with the royal, probably alluding to