370 Cratroptitatt. FROM OUE:4PEdIAL EUROPEAN MIRES PONDENT. TROSSACHS HOTEL, HIGHLANDS „ OF SCOTLAND, August 6, - 1867. STIRIANG CASTES—LootricA.TiWiTitielatot OF TOE LAKE. ; . • . 1 7 , DEARexcurs ..um this en elianied grouNLiiail 4 4114A-MIK,W9-44191kken toyed Walter Scott's poetry. We left Edinburgh by rail forStirling,Castle, i'hotre mliite towers were in view la a coiira of i+:l4! he (J 4 1175' is all ,our fancy lad painted it, t ieictied on rci'elcy h`iil, with precipitous sides, much like thitt of Edintinrg; 'lris built in the err igth' and, Va.'s `oleciipiecl , by B&W Of Eughind, ifiekiirds , by Prue and Bfflol nf'ffedila i ridU It `ivies illiiltakokte residenee OtheoSyaieintie c Vieaddeirlei 1 td ts"buildings. toirtfaMenta igul, and thg eMliithalitninits,qade "iviten 'the Vag and his hit Ind ki3pliiitiireat ..` as it is` eau I tie'katilltierii of BannOabnin td "eaistova >? d in ' the opposite ry directinn are the vdle "'of d b`i Leith, and beyciiiiOe Scotus hiitg beanty. ..SOme.ieven tee44ll3tiiigenithintdilig 'can' be minuted bn cleat: day. 4t3the hat . thk town aide; is Old taiteyffialis' .eathed finoVecitneri 'of the ptriitttd Gothibiarchitectiire ot the 'lsth 'century. Jolin Kdoxiirelehed here,-and we stood 'in his did ''When eigvr t neid in the clinich;'July 29, =A-beaiitiful country lies'on the hilFside betWeeriothe; chlirdle arid' tile t °aide, occupying thettallitilit# ground:' 'iitionnuferit: has been erected here tollie fatuous 6 Wigton Martyrs," Marhiltilientlii`RgiefelffilAnr; WHO were drowned in the Olaverhanse persecutions, by.being tied to a stake at low tide. There is - also a fin - e l k:eine Of John Knox stand ‘2;:on a reek - =th afr ita his fr An t; WJA fountain at, his feet; a few feet iiiStanfit'each side are statues of Alexander Henderson and Andrew Melville. To study out the old tombs and' slabs of the I.6th . nd 17th centuries wasituite interesting. Skulls, cross bones, and othe ( r bas-reliefs appear on many of them. A short ride by rail brings us to Callender, where we take the_ coach for the lands of Fits jaiiies and Roderick Mu. [lei soon came to the Coilantogle ford over the Teith a few rodi'to the road. This is the spot to which Roderick pro mised to convey Fitz James in, safety, and when they arrived here - he challenged him to single combats • "And thou roast koep thee .witlf thy sword." We now run arong .the edge of Loch Vena char, a beautif4illhiet Witei .some five miles long, With Ben venue' rising in the background: LeavlOo. oo the lake'we,eroSS the '.'Bringcr o f Turk,"O a single stonearch, over which Fitz James rode upon his gallant gray. We soon come to the borJer of LoCh-AChiray, the next" in this magic chhin of lakes. The'road follows its shore, and we ramble along " Upon the margin of the lake, Between the precipice - and brake." We soon arrive at this beautiful Trossachs Hotel, a'fine stone:hiLilding, whose front is flank ed by round towers with conical tops, in imita tion of old Feudal style. The charming little . Loch Achray Spreads out before us. A few rods beyond is the narrow pass of the Trossachs, where the "gallant gray" fell. His bones do not lie here; , but the guide points out the ," exact spot" where the gray died, and where Fits James cried out in his agony, , 4 Woe worth the chase, woe worth the day, That costs thy life, my gallant grayY Through the pass we emerge upon Loch Ka trine, an enchanting lake, with tangled under brush corning down to the water's edge. A little steamer awaits us here—the " Rob iloy,'":a per fect beauty in model and general appearance. It won emerges from the rustic landing, winding between hills and among islets until the expanse of the lake opens before us. In his boyhood days "Walter Scott spent several of his summers on this lake and its neighborhood, which acaounts for his locating here his most charming poem. We soon come to Ellen's Isle and pass around - it. It is about 100 yards long and 50 or 60 wide, rising from the water's edge to a height of :50 or GO feet in the centre. It is so thickly covered with trees and vines and underbrush as to form the perfect hiding-place that Scott has painted it. We soon come to the little cove overhung by a projecting oak tree, whence Ellen's boat shot out when she heard the winding of Fitz James' horn. 3. "But smite again his horn he wound ,‘ When lo! forth starting at the sound From underneath an aged oak That slanted from the islet rock, A damsel guider of its way, A little skiff shot to the bay, That round the promontory steep Led its deep line in graceful sweep, Eddying, in almost viewless wave, ..The weeping willow twig to lavo, ltye, yrith,whispe.ring sound and slow, The beach of pebbles bright as snow. Thu s lioat had touched the silver strand Brstst. as; the hunter left his stand." On the shore of the laiSOpposite•the cove and two or three hundred yards distant, is the " silver THE AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1867. strand" which the boat touched, and it requires but a - little' stretch of fancy toy picture the boat Stith,the of the Lake" in it, sbootiOg out from The cive,ligliding 'over the glassy - surface, making itslafts'as it goes; and when it touches the silver sbOre, you can almost hear her— "'Father!' she cried; the rocks around Lovpd to prolong the gentle sound." • . • .; • Then in. fancy you listen with her: "Awhile she paused; np.auswer Malcolm was thiadthlndixst 1:1". So true to woman's timid n 3 trig', RocirtißTO por tkit3ts When she ficid.s` tha:t tlfe horo-iras 6'4i - deer heilather'S not gileolin's-: stromger ,tne huntsman said, • • ' A.avairioing froM the hazeifihade: ••• • t '• R ,,rf4empsFid, a,armpd, with „hasty ettr . . * •4 14:10t . Pushed her hght . shollop from the shore, •And'when epitieW w as gilded bettiiiieif Closer /Ike' 4gew c her hoopoe's screen.. • • Theig Oafs. tlioughiltiitei'd and a'rilaF 7 - OA itause'd, " rV) • We had read the poem in boyhood arid 're-read r I it; inan t hood, and f read it s ',9.gain in Ahe 4 hotel '-' `.l; • last evening, while the ram was falling without and a bright fire on ch-ereAriinparted warmth analattltAlagigtrilatZlMildidlivistexilfiffiliee then &1i0:414i they euchaulsingnemot t ioutt l titat threrpofteradLus, t as l iale andoove l a,ndisitver, strand and.- taaigledAtrake, I with ; .. : t e lie s , , ,lev,ely tsurface. ; of LocliKatrilie were, all ; around tut. ,So loth were,we toleave. thisriettchanted tpota that-,we wantedvbadly to-ramble over every!f4o.4 ..the fdistribt•-•;_tomalki ameng [ r the theather frtim which Roddrick's; men rrose at .theaignalof hialern, to,hunt up;the,rock‘againstqwhieh•Fitz James Bore. his-back; but we contented ourselves with pulling. some-of t,h& Mighte harobellS'4lupon the Yielatitic'?"ancestors , of which,; perchance ? the Lady bf,the -Lake had trod so airily ; and :pressing theni'with some: sprigs of heather ,into boquet too- bring,_ home and show.to some . of our :ISeett loving. friends in Philadelphia. , . We also bought photogragtic views of 'the, Isle and the strand and a copy of the poem s on: board.the little steam:, er Rob Roy, the short voyage on) board of