and the Scots and Picts; the dome-shaped hill of Tinto, in Lanarkshire, 60 miles from Stirling, and 2,336 feet in height; Arthur’s Hill, a circular mound of earth, surrounded by seats of turf in the royal gardens, sometimes called the king’s knot, where the court held fetes, and where James used to amuse himself with the pastime called the Knights of the Round Table; Ben Lomond, 3,240 feet above the lake, which is 32 feet above the level of the sea; Ben Venue, and Ben Ledy, or the hill of God, in Perthshire, 3,009 feet in height, so called from the inhabitants of the surrounding villages, in former times, meeting on its summit at the summer solstice, three days and nights for the purpose of devotion.  These three mountains, with their vicinities are enshrined in Sir Walter Scott’s Lady of the Lake; and the village of Balquidder, at the foot of Ben Ledy, is the burial place of Rob Roy.  We have just described the circle:  over the garden wall of the Castle, at a considerable distance, is the well-wooded estate and mansion of Craig Forth, said to have once belonged to a blacksmith of Stirling:  this man having placed the iron bars (which still remain to the windows of the palace), and done other work for James VI. when that monarch came to the throne of England, made a demand of one thousand pounds Scots,—­but by some error, the accounts being paid in Stirling money, he with it purchased the estate and built the house of Craig Forth.  Next, to the right is Blair Drummond, formerly the residence of the accomplished Lord Kaimes; and beyond are the celebrated ruins of Donne Castle; not the least interesting incident of its annals was the imprisonment there in 1745, of John Home, (the author of Douglas,) who has left a narrative of his clambering escape over the high walls.

It is time to speak of the Panorama as a work of art; for hitherto we have rather considered its intellectual interest.  The Castle and Palace we take to be finely painted, with admirable picturesque effect:  the huge gateway, flanked with two towers, the battlemented walls, and battery, are in fine bold relief, as is the clinging vegetation about the building; nor must we omit the grotesque figures or corbelled pedestals, and the identical window bars, the work of the wily Scot of Craig Forth; the latter especially, are clever.  A portion of the esplanade otherwise devoid of interest, is peopled with a meeting of the Highland Society celebrating the feats of the ancient Caledonians, the object of the Society being to preserve their language, costume, music, gymnastic sports, and martial games.  This introduction happily fills up what would otherwise have been the only void in the scene, so thickly is it studed and storied with objects and recollections.  Altogether, we have rarely seen a topographical panorama of such diversified character:  it has reminiscences of history and poetry to lead us through the retrospect of chivalrous ages, princely contests for crowns that