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salem with the heart of King Robert Bruce they fell together, fighting against the Saracens in Spain, anno 1330. This castle is situated upon a peninsulated rock on the river Esk, about six miles south of Edinburgh, surrounded by hanging cliffs, covered with wood, It appears to have been a place of great strength; and its lofty remains, sinking under the corroding hand of time, still exhibit a display of its former magnificence. The only access is by a very high bridge, which joins it to the neighbouring banks.

Near this castle, the English, under John de Segrave, regent of Scotland, were thrice defeated in one day by the Scottish forces, commanded by John Cummine and Simon Frazer, anno 1302.

The chapel, or college of Roslin, (of old called the chapel amidst the woods,) is all built of free stone, and one of the most curious pieces of old gothic workmanship in Europe. It is situated to the north of the castle, on a rising ground, called the college hill, commanding, to the east, a charming view of objects highly impressive and picturesque. Here, in the bosom of a glen, you behold the wildest work of the hand of nature; hanging woods, and nodding rocks, protruding their hoary weather-beaten cliffs, swept at their base by the sweet-winding Esk, whose deep-fractured valley, and hollow sequestered glades, are romantic in the extreme. A foot-path has, of late years, been formed down the bed and border of the river, amongst the shelving rocks and caverns, most ro mantic and delightful.

Here, the student of nature, and the lover of contemplation, may find full scope for reflection. The flourishing state of the surrounding districts, crowned with villas, and chequered with thriving plantations, and, at this season, the cultivated lands covered with a most luxuriant harvest, form an agreeable contrast to the wild scenery of Roslin, and raise in the mind

pleasant reflections on the bounties of providence to this highly-favoured isle. The western view terminates with the blue summits of the distant Pentlands, whose sides are mantled with auburn heath, compleating the delightfully variegated landscape. In a word, for romantic scenery, and diversified assemblage of the beauties of nature, few situations can rival the chapel of Roslin, a place formed by nature for heavenly contemplation.

William St Claire, Prince of Orkney, Duke of Oldenburgh, Earl of Caithness and Strathern, Lord Saint Claire, Lord Niddisdale, Lord Admi ral of the Scottish seas, Lord Chief Justice of Scotland, Lord Warden of the three Marches, Baron of Roslin, Pentland, Pentland Muir, &c.; High Chamberlain and Lieutenant of Scotland, the seventh of the name, from the days of Malcolm Canmore, and descended of noble parents in France, founded this most curious chapel or college, for a provost, six prebendaries, and two singing boys, anno 1446, and dedicated it to St Mathew the evangelist: it is decorated with pillars, which delight the eye in a variety of aspects. They are regulated by sound laws of perspective, and are of the Tuscan or Rustic, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, and the Composite or Italic orders; no person can enter into it, who has the smallest degree of thought, without being struck with reverential awe at its august appearance. The pillar, commonly called the apprentice's pillar, but more properly the prince's pillar, from its princely founder, has, on its base, carvings of several dragons. in the strongest or first kind of basso relievo, so that one can easily thrust a finger or two between some parts of the figures and the base. These dragons are chained by the heads, and twisted into one another. This beautiful pillar has round it, from base to capital, waving spirally, four wreaths of the most curious sculpture of flower-work and foliage, the

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workmanship of each being different, and the center of each wreath distant from that of the next, a foot and a half. So exquisitely fine are these wreathings, that I can compare them to nothing but Brussels lace. The ornaments upon the capital of this pillar baffle my skill in architecture; I therefore leave them to the pen of the connoisseur in that art. The traditionary narrative of this pillar, which has prevailed in the family of Roslin, from father to son, is, that a model of it having been sent from Rome, or some foreign place, the master mason, upon viewing it, would by no means consent to work off such a pillar till he should go to Rome, or elsewhere, to take exact inspection of the pillar from which the model had been taken; that in his absence, whatever might be the cause, an apprentice finished the pillar as it now stands, and that the master, upon his return, seeing the pillar so exquisitely completed, made en quiry who had done it, and being stung with envy, slew the apprentice: what in part confirms this narrative, is the figure of a young man's head, exhibited in the west corner, above half way up the inner wall, called the apprentice's head, with a scar above the right brow, representing a wound by a stroke; directly opposite to which, along the west wall in the north-west corner, is the head of an old man, with a most surly frowning countenance, and a long beard, said to be that of the master mason who killed the apprentice. On a line with the apprentice's head, eastward, directly above the sixth large south pillar, is the head of a woman weeping, said to be the mother of the apprentice, mourning the fate of her son. At the foot of the third and fourth pillars, between them and the north wall, there is a large fag stone, covering the entrance to a vault for receiving the remains of mortality, where ten barons of Roslin are aid to be buried. These barons, ays Father Hay, in his manuscript

memoirs,) were buried of old in their armour, without any coffin, and were successively, by charter, the patrons and protectors of masonry in Scotland. The sacristry, or vestry, at the east end of the chapel, (into which you descend by a stone stair,) was founded by his first Lady, Dame Elizabeth Douglas, formerly countess of Buchan, and daughter of Archibald, the second of that name.

Prince William endowed the chapel with the church lands of Pentland, four acres of meadow near that town, with the kips, and eight sowms grass, in the town of Pentland. A successor of his, also William of Roslin, endowed it by his charter of February 5th, 1523, with some portions of land near the chapel, for dwelling-houses, gardens, &c. to the provost and prebendaries; and yet, such is the instability of human affairs, that just 48 years after this last endowment, Feb. 26th, 1571, we find the provost and prebendaries resigning, as by force and violence, all and every one of the several donations, into secular hands, unalienably; and withal complaining, that for many years before, their revenues had been violently detained from them; insomuch, that they had received little or no benefit from them, Quemadmodum, say they, multis jam annis elapsis, a nobis violenter detentae fuerunt, ut inde vel parum vel nihil proficere receperimus. To this deed of resignation or charter, as it is actually called, the seal of the chapter of this collegiate church was appended, being St Mathew in a kirk, red upon white wax; as also the seal of the then Sir William St Clair of Roslin, being a ragged cross, red upon white wax.Hay, Vol. II. Part 350. who adds, the subscribers can scarcely write, and they are Dominus Johannes Robeson, præpositus de Roslin; Dominus Johannes How, vicarus pensionarius de Pentland, manu sua Henricus Sinclair, prebendarius. W. Sinclair of Roslin, Knight coram his testibus, (says the

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copy of the charter,) Magistro Johanne Henryson de Bengor, Patricio Douglas, Roberto Kite. In the charter of Feb. 5th, 1523, four altars are particularly named; first, that of St Mathew, secondly, that of the Virgin Mother, thirdly, that of St Andrew; and 4thly, that of St Peter; that of the Blessed Virgin was in the sacristry, the other three in the chapel. That this noble design might be executed with taste, and with the greatest splendor, the Prince invited the most accomplished artificers, masons, carpenters, siniths, &c. from foreign parts, and that they might be the more conveniently lodged for carrying on the work with the greater ease and dispatch, he ordered them to build the village or town of Roslin, where it now is, nigh to the chapel, having been formerly half a mile distant from its present situation; and he gave each of them a house and lands suited to their rank; he gave besides to the master mason 40 pounds, and to every other mason 10 pounds yearly; and

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rewarded the other workmen with such wages their labours entitled them to. About that time the village of Roslin was erected into a burgh of barony by King James the second, at Strivilin, and it became very populous, by the concourse of all ranks and degrees of visitors, that resorted to this Prince, at his palace or castle of Roslin; for he kept a great court, and was royally served at his own table in vessels of gold and silver; Lord Dirleton being his master of the household, Lord Borthwick his cupbearer, and Lord Fleming his carver, in whose absence they had deputies to attend, viz. Stewart, Laird of Drumlanrig; Tweedie, Laird of Drumerline; and Sandilands, Laird of Calder. He had his halls and other apartments richly adorned with embroidered hangings. He flourished in the reigns of James I. and II. His princess, Elizabeth Douglas, already mentioned, was served by 75 gentlewomen, whereof 53 were

daughters of noblemen, all cloathed in velvet and silk, with their chains of gold and other ornaments, and was attended by 200 riding gentlemen in all her journeys. If it happened to be dark when she went to Edinburgh, where her lodgings were at the foot of Blackfriar's wynd, 80 lighted torches

were carried before her: she was next

in dignity to the queen.-Hay, vol. II. p. 234. In the year 1688, on the 11th of December, about 10 o'clock at night, a reforming or presbyterian mob. in the height of antipapal zeal, pillaged the castle and chapel of Roslin, the family having fled to Ireland, their only crime being strict adherence to the religion of their fathers, the church of Rome. This mob, as I understand from the best authority, consisted chiefly of Roslin's own tenants.

PHILO-ROSKELIENSIS.

Edin. 30th Aug. 1808.

Geography and Trade of the BLACK SEA, with a description of New ODESSA.

From Macgill's Travels in Turkey, &c.

THE navigation of the Black Sea

is but little known, being usually performed by people who are not very skilful seamen; the charts likewise are extremely incorrect; for instance, the French chart, which was till lately the only one made use of, sets down Capa on the Asia side, 15 miles too far north, and Capa Caraza on the Crimea, 22 miles too far south; this we had an opportunity of ascertaining, having got two very good observations, which I found to be correct, by comparing notes after my arrival, with some captains who perfectly agreed with me. This therefore makes a difference in the width of the sea, of 37 miles. From the variety of the currents, we found, in making the Crimea, that we were carried by them too about 50 miles north, and 31

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west, of our reckoning. On the 26th, we arrived at Ambelique, a bay near the east end of the Crimea, and not far from the entrance of the sea of Asoph, or what was anciently called the Palus Meotis.

Ambelique is the place appointed for ships going into the sea of Asoph, to stop at, to have their papers of health examined; we went on shore, were fumigated, and ordered to strike ourselves hard on the groin and armpits, to prove that we had no infection; after which we went through an examination as to the state of our health, and the condition in which we left Constantinople.

By order of the Russian government, ships should perform three days quarantine at this place, before they proceed on their voyage; but the offcers being at all times accessible to a bribe, antedate their report, and if the wind be fair, the stay at Ambelique is reduced to a few hours.

The passage into the sea of Asoph is dangerous if the wind be strong, but very safe in moderate weather. The entrance at the bar is extremely narrow, and plenty of buoys are laid down to facilitate it; there is seldom more than thirteen feet water on the bar, but the bottom is so soft, that in moderate weather no danger need be apprehended from touching. We fortunately had good weather; and paying all due attention to the buoys, which are very judiciously placed, got safe through, which was not the case with some vessels near us, as they ran aground, but soon hove off; in the afternoon we came to an anchor, in 34 fathoms water. At the narrowest part of this strait the Russians have a fort called Jeanicoli, which completely commands the entrance. The south cast coast being very low, was our reason for coming to an anchor, as the weather was hazy.

On the 3d of June we came to an anchor off the town of Taganrock, at the distance of three wersts from the

shore. We found upwards of 200 ships of different fiags and sizes, waiting for

cargoes.

Taganrock is a small city, situated near the head of the sea of Azoph, on a promontory of land, from which it takes its name Taganrock, or the Angel Rock; it is in latitude 46 degrees.

The climate is in the two extremes of heat and cold; during the summer the most scorching heat prevails, and in the winter the frost is intense: but in spring and autumn, both of which are however short, the temperature is mild and pleasant.

The port, if it deserves the name, is a most wretched one. From the shallowness of the sea, vessels of even moderate burthen are obliged to lie at the distance of from three to even ten wersts from the town. Government has long had it in contemplation to shut up the navigation of this sea, and carry its commerce to Kaffa in the Crimea in small vessels, by which it would form an excellent nursery for seamen. The port of Kaffa, the ancient Theodosia, lies considerably to the west of the entrance of the sea of Asoph, but if you will take the trouble to look into a map of the country, you will see, that behind the Crim the sea runs down till within about 30 wersts of the aforesaid port. They have begun already to build the necessary magazines at Kaffa, and many families have been sent to cultivate the intermediate space of ground. The adoption of this measure will certainly cause a wonderful improvement in trade. The sea of Asoph is open only a few months of the year, and of those months, in July and August, the water recedes, when a parti cular wind blows with such violence, that the shipping is aground many wersts from the shore. The water is at times so scarce on the bar, that no vessels of any burthen can enter, unless they take lighters to carry down part of their cargoes, which of course they are often obliged to do. At

Kaffa,

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Kaffa, there are none of these dffiiculties to encounter; the port is fine and the sea seldom frozen; even in the depth of winter ships arrive at Kaffa, and other parts of the Crimea, which is certainly the best spot on that side of Russia whereon to build sea-ports.

From the situation of Taganrock, at the head of the sea of Azoph, and nearly at the mouth of two rich rivers, namely the Don and the Volga, and its also being in a fertile part of Russia, it enjoys a trade in many staple articles, not known in the ports in the west of the Crimea, unless brought from hence.

The wheat of Taganrock and its environs is of the best kind, being what is called Arnaut, a hard wheat of a fine yellow or gold colour, and short of the pile. About 300 cargoes, of 200 tons each, of this grain are annually brought into market, and readily bought up for the markets of Italy and Spain.

Besides wheat, they have also abundance of fine barley, rye, and oats, but the last is much inferior to what you have at home. Peas and beans are likewise plenty, and flour of different kinds is not scarce. All these articles are to be had on reasonable terms at the proper season.

Tallow is very abundant; about one hundred thousand puds are annually collected here and in the neighbourhood; of these, two thousand tons are sent to the Petersburgh market alone.

Iron, from Siberia, comes down the Volga in immense quantities. It is of three different qualities, and according to these, differs in price from 15 to 20 per cent. Any quantity of iron may be had by giving orders at the

proper season.

Hemp and flax are also plentiful. The hemp of Orel is esteemed the best, although all that grows in this neighbourhood is good.

Hides, both salted and tanned, are

plenty and cheap; an immense number of vasshetti roso, or red hides, are annually shipped for Italy.

Taganrock likewise furnishes timber for ship-building, and the finest spars for ship masts, &c. These articles come down the river from Siberia; pitch and tar come likewise from the same place: they are both of a superior quality.

Caviar, or sturgeon roe, is exported from Taganrock to the amount of 50,000 puds annually; it is made on the Don and the Volga rivers, and consumed both by Roman Catholic and Greek on their meagre days.

The fairs in this part of Russia deserve to be mentioned. That of Micaria is one of the greatest in the world: merchants even from China attend it, and exchange their eastern treasures for our western manufactures. This fair commences on the first of August (old style,) and continues fifteen days; that of Coronea is likewise one of no small importance : a great number of India articles are bartered at it, and at both of them, as well as those of lesser note, the produce of the country is exchanged from one hand to another to an immense amount. The fair of Coronea is in June, and continues for a week. At these two fairs contracts are entered into for the delivery of export articles, and others for the delivery of many articles in the Spring.

ODESSA, the favourite city of its tutelar, his grace the Duc de Richelieu, is pleasantly situated near the head of a bay, and between the rivers Dnepier and Dneister; government has spared no expense to render it a safe and commodious port: they have formed a harbour, in which ships of no small burthen may ride secure from every storm. They are now at an immense cost, building a mole or key, which extends nearly half a werst into the sea; this, when finished, will be of considerable utility, as ships will be

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