him down through earth into a crystal grotto. There she showed him the Bible, again taken from the monks, upon a flaming altar, from which she enabled him to seize it and to bear it back to the glen, in order that he might explore its mysteries, that he thought were influencing the lives of those around him. "For," said he, "I will learn why the Lady of Avenel loved it; why the priests feared, and would have stolen it," and why the Spirit has twice recovered it from their hands. And the Spirit, committing it to him, spoke to him those well-known solemn words, so truthfully recorded by the great writer of romance, "Within that awful volume lies Halbert, returning to Glendearg at night, concealed under a floor the precious book, — again, later in the story, to be an object of strange influence and action. Social life at the tower was just then varied by the advent and sojourn there of a fashionable cavalier, Sir Piercie Shafton, who had got himself up as a choice spirit, modelled after the then admired Euphues and his England, and who was rather inexplicably quartered thus by direction of the lord abbot of St. Mary's. Not long time, however, elapsed before Halbert's regard for Mary Avenel rendered him jealous of the knight, and produced a violent quarrel between the two gentlemen. Halbert again invoked the White Lady, and then fought Sir Piercie, who was wounded, and who, strangely enough, disappeared in ill condition. Halbert, although he was known to have fought Sir Piercie, could not give account of his antagonist's fate. Circumstances consequently caused him to decide to take refuge at Avenel Castle. There, accompanied by a friend, Henry Warden, a Protestant preacher, he experienced a remarkable visit. Smailholm Tower, described on pages 313-15, is, as there stated, a supposed original of the castle. This tower, as also before mentioned, is the opening scene of the novel forming a sort of continuation to this,— "The Abbot." There Halbert found himself and his friend at last, prisoners of its fierce lord, Julian Avenel, from whom they had particularly good reason for desiring to escape. Halbert was con fined in the basement, a strong room, it will be remembered, having only small grated windows. From one of these he succeeded in reaching the rocks outside. Thence, diving into the lake (then larger than now), and swimming to the main shore, he gained the open country and the road to Edinburgh, whither further development of his affairs called him. Meanwhile Sir Piercie Shafton, who had disappeared, returned to Glendearg, and in his turn found himself in a suspicious position; for of Halbert, who had not been there since the duel, he could give no account. Confusion ensued. Sir Piercie, accused of murdering Halbert, was threatened violently by Edward Glendinning, and finally confined in the lower part of the tower. From this imprisonment he was released by a person who had before appeared in the story, though not before alluded to here, Mysie Happer, daughter of Hob the Miller of the Vale. She was a simple girl, upon whom the elaborate manners, dress, and language of the knight (a good-looking man), had made profound impression. She felt such sympathy and apprehension for his security, that she braved the possible consequences of liberating him and of escaping with him, disguised as his page. The chief characters and topographical features of the story have all been introduced, when it attains this degree of development; accordingly the sketch of the remainder here may present less detail. The affairs of the family at Glendearg, and of the community at St. Mary's, became more complicated. Edward Glendinning, finding his brother had not been killed, but existed, a living and more successful lover of Mary Avenel, entered holy orders. Ultimately, a great English raid swept through the country, producing farther changes, during which Julian Avenel was killed, and his wife died, and Halbert Glendinning seized their infant child. Mary Avenel became converted to the Reformed faith. The storm of war and violence rolling on, gathered around the ancient abbey; and Murray, Regent of Scotland, and the Earl of Morton, with their forces, appeared at Kennaquhair. There, among the concluding scenes of the novel, occurred one of those memorable incidents experienced by so many great and venerable monastic institutions. Dangers had thickened, till, at length, the Holy Fathers were called upon to meet men who might doom their stately structure to decay, and their fraternity to dispersion, after both had, in some form, existed there "since the first light of Christianity" in those regions. "The whole bells of the abbey ... added their peal to the death-toll of the largest," wrote Scott. "The monks wept and prayed as they got themselves into the order of their procession for the last time, as seemed but too probable.... The great gate of the abbey was flung open, and" they "moved slowly forward from beneath its huge and richly adorned gateway. Cross and banner, pix and chalice, shrines containing relics, and censers steaming with incense, preceded and were intermingled with the" extended and solemn array of the Fathers, who appeared "in their long black gowns and cowls, with their white scapularies hanging over them." Each of the various officers of the convent displayed his proper badge of office. "In the centre of the procession came the abbot, surrounded and supported by his chief assistants. He was dressed in his habit of high solemnity, and appeared as much unconcerned as if he had been taking his usual part in some ordinary ceremony. After him came the inferior persons of the convent; the novices in their albs or white dresses, and the lay brethren, distinguished by their beards, which were seldom worn by the Fathers. Women and children, mixed with a few men, came in the rear, bewailing the apprehended desolation of their ancient sanctuary. . . . In this order the procession entered the marketplace of the village of Kennaquhair, which was then, as now, distinguished by an ancient cross of curious workmanship, the gift of some former monarch of Scotland." Around this, "the monks formed themselves, each in their due place." The chant they had been singing was stilled. The lamentations of the populace were hushed. The men of Fate appeared; and, as they approached, the brotherhood chanted the solemn psalm, De profundis clamavi. All this scene, with incidents yet unmentioned here, can still be pictured well at the cross of Melrose. Existing, though altered, and coeval with the abbey, "still it watches o'er the town." The upper part with the arms seems to have disappeared after the Reformation, and the structure to have been purified by substituting a unicorn and the royal insignia of Scotland for the entire emblem of salvation. During the momentous interview before it, described in the story, there was disagreement, even to quarrelling, and even between the two great earls whose coming had caused the commotion. Mary Avenel, indeed, became a subject of dispute, and her disposal in marriage was not very privately argued,—and more with regard to other considerations than her affections. But all being well that ends well, good came of this trying visit. Halbert Glen dinning secured for his bride Mary Avenel, then an heiress; the abbot retained, for a while at least, his establishment in no worse condition than before; and, quite as curiously, though perhaps less importantly, Sir Piercie Shafton, who had become a conspicuous subject of the disagreeing and debating, reappeared, to be proven the grandson of a tailor, - one old Overstitch of Holderness, and also to be proven the doer of some rather desirable justice to his page, Mysie Happer, by marrying her, "his lovely Mysinda," as he termed her. Thus Halbert Glendinning became Knight of Avenel. Both he and his lady, staunch Protestants, are again introduced to us in "The Abbot," childless, and the early guardians of Roland Græme. Edward Glendinning again lived at Glendearg, then comparatively deserted, also again to reappear in 'The Abbot," and as a zealous and active Catholic. Once more, and for the last time, he saw the mysterious White Spirit, "seated by her accustomed haunt, and singing, in her usual low and sweet tone," "Fare thee well, thou Holly green! The knot of fate at length is tied, Vainly did my magic sleight Send the lover from her sight; Wither bush, and perish well, Fall'n is lofty Avenel!" "The vision seemed to weep while she sung; and the words impressed on Edward a melancholy belief, that the alliance of Mary with his brother might be fatal to them both." And here this sketch, directing to the places in which the incidents of Scott's story occurred, ends, where also ends his pleasant narration of some of the later fortunes of "The Monastery." These visits to the scenes of this novel, -scenes such favorites with its great author, — and to his homes during boyhood and the full glory of manhood; to the wonderful panorama of historic, poetic, and romantic associations living in the fair and varied scenery presented from Eildon Hill; to the great Tweed-dale relics of ancient art and piety; and to that shrine at Dryburgh, where all of him that is mortal reposes, to all this region so peculiarly "The Land of Scott," may well make us think, at our departure from it, of Childe Harold's "vain adieu" to the river Rhine, and feel of our farewell, that, like his, "Tis with the thankful glance of parting praise: -more glaring shine, More mighty spots may rise- The brilliant, fair, and soft, the glories of old days." The direct way of return to Edinburgh, by rail, leads up the Vale of Gala Water, past the Lammermuir and the Pentland Hills, and past Crichton Castle, celebrated in "Marmion" (page 43), and Bothwick and Dalhousie (both worth visiting, and only a short distance from the line). Through this pleasant country the Scottish Capital may be reached from Melrose, or a route equally interesting may be found by Berwick to the chief scenery sketched in the next chapter. XXXVI. "THE BRIDE OF LAMMERMOOR." Eighth Novel of the Series; Written 1818-19; Published 10th June, 1819; TRA RAVELLERS departing from Edinburgh by the main line of the North British Railway, on the route proposed to England, can, before leaving Scotland, make interesting excursions on the way. By the branch to North Berwick, it is possible, on one fine day, to visit from that town the Law, a great solitary, conical hill, nine hundred and forty feet high, conspicuous through all that region, and even at Edinburgh; and then, three miles along the coast, the massive ruins of Tantallon Castle, chief stronghold of the earls of Douglas, and thus famous in the latter part of "Marmion" (pages 46-50), as scene of one of the most stirring episodes in that stirring poem; and, finally, to visit The Bass Rock, an insulated mass of precipitous crags, two miles from shore, rising so grandly over four hundred feet above the sea. By carriage, or by walking, it is possible in half a day to visit, from Grant's House Station on the line, the remains of Fast Castle, overlooking the German Ocean, amid scenery worth visiting on |