"a lively impreffion on young travellers, and to inform them of the dangers they are going to encounter.'-Our Author likewife, very properly, cenfures thofe fenfeless fathers who expofe their fons, before the age of reafon, to dangers from which they cannot escape but by a miracle.-The Ruffian wanted neither fenfe nor education; but he had no view in leaving his country, except to amuse himself; a term at Paris fynonymous to that of ruining himself.'

If any Foreignifms are perceived in the foregoing extracts, let us candidly accept the Author's apology for them:-"I requeft the reader's indulgence for my style. An absence of several years has almoft made me lofe my language. Foreign phrases force themselves on me. But let the reader treat this my first attempt in English with a little mildness, and I promise him I fhall endeavour to improve in my next +. I do not know whether I fhall ever attain elegance; but I am fure, that all the pages I fhall ever write fhall be, like thefe, innocent and cheer

ful.'

* Our Author's firft work [at leaft the first that has come to our knowledge] was written in Italian; vid. Review, Dec. 1779, p. 460, Art. Configlio ad un Giovane Poeta, &c.

+ Our Author gives us to expect fome work of confequence from his 'pen; but of what nature, he does not intimate.

ART. IX. Antiquities and Scenery of the North of Scotland, in a Series of Letters to Thomas Pennant, Efq. By the Rev. Charles Cordiner, Minifter of St. Andrew's Chapel, Bamff. 4to. 12 s. 6d. Boards. T. Payne. 1780.1

HIS volume is defigned as a Supplement to Mr. Pennant's Scottish Tour: Mr. Cordiner (the correfpondent of Mr. Pennant) attempts to fulfil that gentleman's wifh, of drawing out of their obfcurity the remoteft parts of North Britain; a country, which, like many other unfrequented parts of the globe, affords plenty of objects for the traveller's obfervation and entertainment. The fcenes of nature here prefented to view, are, fome of them, fo grand and romantic, and others so agreeable and delightful, that great opportunity is afforded by them for men of tafte, fenfe, and erudition, to employ their speculations to advantage. The Reader will accordingly find it no unpleafing amusement to attend this intelligent traveller from ftage to ftage, till he arrives nearly at the fpot from which he fet out. The rocks of Brae-Mar, the foreft of Mar, Mar-lodge, the Bullers of Buchan, the ruins of towers and caftles, the views of hills, dales, rivers, lakes, cataracts, feats of the nobility and gentry, &c. &c. will furnifh very agreeable entertainment for a Icifure hour; and the twenty-one elegant plates with which the vo

lume

lume is decorated, will not a little contribute to enhance the pleasure.

Mar-lodge, a hunting feat of the Earl of Fife, fituated in a beautiful field, affords a fhort but pleafing defcription. Among other particulars we obferve the following as fomewhat remarkable:

It is,' we are told, in the heart of Mar-forest; an extent of country about fifteen miles fquare, referved entirely for deer and game, of which it yields the greatest plenty and variety. The deer being never difturbed near the feat, come about it in great numbers, without fhewing any marks of fear; advancing from the thickets, they often cross the green, and ftop to feed, on their way to their native mountains. The young fawns, bounding from the copfe, and accompanied by the hinds, deliberately walk along in view: they are often obferved on the adjacent heights, refting in the heat of the day; and in the evenings march along the fides of the dale in companies of twenty or thirty together; the flags, with their branchy horns and fine fhapes, are beautiful and entertaining figures in the landscape. The deer that are ufed at table, are killed in diftant parts of the foreft, many miles from Mar-Lodge. Thefe hills abound with partridge, black-cock, ptarmigans, and dottrels, and are a rich field of amufement for the fportfman, though the ruggedness of the 'grounds makes the recreation to be accompanied with no small fatigue.'.

verugie, the ancient feat of the Earl Marechals of Scotland, leads our Author to fpeak of the late Earl, who in his exile was graciously received by the King of Pruffia, and conftituted Governor of Neufchatel. He obtained leave to come over and Ipend fome time in Scotland; during which interval the King of Pruffia wrote to him: a copy of the letter we here infert, as it may be new and amufing, at least to many of our Readers:

"I cannot allow the Scotch the happiness of poffeffing you altogether. Had I a fleet, I would make a defcent on their "coafts and carry you off. The banks of the Elbe do not ad

mit of thefe equipments: I muft therefore have recourse to "your friendship, to bring you to him who efteems and loves AL you. I loved your brother with my heart and foul: I was "indebted to him for great obligations: this is my right to

you, this my title. I fpend my time as formerly; only at "night I read Virgil's Georgics, and go to my garden in the "morning, to make my gardener reduce them to practice; he laughs both at Virgil and me, and thinks us both fools.

"Come to ease, to friendship, and philosophy; these are "what, after the buftle of life, we must all have recourse to." The Earl accordingly returned into Pruffia, where he died; and the line is extinct.

The pillar at Forres is faid to furpass in magnificence and grandeur the other obelifks in Scotland, and to be the most

stately

ftately monument of the Gothic kind to be feen in Europe: its feveral divifions are differently ornamented; in one, horfes with their riders marching in order; in another, a line of warriors on foot, who feem to be brandifhing their weapons, and as fhouting for battle; in others, ferjeants, with halberts, guarding a canopy, under which are a number of human heads, trumpeters and combatants attending; a troop of horfe put to Alight by infantry with bows and arrows, fwords and targets; afterwards the horses feized, the riders beheaded, the head of their chief placed in a frame, and dead bodies under an arched cover. The other fide of the obelifk, occupied by a fumptuous cross, is covered over, we are informed, with a uniform figure elaborately raised, and interwoven with great mathematical exactnefs; under the crofs are two auguft perfonages, with fome attendants, much obliterated, but evidently in an attitude of reconciliation. If, fays Mr. Cordiner, the monument was erected in memory of the peace concluded between Makolm and Canute, on the final re treat of the Danes, thefe large figures may represent the reconciled monarchs. But, as he obferves, to whatever particular tranfaction it may allude, it can hardly be imagined, that in fo early an age of the arts in Scotland as that in which it muft have been raifed, fo elaborate a performance would have been undertaken, but in confequence of an event of the most general importance; it is therefore furprising, that no more diftinct traditions of it arrived at the æra when letters were known.

The Author, on viewing the picturefque and majestic scene about Crag-Carril, prefents us with the following account, and

reflections:

Near to Carril are fome charming fields, bounded by a craggy hill; from a cleft in the middle of the hill rushes forth a torrent, which paffing under a natural bridge of rock, dafhes down the precipice, and forms a wild and beautiful cafcade in its fall: the noife of the torrent echoing in a lofty and deep cavern, the cavern flagged with fhrubs and aged trees, among which the wild fowl make their nefts, the rivulet murmuring round infulated piles of rock, and the diftant profpect of the halls and monuments of ancient heroes, forcibly recal to mind the images of the Offian fong. Here, perhaps, has Carril, whofe name is fill preferved in thefe fcenes, mufed his wild and defultory ftrains; here" amidst the voices of rocks, and bright tumbling of waters, he might pour the found of his trembling harp."-Whether the memory of lapfed ages was preferved by the bards, or if only, like a morning dream, the vifions of Offiax came in later days, yet pleasant are the words of the fong, well do they paint these wilds, in all the striking forms of their native grandeur and beauty. "Lovely are the tales of other times;" they are faithful to the ftory, which deceives the winter evening among the hills. "O Carril, raife again thy voice; let me hear the fong of Selma, which was fung in the halls of joy, when Fingal, King of hields, was there, and glowed at the deeds of his fathers." But the REV. Feb. 1781. I

66

light

light and joy of the fong are fled; the halls of the renowned are left defolate and folitary, amidst rocks that no more echo to the found of the harp, amidst ftreams which mu mur unheeded and unknown.'

These northern regions prefent us with more fertile spots than, amidst such rocks, precipices, and deferts, might be expected.

"The country round Braal, in Caithnefs,' we are told, is fertile and pleafant: in the more champaign part of Caithness, the beauty of the farms is remarkable, many of the corn-fields of great extent, fhewing a rich uninterrupted verdure, for feveral miles together.— Along the north fhore, it is a delightful ride, from John a Grots (Dungby-head) to the Hill of many Stones, through fields whose fmoothness and vivid verdure expres a luxuriant foil, and elaborate cultivation.' In the account of Strath Hallad-Dale, in which stands the feat of Mr. M'Kay, we are told, it is a rich but narrow valley, which for several miles divides the mountains, and forms a winding plain on each fide of the river. It produces natural grafs, which grows fufficiently long to be cut for hay; and the foil is eally tiled. The improvements of agriculture are here much ftudied, and make confiderable progrefs; but when the views of the proprietor extend beyond the dale, and he attempts to gain on the hill, the foil is fo perplexed with rocks, and interwoven roots of fhrubs, that the expence of labour in reducing it, renders the purchate dea. In the dale, the climate feems fufficiently warm. The appearance of the gardens was unexpectedly pleafing. In a fpot inclofed with fuch barren ridges of rocky hills, one does not look for such a display of luxuriance; the borders decked with variety of the richest flowers, plenty of wall-fruits; apples, pears, plums, cherries, which are often as early ripe as at Edinburgh; beds of melons and cucumbers, and whatever can give variety, or grace the entertainments of the table.' Mr. Cordiner had but a rugged and difficult journey to view the famous Dun-Dornadilla; but as he approached it, he tells us, he forgot the fatigues of the day.

This venerable ruin,' he fays, dignifies the banks of a pleasant river which divides the dale. The verdure of the valley, not without rifing corn, became a cheerful fcene in fo dreary a wilderness; a folitary hamlet near the best cultivated fpot, mingled a rural foftness with the vaft wildness of the reft of the profpect Projecting rocks, fhagged with bushes, and frowning with vast length of fhadows along the fides of the hills of immeasurable extent, many cafcades in deepworn channels rufhing down among them, murmur their wild mufc to the winds and the echoing rocks; for now no plaintive bard fits listening" by the tree of the rustling leaf." Picturefque and lofty mountains terminate the view; the head of one, immenfely high in air, bending over its precipitous fides, feems nodding to its fall, and threatens the dale with its ruins. On every hand the fcenery is fuch, as gives Dun-Dornadilla a fituation diftinguifhedly romantic, magnificently wild.'

Our Author does not believe this to have been a religious edifice, according to the opinion of many, or intended merely as a kind of fleeping barrack in the hunting feafon, but a

fortrefs

fortress or tower belonging to King Dornadilla. He dwells pretty copiously on the fubject, and we have the rather taken notice of it, because it lately came under our review *.

We must now take leave of these travels, and obferve, that a farther part of this volume confifts of extracts from Torfæus, a native of Iceland, patronized on account of his great abilities by Frederic III. King of Denmark. Frederic IV. appointed him hiftorian for the kingdom of Norway. He died about the year 1720, aged 81. If we wish to learn any thing certain of the Picts and Caledonians, who inhabited the northern regions of Scotland, it must be gathered from the above-mentioned author, as these people had no written hiftory of their own til long after the introduction of Chriftianity, about the tenth or eleventh century. Expeditions from Norway to make fettlements in the Orkney islands, or on the coats of Caithness, were frequent. The fongs of the bards who attended them have been received as authentic repofitories of hiftorical facts, and much of Torfæus refts on their validity.

See Review for April, 1780, vol. Ixii. p. 271 and 273.

H.

ART. X. Bibliotheca Topographica Britannica. No. I. Containing, 1. Queries for the better illuftrating the Antiquities and Natural History of Great Britain and, Ireland. 2. The Hiftory and Antiquities of Tunftal in Kent, by the late Mr. Edward Rowe Mores. 4to. 5 s. fewed. Printed for J. Nichols, Payne, Dilly, &c. 1780.

Ο

UERIES of the kind here proposed, relative to particular counties, or to the kingdom in general, have at different times been offered to the public: they do not appear to have been regarded with the attention and regularity which might have been expected, or followed with the fuccefs that might have been hoped for. The compilers of this work, which is to be continued in future numbers, complain that the Society of Antiquaries have not promoted fuch a defign, and much more that a plan of this kind should have no place in their system.

In the first part of this number, therefore, queries of the kind mentioned above, fomewhat modified and enlarged, to the number of fifty-three, are addreffed to the nobility, gentlemen, clergy, and others, of Great Britain and Ireland, with a view of obtaining from their answers refpecting the places of their refidence, the moft perfect account of the antiquities and natural hiftory of these kingdoms.

The fecond part of this number is intended as the fpecimen of a work formed on, or agreeable to, the foregoing queries. Mr. Mores was born in the parish whofe history is here given by him. He had completed it for the prefs before his death, which

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