pear evident, if we consider that this feudal muster of the Upper Ward of Clydesdale is represented as having taken place on a haugh or level plain near to a royal borough," and that Lanerk is the only royal borough in the Upper Ward. Indeed, there are but two other boroughs in the county, Rutherglen and Glasgow, to neither of which, it is obvious, there can be any allusion in the above passage. Clydesholmgreen may very naturally be viewed as the spot on which the wappen-shaw took place. This is a small but beautiful holm, lying about half a mile below Lanerk, and celebrated in the annals of local superstition as the scene of the festivities of the witches and fairies on Hallow-eve. It appears to have been formerly a place of some note, for two mounds, about the proper distance from each other, seem to mark a place for exercising archery; and a little imagination can easily conceive the popinjay at the memorable wappenshaw, of the 5th of May 1679," to have dangled on the larger hillock, while the anxious competitors took their aim from the smaller. Directly opposite to Clydesholmgreen, on the other bank of the river, is a more level and extensive haugh, forming the greater part of a farm called Baithill, which, if any person choose to regard as the scene of the feudal muster, I shall not contest the matter.

The seat of the venerable Lady Margaret Bellenden, the residence of the fair Edith, next demands our attention; and from the various notices and descriptions of the tower which are scattered up and down the tale, there can be little doubt that the magnificent castle of Craignethan is the archetype of Tillietudlem. In Vol. II. p. 275, we are informed that "the tower of Tillietudlem stood, or perhaps yet stands, upon the angle of a very precipitous bank, formed by the junction of a considerable brook with the Clyde." This is extremely near being an accurate description of the situation of Craignethan. This castle does stand upon the very point of an exceedingly steep promontory, formed by the Nethan on the east side, and on the west by the bed of a craggy and turbulent torrent, which joins the larger streams at the very angle whereon the fortalice stands. The Nethan, after leaving the castle,

forces its way through a deep ravine, formed on the one side by the high and perpendicular craigs of Blair, composed of strata of freestone and a tilly substance resembling coal, and having the ruggedness of their extensive front relieved by many a hazel, sloethorn, and stunted ash, clinging to. the crevices of the rocks, entwined with honeysuckle, ivy, and flowering brier, and forming the inaccessible haunts of thousand of cushats, mavises, and merles. On the other side, the braes rise in many a wavy slope near the castle, covered with flowering broom, while further down they are highly cultivated, divided by hedge-rows, and planted with fruittrees of various kinds. At a little distance below the Nethan, a moss-drawn stream, whose waters are a clear and sparkling brown, like the hue of the cairngorm pebbles," (Vol. II. p. 276,) falls into the Clyde after crossing a beautiful haugh, where, embowered in fruitful orchards, stands the straggling village of Crossford. "There" is "a narrow bridge of one steep arch across the brook, near its mouth, over which, and along the foot of the high and broken bank, winds the public road" between Lanerk and Glasgow. "Looking up the river," on which Craignethan stands, "the country" rapidly becomes "hilly, waste, and uncultivated;" "the trees are few, and limited to the neighbourhood of the stream, and the rude moors swell, at a little distance, into shapeless and heavy hills, which are again surmounted in their turn by a range of lofty mountains, dimly seen on the horizon."*

The lofty mountains to which the novelist alludes are (if we are right in our opinion that Craignethan is Tillietudlem)

those which divide the counties of Lanerk and Ayr; and although now completely naked of trees, appear anciently to have been covered with forests, for large trunks of oaks, and innumerable sticks of birch, hazel, &c. are found in the wet and inert moss which covers these mountains to the depth of many feet; and their names, designations, Auchingilloth and Auchinwith the exception of one or two, whose stilloch, seem derived from the Gaelic, are significative in the lowland tongue, and evidently borrowed from the woods with which the mountains' sides were adorned. A conspicuous range is called the Hawkshaws, and in the neighbourhood we find the Reidshawhill, the Nutberry, and the

The Moose, which foams among the dreadful craigs of Cartlane, and the Nethan, are the only "consider able brooks" which jom the Clyde between Lanerk and Avon. The first cannot be the "berry-brown stream" on which Tillietadlem stood, for it falls into the river but about a quarter of a mile below the place where the wappen-shaw must have been held, so that, had the tower stood near the disemboguement of the Moose, the offer of Gilbertscleugh to convey her ladyship and Miss Ballenden home, as parties of the wild Whigs were abroad, and were said to insult and disarm the well-affected," could not but be regarded by Lady Margaret as an insult itself, and a silly attempt to frighten this highminded dame. Neither has Avon a better claim to the honour of having laved the walls of Tillietudlem, for when Mause and her "winsome bairn" were ejected from their "free house, and the yaird that grew the best early kail in the haill country,' and had gone 66 awa down to Milnwood, to tell Mr Harry their distress," Cuddie assures his Honour" that he would run any chance of losing the penny-fee," rather than gang down about Hamilton, or ony sic far country." This hopeful youth's ideas of distance we may learn from Vol. II. p. 157, where he says to his mother, after her "whiggery" had drawn down on their heads the heavy displeasure of Lady Margaret,-"Weel aweel; we'll hae to gang to a far country, maybe twall or fifteen miles aff,"-which, by the way, is nearly the distance between Hamilton and Craignethan; whereas Avon flows into Clyde but about two miles above that ducal seat. Upon no rivulet above Lanerk could the tower have stood. Douglas water, which, indeed, may well claim the honours of a river, is the nearest that falls into the Clyde in this direction, which it does at the distance of several miles above the

and precipices, but is a quiet, placid, and alnost stagnant stream, winding for miles among holms and haughs, with not a craig, and scarcely a brae, on its whole course. The Castle of the Lords of Douglas is the only strength on its banks, and this stands at the distance of three or four miles above the conflux of the Douglas and the Clyde. Nethan must, therefore, be the "berry-brown stream," and Craignethan must be Tillietudlem.

The village wherein Burley, when besieging Lady Margaret, established his head-quarters, appears to be Draffan, a hamlet at a short distance above Craignethan, and from which it is sometimes called Draffan Castle. This place, though now reduced to two or three farm-houses, once contained a considerable number of inhabitants, consisting chiefly of cottars, renting a small piece of ground, but depending principally upon the larger farmers for labour and support. It has, as is well known, been raised by the ingenuity of etymologists to the dignity of having been a principal seat or temple of the Druids, its name having been deduced from Druidum fanum, though not a vestige of that ancient order of priesthood was ever discoverable in this place, except antiquaries be pleased to reckon as such one or two beautiful barrows which formerly adorned this hamlet, but which, having been, most unhappily, composed of excellent soil, were by the late tenant converted into huge earth middens, and carted out to the neighbouring fields.

It is more difficult to determine the situation of Milnwood, than that of any other scene which occupies a conspicuous place in the tale of Old Mortality; and so vague and contradictory are the notices respecting it, that all we can do with confidence is to place it in the Middle Ward of Clydesdale, somewhere near its upper confines about Dalserf.

If these remarks, which have grown to a length disproportioned, perhaps, to their importance, be thought wor thy of a place in your Miscellany, I shall give, in some future Number, a short account of Craignethan, and of the traditions connected with it. I T. am, &c.

Clydesdale, Jan. 25th, 1819.

LETTER PATENT OF THE DUCHESS OF

BURGUNDY, IN 1445,

Offering a Safe-conduct, &c. to the Princess Eleonora, daughter of James the First of Scotland, on the prospect of her being sent to her sister, the Dauphiness of France, to be married to the Archduke of Austria.

[It is to be observed, that, in this letter, which is copied from the original in the Register-House of Edinburgh, this Duchess is called Elizabeth, whereas, in Rymer, and in others of our historians whom we have consulted, she is called Isabel. Her frequent appearance in public at that time, as on this occasion, seems to have been intended as a cloak to the intrigues and unsettled politics of her husband.-Some interesting particulars, not commonly known in this country, respecting the Princess Eleonora, may be expected in our next.]

ELIZABETH Regis portugalie filia Dei gracia Duxissa Burgundie Lotaringie Brabancie et Limburgie Comitissa flandrie Arthisii Burgundie palatina hanouie hollandie Zellandie et namurci Sacri Imperii marciona ac domina frisie salmis et machlinie, Vniversis presentes litteras visuris salutem et dilectionem Notum facimus ad nostram noticiam pervenisse qualiter Illustrissimus princeps et dominus meus dominus Ludovicus, primogenitus Caroli Regis francie filius dalphinus viennensis ac Illustrissima domina mea marguareta Regis scocie filia ejus conthoralis ex sincerissimi et tenerrimj_amoris zelo quibus Inclitissime domui scocie consanguinitatis et affinitatis vinculo sunt a stricti intuentes et comodum et augmentum honoris ipsius Inclitissime domus scocie procurant et dietim prosequi nituntur,, Idem

um esse po.. ....maxime quod nuper de consensu et beneplacito prefati domini mei francie Regis matrimoniale fedus inter Illustrissimum dominum Romanorum Regem et dominam Elenorem cognatam nostram carissimam domini et cognati nostri scocie Regis et Domine mee marguarete Dalphine Viennensis predicte germanam tractare et prosequi disponunt, et Deo fauente perficere sperant,, Pro cuius Rei faciliori complemento duos viros Dilectissimos no

bis Dominum lancelotum militem Dominum luriaci, et guillermum monipeny scutiferum suos constituerunt commissarios et nuncios speciales Dantes eis et eorum alteri commissionem et mandatum speciale petendi et Recipiendi eorum nominibus a prefato Domino et cognato nostro Domino Jacobo scocie Rege predictam cognatam nostram Elenorem germanam suam et eam apud eos conducendi, quam sicut decet serenitatem suam tanquam sororem propriam gratissimis fauoribus tractare spoponderunt ac dictum matrimoniale fedus quam cicius Deo Dante fieri poterit cum prefato serenissimo Romanorum Rege aut id deficiente quod absit, cum alio principe sibi compare prosequi et perficere Deo agente disponunt, Vt ex suis patentibus litteris cunctis intuentibus liquide constat Cum autem hec nouerimus ad honoris augmentum maximumque commodum prefate Inclitissime domui Scocie Redundare Nos ca cordiali affectioni qua plus possumus Rogamus Instanter et viscerose, suademusque ac consulimus prefato Domino et cognato nostro Illustrissimo Domino Jacobo Scocie Regi vt prefatam Dominam Elenorem suam germanam cognatam nostram predictis domino lanceleto militi et guillielmo monipeny scutifero aut eorum alteri Juxta desiderium et votum prefati domini mei dalphini et domine mee dalphine sue sponse tradere velit et graciose expedire, quam sicut decet suam serenitatem, si eam per dominia domini mei aut nostra iter agere contingat deo permittente Juxta possibilitatem nostram honorifice Recipere, et fauere et complacere ac per dicta dominia de securo transitu providere Intendimus Vt hoc autem de nostra mente prouenisse ad cunctorum noticiam deueniat,, Has presentes litteras fecimus sigilli nostri impressione comuniri apud Remin. vrbem Die vicesima aprilis Anno Domini millesimo quadringentesimo quadragesi mo quinto.

Per Dominam Ducissam

N DOMESSENT

ON CLIMATE.

MR EDITOR,

IN your Magazine for April last, I observed an article on the subject of climate, accompanied by a plate illus trative of the facts there stated, respecting the mean temperature of the earth at different depths below the surface. The communication was certainly a valuable one, and I have frequently regretted that you or your correspondent did not, as your readers were led to expect, prosecute the subject in your following Number. There was one point, however, in the article referred to on which I proposed at the time to trouble you with a few remarks, but delayed doing so till I had ascertained the result of some observations that I was then making on the same subject. These remarks I now beg leave shortly to submit to your readers.

The point alluded to in your correspondent's communication, is the great importance that he attaches to the method lately recommended, (certainly from high authority,) of "fixing the mean temperatures of places by the temperatures of their springs, a method," he says, "which, from its superior accuracy and facility to the tedious, incorrect, and, in most cases, impracticable one, by averaging the observations of a series of years, promises so much to advance our knowledge of this most important element in physical geography, and the theory of climate." That the method recommended is more accurate than the ordinary one of averaging the observations of a series of years I shall for the present admit; but that it is more easy, and less tedious, is, I conceive, very questionable. There are comparatively few springs in this country whose temperature does not vary at least several degrees in the course of the year; many of them, indeed, five or six. This fact I state partly from my own observation, and partly on the authority of others, who have had opportunities of examining springs in different parts of the country. The most uniform, indeed, of any that I have yet heard of, is one on the west coast of Scotland, whose temperature varies, in the course of the year, from one to two degrees. But, admitting that there are many to be found, whose temperature is even more uni

form than that just mentioned, how is this fact itself to be known or ascertained but by a series of observations? and, though for one year it may be found to vary little or nothing, how do we know that its variation will not be greater during the next? It will appear from the table annexed to these remarks, that water raised from a depth of 25 feet, does vary in temperature from one year to another, and it can hardly be supposed that a spring, unless it issues with uncommon velocity from the ground, can rise so rapidly from such a depth, or be so little affected by the temperature of the superincumbent strata, as water elevated by a good pump. I apprehend, therefore, that the mean temperature of a place cannot be accurately ascertained even from the temperature of its springs, without a series of observations continued for a series of years; and, when we consider the difficulty of finding springs at once copious and permanent, it will appear very doubtful whether the method recommended will at all diminish the labour of the meteorolo. gist. Nor is it of so much value as your correspondent seems to imagine, on the score of accuracy, for it appears, from the subjoined table, that the mean temperature of springs, whatever be their depth, corresponds very nearly with the mean of the daily extreme temperatures taken in the open air.

For the same reasons, the method to which your correspondent alludes, of determining the elevation of a place by comparing the temperature of its springs with the standard temperature of the latitude at the level of the sea, as given by Mayer's formula, appears to me to be liable to a strong objection. It is a well known fact, and, indeed, may be inferred from the very nature of springs, that the higher and more extensive the collecting surface, or, in other words, the lower the point at which the spring issues, the more steady will be its temperature. In proportion, therefore, as we ascend, the more liable will a spring be to greater variations, and, consequently, the more necessary will it be to mul tiply observations in order to determine the true mean temperature of the place. It is obvious then, that to estimate the height of a place, whose elevation does not exceed 1000 feet, by