=Edinburgh= (ed-in-bo-ro; _Edwin’s burgh_), the metropolis of Scotland,
grew up originally beneath the protecting walls of its castle, and is
not a manufacturing town, but derives its importance mainly from the law
courts, its university and schools, and its printing and publishing
trade. It is situated upon two ridges of ground, divided by a deep,
narrow valley, formerly a morass, now made into a public park, through
which the railways pass. To the north of this park is the New Town,
composed of modern and elegant buildings--the principal street, Princes
Street, bordering upon and overlooking the park. The principal hotels
are on the opposite of Princes Street. The railway stations are in the
valley. To the south lies the ridge of the Old Town, terminating, to the
west in a rocky bluff, upon which stands the Castle in the heart of the
city. The Old Town is the historic part of the city, the New being quite
modern. The first Scottish Parliament was convened here by Alex. II.,
1215.
The principal places of interest are Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood Abbey
and Calton Hill. Among the objects of less interest are the house of
John Knox, High Street; St. Giles Church; Allan Ramsay’s Theater, the
favorite resort of Burns; the Black Turnpike, the prison of Queen Mary,
near the Iron Church; and the Heart of Midlothian, the site of an old
prison. Annie Laurie was married in Iron Church two hundred and fifty
years ago. John Knox is buried in the paved court between the Parliament
House and St. Giles; marked by the letters J. K. in the pavement.
THE CASTLE, stands on a precipitous rock about three hundred feet above
the valley, accessible only from the east side. It is an extensive mass,
of which the oldest portion--and the oldest building in the city--is St.
Margaret’s Chapel, the private oratory of the Saxon Princess Margaret,
queen of Malcolm Canmore. Another portion is a lofty range of old
buildings, in a small apartment of which Queen Mary gave birth to James
VI. in 1566; while in an adjoining apartment are kept the ancient
regalia of Scotland. Here, also, is the old Parliament Hall, restored in
1888-1889. The castle as a fortress contains accommodation for two
thousand soldiers, and the armory space for thirty thousand stand of
arms. An old piece of ordnance built of staves of malleable iron, cask
fashion, and known as _Mons Meg_, stands conspicuous in an open area.
HOLYROOD PALACE AND ABBEY was founded by King David I., who is said to
have been saved from the horns of a stag, driven to bay near this spot,
by a luminous cross in the sky. In the northwest angle of the building
are the apartments which were occupied by Mary, Queen of Scots, nearly
in the same state in which they were left by that unfortunate princess.
CALTON HILL (_call-ton_) is at the eastern end of Princes Street and has
an altitude of about three hundred and fifty feet. Upon the hill,
adjacent to the stairs, is Dugald Stewart’s monument at the left; to the
north is the Old Observatory, and the New Observatory with a small dome.
To the south is Nelson’s monument, one hundred and two feet high,
surmounted by a time-ball. The unfinished colonnade is a part of a
structure in honor of Waterloo, intended to be a copy of the Parthenon
at Athens. The foundation was laid 1822, but, proving too costly, the
project was abandoned.
The view from the summit of this hill is scarcely to be surpassed. To
the north is what may be called New Edinburgh, extending toward Granton
and the port of Leith. Across the Forth, is Fifeshire. Following down
the Forth, is first, the islands of Inch Keith, Portobello, Bass Rock,
and the Isle of May, farther at sea. Toward the south and west the Burns
monument; Holyrood immediately below; Salisbury Craig and south,
Arthur’s Seat, eight hundred and twenty feet high; thence to the north
the Old Town, commanded by the frowning Castle.
[Illustration: =VIEW OF EDINBURGH FROM THE CASTLE=]
=Oxford=, capital of Oxford county, and seat of one of the most
celebrated universities in the world, is situated about fifty miles
northwest of London, on a gentle acclivity between the Cherwell and the
Thames, here called the Isis. Oxford, as a city of towers and spires, of
fine collegiate buildings, old and new, of gardens, groves, and avenues
of trees, is unique in England.
Of the university buildings the most remarkable are Christ’s Church, the
largest and grandest of all the colleges, with a fine quadrangle and
other buildings, and a noble avenue of trees. It was founded by Wolsey
in 1525, and its magnificent chapel is the cathedral church of the see
of Oxford. The _hall_ is a noble room.
_Merton College_, founded about 1264, has a very beautiful chapel of the
fifteenth century, and the library is the oldest in the kingdom.
_New College_, founded by William of Wykeham, in 1386, is one of the
wealthiest of the colleges, and the chapel is very handsome.
The _gardens of St. John’s College_ are much admired and the grounds of
Magdalen College (perhaps the most beautiful college in Oxford) are no
less attractive. The latter include “Addison’s Walk,” a shaded avenue
that was his favorite resort when a student here. The _Bodleian Library_
and _Picture Gallery_, the _Theatre_ (built by Wren), the _Ashmolean
Museum_ (also by Wren), the _Radcliffe Library_ and _Observatory_, the
_Divinity School_ (in the hall of which Cranmer, Latimer, and Ridley
were tried in 1555), _St. Mary’s Church_, the _Taylor Institute_, the
_University Galleries_ and _Museum_, the _Botanical Gardens_, and the
_Martyr’s Memorial_ are also among the noteworthy things in Oxford. The
_High Street_ is the subject of one of Wordsworth’s sonnets; and
Hawthorne calls it “the noblest old street in England.” Oxford depends
mostly on the university, and on its attractions as a place of
residence.
=Stratford-on-Avon=, Shakespeare’s birthplace, is a pleasant town of
Warwickshire, eight miles southwest of Warwick, twenty-two miles
southeast of Birmingham, and one hundred and ten miles northeast of
London. It stands on the right bank of the quiet Avon, which here is
spanned by the “great and sumptuous bridge” of fourteen pointed arches,
three hundred and seventy-six yards long, that was built by the Lord
Mayor of London.
It is a quiet, old-fashioned place, with wide and well-kept streets, and
many handsome mansions. The _Town Hall_ was dedicated to the memory of
the poet. Here is a statue of Shakespeare, presented by Garrick, on the
pedestal of which are the lines from _Hamlet_; “Take him for all in all,
we shall not look upon his like again.” Very interesting is the
_Shakespeare Memorial Building and Theater_, in a charming situation by
the Avon, the outgrowth of the feeling that the poet should have a
suitable monument in his native town.
SHAKESPEARE’S HOUSE, in Henley Street, became national property in 1847,
and has been carefully restored. The room in which the poet is said to
have been born seems to have undergone but little change since that day.
In another room there is a small museum of Shakespearian curiosities.
STRATFORD CHURCH, in which Shakespeare is buried, is on the bank of the
Avon. It is a large and elegant structure, with a graceful stone spire
one hundred and sixty-three feet high, erected in 1764 to replace a
wooden one that had been taken down. The building has been judiciously
restored in recent years. There is an elegant window illustrating
Shakespeare’s “Seven Ages,” the contribution of Americans.
The grave of Shakespeare is in the chancel, covered by a plain
flagstone, while above, on the wall to the left, is the monumental bust
which is the most trustworthy representation of the poet. His wife lies
near him, with his favorite daughter, “good Mistris Hall,” and Dr. John
Hall, her husband. In the chancel there is also an elegant marble
monument to John Combe, the poet’s friend.
SHOTTERY, where Anne Hathaway lived before she became the wife of
Shakespeare, is about a mile from Stratford, and may be reached by a
footpath through the fields. The cottage that was Anne’s home has a
timber and plaster front, and a thatched roof. The interior contains the
oaken seat on which Shakespeare and Anne were wont to sit; many bits of
venerable furniture; and, upstairs, a vast bed, on which many a Hathaway
has drawn the last breath of life.
Stratford also possesses a memorial fountain, presented by George W.
Childs of Philadelphia, and Harvard House, the birthplace of the mother
of John Harvard, founder of Harvard University. It is still an important
agricultural center; but its chief prosperity depends on the thirty
thousand or so pilgrims who visit it yearly.
=Ayr=, forty miles from Glasgow, Scotland, by railway, is noted
especially as the birthplace of Burns, the poet; as also the place where
Wm. Wallace was imprisoned. The town is divided by the river Ayr, over
which are the “twa brigs” of Burns. The Burns Cottage, or birthplace,
the scene of his “Cotter’s Saturday Night,” is two miles south of the
town, and is now used as a public memorial. It contains few articles
associated with Burns.
ALLOWAY KIRK, mentioned in “Tam O’Shanter,” or what remains of it, is
one-half mile south of the Cottage. Near the church are the Burns
monument, a circular shaft sixty feet in height, erected 1820, and the
Doon, immortalized in the “Banks and Braes of Bonny Doon.”
Burns died at Dumfries, where he had lived three years, and was buried
in the churchyard there. Nineteen years later, upon the completion of
the monument to his memory, his body was exhumed and placed within the
Mausoleum at Dumfries.
=Melrose=, in the county of Roxburgh, thirty-one miles southeast of
Edinburgh, is celebrated for the abbey founded by King David in 1136;
destroyed by Edward II. in 1322; rebuilt by Bruce in 1326, and partly
demolished by the English in 1545. Sir Walter Scott has given it an
enduring description in his Lay of the Last Minstrel.
The material of which it is built is a very hard stone, and much of the
carving is as perfect as when fresh from the sculptor’s hand. Within its
walls are the graves of kings, and nobles and priests of the olden time;
among them Alexander II. of Scotland, and more than one of the renowned
Earls of Douglas. Before the high altar the heart of King Robert Bruce
is said to have been deposited. Sir David Brewster’s grave is in the
churchyard.
DRYBURGH ABBEY, four miles from Melrose, was founded about the same time
as Melrose, and, like that, was destroyed in 1322 by Edward II. Robert
I. restored it, at least in part; but it was again destroyed in 1544.
St. Mary’s aisle, the most beautiful part of the ruins, contains the
tomb of Scott, buried here September 26, 1832; also the graves of his
wife and his eldest son, and of his son-in-law Lockhart.
[Illustration: =ABBOTSFORD, HOME OF SIR WALTER SCOTT=]
ABBOTSFORD, two miles from Melrose, was long the home of the “Great
Enchanter of the North.” The author’s study is the most interesting
room. There the old writing-table, the plain leathern armchair, the
reference books, seem to indicate that Sir Walter has but just left
them. The _Library_ (twenty thousand volumes) contains a bust of Scott,
by Chantrey, and many miniatures. The roof is of carved oak, designed
from models taken from Roslin Chapel. The _Drawing-room_, where Sir
Walter died, and the little octagonal dressing-room contain many
precious relics. The _Armory_ has a fine collection of Scotch weapons.
=Windsor=, is in Berkshire, England, on the Thames, twenty-one and
one-quarter miles from London. It contains a town hall, built by Sir
Christopher Wren in 1686, the church of St. John the Baptist, with fine
examples of Grinling Gibbon’s wood-carving, and a fine Jubilee statue of
Queen Victoria.
Windsor owes its chief importance to its castle, which stands east of
the town on a height overlooking the River Thames, and is the principal
royal residence in the kingdom. It was begun, or at least enlarged, by
Henry I., and has been altered and added to by almost every sovereign
since. The castle stands in the Home Park or “Little Park,” which is
four miles in circumference, and this again is connected with the Great
Park, which is eighteen miles in circuit, and contains an avenue of
trees three miles in length.
[Illustration: =STRATFORD-ON-AVON, IMMORTALIZED BY ITS ASSOCIATIONS WITH
SHAKESPEARE=]
The chief features of interest in the castle are the old state
apartments; St. George’s Chapel, where the Knights of the Garter are
installed, and the vaults of which contain the remains of Henry VI.,
Edward IV., Henry VIII., Charles I., George III., George IV., and
William IV.; the Round Tower or ancient keep; and the present state
apartments.
ETON COLLEGE is one-half mile from Windsor across the river. The stone
chapel, one hundred and seventy-five feet long, is very handsome. There
is also a bronze statue of Henry VI. The college was founded in 1440.
STOKE POGIS, the scene of Gray’s _Elegy_, and the burial-place of the
poet, is near Windsor.
There is a fine monument to Gray in _Stoke Park_.
=Cambridge=, fifty-six miles from London, and on the Cam, a narrow
stream that rambles all over the town. Tradition gives 630 as the date
of the foundation of the University; but the oldest college,
_Peterhouse_ or _St. Peter’s_, can only be referred to 1257. The public
buildings are the Shire Hall, Town Hall, University halls and library,
and Fitzwilliam Museum.
There are seventeen colleges, inferior in architectural beauty to those
of Oxford, though their associations are quite as interesting.
TRINITY, was founded by Henry VIII. in 1546, and has three fine
quadrangles; a splendid hall in the Tudor style; gardens; and an
important library, with busts of Newton and Bacon, Thorwaldsen’s statue
of Byron, Newton’s telescope and some of John Milton’s manuscripts.
CHRIST’S COLLEGE, founded in 1442, was Milton’s college. In the gardens
is _Milton’s Mulberry-Tree_. The quadrangle was rebuilt by Inigo Jones.
JESUS COLLEGE (1496) and _Chapel_ are very fine buildings, on the site
of a Benedictine nunnery.
CAIUS (pronounced _Kees_) was founded in 1384, and enlarged in 1557 by
Dr. Caius, physician to Queen Mary. Rebuilt lately, it is now one of the
best.
CORPUS CHRISTI (1351) contains curious portraits, especially those of
Sir Thomas More, Wolsey, Erasmus, and Foxe, the author of the _Book of
Martyrs_.
KINGS COLLEGE (1441), founded by Henry VI., is the finest building in
the University. The chapel is the finest specimen of perpendicular
Gothic existing. The roof, unsupported by pillars, contains twelve
divisions of exquisite lace-work tracery in stone. The twenty-four
stained-glass windows, each fifty feet high, are beautiful.
The _Fitzwilliam Museum_, and some of the churches, especially the round
chapel of _St. Sepulchre_, are of considerable interest. _All Saints_
contains a monument, by Chantrey, to Henry Kirke White. _Girton
College_, for women, founded in 1869, is about two miles northwest of
the town. The walk along the Cam behind the colleges, with the view of
the “Backs” and bridges, is the pride of Cambridge.