"In England, the law of the road But who goes to the right goes wrong." I wish to say something more than Henry told you about our voyage along the eastern coast of the British Isles. 12. A few miles before we passed the mouth of the river Tweed, the boundary between England and Scotland, Prof. Howard called our attention to an island near the coast, called Holy Island, on which are the ruins of a famous old abbey, that are described by Sir Walter Scott in his poem of "Marmion," from which the Professor read the following extract: The Abbey on "St. Cuthbert's Holy Isle.” To emulate in stone." 14. When, on our visit to Melrose Abbey, to which Henry has referred, we were viewing the great altar window, which is said to be unrivalled for its fine proportions, the richness of its tracery, and the beauty and delicacy of its workmanship, Prof. Howard again quoted from Sir Walter Scott, this time from his "Lay of the Last Minstrel." The following is the poet's description of this famous window, and of the scene presented when the abbey was visited by "William of Deloraine": a A paradox is something that is seemingly contradictory; something absurd in appearance and language, but true in fact. Melrose Abbey. 15. "The moon on the east oriel shone Through slender shafts of shapely stone, Thou wouldst have thought some fairy's hand In many a freakish knot had twined, Then framed a spell, when the work was done, 16. "The silver light, so pale and faint, Showed many a prophet and many a saint, And trampled the apostate's pride. And threw on the pavement a bloody stain." 17. On leaving Edinburgh, and passing out of the Firth of Forth, we sailed northward along the coast, past the entrance to the harbor of "bonny Dundee," close by Montrōse, the ancient seat of the famous Dukes of that name, and soon after entered the excellent harbor of a great manufacturing city, called Aberdeen. 18. If Aberdeen is a manufacturing city, it is a handsome one, with many broad and beautiful streets; and the elegant houses in one of the streets-called Union Street, and Union Place-are built, for a mile in length, wholly of the most beautiful white granite! 19. Stopping before one of these new houses, I asked one of the workmen if I might have one of the little bits of Verse 15.-On what resemblance is based the figure "freakish knot"?-In verse 16, the figure "the moonbeam kissed"? stone which I saw lying around there in abundance. He looked up at me with surprise, and replied, "As mony as ye can carry awä wi yě, my little mŏn." So there's a bit of rock, all the way from the granite hills of Scotland, for the Lake-View Museum! 20. After leaving Aberdeen for Amsterdam, we passed near a light-house which seemed to rise up out of midocean, with no land, or rocky isle, to rest on. We had seen it, off the Firth of Forth, as we passed northward on our way to Aberdeen. 21. "But it stands on a rock under water," said Prof. Howard. "The rock is now called Bell Rock; and it has a strange story connected with it,-about events which are said to have occurred there several hundred years ago. As the sun is just setting, and we shall see no more land tonight, we will go into the cabin, and I will tell you the story." II.-The Pirate Rovers of the Sea. 1. When we were gathered around the Professor in the cabin, he thus continued: "The events that I am going to narrate to you occurred at a time when there were no lighthouses to warn honest mariners of the dangers of a rocky shore; and wild 'rovers,' as they were called, but they were no better than pirates, roamed the ocean and plundered the villages along the coasts. 2. "Those wild and stormy times are well described in the following lines about the Danish Count Wittikind, who was the most famous of these 'Rovers of the Sea :' COUNT WITTIKIND. 3. Count Wittikind came of a regal strain, And roved with his Norsemen the land and the main : 13723 Fright of maiden and slaughter of priest! Before him was battle, behind him wrack: And he burned the churches-that heathen Dane, 4. On Erin's shores was his outrage known; The winds of France had his banners blown; Little was there to plunder, yet still His pirates had forayed on Scottish hill; But upon merry England's coast More frequent he sailed, for he won the most. 5. So far and wide his ravage they knew, If a sail but gleamed white 'gainst the welkin blue, Trumpet and bugle to arms did call, Beacons were lighted on headland and cape; Walter Scott. 6. "It appears," said the Professor, "that one of these pirates, who was known as Ralph the Rover,' is connected in the prevailing legends with the history of this Bell Rock which we have just passed, but which was then called the Inchcape Rock." The story is, that, as this rock was very a The "Inch'cape" Rock, now known as Bell Rock, is off the east coast of Scotland, about fifteen miles east from the entrance to the Firth of Tay, and ten miles southeast from the port of Ar/broath, the ancient Aberbroth'ock, as the word is accented by both Webster and Worcester. But Southey, with 'poetic license', changed the accent to suit the metre and rhyme. dangerous to mariners, the good priest of Aberbroth'ock, who lived in a village on the coast near by, caused a bell to be attached to a float of timber so fastened to the rock that the bell would ring when the waves ran high in a storm. But I will read the story to you as it is told by one of England's poets." Then he read the following: III. The Inch'cape Bell. 1. The good old Abbot of Ab'erbrothock 2. When the rock was hid by the surges' swell, And then they knew the perilous rock 3. The buoy of the Inchcape bell was seen, 4. His eye was on the Inchcape float: 5. The boat is lowered, the boatmen row, And to the Inchcape Rock they go; Sir Ralph bent over from the boat, And he cut the bell from the Inchcape float. 6. Down sank the bell, with a gurgling sound; The bubbles rose and burst around: |