The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 20, No. 581, December 15, 1832

And Shaw park, gilt wi' e'ening's ray:
And Embro castle, distant grey;
Wi' Alva screened near Aichil brae,
'Mang grove and bower!
And rich Clackmannan rising gay
Wi' woods and tower.

    Hector Macneill.
Stirling is seated on the river Forth, upon a precipitous basaltic rock, about one hundred feet from the level of the plain. Upon the rock stands the Castle, from the outer court of which the present Panorama was sketched. The town, in external appearance, bears a miniature resemblance to Edinburgh, being situate like the old town of that city, on the sloping ridge of a rock, running from east to west, the precipitous end of which is occupied by the Castle. But, of the town itself, little is seen in the Panorama. The view, as we have stated, is from the Castle, and is generally allowed to be one of the finest in Scotland. Its scenery has many sublime and picturesque features, and has moreover been the site of some of the most stirring incidents in Scottish history; no less than twelve fields of battle, including three important ones fought by the first and second Edwards, being distinctly visible. Beginning with the Castle, we find, from its situation commanding the passes and fords between the north and south of Scotland, it was in early times styled the Key, as Dumbarton was the Lock, to the Highlands. Its first fortification is referred to the time of Agricola; the Picts had a strong fortress here, which was totally destroyed in the ninth century by the Scots, under Kenneth II. Stirling formed part of the ransom of his brother and successor, who had been taken prisoner by the Northumbrians; they rebuilt the Castle, but subsequently restored the place to the Scots. In the twelfth century, it was considered one of the strongest forts in Scotland. It was often visited by the Scottish monarchs, but it did not become a royal residence until the accession of the Stuarts. Here was born James II., and in an apartment now forming part of the deputy-governor's lodging, this king perpetrated the murder of Earl Douglas. James III. made it his chief residence, erected the parliament-house, and a richly-endowed chapel, since destroyed. James V. was crowned here, and erected the palace. Mary was crowned here, as was James VI. when thirteenth months old; he was educated here by the celebrated Buchanan. During the regency of Mary of Lorraine, a strong battery was erected here; and in the reign of Queen Anne, the fortifications were strengthened and enlarged. In 1806, the rocky ground in front was converted into an esplanade; since which the towers have been repaired and castellated, it being one of the Scottish forts, which, by the articles of the Union, are always to be kept in repair. It mounts about 36 guns; but if regularly invested in modern warfare, it could not hold out many hours. To enumerate its sieges, dismantlings, and repairs would occupy too much space. Among the most memorable of its stormy annals, is its siege by Edward II. in 1301, for three months, when it was battered with stones of two hundred pounds weight each, thrown by engines, in the formation of which was used all the lead from the monastery of St. Andrew's. It was last besieged in 1746 by the Highlanders under Prince Charles. The chief parts of the building seen in the Panorama are the additions by Queen Anne, the parliament-house, (though not the unsightly, modern roof,) and the palace, a stately and curious structure of hewn stone, and embellished with grotesque sculpture. The latter building forms a quadrangle, the central court of which is called the lion's den, from the king's lions being formerly kept there. The whole is now used as barracks. From the Castle, looking over the town, towards the east, is a vast plain, nearly 40 miles in extent, called the Carse of Stirling, through which the Firth in meandering, forms a number of peninsulas, in places approximating so closely as to have an isthmus of only a few yards, the effect of which in the picture, reminded us of the contrived intricacies of a child's puzzle; in this direction is seen Alla, or Alloa, a thriving seaport town, with a Gothic church, and celebrated for its excellent ale; Clackmannan, a miserable town, where in a tower lived King Robert Bruce, and where an old Jacobite lady knighted Burns with a sword which belonged to Bruce, observing that she had a better right to do so than some folk; Falkirk, known for its trysts, or markets, where the country-people point out a battle-field, and a stream called the Red Burn, from its running with blood on the day of the conflict; Bruce lived near this spot, the view from which he said was not surpassed by any he had seen in his travels: next lies the Firth of Forth, and the country as far as Edinburgh and the Pentland Hills. Towards the south stands the ancient village of St. Ninian's, and Bannockburn, the battleground of the most celebrated and important contest that ever took place between English and Scots; the Torwood, where till lately stood a tree said to have sheltered Wallace; and the Carron, bounded by the green hills of Campsie. Towards the west are the plains of Menteith, a district, says Chambers, distinguished almost above all the rest of Scotland, for the singular series of beautiful and romantic scenes which it presents to the view of the traveller, and bounded by the majestic Grampians. On the north are the famous ruins of Cambuskenneth, and the precipitous Abbey Craig, beyond which lies the richly-cultivated vale of Devon; the moor on which the battle of Dumblain was fought; and Ochill Hills, clothed with blooming heath, and overtopped by the summits of Perthshire. Such is the artist's outline of the prospect: our task shall be to select a few of its most entertaining details.

To return to the Panoramic arrangement: next the castle is Gowlan Hill, the ordinary place of execution in times of wicked bloodshed, and thus apostrophized by Douglas, in the Lady of the Lake:

And thou O sad and fatal mound!
That oft hast heard the death-axe sound,
As on the noblest of the land,
Fell the stern headsman's bloody hand.

The hill has, however, less terrible association; it being after called Hurly Hacket, from James V. and his nobles there playing at that game, which consisted in sliding down the steep banks on an inverted cutty stool. This was, at least, more rational than cutting off heads. Next is Abbey Craig, a rock upon which Wallace defeated the English; Dollava, a village on a gloomy rock, almost insulated by two streams, whose Celtic names signify the glens of care and the burns of sorrow; Tillabody, the birthplace and property of Sir Ralph Abercrombie; the crumbling walls and bell tower of Cambuskenneth Abbey, wherein several parliaments were held, and at whose high altar the clergy and nobles swore fealty to Robert and David Bruce; Edinburgh, with its castle, thirty-eight miles from Stirling, whence it is discernable in clear weather; the Carron Iron-works; and the Carron, of more classic celebrity in Ossian, and the battles of the Romans and the Scots and Picts; the dome-shaped hill of Tinto, in Lanarkshire, 60 miles from Stirling, and 2,336 feet in height; Arthur's Hill, a circular mound of earth, surrounded by seats of turf in the royal gardens, sometimes called the king's knot, where the court held fêtes, and where James used to amuse himself with the pastime called the Knights of the Round Table; Ben Lomond, 3,240 feet above the lake, which is 32 feet above the level of the sea; Ben Venue, and Ben Ledy, or the hill of God, in Perthshire, 3,009 feet in height, so called from the inhabitants of the surrounding villages, in former times, meeting on its summit at the summer solstice, three days and nights for the purpose of devotion. These three mountains, with their vicinities are enshrined in Sir Walter Scott's Lady of the Lake; and the village of Balquidder, at the foot of Ben Ledy, is the burial place of Rob Roy. We have just described the circle: over the garden wall of the Castle, at a considerable distance, is the well-wooded estate and mansion of Craig Forth, said to have once belonged to a blacksmith of Stirling: this man having placed the iron bars (which still remain to the windows of the palace), and done other work for James VI. when that monarch came to the throne of England, made a demand of one thousand pounds Scots,—but by some error, the accounts being paid in Stirling money, he with it purchased the estate and built the house of Craig Forth. Next, to the right is Blair Drummond, formerly the residence of the accomplished Lord Kaimes; and beyond are the celebrated ruins of Donne Castle; not the least interesting incident of its annals was the imprisonment there in 1745, of John Home, (the author of Douglas,) who has left a narrative of his clambering escape over the high walls.

It is time to speak of the Panorama as a work of art; for hitherto we have rather considered its intellectual interest. The Castle and Palace we take to be finely painted, with admirable picturesque effect: the huge gateway, flanked with two towers, the battlemented walls, and battery, are in fine bold relief, as is the clinging vegetation about the building; nor must we omit the grotesque figures or corbelled pedestals, and the identical window bars, the work of the wily Scot of Craig Forth; the latter especially, are clever. A portion of the esplanade otherwise devoid of interest, is peopled with a meeting of the Highland Society celebrating the feats of the ancient Caledonians, the object of the Society being to preserve their language, costume, music, gymnastic sports, and martial games. This introduction happily fills up what would otherwise have been the only void in the scene, so thickly is it studed and storied with objects and recollections. Altogether, we have rarely seen a topographical panorama of such diversified character: it has reminiscences of history and poetry to lead us through the retrospect of chivalrous ages, princely contests for crowns that rarely sat lightly on their wearers, and the last flickering hopes of defeated ambition and ill-starred fortune. Yet, how powerfully, not to say painfully, are these pages in the chronicles of human actions, when contrasted with the broad volume of nature, as spread before us in this picture. Alas! what is the majesty of the mightiest of the kings that dwelt in its palace in comparison with the sublimities of Tinto, Ben Lomond, Venue, or Ledy; or what the peace of their halls amidst the smiling expanse of the Carse of Stirling in all its quiet luxuriance. They and their houses have become dust or crumbling ruin, and death has with a little pin bored through their castle walls—while Nature has been flourishing from year to year, and reading man an epitome of existence in the succession of her changes.

It has been stated that Mr. Burford, the successful painter of Stirling, is engaged on a Panorama of the Falls of Niagara. All admirers of this style of painting must be anxious for his success.

SIR WALTER SCOTT

Mr. Parker has issued in addition to the Medal already noticed in our pages, a Medallion of the lamented Poet and Novelist, from Chantrey's bust. It is, we think, the obverse of the Medal, with bronzed circular frame work bearing the motto suggested by Sir Walter. Though handsome, it is an economical memorial of one whose amiable talents must endear him to every fireside in the kingdom.

NEW BOOKS

POMPEII

[The second and concluding volume of the descriptive history of Pompeii, in the Library of Entertaining Knowledge, is still more attractive than its predecessor. It contains the very domestic economy of the ancient inhabitants—chapters on domestic architecture, paintings and mosaics, streets and fountains, private houses, villas, and tombs; and, moreover, on the art of baking, and the forms of domestic utensils. We are, therefore, led through hall, parlour, bath, kitchen, and shop, with amusing minuteness; and, in the account of furniture and domestic implements, it is curious to observe, how far we are indebted to the ancients for the forms of similar contrivances now in use. One of the best passages in this portion of the work is the following, on the]

Lamps and Candelabra

No articles of ancient manufacture are more common than lamps. They are found in every variety of form and size, in clay and in metal, from the most cheap to the most costly description. We have the testimony of the celebrated antiquary Winkelmann to the interest of this subject: "I place among the most curious utensils, found at Herculaneum, the lamps, in which the ancients sought to display elegance, and even magnificence. Lamps of every sort will be found in the museum at Portici, both in clay and bronze, but especially the latter; and as the ornaments of the ancients have generally some reference to some particular things, we often meet with rather remarkable subjects." A considerable number of these articles will be found in the British Museum, but they are chiefly of the commoner sort. All the works, however, descriptive of Herculaneum and Pompeii, present us with specimens of the richer and more remarkable class, which attract admiration both by the beauty of the workmanship, and the whimsical variety of their designs. We may enumerate a few which occur in a work now before us, "Antiquités d'Herculanum," in which we find a Silenus, with the usual peculiarities of figure ascribed to the jolly god rather exaggerated, and an owl sitting upon his head between two huge horns, which support stands for lamps. Another represents a flower-stalk, growing out of a circular plinth, with snail-shells hanging from it by small chains, which held the oil and wick. The trunk of a tree, with lamps suspended between the branches. Another, a naked boy, beautifully wrought, with a lamp hanging from one hand, and an instrument for trimming it from the other, the lamp itself representing a theatrical mask. Beside him is a twisted column, surmounted by the head of a Faun, or Bacchanal, which has a lid in its crown, and seems intended as a reservoir of oil. The boy and pillar are both placed on a square plateau, raised upon lions' claws. But, beautiful as those lamps are, the light which they gave must have been weak and unsteady, and little superior to that of common street-lamps, with which indeed they are identical in principle. The wick was merely a few twisted threads, drawn through a hole in the upper surface of the oil-vessel; and there was no glass to steady the light, and prevent its varying with every breeze that blew.

Still, though the Romans had not advanced so far in art as to apply glass-chimneys and hollow circular wicks to their lamps, they had experienced the inconvenience of going home at night through a city ill-paved, ill-watched, and ill-lighted, and, accordingly, soon invented lanterns to meet the want. These we learn from Martial, who has several epigrams upon this subject, were made of horn or bladder;—no mention, we believe, occurs, of glass being thus employed. The rich were preceded by a slave bearing their lantern. This, Cicero mentions, as being the habit of Catiline upon his midnight expeditions; and when M. Antony was accused of a disgraceful intrigue, his lantern-bearer was tortured, to extort a confession whither he had conducted his master.[4 - Val. Max. vi. 8.] One of these machines, of considerable ingenuity and beauty of workmanship, was found in Herculaneum in 1760, and another, almost exactly the same, at Pompeii, a few years after.

One of the most elegant articles of furniture in ancient use was the candelabrum, by which we mean those tall and slender stands which served to support a lamp, but were independent of and unconnected with it. These, in their original and simple form, were probably mere reeds, or straight sticks, fixed upon a foot by peasants, to raise their light to a convenient height; at least, such a theory of their origin is agreeable to what we are told of the rustic manners of the early Romans, and it is in some degree countenanced by the fashion in which many of the ancient candelabra are made. Sometimes the stem is represented as throwing out buds; sometimes it is a stick, the side branches of which have been roughly lopped, leaving projections where they grew; sometimes it is in the likeness of a reed or cane, the stalk being divided into joints. Most of those which have been found in the buried cities are of bronze; some few of iron. In their general plan and appearance there is a great resemblance, though the details of the ornaments admit of infinite variety. All stand on three feet, usually griffins', or lions' claws, which support a light shaft, plain or fluted according to the fancy of the maker. The whole supports either a plinth large enough for a lamp to stand on, or a socket to receive a wax-candle, which the Romans used sometimes instead of oil in lighting their rooms. Some of them have a sliding shaft, like that of a music-stand, by which the light might be raised or lowered at pleasure.

We may here say a few words on the art of inlaying one metal with another, in which, as in all ornamental branches of the working of metals, the ancient Italians possessed great skill. In the time of Seneca, ornaments of silver were seldom seen, unless their price was enhanced by being inlaid with solid gold. The art of uniting one metal to another was called by the general term ferruminare. Inlaid work was of two sorts; in the one, the inlaid work projected above the surface, and was called emblemata, as the art itself was called, from the Greek, embletice. It is inferred, from the inspection of numerous embossed vases in the Neapolitan Museum, that this embossed work was formed, either by plating with a thin leaf of metal figures already raised upon the surface of the article, or by letting the solid figures into the substance of the vessel, and finishing them with delicate tools after they were attached. In the second sort, the inlaid work was even with the surface, and was called crusta, and the art was called, from the Greek, empaestice. This is the same as the damask work so fashionable in the armour of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, which is often seen beautifully inlaid with gold. It was executed by engraving the pattern upon the surface of the metal, and filling up the lines with fine plates of a different metal; the two were then united with the assistance of heat, and the whole burnished. Pliny has preserved a receipt for solder, which probably was used in these works. It is called santerna; and the principal ingredients are borax, nitre, and copperas, pounded, with a small quantity of gold and silver, in a copper mortar.

[The volume is enriched with four steel-plate engravings, and 154 cuts, of clever execution.]

THE WONDERS OF THE LANE

Strong climber of the mountain's side,
Though thou the vale disdain,
Yet walk with me where hawthorns hide
The wonders of the lane.
High o'er the rushy springs of Don
The stormy gloom is rolled;
The moorland hath not yet put on
His purple, green, and gold.
But here the titling[5 - The hedge-sparrow.] spreads his wing,
Where dewy daisies gleam;
And here the sunflower[6 - The dandelion.] of the spring
Burns bright in morning's beam.
To mountain winds the famish'd fox
Complains that Sol is slow,
O'er headlong steeps and gushing rocks
His royal robe to throw.
But here the lizard seeks the sun
Here coils, in light, the snake;
And here the fire-tuft[7 - The golden-crested wren.] hath begun
Its beauteous nest to make.
Oh! then, while hums the earliest bee
Where verdure fires the plain,
Walk thou with me, and stoop to see
The glories of the lane!
For, oh! I love these banks of rock,
This roof of sky and tree,
These tufts, where sleeps the gloaming clock,
And wakes the earliest bee!
As spirits from eternal day
Look down on earth, secure,
Look here, and wonder, and survey
A world in miniature:
A world not scorned by Him who made
E'en weakness by his might;
But solemn in his depth of shade,
And splendid in his light.
Light!—not alone on clouds afar,
O'er storm-loved mountains spread,
Or widely teaching sun and star,
Thy glorious thoughts are read;
Oh, no I thou art a wondrous book
To sky, and sea, and land—
A page on which the angels look—
Which insects understand!
And here, O light! minutely fair,
Divinely plain and clear,
Like splinters of a crystal hair,
Thy bright small hand is here!
Yon drop-fed lake, six inches wide
Is Huron, girt with wood;
This driplet feeds Missouri's tide—
And that Niagara's flood.
What tidings from the Andes brings