that we were near to Ellerslie or Elderslie, where Wallace was born. At Wallace's name what Scottish blood But boils up in a spring-tide flood? and, if there is a Scotsman in the carriage with you, he will probably tell you, as you approach Greenock, of the cascade there that is called after the Scotch patriot's name. G CHAPTER XI. GREENOCK. Position of Greenock-The Tontine and Porters-Words- 6 REENOCK is a considerable town, partly built upon a level strip by the river, and partly upon the side of a hill that rises sharply from the plain. The higher portion of the town has therefore a very terraced appearance, and with its background of hills, and foreground of quays and handsome buildings, is altogether a very picturesque seaport, as seen from the Clyde. The level of the railway station is at a considerable height above the street, to which we descend by a flight of steps, and are forth with pounced upon by a knot of semi-nautical gentlemen, who fight for our portmanteaus, and storm us with entreaties to patronise their trollies; which trollies are all chained up donkey-wise, against a dead wall hard by. But we are not going very far as yet; only to the Tontine Hotel-a handsome building, and an excellent inn, presided over by a most obliging landlady, Mrs. Macdonald *--where we shall stay awhile, and be very comfortably cared for. It is a *To whom I beg to express my thanks for much assistance in the matter of Burns' Highland Mary.' bustling place, this seaport town of Greenock, especially at this season of the year, when the ordinary population of thirty-seven thousand is considerably increased by the daily traffic to and from the Highlands. From here and to here, across the Frith of Clyde, come and go those thousands of travellers, who, bent upon business or pleasure, pass a portion of their autumn in the Highlands. Here, to this 'busy rival of old Tyre,' came the poet Wordsworth from Loch Goil-head and Inverary (as it would seem), where there is a wild valley, nearly parallel with Glencoe, called 'Hell's Glen,' with whose grim solitude he contrasts the pleasant bustle of Greenock in the following sonnet, headed by the quotation, 'Per me si va nella Città dolente." We have not passed into a doleful city, Sorrow seems here excluded; and that knell, It neither damps the gay, nor checks the witty. Alas! too busy Rival of old Tyre, Whose merchants Princes were, whose decks were thrones; To serve thy need, in union with that Clyde, Like Wordsworth, we found the streets of Greenock crowded and cheerful; the feminine portion of the community quiet as to their naked feet, but lively enough with their tongues. There are some fine public buildings, and many handsome shops. Especially were our *Poems of the Imagination, suggested during a Tour: 1833, organs of wonder called into full play at the amazing quantity of 'goody' shops; almost every other shop appearing to be appropriated to the sale of sweet stuff, and rich cakes of every shade of biliousness. Dyspepsia was invited under the most alluring forms; and, if we had not done so hitherto, we now at least fully realised the idea that we were in the Land o' Cakes.' Greenock can only boast of having given birth to one celebrity, but that one is a host in himself James Watt, who was born here on the 19th of January, 1736, as we see recorded in the elegant inscription (from the pen of Jeffrey) on the pedestal of his statue by Chantrey. This statue was subscribed for by the people of Greenock, in memory of their illustrious townsman, and is placed in the Public Library, built at the expense of the son of Watt, and presented by him to Greenock as a memorial of his father. Galt, the novelist, lived in this town during his youth, and died here in 1839. Jean Adams, the authoress of There's nae luck about the house,' (often attributed to Mallet), was born in the Cartsdyke about 1710. Her father was a shipmaster, and she supported herself by needlework and school-keeping. Her poems were published by subscription in a small duodecimo volume, printed at Glasgow by James Duncan in 1734; but they proved unremunerative. Cromek tells us, that she one day read 'Othello' to her pupils, and fainted when she arrived at the end. She also read 'Clarissa Harlowe,' and felt so much reverence for its author that she walked to London and back for the purpose of paying her respects to him. At length she was reduced to abject destitution, and died in distress in the Town's Hospital at Glasgow, April 3, 1765. Another poet and school teacher in Greenock was John Wilson, author of The Clyde ; a Poem;' who was HIGHLAND MARY'S TOMB.. 119 appointed grammar schoolmaster October 15, 1769. Dr. Leyden tells us, that the magistrates and minister of Greenock, before they admitted Mr. Wilson to the superintendence of the school, stipulated that he should abandon the profane and unprofitable art of poemmaking;' and, in order to avoid the temptation of violating his promise, Wilson committed his manuscripts to the flames, and for the remaining twenty years of his life never ventured to touch his forbidden lyre.' And here, too, died Burns' Highland Mary,' and is buried in the kirk-yard of the Old or West Church.* This church had fallen into such a bad state of repair, that it was formally condemned in 1837, and a new church was built, on a different site. Thus, the graveyard is now closed, and it will give the tourist some little trouble to gain admittance; but the trouble is worth taking, and will be well repaid by the visit to Highland Mary's tomb. Passing by some simple headstones that mark the burial-places of the father and ancestors of the illustrious James Watt, we reach the west end of the grave-yard, guided thither by a handsome monument, about twenty feet in height, built in the form of an obelisk, and guarded by iron railings. The face of this stately monument is divided into three parts, the lowest of which bears this inscription : ERECTED OVER THE GRAVE OF HIGHLAND MARY, 1842. My Mary, dear departed shade, Where is thy place of blissful rest? The belfry of this church contained the first bell of which Greenock could boast. In the interior of the church there was |