Page:Pleasant Memories of Pleasant Lands.djvu/112

 IIAWTHORNDEN.

��THIS classic retreat is the site of a modern edifice, occupied, at the time we visited it, by Sir Francis Drummond Walker. The rock on which the rear wall of the mansion is built, descends abruptly more than a hundred feet to an abyss, or narrow passage, where the Esk forces its way. Mingled with the refinements of a modern residence are the broken arches and moss- grown relics of the ancient structure, rudely but strongly fortified.

Cut in the wall of the caverns to which you descend, are a number of compartments in the honeycomb form, which bear the name of &quot; King Robert Bruce s Libra ry.&quot; We had heard of the lesson he received from a spider ; but did not know before that he had any affin ity for the bee. His warrior s life probably made him more familiar with the use of the sting, than the honey of sweet meditation. His formidable sword was ex hibited at the entrance of this curious hive.

Amid that labyrinth of subterranean dens, the Cove nanters, in the days of u Old Mortality,&quot; sought refuge. Thence, also, during the contests of Bruce and Baliol,

�� �