Page:Pleasant Memories of Pleasant Lands.djvu/99

 74 KING DAVID THE FIRST.

gentle-mannered landlady, in whose welfare we felt interest and sympathy.

One of the advantages of our location was its prox imity to Holyrood, giving us facilities for frequently visiting its environs. That edifice, whose aspect is far from imposing, was originally an abbey, founded in 1128, by David the First, of Scotland. The ancient legend says, that while hunting, and separated from his train, he was attacked and overthrown by a wild stag, and rescued from impending death by the sudden ap pearance of an arm from a dark cloud, holding a luminous cross, which so frightened the furious animal, that he fled away into the depths of the forest. The monarch determined to erect a religious house on the very spot of his deliverance, and to call it Holyrood, or Holy Cross. It might be proper to supply a strong reason for the selection of so obscure a site, but scarcely necessary to invent a miracle for so common an occur rence as the erection of an ecclesiastical edifice by king David, since it is well known that fifteen owe their origin to him ; among which are the fine abbeys of Melrose and Dryburgh, Kelso and Jedburgh, with the cathedrals of Glasgow and Aberdeen. The gratitude of the monastic orders, whom he patronized, conferred on him the title of Saint ; but the heavy expenses thus incurred, imposed many burdens upon his realm, and caused James the Sixth, not inappositely, to style him &quot; a saur saint to the crown.&quot;

The first view of Holyrood is in strong contrast with the splendid buildings and classic columns of the Cal-

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