Page:Scotish Descriptive Poems - Leyden (1803).djvu/145

 P. 96. v. 374. Crookstone belonged originally to the ancient family of the Crucks in Renfrewshire, and came by marriage to the Stewarts of Darnley, in the reign of David II. The Stewarts, the most illustrious clan of Renfrewshire, are thus characterised by Defoe:

P. 97. v. 398. The battle of Langside has lately been selected as a scene in "Mary Stewart," a historical drama of great poetical merit, superior to any one of the dramas on the same subject, in the Italian, German, or English languages, though sometimes defective in dramatic propriety. The following is a beautiful allusion to history:

P. 99. v. 426. The Cunninghams are introduced with great propriety by Defoe, in a list of clans, on whose names he despairs of conferring poetical dignity: