The Monastery Of Aberbrothick Is Of Great Renown In The History Of
Scotland.
Its ruins afford ample testimony of its ancient
magnificence:
Its extent might, I suppose, easily be found by
following the walls among the grass and weeds, and its height is
known by some parts yet standing. The arch of one of the gates is
entire, and of another only so far dilapidated as to diversify the
appearance. A square apartment of great loftiness is yet standing;
its use I could not conjecture, as its elevation was very
disproportionate to its area. Two corner towers, particularly
attracted our attention. Mr. Boswell, whose inquisitiveness is
seconded by great activity, scrambled in at a high window, but
found the stairs within broken, and could not reach the top. Of
the other tower we were told that the inhabitants sometimes climbed
it, but we did not immediately discern the entrance, and as the
night was gathering upon us, thought proper to desist. Men skilled
in architecture might do what we did not attempt: They might
probably form an exact ground-plot of this venerable edifice. They
may from some parts yet standing conjecture its general form, and
perhaps by comparing it with other buildings of the same kind and
the same age, attain an idea very near to truth. I should scarcely
have regretted my journey, had it afforded nothing more than the
sight of Aberbrothick.
MONTROSE
Leaving these fragments of magnificence, we travelled on to
Montrose, which we surveyed in the morning, and found it well
built, airy, and clean. The townhouse is a handsome fabrick with a
portico. We then went to view the English chapel, and found a
small church, clean to a degree unknown in any other part of
Scotland, with commodious galleries, and what was yet less
expected, with an organ.
At our inn we did not find a reception such as we thought
proportionate to the commercial opulence of the place; but Mr.
Boswell desired me to observe that the innkeeper was an Englishman,
and I then defended him as well as I could.
When I had proceeded thus far, I had opportunities of observing
what I had never heard, that there are many beggars in Scotland.
In Edinburgh the proportion is, I think, not less than in London,
and in the smaller places it is far greater than in English towns
of the same extent. It must, however, be allowed that they are not
importunate, nor clamorous. They solicit silently, or very
modestly, and therefore though their behaviour may strike with more
force the heart of a stranger, they are certainly in danger of
missing the attention of their countrymen. Novelty has always some
power, an unaccustomed mode of begging excites an unaccustomed
degree of pity. But the force of novelty is by its own nature soon
at an end; the efficacy of outcry and perseverance is permanent and
certain.
The road from Montrose exhibited a continuation of the same
appearances. The country is still naked, the hedges are of stone,
and the fields so generally plowed that it is hard to imagine where
grass is found for the horses that till them.
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