LAKES OF KILLARNEY, IRELAND. These are three connected lakes in County Kerry, of extraordinary beauty and interest. The largest, known as Lough Leane, is fifteen miles long by three broad. It contains some thirty islands, the chief of which is Innisfallen, celebrated in history and story. On the sides of these lakes rise the loftiest mountains in Ireland, intersected by the wildest ravines, and full of the boldest cascades. The beauty of the scenery is enhanced by the varied coloring of the thickly-wooded shores, the gray rock forming an effective contrast to the dark firs, the brown mountain heath, the light green arbutus and other features in an infinite variety of foliage and verdure. In the immediate neighborhood of Lough Leane is Muckross Abbey, founded by Franciscan monks in 1340, now a most picturesque ruin.
GIANT’S CAUSEWAY, IRELAND. A singular mass of basaltic columns, situated on the coast of Antrim, Ireland, has obtained this name from the legend that it was the commencement of a road planned by the giants of old to project across the channel from Ireland to Scotland. And, indeed, it looks almost like a deliberate work of mightier men than we rather than a frolic of nature. It resembles an immense pier jutting out into the sea from the base of a stratified cliff about four hundred feet high, to the length of about seven hundred feet. The pillars composing it are close-fitting, dark-colored and somewhat irregular hexagons, varying in diameter from fifteen to twenty inches and sometimes reaching the height of twenty or even thirty feet. Whinstone dikes separate it into three divisions, known as the Little Causeway, the Middle or “Honeycomb” Causeway and the Larger or Grand Causeway. Altogether, it comprises about forty thousand columns, each consisting of several pieces.
EDINBURGH CASTLE, EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND. Picturesquely situated on a rocky eminence, three hundred and eighty-three feet high, in the very heart of the old portion of Edinburgh, is this ancient fortress. The rock is perpendicular on three sides. On the fourth it slopes away gradually so that it can be ascended with ease. The fort is supposed to have been erected in the seventh century, the city gradually growing up around it. In early Scottish history it was frequently captured by and recaptured from the English. In the twelfth century it became a royal residence. By the articles of union it is one of the four fortresses which are to be kept constantly fortified. It contains accommodations for two thousand soldiers, and its armory affords space for thirty thousand stands of arms. The Scottish Regalia are preserved here, and one of the chief objects of interest is the room where Mary, Queen of Scots, gave birth to James VI, in whom the crowns of England and Scotland were united. The picture is taken from the Parade Ground.
HOLYROOD PALACE, EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND. This spacious building occupies the site of an Abbey, founded in A. D. 1128 by King David I, of Scotland. The palace itself was begun in the reign of James IV, was nearly destroyed by Cromwell in 1650, and was rebuilt by Charles II. But the chief interest of the place centres upon its associations with Mary, Queen of Scots. Luckily her apartments are preserved in almost their original condition. The royal chapel, where she celebrated mass to the indignation of the Protestants, is almost intact. So is the audience chamber in which she disputed with John Knox. And even to this day is pointed out a deep stain at the foot of the private stairway to her apartments which is said to be the blood of the murdered Rizzio. In recent times the palace has been seldom used as a place of residence. It stands on the top of a huge rock four hundred and forty-three feet above the sea, and is built in the shape of a quadrangle with a court in the centre.
MELROSE ABBEY, MELROSE, SCOTLAND. This is the most famous and the most picturesque ruin in Scotland—indeed in all Great Britain. Originally founded for the Cistercian monks by David I, of Scotland, in the twelfth century, it was nearly destroyed by the English—Edward II—in 1322, and shortly after was rebuilt by Robert Bruce, whose heart is fabled to be buried under the east window. The abbey was again burned by Richard II in 1385, and though again restored it was considerably altered after the Reformation to suit the demands of Presbyterian worship. Later it was plundered by builders to secure ornaments for houses, and is now in utter ruin. As it stands, therefore, it belongs mainly to the middle of the fourteenth century and the first half of the fifteenth, with a good many portions of much later date. Even in ruins it is one of the noblest exemplars of the Middle-pointed style of Gothic architecture. Sir Walter Scott made it the scene of his novel of “The Monastery,” and also celebrated it in some well-known lines in “Marmion.”
