"Her looks were like the flower in May.

Her smile was like a summer morn;
She tripped by the banks of Earne
As light's a bird upon a thorn.

"Her bonnie face it was as meek,

As ony lamb upon the lee ;
The evening's sun was ne'er sae sweet
As was the blink o' Phemie's ee," &c.

As elsewhere mentioned, Burns became acquainted with this lady during a short residence at Auchtertyre, in the summer or autumn of 1787. She was the only daughter of Mungo Murray, Esq., of Lintrose in the county of Perth, and Cecilia Lyon of Brigton; the Murrays of Lintrose being cadets of the Murrays of Auchtertyre (see Douglas's Baronage), while the Lyons of Brigton are descended from the Hon. Frederick Lyon, third son of Patrick, ninth Lord Glammis and first Earl of Kinghorn.

In the bloom of youth and beauty (being now only eighteen), Miss Murray had obtained the appellation of the "Flower of Strathmore." Her father was first cousin to Sir William Murray* of Auchtertyre, and she frequently, about this period, resided in the house of the latter gentleman, with whom she was a great favourite. Miss Murray's countenance was of a pale and innocent cast, and her friends generally considered the verse beginning

"Her bonnie face it was as meek," &c.

as very expressive of her appearance and style of beauty. She was married, August 2, 1794, to the late David Smythe, Esq., of Methven, one of the judges of the Court of Session in Scotland, by whom she had several children.

KENMORE, AND TAYMOUTH CASTLE.

TAYMOUTH CASTLE, the seat of the Marquis of Breadalbane, is one of those places which the revenue arising from princely possessions allows to be formed, in two or three instances, out of the natural magnificence of the Scottish Highlands. The proprietor of this house is the owner of lands stretching nearly a hundred miles to the westward, where they are bounded only by the Atlantic Ocean. He is the chief cadet of the great family of Campbell, which for several centuries possessed almost unbounded power in the western districts of Scotland, to the north of the Clyde. The castle is situated in a beautiful valley in Perthshire, at the eastern extremity of Loch Tay, the waters of which here begin to form the river of the same name. In the accompanying drawing, besides the house, and its splendid park, the eye catches the little village of Kenmore and its bridge over the young Tay-the lake, and the range of hills bounding it to the north-west, in

He was the father of Sir George Murray, formerly Secretary for the Colonies, and several times M.P. for Perthshire.

cluding the grand hill of Ben Lawers. Burns, who visited the scene, August 29, 1787, thus described it impromptu:

"The outstretching lake, embosomed 'mong the hills,

The eye with wonder and amazement fills;

The Tay, meand'ring sweet in infant pride;

The palace rising by his verdant side;

The lawns, wood-fringed, in nature's native taste,
The hillocks dropt in nature's careless haste;

The arches striding o'er the new-born stream,
The village glittering in the noontide beam."

It is scarcely necessary to remark that Taymouth and Kenmore form a capital point in the tour of the Highlands, and are annually visited by multitudes.

The accompanying picture is taken from what is called the vista-fort, on the front of the hill to the south-east of the house: the foreground represents the celebration of some day of national or local importance. The front of the house is partly towards the spectator. It consists of a large modern quadrangular pile, with turrets at the corners, and terminating in an airy central pavilion. To the west, projects the remains of the former mansion, a strong tower built in the reign of James VI.; while to the east extends a range of outhouses and offices. The Tay passes behind the house, towards Aberfeldy and Dunkeld, skirted on each side by magnificent woods. Amongst these there is an avenue of limes extending to a mile, which is said to convey to most minds the impression of some more than usually august Gothic cathedral.

The Breadalbane family is descended from Sir Colin Campbell of Glenorchy, a younger son of the first ennobled person of the house of Campbell: he was one of the knights of Rhodes, subsequently designated of Malta. The fourth in descent from this warrior, also named Sir Colin Campbell of Glenorchy, built the original house just alluded to, the name of which was till a recent period Balloch, that is bealoch, a mouth or gap, expressive of the situation of the mansion at the opening of the valley of the Tay. Some one signifying surprise to Sir Colin that he should have built his house on the very verge of his extensive property, he slyly answered, "We'll brizz yont," (press onward,) a promise which his successors have in some degree fulfilled. In 1681, Sir John Campbell of Glenorchy, was raised to the peerage by the title of Earl of Breadalbane. He had married, in 1657, Lady Mary Rich, daughter of the Earl of Holland, the celebrated founder of Holland House, at Kensington. This young lady, having a fortune of ten thousand pounds, was esteemed one of the most desirable matches of her time. When Sir John Campbell, out of innumerable suitors, succeeded in gaining her hand, he retired with her to his Perthshire fastness in a truly primitive fashion. Upon one of the two Highland ponies which he had taken with him to London, he himself mounted, with his bride behind him: upon the other he disposed his ten thousand pounds; which was all in gold, and at each side of that precious horse-load he disposed a full-armed Highland gilly, who ran beside it as a guard. The strange cavalcade arrived safe in all its parts at Balloch; and a small room used to be shown in that old castle, which, for some time, formed at once the par