puzzle; in this direction is seen Alla, or Alloa, a thriving seaport
town, with a Gothic church, and celebrated for its excellent ale;
Clackmannan, a miserable town, where in a tower lived King Robert Bruce,
and where an old Jacobite lady knighted Burns with a sword which
belonged to Bruce, observing that she had a better right to do so than
_some folk_; Falkirk, known for its _trysts_, or markets, where
the country-people point out a battle-field, and a stream called the
Red Burn, from its running with blood on the day of the conflict; Bruce
lived near this spot, the view from which he said was not surpassed by
any he had seen in his travels: next lies the Firth of Forth, and the
country as far as Edinburgh and the Pentland Hills. Towards the south
stands the ancient village of St. Ninian's, and Bannockburn, the
battleground of the most celebrated and important contest that ever took
place between English and Scots; the Torwood, where till lately stood
a tree said to have sheltered Wallace; and the Carron, bounded by the
green hills of Campsie. Towards the west are the plains of Menteith,
a district, says Chambers, distinguished almost above all the rest of
Scotland, for the singular series of beautiful and romantic scenes which
it presents to the view of the traveller, and bounded by the majestic
Grampians. On the north are the famous ruins of Cambuskenneth, and the
precipitous Abbey Craig, beyond which lies the richly-cultivated vale of
Devon; the moor on which the battle of Dumblain was fought; and Ochill
Hills, clothed with blooming heath, and overtopped by the summits of
Perthshire. Such is the artist's outline of the prospect: our task shall
be to select a few of its most entertaining details.

To return to the Panoramic arrangement: next the castle is Gowlan Hill,
the ordinary place of execution in times of wicked bloodshed, and thus
apostrophized by Douglas, in the _Lady of the Lake_: