ly inserted. It exhibits both the interior and exterior of the Castle. The whole is enclosed in a square glass frame, and placed on a revolving table. It is one of the most wonderful curiosities of art we have ever beheld, and, we understand, cost the ingenious projector four years' labour to finish it. The impress of the tree of Crookston is on the reverse of the large pieces of an ounce weight coined by Queen Mary after marriage with Henry Darnley: On the first of which is the shield of Scotland crowned and supported by two thistles, inscribed "Maria et Henricus, Dei Gratia R. et R." on the reverse a yew tree, crowned with the motto on a schedule hung to it, "Dat. Gloria vires, 1565,” and circumscribed "Exurgat Deus, dissipentur inimici ejus," wherein the tree being bound, denotes the advancement of the Lennox family by Darnley's marriage with the Queen, and the "Lemma" of " Dat Gloria vires," is observed very well to comport with the device.* In Sir John's collection of pictures, there is a fine old engraving of Crookston Castle, drawn by C. Cordiner, and engraved, in testimony of respect to Sir James Maxwell, ancestor of the present Baronet, by the celebrated R. & A. Foulis, printers and booksellers to the University of Glasgow, whose editions of the classics are to this day objects of desire, and subjects of pride among the book collectors.† The yew, which is represented in full growing, ornaments the fore-ground on the right, while some cattle of a different breed from the present are seen grazing on the left. The Church of Paisley and adjacent scenery fill up the background. The Castle is much in the same condition as at present, with the exception that it is now surrounded with tall trees, which impede the prospect from a distance. * Scottish Library, p. 332, Hist. of Renfrew. † An idea generally prevailed, that they used types faced with silver for their works. It There is also in the possession of this family, a very beautiful portrait of Queen Mary painted on copper. has every appearance of being an original. The initials at the top of the frame are quite in character of the 16th century, and bear evident marks of antiquity. We were also shewn a vase which belonged to Mary, in which it is said she burnt incense. Queen Mary is said to have revisited Crookston, when her last effort to regain her authority in Scotland, proved unsuccessful on the field of Langside. At this distracted period, Mary had many adherents in this country, among the rest the ancestor of the present Sir John Maxwell, who appears to have enjoyed the confidence of his unfortunate Sovereign to a considerable degree. On the 5th May, 1568, after Mary's escape from Lochleven Castle, she wrote a letter to the laird of Nether Polloc, which is still in the possession of the family, and which, being a literary curiosity, we here give from the original. "Traist Freind,-We greit zow weill. We dowt not bot ze knaw that God of his gudenes has put us at libertie, quhome we thank maist hartlie, quharefore desyres zow wt all possible diligence, fail not to be heir at us in Hamylton, wt all zor* folks freinds and serwands bodin in feir of weir as ze will do us acceptable service and plessrs. Becaws we knaw zor qstance,† we neid not at yis pnt to mak langar lie|| bot will byd zow fair weill. - “Off Hamylton ye V. of Maii 1568. (Signed) "MARIE R." The Castle of Crookston claims high antiquity, and ap * Your. + Constancy. + Present. || Letter. pears to have been erected at a very early period, although historians are silent on this subject. It consisted of a large quarter with two very lofty towers, surmounted with battlements on the wings. This extensive pile boasted many spacious apartments, and is so situated that it commands a most extensive and delightful prospect, through a great part of the surrounding county. A considerable portion of the Castle is still standing, with some part of the cornice entire, nearly 50 feet in height. The Castle is greatly dilapidated, several bushes are growing in the rubbishcovered floor of the hall. All around the Castle there is a moat and rampart, the former yet containing water, and the latter not altogether demolished; at the bottom of a gentle eminence, "Cart rins rowing to the sea," with a gentle rushing sound, which considerably heightens the imposing solemnity of the scene. Adjoining the Castle are some square level pieces of ground, where once existed gardens and orchards, surrounded by extensive plantations. The adjacent parish of Cathcart is noted for being the scene of the battle of Langside, the last contested by the unfortunate Mary, to regain that authority which she was forced to relinquish when confined in the picturesque solitudes of Lochleven. This battle was fought on an eminence rising gently from the neighbourhood of the Gorbals, and declining more rapidly on the side next Paisley. On the summit is an elliptical entrenchment, commonly called "Queen Mary's camp," but which is undoubtedly of much higher antiquity, and probably of Roman origin. On a hill opposite to Langside, Queen Mary stood during the battle, and witnessed the discomfiture of her friends, and the annihilation of her hopes; a hawthorn bush, commonly known by the name of "Queen Mary's thorn," long marked out the place, till it decayed through age; when another was reverentially planted on the same spot to preserve the memory of the scene. Cathcart Castle, which is about three miles distant from Crookston, is a conspicuous ruin situated on a commanding situation, with two sides defended by the Cart, from which there is an almost perpendicular descent of tremendous depth; it was dismantled about 80 years ago. The view from this eminence is at once delightful and extensive. The modern mansion of the Lords of Cathcart, and the beautiful villa of Cart Bank, both washed by the river, occupy the vale below. On the other side of Cathcart, is another ancient castle, now in ruins, which belonged to the ancestor of the celebrated John Knox. Various relics of antiquity still exist in this county. At Paisley was a celebrated abbey for the monks of the order of Clugni, the ruins of which are still admired. Near Castle Semple is one of those monstrous masses of whinstone, believed to be a druidical altar. Elderslie, the paternal seat of Sir William Wallace, and where he is supposed to have been born, lies three miles to the westward of Paisley. The tree whose branches concealed him on one momentous occasion from the English, yet survives near the wayside, at a short distance from the Castle of Elderslie. |