We passed through the village of Laurieston, where Alfred Nobel, the
inventor of dynamite and blasting gelatine, lived, and saw a plough at
work turning up potatoes, a crowd of women and boys following it and
gathering up the potatoes in aprons and then emptying them into a long
row of baskets which extended from one end of the field to the other. A
horse and cart followed, and the man in charge emptied the contents of
the baskets into the cart. We questioned the driver of the plough, who
assured us that no potatoes were left in the land, but that all were
turned up and gathered, and that it was a much better way than turning
them out by hand with a fork, as was usual in England.
[Illustration: LINLITHGOW PALACE.]
[Illustration: ANCIENT KEY OF LINLITHGOW PALACE.]
About two miles farther on we passed the romantic village of Polmont,
and on through a fine stretch of country until we reached another
fair-sized village called Linlithgow Bridge. We were then about a mile
and a half from the old town of Linlithgow; here the River Avon
separates the counties of Stirlingshire and Linlithgowshire. The old
bridge from which the place takes its name is said to have been built by
Edward I of England.
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