One of these, erected to the memory
of Nelson, was very ugly, and another--beautiful in its
incompleteness--consisted of a number of immense fluted columns in
imitation of the Parthenon of Athens, which we were told was a memorial
to the Scottish heroes who fell in the Wars of Napoleon, but which was
not completed, as sufficient funds had not been forthcoming to finish
what had evidently been intended to be an extensive and costly erection.
We supposed that these lofty pillars remained as a warning to those who
begin to build without first sitting down and counting the cost. They
were beautifully proportioned, resembling a fragment of some great ruin,
and probably had as fine an effect as they stood, as the finished
structure would have had.
[Illustration: "MONS MEG."]
Edinburgh Castle stood out in the distance on an imposing rock. As we
did not arrive during visiting hours we missed many objects of interest,
including the Scottish crown and regalia, which are stored therein. On
the ramparts of the castle we saw an ancient gun named "Mons Meg," whose
history was both long and interesting. It had been made by hand with
long bars of hammered iron held together by coils of iron hoops, and had
a bore of 20 in.
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