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On the other side of the stone is as follows:

By special grant of the Managers

To ROBERT BURNS,

Who erected this Stone, this burial place is ever to remain Sacred to the Memory of

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THE

BIRKS OF ABERFELDIE.

IN the immediate neighbourhood of the village of Aberfeldie, in Perthshire, is a deep wooded glen, following the course of a mountain streamlet, which wantons in Nature's wildest forms, among chasms and excavated rocks. The beauty of the scenery is heightened by the rich and luxuriant foliage of the lofty fir and spreading ash, intermixed with the taper hazel and the drooping birch; which, moving with the gentle gales, breathe responsive murmurs to the sound of innumerable cascades, that rush headlong down, and are collected into two falls of considerable magnitude. The approach to the falls is through a mazy and intricate path, and cannot safely be attempted by strangers without a guide. The frequent windings of the way produce an ever-changing variety of grand and picturesque effect. In many parts the rocks elevate their stupendous bulk in gloomy majesty, emitting from their perforated sides numerous rills, that stray among the entangled roots of trees and shrubs, till they join the rapid current, that winds its foaming course in the rude

channel below. The dashing sound of the falls is heard at a distance through the wood, and the mind anticipates with awe the approaching scene. Those unaccustomed to Nature in her wildest dress, are not without reason, surprised to find the poet Burns making choice of this place for amorous assignations. But custom dissipates every apprehension of danger, and a frequent visiter can enter into the very spirit of his language, when addressing his "bonnie lassie," he

says,

Let Fortune's gifts at random flee,

They ne'er shall draw a wish frae me;
Supremely blest, wi' love and thee,
In the birks of Aberfeldie.

Arriving at the lower fall, a grand display of water meets the eye, and, looking downward, the rushing of the stream, nearly forty feet below, aided by the savage scenery around, and the united roarings of both the falls, creates a trepidation not easily subdued. The alarm, thus excited, is increased on the way to the upper fall: the ascent is, in many places, steep and slippery; the din of waters becomes more powerful, and anxiety is succeeded by consternation, when, on a sudden turn of the path, the cataract bursts at once upon the sight. The dreadful force of the waters is here seen, and the thundering noise occasioned by their fall precludes the interchange of speech.

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