Rollo in Scotland

Chapter IV.

The Expedition Planned

The boys were very successful in their selection of a hotel, for the Queen's Hotel, in Glasgow, is one of the most comfortable and best managed inns in the kingdom.

The party rode to the inn, in a cab which they took at the station in Glasgow, when the train arrived there, instead of walking, as they had done in going from the boat to the station at Greenock. The boys asked Mr. George's advice on this point, and he said that, though he was unwilling to take any responsibility, he had no objection whatever to giving his advice, whenever they wished for it. So he told them that he thought it was always best to go to a hotel in a carriage of some sort.

"Because," said he, "in England and Scotland,—that is, in all the great towns,—if we come on foot, they think that we are poor, and of no consequence, and so give us the worst rooms, and pay us very little attention."

When the cab arrived at the hotel Waldron said,—

"There, Mr. George, we have brought you safe to the hotel. Now we have nothing more to do. We give up the command to you now."

"Very well," said Mr. George.

Two or three nicely dressed porters and waiters came out from the door of the hotel, to receive the travellers and wait upon them in. The porters took the baggage, even to the coats and umbrellas, and the head waiter led the way into the house. Waldron paid the cabman as he stepped out of the cab. He knew what the fare was, and he had it all ready. Mr. George said to the waiter that he wanted two bedrooms, one with two beds in it. The waiter bowed, with an air of great deference and respect, and said that the chambermaid would show the rooms. The chambermaid, who was a very nice-looking and tidily-dressed young woman, stood at the foot of the stairs, ready to conduct the newly-arrived party up to the chambers. She accordingly led the way, and Mr. George and the boys followed—two neat-looking porters coming behind with the various articles of baggage.

The rooms were very pleasant apartments, situated on the front side of the house, and looking out upon a beautiful square. The square was enclosed in a high iron railing. It was adorned with trees and shrubbery, and intersected here and there with smooth gravel walks. In the centre was a tall Doric column, with a statue on the summit. There were other statues in other parts of the square. One of them was in honor of Watt, who is the great celebrity of Glasgow—so large a share of the prosperity and wealth of the whole region being due so much to his discoveries.

"Now, boys," said Mr. George, "you will find water and every thing in your room. Make yourselves look as nice as a pin, and then go down stairs and find the coffee room. When you have found it, choose a pleasant table, and order dinner. You may order just what you please."

So Mr. George left the boys to themselves, and went into his own room.

In about half an hour Rollo came up and told Mr. George that the dinner was ready. So Mr. George went down into the coffee room, Rollo showing him the way.

Mr. George found that the boys had chosen a very pleasant table indeed for their dinner. It was in a corner, between a window and the fireplace. There was a pleasant coal fire in the fireplace, with screens before it, to keep the glow of it from the faces of the guests. The room was quite large, and there was a long table extending up and down the middle of it, one of which is seen in the engraving. This table was set for dinner or supper. There were other smaller tables for separate parties in the different corners of the room.

Mr. George and the boys took their seats at the table.

"We thought we would have some coffee," said Rollo.

"That's right," said Mr. George. "I like coffee dinners. What else have you got?"

"We have got some Loch Fine herring, and some mutton chops," said Rollo.

"Yes, sir," said Waldron. "You see the Loch Fine herrings are very famous, and we thought you would like to know how they taste."

By this time the waiter had removed the covers, and the party commenced their dinner. The fire, which was near them, was very pleasant, for although it was June the weather was damp and cold.

In the course of the dinner the boys introduced again the subject of going down the Clyde the next day.

"The boat goes from the Broomielaw," said Waldron.

THE COFFEE ROOM.

"The Broomielaw," repeated Mr. George; "what is the Broomielaw?"

"Why, it is the harbor and pier," said Waldron. "It is below the lowest bridge. All the boats that go down the river go from the Broomielaw. They go almost every hour. We can go down by a boat and see the river, and then we can come up by the railroad. That will be just as cheap, if we take a second class car."

"Well, now," said Mr. George, "I have concluded that I should not be willing to have you make this excursion except on two conditions; and they are such hard ones that I do not believe you would accept them. You would rather not go at all than go on such hard conditions."

"What are the conditions?" asked Rollo.

"I don't believe you will accept them," said Mr. George.

"But let us hear what they are," said Waldron. "Perhaps we should accept them."

"The first is," said Mr. George, "that when you get home you must go to your room, and write me an account of what you see on the excursion. Each of you must write a separate account."

"That we will do," said Rollo. "I should like to do that. Wouldn't you, Waldron?"

Waldron seemed to hesitate. Though he was a very active-minded and intelligent boy in respect to what he saw and heard, he was somewhat backward in respect to knowledge of books and skill in writing. Finally, he said that he should be willing to tell Mr. George what he saw, but he did not think that he could write it.

"That is just as I supposed," said Mr. George. "I did not think you would accept my conditions."

"Well, sir, I will," said Waldron. "I will write it as well as I can. And what is the other condition?"

"That you shall write down, at the end of your account, the most careless thing that you see Rollo do, all the time that you are gone," said Mr. George, "and that Rollo shall write down the most careless thing he sees you do."

"But suppose we don't do any careless things at all," said Rollo.

"Then," said Mr. George, "you must write down what comes the nearest to being a careless thing. And neither of you must know what the other writes until you have shown the papers to me."

After some hesitation the boys agreed to both these terms, and so it was decided that they were to go down the river. The steamer which they were to take was to sail at nine o'clock, and so they ordered breakfast at eight. Mr. George said that he would go down with them in the morning to the Broomielaw, and see them sail.

Chapter V.

Down the Clyde

The boys returned in safety from their excursion about three o'clock in the afternoon. In fulfilment of their promise they immediately went to their room, and wrote their several accounts of the expedition. They agreed together that, in order to avoid repetitions, Waldron should dwell most upon the first part of the trip, and Rollo upon the last part.

The following is the account that Waldron wrote:—

"First, there was a man standing by the plank, that asked us if we had got our tickets. We told him no. Then he showed us where to go and get them. It was at a little office on the pier. The price of the tickets was a shilling.

"The steamboat was not very large. There was no saloon on deck, and no awning, but only seats on deck, and many people sitting on them.

"There was a boy among them who had a kilt on. It was the first kilt I ever saw.3

"We soon began to go down the river. The sides of the river were walled up, to form piers, all along, and there were a great many ships and steamers moored to them. I saw several American vessels among them.

"By and by, when we got below the town, the river grew wider, and the banks were sloping, but they were paved all the way with large stones. This was to prevent their being washed away by the swell of the steamers. There were a great many steamers going up and down, which kept the water all the time a-swashing against the banks.

"I went up on the bridge where the captain stood. There were good steps to go up, on the side of the paddle box. Rollo would not go. I had a fine lookout from the bridge. The captain was there. He told me a good many things about the river. He said that the river used to be only five feet deep, and now it was almost twenty, all the way from the sea. They dug it out with dredging machines.

"I asked him what they did with the mud. He said they hauled it away, and spread it on the land in the country. They made a railroad, he said, on purpose to take the mud away to where it was wanted.

"Presently we began to come to the ship yards. There was an immense number of iron ships on the stocks, building. The workmen made a great noise with their hammers, heading the rivets. There seemed to be thousands of hammers going at a time.

"The steamers all sloped towards the water, and pointed down the stream. I suppose that this was so that when they were launched they might go down in the middle of the channel, and not strike the bank on the opposite side.

"We met a great many steamers coming up. One I thought had just been launched. She was full of workmen. There were a great many women running along on the bank, where it was green, trying to keep up with her. They were almost all barefooted. I suppose they had been down to see her launched. I wish we had been a little sooner.

"When I came down from the bridge I looked into the hold to see the engine. I wanted to go down, but I was afraid that Rollo would call it a careless thing. Besides, I could see pretty well where I was. There were three cylinders. Two acted alternately, and the other at the half stroke. I thought this was a very good plan; for now the engine never can get on a poise. All these cylinders were inclined. The boiler was perpendicular. I never saw one like it before.

"After a while we got below the ship yards, and then there was nothing more to see, only some green grounds, and some mountains, and a castle on a rock. Then we landed at Greenock, and came home by the railroad. But Rollo is going to write about this.

"The most careless thing that Rollo did was that he came very near leaving his umbrella on board the boat at Greenock."

Rollo's account of the excursion was as follows:—

"Waldron and I went down the Clyde. We went on board the boat at the Broomielaw, in Glasgow.

"The first thing I observed was that a Scotchman and two boys came on board with violins and a flageolet, and began to play to amuse the company. At first I could not hear very well, the steampipe made such a noise. Afterwards, when the pipe stopped blowing off the steam, I could hear better, and I liked the music very well.

"By and by one of the boys came round to collect some money, and I put in a penny. I told Waldron that I thought he need not put in any thing, as he did not listen.

"There was a boat came off from the shore, and a man got out of it, and came on board our steamer just as we used to go on board the steamers on the Rhine. I wish we could go and travel on the Rhine again.

"When we got below the ships and ship yards we came to a part of the river where there were parks and pleasure grounds on the banks, and beautiful houses back among the trees.

"When we got half way down we stopped at a pier where there was a train of cars to take people to Loch Lomond, on the way to the Highlands. Waldron said that we should come there, he supposed, when we go to the Highlands.

"A little farther down we came to a great rocky hill, close by the water, with a castle upon it. The name of it is Dunbarton Castle. We shall go by it again, when we go to the Highlands.

"Then we came to a great widening of the river, and not long after that we arrived at Greenock and landed. We thought that the boat was going to stop here, but it did not. A great many of the passengers staid on board, and a great many more came on board, to go farther down the river.

"We went first to the station, so as to see when the trains went back to Glasgow. Then we took a walk.

"We found a street near the depot with a high hill behind it, and close to it. There were walls and terraces all the way up, and trees here and there. We looked up, and we could see the heads of some children over the topmost wall. They were looking down to where we were. Presently we came to an opening, and some flights of steps and steep walks, and so we thought we would go up.

"When we got to the top we found a broad terrace, with a wall along the front edge of it, where we could look down upon the river and the town. The town lay very narrow between the river and the foot of the hill. We were up very high above the tops of the houses.

"Behind us, on the terrace, were broad green fields and gravel walks, and beds of flowers, and great trees with seats under them. There were a good many nursery maids around there, with children. The nursery maids sat on the seats, and the children played before them with the pebbles and gravel.

"I read in the guide book about some famous waterworks at Greenock, but we could not find them. We asked one man, who was at work on the gravel walks, if he could tell us where they were; but he only stared at us and said he did not 'knaw ony thing aboot it.'

"After this we went down the hill again, and took a long walk along the bank of the river. There was an omnibus going by, and we wanted to get into it and see where it would carry us; but we did not know but that it might carry us to some place that we could not get back from very soon. The name of the place where the omnibus went was painted on the side of it but it was a place that we had never heard of before, and so we did not know where it was.

"After this we went back to the station, and then came home. I thought from the map that we should go through Paisley; but we did not. We went over it. We went over it, higher than the tops of the chimneys.

"This is the end of my account; and the most dangerous thing I saw Waldron do was to go up on the bridge, on board the steamer, and talk there with the captain."

"Boys," said Mr. George, when he had finished reading these papers, "your accounts are excellent. The thing I chiefly like about them is, that you go right straight on and tell a plain story, without spoiling it all by making an attempt at fine writing. That is the way you ought always to write. One of these days I mean to get you both to write something for me in my journal."

Chapter VI.

Walks About Glasgow

Our party remained two days more in Glasgow, and visited quite a number of objects of interest and curiosity in and around the city.

At one end of the town there was a large open space, laid out for a pleasure ground; being somewhat similar in character to Boston Common, only it lay on the margin of the river, and commanded delightful views, both of the city itself and of the surrounding country. The grounds were adorned with trees and shrubbery, and paths were laid out over every portion of it, that were delightful to walk in. There were seats, too, at every point that commanded a pretty view. This place was called the Green.

The Green was at the eastern extremity of the city. At the other end, that is, towards the west, there was a region more elevated than the rest of the town, where the wealthy people resided. The streets were arranged in crescents and terraces, and were very magnificent. The houses were almost all built of stone, and were of a very massive and substantial, as well as elegant character.

Nearer the centre of the town was a very large and ancient church, called the cathedral. It was a solemn-looking pile of buildings, standing by itself in a green yard, back from the road, and thousands of swallows were twittering and chirping high up among the pinnacles and cornices of the roof. Although it was in the midst of a crowded city, the whole structure wore an expression of great seclusion and solitude.

Behind the church, and separated from it by a narrow valley, there was a steep hill, that was covered, in every part, with tombs, and monuments, and sepulchral enclosures. The hill was two or three hundred feet high, and there was a very tall monument on the top of it. There was a bridge across the valley behind the cathedral leading to this cemetery.

"Ah," said Mr. George, "that is the Necropolis."

"The Necropolis?" repeated Rollo.

"Yes," said Mr. George. "I read about it in the guide book. Necropolis means 'City of the Dead,' and it is a city of the dead indeed."

There were pathways leading up the side of the hill by many zigzags and windings. Across the bridge leading to it was a great iron gateway, with a small iron gate open in the middle of it. The boys wanted to go immediately to the cemetery, in order to have the pleasure of climbing up the zigzag paths to the top of the hill. But Mr. George said he wished first to go into the cathedral.

There was a gate leading into the cathedral yard, and a porter's lodge just inside of it. There was a sign up at the lodge, saying that the price of admission to see the interior of the cathedral was sixpence for each person. Waldron said that he did not think it was worth sixpence to go, and Rollo said that he did not care much about going. He had seen cathedrals enough, he said, on the continent. So it was agreed that the boys should go to the cemetery, and wait there till Mr. George came.

The boys accordingly went down the walk that led to the bridge. They stopped a moment at the open gate, not knowing whether it was right for them to go in or not. As, however, the gate was open, and there was nobody there to forbid the passage, they stepped over the iron threshold, and entered. There was a porter's lodge just inside, and a man standing at the door of it.

"Can we go in and see the cemetery?" asked Waldron.

"Certainly," said the porter. "Are you strangers in Glasgow?"

"Yes, sir," said Rollo, "we are Americans. My uncle is in the cathedral, and he is coming pretty soon."

"Then please to come in," said the porter, "and enter your names in the visitors' book."

So the boys went in. They found a very pleasant room, with a large book open on a desk, near a window. They wrote their names in this book, and also their residences, and they stopped a few minutes to look over the names that had been written there before, in order to see if any persons from America had recently visited the cemetery. They found several names of persons from New York on the list, and two or three from Philadelphia. While the boys were looking over the book the porter asked them a great many questions about America.

In a few minutes they went on. They stopped on the middle of the bridge, and looked down over the balustrade into the ravine. The ravine was very deep, and there was a little brook at the bottom of it, and a sort of road or street along the side of it, far below them.

The boys then went on into the cemetery. They walked about it for some time, ascending continually higher and higher, and stopping at every turn to read the inscriptions and monuments. At length they reached the summit of the hill, where the lofty column stood which had been erected to the memory of John Knox, the great Scottish reformer. The column stood upon a pedestal, which contained an inscription on each of the four sides of it. One of these inscriptions said that John Knox was a man who could never be made to swerve from his duty by any fear or any danger, and that, although his life was often threatened by "dag and dagger," he was still carried safely through every difficulty and danger, and died, at last, in peace and happiness; and that the people of Glasgow, mindful of the invaluable services he rendered to his country, had erected that monument in honor of his memory.

The boys had just finished reading the inscription, when, looking down upon the bridge, they saw Mr. George coming. They went down to meet him, and then showed him the way up to the monument.

Mr. George first looked up to the summit of it, and then walked all around it, reading the inscriptions. He read them aloud, and the boys listened.

"Yes," said he, "John Knox was a true hero. He stood up manfully and fearlessly for the right when almost all the world was against him; and to do that requires a great deal of courage, as well as great strength of character. Many people reviled and hated him while he lived, but now his memory is universally honored.

"I hope you two boys, when you come to be men," continued Mr. George, "will follow his example. What you know is right, that always defend, no matter if all the world are against it. And what is wrong, that always oppose, no matter if all the world are in favor of it."

"Yes, sir," said Waldron, "I mean to."

Mr. George and the boys rambled about the Necropolis some time longer, and then went on.

While they were in Glasgow the party visited several of the great manufacturing establishments. They were all very much surprised at the loftiness of some of the chimneys. There was one at a great establishment, called the St. Rollox Chemical Works, which was over four hundred and thirty feet high, and Mr. George estimated that it must have been thirty or forty feet diameter at the base. If, now, you ask your father, or some friend, how high the steeple is of the nearest church to where you live, and multiply that height by the necessary number, you will get some idea of the magnitude of this prodigious column. The lightning rod, that came down the side of it in a spiral line, looked like a spider's web that had been, by chance, blown against the chimney by the wind.

Chapter VII.

Entering the Highlands

The Highland district of Scotland occupies almost the whole of the western part of the island north of the valley of the Clyde. It consists of mountains, glens, and lakes, with roads winding in every direction through and among them. Of course the number of different Highland excursions which a tourist can plan is infinite. Most visitors to Scotland are, however, satisfied with a short tour among these mountains, on account of the great uncertainty of the weather. Indeed, as it rains here more than half the time, the chance is always in favor of bad weather; and the really pleasant days are very few.