they informed us, was on the borders of Perthshire and Stirlingshire, and when we told them we intended calling for refreshments they advised us to patronise the “Cross Keys Inn.”  We found Kippen, or, as it was sometimes named, the Kingdom of Kippen, a pleasant place, and we had no difficulty in finding the “Cross Keys.”  Here we learned about the King of Kippen, the Scottish Robin Hood, and were told that it was only two miles away to the Ford of Frew, where Prince Charlie crossed the River Forth on his way from Perth to Stirling, and that about three minutes’ walk from the Cross there was a place from which the most extensive and beautiful views of the country could be obtained.  Rising like towers from the valley of the Forth could be seen three craigs—­Dumyate Craig, Forth Abbey Craig, and the craig on which Stirling Castle had been built; spreading out below was the Carse of Stirling, which merged into and included the Vale of Monteith, about six miles from Kippen; while the distant view comprised the summits of many mountains, including that of Ben Lomond.

[Illustration:  OLD BELFRY, KIPPEN]

As usual in Scotland, the village contained two churches—­the Parish Church and the United Free Church.  In the old churchyard was an ancient ivy-covered belfry, but the church to which it belonged had long since disappeared.  Here was the burial-place of the family of Edinbellie, and here lived in olden times an attractive and wealthy young lady named Jean Kay, whom Rob Roy, the youngest son of Rob Roy Macgregor, desired to marry.  She would not accept him, so leaving Balquidder, the home of the Macgregors, accompanied by his three brothers and five other men, he went to Edinbellie and carried her off to Rowardennan, where a sham form of marriage was gone through.  But the romantic lover paid dearly for his exploit, as it was for robbing this family of their daughter that Rob forfeited his life on the scaffold at Edinburgh on February 16th, 1754, Jean Kay having died at Glasgow on October 4th, 1751.

[Illustration:  QUEEN MARY’S BOWER, INCHMAHOME.]

We were well provided for at the “Cross Keys,” and heard a lot about Mary Queen of Scots, as we were now approaching a district where much of the history of Scotland was made.  Her name seemed to be on everybody’s lips and her portrait in everybody’s house, including the smallest dwellings.  She seemed to be the most romantic character in the minds of the Scots, by whom she was almost idolised—­not perhaps so much for her beauty and character as for her sufferings and the circumstances connected with her death.  The following concise account of the career of this beautiful but unfortunate Queen and her son King James greatly interested us.  She was born at Linlithgow Palace in the year 1542, and her father died when she was only eight days old.  In the next year she was crowned Queen of Scotland at Stirling, and remained at the Castle there for about four years.  She was then removed to Inchmahome,