I gazed about me for a time with
mute surprise, I may almost say with disappointment. I beheld a mere
succession of gray waving hills, line beyond line, as far as my eye
could reach; monotonous in their aspect, and so destitute of trees,
that one could almost see a stout fly walking along their profile; and
the far-famed Tweed appeared a naked stream, flowing between bare
hills, without a tree or thicket on its banks; and yet, such had been
the magic web of poetry and romance thrown over the whole, that it had
a greater charm for me than the richest scenery I beheld in England.
I could not help giving utterance to my thoughts. Scott hummed for a
moment to himself, and looked grave; he had no idea of having his muse
complimented at the expense of his native hills. "It may be
partiality," said he, at length; "but to my eye, these gray bills and
all this wild border country have beauties peculiar to themselves. I
like the very nakedness of the land; it has something bold, and stern,
and solitary about it. When I have been for some time in the rich
scenery about Edinburgh, which is like ornamented garden land, I begin
to wish myself back again among my own honest gray hills; and if I did
not see the heather at least once a year, _I think I should die!_"
The last words were said with an honest warmth, accompanied with a
thump on the ground with his staff, by way of emphasis, that showed his
heart was in his speech.
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