EDINBURGHSHIRE, or, as it is frequently called, MID-LOTHIAN, the seat of the metropolis of North Britain. It is situated between 55° 89' and 55° 59' north latitude, and between 2° 86' and 3° 88' longitude west from Greenwich. Its boun daries are the Frith of Forth on the north ; Linlith gowshire or West-Lothian on the west; the counties of Haddihgton or East-Lothian, Berwick, and Rox burgh on the east; and those of Selkirk, Peebles, and Lanark on the south; the length of the whole line, which is very irregular and longest on the south, being about 90 miles. The medium length of the county may be taken at 24 miles, and the breadth 15, the area thus comprising 860 square miles, or, by the latest computation, 354 square miles, or 226,560 English acres, of which 145,000, or 64 acres in a hundred, are in cultivation, and the re mainder, or more than a third, hilly, or otherwise comparatively unproductive.
The surface of this county exhibits a great va riety of natural scenery, almost everywhere blended and embellished with the labours of taste and opu lence. The lower and richer part of it is of a semi circular form, inclining towards the Frith of Forth on the north, and terminating near Mid Calder on the west, and Fala on the south-east, but interrupted by the Pentland Hills, which, rising in the south west, approach to within five miles of the frith, and thus divide the southern part of this track into two large plains. These hills cover about 40 square miles, and though none of them rise to the height of more than 1700 feet, yet their situation in a flat country, and bleak and barren render them very prominent objects in the landscape. On the south-east, where the county terminates almost in a point, between Roxburgh and Selkirk shires, and about 15 miles from the sea, there is another moun tainous track, called the Morefoot Hills, the highest of which rise to upwards of 1800 feet, and extend over 50 square miles. From the rivulet Gala, which flows through it, this is commonly known by the name of the Gala Water district. Fertile valleys are found among these hills, and many of the hills themselves have been cultivated. With the excep tion of these two hilly tracks, Edinburghshire may be considered as a low lying country, though not level or flat, the surface being varied by ridges and gentle acclivities, and occasionally by detached hills of moderate elevation, among which Arthur's Seat, in the vicinity of Edinburgh, and the Corstorphine Hills, are the most considerable. The view from these eminences is singularly rich and beautiful, em bracing, besides the city itself, a great many gentle men's seats, with their pleasure grounds, and ele gant villas thickly planted in every direction,—with the town and shipping of Leith, and the estuary of the Forth expanding into the ocean on the north and north-east, and the plains and high grounds of bite beyond,—while the naked and rugged hills to the south form a striking contrast with the highly or.
'lamented landscape into which they. protrude.
The climate is exceedingly variable, but not sub ject to extremes. Snow seldom falls before Decem ber. From March to June, cold east winds often prevail, sometimes attended by great falls of rain. July and August are warm and pleasant. Partly from the nature of the soil, as well as the climate, the corn crops do not come to maturity so soon as in the south of Scotland by three weeks or a month. The fields, in late seasons, are not all cleared, even near the city, till the end of October. According to a register, kept in its immediate vicinity, for eight years, from 1785 to 1792, inclusive, the average num ber of rainy days was 175, and the quantity of rain 25.75 inches. The thermometer once in the same period was at 89°, and twice besides above 80°; the lowest point 11°; and the average of the whole pe riod was 46.570.
The streams of this county are so inconsiderable as not to -be called rivers, but waters, a term which in Scotland is employed to denote a stream some what larger than a brook or burn, and whose bed is never in ordinary seasons altogether dry. Almond water, which rises in the borders of Lanarkshire, se parates this county from Linlithgowshire for a great part of its course, and falls into the sea near the vil lage of Cramond, where, at high water, it is naviga ble by sloops for about a quarter of a mile. The water of Leith has its source in the western extre mity of the parish of Currie, on the north side of the Pentland Hills, and falls into the sea at Leith, after a course of about 16 miles. It flows in a deep er channel than the former; the banks are, for the most part, beautifully fringed with wood. In no part of the island perhaps is so small a body of water employed with greater effect, there being upwards of seventy mills, the greater number corn mills, on ten miles of its course. The Esk is the most consider able rivulet, and also the most beautiful. It is form ed of twe others of the same name, called the North Esk and the South Esk. The North Esk rises on the southern side of the Pentland Hills, above New hall, about 14 miles from Edinburgh, and flows by Pennicuik, Rodin, Hawthomden, Lasswade, and Mel ville Castle, till it meets with the South Esk below Dalkeith. The South Eak has its source in the Morefoot Hills. On its banks, which are also well wooded and picturesque, stand Anniston, Dalhousie, and Newbattle. Their united streams flow into the sea at Musselburgh. The Tyne, which rises in this county, after a course of five or six miles in a north east direction, passes into East-Lothian ; and the Gala, the only nvulet that flows to the south, rising on the north of the Morefoot Hills, leaves this coun ty after it has proceeded about 14 miles, and falls in to the Tweed below Galashiels. The Eska and the Gala contain trout, and salmon are caught in the Esk at Musselburgh; but the quantity of either is not considerable.