ROSLIN, the name of a very small and ugly vil lage in the county of Midlothian, celebrated for the beauty of the scenery in its neighbourhood, and for the castle and chapel of Roslin. The castle stands on a bold and lofty rock, rising from the banks of the North Esk, which here makes a rapid turn, dashing over its rugged bed round the base of the castle. The entrance to the castle is by a narrow bridge, over a deep dell, which is beautiful!) wooded, and gives a fine aspect to the masses of ruined wall of which the cas tle now consists. A comparatively modern building, which is sometimes inhabited, is erected in the middle of the castle, but it possesses a sufficiently ancient character to harmonize with the adjacent ruins.
The chapel occupies the summit of a hill above the castle. It was founded in 1446, by William Saint Clair, Earl of Cahhness and Orkney, who " causd artificers to be brought from other regions and for raigne kingdomcs, and causd dayly to be abundance of all kinde of workmen present. ***and to the end the works might be more rare, he causd the draughts to be drawn upon Eastland boords, and made the car penters to carve them according to the draught, and then gave them for patterns to the masons, that they might thereby cut the like on stone."' The archi.
tecture of this chapel is exceedingly beautiful and highly ornamented; and, according to Mr_ Gandy, it unites the Egyptian, Grecian, Roman, and Sarace nian styles," and exhibits the arch " in all its possi ble forms and principles;" there being, according to Mr. Britton, thirteen varieties. The chapel is 69 feet long inside, 34 broad, and 40 high. The vaulted and highly decorated roof is supported by two rows of clustered columns. eight feet high, having the capi tals encircled with foliage and various figures repre senting scenes of Scripture history. The building is supported on the outside by twenty-one buttresses.
Immediately above Roslin Castle, on the river side, is an extensive bleachfield; and a little above this the powder mills of Eskhill.
The uncommon beauty of the scenery on the North Esk, from Roslin Castle to Hawthornden and Lass wade, makes it a place of great resort in summer, the distance of Roslin from Edinburgh being only seven miles. See our article CIVIL ARCHITECTURE. and Mid LoTHIAN. See also the Statistical account of Scotland. The Beauties of Scotland; and Britton's Ilrehitectural "Intiquities of Great Britain, Vol. M.