character of pigeons, but doubtless there are differences in the morality of doves as there are in that of individuals. A battle royal ensued, the starlings were routed and dispossessed, and the pigeons took what appeared to be undisturbed possession. The Nemesis of fate, however, was not distant. Some curious jackdaws, prowling about, discovered, in their turn, the envied quarters, and at once attempted to eject the pigeons, but were foiled. The defeated daws flew swiftly away to the westward, where they seem to have "roused the clan," for next morning they returned in force. A fearful fight followed. The inside of the pillared dome was filled with the wild waving and beating of black wings; the screaming and cawing were deafening. The pigeons, in their turn, were defeated and turned out; but, so far as we know, poetic justice has failed to overtake the jackdaws.

It is frequently asked by strangers how the well has been named St Bernard's, and also how the same name is of such frequent use in the locality. There is an ancient oral tradition in the district (we read of it also in an old book when we were young) that St Bernard visited Scotland. There are different ways of telling the legend, but the following appears to be the general version. St Bernard, while preaching the second crusade in France and Germany, was advised to go to Scotland as a country rich in faith and fighting men. He was disappointed with his reception at court. In grief, aggravated by illhealth, he withdrew and lived in a cave in the neighbourhood of the spring. There certainly was a cave of considerable dimensions in the steep cliffs to the westward. Its entrance was covered up by the building of the wall that bounds the back of Randolph Crescent, but when it formed part of Lord Moray's grounds we, and the other boys of Stockbridge, knew that cave well. The saint's

attention was attracted by the number of birds that resorted to the spring. He drank of its healing waters, and, soothed by the sound of the river and the beauty of the scenery, the valley, still very beautiful, must then have been surpassingly fair,—his health and serenity of mind returned. He called the inhabitants of the district to the spring, revealed to them its virtues, and, after bestowing upon the people his blessing, he returned to his place of public duty. Christendom concurs that this was the blessing of a good man. He was canonised by the Roman Catholic Church, but as canonisation is growing to be an invidious distinction, we quote Luther's opinion:-"If there ever lived on the earth a God-fearing and holy monk, it was St Bernard of Clairvaux." We give the tradition as a tradition, not as history, though it is as credible and certainly more creditable than many of the legends of the saints. Of Scottish history in St Bernard's days there is almost none, as the records of the kingdom were destroyed by Edward I. in his desire to destroy the independence of Scotland, only Bruce and Bannockburn followed.

St Bernard's Well, as we write, has passed again to pleasant times. It has been purchased by Mr William Nelson of Salisbury Green, senior partner in the distinguished publishing firm of Thomas Nelson and Sons, of London, Edinburgh, and New York,-the same publicspirited citizen who is restoring the ancient Parliament Hall of Edinburgh Castle. At a great expense he has also restored St Bernard's Well. The interior is beautifully finished in mosaic and marble from a design by Thomas Bonnar; a new approach from the higher ground has been given by a broad massive stair from St Bernard's Bridge; a low parapet wall with ornamental coping separates the grounds from the river, and these grounds

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are being laid out with all the skill of gardening art. When the work is completed it is understood to be Mr Nelson's intention to present the well to the city, and we trust that his thoughtful and discriminating liberality will be rewarded by attention being drawn to the beneficial effect of the waters of the spring, which for some time past have not been appreciated as they deserve. The master of a once famous academy in Kentish Town was in the habit of taking his pupils to the mineral well of St Chad, within the City of London, to drink its waters, as a means of "keeping the doctor out of the house." The citizens of Edinburgh are reminded that they are possessed of a medicinal spring, believed in the past to be endowed with the same powers, indeed, it has been noted that to the constant votaries of St Bernard's Well there has almost invariably accrued a vigorous and genial old age.

In 1810 a plain building was erected over a spring that existed a little to the westward of St Bernard's. It was called St George's Well. The water was understood to be somewhat similar to that of St Bernard's, but no use has been made of it for many years, and the building was latterly occupied as a dwelling-house by a solitary old

woman.

In 1826 we found in the bed of the Water of Leith, near St Bernard's Well, a small silver coin of the reign of Edward II. of England. It was firmly embedded in the solid rock. A small piece of the rim projecting attracted our attention; with difficulty it was extracted, blackened by age, but otherwise in a tolerable state of preservation.

Ancient graves, containing human remains, have occasionally been found in the neighbourhood of Stockbridge. In the summer of 1822, an ancient grave was discovered by some workmen, when digging the foundation of a