pleasantly, its human burden was termed--nay, it is said that the Douglas was so averse to see the "knob" out of use, and his power of life and death rusting unexercised, that, did the supply of malefactors run short, he would string up on any or no pretext some unoffending peasant--_pour encourager les autres_, no doubt! * * * * * We now pass to the /Cree/ river, which forms the boundary between Kirkcudbright and Wigtown, the two divisions of Galloway. It is endeared to the poets, who name it "the crystal Cree"; either the alliterative effect fascinated the tuneful ear, or they contrasted it with the Dee, that other Galloway river whose dark waters have already been described. Burns also, whose verse is linked with so much of the scenery of his native land, has not forgotten this stream. In pleasing numbers he sings its beauties:-- "Here is the glen, and here the bower, All underneath the birchen shade; The village-bell has told the hour, O, what can stay the lovely maid?" The song goes on to describe the emotions of the rustic youth, who mistakes the whisper of the evening wind and the "warbler's dying fall" for the voice of the beloved. Well! the lady is a little late, but she keeps her appointment, after all:-- "And art thou come! and art thou true! O welcome, dear, to love and me! And let us all our vows renew, Along the flowery bunks of Cree." [Illustration: _Photo: J. P. Gibson, Hexham._ CAERLAVEROCK CASTLE (_p. 320_).] In truth the river has many beautiful prospects, whereof the finest are in the vicinity of Newton Stewart, the most considerable town on its banks. We have selected the river at the bridge for our illustration. The bridge is lauded in the "New Statistical Account" as "elegant and substantial, built of granite, with a freestone parapet"; and another authority assures us that it was built in 1813, and cost £6,000--all which, no doubt, you are prepared to take on trust, as you can scarce be expected to go to Newton Stewart to verify the facts! One must not leave the river without mention of the famous "Cruives of Cree," to wit, "salmon-traps in the stone-cauls or dam-dykes, which, serving the country-folk for bridges, came to be well known landmarks." They were situate near Penninghame House, in the parish of Penninghame, and are commemorated in an ancient rhyme celebrating the power of the Kennedys:-- "'Twixt Wigtown and the town o' Ayr, Portpatrick and the Cruives o' Cree, You shall not get a lodging there Except ye court a Kennedy." * * * * *