Scotland/Scots > Black's picturesque tourist of Scotland

nOLYROOD PALACE.
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the garden, and made their escape by an old lodge still existing at the
northern corner of the palace court-yard, and which goes by the name of
Queen Mary’s Bath. It is a curious circumstance that in making some
repairs upon this old bath-room a richly inlaid dagger of ancient form
was found sticking in the sarking of the roof. This, it may be supposed,
was one of the weapons used in the murder of Riccio. In the extensive
clearance of old houses and rubbish that have recently been made around
Holyrood, due regard has been paid to the preservation of worthy build¬
ings of antiquity, and of this among the rest.
The Picture Gallery, the largest apartment in the Palace,
measures 150 feet long by 27 broad. Upon the walls are sus¬
pended the fanciful portraits of 106 Scottish Kings, in a style
of art truly barbarous. They appear to be “mostly by the
same hand (De Witt), painted either from the imagination, or
porters hired to sit for the purpose.” In the olden time, many
a scene of courtly gaiety has enlivened this hall ; among the
last were the balls given by Prince Charles Edward in 1745.
It is still the place for the election of the representative
Peers of Scotland, and for the levees and entertainments given
by the Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of
the Church of Scotland. In the south side of the quadrangle
is the Hall of State, fitted up for the levees of George IV. in
1822 ; and in the eastern side is the suite of apartments occupied