Colonel MuanAy's Outline Sketches of the Scenery of Scotland, which
in the first number were limited to the Lake Scenery among the Western Isles, are now to be extended over the whole of the country North of Edinburgh ; and the publication, owing to the general en- couragement it has received, has assumed the ambitious designation of a National Work. The outline views are remarkably effective, and are highly creditable to the skill of Colonel MURRAY ; and as delinea- tions of picturesque scenery which has not had full justice done to its romantic beauties, we hailed their appearance with satisfaction. But in an "Illustrated Record" of Scotland, we look for plates of more finished excellence. The author's views in this, the Fourth Number of the work, of the richly-wooded scenery of Killiecrankie and Schichallien in Perthshire, and the wild and rocky shores of Portree, and the Storr, in the Isle of Skye, afford a striking contrast ; and are excellent specimens of his style. In depicting the works of nature, the rocky mountain, the barren plain, or the verdurous valley, he is felicitous and faithful ; but in his delineations of the works of man, he appears to be deficient. The views of Dumfermline Abbey, illustrating the poem of "The Friar of the Forth," are feeble and meagre : the architectural forms are not well defined. The view of Stirling Castle is a striking one, and better executed; but the architectural features are less prominent in this plate. It is, however, but just to the author of the sketches, to state that these plates are by another hand ; . and therefore the, poverty of the style may not belong to him, .but to th.e artist who has been employed. They are also first attempts on stone, and are given over and above the stipulated number of plates ; and on these grounds plead for a lenient judgment.
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