THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND 
 MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID 
 
PEAK SCENERY; 
 
 OR, 
 
 THE DERBYSHIRE TOURIST. 
 
 BY 
 
 E. RHODES. 
 
 Ah ! who can look on Nature's face 
 
 And feel unholy passions move ? 
 Her forms of Majesty and Grace 
 
 I cannot chuse but love. 
 
 MONTGOMERY'* Peak 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR 
 
 LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, BROWN, AND GREEN, 
 
 PATERNOSTER-ROW J 
 AND THE AUTHOR, SHEFFIELD. 
 
 1824. 
 
 
LONDON : 
 
 Printed by A. & R. Spottiswoode, 
 New-Street-Square. 
 
DEDICATION TO THE QUARTO EDITION. 
 
 TO HIS GRACE THE 
 
 DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE. 
 
 MY LORD DUKE, 
 
 INFLUENCED by my feelings, my predilec- 
 tions, and my wishes, I solicited permission to dedi- 
 cate the following Sketches of the PEAK SCENERY of 
 DERBYSHIRE to your Grace. It is apparent that in 
 so doing I had it less in contemplation to compliment 
 you than to do honour to myself: for the permission 
 however, and the handsome manner in which it was 
 communicated, allow me thus publicly to return you 
 my thanks. 
 
 In the future progress of this work, your Grace's 
 name can hardly fail to produce advantages probably 
 far beyond what I at present anticipate, and open 
 channels of information which may essentially facili- 
 tate its improvement, and extend its utility. Ab- 
 stracted from this consideration, to what other indU 
 vidual could the following pages be inscribed with 
 
IV DEDICATION. 
 
 equal propriety ? You possess a mansion that may 
 be denominated the PALACE of the PEAK ; and the 
 munificence of that noble family, whose wealth and 
 honours now centre in your Grace, has converted 
 some of the wildest scenery of Derbyshire into a ter- 
 restrial paradise : the Banks of the DERWENT and the 
 WYE have been adorned and enriched by their bounty. 
 
 That your Grace may live to accomplish the plans 
 you have suggested for the still farther improvement 
 of this very interesting district ; that you may long 
 enjoy the esteem of good men, and the gratifying 
 consciousness that the splendid honours of the HOUSE 
 of CAVENDISH have been confirmed and enlarged by 
 their present possessor, is the earnest wish of, 
 
 My Lord Duke, 
 Your Grace's most obliged and 
 Humble Servant, 
 
 E. RHODES. 
 
 SHEFFIELD, March 31, 1818. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 INTRODUCTION xi 
 
 ROAD SKETCHES XT 
 
 PRELIMINARY CHAPTER 1 
 
 PART I. 
 
 SECTION I General Remarks. Character of Derbyshire 
 
 Scenery. Picturesque Beauty. Sea Coast Views. 
 Fogs, Mists and Clouds 7 
 
 SECTION II. Abbey Dale. Autumnal Morning. Beau- 
 chief Abbey. East Moor. View into Hope Dale 
 Froggatt Edge 11 
 
 SECTION III. View from near Stoke. Stoney Middleton. 
 
 Stoke Hall. Middleton Church. St. Martin's Bath. 
 
 Middieton Dale. Lovers' Leap. Roman Coins 20 
 
 SECTION. IV. Eyam visited by the Plague in 1666. Riley 
 
 Grave Stones. Mr. Mompesson. Cucklet Church SI 
 
 SECTION V. Eyam Church- Yard. Ancient Stone Cross. 
 
 The Rev. P. Cunningham Miss Seward 44 
 
 SECTION VI. William Peveril. Eyam Mineral Charter. 
 
 Hammer of Thor. Druidical Circle and Ancient Barrow. 
 
 Effects of an Earthquake in a Mine on Eyam Edge 60 
 
 SECTION VII. Mineral District. Hay cliff Mine. Slick- 
 
 ensides. Accident in a Mine near Hucklow. Wardlow 
 Mears. Wheston Cross. Tideswell Top. Marble 
 Rocks in Tideswell Dale. Singular Stratum there. 
 
 Cotton Factories. Tideswell. The Church. Bishop 
 Purseglove. Sampson Meurills. Ancient Chapel. 
 Tideswell Church Yard. Conclusion ...". 67 
 
 PART II. 
 
 SECTION I. New Road from Tideswell to Buxton. 
 Monk's-dale. Thunder Storm. Wormhill. Chee Tor. 81 
 
 A 3 
 
VI CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 SECTION II. Observations on the River Wye. Blackwell 
 Mill. Topley Pike. Stage Coach. Wye-Dale. Ro- 
 mantic Dell and Cascade near Lover's Leap. Arrival at 
 
 Buxton.., ,.., < 87 
 
 SECTION III. Fairfield. Lime Hills* Poole's Hole. 
 Buxton Diamonds. Ax-Edge. Stranger at Buxton. 
 
 Source of the Wye. Evening 92 
 
 SECTION IV Staden-Low. South Entrance into Buxton* 
 
 - The Crescent. Mr. C. Sylvester's Hot- Baths. St. 
 
 Anne's Well Buxton Bath Charity. Amusements. 
 
 Antiquity of the Warm-Baths. Demolition of the Shrine 
 
 dnd Image of St. Anne 98 
 
 SECTION V Leave Buxton. Water Swallows. Tun- 
 stead. James Brindley. Wormhill Dale. View from 
 Diamond Hill. Miller's Dale. Raven Tor. Litton 
 Mill Dale. Cresbrook Dale. Wm. Newton. Difficult 
 Passage from Litton Mill to Cressbrook. Scenery there.. 107 
 SECTION VI. Cressbrook Dale. Bright Pool. Waterfall. 
 Monsal Dale. Summer Evening's Scene. Moonlight 
 
 View of Monsal Dale 118 
 
 SECTION VII* Recollections of a former Excursion. Edge 
 Stone House. Unfortunate Female. Morning View 
 from Great Finn. Hob's House. Cascade in Monsal 
 Dale. Lass of Taddington Dale. Ashford. Black 
 
 Marble. Rotten Stone 123 
 
 SECTION VIIL Bakewell. New Bath. Bakewell Church- 
 yard. Ancient Stone Cross. Epitaphs. Chantry at 
 Bakewell. Antiquity of Bakewell. Castle Hill. In- 
 terview with a poor Hindoo * 130 
 
 SECTION IX. Haddon Valley. Haddon Hall. The Ver- 
 non Family. Chapel at Haddon. Roman Altar. An- 
 cient Tapestry. Gallery at Haddon. Reflections on 
 
 Haddon. Lime Trees. Farewell to the River Wye 140 
 
 SECTION X. Edensor. Monument to the Earl of Devon- 
 shire in the Church. Inscription to the Memory of John 
 Beton. Chatsworth Park and House. Cascade in the 
 
 Garden. Fountain in the Court. Figure of Arion 149 
 
 SECTION XI. Interior of Chatsworth. Paintings. Verrio 
 and Laguerre. Gallery of Drawings. Chapel. Li- 
 brary. ~ Tapestry. Sculpture. Portraits. Closter- 
 inan. Sir James Thornhill. Carving in Wood. Gib- 
 bons. Samuel Watson. Cibber 155 
 
 SECTION XII. Reflections on leaving Chatsworth. Pro- 
 jected improvement of Chatsworth House. Mary Queen 
 of Scots imprisoned there. Marshal Tallard. Hobbes. 
 St. Evremond to Waller. Recollections of a former 
 visit to Chatsworth,..,...., 165 
 
CONTENTS. Vll 
 
 PART III. 
 
 Page 
 
 SECTION I. Excursion commenced. Banner Cross. 
 Curious Effect of Clouds. Enter Derbyshire. Burbage 
 Brook. View from Milstone Edge. Winter of 181 3. 
 Hathersage. Little John's Grave. Hathersage Church. 
 
 Camp Green 175 
 
 SECTION II. Hope Dale. Recollections of a former Ex- 
 cursion. Approach to Castleton. Fine Autumnal Even- 
 ing. Castleton Church. Peak's Hole 182 
 
 SECTION III. Cave Dale. View from the Hills above. 
 Juvenile Beggars at Castleton. Fluor Mines. Odin 
 
 Mine Mam Tor. Winnats. Speedwell Mine. Fau- 
 
 jas de St. Fond. Mawe and Whitehurst 189 
 
 SECTION IV. Mid-day View of Castleton Vale. Ebbing 
 and Flowing Well. Approach to Chapel-en-le-Frith. 
 Chinley. The Apostle of the Peak. Kinderscout, . 
 Evening at Glossop. Catholic Chapel at Glossop Hall. 
 Glossop Church. Rush-Bearing. Monument to the 
 Memory of Joseph Hague, Esq. Brief Memoir of him... 198 
 
 SECTION V.; The river Etherow. Broad Bottom Bridge. 
 
 Compstall Bridge. View from Compstall House. 
 Cotton Printing. Junction of the Etherow and the Goyt. 
 
 Marple Bridge. Mellor Mill. S. Oldknow, Esq. 
 Scenery of the Goyt 205 
 
 SECTION VI. Return from Glossop. Peak Forest. El- 
 don Hole Bagshaw Cavern. Small Dale. Lime-kiln 
 
 Fires. Night Scene. Morning in Hope Dale. Hope 
 Brough. The River Derwent 212 
 
 SECTION VII. High-low. Learn. Padley. Approach 
 to Calver. Calver Lime. Morning Scene. Hassop 
 Hall. Longstone. Godfrey Rowland his imprison- 
 ment in the Castle of the Peak 219 
 
 SECTION VIII. Money- Ash. - Marble Quarries. Source 
 of the Lathkil. Scene near Conksbury Bridge. Youl- 
 grave. Arbor-Low. Bradford River. Alport. Tufa 
 Rocks... 226 
 
 SECTION IX. Stanton. Visit there in the Month of No- 
 vember. Andle Stone. Plantations on Stanton Moor. 
 
 View from the Hill near Cat Stone. Stanton Lees. 
 Stanton House: fine Work there by Gibbons 232 
 
 SECTION X. Druidical Circle on Hartle Moor. Snake 
 Stones. Mock Beggar Hall. Cratcliff Tor. Winster. 
 
 Birchover. Rowter Rocks. View from the Road 
 near Birchover 239 
 
 SECTION XI. Approach to Matlock. Visit to Lums-Dale. 
 
 Lime-Tree Lane. Entrance into Matlock Dale. 
 
Vlll CONTENTS. 
 
 Approach to Matlock Bath. General Character of the 
 Scenery of the Dale. Walk to Stonnis View from 
 thence. Evening Scene from Masson. Morning in Mat- 
 lock Dale. Heights of Abraham. Museum. Inns and 
 
 Lodging Houses 246 
 
 SECTION XII. Willersley House. The late Sir Richard 
 Arkwright. Mouse Hole Mine. Side Mine. Riber 
 Top. Moonlight in Matlock Dale. Winter Excursion 
 to Matlock. Canova's Statue of the Mother of Bona- 
 parte his Bust of Laura. Snow Scenery at Matlock... 257 
 
 PART IV. 
 
 SECTION I. Last Excursion into Derbyshire. Reflections 
 on the word, Last. Meersbrook House. Samuel Shore, 
 Esq. Old House at Norton Lees. Walk from Heeley 
 to Norton. Norton Hall and Park. Norton House and 
 the Oakes. Manor of Norton 267 
 
 SECTION II. Memoir of Chantrey the Sculptor 276 
 
 SECTION III. Whittington Revolution House. Centenary 
 Commemoration of the Revolution of 1688. The Pro- 
 cession Ball and Concert. Walk from Whittington to Ches- 
 terfield. Smelting Furnaces. Local History of Chester- 
 field. The Church Spire. Walk to Ashover. Scene 
 from Stone Edge. Approach to Ashover. Ashover 
 Church Eastwood Hall, &c 289 
 
 SECTION IV Overton Hall. Sir Joseph Banks. South 
 
 Winfield. The Manor House. Description of the Ruins. 
 
 Reflections on their present Appearance. Siege of 
 the Manor House. Crich. Friendly Societies. Whit- 
 Monday in Derbyshire. Walk from Crich to Cromford. 
 
 Lea Wood. Dethick. Historical Notice of Babing- 
 
 ton 299 
 
 SECTION V. Morning at Matlock. Via Gellia. Hopton. 
 
 Sir John Gell. Carsington. Rocks in the Vicinity 
 of Brassington. Derbyshire Trossacks. Tissington. 
 Ancient Custom of Dressing Wells with Flowers. Night 
 Walk to Ashbourne 311 
 
 SECTION VI. Ashbourne Church. Monument by Banks. 
 
 W^alk to Dove Dale View of the Dale from the De- 
 scent near Thorpe Cloud. Character of the River Dove. 
 Dove Dale Church Reynard's Cave. Fatal Occur- 
 rence there. View from this part of the Dale. The 
 Narrow Pass. Retrospect of the Character of the whole 
 Dale. Rocky Portals, and the Meadows beyond. Rous- 
 seau, and his Visit to the Vicinity of Dove Dale 3 9 
 
 SECTION VII. Visit to Ham. Vale of Ham. Ham Hall 
 interesting Apartment there. Village Church. Chan- 
 
CONTENTS. ix 
 
 trey's Monument for^the New Chapel. Observations on 
 Monumental Sculpture. Ancient Stone Cross in Ham. 
 View in Ham Vale after a Rain-storm. Congreve's Grotto. 
 
 Morning Scene. The Rivers Hamps and Manyfold. 
 
 Contemplated Improvements at Ham. Second Visit to 
 Ham. The New Hall. Intended Conservatory and Pic- 
 ture Gallery, &c 329 
 
 SECTION VIII. Wirksworth. Moot Hall. Mineral Laws. 
 
 Miraculous Escape of a Miner. New Road from Mat- 
 lock to Derby. Unexpected Rencontre. General Cha- 
 racter of the Scenery. Beautiful Effect of Light during a 
 Shower of Rain Walk to Belper 339 
 
 SECTION IX. Recurrence to a former Visit to Belper. 
 Bridge Hill. View of Belper from the Road to Heage. 
 Pentrich. Revolutionists of 1817. Roman Station on 
 Pentrich Common. Alfreton. Hardwick Park. Hard- 
 wick Hall and Picture Gallery 346 
 
 SECTION X. Walk from Hardwick to Bolsover. Bolsover. 
 
 The Buckle Manufacture formerly there. Bolsover 
 
 Church. The Dead Robin. Bolsover Castle Ancient 
 
 Fountain. Historical Notice of Bolsover Castle. The 
 
 Terrace, Rampart and Watch Towers King Charles' 
 
 Visit to Bolsover. Renishaw Hall. Return to Sheffield. 
 Retrospection. Conclusion 353 
 
 PEAK ARCHERY... . 362 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 TO 
 
 THE FIRST EDITION OF THIS WORK, 
 
 THE Peak of Derbyshire has been often visited by the British 
 tourist, and the pencil and the pen have occasionally been 
 employed to illustrate its most frequented scenery ; hitherto, 
 however, it has not been regarded as a place of primary con* 
 sidenition. Gilpin, whose mind was sensibly alive to all that 
 is grand and picturesque in landscape, and who may de- 
 servedly be held in the highest estimation as an intelligent 
 and entertaining traveller, has treated Derbyshire with ap- 
 parent indifference. After passing hastily through several of 
 its valleys, and spending an hour or two on the tops of some 
 of its mountains, he has devoted a few pages only, in one of 
 his works, to a brief detail of its beauties. His accurate and 
 elegant descriptions of Dove-dale and Matlock, leave his 
 readers to regret that he travelled over so small a portion of 
 this remote part of the kingdom, and gave so little of his time 
 and talents to the investigation of those romantic dells with 
 which it abounds. The wild scenery on the banks of the 
 Wye, which every where presents a rich variety of pictur- 
 esque beauty, occasionally marked with great grandeur, is 
 scarcely noticed by him. Even the magnificent mansion of 
 Haddon, that venerable record of the hospitable manners and 
 
Xll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 customs of our old English baronage, occupies only a few 
 short sentences. This veteran tourist passed through the 
 Peak of Derbyshire immediately on his return from a journey 
 to the Lakes, at a time when probably nothing less stupendous 
 than the objects which he had left behind, could have at- 
 tracted his attention. 
 
 Derbyshire, however, notwithstanding the neglect it has 
 experienced, is richly stored with the most valuable materials 
 for picturesque purposes. The wildness of its mountains, the 
 beauty of its dales, and the various objects with which they 
 are adorned, entitle it to a distinction it has never yet attained, 
 and constitute a powerful claim to individual consideration. 
 In works principally devoted to other objects, it has occa- 
 sionally been permitted to appear ; yet even then it has oc- 
 cupied but a subordinate situation ; expelled the foreground 
 of the composition, it has only served to fill up the distance 
 of the picture. Such are the considerations that have induced 
 the author of these excursions to appropriate nearly the whole 
 of his canvass to the scenery of Derbyshire, and to give it a 
 station more honourable to its character, and more worthy of 
 its pretensions. This highly interesting county abounds with 
 objects of a more important character than rocks and rivers, 
 dales and mountains ; objects that may animate the industry, 
 and reward the research of the mineralogist ; supply the an- 
 tiquary with materials that may excite him to penetrate into 
 the secrets of days gone by, and enable him to unfold the 
 records of former times ; gratify the lover of local history, 
 and furnish to the geological student, and the man enamoured 
 of philosophic speculation, an ample field for the display of 
 their faculties, and the free indulgence of unrestrained con- 
 jecture. These, though not intimately connected with the 
 immediate pursuits of the Picturesque Traveller, will fre- 
 quently present themselves to his observation, and sometimes 
 
INTRODUCTION. Xlll 
 
 require particular attention. The author of the following 
 pages therefore hopes, that he shall not be closely confined 
 within the narrow limits apparently prescribed by his original 
 design, and the title under which he has chosen to appear ; 
 but that, occasionally, he may be permitted to trespass be- 
 yond so circumscribed a boundary, whenever the history of 
 the place he visits, or the stores which it may contain, pro- 
 mise to reward his wanderings. 
 
 From the preceding remarks it will appear that no regular 
 topographical account of any part of Derbyshire is intended 
 in the following pages ; therefore, the author trusts he shall 
 not be censured for not accomplishing what was never in his 
 contemplation. He has selected his own plan, and he has 
 chosen that which not only leaves him free and unshackled 
 in his operations, but gives him an uncontrolled dominion 
 over every object that may be presented to his observation. 
 The topographer is circumscribed in his proceedings, and 
 restrained in all his movements. He must necessarily travel 
 over all the ground his design embraces, however dull and 
 uninteresting it may prove ; the tourist has higher privileges 
 and a happier avocation ; like a bird upon the wing, he ex- 
 plores a wide horizon, flits over all that is uninviting, and 
 rests only on pleasant places. 
 
 Farther to develope the plan of this work is unnecessary, 
 yet it may not be wholly useless to say that it has originated 
 in a series of Rambles undertaken for the purposes only of 
 pleasure and amusement. The observations suggested, and 
 the memorandums made on these occasions, gradually accu- 
 mulated in bulk and interest, until they had assumed a form 
 which induced the writer to prepare them for the press. 
 Elegant printing and finely-executed engravings were not 
 then in his contemplation, but, thrown amongst Artists of no 
 inferior estimation, he has gladly availed himself of their as- 
 
Xiv INTRODUCTION. 
 
 sistance, and now rests his hopes of success more on their 
 labours than his own. Such is the history of these Excursions. 
 The author is fully aware of the magnitude of his undertaking, 
 and he knows that it can only be accomplished at consider- 
 able expense.* The tedious and unavoidable procrastination 
 that often attends productions which have their sole depend- 
 ance on one or two artists only, and those men eminently 
 great in their profession, may render the best concerted ar- 
 rangements ineffectual. Should delay, or want of success, 
 or any other event terminate these Excursions with the pub- 
 lication of the first or second part, the writer can console 
 himself with the reflection, that he has not only intended well, 
 but that he has left behind him a magnificent outline, which 
 he hopes may yet be filled up by some more fortunate and 
 able tourist. 
 
 The author cannot close these introductory observations 
 without acknowledging his obligations to Mr. Chantrey, the 
 artist, whose Sketches of the Peak Scenery of Derbyshire, so 
 essentially contribute to illustrate and embellish the following 
 pages. Remote as this interesting part of the kingdom is 
 from his present residence, he has repeatedly visited it, unin- 
 fluenced by considerations of expense, for the purpose of 
 making a series of drawings for this production, which have 
 been gratuitously presented to the writer, as a token of his 
 friendship, and a mark of his attachment to his native county. 
 To say more on this subject might be useless ; to say less 
 would be ungrateful. 
 
 * The reader is requested to recollect that this refers to the Quarto 
 Edition only. 
 
ROAD SKETCH, No. I. 
 
 XV 
 
 To Loughboro' 
 
 FROM DERBY TO MATLOCK BATH BY KEDLE- 
 STON. 17 MILES. 
 
 Derby from Lon- 1 
 don j 
 
 * The George Inn. 
 * The Bell. 
 
 Miles 
 
 126 
 
 Objects worthy notice. 
 
 Derby. Porcelain manufactory. 
 Brown and Co.'s manufactory of 
 ornaments, made of the marbles 
 
 Page\ 
 2 
 
XVI 
 
 ROAD SKETCH, No. I. 
 
 FROM DERBY TO MATLOCK BATH BY KEDLE- 
 STON. 1 7 MILES. 
 
 Miles 
 
 * The King's Head. 
 
 * The New Inn. 
 
 To Quarndon ... 
 
 Kedleston Hall; 
 
 New Inn. 
 
 To Weston Un-1 
 derwood . . .J 
 
 Cross Hands} 
 Inn f 
 
 Bateman Bridge 
 
 Wirksworth . . 
 
 Red Lion Inn. 
 To Cromford . . . 
 Greyhound Inn. 
 To Matlock Bath . 
 
 Old Bath Inn. 
 Saxton's Hotel. 
 Museum Hotel. 
 
 Lodging Houses. 
 The Temple. 
 Fox's. 
 Walker's, &c. &c. 
 
 and fluors of Derbyshire. The 
 infirmary. All Saints church. 
 
 At Quarndon there is a strong cha- 
 lybeate spring, which is much 
 frequented during the summer! 
 months. 
 
 Kedleston Hall. A magnificent mo-| 
 dern mansion, the residence of 
 Lord Scarsdale. Contains ai 
 splendid collection of pictures.' 
 May be seen from eleven o'clock | 
 to two every day, Sundays ex- 
 cepted. 
 
 Cromford. Near is Willersley Cas- 
 tle, the residence of Richard 
 Arkwright, Esq. The grounds 
 and gardens about this mansion 
 are eminently beautiful. 
 
 Matlock Bath. Rutland and Cum- 
 berland caverns. Petrifying wells. 
 Botanic garden. The Museum. 
 The Baths. Mr. Arkwright's 
 grounds. The Romantic Rocks, 
 fenced from general observation 
 by a paling about two yards high, 
 and permitted to be seen for six- 
 pence each person ! ! ! 
 
 N.B. The hill called " The 
 Heights of Abraham," may be 
 climbed any hot day in summer 
 for the same reasonable sum, 
 each time. 
 
 Page 
 
 310 
 
 249 
 
 N. B. The Inns marked * are Posting Houses. 
 
ROAD SKETCH, No. II. 
 
 xvn 
 
 Mattock Bath '* 
 
 Derby, * 
 
 FROM DERBY TO MATLOCK BATH BY BELPER. 
 17 MILES. 
 
 To Duffield . . . 
 
 Millford . . . 
 
 Belper .... 
 
 Cromford . . 
 
 Matlock Bath 
 
 Miles 
 
 2 
 2 
 8 
 
 Worthy notice. 
 
 Millford. Extensive cotton fac- 
 tories. 
 
 Belper. Large cotton works, and 
 at Bridge Hill, the seat of G.-B. 
 Strutt, Esq. 
 
 Page 
 
 346 
 
XV111 
 
 ROAD SKETCH, No. III. 
 
 MATLOCK BATH TO DOVE DALE. 13 MILES. 
 
 Matlock Bath 
 
 from London , 
 
 To Cromford . 
 
 Via Gellia . 
 
 Hopton . . 
 
 Tissington . 
 
 Spen Lane . 
 
 Miles 
 
 1 
 
 Si 
 
 5 
 
 1 
 
 Worthy notice. 
 Via Gellia, a picturesque road 
 made through the dales from 
 Bonsai Mill to Hopton, the resi- 
 dence of Philip Gell, Esq. M.P. 
 From Hopton to Tissington leave 
 Brassington to the right. On 
 
 Page 
 311 
 
ROAD SKETCH, No. III. 
 
 xix 
 
 MATLOCK BATH TO DOVE ,DALE. 13 MILES. 
 
 
 Mile 
 
 Page 
 
 To Thorp .... 
 
 1 
 
 Brassington Moor are several cu- 
 
 314 
 
 Ilam Hall . . 
 
 1 
 
 rious clusters of rocks. 
 
 
 Ashbourne . . 
 
 5 
 
 Tissington. The residence of Sir! 315 
 
 
 
 Henry Fitzherbert. Near Tis- 
 
 
 
 sington, cross the road from Bux- 
 
 
 
 ton to Ashbourn ; turn down Spen 
 
 
 
 Lane to the Dog and Partridge 
 
 
 
 
 leave the house on the left hand 
 
 
 
 
 and proceed to Thorp. 
 
 
 
 
 Thorp Cloud, a high mountain, 
 
 320 
 
 
 
 which guards the entrance into 
 
 
 
 
 Dove Dale : entering the village 
 
 
 
 
 of Thorp, leave the Ilam road by 
 
 
 
 
 a sharp turn into an open mea- 
 
 
 
 
 dow on the right, then keeping 
 
 
 
 
 Thorp Cloud on the left, pass be- 
 
 
 
 
 tween the hills into Dove Dale. 
 
 
 
 
 Within a mile of Dove Dale is 
 
 
 
 
 ILAM HALL, the residence of 
 
 330 
 
 
 
 Watts Russel, Esq. M. P. This 
 
 
 
 
 beautiful mansion is situated in 
 
 
 
 
 one of the most romantic vales in 
 
 
 
 
 the kingdom, on the Staffordshire 
 
 
 
 
 side of the river Dove : it should 
 
 
 
 
 be seen by all who visit DoveDale. 
 
 
 
 
 The road to Ilam Hall is between 
 
 
 
 
 Thorp and Thorp Cloud. Tra- 
 
 
 
 
 vellers with carriages may go to 
 
 
 
 
 Ilam first, return over the fields 
 
 
 
 
 to Bunster Dale, and ford the 
 
 
 
 
 river, which may be done very 
 
 
 
 
 conveniently at the foot of Thorp 
 
 
 
 
 Cloud, where Dove Dale com- 
 
 
 
 
 mences; or they may take the 
 
 
 
 
 contrary route, ford the river at 
 
 
 
 
 the same place, and after passing 
 
 
 
 
 along Bunster Dale, cross the 
 
 
 
 
 fields to Ilam. 
 
 
 a 2 
 
XX 
 
 ROAD SKETCH, No. IV. 
 
 MATLOCK BATH TO BAKE WELL. 10 MILES. 
 
 To Matlock Bridge 
 
 Moot Hall Mine 
 
 Darley Church 
 
 Rowsley . . . . 
 
 HaddonHall 
 
 Bakewell . . 
 * The Rutland 
 
 Arms. 
 
 Miles 
 
 Worthy notice. 
 
 Matlock Bath. Pass the High Tor 
 through the dale to Matlock 
 Bridge. 
 
 Moot Hall Mine. In this mine 
 beautiful specimens of pyrites, 
 lead ore, and rose-coloured sul- 
 phate of barytes are found. 
 
 Haddon Hall, belonging to the 
 Duke of Rutland: a very fine 
 specimen of the old baronial man- 
 sion of former times. 
 
 BaJceiuell. The church, the bath, 
 and Mr. White Watson's mineral 
 
 Page 
 
 249 
 246 
 
 140 
 
 130 
 
ROAD SKETCH, No. IV. 
 
 xxi 
 
 MATLOCK BATH TO BAKEWELL. 10 MILES. 
 
 
 Miles] 
 
 Page 
 
 
 
 collection. The river Wye is 
 
 
 
 
 here a beautiful stream, and well 
 
 
 
 
 stocked with trout and grayling. 
 
 
 
 
 In summer it is much resorted to 
 
 
 
 
 for angling. 
 
 
 Near the bridge 
 
 
 Edensor. Near the inn is Chats- 
 
 149 
 
 at Rowsley, 3J 
 
 
 worth House, the seat of the 
 
 
 miles from Bake- 
 
 
 Duke of Devonshire, and the 
 
 
 well, there is a road 
 
 
 Palace of the Peak." The park, 
 
 
 to Chatsworth by 
 
 
 the house, the gardens, and the 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 water-works, are objects of great 
 
 
 
 U 
 
 interest to Derbyshire travellers. 
 
 
 * Edensor Inn. 
 
 *2 
 
 From Chatsworth pass through 
 
 151 
 
 To Bakewell .... 
 
 *$ 
 
 Edensor to Bakewell. 
 
 
 a 3 
 
XX11 
 
 ROAD SKETCH, No. V. 
 
 sop 
 
 BAKE WELL TO BUXTON. 12 MILES. 
 
 Bakewell from 1 
 London ... .3 
 To Ashford . . . 
 
 Taddington . 
 
 Topley Pike . 
 
 Pig Tor ... 
 
 Miles 
 152-.L 
 
 2 
 
 Si 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 Objects 'worthy notice. 
 
 At Ashford. Marble mills and the 
 black marble mines. One mile 
 from Ashford leave Monsal Dale 
 on the right, and pass through 
 Taddington Dale. 
 
 Page 
 
 128 
 
ROAD SKETCH, No. V. 
 
 xxni 
 
 BAKE WELL TO BUXTON. 12 MILES. 
 
 
 Miles 
 
 
 Page 
 
 To Lovers' Leap . 
 Buxton 
 
 1 
 
 H 
 
 Topley Pike. A very high hill, on 
 the side of which the road is car- 
 
 89 
 
 * Centre Hotel. 
 * Crescent Hotel. 
 * Great Hotel. 
 * The Hall. 
 * The George. 
 * The Grove. 
 * The Eagle. 
 * The Shakspeare. 
 * The Angel. 
 
 2 
 
 ried along a fearful eminence into 
 the dale below. Chee Tor lies 
 about a mile lower down the river 
 than Topley Pike. 
 Pig Tor. A high barren rock on 
 the right of the river Wye. 
 Lovers' Leap. A jutting rock, 
 situated in a picturesque ravine, 
 amongst scenery extremely wild 
 and romantic. 
 
 84- 
 90 
 
 
 
 Buxton. The baths, the spar shops, 
 
 98 
 
 Lodging Houses. 
 
 
 Poole's Hall, Diamond Hill, the 
 assembly rooms, and the theatre. 
 
 
 Muirhead 
 
 
 
 Clayton 
 
 >- Square. 
 
 Billinge 
 
 
 Cotterill 
 
 
 Orme 
 
 . Hall Bank. 
 
 Crowder 
 
 
 Wright 
 
 
 Brandreth 
 Greenwood 
 
 Irongate. 
 
 Jones 
 Lees 
 
 Market Place. 
 
 &c. &c. &c. 
 
XXIV 
 
 ROAD SKETCH, No. VI. 
 
 BUXTON TO CASTLETON AND BAKEWELL. 
 
 MILES. 
 
 3uxton by Ash-"} 
 bourn from V 
 London . . . .) 
 
 Fo Fairfield 
 
 Miles 
 160 
 1 
 
 Page 
 
ROAD SKETCH, No. VI. 
 
 XXV 
 
 BUXTON TO CASTLETON AND BAKEWELL. 
 
 19 MILES. 
 
 To Dove Hole . . . 
 
 Miles 
 2* 
 
 Worthy notice. 
 
 Page 
 
 Ebbing and \ 
 Flowing Well . J 
 Perry Foot . . 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 Ebbing and Flowing Well, one of the 
 reputed wonders of Derbyshire, 
 lies in a field by the road side, 
 
 199 
 
 Winnats .... 
 
 H 
 
 about a mile from Perry Foot. 
 
 
 Castleton .... 
 
 li 
 
 Winnats. A narrow rocky chasm, 
 
 192 
 
 * Castle Inn. 
 
 
 through which the road winds 
 
 
 Wardlow Miers 
 
 5 
 
 into Castleton Dale. 
 
 
 Bull's Head! 
 
 
 Castleton. Mam Tor, Speedwell 
 
 183 
 
 near Long- > 
 
 2i 
 
 Mine, Odin Mine, the fluor ca- 
 verns, and the spar shops. 
 
 
 Ashford .... 
 
 li 
 
 Bull's Head. From the hill near 
 
 124 
 
 Bakewell .... 
 
 2 
 
 this public house there is a fine 
 
 
 
 
 view into Monsal Dale. 
 
 
 CASTLETON TO BAKEWELL BY MIDDLETON 
 
 DALE.- 13 MILES. 
 
 To Wardlow .... 
 
 Miles 
 5 
 
 Worthy notice. 
 
 Page 
 
 Middleton Dale 
 
 1* 
 
 Wardloio. Near the public house 
 
 71 
 
 Stony Mid- 7 
 dleton j 
 
 H 
 
 by the toll bar, leave the road to 
 Bakewell on the right, and pro- 
 
 
 * Moon Inn. 
 
 
 ceed to Middleton Dale, a ravine 
 
 28 
 
 Calver 
 
 i 
 
 of naked rock. 
 
 
 Hassop 
 
 u 
 
 Calver, famous for its lime kilns. 
 
 222 
 
 Bakewell .... 
 
 2 
 
 2i 
 
 Hassop, a pleasant village. The 
 
 224 
 
 
 
 hall is the residence of Lord 
 
 
 
 
 Kinnaird, the eldest son of Earl 
 
 
 
 
 Newburgh. 
 
 
XXVI 
 
 ROAD SKETCH, No. VII. 
 
 BUXTON TO DOVE DALE AND ASHBOURN. 
 
 20 MILES. 
 
 To Newhaven . 
 
 New Inn . . 
 
 Tissington . 
 
 Dove Dale . 
 
 Miles 
 
 11 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 Objects "worthy notice. 
 
 Netuhaven, originally an inn only 
 but now a little village. At this 
 place there is an annual fair for 
 
 Page 
 
ROAD SKETCH, No. VII. 
 
 XXVll 
 
 BUXTON TO DOVE DALE AND ASHBOURN. 
 
 20 MILES. 
 
 Tissington to ) 
 Ashbourn J 
 
 Miles 
 4- 
 
 cattle, which is generally nume- 
 rously attended. 
 
 Page 
 
 * The Green Man. 
 * The Moor's Head. 
 
 
 New Inn. Notwithstanding the 
 name of this place, it is only a 
 farm-house. 
 
 
 
 
 Tissington. See No. III. 
 
 315 
 
 
 
 Dove Dab. Ditto. 
 
 321 
 
 
 
 Ashbourn. The church is a fine 
 
 317 
 
 
 
 structure, and contains a monu- 
 
 
 
 
 ment, by Banks, to the memory 
 
 
 
 
 of the only daughter of Sir 
 
 
 
 
 Brooke Boothbv, which is ex- 
 
 
 
 
 quisitely beautiful, and worthy a 
 
 
 
 
 visit from all Derbyshire tourists. 
 
 320 
 
PRELIMINARY CHAPTER. 
 
 Derby. All-Saints' Church. Porcelain and Derbyshire Spar 
 Manufactory. the Infirmary. Kedleston Park.Kedleston 
 Hall, Pictures, and Statues. Description of the Road from 
 Kedleston to Wirkstvorth. 
 
 WITH some trifling alterations and unimportant omissions, 
 the following pages are the reprint of a more costly work, 
 published under the title of " Peak Scenery,'* and illustrated 
 with a series of engravings from drawings by the celebrated 
 sculptor CHANTREY. It now appears in a less assuming, 
 but, perhaps, a more useful form. The Excursions con- 
 tained in this volume commence at Sheffield, a place situated 
 within one mile only of the northern extremity of Derby- 
 shire ; but as a great majority of those who may make it a 
 travelling companion, may probably approach the more ro- 
 mantic divisions of the county in a contrary direction, a pre- 
 liminary chapter, beginning with Derby, may neither be an 
 unacceptable nor an useless introduction to the subsequent 
 pages. I shall therefore suppose them snugly seated at an 
 inn, in tKe principal town of the county, ready to accompany 
 me to the Peak Scenery of Derbyshire. 
 
 This very interesting portion of the kingdom is distin- 
 guished by a great variety of form, soil, and structure. In 
 the more southern districts, where the red mar] chiefly pre- 
 vails, it is flat; and although best adapted to agricultural 
 purposes, it has but few charms for the picturesque tourist, 
 who is most delighted where hills, and dales, and mountain 
 streams make up the prospect. This part of Derbyshire is, 
 therefore, travelled over with comparatively but little interest; 
 but its other divisions, its lands of " red heather," and 
 " mist and mountain," excite more pleasing and more power- 
 ful emotions : they are adorned with some of the most beau- 
 tiful and romantic scenery in the kingdom ; and in the con- 
 
 B 
 
2 PRELIMINARY CHAPTER. 
 
 templation of those who visit Derbyshire for pleasure, and 
 not for profit, they constitute the county itself. Hence it is 
 that this descriptive tour, passing over thousands of well- 
 cultivated acres and fertile meadows, commences in the im- 
 mediate vicinity of Derby. Descending the hill from Burton, 
 or approaching the town from Nottingham, it is a good 
 feature in the landscape ; and the lofty tower of All-Saints' 
 Church, rising like a magnificent land-mark far above every 
 surrounding object, beautifully intimates the consequence of 
 the place which it dignifies and adorns. This noble tower, 
 which is one hundred and eighty feet high, is ornamented 
 with the richest tracery, and surmounted with light crocketed 
 pinnacles, and embattled parapets of the most exquisite 
 workmanship. 
 
 Derby is situated on the banks of the Derwent, in a lux- 
 uriant and well-cultivated vale. The town is surrounded with 
 beautiful scenery ; and the walks in the meadows near the 
 river, and on the elevated grounds, are peculiarly delightful. 
 Several important manufactures are carried on in this ancient 
 town, and a visit to the Porcelain Works will gratify the tra- 
 veller. They were established about seventy-five years ago 
 by a gentleman of the name of Dewsbury ; and the wares 
 they now produce are unrivalled in richness and elegance. 
 There is a classical taste and beauty in the forms of their 
 urns, vases, and ewers; and some excellent artists are em- 
 ployed to adorn them with landscapes, portraits, groups, 
 and figures. Mineral colours only are used in painting por- 
 celain, and it is finished with a rich enamel. The gold with 
 which it is splendidly ornamented is reduced to a liquid pre- 
 viously to being laid upon the different articles to which it is 
 applied ; they are then committed to the fire, when the gold 
 reassumes a solid form, and is afterwards brilliantly polished. 
 
 The manufacturing of jewellery has likewise been esta- 
 blished at Derby, and pursued with considerable success. 
 The articles made here are much esteemed for their superior 
 neatness and accuracy ; no part of the kingdom, the metro- 
 polis alone excepted, produces more beautiful jewellery than 
 the town of Derby. 
 
 The next place deserving particular notice is the Spar and 
 Marble Manufactory of Messrs. Brown and Co. There is not 
 in the whole mineral world a more beautiful material than the 
 amethistine fluors of Derbyshire ; and they are here worked 
 into a variety of elegant ornaments, chiefly, from Greek and 
 
PRELIMINARY CHAPTER. 3 
 
 Roman models, but partly from designs of a more modern 
 date. At this manufactory, the petroleum, or black marble of 
 Ashford, is made into vases, columns, urns, chimney-pieces, 
 and a variety of other articles of very superior workmanship ; 
 and its polish is nearly equal to the surface of a mirror. 
 
 Amongst the public buildings at Derby, the Infirmary 
 holds a distinguished rank, whether the architecture, the 
 interior accommodations, or the utility of the structure are 
 considered : its exterior is imposing, and the arrangements 
 within are admirably adapted for comfort and convenience. 
 The fine mechanical talent of Wm. Strutt, Esq. has essen- 
 tially contributed to the improvement of this benevolent 
 institution. Nearly the whole of its excellent arrangements 
 are attributable to the skill and contrivance of this gentleman. 
 Mr. Charles Sylvester was the practical agent, Mr. Strutt the 
 moving spirit: the ingenious suggestions qf the one were 
 confided to the masterly execution of the other, and their 
 combined efforts have produced a system of management and 
 domestic economy in the Derby Infirmary unequalled in any 
 other institution of the kind in the kingdom. 
 
 Mr. Charles Sylvester, in his very beautiful and scientific 
 publication on this Infirmary, has added a wreath to his own 
 brow by bis liberal acknowledgments of the services rendered 
 him by Mr. Strutt. The praise to which these gentlemen are 
 entitled, may be fairly divided between them: let them, 
 therefore, go down to posterity together as the joint contri- 
 butors to a noble work. 
 
 About half a mile from Derby, closely situated on the 
 banks of the river, is Little Chester, the Desventio, or rather 
 one of the Derventios of the Romans. On the banks of the 
 Yorkshire Derwent, a few miles north-east of York, near 
 Aid by, they had another town or city of the same name; so 
 denominated, no doubt, from the river near which it stood. 
 Little Chester is now not distinguished by the remains of any 
 ancient works to denote its former consequence, but Dr. 
 Stukely is said to have traced the walls that nearly circum- 
 scribed the area where Derventio stood : he likewise dis- 
 covered the foundations of many houses ; and near the fields 
 now called Castle Fields, he distinguished the lines of some 
 of the streets. A great variety of Roman coins, both silver 
 and copper, have at different times been found here; some 
 dated as early as the year 14, and others as late as 318; but, 
 as Pilkington observes, " We cannot infer from hence that 
 
 B 2 
 
4 PRELIMINARY CHAPTER. 
 
 the Romans were stationed here for the space of three hun- 
 dred years." 
 
 The easiest and by far the pleasantest road from Derby to 
 Matlock bath is byDuffield and Helper, through a continuity of 
 dales by the side of the Derwent, amidst scenery as beautiful 
 and as picturesque as any in the county. Another road, and one 
 that is frequently travelled, is by Kedleston, the celebrated 
 seat of Lord Scarsdale, which is a powerful magnet of attrac- 
 tion to all who delight to vi,sit the magnificent mansions of 
 English nobility, and who have a soul to feel and relish the 
 excellence of works of art. This splendid building is situated 
 about three and a half miles from Derby, and near the en- 
 trance into the park there is a good inn for the accommoda- 
 tion of travellers. Kedleston Park includes an area of the 
 circumference of upwards of five miles, and the trees with 
 which it is adorned are the growth of many centuries : Time 
 has passed silently over them, but the marks of his footsteps 
 he has left behind; their branches are hung with tufts of moss, 
 and they look like the relics of a period that has passed away 
 and been swjillowed up by the common despoiler of all things. 
 They are the patriarchs of the forest, and venerable even in 
 decay: a mass of foliage overshadows their mighty trunks, and 
 above, their boughs, stripped of their leafy honours, display 
 their naked ramifications, the evidences of the many storms 
 they have encountered, and the records of the devastation that 
 time has made amongst their branches. Such are the oaks 
 of Kedlestone Park. The house is a modern structure, built 
 about sixty years ago, by R. Adam, Esq. Its exterior is 
 grand and imposing ; chaste in design, rich and classical in 
 ornament, and one of the most beautiful specimens of the 
 union of grandeur and utility that can anywhere be found ; 
 all its parts are fine, and the combinations intelligible and 
 effective. Kedleston is not only a memorial of the talents of 
 the architect, but it is the depository of a splendid collection 
 of the best works of art. The Hall and the Saloon are two 
 noble apartments. The first is sixty-seven feet by forty-two. 
 The saloon is circular, and it is lighted by a magnificent dome 
 from above. Hamilton has here some excellent paintings of 
 ruins ; and the chiaro-scuro from subjects of English history, 
 by Rebecca, are amongst the beautiful adornments of this 
 noble apartment. The flower-pieces are by Babtiest. 
 
 Rembrant, Cuyp, Vandyke, Tempesta, Zuccarelli, Guido, 
 Anibal Caracchi, and many others, both of the Venetian and 
 
PRELIM J NARY CHAPTER. 5 
 
 Flemish schools, contribute to adorn the rooms at Kedleston 
 with some of the most successful efforts of their pencils. In 
 this noble mansion the ancients and the moderns vie with 
 each other for mastery in works of art. In the hall there is 
 a beautiful statue of the Belvidere Apollo, and a Meleager by 
 Paulo Pichini. But the saloon contains the finest works in 
 this department of art; it is enriched with some exquisite 
 statuary, amongst which are the Dancing Faun, Antinous, 
 Santa Susanna, a Priestess of Isis, Venus de Medicis, the 
 Muse Urania, a Ganymede, a Flora, and a Mercury, &c. &c. 
 Kedleston is altogether one of the most interesting houses 
 in any part of the kingdom. Travellers are permitted to see 
 it, from eleven o'clock to two, every day in the week, with the 
 exception of Sundays. 
 
 From Kedleston to Wirksworth is about ten miles and a 
 half, of very indifferent and uneven road. The first time I 
 travelled .from Derby to Matlock, which is now more than 
 twenty years ago, I stopped at the New Inn to enquire my 
 way : a number of loungers, the usual hangers-on about an 
 inn-door, were collected together, and they appeared highly 
 amused with the quizzical replies of their companion. " How 
 many miles to Kedleston ?" I asked. " It's no' more than 
 four, belike." " How many from thence to Matlock ?" 
 "Thirteen or fourteen, may hap; an' they're no' very broad 
 ones, I warrant; but no matter for that, if they ha' no' it in 
 breadth, they ha'n it i' length." The man, I found, was a wit, 
 and fond of talking, and I was in the humour to listen to him. 
 " What sort of road is it for a gig, my good man ?" " Marry, 
 Sir, rough enough, a'll conscience ; i' some places it will be a' 
 you can do to keep your seat in that thing o' yours. Some- 
 times it 'ill toss you o' one side, sometimes o' tother, but it's 
 no' like to rock you asleep for a' that. That cock'ling thing 
 yo' ride in is no' fit for these roads ; and I should no' wonder 
 if yo' were to have a fa' before you get to Wirksworth : an' if 
 ye have ye 'ill no find it very soft, for the road is a' covered 
 wi' stones, and they're no some on 'em very little ones either ; 
 but may be ye do no' mind a fa' or two." 
 
 This quondam post-chaise driver, who had grown old upon 
 the road, and was therefore, as he imagined, privileged to say 
 any thing, would gladly have continued the same strain of 
 observations, but I put an end to his loquacity by thanking 
 him for his information and proceeding on my journey, which 
 I found much less perilous than he had represented. 
 
 B 3 
 
SECTION I. 
 
 General Remarks. Character of Derbyshire Scenery. Pic- 
 turesque Beauty. Sea^coast Views. Fogs, Mists, and 
 Clouds. 
 
 I HERE are but few individuals in this country, possessing thd 
 means and the opportunities of travel, who have not, either 
 from curiosity or some other motive, visited the Peak of Der- 
 byshire. It has therefore become generally, though not inti- 
 mately known, a circumstance which of consequence obviates 
 the necessity of many observations on the prevailing character 
 of the scenery it contains. 
 
 A more marked and obvious contrast in form and feature, 
 is scarcely to be met with in any part of the kingdom, than 
 the county of Derby presents. The more southern districts, 
 though richly cultivated, are generally flat and monotonous 
 in outline; to the picturesque traveller they are therefore 
 comparatively of but little value: approaching its northern 
 boundary it wears a more dignified aspect; nere the hills 
 gradually assuming a bolder, a wilder, and a more majestic 
 appearance, swell into mountains, which, extending to the 
 most elevated parts of the Peak, mingle their summits with 
 the thin white clouds that often float around them. 
 
 That part of Derbyshire known by the name of the HIGH 
 PEAK, is every where composed of a succession of hills, of a 
 greater or lesser elevation, and intervening dales, which play 
 into each other in various directions. Throughout the whole 
 the same general character prevails. A thin mossy verdure, 
 often intermingled with grey barren rock, adorns their sides; 
 and sometimes the interference of what Mr. Farey has deno- 
 minated " indestructible lime-stone Rubble" disfigures their 
 steep acclivities. Yet even then a little brush-wood occasion- 
 ally breaks in to enliven and diversify the otherwise sterile 
 scene. These remarks particularly apply to the minor dales 
 
 B 4 
 
8 PICTURESQUE BEAUTY. 
 
 of Derbyshire. Those which form the channels of the prin- 
 cipal rivers are of a more elevated description, and possess, in 
 an eminent degree, that variety of object, form, and colour, 
 which is essential to picturesque beauty, sometimes united 
 with a magnitude of parts where grandeur and sublimity 
 preside in solitary stillness. 
 
 Travellers accustomed to well wooded and highly culti- 
 vated scenes only, have frequently expressed a feeling border- 
 ing on disgust, at the bleak and barren appearance of the 
 mountains in the Peak of Derbyshire ; but to the man whose 
 taste is unsophisticated by a fondness for artificial adornments, 
 they possess superior interest, and impart more pleasing sen- 
 sations. Remotely seen, they are often beautiful ; many of 
 their forms, even when near, are decidedly good ; and in dis- 
 tance the features of rudeness, by which they are occasionally 
 marked, are softened down into general and harmonious 
 masses. The graceful and long-continued outline which they 
 present, the breadth of light and shadow that spreads over 
 their extended surfaces, and the delightful colouring with 
 which they are sometimes invested, never fail to attract the 
 attention of the picturesque traveller. But there are per- 
 sons who, unfortunately for themselves, cannot easily be 
 pleased with what they see ; and who, like Sterne's Smelfun- 
 gus, can " travel from Dan to Beersheba, and cry, - 'tis all 
 barren." 
 
 Nature is not only exceedingly arbitrary, but even capri- 
 cious in the distribution of her treasures : she does not gene- 
 rally arrange the materials that constitute her wildest scenes 
 in strict conformity to the rules and principles of taste. The 
 pictures she presents are not always harmoniously composed ; 
 but here, the sloping mountains, turreted with grey projecting 
 rock, not only entertain the eye with romantic forms, but fre- 
 quently present very pleasing combinations. 
 
 It may here be observed that picturesque beauty is not ne- 
 cessarily confined to any peculiar species of landscape : it 
 belongs not exclusively either to a flat or a hilly country. 
 The happy intervention of light and shadow may atone for 
 the absence of variety of form, and impart this delightful 
 quality to scenes and objects apparently at variance with those 
 acknowledged principles on which it is understood to depend : 
 hence it may be found, not only amongst the dales of Derby- 
 shire, but in the level counties of Leicester and Lincoln, where 
 the sight, uninterrupted by hills, freely expatiates over an ex- 
 
SEA-COAST VIEWS, &C. Q 
 
 tensive range of well- cultivated country. It is refreshing to 
 the spirits, and gratifying to the eye, to wander over ground 
 like this, where no objects intervene to disturb that calm sub- 
 limity of feeling, produced by contemplating an expanse of 
 prospect terminating only with the limited powers of human 
 vision ; and where one prevailing tone of colour, broad and 
 bold in the foreground, harmoniously unites an infinity of 
 detail that gradually softens into the blue mists of distance, 
 and imperceptibly melts into the horizon. 
 
 The gratification derived from beholding a landscape of 
 this description, is nearly allied to the ineffable feeling 
 awakened and cherished by a view of the ocean, under a clear 
 sky, and unruffled by a breeze ; when the mind, moving over 
 a world of mighty waters, is sensibly impressed with the gran- 
 deur arising from a "long continuation of the same idea," and 
 when contemplating immensity above, beneath, and around, it 
 becomes expanded and sublimed to the loftiest pitch of hu- 
 man feeling. 
 
 Sea-coast scenery is indisputably more captivating than any 
 other. The bold promontory shooting far into the deep, the 
 broad expanded bay, the busy beach, the airy lighthouse, the 
 towering cliff, and the shifting lights which play upon the 
 waters, are objects of no common attraction to the lover of 
 picturesque beauty. 
 
 Storms at sea, from the awful effect which they never fail to 
 produce upon the mind, have great sublimity ; and fogs, mists, 
 and clouds, sometimes subserve the purposes of grandeur. 
 Who that has travelled along the coast has not had his feel- 
 ings powerfully excited by the phenomena attendant on a 
 retiring fog ? Who has not watched with the most lively in- 
 terest, the progressive unfolding of the sea, and the gradual 
 development of the ships upon its bosom? A vane or a top- 
 sail descried above, through the vapour that encompasses and 
 renders undistinguishable all below, excites lively emotions of 
 pleasure, mingled with intense curiosity; and we watch, with 
 an absorbing anxiety, the vessel slowly emerging from its ob- 
 scurity, and leaving behind the clouds that hung upon its way. 
 
 Inland landscape may likewise derive an accession of pic- 
 turesque effect from the incidental intervention of mists and 
 clouds, for nature has a thousand ways of enriching the many 
 views she has spread before us. These shadowy nothings, 
 these thin and evanescent visitants, not only serve to vary and 
 diversify the scene, but in a mountainous country they are, 
 
10 DERBYSHIRE DALES. 
 
 occasionly, the source of considerable beauty. To trace the 
 white clouds floating across the bosom of the hills of Derby- 
 shire, their highest peak sometimes illumined with a bright 
 sunny ray, and sometimes compassed around with the majesty 
 of darkness, is at least an amusing, if not a sublime employ- 
 ment : it calls into play the reveries of imagination, a faculty 
 which is always more delighted with objects of its own creation, 
 than with what it finds definitively formed and incapable of 
 its arbitrary modifications. 
 
 Such are the appearances that often occur amongst the 
 mountains of Derbyshire. Descending into the dales, espe- 
 cially those through which the Derwent, the Dove, and the 
 Wye meander, the eye is enchanted with brilliant streams, well 
 cultivated meadows, luxuriant foliage, steep heathy hills, and 
 craggy rocks, which administer to the delight of the traveller, 
 and alternately sooth or elevate his mind as he moves along. 
 
SECTION II. 
 
 Abbey Dale. Autumnal Morning. Beauchief Abbey. East 
 Moor. View into Hope Dale. Froggat Edge. 
 
 PARTLY from a conviction that the scenery of Derbyshire may 
 be best explored oh foot, and partly from a predilection for 
 walking, the following excursions have been chiefly pedestrian. 
 Sometimes they have been performed alone; but more fre^ 
 quently the tediousness of a solitary journey has been relieved 
 by the presence of a friend. Occasionally they were attended 
 by one whom the author once anticipated would have been the 
 companion of the whole ; who was the sweetener of many a 
 happy hour, and the delight of many of his rambles ; whose 
 pencil could pourtray with fidelity the various features of the 
 landscape, and sometimes arrest an evanescent beauty; but 
 who has been removed from her native home by one of the 
 most important events in the life of a female. The sweet 
 dales of the Derwent and the Wye she has now exchanged 
 for the more magnificent scenery of Sicily, and a residence in 
 the midst of the " Golden Shell* of the Italian poets." 
 
 In the detail of excursions so performed, the author trusts 
 he may be permitted to speak as if none of them were under- 
 taken alone ; unless when an individual feeling or opinion is 
 intended to be expressed : on such occasions, personal respon- 
 sibility may perhaps soften the egotism that attaches to the 
 self-important pronoun I, and tolerate a mode of expression 
 which he knows not how to avoid. 
 
 In undertaking the following excursions, which have been 
 chiefly, though not entirely, made for the purpose of pictur- 
 esque observation, it was my intention to travel through the 
 mountainous parts of Derbyshire, and visit every place worthy 
 of notice in the high and low PEAK, especially those sequestered 
 spots which lie within the Dales that determine the course of 
 
 * The name given by the poets of Italy to the Vale of Palermo. 
 
12 ABBEY DALE. 
 
 the three principal rivers, the WYE, the ' DERWENT, and the 
 DOVE. 
 
 The investigation of the scenery of the Wye was my first 
 object ; we therefore bent our way towards the source of that 
 river in the neighbourhood of BUXTON, by the way of STOKE, 
 MIDDLETON, EYAM, and TIDESWELL. 
 
 Approaching the partition line that separates Derbyshire 
 from Yorkshire, and skirting a part of its northern extremity 
 through Abbey Dale, we crossed the river Sheaf, near Beau- 
 chief. Independently of the lovely valley through which our 
 road lay, this monastic ruin was the first object that claimed 
 our attention in our progress to the PEAK. 
 
 The hills in the vicinity of Beauchief are singularly graceful 
 in form, and the long line of luxuriant wood with which they 
 are adorned gives them an air of grandeur. It was a calm 
 autumnal morning as we passed through Abbey Dale. The 
 sun had just ascended above the horizon ; his slant lines of light 
 played through the leafy branches of the woody acclivity on 
 the left, and illuminated the tops of the trees; the smoke, from 
 the cottage chimneys on the side of the hill, slowly curling from 
 out the surrounding foliage, enlivened the landscape with a 
 beautiful incident. The whole was a delightful morning pic- 
 ture ; every feeling acknowledged its influence, and paid an 
 involuntary tribute to the sweet scenery of Abbey Dale. A 
 thin misty veil, exquisitely soft and tender, was thrown over 
 the principal part of the scene ; the surrounding objects, en- 
 veloped in the haziness that prevailed, were blended harmo- 
 niously together, and they assumed a magnitude, from the 
 medium through which they were beheld, that strongly evinced 
 how nearly allied obscurity is to grandeur. Shortly, the sun 
 shone out in all its splendour, the mists disappeared, and the 
 charm dissolved. Its existence, though lovely, was fugitive. 
 A new picture succeeded, extremely unlike the one which had 
 passed away : every object it contained was clearly defined ; 
 fresh in colouring, and glowing with light, it came upon the 
 eye like an island slowly emerging from a sea of vapour, and 
 gradually unfolding its rich variety of parts. I know not that 
 I ever beheld a more pleasing and beautiful effect than the 
 transition presented. 
 
 In a part of this valley, near the foot of the hill, on which 
 Beauchief House stands, are the remains of a once magnificent 
 abbey, founded by Robert Fitz-Ranulph, Lord of Alfreton; as 
 an expiation for the part he is said to have acted in the mur- 
 
RUINS OF BEAUCHIEF ABBEY. 13 
 
 der of Thomas a Becket. The kite Dr. Pegge, the learned 
 antiquary of Whittington, discountenances this tradition. 
 His arguments, however, which are chiefly founded on the 
 circumstance of the brother of Robert Fitz-Ranulph being 
 afterwards in great favour with Henry the Second, do not 
 appear conclusive ; particularly when opposed to the authority 
 of Dugdale, Fuller, Bishop Tanner, and others who have 
 written on the subject. 
 
 Dugdale says " Robert Fitz-Ranulph, Lord of Alfreton, 
 Norton, and Marnham, was one of the four knights who 
 martyred the blessed Thomas a Becket, Archbishop of Can- 
 terbury ; and afterwards founded the monastery of Beauchief, 
 by way of expiating his crime, in the reign of Henry the 
 Second." 
 
 Bishop Tanner writes " Beauchief, an abbey of Pre- 
 monstratensian, or White Canons, founded A. D. 1183, by 
 Robert Fitz-Ranulph, Lord of Alfreton, one of the execu- 
 tioners of Thomas a Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury ; to 
 whom canonized, this monastery was dedicated." 
 
 The walls of this abbey, with the exception of the west 
 end of the chapel, where parochial service is still performed, 
 have long since either been removed, or have mouldered 
 into dust ; and nothing now remains to point out the original 
 form of this once extensive pile of building. 
 
 The exterior architecture of the chapel is so extremely 
 plain, that with the exception of the reeded windows, and the 
 double buttress at the angles, it is almost destitute of orna- 
 ment. The elevation of the tower is said to have been 
 " curtailed of its fair proportion ;" but the parapet with which 
 it is surmounted is, in my opinion, an existing evidence 
 against the correctness of such a supposition. 
 
 On the east side, two angular lines mark the connection 
 which the chapel had with the other buildings, and a part of 
 the ground-plan may be traced by an old adjoining wall, in 
 which are the remains of two circular Gothic arches, very 
 little impaired by time or accident. A wreath of ivy which 
 falls from the top of the tower, and nearly invests one side 
 of it, breaks the dull monotony of its outline, and produces 
 a tolerably good effect ; in other respects, it is not strikingly 
 attractive as a picturesque object. The Abbey of Bello- 
 Capite will ever be dear to the antiquary, who will visit it 
 with veneration and delight ; nor will the artist pass it by un- 
 noticed. The magnificent woods, and the beautiful hills that 
 
14* BEAUCHIEF HOUSE. 
 
 environ the Abbey of Beauchief, amply compensate for any 
 deficiency of grandeur in the subordinate adornments of so 
 rich a scene. 
 
 This monastery, though once a considerable structure, was 
 never wealthy. At the time of its dissolution, in the reign 
 of Henry the Eighth, the whole of its revenues were esti- 
 mated at only one hundred and fifty-seven pounds. 
 
 On the summit of the wood-crowned hill of Beauchief, a 
 mansion has been erected of the materials furnished by the 
 demolition of the abbey : it is built in that broken style of 
 architecture which was introduced in the reign of Elizabeth, 
 arid was regarded as the standard of excellence in the begin- 
 nino- of the seventeenth century. Of this peculiar style of 
 building many splendid examples yet remain in different parts 
 of the kingdom. The principal entrance to the best front of 
 the house is through a gateway formed by two heavy stone 
 pillars, surmounted with busts, which are now completely en- 
 veloped in ivy. I remember visiting Beauchief before this 
 parasitical plant had become so luxuriant : it had then as- 
 pired to the height of one of the busts ; a branch of it had 
 climbed obliquely across the breast, and threw a light mantle 
 of verdure gracefully over the right shoulder. It was one of 
 the little sports of nature that pleased by its elegance. 
 
 Beauchief House was built by the descendants of Sir 
 William Shelly, to whom the estate was given by Henry 
 the Eighth, in the twenty-eighth year of his reign. It is 
 now the residence of B. Steade, Esq. 
 
 When the Romans, after invading Britain, had made 
 themselves masters of its coasts, and extended their conquests 
 into this remote part of the kingdom, (the northern extremity 
 of the ancient CORITANI,) the smelting of lead, and the ma- 
 nufacturing of iron, were alike essential to the permanent 
 possession of the country which their valour had acquired. 
 Hence it is that we find scattered over every district, where 
 iron ore abounds, the remains of furnaces and forges where 
 they have ceased to exist for centuries. That they once pre- 
 vailed in Abbey Dale, is indisputable : large mounds of cin- 
 ders, evidently produced from the smelting of iron ore, have 
 been recently broken up in this valley; and others, of still 
 greater dimensions, yet remain. Dr. Whittaker, in his His- 
 tory of Manchester, remarks, that " the manufactory of iron 
 must have been undoubtedly enlarged, and the forges must 
 have been multiplied by the Romans. One forge, perhaps," 
 
ANCIENT IRONWORKS. TOTLEY. 15 
 
 he adds, " was erected in the vicinity of every station ; and 
 within the West Riding of Yorkshire, in the neighbourhood 
 of North Brierly, amid many beds of cinders, heaped up in 
 the adjacent fields, some years ago was found a quantity of 
 Roman coins carefully deposited in one of them." 
 
 The Romans, the Anglo-Saxons, and their successors in 
 the sovereignty of this island, appear to have separated both 
 lead and iron from their native ores by a process extremely 
 simple : they erected their furnaces sometimes in narrow val- 
 leys, sometimes on hills ; and they were always so situated as 
 to be exposed to the free operation of the most prevailing 
 winds. 
 
 We now passed the village of Totley, which stands at the 
 foot of that immense range of mountains that takes its rise in 
 the vicinity of Ashover, and is continued thence through the 
 Peak of Derbyshire, Westmoreland, and Cumberland, into 
 Scotland ; and which has been dignified, by Camden and 
 others, with the appellation of the English Appenims. 
 
 [To enumerate the many beautiful pictures which occur in 
 the first six miles of this delightful road, would require a 
 pause almost at every step : the hills and the woods, the cot- 
 tages embosomed in trees, and the water sparkling with light, 
 present a continued succession of objects rich in picturesque 
 beauty, and sometimes very tastefully combined.] 
 
 Leaving Totley, the transition from cultivation to barren- 
 ness is forcibly impressed upon the mind. All before us was 
 now naked and unadorned ; while in the immediate neigh- 
 bourhood of Sheffield, the hills, with a few exceptions only, 
 are thickly wooded, and fringed with foliage from the summits 
 to the river's brink, and the fields and the meadows are in the 
 highest state of culture. 
 
 Near the Toll-Bar-House, which is built on the side of the 
 East Moor, about a mile and a half from Totley, we had a 
 vast retrospective view of the country we had passed. Mi- 
 nutely to describe the scene here presented would perhaps be 
 tedious : all its features are ample and agreeably varied, both 
 in form and colour. The foreground is well broken ; some- 
 times thrown up into rugged knolls, and sometimes sinking, 
 with an easy sweeping line, into gentle declivities, which are 
 every where adorned with fern, and heath, and verdure. A 
 long slope of hill succeeds, which declines into, and forms 
 one side of, Abbey Dale : the other, extremely beautiful in 
 outline, and clothed with magnificent wood, rises more ab- 
 
16 HOPE DALE. 
 
 ruptly from the dale, blending its topmost foliage with the 
 horizon. A part of Sheffield, including the three churches, 
 occupies the extreme point of the valley ; beyond which the 
 hills gradually ascend, presenting a continued succession of 
 woodland scenery to the vicinity of Wentworth. The three 
 architectural monuments of Hoober Stand, Keppel's Pillar, 
 and the Mausoleum erected by Earl Fitzwilliam to the me- 
 mory of the late Marquis of Rockingham, embellish the re- 
 mote distance of this richly diversified prospect. 
 
 Another two miles of ascending road brought us to the 
 summit of the hill that first presents a view of the fine open 
 valley through which the Derwent runs. What a noble pros- 
 pect is here unfolded ! Boldly featured hills crested with rock, 
 retire into mid-distance : beyond, embosomed in a capacious 
 amphitheatre of mountains, the beautiful eminences that stud 
 the dales of Hathersage, Hope, and Castleton, display their 
 graceful variety of outline. 
 
 " With rude diversity of form 
 
 " The insulated mountains tower : 
 " Oft o'er these hills the transient storm 
 
 " And partial darkness lower; 
 " While yonder summits, far away, 
 
 " Shine sweetly through the gloom, 
 " Like glimpses of eternal day 
 
 " Beyond the Tomb." 
 
 MONTGOMERY'S Peak Mountains. 
 
 The Dale of Hope looked lovely from this commanding 
 situation. A mild gleam of sunny light fell broad upon it, 
 and for a while it was the only illuminated spot of ground 
 within the wide horizon : the name of this sweet vale the 
 soft yet cheerful ray that now rested upon and lighted up its 
 meadows, produced an association of pleasing images round 
 which the mind lingered with delight. 
 
 This is one of the lofty stations from whence the scenery of 
 the Peak of Derbyshire assumes an appearance of grandeur; 
 and the sudden change we had experienced from one species 
 of landscape to another, made the contrast more forcibly felt. 
 We had just enjoyed a sweeping and highly diversified view 
 of fine flat country, which included many parts of the counties 
 of Nottingham, Derby, York, and Lincoln, every where cul- 
 tivated like a garden, enriched with the fairest park and 
 woodland scenes, and .ornamented with some of the most 
 magnificent mansions of our nobility. 
 
 The hand of industry was busily employed even in this 
 
COLOURING OF PEAK LANDSCAPES. 17 
 
 rude placej where stone walls, intersecting each other at right 
 angles, have obtruded on the wildness of these moorland 
 wastes, and robbed them of a beauty which they once possess- 
 ed. In a few years they will wear a different appearance, and 
 corn will wave where the yellow gorse and the purple heath 
 now flourish ; and the oak, the ash, the elm, and the pine, will 
 each contribute to enrich and ennoble the scene. To accom- 
 plish so important an object, a society has been formed in 
 Sheffield, for the purpose of purchasing and planting those 
 parts of the Derbyshire moors which lie nearest to the town, 
 and their plan includes the district which has excited the pre- 
 ceding observations. The establishment consists of a limited 
 number of shares of fifty pounds each, no person being per- 
 mitted to subscribe for more than ten. The management is 
 confided to a committee, and they annually plant a stipulated 
 number of acres. 
 
 Derbyshire was new to my companion; and, feeling our- 
 selves now completely within the boundaries of the Peak, we 
 paused awhile to contemplate the country around us. 
 
 Strangely insensible to the beauties of nature must that 
 man be who can approach these hills with indifference, and 
 unmoved behold the varying and graceful outline of form 
 which they occasionally exhibit, the subtle admixture of light 
 and tint that play upon their surfaces when near, and the soft 
 blue misty colouring which pervades them in distance. Yet 
 the mountains of Derbyshire, remotely seen, are not always 
 distinguished by this pleasing and shadowy hue. When the 
 black clouds that crown their summits portend a storm, they 
 wear a darker colour, and display a more awful aspect Even 
 at sunset I have sometimes beheld them invested with a pur- 
 ple tint, so firm and deeply toned, that, with the exception of 
 the great landscape painter, Turner, who delights in the 
 strong opposition of light and shadow, and in those sublime 
 effects which gloom and storm produce, but few artists could 
 be found hardy enough to transmit to canvass so striking arid 
 singular an appearance, unless they hesitated not to incur the 
 imputation of having 
 
 " O'erstept the modesty of Nature." 
 
 Every turn in the road now varied the picture, and every 
 object that presented itself attracted attention, and charmed 
 by its novelty. The abrupt knoll, the rocky projection, and 
 the broken foreground, are not often defective in picturesque 
 
18 DERWENT DALE AND FROGGAT EDGE. 
 
 beauty; and, when combined with the heathy hills of Derby- 
 shire, they sometimes produce a landscape in which the parts 
 have a dependance on each other, where the same general 
 character prevails, and where nothing glaringly incongruous 
 intervenes to disturb the harmony of the composition. 
 
 On a flat plot of ground, contiguous to the situation we now 
 occupied; several piles of stones formerly stood, which were 
 rudely built in a conical form, without lime or cement: they 
 were removed about fifty years ago, and used for the purpose 
 of repairing the road, when it was discovered that they con- 
 tained urns or vessels of earthen-ware, in which some human 
 bones were deposited : they were placed at regular distances, 
 and, in connection with each other, they described nearly a 
 circle: they were the cemeteries of the ashes of the dead; and 
 one cannot but regret that their hallowed character, and their 
 antiquity, have riot preserved them from violation. 1 recol- 
 lect once observing some uncouth heaps of stones of a similar 
 construction, in a wild and very singular dell in the neighbour- 
 hood of Bretton, about half way between Highlow and Eyam : 
 they greatly excited my curiosity ; but, at that time, I had 
 neither the means nor the opportunity to ascertain their con- 
 tents, and information is extremely difficult of attainment in 
 the Peak of Derbyshire. 
 
 The Lows and Barrows that so frequently occur in this 
 now cheerless district, may probably justify the supposition, 
 that it was once inhabited by a more numerous population, 
 and that these naked hills and barren moors have heretofore 
 been fertile places;, a conjecture which may require more 
 particular attention, when traversing those parts of Derbyshire 
 where these burial-places of the earlier ages are more fre- 
 quently found. 
 
 The road from the summit of East Moor is carried with a 
 gentle descent along the brow of the hill to a steep rocky 
 knoll, which may be regarded as the commencement of that 
 lofty ridge of mountains denominated Froggat Edge ; then 
 crossing the Derwent, near the village of Calver, it proceeds 
 to Stoney Middleton. 
 
 The view from this rocky elevation, in grandeur and sub- 
 limity, is unsurpassed in Derbyshire : indeed it would be 
 difficult to find in one short mile of road, in any other part oi 
 the kingdom, a succession of scenery more richly and beauti- 
 fully varied than is here presented. The hills which form 
 the capacious dale of the Derwent, even when individually 
 
IMPERFECTION OF DESCRIPTIVE TERMS. 19 
 
 considered, are noble objects : they are beautiful in outline ; 
 and, in connection with each other, they exhibit all the grace 
 and majesty which rock, and wood, and heath, and verdure, 
 can possibly possess, when spread over a long chain of hills, 
 sometimes rising boldly and abruptly into lofty and magnifi- 
 cent masses, at others declining into easy dales. The banks 
 of the Derwent, from Stoke upwards, and throughout the 
 whole of its windings, as far as the eye can trace its course, 
 is every where luxuriantly wooded. On one side of the river 
 the highest eminences are turreted with broken crags of 
 rock, which is the grand marking feature of every lofty pro- 
 jection from Froggat to Mill-stone Edge, and from thence to 
 the vicinity of Hathersage ; beyond which the blue misty hills 
 of the Peak present a succession of faint and shadowy outline, 
 scarcely distinguishable from the clouds of heaven. 
 
 He who undertakes, in passing through a country, to de- 
 scribe the scenes he admires, and who hopes to excite a cor- 
 respondent picture in the minds of his readers, will often have 
 to lament the inefficiency of the means he is under the neces- 
 sity of employing. The pencil, by an accurate delineation of 
 forms, may speak to the eye, and the canvass may glow with 
 the vivid tints of nature ; but it is not through the medium of 
 words, with whatever felicity they may be selected and com- 
 bined, that an adequate idea of the finest features of a landscape 
 can be communicated. The language of description is like- 
 wise so very confined, and its phrases so extremely few, that 
 similar appearance will often suggest a similarity of expression; 
 hence the choicest terms become tiresome from repetition, and 
 the impression they produce faint and imperfect. 
 
20 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 View from near Stoke. Stoney Middleton. Stoke Hall. 
 Middleton Church. St. Martin's Bath. Middleton Dale. 
 Lover's Leap. Roman Coins. 
 
 FROM the village of Froggat we crossed the bridge to Stoke. 
 The day was now declining; and as it was our intention to 
 visit Eyam before we took up our lodgings for the night, we 
 clambered to the top of the mountain terrace which connects 
 the high grounds near Stoke with that interesting and 
 pleasant village. 
 
 The Peak of Derbyshire has here a new character ; the 
 wildness of its native features is adorned with the ornaments 
 of art, and the general austerity of its aspect is softened into 
 beauty. Immediately below, sloping to the brink of the 
 river, waves the thick and ample foliage of Stoke; within 
 whose shades the Derwent for awhile retires, only to burst 
 again upon the sight with increased force and beauty. The 
 rocky chasm called Middleton Dale lay on our right : the 
 hills near Calver rose majestically from the valley. Their 
 base was lost in smoke, which, issuing in clouds from the 
 lime-kilns below, had spread like an obscuring fog over this 
 part of the landscape, where it seemed to rest, whrle a mild 
 and steady light played on their summits. Scattered down 
 the vale, which is distinguished by the beautiful meanderings 
 of the Derwent, several little villages and groups of cottages 
 appear. In mid-distance the extensive woods that surround 
 the splendid mansion of Chatsworth, backed with the hills 
 which form one side of Darley Dale, stretch across the valley. 
 The extent of the scene, the features by which it is marked, 
 the time of the day, and the peculiar circumstances under 
 which it was beheld, all conspired to impress upon it a cha- 
 racter of grandeur. 
 
FROGGAT EDGE. 21 
 
 " In the western sky, the downward sun 
 
 " Looked out effulgent from amidst the flush 
 
 " Of broken clouds, gay shifting to its beam." 
 
 THOMSON. 
 
 Notwithstanding the promise of a most lovely morning, we 
 had a day of partial rain. A sweet evening succeeded, and 
 the sun set with unusual splendour. A bright gleam of light 
 burst from the clouds which yet rested on the western hori- 
 zon, and spread a rich misty glow over the woods and the 
 Palace of Chats worth. 
 
 " 'Twas one/ of those ambrosial eves 
 
 " A day of storm so often leaves 
 
 " At its calm setting when the west 
 
 " Opens her golden bowers of rest, 
 
 " And a moist radiance from the skies ' 
 
 " Shoots trembling down, as from the eyes 
 
 " Of some meek penitent, whose last 
 
 " Bright hours atone for dark ones past, 
 
 " And whose sweet tears o'er wrong forgiven, 
 
 " Shine as they full, with light from heaven !" 
 
 MOORE'* Lalla Rookh. 
 
 From this commanding station the steep ridge of mountains 
 called FROGGAT EDGE form the back-ground of Stoke Hall. 
 They are the loftiest eminences on this part of the Peak, and 
 their towering summits are often covered with clouds. Stern, 
 rugged, and apparently impassable, they frown over the valley 
 below; from whence, to an active and ardent imagination, 
 they look like " the barrier of unwrought space." 
 
 " A rocky coronet adorns their brows ; 
 
 " A verdant wreath, with purple heath-bells gay 
 
 " And many a wild flower twined, plays on their sides ; 
 
 " And humble dwellings shelter at their base." M. S. 
 
 Many of the hills in this part of Derbyshire are thus tur- 
 reted, and Froggat Edge presents a striking specimen of 
 their prevailing character. Generally their summits are un- 
 blessed with verdure ; and they look as if at some remote 
 period their soil had been washed away by the rains of hea- 
 ven, and their heads left bald by the storms of time. 
 
 From Stoke we passed by a pleasant road to Eyam, a 
 village containing about one hundred houses, scattered over 
 a gently rising ground, and chiefly inhabited by miners. 
 Hills of steep ascent rise high above the village on one side ; 
 on the other the view is bounded, at a distance of several miles, 
 
 c 3 
 
22 EAST MOOR. 
 
 by the mountains in the neighbourhood of Calver, Baslow, 
 and Chats worth. 
 
 Night had now closed upon us ; and as we were aware that 
 Eyam would occupy our attention the greatest part of the fol- 
 lowing day, we paid a hasty visit to the church-yard there, and 
 then proceeded through a narrow craggy defile to Middleton 
 Dale. The moon rose majestically over the hills : the soft 
 dubious light thrown on the rocky projections, the dark mass 
 of intervening shadow, and the obscurity that now pervaded 
 this wild and singular dale, wonderfully enhanced its grandeur. 
 We passed it in silence, as if we feared to disturb the stillness 
 of the scene, and interrupt its solitude by conversation. 
 
 The uncertainty in which the mind is involved when it 
 contemplates objects undefined in form, and only indistinctly 
 seen, is a source of sublime and elevated feeling. Participat- 
 ing the emotions thus excited, we leisurely rambled down the 
 dale to Stoney Middleton, where we took up our residence at 
 the Moon Inn. Here we found excellent accommodations, a 
 neat room, a clear fire, civil treatment, and good beds. 
 
 The long chain of mountain we had previously passed on 
 our way from Sheffield, is generally denominated EAST MOOR. 
 It is the barrier that separates the coal and limestone districts 
 of Derbyshire, and it constitutes an enormous stratum of 
 millstone grit. The highest hills on the opposite side of the 
 Derwent are of similar formation, but more argillaceous and 
 laminated : they rest on an immense bed of limestone, which, 
 in one direction, extends from Eyam beyond the river Wye. 
 At Middleton, where it makes its first appearance, it has 
 evidently been rent asunder by some strong convulsion in 
 nature, at a period of time too remote for historical record. 
 A great variety of shells and marine impressions are found in 
 the rocks, and the rugged walls in the dale contain many cu- 
 rious combinations of organic remains. 
 
 No part of the kingdom is better calculated to facilitate the 
 study of mineralogy and geology, than the Peak of Derby- 
 shire : it is here that nature, in a peculiar way, lays bare her 
 operations. The various strata here exhibited, in some places 
 highly elevated, in others greatly depressed, and broken into 
 rents and chasms by frequent dislocations, unfold the interior 
 formation of the earth we inhabit, and carry the mind back 
 to that era of time when it was shaken and tumbled together, 
 and the hills and dales assumed their present form and posi- 
 tions. 
 
GEOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 23 
 
 Whitehurst, in his theory of the formation of the earth, 
 has deduced his most powerful arguments from the strata of 
 Derbyshire, which, he contends, exhibit irrefragable testimony 
 of their volcanic origin. St. Fond, who entertained a differ- 
 ent opinion, professes his astonishment, that a man so gifted 
 as Whitehurst should discover any proofs in support of his 
 peculiar theory, in a country where, as he remarks, " every 
 .thing is evidently of an aqueous origin." 
 
 Thus it is that the disciples of Werner and Hutton, the 
 Neptunists and the Vulcanists of the present geological 
 school, support their different theories from appearances 
 strikingly similar, if not essentially the same. The basaltic 
 stratum which, in various places, alternates with calcareous 
 rock, and which is provincially called toadstone, has fur- 
 nished Whitehurst with his most triumphant arguments : that 
 it is obviously and indisputably lava, he maintains, cannot be 
 denied. Wherever it occurs, it occupies and fills up the 
 space that intervenes between the different limestone strata ; 
 and the manner in which it cuts off or intercepts the metallic 
 veins is, in his opinion, conclusive on the subject. 
 
 It may be here remarked, that though the toadstone of 
 Derbyshire differs materially in its external appearance, it 
 has one general character by which all its varieties are de- 
 cidedly marked. So indeed has lava. It breaks with an 
 equal fracture in all directions : so does volcanic lava. It is 
 likewise of various colours : so are the lavas of Etna and Ve- 
 suvius, and there is a striking similarity in their internal 
 structure. 
 
 I have attentively examined more than a hundred speci- 
 mens of lava, now in my possession, and have repeatedly 
 compared them with the toadstones of Derbyshire, without 
 being able to detect any thing like a characteristic difference; 
 and I have now by me a tablet composed of nine varieties of 
 each, which forcibly illustrates their general affinity. 
 
 The lavas of Etna exhibit every degree of compactness and 
 hardness, from the close texture of granite and marble to the 
 most porous. The interior of the molten mass, being gene- 
 rally in a more fluid state, when hot and flowing, differs in 
 appearance from that which floated on the surface ; and the 
 part which appears to have been in immediate contact with 
 the earth is, in many instances, but little more compact than 
 half-burnt clay. I have indeed observed only one specimen 
 of lava that does not closely correspond with some one or 
 
 c 4 
 
24 EFFECTS OF A BRISK MIND. 
 
 other of the toadstones of Derbyshire : it is of a dark blueish- 
 green colour, intermixed with streaks of a dirty earthy yellow; 
 and it contains a great number of quartz crystals of various 
 sizes, sometimes closely imbedded in the surrounding matter, 
 and sometimes congregated together in small caverns. 
 
 I feel it would be presumption in one so superficially ac- 
 quainted with geology, to offer an opinion on a subject neces- 
 sarily requiring long previous investigation. I shall there- 
 fore, after first apologizing for the preceding observations, 
 resume the detail of my excursions, reserving to myself the 
 privilege of again adverting to the subject on my visit to 
 Matlock Dale; where, if I am not mistaken, a vein of lead ore 
 occurs, and is regularly worked, in a stratum of toadstone. 
 This fact indeed is far from being fatal to the theory of White- 
 hurst, as several instances of metallic veins being found in the 
 very craters of volcanoes are known to exist.* 
 
 The following morning we revisited Stoke: the sun that 
 had set so gloriously the preceding evening, and seemed to 
 give 
 
 " The promise of a golden day to-morrow," 
 
 was partially obscured with clouds when he arose. A brisk 
 wind prevailed, which we did not regret, as it imparted to the 
 scenery around us a pleasing variety, and impressed upon the 
 mind a new train of images. At intervals the sun shone 
 brightly in the heavens; the clouds were driven rapidly along 
 by the violence of the gale : every object was at one moment 
 strongly illuminated, then instantaneously dark with shadow. 
 The quickness of the change, the freshness of the breeze, the 
 elastic motion of the branches of the trees as they strained 
 and struggled with the blast, the rustling of the leaves, all 
 conspired to produce a very interesting effect. 
 
 Motion, amidst the eternal repose of fixed objects in nature, 
 is always pleasing to the eye, and frequently exhilarating to 
 the mind. The course of clouds, changing place, and shape, 
 and colour continually ; the flight of birds, whether suddenly 
 startled from the bushes, sailing aloft in the air, or darting to 
 and fro near the earth ; the visible lapse of waters in the 
 variable bed of a river ; the fluttering of the foliage of hedge- 
 
 * Gold-mine in the island of Ischia. The whole island is entirely volca- 
 nic. Breislat Mine of mercury at Guanca Velica, is in the crater of a vol- 
 cano ; and also the gold-mine of Naggag. Bdkewell on Geology. 
 
, STOKE HALL. 25 
 
 row trees, or the verdant undulations of a sea of wood, tossing 
 in the gale and shifting its lights and shadows in the sun ; 
 the revolutions of a water-wheel or a wind-mill; the alternate 
 glimpse and disappearance of carriages on an interrupted 
 line of road ; the progress of solitary passengers seen here 
 and there in contrary directions; the rambling of animals, 
 herds on the mountains, sheep on their walks ; all these 
 various forms of motion, if such they may be called, either 
 present life, or resemble it, and excite peculiar feelings of 
 sympathy, curiosity, and pleasure. 
 
 These are but the adventitious adornments of a landscape; 
 they are, nevertheless, some of its richest and most attractive 
 appendages. Rocks and hills, dales, plains, and mountains, 
 are fixed and permanent ; their forms and their positions 
 change not. Unvisited by life and motion, they repose in 
 undisturbed tranquillity, and their stillness is often grand and 
 awful ; but their most picturesque effects are transient and 
 incidental. 
 
 The beauties of Stoke have often excited the admiration of 
 travellers. It is indisputably one of the most delightful 
 mansions in the north of Derbyshire ; and though not suffi- 
 ciently capacious for the purposes of magnificence and splen- 
 dour, it might yet be selected as a fit and happy home for the 
 comforts and elegances of life. Its architecture is neat and 
 simple neither poor for want of ornament, nor gaudy with 
 profusion; and it stands on a graceful eminence near the 
 brink of the river, embosomed in some of the most lovely 
 wood-scenery in Derbyshire. The Derwent, as it passes the 
 grounds of Stoke, is a noble stream ; black with shadow, it 
 moves majestically along, its dark surface occasionally relieved 
 by the transparent reflection of the foliage which overhangs 
 its banks. 
 
 This beautiful place was formerly the residence of Orlando 
 Bridgman, Esq., now Lord Bradford, of Weston Hall, in 
 Staffordshire. It is at present occupied by Robert Arkwright, 
 Esq., a grandson of the late Sir Richard Arkwright ; a man 
 who was the artificer of his own fortune, the founder of a 
 highly respectable family, and a benefactor to the commerce 
 of his country. 
 
 Returning over the fields to Middleton, and descending 
 by a by-path from a farm-house on the brow of the hill, we 
 had a pleasing view of the village, which is romantically 
 situated at the entrance into Middleton Dale. The cottages 
 
26 MIDDLETON CHURCH-YARD. 
 
 are scattered amongst the rocks in a very picturesque manner, 
 one rising over another from the base to the summit of the 
 mountains. 
 
 In the Church-yard of Middleton we found but little to 
 attract attention. The most interesting object we observed 
 was an old stone-font of a very elegant form, and carved 
 in a good Gothic style. It stands in a corner of the church- 
 yard, overshadowed by some light trees. It is difficult to 
 conjecture why so graceful a piece of workmanship should be 
 cast, like useless lumber, into an obscure corner, rapidly to 
 moulder away, when, by being removed into the interior of 
 the church, it might be long preserved, an ornament to the 
 building that gave it shelter. 
 
 A church-yard, to the contemplative mind, is a school of 
 instruction. It is not always an easy task to analyse feeling, 
 or trace the emotions we experience to their source; but 
 surely it is not possible to approach a place dedicated to the 
 moral and religious improvement of the living, and which is 
 the sacred depository of the dead, without associations and 
 impressions calculated to elevate the mind and improve the 
 heart. The lessons of mortality taught by the silent monitors 
 that crowd these hallowed receptacles, and the conviction 
 that we hold our dearest enjoyments by a frail and uncertain 
 tenure, come forcibly upon the heart which is softened to 
 receive instruction, by the contemplation of our common 
 home, where so many of our brethren rest in peace together, 
 who, perhaps, by their little feuds, once agitated and disturbed 
 each other ; and our feelings become exalted as the mind, 
 dwelling on what we are, and on that event which connects 
 time with eternity, thinks on what we MAY BE. 
 
 The uncouth tributes of respect paid to the departed, and 
 the humble memorials of their virtues which abound in a 
 country church-yard, however offensive to good taste, fre- 
 quently excite our sympathy. They are the records of affec- 
 tion; and that heart must be cold indeed, that can seriously 
 condemn these lowly offerings of the Muse, even though the 
 whimsical absurdities by which they are occasionally marked, 
 may sometimes produce a feeling not altogether in unison 
 with the solemnity of these homes of the departed. 
 
 " Their names, their years, spelt by th' unlettered muse, 
 
 " The place of Fame and Elegy supply ; 
 " And many a holy text around she strews, 
 
 " That teach the rustic moralist to die." 
 
MIDDLETOX BATH. 2? 
 
 We do not indeed expect to find the poetry of a Gray on 
 these simple tablets of fond rememberance : the stone- 
 mason, the parish clerk, and the village schoolmaster, 
 generally divide the trouble and the honour of their embellish- 
 ment. 
 
 An ancient bath, supposed to have been originally esta- 
 blished by the Romans when they occupied a station at 
 B rough and Buxton, still exists in Middleton ; but it now 
 wears a modern appearance. Two neat stone buildings have 
 lately been erected on the site of the old bath, for the accom- 
 modation of bathers. The heat of the water is about two 
 degrees higher than the warmest springs at Matlock ; and it 
 is said to possess very salutary qualities : it is dedicated to 
 St. Martin, by whose name it is still known. 
 
 That this bath was constructed by the Romans may not 
 be easily established, at this remote period of time ; but, when 
 we consider that they long occupied this part of the kingdom, 
 and that the use of the tepid oath was probably introduced 
 by them into this country, the opinion appears not altogether 
 groundless. The form and composition of the wall that for- 
 merly surrounded it, and which was evidently Roman, may 
 likewise be adduced in support of the supposition. The find- 
 ing of Roman coins in the vicinity of the bath is another 
 circumstance of no trivial importance. So late as the summer 
 of 1814, some workmen employed in removing the soil from 
 a part of the Limestone Rock, near where the road branches 
 out of Middleton Dale to Eyam, discovered a quantity of 
 Roman coins ; about one hundred of which are now in the 
 possession of Mr. Bird, of Eyam ; they are chiefly copper, 
 but some of them are covered with a thin silvery coating: 
 they are in a good state of preservation, and bear the inscrip- 
 tions of the Emperors Probus, Gallienus, &c. ; and of Victo- 
 rinus, a successful usurper of imperial power. 
 
 Nearly at the time we were at the village of Middleton, 
 the Bishop of Litchfield passed through it on his way to the 
 North, and changed horses at the Moon Inn. The church 
 had then been for many months without a pastor ; and the 
 landlord of the inn availed himself of the opportunity, which 
 the presence of the bishop afforded, to represent to him the 
 circumstance, and solicit redress. After an apology, in his 
 plain way, for the intrusion, he told his lordship that at 
 Stoney Middleton they had a church, as well as their neigh- 
 bours at Eyam; but then they had not a parson, nor had they 
 
28 LOVER'S LEAP. 
 
 had any service on a Sunday for sixteen months : that they 
 had many Methodists in the village, who were very indus- 
 trious, and had their preachings and their prayer meetings 
 several times a week. " Then," added he, " if this is not 
 giving them an advantage over us, your lordship, I do riot 
 know what is." He concluded his appeal to the bishop with 
 a great deal of simplicity, by informing him, that he was no 
 way person/ ^interested in the application; that the church 
 being shut up did not affect him at all, for he had not been 
 there for several years. This application, plain and honest as 
 it was, obtained redress for the evil complained of, and re- 
 opened the doors of Middleton Church. 
 
 ' From Middleton we proceeded up the Dale, for the purpose 
 of revisiting the village of Eyam. This part of Derbyshire 
 has been frequently noticed, and some travellers have either 
 felt or affected a contempt of its pretensions to picturesque 
 beauty. 
 
 Passing through Middleton, a high perpendicular rock, 
 called the Lover's Leap, marks the first grand opening into 
 the Dale. From the summit of this fearful precipice, about 
 the year 1 760, a love-stricken damsel of the name of Baddeley 
 threw herself into the chasm below; arid, incredible as it may 
 appear, she sustained but little injury from the desperate 
 attempt: her face was a little disfigured, and her body bruised, 
 by the brambles and the rocky projections that interrupted 
 her fall ; but she was enabled to walk to her home with very 
 little assistance. Her bonnet, cap, and handkerchief were 
 left on the summit of the rock, and some fragments of her 
 torn garments, that waved in the few bushes through which she 
 had passed, marked the course of her descent : she therefore 
 returned to her dwelling shorn of part of her habiliments. 
 Her marvellous escape made a serious impression on her 
 mind, and gave a new turn to her feelings : her fit of love 
 subsided; and she ever afterwards lived, in a very exemplary 
 manner, in the vicinity of the place which had been the scene 
 of her folly; and she died unmarried. 
 
 The crags which form one side of Middleton Dale are 
 boldly featured, and the parts are broad v and massy. Half 
 way from their base they are much broken, and present many 
 smaller projections and recesses ; then commences a lofty 
 range of perpendicular rock, the different strata of which are 
 defined by lines running horizontally athwart its sides. The 
 regular tower and turret-like forms which the stony heights 
 
CASTELLATED ROCK SCENERY. 29 
 
 in this dale assume, have, in many places, so much the effect 
 of an old castellated building, that, viewed from the road 
 below, the eye sometimes doubts whether it contemplates the 
 works of nature or of art. A little foliage, introduced to 
 remove the prevailing appearance of barrenness, and a few 
 trees scattered amongst the declivities to break the regularity 
 of the parts, would render this dale beautiful as w o11 i ro- 
 mantic. This improvement, however, even if it im -...teed 
 to be one, would impair, if not entirely obliterate, its present 
 character of naked and savage grandeur. 
 
 The best view of this stupendous piece of rock scenery is 
 obtained from the base of the ascending ground, which forms 
 the left side of the dale, near the smelting mill, about half a 
 mile from Stoney Middleton. Before you, seen in distance, 
 is the chasm through which the road winds to Tides well and 
 Buxton : on the right is the Delve, a deep dell, whose rocky 
 sides are partly covered with verdure, and profusely adorned 
 with underwood, elm, and ash. A little nearer the foreground 
 is Eyam Dale ; one side of which is strongly characterised 
 with what I have chosen to denominate castellated rock, and 
 the other is fringed with pine, fir, and sycamore. Directly 
 opposite this dale, another branches out on the left; the whole 
 presenting a singular combination of hills, and rocks, and deep 
 ravines. 
 
 The wild scenery of Middleton Dale is often greatly im- 
 proved by the fires of the lime-kilns, with which it abounds. 
 The smoke that issues from them, curling about the. rocks, 
 renders their forms indistinct, softens down the asperity of 
 lines by which they are in some places distinguished, wraps 
 them in obscurity, and communicates an imposing sublimity 
 to the whole : sometimes the smoke rolls in dark masses, 
 beyond the broadly-illuminated surface of the boldest pro- 
 jections ; sometimes the turreted summits only are seen 
 gleaming with light, while all below is involved in the indis- 
 tinct and shadowy medium that floats at their base. 
 
 A short distance from the smelting mill, a deep cavern enters 
 the foot of the rock, near the side of the road. It has been 
 explored to the extent of about two hundred paces, when a 
 deep water prevented all further progress. The roof is in some 
 places so low, that the cavern cannot be penetrated in an erect 
 position ; in others, the passage is of considerable capacity ; 
 and it furnishes many beautiful crystallizations : it is a dreary 
 hole ; and the entrance into it is now nearly closed up by the 
 
30 ORIGIN OF SCULPTURE IN FLUOR SPAR. 
 
 falling of a mass of rubbish from above. Even when more 
 easy of access, it was but rarely visited, as appears from a cir- 
 cumstance which occurred about forty years ago. An itinerant 
 Scotch pedlar, well known and much respected, who period- 
 ically attended most of the villages in the Peak of Derbyshire, 
 was found murdered in this gloomy cavern : he had remained 
 undiscovered until his corpse was nearly a skeleton. His person 
 was identified by the buckles in his shoes, and the dress that 
 he wore : his bones were removed to Eyam church for sepul- 
 ture, where they remained unburied, until the late rector, the 
 Rev. Mr. Seward, consigned them to the grave. 
 
 The entrance from Middleton into Eyam Dale is marked 
 by a high rock, whose sides are adorned with ivy, interspersed 
 with branches of yew. A boy, in a perilous attempt to take a 
 bird's nest from the top of this part of the rock, lost his hold, 
 and his life became the forfeit of his temerity : he was preci- 
 pitated into the depth below, and nearly dashed to pieces. 
 
 Lord Duncannon, passing along this dale in the summer 
 of the year 1743, observed a piece of spar upon the road, 
 which his horse accidentally trod upon. He examined and 
 admired this elegant production of Derbyshire ; and, anxious 
 to have it formed into a vase, he sent it to Mr. H. Watson, of 
 Bakewell, for the purpose. Thus originated the manufactur- 
 ing of that beautiful fluor provincially known by the name of 
 Blue John, into columns, vases, urns, and obelisks. It has 
 since become a source of considerable profit ; and the splendid 
 ornaments that are now produced from this exquisite material 
 frequently adorn the houses and the palaces of the wealthy 
 and the great. 
 
31 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 Eyam visited by the Plague 1666. Riley Grave-Stones. 
 Mr. Mompesson. Cucklet Church. 
 
 UNCONNECTED with the local history of the place, Eyam is 
 of little importance ; but having been afflicted with the plague, 
 in the year 1666, it has become an object of considerable in- 
 terest. " Suffering has sanctified its claim to notice, and the 
 curious and enquiring traveller feels a melancholy pleasure in 
 tracing out the records of the ravages made in this little vil- 
 lage by that depopulating scourge of nations. 
 
 Dr. Mead, in his narrative of the great plague in London, 
 has noticed the circumstance of its communication to this re- 
 mote part of the kingdom ; and he particularly mentions its 
 introduction into Eyam, through the medium of a box of 
 clothes, sent to a tailor who resided there. The person who 
 opened the box, from whence the imprisoned pestilence burst 
 forth, was its first victim ; and the whole of the family, with 
 the solitary exception of one, shared the same fate. The 
 disease spread rapidly, and almost every house was thinned 
 by the contagion. The same cottage, in many instances, con- 
 tained both the dying and the dead. Short indeed was the 
 space between health and sickness ; and immediate the transi- 
 tion from the death-bed to the tomb. Wherever symptoms 
 of the plague appeared, so hopeless was recovery, that the 
 dissolutidh of the afflicted patient was watched with anxious 
 solicitude, that so much of the disease might be buried, and its 
 influence destroyed. In the church-yard, on the neighbour- 
 bouring hills, and in the fields bordering the village, graves 
 were dug ready to receive the expiring sufferers ; and the earth 
 with an unhallowed haste was closed upon them, even whilst 
 the limbs were yet warm, and almost palpitating with life; and 
 
 " O'er the friendly bier no rites were read, 
 " No dirge slow chanted, and no pall outspread; 
 " While death and night piled up the naked throng, 
 " And silence drove their ebon cars along." 
 
32 RILEY GRAVE-STONES. 
 
 Such is Dr. Darwin's description of the interment of those 
 who died of the plague in London ; but here " night piled not 
 up the naked throng," nor was darkness resorted to, to veil 
 the unseemly sight. The open day witnessed the " frequent 
 corse," not decently conveyed to its last home, not only un- 
 attended by friends ; but uncoffined, and hurried to the grave 
 with the precipitation of panic. The population of Eyam, at 
 this time, was about three hundred and thirty ; of whom two 
 hundred and fifty-nine fell by the plague. 
 
 Visiting this village, and traversing its environs, the 
 "Mountain Tumulus," distinguished by the name of Hiley 
 Grave-Stones, claims particular attention. When I first be- 
 held this little spot of ground, I came suddenly upon it from a 
 ramble over the hills above. Its insulated appearance, and 
 the freshness of its verdure, bedded in surrounding heath of 
 the brightest purple, together with the hallowed purpose to 
 which it had been appropriated, induced me to pass a serious 
 half hour within its walls. Miss Seward has informed us that 
 this was the burial-place of the dead when the plague raged at 
 Eyam, and the church-yard had become too crowded to admit 
 any more of its victims. 
 
 The situation of Riley Grave-Stones is on an elevated piece 
 of ground not half a mile from the village. A wall has been 
 erected round the stones that remain ; but many, whose resting 
 places are not distinguished by any mark, except a gentle 
 swell in the turf that covers them, are not included within this 
 humble paling. 
 
 I know not that I ever felt more seriously and solemnly im- 
 pressed than on my visit to this place. The dreadful power 
 of that disease, which, while it prevailed in London, appalled 
 the whole empire, and in the following year unpeopled the 
 village of Eyam, is here strikingly exemplified. Six head- 
 stones and one tabular monumental stone, yet remain to tell 
 the tale of the total extinction of a whole family, with the 
 exception of one boy, in the short space of eight days. The 
 inscriptions, though much worn, may still be distinctly traced. 
 The respective dates are 
 
 Elizabeth Hancock, died August 3, 1 666. 
 
 Jno. Hancock, sen 4, 
 
 Jno. Hancock, jun 7, 
 
 Oner Hancock 7, 
 
 William Hancock 7 5 
 
 Alice Hancock 9, 
 
 Ann Hancock 10, 
 
SILVER PLATING AT SHEFFIELD. 38 
 
 What a mournful memorial of domestic calamity do these 
 few stones and their brief inscriptions present 1 On the four 
 sides of the tomb, wJhich contains the ashes of the father of 
 this unhappy family of sufferers, are the words Horam Nes- 
 citis, Orate, Vigilate. 
 
 As an inhabitant of the town of Sheffield, and interested in 
 whatever is connected with its prosperity, I trust the following 
 short digression from this afflicting subject may be forgiven. 
 
 About the year 1750 a Mr. Joseph Hancock, a descendant of 
 this family, discovered, or rather recovered, the art of covering 
 ingots of copper with plate silver, which were afterwards flatted 
 under rollers, and manufactured into a variety of articles in 
 imitation of wrought silver plate. This business he introduced 
 into the town of Sheffield, where it has since become one of its 
 most important and lucrative concerns. ^Birmingham has at- 
 tempted to rival this elegant manufacture, but, with the ex- 
 ception of the Soho establishment, its pretensions are humble. 
 
 I have not hesitated to use the term recovered, a*- applicable 
 to the art of which Mr. Joseph Hancock has been considered 
 the founder, for I am well aware that the practice of covering 
 one metal with another more precious is of great antiquity. 
 That articles plated with silver, particularly candlesticks, were 
 in use during the reign of Henry the Seventh, can hardly 
 admit of controversy. A specimen of the work of that period 
 of time was lately taken out of Lady Idonea Percy's Monu- 
 ment, in Beverley Cathedral : a circumstance of itself sufficient 
 to establish the correctness of the opinion here expressed. 
 
 Some few years ago, when fewer restraints were imposed on 
 commercial pursuits, nearly five thousand of the inhabitants of 
 the town of Sheffield derived employment and support from a 
 manufacture recently brought into existence by a branch of the 
 unfortunate family of whose rapid and almost total extinction 
 Riley Grave Stones are the melancholy record. 
 
 We are informed by Miss Seward, that, nearly a century 
 after the plague had thus afflicted Eyam, five of the villagers 
 employed in the Summer of 1757, in digging near Riley Grave 
 Stones, found some linen or woollen cloth not entirely con- 
 sumed, and that even at this distant period of time " the subtle, 
 unextinguished, though much abated power of the most dread- 
 ful of all diseases, awakened from the dust in which it so long 
 had slumbered." She adds, " the men all sickened of a putrid 
 fever, and three of the five died; the disorder was contagious, 
 and proved mortal to numbers of the inhabitants of Eyam," 
 
 D 
 
34- DESTRUCTION OT FUNERAL MEMORIALS. 
 
 From this account it appears that the very ghost of this ter- 
 rible pest, rising from the tomb, gave awful proof of its former 
 malignancy, after the lapse of a century. 
 
 Respectable as the authority is on which this singular fact 
 rests, its accuracy is doubtful. The bare mention of a circum- 
 stance so very extraordinary, naturally excites enquiry, and 
 after all I have heard upon the subject, I am inclined to think 
 that Miss Seward has been mistaken in point of fact. Nor is 
 it more correct that a particular place was appropriated to the 
 burial of the dead, during the ravages of the plague. A pro- 
 miscuous grave, dug hastily in the nearest convenient place to 
 the dwelling of the deceased, would more probably, be the re- 
 ceptacle of his remains, and the many stones yet to be found in 
 the fields adjoining Eyam, with the dreadful year 1666 in- 
 scribed upon them, may determine a question now scarcely 
 worth agitating. It must, however, be admitted that the place 
 known by the name of Riley Grave Stones, appears to have 
 been more generally resorted to than any other, on this mourn- 
 ful occasion. A few years ago a small plot of ground, im- 
 mediately contiguous to the village, contained many of these 
 memorials ; now only one is to be found within it ; the others 
 have been removed by the sacrilegious hands of some of the 
 inhabitants. As materials for the purposes of building, they 
 lay convenient for use ; and one man has floored his house, 
 and another his barn, with the very stones that told the story 
 of the calamities of Eyam. The dates on those melancholy 
 tablets of mortality, wherever I have observed them, are Au- 
 gust and September, but chiefly August, which, probably, 
 being the hottest month in the year, proved the most fatal. 
 
 Every thing connected with this awful contagion has, even 
 at this remote period, a powerful and affecting interest ; and 
 the traveller, anxious to trace out its history, will find it per- 
 petuated in the fields that surround the village of Eyam in 
 characters too obvious to be misunderstood. Riley Grave 
 Stones, Cucklet Church, and the tomb of Mrs. Mompesson, 
 the impressive memorandums of this desolating scourge, are 
 the last places in the neighbourhood of Eyam that should have 
 suffered violation ; but even these have not escaped. Riley 
 Grave Stones : alas ! the busy hand of agriculture has nearly 
 obliterated this part of the record, and corn now waves over 
 the charnel-house of the dead. The stones, agreeably to the 
 custom once prevailing here, were originally, as I have been 
 informed, laid horizontally upon the sod that covered the re- 
 
THE REV. MR. MOMPESSON. 35 
 
 mains of the departed : but this sacred spot, or rather this spot 
 which ought to have been regarded as sacred, being included 
 within the operation of an enclosure act, they have been placed 
 in a perpendicular position, and the plough has passed around 
 them. May we not enquire, why was this permitted ? and 
 why did not the inhabitants of Eyam preserve this depository 
 of the dead from being thus rudely violated by the living ? 
 
 Mr. Bird, a gentleman of Eyam, has lately possessed him- 
 self of this interesting plot of ground, and, for the purpose of 
 restoring and preserving to it that character of sacredness 
 which it never should have lost, he has planted a few fir trees 
 within the walls that now enclose Riley Grave Stones. When 
 I last saw them they had lost their leafy honours, and their 
 branches were withered ; a circumstance which aggravated 
 the dreariness of the scene, and conspired to impress more 
 forcibly upon the mind the images of death and decay. 
 
 Mr. Mompesson, who held the living of Eyam during the 
 ravages of the plague, was eminently successful in preventing 
 the spread of the disease to the surrounding country. The 
 salutary measures that he adopted, and the enthusiastic af- 
 fection with which they were carried into fulfilment, were 
 all attended with the happiest results. He was the priest, 
 the physician, and the legislator of a community of sufferers ; 
 and the bond by which they were connected, had a melan- 
 choly influence over the minds of his parishioners. His will, 
 nay even his wish but half expressed, had the force and effect 
 of a legislative enactment; and even at a time, and under 
 circumstances, when men usually listen to the suggestions 
 of personal safety only, he was regarded with reverence 
 and obeyed with alacrity. He represented to the inhabitants 
 the consequence of leaving their homes, and communicating 
 to others the pestilent malady with which they were visited, 
 and the little probability of escaping the contagion by flight. 
 His character and example, combined with his authority, 
 drew a circle round the village of Eyam which none at- 
 tempted to pass, even though to remain within it was to 
 hazard almost inevitable death. At his suggestion an arrange- 
 ment was made, by which supplies of food, and every thing 
 necessary to mitigate the horrors of the disease, were depo- 
 sited, from whence they were regularly removed by some of 
 the villagers to whom this task was assigned. The Earl of 
 Devonshire was at this time at Chatsworth, where, undeterred 
 by the dread of the plague, he remained during the whole of 
 
 D 2 
 
36 THE REV. MR. MOMPESSON. 
 
 its ravages, assisting Mr. Mompesson by his exertions, his 
 influence, and his example. 
 
 Troughs, or wells are now shown which were then filled 
 with water, and placed at the boundary line of communica- 
 tion, to receive and purify the purchase-money used in this 
 perilous traffic ; and I have been informed that a little rivulet, 
 whose stream was devoted to supply and replenish them, was 
 long known by the hallowed appellation of Mompesson's 
 Brook. 
 
 This excellent man, conceiving that the assembling of his 
 congregation in the church during the hottest parts of the 
 year, would in all probability aggravate the virulence of the 
 disorder, and give a wider range to the evil, collected his 
 little flock together in a deep romantic dell in the immediate 
 vicinity of Eyam, where on Sundays, and occasionally again 
 during the week, he addressed them from a rocky eminence, 
 now called Cucklet Church. 
 
 When we figure to ourselves this admirable man sur- 
 rounded by his parishioners, under circumstances so awfully 
 impressive; preaching to them as it were in a wilderness, 
 from the point of a projecting rock ; imparting to them the 
 consolations of heaven, at a time when such consolations 
 were peculiarly needful, and inspiring them with fortitude in 
 the hour of danger and of dread ; is it possible to conceive a 
 picture more truly sublime ? Paul preaching at Athens, or 
 John the Baptist in the wilderness, scarcely excites a more 
 powerful and solemn interest than this minister of God, this 
 " legate of the skies," when contemplated on this trying and 
 momentous occasion, " when he stood between the dead and 
 the living, and the plague was stayed." Numbers, chap. xvi. 
 y. 48. 
 
 To this pious pastor was committed one of the most ardu- 
 ous and important duties ever confided to man. The zeal 
 and fidelity with which he discharged the functions of his 
 high office, have an everlasting claim on the gratitude of 
 mankind, by whom the memory of his benevolent exertions, 
 connected with the tale of the calamity by which they were 
 called into action, should be reverently cherished. 
 
 Mr. Mompesson, was, at this time in the prime of life. He 
 lived to see the disorder subside, and to witness the success 
 of his endeavours to prevent its extension beyond the pre- 
 cincts of the little village that was his peculiar care, and which 
 it had afflicted for nearly seven months. He was, however, 
 
THE REV. MR. MOMPESSON. 37 
 
 personally destined to participate in the general distress, and 
 to drink of the cup of sorrow that went round among his pa- 
 rishioners. His wife, an amiable woman, only twenty-seven 
 years of age, and the mother of his two children, was one of 
 the victims of the plague. She died in the month of August, 
 and her remains lie near the church of Eyam. How much, 
 and how severely, the good man felt on this occasion, and 
 how feeble were his hopes of escaping the infection, may be 
 ascertained from the following letter addressed to Sir George 
 Saville, patron of the living of Eyam. 
 
 "Eya?n, Sept. 1, 1666. 
 
 " Honoured and Dear Sir, 
 
 " This is the saddest news that ever my pen could write. 
 The destroying Angel having taken up his quarters within my 
 habitation, my dearest wife is gone to her eternal rest, and is 
 invested with a crown of righteousness, having made a happy 
 end. Indeed, had she loved herself as well as me, she had 
 fled from the pit of destruction with the sweet babes, and 
 might have prolonged her days ; but she was resolved to die 
 a martyr to my interest. My drooping spirits are much re- 
 freshed with her joys, which I think are unutterable. 
 
 " Sir, this paper is to bid you a hearty farewell for ever, and to 
 bring you my humble thanks for all your noble favours ; and 
 I hope you will believe a dying man, I have as much love as 
 honour for you, and I will bend my feeble knees to the God 
 of Heaven, that you, my dear lady, and your children and 
 their children, may be blessed with external and eternal hap- 
 piness, and that the same blessing may fall upon Lady Sun- 
 derland and her relations. 
 
 " Dear Sir, let your dying Chaplain recommend this truth 
 to you and your family, that no happiness or solid comfort 
 can be found in this vale of tears, like living a pious life ; and 
 pray ever remember this rule, never do any thing upon which 
 you dare not first ask the blessing of God. 
 
 " Sir, I have made bold in my will with your name for 
 executor, and I hope that you will not take it ill. I have 
 joined two others with you, who will take from you the trou- 
 ble. Your favourable aspect will, I know, be a great com- 
 fort to my distressed orphans. I am not desirous that they 
 should be great, but good : and my next request is, that they 
 be brought up in the tear and admonition of the Lord. 
 
 * 3 
 
38 THE REV. MR. MOMPESSON. 
 
 " Sir, I thank God I am contented to shake hands with all 
 the world ; and have many comfortable assurances that God 
 will accept me upon account of his Son. I find the goodness 
 of God greater than ever I thought or imagined ; and I wish 
 from my soul that it were not so much abused and contemned. 
 
 " I desire, Sir, that you will be pleased to make choice of a 
 humble, pious man, to succeed me in my parsonage; and 
 could I see your face before my departure hence, I would 
 inform you in what manner I think he may live comfortable 
 amongst his people, which would be some satisfaction to me 
 before I die. 
 
 " Dear Sir, I beg the prayers of all about you that I may 
 not be daunted by the powers of hell, and that I may have 
 dying graces : with tears 1 beg, that when you are praying for 
 fatherless orphans, you would remember my two pretty babes. 
 
 " Pardon the rude style of this paper, and be pleased to 
 believe that I am, dear Sir, &c. 
 
 " WILLIAM MOMPESSON." 
 
 This letter, written when the disease was making the 
 greatest havoc, when it had already entered the writer's 
 dwelling, prostrated his hopes, despoiled, and almost deso- 
 lated, his affections, and evidently produced under the expect- 
 ation of an immediate attack from the destroying Angel, and 
 an approaching dissolution, is beautifully illustrative of the 
 character of its amiable author. It is, indeed, a heart-rending 
 appeal, and deepens our regret that so little is known of the 
 history of so good a man. His were unobtrusive virtues, and 
 they moved in a narrow circle, but their salutary effects 
 were not confined to the village in which he lived. The 
 disorder, the virulence of which he unremittingly endeavoured 
 to mitigate, was fatal beyond example ; and when we reflect, 
 that it was chiefly owing to his benevolent exertions? that the sur- 
 rounding hamlets escaped the contagion, gratitude requires that 
 they should not be forgotten. He was not only the preserver 
 of a small remnant, who were saved at Eyam, but, perhaps* 
 the saviour of many in the vicinity. 
 
 A short time after the date of the preceding letter the dis- 
 ease happily subsided, and in a subsequent one addressed to 
 John Beilby, Esq. Nov. 20th, 1666, his sensations, though 
 strong, appear to be less acute, and the prospect of death 
 removed farther irom him. In this letter he says 
 
 " The condition of this place has been so sad, that I per- 
 
MRS. MO-MPESSON'S TOMB. 39 
 
 suade myself it did exceed all history and example : 1 may 
 truly say that our place has become a Golgotha, the place of 
 a skull; and had there not been a small remnant of us 
 left 4 we had been as Sodoma and been made like unto 
 Gomorrah.' My ears never heard such doleful lamentations, 
 and my eyes never beheld such ghastly spectacles. Now, 
 blessed be God, all our fears are over, for none have died of 
 the infection since the eleventh of October, and all the pest- 
 houses having been long empty. I intend, God willing, to 
 spend most of this week in seeing all woollen cloaths fumed 
 and purified, as well for the satisfaction as the safety of the 
 country. 
 
 " Here has been such burning of goods that the like I think 
 was never known, and, indeed, in this we have been too 
 precise. For my part, I have scarcely left myself apparel to 
 shelter my body from the cold, and have wasted more than 
 needed, merely for example. As for my part, I cannot say 
 that I had ever better health than during the time of the 
 dreadful visitation, neither can I say that I have had any 
 symptoms of the disease. My man had the distemper, and 
 upon the appearance of a tumour, I gave him several chemical 
 antidotes, which had a very kind operation; and with the 
 blessing of God, kept the venom from the heart, and after the 
 rising broke, he was very well. 
 
 " I have largely tasted the goodness of the Creator, and, 
 blessed be his name, the grim looks of death did never yet 
 affright me. I always had a firm faith that my dear babes 
 would do well, which made me willing to shake hands with 
 the unkind, froward world ; yet I hope that I shall esteem it a 
 mercy if I am frustrated of the hopes of a translation to a better 
 place : and God grant that I may make a right use of his mer- 
 cies : as the one hath been tart, so the other hath been sweet 
 and comfortable." 
 
 Near the entrance into the chancel of Eyam Church I no- 
 ticed the tomb of Mrs. Mompesson, which for some time I 
 endeavoured to find in vain. I had taken, as my guide, the 
 description given of this burial place by Miss Seward ; I 
 therefore expected to see it " surrounded with iron paling," 
 of which, at present, no trace remains. There is, indeed, as 
 it now appears, no indication of its having been so honoured 
 at any time. At the corners of the tomb are placed four rude 
 stone pillars, or rather posts (for they merit no better a name), 
 and recently some lime trees, which were planted on each side 
 
 D 4 
 
40 THE REV. MR. MOMPESSON. 
 
 of her grave, far more worthily distinguished the place where 
 she was interred. The trees flourished, they became valuable 
 as timber, and the sacrilegious axe had just levelled them 
 with the earth when I first visited Eyam. The tomb, how- 
 ever, is permitted to remain : on one end of it is an hour glass 
 placed between two expanded wings, intended, no doubt, as 
 an emblem of the rapid flight of time ; and underneath, on an 
 oblong tablet, CAVE E is inscribed ; and nearer the base ap- 
 pear the words Nescitis Horam. On the other end of the 
 tomb is a death's head, resting on a plain projecting tablet ; 
 and below I traced the words Mihi lucrum, now nearly 
 obliterated. 
 
 Peace to her ashes and to the ashes of that excellent man 
 whom she left to deplore her loss. Though the village of 
 Eyam cease to protect the relics that record her sufferings, 
 though the consecrated use of Cucklet Church be effaced from 
 the memory of man, and Riley Grave Stones prove unfaithful 
 to their trust, yet the name of Mompesson, the rival in virtue 
 of the good Bishop of Marseilles, shall not be forgotten, if the 
 pen or the press can save it from oblivion. 
 
 The conduct and character of Mr. Mompesson procured 
 him many friends, who sedulously promoted his advancement 
 in the church ; through their influence the prebends of York 
 and Southwell, and the rectory of Eakring, in Nottingham- 
 shire, were conferred upon him. At Eakring, where his 
 bones repose, he terminated his labours at a good old age. 
 Had this pious man, in his progress through life, been solicit- 
 ous of ecclesiastical preferment, he might have attained to yet 
 higher honours in the church. The deanery of Lincoln was 
 offered to him, but, anxious to promote the interest of his 
 friend, Dr. Fuller, the author of " the British Worthies," &c. 
 he declined accepting it, and generously transferred the influ- 
 ence he possessed to the service of a man whom he sincerely 
 esteemed. Dr. Fuller succeeded to the deanery, and he had 
 the gratification to reflect, that he had been placed in the situa- 
 ation to which he had aspired, by an act of friendship as noble" 
 and as disinterested as ever dignified the human character. A 
 fervent piety, a humble resignation, a spirit that, under circum- 
 stances peculiarly afflicting, could sincerely say, " not my will 
 but thine be done;" a manly fortitude, and a friendly generosity 
 of heart; were blended together in the life and conduct of 
 Mompesson. He died in the year 1708; but, as Miss Seward 
 
CUCKLET CHURCH. 41 
 
 emphatically observes, " his memory ought never to die ; it 
 should be immortal as the spirit that made it worthy to live." 
 
 In the year 1766, the Rev. Mr. Seward, the father of the 
 poetess of Litchfield, preached a centenary sermon in the 
 church of Eyam, in commemoration of the event recorded 
 in these pages. It was written with great power of descrip- 
 tion, and appealed so forcibly to the hearts of his auditors, 
 many of whose ancestors had fallen by the plague, that he was 
 frequently interrupted by their tears, and overpowered by 
 his own sensations. The sermon and the effect it produced 
 are yet remembered by some of the villagers of Eyam, and 
 when they recur to the character and the talent of their late 
 minister, they estimate the powers of his mind and the feelings 
 of his heart by their display on this occasion. 
 
 About a mile from Riley Grave Stones, and at the contrary 
 extremity of the. village, stands CUCKLET CHURCH, which is 
 situated in a deep and narrow dingle called the Delf or Delve. 
 A range of fine ash trees, probably planted from a feeling of 
 veneration for this consecrated place, form the boundary of 
 the little area where it stands. The rock, thus denominated, 
 projects from the side of a steep hill, where it appears like an 
 irregularly-formed building. It is excavated through in dif- 
 ferent directions, the arches being from twelve to eighteen feet 
 high. From the portico of these arches, in the midst of a 
 romantic dell, and surrounded with the rocks and the moun- 
 tains of the Peak, Mompesson administered the consolations 
 of Religion to his mourning people, during a period of 
 sorrow and suffering almost unparalleled in Village History. 
 
 Cucklet Church consists of a flinty combination of what 
 the miners denominate Chert Balls, and of consequence it 
 is almost impenetrably hard. The dell in which it is placed 
 is rich with verdure, wood, and rock. Its steep and rugged 
 sides are embellished with the hazel, the wild-rose, the dog- 
 berry, and the yew ; beautifully checquered with the light and 
 silvery branches of the birch, and the more ample foliage and 
 deeper colouring of the oak and the elm. The tall aspiring ash, 
 which from its prevalence in this part of Derbyshire may be 
 called the TREE OF THE PEAK, is likewise profusely scat- 
 tered throughout the dell. The ash, indeed, is peculiarly 
 entitled to the appellation here bestowed upon it. Wherever 
 a cottage rears its head, there flourishes the ash : wherever 
 the side of a hill or the base of a rock is adorned with trees, 
 there wave the graceful branches of the ash ; and the rivers 
 
42 THE SALT PAN. 
 
 that circulate through the dales of Derbyshire, have their 
 banks decorated and their various windings marked by this 
 graceful tree, which universally characterises the woodland 
 scenery of the Peak. 
 
 This dell opens into Middleton Dale, the wildness of which 
 it softens and improves by its milder features. Here its ex- 
 tremest width prevails ; nearer Eyam the two sides rapidly 
 approximate, and a little above Cucklet Church they form the 
 entrance into a narrow chasm, called by the villagers the 
 SALT PAN. The name is sufficiently undignified, but the 
 picture it presents is exquisite of its kind. Two perpendicu- 
 lar rocks terminate the dell, and on their nearest approach, 
 where they meet within a few paces only, the lofty trees and 
 thick underwood with which they are crested, cast an almost 
 midnight darkness into the deep space that separates them ; 
 while the elm and the ash, which flourish at their base, throw 
 their boughs athwart the gloomy cleft, and intermingle 
 their topmost foliage with the descending branches from 
 above. 
 
 The trees in this lovely dell have a majestic character, and 
 during the summer months the tufts of brushwood which are 
 scattered along its steep sides, are fancifully festooned with 
 honeysuckles and roses. The wild roses in Derbyshire, 
 wherever the limestone soil prevails, are peculiarly beautiful, 
 and exhibit not only a luxuriance of growth but a richness of 
 colour unsurpassed in any part of the kingdom. The last time 
 I visited this place was in the month of July 1817. The wild 
 rose was then in its greatest glory, and the trees had on their 
 fullest foliage. It was a fine summer's day, and they afforded 
 a delightful shelter from the warm rays of an unclouded sun. 
 The breeze that breathed through the dell, loaded with the 
 fragrance of a thousand flowers, came upon the senses with a 
 voluptuous softness that almost wrapt them in forgetfulness. 
 
 " Though a thousand branches join their screen, 
 " Yet the broken sunbeams glance between 
 " And tip the leaves with lighter green, 
 
 " With brighter tints the flower. 
 " Dull is the heart that loves not then 
 " The deep recess of the wildwood glen, 
 
 " When the sun is in his power." 
 
 From Harold the Dauntless. 
 
 Contemplating the scenery of this secluded spot, and calling 
 to recollection the sublime incident by which it has been dig- 
 
CUCKLET DELL. 43 
 
 nified and hallowed, I have always regarded it as a subject 
 admirably adapted for the pencil. Historic landscape painting 
 is one of the most exalted departments of art, and one that 
 powerfully affects and elevates the mind. Hannibal's march 
 over the Alps, which Turner has treated with great force of 
 imagination and genuine poetic feeling ; Joshua commanding 
 the sun to stand still, by Martin, a picture that cannot be 
 beheld without the sublimest emotions; John the Baptist 
 preaching in the wilderness, by Salvator; and many others 
 might be enumerated, if necessary, in illustration of this 
 opinion. And what artist would wish for a finer opportunity 
 for the display of his talents than the dell near Eyam presents ? 
 The foreground is a happy composition of rock, and hill, and 
 wood, and verdure. Cucklet Church, the place consecrated 
 by Mompesson to the most awful and solemn of all human 
 purposes, might be made an extremely picturesque object. 
 The jutting crags on which his hearers sat, the verdant slopes 
 where they reclined in melancholy sadness, the dark rocky 
 cleft behind crested with trees, the whole backed in distance 
 with the mountains of the Peak, furnish altogether, an assem- 
 blage of objects but rarely combined in nature. Water is, 
 perhaps, the only adjunct wanted in the composition; and 
 this, though sparingly, is sometimes supplied : during an in- 
 undation of heavy rains a troubled stream issues through the 
 chasm called the Saltpan, and foams and bubbles down the 
 dell. 
 
44- 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 Eyam Church- Yard. Ancient Stone Cross. The Rev. R. Cun- 
 ninghame. Miss Seward. 
 
 THE church-yard of Eyam was the next object that attracted 
 our attention. The traveller fond of antiquarian research 
 will be pleased with the rare relique it contains. Near the 
 entrance into the chancel of the church stands an old stone 
 cross, which, according to village tradition, was found on some 
 of the neighbouring hills. It is curiously ornamented and 
 embossed with a variety of figures and designs characterised 
 by different symbolic devices ; and its sides are liberally 
 adorned with Runic and Scandinavian knots. 
 
 Were the value of this antique specimen of the workman- 
 ship of former times more accurately appreciated, it might 
 easily be made a more engaging object : as it now appears, 
 the earth covers a portion of its shaft, no part of which should 
 be so obscured : lifted from its present bed, a distinction 
 which it eminently deserves, it would not only be a valuable 
 fragment, rich with the uncouth sculpture of former times, 
 but an ornament to the church-yard and the village of Eyam. 
 This cross has suffered dilapidation from the culpable neglect 
 of those who ought to have felt an interest in its preservation. 
 About two feet of the top of the shaft is wanting, as may be 
 seen by referring to the engraved sketch which was taken in 
 the year 1815. The present sexton of the church, who is an 
 old man, well recollects the part now missing being thrown 
 carelessly about the church-yard as a thing of no value, until 
 it was broken up by some of the inhabitants, and knocked to 
 pieces for domestic purposes. 
 
 The cross at Eyam is probably indebted for its present 
 appearance to the circumstance of its having, about thirty 
 years ago, attracted the attention of a man who had spent the 
 ripest years of his existence in mitigating the horrors of a 
 prison, and ameliorating the condition of a forsaken and 
 friendless class of his fellow creatures, When the benevolent 
 
ANCIENT STONE CROSS. 45 
 
 HOWARD visited the village of Eyam he particularly noticed 
 the cross, even though at that time the finest part of this 
 vestige of antiquity was laid prostrate in a corner of the 
 church-yard, and nearly overgown with docks and thistles. 
 The value this hitherto unregarded relique had in the esti- 
 mation of Howard made it dearer to the people of Eyam : 
 they brought the top part of the cross from its hiding-place, 
 where it had long lain in utter neglect, and placed it on the 
 still dilapidated shaft, where it has ever since remained. 
 Condemning, as'I most cordially do, the little attention which 
 has been paid to the cross at Eyam, it is, nevertheless, some 
 gratification to know that it owes its present state of preserv- 
 ation to the intervention of no less a man than Howard. 
 
 Other crosses, similar in appearance and workmanship, 
 have been found on the hills of Derbyshire, particularly one 
 in the vicinity of BAKEWELL, which is now in the church- 
 yard there. It evidently originated with the same people as 
 the one at Eyam, though it is extremely inferior in its embel- 
 lishments, and more mutilated in its parts. These crosses 
 are of remote antiquity, and, from their prevailing character, 
 and the rude sculpture they exhibit, they have generally been 
 regarded as Saxon or Danish structures. The interlaced 
 and curiously involved tracery work, with which they are 
 frequently invested, have been denominated Runic and Scan- 
 dinavian knots ; but I have not yet learnt that any of them 
 are marked with characters decidedly Runic, and it is highly 
 probable that the ornaments they contain were adopted from 
 buildings of a different nature, for they do not appear to have 
 any thing peculiarly national about them. That they are not 
 Roman may perhaps be inferred from the very uncouth 
 figures sculptured upon them, and the general inferiority of 
 their workmanship. They must therefore have originated 
 amongst a people less acquainted with art than the Romans 
 were at the time they invaded this country ; and the Danes 
 being only " almost and not altogether Christians," and being 
 moreover but little removed from barbarism, were, perhaps, 
 not likely to indulge in the erection of these external emblems 
 of their newly acquired faith ; nor am I inclined to 1 adopt the 
 supposition that the civilised Britons were the founders of 
 those crosses, which have generally been regarded as Scandi- 
 navian. On the whole the probability is in favour of a Saxon 
 origin of this monument. The Saxons used the sign of the 
 cross on many occasions ; and so highly did they venerate this 
 
46 MR. CLARKE ON CROSSES. 
 
 sacred symbol, that they always affixed it to their signature, 
 even whether they could write or not : hence, no doubt, arose 
 the custom of making a cross instead of writing a name, a 
 custom which is recognised as a valid mode of signature on 
 the most important occasions. 
 
 Mr. Clarke, F. S. A. in a letter addressed to Mr. Britton, 
 the author of the Architectural Antiquities of Britain, says, 
 " the cross became a part of the decoration of every church 
 and of every altar. It was employed in every sacred rite, 
 and occurred in the diplomas as an inviolable test -of every 
 compact ; nor can we be surprised to find it sculptured on so 
 many of our public monuments, when designed to excite sen- 
 timents of piety or compassion ; or on land-marks which no 
 man was, for conscience sake, to remove. It was frequently 
 fixed at the entrance of the church, to inspire recollection in 
 those persons who approached, and reverence towards the 
 mysteries at which they were about to be present. On the 
 high road the cross was frequently placed with a view to call 
 the thoughts of the passenger to a sense of religion, and to 
 restrain the predatory excursions of robbers. In the market- 
 place it was a signal for upright intention and fair dealing, 
 and was in every place designed as a check upon a worldly 
 spirit." The preceding extract is taken from the first volume 
 of " The ARCHITECTURAL ANTIQUITIES OF GREAT BRITAIN," 
 by J. Britton, F. S. A., and its introduction here has afforded 
 me an opportunity of paying a tribute of respect to the author 
 of that excellent and splendid work. With a spirit not less 
 enlarged than honourable to himself, he has undertaken a 
 series of successive productions, equally interesting and im- 
 portant in their object ; and, if possible, more beautifully 
 executed. It would be a libel on the taste of the country to 
 suppose that this deserving author was not even now enjoying 
 the rich reward of his exertions. He may truly be regarded 
 as the patron of those artists, whose labours, in conjunction 
 with his own, will probably preserve the recollection of many 
 a beautiful specimen of Gothic architecture, even when the 
 structure itself has mouldered into ruins. 
 
 We likewise noticed in Eyam church-yard a cemetery, or 
 family burial place, of a singular construction. It is an ob- 
 long structure, formed by eight stone columns placed at 
 regular distances, and surmounted with urns, the intervening 
 space between the columns being built up with stone walling ; 
 and on two sides are small iron-grated windows, not unlike 
 
CURIOUS EPITAPH. THE REV. R. CUNNINGHAMS. 47 
 
 the light-holes in a prison. Originally this building had a 
 heavy leaden roof, which is now removed. Nothing in this 
 place appertaining to the dead, appears to have been held 
 sacred. It was " thrift, thrift, Horatio," that unplumed this 
 repository. The material which covered this house of de- 
 parted mortals, like the trees that lately distinguished the 
 tomb of Mrs. Mompesson, was of value ; the roof was an 
 accommodation not necessary for the dead, and the produce 
 might be useful to the living; it was therefore taken down 
 and sold to the best bidder. This, though not a very 
 delicate mode of proceeding, is, at any rate, making the most 
 of one's ancestors. 
 
 This church-yard appears to be poetic ground ; scarcely a 
 stone but has its distich commemorative of the virtues of the 
 deceased, and the sorrows of surviving relatives. The follow- 
 ing inscription, which is sufficiently whimsical to amuse the 
 reader, may be found on a humble tablet, placed against the 
 south side of the church, near the f,omb of Mrs. Mompesson : 
 I have preserved the spelling, and the division of the lines, as 
 they occur upon the stone. 
 
 HERE LITH THE BODY OF ANN SELLARS 
 BURIED BY THIS STONE WHO 
 DYED ON JAN. 15TH. DAY, 173L 
 LIKEWISE HERE LISE DEAR ISAAC 
 SELLARS, MY HUSBAND AND MY RIGHT, 
 WHO WAS BURIED ON THAT SAME DAY COME 
 SEVEN YEARS, 1738. IN SEVEN YEARS 
 TIME THERE COMES A CHANGE- 
 OBSERVE, & HERE YOU'LL SEE, 
 
 ON THAT SAME DAY COME 
 
 SEVEN YEARS. MY HUSBAND'S 
 
 LAID BY ME. 
 
 Many of the modern epitaphs in this burial place are by 
 the Rev. R. Cunninghame, who was the officiating curate of 
 Eyam Church nearly eighteen years, and who often strewed 
 upon the graves of those he buried, the offerings of his not 
 " unlettered muse." The following stanzas, inscribed upon 
 a stone to the memory of a young man of the name of Froggat, 
 exhibit a fair specimen of the style and manner of those little 
 productions, on which he was frequently employed. 
 
 " How eloquent the monumental stone, 
 
 " Where blooming modest virtues prostrate lie, 
 
 " Where pure religion from her hallowed throne, 
 " Tells man it is an awful thing to die. 
 
4-8 CUNNINGHAME'S POEMS. 
 
 " Is happiness thy aim ? or death thy fear ? 
 
 " Learn how their path with glory may be trod, 
 " From the lamented youth who slumbers here, 
 
 " Who gave the glory of his clays to God." 
 
 Some of Cunninghame's compositions were amongst the 
 earliest of my poetic readings, and I therefore remember them 
 with pleasure and affection. He was a poet, studied in the 
 school of Gray and Mason ; elegant and tasteful in expression, 
 rich in imagination, and often highly animated in description ; 
 but cold in feeling. His lines, though generally graceful, and 
 not unfrequently polished to excellence, are occasionally cum- 
 brous and sluggish, from a redundance of epithet. His mind 
 was amply fraught with the rich stores of classic literature, 
 on which he liberally drew to embellish his productions, and 
 which he sometimes used with a commanding skill and an 
 enviable felicity. As a poet he had many beauties chequered 
 with a considerable portion of defect. If, in the estimation of 
 the reader, the accuracy of the preceding remarks be not 
 established by the following quotation, let him be reminded 
 that they have a general application to whatever I have read 
 from the pen of Cunninghame, and not a particular one to the 
 passages here selected, which are introduced not with a view 
 to their justification, but to induce an enquiry after those pro- 
 ductions of his muse that are worthy of being preserved. 
 Collected together, they might do honour to his memory; 
 and if they did not add much to the stock of poetic excellence, 
 they might, at least, contribute to the gratification and amuse- 
 ment of mankind. 
 
 Three of his poems, the NAVAL TRIUMPH, the RUSSIAN 
 PROPHECY, and his CHATSWORTH, were written during his 
 residence at Eyam, and were published separately about 
 thirty years ago. His Chatsworth, which opens with an 
 apostrophe to the " dells and woodlands wild" of Derbyshire, 
 is, throughout, a very pleasing poem, and contains a number 
 of fine passages. Being strongly characterised by the pe- 
 culiar traits of his poetry, I have ventured to extract entire a 
 few of the first stanzas. 
 
 " Ye dells and woodlands wild, in song unknown, 
 
 " Receive a wanderer's tributary strains, 
 " Here wont to muse, where nature on her throne 
 
 " In awful solitary grandeur reigns. 
 
CUNNINGHAME'S POEMS. 49 
 
 ** And ye, sublime sequestering mountains, hail ! 
 
 " Whose hoary ridges waving pines adorn, 
 " Where roseate health that courts the vernal gale, 
 
 " Hears the shrill sky-lark wake the blushing morn. 
 
 w Struck with th' inspiring scenes, your bard hath rung 
 
 " His sylvan shell till orient suns have hurl'd 
 " Their latent beams, and Hesperus hath hung 
 
 " His diamond lustre o'er the peaceful world. 
 
 " Nor when the vernal Pleiads cease to rise, 
 
 " When summer to his southern courts retires, 
 " Nor less when snow-robed winter rules the skies, 
 
 " His awful reign the poet's soul inspires. 
 
 " Tis thine, stern power, to raise his soaring song, 
 
 " When the grim tempest hovers on thy brows, 
 " Or night's pale spectres glide thy wastes along, 
 
 " When heaven's blue cope with streaming brilliance glows. 
 
 " On storm-clad Zembla's unfrequented shores 
 
 " The wandering mariner, by fortune tost, 
 *' While the rough ocean round him raving roars, 
 
 " Thus views with awe stupendous piles of frost. 
 
 " Where on eternal winter's ice-built throne 
 
 " Pale lingering suns a pensive radiance throw, 
 " And but the shaggy sullen bear alone, 
 
 *' Tracks his wild realm of ever-during snow. 
 
 " But chief amidst thy proudly pendant groves, 
 
 " Majestic Chatsworth ! and thy fair domains, 
 " The Muse with loitering step delighted roves, 
 
 " Or thoughtful meditates her sylvan strains. 
 
 " There in receding Scorpio's tranquil hour, 
 
 " She loves, sweet Autumn ! in thy train to hear 
 " The red-breast, hid in golden foliage, pour, 
 
 " Slow-warbled requiems o'er the parting year. 
 
 " Or wrapt in fancy's bright elysian dream, 
 
 " She wanders, Derwent ! where, with lingering pride, 
 
 " The amber-tressed Naiads of thy stream 
 
 " Through bending woods and vales luxuriant glide. 
 
 ** Fair, when the parting sun's mild golden light 
 
 " A mellower radiance on thy bosom throws, 
 " But fairer when the silver beams of night 
 
 " With trembling lustre on thy stream repose. 
 
 " On Latmos thus, as Grecian bards have sung, 
 
 " When Night's fair Queen forsook her starry road 
 
 " And o'er Endymion's face enamour'd hung, 
 " His sleeping form with silver radiance glow'd. 
 
 " And thus near fair Florentia's shining towers, 
 
 " Her Arno's tide, immortalized in song, 
 " Rolls from her silver urn through myrtle bowers, 
 
 " And purple vineyards lucidly along. 
 E 
 
50 CUNNINGHAME'S POEMS. 
 
 " Oh ! could my verse immortalize thy name, 
 
 " Derwent ! thy praise in song should ever flow 
 " With dulcet murmurs and increasing fame, 
 
 " Like yellow Tiber, or resounding Po." 
 
 I cannot dismiss the preceding extract without particularly 
 noticing the picture in the seventh stanza of the " unfrequented 
 shores of Nova Zembla." The ice-built throne of eternal 
 winter, on which pale lingering suns shed a pensive radiance, 
 and the shaggy sullen bear prowling alone through his wild 
 realm of ever-during snow, are happy and appropriate images, 
 that have been selected with judgment, and disposed with fe- 
 licity. There is altogether a dreariness, a desolation, and a 
 chilling coldness in the scene here described, which may be 
 sensibly felt. The stanza on the red-breast the bird of 
 autumn, hid in golden foliage, and singing her " slow warbled 
 requiems o'er the parting year," is genuine poetry : it is 
 " music, image, sentiment, and thought." 
 
 In a subsequent passage the author pays an elegant tribute 
 to his favourite riveiy the Derwent, when beheld under the 
 effect of moonlight, or, as he poetically expresses it, " when 
 the silver beams of night with trembling lustre on its stream 
 repose;" -and the comparison that follows, "where night's 
 fair queen forsakes her starry road," and hangs enamoured 
 o'er the face of Endymion, whose sleeping form glows with 
 the silver radiance that emanates from her, is exquisitely 
 beautiful, and I believe original. This is a charming subject 
 for the pencil, and I remember seeing some years ago an old 
 painting of the Italian school, in which it was treated with 
 great taste and feeling, and executed with a most fascinating 
 effect. The stillness and repose of Endymion were uninter- 
 rupted by the pleasant images that evidently played round 
 his fancy in sleep, while the figure of Diana, of feminine grace, 
 and softness, and light and buoyant as the clouds on which 
 she rode, hung enamoured over him, or rather seemed to steal 
 a kiss from his forehead as she passed ; his sleeping form 
 glowing at the same time with the mild light poured upon him. 
 It was a combination of loveliness, and altogether one of the 
 sweetest little pictures I recollect having beheld. To this 
 circumstance, perhaps, my admiration of Cunninghame's poet- 
 ical picture may be partly ascribed. I have likewise a recol- 
 lection of the same subject being attempted in bas-relief, by 
 Rossi, but not with equal success. 
 
 Cunninghame's next poem, " The RUSSIAN PROPHECY," 
 
CUNNINGHAME'S POEMS. 51 
 
 was written in the year 1785; and was, as he informs us, oc- 
 casioned by a remarkable phenomenon in the heavens, said to 
 have been observed in Russia, Feb. 19th; a particular account 
 of which was given in the Gentleman's Magazine, July, 1785, 
 page 531. In this poem the genius of Russia foretels the de- 
 cline and extinction of the Ottoman Empire, and the esta- 
 blishment of a Russian dynasty on the throne of Constanti- 
 nople. It is a very spirited production, and contains some 
 excellent stanzas, which I regret cannot be quoted in connec- 
 tion with each other without making the extracts too volumin- 
 ous. His description of the approach of the Russians is 
 highly animated. 
 
 " See where the fierce Muscovian eagles fly, 
 
 " As conscious of their heaven-devoted prey, 
 " Hang like the night o'er all the Thracian sky, 
 
 " And strike the turban'd legions with dismay. 
 " See the grey Mufti smites his troubled breast 
 
 " Within his mosque, with gleaming crescents crown* d, 
 " And dashes, filPd with Araby the blest, 
 
 " His fuming censer on th' embroidered ground. 
 
 " Big with the fates of oriental powers, 
 
 " See where sublime her * eagle genius soars, 
 
 " Her eyry builds on Theodosia's towers, 
 
 " And flies in triumph round her Euxine shores." 
 
 The poet then pourtrays some of the happy results of the 
 accomplishment of his prophecy, and he anticipates the revival 
 of Greece in all its glory. 
 
 " Near lucid fountains, where the muses trod, 
 
 " Lo ! Poesy her new born laurel rears, 
 " That at a sultan's torpor-shedding nod, 
 
 " Slept a long triple century of years.f 
 
 " I see o'er each poetic mountain roam 
 
 " Shades of great bards, reviving freedom's fire, 
 " By genius welcomed to her Grecian home 
 
 ** With hymns of rapture on his classic lyre." 
 
 His poem called the NAVAL TRIUMPH, written in comme- 
 moration of the victory obtained over the French fleet, under 
 the command of Admiral De Grasse, by Lord Rodney, on the 
 1 2th of April, 1782, contains the following picture of detraction, 
 which, with the exception of an incongruous image in the last 
 line, is a spirited sketch, and it affords a fair specimen of the 
 general style of Cunninghame's versification. 
 
 * The late Empress of Russia. 
 
 f Constantinople was taken by the Turkish Sultan, Mahomet, May 2d; 
 1455. 
 
 2 
 
52 CUNNINGHAME T S POEMS. 
 
 " And see where foul Detraction rears her head, 
 " 'Midst the rude clamours of a sordid throng ; 
 
 u Her bloated form, with venom'd rumours fed, 
 " She rolls, with snaky glance, her folds along ; 
 
 " Breathes her dark vapours on the victor's crest, 
 
 " And plants, with hand unseen, her dagger in his breast." 
 
 The eloquent Burke, it appears, participated at this time 
 in what the poet has chosen to characterize as the " rude cla- 
 mours of a sordid throng." 
 
 " He from whose lips such elocution flows, 
 " As peace to stormy senates can impart ; 
 " He, who with softness of the feather' d snows, 
 
 " Falls on the sense, then melts into the heart; 
 " Not he upon whose lips prophetic hung 
 " The clustering bees more sweet or more divinely sung." 
 
 The third and fourth lines in the preceding stanza are in- 
 imitably fine, though the simile itself is borrowed from Homer. 
 They likewise suggest the recollection of a very beautiful coup* 
 let in BURNS, which.Cunninghame could not have seen. 
 
 " Or as the snow falls in the river, 
 
 " A moment white then gone for ever." 
 
 The subsequent extract is from a poem to the memory of 
 R. R. Esq., in which the writer intimates that it is the peculiar 
 office of the muse to consecrate her sweetest strains to departed 
 virtue. Many of the lines are beautiful, and one cannot but 
 regret that he did not oftener use the same versification. 
 
 " For this the muse, the plaintive muse was given, 
 " Train'd in the lore and melodies of heaven ; 
 " For this the sweetest lyres of yore were strung, 
 " Departed virtues graced the poet's tongue : 
 " To each bright name the muse fresh lustre gave, 
 " And taught the living to defy the grave. 
 What art thou, life ! unless some fairer sky 
 " Cheer other worlds where virtue ne'er can die ? 
 
 ;< What is thy dream of happiness we prize ? 
 " But a fair blossom that expands and dies ; 
 
 * Unless some bright reversion gild the scene 
 " Where life ne'er fades, nor pain can intervene, 
 " Where hope ne'er sickens, where the cup of joy 
 " No tears embitter and no deaths destroy. 
 * e There, only there, affliction finds her stay, 
 " Looks up reviving to the realms of day : 
 " Sees by the eye of faith her prospects bloom, 
 " Beyond the dreary horrors of the tomb ; 
 *' Sees death divested of her awful frown, 
 " Sees future immortality her own.'* 
 
THE REV. R. CUNNINGHAMS. 53 
 
 Having indulged thus liberally in quotation, I have neces- 
 sarily circumscribed the space that, otherwise, might have been 
 devoted to a more ample account of the writer. The Rev. R. 
 Cunninghame left the village of Eyam in the year 1790; 
 where, " through evil and good report," he had spent the 
 flower of his days. Though now not exactly in the decline 
 of life, he was yet not young, and his mode of living had left 
 him poor ; he was, therefore, under the necessity of selling all 
 that he possessed, even his books, to enable him, as he ex- 
 presses it, " to encounter the expensive outset of the new life 
 he was entering upon." In a letter to one of his friends, 
 written the week before his departure, and which is now be- 
 fore me, he says, " I am disposing of all my books and every 
 thing else, as you may suppose I shall need all the money I 
 can raise to encounter the very expensive outset of the new 
 life I am entering upon ; and, from what I can discover, I 
 must chiefly depend upon myself for the means. You have a set 
 of the elegant Swinburne's Travels in Spain belonging to me : 
 they cost me 6s. a volume; if you choose to purchase them you 
 shall have them for 105. 6d.; which you will be so good as to 
 remit me immediately, or the books, that I may dispose of 
 them elsewhere. I should suppose you will have an oppor- 
 tunity of doing either by R. Blackwall or the old post on Sun- 
 day. By those carrier pigeons you can likewise oblige me with 
 the copy I desired ; I wish my circumstances enabled me to 
 offer you the books gratuitously. But, alas ! " 
 
 The majority of Mr. Cunninghame's parishioners were poor 
 and ignorant, and he strove to better their manners and im- 
 prove their situation in life by informing their minds. His 
 attention to the education of the youth of the village was, at 
 one time, truly exemplary ; regardless of pecuniary compens- 
 ation, he took them under his tuition, and devoted much of his 
 time to their improvement. So long, indeed, as he remained 
 at Eyam none were permitted to want instruction ; hence he 
 was beloved, and the grateful recollections of his pupils still 
 dwell upon his name with delight. His farewell sermon, and 
 the effects which it produced, are well remembered and fre- 
 quently mentioned, even at the present day : it was a compo- 
 sition of great eloquence and the most powerful pathos, full of 
 recollected kindness, and delivered in the tenderest tones of 
 affection. This sermon was never printed, but some copies 
 were circulated in manuscript among his hearers, after he had 
 bidden them a last farewell. These are yet preserved with 
 
 E 3 
 
54? THE REV. R. CUNNINGHAME. 
 
 something like a religious veneration ; and I have occasionally 
 seen them brought from the place where they were carefully 
 deposited, and viewed and contemplated with a melancholy 
 feeling of reverence and regret, that forcibly indicated how 
 strongly attached the villagers of Eyam yet are to the name of 
 Cunninghame. 
 
 On leaving Eyam he obtained an appointment as chaplain 
 to the English factory at Smyrna, where he remained for 
 several years. There he was singularly unfortunate : in the 
 Archipelago he almost miraculously escaped from shipwreck ; 
 and at Smyrna, where he was involved in equal peril by the 
 casual occurrence of a fire, his life was narrowly preserved, 
 and he lost his papers and manuscripts in the conflagration. 
 
 A residence at Smyrna was banishment to Cunninghame, 
 and he soon determined to revisit his native country. Return- 
 ing homeward, an English lady, who had become acquainted 
 with his misfortunes, his merits, and his wants, presented him 
 with a volume of poetry, which she remarked might occa- 
 sionally amuse him on his way. Desolate, unknown, without 
 friends or money, far from home, and travelling on foot 
 through Germany on his way to Paris, he sustained much 
 fatigue and suffered many privations. Approaching a town 
 on the borders of Hungary, after a hard day's journey, he sat 
 down to reflect on his forlorn condition, when he took his 
 volume of poetry from his pocket, for the first time, and read 
 to relieve his mind from the pressure of those unpleasant 
 thoughts and gloomy presagings that now began to harass and 
 torment him. Reading was a pleasure which he had not en- 
 joyed for several days; a particular poem had been recom- 
 mended to his perusal by his female friend, and he anxiously 
 turned to the page, where he found, " close nestled within the 
 leaves," a note, or order, for fifty pounds : thus delicately did 
 an amiable woman contrive to administer to the necessities of 
 a stranger in a foreign land. 
 
 Shortly after his return to the country he so reluctantly had 
 left, he undertook the duties of a humble curacy in the vicinity 
 of London, a situation which he soon relinquished for a small 
 living, obtained for him through the influence of the Devonshire 
 family, during the last short administration of that friend of 
 his country, Charles James Fox. This he did not long enjoy. 
 Invited to preach an annual sermon to a society at Islington, 
 to whom he had become endeared, he attended and dined with 
 the members, after delivering to them his last and one of his 
 
THE REV. R. CUNNINGHAME. 55 
 
 best discourses. He appeared in perfect health and high in 
 spirits, but soon after the cloth was removed, while conversing 
 with a gentleman near him, he fell back in his chair, and im- 
 mediately expired without a sigh or a groan : such was the end 
 of Cunninghame. Enough has been said to excite an enquiry 
 after his poetic effusions, even if they are worthy of being re- 
 membered and preserved, and, certainly, too much if they are 
 not. The local history of Eyam has afforded an opportunity, 
 of which I have gladly availed myself, of devoting a few pages 
 to the memory of a man who was once the admiration of all 
 who knew him, afterwards the object of their pity, and lastly 
 of their condemnation. Contemplating his character, as pre- 
 sented to us by the Rev. Mr. Seward in his farewell sermon to 
 his congregation at Eyam, how amiable does it appear ! who 
 would wish to turn his eyes from such a picture to fix them on 
 one less perfect? 
 
 " I hope and trust," says Mr. Seward, " that I shall return 
 to you and frequently address you from this pulpit ; but, in 
 the mean time, I have the greatest consolation and joy that I 
 leave you under the care of so excellent a preacher ; whose 
 piety to God, whose delight in the performance of the duties 
 of his office, whose amiable, engaging, courteous, and affec- 
 tionate behaviour to the rich, and condescending, affable, and 
 charitable treatment to his poorer -neighbours, is a continued 
 living sermon to us all, and has so endeared him to us already, 
 that he has become our general friend, our delight, and our 
 joy. Like holy Job, when the ear heareth him then it blesseth 
 him, and when the eye seeth him it giveth witness to him : one 
 hearer telleth another how rational and clear he is in his ar- 
 guments, how affecting and convincing he is in his persuasions, 
 and how zealous and devout in his pi ayers ; and one neigh- 
 bour certifieth to another how cheerful he is in his common 
 conversation, how candid and charitable in his opinions and 
 characters of others, and how ready in showing pity to all who 
 are in the least distress. Think not that I have put so much 
 of the pulpit duty upon him, since we have been here together, 
 through idleness and indolence ; no, it was that I would not 
 disappoint so many longing ears that wished to hear him ; it 
 was that I rejoiced at the occasion of really preferring his 
 sermons to my own, and of giving so eminent and worthy, 
 though so young a man, the right hand of fellowship : grey 
 hairs may receive instruction from his lips, and the aged bow 
 
 E 4 
 
56 MISS SEWARD. 
 
 down to him, and that because he keepeth the commandments 
 of the Lord, and delighteth in the law of his God." 
 
 Eyam, in the person of Miss Seward, furnishes another and 
 a more successful candidate for literary honours. Her claim 
 to notice in the history of her native village cannot be dis- 
 regarded here, though her talents as an author are too well 
 known to admit of much controversy, and almost every cir- 
 cumstance of her life is already before the public. She was 
 born at Eyam, where her earliest years were spent at the 
 residence of her father, previously to his removal to Litchfield. 
 A manuscript from the pen of Mr. William Newton, of Cress- 
 brook Dale, to whom she gave the honourable appellation of 
 the PEAK MINSTREL, strongly expresses her attachment to the 
 place of her birth. He had a personal knowledge of this 
 eminent female : I have therefore chosen to use his language 
 rather than my own. "In this seat of inspiration," he ob- 
 serves, " she passed many of her earliest years, and I have 
 heard her say in more advanced life, her eyes swimming in 
 delight, that in her childhood rambles about her native village, 
 the views of the Alpine scenery around her first elicited the 
 poetic spark, which afterwards mounted into as pure and as 
 bright a flame as ever issued from the altar of the Muses." 
 
 The same manuscript, when speaking of the blandishments 
 of her conversation, and her various accomplishments, adds 
 " the grace and elegance of her form were equal to the ener- 
 gies of her mind and the brilliancy of her imagination. Born 
 and nurtured in the bosom of those mountains which gave her 
 birth, I knew her very early in life, and when she was in her 
 twentieth year, to her might have been applied the language 
 of one of our most eminent writers, * I saw her at ***, and 
 surely never lighted upon this earth, which she scarcely seemed 
 to touch, a more delightful vision.' " 
 
 To high personal accomplishments and great mental acqui- 
 sitions, Miss Seward added benevolence of heart, sweetness of 
 disposition, and an enthusiasm in her friendships and affections 
 that was almost unbounded ; but " the most amiable trait in 
 her character," Mr. Newton observes, " was her filial piety." 
 In the latter years of her father's life he shared the fate of 
 SWIFT, STEELE, MARLBOROUGH, and other men of superior 
 talents and great sensibility. In the paroxysms of his disorder 
 she attended his bedside, and for whole nights I have known 
 her watch him with the kindest and most sedulous attention, 
 administering to him his cordials and medicines with her own 
 
MISS SEWARD. 57 
 
 hand : and I have seen the tears of joy trickle down her cheek 
 when she found him in a lucid moment. It was her delight, 
 as it was her honour, 
 
 " To rock the cradle of declining age." 
 
 Miss Seward was removed from Eyam early in life, yet so 
 strong was her attachment to her native village, and so de- 
 lightful were the recollections that it revived, that she made a 
 pilgrimage to it every year of her life; and many of her letters 
 evince that she visited it with an enthusiastic affection. 
 
 From the many volumes of Miss Seward's letters which 
 have been published, she may be regarded more as a writer of 
 prose than poetry. They manifest an intimate acquaintance 
 with polite literature, and occasionally they display a consider- 
 able portion of critical taste ; at the same time they have more 
 of the stateliness and formality of studied lectures, than the 
 ease and familiarity of private and friendly correspondence. 
 In their production the head has evidently been more con- 
 sulted than the heart. 
 
 The history of Miss Seward's life is too well known, and 
 her talents as a writer too accurately appreciated, to require 
 any illustration from the pen of a Peak Tourist ; but her 
 poetic character, and some circumstances connected with it, 
 are sufficiently important and interesting to justify the critical 
 observations that are here indulged. 
 
 Cunninghame, from his friendly connexion with Miss Se- 
 ward, his admiration of her powers, and the fascination of her 
 manners, had become one of her imitators in verse, and his 
 talents as a poet were at one time the theme of her commend- 
 ation, and at another the object of her unfriendly animad- 
 versions : yet his sins in verse, whatever they were, may 
 partly be charged upon herself; she it was who first seduced 
 him from the ease and simplicity of nature, and taught him 
 to indulge in those splendid trickeries and glittering corus- 
 cations of artful composition, with which her works too much 
 abound. Early in life she appears to have been under the in- 
 fluence of this error in judgment, if I may so term it ; and the 
 maturer compositions of her riper years, though they evince 
 a more vigorous imagination and a greater command of lan- 
 guage, are nevertheless tainted with this predominating fault. 
 Perhaps her frequent association with the eccentric Dr. Dar- 
 
58 MISS SEWARD. 
 
 win, when he resided at Litchfield, was but little calculated to 
 improve her taste. A fire that sparkles and dazzles, but 
 warms not, pervades the productions of both these writers of 
 modern poetry : pictures for the eye, and not the mind, crowd 
 their respective canvasses, and towards the close of their in- 
 timate connexion there was a marvellous assimilation in the 
 style and construction of their verse. It was late in life when 
 Dr. Darwin appeared before the public in the character of a 
 poet : there can, however, be no doubt but long previous 
 study was required, and much mechanical construction and 
 management practised, before he could so eminently succeed 
 in elaborating his versification into such splendid feebleness. 
 In this unprofitable labour he was probably assisted by Miss 
 Seward, and the lines that occupy the first four or five pages 
 of the BOTANIC GARDEN, and which are the exordium of the 
 poem, appear to warrant the supposition ; they were published 
 originally as Miss Seward's, in the Gentleman's Magazine, 
 eight or nine years before the BOTANIC GARDEN blazed on the 
 literary world. She has claimed them as her own, by a last 
 solemn act, and they appear as her's in the volumes of her 
 works edited by Walter Scott, to whom her papers were en- 
 trusted for publication. Dr. Darwin, without any acknow- 
 ledgment that he had received them from another, has used 
 them as his property, and they certainly afford a fair and 
 ample specimen of the general style and manner of the whole 
 work. They contain his peculiar beauties, and they are 
 marked with his faults. It is, however, remarkable that Miss 
 Seward never reclaimed those lines till after Dr. Darwin's 
 death. There was a reason why the Doctor should permit 
 them originally (supposing they were his own) to be errone- 
 ously ascribed to Miss Seward ; namely, that his great work 
 was not even known to be in contemplation, much less in pro- 
 gress, for many years after the appearance of these introduc- 
 tory lines. If Miss Seward had been the inventor of this 
 peculiar form of verse, the ground-work of it at least would 
 have been traceable in all her poems ; whereas it is only found, 
 in a high degree, in her Elegy on Captain Cook, many pas- 
 sages of which are so thoroughly in the style of Dr. Darwin, 
 both with respect to diction and illustration, that it seems as 
 probable that he was the author of them, as that Miss Seward 
 was the writer of the lines in question. Her largest poems in 
 the heroic measure the MONODY ON MAJOR ANDRE, and 
 
MISS SEWARD. 59 
 
 the poetic novel of LOUISA, scarcely bear a mark of the Dar- 
 winian cadence of metre, and are but little assimilated in 
 imagery to the manner of the author of the BOTANIC GARDEN, 
 throughout all whose works this peculiar manner prevails. In 
 him it is an original characteristic ; in Miss Seward it is evi- 
 dently only incidental and imitative. 
 
60 
 
 SECTION VI. 
 
 William Peveril. Eyam Mineral Charter. Hammer of 
 Thor. Druidical Circle and Ancient Barrow. Effects of 
 an Earthquake in a Mine on Eyam Edge. 
 
 HEN William the Conqueror, after the overthrow of 
 Harold at the battle of Hastings, found himself at leisure to 
 attend to the distribution of the lands which his prowess had 
 obtained, he bestowed the Peak of Derbyshire upon his 
 natural son William Peveril, whom he appointed lord and 
 governor of the counties of Nottingham and Derby. The 
 rich domains thus acquired continued in the family of the 
 Peverils until the reign of Henry the Second, who deprived 
 the then possessor of his honours and his lands, on a charge 
 of poisoning Ranulph, Earl of Chester. The correctness of 
 the accusation was hardly disputable, and he ignominiously 
 fled to another country, stigmatised with the character of a 
 murderer: so terminated the brief honours of this once 
 wealthy family. Afterwards Richard the First gave and 
 confirmed to his brother John, then Earl of Mortaine, the 
 " counties of Nottingham, Lancaster, and Derby, with the 
 honours belonging to them, and also the honour of Peveril." * 
 Those parts of Derbyshire which are included under the 
 general denomination of the KING'S FIELD, are subject to the 
 operation of a peculiar system of mineral law, which declares 
 " that by the custom of the mine it is lawful for all the King's 
 liege people to dig, delve, search, subvert, and overturn, all 
 manner of grounds, lands, meadows, closes, pastures, mears, 
 and marshes, for ore-mines, of whose inheritance soever they 
 be; dwelling-houses, orchards, and gardens, excepted." From 
 the inconvenient effects of this comprehensive and sweeping 
 clause, the freehold tenures of the parish of Eyam are happily 
 exempt, in consequence of a mineral charter granted by KING 
 JOHN, when Earl of Mortaine, previously to his being created 
 Duke of Lancaster. 
 
 * Cambden. 
 
HAMMER OF THOR. 61 
 
 From King John the Eyam estate descended to the Stafford 
 family, on whom it was bestowed in consideration of certain 
 military services, and on the express condition " that a lamp 
 should be kept perpetually burning before the altar of St. He- 
 len, in the parish church of Eyam." The lamp has ceased to 
 burn, and the estate has passed' into other hands : it now con- 
 stitutes a part of -the immense property of his Grace the DUKE 
 of DEVONSHIRE. 
 
 In the reign of Richard the Second, a period when the 
 rights of the subject were but inaccurately defined, and his 
 liberty but imperfectly secured by law, a violent and out- 
 rageous assault was made on one of the Staffords, who was at 
 that time lord of the manor of Eyam. Attacked by an armed 
 force when in the bosom of his domestics, he was forcibly 
 carried away from his home to the residence of his enemy, 
 and there detained close prisoner until he was ransomed by 
 his friends. A new mansion was erecting for the last of the 
 Staffords who resided at Eyam, at the time of the plague, 
 when the family left the place never to return : the building, 
 part of which yet remains, was never finished. 
 
 The wild moorlands which surround ,this village have 
 lately been brought into cultivation, a circumstance that has 
 obliterated the traces of many mountain tumuli which were 
 before conspicuous : some, evidently of a very ancient date, 
 in which urns, bones, and arrow heads, were found, have 
 lately been opened on Eyam Moor ; and not far from Huck- 
 low, a brazen axe and a beautifully polished stone hammer, 
 supposed to have been used by the Druids in sacrifice, were 
 turned up by the plough : they are now in Mr. Bird's col- 
 lection. 
 
 The hammer was the weapon or sceptre of THOR, one of 
 the Gods of the Saxons, who long possessed this part of the 
 country, and where undoubtedly they had erected altars to 
 their divinities. It is therefore probable that this hammer 
 may be a Saxon, and not a Druidical relique. Whatever 
 may have been its use, the instrument has evidently been 
 manufactured with the nicest care, and as it appears not to 
 have been intended for common occasions, the supposition of 
 its Saxon origin may not be entirely groundless. In the 
 Honourable W. Herbert's Miscellaneous Poetry, published 
 in 1804-, there is a very curious and romantic ballad, called 
 " THE SONG OF THRYM, or the RECOVERY OF THE HAM- 
 MER." Thor was the Mars of the Scandinavians, and the 
 
62 HAMMER OF THOR. 
 
 hammer was not only the symbol but the depository of his 
 power. Thrym, the King of the Thursi, being acquainted 
 with this important secret, stole upon the god in his hour of 
 sleep, and carried away this mysterious ensign of his prowess. 
 He now demands that Freyia, the wife of Thor, shall become 
 the partner of his bed, and he declares that on no other terms 
 shall the hammer be restored. This proposition suggests the 
 adoption of a mischievous stratagem; and Thrym' s fit of love, 
 which, like many a mortal attachment, was fraught with ruin, 
 becomes the means of his destruction. 
 
 " High on a mound, in haughty state, ' 
 " Thrym, the King of the Thursi, sate; 
 " For his dogs he was twisting collars of golpj, 
 
 " And trimming the manei of his coursers bold. 
 
 ****** 
 
 " He had the thunderer's hammer bound 
 " Fathoms eight beneath the ground : 
 
 * ** ** 
 
 " Then busked they Thor as a bride so fair, 
 
 And the great bright necklace gave him to wear ; 
 
 Round him let ring the spousal keys, 
 
 And a maiden kirtle hang to his knees ; 
 
 And on hi* bosom jewels rare, 
 
 And high and quaintly braided his hair." 
 
 Thus disguised, he visits Thrym, who as an earnest of his 
 " love and fondness," commands his attendants to " bear in 
 the hammer to plight the maid." The hammer is laid upon 
 the lap of Thor; his strength immediately returns, and he 
 finds himself once more mighty in power. The enormous 
 supper he had just made would have unfitted any mortal for 
 great and extraordinary undertakings, but it was the regale of 
 a God, and we find him not only exempt from the stupifying 
 influence of good eating, but prepared for the most active and 
 important exertions. The poet informs us that, 
 
 " He ate alone 
 
 " Six salmons and an ox full grown, 
 *' And all the cates on which women feed, 
 " And drank three firkins of sparkling meed. 
 * # * # 
 
 " The thunderer's soul smiled in his breast 
 
 " When the hammer hard on his lap was placed : 
 
 " Thrym first, the King of the Thursi, he slew, 
 
 " And slaughtered all the giant crew. 
 
 " He slew that giant's sister old 
 
 * Who prayed for bridal gifts so bold ; 
 
 " Instead of money and rings, I wot, 
 
 " The hammer's bruises were her lot. 
 
 " Thus Odin'i son his hammer got." 
 
BARROW ON EYAM MOOR. 63 
 
 The district, included under the general denomination of 
 Eyam Moor, occupies a space of several miles. In one di- 
 rection it extends to Bretton, and in another to the vicinity of 
 Highlow. Spears, and arrow heads, axes, hatchets, and 
 other remains of antiquity, have been frequently found in this 
 wild moor ; and very recently, before the introduction of the 
 plough, it contained one of the most perfect and interesting 
 barrows in the Peak of Derbyshire. Near this ancient place 
 of sepulture, the remains of a druidical circle are yet to be 
 seen, the circumference is about nineteen yards, and a rude 
 altar of unhewn stone occupies the centre of the area. The 
 adjacent barrow is indisputably of remote antiquity, and it is 
 formed by a circle of stones, which includes a space of greater 
 extent. In the middle of this circle there is, or rather was, a 
 mound composed of an admixture of earth and stones : on 
 opening this mound an unbaked urn was found, containing 
 human bones, an arrow head of flint, and some fragments of 
 the charcoal with which the body had been burnt. That this 
 was the cemetery of some person of distinction, is highly pro- 
 bable, and the peculiarity of its construction might induce one 
 to ascribe it to the Danes, had not the arrow head of flint been 
 found within it; a circumstance which intimates that it was 
 formed antecedent to the use of metals in this country. A 
 part of Eyam Moor, called Wet-withins, is the site of this 
 interesting monument of antiquity. 
 
 Wormius, describing the funeral ceremonies of the Danes 
 in that early period of their history which he denominates the 
 age of burning, says, " The defunct was brought out into the 
 fields near the highway or estate that belonged to him while 
 living, where they made an oblong place with great stones, 
 for the reception of the body, and there burnt it, collecting 
 the ashes into an urn, round which they set great stones ; then 
 with sand, gravel, or earth, they threw up a little hillock in 
 form of a mound." The same writer afterwards details the 
 mode of sepulture which succeeded to that of burning, from 
 which it seems highly probable that both methods were occa- 
 sionally united. Some of the barrows that have been opened 
 in Derbyshire, and particularly one near Ashford, are con- 
 firmatory of this opinion. " The body," Wormius observes, 
 " was brought entire with its ornaments, and laid unburnt in 
 the middle of a large circle of stones ; then over it they raised 
 a mount of earth, &c. These mounts were sometimes plain, 
 made only of earth, and cast up like a cone, and sometimes 
 
64- ANCIENT MODES OF BURIAL. 
 
 they were ornamented with a circle of stones ; but this was 
 only for their generals and great men." 
 
 That these modes of burial existed in all countries with 
 which we are acquainted at a very early period, is evident 
 both from historical and poetical record. STRUTT, in his 
 account of the Manners and the Customs of the Ancient 
 Saxons, tells us in a note, vol. i. page 1 8, " that WODEN made 
 a law that the bodies of the dead slain in battle should be burnt, 
 together with their arms, ornaments, and money; and over 
 the ashes of their kings and heroes, to raise large hills of earth ; 
 and on the sepulchres of those who had performed great and 
 glorious actions to erect high monuments, inscribed with Runic 
 characters." The custom of burning the dead and depositing 
 their ashes in urns, probably originated in those correct and 
 better feelings to which many of our ancient usages may be 
 referred. Respect for the dead is a sentiment that seems to 
 have been interwoven with our nature, although in times of 
 semi-barbarism it may occasionally have been contemned or 
 neglected. Achilles conquered Hector, and then dragged his 
 dead body round the walls of Troy ; an unmanly outrage, 
 which may be traced to a ferocious practice, rather than to a 
 want of decorous and honourable feeling. Burning the dead 
 became therefore a pious duty, and the performance of this 
 ceremony was sometimes necessary to preserve the body of a 
 fallen hero from being ill-treated and mangled by a cruel 
 enemy. Hence, no doubt, arose this ancient custom ; and it 
 was the peculiar privilege of the next of kin carefully to collect 
 the bones and ashes of the deceased, and place them in an urn 
 for sepulture. 
 
 The spoils of war, the weapons of dead chieftains, and the 
 bones of animals, have been frequently found in those barrows 
 which have been opened in t)erby shire and other parts of the 
 kingdom ; and the poetic reader cannot fail to recognise the 
 existence of a similar mode of interment in the days of Homer 
 and Virgil. What a sublime tumulus Homer has thrown over 
 the ashes of Achilles ! and how interesting is the ceremony of 
 consigning his remains to their last earthly home, as described 
 by him in the twenty- fourth book of his Odyssey. 
 
 " To flames we gave thee, the succeeding day, 
 
 " And fatted sheep and sable oxen slay ; 
 
 " With oils and honey blaze th* augmented fires, 
 
 " And like a God adorn'd, thy earthly part expires : 
 
 " Soon as absorb'd in all embracing flame, 
 
 " Sunk what was mortal of thy mighty name, 
 
EARTHQUAKE IN THE MINES, $ 
 
 " We then collect thy snowy bones, and place, 
 
 " With wines and unguents, in a golden vase. 
 
 " Now all the sons of warlike Greece surround 
 
 " Thy destin'd tomb, and cast a mighty mound; 
 
 " High on the shore the growing hill we raise, 
 
 " That wide the extended Hellespont surveys ; 
 
 " Where all, from age to age, who pass the coast, 
 
 " May point Achilles' tomb, and hail the mighty ghost." 
 
 Virgil, in the eleventh book of his ^Eneis, has given a very 
 minute and interesting description of the funeral of Pallas, 
 and it closes with a few lines that beautifully refer to the last 
 sad office which the living had then to perform for the dead. 
 
 " The conquer'd Latians, with like pious care, 
 " Piles without number for their dead prepare : 
 " Part in the places where they fell are laid, 
 
 " And part are to the neighb'ring fields convey'd. 
 
 ****** 
 
 " Now had the morning thrice renew'd the light, 
 
 " And thrice dispell'd the shadows of the night, 
 
 " When those who round the wasted fires remain 
 
 " Perform the last sad office to the slain : 
 
 " They rake the yet warm ashes from below ; 
 
 " These and the bones unburnt in earth bestow : 
 
 " These relics with their country's rites they grace, 
 
 " And raise a mount of turf to mark the place," . 
 
 It has been noticed as a curious and interesting fact, that 
 the great earthquake which, on Saturday, the first day of 
 November, 1755, destroyed nearly the whole of the city of 
 Lisbon, was very sensibly felt in many parts of Derbyshire, 
 and particularly in the lead mines near Eyam. The narrative 
 of Francis Mason, an intelligent overseer of the mines on Eyam 
 Edge, has already appeared in print, and I have not hesitated 
 to compress it into a smaller compass, yet in so doing I have 
 faithfully preserved the leading features of his detail. 
 
 About eleven o'clock in the forenoon bf the first of November, 
 1755, as Francis Mason was sitting in a small room at the dis- 
 tance of from forty to fifty yarjds from the mouth of one of the 
 engine shafts, he felt the shock of an earthquake, so violent 
 that it raised him up in his chair, and shook some pieces of 
 lime and plaster from the sides and roof of his little hovel. In 
 a field about three hundred yards from the mine he afterwards 
 observed a chasm, or cleft, in the earth, which he supposed was 
 made at the same time : its direction was parallel to the vein 
 of ore the miners were then pursuing, and its continuation 
 from one extremity to the other was nearly one hundred and 
 
66 EARTHQUAKE IN THE MINES. 
 
 fifty yards. Two miners, who were employed in the drifts 
 about sixty fathoms deep when the earthquake took place, 
 were so terrified at the shock, that they dared not attempt to 
 climb the shaft, which they dreaded might run in upon them, 
 and entomb them alive. They felt themselves surrounded with 
 danger, and as they were conversing with each other on the 
 means of safety, and looking for a place of refuge, they were 
 alarmed by a second shock, much more violent than the one 
 preceding. They now ran precipitately to the interior of the 
 mine : it was an instinctive movement that no way bettered 
 their condition ; it only changed the spot of earth where they 
 had previously stood ; but their danger and their fears were 
 still the same. Another shock ensued, and after an awful and 
 almost breathless interval of four or five minutes, a fourth and 
 afterwards a fifth succeeded. Every repercussion was followed 
 by a loud rumbling noise, which continued for about a minute ; 
 then, gradually decreasing in force, like the thunder retiring 
 into distance, it subsided into an appalling stillness more full 
 of terror than the sounds which had passed away, leaving the 
 mind unoccupied by other impressions, to contemplate the 
 mysterious nature of its danger. The whole space of time in- 
 cluded between the first and the last shock was nearly twenty 
 minutes. When the men had recovered a little from their 
 trepidation, they began to examine the passages, and to en- 
 deavour to extricate themselves from their confinement. As 
 they passed along the drifts, they observed that pieces of mi- 
 nerals were scattered along the floor, which had been shaken 
 from the sides and the roof, but all the shafts remained entire 
 and uninjured. 
 
67 
 
 SECTION VII. 
 
 Mineral District. Hay cliff Mine, Slickensides. Accident 
 in a Mine near Hucklow. Wardlow Mears. Wheston Cross. 
 Tideswell Top. Marble Rocks in Tideswell Dale; Sin* 
 gular Stratum there. Cotton Factories. Tideswell. The 
 Church. Bishop Pursglove. Sampson Meurritts, Tides- 
 'well Church- Yard. Conclusion, 
 
 VV E had now bidden adieu to the wild and naked rocks of 
 Middleton Dale, and to the fertile and romantic valley of the 
 Derwent, and had entered on a track of flat country termin- 
 ating on every side with gradual eminences of a greater or 
 lesser elevation. Nothing can be more uninteresting, in a pic- 
 turesque point of view, than the road from Eyam to Tideswell. 
 Scarcely one pleasant object occurs in the tedious course of 
 the intervening four miles, to relieve the uniform dreariness 
 of the prospect. In such a scene the mind loses its tone, and 
 sinks into heedlessness or apathy. Such, indeed, was the 
 feeling I experienced in passing along this important mineral 
 district ; for, as Dr. Fuller quaintly expresses it, when speak- 
 ing of the Peak of Derbyshire, " though poor above, 'tis rich 
 beneath the ground ;" and the refuse dug from the openings 
 into the mines every where encroaches upon the scanty ver- 
 dure of the fields, where " it lies like marl upon a barren soil, 
 encumbering what it cannot fertilize." 
 
 The business of mining, once a source of considerable profit, 
 appears to be rapidly declining in this part of Derbyshire. 
 The workmen are gradually withdrawing from an employ- 
 ment, the unpleasantness and the danger of which are but 
 indifferently compensated by the scanty wages they receive ; 
 and the capital that once invigorated the industry of the miner 
 is diverted into other channels. The mineral tithe of the 
 Eyam estate alone has produced from eight to nine hundred 
 pounds a year: it is now not worth more than as many shillings. 
 
68 MINERAL CALLED SLICKENSIDES. 
 
 Haycliff mine, now no longer worked, was once the grand 
 depository of that extraordinary phenomenon in the mineral 
 world, provincially called SLICKENSIDES. The external ap- 
 pearance of this curious species of Galena is well known 
 wherever mineralogy has been studied. At the present time 
 good specimens of it are extremely rare, and can only be met 
 with in cabinets that have been long established. In those 
 mines where it has most prevailed, it exhibits but little variety 
 either in form or character. An upright pillar of limestone- 
 rock, intermixed with calcareous spar, contains this exploding 
 ore : the surface is thinly coated over with lead, which resem- 
 bles a covering of plumbago, and it is extremely smooth, 
 bright, and even. These rocky pillars have their polished 
 faces opposed to each other: sometimes they nearly touch, 
 sometimes they are farther apart, the intervening space being 
 filled up with smaller portions and fragments of spar and par- 
 ticles of lead ore; and a number of narrow veins of a whitish 
 colour, and a powdery consistency, intersect and run in 
 oblique directions amongst the mass. 
 
 The effects of this extraordinary mineral are not less singular 
 than terrific. A blow with a hammer, a stroke or a scratch 
 with a miner's pick, are sufficient to rend those rocks asunder 
 with which it is united or embodied. The stroke is immedi- 
 ately succeeded by a crackling noise, accompanied with a 
 sound not unlike the mingled hum of a swarm of bees : shortly 
 afterwards, an explosion follows, so loud and appalling, that 
 even the miners, though a hardy race of men, and little 
 accustomed to fear, turn pale and tremble at the shock. This 
 dangerous combination of matter must, consequently, be ap- 
 proached with caution. To avoid the use of the common 
 implements of mining, a small hole is carefully bored, into 
 which a little gunpowder is put, and exploded with a match; 
 the workmen then withdraw to a place of safety, to wait the 
 result of their operations. Sometimes not less* than five or 
 six successive explosions ensue at intervals of from two to ten 
 or fifteen minutes, and occasionally they are so sublimely 
 awful, that the earth has been violently shaken to the surface 
 by the concussion, even when the discharge has taken place at 
 the depth of more than one hundred fathoms. 
 
 When the Haycliff mine was open, a person of the name of 
 Higginbottom, who was unused to the working of Slickensides, 
 and not much apprehensive of danger, was repeatedly cautioned 
 not to use his pick in the getting of the ore. Unfortunately 
 
EXPLOSION OF SLICKENSIDES. 69 
 
 for himself, he paid little attention to the admonitions of his 
 fellow-miners. He struck the fatal stroke, that by an appa- 
 rently electrical communication set the whole mass instantane- 
 ously in motion, shook the surrounding earth to its foundation, 
 and with a noise as tremendous as thunder, scattered the rocky 
 fragments in every direction, through the whole vacuity of 
 Haycliff mine. Thick boards of ash, at the distance of twenty 
 or thirty paces, were perforated by pieces of rock six inches 
 diameter. The poor miner was di'eadfully cut and lacerated, 
 yet he escaped with life. The impression made on his mind 
 by this incident determined him, on his recovery, to discontinue 
 the dangerous trade of mining. He now resides at Manchester, 
 still bearing the marks of his temerity about him. 
 
 Some attempts have been made to account for the wonderful 
 properties of this fulminating ore, but hitherto with little 
 success. A very intelligent miner, with whom I have con- 
 versed on the subject, supposes the exploding power to reside 
 in the white powdery veins which fill up the fissures of the 
 rocky substance that produces Slickensides ; a suggestion that 
 may probably assist in the developement of the strange quali- 
 ties of this mineral phenomenon. 
 
 The loudest explosion remembered to have taken place in 
 Haycliff mine has been mentioned by Whitehurst, in his 
 " Theory of the Formation of the Earth." It occurred in the 
 year 1738, and he affirms that " the quantity of two hundred 
 barrels of materials were blown out at one blast, each barrel 
 being supposed to contain from three to four hundred pounds 
 weight. During the explosion," he adds, " the ground was 
 observed to shake as if by an earthquake." The accuracy of 
 this statement can hardly be questioned ; and, if correct, what 
 an idea it conveys of the immense force required to dissever, 
 from a solid mass of internal rock, so formidable a weight ! 
 
 The miner, in the pursuit of his daily occupation, is so fre- 
 quently exposed to danger, that his life may be said to be in 
 continual jeopardy; and yet but few fatal accidents occur: an in- 
 teresting circumstance "of hair-breadth 'scapes i'th' imminent 
 deadly breach" sometimes takes place. At Hucklow, a little 
 village on our right, in the winter of 1815, a man of the name of 
 Frost, who was engaged in one of the mines, had a miraculous 
 escape froni a very perilous situation, in which he was involved 
 by the falling in of the earth where he was at work. His voice 
 was heard from beneath the ground in which he was entombed, 
 and it was ascertained that his head and his body remained 
 
 F 8 
 
VO MINER BURIED ALIVE FOUR DAYS. 
 
 unhurt, the principal weight having fallen upon and bruised his 
 thighs and legs. Great care was required to accomplish his re- 
 lease, and some of the most experienced miners were employed. 
 A mass of earth was strangely, and almost miraculously, sus- 
 pended over his head, where it hung like an avalanche, ready 
 at the slightest touch to crush him to pieces with its fall. The 
 miners, aware that his situation was one of infinite peril, durst 
 not attempt the attainment of their object by the most direct 
 and expeditious means : slower operations were, in their 
 opinion, essential, even though they dreaded the consequences 
 that might attend their protracted efforts. Had that impetu- 
 osity of feeling, which, however honourable to our nature, 
 sometimes defeats its most benevolent purposes, been alone 
 consulted on this occasion, the poor man must inevitably have 
 perished. They therefore proceeded with great caution, and 
 the most unwearied perseverance, from Monday, the day 
 when the accident took place, until the evening of the following 
 Thursday, at which time they had the satisfaction of witness- 
 ing the complete success of their exertions, and the restoration 
 of a fellow-creature to his family and the world. The man 
 was extricated from his dreadful situation with only a few 
 slight bruises and a broken leg, after a temporary burial of 
 upwards of seventy-five' hours. A drop of water that fell 
 near his head, which he contrived to catch in the hollow of his 
 hand, allayed his thirst, that otherwise would, probably, have 
 become excessive : this fortunate occurrence, no doubt, con* 
 tributed to the preservation of his existence. He was a 
 Wesleyan Methodist, and his strong religious feeling supplied 
 him with fortitude. Neither pain nor apprehension de- 
 stroyed his composure, and he employed many of the hours 
 of his premature interment in singing those psalms and hymns 
 he was previously acquainted with. Under any circumstances, 
 this man would have been a hero. 
 
 As we passed along the road to Tideswell, Brosterfield, 
 formerly the residence of Captain Carleill, and the little 
 villages of Wardlow and Litton, lay on our left, and the two 
 Hucklows occupied a part of the foot of the high chain of 
 mountains on our right. One would suppose that there was 
 but little on these bleak hills and plains to excite the cupidity 
 of the robber, or to induce the commission of the crime of mur- 
 der, particularly amongst a people whose wants are neces- 
 sarily as circumscribed as their means; but even here, at a 
 little distance on the left of the road, we observed a man 
 
MURDER AT WARDLOW-MEARS. 71 
 
 suspended on a gibbet, but newly erected. He had entered 
 the cottage of a poor woman who kept the toll gate at Ward- 
 low-Mears, and for the paltry consideration of a few shillings, 
 he had violated the law of God and man, which says, " Thou 
 shalt not kill" He then, with 'an inconsiderate infatuation 
 which often attends the commission of enormous offences, gave 
 the shoes of the woman he had just murdered to another who 
 resided near, a circumstance that led to his immediate detection. 
 Only a few weeks passed between the perpetration of the crime 
 and the execution of the murderer. 
 
 Approaching Tideswell, we found the prospect improve in 
 picturesque beauty. Some well-grown trees, scattered around 
 the town, hide apart of the dwellings, and obscure what other- 
 wise might be offensive to the eye. The church is a large 
 handsome structure, and a fine object in the landscape. The 
 steep hills behind, rising high above the topmost pinnacles 
 of the tower, are not only peculiarly characteristic of this part 
 of the Peak of Derbyshire, but they form a good back ground 
 to the scene. 
 
 We passed through Tideswell on our way toWheston, a small 
 and pleasant village, which is situated on an eminence that forms 
 one side of Monks-dale, and which at this place is known by 
 the name of Peter-dale. Wheston, though consisting of a 
 few houses only, is a very picturesque little place : the trees, 
 which are mingled with the cottages, are so abundant, and 
 every where so finely foliaged, that the place appears more 
 like a copse, or wood, than a village. Lime, elm, oak, and 
 sycamore, of the most luxuriant growth, line each side of the 
 road, and surround every dwelling. In one part of the village, 
 near the road-side, stands an old stone cross, which, like every 
 thing else that the place contains, is closely embosomed in 
 trees. The upper part of the cross, which is evidently of an 
 ancient date and of a singular construction, resembles in some 
 of its ornaments the foliated ramifications of a Gothic window 
 the shaft is unadorned and more modern. One side of this 
 curious relic of former times represents the infant Saviour 
 in the arms of his mother ; over their heads there is a faint 
 indication of a star, emblematic of the ray that directed the 
 wise men of the East to the birth-place of Jesus. The other 
 side of this venerable cross exhibits the crucifixion of Christ, 
 whose birth and death it has apparently been the design of 
 the sculptor to commemorate in the erection of this symbol of 
 his faith. Several of these ancient structures have been found 
 
 r 4 
 
72 TIDESWELL TOP. 
 
 in this part of Derbyshire, but only a few have escaped the 
 dilapidating progress of time ; others have been destroyed, as 
 objects of no value. The shaft of a cross, originally of no 
 mean workmanship, has in one place been converted into a 
 gate-post ; at another, one has been scooped or hollowed out, 
 and made into a blacksmith's trough. I have seen one, which 
 is richly sculptured on the three remaining sides, with figures 
 and a variety of ornaments, all well executed, that was long 
 applied to this humble purpose. It is now in the possession 
 of Mr. William Staniforth, of Sheffield. A small portion of 
 the cross at Wheston has been lately broken off, which I ob- 
 served had been used as a common piece of stone, and built 
 and cemented into an adjoining wall. Where so little interest 
 has been felt in the preservation of these relics, it is only 
 surprising that so many of them yet remain. 
 
 From Wheston, a short walk of about a mile brought us to 
 an eminence called Tidesweli Top ; a place that curiosity had 
 very recently opened, for the purpose of ascertaining its con- 
 tents. It was a tumulus composed of a series of narrow caverns, 
 formed with stones and earth, in which several skulls and 
 many human bones were found. There is something unseemly, 
 if not unfeeling, in thus disturbing the relics of the dead, and 
 leaving them to bleach in the sun, or be preyed on and gnawed 
 by animals. Some of the bones had been carried away, but 
 many remained unburied, and lay scattered about that earth- 
 built sepulchre, which those who consigned them to it vainly 
 hoped might have " canopied them until doomsday." 
 
 I recollect passing over this particular place in the year 1813. 
 It was then a heathy moor : not a shrub or blade of grass, 
 excepting what immediately bordered upon the town of 
 Tidesweli, was to be seen. I now revisited the same ground, 
 the same geographical spot of earth, but so differently clothed 
 that every trace of what it had been was obliterated. The 
 objects around me were so new, that I felt myself a stranger 
 where every thing had previously been familiar to me. The 
 sterile waste had vanished, and in its place a sea of corn^ far as 
 the eye could reach, waved plenteously around. That spirit 
 of agricultural improvement which has pervaded nearly the 
 whole of the kingdom, with the extraordinary exception of the 
 vicinity of London, has penetrated into the Peak of Derby- 
 shire, and the plenteous corn field has succeeded to the bleak 
 and heathy moor. 
 
 A circuitous ramble round Tidesweli brought us to a road* 
 
MARBLE IN TIDESWELL DALE. 73 
 
 newly made through Millar's Dale to Buxton, the cutting of 
 which has laid open a bed of marble richly variegated, and but 
 little inferior to any in the neighbourhood of Money-Ash. 
 Incumbent on the marble a curious stratum occurs, totally 
 dissimilar to any other yet observed in the Peak of Derby- 
 shire, and its structure and composition may probably amuse 
 the geologist in the midst of his speculations. This stratum 
 is from fifteen to eighteen inches thick : it is of a reddish brown 
 colour, and, when pounded, it resembles Crocus Martis, and 
 though hard and compact when it is first obtained, it is easily 
 reduced to a fine powder. Externally it lies in small particles, 
 but the interior is composed of a series of five-sided angular 
 prisms, that closely adhere together, but may be readily dis- 
 united. Its whole appearance is curious and singular, and it 
 furnishes many exquisite specimens of the basaltic columns of 
 the isle of Staffa and the Giants' Causeway. The stone gene- 
 rally used in constructing the beds of smelting furnaces, when 
 highly vitrified by fire, assumes a very similar formation. 
 
 Re-entering Tideswell, we observed a great portion of its 
 inhabitants employed in spinning and weaving cotton a 
 business that since its introduction into this little place has 
 almost excluded every other. Nearly one-half of the present 
 population are now engaged in some one branch or other of 
 this widely-spreading manufacture. I was surprised to find, 
 that the moral-murdering system of congregating a great num- 
 ber of boys and girls together in the same factory had rami- 
 fied so extensively into this part of the Peak of Derbyshire : 
 it is no doubt a source of wealth ; but may not the riches thus 
 acquired be obtained at the expence of public morals ? Mo- 
 desty, the chief ornament of one sex, and the delight and 
 admiration of the other, by being thus early exposed, too 
 often gives place to something far less amiable and of infinitely 
 less value. The leading charm of the female character is 
 sullied, if not obliterated, and opinions and habits are formed, 
 hostile to the regulations of domestic life, and subversive of its 
 dearest and most substantial comforts. Women, on whom 
 the well being and happiness of society principally depend, 
 are thus early unfitted for the discharge of the important duties 
 of wife and mother ; and the offspring committed by nature to 
 their care, deprived of a guide and a salutary example, are 
 thrown upon the world to be educated by those who may or 
 may not have an interest in their welfare, either at a Sunday 
 School, a Lancasterian, or a Bellean establishment. Perhaps 
 
74- WILLIAM PEVERIL. 
 
 it may be worse than useless to condemn a system which is so 
 intimately interwoven with the commerce and manufacturing 
 interests of the country, that it may be regarded as their vital 
 principle; if so, I trust I may be permitted to express my 
 regret, that a practice so obviously fraught with evil should so 
 exclusively prevail in a nation that more than any other has 
 long maintained a proud pre-eminence, not only in domestic 
 comfort but in public morals. 
 
 Though Tides well ranks amongst the market-towns of Der- 
 byshire, yet, with the exception of the church, it is but a hum- 
 ble looking place. The houses are low, irregularly situated, and 
 ill built, and there is altogether an air of poverty and meanness 
 about it, with a want of cleanliness and comfort in its general 
 appearance. Its name is said to have been derived from a well 
 near it, which tradition represents to have possessed the re- 
 markable property of ebbing and flowing at regular intervals. 
 The spot where the well once was is still pointed out to the 
 traveller who enquires for it, but it is now choked up, and its 
 ebbings and flowings have long since terminated. This town 
 was a part of the princely patrimony derived by William 
 Peveril from his father, William the Conqueror. It was af- 
 terwards vested in King John, who bestowed it upon one of 
 his favourite attendants, from whom it passed by marriage to 
 one of the Stafford family, who in the reign of Richard the 
 Second obtained a charter for the establishment of a weekly 
 market, and a yearly fair at Tideswell. The church is a fine 
 edifice, built in the form of a cross, and the chancel is lighted 
 by nine richly-ornamented Gothic windows. It is spacious, 
 light, and beautiful ; but the most striking peculiarity in this 
 country church is the tower, which is surmounted at the four 
 corners with octagonal Gothic towers, having embattled par- 
 apets, from whence ornamented spires arise : the intervening 
 space is occupied by pinnacles of a lighter construction and 
 lesser altitude. The effect of the whole is rather heavy, as the 
 dimensions of the base of this part of the building are too con- 
 tracted to admit of such a crowded assemblage of spires and 
 towers. Its appearance has, therefore, more of singularity than 
 elegance. The chancel contains a monument to the memory 
 of Robert Pursglove, once prior of Gisburn Abbey, and after- 
 wards bishop of Hull. This churchman has been represented 
 as one of the pliant instruments of Henry the Eighth, by 
 whom he was pensioned, in reward for his services. It is re- 
 lated of him, that he not only quietly surrendered his own 
 
SAMPSON MEURRILLS. 75 
 
 religious establishment to the cupidity of Henry, but that he 
 accepted from him the office of commissioner, and undertook 
 to prevail upon others to follow his example. In the succeed- 
 ing reign he was made archdeacon of Nottingham and bishop 
 of Hull : of these ecclesiastical honours he was deprived in the 
 year 1560, for refusing to take the oath of supremacy to Queen 
 Elizabeth. The remaining part of his life was spent in retire- 
 ment *at Tideswell, the place of his nativity. 
 
 If by a mean subserviency to the wishes of an arbitrary mo- 
 narch he had sullied his character in one part of his life, its 
 close was brightened by a series of benevolent actions. His 
 native town of Tideswell, where he founded a school, and an 
 hospital for twelve poor people, will long retain a grateful re- 
 collection of the name of BISHOP PURSGLOVE. The pro- 
 perty he bequeathed to the school originally produced only 
 1 31. 6s. Sd. per ann.; and one-third of it was directed to be 
 appropriated to the maintenance of the poor of the parish. 
 The present income derived from the same source amounts 
 to upwards of 400/. yearly : two-thirds of this sum is now re- 
 ceived by the master of the school at Tideswell, for the 
 instruction of from twenty to thirty boys. A more striking 
 instance of increase in the value of property does not often 
 occur. 
 
 Another benefactor to the town of Tideswell was a Samp- 
 son Meurrills, to whose memory there is a tabular monument 
 in the chancel of the church. He was a brave and intrepid 
 warrior ; and when the great Duke of Bedford, after a series 
 of splendid successes in France, found himself suddenly dis- 
 comfited by a woman, whose shameful death was a disgrace to 
 England and a stain upon the name of Bedford, Sampson 
 Meurrills fought in defence of that military glory which his 
 bravery and skill had contributed to establish. In less than 
 two years, as appears from the inscription on his tomb, he 
 fought in eleven battles, and was knighted by the Duke of 
 Bedford at Saint Luce, for his eminent services. He was 
 likewise honoured with the dignity and title of KNIGHT CON- 
 STABLE of ENGLAND. He died at the age of seventy-four, in 
 the year 1462. On the tomb of this brave soldier, bread is 
 given away everv Sunday to some of the poor inhabitants who 
 reside in the parish of Tideswell. The continuation of this 
 custom will preserve the remembrance of the donor, and the 
 name of Sampson Meurrills will be recollected and revered 
 
76 ANCIENT CHAPEL, OR ORATORY. 
 
 when the inscription on his tomb, though written in brass and 
 marble, has been long obliterated. 
 
 Tideswell appears to be a strangely-neglected place, and it 
 may truly be said to have degenerated from its former conse- 
 quence. Once it was more deserving the notice of the topo- 
 grapher and the tourist, and it had a fairer claim to estimation. 
 Sir John Statham, who was a loyal and active knight, and 
 who, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, raised and equipped a 
 troop of horse for the service of his sovereign, had his resi- 
 dence in this humble town, where his descendants remained to 
 a late period. A chapel and dormitory, on the south side of 
 the church, still retain the name of this family. The grand- 
 father of the witty Earl of Chesterfield, the preceptor of polite- 
 ness, of whom every graceless youth has heard, built and 
 resided in one of the most respectable houses in the place, 
 which has been lately taken down and sold for the value of 
 the materials. In another, yet standing, one of the Beeches, 
 of Shaw, in Staffordshire, lived ; but all now is ruin and dila- 
 pidation. The most interesting specimen of antiquity that 
 Tideswell possessed was a stone chapel, or oratory, which 
 stood on the left of the road, on the entrance into the town 
 from Middleton. This structure was apparently much older 
 than the church, and it was probably erected before the reign 
 of King John ; but its antiquity could not preserve it from 
 being taken down and sold to the best bidder. When it was 
 unfloored and dug up, at the time of its demolition, many hu- 
 man bones were found within it. Two large Gothic windows, 
 of two compartments each, occupied the ends of this building; 
 one looked upon the road, and the other faced the eminence 
 called the Cliff. These windows were formed by three equal 
 pilasters, surmounted with male and female heads, sculptured 
 in stone; and a pointed Gothic arch, rising from two slightly 
 ornamented buttresses, composed the porch or entrance into 
 this old structure. Such a place, in such a country, must ne- 
 cessarily have something supernatural attached to it; it was 
 accordingly peopled, by village superstition, with the visionary 
 beings of another world. From this place, so long as it ex- 
 isted, unseen choristers were sometimes distinctly heard 
 hymning the sweetest strains, as they seemed to pass in slow 
 procession along the vaulted passages of the chapel to the 
 chancel of the church, where the sounds gradually died away. 
 This ceremony, whenever it happened, indicated the approach- 
 ing death of some of the most important personages in the 
 
CHURCH-YARD AT TIDESWELL. 77 
 
 place ; and no gospel truth was ever more religiously believed 
 than was the occasional occurrence of these supernatural 
 sounds. Persons whose veracity on other occasions could not 
 be doubted have solemnly averred this pretended fact. 
 
 This place, of which no trace now remains, was probably 
 " the chapel that King John gave to the canons of Lichfield 
 for their common provision of bread and beer." 
 
 The church-yard at Tideswell, which we perambulated 
 when the day was far declined, affords but few original poetic 
 inscriptions, and certainly none that are particularly curious 
 or interesting : there is, however, in such a place, and espe- 
 cially at the hour of evening, a solemn influence that prepares 
 the mind for the reception of serious instruction, however 
 homely or uncouth the garb in which it may be clothed. 
 
 " Contemplate, as the sun declines, 
 
 " Thy death with deep reflection ; 
 " And when again he rising shines, 
 
 " Thy day of resurrection." 
 
 This stanza is inscribed on a humble grave-stone, and 
 though not distinguished by any peculiar excellence, it forced 
 itself upon our attention, and became impressed upon our me- 
 mories. The thought on which it turns is given with so much 
 brevity, that it may be said to be more hinted at than ex- 
 pressed ; yet, situated as it is, it may be read and recollected 
 with pleasure perhaps with improvement. Tideswell is but 
 ill calculated to induce the traveller to remain long within it ; 
 yet, pedestrians as we were, we were not inclined to proceed 
 farther on our journey ; we therefore passed the night at the 
 George Inn, where we had no reason to be dissatisfied with 
 our accommodation. 
 
 I have now brought the FIRST PART of my EXCURSIONS 
 IN DERBYSHIRE to a close, and I look back with pleasure on 
 the seventeen miles of road that separate Sheffield from Tides - 
 well, where our first ramble terminated. Abbey Dale, East 
 Moor, Froggat Edge, the Dale of the Derwent, Stoke, and 
 Middleton Dale, furnish in rapid succession a series of views, 
 differing in feature, and varying in character, from the beauti- 
 ful to the romantic, from the romantic to the sublime; and 
 
78 CONCLUSION. 
 
 the local history of the village of Eyam has left a thousand 
 tender impressions aye, and salutary ones too, upon the 
 mind. Having accomplished one portion of the pleasant 
 task which I have imposed upon myself, I now find how 
 very difficult it is to withdraw from a subject to which, per- 
 haps, whatever may be my present intentions, I may never 
 return. How reluctantly the heart bids adieu to what it loves ! 
 and, " loath to depart," how fondly it lingers round those 
 scenes and objects that are mingled and identified with happy 
 feelings and pleasurable sensations ! Thus unwillingly I close 
 this excursion : my next will include the whole of the scenery 
 of the RIVER WYE that busy stream, which, winding 
 through the most romantic dales of Derbyshire, 
 
 " Makes sweet music with the enamell'd stones, 
 
 " Giving a gentle kiss to every sedge 
 
 " He overtaketh in his pilgrimage ; 
 
 " And so by many winding nooks he strays 
 
 " With willing sport." SHAKSFEARE. 
 
 END OF PART I, 
 
PEAK SCENERY. 
 
 PART II. 
 
81 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 New Road from Tidesfwell to Buxton. Monksdale. Thunder 
 Storm. WormhilL Chee Tor. 
 
 IVxY second Excursion (in Derbyshire) commenced at Tides- 
 well. The night by which it was preceded was full of turbu- 
 lence and uproar ; the rain and wind beat violently against 
 the roof and sides of our dwelling, and at intervals the light- 
 ning gleamed on the towers of the church, that were distinctly 
 seen from the apartment in which I slept. In the morning 
 the storm somewhat abated, and in the hope that it might 
 soon entirely subside, my companion and myself commenced 
 our journey. We were only seven miles from Buxton, and 
 as it was our intention to traverse the banks of the river Wye, 
 we took the road through Monks-dale to Wormhill and 
 Chee Tor. 
 
 The new road from Tides well to Buxton is carried through 
 a continued series of romantic dales : immediately after leav- 
 ing the town it winds round some rocky knolls, and descends 
 along the side of a steep hill into Millers-dale, where it crosses 
 the river Wye, amidst some of the most delightful scenery in 
 the Peak of Derbyshire ; then skirting the base of Priestcliff 
 by Diamond Hill, it passes through Black well-dale, and joins 
 the Bakewell road about two miles from Taddington. The 
 road formerly travelled to Buxton is now nearly deserted : its 
 direction is through Monks-dale, which it crosses near Worm- 
 hill, then passes over a tract of uninteresting ground newly 
 claimed from the moors, but now in a state of tillage, and 
 everywhere disfigured with stone wall-fences. In a newly 
 enclosed country there is but little to attract attention; its 
 features, if not absolutely repulsive, are unlovely, and must 
 remain so, until a lapse of years has introduced the softer 
 graces and the richer clothing of cultivation. 
 
 We left Tideswell early in the morning, and from the 
 threatening aspect of the sky we anticipated a return of the 
 storm. The hills before us stretching beyond Buxton, were 
 of a deep purple colour, approaching to blackness, and they 
 
82 A THUNDER-STORM. MONKS-DALE. 
 
 were only distinguishable from the clouds that hung over them 
 by a pale streak of light which ran along the horizon. 
 Shortly the lightning began to dart its fiery lines across the 
 darkness of the hills, and the thunder murmured hoarsely 
 at a distance. We pressed onward, and when we arrived in 
 Monksdale we were in the midst of the storm. 
 
 Monks-dale is a narrow deep ravine, whose steep and rug- 
 ged sides are partly covered with heath and fern, intermixed 
 with a thin mossy verdure. Grey barren rock occasionally 
 breaks through the soil in large perpendicular masses, which 
 though not sufficiently stupendous for the purposes of grand- 
 eur, gives to this dell a peculiar wildness, which is rather 
 increased than subdued by the few trees and scanty brush- 
 wood that are scattered about it, as if intended only to remind 
 one of their general absence. Wildness, however, was not 
 the only feature by which Monks-dale was distinguished at 
 this particular time; it assumed another, and a more impos- 
 ing character. Enveloped in deep gloom, and visited with 
 fire from heaven, it was terricfic and sublime. The frequent 
 and vivid flashes of lightning coming athwart the darkness of 
 the storm, and the thunder loudly reverberating from rock to 
 rock, had an awful and even an appalling effect. Peal on 
 peal burst from the clouds on every side in rapid succession ; 
 the real and the mimic thunder clashing and blending together 
 in terrible confusion. 
 
 In a confined part of this dell, at the foot of a projecting 
 rock, where we had crouched for shelter, stands a single tree, 
 the sport and victim of many a wintry storm. Its scathed trunk 
 and leafless branches, peeled and bleached with age and weather, 
 coming across a sky impenetrably black, while all the lower 
 part of the chasm in which it once had flourished was involved 
 in darkness that might almost be felt, presented a picture as 
 disturbed and wild as Salvator ever imagined. 
 
 The storm subsiding, we left Monks-dale, and proceeded 
 over the fields to Wormhill. Here every view is cheerless 
 and uninteresting, with the exception of the village only, in 
 which the cottages are prettily intermingled amongst the trees. 
 Beheld at a short distance, the eye is refreshed as it rests 
 upon it: it looks indeed like a beautiful spot of verdure amidst, 
 waste and sterility, for the traveller as he surveys the scene 
 around him is but little aware of those rich and narrow dells 
 which abound in this part of Derbyshire : his eye wanders 
 over the various undulations of the ground that lies before 
 
WORMHILL. WOLF HUNTING. 83 
 
 lim : from the top of one eminence it passes to another, with- 
 )ut perceiving either the frequency or the dimensions of the 
 ntervening dales. Yet though the neighbourhood of Worm- 
 lill is at this time so naked and unadorned, if tradition may be 
 credited it was once a forest and crowded with trees : it was 
 hen the shelter and the residence of wild and ferocious 
 inimals, from whence 
 
 " Cruel as death, and hungry as the grave 
 
 " Burning for blood bony, and gaunt, and grim 
 
 " Assembling wolves in raging troops descend, 
 
 " And pouring o'er the country, bear along 
 
 " Keen as the North wind sweeps the glossy snow 
 
 " All is their prize!" 
 
 Camden, in his brief notice of Derbyshire, says that " lands 
 6 were held here by the tenure to hunt wolves ;" and he far- 
 her observes, " now there is no danger of wolves in these 
 )laces, though formerly infested by them ; for the hunting and 
 aking of which some persons held lands here at Wormhill, from 
 whence those persons were called WOLVE-HUNT, as is manifest 
 rom the records of the Tower." Page 44-3. Whitaker, in 
 lis History of Manchester, calls these " the wildest parts of 
 he wildest region in England, peopled as they must then 
 lave been by the beasts, that gave denomination to the Wolf- 
 mnters at Wormhill." What a strange vicissitude of fortune 
 las attended this district! Once a forest, the haunt and shelter 
 >f wild beasts then a desert and unproductive waste now, 
 lestined to undergo another change verdant fields and 
 ledge-row trees begin to appear where lately desolation pre- 
 r ailed. 
 
 The unpropitious aspect of the landscape we had passed 
 rom Tideswell to Wormhill, was amply compensated by our 
 icar approach to the river Wye. While in the village, 
 lothing appeared to intimate the proximity of Chee-dale, 
 vhich is one of the most romantic parts of the Peak. We 
 iad therefore no anticipation, no foretaste of that rich assem- 
 >lage of scenery, which nature has hid within the deep hollows 
 ind high hills that border the village of Wormhill. Nearly 
 >pposite the hall, which is a pleasant little mansion, finely 
 embosomed in trees, we entered a small wicket-gate. All that 
 vas uninteresting in form, and cheerless to the eye, lay now 
 >ehind us; all before was magnificent and commanding. 
 Fhe whole range of vision is here occupied by rocks and 
 nountains, while from the dells beneath, the Wye and its 
 
 G 2 
 
84- CHEE-DALE. 
 
 neighbouring streams, still unseen, send forth their murmurs, 
 and fill the air with melody. After a short pause, we de- 
 scended by a steep and narrow path, and clambering over a 
 rocky mound, the view from which is exquisitely beautiful, 
 we entered a deep dale, apparently impassable at one ex- 
 tremity, and guarded by craggy projections at the other ; in 
 the midst of which, in majestic solitude, stands CHEE TOR. 
 In magnitude, form, and feature, this perpendicular rock is 
 unequalled in any other part of Derbyshire; and the pic- 
 turesque materials which nature has scattered with a lavish 
 hand around this Giant of- the Dell, present a variety of ob- 
 jects and combinations to the eye, some of which are wild and 
 terrific, and some of a softer and a milder character. 
 
 Having passed the mound which guards the entrance into 
 Chee-dale, we seated ourselves on a mossy bank, by the 
 side of one of the most clear and beautiful streams that ever 
 flowed, and silently indulged in the delightful train of thought 
 and feeling, which a contemplation of the scenery of nature is 
 peculiarly calculated to inspire. We now saw nothing be- 
 yond the deep glen in which we were : the noise and bustle of 
 the world, with all its cares and pleasures, were for a while 
 forgotten, and Chee-dale was itself a world to us. It is not 
 easy to conceive a place more entirely sequestered, and cut 
 off from every thing around it, than is this quiet dell ; its 
 solitude is but rarely disturbed by human footsteps : with the 
 exception of the angler, and occasionally a stray traveller, it 
 is almost unvisited by man. No prospect, but what is in- 
 cluded within the contracted limits of the dell, salutes the eye, 
 except 
 
 " The summer heaven's delicious blue ;" 
 
 and no' sounds but what are native here the lapse of the 
 passing stream, the hum of bees, and the song of birds, reach 
 the ear. In such a place, unseeing and unseen, the mind is 
 naturally disposed to commune with itself, and enjoy the 
 luxury of undisturbed reflection, until every unworthy thought 
 and unhallowed sensation are subdued, and every feeling is in 
 harmony with the scene. 
 
 The views in Chee-dale, though impressed with the same 
 general character^ are agreeably diversified : the rocks on the 
 right are thrown into the form of a vast crescent, and their 
 summits are fringed with trees. This noble amphitheatre 
 spans the whole dale, and forms an impassable rampait round 
 
CHEE TOR. 85 
 
 the broad breast of the Tor, which, like an immense semi- 
 circular tower, broken and rent with age, and marked with 
 weather-stains, rises in sullen grandeur from the deep recess. 
 Round the base of this rock flows the river Wye. The dark- 
 green mosses, and variously-coloured lichens which cover the 
 stories that form its bed the long smooth weeds that wave 
 their slender stems between the variety of intermingling 
 hues all in motion the sparkle of the limestone rock the 
 vivid transparency of the stream, everywhere giving an 
 additional splendour to the objects over which it flows all 
 conspire to render this secluded dell one of the most imposing 
 scenes in any part of Derbyshire : it abounds in pictures, 
 every change of place exhibits a new one, and every one that 
 occurs is marked with a peculiar beauty. Near the boldest 
 projection of the Tor, a view admirably adapted to the pencil 
 'is presented. The foreground is enlivened by the lustre and 
 the motion of the stream, which is here occasionally interrupted 
 in its progress by insulated rocky fragments that divide and 
 break it into foam, as it rushes over its rude channel into the 
 levels below. The opposite bank is a gently rising mound, 
 gradually sloping to the foot of the rock, and ornamented 
 with lofty and well foliaged ash ; beyond appears Chee Tor, 
 towering above every surrounding object, and lifting his ample 
 front to the height of near four hundred feet. Looking down 
 the river, which widens as it winds round the Tor, an islet 
 adorned with light trees and underwood, occupies the middle 
 of the river. On the left the view is diversified with masses 
 of rock, piled upon each other until they close in the pros- 
 pect.. Their jutting crags are partly covered with overhanging 
 branches, and the hazel, the aspen, the wild rose, and the 
 mountain ash, adorn their summits. Turning round, and 
 looking up the dale, a different picture, but yet equally beauti- 
 ful and interesting, is displayed : the widest part of the dell 
 opens immediately before you, and the river, with its innu- 
 merablejniniature cascades, is seen to greater advantage than 
 in the contrary direction. Chee Tor is still the grand object, 
 and though it gradually loses its feature of vastness, it assumes 
 a greater portion of picturesque beauty. The regularity of its 
 receding outline is broken with light and graceful foliage, 
 which hanging like wreaths upon its brow, plays along the 
 side of the rock in tasteful sportiveness, until it mingles with 
 the ascending branches of the ash and the elm that decorate 
 its base. On the right, a chain of rock sweeps round the Tor 
 
 Gr 3 
 
86 COMPARISON WITH LOCH KATRINE. 
 
 in a regularly curved line, at the distance of from one to 
 two hundred paces, forming a magnificent natural crescent. 
 These rocks beetle over their base; so far they are unadorned: 
 their upper strata are covered with wood, which happily 
 combines with the scenery of which it forms so beautiful a 
 part. Almost every circumstance, even the most minute, in 
 the following extract from Sir Walter Scott's description of 
 Loch Katrine, is peculiarly applicable to Chee-dale. 
 
 " Here eglantine embalm'd the air, 
 
 " Hawthorn and hazel mingled there; 
 
 " The primrose pale, and violet flower 
 
 " Found in each cleft a narrow bower: 
 
 " Fox-glove and night-shade side by side, 
 
 " Emblems of punishment and pride, 
 
 " Grouped their dark hues with every stain 
 
 " The weather-beaten crags retain. 
 
 " With boughs that quaked at every breath, 
 
 " Grey birch and aspen wept beneath j 
 
 " Aloft the ash, and warrior oak 
 
 " Cast anchor in the rifted rock, 
 
 " And higher yet the pine-tree hung 
 
 " His shattered trunk, and frequent flung, 
 
 " Where seemed the cliffs to meet on high, 
 
 " His bows athwart the narrowed sky." 
 
87 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 Observations on the river Wye. Blackwell Mill. Topley Pike. 
 Stage-coach. Wye Dale. Romantic Dell and Cascade 
 near Lover's Leap. Arrival at Btixton. 
 
 1 HE upper part of the confined dell, which is dignified with 
 the stately presence of Chee Tor, is extremely contracted. 
 The rocks rise high and precipitately from both sides of the 
 river, which they here form into a narrow channel, and the 
 traveller, who is not disposed to wade through the shallows of 
 the stream, must necessarily return by the path he came. In 
 a long dry season, the Wye is but a scanty rivulet; it may 
 then be crossed with little difficulty; at other times its passage 
 is almost impracticable. Few individuals indeed ever attempt 
 to penetrate beyond this part of Chee-dale. 
 
 From this place to Blackwell-Mill, about a mile higher up 
 the river, many beautiful scenes occur, all differing in detail, 
 but everywhere exhibiting the same general character. A 
 brilliant and rapid stream sometimes winding round the huge 
 fragments of stone that form its channel, then curling and 
 circling into a thousand eddies sometimes leaping precipit- 
 ously from one bold shelving of rock to another, and breaking 
 into the whitest foam ; then gliding smoothly though rapidly 
 along, until another obstruction to its peaceful and unruffled pro- 
 gress produces the recurrence of a similar picture. Such is 
 the river Wye in this sequestered place: its banks are every- 
 where composed of a continued chain of perpendicular rocks of 
 a greater or lesser altitude, which in some places are naked 
 and unadorned, and in others finely covered with foliage. It 
 may easily be imagined, that these materials must, occasionally 
 if not frequently, be so thrown together and combined as to 
 produce pleasing compositions. 
 
 I have only once crossed the river from the upper extremity 
 of Chee-dale, which I did with the intention of perambulating 
 its banks from thence to Buxton : when this can be accom- 
 plished, it must several times be forded from one side to the 
 
 Q 4 
 
88 PICTURESQUE SCENE ON THE WYE. 
 
 other : indeed the channel of the stream, when occasions are 
 taken of thus threading its course, is almost the only path that 
 can be pursued without apprehension, as the sides and sum- 
 mits of the rocks are precipitous and craggy, and in many 
 places even dangerous to pass. My companion was equally 
 anxious with myself to explore this hidden part of the Wye : 
 we therefore, after passing the stream at the top of Chee-dale, 
 wound our way up and down the steep acclivities, as a narrow 
 and devious path-way led us, amongst bushes and brambles, 
 until we came by a rugged and abrupt descent to a more open 
 situation on the brink of the river. The scene here presented 
 is one of the finest of its kind I ever beheld. A high rock, 
 richly crested with oak and ash, occupies each side of the 
 Wye. The branches of the trees throw themselves across the 
 chasm, and produce a mass of shadow, deep, broad, and 
 sombre: below, a smooth bed of water sleeps in unbroken 
 tranquillity ; beyond, seen through the rocky vista, the luxu- 
 riant foliage caught a stream of light, and all the upper and 
 remoter parts of the scene were brightly illumined with the 
 warm effulgence of a declining sun, which, contrasted with op- 
 posing shadows, produced an effect that would have delighted 
 a Rembrandt. The rock under which we stood, and the whole 
 foreground of the picture, were finely broken : huge fragments 
 of stone had been detached from above, and interrupted the 
 progress of the stream, as it flowed and babbled along : the 
 water, occasionally runs nearly over them, and had left behind an 
 earthy sediment, that nurtured the richly-coloured mosses with 
 which they were invested : water docks, fern, and fox-glove, 
 mingled their variety of leaf and tint to adorn and diversify 
 this beauteous landscape : all the forms were fine, the colour- 
 ing rich and harmonious, and the light and shadow most 
 happily disposed. It was one of those fascinating scenes which 
 memory treasures, and recurs to with delight. 
 
 Leaving this retired spot, we again recrossed the river along 
 the cragged sides of which we clambered with some interrup- 
 tions, until we had attained the summit of the highest rock. 
 Over this we had to pass or recede. The gulf that yawned 
 below could not be contemplated without emotions of horror. 
 We stood on a steep shelving bank, covered with a thin slip- 
 pery grass, unsafe, and even dangerous to tread upon. A sheep 
 track was the only path that lay before us, and this was car- 
 ried so near the brink of the precipice, that I could not have 
 beheld a goat or any thing that had life placed in so perilous a 
 
TOPLEY PIKE. 89 
 
 situation, without trembling. We were now nearly four hun- 
 dred feet above the little stream that washed the base of the 
 rock where we stood, and a glimpse into the fearful depth be- 
 low was appalling and terrific. We paused for a moment 
 our nerves were shaken and unstrung : my companion, who 
 fully shared in my feelings, hesitated then refused to pro- 
 ceed another step : we therefore retraced our way back to near 
 Wormhill, and crossed the fields by a solitary path, which led 
 us to the brow of a lofty eminence that overlooks Black well- 
 Mill. From this elevated situation we descended by a wind- 
 ing and narrow road, until we had regained the margin of the 
 Wye. 
 
 At Blackwell-Mill, where the river is spread out into con- 
 siderable breadth, the dale expands and assumes a different 
 character. Here the rocky scenery of the Wye subsides, and 
 a series of deep dales succeeds, which are formed by high, 
 sloping hills, thinly covered with verdure, and in some places 
 crested with craggy knolls, and broken rock. Within the 
 hollow of the lofty eminences that here prescribe the course of 
 the river, lies Blackwell-Mill. Topley Pike, broad at its base, 
 and lifting high its pointed summit o'er all surrounding ob- 
 jects, is here a giant feature in the landscape. Along the side 
 of this vast hill, the new road from Bakewell to Buxton has 
 been carried : one would almost wonder at so bold an attempt, 
 but what cannot the talent, the daring, and the perseverance 
 of man achieve ? 
 
 While I was in the dale below, contemplating the steep ac- 
 clivity of Topley Pike, I was startled from my reverie by the 
 sound of a coachman's horn, that came gently upon the ear, 
 when I was least prepared to expect such a greeting. Shortly, 
 a stage-coach appeared, which seemed actually to issue from 
 the clouds that obscured the higher elevations of this stupend- 
 ous hill ; and I observed it pass rapidly along, where the eye 
 could scarcely discern the trace of a road, and where to all 
 appearance a human foot could with difficulty find a resting- 
 place. Had I supposed this vehicle to have contained within 
 it beings like myself, I might have shuddered with apprehen- 
 sion, but the coach, from its great height above me, looked so 
 like a child's toy, and the sound of the horn was so soft and 
 unobtrusive so unlike the loud blast of a stage-coachman's 
 bugle and altogether the place was so unfitted for the in- 
 trusion of such an object, that it appeared more like a fairy 
 
90 NEW ROAD TO BUXTON. 
 
 scene, or a picture of imagination, than any thing real and 
 substantial. 
 
 From the foot of Topley Pike the road passes by the side 
 of the Wye, through some beautiful scenery to Buxton. 
 Within about two miles of this fashionable bathing-place the 
 dale again contracts, and becomes a narrow passage through 
 a cleft of rock, singularly romantic. The Wye is here ex- 
 tremely beautiful : its lucid stream is sometimes pent up with 
 fragments of rock that oppose its passage ; then breaking the 
 bounds of its confinement, it foams and bubbles down its 
 rugged bed until another interruption occurs to dam up the 
 current. It now dashes against the mound by which it is 
 opposed ; repelled by the obstruction it encounters, it circles 
 into revolving eddies, that apparently retire under a shelving 
 rock, until again it returns into the channel ; then with an 
 accumulated force it leaps the barrier, and bounds rapidly 
 away. However fanciful, and perhaps even fantastic, this 
 may be, I know not how otherwise to describe the impressions 
 made upon my mind, as I watched the play, the spirit, and 
 the progress of this secluded stream. 
 
 The deep ravine through which the Wye thus sports is rich 
 in picturesque materials, and at the " witching hour of even," 
 the perpendicular rocks on the right of the road, split and 
 broken into columns, and surmounted with bold and rugged 
 battlements, gleam with the soft light of departing day : the oppo- 
 site side is dark with shadow, that envelopes all the lower part 
 of the glen, which gradually becoming deeper and deeper as the 
 night advances, gives an additional clearness and a more bril- 
 liant sparkle to the busy babbling Wye. In this contracted 
 dell I again observed my favourite tree the ash ; its graceful 
 branches mingled with the varied foliage of the elm, the hazel, 
 and the yew : sometimes they shoot from a cleft or fissure in 
 the rock sometimes they play at its base, where they bend 
 and dip their light stems in the stream they adorn. 
 
 Near that part of the rock denominated the LOVER'S LEAP, 
 a little dell opens its craggy portals to the road. In winter a 
 more picturesque place can hardly be found; and in summer, 
 when a heavy shower of rain has swollen the mountain streams 
 and filled their channels, a scanty rill, called Shirbrook, which 
 takes its rise near the Ashbourne Road, about half a mile 
 from Buxton, becomes in its progress a rapid and impetuous 
 torrent ; passing between Staden's Low and the Duke's Ride, 
 it enters a rocky glen near the Lover's Leap, where, dashing 
 
ARRIVAL AT BUXTON. 91 
 
 over a precipice, it forms a cascade of considerable elevation. 
 The cliffs near it are broken into romantic masses, and the 
 basin into which it falls is composed of fragments of rock ; 
 amongst these the water frets itself into the whitest foam ; 
 whilst every object in the dell, the fern, the spiral blades of 
 grass, the spreading dock, and every flower that blossoms 
 there, are bright with spray and gemmed with drops of 
 light. 
 
 Proceeding from hence to Buxton, the dale through which 
 the road is carried gradually loses its beauty until it terminates 
 at the entrance into the town, where a neat and substantial 
 stone bridge is thrown over the river Wye. We had loitered 
 on the brink of this delightful stream almost unconscious of 
 the day's decline, until the last faint rays of the setting sun, 
 that for a while rested on the topmost peak of Ax-edge, had 
 withdrawn, and were succeeded by the sombre colouring of a 
 fine summer's night. All was still around us, and the effect 
 was grand and imposing. As we entered the town, we dis- 
 cerned only the shadowy outline of things, and the mountains 
 by which it is encompassed, wrapped in the solemn garb of 
 night, came so near upon the eye, that their ample dimensions 
 seemed to fill up the whole range of vision. As we proceeded, 
 the sounds of distant music came upon the ear, and approach- 
 ing nearer to the Crescent, we distinguished the sprightly notes 
 of the fiddle, the tabor, and the pipe. The assembly-room at 
 the Great Hotel was now splendidly lighted up, and dancing 
 had commenced for the evening. Our day's excursion ter- 
 minated at the Shakspeare Inn, where we took up our resi- 
 dence during our short stay in Buxton. 
 
92 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 F airfield. Lime Hills. Pooler-Hole. Buxton Diamonds. 
 Ax-Edge. Stranger at Buxton. Source of the Wye. 
 Evening. 
 
 1 HE morning after our arrival in Buxton we visited Fairfielcl, 
 the only pleasant situation in the whole district. This village 
 stands on the summit of a gentle eminence, which forms a 
 part of the extensive chain of hills that surround Buxton. 
 The church-yard appears to have been long the burial-place 
 for the whole neighbourhood ; and several tabular monuments 
 and sculptured stones are found within it that record the names 
 and deaths of individuals who sought health at Buxton and 
 had found a grave at Fairfield. The church seems fitted only 
 to adorn a landscape : and such apparently is the feeling with 
 which it is regarded by those who are entrusted with its care : 
 in distance it is a good object, though its exterior architecture 
 is by no means imposing; and within it is one of the most 
 neglected places of worship in which man ever served his 
 Maker. On a rocky mound, near it, stands a rude unshapen 
 stone column, which is supposed to be part of the shaft of a 
 cross ; but from its present appearance 1 should conclude that 
 it had originally been used only as a pedestal to a sun-dial : 
 for a more important purpose it is utterly unworthy. A 
 curious epitaph, which we could not find, is said to be in- 
 scribed on a stone here : I give it therefore on the authority 
 of those who have been more fortunate in their researches 
 than myself: 
 
 " Beneath this stone here lie two children dear, 
 " The one at Stoney Middleton the other here." 
 
 It is hardly possible to conceive a prospect more cheerless 
 and forbidding than the hills around Buxton present. They 
 had now lost the grandeur which darkness had thrown . over 
 them the preceding evening, and their unpleasant detail was 
 
LIME HILLS. 93 
 
 obtruded on the eye. With the exception of one or two 
 small plantations of Scotch fir and larch, and a few meadows 
 separated from each other by angular stone fences, that are 
 carried along the sides of the hills with a tiresome monotony, 
 scarcely any thing but sterility is to be seen. From Fairfield 
 the lime hills beyond Buxton have a curious and delusive 
 effect ; they appear like an assemblage of tents, placed on a 
 steep acclivity, in regular stages one above another, and they 
 strangely disfigure the scene : as a feature in landscape, they 
 are very unpleasant, yet they are not the least extraordinary 
 places in the vicinity of Buxton. Many of them have been 
 excavated, and they now form the habitations of human be- 
 ings. Some of them are divided into several apartments, and 
 one aperture serves to carry off the smoke from the whole. 
 The roofs of these humble dwellings are partially covered 
 with turf and heath, and not unfrequently a cow or an ass 
 takes a station near the chimney, on the top of the hut, 
 amongst tufts of fern and thistles, which together produce a 
 very singular and sometimes a pleasing effect. One conical 
 hill that I observed, contains within it five or six different 
 habitations, and to the whole there appears but one or two 
 chimneys : by what contrivance these are made to answer the 
 common purposes of so many families, I have not been in- 
 formed. When Faugas St. Fond visited Buxton, he was as- 
 tonished to see human beings entering into and emerging 
 from these excavations in the earth, like rabbits in a warren. 
 Strangers beholding these places, would never imagine them 
 the residence of creatures like themselves. When I first saw 
 them, I knew not to what uses they were applied, for I did 
 not then recognise them as objects I had previously met^with 
 in description, and none of their inmates appeared at the 
 threshold to mark them out as dwellings. On a second lok, 
 they had issued from their hovels as if by general agreement, 
 and I found the whole hill was peopled not like the heathy 
 glen in Scott's Lady of the Lake, with armed men at the sig- 
 nal of Roderic Dhu but with boys and girls, and men and 
 women ; who having gazed for a moment upon us, suddenly 
 disappeared, leaving us to reflect at leisure on the unusual 
 sight. 
 
 At the foot of this hill lies Poole's-Hole. The entrance 
 into this dreary cavern is narrow and forbidding ; and the air, 
 even in summer, has a colj and chilling effect that creeps 
 through all the frame. Within, it is more capacious ; but in 
 
94 BUXTON DIAMONDS. AX-EDGE. 
 
 my estimation there is little in it to repay the trouble and in- 
 convenience of a visit : those indeed who have seen the Devil's 
 Cavern at Castleton, will derive but little gratification from 
 Poole's-Hole. The roof and sides of this cave abound with 
 stalactites, sometimes thrown together in such a manner as to 
 bear a distant resemblance to objects in nature. In one place 
 we were shown a petrified turtle ; in another, a Jlitch of bacon / 
 in a third, Old Poolers saddle ; and still further on there are 
 other calcareous incrustations, called wool-pa cks a chair 
 a font a lady's toilet a lion a pillion and the pillar of 
 Mary Queen of Scots. That these names have been dealt out 
 and appropriated in a very arbitrary manner, may easily be 
 imagined. The whale, or ouzel, which Hamlet points out 
 amongst the clouds to poor Polonius, was not more unlike in 
 form and feature than these uncouth resemblances are to the 
 objects they are said to represent. 
 
 About half a mile beyond this cavern is Diamond-Hill, a 
 place often visited by strangers for the purpose of collecting 
 those detached crystals of quartz that are here denominated 
 Buxton diamonds. These crystals are hexagonal, and their 
 sides and angles are accurately formed , but in general they 
 are of a bad colour, and but few of them are found perfectly 
 transparent. They are hard, and their points, like the dia- 
 mond, will cut glass ; but this property is soon worn off. 
 Bray, in his tour into Derbyshire, gives a curious account of 
 the formation of these crystals : he says, " in the year 1 756, 
 a gentleman, in his walks, observed some little risings on the 
 rocks, which appeared like ant-hills ; he opened some, and 
 found they consisted of a perfect arch, drawn up, as he ima- 
 gined, by the exhalation of the sun ; in them was first formed 
 a thin bed of dirty-coloured spar, and upon that a regular 
 cluster or bed of these crystals." He then adds, " Dr. Short 
 says, all these are formed in the winter, and the more stormy 
 and colder that is, the larger and harder these petrifactions." 
 Our modern chymists, I am aware, will not be altogether 
 satisfied with Dr. Short's old-fashioned method of manufactur- 
 ing crystals. 
 
 Returning from Fairfield, we passed through Buxton, in- 
 tending to pay a visit to the summit of Ax-edge, a mountain 
 which is considered one of the highest in the Peak of Derbyshire. 
 A gradual and tiresome ascent of three or four miles leads 
 to the top of this eminence, which commands an extensive view 
 into Staffordshire and Cheshire on one hand, and to the moun- 
 tainous districts of Derbyshire on the other. In the prospect 
 
STRANGER AT BUXTON. 95 
 
 here unfolded, the Staffordshire Hills are conspicuous objects ; 
 and towards the source of the River Dove, which lies at the 
 foot of Ax-edge, some very wild but barren scenery is pre- 
 sented. This stupendous hill is covered with heath, which 
 affords both food and shelter to the numerous moor game that 
 inhabit it; and as it was now the first day of the shooting 
 season, we found ourselves somewhat annoyed with the guns 
 that were continually going off around us : we were besides 
 occasionally enveloped in clouds that swept over Ax-edge ; 
 and being thus at times obscured from the sportsmen, and 
 not entirely exempt from the danger of a stray shot, we relin- 
 quished our picturesque pursuits and returned to Buxton. 
 
 Re-entering the public -room at the Angel, I observed an 
 interesting young man, who evidently laboured under the 
 effects of a strong mental depression. His face was pale, but 
 extremely prepossessing, and his dark eyes rather increased 
 than diminished the melancholy expression of his countenance. 
 He spoke but little, and he had apparently abstracted his at- 
 tention so effectually and entirely from all external objects, 
 that he seemed to be alone even in the midst of company. 
 Yet the slightest noise breaking suddenly upon his ear, sensi- 
 bly vibrated through all his frame. His existence was miser- 
 able : and I placed myself near hiir, not with the intention of 
 impertinently interfering with the privacy of his sorrows, but 
 certainly with a hope that an opportunity might occur of di- 
 verting his attention to other objects than those which appeared 
 to have taken possession of his every faculty. In this hope 
 I was disappointed. His eye never wandered for a moment 
 from the place on which it was fixed ; and I had too much 
 respect for his sorrows, whatever they were, or however imag- 
 inary they might be, to obtrude myself upon his observation. 
 The greater part of the company had left the room in which 
 we vere early in the forenoon, and the shooting parties, to- 
 gether with some little merry-making, on account of the 
 Prince Regent's birth-day, brought the 12th of August, which 
 might otherwise have passed without particular notice, to the 
 recollection of the Buxton visitors. The casual mention of 
 the day strongly agitated this interesting young man : the 
 melancholy expression of countenance, and the wildness of his 
 eye increased ; he was now conscious that he was not alone ; 
 he therefore struggled with his feelings, and evidently endea- 
 voured to suppress the violence of his emotions. With a 
 tremulous voice he feebly ejaculated, " My poor brother !" 
 
"96 RAMBLES NEAR BUXTON. 
 
 then bursting into tears, he rushed out of the room. I know 
 not that I ever observed any person more powerfully agitated. 
 I saw him again in the after-part of the day, when lie ap- 
 peared more composed, but I could not succeed in obtaining 
 any part of his attention without a breach of good manners. 
 
 I afterwards learnt that the 1 2th of August was the birth-day 
 of a beloved brother, whom he had lately lost, not by the slow 
 approaches of disease, but by a fall from his horse. On the 
 day of his brother's death the first paroxysms of his grief were 
 succeeded by an intense stupefaction, that made him totally 
 indifferent to all around him: yet, until the day of interment, 
 he would not be removed from the corpse of him whom in life 
 he had so sincerely loved. At this awful moment, as the 
 body was borne from one door of the house, he quitted it by 
 another, and was not heard of for several days afterwards : he 
 was then met with "in a state of mental derangement, which 
 afflicted him for many months, and at last left him so depressed 
 in spirits, and so extremely sensitive, that with him existence 
 could hardly be regarded as a blessing. This acute sensibility 
 and excess of feeling exhibits, it is true, but little of self- 
 possession ; it would, nevertheless, be impertinent and idle, if 
 not cruel, to blame it. No man would willingly devote him- 
 self to unpleasant sensations, and voluntarily become miserable : 
 No ! misery is instinctively and industriously avoided ; and 
 yet the mind that now triumphs in health may soon be 
 " sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought," and all its 
 energies may be destroyed. Who can say that the fortitude 
 which resists calamity to-day may not be overthrown on the 
 morrow ? 
 
 The remainder of this day we spent in perambulating the 
 environs of Buxton, and having visited the source of the Dove 
 in the early part of the day, we devoted the afternoon to a 
 short excursion to the source of the Wye, that river which it 
 was our principal object to investigate. Four of the rivers of 
 Derbyshire the Dane, the Goit, the Dove, and the Wye 
 are seen from the foot of Ax-edge, and taking different 
 directions, they adorn and fertilise some of the most beautiful 
 dales in the county. On the left of the Macclesfield road, in 
 a deep hollow, about one mile from Buxton, we found the cradle 
 of the Wye in as barren and unpicturesque a birth-place as 
 ever infant streamlet had. With the source of a river with 
 whose devious windings and lovely scenery we had been a 
 thousand times delighted, we had associated ideas of the beau- 
 
SOURCE OF THE WYE. 97 
 
 tiful and romantic, and we wished to have found the Wye, 
 where it first issues into day, not nestled amongst fern and 
 rushes, but emerging from a bed of rock, and overhung with 
 branches. Such was the picture our wishes and imagin- 
 ations had portrayed. It was a sketch of fancy that 
 reality embodied not. But Nature works as she pleases; and 
 if she gives more than she promises, who has a right to com- 
 plain of the little pledge merely because it has been redeemed 
 with a greater performance ? 
 
 Nearer Buxton this little rivulet becomes an interesting, 
 and, in some places, a beautiful stream : it winds through a 
 plantation newly made, where a walk is carried along its 
 banks, and as the river ripples amongst the stones or glides 
 smoothly away, it is a pleasing picture to the eye. In the 
 short space of half a mile several artificial cascades occur, 
 which have but little or no beauty, yet the sound of the water, 
 as it rushes over them, is grateful to the ear : it is one of na- 
 tures sweetest melodies, and in the quiet retirement of a 
 sequestered dell, where every other sound is hushed to rest, it 
 comes with a delightful influence upon the senses, abstracts 
 the mind from ordinary cares, and sometimes soothes the 
 troubled spirits to repose. 
 
 Seated on a rural bench, beneath the shelter of a spreading 
 elm, near one of these little water-falls, we listened to the 
 music that it made until the last faint glimpse of day had de- 
 parted, and the dark shadows of night, which seemed gradually 
 to ascend from out the valley, had invested the tops of the 
 mountains, and the bat and the beetle, and the glimmering 
 lights of evening, had warned us to depart: such, and so 
 tranquil, was the close of our first day at Buxton. 
 
 ic 
 
98 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 Staden-Low. South entrance into Buxton. The Crescent. 
 Mr. C. Sylvester's Hot Baths. St. Anne's Well. Burton 
 Bath Charity. Amusements. Antiquity of the Warm Baths. 
 Demolition of the Shrine and Image of St. Anne. 
 
 THE weather continuing fine, we commenced our second 
 day's ramble round Buxton by a visit to Staden-Low, where 
 the remains of some ancient earth-works are said to have been 
 clearly distinguishable until within a very few years. The 
 ground, however, is now enclosed, and the plough has obliterated 
 nearly every vestige of these memorials of former times. The 
 adjoining village of Staden is of great antiquity, and it was 
 once the most important place in the whole district. At this 
 period, the officers of the surrounding hamlets, in consequence 
 of some ancient prescription, were annually chosen, and 
 inducted into their respective offices on the top of Staden- 
 Low, where their names were registered in the parochial 
 records on a large flat stone, which occupied that situation 
 for several centuries. This custom has passed away, and the 
 table of stone has disappeared. In this search after antiquities 
 we were disappointed; but, as we passed along a part of the 
 Duke's Ride, we were gratified with a view of the river Wye 
 from the topimost summit of the rock denominated LOVER'S 
 LEAP. 
 
 As our observations had hitherto been confined to the modern 
 part of Buxton, we determined, on our return from Staden, to 
 join the Ashbourne Road near Shirbrook, and enter the town 
 at the other extremity. Here nothing is presented to the eye 
 but a mean country village, surrounded with barren hills. The 
 houses, which are built of limestone and thrown promiscuously 
 together, equally in despite of order and taste, and the old 
 church, one of the first objects that strikes the eye, and cer- 
 tainly one of the humblest places of worship I ever beheld, 
 seem to mark out this little town as the residence only of 
 
SOUTH ENTRANCE INTO BUXTON. 99 
 
 meanness and poverty. These observations must be under- 
 stood to relate solely and entirely to the first appearance of the 
 town as seen from the road, near a small inn, known by the 
 name of the Cheshire Cheese. Strangers entering Buxton in 
 this direction must be greatly disappointed in their expect- 
 ations. The Crescent, and the numerous buildings by which 
 it is surrounded, together with the whole of the modern part of 
 the town, are hid in the deep hollow below, over which the 
 eye passes to the hills beyond, and nothing is seen but a 
 miserable village placed in as miserable a country as the mind 
 can possibly conceive. Approaching the Eagle Inn, the place 
 improves ; but it is not until we arrive at the brow of Saint 
 Anne's cliff that the new part of Buxton, with its elegant 
 buildings and splendid hotels, is beheld. The transition is so 
 sudden, and the change of scene so complete and entire, that 
 the mind, bewildered and confused, almost doubts the reality 
 of so extraordinary a contrast. The upper part of Buxton is 
 truly a Derbyshire village; the lower, in the elegance of its 
 buildings, its show, and its parade, approximates to Bath. 
 Nothing can be more instantaneous or more forcibly felt than 
 the change of passing from one part to the other of this 
 fashionable bathing-place ; and the company who visit it dur- 
 ing the summer season, furnish a contrast equally striking and 
 impressive. The bloom of health and the sallow hue of 
 disease ^- the elastic bound of youth and the failing step of 
 infirmity wealth and poverty, and all the gradations that 
 society produces between, are here mingled together, teaching 
 a salutary lesson to the observing stranger as he passes along. 
 Buxton would indeed be a melancholy place were it not that 
 fashion has made it her resort : hence the scene is variously 
 chequered, and those gloomy impressions, which are sometimes 
 produced by a sight of human nature under affliction, are dis- 
 sipated by gayer and more cheering objects. Here a man 
 may learn properly to estimate that best of blessings, health : 
 he who possesses it, will be almost every moment reminded of 
 the treasure he enjoys ; and he who has it not, may indulge 
 the hope of finding it, and anticipate returning vigour. 
 
 As early as the reign of Elizabeth, Buxton was so much fre- 
 quented, that it became necessary to erect new buildings, and 
 furnish additional accommodations to the numerous visitors 
 who even then resorted here both for health and pleasure. In 
 the legislative enactments of this period, the itinerant migra- 
 tions of the poor were restrained, and they were more closely 
 
 H 2 
 
100 THE CRESCENT. 
 
 confined to their own parishes. Mendicity now became an 
 offence, and in an act made in the thirty-ninth year of Eliza- 
 beth, it is provided, that the poor who from disease or infirmity 
 might have occasion to resort to Bath or Buxton, should have 
 relief from their parishes, and a pass from two magistrates, 
 fixing the period of their return a provision which evinces 
 not only a solicitude to guard against vagrancy and begging, 
 but the high estimation in which the Buxton waters were at 
 this time held. 
 
 The old Hall, over the Baths, was erected about this period, 
 and other buildings were added as the wants of a progressively- 
 increasing number of visitors appeared to require ; but it was 
 reserved for the Dukes of Devonshire to bestow architectural 
 splendour on Buxton. The Crescent is a noble pile of build- 
 ing, and the Hotels of which it is composed are admirably 
 adapted to furnish the best and most elegant accommodations. 
 A Crescent is not one of the finest forms a building can take : 
 unless it be a portion of a very extensive circle indeed, it is far 
 from being an imposing object. Nearly seen, or seen from 
 any point of view besides the centre of the circle which the 
 Crescent describes, some of the parts appear either distorted 
 or out of proportion ; hence it is, I presume, that the Crescent 
 at Buxton fails to produce impressions commensurate with its 
 grandeur : buildings of equal magnitude in almost any other 
 form, would have a more magnificent effect. The architect- 
 ural detail of inns and dwelling-houses, is not included within 
 the plan of these excursions, yet having been favoured with the 
 following particular account of the Crescent in manuscript, by 
 Mr. H. Moore, of Derby, the accuracy^of which is fully con- 
 firmed by my own observations, I have not hesitated to use his 
 communication, for which I now publicly return him my 
 thanks. 
 
 " The Crescent at Buxton has three stories ; in the lower one is 
 a rusticated arcade, that forms an agreeable promenade : above 
 the arches, an elegant balustrade stretches along the whole front 
 and the ends of the fabric : over the piers of the arcade arise 
 fluted Doric pilasters, that support the architrave and cornice : 
 the trygliphs of the former and the rich planceer of the latter 
 have a beautiful appearance. The termination above the cornice 
 is formed by another balustrade, that extends along the whole 
 building, in the centre of which are the Devonshire arms finely 
 sculptured. In the space between the windows runs an enriched 
 string course. 
 
HOT BATHS. 101 
 
 " The floor of the arcade is several feet higher than the gravel- 
 led area, between which communications are formed by several 
 flights of steps. The span of the Crescent is two hundred feet, 
 and each wing measures fifty-eight feet three inches, making the 
 whole extent of the front three hundred and sixteen feet and a 
 half." 
 
 Within the ample sweep of this princely building, are the 
 tepid Baths, and very recently two artificial Hot Baths have 
 been added to the other accommodations of this fashionable 
 place. They are convenient and very neatly fitted up, but un- 
 fortunately they have been built where sufficient room could 
 not be obtained ; they therefore want capacity. The appar- 
 atus connected with these Baths, and the manner in which the 
 water and the rooms are heated, are the work of Mr. Charles 
 Sylvester, late of Derby, but now of London. What he has 
 done, and done so well in a small compass, makes us regret 
 that he had not more space for the exercise of his talent. These 
 Baths are placed opposite the Grove Inn, and they have a 
 private communication with the Great Hotel, the only circum- 
 stance, perhaps, which induced their establishment in so con- 
 fined a situation. 
 
 The Crescent at Buxton is the work of the late John Carr, 
 Esq. an architect of great provincial celebrity, who resided at 
 York : its erection was dictated by a spirit of munificence, and 
 it is executed in a style of grandeur that might well befit the 
 residence of a prince ; yet the site on which it stands is perhaps 
 the worst that could possibly have been selected for such a 
 purpose. From no one point of view can it be seen to advan- 
 tage, and the unmeaning hill (I speak now of its form and not 
 of its recent adornments) by which it is closely blocked up, 
 precludes its inmates from beholding any other object. A 
 grove once occupied the place where it stands, and the little 
 river Wye babbled through it. The stream is now confined 
 to a hidden channel underneath the Crescent, and the trees 
 were destroyed to make room for its erection. This instance 
 of bad taste is really reprehensible, particularly in a place 
 where trees do not abound, and which, notwithstanding some 
 recent plantations, has altogether a very naked and dreary 
 appearance. 
 
 The stables belonging to the Duke of Devonshire's Hotels, 
 constitute a fine range of buildings; they occupy a gently 
 rising ground at the back of the Crescent, and their style of 
 architecture happily corresponds with the grandeur of that 
 
 H 3 
 
102 SAINT ANNE'S WELL, 
 
 tioble edifice. A coveredride is carried round the area which 
 these buildings include, for. the purpose of affording an oppor- 
 tunity to the company at Buxton to indulge in the useful 
 exercise of riding even in rainy weather. Another of the 
 architectural ornaments of modern Buxton is the NEW 
 CHURCH, a very handsome stone structure, which owes its 
 erection to the same noble family at whose expense the Cres- 
 cent was built, and under whose auspices a humble village has 
 become not only one of the most important towns in the 
 Peak of Derbyshire, but a place of general and fashionable 
 resort. 
 
 Under the liberal and munificent spirit of the Dukes of 
 Devonshire, Buxton is progressively and rapidly improving : 
 the mound in the front of the Crescent is no longer a lump of 
 deformity ; the genius of Wyatt has converted it into an object 
 of beauty : all that taste and judgment could possibly effect 
 has been done, and a series of beautiful promenades and ver- 
 dant slopes now covers this once unmeaning hill. 
 
 At the foot of this eminence the water from St. Anne's 
 Well issues into a marble basin, over which a small but ele- 
 gant temple, surmounted with an urn, has been erected. Here 
 the Buxton visitors resort to drink the water, which is gene- 
 rally taken in moderate quantities before breakfast, and again 
 before the usual hour of dinner. Though the water from this 
 well is warm, being about 82 degrees of Fahrenheit's thermo- 
 meter, it is pleasant to the taste, and has a clear and sparkling 
 appearance in the glass. In the Baths the water is beautifully 
 transparent, a quality which it gradually loses when deprived 
 of its peculiar temperature by exposure in a vessel to the 
 open air. 
 
 The Baths are all situated near the Old Hall, at the western 
 extremity of the Crescent: two of them are appropriated to 
 the ladies, three to the gentlemen, and the other is devoted 
 to the use of the poor, who are allowed to bathe without fee 
 or charge. Buxton Bath Charity, which bestows this valuable 
 privilege on those who cannot otherwise enjoy it, is one of the 
 most unostentatious institutions that benevolence ever estab* 
 lished. Though the means by which it is supported are 
 precarious, and apparently too slender to produce any exten- 
 sive benefit, yet much good is annually derived from the 
 economical and judicious management of its funds. This 
 charity is principally supported by a trifling contribution from 
 who visit Buxton: whenever any new-coaisrs arrive 
 
BUXTON INNS. 10& 
 
 either at the inns or the principal lodging-houses, immediately 
 after dinner a subscription-book is introduced, in which they 
 are expected to insert their names, and pay one shilling each 
 towards the relief of those who suffer the double infliction of 
 pain and poverty. This little donation " blesseth him that 
 takes and him that gives :" it purchases the gratifying privilege 
 of recommending a person to the Charity, who on his ad- 
 mission is furnished with medical assistance the use of a 
 bath, which is exclusively appropriated to this purpose and 
 six shillings a week for one month towards his support. From 
 one hundred and fifty to two hundred suffering individuals 
 are thus annually admitted to a liberal participation of 
 those benefits which result from the use of the tepid baths at 
 Buxton. 
 
 Though the policy of limiting the benevolence of individuals 
 may be questioned, yet the practical operation of this regula- 
 tion in Buxton is generally approved : when the subscription- 
 book is introduced there is no balancing between shillings 
 arid pounds neither the depth of the purse nor the feelings 
 of the heart can be ascertained, or even guessed at, by the sum 
 subscribed, and invidious remark and illiberal surmise and 
 comment are thereby precluded. 
 
 Buxton is not an expensive place to live at : the principal 
 inns furnish excellent accommodations at a moderate rate : 
 four shillings and sixpence is generally paid for the day : for 
 this sum breakfast, lunch, dinner, and supper are provided : 
 an extra charge of one shilling is made for tea to those who 
 may be disposed to partake of so pleasant a repast. At the 
 best lodging-houses the expense is somewhat less, and as those 
 who prefer living in a retired manner even in the midst of a 
 throng have an opportunity of furnishing their own wine and 
 liquors, they are much frequented. 
 
 During the summer months this little town is far from be- 
 ing devoid of amusement. The Theatre is but a very humble 
 structure, yet its interior is well fitted up ; and frequently per- 
 formers of considerable merit are engaged by the managers 
 for the best part of the season. Besides the Theatre, there is 
 an elegant and spacious Assembly-room, which is attached to 
 the Great Hotel in the Crescent, and is opened early in June 
 annually, for three nights in the week : nor is Billinge's 
 Billiard Room, or the Coffee Room at the Great Hotel, desti- 
 tute of attractions. The variety of amusements afforded by 
 
 H 4 
 
104 ST. ANNE'S CHAPEL. 
 
 these places, in addition to the time occupied in bathing 1 , 
 riding, walking, and dressing, completely fill up the whole 
 round of a long summer day, and bid defiance to ennui. The 
 Petrifaction Works> as they are generally designated by those 
 who deal in the mineral and fossil productions of Derbyshire, 
 are another source of amusement, and their investigation can 
 hardly fail to produce both information and delight. The 
 fluor, or phosphoric spars of this interesting county are here 
 manufactured into a variety of ornaments, and many of the 
 retail shops in Buxton are enriched with these beautiful pro- 
 ductions of the Peak. 
 
 That this now fashionable bathing place was in earlier 
 times a Roman station, appears indisputable, and it is highly 
 probable that it was selected for the purpose by this warlike 
 people on account of the warm springs with which it abounds. 
 Buxton is likewise the intersecting point of two great military 
 roads the one connecting Manchester with little Chester, 
 and the other running from Middlewich and Congleton to 
 Brough, near Castleton, in the Peak, and thence to York and 
 Aldborough. 
 
 Yet Buxton, with all its advantages, and notwithstanding the 
 early notice it obtained, appears to have risen but slowly into 
 consequence: an author whom I have somewhere read, intimates 
 " that the Romans erected magnificent mansions and elegant 
 models of Italian architecture among the majestic mountains 
 of the Peak." When a man is disposed to indulge in these 
 splendid reveries of imagination, it is extremely difficult to 
 restrain his wanderings and confine him within the limits of 
 probability. The same strain of fanciful feeling he still far- 
 ther indulges, and he sees " in his mind's eye" this insignifi- 
 cant place " assume the appearance of a Roman bathing 
 villa," and he talks with rapture of "the sudatories and 
 dressing-rooms with which it was then furnished." But this is 
 more like poetry than history: yet the coins and the other 
 remains which have at various times been found here, establish 
 the fact that Buxton was known to and visited by the Ro- 
 mans. To this generation of enterprising men we are per- 
 haps indebted not only for the use of the tepid baths in this 
 country, but for the discovery of the warm springs at Buxton. 
 Immediately after the expulsion of the Romans these baths 
 probably sunk into neglect, yet it is not likely that they 
 should even then remain long unvisited : their salutary in- 
 
SIR WILLIAM BASSETT'S LETTER TO LORD CROMWELL. 105 
 
 fluence had been experienced in many instances, and gra- 
 dually they became extensively and generally known. Cen- 
 turies ago they were in great repute, and the chapel of St. 
 Anne, the tutelary saint of these hot springs, was hung 
 round with the crutches of those who had come infirm and 
 lame to try the sanative powers of these waters, and had re- 
 turned " leaping and rejoicing." A zeal for reform destroyed 
 these reliques, which were supposed to have a tendency to 
 perpetuate error and delusion. The following letter, written 
 by one of the agents of the Eighth Harry, and addressed to 
 Lord Cromwell, shows with what a ready subserviency the 
 orders of monarchs are carried into effect, however silly and 
 contemptible they may be. As connected with the history of 
 Buxton, it is an interesting and curious document, and much 
 too valuable to be neglected on this occasion : I therefore 
 gladly close my observations on this rapidly improving place 
 with a production so full of information. 
 
 " Right Honourable and my inespecial Good Lord. 
 
 " According to my bounden duty, and the tenor of your Lord- 
 ship's letters lately to me directed, I have sent your Lordship by 
 this bearer, my brother Francis Basset, the images of Saint Anne 
 of Buckston, and Saint Andrew of Burton-upon-Trent, which 
 images I did take from the places where they did stand, and 
 brought them to my house within forty-eight hours after the con- 
 templation of your said Lordship's letters, in as sober a manner as 
 my little and rude will would serve me. And for that there 
 should be no more idolatry and superstition there used, I did not 
 only deface the tabernacles and places where they did stand, hut 
 also did take away crutches, shirts, and shifts, with wax offered, 
 being things that allure and entice the ignorant to the said offer- 
 ing ; also giving the keepers of both places orders that no more 
 offerings should be made in those places till the King's pleasure 
 and your Lordship's be further known in that behalf. 
 
 " My Lord, I have locked up and sealed the baths and wells of 
 Buckston, that none shall enter to wash there till your Lordship's 
 pleasure be further known ; whereof I beseech your good Lord- 
 ship that I may be ascertained again at your pleasure, and I shall 
 not fail to execute your Lordship's commandments to the utmost 
 of my little wit and power. And my Lord, as touching the 
 opinion of the people and the fond trust they did put in those 
 images, and the vanity of the things, this bearer can tell your 
 
106 SIR WILLIAM BASSETT'S LETTER TO LORD CROMWELL. 
 
 Lordship better at large than I can write, for he was with me at 
 the doing of all this, and in all places, as knoweth good Jesus, 
 whom ever have your Lordship in his precious keeping. 
 
 " Written at Langley with the rude and simple hand of your 
 assured and faithful orator, and as one and ever at your command- 
 ment, next unto the King's, to the uttermost of his little power. 
 
 WILLIAM BASSETT, KNIGHT. 
 " To Lord Cromwell" 
 
107 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 Leave Buxton. Water Swallows. Tunstead. James Brind- 
 ley. Wormhill-Dale. View from Diamond Hill. Miller's 
 Dale. Raven Tor. Litton Mill-Dale. Cressbrook-Mill. 
 Wm. Newton. Difficult Passage from Litton- Mill to Cress- 
 brook. Scenery there. 
 
 AFTER spending a few days at Buxton, rambling about its 
 vicinity, and sharing in the gaieties and the pleasures of the 
 place, we left it early on a fine morning, and took the road to 
 Fairfield. From Cheedale we had passed along the brink of 
 the river Wye, on our way to Buxton ; instead, therefore, of 
 retracing our steps, we crossed the fields by a bye path in the 
 direction of Great-Rocks, leaving the farm-house called Water 
 Swallows at a short distance on our left. At this place a 
 stream that flows through the adjacent meadows suddenly 
 loses itself in a chasm in the earth ; then pursuing its way along 
 a subterranean passage for several miles, it again emerges 
 into day at the base of a steep hill near Wormhill. It was 
 our intention to regain the channel of the Wye at this par- 
 ticular place, for the purpose of passing along the margin of 
 the river, from thence to Haddon and Rowsley. We there- 
 fore took the most direct path, through verdant meadows and 
 lanes but little used, leaving the village of Tunstead about 
 half a mile on our left. Here we paused for a short time to 
 look at the birthplace of Brindley, the celebrated engineer 
 who was employed by the Duke of Bridgewater in the im- 
 provement of that system of inland navigation now so widely 
 extended through every part of the kingdom, and which the 
 talents of this obscure and humble individual contributed so 
 essentially to promote. 
 
 Few men have done more to benefit society than James 
 Brindley : he was a man of an extraordinary and independent 
 genius : he thought, comprehended, and decided for himself; 
 and his invincible perseverance surmounted every obstacle in- 
 terposed in his way. In the prosecution of his plans the 
 mountains may be said to have sunk before him, and the hills 
 
108 JAMES BRINDLEY. WALKS TO WORMHILL. 
 
 and valleys were to him as plain places : he perforated the 
 one, and he bridged the other, with apparent facility, while 
 his contemporaries, who were astonished at the vastness of his 
 daring, confidently predicted his failure, and anticipated his 
 disgrace. The Duke of Bridgewater was fortunate in con- 
 fiding to this self-taught engineer the execution of his designs, 
 and Brindley found a patron in the Duke, whose wealth was 
 commensurate with his public spirit, and who entrusted to this 
 humble individual the entire management of those works, 
 which, in their results, might have involved the whole of his 
 immense estates. 
 
 In the execution of the various canal establishments in which 
 Brindley was employed, it appears to have been his primary 
 object to avoid all interference with natural rivers, and to main- 
 tain the same undeviating level to the greatest possible extent. 
 On this principle his designs invariably move, in bold defiance 
 of every obstruction which nature had thrown in his way. It 
 is a curious fact, and not unworthy of remark, that this man 
 planned and executed the most complicated mechanism with- 
 out the assistance of either drawing or model. When em- 
 ployed on any new undertaking, or when difficulties obtruded 
 upon him, he would lie in bed for several successive days and 
 nights, until he clearly comprehended the whole detail of his 
 operations, and his mind had become familiarized to the most 
 minute parts and the most complex movements. He then 
 commenced his work with all the confidence of success, and 
 he was but rarely disappointed in his calculations. The little 
 village of Tunstead was the birth-place of Brindley : he was 
 born in the year 1716, and died in 1772, in the fifty-sixth 
 year of his age. 
 
 From this place a short walk brought us into a narrow 
 dale, that became gradually wider, deeper, and more pic- 
 turesque, as we proceeded through it in our way to Wormhill. 
 The lower part of this dale opens to the river Wye. Where 
 it terminates, two beautiful streams emerge from under a lime- 
 stone rock, about twenty yards apart, and, meandering amongst 
 the long tufts of grass, form a thousand little rivulets, that 
 flow into the Wye near the foot of Chee Tor. The course of 
 one of the principal branches of these streams is extremely 
 precipitous, and the water is divided into many currents by 
 rocky fragments, covered over with mosses and lichens, and 
 the banks are adorned with every flower that haunts the brook 
 or dips the leaf in water. The brilliant hues here displayed 
 
WORMHILL DALE. 109 
 
 were as harmoniously combined, and as various and as beau- 
 tiful, as the tints of the rainbow; amongst these the water 
 rushing and bounding along, and leaping from one huge stone 
 to another, sparkled with light: altogether this little scene 
 presented one of the most richly diversified specimens of 
 splendid colouring that I ever beheld. Another season of 
 the year might be less propitious ; too much or too little 
 water would injure, if not spoil, the picture. 
 
 Before we left this dell, we again clambered to the top of 
 the rocky mound that bars up the entrance into Chee-dale, 
 from which we had a view down the river, full of beauty and 
 agreeably diversified. Chee-dale, and its magnificent Tor, 
 combined with the romantic scenery with which it is adorned, 
 so entirely abstract the attention of the traveller from other 
 objects, that the dale of Wormhill is frequently passed un- 
 noticed : yet how abundant is it in materials, and how hap- 
 pily disposed are all the parts I The foliage that covers one 
 side of the dale, under whose branches the river, rich with 
 reflected hues, sweeps gracefully along, presents a picturesque 
 contrast to the grey rock and heathy verdure, which are the 
 distinguishing features of the other. In the off-scape, a rude 
 wooden bridge spans the river ; and where the sides of the 
 dale approximate in distance, they are well wooded, and the 
 direction of the Wye, which is now no longer seen, is dis- 
 tinctly marked by the different character and colour of the 
 trees that decorate its banks. It was our intention to follow 
 the course of the river through all its windings, and therefore 
 leaving the sublime Chee Tor with regret, we passed, by a 
 fisherman's path, through the contracted part of Wormhill- 
 dale. The right bank of the Wye, which is made up of rock 
 and wood, rises almost perpendicularly from the water's edge 
 to a considerable height. The left affords a difficult passage 
 amongst trees and underwood, brambles, and colt's foot, 
 which is continued to within a few hundred yards of the 
 bridge in Miller's-dale. At this bridge we crossed the river, 
 for the purpose of exploring a contracted dell which leads 
 from Diamond-hill to the village of Blackwell. 
 
 While my companion was employed in sketching, from a 
 jutting eminence at the base of PriestclifF, one of the finest 
 scenes on the banks of the Wye, I amused myself in search- 
 ing, amongst a stratum of loose toad-stone, near the road side, 
 for Derbyshire diamonds. These crystals are here found in 
 
110 MILLER'S-DALE. 
 
 abundance, and they sometimes glitter in the pathway of the 
 traveller and attract his attention : they are often defective in 
 form, and generally they are of a dirty colour, slightly tinged 
 with yellow, red, and purple. The dell that had allured us 
 from the margin of the river below, is full of studies for the 
 artist ; every where the rocks are finely broken, and their sides 
 are adorned with coppice wood, elm, ash, and hazel. On our 
 return into Miller's-dale we again stopped to look at the 
 lovely scene with which my companion had just enriched his 
 sketch-book. The river Wye rushing through the dell be- 
 neath the lofty hills that form its channel the luxuriant 
 foliage with which they are covered the craggy knolls that 
 crest their summits the glimpse of verdant pasturage be- 
 tween the shadowy outline of the distant mountains all 
 unite to form a landscape exquisitely beautiful in all its parts 
 and combinations. 
 
 In Miller's-dale, the river, which had been pent up within 
 a narrow chasm, appears to rejoice at its release, as it quietly 
 spreads into a more ample stream and glides leisurely away. 
 This is a delightful dale, and it abounds with scenes, that, as 
 they are beheld, sooth and tranquillize the mind. The stream 
 is never turbulent never still ; and though in some places 
 the huge branch of a gnarled oak or a weather-beaten elm 
 shoots from a cleft or fissure in the rock above, in a manner 
 that suggests a recollection of the pictures of Salvator, yet 
 the light and elegant foliage with which it is accompanied, 
 subdues every feature of wildness, and softens down the whole 
 to beauty : the mills the leapings that are thrown across the 
 river the cottages embosomed in trees, or overhung with 
 rock every object in the dale is fraught with beauty. 
 
 Passing the lower mill the rocks on the left assume a bolder 
 feature, and progressively rise to a considerable altitude. 
 Neither tree nor shrub flourishes at their base, and their sides 
 and their summits are naked and unadorned, and yet, with 
 the exception of Raven Tor, they are so broken into deep re- 
 cesses and jutting crags, that they have more of a romantic 
 than a wild or a savage character. The incumbent stratum of 
 this range of rocks is calcareous, and it rests on- a bed of 
 toad-stone of a deep brown colour, which is intermixed with 
 particles of spar, and has the appearance of volcanic lava. 
 This intimation is only useful so far as it may direct the at- 
 tention of the traveller to some of the best specimens of this 
 
WHITEHURST'S DESCRIPTION OF TOAD-STONE. Ill 
 
 curious material, which Whitehurst, in his Enquiry into the 
 Formation of the Earth, thus describes : 
 
 " Toad-stone, a blackish substance, very hard ; contains bladder 
 holes, like the scoria of metals or Iceland lava, and has the same 
 chymical property of resisting acids. Some of its bladder holes 
 are filled with spar, others only in part, and others again are quite 
 empty. This stratum is not laminated, but consists of one entire 
 solid mass, and breaks alike in all directions. It does not produce 
 any minerals, or figured stones, representing any part of the ani- 
 mal or vegetable creation, nor are any adventitious bodies enve- 
 loped in it ; but it is as much an uniform mass as any vitrified 
 substance whatever can be supposed to be : neither does it uni- 
 versally prevail, as the limestone strata, nor is it like them equally 
 thick ; but in some instances varies in thickness from six feet to 
 six hundred, as will be shown hereafter. It is likewise attended 
 with other circumstances which leave no room to doubt of its 
 being as much a lava as that which flows from Hecla, Vesuvius, 
 or Etna." 
 
 From Raven Tor to Litton- Mill, the dale is less picturesque 
 and interesting ; yet the river still maintains its beauty, and 
 every where exhibits the same cheerful character. Some of 
 the springs in this dale have a petrifying quality, and many of 
 the stones are covered with calcareous incrustations. We 
 were now arrived at a narrow part of the dale, and were com- 
 pelled to abandon the immediate brink of the river by the 
 near approximation of the rocks that form its channel. From 
 Litton-Mill (for even in this secluded spot the hitherto pure 
 stream of the Wye is contaminated by the erection of machin- 
 ery for the spinning of cotton) a steep and toilsome path led 
 us to the top of an airy and commanding eminence which 
 displays an extensive view of the surrounding country, where 
 the mountains and hills of this part of the Peak are seen 
 beautifully intersecting, meeting, and receding from each other 
 to the most remote part of distance. 
 
 " My soul this vast horizon fills, 
 
 " Within whose undulated line 
 " Thick stand the multitude of hills, 
 
 " And clear the waters shine." 
 
 MONTGOMERY'S Peak Mountains. 
 
 From this elevation the view into the gulph below is terrific : 
 a long descending bank, too abrupt and steep for human foot 
 to traverse, shelves to the brink of a chasm of rifted rock, 
 through which the river flows. Each side of this narrow pass 
 
112 MONSAL-DALE. 
 
 is a perpendicular height, varying from two to three or four 
 hundred feet. The Wye is here a considerable stream, but 
 seen from this lofty station, it appears only a narrow stripe 
 winding between the grey rocks that form its channel. 
 
 " The murmuring surge 
 
 ** That on the unnumbered idle pebbles chafes, 
 " Cannot be heard so high." 
 
 " I'll look no more, 
 
 " Lest my brain turn, and my deficient sight 
 
 " Topple down headlong." SHAKSPEARE. 
 
 The descent from this place to Cressbrook presents a view 
 into Monsal-dale, which forcibly suggests the idea of " Beauty 
 resting in the lap of horror." The bleak hills that surround 
 this sequestered spot, form an apparently impassable barrier, 
 and seem to close it on every side : tranquilly embosomed 
 within the limits they prescribe, lies as lovely a scene as ever 
 eye reposed on with delight : picturesque cottages half hid 
 amongst surrounding trees fields that " laugh with plenty" 
 a busy and beautiful river, now dark with shadow and now 
 sparkling with light, meandering through them, constitute the 
 peculiar charm of Monsal-dale. 
 
 At the head of this dale, where Cressbrook joins the Wye, 
 a Cotton-Mill has been recently erected, which finds employ- 
 ment for a great number of exotics of both sexes, who are 
 periodically imported from their native soil to fade or flourish 
 among the hills of the Peak. Mr. William Newton, Miss 
 Seward's " Peak Minstrel," resides near this factory, and if I 
 am not mistaken, he has the superintendence of those children 
 who are incarcerated from the world within it. Once, when 
 passing down this dale, 1 heard him remark, that he had that 
 day had a considerable increase to his family upwards of 
 thirty boys and girls from London. What a train of ideas 
 did this observation create ! " Thirty boys and girls, de- 
 serted by their natural protectors, and thrown, like waifs, upon 
 the world's wide waste, without a single being to show them 
 kindness not one to love or be beloved by them ; no parent 
 with a kindly feeling to pat them on the cheek, and pray, 
 4 God bless them.' " One pleasant consideration, however, 
 mingled itself with my reflections ; I felt assured that these 
 friendless children were confided to the care of an indulgent 
 master, who would take an interest in softening the rigour of 
 their situation, by kindness and attention. 
 
WM. NEWTON, THE PEAK MINSTREL. 113 
 
 The scenery about Cressbrook mill is strikingly picturesque : 
 the buildings are backed with rock, and wood, and lofty hills, 
 and the water plays delightfully about them ; yet they seem 
 strangely out of place. The residence of the " Peak Min- 
 strel," the sequestered beauties of Monsal-dale, and the mur- 
 murs of the river Wye, are combinations that do not harmonize 
 with the rattling of the various machinery and the noise and 
 bustle of a Cotton Mill. 
 
 Wm. Newton, whose productions in early life attracted the 
 attention of Miss Seward and the poet Hayley, and who oc- 
 cupies the house under the hill that overlooks Cressbrook, 
 was born at Abney, a small village in the vicinity of Tides- 
 well. His father was a carpenter, and the son at an early 
 period of life was employed at the same trade, in which he 
 was soon distinguished as an ingenious and skilful workman. 
 Few indeed were the opportunities he had for the culture and 
 improvement of his mind; when, however, any occurred, 
 they were laid hold of with avidity and used with advantage. 
 Being occasionally employed in the best houses in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Tideswell, books would sometimes casually fall 
 in his way ; these, whenever the opportunity occurred, he 
 never failed to peruse, and thus an attachment to literary stu- 
 dies was originally produced in his mind. He entirely ab- 
 stracted himself from the common amusements and pursuits 
 of the young men around him ; of course, he had but few 
 companions, and was comparatively but little known ; for in 
 reading he had no associates. He married early in life, but 
 being industrious, and using his little means with economy, 
 before he was thirty years old he had accumulated a little li- 
 brary of well-selected books ; and his leisure hours were de- 
 voted to the study of poetry, history, and philosophy. About 
 this period of time the Rev. P. Cunninghame, curate of Eyam, 
 by accident discovered this Minstrel of the Peak Mountains, 
 whom he soon afterwards introduced to Miss Seward, and we 
 have her testimony that he had then read with considerable 
 improvement and advantage. She says, " he conversed with 
 perspicuity and taste upon the authors he had read, the strik- 
 ing scenery of the few counties he had beheld, and the nature 
 of his own destiny, perceptions, and acquirements." The 
 same authority says, " the elegance and harmony of Mr. 
 Newton's language, both in prose and verse, are miraculous, 
 when it is remembered that till Mr. Cunninghame kindly dis- 
 tinguished him, he had associated only with the unlettered 
 
114 WM. NEWTON AND ROBERT BURNS COMPARED. 
 
 and inelegant vulgar." Mr. Newton appears to have been 
 highly sensible of the value of Cunninghame's acquaintance : 
 in one of his letters, dated from Monsal-dale, he says, " last 
 week Mr. Cunninghame found me in this lovely valley sur- 
 rounded by wheels, springs, and various mechanical opera- 
 tions ; to his creative fancy they appeared as the effect of 
 magic, and he called me { Prospero.' " 
 
 To this self-taught bard, Miss Seward inscribed a poem, 
 which was originally published in the Gentleman's Magazine. 
 This copy of verses may be found in the third volume of her 
 poems, and they are highly complimentary to the genius of 
 Newton. In her correspondence with her literary friends he 
 is frequently mentioned in the same strain of eulogy, and some 
 of her letters are addressed to him. In one to Mr. Saville, 
 dated from Buxton, she says, " that being of true integrity, 
 that prodigy of self-taught genius, Newton, the minstrel of 
 my native mountains, walks over them from Tideswell, his 
 humble home, to pass the day with me to-morrow. To pre- 
 clude wonder and comments upon my attentions to such an 
 apparent rustic at the public table, I have shown two charm- 
 ing little poems of his, which are deservedly admired here." 
 
 The poet Hayley appears to have entertained an opinion 
 not less elevated of the poetic attainments and the genius of 
 Newton. Writing to Miss Seward, who had asked his 
 opinion of BURNS, he replies, " I admire the Scotch peasant, 
 but do not think him superior to your poetical carpenter." 
 It may appear presumptuous to arraign the taste and judg- 
 ment of Hayley on this occasion ; but, supposing him to have 
 expressed an honest and undisguised opinion, this can hardly 
 be avoided, ungracious as the task may be. The poetic com- 
 positions of Newton are certainly very creditable to his talents, 
 but they are not of a character and description to justify the 
 exalted commendation here expressed. Did Hayley regard 
 Burns merely as a writer of verse, and was he insensible to 
 those electric flashes of genius and feeling which eminently 
 distinguish the productions of the Ayrshire bard ? The pas- 
 sage here quoted from his letter to Miss Seward, renders it 
 difficult to suppose otherwise. Or perhaps Hayley had him- 
 self formed but an erroneous estimate of the qualities essential 
 to true poetry. However this may be, his commendations of 
 Newton are somewhat too extravagant, even when every al- 
 lowable justice is done to his compositions ; and I know that 
 at this time his good sense and modesty so regard them, for 
 
BANKS OF THE WYE. 115 
 
 he is but little in the habit of forming an erroneous estimate 
 of his own qualifications. The manner in which Miss Seward 
 has mentioned the subject of this short biographical sketch, 
 and the prodigal panegyrics of Hayley, who inscribed to him 
 a highly complimentary sonnet, less imbued with the spirit of 
 poetry than the spirit of praise, will, it is presumed, justify 
 this notice of a worthy man. 
 
 The margin of the river between Litton Mill and Cress- 
 brook, is but rarely visited by human footsteps : sometimes 
 a solitary angler, when in the pursuit of his favourite amuse- 
 ment, will penetrate the dell, and pursue the course of the 
 stream ; and occasionally an adventurous tourist, in search of 
 the hidden beauties of the Wye, will pass through it, This, 
 however, seldom occurs, as the attempt is arduous, and cannot 
 be accomplished without some difficulty, and, perhaps, danger. 
 The river here flows through a deep cleft of perpendicular 
 rocks, which, to the man who traverses their base, have the 
 appearance of impending masses, that threaten all below with 
 destruction. 
 
 " So high the cliffs of limestone grey, 
 
 " Hang beetling o'er the torrent's way, 
 
 " Yielding along their rugged base, 
 
 " A flinty footpath's niggard space, 
 
 " Where he who winds 'twixt rock and wave, 
 
 " May hear the headlong torrents rave ; 
 
 " And like a steed in frantic fit, 
 
 " That flings the froth from curb and bit, 
 
 " May view her chase her waves to spray, 
 
 " O'er every rock that bars her way, 
 
 " Till foam -globes on her eddies ride 
 
 " Thick as the schemes of human pride, 
 
 " That down life's current drive amain, 
 
 " As frail, as frothy, and as vain." 
 
 WALTER SCOTT. ROKEBY, Canto 2. 
 
 A man whom I well knew, and who was but little influenced 
 by imaginary fears, visited Cressbrook a few years ago, and 
 seduced by the wildness of the scenery, he had an inclination 
 to penetrate the channel of the Wye, and explore its beau- 
 ties. He entered the dell near the mill, and pursued his 
 route upwards, but the high rocks with which he soon found 
 himself surrounded, appeared to him so terrific and full of 
 horror, that he felt anxious to retrace his steps before he had 
 proceeded more than a hundred yards ; and when he had 
 happily emerged from the dreadful chasm, as he termed it, 
 and was safe from the peril in which he imagined he had been 
 
 i 2 
 
116 CRESSBROOK. A PERILOUS PATH. 
 
 involved, his mind did not recover its accustomed serenity for 
 some hours afterwards. 
 
 The whole of this dell, with the exception of one single place, 
 which includes a space of about twenty yards, may be passed 
 with safety, though perhaps not without apprehension. I once 
 made the experiment, and have no wish to repeat it. From 
 Litton Mill I took the right of the river, along a narrow path- 
 way which had been made by fishermen close upon its brink, 
 until a projecting rock, that partly overhung the stream, pre- 
 sented an apparently insuperable barrier to my farther progress. 
 I hesitated for a moment, and the question, " shall I recede 
 or go on ?" was soon determined by the anxious solicitude I 
 felt to pass along the margin of the stream from Litton to 
 Cressbrook. I therefore resolved at all hazards to persevere. 
 Something like a sheep-track, not broad enough in any 
 place to admit more than one foot at a time, was carried along 
 the extreme verge of a narrow shelving of rock which overhung 
 the river, that at the depth of many yards below appeared to 
 sleep at its base. A thin slippery verdure covered the peri- 
 lous path, and though I felt it dangerous to proceed, as a single 
 unsafe tread would inevitably have precipitated me into the 
 deep waters of the Wye, I soon found 1 had gone too far to 
 recede. " Returning were as tedious as go o'er ;" I therefore, 
 with a wary step and a little unpleasant feeling, moved, or 
 rather crept, cautiously along, until I had attained a place of 
 safety. I now looked back upon the path I had passed, and 
 trembled at my own temerity. Impending rock, to the height 
 of several hundred feet, rose over my head : far beneath the 
 narrow jutting crag where I had stood, flowed the Wye, which 
 being dammed up at the mill below, is here a deep, silent, and 
 apparently an immoveable stream, that is black with shadow. 
 My mind, however, soon recovered its usual tone, and I felt 
 myself amply repaid for the little inconvenience I had encoun- 
 tered. The scene that now lay before me was of the most mag- 
 nificent description. The rocks on each side of the river form 
 an immense portal, through these the stream, the foliage near, 
 and the distant mountains, are seen most happily combined, 
 and appear like a lovely picture in a massy frame. The right 
 of the river looking towards Cressbrook is naked rock ; the 
 opposite bank is covered with trees, which overhang the 
 stream. To this thickly wooded spot there is no access for 
 either horse or carriage, and I observed that a number of 
 frees had been recently cut down and thrown into the river, for 
 
SNOW SCENE. 117 
 
 the purpose of being floated out of this narrow chasm, when- 
 ever the Wye became flooded with heavy rains. 
 
 Approaching Cressbrook Mill, another fine view occurs : 
 some houses in the rock, amidst the trees the river and the 
 buildings on its banks form an assemblage of objects which 
 lie embosomed within the capacious hollow of a mighty hill, 
 that constitutes a noble back-ground to the picture. This hill 
 rises with a steep acclivity to a great height, and sometimes in 
 winter it is one of the grandest objects in the mountainous 
 districts in Derbyshire. At this season of the year, when the 
 66 wintry winds" sweep over the top of this lofty eminence, 
 and the driven snow is accumulated upon its brow, where it 
 hangs like a projecting cornice, and ornaments .the immense 
 curve of this vast natural crescent, it presents one of the most 
 magnificent scenes that the lover of mountain landscape can 
 behold. 
 
 i 3 
 
118 
 
 SECTION VI. 
 
 Cressbrook-Dale. Bright Pool. Waterfall. Monsal-Dale. 
 Summer Evening's Scene. Moonlight view of Monsal- 
 Dale. 
 
 spending a pleasant hour with Mr. Newton, we pro- 
 ceeded to explore the hidden beauties of Cressbrook-dale. 
 The entrance into this narrow dell, near the mill, is marked 
 by some lovely scenery, which is reflected from the surface of 
 as pure and lucid a current as ever adorned a mountain land- 
 scape. This sparkling brook abounds with water-cresses ; in 
 some places they float upon the stream ; in others, the stream 
 flowing over them gives to their leaves a fresher and a brighter 
 green. As we loitered along the brink of this lovely rivulet, 
 we observed the trout, as they lay quietly on the water ; but 
 they were only seen for a moment ; suddenly they darted into 
 the deeps with an astonishing rapidity, scarcely stirring the 
 surface with their motion. A part of this brook had once the 
 name of Bright Pool, and it was much resorted to as a fa- 
 vourite place for bathing: the water was then considered salu- 
 tary, but it has since lost its reputation, and has gradually sunk 
 from neglect into total disuse. 
 
 I once passed along the whole line of Cressbrook, from 
 near the toll-bar at Wardlow-Mears, where this little rivulet 
 takes its rise. At its source, I remarked its beauty, and loit- 
 ered on its margin with delight: but, proceeding onward 
 through the dale, I observed, that, instead of an increasing 
 stream, its progress could only be traced by the freshness of 
 the verdure through which it strayed : shortly, it was lost, not 
 only to the eye but the ear, and I now conjectured that it 
 had probably entered one of those rocky chasms that fre- 
 quently occur in the limestone districts of Derbyshire. In 
 Cressbrook-dale, about half way between the mill and the 
 water-fall, the same current, after having traversed a subterra- 
 neous passage of a mile and a half, emerges with great violence 
 
WATERFALL. 1 1 9 
 
 from out a cavern in the rock, and rushing over its craggy bed, 
 tumbles into the brook below. 
 
 Nearly half a mile from the entrance into this sequestered 
 glen, the little river by which it is watered is precipitated 
 through a narrow cleft, and falls into a capacious basin about 
 fifty or sixty feet below. The naked rocks on the left beetle 
 over their base ; on the right they are clothed with trees, some 
 hanging on their brow, and others shooting upwards from out 
 the deli. The water is here so perfectly lucid, that the small- 
 est objects are clearly distinguishable at the greatest depth : 
 even the agitation produced by the fall of water from above, 
 scarcely affects its transparency: I have no recollection of 
 having seen at any time, or in any place, so clear and brilliant 
 a stream. The hills that embosom this romantic glen are 
 some of the loftiest in this part of the Peak : on every side 
 they rise to an immense height, and denying to this retired 
 spot the cheering rays of the sun, they involve all the lower 
 part in continual shadow. 
 
 This dell has been called Dove-dale in miniature; but the 
 name has no propriety. Rock, wood, and water may be found 
 in both ; so far they are alike ; but their general character is 
 extremely dissimilar : Dove-dale is in fact " itself alone :" there 
 is nothing like it in any other part of Derbyshire ; and for 
 confined scenery of a peculiar description, Cressbrook-dale is 
 equally unique. Some beautiful combinations of rock and 
 wood occur within it, and from a projecting crag near the cas- 
 cade, a scene is presented which towards the close of a fine 
 sunny day, assumes considerable grandeur. We placed our- 
 selves on this jutting eminence, and looking up the dale, a 
 perpendicular rock crowned with light foliage lay on our left : 
 our right was an immense crescent hill, turreted with rugged 
 crags, that appeared to rise out of the vast fragments of stone 
 which formed their base : far below, the waterfall was seen 
 through the trees that overhung its banks : a mass of shadow 
 covered this part of the scene, while all above was glowing with 
 the most brilliant light, which derived an additional force from 
 the dark and sombre tone of undisturbed colouring that 
 rested on all below. The stillness that prevailed increased the 
 impressions produced by this delightful picture nothing was 
 heard except the hum of the bee, as he strayed among the 
 flowers the noise of the waterfall, or the lapse of the stream,, 
 as it babbled unseen among the branches. 
 
 i 4 
 
120 MONSAL-DALE. 
 
 The clothing of some of the rocks in this glen gives them a 
 peculiar character : in many places they are covered with ivy, 
 the stems of which form a beautiful interlaced trellis work ; 
 from these the lighter branches depend. Through this en- 
 twined texture the rock occasionally protrudes, and on its 
 jutting cliffs the wild rose and heath-bell blossom, and fern and 
 foxglove grow. Leaving this romantic dell, and emerging 
 from twilight into day, the sun, which had already set upon 
 us while rambling on the brink of Cressbrook, again saluted 
 us with his closing splendour on our return to the top of 
 Monsal-dale*. 
 
 In this dale the course of the Wye, which had hitherto 
 flowed through a close rocky channel, assumes a new appear- 
 ance : its wild and rugged features are here softened into 
 beauty, and sterility is succeeded by cultivation. From Cress- 
 brook Mill, the dale expands, and meadows and corn-fields and 
 luxuriant trees mark the windings of the river from thence to 
 the village of Ashford. To this place the high hills continue 
 to connect with each other, when they gradually subside, and 
 a more open country succeeds. Monsal-dale has been the 
 theme of admiration for all tourists, by whom it has been hi- 
 therto visited : its various beauties have been repeatedly enu- 
 merated, and I would rather join in its commendation than 
 dwell on that disappointed feeling which I experienced when 
 I first beheld it a disappointment that was perhaps attri- 
 butable to my exploring the banks of the Wye downwards, 
 which had the effect of an anti-climax. The magnificence of 
 Chee Tor, and the rocky scenery between that place and Cress- 
 brook, so fill the mind which expands to receive the impres- 
 sion, that all afterwards appears little in comparison. I would 
 therefore suggest to the traveller who visits these dales, to com- 
 mence his excursion at Rowsley, where the river Wye flows 
 into the Derwent, and proceed upwards by Haddon, Bake- 
 well, Ashford, and the dales that occur between thence and 
 Chee Tor : in so doing, he will pass by easy gradations from 
 beauty to grandeur and sublimity though perhaps Chee Tor 
 itself may suffer by the experiment. 
 
 Many pleasing pictures arrested our attention as we passed 
 jthrough Monsal-dale. About half a mile from Cressbrook a 
 
 * Since these observations were first published, Cressbrook-Dale has been 
 despoiled of its finest features ; many of the trees have disappeared from it; 
 it has been robbed of its most picturesque accompaniments ; and it is now, 
 comparatively, a tame and insipid scene. 
 
SUMMER EVENING'S SCENE. 121 
 
 group of cottages finely embosomed with trees, that lie within a 
 rocky recess, and are backed with lofty hills, presents a view of 
 great beauty. The river flows in the front of the houses, and 
 a long bridge of huge stones, which from its peculiar construc- 
 tion is here denominated leapings, crosses the stream, interrupts 
 its progress, and divides it into a thousand eddies. Lower 
 down the dale a farm-house, with its rustic bridge and its pic- 
 turesque appendages of wood and water, constitute another 
 lovely scene. From this place, a narrow road, which is carried 
 along the steep side of the hill, leads out of the dale, and com- 
 municates with the high road from Bakewell to Tideswell; 
 another crosses the wooden bridge near the farm-house, and 
 passes along the margin of the river to Ashford. 
 
 Monsal-dale has been so often, and in some instances so 
 well described, that nothing new can be said upon the subject. 
 The lofty hills by which it is surrounded the beautiful mea- 
 dows that repose within their deep recess the busy, sparkling 
 stream that wanders through them now gliding smoothly, 
 though rapidly, along now rushing, and foaming, and eddying 
 into circles, as it passes by some projecting knoll, or bounds 
 over its rugged bed these, the leading features of this dale, 
 have always had the same character, possessed the same 
 beauty, and produced on all who have beheld this exquisite 
 scene the same delightful sensations. Monsal-dale may with 
 peculiar propriety be termed the Arcadia of Derbyshire : at 
 least the picture which Monsal-dale presented to us at this 
 particular time was truly Arcadian. The sun had just sunk 
 below the hills, and the day had began to close upon us ; yet 
 a soft light still lingered in the valley. Though the year was 
 in the wane, yet the haymaking season had not entirely passed 
 away, and the happy rustics were welcoming home the last 
 fruits of the harvest with mirth and music. On a grassy bank, 
 near a group of straw-roofed cottages that were overhung 
 with ash and sycamore of the most luxuriant growth, some 
 rosy-cheeked milk-maids had collected their kine, and as they 
 carolled forth their artless ditties, the blackbird and the thrush 
 joined in the hymn to departing day, while myriads of insects 
 that filled the air with life were sporting away a short exist- 
 ence in the felicitous enjoyment of a summer evening's sweet 
 serenity. Night was rapidly approaching, and as we pro- 
 ceeded onward through the dale, it became progressively more 
 imposing. Nothing was now distinctly seen, for the eye had 
 lost the power of discriminating objects and measuring dimen- 
 
122 MOONLIGHT VIEW OF MONSAL-DALE. 
 
 sions. Darkness succeeded the hills became mountains, and 
 the whole scene assumed a character of grandeur. A fine 
 moonlight night produces a similar effect, and more beauty, 
 though certainly less grandeur, than at this peculiar time per- 
 vaded this sequestered dale. 
 
 It was now our object to take the shortest route to Bakewell : 
 we therefore left the margin of the Wye at the farm-house 
 which is situated nearest the foot of Great Finn, and, ascending 
 the side of the hill, we joined the Ashford road at Edge-stone 
 house. Monsal-dale is more frequently seen by strangers from 
 this point of view than from any other, and nearly all the de- 
 scriptions which its beauties have inspired, have a reference 
 to this particular situation. Travellers, after passing over a 
 barren moor from Tideswell and Wardlow, come upon this 
 cheering and retired scene not only suddenly but often un- 
 awares ; rapid transition and forcible contrast then unite to en- 
 hance the beauties and increase the effect of this sweet dale. 
 Hence it is that this particular landscape makes a more lasting 
 impression upon the mind than perhaps any other in Derby- 
 shire. I once beheld it from this place by moonlight, when 
 travelling along the road from Tideswell to Ashford : the 
 moon had only just arisen ; her softened light rested on the 
 tops of the hills, but a darkness which the eye could not pe- 
 netrate, filled up the space that was included within them. 
 No object could be distinguished at the short distance of a few 
 yards below the spot of ground on which I stood, and for some 
 moments I imagined myself on the verge of a gulph immea- 
 surably deep. It was not the first time I had been at this 
 particular place, but having never approached it by the same 
 road never seen it but by day some time passed before I 
 discovered that I was in the vicinity of Edge-stone House, and 
 on the brink of Monsal-dale. I now heard, though faintly, 
 the murmurs of the Wye, and imagined that I could trace the 
 glitter of the stream through the thick darkness that hung on 
 all below. 
 
123 
 
 SECTION VII. 
 
 Recollections of a former Excursion. Edge-stone House. 
 Unfortunate Female. Morning View from Great Finn. 
 Hob's House. Cascade in Monsal-Dale. Lass of Tad- 
 dington-Dale. Ashford. Black Marble. Rotten-stone. 
 
 WE had left Buxton early in the morning, and our day of 
 sixteen hours, which we supposed might have lighted us to 
 Bakewell, ended in night at the top of the hill near Edge-stone 
 House. It was here, seated on the jutting point of a marble 
 rock, after a loitering and solitary ramble, that I first learned 
 to relish the charms of Monsal-dale. In this my second ex- 
 cursion to this delightful place I had no companion, and I felt 
 what it was to be alone. My sensations, it is true, were of a 
 pleasurable nature, as I contemplated the scene before me, and 
 they partook but little of any thing earthly ; yet I sincerely 
 regretted the absence of those I hold dear to an extent that 
 abridged the felicity I enjoyed: so anxious is the heart to share 
 its most intense and exquisite pleasures with those it most 
 esteems. Being now alone, I felt my happiness incomplete, 
 and I wished for some one to lean upon my arm, mingle 
 thoughts with mine, participate my feelings, and share my ex- 
 istence in this moment of enjoyment. We cannot be wholly 
 happy in this sublunary world : the possession of what we most 
 prize is almost invariably accompanied with a feeling that all is 
 fleeting and uncertain here, and the pleasure which is derived 
 from the most beautiful scenery of nature, is sometimes either 
 lessened in its duration or impaired in its quality, by the con- 
 sideration that it cannot be long enjoyed, or because the heart 
 wants and wishes for some one to partake of its felicity. A 
 sequestered and solitary scene, through which we love to 
 ramble alone, is more exquisitely felt in the absence of a com- 
 panion than when attended even with the dearest friend ; but 
 a landscape like Monsal-dale excites a more active and lively 
 pleasure a sensation that derives its best and most powerful 
 effect from that communion of feeling which is only to be en- 
 joyed in the presence of a friend. 
 
124< UNFORTUNATE FEMALE. 
 
 Within one hundred paces of the station I now occupied, 
 stands a small dwelling called Edge-stone House; a place that 
 for many years has been the abode of one who often 
 
 " The dreary waste ; there spends the live-long day ; 
 " And there, unless when Charity forbids, 
 " The live-long night." 
 
 In early life, when the heart was warm and confiding, she 
 felt the influence of that insidious passion which has robbed 
 many a female bosom of repose : she lost her lover, whether 
 by accident or caprice I have not learnt ; but her mind still 
 hung on the cherished object of her affections until her 
 reason was overthrown by the intensity of her feelings. Many 
 years passed without in the least ameliorating her condition. 
 Sometimes she would ramble over the neighbouring hills for 
 days together ; or, seated on the point of rock where I reposed, 
 she would listen to the howling of the storm that often sweeps 
 over these bleak eminences, or watch the moon struggling with 
 the clouds, and lighting up the scenery of Monsal-dale, until 
 the blast had chilled her almost unclad form, and she had be- 
 come insensible to all around her. In this account of the habits 
 of this poor girl there is neither fancy nor exaggeration ; such 
 was her practice for years. She yet lives; her malady has 
 subsided, but it has left behind the traces of the mental de- 
 vastation it has made. A few years ago, during a thunder 
 storm, the lightning penetrated the roof of the abode of poor 
 Crazy Kate; passed through the room in which she and her 
 remaining parent were seated; dashed the clock to pieces, and 
 broke some dishes ; but left every other object in the house 
 uninjured. 
 
 From Edge-stone House an unfrequented footpath leads to 
 the topmost Peak of Great Finn, an eminence that tradition 
 has marked out as the sight of a Roman encampment, indica- 
 tions of which, as some imagine, may still be distinguished on 
 its summit. Some years ago an interesting barrow was opened 
 on this hill, in which an urn, containing human ashes, and 
 several skeletons, were found. From this place, how noble is 
 the prospect ! The variety of hill seen from this lofty station 
 the beautiful dale below, studded with cottages, embosomed 
 in trees of the finest foliage and the rocky scenery near 
 Cressbrook, constitute an assemblage of objects, which though 
 not strikingly picturesque, are well combined, and furnish a 
 magnificent landscape. That heart must be cold indeed which 
 
GREAT FINN. HOfi's HOUSE. 125 
 
 can contemplate the finely diversified view which nature here 
 presents, without experiencing sensations that, for a moment at 
 least, exalt the soul above the considerations of this sublunary 
 sphere, and all the petty cares and interests it involves. In 
 the morning, when the misty vapours of night have just left 
 the valley and hang in clouds on the adjacent hills, while all 
 below is gleaming with light, this scene is eminently interest- 
 ing; but its sublimity can only be felt when the sun has sunk 
 behind the mountains, and the detail of forms and objects is 
 either indistinctly seen or lost in the shadowy and magnificent 
 outline which then prevails. Dr. Young emphatically ex- 
 claims 
 
 " The undevout astronomer is mad!" 
 
 a sentiment that almost every man must feel as he beholds the 
 heavens "fretted with golden fires," and full of splendour; 
 and who can look abroad upon the world that we inhabit, and 
 all the loveliness that it contains its winding streams and ver- 
 dant meadows rocks, trees, hills, dales, and shadowy moun- 
 tains and all the rich varieties of nature, without a feeling 
 as entirely and as purely religious as ever warmed the heart of 
 the most ardent devotee that ever worshipped in an " earthly 
 tabernacle ?" God of all things ! thou hast spread before me a 
 world of beauty, " where all save the spirit of man is divine," 
 and hast enabled me to perceive and feel the excellence of thy 
 creation, and the wisdom and order and harmony displayed 
 throughout the whole. 
 
 The river Wye washes the base of Great Finn : it is here a 
 stream of considerable depth, and moves less rapidly along the 
 dale until it reaches a huge rocky shelving, that runs across the 
 river ; here the agitated current leaps the barrier, and dashed 
 into foam, rushes turbulently down its channel. The cascade 
 which the Wye here displays has always been regarded as one 
 of the finest objects in Monsal-dale. 
 
 On the steep side of Great Finn, an insulated rock. that is 
 split and rent into parts rises like the ruins of a castle from out 
 the thick underwood with which the hill is covered : this 
 shapeless mass is called Hob's House, and tradition states, that 
 it was inhabited by a being of a gigantic stature, who was pos- 
 sessed of great and mysterious powers, and who was known by 
 the name of Hob. This extraordinary personage never ap- 
 peared by day ; but when the inhabitants were asleep in their 
 beds, he traversed the vales, entered their houses, thrashed 
 
126 RECOLLECTIONS OF A FORMER EXCURSION. 
 
 their corn, and in one single night did the work of ten day- 
 labourers, unseen and unheard, for which service he was re- 
 compensed with a bowl of cream, that was duly placed upon 
 the hearth, to be quaffed on the completion of the task he had 
 voluntarily imposed upon himself. This is a tradition by no 
 means confined to the neighbourhood of Monsal-Dale ; a si- 
 milar one prevails in many parts of the kingdom, and parti- 
 cularly in the northern districts, of which Milton has happily 
 availed himself, in one of the most exquisite descriptive poems 
 in the English language, 
 
 " Tells how the drudging Goblin sweat 
 " To earn his cream bowl duly set, 
 " When in one night, ere glimpse of morn, 
 " His shadowy flail had thrashed the corn 
 
 That ten day labourers could not end : 
 
 Then lies him down the lubbard fiend, 
 
 And stretched out all the chimney's length, . 
 
 Basks at the fire his hairy strength, 
 
 And crop full out of door he flings 
 " Ere the first cock his matin rings." L* ALLEGRO. 
 
 From the cascade in Monsal-Dale to Ashford in the Water, 
 the Wye continues the same busy and sparkling stream which 
 had so much and so often delighted us during our walk from 
 Buxton. From the open dale through which it runs, others of 
 minor importance branch out, which possess considerable 
 beauty ; particularly the narrow dell which leads to Tadding- 
 ton, through whose various windings the road to Buxton is 
 carried. A summer evening's walk along this road from Bux- 
 ton to Bakewell, is among some of my pleasantest recollections. 
 Leaving the river Wye at the foot of Topley Pike, and scaling 
 the rocky side of that immense hill, from whose terrific peak 
 the eye trembles to look into the depths below, we passed 
 along two miles of road of comparatively but little interest. 
 On our right, at a short distance, was Chelmerton Thorn 
 a single tree which for centuries has served as a land-mark to 
 travellers when the whole of this district was an unenclosed 
 wild waste. On our left was the village of Wormh ill : before 
 us the lofty hill called PriestclifF reared its head in proud pre- 
 eminence o'er all surrounding objects, and in distance a num- 
 ber of lesser mountains mingled their misty summits with the 
 light, thin clouds that rested on the horizon. As we entered 
 Taddington, which is one of the meanest villages in Derby- 
 shire, we visited the church-yard, or rather the open grass 
 
LASS OF TADDINGTON-DALE. 127 
 
 * 
 
 field where the church stands : here we observed an old stone 
 cross, the shaft of which is ornamented with various devices on 
 every side, but all inferior in execution to those at Eyam and 
 Bakewell, and altogether different in form, manner, and cha- 
 racter. If long life may be regarded as a blessing, the inha- 
 bitants of Taddington appear to have been peculiarly blessed : 
 the grave stones in the church-yard are not numerous, yet we 
 observed more than an usual proportion that were inscribed to 
 the memory of those who had died at a good old age. From 
 eighty to one hundred years seems here the common term of 
 existence. The parish-clerk showed us the new register, 
 which commences with the year 1813. In the first page only, 
 in the short space of six months, are recorded the deaths of 
 four individuals, whose united ages amount to three hundred 
 and seventy-nine years : the oldest of these venerable person- 
 ages attained the age of one hundred and seven, and one of 
 the four has a sister now living in Taddington who is ninety- 
 eight years old. These instances of longevity are extraor- 
 dinary in so small a village, and they shew that the reputation 
 Taddington has obtained for the health fulness of its situation 
 and the salubrity of its air, rests on a good foundation. Well 
 might the old woman at Ashford, when she had weathered 
 seventy-eight years of existence, and found the infirmities of 
 old age approaching, express an anxiety to remove her resi- 
 dence and live at Taddington, observing, at the same time, 
 " Folk do no' die there so young as I am." 
 
 From this humble village we pursued our route to Bakewell. 
 It was a fine sunny evening, and we frequently paused, as we 
 loitered through Taddington-Dale, to contemplate the various 
 little pictures with which it abounds. In one of the closest 
 parts of this deep ravine, where some jutting rock rose high 
 above the -surrounding foliage, a young female suddenly 
 emerged from the bosom of a thicket near the summit of the 
 mountain, and with a light and elastic step, she passed securely 
 along, where to all appearance a human foot could find no 
 place to rest on. From the spot where we first saw her to 
 the bottom of the hill, she moved with astonishing rapidity, 
 and we trembled with apprehension as we saw her skip from 
 the point of one jutting rock to another, as fearless and as 
 playful as a mountain kid. Her figure was gracefully formed; 
 her face was fair; and the freshness of her cheek rivalled the 
 roses that breathed and bloomed around her : her hair hung 
 about her face and neck in loose ringlets, and as she sportively 
 
128 ASHFORD. 
 
 put her tresses aside, she displayed a beautifully formed fore- 
 head, and her eyes sparkled the while with a coquettish play- 
 fulness, which showed that she was not unconscious of her 
 beauty. Her manners were without restraint, and she entered 
 into conversation with as little embarrassment as if she had 
 been educated in fashionable society. One of my companions, 
 who had more gallantry than myself, paid her some personal 
 compliments, which she received as if she felt they were merited, 
 even though at the same time she cautioned him against the 
 use of what she called " that vile thing, flattery," which she 
 playfully remarked had sometimes a very pernicious effect on 
 young minds. She again stroked back her curls from her 
 fair brow ; adjusted her disordered tresses with a slight motion 
 of her head ; and, bidding us good bye with a wave of her 
 hand, she, with a step as light and as agile as a startled fawn, 
 bounded amongst the trees and was soon out of sight, 
 
 " She was the spirit of the place, 
 
 " With eye so wild and cheek so fair, 
 " Her form so playful in its grace, 
 " Mock'd her own mountain air.*' 
 
 My companions and myself now looked at each other as if 
 we doubted the reality of what we had seen : a few minutes 
 only had passed, and the vision that sported before our eyes 
 had disappeared and was gone for ever. Beauteous stranger ! 
 May the days of thy youth be guileless and happy, and may 
 the hopes that play round thine heart, and the roses that 
 bloom on thy cheek, never be blighted by any touch but that 
 of Time ! 
 
 Another half hour's walk brought us to Ashford, a little 
 village pleasantly situated by the side of the river Wye. 
 " Here," says Gilpin, " we fall into a beautiful vale, fringed 
 with wood, and watered by a brilliant stream, which recalled 
 to our memory the pleasing scenes of this kind we had met 
 with amongst the mountains of Cumberland." Every where 
 the water sparkles with light, as it ripples over its pebbled 
 bed or plays round the base of some lofty tree, whose involved 
 and knotty roots are washed and laid bare by the current. 
 The surrounding hills rise high above the village, and the 
 cold bleak winds that chill their summits are scarcely felt in 
 the sweet vale below. Edward Plantagenet of Woodstock, 
 Earl of Kent, had a residence here, of which every vestige is 
 now obliterated, excepting only a part of the moat that sur- 
 rounded his castle. 
 
GREY AND BLACK MARBLES. ROTTEN STONE. 129 
 
 Ashford has been long celebrated for its marbles, which are 
 obtained from the hills that afford it shelter, and are cut into 
 form and polished at the mills originally erected by the late 
 Mr. Henry Watson of Bakewell, who obtained a patent to 
 secure to himself the advantages of his mechanical skill and 
 ingenuity. The grey marbles dug from the quarries of Der- 
 byshire are less esteemed than formerly, and the works where 
 they are sawn into slabs and polished, are sinking into disuse 
 and decay. This may be regretted, as the numerous shells 
 and the great variety of figures they contain, when cut trans- 
 versely, exhibit an infinite variety of vegetable and animal 
 remains, that are not less curious than beautiful. The black 
 marble of Ashford is not surpassed, perhaps not equalled, in 
 any part of the world ; its deep unvaried colour, and the 
 compactness of its texture, fit it to receive the highest polish ; 
 a mirror can hardly present a clearer or a more beautiful sur- 
 face : hence it is highly esteemed, but being difficult to work, 
 it is too expensive for common occasions. In Chatsworth 
 House there are some columns of this marble, which are used 
 as pedestals for busts, and some ornamented vases of exquisite 
 beauty. Mr. White Watson, in his Delineation of the Strata 
 of Derbyshire, mentions this material under the denomination 
 of Bituminous Fetid Limestone, arid he intimates "that its 
 colour is owing to Petroleum, with which it abounds." He 
 farther observes, " this limestone is subject to decompose, in 
 which operation the calcareous particles are disengaged and 
 escape, and their interstices are occupied by water, the same 
 still occupying the same space, bulk for bulk, as before; but 
 on being squeezed, the water comes out as from a sponge. 
 On being exposed to the air, by laying it in the grass (which 
 it destroys, and sweeter herbage springs up in its place) till 
 perfectly dry, the water evaporating leaves a very light im- 
 palpable substance, called Rotten Stone, much esteemed for 
 polishing metals, &c." To those who are acquainted with the 
 peculiar use of this substance, I need offer no apology for 
 this short extract from Mr. Watson's account of its formation. 
 The subject is treated more largely in pages 4-5 and 46 of his 
 work, and 1 gladly refer to his interesting detail of that 
 curious operation of nature by which Rotten Stone is pro- 
 duced, and I do this more freely as I understand the correct- 
 ness of his theory has been disputed. Dirtlow Moor, near 
 Bakewell, where the surface is very wet, has the reputatioa 
 of furnishing the best specimens of this useful article. 
 
130 
 
 SECTION VIII. 
 
 Bakewell. -New Bath. Bakewell Church Yard. Ancient 
 Stone Cross. Epitaphs. Chantry at Bakewell. Anti- 
 quity of Bakewell. Castle Hill. Interview with a poor 
 Hindoo. 
 
 r ROM Ashford, we pursued our route to Bakewell, which 
 lies at the entrance into an open valley, about two miles 
 lower down the river. The principal carriage road crosses 
 the bridge on the right ; we however preferred a footpath that 
 led us over the fields, on the contrary side of the Wye, which 
 we found a pleasant walk, and full of beauty. This road has 
 been recently closed. Near Bakewell, the valley contracts : 
 a broken rock marks one side of the road, and a steep wooded 
 hill rises on the other ; the intervening space is occupied by 
 the river and a cotton-mill, that belongs to the Arkwrights. 
 The scenery about this mill, when seen from the elevated 
 bank at the bottom of which the footpath from Ashford is 
 carried, is extremely beautiful. The foreground on the left, 
 particularly about Holme-hall, is rich with foliage, and the 
 river below the bridge, and the road on the right, winding 
 round a craggy projecting rock, beyond which the spire of 
 the church and a small part of the town appears, are fine fea- 
 tures in the landscape. The vale of Haddon is seen in dis- 
 tance, through the opening, and fills up the coup d'ceil of this 
 pleasing picture. 
 
 Bakewell is pleasantly situated on a rising ground on the 
 right bank of the river Wye. The Duke of Rutland, to 
 whom nearly the whole place belongs, is progressively extend- 
 ing the many accommodations it affords to travellers, and in- 
 creasing the respectability of its appearance. The old houses 
 are gradually giving way to neat modern erections, and the 
 whole is intended to be built with stone obtained in the 
 neighbourhood, and on a regular and uniform plan. During 
 
BATH AT BAKEWELL* 131 
 
 the summer months many people resort to this little town to 
 enjoy the various pleasures it affords. The Wye is well 
 stocked with trout and grayling, and those visitors who take 
 up their residence at the Rutland Arms, a noble inn built by 
 the Duke, have the privilege of angling in this part of the 
 river. When fatigued with the sport of the day, they can 
 console themselves with the pleasant anticipations of retiring 
 to one of the best inns in the county of Derby, and of being 
 regaled with the choicest viands and the best wines. The 
 Rutland Arms, under the excellent management of its present 
 hostess, is richly entitled to the liberal support which it now 
 so generally receives. 
 
 The improvements already made in Bake well, and others 
 still more important, that are now in progress, are highly cre- 
 ditable to the good taste and liberal spirit of the Duke of 
 Rutland. Situated as the town is in a beautiful valley, at 
 nearly equal distances between Buxton and Matlock, and 
 watered by one of the most busy and brilliant streams in this 
 part of the kingdom, it can hardly fail to become a more 
 general and delightful resort than it has hitherto been. The 
 capacious Bath recently established, and now under the super- 
 intendence of Mr. White Watson, F. L. S. furnishes an addi- 
 tional accommodation to visitors. The temperature of the 
 water is 60 of Fahrenheit's, and according to Mr. Charles 
 Sylvester's analysis, ten wine quarts contain. 
 
 Grains 
 
 Sulphate of lime -* 75 
 
 Sulphate of magnesia 22 
 
 Muriate of magnesia -----1.6 
 Super carbonate of lime - - - 20 
 Super carbonate of iron ---3.1 
 
 Since the Bath was first opened to the public, two Shower 
 Baths of different powers, have been added, and more recently 
 a News Room has been established on the same premises, 
 where the London papers and some of the magazines and re- 
 views are regularly taken in. A good collection of minerals 
 and fossils may be found in Mr. White Watson's rooms ; and 
 his garden, in connection with the walk from the Rutland 
 Arms Inn to the Bath, furnishes a delightful promenade. 
 This little town, when the plans for . its improvement are 
 matured, is likely to become one of the most attractive places 
 in the Peak of Derbyshire. Mr. White Watson has been 
 
 K 2 
 
132 BAKEWELL CHURCH. 
 
 long a collector of the minerals and fossils of his native coun- 
 ty : he has attentively studied its various, and in some places 
 strangely disordered, strata, and published several works on 
 the subject, that are highly creditable to his talents. He was 
 originally associated with Mr. Martin of Macclesfield, in the 
 projected publication of a complete series of the minerals and 
 fossils of Derbyshire. One volume only of this work has ap- 
 peared, in which the specimens are drawn and coloured with 
 great fidelity, delicacy, and beauty. It may be sincerely regretted 
 that either the death of Mr. Martin, or any other circumstance, 
 should have intervened to arrest the progress and prevent the 
 publication of the remaining parts of this highly interesting 
 and splendid work. Under the active patronage of the Dukes 
 of Devonshire and Rutland, this production might perhaps be 
 resumed, and completed agreeably to its original design 
 otherwise it would probably be a ruinous speculation. I hope 
 yet to see it revived under better auspices and a more cheering 
 prospect. 
 
 The church at Bakewell is built in the form of a cross, with 
 an octagonal tower, surmounted with a lofty handsome spire 
 in the centre, and is a fine structure. It is situated on the side 
 of a hill above the principal part of the town, and when seen 
 from the meadows in Haddon-vale, it is a good object in the 
 landscape. At the west end of the church, there is an orna- 
 mented Saxon arch, apparently of a much older date than the 
 edifice itself, and within, near the same arch, there is a stone 
 font of great antiquity. The different compartments of this 
 font are sculptured over with figures rudely carved, the forms 
 of which are now nearly obliterated. In one of the chancels 
 there are several alabaster monuments, with full-length figures 
 as large as life. Originally they were painted and gilt in the 
 fashion of the times, and though but very indifferent as works 
 of sculpture, they had once a very splendid effect. A re- 
 cumbent figure, in an adjoining chancel, is in a better style : 
 the drapery about it has been happily imagined, and well exe- 
 cuted. This monument was erected to the memory of Sir 
 Thomas Wednesley, who received his death-wound in the 
 battle of Shrewsbury a battle which Shakespeare has ren- 
 dered memorable by the bravery of young Harry, the son of 
 Henry the Fourth, and the humorous cowardice of Falstaff. 
 
 On the east side of the church stands an ancient Stone 
 Cross, which is conjectured to be about eight hundred years 
 old : the ornaments, and the various devices sculptured on the 
 
BAKEWELL CROSS. 133 
 
 four sides of this memorial of a people's faith, are in many 
 places so worn and defaced, that they cannot be accurately 
 understood or clearly defined : BRAY, in his Sketch of a Tour 
 into Derbyshire, has given three rudely executed etchings of 
 this Cross, in which the figures it contains appear to have been 
 correctly copied ; but though this intelligent traveller was fond 
 of antiquarian researches, he has evidently not regarded either 
 its origin or history of sufficient consequence to engage his at- 
 tention. The Cross at Eyam is similar in the style and manner 
 of its workmanship, but it is much richer in its carving, and 
 superior in form. 
 
 The Cross, which is now so much reverenced as a sacred 
 symbol, was once regarded with horror and detestation : it was 
 used as an instrument of the most disgraceful punishment, and 
 the vilest of criminals only were subject to its ignominy. 
 Constantine first abolished this use of it among the Romans : 
 he rescued it from an appropriation to purposes which ren- 
 dered it an object of aversion, and he made it reverenced and 
 beloved. It was carved on his military standards, emblazoned 
 on his banners, and he esteemed it as the noblest ornament of 
 his diadem. His veneration for this sacred trophy is said to 
 had a miraculous origin : he was himself the historian of the 
 appearance by which it was produced, and he sanctioned the 
 truth of his narrative with the solemnity of an oath. About 
 mid-day he saw in the heavens a luminous representation of 
 the Cross placed above the sun, and accompanied with an in- 
 scription BY THIS CONQUER : a legend which held out the 
 promise of victory to Constantine. That this was a mere fic- 
 'tion a political device can scarcely be doubted: he it was, 
 however, who first made the figure of the Cross an object of 
 veneration, and succeeding Christians have reverenced this 
 memorial of their faith. 
 
 In Bakewell church-yard some epitaphs are to be found not 
 unworthy a place in the port-folio of the tourist : some are se- 
 rious lessons of mortality some are of a mixed character and 
 others are sufficiently ludicrous to excite a smile ; yet but very 
 few indeed have either poetic merit or whimsicality enough to 
 preserve them from that oblivion in which all human produc- 
 tions must, sooner or later, be involved. The following stanzas 
 may be estimated as the best which this church-yard affords : 
 they are inscribed on a humble stone near the old Cross, and, 
 if I mistake not, they are the production of Mr. C. Wesley, a 
 brother of the great founder of the methodists. 
 
134- EPITAPHS. 
 
 " Beneatli this stone an infant lies, 
 
 " To earth whose body lent, 
 " Hereafter shall more glorious rise, 
 
 " But not more innocent. 
 " When the archangel's trump shall blow, 
 
 " And souls to bodies join, 
 " Thousands shall wish their lives below 
 
 " Had been as short as thine." 
 
 On a black marble tablet, inserted on a grave-stone near the 
 east end of the church, there is the following inscription to the 
 memory of a child aged two years and eight months. As a 
 specimen of country church-yard poetry it has a claim to more 
 than common consideration. 
 
 " Reader ! beneath this marble lies 
 
 " The sacred dust of Innocence; 
 
 " Two years he blest his parents' eyes, 
 
 " The third an angel took him hence : 
 
 " The sparkling eyes, the lisping tongue, 
 
 " Complaisance sweet and manners mild, 
 
 <c And all that pleases in the young, 
 
 " Were all united in this child. 
 
 " Wouldst thou his happier state explore? 
 
 " To thee the bliss is freely given ; 
 
 " Go, gentle reader ! sin no more, 
 
 " And thou shalt see this flower in heaven." 
 
 Near the same place, on the contrary side of the pathway, 
 there is an epitaph of a different character, in which the writer 
 has eulogized the very extraordinary vocal powers of the pa- 
 rish-cterk. Some of the rhymes are managed with a Hudi- 
 brastic felicity, and on reading the inscription I was induced 
 to give it a place in my note-book. This person's name was 
 Roe ; his father filled the situation of parish-clerk before him, 
 and, if his grave-stone flatters not, with equal ability ; it tells 
 us in humble prose, that " the natural powers of his voice in 
 clearness, strength, and sweetness, were altogether unequalled;" 
 a commendation which is reiterated in verse on the neighbour- 
 ing tomb-stone. 
 
 " The vocal powers here let us mark, 
 " Of Philip, our late parish- clerk, 
 " In church none ever heard a layman 
 " With a clearer voice say * AMEN !' 
 *' Who now with hallelujah's sound, 
 " Like him can make the roofs rebound ? 
 " The choir lament his choral tones, 
 " The town so soon here lie his bones." 
 
CHANTRY AT BAKEWELL. 135 
 
 At the west end of the church, on a table monument, 
 another inscription occurs, still more amusing, if I may be 
 permitted to use a phrase so little in harmony with those 
 feelings which generally accompany a contemplation of the 
 last resting-place of those who have gone before us to " that 
 bourne from whence no traveller returns." An old man and 
 his two wives occupy this tomb, where, undisturbed by the 
 jealous cares of life, they sleep together lovingly, so says the 
 legend, which nearly covers one side of the tomb : 
 
 " Know posterity, that on the 8th of April, in the year of Grace 1757, the 
 " rambling remains of the above said John Dale were in the 86th year 
 " of his pilgrimage laid with his two wives. 
 
 ' This thing in life might cause some jealousy, 
 
 " Here all three sleep together lovingly, 
 
 " Here Sarah's chiding John no longer hears, 
 
 " And old John's rambling Sarah no more fears; 
 
 " A period's come to all their toilsome lives, 
 
 " The goodman's quiet still are both his wives" 
 
 Early in the fourteenth century, in conformity with a 
 notion that then prevailed, that the dead might be benefited 
 by the prayers of the living, a number of chantries were 
 established in various parts of the kingdom, and endowed 
 with more or less liberality according to the wealth of the 
 founder, for the purpose of performing so pious and salutary 
 a duty. Sometime about this period Sir Godfrey Foljambe, 
 Knight, who then resided at Hassop, assisted by the guild or 
 fraternity of the Holy Cross at Bakewell, erected and founded 
 a chantry near the north end of the church, of which structure 
 not a vestige now remains. Having obtained a royal licence* 
 and endowed this establishment with lands and tenements, he 
 then prescribed for its future government, "that Roger de 
 Typeshelf be the first Chantry Priest, and he and his suc- 
 cessors enjoy the lands." In another deed, by the king's 
 licence, it is settled, that he " pray for the healthful estate of 
 Sir Godfrey Foljambe, and Ann his wife, and their children, 
 while they live, and after their decease for their souls, and the 
 souls of their parents, and the brotherhood of the guild of the 
 Holy Cross in Bakewell, and all the faithful living and dead, 
 at the altar of the Holy Cross, in the nave of the parish church, 
 built by the said Cross ; and that the said Roger and his suc- 
 cessors be called Keepers of the Altar, and he or they cele- 
 brate mass in no other place, unless there be lawful impedi- 
 ment. And if the Chaplain, without lawful cause, abstain 
 
 K 4? 
 
136 ANTIQUITY OF BAKEWELL. 
 
 from celebrating mass, that another fit Chaplain be admitted, 
 at the pleasure of the Vicar of Bakewell : the Chaplain not 
 to be three days away without licence from the Lord of 
 Hassop for the time being, if the lord reside there, otherwise 
 without the leave of the Vicar." 
 
 Bakewell is a very ancient town, and yet but few traces now 
 remain to indicate its former consequence. According to 
 Gibson, Turner, and others, it was particularly distinguished 
 in the time of the Saxons, by Edward the Elder, who is said 
 to have hemmed it round with fortifications, and made it one 
 of his strong places of defence. A fortified town at this early 
 period does not necessarily imply what we now understand by 
 the term ; and Bakewell, I apprehend, was at that time only 
 one of the many military positions which were established by 
 Edward and his heroic sister, for the defence of the Mercian 
 Frontier from Chester to North umbria. Leaving this town, 
 and taking the road to Chatsworth, there is a lofty 'eminence 
 on the right, called Castle Hill, which derives its name from a 
 building that once occupied this elevated station, and which 
 was erected by Edward the Elder so early as the year 924. 
 This structure is represented to have been originally of great 
 extent, and very formidable, as a defensive position ; but time, 
 the destroyer of all things, has crumbled it into dust, the 
 plough has passed over the place where it stood, and, with the 
 exception of a few yards of the foundation walls, which are 
 now nearly covered with turf and verdure, and the evident 
 marks of a trench that once environed a part of the building, 
 nothing now remains on Castle Hill to indicate its former con- 
 sequence ; yet the names by which the fields on its summit 
 ;are still known can hardly fail to excite recollections and as- 
 sociations that are intimately connected with the existence of 
 .a Castle on this lofty eminence. One of the pastures is called 
 Castle Field*, and others are known by the name of Warden 
 Field, Court Yai'd, and Garland's Close. 
 
 Toilsome as it may be to reach the top of this eminence, 
 yet the diversified prospect it commands, and the rich as- 
 semblage of mountain, hill, and dale, that are included within 
 its wide horizon, will amply compensate for all the labour and 
 fatigue with which it may be accompanied. The serpentine 
 direction of the Wye, as it winds through the meadows below, 
 is a singular and beautiful feature in the picture. This hill, on 
 the side next Bakewell, rises precipitously from the valley, 
 and the Duke of Rutland, to whom it belongs, has planted its 
 
A POOR HINDOO. 137 
 
 rugged and steep acclivity with larch, fir, beech, sycamore, and a 
 great variety of trees, that appear to flourish on this rocky soil ; 
 and near the summit, he has carried along the whole range of 
 the hill an extensive terrace, which opens a series of fine views 
 of the surrounding country, and forms a most delightful sum- 
 mer evening's walk. 
 
 Among the records that have been kept at Derby of the 
 important and interesting events which have taken place there, 
 is a memorandum that, " in this year, 1608, the Witches of 
 Bakewell were hanged." At this period of our eventful history, 
 to be poor, old, and ugly, must have been regarded as a 
 dreadful crime, punishable with the severest inflictions of the 
 law. This silly and cruel spirit has happily subsided, and age 
 and infirmity, even if accompanied with poverty, may now 
 sink quietly into the grave, unterrified by the stake or the 
 gallows. 
 
 Travelling a few years ago in this part of Derbyshire, in 
 company with a stranger whom I had casually met with at an 
 inn, we observed on the road before us a man clothed in an 
 English great-coat, with a white turban on his head : his gait 
 and appearance^ even at a distance, bespoke him the native of 
 another country. My companion, as soon as he observed him, 
 requested permission to stop the carriage. The stranger ap- 
 proached, and on being asked in his own language if he was 
 a native of Hindostan, a mingled sensation of pleasure and 
 surprise illumined his countenance : he lifted up his hands, 
 and with a rapturous ejaculation, he exclaimed, " the language 
 of my mother!" and in a tone of voice so exquisitely touching, 
 so full of feeling, and so true to nature, that it came upon the 
 heart with a force and effect that even apathy itself could not 
 have resisted. He was wild with joy, and danced and sung, 
 and talked, and laughed, and cried alternately. He had not 
 heard a single being utter the " language of his mother" since 
 he left his native country, and, incapable of speaking any 
 other, he had had no verbal communication with any human 
 being for many months, nor had a friendly voice, during the 
 whole of that period, greeted his ear or touched upon his 
 heart : and the volubility with which he now gave utterance 
 to the variety of feeling that agitated his frame, seemed as if 
 he had treasured up the ideas and the speeches of days gone 
 by, to be poured out on this occasion. On being interrogated, 
 he stated, that he had left his native country in a vessel bound 
 for Hull : when he arrived there he was no longer useful, and 
 
138 MISERY OF LOSING CASTE. 
 
 was therefore discarded : that he was at this time in search of 
 another, to convey him once more to his home. What a train 
 of recollections and interesting associations did that word home 
 revive ! poor, hapless stranger, no home remained for him ! 
 In this search, when he quitted a town or a village, he took 
 any road that presented itself, and travelled he knew not, and 
 apparently he cared not, where. His distressed and desolate 
 situation afflicted him bitterly, and as the tears flowed down 
 his face, he earnestly wished that he could die for in this 
 world he said nobody loved him, nor had he any body to 
 love here he was unknown he had nothing to eat no 
 money to purchase food withal ; he must therefore die." And 
 he added, " if he returned to his home, his father, his mother, 
 his sister, and his brother, would never see him, never speak 
 to him again, for he had eaten and had drank with Christians, 
 and had lost his Caste." Such, and so dreadful, were the pri- 
 vations consequent on his departure from the established rites 
 and religious customs and dogmas of his fathers. 
 
 It is hardly possible to conceive a human being in a more 
 forlorn condition : he was now in a country where the only 
 language he knew was not known where no communication 
 of thought no interchange of sentiment could possibly take 
 place, unless by one of those fortuitous occurrences which had 
 this day brought us together. He was an outcast from the 
 place of his birth, where, if he returned, he would be only as 
 an alien no hand would be extended to receive him no 
 eye would gladden him with a smile no voice of affection 
 greet him, where even his mother, influenced by the bar- 
 barous superstitions of the country, would forget the common 
 sympathies of nature, and instead of rejoicing at the return of 
 her long-lost son, would either survey him with the cold in- 
 difference of a stranger, or turn away with horror at his 
 approach. 
 
 After affording him a temporary relief, my companion di- 
 rected him on his way to Ashbourne, from whence he was not 
 far distant, giving him, on a card, the name of a gentleman 
 there, who had for many years resided at Calcutta, and who, 
 as he informed him, would take an interest in restoring him 
 to his native country. We bade him adieu, and proceeded on 
 our journey ; but having shortly afterwards to ascend a rising 
 ground, he once more overtook the carriage, anxious to renew 
 a conversation which had proved so interesting to his feelings, 
 for he knew not when he might again hear the " language of 
 
PARTING WITH THE HINDOO. 139 
 
 his mother." He now told my companion, with a touching ex- 
 pression of countenance, and a vehement earnestness of sup- 
 plication, that he could not leave him, and that he would 
 attend him to his home, who replied, that was impossible, as 
 he was then more than two hundred miles from it. The poor 
 Hindoo, however, estimated distance as nothing, and he cheer- 
 fully declared he could run after the carriage all the way. 
 
 We regretted to leave this Child of Nature so situated, but 
 there was no alternative : he was again recommended to attend 
 to the direction previously given him by my companion, and 
 to act as before instructed, which he was assured would be to 
 him an effectual relief: he, however, continued to follow us, 
 but the rapid motion of our post-chaise soon left him far 
 behind. 
 
 The language used in this interview being unknown to me 
 necessarily lessened its interest : the gesture and action, how- 
 ever, with which it was accompanied, were sufficiently intelli- 
 gible to excite a more than ordinary degree of sympathy ; but 
 it was not until we had far outstripped this poor pedestrian 
 on the road, that I was made acquainted with the whole of his 
 story. Seated in the inn at Derby, where we passed the night, 
 my companion, at my request, detailed as circumstantially and 
 as correctly as he could all that had passed between the 
 stranger and himself carefully preserving, and literally trans- 
 lating, the expressions he had used. Regret that we had left 
 this poor Hindoo so far behind, was now unavailing, and I 
 endeavoured to console myself with the consideration, that 
 during his presence I was but very imperfectly acquainted with 
 the particular circumstances that had occasioned his distress. 
 I have since endeavoured to ascertain the result of his appli- 
 cation to the gentleman at Ashbourne, but without success. 
 
uo 
 
 SECTION IX. 
 
 Haddon Valley. Haddon Hall. The Vernon Family. 
 Chapel at Haddon. Roman Altar. Ancient Tapestry. 
 Gallery at Haddon. Reflections on Haddon. Lime Trees. 
 Farewell to the River Wye. 
 
 .T OLLOWING the course of the Wye, we entered near Bake- 
 well, the sweet Vale of Haddon. An old baronial edifice, how 
 the distinguishing ornament of this part of Derbyshire, and 
 in earlier times the seat of feudal splendour and festive hospi- 
 tality, gives both name and dignity to this delightful valley. 
 FULLER, in his History of the WORTHIES of ENGLAND, ob- 
 serves, with his usual quaintness, that " the north part of 
 Derbyshire called the Peak is poor above and rich beneath the 
 ground : yet," he adds, " are there some exceptions therein ; 
 witness the fair pastures nigh Haddon, belonging to the Duke 
 of Rutland, so incredibly battling of cattle that one proffered 
 to surround it with shillings to purchase it, which because to 
 be set sideways, not edgeways, were refused." Page 229. 
 
 On a rocky knoll near the river Wye, about two miles 
 south of Bakewell, stands HADDON HALL. The magnitude 
 of this venerable pile of buildings its castellated form ~ 
 and its embattled turrets rising above the trees that adorn and 
 encompass it, have a magnificent effect, especially when seen 
 from the vale between Haddon and Rowslev, where the best 
 and the most imposing view of this fine old mansion is ob- 
 tained. From this situation its richest and most ample front 
 is displayed, its towers rise more majestically, and its groves 
 assume a considerable portion of grandeur. When the sketch 
 which accompanies this description was made, the WYE, 
 swollen by heavy rains, had overflowed its banks, and its 
 windings round the base of the woody eminence on which 
 Haddon stands, presented the appearance of a formidable 
 river, which happily harmonized with the surrounding objects, 
 and completed the composition of one of the sweetest pictures 
 
HADDON HALL. THE " KING OF THE PEAK." 141 
 
 in the Peak of Derbyshire. The day was gloomy, and the 
 sombre effect of the sky, together with the dark unvaried tone 
 that prevailed, increased the solemnity of the scene. A tran- 
 sient ray of sunny light moved gently over Haddon as we 
 beheld it, and gradually unfolded its architectural detail : it 
 was a momentary gleam, at whose bright touch the landscape 
 glowed with beauty ; too soon it passed away ! a thicker 
 gloom succeeded, and again involved the whole in shadow. 
 
 Haddon Hall has evidently been erected at various and 
 remote periods of time. The old tower which surmounts the 
 gateway, that once formed the principal entrance into Haddon. 
 is said by Gilpin to have had its origin anterior to the Conquest 
 and he intimates that though this structure was never for- 
 midable as a place of defence, it had then a military character, 
 which it gradually exchanged for that of a mere domestic 
 dwelling. Gilpin, I apprehend, has fixed the building o' 
 Haddon at too early a period : there is no testimony, eithei 
 written or otherwise, that any portion of it was erected many 
 years before the reign of King Stephen, when one of the 
 descendants of William Peveril resided here : however this 
 may be, it is abundantly evident, both from its design and 
 structure, that it was never intended to have a military 
 character. Early in the reign of Richard I. Haddon came 
 into the possession of the Vernons, with whom it remained 
 through a period of nearly four centuries, during which time 
 it was invariably regarded not only as the seat of feudal 
 splendour, but of the most sumptuous and munificent hospi- 
 tality. Sir George Vernon, who died in the seventh year of 
 the reign of Elizabeth, was distinguished by the appellation 
 of the " King of the Peak" His wealth, and his influence 
 in the neighbourhood where he resided, were alike unbounded: 
 he was the lord of thirty manors, which at his death descended 
 to his two daughters, Margaret and Dorothy, the latter of 
 whom was married to Sir John Manners: thus Haddon passed 
 to the noble house of Rutland, and was the family residence 
 until the beginning of the last century, when it was deserted 
 for the more splendid castle and palace of Bekoir. 
 
 How changed are the fortunes of this once hospitable 
 mansion ! the festive board at which thousands were regaled 
 is no longer spread within its halls, nor are the sounds of 
 mirth and gladness heard in its gates. A gloomy and solemn 
 silence pervades its neglected apartments, and the bat arid 
 the owl are alone the inmates of its remaining splendour. 
 
14f2 THE CHAPEL AT HADDON. 
 
 Grand and imposing as Haddon is without, but little attention 
 has been paid to convenience in its interior construction : with 
 the exception of the kitchen, the cellar, the dining-hall, and 
 the gallery, it is .a discordant mass of small and uncomfortable 
 apartments, crowded together without order. The style of 
 architecture that prevailed in England previous to the reign 
 of Elizabeth, when it experienced considerable improvement, 
 was but little adapted to domestic convenience, and some of 
 its defects are exemplified at Haddon. Those portions of this 
 old mansion which were appropriated to the purposes of good 
 living, and essential to that princely hospitality by which it 
 was distinguished, when in the days of the first Duke of Rut- 
 land upwards of seven score servants were maintained within 
 it, are sufficiently ample to justify all that tradition has told of 
 the ancient festivities of the place. The very limited capacity 
 of the chapel, when contrasted with the magnitude of those 
 apartments, shows, that though the good people of this esta- 
 blishment took up a large space in which to manage their 
 temporal affairs, they contrived to arrange their spiritual 
 concerns within very modest dimensions. 
 
 The chapel, which occupies a part of the south and west 
 fronts of Haddon, is enriched with painted windows. One of 
 the subjects represented is the Crucifixion, and another the 
 Twelve Apostles, disposed in different compartments. The 
 date, milessimo CCCCXXVII appears on the stained glass, 
 but it does not refer to the time when this part of the building 
 was erected, which was at a much earlier period, and probably 
 very soon after the Conquest, when William Peveril, who 
 was the natural son of William the Conqueror, was Lord and 
 Governor of the counties of Nottingham and Derby. He had 
 several houses or castles in Derbyshire, where he resided in a 
 magnificent and princely style. 
 
 In the anti-room to the chapel was a Roman Altar, un- 
 couth in workmanship, and by no means an imposing object ; 
 it is nevertheless preserved with that care and attention which 
 such a relique of antiquity requires; and has been lately 
 removed to the central gateway that forms the communication 
 between the two quadrangular courts of Haddon. The in- 
 scription it contains is now much injured, and the letters are 
 so far effaced by time that not great difficulty only, but even 
 an uncertainty, occurs in copying them : hence a considerable 
 difference appears in the transcriptions of those travellers who 
 have honoured this monument with their notice. The three 
 
A ROMAN ALTAR. 
 
 14-3 
 
 following profess to have been copied with equal fidelity : the 
 first is from Cambden, page 498, edit. 1695 ; the second was 
 taken by a stranger who visited Haddon a few years ago ; 
 and the third was made with great care in the year 1818, by 
 a gentlemen from Sheffield, who endeavoured accurately to 
 trace out the form of each letter, as it now appears. 
 
 From Cambden. 
 
 As copied by a late Traveller 
 
 In 1818 
 
 DEO 
 
 DEO 
 
 DEO 
 
 MARTI 
 
 MARTI 
 
 MARTI 
 
 BRAC1ACLE 
 
 BRACIACLE 
 
 BRACIFACA 
 
 OSITIUS 
 
 OSOTIVS 
 
 QSOH-VS 
 
 CACCILIAN 
 
 CAEC1LIAO 
 
 CARQHIO 
 
 PREFECT 
 
 PRAEF . COH 
 
 PRAltSOl 
 
 TRO 
 
 I . AQVITANO 
 
 P.AQVIIBIR: 
 
 v.s. 
 
 V.S. 
 
 IVR A 
 
 We leisurely surveyed the exterior of Haddon, as seen from 
 the upper and the lower courts before we explored its nu- 
 merous apartments, and I know not that I ever beheld a 
 mansion that afforded shelter and accommodation to so great 
 a number of swallows : every projecting frieze overshadowed 
 their nests, round which the busy flutterers played with in- 
 effable delight. It was impossible to witness such a scene 
 without calling to recollection the following beautiful passage 
 in Shakespeare, which Sir Joshua Reynolds has so happily 
 introduced in illustration of his remarks on what may properly 
 be denominated repose in painting : 
 
 " This castle has a pleasant site ; the air s 
 
 " Nimbly and sweetly recommends itself 
 " Unto our general sense." 
 
 " This guest of summer, 
 
 The temple-haunting martlet, does approve, 
 By his loved mansionry, that the heaven's breath 
 Smells wooingly here. No jutting frieze, 
 Buttress, nor coigne of vantage, but this bird 
 Hath made his pendant bed and procreant cradle : 
 Where they most breed and haunt, I have observed 
 The air is delicate." 
 
144 ANCIENT TAPESTRY. 
 
 Many of the rooms in this ancient residence of the noble 
 family of Rutland are hung with loose tapestry, behind which 
 the doors are concealed. Occasionally, for the admission of 
 company, it was folded back with large iron hooks, some of 
 which still remain : their form, and the uses they are here 
 applied to, may probably have suggested the manufacture 
 of that modern and ornamental article now made of gilt and 
 lackered brass, and lately much used for similar purposes, in 
 many elegant apartments. 
 
 Tapestry may certainly be classed among the finest orna- 
 ments of ancient halls and castles : there is a cumbrous mag- 
 nificence about it that no other decoration possesses, and 
 which in connection with the structure it is intended to adorn 
 assimilates with our ideas of former times, creates a species o 
 delusion, cheats the mind of its realities, and prepares it for 
 the reception of those visionary and sublime impressions, that 
 constitute a part of its felicity. The entire covering of the 
 walls with loose arras was less essential to the splendour than 
 the comfort of Haddon ; the inner doors are so rudely 
 fashioned, and in point of workmanship so ill made, that any 
 other mode could hardly have been adopted, to render the 
 place tolerable as a winter residence ; hence the tapestry with 
 which the principal rooms were hung, served a more useful 
 and important purpose than that of show. 
 
 In the dining-room, amongst a profusion of rude carving in 
 wood, are the portraits of King Henry the Seventh and his 
 Queen, to whose son and heir Sir Henry Vernon was Governor 
 and Treasurer the crest of Edward the Black Prince, on a 
 shield the arms of the Vernon family and the royal arms 
 inscribed underneath, " Dread God and honor the king." 
 The inscription might pass without particular notice, were it 
 not that it is carved in fine old English characters, and the 
 word " honor" spelt in the modern way. 
 
 The gallery, which occupies nearly the whole of the south 
 part of Haddon, is a noble apartment ; its style of architecture 
 fixes the elate of its erection in the time of Elizabeth, in whose 
 reign this venerable structure passed from the Vernons to Sir 
 John Manners, who was the second son of the first Earl of 
 Rutland. In the windows of the gallery are the arms of both 
 families in stained glass; and the boar's head and the peacock, 
 their respective crests, liberally ornament this part of the 
 house. This room is one hundred and ten feet long and 
 
REFLECTIONS ON H ADDON. 14-5 
 
 seventeen wide, and the whole of the floor is said to have been 
 cut out of one oak tree, that grew in the park. In the dining- 
 hall there is an elevated platform, a general construction in 
 ancient halls, and still retained in many colleges, whereon 
 the high table is placed at which the lord of the mansion pre- 
 sided at the head of his household and his guests. A gallery, 
 which on festive occasions was appropriated to mirth and 
 minstrelsy, occupies two sides of this apartment. On the 
 wainscot, near the principal entrance, we observed an iron 
 fastening of a peculiar structure, large enough to admit the 
 wrist of a man's hand, and which we were informed had been 
 placed there for the purpose of punishing trivial offences. It 
 had likewise another use, and served to enforce the laws and 
 regulations adopted amongst the servants of this establishment. 
 The man who refused duly to take his horn of ale, or neo-lect- 
 ed to perform the duties of his office, had his hand locked to 
 the wainscot somewhat higher than his head, by this iron 
 fastening, when cold water was poured down the sleeve of his 
 doublet as a punishment for his offence. One of the old 
 servants of the family, who attended upon strangers when I 
 first visited Haddon, while pointing out the uses to which this 
 curious relique of former times was applied, facetiously re- 
 marked " that it grew rusty for want of use." 
 
 Some old pictures, of but little consequence, have lately been 
 sent from the lumber-rooms at Belvoir Castle to decorate the 
 walls of Haddon, but, independently of their want of merit, 
 they seem strangely out of place. These, together with the 
 clean white-wash with which they have covered every wall, 
 have materially impaired the effect of this ancient edifice. It 
 has thus lost something of its former character within. These 
 tricks, however well intended, have absorbed a century or two 
 of its age, and nearly obliterated the venerable appearance of 
 its interior, but its external grandeur remains undisturbed 
 and imposing. Cleanliness is certainly a very commendable 
 quality ; it may nevertheless be misapplied, and I confess I 
 would rather see the walls of Haddon stained with the marks 
 of age, and the ceilings festooned by the spider, than thus 
 adorned with modern white-wash. 
 
 Haddon Hall, from its great antiquity from its being 
 almost the only baronial residence now remaining entire and 
 untouched by modern improvement to tell the tale of what it 
 was -is a place that excites considerable curiosity, and will 
 amply repay the traveller for the hours he may loiter away in 
 
146 REFLECTIONS ON H ADDON. 
 
 its precincts. Though desolate and cheerless within, it will 
 long remain the ornament and attraction of this part of the 
 Peak. 
 
 A venerable edjfice, or a dilapidated ruin, is an object of 
 great and powerful interest, exciting an association of ideas 
 from which some of our most pleasurable sensations are de- 
 duced. Whether it is because we regard with reverence what- 
 ever has been touched by the hand of iiTime, and rendered 
 sacred from his impression being stamped upon it or from 
 an attachment to whatever is picturesque in form and colour, 
 the force and beauty of which almost every mind can feel and 
 appreciate or whether it is that in the contemplation of an- 
 cient halls and castles the tales of other times take possession 
 of the soul, and the scenes of centuries gone by are again pre- 
 sented to the imagination, passing with a rapidity and an in- 
 distinctness like figures in a dream, not intimately known, and 
 yet recognized whatever be the cause of that subdued and 
 hallowed feeling which almost every man has experienced from 
 beholding such objects, it ranks amongst the purest pleasures 
 of reflection, and enriches existence. This mysterious sensa- 
 tion of undefinable delight is no doubt attributable to that 
 subtle quality of the mind which we denominate imagination, 
 and Haddon is admirably calculated to afford incentives to 
 the exercise of this active and excursive faculty : its towers and 
 turrets its massy walls and gloomy apartments its loose 
 hanging tapestry, and dark carved ceilings, rich with crests 
 and armorial bearings its painted windows, admitting only 
 a dubious light these, the remaining fragments of its grand- 
 eur, all conspire to exalt the mind of the spectator to im- 
 press him with solemn and soothing emotions, and to fix his 
 attention on objects and scenes of a remoter date, in the con- 
 templation of which all considerations of self are lost : to him, 
 Haddon is a link in the chain by which he is more intimately 
 connected with a period of time and a race of beings long since 
 passed away. Dr. Johnson observes, that " whatever with- 
 draws us from the power of our senses whatever makes the 
 past, the distant, or the future, predominate over the present, 
 advances us in the dignity of thinking beings. Far from me 
 and from my friends be such frigid philosophy as may conduct 
 us, indifferent and unmoved, over any ground which has been 
 dignified by wisdom, bravery, and virtue : that man is little to 
 be envied whose patriotism would not gain force upon the plain 
 
 21 
 
LIME TREES. 147 
 
 of Marathon, or whose piety would not grow warmer among 
 the ruins of lona." 
 
 Mrs. Ann Radcliflfe, who was a native of Derbyshire, often 
 visited Haddon Hall, for the purpose of storing her imagina- 
 tion with those romantic ideas, and impressing upon it those 
 sublime and awful pictures which she so much delighted to 
 pourtray: some of the most gloomy scenery of her " Mysteries 
 of Udolpho" was studied within the walls of this ancient 
 structure. 
 
 The rising grounds behind Haddon are covered with a re- 
 gular plantation of oak, lime, ash, and sycamore of the most 
 luxuriant growth, which forms a capacious avenue, that com- 
 municates with an excellent garden and a summer-house of 
 modern construction : passing along this avenue, my mind oc- 
 cupied with the scenes of other times, and filled with those ideas 
 which a contemplation of Haddon is peculiarly calculated to 
 inspire, and thus previously prepared to be imposed upon, I 
 felt myself the momentary inhabitant of an enchanted grove, 
 that almost realized some of the fanciful pictures of Tasso : a 
 rich profusion of blossom covered the lime trees, and filled the 
 air with fragrance ten thousand bees were feeding on the 
 treasures they contained the bell of every flower was in- 
 habited and in motion, and the lighter branches, agitated by 
 these little marauders, seemed every where imbued with animal 
 life, while all around, their hum of felicity and enjoyment kept 
 up a perpetual concert of native melody. The summer-house, 
 which is approached by this grove of limes, is pleasantly si- 
 tuated on the summit of the hill, and commands a very exten- 
 sive view of the mountain scenery of Derbyshire. In this 
 really charming place the late Duke of Rutland established a 
 bowling-green, for the accommodation of the gentlemen of Bake- 
 well and the neighbourhood, who are chiefly his tenantry ; some 
 years ago during the summer months, it was occasionally well 
 attended, but in the year 1816, when I last beheld it, it was 
 totally neglected, and had a very desolate appearance ; the rank 
 grass every where prevailed. 
 
 Lower down the vale, about a mile and a half from Haddon, 
 is the village of Rowsley, near which the Wye loses itself in 
 the bosom of the Derwent. How reluctantly the mind quits 
 its hold of objects that have produced a portion of its felicity ! 
 with what regret it lingers round scenes on which it has dwelt 
 with delight, and as it pauses to recal sensations originally 
 excited by objects no longer present, it feels a softer glow of 
 
 L 2 
 
148 FAREWELL TO THE RIVER WYE. 
 
 pleasure as it beholds them through the medium of recollection. 
 Such were the feelings with which I quitted the borders of the 
 WYE. Adieu, thou lovely river ! I have traversed thy ro- 
 mantic banks from thy source in the vicinity of Buxton, to 
 where thy clear and silvery stream mingles with the yellower 
 waters of the Derwent, and feel grateful to that Being who has 
 intimately connected some of our most refined and purest 
 pleasures with the contemplation of those works in the midst 
 of which he has placed our habitation. 
 
SECTION X. 
 
 Edvnsor. Monument to the Earl of Devonshire in the Church. 
 Inscription to the Memory of John Beton. Chatsivorth 
 Park and House. Cascade in the Garden. Fountain in 
 the Court. Figure of Arion* 
 
 JH.AV1NG regained the course of the Derwent, after quitting 
 it near Stoke, we returned up the valley from Rowsley to 
 Edensor, a little village about two miles distant, which is si- 
 tuated upon the verge of Chatsworth Park, where we passed 
 the night at a comfortable inn, built for the accommodation of 
 travellers by the late Duke of Devonshire. The church at 
 Edensor stands on the side of a hill, in the upper part of the 
 village, and it is surrounded with a spacious burial-ground: 
 within it is clean and neat, and its appearance altogether in- 
 timates its proximity to the residence of a noble family. In 
 the chancel there is a very costly and splendid alabaster mo- 
 nument to the memory of the first earl of Devonshire, which 
 contains several figures as large as life, sculptured in relief, and 
 elaborately finished : this monument is divided into different 
 compartments, the whole of which are profusely ornamented, 
 gilt, and coloured. A tabular monument is placed at the foot 
 of the large one, on which are two recumbent figures ; one is 
 completely draped from head to foot the other is a fleshless 
 skeleton. There is something strikingly impressive in this 
 representation of a man who appears to have just passed from 
 time into eternity, with all the habiliments of life about him, and 
 the bare-ribbed image of death, which lies at his side, awfully - 
 intimating the transition that must soon be made. The sculptor 
 has here " bodied forth" a lesson of mortality which is ex- 
 tremely simple, yet full of pathos and instruction. 
 
 Near this monument we observed a brass tablet with a long 
 latin inscription upon it, to the memory of John Beton, a 
 
 L 3 
 
150 JOHN BETON. 
 
 fidential servant of the unfortunate Mary Queen of Scots; he 
 appears to have entered into the service of his royal mistress 
 early in life, and he was one of the principal agents in her de- 
 liverance from the castle of Loch Levin : afterwards he was 
 employed by the Queen in an embassy to Charles the Ninth, 
 King of France, and likewise to Elizabeth : he died at Chats- 
 worth in the year 1570, at the age of thirty-two. Situated as 
 Mary then was, she could ill bear the loss of such a servant ; 
 though a Queen, she was yet a prisoner, and with the excep- 
 tion of the little circle of domestics who attended upon her per- 
 son at Chatsworth, she had none to do her homage. 
 
 " Cover your heads, and mock not flesh and blood 
 
 " With solemn reverence ; throw away respect, 
 
 "Tradition, form, and ceremonious duty; 
 
 " For you have but mistook me all this while : 
 
 " I live on bread like you feel want, taste grief, 
 
 " Need friends subjected thus, 
 
 " How can you say to me, I am a king?" SHAKSPEARE, Rich. II. 
 
 Poor Mary ! " she both needed friends and tasted grief," 
 and the death of one who had always served her with zeal and 
 fidelity, was a calamity she most severely felt, and a loss she 
 could not easily repair. To the Rev. R. Smith, the Rector of 
 Edensor, I am indebted for a correct copy of the elaborate in- 
 scription which records the death of this faithful servant of the 
 unfortunate and cruelly persecuted Queen of Scotland. 
 
 INSCRIPTION. 
 
 Deo. Opt. Max. et Posteritati sacrum Johanni Betonio Scoto nobilis et 
 optimi Viri Johannis Betonii ab Anthmwty filio Davidis Betonii illustriss. 
 S. R. E. Cardinalis Nepoti, Jacobi] Betonii Reverendiss. S. Andreae Arch- 
 iepiscopi et Regni Scotia3 Cancellarii digniss. pronepoti. ab ineunte aetate 
 in humanioribus disciplinis et philosophia quo facilior ad jus Romanum 
 (cujus ipse consultiss. fuit) aditus patet, ab optimis quibusqz praeceptoribus 
 et liberaliter et ingenue educate : omnibus morum facilitate, fide, prudentia 
 et constantia charo : unde a Sereniss. Principe Maria Scotorum Gallo- 
 rumqz Regina in praegustatoris primum mox (Economi munus suffecto, 
 ejusdemqz Sereniss. Reginas una cum aliis e vinculis truculentiss. Tiranni 
 apud levini lacus castrum liberatori fortiss. quern post varias legationes et ad 
 Carolum 9 Galliarum Regem Christianiss. et ad Elizabethan! sereniss. An- 
 glorum Reginam fceliciter et non sine laude Misceptas : fatis properantibus 
 in suae aetatis flore sors aspera immani dysenterias Morbo e numero viven- 
 tium exemit. Jacobus Reverendiss. Glasguensis Archiepiscopus et Andreas 
 Betonii ejusdem sereniss. Reginas ille apud Regem Christianiss. legatus, hie 
 vero ceconomus in perpetuam rei memoriam ex voluntate, et pro imperio 
 sereniss. Reginae herae clementiss. f rs mcestiss. posuerunt. 
 
 Obiit anno salutis 1 570. vixit annos 52. menses 7. et diem dm expectat 
 apud Chathworth in Anglia. 
 
ENTRANCE TO CHATSWORTH. 151 
 
 EPITAPHIVM. 
 
 Immaturia tibi legerunt fila Sorores 
 
 Betoni, ut summum ingenium suramumqz periret 
 
 Judicium. et nobis jucundum nil foret ultra" 
 
 DOMI ET FORIS. A.B. 
 
 Near the New Inn, at Edensor, stands the Porter's Lodge, 
 which commands one of the entrances into Chatsworth Park : 
 it is a neat stone building, but certainly not sufficiently elegant 
 or ornamented to be an appropriate introduction to so magnifi- 
 cent a mansion. From this entrance into the park the road 
 ascends to a high point of ground, from whence Chatsworth 
 and its surrounding scenery are first beheld. Descending 
 from this elevated situation, and approaching the river Der- 
 went, the house appears to great advantage, and the noble 
 amphitheatre of wood by which this richly ornamented man- 
 sion is accompanied, has a grand and magnificent effect. The 
 lofty foliage near the house is well connected with the remote 
 hills by a succession of delightful woody scenery, which is 
 terminated in distance with the barren mountains of the Peak. 
 About a quarter of a mile from the house a stone bridge of 
 three arches crosses the river: this elegant structure was 
 built by Paine, and is reported to be from a design by 
 Michael Angelo : the niches between the arches are adorned 
 with four marble figures by Gibber, of but indifferent work- 
 manship : as ornaments to the bridge^ they have a pleasing 
 effect, but they cannot be highly commended as works of art. 
 
 Few noble mansions have been more lavishly praised and 
 indiscriminately censured than Chatsworth, which was once 
 the pride and boast of Derbyshire, " when," as Gilpin ex- 
 presses it, " trim parterres and formal water-works were in 
 fashion ;" but now, fallen from its high estate, it has become 
 a butt for every pretender to taste to shoot an arrow at. 
 
 Chatsworth House was built by William Talman, a native 
 of Wiltshire, who was Comptroller of the Works in the reign 
 of William the Third, and notwithstanding the defects of its 
 ground plan, which is certainly not unobjectionable, it will 
 long remain a splendid monument of the architectural talent 
 of its builder. It is composed of four nearly equal sides, 
 with an open quadrangular court within, and the principal 
 front is highly ornamented : it is rich without being tawdry, 
 well proportioned and light, and elegant in appearance. The 
 other sides, though not equally admirable in design, conspire 
 
 L 4 
 
152 SCENERY IN CHATSWOIITH PARK. 
 
 to produce an impression favourable to the abilities of Talmart, 
 who from this specimen of his skill was evidently a man of 
 superior attainments in his profession. Denham House in 
 Gloucestershire,, and old Thoresby House, in Nottingham- 
 shire, were by the same architect. J once heard an eminent 
 artist remark that the principal fault in Chats worth was an 
 apparent want of apartments suited for the accommodation of 
 the domestics of so princely a mansion. It is a palace to the 
 eye, where every part seems alike fitted for the noble owner 
 and his guests only, and on beholding it the spectator is na- 
 turally led to enquire where the servants of such an establish- 
 ment are to abide.* 
 
 In Chatsworth Park many delightful views occur, which 
 are chiefly terminated by the Moorland scenery of Derby- 
 shire, and about half a mile below the bridge we noticed one 
 eminently adapted to the purposes of the pencil. Immediately 
 before us lay the river, across whose stream a stone butment 
 or weir has been erected, which damming up the water, ex- 
 pands it into breadth ; it is thence precipitated over this inter- 
 ruption to its progress, where it forms a magnificent cascade. 
 On a gently ascending ground, about half a mile higher up 
 the river, stands Chatsworth, finely embosomed in 
 
 " Majestic woods of every vigorous green ; 
 
 '* Stage above stage high waving o'er the hills." THOMSON. 
 
 A little on the left is the bridge backed with broad and ample 
 foliage : cattle reposing in groups on the brink of the river, or 
 cooling themselves in the stream adorned the foreground ; and 
 the middle and remote distances, which are ornamented with 
 a palace, a bridge, and towers and temples, disclose a scene 
 as rich and as lovely as the fancy of Claude Lorraine ever 
 portrayed when under the influence of his happiest inspir- 
 ations. Yet the foreground had more of Berghem than 
 Claude about it : the respective features which constitute the 
 peculiar charm and excellence of these great masters, were 
 most harmoniously combined; every part was in character, 
 and the whole was faithful to nature. In this view the inter- 
 vention of a few trees hides the cascade in the garden, near 
 the house, which is a very formal object. A long and narrow 
 stripe of regular stone steps, down which the water is some- 
 times made to descend for the amusement of visitors without 
 
 * This objection no longer exists. Chatsworth has been greatly enlarged 
 and improved under the direction of J. Wyatt, Esq. ., 
 
THE COUIIT AT CttATSVVORTH HOUSE. 153 
 
 any winding, break, or interruption, has at any rate an Un- 
 picturesque appearance, particularly when the fountains above 
 are not in motion. Entirely to remove this scar on the fair 
 face of Beauty may very properly be objected to, as it would 
 obliterate one of the distinguishing features of Chatsworth ; 
 it may nevertheless be so far improved as to become a very 
 pleasing object. Bed the channel of the cascade with rugged 
 and unequal stones,- plant part of its brink with shrubs, and if 
 practicable, give to its course a winding direction ; thus the 
 water will occasionally be lost and seen as it descends, and by 
 damming up this artificial stream in its progress down the 
 hill, narrowing its dimensions in one place and opening it in 
 another, it will assume a more natural appearance : the cas- 
 cade at Chatsworth may thus deviate into beauty, and instead 
 of being suddenly absorbed into the earth, it may apparently 
 retire behind the house or lose itself amongst the bushes, con- 
 veying to the spectator the pleasing idea of a continued 
 stream, withdrawn from his sight by the intervention only of 
 other objects. 
 
 Having leisurely surveyed the exterior of Chatsworth, we 
 were anxious to be admitted to a contemplation of the trea- 
 sures it contained, and we already dwelt with ecstasy on the 
 rich stores of art the legacies of genius with which im- 
 agination had decorated this palace of the Peak. It is a trite 
 remark, that highly-excited anticipation often ends in dis- 
 appointment : the observation has been made a thousand 
 times without abating the unreasonableness of expectation, 
 and will be a thousand times repeated before mankind grow 
 wiser by the use of it. The interior of Chatsworth will gratify 
 those who do not expect too much, and if any man return 
 from such a place either chagrined or disappointed, let him 
 recollect that the fault is principally, if not entirely, his own. 
 Shortly after passing the Porter's Lodge we entered an 
 open quadrangular court, formed by the four sides of Chats- 
 worth, which in general style and richness of ornament 
 corresponds with the principal fronts of the building. Two 
 sides of this court have open balconies, guarded by stone 
 balustrades, which are divided into different sections by 
 twenty-two intervening parts, that form the pedestals to the 
 same number of busts. The busts are well carved in stone, 
 and represent some of the most distinguished personages in 
 the reign of Queen Anne. In this court there are some 
 military trophies, which are said to have been executed from 
 
ARION AND THE DOLPHIN. 
 
 designs by G. Gibbons, the celebrated carver on wood : they 
 are formed into four different subjects, and they embellish 
 the east and west sides of the court. They are the workman- 
 ship of Mr. Samuel Watson, a native of the Peak of Derby- 
 shire, a man who attained to uncommon excellence in his pro- 
 fession, and who sculptured figures and ornaments in stone in 
 bas relief with great skill and ability : nearly the whole of the 
 rich and exquisite carving that adorns the exterior of this 
 noble mansion, is the work of this artist. The middle of the 
 court is occupied with a marble statue of Arion seated on the 
 back of a Dolphin, and surrounded with the clear living 
 waters of a fountain, which fall into a capacious basin, com- 
 
 Eosed of the marble of the Peak of Derbyshire. This figure, 
 y some strange propensity to blundering, is generally called 
 Orpheus, probably from the circumstance of his playing on a 
 lyre, and the well known classical fable of Arion is forgotten. 
 He was a musician and a poet of Lesbos, at a time when 
 those characters, though now distinct from each other, were 
 intimately connected. Having acquired great fame in his 
 own country, he travelled into Italy, and became rich by the 
 exercise of his professional excellence : returning homewards, 
 full of the hope of enjoying in his own country the wealth he 
 had amassed in another, the mariners who accompanied him 
 were tempted to throw him into the sea, that they might 
 possess themselves of his riches. In this extremity he re- 
 quested permission once more to play upon his harp before he 
 died: the request was granted: he struck the chords, and 
 amidst a stream of music that astonished the mariners, he 
 leaped into the sea : a dolphin, charmed with the strains of 
 his harp, caught him on its back, and in return for the sweet 
 music it had made, bore him safely through the waves to his 
 home, where he arrived long before the vessel in which he 
 had embarked, when he told the story of his danger and 
 escape. The mariners, on their examination, acknowledged 
 their murderous intention, and as far as they were concerned 
 in the transaction, they confirmed the tale of the miraculous 
 escape of Arion on the back of a Dolphin. 
 
155 
 
 SECTION XL 
 
 Interior of Chatsworth. Paintings. Verrio and Laguerre. 
 Gallery of Drawings. Chapel. Library. Tapestry. 
 Sculpture. Portraits. Closterman. Sir James Tkornhill. 
 Carving in Wood. Gibbons. Samuel Watson. Cibber. 
 
 V V E now entered the hall, the first apartment that strangers 
 are introduced into at Chatsworth : it is a spacious and noble 
 room, and the flight of steps which connects it with the grand 
 stair-case, passing between two rocks of variegated alabaster, 
 and ornamented with rich gilt balustrades, has a grand effect. 
 This apartment exhibits the first specimen of the kind of 
 painting that most prevails at Chatsworth. Verrio, Laguerre, 
 and Sir James Thornhill, were the principal artists who de- 
 corated the walls and ceilings of this splendid mansion, and in 
 the hall, Verrio has attempted the assassination of Caesar at 
 the foot of Pompey's statue 
 
 " when Brutus rose, 
 
 " Refulgent from the stroke of Caesar's fate, 
 " Amid the crowd of patriots, and his arm 
 " Aloft extending, like eternal Jove, 
 " When guilt brings down the thunder, call'd aloud 
 " On Tully's name, and shook his crimson steel, 
 " And bade the Father of his Country hail ! 
 " For, lo ! the tyrant prostrate in the dust, 
 " And Rome again is free." AKENSIDE. 
 
 The subject of this picture was too mighty for the grasp of such 
 a mind as Verrio's. His Brutus has none of the dignity with 
 which Akenside has clothed his noble Roman, and his conspir- 
 ators are altogether a miserable set of common-place ruffians, 
 who seem in the act of butchering one of their associates, who 
 had threatened to turn informer. I am aware that this paint- 
 ing has been attributed to Louis Laguerre ; but as this artist 
 was only employed by Verrio as an assistant in his labours, I 
 have chosen to characterise their joint productions here as the 
 works of the master. Pope has associated these artists toge- 
 ther, and his verse will probably perpetuate the remembrance 
 of their names when their works are forgotten. 
 
156 PAINTINGS. 
 
 " And now the chapel's silver bell you heal 4 , 
 
 " That summons you, to all the pride of prayer, 
 
 " Light qu'rks of music, broken and uneven, 
 
 " Make the soul dance upon a jig to heaven, 
 
 " On painted ceilings you devoutly stare, 
 
 " Where sprawl the Saints ofVerrio and Laguerre" POPE. 
 
 The pencil of Verrio indeed has freely expatiated over the 
 walls of the staircases, and the ceilings of the rooms in every 
 part of Chatsworth, and gods and goddesses, and allegorical 
 personages, in which he unrestrainedly indulged, are intro- 
 duced into the humble company of mortals, without any great 
 portion of either taste or feeling, and splendid colouring is made 
 to supply the place of elevated design and grandeur of con- 
 ception. This artist, in one of his most important and elaborate 
 productions, has introduced Sir Godfrey Kneller and himself 
 in long periwigs, as spectators of Christ healing the Sick. 
 Even Sir Joshua Reynolds, a man whose very name ought to 
 be mentioned with reverence, in one of his designs, has fallen 
 into this absurd error absurd, because it has a tendency to 
 defeat the intention of the artist, by abstracting the mind of the 
 spectator from the action exhibited before him, and fixing it on 
 a period of time and a series of personages that have no con- 
 nexion with the events which the canvass represents. Verrio 
 and Sir Godfrey Kneller attending to one of Christ's miracles 
 is hardly more absurd than Sir Joshua Reynolds and his coad- 
 jutor Jervais appearing in the character of shepherds at the 
 nativity of Jesus, in the great window at New College, Oxford. 
 Sir Joshua's fine picture on this subject is now in the posses- 
 sion of Earl Fitzwilliam, at Wentworth House. 
 
 Verrio, though deficient in design and composition, had a 
 free and ready pencil, and he was in great favour with King 
 Charles the Second. From 1676 to 1681 he received nearly 
 seven thousand pounds for paintings done at Windsor only 
 so munificently were the arts patronised during the reign of 
 this remarkable prince. The following anecdote is abridged 
 from Horace Walpole, and detailed on his authority, and it 
 exhibits so much of the character of both Verrio and his royal 
 patron, that I cannot resist the introduction of it, where per- 
 haps it may be regarded as oat of place. Verrio, in his style 
 and manner of living, was very expensive : he kept a splendid 
 t.ible, and often pressed the king for money with great freedom, 
 which his Majesty good-naturedly indulged. Once, at Hamp- 
 ton Court, when he had but lately received an advance of one 
 
GALLERY OF DRAWINGS. 157 
 
 thousand pounds, he found the king in such a circle that he could 
 not conveniently approach him. He called out, " Sire, I de- 
 sire the favour of speaking to your Majesty." " Well, Verrio," 
 said the king, " what is your request ?" " Money, Sir ; I am 
 so short of cash that I am not able to pay my workmen, and 
 your Majesty and I have learnt that pedlars and painters cannot 
 give credit long." The king smiled, and said he had but lately 
 ordered him a thousand pounds. Yes, Sire," replied he, " but 
 that was soon paid away, and I have no gold left." " At that 
 rate," said the king, "you would spend more than I do to main- 
 tain my family." " True," answered Verrio, " but does your 
 Majesty keep an open table as I do ?" 
 
 Verrio, influenced by feelings that did honour to his nature, 
 retained his attachment to his royal master long after the latter 
 had descended into the grave, and at the revolution of 1688, 
 he relinquished the place he held at court, and contemning the 
 offers of new regal favours, he refused to employ his pencil in 
 the service of King William : at this time he quitted the ca- 
 pital and retired into the country, where he executed the paint- 
 ings at Chatsworth and at Burleigh, the princely mansion of 
 the Marquis of Exeter, where his works are equally numerous 
 and of the same character. With such feelings it is perhaps 
 extraordinary that Verrio should have been induced to spend 
 so much of his time in ornamenting the mansion of the first 
 Duke of Devonshire, who, it is well known, was a principal 
 agent in the production of that event which Verrio appears so 
 much to have deplored. 
 
 From the entrance-hall we passed onward through a long 
 narrow gallery, and one of the most attractive and interesting 
 apartments in Chatsworth. We entered it with delight and 
 left it with regret. Nearly one thousand original sketches, by 
 the most eminent Flemish, Venetian, Spanish, and Italian 
 masters, cover its walls, forming altogether an assemblage of 
 drawings which for number and excellence can hardly be sur- 
 passed in any part of the kingdom. An arrangement which 
 would throw the works of the different artists into distinct 
 classes, would greatly improve this fine collection. 
 
 On entering the chapel we felt the delightful fragrance of 
 the cedar wood, of which it is almost entirely composed : it is a 
 richly ornamented place, and carving, painting, and sculpture, 
 have all contributed to its decoration : . the ceiling, and every 
 part of it which is not otherwise appropriated, have been em- 
 bellished by the pencils of Verrio and Laguerre. The orna- 
 
1 58 CHAPEL. LIBRARY. 
 
 ments in wood are represented to be the work of Gibbons, and 
 the altar is the sculpture of Gibber. It is composed of the 
 fluors and marbles of Derbyshire, and enriched with the figures 
 of Faith and Hope in full relief: they are ssid to be of exqui- 
 site workmanship, but they want simplicity, and the drapery, 
 which has been highly spoken of, is heavy, even to loading 
 what it should only cover. As statues intended for ornament 
 only, they are tolerable, but as works of art they are but in- 
 different productions. I observed that a niche, apparently 
 intended for a third figure, forms a part of the design of this 
 sculptured altar. Charity, as a proper companion to the Faith 
 and Hope of Gibber, might be introduced into this vacant 
 niche, and thus fill up what appears to have been the original 
 intention of the sculptor. 
 
 One of the best and most successful efforts of Verrio's pencil 
 is in this chapel ; the subject is the incredulity of Saint Thomas. 
 The visitors to Chatsworth are generally told by their attendant 
 that this painting is by Laguerre. I have before represented 
 this artist as an assistant only in works that were undertaken 
 by Verrio, and it is highly probable that Laguerre was em- 
 ployed on this picture. Pilkington, in his Dictionary of 
 Painters, when speaking of Verrio, says, " That performance 
 which is accounted his best, is the altar-piece in the chapel at 
 Chatsworth, representing the Incredulity of Saint Thomas." 
 On this authority, and that of Horace Walpole, I have taken 
 from Laguerre the honour of painting this picture, notwith- 
 standing the share that he probably had in its production. He 
 had a free pencil, and executed with great facility those com- 
 mon-place combinations with which his mind was stored. To 
 this artist Sir James Thornhill is reported to have been greatly 
 indebted for the formation of his style and manner. Laguerre 
 had only one son, who was on the stage in the capacity of a 
 singer. On his benefit night his father attended to witness his 
 performance, but before the drawing up of the curtain he was 
 seized with a fit of apoplexy, and expired in the pit of Old 
 Drury. Such, and so sudden, was the death of Laguerre. 
 
 It is not necessary to enumerate the different apartments, as 
 they are passed over in succession by those who visit this pa- 
 lace of the Peak : they are generally spacious and lofty, but 
 not particularly magnificent: some of them are hung with 
 tapestry, and the whole are elegantly, but not sumptuously, 
 furnished. The new library, however, is a splendid room, and 
 has been lately fitted up in a style of magnificence every way 
 
TAPESTRY. 159 
 
 worthy of its noble owner. The paintings by Louis Charon, 
 which formerly disgraced its walls, have been removed, and 
 an extensive and valuable library of books now occupies their 
 place. Every thing in this apartment is elegant, and bespeaks 
 the taste of the present Duke, under whose direction it has 
 been so essentially improved. Two porphyry vases, from the 
 quarries at Elfdalen in Sweden, have been lately introduced 
 into it, and they are now placed on pedestals of black marble, 
 from the Duke's mills at Ashford, which are exquisite spe- 
 cimens of this fine production of the Peak. In this truly 
 noble library, an honourable station has been allotted to two 
 eminently beautiful fossil productions ; the one a specimen of 
 Fel-spar, from Labrador, the other Dog-tooth-spar, enshrin- 
 ing copper pyrites, from the Duke of Devonshire's copper 
 mine at Acton, near the river Dove. 
 
 The cabinet of fossils and minerals which was collected and 
 formed by the late Duchess of Devonshire, and classed and 
 arranged by Mr. White Watson, F. L. S. of Bakewell, has 
 been lately removed from a public to a private apartment, and 
 it is now not shewn to strangers. That any consideration 
 should induce the Duke of Devonshire to exclude the casual 
 visitors to Chatsworth, from beholding this collection, may be 
 regretted, and particularly so as it contains many choice and 
 beautiful specimens.* 
 
 I have before intimated, that several apartments in this 
 ducal mansion are hung with tapestry, some of which exhibits 
 great richness of colouring, and appears to have been origin- 
 ally of considerable excellence. The copies of the Cartoons 
 of Raphael merit a better fortune than they have here expe- 
 rienced : the different subjects have been cut to suit the dimen- 
 sions of the rooms, and then put together again in a way that 
 has disunited them most absurdly: thus about two-thirds of 
 the cartoon of the Lame Man healed by Peter and John, " at 
 the gate of the Temple called Beautiful," has been connected 
 with the Sacrifice at Lystra, 'and in such a manner as to form 
 one subject: again, the two parts that have been excluded 
 from the places they had previously occupied, have been either 
 separately disposed of or joined to others, without either care 
 or consideration. The whole, therefore, presents a heter- 
 ogeneous assemblage of groups of figures having no connec- 
 
 * This collection is intended to form part of the adornments of the new 
 rooms at Chatsworth. 
 
1 60 SCULPTUtlfi. 
 
 tion with each other. The death of Ananias has been so 
 divided as to make both parts equally unintelligible : the shears 
 have been passed exactly through the middle of the subject : 
 the fallen Ananias, therefore, occupies a corner in the fore- 
 ground of one picture, and the kneeling figure, who is.pene- 
 trated with awe and horror at the event, has a situation equally 
 conspicuous in the other. It is difficult to imagine how such a 
 thing as this should have occured in such a house, where the 
 value of these productions must be well understood. 
 
 Chatsworth is not rich in sculpture. Passing through the 
 different apartments, a few busts were seen, which are chiefly 
 modern : amongst these Charles James Fox, and the late 
 Duke of Devonshire, by Nolekens, are decidedly the best. 
 There is likewise an antique Alexander, part of which, by the 
 bye, is modern, but the head is very fine, and has great gran- 
 deur of expression. A few other heads of minor importance 
 complete the Chatsworth catalogue, in this elevated depart- 
 ment of art.* In painting, the collection is more numerous, 
 yet but few pictures are to be found of a very superior cha- 
 racter: the late Duchess of Devonshire, with her infant 
 daughter, the present Lady Morpeth, on her knee, is one of 
 the best : one cannot see it without feeling its excellence. The 
 graceful turn of the head of the principal figure the happy 
 expression of countenance the smiling face, and the up- 
 lifted out-spread hands of the infant are exquisitely beautiful 
 and true to nature. This picture is entirely and essentially all 
 that it professes to be a mother and a child mutually delight- 
 ing and delighted with each other : it is painted in a full and 
 brilliant tone of colour, and altogether it may be classed 
 amongst the best pictures of Sir Joshua Reynolds. The Duke 
 of Cumberland, by the same master, which occupies a con- 
 spicuous situation in the same apartment, is a dignified portrait: 
 it was evidently painted at an earlier period, and it exhibits 
 more attention to detail, and more of laborious finish, than 
 distinguished the later productions of Sir Joshua's pencil. 
 Perhaps after all the finest picture in the house, is the whole- 
 length of the first Earl of Devonshire in his state robes, which 
 is painted in a style but little inferior to the best works of Van- 
 dyke. If I mistake not, this figure has been ascribed to 
 
 * The reader is requested to recollect, that these observations were made 
 in 1818, since which time the Duke of Devonshire has added some fine 
 works in sculpture to his collection at Chatsworth. 
 
PORTRAITS. 161 
 
 % 
 
 Mytems, but Horace Walpole is of opinion that it was painted 
 by Paul Vansomer, a native of Antwerp, who came into this 
 country in the reign of James the First, and who was deserv- 
 edly esteemed as a very superior artist : he was accustomed to 
 paint his whole-length figures on a mat. Mytems generally 
 used a carpet, a distinction by which the respective works of 
 these artists are presumed to be generally known* 
 
 In my memorandums, made on a visit to Chatsworth some 
 years ago, a notice occurs of a picture containing whole- 
 length portraits of Henry the Seventh and Henry the Eighth, 
 by Holbein, which I then thought a very masterly performance. 
 It appeared to have been painted in distemper, in black and 
 white, the hands and face heightened with a slight tinge of 
 colour, like some of Edridge's pencil-portraits : the effect was 
 powerful, and the natural ease and manly dignity of Henry 
 the Eighth conveyed an excellent idea of that haughty and 
 overbearing monarch. This painting has been removed to 
 enrich the Duke of Devonshire's collection at Chiswick. I 
 have likewise noticed with a mark of approbation a full-length 
 portrait of the first Duke of Rutland ; which I have not ob- 
 served on my late excursions to Chatsworth : it was painted 
 by Closterman, a native of Osnaburgh, an artist who was 
 liberally patronized by several noble families in the reign of 
 Queen Anne. The large picture at Blenheim, in which the 
 Duke of Marlborough on horseback is a conspicuous figure, is 
 by this artist, who is reported to have had many disputes with 
 the Duchess during its progress : one day the Duke observed 
 to him, " It has given me more trouble to reconcile my wife 
 and you than to fight a battle." Closterman was very suc- 
 cessful in his profession, and might have lived in affluence, but 
 for a foolish fondness for a young woman who kept his house; 
 she, however, robbed him of a great part of his property, and 
 fled the kingdom. The loss of his money and his mistress 
 preyed upon his spirits, and soon brought him to the grave. 
 He'died at the age of fifty-seven. 
 
 Sir James Thornhill, whose taste was evidently influenced 
 by the works of Verrio and Laguerre, found ample employ- 
 ment for his pencil at Chatsworth : in the back staircase he 
 has exhibited the Fall of Phaeton, and in the painted anti- 
 chamber adjoining, he has represented on the ceiling, the 
 Assembly of the Gods, in which he has successfully imitated 
 the style and manner of his masters : his large picture of the 
 Rape of the Sabine Women nearly covers one side of the 
 
 M 
 
162 CARVING IN WOOD. 
 
 same apartment. By what fatality of blundering Sir James 
 was directed when he composed and painted this picture, 
 it is difficult to determine : how he, in so early a period of the 
 history of Rome, found his dome-crowned palaces, rich-por- 
 ticoed temples, and splendid amphitheatres, one can hardly 
 imagine. This is a species of anachronism in which painters 
 should not indulge ; it distracts the mind between one period 
 of time and another, gives a false feature to the interesting 
 events of earlier ages, and destroys the locality of history. But 
 Sir James was not at all times very nice in his ideas of pro- 
 priety ; he appears not to have hesitated long between what 
 was admissible in historical composition and what incongruous; 
 he decided in haste, and therefore he occasionally decided 
 wrong. When he painted the large picture in Greenwich 
 Hospital, which represents King William and Queen Mary, 
 surrounded by the proper officers and personages of their 
 court, he contrived to introduce himself, clad in a rich em- 
 broidered suit, and ornamented with a deep flowing periwig, 
 like one of Sir Godfrey Kneller's portraits ; where he occupies 
 an important station in the groupe. In the architectural part of 
 his picture of the Rape of the Sabine Women, there is some 
 good painting, but the figures are indifferently drawn, and the 
 tone of colouring is not pleasing. Perseus and Andromeda, a 
 large painting which occupies a place in the anti-chamber to 
 the Duke's dressing-room, is another of Sir James Thornhill's 
 unsuccessful efforts : if in the figure of Andromeda he has 
 embodied his idea of female beauty, but few artists, not even 
 Rubens or Fuseli, less understood in what it consisted. 
 
 Chatsworth abounds with a great variety of exquisite carv- 
 ing in wood ; the dead game the fish the flowers the 
 shells and the minor ornaments by which they are accom- 
 panied have all the charm of excellence about them : the 
 feathery appearance of the birds is inimitable. What Horace 
 Walpole has observed, every man feels as he contemplates 
 these beautiful productions. " There is no instance," he says, 
 " of a man before Gibbons who gave to wood the loose and 
 airy lightness of flowers, and chained together the various pro- 
 ductions of the elements with a free disorder, natural to each 
 species." This is a high compliment, but those who visit this 
 noble mansion will not regard it as overstrained. Davies, in 
 his "View of Derbyshire," published about 1810, says that 
 this eminent artist met his death by a fall from the scaffold, 
 when employed in the chapel here : the accuracy of this ac- 
 
GIBBONS. WATSON. 163 
 
 count is very doubtful. According to Walpole, whose author- 
 ity is but rarely disputable, he died, August 3 1721, at his 
 house in Bow-Street, Covent-Garden, twelve or fourteen years 
 after the principal part of the chapel at Chatsworth was 
 finished, and I have understood that his finest work, and the 
 most superb monument of his skill, which is at Petworth, in 
 Sussex, was executed subsequently to the carving at Chats- 
 worth. That the life of Gibbons was a life of industry, is 
 evident from the many works he left behind him; some of 
 which, said to be of great excellence, were unfortunately 
 destroyed by fire at Chiswick. The foliage in the choir of 
 St. Paul's the font in St. James's church the chimney- 
 pieces, door-cases, and many of the picture-frames at Burleigh, 
 are the work of Gibbons : in what he did at Chatsworth he 
 was greatly assisted by others, and particularly by a native of 
 Derbyshire, whom it would be injustice not to mention here. 
 Mr. Samuel Watson, the grandfather of the present Mr. 
 White Watson, of Bakewell, had no inconsiderable share both 
 in the exterior and interior decorations of this noble mansion; 
 and it is highly probable that many parts of that beautiful 
 carving, which has excited the admiration of Horace Wal- 
 pole, and all who have beheld it, were executed by this 
 unremembered artist. The urns the medallions the 
 coats of arms the wreaths and the roses that ornament the 
 four fronts of Chatsworth the military trophies in the court 
 and some of those exquisite specimens of carving in wood, 
 which have hitherto been attributed solely to Gibbons, are 
 either wholly, or in part, the workmanship of Watson. Study- 
 ing under Gibbons, whose works were the constant object of 
 his imitation, he attained great excellence in his profession, 
 and was highly esteemed both for his integrity and talents. 
 He was the friend and associate of Sir James Thornhill, who 
 painted his portrait, which is now at Bakewell, and who re- 
 garded him as worthy of a regular correspondence when they 
 were many miles apart. The very liberal prices he received 
 for his works sufficiently evince the estimation in which he was 
 held. In his papers, with a perusal of which I have been fa- 
 voured, amongst many items of a similar nature, I noted the 
 following : 
 
 . s. d. 
 Carving in wood in the upper story of the west front, 
 
 and in the lower dining-room in stone, - - - - 67 8 9 
 
 Carving in stone in the stair-case 12 17 6 
 
 M 2 
 
GIBBER. 
 
 . s. d, 
 Work done in the altar-piece of the chapel - - - - 370 
 
 Urn on the altar ---- 2150 
 
 Bill for carving on the north side of Chatsworth - - 94 9 4 
 
 The coats of arms on the west front 55 00 
 
 Another bill for sundry carving, chiefly in wood, dated 
 
 September 24. 1704 342 5 5 
 
 Bill, dated 1707, carving north front windows, medal- 
 lions, and roses, ^on stone, and ditto in wood, - - 69 12 
 
 Many other memorandums might be quoted from these 
 papers, all tending to shew how liberally Mr. Samuel Watson 
 was employed at Chatsworth, and how largely he contributed, 
 by the exercise of his professional talents, to its decorations. 
 He died at Hcanor, in Derbyshire, of which he was a native, 
 and was buried in the chancel of the church, where there is a 
 richly-ornamented monument to his memory, which contains 
 an inscription that refers to his works at Chatsworth : 
 
 " Watson is gone, whose skilful art display'd, 
 
 " To the very life whatever nature made : 
 
 " View but his wond'rous works in Chatsworth hall, 
 
 " Which are so gazed at and admired by all, 
 
 " You'll say 'tis pity he should hidden lie, 
 
 " And nothing said to revive his memory." 
 
 Another artist who contributed to embellish this residence 
 of the Dukes of Devonshire, was Gibber, who, besides the altar 
 in the chapel, executed the four marble statutes on the bridge 
 the two sphinxes on the pedestals in the front of the house 
 and a figure of Neptune that was formerly in the garden, 
 but which I have riot lately noticed. This work is said to have 
 been a very fine production, and but little if any inferior to his 
 celebrated figures of Melancholy and Madness before the front 
 of Bedlam Hospital. Several door-cases at Chatsworth are 
 by the same hand : they are made of the alabaster of the Peak 
 of Derbyshire, and are richly ornamented with foliage and 
 flowers, beautifully disposed and finely executed. This artist 
 was a native of the duchy of Holstein, and the father of Colley 
 Gibber, once poet-laureate, whose name is identified with the 
 history of the English stage. 
 
165 
 
 SECTION XII. 
 
 Reflections on leaving Chatsworth. Projected Improvement of 
 Chatswortk House. Mary Queen of Scots imprisoned there. 
 
 Marshal Tallard. Hobbes. St. Evremond to Waller. 
 
 Recollections of a former Visit to Chatsvoorth. 
 
 FREQUENTLY as I have visited Chatsworth-house, I have 
 never left it without regret; yet it contains but few of those 
 exquisite productions of the pencil which the mind naturally 
 associates with such a mansion. The works of art that adorn 
 the houses of the wealthy and the great are the best ornaments 
 they possess ; and though they cannot be regarded as exhibit- 
 ing an equitable criterion, either of the riches or the taste of 
 their possessors, they are honourable testimonies in their fa- 
 vour ; they throw round their persons an additional lustre 
 they give them a more exalted place in the estimation of society 
 and invest their mansions with a higher character than that 
 of mere dwellings. So enriched, they are the depositories of the 
 works of genius the honoured receptacles of the labour of 
 ages that have passed away ; and he who reverences the arts, 
 has an abiding interest in the treasures they contain ; he visits 
 them with a chastened feeling, and treads even their precincts 
 with veneration, for genius has hallowed the place that he ap- 
 proaches : contemplating their stores, he lives in other times 
 he holds communion with those who were becomes an 
 inmate of their minds participates the sublime conceptions 
 of Raphael, Titian, Poussin, Rubens, Salvator, and Claude, 
 and he traces in their works the nature and the character of 
 those energetic feelings by which they were embodied and 
 produced. So precious is the deposit they contain ! 
 
 Yet with all my enthusiasm for the productions of these 
 men however I may venerate their names and with what- 
 ever portion of elevated feeling I may dwell on those periods 
 in the history of the arts when they were produced, I cannot 
 but regret that the works of British artists should so rarely 
 
 M 3 
 
166 CHATSWORTH. 
 
 be associated in honourable competition in the collections of 
 the great, with these splendid emanations of other times. In 
 Portrait, History, and Landscape, we have talent that might 
 confer distinction on patronage, and perhaps it is not too 
 presuming to say, that a gallery of the best works of British 
 artists would be but little inferior to any in the world. Do 
 the productions of Stothard's pencil, at Burleigh, sink in 
 comparison with the works of Verrio and Laguerre, who were 
 employed to decorate its ceilings ? rather do they not in sub- 
 ject, composition, colouring, execution, and mind in all that 
 constitutes excellence in painting rise incomparably su- 
 perior ? 
 
 The present Duke of Devonshire has for several years past 
 spent much of his time on the Continent, and during his 
 temporary residence in France and Italy he has obtained 
 some fine specimens of modern sculpture, which are intended 
 to enrich the collection of works of art at Chatsworth-house. 
 A statue, by Canova, is amongst the number, which is said to 
 be a chef-d'ceuvre of that celebrated artist. This statue has 
 already arrived, but it is not intended to be opened for public 
 inspection until the Duke's return from his travels. Some 
 very magnificent plans are now in contemplation for the im- 
 provement of Chatsworth ; and it is understood to be the Duke 
 of Devonshire's intention to render it one of the noblest and 
 most attractive mansions in the kingdom, and more worthy 
 the notice of travellers. When the Archdukes Nicholas and 
 Michael, of Russia, were there, they each of them planted a 
 tree in the west front of the house, which are carefully pro- 
 tected from injury, and are intended to be known by the re- 
 spective names of the noble planters, for the purpose of per- 
 petuating the remembrance of their visit to Derbyshire. 
 
 Chatsworth, as I have before intimated, was for some time 
 the residence, or rather the prison, of Mary Queen of Scots, 
 in remembrance of which a suit of apartments are still known 
 by her name; and near the bridge, by the side of the Derwent, 
 are the remains of an old building, called the Bower of Mary 
 Queen of Scots. A deep moat encompasses the area w r here 
 this tower stands, and a garden once occupied its summit, 
 wherein that unfortunate princess, shorn of every semblance 
 of royalty, was wont to spend the solitary hours of confine- 
 ment. Her second letter to Pope Pius is dated from Chats- 
 worth-house, October 31. 1570, nearly seventeen years before 
 the sanguinary mandate of Elizabeth had sent her to the block. 
 
HOBBES. 167 
 
 The murderous cruelty of this measure could only be equalled 
 by the detestable hypocrisy with which it was succeeded: when 
 Elizabeth heard that the unfortunate Mary was no more, she 
 stood for some time mute with horror, and then burst into 
 expressions of sorrow and resentment : she clothed herself in 
 mourning, and largely indulged in the luxury of grief and 
 lamentation: her ministers and counsellors were denied her 
 presence, and she charged upon them the crime of putting to 
 death her dear sister contrary to her wishes and intentions. 
 Infamous dissimulation ! Many years after this event, Mar- 
 shal Tallard, a French general, who was taken prisoner by 
 the Duke of Marlborough at the battle of Blenheim, spent a 
 part of the days of his captivity in England at Chats worth- 
 house, where he appears to have been treated with a kindness 
 and attention that he most forcibly felt : on taking leave of 
 the Duke of Devonshire he is reported to have said, with true 
 French politeness, " When I return to France, and reckon up 
 the days of my captivity in England, I shall leave out all 
 those I have spent at Chatsworth." 
 
 Of all the personages connected with the local history of 
 Chatsworth, who may have been rendered conspicuous either 
 by their situation or their talents, perhaps no one has a more 
 powerful claim to notice than the once celebrated Latin poet 
 and philosopher, Holies : his connexion with the Devonshire 
 family began early in life, and Chatsworth, in consequence, 
 became his occasional residence : he was a man originally of 
 a weak constitution, and he is said to have been subject through 
 life to imaginary and unnecessary personal fears, that con- 
 tinually preyed upon and agitated his spirits : yet by a strict 
 and uniform attention to diet and exercise, he lived to the age 
 of 92. He was a very early riser, and as soon as he had 
 quitted his bed he walked, or rather ran to the tops of some 
 of the hills about Chatsworth, that he might enjoy a fresher 
 and a purer breeze than circulated through the valley. This 
 practice he continued until he was compelled to relinquish it 
 by the infirmities of age. After breakfast he visited the Earl 
 and the Countess of Devonshire and their children, until about 
 twelve o'clock, when he dined in a private apartment by him- 
 self: he then retired to his own room, where ten or twelve 
 pipes, filled with tobacco, were ranged in a row on his table 
 ready to be used in succession : he then commenced his usual 
 afternoon's employment of smoking, thinking, and writing, 
 which he continued for several hours. When thus engaged 
 
 M 4- 
 
ST. EVREMOND TO WALLEK. 
 
 he was frequently visited by foreigners of distinction, who 
 were attracted to Chatsworth chiefly by the celebrity that 
 Hobbes had acquired amongst the learned and the great. 
 St. Evremond, in one of his letters to Waller, dated from 
 Chatsworth, details some interesting particulars of this extra- 
 ordinary man, whom he found, as he expresses it, " like 
 Jupiter, involved in clouds of his own raising." He says, 
 
 " I now write to you from the Earl of Devonshire's, where I 
 have been this fortnight past, paying my devotions to the Genius 
 of Nature. Nothing can be more romantic than this country 
 except the region about Valois, and nothing can equal this place 
 in beauty but the borders of the lake. 
 
 " It was not, however, so much the desire of seeing natural 
 curiosities that drew me hither : there is a certain moral curiosity 
 under this roof which I have long wished to see, and my Lord 
 Devonshire had the goodness to indulge me by a verv kind in- 
 vitation : I need not tell you that I mean the great philosopher 
 Mr. Hobbes, so distinguished for the singularity of his sentiments 
 and disposition. I arrived a little before dinner, notwithstanding 
 which the Earl told me he believed I was too late to see Mr. 
 Hobbes that day. ' As he does not think like other men,' said his 
 Lordship, ' it is his opinion that he should not live like other men ; I 
 suppose he dined about two hours ago, and he is[now shut up for the 
 rest of the day: your only time to see him is in the morning, but then 
 he walks so fast up those hills that unless you are mounted on one of 
 my ablest hunters you will not keep pace with him.' It was not long 
 before I obtained an audience extraordinary of this literary po- 
 tentate, whom I found like Jupiter involved in clouds of his own 
 raising. He was entrenched behind a battery of ten or twelve 
 guns, charged with a stinking combustible called tobacco. Two 
 or three of these he had fired off, and replaced them in the same 
 order. A fourth he levelled so mathematically against me, that I 
 was hardly able to maintain my post, though I assumed the cha- 
 racter and dignity of embassador from the republic of letters. 
 * I am sorry for your republic,' said Hobbes, ' for if they send 
 you to me in that capacity, they either want me or are afraid of 
 me : men have but two motives for their applications interest 
 and fear ; but the latter is in my opinion most predominant.' I 
 told him that my commission extended no farther than to make 
 him their compliments, and to enquire after his health. < If that 
 be all,' said he, * your republic does nothing more than negociate 
 by the maxims of other states, that is, by hypocrisy : all men are 
 necessarily in a state of war, but all authors hate each other 
 upon principle : for my part, I am at enmity with the' whole corps, 
 from the Bishop of Salisbury down to the bell-man : nay, I hate 
 their writings as much as I do themselves : there is nothing so 
 
HOUSES. 169 
 
 pernicious as reading ; it destroys all originality of sentiment. 
 My Lord Devonshire has more than ten thousand volumes in his 
 house : I entreated his Lordship to lodge me as far as possible from 
 that pestilential corner : I have but one book and that is Euclid, 
 but I begin to be tired of him ; I believe he has done more harm 
 than good; he has set fools a reasoning.' There is one thing in 
 Mr. Hobbes's conduct/ said Lord Devonshire, ' that I am unable 
 to account for : he is always railing at books, yet always adding 
 to their number.' * I write, my Lord,' answered Hobbes, * to^shew 
 the folly of writing. Were all the books in the world on board one 
 vessel, I should feel a greater pleasure than that Lucretius speaks 
 of in seeing the wreck.' * But should you feel no tenderness for 
 your own productions ?' ' I care for nothing,' added he, but 
 the Leviathan, and that might possibly escape by swimming.' 
 
 " As he had frequently changed his political principles, I did 
 not think it of consequence to enquire into his ideas of govern- 
 ment ; but hi the course of conversation I found that he looked 
 upon the principal engine of administration to be Fear. * All 
 government,' said he, * is in itself an evil : it is nothing but the 
 continual imposition of terror and inflictions of punishment : it 
 must be owned that it is an evil which the natural depravity of 
 men has rendered necessary to the existence of society ; but still, 
 it cannot in itself be looked upon with any other sensations than 
 such as are excited by the view of its several instruments the 
 scourge, the gibbet, and the jail the sight of Majesty inspires 
 me with no other ideas than such as arise when I see the lowest 
 executioner of the civil power.' ' That is,' said Lord Devonshire, 
 ' you have the same respect for the king as the hangman.' 
 * Pardon me, my Lord,' returned Hobbes, recollecting himself, 
 ' the king is a very worthy gentleman : you know I had the 
 honour of teaching him philosophy at Paris.' ' Oh, Mr. Hobbes,' 
 replied his Lordship, ' in that respect your royal pupil does you 
 much honour.' " 
 
 Hobbes remained at Chatsworth until a very short time be- 
 fore his death. The Earl of Devonshire and his family were 
 removing to Hardwick Hall in the same county, and Hobbes, 
 who felt his days were fast drawing to a close, was anxious to 
 be near them in his last moments : his journey, though short, 
 was accompanied with both pain and inconvenience : he tra- 
 velled on a feather-bed ; and in a few days after his arrival at 
 Hardwick, a paralysis terminated his existence on the 4th of 
 December, 1679. 
 
 My last visit to Chatsworth was in the autumn of 1 8 1 8, and 
 it revived the recollection of one of the most delightful days 
 I ever passed within the precincts of the Peak of Derbyshire. 
 
170 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 The morning was cheerless and unpropitious, and the whole 
 of the landscape on both sides of the road was obscured by 
 a thin sprinkling of rain, which was continued without the 
 least intermission from the town of Sheffield to the village of 
 Edensor, where, on our arrival, the sun broke out with un- 
 usual splendour ; the clouds suddenly dispersed, and the 
 moisture spread on all around us was soon dissipated by the 
 warm rays of the sun. The shower had fallen with a dewy 
 softness, and the leaves of the trees and the grass in the mea- 
 dows were every where gemmed with lucid drops, that sparkled 
 with light. As these disappeared, the foliage had a brighter 
 glow, and the verdure assumed a fresher and a livelier green ; 
 the air had an additional sweetness, and every breeze that 
 blew, loaded with the fragrance of a thousand flowers, came 
 upon the senses with a delicious softness. As we strolled 
 through the park every object we beheld appeared to feel the 
 influence of so delightful a transition : the deer, and the vari- 
 ous groups of cattle which every where adorned the scene 
 the birds that sported amongst the branches of the trees the 
 swallows as they skimmed the air or dipt the wing in water, 
 seemed all inspired with new life and actuated by a more 
 elastic impulse. The myriads of insects that but a few hours 
 before had no evident existence, were sporting in the beams of 
 the sun, richly enjoying a state of being, which, though brief, 
 was full of happiness. We participated in the general felicity, 
 and gladly resigned ourselves to that luxury of feeling that 
 fulness of enjoyment which pervaded all around us : we 
 rambled through the house, the park, and the gardens, in that 
 frame of mind which peculiarly fitted us to derive pleasure 
 from every thing we saw. Some groups of well-dressed fe- 
 males, who were perambulating the grounds, apparently as 
 happy as ourselves, imparted animation and elegance to the 
 sweet scenery of Chatsworth Park : I know not that I ever 
 beheld the fair forms of nature under a more lovely and cheer- 
 ing effect.- On our return from the top of the cascade, where 
 a water-temple stands, which might with peculiar propriety be 
 dedicated to the God of Mischief, we seated ourselves beneath 
 some tall spreading limes, by the side of a little lake of water 
 as clear and as unruffled as a mirror, from whose polished 
 surface the surrounding objects were reflected with a fresher 
 and a brighter colouring than nature herself had on. Sud- 
 denly the lake became partially agitated, an effect evidently 
 produced by an impulse from beneath : shortly there burst 
 
A FORMER VISIT. 171 
 
 from the surrounding bubbles a pillar of water, that rapidly 
 ascended to the height of more than ninety feet : this column, 
 as it left its parent-bed, was white as the foam of the ocean ; 
 upwards, it became one connected and transparent pillar, and 
 when, at its extreme altitude, it separated into falling particles, 
 it formed a gracefully-descending line, through which the rays 
 of the sun passed, converting every drop of water as it fell 
 into a lucid gem. The motion, and the rapid play and change 
 of light with which the descent was accompanied, produced an 
 effect brilliant and sparkling beyond conception ; and a grace- 
 ful arch of vivid colouring, clear and beauteous as the rainbow 
 in the sky, was thrown upon the banks of the lake and on the 
 light foliage of the trees that adorned its margin. It was in- 
 deed a fairy scene of beauty and of brief delight, and like 
 some lovely vision of enchantment, while we gazed upon it it 
 faded and passed away. 
 
 END OF PART II. 
 
PEAK SCENERY. 
 
 PART III. 
 
175 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 Excursion commenced. Banner Cross. Curious Effect of 
 Clouds. Enter Derbyshire. Burbage Brook. View 
 from Millstone Edge. Winter of 1813. Hathersage. 
 Little John's Grave. Hathersage Church. Camp Green. 
 
 THE day fixed for my THIRD EXCURSION into Derbyshire 
 arrived ; but, instead of being clad in smiles and loveliness, 
 " the dawn was overcast, and heavily in clouds brought on" 
 the important hour, when myself and my companion once 
 more bade adieu to the sooty majesty of the town of Sheffield, 
 and the thick atmosphere in which it was enveloped, for the 
 purpose of participating the pleasure of another ramble 
 amongst the heathy hills of Derbyshire, and inhaling the 
 fresh breeze that plays upon their summits. 
 
 A walk of two miles brought us to Banner Cross, which 
 was the first object that engaged our attention : the delightful 
 mansion lately erected here, stands at the upper extremity of 
 a valley, not within the boundary line of Derbyshire, but yet 
 upon the very verge of the county. The new building at this 
 place was commenced by the late Lieutenant-General Murray, 
 who did not live to witness the completion of the work he had 
 begun. It is the design of Jeffery Wyatt, Esq., and one of the 
 best specimens of modern Gothic architecture that this part 
 of the county contains. The towers, the turrets, and the 
 embattled parapets, by which it is surmounted, rise gracefully 
 from amongst the trees, and the upper apartments command a 
 view of one of the richest and best-wooded landscapes in the 
 vicinity of Sheffield. Smithy Wood, and some of the most 
 beautiful scenery of Abbey Dale, are included in the prospect. 
 From Banner Cross the road continues gradually to ascend 
 until it reaches the highest part of East Moor, about two 
 miles from Hathersage. 
 
176 BURBAGE BROOK. 
 
 As we approached the five-mile stone, the morning mists 
 hung thickly on every part of the landscape: on our right, the 
 clouds were close upon us, and entirely precluded the view of 
 every distant object. The sky seemed to rest a part of its 
 contracted canopy within a few fields of the place where we 
 stood, so very limited was our horizon : shortly the clouds, 
 which were of one unvaried cold colour, broke, and admitted 
 a glimpse of cultivated hill above, while all below was apparent 
 sky : detached portions of the scene were successively dis- 
 covered through the partial breaks, and the little pictures they 
 displayed looked like landscapes in the heavens : the effect 
 was singular and pleasing, and we felt much interested in 
 watching the progressive unfolding of the whole, for in the 
 clearing away of the vapour, one part of the prospect, and 
 then another, appeared to be taken from the clouds, and given 
 to the earth in succession, until the whole hill was distinctly 
 seen. 
 
 As we approached Burbage Brook the hills of Derbyshire 
 began to appear, and looking on our left towards the river 
 Derwent, we had a noble prospect, finely diversified, spread 
 before us. We stood upon a rude stone bridge thrown across 
 a mountain-stream that connects the two sides of a deep 
 valley, through which the Burbage runs amongst huge frag- 
 ments of stone and broken rocks. The woods of Padley and 
 Stoke appeared in the ofFscape, and the hills about Chatsworth 
 filled up the distance. 
 
 Burbage Brook, though generally a scanty stream in sum- 
 mer, has considerable beauty when swollen by heavy rains, 
 or the melting of the snows accumulated during a long winter : 
 then its waters burst from the narrow arches of the bridge in 
 streams about twenty yards apart, and foaming over rugged 
 projections of rock down a precipitous descent, unite in the 
 dell below. High mounds of rock mark the course of this 
 rivulet to the immediate vicinity of the Derwent, which it 
 enters near Grindleford Bridge. 
 
 We had now, though only seven miles from Sheffield, come 
 suddenly upon the fine scenery of the Peak, and as we pro- 
 ceeded towards Hathersage, it became more and more im- 
 posing. A rocky eminence on our left induced us to scramble 
 to its summit, where for a while we stood in silent admiration 
 of the magnificent landscape which this high point of Mill- 
 stone Edge commands : here we passed a delightful hour of 
 existence, contemplating the majesty of nature, and watching 
 
VIEW OF HATHERSAGE. 177 
 
 the thin clouds withdraw their curtains from amongst the 
 mountains, until their highest peaks gleamed with the bright 
 effulgence of the morning sun. Far below, in the deep hol- 
 low of the valley, lay the village of Hathersage, surrounded 
 by lofty eminences ; Win Hill, Lose Hill, and Mam Tor, are 
 amongst the highest and most remote ; and when the clouds 
 had melted into air, and passed away, their shadowy summits, 
 every where invested with the pale hues of distance, looked 
 like mountains in the skies. 
 
 Intending to take the shortest, and, for a pedestrian, the best 
 way to Hathersage, we abandoned the carriage roads, one of 
 which makes a long sweep to the right, and the other to the 
 left, and followed the direction of a narrow unfrequented path, 
 that led us amongst heath fern and fox-glove into the dale be- 
 low. As we regained the road, we had a very pleasing view 
 of the village rising behind the heathy foreground on our 
 right. The church is here a good object : it stands on the 
 side of a steep hill, amongst gardens and cottages, at the upper 
 extremity of the village ; and a fine woody eminence behind 
 rises high above the spire, and makes a good middle distance 
 to the picture. As we proceeded down the hill, the craggy 
 summits on our left presented an imposing outline : they are 
 crested with huge piles of rock, that were opposed to a cloud- 
 less sky over which a morning sun diffused unusual bright- 
 ness. The different parts of these disjointed cliffs are so 
 proportioned and combined, that, when seen from the dale 
 below during an early part of the day, they have strikingly the 
 appearance of an old dilapidated building : a dubious light, or 
 a hazy atmosphere, sometimes increases the deception, and 
 transforms the rocky points and projections into towers, turrets, 
 and battlements : 
 
 CT Their rocky summits, split and rent, 
 
 Form turret, dome, and battlement, 
 
 Or seem fantastically set 
 
 With Cupola or Minaret." SCOTT'S Lady of the Lake. 
 
 In winter, when the hills above Hathersage are covered 
 with snow, the approach to it from Sheffield is not exempt 
 from danger ; here it accumulates in immense drifts, which 
 obliterating all traces of a road, render it not only dangerous, 
 but sometimes impassable. In the winter of 1813, the car- 
 riages that attempted to cross this bleak part of the moors 
 either returned, or were left half buried in the snow. A young 
 
 N 
 
178 SNOW STORM. 
 
 man, a native of Brookfield, near Hathersage, was the means 
 of saving several persons from perishing in this severe winter : 
 near Burbage Brook he found a sailor and his wife who were 
 exhausted with fatigue, and unable to proceed on their jour- 
 ney ; the poor man had fallen under his exertions to support 
 his wife, and was nearly dead : he took him upon his back, 
 and carried him to the only house he could find, which was 
 nearly a mile distant ; he then returned, and in like manner 
 bore the woman, who was unable to walk, to the same dwelling. 
 At this time the coach from Manchester was overturned, and 
 nearly buried in snow, where it remained for several days : a 
 mother, with her child about two years old, was amongst the 
 passengers, the whole of whom were females : the child he 
 bore to Hathersage ; the mother attempted to follow, but was 
 soon unable to proceed. On his return he found her in a 
 drift of snow, from which all her efforts to extricate herself 
 were unavailing. He restored her to her child, and in the 
 same way he released the two remaining ladies from their 
 perilous situation. They offered him money as a compensa- 
 tion for his services, which he did not decline accepting ; but 
 he immediately transferred it to the poor sailor and his wife, 
 to solace and comfort them on their journey. Thus did this 
 young man act the part of the good Samaritan, he " poured 
 oil and wine into their wounds, and set them on their way 
 rejoicing." 
 
 On my last excursion to Hathersage in the early part of 
 the present year, I took the new carriage road, which passing 
 under a chain of rocks, makes an ample sweep to the left of 
 the village, and enters it in the front of the family residence of 
 the Shuttleworths. Neither myself nor my companion were 
 intimately acquainted with the route we had taken. We, 
 nevertheless, anticipated a variety of pleasing prospects as we 
 approached the vale that shapes the course of the Derwent, 
 and our expectations were fully realized. Within a mile of 
 Hathersagej one of the finest views in the whole of Derby- 
 shire burst suddenly upon us. We stood upon a rocky knoll, 
 projecting from the side of a steep hill ; in the deep valley far 
 below rolled the rapid waters of the Derwent, which is here a 
 noble river. Hazleford Bridge, a good stone structure of 
 three arches, the groups of trees and cottages near, the 
 dells, woods, and plantations about High Low and Learn, 
 were pleasing objects in the landscape directly before us. Our 
 left was a range of hills, whose summits were turretted with 
 
DERWENT DALE. 179 
 
 broken craggs ; below, their steep declivities, shelving to the 
 brink of the river, were covered with miles of woody scenery, 
 over which the eye passed to the bold rugged eminence called 
 Froggat Edge ; beyond, in distance, appeared the woods and 
 hills that form the boundaries of Chatsworth Park. The op- 
 posite side of the Derwent, from Learn downwards, was scarcely 
 less beautiful : the hills are lofty and extremely precipitous ; and 
 they are every where clothed with the finest foliage, that be- 
 comes thicker and closer in texture, and deeper in shadow, 
 until it reaches the margin of the river, which appears in oc- 
 casional glimpses as it pursues its sinuous course, amidst woods 
 and waterfalls, through as picturesque a dale as nature ever 
 formed. Such was the landscape that lay on our left; but the 
 view on our right was still more beautiful : we looked into 
 Hope Dale, a scene that has been panegyrised by all who have 
 visited the Peak of Derbyshire. A lovely light rested upon 
 it, and a blue transparent haze hung over the surrounding 
 mountains, which rose far above the beauteous dale that they 
 encircled, and presented an agreeable variety of pleasing forms 
 and graceful undulations. The whole of this delightful pros- 
 pect was canopied with a clear azure sky, save where occasion- 
 ally some light thin clouds interposed their fleecy whiteness 
 " between our gaze and heaven." 
 
 Hathersage contains about one hundred houses. Ashton 
 Shuttleworth, Esq. who possesses considerable property in 
 this place, and is lord of the adjoining manor of Padley, 
 has lately erected a very handsome inn in the middle of the 
 village, but the business on this road is apparently insufficient 
 to support so large and expensive an establishment ; it is 
 therefore at present untenanted, in which state it has remained 
 for several yearns. The manufacture of metal buttons was 
 once prosecuted in this place with tolerable success, but it 
 has lately progressively declined, and probably may soon be 
 discontinued. Steel wire and needles are likewise made here, 
 under the direction of men regularly initiated into the busi- 
 ness, and in other respects competent to the undertaking. 
 These manufactures may therefore have a more permanent 
 duration ; but establishments of this description are perhaps 
 of a nature too exotic to flourish in a place like Hathersage, 
 where the farming interest prevails, and where agricultural 
 employment appears to be more congenial to the feelings and 
 habits of the people. Under the influence of both pursuits 
 this pleasant village may assume an equivocal character, 
 
 N 2 
 
180 LITTLE JOHN. 
 
 neither entirely possessing the bustle of a manufacturing dis- 
 trict, nor the quiet of a place whose inhabitants are solely 
 devoted to the tillage of the fields, and the cultivation of the 
 products of the earth. 
 
 In the vicinity of Hathersage there are some excellent 
 subjects for the pencil, and while my companion was sketch- 
 ing in the valley below the village, I visited the churchyard 
 on the hill above, where, as tradition informs us, lie the bones 
 of Little John, the favourite companion of the celebrated 
 forest-marauder, Robin Hood. His burial-place is distin- 
 guished by stones placed at the head and foot of his grave ; 
 they are nearly four yards apart, and are said to designate 
 the stature of this gigantic man. However fabulous this 
 account may be, the body here interred appears to have been of 
 more than ordinary size. In October, 1 784, this reputed grave 
 of Little John was opened, when a thigh bone measuring two feet 
 five inches was found within it. A tall man from Offerton, who 
 on account of his stature had probably obtained the name of 
 Robin Hood's faithful follower, was interred in this place : 
 hence originated this village tradition ; and that it might be 
 rendered still more marvellous, when the bones were re-com- 
 mitted to the grave, the stones that originally marked the 
 stature of the tall man of Offerton were removed farther 
 apart.* 
 
 Hathersage Church has a good exterior, and within it is 
 clean, light, . and well seated. In the chancel there are 
 several ancient monuments belonging to the family of the 
 Eyres of Highlow and Offerton, one of whom, Robert Eyre, 
 was an officer, who, according to the inscription on his tomb, 
 fought along with Falstaff's mad Harry at the battle oif 
 Agincourt. . 
 
 On a tabular monument inscribed to th^memory of one 
 of this family, who died March 21, 1459, are the effigies of 
 fourteen children, engraved in brass, ten of whom were sons, 
 
 * Hathersage is somewhat tenacious with respect to this circumstance 
 in its local history, and insists upon the validity of its claim to the burial 
 place of Little John. The traditional authority on which this claim rests 
 is more than doubtful. Mr. J. Walker, in his ingenious " Memoir on 
 the Armour and Weapons of the Irish," annexed to his " Historical Essay 
 on the Dress of the Ancient and Modern Irish," has given some curious 
 particulars relative to the skill of Little John in archery, and he informs 
 us that he terminated his life on the gallows, and that he was " executed 
 for a robbery on Arbor Hill, Dublin." If this author be correct, it is 
 not likely that Little John was buried at Hathersage. 
 
VILLAGE CUSTOM. 181 
 
 and four daughters. A place that appears to have been 
 once filled by another figure is vacant ; a daughter not born 
 in wedlock originally occupied it, but being deemed un- 
 worthy, without any fault of hers, to be associated with those 
 who were, she has been cut away, and expelled from the 
 situation which her father had assigned her. 
 
 In this church we observed the traces of a custom that once 
 generally prevailed in various parts of the kingdom, but is 
 now almost totally disused : When unmarried women died 
 they were usually attended to the grave by the companions of 
 their early years, who, in performing the last sad offices of 
 friendship, accompanied the bier of the deceased with gar- 
 lands, tastefully composed of wreaths of flowers, and every 
 emblem of youth, purity, and loveliness, that imagination 
 could suggest. When the body was interred, the garlands 
 were borne into the church, and hung up in a conspicuous 
 situation, in memory of the departed. There is something 
 extremely simple and affecting in this village custom, and one 
 cannot but regret that it is now almost entirely discontinued. 
 In Hathersage Church there were several of these memo- 
 rials of early dissolution, but only one of a recent date ; the 
 others were covered with dust, and the hand of time had de- 
 stroyed their freshness. 
 
 At a short distance from the churchyard, and still higher 
 up the hill, there is a place called Camp Green. It is a 
 circular area of about fifty yards diameter, encompased with 
 a high mound of earth, round which a ditch, or moat, appears 
 to have been carried. In some places the ditch is nearly 
 filled up, and the mound is gradually crumbling into the 
 area below ; it is therefore highly probable, that before the 
 present generation has passed away Camp Green will be 
 known only by name. 
 
182 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 Hope Dale. Recollections of a former Excursion. Approach 
 to Castleton. Fine Autumnal Evening. Castleton Church. 
 Peak's Hole. 
 
 Jt BOM Hathersage to Castleton, a distance of six miles, the 
 road lies through Hope Dale. Local attachment, and the 
 common consent of travellers, have adorned this dale with a 
 thousand beauties ; and those who have the good fortune to 
 reside within it, satisfied that their lot " is cast in pleasant 
 places," represent it as one of the most delightful spots in the 
 Peak of Derbyshire. It is, indeed, a lovely valley, and 
 though inferior in beauty to many other parts of the same 
 county, it yet contains some charming scenes, which, like light 
 thrown into a picture by the hand of a master, have a magical 
 effect. The traveller whose chief object is to reach the end 
 of his journey with all possible expedition beholds them with 
 pleasure, and the artist loiters amongst them with sensations 
 of delight. A beautiful river winds gracefully through the 
 dale, watering some excellent meadow land as it moves along. 
 The cottages with which the valley is studded are of a sober 
 grey tone of colouring, and pleasant to the eye. The vil- 
 lages of Hope and Brough, half hid amongst surrounding 
 trees, and half revealed, increase the loveliness of the scene. 
 Near Malham Bridge, where the road to Castleton crosses 
 the Derwent, some very beautiful views occur ; and farther 
 on in the dale the near approach to Hope is extremely pic- 
 turesque. The little river that passes by this village is 
 overhung with ash and alder, which grow luxuriantly on its 
 banks, amidst hazles, honey-suckles, and wild roses. 
 
 My journey through this dale of Hope was rendered pecu- 
 liarly interesting by the recollection of having passed the same 
 road several years before, in company with a much-esteemed 
 and now-departed friend. He was then unwell, but not at 
 all apprehensive that he should so soon go to the " home of 
 his fathers." Our former friendship his character and 
 
AUTUMNAL EVENING. 183 
 
 death came forcibly upon my mind, and absorbed for a 
 time every other consideration : he had a warm, benevolent, 
 and affectionate heart ; and though somewhat hasty in temper, 
 he was steady and sincere in his attachments, and his trans- 
 actions with mankind were invariably regulated by principles 
 of honour and integrity : he " should have died hereafter" 
 I well remember the time we passed this dale ; it was a fine 
 autumnal evening, and the sun was sinking behind the high 
 mountains of the Winnats, as we approached the village of 
 Castleton. The sweet serenity of the sky the hour of the 
 day the season of the year all were in unison, and con- 
 spired to produce a mental harmony : 
 
 " For autumn solemn, tender, and serene 
 " Breathed exquisite enchantment o'er the scene." 
 
 MONTGOMERY. MS. 
 
 A little before us the river, rippling o'er its pebbled bed, 
 quivered with light; a bridge, to which we were led by a 
 turn in the road, was a good object in the foreground of the 
 landscape; some full-grown and well-clothed trees hid the 
 greater part of the village, and made it a better subject for 
 the pencil : a few dwellings were partially displayed, over 
 which rose the tower of the church, but not one obtrusive 
 feature appeared to disturb the repose of the scene; and 
 the extent of the place might be traced by the smoke from the 
 cottage chimnies, as it slowly ascended above the loftiest 
 branches of the intervening trees. A steep and rugged hill 
 lay on our left, on whose summit stands an old dilapidated 
 castle, venerable in ruins and hoary with years. Beyond 
 the village, the view is terminated by the high rocks and bleak 
 eminences of the Winnats, and a little to the right, Mam 
 Tor rears her majestic head above the surrounding hills. 
 The space between Castleton and the mountains that bound 
 the western extremity of the vale was indistinct and in sha- 
 dow, whilst the last light of the setting sun, gradually soft- 
 ening until it became exquisitely tender, lingered on the tops 
 of the adjacent hills. A combination of more favourable cir- 
 cumstances could hardly occur ; and a soothing tranquillity 
 a mild and chastened glow of pleasurable feeling took pos- 
 session of the mind as we contemplated the scene before us. 
 Our carriage moved slowly along as I hastily wrote the 
 following impromptu to the setting sun : 
 
 N 4 
 
CASTLE OF THE PEAK. 
 
 Oft have I marked, bright orb ! thy opening ray 
 
 Give the glad promise of a perfect day ; 
 
 Wateh'd thee slow sailing through thine azure sea, 
 
 Till all the glowing heaven was full of thee j 
 
 Beheld the clouds of evening intervene, 
 
 Spreading a purple radiance o'er the scene, 
 
 Thy last light lingering on the mountain's brow, 
 
 Deep shadows resting in the vale below : 
 
 But never saw thee shed a sweeter ray, 
 
 E'en on the loveliest close of an autumnal day. 
 
 Shortly after our arrival at Castletorrwe visited the castle, 
 an ill-shapen ruin, which stands on the verge of a rocky pre- 
 cipice that forms the roof of Peak's Hole. This dismantled 
 fortress, though not a bad object from some parts of the dale, 
 is utterly devoid of those picturesque appendages on which the 
 eye of the artist loves to dwell, and it sinks into insignificance 
 amongst the wild scenery that surrounds it. 
 
 The antiquary, however, will contemplate the " ancient 
 Castle of the Peake" with other feelings, and its dilapidated 
 walls, rude and unshapely as they are, may be to him a 
 source of gratification. The top of the hill where the castle 
 stands is but a circumscribed plot of ground, nor can it at 
 any time have been sufficiently ample to accommodate the nu- 
 merous establishment of a great feudal chieftain ; yet the 
 family of the Peverils are said to have occasionally resided 
 here, and not without pomp and splendour. Mr. King, who 
 has minutely described this castle in the sixth volume of the 
 Archaeologia, is of opinion that it was a place of royal resi- 
 dence during the government of the Saxons ; others contend 
 that it is a Norman structure, and that it was probably built 
 by William Peveril, the natural son of William the Con- 
 queror, to whom the traditions of the country ascribe it, and 
 who certainly possessed it at the time of the Doomsday Sur- 
 vey, in the record of which it is denominated " the CASTLE OF 
 THE PEAKE." 
 
 It has been remarked that this castle cannot at any time 
 have been well calculated for defence, because, there being no 
 well or reservoir of water within its walls, it could but ill 
 maintain a procrastinated siege ; to this observation it has 
 been replied, that the spring at the upper extremity of Cave 
 Dale might, by some very simple contrivance, have been made 
 to furnish the garrison with this necessary article. Another, 
 and a more ample supply, lies more conveniently ; this con- 
 jecture may therefore be abandoned, without injuring the re- 
 
CASTLETON CHURCH. 185 
 
 putation for strength which this fortress, supposing it to have 
 been one, may have had. A well has been recently disco- 
 vered on the summit of the hill called Long Cliff, between 
 which and the castle there is a communication, though now a 
 very dangerous one, across the narrow ridge of rock that 
 overtops the entrance into Peak's Hole. This well is built of 
 the same kind of stone as the castle, and it is so situated as 
 easily to be made available for an abundant supply of water. 
 
 Night was now rapidly closing in upon us; we therefore 
 descended the steep side of Castle Hill, and on re-entering 
 the village, we observed the church lighted up for evening 
 service. This we learned was a new arrangement made by the 
 minister, in opposition to the wishes of the inhabitants of 
 Castleton, who had been accustomed to go to church in the 
 morning and afternoon, by day-light. Notwithstanding this 
 convenient practice, the minister refused to attend at the usual 
 time, and he substituted an evening for an afternoon service. 
 The churchwardens urged that the distant parishioners would 
 be greatly inconvenienced by this innovation on long estab- 
 lished usage, and they objected to furnish lights ; therefore 
 those who attended carried lanterns and candles from their 
 houses, and placed them in the pews of the church, which was 
 thus lighted when we beheld it. 
 
 Early the following morning we visited PEAK'S HOLE, one 
 of the most striking and sublime objects in the mountainous 
 districts of Derbyshire. This place is well known, and its 
 mysterious labyrinths have been frequently described with a 
 minuteness of detail that supersedes the necessity of future ob- 
 servations. It is not a pleasant task to travel over ground 
 that has been so often occupied, where nothing remains to be 
 gathered except what others have ornitted or refused to no- 
 tice ; yet such precisely is the situation of the tourist who 
 traverses a country where many have been before him, and 
 whose pen has to delineate the features of scenes on which 
 others have previously lavished the riches of description. 
 Language is better adapted to express sentiment and feeling 
 than accurately to depict the scenery of nature ; hence the 
 difficulty a writer always experiences in conveying to others 
 even a tolerable idea of the forms of which it is composed, 
 and the character it assumes ; nor is the pencil on all occa- 
 sions a more efficient instrument than the pen. In pourtray- 
 ing the near approach to Peak's Hole, and the entrance into 
 the first grand cavern, these powerful little agents have but 
 
186 
 
 rarely been directed by able hands. Where failure is com- 
 mon, and where, with very few exceptions, it has been almost 
 uniformly the same, a want of success can hardly be attended 
 with disgrace. 
 
 Peak's Hole is situated at the extremity of a deep and nar- 
 row rocky chasm, whose craggy projections hide it from the 
 traveller until he is near enough to measure with his eye the 
 whole of its dimensions, and feel the full force of its effect on 
 his imagination : it then suddenly bursts upon him in all the 
 wildness of its character, obscurely grand and terrific. Such 
 a heavy mass of unsupported rock, 
 
 " By its own weight made stedfast and immoveable," 
 
 when first beheld produces an involuntary shuddering ; from 
 this the mind soon recovers, and forgetting the selfish appre- 
 hension of danger, reposes with an awful sublimity of feeling 
 amidst the vastness of this stupendous cavern. The light at 
 the entrance is generally favourable, and it sometimes falls 
 sharply on the rocky projections in the foreground of the 
 picture, then suddenly fades away, and gradually loses itself 
 in impenetrable gloom and utter darkness. 
 
 The dubious twilight that pervades the interior of the first 
 cavern of Peak's Hole, especially when viewed from without, 
 eminently serves the purposes of grandeur : dark, confused, 
 and uncertain objects float before the mind, which, not limited 
 in its operations by any obvious or defined boundary, gives 
 extent to space, and contemplates with profound complacency 
 the indistinct and mysterious images of its own creation. This 
 train of thought and tone of feeling are sometimes inter- 
 rupted by a human being passing in distance athwart the 
 gloom ; his haggard figure, as he stalks along, wrapped in an 
 uncouth garb, and his umbered face, brightly illumined with 
 the torch he bears. This is not the portraiture of imagination 
 it is what almost every day presents, and it is an appendage 
 admirably in character with the scene. The banditti figures 
 with which Salvator peopled his landscapes could alone make 
 the picture more terrible. 
 
 Other occurrences, still more adventitious, occasionally con- 
 spire to improve the effects of this stupendous cavern, and 
 exalt the imagination of the beholder, amidst the loneliness 
 and horrors of a place never visited by the cheering rays of 
 the sun. Here " there is a path which no fowl knoweth, and 
 which the vulture's eye hath not seen." During my last ex- 
 
PARTY IN THE CAVERN. 187 
 
 cursion to Castleton I observed a party of twelve or fifteen 
 persons entering Peak's Hole, and being anxious to mark the 
 appearance which the cavern presented when irradiated with 
 their torches, J accompanied them to a situation favourable 
 for my purpose. They had prepared themselves with proper 
 habiliments for the occasion loose gowns were thrown over 
 their travelling dresses, and the ladies had covered their 
 heads with a species of shawl, that came over the shoulders, 
 and was fastened across the bosom. Monks with cowls, and nuns 
 with hoods, seemed to make up the whole party. They fol- 
 lowed their guide along a rude path in a winding direction, 
 each carrying a lighted torch. Portions of the roof of the 
 cavern were thus successively exhibited in flitting gleams and 
 shadows ; and as they moved onwards, the spars and stalactites 
 that hung over their heads glittered with evanescent splendour. 
 As they receded slowly through surrounding darkness, each 
 individual in the procession appeared invested with a mild 
 halo of light, for the distance and the intervening gloom sub- 
 dued and softened the glare of the torches, and the whole was 
 solemn and impressive beyond conception. The strange 
 emotions of delight awakened by this novel scene were favoured 
 by the breathless silence that prevailed, which was only occa- 
 sionally interrupted by a drop of water falling at intervals 
 from the roof of the cave upon the floor beneath, with a dead 
 and leaden sound, that was more felt than heard. 
 
 Within the far extended ribs and layers of rock which form 
 the roof and sides of Peak's Hole are several huts or dwell- 
 ings, humble, indeed, but yet inhabited, and men, women, and 
 children, rudely clad, and employed in the manufacture of 
 twine, give life and animation to this singular scene. When a 
 few only of the many individuals engaged in this business are 
 at work, there is something picturesque in their appearance ; 
 but peopled as the place generally is, its solemnity is inter- 
 rupted by noise and clamour, and an effect is produced not 
 altogether in unison with its natural character. Those who 
 wish to feel how very impressive Peak's Hole can occasionally 
 be, should contrive to visit it alone, when the spinners are ab- 
 sent, and silence and solitude prevail. 
 
 At the extremity of the spacious cavern that may be re- 
 garded as the vestibule of Peak's Hole, it suddenly contracts, 
 and becomes, in many places, only a narrow aperture, which is 
 continued, through various windings, to the extent of two 
 thousand two hundred and fifty feet. In traversing this damp 
 
188 INTERIOR CAVERNS. 
 
 and dreary wilderness, several capacious openings or interior 
 caverns occur, which are known by the different appellations 
 of the Bell House Roger Rain's House the Chancel 
 the DeviFs Cellar the Half- Way House and Great Tom 
 of Lincoln, fyc. fyc. and a current of water is occasionally forded 
 in exploring this subterranean passage. This stream buries 
 itself in the earth at a place called Perry Foot, nearly three 
 miles from Castleton, on the road to Chapel-en-le-frith, and, 
 after running through Peak's Hole, re-issues into day at the 
 entrance into this sublime orifice. Formerly an assumed ig- 
 norance threw an air of mystery over the origin of this little 
 rivulet: no one could conjecture from whence it came: its 
 source is now, however, no longer doubtful. 
 
 An intelligent foreigner, in his Journal of a Tour and Resi- 
 dence in Great Britain, observes, " that he was struck on ap- 
 proaching Peak's Hole with its strong resemblance to the. 
 rock of the Fontaine de Vaucluse." 
 
189 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 Cave Dale. View from the Hills above. Juvenile Beggars 
 at Castleton. Fluor Mines. Odin Mine. Mam Tor. 
 Winnats. Speedwell Mine. Faujas St. Fond. 
 Mawe and Whitehurst. 
 
 PEAK'S HOLE is commonly the fir*t object of those who visit 
 Castleton, and they generally proceed immediately from one 
 subterranean excursion to another. We, however, preferred 
 traversing for a while the surface of terra firma, before we 
 again " left the warm precincts of the cheerful day" to ex- 
 plore the gloomy recesses of Speedwell Mine ; passing, there- 
 fore, through a part of the village between the church and 
 Castle Hill, we entered a narrow dell, called the Cave, into 
 which we were admitted through a rocky portal, about six feet 
 wide. This deep ravine is closely hemmed in with rock on 
 every side ; and, with one solitary exception, neither shrub nor 
 tree is to be seen within it. Rude weather-beaten crags, with 
 occasionally a stripe of thin mossy verdure inserted between, 
 constitute the two sides of this dell, which, in some places, is 
 from eighty to one hundred paces wide, and in others not 
 more than twenty or thirty. About two-thirds up the dell, 
 the view towards Castleton has a wildness about it that no 
 other landscape in the same neighbourhood possesses. The 
 castle, seated on the extreme verge of a narrow ridge of rock, 
 looks fearfully tremendous, borrowing importance from the. 
 situation it occupies amongst the rocks and precipices that are 
 thrown around it. Near the village, where the two sides of the 
 dell approximate, a pleasing view is admitted of distant hills, 
 whose shadowy summits and cultivated slopes give a character 
 of loveliness to the remote parts of the scene. At the upper 
 extremity of Cave Dale a contracted pass, similar in dimensions 
 and appearance to the one by which we had entered, dismissed 
 us into a more open valley. The path, though still slippery 
 
190 VIEW FROM THE HILLS ABOVE CAVE DALE. 
 
 and rugged, became less precipitous as we proceeded, and we 
 followed its windings until we attained the top of an extensive 
 eminence, where we joined the road that leads from Castleton 
 to Tideswell. Here we were amply rewarded for the toil we 
 had sustained, by one of the most delightful landscapes in any 
 part of the Peak. We stood on an immense sweep of hill ex- 
 tending on our right beyond High-low to the river Derwent, 
 where it meets that part of the East Moor called Millstone 
 Edge, in the vicinity of Hathersage ; from whence another 
 chain of mountains, of greater altitude, is continued in a 
 westerly direction by Win-Hill, Lose-Hill, and Mam Tor; 
 thence, turning to the south and south-east by the Winnats 
 and Long-Cliff, the circuit terminates at the place where we 
 stood, forming, altogether, a continued range of eighteen or 
 twenty miles of lofty hills, yithin whose capacious circle lie the 
 dales of Hathersage, Brough, Hope, and Castleton, rich in 
 beauteous meadows, and adorned with woods and cottages 
 and winding streams. 
 
 Following the road to' Castleton, we re-entered the village 
 nearly at the same place where we had left it : here again we 
 were assailed by boys and girls, begging with unceasing cla- 
 mour for halfpence, or whatever their importunity can obtain. 
 This is one of the intolerable evils of Castleton ; every visitor 
 condemns the practice, which he contributes to perpetuate, 
 by rewarding the perseverance of the half-clad rogues by 
 whom he is pestered. Here the child, as soon as he can 
 articulate, is taught to beg ; educated in the practice, all his 
 actions and feelings are mendicant, and he begs mechanically 
 through life, without a sensation of either shame or meanness. 
 Nothing but a determination not to give can ever cure this 
 degrading propensity. 
 
 We now took a short excursion along the new road to 
 Mam Tor, intending to return down the Winnats to Speedwell 
 Mine. This was a loitering ramble, as we were frequently 
 detained by the road side, hunting for crystallized fluors and 
 marine impressions. - Here we found many specimens of shells, 
 beautifully and distinctly marked. The limestone strata are 
 full of them ; and they are so perfectly and accurately formed, 
 that one cannot but conclude that they once existed in another 
 state. The correctness of Dr. Leigh's theory, " that these 
 representations of creatures and their parts, and also the other 
 modifications of matter which are found in Poolers Hole and 
 the mines of this country, are purely the wanton sportings or 
 
ODIN MINE. 191 
 
 lusus natura of the fluor stalactites, caused by different mix- 
 tures of bituminous, saline, and terrene particles," will be 
 disputed by nearly every man who visits Castleton, and 
 attentively examines the rocks and the marine impressions 
 they contain. 
 
 Midway up the hill, along whose base we were grovelling, 
 are the mines of Tray-Cliff and Water-Hull the subterra- 
 neous excavations where that elegant spar, provincially called 
 Blue John, is obtained. A long series of rugged steps, hewn 
 in the limestone rock, leads to the principal of these caverns : 
 here the fluor is found in detached pieces of from one to 
 sixteen or eighteen inches thick; but large blocks of this 
 beautiful material are extremely rare. The cells of Tray- 
 Cliff mine may be explored with but little inconvenience: 
 their dimensions are various, and their sides and roofs are 
 adorned with spars and stalactites, which, as the light of the 
 torch sports amongst them, shift their resplendent reflexions 
 as rapidly as the corruscations of the northern sky. 
 
 ODIN MINE next attracted our attention : it is supposed to 
 be the oldest in Derbyshire, and to have been worked by the 
 Danes, as its name seems to import, nearly one thousand 
 years ago. Its stock of ore is not yet exhausted, though the 
 vein has been pursued through a lapse of many centuries. 
 The entrance into this mine is at the base of the hill, within 
 a few yards of the road. Its direction is nearly horizontal, 
 and as it is tolerably spacious within, it is easy of access ; its 
 interior may therefore be visited with but little inconvenience, 
 and the manager will be found to be an attentive and obliging 
 man, ever ready to gratify the curiosity of strangers. A gen- 
 tly-declining shaft, nearly one mile in length, leads to a vein 
 of ore which in some places is fifty or sixty yards below the 
 level of the entrance, and in others nearly as much above it. 
 The ore is of various thicknesses, from three or four inches to as 
 many feet, and nearly one hundred people are employed in 
 getting and preparing it for the smelting-mill. Many beauti- 
 ful crystallizations of blende, barytes, fluor, calcareous spar, 
 selenite, &c. &c. are found in this extensive mine, and occa- 
 sionally that curious mineral called slikensides, whose myste- 
 rious properties were noticed in the first part of this work. 
 Mr. Mawe, in his Mineralogy of Derbyshire, says, " I have 
 seen a man when he came out of this mine only a few minutes 
 after the explosion, who, regardless of danger, had pierced 
 the sides of this substance, and was much hurt, and cut vio- 
 
192 MAM TOR AND EDALE. 
 
 lently, as if stabbed about the neck and other places with a 
 chisel, whence he was unable to return to the mine for two 
 weeks." 
 
 We were now at the foot of MAM TOR, one of the seven 
 wonders of the Peak, and yet we observed nothing wonderful 
 about it, for we could not persuade ourselves of the fact that 
 it is incessantly shivering away without any diminution of its 
 bulk. It is an immense hill composed of a very flaky sub- 
 stance ; and sometimes in winter, during a severe frost, the 
 decomposition is so rapid, that the shivering mountain, as it 
 is called, keeps a continual discharge, accompanied with a 
 gentle noise, resembling the sound of a river passing over its 
 pebbled bed, as it comes upon the ear softened by distance. 
 I once, during the stillness of a November night, heard the 
 rush of this mountain very distinctly in my bed-room in Cas- 
 tleton, and I listened to the murmurs that it made, but was 
 utterly unable to discover the cause. 
 
 From the top of Mam Tor, one thousand three hundred 
 feet above the level of the valley below, we had a delightful 
 view into EDALE, which a modern tourist has described as 
 " a place in which the inhabitants, secluded in the bosom of 
 the mountains from the bustle of the world, appear to enjoy 
 all the quiet and security that pervaded the happy vale of 
 Rasselas." The view from this eminence is not of a common 
 description : the most striking features of the Peak of Derby- 
 shire its loftiest hills, and some of its loveliest dales are 
 included in the prospect. 
 
 From the summit of Mam Tor a walk of a mile brought us 
 to the entrance into the WINNATS. One of the peculiarities 
 of the scenery of Derbyshire is the sudden transition from 
 barrenness to cultivation, and from cheerless eminences to 
 delightful and luxuriant vales. This rapid change is no where 
 more strikingly exemplified than in the approach to Castleton 
 from Chapel-en-le-frith. The road is carried over a long 
 range of bleak mountain ground until it arrives at the western 
 extremity of the Winnats, or Wind-gates poetically called 
 by some writers " the portals of the winds." 
 
 The Winnats is a deep and narrow defile, nearly one mile 
 in length : through this chasm the road winds into the valley 
 below, amidst crags, and pinnacles, and piles of rock. Wild 
 and savage in appearance as this ravine is, it is not entirely 
 devoid of beauty : a number of elegant plants are scattered 
 amongst the crags, and the mosses and lichens that chequer their 
 
THE WINNATS, 193 
 
 sides blend their imobstrusive hues with the more gaudy co- 
 louring of the flowers by which they are surrounded. In 
 some places the rocks are perpendicular, in others they are 
 frightfully steep, and difficult of ascent even for any animal 
 whatever ; yet sheep are frequently seen grazing on the tops 
 and sides of the loftiest projections, where apparently there is 
 no space to stand on : I have sometimes felt giddy at behold- 
 ing them, and have trembled with apprehension lest they 
 should suddenly be dislodged from their insecure and scanty 
 pasturage, and precipitated amongst the stones below. These 
 useful little animals are often very happily introduced in land- 
 scape : the repose and stillness of a scene are improved by the 
 presence of a flock of sheep at rest ; but here they have a con- 
 trary effect : on the bleak sides of the Winnats they can only 
 occupy a situation of peril, where they increase the impression 
 of danger, and make the place more terrible. 
 
 Proceeding onward through the chasm, it gradually con- 
 tracts ; the two sides approximate nearly together, and lift 
 their rent and broken summits so high into the air, that they 
 appear to form an insuperable barrier to any farther progress. 
 The irksome feeling of being close pent up in a narrow rift of 
 rock is thus forcibly impressed upon the mind ; a turn in the 
 road, however, soon dissipates the idea of confinement ; the 
 borders of the pass gradually recede, until the dale, in which 
 the villages of Castleton, Hope, and Brough, tranquilly repose, 
 bursts upon the sight. The eye can hardly wander over a 
 more delightful scene than is here displayed: such a land- 
 scape, even under circumstances less favourable, would be 
 seen with pleasure, but heightened in effect by abrupt transi- 
 tion and striking contrast, it powerfully arrests attention, and 
 sometimes exalts admiration into rapture. 
 
 It was a fine sunny day as we passed through the Winnats ; 
 and whilst my companion was sketching by the side of a rocky 
 projection, which protected him from the strong current of 
 wind that sweeps, sometimes irresistibly, through this yawning 
 chasm, 1 took a situation in a recess amongst the crags, high 
 above the road, that afforded equal shelter. It was now mid- 
 day, and all was still around us ; not a sound was heard, save 
 occasionally the wild scream of the hawk as it fluttered about 
 its nest in a fissure of the rock far above us. The clamour 
 of this noisy bird interrupted my meditations, and drew my 
 attention upwards, when I beheld a creature " fashioned 
 like myself" on the extreme verge of the highest rocky piu- 
 
 o 
 
194 A TALE OF BLOOD. 
 
 nacle in the Winnats, but I could scarcely imagine the ap- 
 pearance real. The dark outline of a human form was alone 
 distinguishable, and standing as the figure did against the sky, 
 with no familiar and well-understood object near by which 
 dimensions might be measured, it seemed gigantic. The il- 
 lusion was momentary, but as soon as I was satisfied that a 
 human creature was thus fearfully placed, an apprehension of 
 danger immediately succeeded, and the whole scene became 
 sublimely terrible. These impressions were evidently tran- 
 sient, yet the rapidity with which they succeeded each other 
 and passed away was a source of interest. 
 
 The Winnats is not without a tale of horror. About sixty 
 years ago a gentleman and lady, mounted on single horses and 
 unattended with servants, are said to have been murdered in 
 this dreary pass. They were strangers in the country, and 
 some circumstances induced the supposition that they were on 
 a matrimonial excursion to the north. They were both young, 
 and one of the men concerned in the murder stated the lady to 
 be extremely handsome. The morning after the commission 
 of this atrocious act, the horses belonging to these unfortunate 
 persons were found in the neighbourhood of Castleton, with- 
 out riders, but properly caparisoned for travel. Suspicion 
 pointed to the crime that had been committed, and an enquiry 
 took place, when, after a few days' search, the dead bodies were 
 found in one of the holes in the craggy sides of the Winnats. 
 All attempts to trace out the perpetrators of this horrid deed 
 were for a long time fruitless : they escaped the punishment of 
 an earthly tribunal, but a singularly-calamitous fate attended 
 them. They were five in number : one only died in his bed, 
 who confessed to have participated in the crime, and as he was 
 the last survivor, he told who were the companions of his 
 guilt ; two of them, working near where the murder was com- 
 mitted, were killed by the sudden falling of a part of the rock 
 above them ; the other two were the victims of different ac- 
 cidents, and the inhabitants of this district regard their pre- 
 mature deaths as awful instances of divine vengeance. Such 
 is the tale of blood connected with the local history of the 
 Winnats, and it is so circumstantially related, that the names 
 of the men who were concerned in the commission of the crime 
 are mentioned, and the manner of their death particularly de- 
 tailed. This story I have told as it exists in the vicinity of the 
 place, but the enquiries I have made into the accuracy of the 
 narrative induce me to suppose it fabulous. 
 
SPEEDWELL MINE. 195 
 
 At the entrance into the Winnats, within a mile of Castleton, 
 is SPEEDWELL MINE an artificial excavacation, that leads 
 to a natural cavern, much visited by travellers, and esteemed 
 one of the greatest curiosities in the Peak of Derbyshire. A 
 descent of upwards of one hundred steps leads to a narrow 
 canal, along which the visitor is ferried through a channel 
 hewn in the heart of the rock, when he enters a terrific void, 
 vast as Milton's palace of Pandemonium, and filled with im- 
 penetrable darkness. The light of the torch, overpowered by 
 impervious gloom, seems feeble in such a place, and glimmers 
 like a little star surrounded by a world of night and blackness. 
 Leaving the boat, we ascended a stage or platform, erected 
 above the level of the canal. The nerves of that man must be 
 firm and well-strung who in this situation can contemplate the 
 space around him without shuddering. Standing in the midst 
 of a gulph, where all below is a dark vacuity of immeasurable 
 depth, above a mighty cavern, whose loftiest recesses no light can 
 reach, and all around uncertain and obscure an awful feel- 
 ing takes possession of every faculty, and breath, and thought, 
 and motion, are nearly suspended. 
 
 The lights that have been hitherto used to discover the ca- 
 pacity of this subterraneous cavern have only illumined a por- 
 tion of its vastness, and rendered more fearful and sublime the 
 impressions made upon the mind of the spectator in beholding 
 them. While we listened to the dashing of the water which 
 is precipitated with a tremendous noise into the abyss that 
 yawned beneath us, our guide clambered up a rocky projec- 
 tion with lights, that gave a partial glimpse of the horrors of 
 Speedwell Mine, but they only served to make " darkness still 
 more visible." Two gentlemen who visited this place since 
 the materials for this excursion were collected, took with them 
 some powerful rockets : these they threw up in the midst of 
 the cavern, when they rose uninterrupted to their greatest 
 height, exploded, and spread out their brilliant scintillations 
 as freely as if they had ascended under the canopy of heaven. 
 The grandeur of a part of this magnificent vault was thus 
 exhibited, and some of its boldest projections briefly illumined, 
 but its utmost altitude and expansion remained unexplored. 
 
 We now returned to Castleton, and as we emerged from 
 Speedwell Mine, the clear light of a beautiful evening gleamed 
 on the side of the mountains, and played along the valley. I 
 never saw the fair face of nature look half so lovely never 
 felt the invigorating influence of so sweet a breeze. 
 
 o 2 
 
196 CURIOSITIES OF THE PEAK. 
 
 As evening advanced, Mam Tor became a more imposing 
 object ; the whole dale indeed seemed to contract, and the hills 
 that environ it to increase in bulk and altitude as night and 
 darkness approached, and the detail of the intervening space 
 was less distinct. It is difficult at any time, and under any 
 light, to form an accurate opinion of the distance of large and 
 lofty mountains ; the eye, unaccustomed to contemplate such 
 objects, is but little aware of the illusion to which it is sub- 
 jected. On my first visit to this part of Derbyshire, when 
 totally unacquainted with the distance between Mam Tor and 
 Castleton, I supposed it a loitering walk of ten minutes only ; 
 the mountain, however, appeared to recede as I approached, 
 and I was surprised to find it nearly two miles off. 
 
 Castleton furnishes a great variety of what are termed the 
 curiosities of the Peak. Brilliant spars, petrifactions, crystals, 
 ores, and stalactites in abundance. One of the spar shops is 
 kept by a very intelligent man, who has long made mineral- 
 ogy his study, and it contains many beautiful specimens of the 
 fossils of Derbyshire, some of which are in their native state, 
 others are formed into elegant ornaments, from ladies' neck- 
 laces to urns, vases, and obelisks. In these shops information 
 and amusement may be obtained; few travellers, therefore, 
 omit to visit them, as they are alike open to those who pur- 
 chase and those who do not. 
 
 Mr. Mawe, in the preface to his " Mineralogy of Derby- 
 shire," observes, " that for the purpose of obtaining mineralo- 
 gical information, Castleton seems to be the best situation, 
 where such a variety of strata, mines, and minerals occur, as 
 perhaps no situation in this kingdom can boast." " The va- 
 rious mines and veins of ore," he adds, " are of the first con- 
 sequence, while the mountains around present a variety of 
 strata worthy the attention of the geologist." 
 
 Castleton is in this respect of the first importance ; it is an 
 epitome of all that the Peak of Derbyshire contains : hills, 
 rocks, caverns, mines, fossils, and minerals are here congre- 
 gated together, presenting a rich variety of materials for study 
 and contemplation. Among the most extraordinary produc- 
 tions of this district, the mineral Caoutchou, or elastic bitu- 
 men, may be classed : Mr. Mawe ranks it amongst inflam- 
 mable ores : it is of a dark brownish colour, and it is easily 
 compressed ; but the same piece is not always equally elastic : 
 when lighted, it emits a beautiful white flame, similar to gas- 
 light. Hitherto, this curious mineral has not been discovered 
 
DIRTLOW MINE. BASALTIC COLUMN. 197 
 
 in any other part of Derbyshire, and a more singular product 
 of nature is but rarely found. 
 
 About a mile east of Castleton is Dirtlow-Mine, a place that 
 was visited by Faujas de St. Fond, for the purpose of investi- 
 gating the stratum of toadstone there, in which lead ore is 
 said to exist. It was his particlar object to disprove the theory 
 of Whitehurst, and, as he observes, " to establish, by indis- 
 putable fact, where any doubt remained on the subject, that 
 the toadstone of Derbyshire is not a product of volcanic fire ;" 
 and he concludes his observations by triumphantly remarking, 
 " that the existence of lead ore in the frapp is a certain proof 
 that it is not the product of fire." Supposing, however, the 
 material in which lead ore has been found in Dirtlow Mine to 
 be actually toadstone, Whitehurst's theory is but little affected 
 by it, metallic veins, as I have before observed, on the authority 
 of Bakewell, having been worked even in the crater of an ex- 
 tinct volcano. St. Fond's conclusion, therefore, appears to 
 have been hastily drawn. Mr. Mawe indeed intimates his 
 regret, that this scientific and intelligent foreigner did not ex- 
 amine the substance in question more minutely ; and he seems 
 to be of opinion, that the stratum of reputed toadstone is in 
 fact " a limestone strongly impregnated with pyrites, which are 
 in a decomposing state. The green earthy matter," he adds, 
 " I suspect to be chlorite." Mr. Male's opinions and sus- 
 picions are as little satisfactory as St. Fond's. The substance 
 which they admit to be toadstone, and that which is disputed 
 by them, are not distinguishable from each other by any dif- 
 ference that can be perceived and understood by common 
 observers; but geologists and mineralogists are sometimes 
 inclined to make appearances bend to their peculiar theories. 
 
 A little distance from the castle, at the upper end of the 
 deep ravine called Cave Dale, the toadstone appears in a 
 regular basaltic column. 
 
 o 3 
 
198 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 Mid*day View of Castleton Vale. Ebbing and Fleming Well* 
 Approach to Chapel-en-le-Frith. Chiriley. TJie Apos- 
 tle of the Peak. Kinder scout. Evening at Glossop. 
 Catholic Chapel at Glossop Hall. Glossop Church. 
 Rush-Bearing. Monument to the Memory of Joseph Hague, 
 Esq. Brief Memoir of him. 
 
 M. Y last visit to Castleton was in the summer of 1 $20. I 
 was then on my way to Glossop, a part of Derbyshire which 
 I had not originally intended to include in my excursions, but 
 I gladly extended my journey to that remote part of the county, 
 where I expected to find much less of picturesque beauty than 
 wildness and sterility; I was, however, pleasantly disappointed, 
 and I felt myself indebted to my companion for the oppor- 
 tunity afforded me of visiting so interesting a portion of the 
 PEAK. 
 
 We left Castleton soon after mid-day, when the sun was 
 high in the heavens, and took the road that had been lately 
 made along the base of Tray Cliff, and the side of Mam Tor, 
 for the purpose of avoiding the steep path through the Win- 
 nats. As we ascended the hills, we had a fine view of the 
 Valley below ; but the landscape wanted shadow. The sky 
 was cloudless, and the whole horizon was filled with a blaze 
 of light, that rendered every object, even in distance, clearly 
 discernible; yet the scene was less lovely than when beheld 
 at the close of the day, when every inequality is marked by 
 the shadows of a declining sun, and the forms of objects are 
 either thrown in lengthened lines, or lie in masses along the 
 ground. 
 
 From this place to Chapel-en-le-Frith, a distance of about 
 five miles, the road has but little interest; even the ebbing and 
 flowing well at Bar Moor Clough may be passed without 
 notice, unless a fellow-traveller, previously acquainted with the 
 existence of this singular phenomenon, points it out to ob- 
 
KINDERSCOUT. 199 
 
 servation. This Derbyshire wonder lies in a field by the road- 
 side, about four miles from Castleton, surrounded with mud 
 and weeds, and made filthy with cattle. During our short 
 stay near it, we neither saw it ebb nor flow. A little beyond 
 this place the road emerges from among the dales, and the 
 country about Chapel-en-le-Frith gradually presents itself. 
 On our approach to the town, a very pleasing scene lay be- 
 fore us : the houses were almost lost amidst surrounding trees, 
 over which the tower of the church rose with considerable 
 grace and majesty; beyond, Eccles Pike reared high its 
 peaked head, and the beautiful woods and grounds around 
 Bank Hall, the residence of Samuel Frith, Esq. lay on our 
 left. There was something formal and insipid in the fore- 
 ground, but the whole of the composition beyond was well 
 arranged, and the parts excellent. 
 
 About a mile and a half from Chapel we passed through 
 Chinley, where the Calvinistic dissenters have a meeting-house, 
 which originally belonged to the Rev. William Bagsnaw, an 
 eminent nonconformist divine, who was 1 called the " APOSTLE 
 OF THE PEAK." He was the author of a work which he 
 published under the title of " De Spiritualibus Pecei," and 
 of several devotional tracts that were read with avidity through- 
 out the whole of the Peak of Derbyshire, where the character 
 of this truly religious minister was well known. In, 1662, he 
 was ejected from the vicarage of Glossop, which he had pos- 
 sessed for many years. He had afterwards a congregation at 
 Chinley; from thence he removed to Great-Hucklow, where 
 he died at an advanced age, in the fortieth year after his eject- 
 ment from the vicarage. 
 
 We found but little to interest us on our way from Chapel 
 to Glossop, excepting that we had occasionally a hasty glance 
 at the top of KINDEHSCOUT, which we left at a short distance 
 on our right, between Hayfield and Glossop. This is the 
 highest mountain in the Peak of Derbyshire, and from its 
 summit an extensive prospect is descried ; but its sides are so 
 loose and boggy, and so frequently intersected with runlets of 
 water, that but few people attempt to climb to the top of it. 
 In winter the summit of this eminence is often covered with 
 snow; the following poetic distich has therefore become fa- 
 miliar to every individual who resides in the vicinity of this 
 huge hill ; 
 
 " If there be snow without, 
 " It will lie on Kinderscout." 
 
 o 4 
 
200 SITUATION OF GLOSSOP. 
 
 It was evening when we approached the village of Glossop ; 
 the sun was sinking below the horizon, which in the west was 
 suffused with a glow of light, that spread a warm aerial tint 
 over all the landscape, and revived the recollection of some 
 of the best sun-set pictures of Claude Lorraine : the yellow 
 transparent haze that hung upon the scene softened the out- 
 line and colouring of objects, which, under a clearer atmo- 
 sphere, might have been obtrusive to the eye, and harmonized 
 the whole into beauty. 
 
 " 'Twas Summer tide ; the eve was sweet 
 
 As mortal eye has e'er beholden ; 
 The grass look'd warm with sunny heat : 
 Perhaps some Fairy's glowing feet 
 
 Had lightly touch'd, and left it golden." 
 
 I have somewhere met with an account of Glossop being 
 situated in one of the deepest and wildest dales of Derbyshire ; 
 but I found the representation extremely incorrect : the open 
 vale wherein it lies is nearly surrounded with high moorland 
 wastes, some of which are covered with their native heath, 
 and others newly planted, but all between is a well-cultivated 
 district. A series of groups of houses, scattered about an 
 ample valley, constitute the village of Glossop. In the prin- 
 cipal of these groups is the church, an humble edifice, but yet 
 a pleasing feature in the scene. I love to see the tower or 
 spire of a village church rising from the midst of trees, and 
 cottages scattered irregularly around it. Such a picture is 
 delightful to the eye ; and the mind insensibly associates the 
 idea of orderly conduct and moral feeling with the appearance 
 of these hallowed tabernacles of religious worship. However 
 humble the village church may be, it gives importance and 
 respectability to the habitations with which it is connected. 
 
 Glossop is an extensive manor, including a circumference 
 of nearly thirty miles : all within this ample circle, with a few 
 trifling exceptions only, is the entire property of the present 
 Duke of Norfolk ; and in eight of the ten hamlets that con- 
 stitute this large parish, not an acre of freehold ground be- 
 longing to any other individual intervenes. 
 
 In the immediate vicinity of the village great improvements 
 have recently been made: a little rivulet, called the Shelf, 
 which takes its rise amongst the adjacent hills, meanders 
 through the valley, and a number of mills for spinning cotton 
 have been erected on its banks, and are bountifully supplied 
 
TWILIGHT VIEW OF GLOSSOP DALE. 201 
 
 with water by this mountain stream. Glossop is therefore 
 rapidly becoming a manufacturing district; its population is 
 increasing, and a new road, which is now making through it 
 from Sheffield to Manchester, will furnish a readier commu- 
 nication with the neighbouring places, and greatly facilitate 
 its improvement. 
 
 We arrived at Glossop too late in the evening to explore 
 its scenery ; and as twilight withdrew, and night closed upon 
 us, all but the dim and feeble outline of objects became ob- 
 literated darkness crept over the face of the mountains, and 
 they lay in imposing masses around us. 
 
 We regretted that we had not an opportunity of seeing 
 Glossop Dale by moonlight : the lofty eminences by which it 
 is environed, the many swelling hills that lie below, the 
 dark woods that cover them, and all the variety of objects 
 that it contains, when presented to the eye in unintelligible 
 masses, must at such a time, and under the effect of so be- 
 witching a light, be strongly impressed with grandeur. 
 
 Our residence during our short stay in this part of Derby- 
 shire was at Glossop Hall, a mansion belonging to the Duke 
 of Norfolk, and occupied by M. Ellison, Esq. his grace's 
 agent. The prospect from the front of the house is singularly 
 beautiful. On the right hand and on the left a thickly- 
 planted screen of ash, oak, chesnut, elm, and sycamore, pre- 
 vents the eye from wandering over a great variety of desultory 
 parts, and confines it to the lovely scenery that lies between. 
 A verdant declivity slopes from the house to a little grove of 
 trees at the foot of the hill, where a busy rivulet is seen in 
 occasional glimpses through the overhanging branches; be- 
 yond another grove occurs, which is connected with some 
 plantations nearer the foreground ; the distance is composed 
 of magnificent eminences, clothed with wood and heath and 
 intervening verdure. From the middle of the picture here 
 beheld, a hill finely covered with wood rises out of the valley. 
 When the whole of this eminence is included within the view, 
 the outline it presents is too regularly round to be strictly 
 beautiful ; but from the front of Gossop Hall this regularity 
 is agreeably broken by the intervention of some tall larches, 
 that cut the line of the hill, and lift their feathered branches 
 and spiral tops into the sky : these graceful trees are so situ- 
 ated and connected with the more massy foliage near, as to be 
 objects of considerable beauty. 
 
202 CHAPEL IN GLOSSOP HALL. 
 
 A plantation entirely composed of larches is not a pleasant 
 object to contemplate : there is a tiresome monotony in the 
 recurrence of the same lines and forms, a thousand and a 
 thousand times repeated, where the wild playfulness of nature 
 should alone prevail. A plantation is a wood of a humbler 
 description. With such an object nothing absolutely for- 
 mal or constrained should be associated ; and though they 
 are generally made on too small a scale to admit of all the 
 noble varieties of a wood, the trees of which they are com- 
 posed should nevertheless be so diversified in form, station, 
 and colour, as to produce a pleasing impression ; but a con- 
 trary practice too much prevails : a straight line of Scotch 
 firs, placed with geometrical precision, and so closely thrust 
 together as to render all beyond impervious to the cheering 
 light of the sun, generally forms the boundary of new plant- 
 ations. Larches are sometimes introduced, and at a certain 
 season of the year they have a cheerful effect ; but the spiral- 
 topped trees should always be liberally intermixed with others. 
 The beach, the oak, and the Spanish chesnut, should not be 
 omitted, and the boundary line should be varied and irregular. 
 The light must be admitted to play freely between the trunks, 
 and amongst the branches of the trees, that intelligible sha- 
 dows, and not gloom, may prevail. 
 
 Glossop Hall is occupied by a Catholic family, and a 
 chapel for religious worship is included within its walls. The 
 neat and clean appearance of this chapel sufficiently denotes 
 that it is not a neglected part of the mansion. With the 
 exception of the altar, it is an unadorned apartment ; there 
 it is rich and imposing. A recess, formed by four Ionic 
 columns, contains the altar, which is surmounted with a well- 
 sculptured figure of our Saviour on the Cross : the space 
 behind is occupied with a picture of the Crucifixion, of a large 
 size, and admirably painted. I could not learn the artist's 
 name, but I understood it had been presented to this retired 
 dwelling by the Duke of Norfolk, from his collection at Arun- 
 del Castle. 
 
 Previously to our leaving Glossop we visited the village 
 church, a plain and lowly structure, and as little ornamented in 
 the interior as it is without. Here we observed the remains 
 of some garlands hung up near the entrance into the chancel. 
 They were the mementos of a custom of rather a singular 
 nature, that lingers about this part of Derbyshire, after having 
 been lost in nearly every other. It is denominated " Rush- 
 
RUSH-BEARING. 203 
 
 bearing " and the ceremonies of this truly rural fete take place 
 annually, on one of the days appropriated to the wake or vil- 
 lage festival. A car or waggon is on this occasion decorated 
 with rushes. A pyramid of rushes, ornamented with wreaths 
 of flowers, and surmounted with a garland, occupies the centre 
 of the car, which is usually bestrewed with the choicest flowers 
 that the meadows of Glossop Dale can produce, and liberally 
 furnished with flags and streamers. Thus prepared, it is 
 drawn through the different parts of the village, preceded by 
 groups of dancers and a band of music. All the ribbons in 
 me place may be said to be in requisition on this festive day, 
 and he who is the greatest favourite amongst the lasses is gene- 
 rally the gayest personage in the cavalcade. After parading 
 the village, the car stops at the church gates, where it is dis- 
 mantled of its honours. The rushes and flowers are then taken 
 into the church, and strewed amongst the pews and along the 
 floors, and the garlands are hung up near the entrance into the 
 chancel, in remembrance of the day. The ceremony ended, 
 the various parties who made up the procession retire, amidst 
 music and dancing, to the village inn, where they spend the 
 remainder of the day in joyous festivity. 
 
 In Glossop church there is a monument to the memory of 
 Joseph Hague, Esq. a benevolent-hearted man, who resided 
 at Park Hall, near Hayfield, and who left the interest of one 
 thousand pounds annually for ever towards clothing forty 
 poor men and women belonging to the township of Glossop, 
 and not receiving parochial relief. The monument consists of 
 a white marble tablet, surmounted with a bust of the deceased, 
 which was executed by Bacon, and in his happiest style. We 
 but little expected to find so good a specimen of sculpture in 
 this remote part of Derbyshire. The bust alone is said to 
 have cost four hundred guineas ; but its price is no doubt 
 greatly exaggerated, probably to increase its value in the esti- 
 mation of the- vulgar, who judge of the excellence of works 
 of art by what they cost, and not by what they are. 
 
 Mr. Hague was born of very humble parents at Chunal, a 
 small village between Hayfield and Glossop, and he was 
 turned upon the world at a very early period of life, to provide 
 for his own subsistence. When quite a boy he travelled 
 about the country and sold small articles, which he carried 
 with him in a basket ; afterwards, as his stock increased, he 
 purchased an ass, and finally he became a very respectable 
 
204- JOSEPH HAGUE, ESQ.. 
 
 merchant. He had several children, who died early in life ; 
 but, having acquired considerable wealth, he adopted a family 
 of relations or the name of Doxon. These he educated ; 
 and, that he might witness the effects of his farther benevo- 
 lence, he divided the chief part of his property amongst them 
 while he was yet capable of enjoying life and all the luxuries 
 that wealth can purchase, and retired to Park Hall, where he 
 spent the remainder of his days in a frugal but happy retire- 
 ment. 
 
20.5 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 The river Etherow. Broad Bottom Bridge. Compstall 
 Bridge. View from Compstall House. Cotton Printing. 
 
 Junction of the Etherow and the Goyt. Marple Bridge. 
 
 Mellor Mill. S. Oldknow, Esq. Scenery of the Goyt. 
 
 left Glossop the morning after our arrival there, in- 
 tending to visit the banks of the Etherow, one of the boundary 
 rivers of Derbyshire, which rises at the northern extremity of 
 the county, and, after running to the vicinity of Motram in a 
 western direction, gradually inclines towards the south, and 
 separates Derbyshire from Cheshire. Hitherto this river has 
 attracted but little attention from tourists, who have generally 
 confined their observations to the Derwent, the Dove, and the 
 Wye; it is, therefore, but little known. 
 
 About three miles from Glossop we passed the village of 
 Charls worth, which is situated on the side of a steep hill : the 
 houses are built with a cold grey-coloured stone ; and, as there 
 is scarcely a single tree amongst them, the place has altogether 
 a very cheerless appearance. Near this village we had the 
 first view of the Etherow, which was seen, in occasional 
 glimpses, winding through a deep valley, amongst overhanging 
 trees. 
 
 Lady Mary Wortley Montague has somewhere remarked, 
 that the most beautiful scenery is always found along the 
 channels of rivers; and, as far as the observation applies to the 
 Peak of Derbyshire, it is peculiarly correct: nature indeed hides, 
 her most romantic scenes in deep recesses and sequestered 
 dells, amongst rocks and woods, and streams of living water. 
 
 As we deviated from the road that leads to Marple Bridge, 
 we had a rich diversity of landscape before us ; and, at a short 
 distance on our right, the choicest beauties of the Etherow ap- 
 peared to be combined. Our path was narrow, steep, and 
 rugged, and but ill adapted for travelling in a tilbury; we 
 however moved cautiously, and came upon the margin of the 
 river at Broad Bottom Bridge. 
 
206 CAT TOR. 
 
 Man scarcely ever meddles with the scenery of nature with- 
 out impairing its beauties, and at this place he has been emi- 
 nently successful. Rocks have been removed, and a situation 
 scooped out of "the picturesque banks of the Etherow for the 
 erection of mills, and the noise and clatter of machinery have 
 succeeded to the solemn stillness that once pervaded this re- 
 tired dell. 
 
 The Etherow is here a broad and rapid stream ; its banks 
 are high and rocky, and at their nearest approximation a 
 stone bridge, which is a noble structure of one immense arch, 
 crosses the river. The view from below this bridge was once 
 eminently rich in scenery, but the mills of Messrs. Kelsall and 
 Marsland, and the buildings connected with them, have 
 strangely marred the prospect ; they are obtruded into the 
 very middle of the stream, and are so situated as effectually to 
 hide the river and its finely-wooded banks, at a place where 
 the greatest beauty prevails. 
 
 The perpendicular rock on the Cheshire side of the Etherow, 
 at Broad Bottom Bridge, is called Cat Tor. This precipice 
 is nearly one hundred feet high : its craggy summit is crested 
 with trees, and the more friable soil, on which the top-cliffs 
 rest, nourishes the roots of a variety of shrubs and brambles, 
 that grow upon its sides. 
 
 " Around its broken summit grew 
 The hazel rude and sable yew, 
 A thousand varied lichens dyed 
 Its waste and weather-beaten side, 
 And round its rugged basis lay, 
 By time or thunder rent away, 
 Fragments, that, from its frontlet torn, 
 Were mantled now with verdant thorn." 
 
 SIR W. SCOTT. 
 
 The bed of the river, near the bridge,' is covered with stones 
 of various dimensions, amongst which we found many speci- 
 mens of quartz and granite, some of them weighing several 
 hundred pounds ; but the Cornwall and the Aberdeen granite 
 are most abundant. It may here be observed, that the whole 
 of this district is a micacious and sandstone grit, and that no 
 granite rock is known to exist within more than one hundred 
 miles of the Etherow. 
 
 The pile of buildings above the bridge so entirely intersected 
 our view, that we obtained permission of Mr. Marsland to 
 pass through his premises to explore the scenery still higher 
 
APPROACH TO MARPLE. 207 
 
 up the valley. The Etherow is here a deep and noble stream ; 
 and the trees on its banks, where nothing puny or insigni- 
 ficant is to be seen, are of the most luxuriant description. A 
 weir is thrown across the river in a semicircular direction, 
 over which a mass of water is precipitated into an ample bason 
 below, and dashed into the whitest foam, Above the weir 
 the banks are, in some places, extremely steep, in others per- 
 pendicular ; and the thick foliage of the oak, and the lighter 
 branches of the ash, were reflected from the watery mirror 
 below, in all the freshness of nature ; the whole presenting an 
 inverted landscape, gay with a thousand intermingled hues, 
 and rich with a variety of lovely objects. 
 
 In the immediate vicinity of Broad Bottom Bridge, within 
 the rocks that form the channel of the Etherow, globes of red 
 sand-stone, from twenty to fifty or sixty inches in diameter, are 
 frequently found; and a practice prevails of covering them 
 over with paint, and marking them with the more prominent 
 indications of the human countenance; they are then placed in 
 the most conspicuous situations, upon gate-posts and walls, to 
 " grin a ghastly smile" at the stranger as he passes along. 
 Nothing can be more grotesque in appearance, or ludicrous in 
 effect, than these shapeless heads and staring faces. 
 
 From Broad Bottom Bridge we ascended the hill, and re- 
 gained the road we had left. During a ride of a few miles 
 only, we had occasionally some pleasing views of the Etherow, 
 winding through a delightful vale that lay on our right; and 
 as we approached Marple the scenery became eminently beau- 
 tiful ; a fine river, a rich and fertile valley, and hills 
 covered with wood, made up the nearer parts of the land- 
 scape ; beyond, the distance was soft and shadowy, yet suffi- 
 ciently distinct to exhibit the undulations of the ground, 
 and the dim outline of the various objects with which it is 
 adorned. 
 
 We again descended to the margin of the Etherow, at a place 
 called Compstall Bridge, near which there is an extensive 
 factory for cotton printing, belonging to G. Andrews, Esq. at 
 whose hospitable mansion we spent the remaining part of the 
 day, and rested for the night. The residence of Mr. Andrews 
 is situated on the declivity of a hill, with beautiful woody 
 scenery rising far above, and a verdant slope below, that de- 
 clines to the river. Compstall Bridge, a good modern struc- 
 ture, lies on the left of the house; above it, the banks of the 
 Etherow are high and rocky ; their upper cliffs are covered 
 
208 VIEW FROM COMPSTALL HOUSE. 
 
 with trees, and the eye, as it ranges into distance, passes over 
 a rich variety of landscape, terminating in remote eminences 
 that mingle with the far-off horizon. The mansion is suffi- 
 ciently elevated to command a fine view of the surrounding 
 country ; and, from the terrace-walk, near the principal front, 
 the high-wooded banks of the Goyt, every where marked with 
 beauty, present a very rich, and in some places a magnificent 
 picture ; and where the river, after passing Marple Bridge, 
 and winding through the meadows, withdraws from the scene, 
 the aqueduct of the Peak Forest Canal spans the busy stream 
 that frets and foams over its rocky channel in the glen below. 
 This elegant structure has the appearance of a Roman bridge 
 of three arches, and it emerges from the woods with uncommon 
 grace and dignity. A finer object in landscape is but seldom 
 seen ; and when the mild radiance of an evening sun is playing 
 amongst the trees with which it is connected, and tipping the 
 topmost branches with light, whilst all below is reposing in 
 shadow, the view from Compstall House is one continued 
 scene of beauty. 
 
 On the following day we visited Mr. Andre ws's manufactory, 
 for the purpose of observing his manner of printing cottons, 
 which is here done by cylindrical copper rollers, on which the 
 different figures are engraved. The process of this mode of 
 printing is so rapid that pieces of twenty-eight yards are thrown 
 off from each set of rollers in less than two minutes. It seems, 
 indeed, as if the whole operation was performed rather by 
 magic agency than by the intervention of human means. Some 
 of the machines were printing with one colour only, some with 
 two, but none with more than three, which is the maximum of 
 the present practice. 
 
 A new description of rollers has lately been introduced by 
 this gentleman into his manufactory. The figures, instead of 
 being engraved upon them as on a copper-plate, are cast in 
 metal, like printers' type, and soldered to the roller, pre- 
 senting an elevated surface, which receives the colours and 
 transmits them to the cotton. The contrivance appeared to 
 us ingenious, and well calculated to save expence, but not ap- 
 plicable to the general purposes of the trade. 
 
 From Compstall Bridge we followed the Etherow to its 
 junction with the Goyt, which takes place amongst some 
 very lovely scenery, about a mile and a half from Mr. Andrews's 
 house. It is remarkable that Dr. Aiken, in his History of 
 the country round Manchester, whenever he speaks of this 
 13* 
 
S. OLDKNOW, ESQ. 209 
 
 river, calls it the Mersey, with one exception only, and where 
 this occurs he says, " The Etherow flows into the Goyt near 
 Chadkirk thence the river is continued under the name 
 of the Goyt to Stockport, where it takes the name of the 
 Mersey." 
 
 A pleasant walk of about a mile on the banks of the Goyt 
 brought us to Marple Bridge. The views about this little 
 village are not of a common character. The river is an ample 
 and impetuous stream ; its banks are lofty, rocky, and preci- 
 pitous, and but a few weeks previously to our visit they were 
 every where profusely wooded ; but we saw the axe employed, 
 and this beautiful river despoiled of some of its finest 
 ornaments. The Derbyshire side of the stream, from 
 Marple Bridge to Mellor Mill, which a short time before 
 waved with the most luxuriant foliage, was entirely denuded. 
 The proprietor, we were informed, had been extending his 
 purchases, and his trees were cut down to be bartered away 
 for acres. As we passed along this now-naked bank, we came 
 to a high point of ground, where the prospect is rich even to 
 magnificence. From the situation where we stood, we could 
 trace the course of the river for several miles, winding amongst 
 woods through a deep and narrow valley, full of picturesque 
 beauty. The residence of S. Oidknow, Esq. which is a neat 
 but not a large mansion, is so embowered in trees as to be 
 nearly obscured by them; and the few buildings that are scat- 
 tered over the other parts of this fine landscape, with the ex- 
 ception of the mill, are almost lost in surrounding wood. 
 This is one of the noblest scenes on this romantic river. 
 
 Mr. OLDKNOW was one of the earliest manufacturing settlers 
 in this vicinity, and he is now regarded as the father of the 
 district. He found a busy river coursing its way through a 
 deep dell, and he saw the many advantages which so powerful 
 a stream presented for manufacturing purposes ; he therefore 
 established himself near Mellor ; and his example and success 
 in business soon procured him many neighbours, until the 
 banks of the Goyt and the Etherow became the busy scenes 
 of industry, and the resort of enterprising men and mechanical 
 talent. 
 
 Mr. Oidknow has always been an active man in public life, 
 and many improvements made in the vicinity of his resi- 
 dence have been indebted, not only to his example, but to 
 his personal exertions. The Peak Forest Canal originated 
 chiefly with him ; and, though not hitherto a profitable spe- 
 
210 SCENERY OF THE GOYT. 
 
 culation to the proprietors, it has been productive of consider- 
 able advantages through the line of its operations, and 
 ultimately it may be more successful. Mr. Oldknow is now 
 declining into years, but he is yet full of spirit and activity ; 
 and, if he can only feel that "nothing has been done, while 
 any thing remains to do," and prevail upon his neighbours 
 and others to extend the Peak Forest Canal from the vicinity 
 of Chapel-en-le- Frith to the eastern boundary of Derbyshire, 
 he may yet be remunerated for his exertions. This gentle- 
 man is at present less occupied with manufacturing than 
 agricultural pursuits, and this department is under the best 
 regulated management imaginable. He keeps a great number 
 of cattle, and they are housed and fed in buildings that have 
 been erected at a great expence, where every possible at- 
 tention is paid to their welfare and convenience. There is a 
 contrivance and a neatness about the whole of Mr. Oldknow's 
 farming establishment, that are but seldom attended to where 
 the accumulation of profit is a primary consideration. 
 
 From Mellor Mill we perambulated the banks of the Goyt, 
 amongst scenes as truly romantic, and as replete with beauty, 
 as any in Derbyshire, until we came to a part of the valley 
 where the hills and woods are thrown farther from each other, 
 and some lovely meadows interpose between. Here we left 
 the margin of the river, for the purpose of obtaining a more 
 extended view from the elevated grounds, The landscape we 
 now beheld was essentially different from what we had seen in 
 the dell below, where the eye dwelt upon the characteristic 
 features of the various objects that composed the picture, and 
 was delighted with the detail : here every thing was on a 
 scale of magnitude, that pleased by its vastness. No part of 
 the prospect was distinctly marked, with the exception of the 
 foreground, and even there the subordinate parts were lost, in 
 the contemplation of the whole. The river below us was a 
 mirror of sunny light; but the sparkling breaks, the inter- 
 rupted rushings, and the playful eddies, which had charmed 
 us while loitering on its banks, were now seen with indiffer- 
 ence. The characters and forms of trees, the graceful 
 branches of the ash, and the gnarled ramifications of the 
 oak, we had observed with pleasure, when they were pro- 
 minent features in the circumscribed scenes that we had so 
 recently left ; but now our horizon included a more ample 
 circumference, and individual objects were lost in the aggre- 
 gate. Hills and woods, and verdant meadows, made up the 
 
SCENERY OF THE GOYT. 211 
 
 picture ; and the light-blue haze of a hot summer's day har- 
 monized the whole into loveliness. 
 
 Having explored the course of the Goyt to the vicinity of 
 a pleasant village called New Mills, which is most roman- 
 tically situated on one of the tributary streams of the river, 
 we returned to Mellor Mill, and from thence retraced our 
 steps to Glossop, where we spent the remainder of the day. 
 
 p 2 
 
212 
 
 SECTION VI. 
 
 Return from Glossop. Peak Forest. Eldon Hole. Bag- 
 shaw Cavern. Small Dale. Lime-kiln Fires. Night 
 Scene. Morning in Hope Dale. Hope-Brough. The 
 river Derwent. 
 
 VrE had been much gratified with our excursion to Glossop, 
 and we left it with a wish to revisit it on some future occasion. 
 Nine miles of tedious road, which we had travelled over only a 
 few days before, lay between us and Chapel-en-le- Frith ; and, 
 as we did not anticipate much pleasure in passing a second 
 time over so uninteresting a district, we were secure against 
 disappointment. This road, like many others both in Derby- 
 shire and elsewhere, has been made in despite of both hill and 
 dale. Hardly any set of people commit greater blunders 
 than the projectors and makers of public roads. If a valley 
 interferes in the line of their operations, they shew their utter 
 contempt of the accommodation it offers, and their talent at 
 surmounting difficulties, by clambering up and down every hill 
 that nature has interposed between them and the point of 
 their destination. 
 
 We again passed by Chapel-en-le-Frith, and shortly after- 
 wards we made another pause at the ebbing and flowing 
 well; but, during the short time we remained near it, no 
 sensible alteration took place in this extraordinary pheno- 
 menon ; nor were there any appearances about it which indi- 
 cated that the water had very recently either ebbed or flowed. 
 Some few years before I observed the rising and sinking of 
 this well twice in the short space of half an hour. 
 
 A little beyond this celebrated well we left the Castleton 
 road by a sharp turn on our right, and proceeded to Peak 
 Forest, a little village, surrounded by an extensive tract of 
 land, to which the same name is applied. This forest was 
 anciently called De alto Pecco ; and the parishes of Castleton, 
 Hope, Chapel, Glossop, and Mottram in Longdendale, are 
 said to have been once included in it. Within half a mile 
 
ELDON HOLE. 213 
 
 of the village is ELDON HOLE, another of the reputed won- 
 ders of the Peak of Derbyshire. Unassisted by fable, and 
 the babbling of the credulous gossip tradition, there is no- 
 thing either vast or astonishing in this fissure in the lime- 
 stone strata : it is a deep yawning chasm, entirely devoid of 
 any pleasing appendages, and altogether as uninteresting as 
 any hole in a rock can possibly be. 
 
 Many and marvellous are the stories that have been told of 
 Eldon Hole. Cotton has celebrated it in English verse, and 
 Hobbes in Latin hexameters. Cotton, it appears, endea- 
 voured to ascertain the depth of this fathomless pit ; but, ac- 
 cording to his own account, he did not succeed : he says, 
 
 " But I myself, with half the Peake surrounded, 
 Eight hundred four-score and four yards have sounded ; 
 And though of these four-score returned back wet, 
 The plummet drew, and found no bottom yet ; 
 Though when I went to make a new essay, 
 I could not get the lead down half the way." 
 
 There is nothing like a tale of wonder ; and this tremendous 
 gulph, which is about twenty yards long, seven wide, and 
 sixty deep, has often excited both terror and amazement. 
 So early as the reign of Elizabeth, the Earl of Leicester is 
 reported to have hired a man to go down into Eldon Hole to 
 observe its form, and ascertain its depth. The account of 
 this experiment says, " He was let down about two hundred 
 ells, and after he had remained at the length of the rope 
 awhile, he was pulled up again, with great expectation of 
 some discoveries ; but when he came up he was senseless, 
 and dyed within eight days of a phrensy." This circumstance 
 is alluded to by Cotton in the following lines : 
 
 " Once a mercenary fool, 'tis said, exposed 
 
 His life for gold, to find what lies inclosed 
 
 In this obscure vacuity, and tell 
 
 Of stranger sights than Theseus saw in hell; 
 
 But the poor wretch paid for his thirst of gain 
 
 For, being craned up with a distempered brain, 
 
 A faultering tongue, and a wild staring look, 
 
 He lived eight days, and then the world forsook." 
 
 About forty years ago, a Mr. Loyd descended into this 
 gloomy abyss, explored the depths, and the capacity of its in- 
 terior recesses, and removed the mystery which until then 
 
 p 3 
 
214? BAGSHAW CAVERN. 
 
 had hung upon it. A detail of this undertaking was pub- 
 lished in " the Philosophical Transactions," vol. Ixi. p. 25O. 
 The whole of Mr. Loyd's descent was nearly sixty yards 
 when he reached the bottom of the chasm, where he found 
 several cells of different dimensions, whose sides and roofs 
 were every where covered with stalactites and calcareous in- 
 crustations. In one part of the principal cavern he discovered 
 a fissure in the rock, through which a strong current of air 
 proceeded ; this, however, he could not examine, as it was 
 nearly filled up with huge stones, that appeared to have been 
 rolled upon it. This aperture, the miners say, communicates 
 with a lower shaft of vast depth, with water at the bottom ; if so, 
 Cotton, whose measurement of it to the extent of more than 
 eight hundred yards, was, as he says, " witnessed by half the 
 Peak," may still be correct; but Mr. Loyd's statement in- 
 duces one to conclude that he actually reached the lower ex- 
 tremity of Eldon Hole at less than sixty yards from his entrance 
 into it. 
 
 I must now, with all becoming courtesy, bid adieu to my 
 companion to GlossOp, and resume the narrative of my pe- 
 destrian excursion from this place to Hope Dale, and from 
 thence to Matlock. From Peak Forest, a walk of a few 
 miles, over wild moorland ground, and newly-cultivated pas- 
 tures, thinly covered with verdure, brought us to the little 
 village of Bradwell. We had heard much of Bagshaw Cavern, 
 and we wished to visit it; but the day was now fast closing 
 upon us ; and, as the entrance into it is not only uninviting, 
 but absolutely repulsive, we determined to press onward to 
 the place where we proposed to pass the night. We had 
 previously seen enough of caverns, and we were too much 
 fatigued to be highly gratified with creeping through narrow 
 apertures to look at spars and stalactites, however beautiful. 
 We nevertheless determined to visit it on some future day, 
 but hitherto that day has not arrived. The entrance into the 
 crystallized grottos at Bradwell is narrow and inconvenient ; 
 the passage, however, soon becomes more accommodating, and 
 a man of short stature may grope his way into the caves be- 
 yond without much stooping. Different appellations have 
 been given to these subterranean cells: one is called the 
 Music Chamber ; another, the Grotto of Paradise ; a third, 
 the Grotto of Calypso ; and a fourth, I believe, is not yet 
 honoured with a name. Exploring them, a world of novel 
 
NIGHT SCENE IN SMALL DALE. 215 
 
 scenery is unfolded, beautiful and fantastic as the mind can 
 possibly conceive : the moving lights of the torch, as they play 
 amongst the transparent crystallizations, and the numerous 
 sparry icicles that depend like lustres from the roof, have a 
 very beautiful, and even a magical effect. This place, how- 
 ever, is not likely to be frequently visited; the timid will 
 shrink from the undertaking with apprehension, and the 
 treasures that it contains must be reserved for those who are 
 not deterred by common difficulties, and can cheerfully submit 
 to the inconvenience of stooping and crawling along the rug- 
 ged and narrow passages that lead to the inmost recesses of 
 the Peak mountains. 
 
 Our nearest road to Hope, where we proposed spending 
 the night, lay through Small Dale, a little village that derives 
 its name from a deep narrow dell, formed by masses of rock 
 thrown together in abrupt knolls and lofty crags. We 
 however preferred keeping on the brow of the hill that over- 
 looks the dale, where we had a good road ; and the darkness 
 of the night rendered such an accommodation desirable. The 
 burning of lime is here a considerable trade ; and the kilns 
 used for the purpose are situated at the bottom of the dell, 
 one side of which was formed by the rocks where we stood ; 
 of the other, aided by a transient light emitted from the fires 
 of the lime-kilns, we caught occasionally an uncertain glimpse : 
 all between was a gloomy vacuity, which the eye could not 
 penetrate. The whole dale indeed was one immense cauldron 
 steaming with smoke, that at intervals was partially illumined 
 by momentary gleams and flashes from the fires below then 
 curling into mid-air, it rolled over our heads in murky vo- 
 lumes, forming a canopy " as dark as Erebus." The obscu- 
 rity that pervaded this nocturnal scene, together with the 
 short and feeble emanations of light shot from the kilns in 
 the deep dale beneath, only made darkness more palpable, and 
 powerfully assisted the impressions it produced. We stood 
 to contemplate the picture before us, until some heavy drops 
 of rain, and the hoarse murmurs of distant thunder, warned 
 us to depart. Being yet more than two miles from the end 
 of our journey, the darkness of the night, and the coming 
 storm, induced us to alter our original intention, and spend 
 one more night at Castleton, where we arrived in time to 
 escape being deluged in torrents of rain. 
 
 The following morning, as we proceeded on our way to 
 
 p 4 
 
216 ROMAN REMAINS. 
 
 Hope, the open valley we passed through was covered with a 
 thick misty vapour, that obscured every object. The sun, how- 
 ever, ascending above the hills, soon spread his warm influence 
 over it ; and the vapour, that before was a dull and inactive 
 mass, soon became a source of beauty : as if instinct with life, 
 it everywhere appeared in motion ; and it was highly curious 
 to observe the whole progressively leave the vale, and, assum- 
 ing the form of clouds, pass in regular and solemn march 
 across the sides of the mountains, settling in succession on 
 the summits of Winhill, Losehill, and Mam Tor. These 
 phenomena are common in the Peak of Derbyshire; and 
 though not amongst the fixed and permanent features of the 
 place, they are interesting appendages to mountain scenery, 
 and sometimes produce a grand effect. 
 
 In our walk to Hope we passed the little hamlet of Brough, 
 an insignificant village, but supposed to have been once a place 
 of some importance. Where the two rivulets, the Bradwell 
 and the Now, meet, a Roman town formerly stood. The 
 site it occupied is a field now called the Halsteads, near 
 which a stone column, evidently Roman, a bust of Apollo, 
 and the mutilated head of another deity, both of rude work- 
 manship, were found. Near this place bricks and urns, 
 impressed with Roman letters, have occasionally been turned 
 up with the plough and the spade ; and at Brough Mill, a gold 
 coin of the Emperor Vespasian, in a good state of preserv- 
 ation, has been dug up. These circumstances all concur to 
 prove the fact of the Romans having had a settlement here ; 
 and the opinions of that venerable antiquarian, the late Rev. 
 Mr. Pegge of Whittington, and the northern tourist, Mr. 
 Bray, favour the same conclusion. 
 
 HOPE, a very respectable-looking village, was the next 
 place we passed through. The church stands on an insulated 
 plot of ground by the road-side, and, in connexion with a 
 group of picturesque dwellings, and a double row of lime-trees, 
 by which it is nearly surrounded, presents a very pleasing 
 picture. From Hope we had a delightful walk down the 
 valley by the side of the river Now, until we reached Malham 
 Bridge, where we once more regained the banks of the 
 Derwent. 
 
 The Wrongsley and the Westend, two little rivulets, that 
 rise amongst the heathy hills at the northern extremity of the 
 county, are the sources of this beautiful river. These incon- 
 siderable streams, after running a few miles among moorland 
 
VARIOUS SCENERY OF THE DERWENT. 217 
 
 wilds, flow into each other near a place called Abbey House, 
 and there assume the name of the Derwent, which, pursuing 
 its way in a southerly direction, passes the village of Derwent, 
 and shortly afterwards receives the Ashop, a river that has its 
 source at the base of Kinderscout; proceeding thence to 
 Malham Bridge in Hope Dale, it is joined by the united 
 waters of the Bradwell and the Now. 
 
 In the space of forty miles, which includes the whole course 
 of this river, from the highest and wildest parts of the Peak 
 to the town of Derby, scenery more richly diversified with 
 beauty can hardly any where be found. Generally, its banks 
 are luxuriantly wooded ; the oak, the elm, the alder, and the 
 ash, flourish abundantly along its course ; beneath the shade 
 of whose united branches the Derwent is sometimes secluded 
 from the eye of the traveller, and becomes a companion for 
 the ear alone ; then suddenly emerging into day, it spreads 
 through a more open valley, or, winding round the base of 
 some huge mountain or rocky precipice, reflects their dark 
 sides as it glides beneath. Sometimes this ever-varying and 
 ever-pleasing stream precipitates its foaming waters over the 
 rugged projections and rocky fragments that interrupt its 
 way ; again the ruffled waves subside, and the current steals 
 smoothly and gently through the vale, clear, and almost im- 
 perceptible in motion. 
 
 What an emblem of the busy world does this river pre- 
 sent, when contemplated through its various windings, from 
 its source amongst the heathy hills of Derbyshire to its con- 
 fluence with the Trent ! In the immense multitude that com- 
 pose the aggregate of mankind, there are many who seek the 
 sequestered shades of a still and retired life who shun the 
 tumult of society, and seclude themselves, not only from the 
 eye of the traveller, but who pass through life equally un- 
 knowing and unknown. Others rush into day, and like the 
 Derwent, pouring through the more open and sunny meadows, 
 court and attract the gaze of all around them, and live only 
 in proportion as they become the object to which public at- 
 tention is directed. There are likewise those who delight to 
 mix in the agitated scenes of a troubled world, and whose 
 pursuits partake the character of the Derwent, when forcing 
 an impetuous passage over the disparted fragments of rock 
 that obstruct its channel and impede its course. 
 
 Those who have perambulated the banks of the Derwent, 
 and become acquainted with its beauties, will recollect with 
 
218 .. VARIOUS SCENERY OF THE DERWENT. 
 
 delight the many exquisite scenes that it adorns, the pleasing 
 groves of Stoke, the splendid palace and noble grounds of 
 Chatsworth, the placid Darley Dale, the romantic rocks 
 and woods of Matlock, " Willersley Castle, and the whole 
 of those picturesque hills that shape its course from thence to 
 Belper, Duffield, and Derby. 
 
219 
 
 SECTION VII. 
 
 fltgh-low. Learn. Padley. Approach to Calver. Calver 
 Lime. Morning Scene. Hassop Hall. Longstone. 
 Godfrey Rowland imprisoned in the Castle of the Peak. 
 
 FROM Malham Bridge we followed the margin of the Der- 
 went to Hazleford, where we crossed the river amidst some 
 very beautiful scenery. From this place we visited the old 
 mansion at High-low, and then returned by Learn into the 
 valley we had so lately left. The house at High-low was once 
 a comfortable residence, but there are now many marks about 
 it that indicate an alteration in its fortunes. It was formerly 
 inhabited by a branch of the family of the Eyres, one of the 
 oldest in this part of Derbyshire, but it is now a mere farmer's 
 dwelling, and scarcely worth a visit. At the back of the 
 house there is a high conical hill, which has the appearance of 
 being thrown up by the labour of man ; but it is so immense 
 a mound that the supposition seems extravagant. Its name, 
 however, implies that it was once a burial-place ; if so, it is 
 scarcely less mighty than the Tomb of Achilles 
 
 . " That wide the extended Hellespont surveys." 
 
 From High-low, a short walk brought us to LEAM, the 
 residence of C. M. Middleton, Esq. How beautifully situated 
 is this delightful mansion ! It is surrounded with hills, rocks , 
 woods, and dales, amongst which flows the river Derwent, 
 every where fringed with a variety of the finest foliage. Learn 
 Hall occupies an elevated situation on the side of a steep hill, 
 and every view that it commands abounds with beauty. 
 
 Regaining the brink of the Derwerit, we had a leisurely 
 ramble through the woods in the direction of Grindleford 
 Bridge. Every person who has made the tour of the Peak 
 of Derbyshire must have observed the frequent occurrence of 
 
220 LEAM HALL. 
 
 wells and troughs of water, placed by the road-side for the ac- 
 commodation of travellers and their horses. This is both a 
 commendable and a convenient practice; and the many 
 streamlets that run down the sides of the hills furnish the 
 means of doing a good deed at a little expence. As we passed 
 along the road through the wood below Learn, we noticed a 
 well of this description, which was really a very pleasing object, 
 and my companion gave it a place in his sketch-book. A little 
 stream rushing down a steep declivity, and leaping from one 
 projection to another, amongst fragments of rock, and the 
 tangled branches of light overhanging trees, fell into a basin, 
 that was placed in a woody recess at the road-side to receive 
 it ; and the picturesque appendages by which it was surrounded 
 made it a good subject for the pencil. Shortly afterwards we 
 came to a more open part of the valley, where we had an un- 
 obstructed view of the left bank of the river, and the dells and 
 woods of Upper and Nether- Padley. 
 
 Padley Hall, scarcely a vestige of which now remains, was once 
 the most important mansion in this part of Derbyshire. It was 
 for several centuries the family residence of the Eyres, from 
 whom it passed into the possession of Sir Thomas Fitzherbert, 
 who married the daughter of Sir Arthur Eyre, and occupied the 
 Old Hall at Padley, in the reign of Elizabeth. G. Talbot, 
 the sixth Earl of Shrewsbury, hereditary Earl Marshal of 
 England, was at this time Lord Lieutenant of the county of 
 Derby ; and he appears to have exercised an unbending rigour 
 towards the Catholic Recusants within his jurisdiction. In a 
 letter of his to Sir Thomas Knyveton, he says, " The 
 Queens Majestic beinge moved by sundry occasions greatlie 
 importing the Estate of this her realme, to abridge the liberty 
 of sundry papists recusants, ill members of the same, resyant 
 within this County of Derby, &c. I have thought mete 
 heereby to requier you forthwith to receave into y r charge and 
 custodie the bodie of Philip Draycote, Gent, recusant, to be by 
 you well saflie kept as her Mt s prisoner, upon his proper costs 
 and charges, untill furder order, &c." This authority the 
 Earl of Shrewsbury appears to have used with some severity 
 towards the family at Padley. In the year 1587, John 
 Manners and Roger Columbel inform the Earl, that " Yester- 
 day being Candlemas Daye, Mr. Columble went himself 
 yearly in the morning with sixteen or twenty men to Padley^ 
 where he found Thomas Fitzharbert's wife, Anthony Fitzhar- 
 bert, two of his sisters, and about twenty persons besides, 
 
SIR T. FITZHERBERT TO THE EARL OF SHREWSBURY. 221 
 
 seeming to be of their household ; and made diligent searche 
 for Mr. John Fitzharbert, but could not- find him," &c. In 
 another part of the letter, they add, " Padlaye maye be 
 doubted much to be a house of evil resort, and therefore, my L. 
 their wilbe no good redresse there (in our simple opinyons) in 
 those matters, unless that some may be resyant there that wilbe 
 conformable, and some preacher placed amongst us, here in 
 the Peake, to teache the people better." 
 
 Two years after the date of the preceding letter, Sir Thomas 
 Fitzherbert addressed the following to the Earl of Shrews- 
 bury : 
 
 Very good Lorde, 
 
 W th all humble dewtie, I crave leave in lowly wise to openne 
 my greifes unto you. I suppose y r honor hathe knowne me above 
 fiftie yeres, and my wief, that was daughter and heire unto S r 
 Arthur Eyre. I trust I have bine dewtifull unto my Lords y r 
 grandfather, y r father, and y r Honor, and I have found y r Honors 
 all my good Lords, till now of late y r Lo pp entringe into the 
 Howse of Padley, found two semynaries there, all unknowne unto 
 my brother, as was confessed at theire deathe, and is well approved 
 since by good testimony ; sithence w ch tyme y r L pp also hath en- 
 tred uppon my Howse of Padley, and the demeanse thereof, 
 seazed all the goods of my Brothers and myne that was in that 
 Howse, amongeste w ch I had certeine evidences of a Woode and 
 Meadowe under Levin Howse, called Fawltclyffe, w ch as I ame 
 enformed y r Honor hathe entred uppon, and occupieth whollie to 
 y r use, though I have bine possessed and my wief s auncestors 
 thereof, tyme out of mynde. Very good Lo , theise things are 
 greater than my presente poor estate can suffer, or in any wise 
 beare, I payinge her Ma tle the statute of recusansie, beinge 
 CCLX 1 ' by yeare, w cn is more then all my rents yerlie rise unto. 
 Loathe lam to complaine of y r Ho r any waie, wherefore I complaine 
 me firste unto y r Lo pp ; hopinge you will deale BO noblie and chai- 
 ritablie w th me as I shall be restored to my Howse, lands, and 
 goods, by y r Honor, so as I shall be fullye satisfied, and be able 
 to paie her Ma tie , and for ever bounde to praie for yo r LoP p liefe 
 in all honor longe to continew. From London, this 28* of Maie, 
 1589. 
 
 These letters scarcely require a comment ; they exhibit a 
 shocking picture of the exorbitant power of the nobility, and 
 the miserable situation of the Roman Catholics in the days of 
 Elizabeth. Heartily congratulating ourselves that we were 
 not disciples of the pope, and subjected to the mild and tole- 
 rant government of " the golden days of good Queen Bess" we 
 left the vicinity of Padley, and proceeded on our way to 
 
222 CALVER LIME. 
 
 Grindleford Bridge and Stoke. As we descended the hill 
 beyond Stoke Hall, the darkness of the night was fast ap- 
 proaching. The rocky eminences about Calver had lost their 
 peculiar features, and lay in masses before us. The lime-kilns 
 were now become imposing objects ; the very outline of their 
 base was lost in shadow : from their summits volumes of smoke, 
 partly illumined by unseen fires, rose in spiral folds, that be- 
 came dark and heavy as they ascended. At the top of one of 
 the kilns, a human figure, placed against the white volume of 
 smoke that rolled over his head, had a fine effect ; his form 
 came dark upon the eye, and, being surrounded with illumina- 
 ted and murky vapours, he seemed like a magician framing his 
 spells and muttering his incantations over a burning cauldron. 
 The scene was essentially different from the one we had ob- 
 served the preceding evening, yet it strongly reminded us of 
 the nignt-fires of Small Dale. 
 
 CALVER is a part of one of the principal limestone districts 
 of Derbyshire, and it derives considerable advantage from its 
 proximity to lands where a different soil prevails, and its pro- 
 duce is in great demand. The lime obtained here is admirably 
 fitted for agricultural purposes ; hence a lucrative trade has 
 been established, for the supply of which the hills of Calver 
 furnish abundant materials. It is much to be regretted that 
 no canal communication has been opened between this and 
 other parts of the same county, where lime is wanted and 
 coal abounds ; a mutual exchange of the productions of each 
 would be highly advantageous to both. Great difficulty would 
 certainly be found in thus passing the immense rampart of 
 hill by which they are divided ; but, as a canal has been lately 
 continued to Sheffield, it might easily be carried through 
 Abbey Dale to East Moor, above Totley, and thence by 
 Dronfield to Chesterfield. With the nearest part of this 
 branch a rail-road, on the principle of the one near Chapel- 
 en-le-Frith, might communicate. The practicability of this 
 undertaking is easily discernible, and its utility would produce 
 an increase of business to the Sheffield and Chesterfield Canals, 
 that would be of incalculable benefit to both. 
 
 The limestone rocks of Derbyshire not only furnish excel- 
 lent manure for agricultural purposes, but, when untouch- 
 ed by fire, they produce the best materials in the kingdom for 
 road-making. The persons employed here in this useful branch 
 of labour are by no means deficient in a knowledge of their 
 business ; on the contrary, they appear to understand the best 
 
MORNING SCENE. 223 
 
 principles of making and repairing roads. They break the 
 limestone to a circular gauge of from two and a half to three 
 inches in diameter, and a forfeit is incurred for every stone that 
 will not pass the ring : the stone when thus broken is laid 
 upon the road six or eight inches thick, and shortly it be- 
 comes so hard and compact, that the carriage wheels as they 
 pass over it scarcely leave a mark behind them. In the vicinity 
 of Bakewell, Basslow, Calver, Hassop, &c. &c. this system of 
 road-making has long prevailed, and has been found very be- 
 neficial ; the roads are not only easy to travel on, but they are 
 very durable, and made at little expence. 
 
 We once more passed the night at the Moon Inn at Stoney 
 Middleton, within half a mile of Calver ; and the following 
 morning, after sketching a picturesque waterfall at a corn-mill 
 near the inn, we proceeded to Hassop, a very pleasant village, 
 where Lord Kinnaird, the eldest son of the present Earl of 
 Newburgh, resides. 
 
 As we left Calver, the morning was singularly fine and 
 beautiful ; the air was balmy and full of freshness, yet so still, 
 that the smoke from the cottage chimneys was hardly disturbed 
 by its breathings ; the herbage in the fields, and the leaves of 
 the trees, were " impearled with the dew ;" and God's beau- 
 teous sky was one magnificent canopy of clear and spotless 
 azure. There was no contemplating the scene without ex- 
 periencing sensations of delight. The dullest clod that ever 
 wore the form of man could not have been insensible to the 
 influence of so much beauty ; every thing around us seemed to 
 feel it. The hares and pheasants, which are here abundant, 
 were running and playing about by the road-side, as if the world 
 and all that it contains had been theirs, and theirs alone. I 
 was delighted with their gambols with the confidence they 
 displayed; and should have thought it a sacrilege against the 
 happiness of nature to have broken in upon or disturbed their 
 sports. 
 
 The manor of Hassop formerly belonged to the Foljambes ; 
 but, in the year 1498, it was purchased by Catherine, the 
 widow of Stephen Eyre, a younger son of Ralph Eyre, Esq. 
 of Padley ; since when it has continued in the possession of the 
 same family. The late Earl of Newburgh died without issue, 
 and the title being inheritable through heirs female, it devolved 
 to Francis, the present earl, who is the son of Lady Mary, 
 the youngest daughter and co-heiress of Charlotte, Countess 
 of Newburgh ; Prince Justiniani, the son of the eldest dauglj- 
 
224 HASSOP HALL. 
 
 ter, being incapable of inheriting the title, in consequence of 
 being an alien. 
 
 The Eyres, as I have before observed, is one of the oldest 
 families in Derbyshire, where they have continued to reside 
 through the long lapse" of more than seven hundred years, as 
 appears from the following curious extract from an old pedi- 
 gree, which is still preserved at Hassop : " The first of the 
 Eyres came in with King William the Conqueror, and his 
 name was Truelove ; but, in the Battle of Hastings (14? Oct. 
 1066) this Truelove, seeing the King unhorsed, and his helmet 
 beat so close to his face that he could not breathe, pulled off 
 his helmet, and horsed him again. The King said, ' Thou 
 shalt hereafter from Truelove be called Air or Eyre, because 
 thou hast given me the air I breathe.' After the battle, the 
 King called for him, and being found with his thigh cut off, he 
 ordered him to be taken care of; and being recovered, he gave 
 him lands in the county of Derby, in reward for his services ; 
 and the seat he lived at he called Hope, because he had hope 
 in the greatest extremity ; and the King gave the Leg and 
 Thigh cut off in armour for his crest, and which is still the 
 crest of all the Eyres in England." 
 
 In the year 1643, Hassop Hall had a military character; it 
 was then garrisoned for the King by Colonel Eyre, who dis- 
 tinguished himself in an eminent manner at the siege of New- 
 ark. A good portrait of this gallant loyalist adorns one of the 
 rooms at Hassop. The gardens around the house, though 
 rather trim and formal, are kept in excellent condition, and the 
 plantations are ornamented with a rich diversity of the noblest 
 trees. 
 
 " Here towers erect in sable spire 
 
 The pine-tree, scathed by lightning fire ; 
 
 The drooping ash, and birch between, 
 
 Hang their fair tresses o'er the green j 
 
 And all beneath at random grow 
 
 Each coppice dwarf of varied show, 
 
 Or, round the stems profusely twined, 
 
 Fling summer odours on the wind." Rokeby. 
 
 Hassop is one of the pleasantest little villages in the Peak 
 of Derbyshire. A chain of hills that screen it from the north 
 rises high above it, and the gentle slope on which it stands de- 
 clines into some well-cultivated vales, and overlooks a variety 
 of rich and beautiful prospect. The cottages are neat and 
 clean ; and an appearance of comfort pervades the whole place. 
 13* 
 
FEUDAL TYRANNY. 225 
 
 A walk through Hassop is like a walk through a garden : 
 libernums and laurels, roses and evergreens, adorn the way- 
 side; and the air is perfumed with the fragrance of a thousand 
 flowers. 
 
 From this village we proceeded along a pleasant road to 
 Longstone or Longsdon, where, in the fourteenth century, a 
 family of the name of Rowland possessed considerable pro- 
 perty: their residence was the Old Hall, a place now occupied 
 by Major Carleill. In the rolls of Parliament, volume the 
 third, page 518., there is a copy of a petition, dated the 4th of 
 Henry the Sixth, from Godfrey Rowland, who there calls 
 himself " a simple Esquyer, praying for a hasty remedy against 
 Sir Thomas Wendesley, John Dean, vicar of Hope, and 
 others, who are stated to have come to the petitioner's house 
 at Longsdon with force and arms to have carried off goods 
 and stock to the value of two hundred marks to have taken 
 the petitioner prisoner, and carried him to the Castle of the 
 High Peak, where he was kept in custody six days without 
 victuals or drink, after which they cut off his right hand, and 
 then released him." It is difficult to conceive how such a 
 cruel and intolerable outrage could have been committed on a 
 private gentleman, at a time when something like law and jus- 
 tice prevailed in the country. 
 
 Longstone is a small but pleasant village : the cottages are 
 mostly elevated above the carriage-road, and the lofty trees 
 that grow near them and around the hall give the whole place 
 a very rural appearance. At Little Longstone, about a quar- 
 ter of a mile farther, we found some charming subjects for the 
 pencil ; a spreading elm, which stands by the road-side, 
 amongst trees of a lighter and more elegant foliage, that screen 
 but do not hide some cottages near, is of itself a noble object* 
 and the picturesque materials that surround it form a very 
 pleasing composition. 
 
226 
 
 SECTION VIII. 
 
 Money- Ash. Marble Quarries. Source of the Lathkil. 
 Scene near Conksbury Bridge. Youlgrave. Arber-Low. 
 Bradford River. Alport. Tufa Rocks. 
 
 1 HE Marble Quarries near Money- Ash were the next objects 
 of our excursion : we therefore retraced a part of our steps, 
 send leaving Longstone, took the route of a newly-made road, 
 which led us, by a very gentle descent, to Ashford ; from 
 whence we clambered over some high hills, and were repaid for 
 the toil of ascending them by the beautiful variety of land- 
 scape we beheld from their summits. 
 
 MONEY-ASH, though but a small place of about sixty 
 houses, was raised to the dignity of a market-town in the 
 year 1340: a grant for an annual fair for three days was 
 likewise bestowed upon it at the same time ; but both fair and 
 market have been long discontinued. Money- Ash is not 
 however entirely deprived of its former consequence ; it still 
 remains the seat of the mineral court for the High Peak dis- 
 trict : in every other respect it is an insignificant village. 
 
 From Money- Ash, a ramble of about a mile brought us 
 into the dell, where the principal part of the grey marble of 
 Derbyshire is procured. Here we found a scene far more 
 rude and savage than we had anticipated. We were aware 
 that the rocks had been blasted and rent to pieces with gun- 
 powder, and their natural features defaced; but we never- 
 theless supposed we should find some little spot yet unprofaned 
 by avarice, where rock and foliage intermixed compose a 
 beauteous picture: we were mistaken; neither tree nor 
 shrub find a home in Ricklow Dale : naked crags fence it in 
 on every side, and huge fragments torn from the cliffs above 
 lie in disordered masses along the ground, where scarce a 
 blade of verdure intervenes to soften the general wildness of 
 the scene ; yet even in this strange place some half-starved 
 sheep were scrambling amongst the rocks, and endeavouring to 
 
THE LATHKIL RIVER. 227 
 
 pick out a scanty subsistence from the narrow spaces between. 
 The marble quarries are at the upper extremity of Ricklow 
 Dale ; they appear only to be worked occasionally, and when 
 we saw them they were utterly deserted. Blocks of marble 
 of different dimensions had been detached from the rocks, 
 and lay in heaps at their base, ready to be carted to the mills 
 at Ashford and Bakewell, where they are cut into form and 
 polished for use. 
 
 In a continuation of this dale, about a mile and a half 
 nearer Over Haddon, is the source of the LATHKIL, one of 
 .he most brilliant streams amongst the dells of Derbyshire. 
 The cradle of this rivulet is pleasingly romantic : from a 
 cavern in a mass of broken rock, whose sides and summit 
 are adorned with branches of trees, the Lathkil issues into 
 day; and running down a gentle declivity amongst huge 
 stones, by which it is divided into separate currents, it is 
 sometimes an object of considerable beauty. 
 
 We followed the margin of this little river for several 
 miles, and were every where delighted with its clearness, play, 
 and spirit. About half a mile below the village of Over 
 Haddon, where the old Ashbourne road crosses the dale, 
 some very beautiful scenery occurs both above and below the 
 bridge. The rocks on the two sides of the stream, though 
 not lofty, are broken into pleasing forms, and fringed with 
 trees ; but the Lathkil is every where the finest feature in the 
 scene : where it glides smoothly along it is so perfectly trans- 
 lucid, that every object over which it flows is not only dis- 
 tinctly seen, but seen in fresher colours: the flowers and 
 herbage on its banks are but faded resemblances of those 
 over which it runs. 
 
 It was a clear sunny day, and, anxious to enjoy the beauty 
 of the scene, we seated ourselves on a rocky knoll covered 
 with mountain thyme, that filled the air with fragrance. Here 
 we passed an hour of real happiness, and every thing that 
 had life seemed equally happy around us. The trout, with 
 which the Lathkil abounds, lay quietly in the river at our feet, 
 and the bright blue dragon-fly and the kingfisher displayed 
 their gaudy plumage to the sun as they flitted along the 
 stream. Near the bridge we observed a number of flies rest 
 awhile upon the water, and then take wing, yet none appeared 
 to settle there : approaching nearer, a part of the stream, 
 where it was stillest, was almost covered with them ; and 
 their thin transparent wings trembled witfc many an unavailing 
 
223 YOULGRAVF,. 
 
 effort before they bore them aloft in the air. This little insect 
 was just changing its form and mode of being, and we watched 
 the transition from one state of existence to another with con- 
 siderable interest. Innumerable riishy tubes rose in succession 
 from the bottom to the surface of the water ; from these the 
 fly, with a very feeble struggle, soon emerged, and then rested 
 motionless for a moment on that element where it had been 
 nurtured into life ; after which it tried its feeble wing then 
 with an elastic impetus sprung upwards, and flew along the 
 meadows in search of new enjoyments. 
 
 As we ascended the hill by Conksbury, on our way to 
 Youlgrave, we had several pleasing views of that village, in 
 which the tower of the church, environed with trees, was 
 always a principal object. YOULGRAVE is situated on the 
 side of a hill, which declines gently into an open little vale, 
 that is watered by a brilliant stream, called the Bradford. 
 The church is a handsome building, with a finely-propor- 
 tioned tower, surmounted with eight ornamented pinna- 
 cles; and it stands in the midst of a spacious burial- 
 ground, nearly surrounded with a plantation of lime-trees. 
 
 The church contains several monuments of rather a costly 
 description, one of which is dedicated to the memory of Sir 
 John Rossington, who was a crusader ; and another of a more 
 recent date to John Eley, Esq. of Alport, major-commandant 
 of the artillery in the East India Company's service. The 
 parish register contains some curious entries, amongst which 
 there is " a menioriatt of the great snow," which began in 
 January 1615, and continued, with very little intermission, 
 to the 12th of March. The entry states, that " it covered 
 the earth five quarters deepe upon the playne ;" that " it was 
 the fear and admiration of all the land, for it came from the 
 four parts of the world, so that all countrys were full, yea, 
 the south parts as well as the mountaynes." We were also 
 informed by the parish clerk, that the register contains the 
 entries of the births of twenty-two children of Mrs. Thornhill, 
 the grandmother of the present proprietor of Stanton ; the 
 whole of whom were baptized at Youlgrave church. 
 
 From Youlgrave, a rough and ill-made carriage road con- 
 ducted us to Middleton, a small village, which, by way of 
 distinction, is called Middleton by Youlgrave. Near this 
 place we found the celebrated Druidicai monument of Arber- 
 L/)W 9 one of the most striking remains of antiquity in any 
 part of Derbyshire. This circle includes an area of from 
 
ARBEH-LOW. 229 
 
 forty to fifty yards diameter, formed by a series of large un- 
 hewn stones, not standing upright, like a part of those on 
 Hartle Moor, but all laid on the ground, with an inclination 
 towards the centre : round these, the remains of a ditch, 
 circumscribed by a high embankment, may be traced. Near 
 the south entrance into this circle there is a mound, or burial- 
 place, in which some fragments of an urn, some half-burnt 
 bones, and the horns of a stag, were found. 
 
 After spending a short time at Arber-Low, we proceeded 
 to Gratton, a little hamlet, which, together with the appending 
 manor, belongs to the Thornhills of Stanton. Here the Brad- 
 ford rivulet first emerges into day. The whole length of this 
 little stream is only about two miles ; but it is two miles of 
 beauty. Approaching Alport, we came to the spot where it 
 loses its name in the Lathkil. A high rock, called Bradford 
 Tor, crested with trees and light depending branches, occupies 
 the right of the river that washes its base. The left bank is 
 a steep verdant slope, surmounted with a group of dwellings, 
 half hid amongst orchard trees, ash, and sycamore. IV-.-ir 
 these, a bridge leads into the village, from whose arch the 
 Lathkil rushes impetuously, and, dashing and foaming along 
 its rugged channel, leaps into the Bradford, at the foot of the 
 Tor* Nothing can exceed the beauty of this brilliant stream, 
 as it bounds and sparkles along its rapid descent. Such are 
 the principal features in the foreground of this pleasing pic- 
 ture. The space beyond is composed of cottages, scattered 
 amongst overhanging rocks and luxuriant trees, that display 
 every variety of tint and foliage, from the light pensile branches 
 of the libernum to the majestic ramifications of the oak and 
 the elm. More remote, the steep bank of a narrow dell ap- 
 pears, whose summit is clothed with a plantation of larch and 
 pine, interspersed with beach, birch, and mountain-ash. Still 
 farther in distance, the lofty grounds and woody acclivities of 
 Stanton terminate the scene. This view, it must be observed, 
 can only be obtained from the rising ground in the meadows, 
 on the left of the Bradford. Nearer the river, the distance is 
 lost, and the village becomes a less interesting object. 
 
 Alport is a pleasant place, and the greater part of its in- 
 habitants appear to be in reputable circumstances, if the houses 
 where they reside may be regarded as a fair criterion : they 
 are generally good stone buildings, and sufficiently spacious 
 for all the purposes of comfort : a neat flower-garden, belted 
 with laurel, lilacs, and libernum, lies before them, and an 
 
230 TUFA HOCK AT ALPOKT. 
 
 orchard well stored with fruit trees spreads behind. There 
 are of course some inferior dwellings, but not the proportion 
 usually found in a country village. 
 
 The Tufa in Derbyshire is universally regarded as a watery 
 deposit very rapidly produced, and it contains indisputable 
 evidences of its formation. At Alport, a large mass of rock, 
 from forty to sixty feet high, is entirely composed of this ma- 
 terial ; and being adorned with trees, that either shoot from 
 its sides, or take root upon its summit, it is not only a curious, 
 but a picturesque object. 
 
 This rock appears to be a congregation of matter, chiefly 
 vegetable, which has been formed into an immense petrefaction 
 by the continual action of water, but at what period is uncer- 
 tain, as the stream that produced it has either ceased to flow, 
 or has changed its course. The limestone strata of Derby* 
 shire abounds with a variety of animal and vegetable remains, 
 which time has hardened into stone ; but in the tufa rocks 
 they are often embedded in their native state : branches of 
 trees are frequently found within them ; and in some places 
 they appear an accumulation of sticks, straws, and weeds, 
 closely enveloped in calcareous incrustations ; amongst these 
 the natural snail-shell, not in the least altered in appearance, 
 is often found. In one place, where the rock had been re- 
 cently broken, and the trunk of a small birch tree, about six 
 or eight inches diameter, taken out, we noticed the impression 
 that remained, and took from it a part of the bark that was 
 left behind, which was not at all affected in its nature by its 
 long imprisonment. Some few years ago, the head and horns 
 of a stag, now in the possession of a gentleman at Bakewell, 
 were taken entire from out the tufa rocks at this place. It 
 is not to the geologist only that this curious lime deposit is 
 interesting : a great variety of the most beautiful plants and 
 flowers grow upon it ; it is, therefore, equally attractive to the 
 botanist. Here the common thistle flourishes luxuriantly, 
 and displays great beauty, the flowers being peculiarly rich 
 in colour : wild marjoram, mountain thyme, ladies' bed-straw, 
 and a fine variety of bright yellow stone crop the Sedum 
 of Linnaeus, are also abundant on these rocks. 
 
 While rambling about this pleasant village, we were di- 
 rected in our researches by one of the inhabitants, of whom 
 we inquired for Alport rocks. After examining this singular 
 assemblage of matter, and looking over a small collection of 
 the minerals and fossils of Derbyshire, some of which were 
 
PICTURESQUE WATER-MILL AT ALPORT. 231 
 
 rare and curious, we thanked our host and cicerone for his 
 attentions, and the timely refreshment his hospitality had 
 spread before us ; and, bidding him adieu, we proceeded on 
 our way to Hartle Moor. Leaving Alport, we passed a mill, 
 romantically situated amongst rocks and trees : the water by 
 which it was supplied was spread out into a lucid mirror, and 
 the various objects that surrounded it lay pictured on its surface 
 in all the vivid colouring of nature. Near the mill, the stream is 
 precipitated over a high semicircular weir into a deep bason 
 below, forming a cascade, somewhat artificial, but yet extremely 
 beautiful : agitated water is never otherwise ; and when, by 
 the rapidity of its motion, it is whitened into foam, or broken 
 into sparkling particles, it is one of the most pleasing objects 
 that nature any where presents. 
 
232 
 
 SECTION IX. 
 
 Stanton. Visit there in the month of November. Andle 
 Stone. Plantations on Stanton Moor. View from the 
 hill near Cat Stone. Stanton Lees. Stanton House : fne 
 Work there by Gibbons. 
 
 OUR walk to Hartle Moor lay through a narrow lane sha- 
 dowed with trees, that at intervals admitted a glimpse of the 
 surrounding country, and opened a pleasing view of the plant- 
 ations and grounds about Stanton. The park, the house, and 
 the village, occupy the side of a steep hill, along which the 
 eye passes over hedge-row trees, and woody eminences, to 
 the distant scenery in the vicinity of Chatsworth. These ob- 
 jects, together with the chain of broken rock, extending from 
 Stanton Park to Bradley Tor ; and the fresh foliage rising 
 out of the dell, that marks the course of the Lathkil, form a 
 very imposing landscape. 
 
 Stanton was the ancient residence of the family of the Baches, 
 by whom it was occupied for upwards of two centuries. 
 The heiress of this family married John Thornhill, Esq. His 
 grandson, the present proprietor of Stanton, not many years 
 ago pulled down the old mansion, and erected an elegant 
 modern structure in its place. Other improvements have 
 succeeded : hundreds of acres of new plantations have been 
 made, and a deer park has been added to the other delightful 
 accommodations of the place. The Thornhills were originally 
 of Thornhill in the Peak, where they possessed considerable 
 property, so early as the reign of Edward the Third. 
 
 The scenery about Stanton House is gradually improving : 
 the new plantations begin to assume an imposing aspect ; and, 
 as they are spread over a large extent of hill and dale, they 
 will shortly become a principal feature in a landscape, that 
 even now is richly diversified and full of beauty. If that 
 spirit for planting trees and raising woods, where before nei- 
 ther branch nor shrub grew, which has so eminently distin- 
 
RETROSPECT OF A VISIT TO STANTON. 233 
 
 guished the present proprietor of Stanton, could be generally 
 disseminated through the Peak of Derbyshire, it would soon 
 become a scene of grandeur. 
 
 I once visited Stanton the last week in November : a severe 
 frost had prevailed for several days ; and, as I left the town 
 of Sheffield, the effect produced by the rising sun was not 
 less singular than beautiful. My road was through Abbey 
 Dale. The hoar-frost lay like snow upon the ground ; and 
 every object by the road-side sparkled with innumerable icy 
 prisms, that for a moment, as they caught the rays of the 
 newly-risen sun, glittered like gems then suddenly dis- 
 solved, and passed away. The woods, that cover the hills on 
 the left, although despoiled of their " leafy honours," presented 
 a novel scene : the trees were every where invested with frosty 
 particles, that hung lightly, like new-fallen snow, upon their 
 branches, feathering every stem with great, but evanescent 
 beauty. Passing from Abbey Dale to East Moor, a rapid 
 change had taken place : the sun was shining brightly in a 
 cloudless sky, and the hoar-frost, which but half an hour 
 before covered every object, had disappeared, leaving scarcely 
 a trace of its former presence behind. 
 
 Crossing East Moor, some fine grouse ran before me on a 
 part of the road, which they seemed to quit reluctantly : one 
 of them, a fine heath-cock, flew to a little eminence near the 
 road-side, where he stretched forth his neck, and assumed a 
 dignity of deportment, that strongly manifested his indignation 
 at being disturbed in the midst of his own domains. The ma- 
 jesty and beauty of this bird can only be seen, on his native 
 mountains, and even there he is generally too shy to be nearly 
 approached. I have often beheld the heath-cock on the Der- 
 byshire moors, but on no other occasion have I ever seen how 
 grand and dignified he can occasionally be. These birds are 
 very numerous on these wastes, where they are preserved with 
 great care, that they may furnish amusement to the sportsman, 
 and a feast to the epicure : they feed on the bilberry and the 
 heath, the common covering of these extensive moors, 
 
 A few miles further brought me to Baslow Bar, one of the 
 wildest scenes in this part of Derbyshire, where the rocks are 
 thrown together in confused masses, apparently by some terri- 
 ble agitation, which has left the rent and disjointed fragments, 
 that had been separated from the parent mass, poised and fixed 
 in positions, that strongly indicate, the instantaneous cessation 
 of violent motion. 
 
234- BASLOW BAR. 
 
 " Awhile the living hill 
 " Heav'd with convulsive throes then all was still.'* 
 
 DR. DARWIN. 
 
 Through the rude rocky vista that nature here has formed, 
 the village of Baslow, the finely-cultivated country that sur- 
 rounds it, and the woody eminences and verdant slopes of 
 Chatsworth Park, are beheld; forming, altogether, as lovely 
 and as rich a landscape as ever the eye reposed on with delight. 
 
 A letter, now before me, written by a lady on passing the 
 moors of Derbyshire for the first time, strongly expresses the 
 feeling excited by this extraordinary scene. " As I approached 
 Baslow Bar," she says, " the prospect, which before was suf- 
 ficiently barren and desolate, became wild and savage, inspir- 
 ing only emotions of terror : judge, then, what my feelings 
 were, when I first beheld, through the narrow defile of rock 
 before me, the woods and hills, and all the lovely grounds that 
 environ Chatsworth House. The sudden transition from one 
 kind of feeling to another, the wild and savage grandeur of the 
 foreground, and the beauty of all beyond, strongly reminded 
 me of Satan's first peep into Paradise." 
 
 I passed through Bakewell, and had a pleasant walk down 
 Haddon Vale. A little below the two-mile stone, I paused 
 by the road-side, to contemplate once more the fine old 
 structure of Haddon Hall ; and to indulge in unavailing regret, 
 that I had not obtained a view of this interesting mansion 
 from so favourable a situation. A small lake of water inter- 
 vened between me and the building, in which the towers and 
 turrets, and the embattled parapets of Haddon, were vividly 
 reflected. Had the celebrated artist, to whose friendship I am 
 indebted for his beautiful illustrations of the Peak Scenery of 
 Derbyshire, witnessed the imposing picture that Haddon here 
 presents, he would have mingled his regret with mine, that a 
 rainy and cheerless day had prevented him from enriching his 
 sketch-book with so fine a subject. 
 
 I now left the vale of Haddon, and entered into a narrow 
 woody dell that leads to Stanton. The river Lathkil strays 
 through its windings ; and, as the busy stream bubbles and 
 plays amongst the branches, it every where sparkles with life 
 and beauty. Leaving the course of this sportive rivulet, where 
 a road on the right branches off to Alport, I pursued my way 
 to a picturesque toll-house, half covered with ivy, which is 
 situated at the foot of Stanton Hill. At this place, I entered 
 
STANTON HOUSE. 235 
 
 the grounds belonging to the Thornhill family, and had a plea- 
 sant walk along a good carriage-road, that overlooks Hartle 
 Brook; and, in its progress to Stanton House, opens a series 
 of views where CratclifF rocks, Bradley Tor, Mock Beggar 
 Hall, and the hills about Elton and Winster, are distinguish- 
 ing features. Near the entrance into the Park, I noticed on 
 my left a stone cross, evidently of modern date, placed near 
 the opening into a mine, to commemorate the fate of a man, 
 who had lost his life there. A death's head is sculptured on 
 the upper part of the cross, and the name of the sufferer, 
 " John Annable" is inscribed below. There is a pleasing in- 
 terest excited, and a commendable feeling manifested, in 
 thus consecrating the spot where a fellow- creature has untimely 
 perished. 
 
 Stanton House has been built about twenty years. The 
 late J. Linley, Esq. of Doncaster, was the architect. It is 
 pleasantly situated on the side of a hill, that declines towards 
 the west, and the elevated grounds above it protect it from 
 the inclement winds of the east : they overlook Darley Dale, 
 and command a great variety of rich and beautiful scenery. 
 
 The day, which for the first four or five hours, promised no- 
 thing but halcyon skies and uninterrupted prospects, suddenly 
 lost its clearness, and a cold dense atmosphere succeeded, ex- 
 tremely unfavourable to picturesque purposes. Accompanied, 
 however, by one of the hospitable family of the Thornhills, I 
 gladly availed myself of the opportunity of traversing Stanton 
 Moor. From the front of the house, an insulated stone of im- 
 mense magnitude is seen in the line of the horizon, where it is 
 a prominent object from every point of view around it, and may 
 be regarded as an excellent land-mark for all who wish to visit 
 this interesting district. To this object we directed our steps 
 through the park. On our way there, we passed in the hollow 
 on our right an avenue of old Scotch firs : the height of the 
 trees suggested a recollection of the pines of Norway, that strike 
 their roots amongst the rocks, and lift their topmost branches 
 to the clouds. Proceeding onward, we soon attained the emi- 
 nence distinguished by the huge stone that had attracted my 
 attention. In the neighbourhood it is known by the name of 
 Andle Stone, though Major Rooke has given this appellation 
 to one of far inferior dimensions, which stands on the same 
 plain, about half a mile nearer the brow of the hill that over- 
 looks Darley Dale. Andle Stone is a large block of unhewn 
 sandstone grit, which appears to be inserted, but not deeply* itt 
 
236 TEMPLES OF THE ANCIENT BRITONS. 
 
 the earth : its surface is but little marked with fissures or in- 
 dentations ; the square of its sides is from seven to eight yards, 
 and its extreme height about eighteen feet. Several other 
 insulated stones of a similar description cccupy the same 
 high range of ground : how they were originally placed there, 
 and for what purposes they were designed, can now only be 
 conjectured. 
 
 Quintus Cicero, who was with Julius Caesar when he in- 
 vaded this country, writing to his brother, Marcus Tullius 
 Cicero, says, " The temples of the Britons are raised in the 
 depths of the woods, and constructed in a circular form, with 
 obelisks of stone, over which are imposts, all of huge dimen- 
 sions, untouched by the chisel. One of these I saw while it 
 was erecting by the rude unskilful hands of the natives, as a 
 peace-offering to their Grianus 9 or Apollo, to mediate the good 
 offices of Caesar. 
 
 " The huge stones of which it was composed lay scattered 
 by the hand of nature on the plain ; these (with myriads of the 
 votaries of the god to afford their labour) the high priest, 
 who directed the operations, caused to be rolled up on in- 
 clined planes of solid earth, which had been formed by the 
 excavation of trenches, until they had attained a height equal 
 to their own altitude ; then pits being dug, they were launched 
 from the terrace, and sunk so as to stand perpendicularly, at due 
 and equal distances in the circle, and over these were placet! 
 others horizontally. After having completed one circle, they 
 form another that is concentric, at some distance, and towards 
 the extremity of the area of the inner circle they place a huge 
 stone for the performance of religious rites. 
 
 " When the sun enters into Cancer is the great festival of 
 the god ; and on all high mountains and eminences of the 
 country they light fires at the approach of that day, and make 
 their wives, their children, and their cattle, to pass through the 
 fire, in honour of the Deity. Deep and profound is the 
 silence of the multitude during this ceremony, until the ap- 
 pearance of the sun above the horizon when, with loud and 
 continued exclamations, and songs of joy, they hail the utmost 
 exaltation of that luminary, as the supreme triumph of the 
 god of their adoration." 
 
 This account has a more particular reference to the forma- 
 tion of those circles of stones which are generally regarded as 
 druidical, than to the insulated monuments that are found on 
 Stanton Moor : yet that the same mode of rolling these vast 
 
PLANTATIONS ON STANTON MOOR. S7 
 
 masses up inclined planes of solid earth, for the purpose of 
 placing them in a perpendicular position, must have been 
 resorted to, seems highly probable. They are striking indi- 
 cations of what the skill and labour of an ingenious people 
 could accomplish, who were unacquainted with mechanical 
 powers. 
 
 As we traversed the extensive plantations on Stanton Moor, 
 we passed the upright stone which Major Rooke has men- 
 tioned by the name of Andle Stone ; and, a little further on, 
 we came to a barrow, that had been recently opened, when an 
 unbaked urn, containing human bones, was found within it. 
 
 The whole of this eminence is covered with plantations of 
 fir, larch, oak, and Spanish chesnut. A few years ago it was 
 only a heathy moor ; and it now strongly exemplifies to what 
 useful purposes even a barren waste may be applied. Froni 
 the year 1808 to the present time, a considerable number of 
 labourers have been employed by the worthy proprietor of 
 Stanton, from early in autumn to late in the spring of the 
 year, in progressively covering the wild wastes around his 
 mansion with extensive plantations, which will one day richly 
 remunerate him for the expense he has incurred in his truly 
 patriotic speculation. Upwards of six hundred acres of wood, 
 planted by his own exertions, will wave its branches round his 
 mansion, and give a sylvan character to the park and grounds 
 of Stanton. 
 
 We followed the direction of a narrow path tangled with 
 heath, until we came to the extreme verge of Stanton Moor, 
 where another massive Druidical monument stands, called 
 Cat Stone. The station we now occupied commands a wide 
 horizon, within whose ample sweep high moorland wastes, 
 woody eminences, beautiful vallies studded with cottages and 
 hamlets, and the devious windings of the river Derwent, are 
 included. Though the whole view here presented is of a 
 magnificent description, yet there is a character of loveliness 
 in the detail and parts of which it is composed, that is more 
 powerfully interesting, and excites more pleasing associations 
 than mere magnificence, when unaccompanied with the more 
 fascinating graces of landscape, can possibly produce. Stan- 
 ton Lees, a little village, composed of neat but humble 
 cottages, thrown as it were promiscuously amongst orchards 
 and flower-gardens, is a delightful feature in the scene. Tran- 
 quilly reposing in a sweet vale, at the foot of an almost per- 
 pendicular eminence, that rises several hundred feet above it, 
 
238 CARVING BY GIBBONS. 
 
 it looks like a village in Switzerland, smiling in beauty amidst 
 the deep recess of sequestering mountains, that stand like cen- 
 tinels to guard the paradise within. A walk round Stanton 
 Moor exhibits a greater variety of fine scenery than can be 
 found in the same space in any other part of Derbyshire. 
 
 In Stanton House there are several good pictures ; particu- 
 larly a Virgin and Child, by Carlo Cignani ; a Tenniers ; and an 
 interior of the Church at Munich : in the latter, the archi- 
 tectural perspective, and the disposition of the light, are 
 managed with great felicity; but the principal merit of the 
 picture is the minute accuracy and high finish by which 
 the figures, and all the smaller objects, are distinguished. It 
 is a striking instance of great labour employed to but little 
 advantage. It was painted by Morganstern, a Flemish artist, 
 and it is said to have cost him his eyesight. In the hall there 
 is an excellent specimen of the talent of De Bruyn, the artist 
 who painted the staircase at Worksop Manor : the figures 
 represent sculpture in bas relief, and they are admirably exe- 
 cuted. The painter himself is said to have regarded this picture 
 as his finest production, and he left it as a legacy to his son, 
 a respectable apothecary, who resided in North- Audley- Street, 
 London; from whose widow it was lately purchased, and 
 brought to Stanton. But the finest work of art in this place 
 is a frame to a looking-glass, by the celebrated GIBBONS, 
 which was executed for Louis the Fourteenth of France, 
 whose medallion, supported by two boys, is placed at the top 
 of the frame, and whose arms adorn the central compartment 
 at the bottom : the remainder of the carving consists of birds, 
 and a profusion of fruit and flowers in the greatest luxuriance, 
 tastefully composed and finished in Gibbons' best style. This 
 is one of the few bijoux saved in the Revolution ; and, when we 
 consider the exquisite delicacy of the workmanship, it seems 
 extraordinary that it should have been preserved uninjured 
 even in its iinest parts, 
 
239 
 
 SECTION X. 
 
 Druidical Circle on Hartle Moor. Snake Sfo?ies. MocJc 
 Beggar Hall. Cratcliff Tor. Winster. Birchover. 
 Rowtor Rocks. View from the Road near Birchover. 
 
 ON Hartle Moor, and within a few hundred paces of Mock 
 Beggar Hall, we stopped at the remains of a Druidical Circle, 
 which Major Rooke and Mr. Bray have previously noticed ; 
 the latter of whom mentions it as an object he had not seen. 
 This Circle is about forty yards in circumference, and it is 
 composed of seven large stones, that appear to have been 
 originally from ten to twelve feet high ; three of them only are 
 now standing, and one has been separated from its associates 
 by the intervention of a rude stone wall. This Druidical 
 temple is about a mile and a half from Stanton Moor, where a 
 similar circle, consisting of nine upright stones, denominated 
 the Nine Ladies, may still be seen : near this remain several 
 barrows have been opened, when a number of " glass beads, 
 with orifices not larger than the tip of a tobacco-pipe," were 
 found within them. Many of these beads have been occa- 
 sionally met with in different parts of Derbyshire : their colours 
 are various; some of them are transparent, others are an 
 opaque purple ; and they are understood to have been used by 
 the Druids as amulets, or worn by them as a badge of 
 distinction. 
 
 In some parts of the kingdom these beads are called Snake 
 Stones, and Camden tells us, that there is a curious super- 
 stition relative to their formation still existing, both in Wales 
 and Cornwall : he says, " It is there the common opinion of 
 the vulgar, that about Midsummer Eve (though in the time they 
 do not all agree) it is usual for snakes to meet in companies, 
 and that, by joining heads together, and hissing, a kind of bub- 
 ble is formed like a ring about the head of one of them, which 
 the rest, by continual hissing, blow on until it comes off at the 
 tail, and then it immediately hardens, and resembles a glass 
 
240 ROWTOR ROCKS. 
 
 ring, which whoever finds (as some old women and children 
 are persuaded) shall prosper in all his undertakings. The rings 
 thus generated are called Gleinen Nadroedh ; in English, 
 SNAKE STONES." Camden, vol. ii. p. 64-. 
 
 An unfrequented path of another quarter of a mile led 
 us to the base of Mock Beggar Hall, a curious assemblage of 
 sand-stone rocks thrown confusedly together, yet so arranged 
 as to form at a distance a strong resemblance to a regular 
 building, with a huge chimney at each extremity ; hence the 
 name which this mass of rocks has obtained : the stony towers 
 at each end are called Robin Hoo<Fs Stride. 
 
 On the same range of hill, a little on our left, lay Cratcliff 
 Tor, a gloomy perpendicular rock of considerable altitude ; 
 and, when seen from some situations in the valley below, 
 as picturesque an object as ever adorned the foreground of a 
 landscape. Major Ilooke mentions having seen four rock 
 basons on the top of this tor, but, owing either to a neglect of 
 our memorandums, or a misconception of our instructions, 
 we did not observe them ; from the same cause we omitted 
 visiting the Hermit's Cave at the foot of Cratcliff. At the 
 east end of a cavern in this rock, the devotee, by whom it is 
 said to have been inhabited, has rudely sculptured in bas 
 relief the figure of our Saviour on the Cross, a great part of 
 which is now remaining. A humble seat and a niche, that 
 might contain some domestic utensils, are hewn out of the 
 rock; and it seems highly probable, that some melancholy 
 man once made this solitary and cheerless cave his dwelling ; 
 but at what period, and by whom it was inhabited, even the 
 beldame tradition is silent. 
 
 From Cratcliff we crossed the Ashbourn Road to Rowtor 
 Rocks, an assemblage of huge blocks of gritstone, tumbled 
 confusedly together by the hand of nature in one mighty pile. 
 These singular rocks are situated on the southern side of 
 Stanton Moor, and close by the village of Birchover. At a 
 short distance, they appear only a heap of stones ; when at 
 their base, they are terrific masses, that seem not to be per- 
 manently fixed in their positions, but so slightly connected 
 with each other, and so apparently in the act of falling, as to 
 create an apprehension that they may yet descend with one 
 tremendous crash into the vale below. Some of these blocks 
 lie horizontally, some are perpendicular, and others are placed 
 in every possible degree of obliquity. The intricacies amongst 
 them may be threaded with a little toil and difficulty, but 
 
 20 
 
ROWTOR ROCKS. 241 
 
 scarcely without dread ; for it is not easy to suppose, that any 
 thing put so carelessly together can be very secure. 
 
 Some writers have supposed that these immense stones 
 have been piled up by human exertion, a supposition extremely 
 improbable, and not all supported by appearances. The dif- 
 ferent remains about Stanton Moor, the Circle in Nine Stones 
 Close, arid Arber-Low, and the turrets on the two extremities 
 of Grained Tor, are all evidences that this part of Derbyshire 
 was once the resort of the Druids; and if they ever used this 
 gloomy pile at Birchover as a place of worship and of sacrifice, 
 which they are represented to have done, they may probably 
 have added a few blocks to the mass which nature had pre- 
 pared for their purpose, and thereby increased the altitude of 
 Rowter ; but that the whole structure is the contrivance and 
 the work of man is too incredible to be believed. The rock- 
 ing stones at this place, which Pilkington mentions as being 
 so nicely poised that a child might easily give them a vibratory 
 motion, are now immoveable. 
 
 As we passed along the road that leads from Birchover 
 into the valley, near Hartle Brook, we paused awhile to ga/i' 
 upon the extraordinary group of rocks that is here included 
 in one little picture. Rowter was on our right ; Bradley 
 Tor, another dark mass of rocks, was on our left; Craklitf 
 rocks, Mock Beggar's Hall, and Durwood Tor, lay in mid 
 distance in the space between: beyond these, we had a glimpse 
 of some distant hills, apparently as unsubstantial and as sha- 
 dowy as the clouds of which they seemed to form a part. 
 Evening was fast approaching ; a softened radiance crested the 
 eminences before us, and the tops of the trees that grow 
 at the base, and about the summit of Cratcliff, glowed with 
 some vivid touches of light. The foreground where we stood, 
 and the valley below, were in deep shadow, but the rocks 
 above were gleaming with the bright effulgence of the 
 
 setting sun. 
 
 Winster, a small market-town, about a mile from Cratcliff 
 Tor, was our next resting-place. This little town runs along 
 the side of a steep eminence ; and from a mass of disjointed 
 rocks in the pastures above, we had a complete bird's-eye 
 view into it. The buildings, partly thatched and partly 
 covered with slate- stone, are scattered irregularly over the 
 hill ; and as we looked down upon the town, the orchards 
 and gardens, filled w r ith fruit and flowers, and the roofs 
 of the houses, thickly bestrewn with moss and tufts of 
 
 R 
 
242 WINSTER. 
 
 bright yellow stone-crop, were spread at our feet like figures 
 on a carpet. From any other situation, Winster appears an 
 uninteresting assemblage of limestone cottages. From Bank 
 Pastures Tor we had an extensive view over a great part of 
 the Peak district : almost every place, as I traced it out in 
 distance, revived a series of pleasing recollections ; and the 
 mind, with a wonderful rapidity, and a clearness and distinct- 
 ness of perception hardly to be accounted for, moved over the 
 scene. The country was spread like a map before me ; the 
 hills, the vallies, the mountains, and the moors, that I so fre- 
 quently had traversed, were all included within the ample 
 landscape; and, as my eye wandered over its surface, I felt 
 a peculiar pleasure in recognising the tract of my former ex- 
 cursions. 
 
 Winster is but a small town, and its present appearance 
 indicates declining prosperity. It is chiefly inhabited by 
 miners, who,^for a series of years, have been pursuing an un- 
 thrifty calling, with but little prospect of improvement. It had 
 once a good weekly market, and an annual fair ; both of which 
 seem to be progressively passing from neglect into total 
 disuse. 
 
 A little more than thirty years ago a singular occurrence 
 took place here. A punchinello was exhibiting his tricks in 
 the lower apartments of a house where gunpowder was kept 
 for the use of the miners in the rooms above ; some particles 
 took fire, and instantaneously communicated with the re- 
 mainder of a barrel of powder, which had been left carelessly 
 open ; a terrible explosion ensued, and the whole of the upper 
 rooms, and thereof of the house, were blown to atoms, and 
 scattered about in every direction, while the people below, in 
 number about sixty or seventy, remained unhurt. 
 
 Whilst at Winster, we visited the church, a small structure, 
 which appeared to us not of sufficient capacity for the place 
 and the neighbourhood around. The church-yard too is a 
 contracted spot, and the graves seem crowded together in a I 
 manner very unusual in a small country town : two sides of id 
 are bounded with a plantation of spreading limes, and several 
 fine yews grow near them : this funereal tree is the cypress of 
 the Peak of Derbyshire ; there is scarcely a burial-place in any 
 part of it that is not shadowed with its branches, and in many 
 places the trees are so truly venerable and full of years, that 
 they appear coeval with the church itself. 
 
 The majority of the people in the northern divisions of 1 
 
MUSICAL MANIA. 24-3 
 
 Derbyshire are strongly attached to musical pursuits : every 
 village where a church is found has a band of choristers ; 
 and where a lone cottage is situated, even in the wildest parts 
 of the Peak, some of its inmates, and often the whole family, 
 cultivate a taste for this delightful sjcience*; and often, in the 
 practice of it, wile away the otherwise tedious hours of a long 
 winter's night. Nor are the inhabitants of the town of Win- 
 ster less influenced by the harmony of sweet sounds ; they 
 have a choir of singers, a band of instrumental performers, 
 and an organ in the church, which they obtained by the re- 
 linquishment of as benevolent an offer as any individual ever 
 made to the place of his birth. 
 
 Winster is part of a great mineral district ; and the number 
 of mines sunk and excavated in and near the place, had drained 
 the springs, and left the inhabitants without water for domestic 
 purposes. Their only supply of this necessary article of life 
 was from a well nearly one mile distant from the town. Water 
 was therefore a desideratum with the good people of Win- 
 ster ; and an organ for the church, the attainment of 
 which they had long had in contemplation, was another. 
 Thus situated, a gentleman in the neighbourhood involved 
 them in considerable perplexity, by proposing either to con- 
 duct the water in pipes from the well into the town at his own 
 expence ; or, in lieu thereof, if they preferred it, to make them 
 a present of an organ. Water was certainly a great good, 
 and a plenteous supply of it much to be desired : in their es- 
 timation music was not less so. They knew the inconvenience 
 of trudging a mile up-hill in all weathers to procure water, 
 and they were anxious for a remedy ; they longed, too, to hear 
 the breathings of the organ within the walls of their church : 
 how, therefore, were they to decide ? It is highly probable that 
 they hesitated and balanced long before they determined ; at 
 length, however, they made the important choice, " and 
 music won the cause." Perhaps it would be difficult to find a 
 more decided proof of either a musical taste, or a musical 
 mania, than this brief anecdote affords. 
 
 During our short stay at Winster we made a short excur- 
 sion to the vicinity of Grange Mill, where we had been in- 
 formed we should have an opportunity of exploring the sup- 
 posed crater of an extinct volcano. At the place pointed out 
 to us, the upper strata appear to have been rent asunder by a 
 strong power from beneath. This reputed crater is an irre- 
 gularly-formed oral of nearly two miles in circumference : the 
 
 R 2 
 
244 WENSLEY ROCKS. 
 
 declination of the strata is from one common centre, and the 
 confusion into which they are thrown favours the idea that has 
 been suggested. Within the hollow of this capacious lime- 
 stone bason lies an immense mound of toadstone, which is full 
 of bladder holes, and has the appearance of the scoria of 
 metals. Whitehurst says, it is indisputably lava ; and certainly 
 in colour, composition, and character, it strongly resembles a 
 product of fire. 
 
 From the examination of the form and structure of the hills 
 in the vicinity of Grange Mill we returned to Winster, and 
 from thence along a good carriage-road we proceeded to 
 Wenesley, a small village about a mile from Darley Bridge. 
 Leaving Winster, some beautiful scenery lay on our left, 
 amongst some deep dells, the sides and summits of which were 
 finely wooded. Through the openings between they admitted 
 a pleasing view of some of the most picturesque parts of 
 Darley Dale. Nearer Wenesley, a valley on our right pre- 
 sented a landscape of a different character. At the foot of a 
 steep declivity, some detached masses of upright rock are 
 scattered amongst the trees, and a passage, in a semi-circular 
 direction, -runs between them and the craggy hill from which 
 they appear to have been rent : ivy creeps along their sides, 
 and some light and elegant foliage plays on their summits. 
 Rocky fragments, partly covered with moss, and half hid 
 amongst tufts of grass and tangling briars, compose the fore- 
 ground of the romantic picture here presented. 
 
 At the distance of about a mile from Wenesley is Darley 
 Bridge, a village very pleasantly situated on the banks of the 
 Derwent. The bridge, which gives name to the village, is a 
 good plain stone structure of four arches ; and the views it 
 commands, both up and down the river, are richly diversified 
 with beautiful scenery. Looking up the dale, the tower of 
 Darley church rises gracefully from amongst the surrounding 
 foliage ; and the hills on the left are in some places covered 
 with wood ; in others, their steep acclivities are cultivated, and 
 their summits are crested with broken rock, every where libe- 
 rally interspersed with heath and intervening verdure. Such 
 are the materials that compose the scenery of Darley Dale. 
 
 Having passed the bridge over the Derwent, instead of 
 taking the nearest road to Matlock, we crossed some fields by 
 the side of the river to Darley church, about half a mile 
 higher up the dale. The church, as I have before intimated, 
 is embosomed in trees : on the right, in mid distance, a rocky 
 
YEW TREE IN BARLEY CHURCH-YARD. 245 
 
 eminence, covered with pine, is a good feature in the land- 
 scape ; and the distance is composed of well-wooded hills, 
 that mark the course of the river, and display a pleasing va- 
 riety of outline. 
 
 In Darley church-yard we stopped to contemplate the huge 
 dimensions and wide-extended branches of a magnificent yew- 
 tree. The epithet is by no means extravagant, for a nobler 
 object can hardly be met with than this venerable tree. 
 Though many a rude and pitiless storm has howled through 
 the branches for nearly six hundred years, its leafy honours 
 yet remain in health and vigour. The trunk, for about four 
 yards from the ground, measures upwards of thirty-four feet ; 
 it then assumes the appearance of two separate trees, which 
 rise perpendicularly from the parent trunk, and throw out 
 their ramifications over an area of between seventy and eighty 
 yards in circumference. Some of its extreme branches have 
 been lately cut away, but it is yet a noble object. * 
 
 We found nothing in the church of sufficient interest to 
 detain us long in so chilling a place ; but, returning through 
 the porch, we observed a rudely-sculptured stone with a 
 figure upon it, representing something like an ornamented 
 battle-axe. 
 
 * Since the above was written, this fine yew tree has been despoiled of 
 some of its larger branches, 
 
 R 3 
 
2+fi 
 
 SECTION XI. 
 
 Approach to Matlock. Visit to. Lams-Dale. Lime-Tree 
 Lane. Entrance into Matlock Dale. Approach to Mat- 
 lock Bath. General Character of the Scenery of the Dale. 
 Walk to Stomu's ; View from thence. Evening Scene 
 from Masson. Morning in Matlock Dale. Heights of 
 Abraham. Museum. Inns and Lodging Houses. 
 
 were now nearly three miles from Matlock Bridge, and 
 as the sun declined, we had a pleasant walk down Darley 
 Dale. The shadows gradually became broader, and the 
 scenery improved, as evening advanced. In our way to Matlock, 
 we passed on our right the shaft of a lead mine, which was 
 discovered a few years ago, when the new road to Bakewell 
 was made. This mine has been the subject of much litigation, 
 and it is highly probable that more money has been expended 
 upon it than the concern will produce for many years. On 
 examining the ore, I found it accompanied with more than an 
 usual quantity of martial pyrites, many beautiful specimens of 
 which may be found in the fences by the road-side. Remark- 
 ing to one of the workmen that pyrites appeared to be very 
 abundant in this mine, he very earnestly wished it was less so ; 
 for, added he, " if the lead ore do not eat out the pyrites, the 
 pyrites will soon eat out the lead ore." The miner's mode of 
 expression brought forcibly to my recollection a remark that 
 I had many years before heard made in a sermon on the 
 utility of prayer, by the celebrated Rowland Hill, when 
 preaching in a theatre on a stage publicly devoted to profane 
 purposes. " If," said the reverend preacher, " praying do 
 not make you give over sinning, sinning will soon make you 
 give over praying." 
 
 Though we had not much leisure for botanizing during our 
 evening walk, yet the luxuriant growth of the plants and 
 flowers amongst the rocks on the left of the road attracted 
 our attention. The mallow, the wild marjoram, the yanou, 
 and particularly the meadow geranium, were more beautiful 
 
APPROACH TO MATLOCK BRIDGE. 24-7 
 
 here than I recollect to have seen them in any other situation ; 
 and our steps were delayed in gathering them, until the sun, 
 sinking behind the huge hill of Masson, left the whole valley 
 in shade, while Riber Top alone was suffused with splendour. 
 As we approached Matlock Bridge, a view replete with beauty 
 lay before us. The river, the bridge, the rocky scenery be- 
 hind, the tower of the church rising gracefully over the trees, 
 and the rugged bank on our left, formed an assemblage of 
 objects strikingly picturesque. 
 
 We were now within a mile and a half of Matlock Bath, a 
 place which has been long and deservedly celebrated lor the 
 beauty of its scenery, and the salutary influence of its watt i > ; 
 but as it was our intention to explore the vicinity of the vil- 
 lage before we passed through the dale, we took up our 
 LodgUUH at an inn near the bridge, and spent the remaining 
 part ot the evening in recalling to recollection the incidents 
 of the day. 
 
 The following morning we rambled through the village, and 
 along the road leading to Aifreton and Mansfield, leaving 
 Riber on our right. About a mile from Matlock, a romantic 
 glen on our left attracted our notice, and a rapid descent led 
 us into its deepest recesses : it is covered with wood, and 
 watered by a brilliant stream, that, leaping from one rocky 
 fragment to another, plays and sparkles amongst the closely- 
 interwoven branches of the trees that overshadow its descent. 
 From this glen we soon emerged ; and, passing tlie corner of 
 a mill at its upper extremity, we came suddenly upon a natural 
 cascade, to ulncli Bray has given a particular direction in liis 
 " Sketch of a Tour into Derbyshire;" and he describes tin 
 scene here presented as " fit for the pencil of a Salvator Rosa." 
 \Vlicn he beheld it, it had a wilder and more savage character 
 than it now possesses: no artificial object was then obtruded 
 on the eye, excepting the old mill at the top of the rock, and 
 even that was in a state of ruin, which happily harmonized 
 with every thing around it The wild scene with which Bray 
 was so enamoured, is now an uninteresting combination of 
 rocks and houses, mills, wheels, and waterfalls. Fern, fox- 
 glove, heath, and a little underwood, cover the lower part of 
 the right bank of this singular dell. The fall of water in- 
 cludes the whole of the little river Lums ; and when it 
 is swollen with rain, the river rushes over the top of the 
 rock through a narrow cleft in a contracted stream : in- 
 terrupted in it- fall by craggy projections, it is dashed into 
 
 R 4 
 
2 * 8 ENTRANCE INTO MATLOCK DALE. 
 
 foam, and fills the midway air with a shower of watery par- 
 ticles ; through these the rays of a bright sun sometimes play 
 beauteously, throwing a transparent bow of many colours on 
 the adjacent rocks. The water falls about eighty feet. The 
 river Lums, however, is in general but a penurious stream, 
 which is dammed up a little above the cascade, and let out 
 sparingly for the use of the mills ; hence it is but rarely a good 
 subject for the pencil. At the mills near there is a manufac- 
 ture of oxygenated muriatic acid, where from three to four 
 tons of linen yarn are bleached weekly. 
 
 From this place we returned through some fields to Mat- 
 lock Bank, where we observed a venerable lime-tree, that wives 
 a name to the place where it stands. The trunk of tlft tree 
 is decayed within, but the branches, which are healthy and 
 vigorous, ramify to a great distance, and cover an area of con- 
 siderable extent. This old tree appears to be renovating in 
 every part, and flourishing with new life. Jn some writings 
 now in existence, which are six hundred years old, and in pos- 
 session of a gentleman who resides at Doncaster, this tree is 
 particularly mentioned and its site pointed ont. 
 
 From Matlock Bank many pleasing views are presented, in 
 which the church, most romantically situated amongst groups 
 of trees on the verge of a rock, is a beautiful feature. The 
 nndulation of the limestone strata from Church Rock to Pig 
 Tor, at the entrance into Matlock Dale, is extremely curious, 
 and highly worthy the observation of geologists. 
 
 Having crossed the Derwent at Matlock Bridge, we entered 
 the dale that leads to the baths. Near the Boat House, the 
 first grand burst of the fine scenery of Matlock Dale is pre- 
 sented. A morning light is peculiarly favourable to this view. 
 I once saw it about half an hour after sunrise, and the im- 
 pression it then made is still fresh in my recollection. The 
 rich foliage that crests the high crags on the left of the Der- 
 went, leads the eye into a beautiful meadow ; beyond, the line 
 of rock gradually ascends from a comparatively low elevation 
 to the topmost peak of the High Tor. This stupendous cliff 
 was lighted up with the bright sunny gleams of an autumnal 
 morning, to which the mass of wood, and the deep silent 
 stream that lay enveloped "in dark shadow in the dale below, 
 formed an imposing contrast. Nearer us, a ray of light crept 
 through the branches of the trees, and, playing amongst a 
 group of cattle on the left margin of the river, gave a brilliant 
 effect to the foreground. On the right, high above the Tor, 
 
MATLOCK BATHS. 249 
 
 towered the sublime hill of Masson ; the shadow of the Tor 
 was spread over its base, and the slant rays of the morning 
 sun illuminated its ample breast ; whilst, far above, the dense 
 clouds of night hung upon its summit, where the very heavens 
 seemed to rest. A picture of greater grandeur is but rarely 
 seen in Matlock Dale. 
 
 Winding along the valley round the base of the High Tor, 
 and turning a rocky projection on the right, the inns about 
 Matlock Baths, the museum, and the lodging-houses, burst 
 instantaneously upon the sight. A more extraordinary, and, 
 to a stranger, a more unexpected and fascinating scene, but 
 seldom occurs. At the time we beheld it, it was a vision of 
 enchantment a prospect into the fairy regions of romance 
 where all that can delight the mind and excite admiration, 
 seemed to be assembled together. The stream, as it slowly 
 swept round the wooded hill in the front of the museum, 
 sparkled with the vivid reflections of the white houses and the 
 lofty trees that here adorn its banks : carriages rolling along 
 the road, and well-dressed ladies and gentlemen perambulating 
 the dale in various groups, gave animation to this extraor- 
 dinary scene. We paused instinctively before we proceeded 
 onward, as if we feared to dissolve the charm, by obtruding 
 ourselves upon it. The unexpected novelty of the scene pro- 
 duced sensations of delight ; but the hotels, and all the elegant 
 accommodations of Matlock Bath, were soon lost in the con- 
 templation of the hills, rocks, and woods, with which they are 
 surrounded. The objects that at first had both surprised and 
 pleased us now seemed strangely out of place, and we ima- 
 gined that this romantic dale would have produced a grander 
 and a more imposing effect in a wild and savage state, than 
 thus studded with gardens, lodging-houses, and hotels. 
 
 Matlock Dale, from the northern extremity to Scarthing 
 Rock, where it may be said to terminate, is about two miles ; 
 and perhaps a greater portion of magnificent scenery can 
 hardly any where be found in the same space. The High 
 Tor is a grand object from whatever point of view it is beheld ; 
 and the Derwent, as it flows round its base, is a busy spark- 
 ling stream, and its banks are every where fringed with trees 
 of the most luxuriant growth. A foot-path, carried along the 
 margin of the river, from Scarthing Rock to Matlock Bridge, 
 would form one of the most delightful walks in the kingdom. 
 At present there is only a carriage-road, which in wet weather 
 is intolerable for foot passengers, and in a dry Bummer un- 
 
250 THE HIGH TOR. WILD CAT TOR. 
 
 comfortably dusty. A gravel-walk of very limited dimensions 
 in the front of the principal inns, and about one hundred yards 
 before the museum, are the only accommodations for pedes- 
 trian parties at Matlock Bath, unless they are disposed to 
 ascend the heights of Abraham, and here they are soon inter- 
 rupted by a demand for sixpence each person, a tax which 
 iim>t be submitted to every time the walk is taken, or all 
 farther progress is forbidden. Kvery bit of ground here 
 seems convertible into money ; there is no moving, even on 
 foot in some direction-., without an impost. The walk to the 
 heights of Abraham, and to the romantic rocks, are alike 
 object N of taxation ; and the imposition is only to be avoided 
 by declining the gratification these places may afford. The 
 heights of Masson may be otherwise attained, and the ro- 
 mantic rocks, as they are called, are scarcely worth a visit. 
 In St. James's or Hyde Park they might be attractive, perhaps 
 wonderful : but in Matlock Dale they really are objects too 
 trifling to claim attention ; yet strangers forsooth must be 
 taxed in their purse before they can visit them. There is 
 something extremely ludicrous in the idea of locking up 
 rocks, barring them from public observation with a pa liner O f 
 six feet high, and exhibiting them for " sixpence a-piece? Lke 
 a showman at a fair, as objects of wonder and astonishment. 
 This is almost as inane a contrivance as putting a man into a 
 quart bottle. After this one would not be much surprised if 
 the good folks at Matlock Bath were to place a door in some 
 part of the dale to admit people to see the High Tor, and 
 this they probably would not hesitate to do, if they could 
 profit by it. 
 
 No part of Matlock Dale is equal in grandeur to the High 
 Tor, yet it even' where abounds in picturesque beauty. The 
 wood-crowned eminence in front of the museum parade is a 
 fine object, and the view from thence down the river includes 
 one of the best pictures in the dale ; the parts are few and 
 well combined. Nearly opposite Saxton's Hotel, a broken 
 rock, fringed with light foliage, rises majestically out of a group 
 of trees that adorns its base : its topmost pinnacle is deno- 
 minated Wild Cat Tor, and from its craggy summit a noble 
 landscape is displayed. Proceeding onwards towards Willers- 
 ley Castle, the residence of R. Arkwright, Esq. a cotton-mill 
 obtrudes upon the scene. What has such an object to do in 
 such a place ? Its presence here, amidst some of the finest 
 scenery of nature, is only calculated to disturb that delightful 
 
THE RIVER DERWEM !>5l 
 
 frame of mind which a contemplation of her works is admi- 
 rably fitted to produce. 
 
 The river Derwent, as it passes through Matlock Dale, has 
 considerable variety of character. In some places, the usual 
 rapidity of its motion is interrupted by artificial mounds, and 
 it appears a sluggish stream ; in others, it rushes impetuously 
 amongst huge stones and rocky fragments, where it leaps and 
 foams, and sparkles with life and beauty. In another place, 
 the weir near the cotton-mill might be a pleasing object ; but 
 in a scene like Matlock Dale, where every artificial interference 
 is offensive, it is incongruous and out of place. Below the 
 weir, the river, no longer pent up and restrained, resumes its 
 natural character, and, apparently exulting in its emancipation, 
 rushes rapidly along its rocky channel in the front of Wil- 
 lersley House, where it is an object of great beaut 
 
 We left Matlock Dale by a narrow defile cut through 
 Scarthing Rock, nearly opjx>site Willersley House, and con- 
 tinued our route along the Wirksworth road to Cromford 
 Moor, without even casting one " lingering look behind." 
 About a mile from Scarthing Rock, a sharp turn on the left 
 ltd us over a hill covered with lead mines to a high sand-stone 
 rock, called " Stonnis," or, more proper! >ne House," 
 
 to the summit of which we clambered for the purpose of ob- 
 taining a view of the surrounding country from an eminence 
 not less elevated than the topmost peak of Masson. How 
 cold and feeble is the language of description how incom- 
 petent to embody the conceptions, and express the feelings of 
 highly-excited admiration ! I stood on the top of Stonnis 
 masses of rock lay scattered at my feet a grove of pines 
 \s aved their dark branches over my head far below, embo- 
 somed in an amphitheatre of hills, one of the finest landscapes 
 that nature any where presents was spread before me. The 
 habitations of men, some near and others far apart, were 
 scattered over the scene; but, in the contemplation of the 
 woods and rocks of Matlock Dale, the windings of the Der- 
 went, the pine-crowned heights of Abraham, and the proud 
 hill of Masson, they were all forgotten : the structures man 
 had reared seemed as nothing amidst the beauty and grandeur 
 of the works of God. 
 
 I have scaled the highest eminences in the mountainous 
 districts of Derbyshire, seen from their summits the sweet 
 dales that repose in tranquil beauty at their base, marked 
 the multitude of hills included within the wide horizon they 
 
262 VIEW FROM STONNIS, SUNSET SCENE FROM MASSON. 
 
 command, and my heart has thrilled with pleasure at the 
 sight ; but not an eminence that I ever before ascended, not 
 a prospect, however rich and varied, which I thence descried, 
 was at all comparable with the view from Stonnis. In that 
 species of beauty, which, in landscape scenery, approaches to 
 grandeur, it is unequalled in Derbyshire. The parts of which 
 it is composed are of the first order of fine things, and they 
 are combined with a felicity that but rarely occurs in nature. 
 Scarthing Rock, the woods of Willersley Castle, Matlock 
 High Tor, the hills of Masson, Crich, and Riber, are all 
 noble objects ; and the rude masses that constitute the fore- 
 ground of the picture are thrown together, and grouped and 
 coloured in a manner strikingly picturesque. When I beheld 
 the scene from Stonnis, a fine breeze drove the clouds rapidly 
 athwart the sky, and the flitting gleams of light were in- 
 stantaneously succeeded by deep shadows, that illumined in 
 succession the various parts of the landscape, and imparted to 
 it an interest that was powerfully felt. Sometimes the passing 
 clouds covered the whole range of prospect with one unvaried 
 tone of still and sober colouring suddenly a bright ray of 
 sunshine intervened, and for a moment the spot where it fell 
 appeared a paradise of light amidst surrounding gloom. An 
 hour at Stonnis, on such a day, impresses the mind with a 
 series of beautiful images, that in after life are often recurred 
 to and recollected with delight. 
 
 The sky had been cloudy nearly the whole of the day, but 
 as evening approached, the western horizon became clear and 
 glowing; we therefore returned to Matlock Bath, and as- 
 cended the heights of Abraham to the top of Masson, for 
 the purpose of enjoying the prospect of a splendid sunset 
 from that commanding eminence. The extensive landscape 
 beheld from this elevated situation is full of beauty ; stupend- 
 ous hills and open vallies, covered with wood and richly- 
 cultivated meadows, fill up the whole range of an almost 
 boundless horizon ; the loftiest eminences gleamed with the 
 rays of the setting-sun, and where they decline towards the 
 east, they were covered with a broad mass of shadow, over 
 which floated a transparent atmosphere of soft and beauteous 
 light. Crich church, and the tower on the cliff, are pleasing 
 features in the scene : on the right of Crich, the country re- 
 tires into a far-off distance, until the remotest objects fade into 
 the sky. 
 
 We had ascended the heights of Abraham by a zigzag walk 
 
UNLUCKY MISTAKE. 253 
 
 along the face of the hill ; we therefore reached the top of 
 Masson with comparatively but little fatigue. We returned 
 by a different route, down the very face of the mountain, along 
 a narrow path, much more toilsome than our ascent. Day 
 was now fast departing, and a lovely twilight spread a delicious 
 charm over Matlock Dale ; every object gradually became 
 darker and more indistinct, with the exception of the river, 
 which brightened as the night advanced. 
 
 " I love thee, twilight as thy shadows roll 
 The calm of evening steals upon the soul, 
 Sublimely tender solemnly serene 
 Still as the hour enchanting as the scene. 
 Twilight ! I love thee let thy glooms increase, 
 Till every feeling, every pulse is peace." 
 
 MONTGOMERY. World before the Flood. 
 
 We ended a long day's perambulation at Varley's Hotel ; 
 but so completely was my mind occupied with the scenery 
 around me, that I walked very deliberately into the front room 
 of an adjoining house, and rudely disturbed an evening party, 
 who were pleasantly indulging themselves with a game at 
 backgammon. I was evidently an intruder : the master of 
 the house leaned back in his chair, and, with a Stentorian 
 voice that waked me from my reverie, bawled out, " This is 
 not an inn, sir." I certainly did not think that my offence 
 merited so rough a salutation ; I, however, very awkwardly I 
 apprehend, stammered out something like an apology, and 
 hastily withdrew from the sanctum sanctorum, which I had 
 profaned with my presence. 
 
 The comforts of a good inn can only be duly appreciated 
 by those who, like myself and my companions, have been 
 rambling for days together amongst moorland wilds and rocky 
 glens, subject to those privations consequent on such excur- 
 sions. The sage Dr. Johnson sometimes observed, that a 
 tavern chair was the throne of human felicity. We were not 
 exactly of the doctor's opinion ; yet we had no reason to re- 
 gret that we had made Varley's Hotel our home during our 
 short stay at Matlock Bath. 
 
 The following morning, though we did not rise so early either 
 as the sun or the lark, yet we were up some hours before 
 breakfast, anxious to witness a morning scene in Matlock Dale. 
 A shower of rain had fallen in the night, and made the air de- 
 licious ; as we tasted its freshness, our spirits became more 
 
254 MORNING SCENE IN MATLOCK DALE. 
 
 buoyant and elastic, and we scarcely felt the ground on which 
 we trod. The sun had risen with unusual splendour the 
 eastern sky was filled with his brightness and, though the 
 shadows of night covered the whole of Matlock Dale, we saw 
 the rocks and hills above us gleaming with his glory ; and so 
 transparent were the thin white clouds that hung upon the top 
 of Masson, that they appeared like wreaths of less obtrusive 
 light. Opposite the museum parade the scene was singularly 
 beautiful : the rays of the sun, glancing through the branches 
 of the trees on the summit of the rock, threw a thousand lines 
 of light over the thick wood with which the hill is invested ; 
 the rain-drops hung upon the leaves, undisturbed by the agi- 
 tations of the breeze, and, as the rays of the sun played upon 
 them, they seemed a closely-inwoven tissue of transparent 
 gems. Melody and beauty filled the dale ; the lark was in the 
 heavens greeting the morning with a song ; the swallows twit- 
 tered round their nests, built under the projecting eaves of 
 the houses ; and a whole tribe of feathered choristers made 
 the woods and groves vocal with their music : every thing that 
 had life felt the influence of so sweet a morning, and all around 
 us was joy and ecstacy. 
 
 We again scaled the heights of Abraham, until we had 
 reached the alcove amongst the trees, about half way up the 
 hill. This lofty eminence presents a rich variety of prospect: 
 the Derwent, fringed with foliage, and overhung with rock, 
 winds gracefully through the deep dale below ; and in the pas- 
 tures that crown Matlock High Tor, we beheld the cattle 
 grazing far beneath us. 
 
 I had once the gratification, in company with my friend 
 Montgomery, the author of the Wanderer of Switzerland, 
 and the West Indies, &c., to contemplate this imposing picture 
 under circumstances peculiarly favourable. The sky, which 
 had previously been clear and bright, became partially clouded ; 
 a heavy shower of rain ensued, succeeded by a gentle sprink- 
 ling that fell with almost snowy softness, and formed a veil 
 exquisitely fine, through which the different features of the 
 scene became more soft and tender ; all harmonized in form 
 and colour by the thin medium through which they were be- 
 held. A hazy atmosphere has often a fine effect, particularly 
 when a portion of the sky retains its clearness ; and I never 
 before, not even on the brightest day, saw Matlock to equal 
 advantage. The outlines of the hills, and the form of the 
 woods and rocks, were sufficiently defined ; and enveloped, as. 
 
HEIGHTS OF ABRAHAM. MUSEUM. 255 
 
 they were, in a transparent mistiness, their dimensions ap- 
 peared extended in every part, and they seemed to occupy a 
 greater space in creation than was actually allotted them. On 
 this occasion, Montgomery wrote with his pencil on the walls 
 of the alcove the following impromptu. The last couplet, 
 with some slight alteration, he afterwards transplanted into his 
 " West Indies. 11 
 
 " Here, in wild pomp, magnificently bleak, 
 Stupendous Matlock towers amid the Peak ; 
 Here rocks on rocks, on forests forests rise, 
 Spurn the low earth, and mingle with the skies. 
 Great Nature, slumb'ring by fair Derwent's stream, 
 Conceived these giant-mountains in a dream." 
 
 On our descent from the alcove, we passed by the entrance 
 into Rutland Cavern, a spacious vault in the interior of the 
 mountains, which is filled with a variety of crystallizations, 
 intermixed with spars, and ores of lead, copper, and zinc. 
 Several other caverns of a similar description, and equally 
 worthy the attention of the curious, occur in the limestone 
 rocks of Matlock Bath. 
 
 After returning to our hotel, we visited the warm baths lately 
 established here : they are tolerably commodious, but entirely 
 devoid of every thing approaching to elegance ; they occupy 
 a delightful situation at the foot of Masson, and are sufficiently 
 elevated above the carriage-road, which passes near them, to 
 command a pleasing view of the dale, both in the direction of 
 the High Tor and down the river. 
 
 We afterwards played a game at billiards at the room near 
 the hotel, and then, to finish our morning's lounge, strolled 
 into the museum, the most elegant establishment at Matlock 
 Bath : indeed, it is hardly possible at any place of fashionable 
 resort to meet with a more entertaining and instructive as- 
 semblage of objects than are here collected together. It is a 
 spacious, well-lighted room, and contains an excellent col- 
 lection of minerals, fossils, precious stones, shells, and birds, 
 which are tastefully arranged, and under the direction and 
 superintendance of a skilful and intelligent man. The urns 
 in this collection, made of the amathystine fluor of Derbyshire, 
 present a variety of the best specimens of this beautiful mate- 
 rial. Here are likewise many urns, vases, and figures, in 
 statuary marble, from Italy, exquisitely sculptured. Amongst 
 the fossils we noticed some very fine specimens, from Ashover, 
 
256 THE TEMPLE. 
 
 of martial pyrites, imbedded in pellucid fluor. The golden - 
 threaded fluor of Crich is another beautiful variety, and it is 
 here manufactured into different articles. Mr. Mawe, who is 
 well known from his elementary works on mineralogy, and his 
 travels in the Brazils, is the proprietor of this museum, and 
 it is highly creditable both to his scientific knowledge and his 
 taste. It is at all times open to the gratuitous admission of 
 strangers, a circumstance which evinces the truly liberal spirit 
 of its worthy proprietor. 
 
 Besides the hotel where we had taken up our residence, 
 there are two other excellent inns at Matlock Bath. The 
 principal one is denominated the Old Bath, and it is a spacious 
 building, capable of affording accommodations to nearly one 
 hundred visitors. At this inn there is an excellent assembly- 
 room, lighted with elegant glass chandeliers ; and a hot and a 
 cold bath are included within the establishment. The next 
 inn in point of consequence is Saxton's Hotel, a commodious 
 house pleasantly situated on a rising ground, nearly opposite 
 to Wild Cat Tor. The site it occupies is an immense bed of 
 tufa, in which various kinds of vegetable remains are found in 
 a natural state. About eighteen years ago, when the workmen 
 were digging the foundation for. the stables, they found the 
 entire skeleton of a moose deer, an animal now unknown in 
 this country : the horns and head are in the British Museum. 
 In addition to the inns, there are many comfortable lodging- 
 houses, the principal of which is kept by a Mrs. Evans, and 
 known by the name of the Temple. This excellent house 
 stands in a retired situation on the side of the lower part of 
 Masson, and is certainly one of the most delightful residences 
 in the place. It is connected with the Old Bath by a spacious 
 terrace carried along the side of the hill, which forms a most 
 delightful promenade. Two or three billiard tables, a circu- 
 lating library, and a number of spar and petrifaction shops, 
 constitute the other accommodations of Matlock Bath. 
 
257 
 
 SECTION KIT. 
 
 Willersley Home. The late Sir Richard Arkwright. Mouse 
 Hole Mine. Side Mine Riber Top. Moonlight inMatlock 
 Dale. Winter Excursion to Matlock. Canova's Statue of 
 the Mother of Buonaparte, His bust of Laura. Snow 
 Scenery at Matlock. 
 
 1 HE gardens, the grounds, and the walks about Willersley 
 House, once the residence of Sir Richard Arkwright, and now 
 of his eldest son, are only open to the public two days in the 
 week, namely, Monday and Thursday ; they are, however, 
 always attractive, and they add to the pleasures, and vary the 
 amusements of the company, that resort to Matlock Bath. 
 The house is not shown, but I understand it contains 
 several good pictures, particularly a lake scene, by Wright of 
 Derby. The exclusion of promiscuous visitors from the inte- 
 rior of Willersley House is no doubt a necessary and proper 
 arrangement ; the comfort of a domestic family, at a place so 
 crowded with strangers as Matlock often is, could not other- 
 wise be provided for. The walks about this delightful resi- 
 dence are carried along steep acclivities, amongst woods and 
 plantations, that occasionally admit some fine distant views of 
 the surrounding country. In their progress from the river's 
 brink to the craggy summit of Wild Cat Tor, some new and 
 unexpected beauty is exhibited at every turn, and from that 
 romantic and fearful eminence the sublime scenery of Matlock 
 Dale is revealed in all its glory. 
 
 The late Sir Richard Arkwright, the builder of Willersley 
 House, was a man of great mechanical talent, industry, and 
 perseverance : he may indeed be regarded as the parent of 
 ;hose improvements in the spinning of cotton which have 
 converted machines into men, and almost superseded the ne- 
 cessity of manual labour. This extraordinary man was the 
 
258 SIR RICHARD ARKWRIGHT. MOUSE HOLE MINE. 
 
 youngest son of thirteen children, and a native of Preston in 
 Lancashire. His parents were poor, and in early life he was 
 apprenticed to a barber, a trade which he for some time fol- 
 lowed at Wirksworth, in Derbyshire. About the time that he 
 first turned his attention to mechanics, he formed an acquaint- 
 ance with a clock-maker at Warrington, of the name of Kay : 
 in conjunction with this man, the machine for which he first 
 obtained a patent was made : other improvements succeeded ; 
 and, as he penetrated more deeply into the arcana of mechan- 
 ism, and became familiarised to its powers, he found himself 
 in the situation of one who, having attained a distant horizon, 
 beholds another still more remote, but equally accessible, before 
 him. The exclusive use of his inventions he secured by letters 
 patent, which did not always prove invulnerable. An inade- 
 quate specification annulled his right in one instance ; and in 
 another, the Court of King's Bench cancelled the patent 
 which he had obtained, on the ground of his not being the 
 original inventor. Yet, notwithstanding the opposition his 
 success excited, and the litigation in which he was involved, 
 he amassed a princely fortune ; and, on presenting an address 
 to his late Majesty, in the year 1786, when he served the office 
 of Sheriff of the county of Derby, the honour of knighthood 
 was conferred upon him. At this time his health was fast 
 declining, and the close of his existence was embittered with 
 infirmity and disease. He died at Cromford, on the third of 
 August, 1792, in the 60th year of his age. 
 
 From Willersley House, we rambled over the hills to 
 Matlock ; and on our way there, we passed a small lead mine, 
 called Mouse Hole, where we found one poor solitary indi- 
 vidual, apparently about eighty years of age, industriously 
 pursuing his daily avocation. On enquiry, he told us that he 
 worked the mine alone. He first let down a bucket, in which 
 he put the ore, descended the shaft in the usual way, toiled 
 until he had filled the measure, then clambering out again, 
 he drew up the produce, and deposited it in his little hovel at 
 the mouth of the mine. Thus he continued the same routine 
 of operations day after day, and year after year, with no one 
 to assist him in his labours. The dull unvarying monotony 
 of this man's employment in no way affected his spirits : though 
 old and poor he was naturally cheerful ; his little mine afforded J 
 him but a scanty subsistence, yet, he observed, bad as it was, 1 
 it was his best friend, for it had supplied all his wants, which 
 
RIBER TOP. 259 
 
 were now so very few, " that it was no' much matter whether the 
 old mine turned out good or ill." I could go to buffets with 
 myself, for having at any time indulged in a repining spirit, 
 when I think of this poor miner, delving in his little mouse- 
 hole den, through eighty years of existence, without a feeling 
 of discontent. 
 
 Proceeding onward we came to a mine of more importance : 
 its name is Side Mine, and we were told by the workmen, 
 that the lead obtained here is dug out of a toadstone stratum, 
 and that the vein they were then pursuing was rich in ore. 
 We procured specimens, which we regarded as conclusive 
 in favour of their statement; but we were afterwards informed, 
 that Mr. Mawe, and other scientific individuals, contend, that 
 the matrix of the ore in this mine is limestone, which, being 
 in a state of decomposition, has so much the appearance of 
 toadstone, as to deceive common observers. Mr. White 
 Watson, of Bakewell, who has made the various strata of his 
 native country his peculiar study, and the miners, who may be 
 presumed to be well acquainted with a material that so fre- 
 quently occurs, strenuously maintain the former hypothesis, in 
 opposition to the opinion of Mr. Mawe. The Seven Rakes 
 Mine, which is situated on the contrary side of the river, on 
 the north-east slope of Masson, is worked in the same stratum, 
 and is equally productive of lead ore. 
 
 In our walk to Matlock, we passed along the side of the hill 
 to Riber Top, where there is a singular assemblage of stones, 
 supposed to have been originally a druidical altar ; some anti- 
 quaries say, a cromlech, which appears more probable : they 
 are called Hirst Stones, and are not unworthy of a visit ; since 
 those who feel no interest in these ancient reliques will be 
 amply repaid for the toil and trouble of ascending this emi- 
 nence by the prospect it commands. 
 
 Evening was now far advanced ; and we returned by the 
 village of Matlock, and thence through its romantic dale to 
 our hotel at the baths, where, on our arrival, we found the 
 promenades deserted ; the lights were glimmering through the 
 trees, and the musicians at the Old Bath were tuning their 
 instruments for the evening's assembly. 
 
 About half-past ten o'clock we anticipated the rising of the 
 moon ; and, as I had long wished to witness the effect of a fine 
 moonlight night in Matlock Dale, my wishes were now likely 
 to be soon gratified. The deep shadows of night lay upon the 
 
 s 2 
 
260 MOONLIGHT SCENE. 
 
 dale, and the obscurity that prevailed was full of grandeur. 
 Shortly the moon rose over the summit of Wild Cat Tor, 
 and her softened light, thrown on the broad front of Mas- 
 son, rendered the darkness below still more visible. We 
 watched the progressive ascent of the chaste orb of eve, and 
 felt a delightful interest in marking the western side of the 
 dale, gradually losing its darkness, as she rose above the op- 
 posite hills ; it was a beauteous picture, and I gladly resigned 
 myself to the illusions it produced. A stillness and a silence, 
 that were felt, pervaded the dale, save that, as we passed the 
 New Bath, the rush of the water from the cascade, near the 
 mills below, came upon the ear. It was impossible, at this 
 particular time, not to feel delighted with a sound, that, during 
 the day, when a multiplicity of busy objects were abroad, we 
 had passed unnoticed. 
 
 Nature is full of beautiful sounds ; the rush of a river, the 
 lapse of a gentle current, the hum of the bee amongst the 
 flowers, the chirp of the grasshopper, the low of cattle 
 in the fields, the neighing of the horse as he roams at large, 
 and, perhaps, more than all, the song of the robin, when in 
 autumn he pours his sweetest strains from among the fading 
 leaves of the season, are sounds that, in connexion with the 
 living pictures nature spreads before us with a lavish hand, 
 have a powerful influence on the mind. 
 
 The following morning we bade adieu to Matlock, where 
 we terminated a pleasant summer's excursion. 
 
 Anxious to behold the scenery of this romantic place, when 
 the trees and rocks, and every object in the dale, were covered 
 with snow, 1 visited it on the first day of the year 1820. The 
 frost, during the preceding night, had been uncommonly 
 severe the thermometer, at nine o'clock in the morning, 
 stood at 26 below freezing ; a day of clearest sunshine, and a 
 scene of beauty and splendour not often paralleled, succeeded. 
 On my way to Matlock, I passed through Abbey Dale and 
 Chatsworth Park : the trees and hedges were covered with 
 brilliant incrustations, their verdant clothing had disap- 
 peared, and a white foliage, light and elegant as the down on 
 the cygnet's breast, lay on every stem and branch ; and, 
 when the rays of the sun glanced through the trees, they 
 seemed hung with leaves of transparent crystal, which, in 
 beauty and splendour rivalled the skill of the lapidary. 
 
 I stopped at Chatsworth House on my way through the 
 
WINTER VISIT TO MATLOCK DALE. 261 
 
 park, and had the gratification of seing CANOVA'S celebrated 
 figure of the Mother of Buonaparte. It is an exquisitely- 
 finished statue, and powerfully suggests a recollection of some 
 of the most beautiful works of art : the natural ease and grace 
 of the figure, and the taste and disposition of the drapery, are 
 inimitably fine; the hands and arms, particularly the left, 
 might form studies for future sculptors, but the face and head 
 did not altogether please me : this remark is not applicable to 
 the features, but to the sculptural expression of the counte- 
 nance, which has less of nature about it than marble, inflexible 
 as it is, is capable of expressing, when touched by the chisel 
 of such a man as Canova. A pedestal, in the same apart- 
 ment with this fine specimen of modern art, is surmounted 
 with a bust of Petrarch's Laura, by the same sculptor, which 
 is full of excellence, and has a most touching expression of 
 countenance, where loveliness, purity, tenderness, and affection, 
 are divinely blended together. This little work (for so it 
 may be termed, in reference to the space it occupies,) gave 
 me a more exalted idea of the genius and talent of Canova 
 than any of his more elaborate productions had previously 
 done. 
 
 In my short stay at Chatsworth, I saw the antique columns 
 of porphyry and granite, the vases, marbles, and fossils, 
 which the Duke of Devonshire had collected during his late 
 visit to the Continent. I had likewise the gratification of 
 hearing him express his intention of erecting a spacious mu- 
 seum for sculpture, &c., at this noble mansion, which he 
 proposes making the receptacle of some of the finest works of 
 art, and the most valuable productions of antiquity.* 
 
 After spending a few hours at Chatsworth, and thanking 
 the Duke for a sight of his Canova, and the many valuable 
 acquisitions he had recently made in Italy, and transplanted 
 to the Palace of the Peak, I proceeded through Darjey Dale 
 to Matlock. Crossing the bridge, the scenery at the entrance 
 into the dale was eminently beautiful; light elegant trees, 
 
 * This important addition to the " Palace of the Peak" is now in progress, 
 and the whole of Chatsworth House is undergoing a complete renovation. 
 Jeffery Wyatt, Esq. is the architect. His fine taste and professional skill 
 are here employed on a difficult and magnificent work. The new part is 
 not designed to render the whole an uniform edifice, but the style of archi- 
 tecture has a general correspondence. Some years will elapse before the 
 whole is finished, but the new erections even now abundantly evince how 
 grand and imposing this noble structure is intended to be. 
 
 s 3 
 
262 A WINTRY PICTURE. 
 
 feathered with snow, and sparkling with frost, intermingled 
 with dark branches of yew, shooting from amongst the crags, 
 crested the rocky barrier before me. From the side facing 
 Matlock Bank, the summit of. the rock beetles over its sides, 
 and its extreme verge was fringed with a cornice of brilliant 
 icicles, which looked like a coronet on the brow of winter, and 
 glittered amongst the branches, that hung like a filmy net- 
 work over the face of the rock. Proceeding along the dale, 
 I passed the High Tor : dark rolled the river at the base of 
 this giant Tor, in one unbroken current, that happily assimi- 
 lated with the grandeur of the scene; below, some huge 
 masses of stones, capped with snow, interrupted the progress 
 of the stream, round which it impetuously rushed, then circled 
 into turbulent eddies below. 
 
 A little beyond Saxton's Hotel, on the opposite side of 
 the river, is Wild Cat Tor. Though the entrance into the dale 
 had greater beauty, yet here the scene had more grandeur : 
 the rocks have a wilder character, and the trees at their base 
 are more magnificent. A few straggling pines and yews were 
 scattered amongst the topmost crags ; on these the snow hung 
 heavily. It was a wintry picture; and the ruins of a mill near, 
 that had just been consumed by fire, the dark half-burnt 
 beams and rafters of which were rendered more conspicuous 
 by the snow that lay upon them, improved its sublimity. 
 
 About a quarter of a mile further on the dale, the road 
 passes through Scarthing Rock. From the jutting crags 
 that hung in masses over our heads, long branches projected, 
 feathered over with frost and snow ; from others, huge icicles 
 depended, as beautiful and more transparent than the stalac- 
 tites of the caverns of the Peak. Such were the adornments 
 of the two sides of this rocky portal. The summits were 
 crested with trees ; and, through the vista between, a con- 
 fined landscape was admitted, in which a road and a rocky 
 bank, covered with light downy foliage, were the principal 
 features; whilst beyond we had a glimpse into distance, 
 amongst woods and hills that seemed but the doubtful and 
 shadowy resemblances of what they were. A soft snow 
 shower was floating about them ; their individual forms were 
 indistinct, but not obliterated ; and the fine filmy veil that 
 was cast over them softened down the harsh asperity of lines, 
 and threw an harmonious uncertainty over the whole. A 
 scene of greater and rarer beauty but seldom occurs. 
 
CONCLUSION. 263 
 
 I had now attained the object of my visit to Matlock Bath, 
 and, therefore, during a heavy fall of snow, that a little im- 
 peded my progress, I returned to Bakewell, where I passed 
 the night, and from thence, on the following day, to Sheffield, 
 after a short absence of three days. 
 
 END OF PART III. 
 
 ,s 4- 
 
PEAK SCENERY. 
 
 PART IV. 
 
267 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 Last Excursion into Derbyshire. Reflections on the word 
 Last. Meersbrook House. Samuel Shore, Esq. Old 
 House at Norton Lees. Walk from Heeley to Norton. 
 Norton Hall and Park. Norton House and the Oakes. 
 Manor of Norton. 
 
 MY last excursion into Derbyshire was made chiefly for the 
 purpose of exploring -the scenery of the RIVER DOVE, and 
 completing my original design of " travelling through the 
 mountainous parts of Derbyshire, and visiting every place 
 worthy of notice in the High and Low Peak ; especially those 
 sequestered spots which lie within the dales that determine the 
 course of the three principal rivers, the WYE, the DERWENT, 
 and the DOVE." Every place, indeed, through which I may 
 pass in my progress to, or my return from, the picturesque 
 windings of this romantic stream, is entitled to attention ; pro- 
 viding that any thing connected with it is sufficiently im- 
 portant to elicit observation, and compensate for the delay it 
 may occasion. This present excursion, will, if I may be per- 
 mitted to use the expression, be more erratic than the preceding 
 ones, and embrace a much greater extent and variety of ground. 
 To reach the river Dove, a considerable part of the county, 
 extending from Yorkshire to the borders of Staffordshire, must 
 be traversed ; in doing which, the most interesting road will 
 be selected, and my return will include some objects not com- 
 prehended within* that part of the county usually denominated 
 the Peak, but which by a Derbyshire tourist cannot be entirely 
 omitted. 
 
 I have called this my last excursion. What a train of 
 serious reflections and associations are excited by this little 
 monosyllable ; there is something in the word itself, that checks 
 the playfulness of every lighter thought, and gives a chastened 
 and sober tone to feeling. My various perambulations along 
 
268 LAST EXCURSION. SAMUEL SHORE, ES. 
 
 the heathy moors, and through the dales of Derbyshire, have 
 been accompanied with so much of actual enjoyment, that the 
 idea of having seen them for the last time cannot be contem- 
 plated without sensations of regret. Bidding a final adieu to 
 scenes rendered dear and interesting by pleasing recollections, 
 with a feeling that we may never more behold them, is some- 
 what like taking an everlasting farewell of a friend whom we 
 sincerely love, whose kindness and companionship have en- 
 deared existence, and strewn a few perishable roses amongst 
 the thorns of life. 
 
 Early on a fine May morning my companion and myself 
 commenced our- tour ; and crossing Meersbrook at the little 
 village of Heeley, we entered Derbyshire about one mile from 
 the town of Sheffield. The river Sheaf was on our right, 
 babbling and sparkling amongst shades of elms, poplars, and 
 alders. The moment we were admitted within the boundary 
 line of this interesting county, we felt the beauty of the sur- 
 rounding scenery. A noble sheet of water, of many acres, 
 lay on our right ; beyond, rising above an intervening screen 
 of lofty foliage, which was vividly reflected on the surface of 
 the water, part of the town of Sheffield appeared, backed 
 with a range of thickly-wooded hills. Such materials can 
 hardly be so ill disposed as not to produce a pleasing picture ; 
 here they are happily combined, and constitute a scene richly 
 diversified and full of imposing objects. 
 
 As we proceeded, on our left, pleasantly situated on a rising 
 ground, amongst groups of trees, stands Meersbrook House, 
 the residence of Samuel Shore, Esq. This venerable and 
 worthy man was born in the town of Sheffield ; he is, there- 
 fore, a native of Yorkshire, but the greatest part of his life 
 has been passed in Derbyshire. In 1760, the year that his 
 late Majesty George the Third succeeded to the throne, he 
 filled the office of sheriff for the county. He then resided at 
 Norton Hall, which is now occupied by his grandson, Sydney 
 Shore, Esq. Afterwards, he became a magistrate for the 
 West Riding of the County of York, in which capacity he 
 was associated with the Rev. James Wilkinson, late Vicar of 
 Sheffield, Walter Osbourne, Esq., and others, who held their 
 meetings for the business of the magistracy at Sheffield. 
 Mr. Shore is a Protestant dissenter, and he had been several 
 years actively employed as a magistrate, when the various 
 classes of dissenters in the kingdom presented petitions to 
 Parliament for a repeal of the Test Laws. Being a sincere 
 
DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE OF FORMER TIMES. 269 
 
 friend both to civil and religious liberty, he cordially united 
 in the prayer of these petitions. The application was unsuc- 
 cessful, and Mr. Shore, in consequence, deemed it his duty to 
 discontinue his magisterial services, as a decided testimony 
 against the existence of those Laws, which he regarded as 
 intolerant, impolitic, unjust, and inconsistent with the free 
 principles of the British Constitution. His nice sense of in- 
 tegrity and propriety on all matters connected with his duties 
 as a man, and his faith as a Christian, influenced his decision, 
 and he retired into private life accompanied with the esteem 
 of all who can admire goodness, and know how to venerate 
 the dictates of conscience. This gentleman possesses the 
 Norton Lees estate, which in the reign of Henry the Seventh 
 was the property of the family of the Blythes of Norton ; two 
 of whom arrived at great honours in the church ; one of 
 them, John, being the Bishop of Salisbury, and the other, 
 Geoffrey, Bishop of Litchfield and Coventry. 
 
 The old mansion at Norton Lees, once occupied by this 
 family, is still in existence; and it is one of those ancient 
 structures which serve to keep alive the recollection of the 
 domestic architecture of our forefathers : it is therefore not 
 only a picturesque, but an interesting object. At a very early 
 period our Saxon progenitors built their houses with wood, 
 but shortly after the Norman Conquest plaster was intermixed 
 with timber, and subsequently the basement story was made 
 of stone. The upper apartments were so constructed as to 
 project over the lower, and considerable ornament, both in 
 carved wood and plaster, was introduced about the doors, the 
 windows, and the roof of the building. The house at Norton 
 Lees is a good specimen of this early style of architecture, 
 and it has been supposed by some to be as old as the reign of 
 Richard the Second : that it was erected many years after this 
 period can hardly be doubted. Though composed of stone 
 and wood, it is evidently not one of the earliest structures of 
 this description : it is indeed highly probable that it was built 
 in the reign of the Seventh or Eighth Henry, but certainly 
 not sooner. At this period the halls or family mansions of 
 the yeomanry of the country had nearly all the same general 
 character. Previously, but little stone was used in any of them. 
 One of the oldest of these structures at present in the king- 
 dom, is Moreton Hall in Cheshire, which though a highly- 
 ornamented building, is entirely composed of wood, and was 
 erected at a time before stone was generally used even for the 
 
270 NORTON LEES HALL, 
 
 lower apartments. The earliest date about this ancient remain 
 is 1559. 
 
 Anxious to preserve the remembrance of the old house at 
 Norton Lees, I have obtained a sketch of it from the pencil 
 of Mr. E. Blore, an artist of great eminence in his profession, 
 and who in his peculiar style of drawing happily unites pic- 
 torial effect with the most scrupulous fidelity. The man who 
 loves to look into the past, to pore over the history of former 
 periods, and become acquainted with the modes of life, and 
 the manners and customs of his forefathers, cannot but feel 
 deeply indebted to that art, which, when these curious remains 
 have become venerable with age, and picturesque with decay, 
 arrests them in their fall, commits their forms to canvass or to 
 copper, and preserves them in our recollection long after they 
 have disappeared from among us. Happy art ! that can dis- 
 appoint time of its prey, prolong the remembrance of forms 
 that now exist, and transmit them through successive gener- 
 ations. The arts are the handmaids of our pleasures, they 
 administer to some of our most i*efmed enjoyments, and give 
 an elegance and charm to life. 
 
 In our walk to Norton we left Norton Lees a short distance 
 on our left, and passed through some sweet scenery about half 
 a mile from Heeley, at a place called Smithy Wood Bottom. 
 This retired spot attracted the particular attention of DA YES, 
 during his tour into Yorkshire, and it is more commended by 
 him than any other in the vicinity of Sheffield. He saw it on 
 a fine summer's evening, when all the parts came in masses, 
 and the lights and shadows were not only favourable but 
 strikingly imposing. Strange that such a man as Dayes could 
 pass through the fine country around Sheffield and see no 
 beauty but in Smithy Wood Bottom. 
 
 The walk from Heeley to Norton, by the way of Woodseats 
 and Bole Hill, commands a series of delightful views over the 
 adjacent country. In one direction the hills and woods of 
 Beauchief and Ecclesal enrich the middle distance of the 
 landscape, and the heathy moors of Derbyshire terminate the 
 prospect. In another, Banner Cross and the woods about 
 Sheffield, extending from Wincobank to Grenoside, and from 
 thence to Wentworth and Warncliffe, are pleasing features in 
 the extensive and beautifully-diversified landscapes which this 
 walk in its progress presents. Having attained the summit of 
 the hill that overlooks Abbey Dale, and paused a while to gaze 
 upon the scenery before us, we proceeded to Norton, one of 
 
SMITHY WOOD. NORTON HALL. 271 
 
 the pleasantest and most respectable villages in any part of 
 Derbyshire. This secluded place is more neat and trim than 
 formerly : it has lost part of its rural appearance by the en- 
 closure of the many little verdant spots with which it was once 
 adorned. The Village Green, the scene of many a mirthful 
 sport, has disappeared, and every plot of ground is now se- 
 curely hemmed in with fences. I question not the policy of 
 such proceedings they may be wise and useful, perhaps ne- 
 cessary, but they have devastated many a lovely scene, and 
 impaired the beauty of many a rural picture. 
 
 There are several good houses in this village, particularly 
 Norton Hall, which has lately been rebuilt. When Mr. Shore, 
 the father of the present proprietor of Norton Hall, first pos- 
 sessed it, it was an ancient stone mansion, its principal front 
 having a projection at each end and a recess in the centre. 
 In an engraving of it now before me, which was published in 
 1793, from a drawing by Malton, the front of the old build- 
 ing is exhibited, together with the whole of the western wing, 
 which was erected by the late Joseph Offley, Esq., who had it 
 in contemplation to rebuild the remainder, and convert the 
 whole into a modern mansion. This, however, was reserved 
 for the present proprietor, Samuel Shore, Esq., to accomplish, 
 who has not only carried the plans of his predecessors into 
 execution, but has greatly extended and laid open the grounds 
 about the house, and formed the whole into a range of beau- 
 tiful park scenery, which is adorned with seats, alcoves, and 
 occasional poetic inscriptions. 
 
 Through a plantation that borders these pleasant grounds, 
 a circuitous walk, which belts the whole park, has been car- 
 ried, to an extent of about two miles. Near the principal 
 front of the house, where cultivated beauty most prevails, it 
 enters into an open shrubbery composed of trees of the freshest 
 and most luxuriant foliage, amongst which tufts of flowers, 
 woodbines, and roses, are plenteously scattered. This walk 
 leads to the Flower Garden, which is a rich collection of sweets 
 that Flora herself might be proud to own. Leaving this lovely 
 spot, the path proceeds through a grove of trees, whose tall 
 trunks admit, from the many openings between, a distant view 
 of more closely tangled foliage. It afterwards passes along the 
 western verge of the park, crosses a small part of a verdant 
 slope, and then dips into a romantic wood, which covers two 
 sides of a deep and picturesque dell. On the right of the walk 
 a sylvan grotto has been erected, composed of roots, trunks, 
 
272 NORTON PARK. 
 
 and branches of trees. At the back of a seat within, some 
 poetic lines of considerable merit, by Mrs. Stokes, of Chester- 
 field, are inscribed, but the composition is too long to be quoted 
 here. From this place the walk is continued by the side of a 
 fine sheet of water, where another wood-house is erected. In 
 this secluded spot we observed the following lines, which I have 
 before noticed as part of an inscription on a gravestone in 
 Tides well church-yard : 
 
 " Contemplate, as the sun declines, 
 
 Thy death with deep reflection, 
 And when again he rising shines. 
 
 Thy day of resurrection.** 
 
 The sylvan grot in which these lines are written should have 
 faced the west ; having nearly a northern aspect, they are not 
 so appropriately situated as they might have been. From this 
 place we returned again into the wood, and made our way over 
 the trunks of fallen trees to another walk, near the margin of 
 the brook at the bottom of the dell, where, agreeably to the 
 following poetic invitation from the pen of Miss Shore, we 
 rested a few minutes before we proceeded to the higher part 
 of the grounds : 
 
 " Here, stranger, rest thee in this calm retreat, 
 Secure from winter's storms and summer's heat, 
 Let calm serenity possess thy mind, 
 And in this mossy seat contentment find." 
 
 From this " mossy seat" we pursued our way to where the 
 two sides of the dell closely approach each other, and form a 
 deep glen shadowed over with dark yew trees, but enlivened 
 with a little stream of water which has made a channel down 
 the steep side of a rocky bank, whence it is precipitated into 
 the hollow below. A long flight of steps leads from this part 
 of the wood into the plantations above, which bound the 
 northern extremity of the park. Here there is another alcove 
 or resting-place for pedestrians, which on a clear summer's day 
 affords a delightful shelter from heat and sunshine ; but spring 
 was now but little advanced, and it looked chill and uninviting 
 within : we therefore passed it, and returned across the open 
 part of the grounds to the west front of the house. Norton 
 Park is well stored with stately trees : the oak and elm, and 
 particularly the ash, find kindly nurture in the soil, and flourish 
 in health and beauty, and about one hundred yards from the 
 
 17 
 
VIEW FROM NORTON PARK. 273 
 
 house, by the side of the carriage-road that leads to Little 
 Norton, there is a noble beech, which extends its ample 
 branches over an area of the circumference of more than 
 seventy yards, and is of itself a picture for an artist. I have 
 stood beneath the leafy canopy of this magnificent tree, and 
 have sometimes traced with curious interest the various 
 branches, from their connexion with the parent trunk, through 
 numberless intermingling ramifications and intricate inter- 
 sections, until their individuality was entirely lost, and their 
 hundred arms terminated amongst a mass of surrounding 
 iiage. 1 his was certainly an idle amusement, yet it was one! 
 and there are moments when the mind is prepared to extract 
 pleasure from the most trivial circumstances, and derive in- 
 struction from appearances that on other occasions would pass 
 entirely unnoticed ; when it 
 
 " Finds tongues in trees, books in the running streams, 
 Sermons in stones, and good in every thing." 
 
 From Norton Park many openings occur that admit distant 
 views of the country around. To the west, the hills of 
 Beauchief are singularly beautiful, both in form and clothing, 
 and Ecclesal Wood, declining gently into the vale from 
 the right of the landscape, is a very pleasing feature in the 
 scene ; beyond, the heathy moors of Derbyshire fill up the 
 distance, which is often rich in colouring and picturesque with 
 light and shadow. From these grounds some of the finest 
 effects of nature are often presented when the sun is sinking 
 in the west : at this particular time of the day, the moors 
 that terminate the prospect are often seen reposing in a deep 
 purple shadow, while the nearer objects, touched with the rays 
 of the setting sun, are brilliantly lighted up with his departing 
 effulgence. 
 
 At the short distance of one hundred yards from Mr. Shore's 
 park wall, is Norton House, a good old mansion, which in the 
 year 1674- was the residence of Samuel Hallowes, Esq., who 
 was then sheriff of the county, and afterwards of Robert 
 Newton, Esq. Some years past this structure suffered con- 
 siderably from neglect, but since it has been in the occupation 
 f John Read, Esq. it has shared a better fate. The house, 
 the gardens, and the grounds, have all been greatly improved 
 by the taste of their present possessor. On the left of the 
 lawn, near the front of Norton House, stands a fine old oak, 
 
. HAZELBARROW HALL. 
 
 venerable with years and highly pictureque in decay. It 
 might have lived and flourished in " green old age" another 
 fcentury or two, had not the lightnings of heaven blighted its 
 branches and shivered a part of its mighty trunk. The storm 
 that moved over it has passed away, but traces of its devast- 
 ation are left behind. 
 
 About a quarter of a mile from the village of Norton is the 
 Oakes, a large old house that overlooks an extensive prospect, 
 rich with wood, and hills, and dales. This mansion is the 
 property of Sir William Bagshawe; it is now unoccupied, 
 and the symptoms of disorder and neglect are but too apparent 
 in its borders. * Near the Oakes stood Hazelbarrow Hall, a 
 venerable edifice, which for centuries was the seat of the an- 
 cient family of the Seliokes, who retained possession of it 
 until the reign of Elizabeth. It was lately occupied as a farm- 
 house, but it has now given way to a more modern structure. 
 Such has been the fate of this old mansion, which for ten 
 generations was the residence of one of the first families in 
 this part of Derbyshire. 
 
 Norton is an extensive manor i it comprehends not only the 
 whole parish of Norton, but the adjoining village of Cold 
 Aston, which is in the parish of Dronfield. This manor, the 
 hall, and the estates, belonged for a considerable period of 
 time to a family of the name of Bullock, who in consequence 
 tof their attachment to the royal cause, and the exertions which 
 they made in the support of King Charles, were much reduced 
 in their property at the time of the Restoration. William 
 Bullock, Esq. who resided at Norton Hall, raised a troop of 
 horse, and equipped them at his own expence, for the service 
 of his sovereign, while his neighbour, one of the Blythes of 
 Norton Lees, was a captain in the parliamentary army. In 
 consequence of the necessities of the Bullocks, Cornelius 
 Clarke, Esq. of Cutthorpe, or Ashgate, in Brampton, near 
 Chesterfield, who had a large mortgage on the estate in the 
 
 * The passages printed in italics have given great offence to the pro- 
 prietors of the Oakes. The writer has called that an old house, which is 
 certainly not a new one; he has stated that it was unoccupied, when nobody 
 lived in it ; and that the grounds around it were of consequence neglected 
 and in disorder. What mighty offence there is in all this, he is at a loss to 
 conjecture. He had intended to have annexed the very angry and un- 
 worthy epistle he has received on this occasion to this note, together with 
 his reply ; but this he declines to do j not on his own account, but from a 
 feeling of respect to one part of the family of the Oakes. 
 
DISPOSITION OF THE MANOR OF NORTON. 275 
 
 year 1668, purchased the hall and manor of Norton, and a 
 considerable part of the remaining estate. Having no issue, 
 he left the whole of his Brampton and Norton property to his 
 nephew, Robert Offley, of Norwich, who was the son of his 
 second sister, Ursula Clarke. His son Stephen was the first 
 of the family of the Offleys who resided at Norton Hall : his 
 oldest son, Joseph Offley, also of Norton Hall, was the 
 father of Mrs. Shore and Mrs. Edmunds, by his wife, Mary 
 Bohun, from Suffolk. In the division of the Derbyshire 
 property belonging to the family of the Offleys between the 
 two co-heiresses, the Norton estate descended to Mrs. Shore, 
 and the estate at Brampton to Mrs. Edmunds. 
 
 T 2 
 
276 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 Memoir of Chantrey^ the Sculptor. 
 
 1 N the preceding section I have observed that the parish of 
 Norton was the birth-place of two brothers who arrived at 
 high honours in the church, one being the Bishop of Salis- 
 bury, and the other the Bishop of Coventry and Litchfield ; 
 the latter of whom built a chapel at Norton, erected an ala- 
 baster tomb within it to the memory of his parents, and 
 appointed a chantry for them. This pleasant village has 
 likewise the honour of being the birth-place of another dis- 
 tinguished individual, FRANCIS CHANTREY, Esq R. A. 
 Sculptor, F. R. S., Lon. & Ed., F. S. A., M. G. S., and Member 
 of the Roman Academy of St. Luke ; a man whose extraordi- 
 nary talents have placed him at an early period of life at the 
 summit of his profession* 
 
 F. Chantrey was born on the 7th of April, 1 782. His an- 
 cestors were in respectable but not opulent circumstances, and 
 some heritable possessions still belong to the family. His 
 father was involved in considerable pecuniary losses, chiefly 
 by the conduct of a brother whom he endeavoured to serve 
 beyond the extent of his means. He saw the property which 
 his forefothers had accumulated, progressively departing 
 from him, his spirits became depressed, and he died in the 
 rime of life, when his only child, the subject of this memoir, 
 was scarcely twelve years old. After his death, his widow 
 Remained in the occupation of a farm which had been in 
 the family through a long series of years; and although 
 Chantrey's mother, who is still living to enjoy the fame of 
 her son, was left in narrow circumstances, she yet contrived 
 to bestow upon him as liberal an education as her limited 
 means would admit. Being an only child he was naturally 
 the object of the tenderest care and most anxious solicitude 
 of his surviving parent, who retained him about her person 
 
MEMOIR OF CHANTREY, THE SCULPTOR. 277 
 
 until he was nearly eighteen years old. He was intended for 
 agricultural pursuits, but his employment in attending to 
 the concerns of a farm was but little suited to his views and 
 inclinations. At this period of life he is said to have had it 
 in contemplation to study the law, under a respectable soli-- 
 citor at Sheffield. This is an error into which his biogra- 
 phers have fallen, in consequence of the term factor being 
 understood to have the same meaning in Sheffield as it has in 
 Scotland, where the memoir of this distinguished artist was 
 first published. To the business of a factor, or inland mer- 
 chant; his views were first directed, but he soon discovered 
 that his inclinations had a different tendency. The drudgery 
 of a factor's warehouse, the calculation of per centages and 
 discounts, the systematic arrangements and nice methodical 
 management which such a pursuit requires, the mind of 
 Chantrey was but ill fitted to encounter ; he therefore relin- 
 quished this intention, and apprenticed himself to a Mr. Ram- 
 say, a carver and gilder, in the town of Sheffield ; yet even in 
 this business he soon found that he had but few opportunities 
 of indulging that feeling for the arts, which had now so taken 
 possession of his mind, that it might be said to have become 
 the animating principle of his being, and the sole impulse his 
 heart obeyed. 
 
 At this time Mr. J. R. Smith, mezzotint-engraver and 
 portrait-painter, visited Sheffield, professionally as an artist, 
 and being occasionally at the house of Mr. Ramsay, Chantrey's 
 devotion to the study and practice of drawing and modelling 
 did not escape his observation. He was the first to perceive 
 and appreciate his genius ; he took pleasure in giving him 
 instruction, and, some years afterwards, the pupil having 
 become a proficient in art, perpetuated the recollection of 
 his master in one of the finest busts that ever came from his 
 hands. 
 
 He, however, experienced considerable difficulty in making 
 an advantageous use of the lessons thus obtained. His mas- 
 ter supposing, and perhaps with reason, that Chantrey's pre- 
 dilection for the arts would make him a less profitable servant, 
 was but little inclined to promote his pursuits. The whole of 
 his leisure hours, however, were devoted to his favourite 
 studies, and chiefly passed in a lonely room in the neighbour- 
 hood of his master's house, which he hired at the rate of a 
 few pence weekly. 
 
 It may easily be supposed from, the preceding detail, that 
 
 T 3 
 
278 MEMOIR OF CHANTREY, THE SCULPTOR. 
 
 the connexion between Chantrey and Ramsay was not of long 
 continuance ; they separated before the expiration of the term 
 of his apprenticeship, a compensation being made by Chantrey 
 for the remainder of his time. Being now left to prosecute 
 his studies in his own way, he visite'd London, and attended 
 the school of the Royal Academy at Somerset House, but was 
 never regularly admitted a student. 
 
 Painting and sculpture, the sister arts, to one of which he 
 resolved to dedicate his talents, were now presented to his 
 choice, but he was undetermined, and some weeks passed 
 away before he attempted either. Painting had only a se- 
 condary place in his affections, but he regarded it as a surer 
 source of profitable employment than sculpture ; he therefore 
 hesitated long before he made his election. Perplexed and 
 embarrassed, he left the students' room at Somerset House, 
 returned to his own apartments, " resolved and resolved," 
 spread his canvas before him, prepared his pallet, took up his 
 pencils, and began to paint : landscape, portrait, and history, 
 by turns attracted his notice and mingled with his contem- 
 plations, but the sculpture of the Academy was continually 
 before him, and the images it presented became associated 
 with all his thoughts. This state of suspense prevented him 
 from using the talents he then possessed, and so long as it 
 continued he accomplished nothing. During this period of 
 doubt and indecision he visited the Elgin marbles : these per- 
 fect resemblances of nature and simplicity made a strong im- 
 pression on his mind ; the more he examined them the more 
 he became convinced of their truth and their beauty ; they 
 confirmed him in his own notions of excellence, and he re- 
 visited them daily with increased delight. In the intervals 
 that filled up the space between his successive visits to these 
 exquisite productions of art, he repeatedly attempted to paint, 
 but the works of Greece, simple in design, beautiful in 
 execution, imposing and grand in effect, were still present to 
 him : they influenced his choice, and determined him to become 
 a sculptor. 
 
 Chantrey's first work in marble was a bust of the Rev. 
 James Wilkinson, which he executed for the parish church at 
 Sheffield. He entered on this undertaking with all the con- 
 fidence of conscious talent, and the assurance of success, even 
 though previously he had never been employed on marble, 
 and never used either a hammer or chisel on any material of 
 more difficult workmanship than a picture frame. Mont- 
 
MEMOIR QF CHANTREY, THE SCULPTOR. 279 
 
 gomery the poet, the author of the Wanderer of Switzerland, 
 #c. beautifully alludes to this early production in a speech de- 
 livered in the town of Sheffield, in December 1822, on the 
 establishment of a Philosophical and Literary Society there. 
 Having briefly noticed several individuals, natives of the 
 place, whose talents and acquirements in science and literature 
 were an honour to the town, he adds 
 
 ^ Mr. Chantrey was not indeed a native of the town, but 
 having been born at Norton in Derbyshire, four miles hence, 
 within the limits of this corporation, he belongs to us, and is 
 one of us. Whatever previous circumstances, very early in 
 life, may have taught his eye to look at forms as subjects fo? 
 his thoughts, his pencil, or his hand, it was in Sheffield, after 
 he had been called hither from the honourable occupation of 
 husbandry, which kings and the awful fathers of mankind of 
 old did not disdain to follow ; it was in Sheffield that his 
 genius first began to exercise its plastic powers, both in paint- 
 ing and sculpture; it was in Sheffield that the glorious 
 alternative was presented to him, either to be amongst the 
 greatest painters of the age, or to be alone as the greatest of 
 its sculptors ; it was in Sheffield, likewise, after he had made 
 the wiser choice, that he produced his first work in marble ; 
 and Sheffield possesses that work, and, I trust, will pos- 
 sess it, till the hand of time, atom by atom, shall have crumbled 
 it into dust. 
 
 " This assuredly was the most interesting crisis of the 
 artist's life, the turning period that should decide the bias of 
 his future course. Having employed a marble-mason to 
 rough-hew the whole, he commenced his task, with a hand 
 trembling but determined, an eye keenly looking after the 
 effect of every stroke, and a mind flushed with anticipation, 
 yet fluctuating often between hope and fear, doubt, agony, 
 and rapture ; perplexities that always accompany conscious but 
 untried powers in the effort to do some great thing : he pur- 
 sued his solitary toil day by day, and night by night, till the 
 form being slowly developed, at length the countenance came 
 out of the stone, and looked its parent in the face. To know 
 his joy a man must have been such a parent. The throes and 
 anguish, however, of that first birth of his genius in marble 
 enabled that genius thenceforward, with comparative ease, to 
 give being and body to its mightiest conceptions. 
 
 " Were I a rich man, who could purchase the costly 
 labours of such a master, I almost think that I could forego 
 
 T 4 
 
280 MEMOIR OF CHANTREY, THE SCULPTOR. 
 
 the pride of possessing the most successful effort of his later 
 hand, for the noble pleasure of calling my own, the precious 
 bust in yonder church. Works of genius and of taste are not 
 to be valued solely according to their abstract excellence as 
 such, but they may become inestimably more dear to the 
 heart, as well as interesting to the eye, in proportion as they 
 awaken thought, feeling, recollection, sympathy. Whether in 
 alliance with the subject itself, the circumstances under which 
 it was undertaken, or the conflict and triumph of the artist in 
 achieving his design, in all these points the plain but admira- 
 ble monument before us transcends every other that has come, 
 or can come, from the same hand ; since the experienced and 
 renowned proficient can never again be placed in a trial so 
 severe, with an issue so momentous, as the youthful aspirant, 
 unknown and unpractised, had to endure in this first essay of 
 his skill on the block that might eternise his name or crush his 
 hopes for ever. This, I believe, is the true history of the out- 
 set of Chan trey, a native of this neighbourhood, who was des- 
 tined thenceforward, at his pleasure, to give to marble all but 
 life; for 
 
 What fine chisel 
 Could ever yet cut breath* 
 
 SHAKSPEARE'S Winter's Tale" 
 
 In recurring to the earlier productions of Chantrey, his 
 colossal bust of Satan, the first important work which he ex- 
 hibited at the Royal Academy, deserves particular notice. 
 That sublime passage in Paradise Lost, where Milton's " not 
 less than archangel fallen," lifting his malignant brow to 
 heaven, pours forth his impious address to the sun, 
 
 *' To thee I call, but with no friendly voice 
 And add thy name, O Sun ! to tell thee how 
 I hate thy beams ;" s 
 
 afforded our young sculptor a noble opportunity for the dis- 
 play of his talents. Defiance, hatred, and despair, are per- 
 sonified with great force and sublimity in this magnificent 
 head, the whole is finely imagined, and the point of time 
 selected by the artist is admirably adapted both for picturesque 
 effect and grandeur of expression. There is character in the 
 very hair that crowns the head of this bust, and the serpent 
 writhing his folds amongst it, forms an appropriate emblematic 
 
MEMOIR OF CHANTREY, THE SCULPTOR. 281 
 
 diadem for the arch-fiend. This was a daring and a great 
 effort, and as the work of a young artist it excited astonish- 
 ment and obtained applause. This fine bust has never been 
 executed in marble. 
 
 It was many years the fate of Chantrey to experience what 
 most men of genius have more or less endured, the pains of 
 hope deferred, and expectations disappointed. I have some- 
 times heard him say, when recurring to the discouraging cir- 
 cumstances and the difficulties which he had to encounter 
 when young in art, and totally unknown beyond the place 
 where he lived, that for upwards of six years spent in his 
 professional pursuits, he did not receive as many pounds. But 
 let young artists be cheered by his enduring perseverance, 
 which conducted him through twelve long years of silent la- 
 bour and privation, to fame and eminence. He modelled in 
 a little retired room, his name and his works known only to a 
 few, and his limited means of subsistence assisted by occasion- 
 ally carving on wood ; yet he never despaired ; and here I may 
 use his own words of encouragement to a young artist : " Let 
 none be alarmed because fame is slow of foot ; men can no 
 more prevent genius from being known than they can hinder 
 the sun from shining." 
 
 When Chantrey was struggling with difficulties and scarcely 
 known as an artist, John Home Tooke employed him to model 
 his bust. It was sent to the Royal Academy, and exhibited 
 in plaster : but he sustained no loss from the humble materials 
 of which it was composed. The ungracious task of arranging 
 the various productions in this branch of art had devolved 
 upon Nollekens, and to no man could the duty of conferring 
 distinction on merit have been more properly confided. He 
 placed the work of the young sculptor, who was soon destined 
 to excel himself in this characteristic line of art, not on the 
 shelf (an emphatic expression, denoting beyond the reach of 
 the eye,) nor in a dark corner, but between two marble busts 
 of his own, and in a situation so conspicuous, that the peculiar 
 excellencies of this speaking portrait could not be overlooked. 
 Joseph Nollekens is now beyond the reach of human praise ; 
 he is gone to " that bourne from whence no traveller returns ;" 
 but he lived to see and rejoice in the fame of the artist, whose 
 works he had the taste to admire, and the generosity to rank 
 with his own. Commissions to the amount of many thousand 
 pounds immediately followed. That era in the life of Chantrey 
 
282 MEMOIR OF CHANTREY, THE SCULPTOR. 
 
 had now arrived which may be regarded as the commencement 
 of his unexampled career. 
 
 " There is a tide in the affairs of men, 
 
 Which taken at the flood leads on to fortune ; 
 Omitted, all the voyage of their lives 
 Is bound in shallows and in miseries." 
 
 SHAKSPEARE. 
 
 From this time Chantrey's busts attracted more attention 
 than is usually bestowed on such productions. They were 
 universally admired for their identity of likeness, and still 
 more for that happy expression of character which he never 
 fails to attain. More of human nature never invested pro- 
 ductions of art: an unaffected simplicity, -so strikingly observa- 
 ble in the manners and character of the artist himself, is the 
 soul and charm of all his works. His Home Tooke, John 
 Raphael Smith, West, Wordsworth, and Sharpe, which may 
 be classed among his earlier productions, would justify a higher 
 strain of commendation than is here indulged. The many 
 excellent busts he has since exhibited, have established his 
 reputation as a sculptor in that particular walk of art, where 
 in this country few have moved with eminent success. His 
 statue of his late Majesty, which was undertaken in the year 
 1811 for the City of London, and is now the chief ornament 
 of the Council Room at Guildhall, is one of the noblest single 
 figures of modern times : it is easy and dignified in deport- 
 ment and expression, andT Chantrey's success on this occasion 
 established his reputation as a sculptor, and gave him an ex- 
 alted character in his profession. A monumental group, in 
 memory of Miss Johnes of Hafod, succeeded, which in design, 
 sentiment, and pathos, is indisputably one of his best and 
 most affecting productions. In this monument he has hap- 
 pily succeeded in expressing the difference in the male and 
 female character, under circumstances of affliction ; the dig- 
 nified feeling and manly resignation of the father, the heart- 
 rending and overwhelming sorrow of the mother, and the 
 languor of the expiring daughter, are depicted with a fidelity 
 to nature, and a force and energy of feeling, that powerfully 
 affect the heart, while at the same time they excite our ad- 
 miration of the genius and talent that conceived and executed 
 so exquisite a work. 
 
 Of the monumental group, placed in Litchfield Cathedral, 
 and emphatically named " the Two Children," it would be 
 difficult to speak in language suitable to its uncommon merit. 
 
MEMOIR OF CHANTREY, THE SCULPTOR. 283 
 
 The religion of the country, and the diffusion of knowledge, 
 render allegory almost inadmissible in modern art. But no 
 personification of abstract notions of innocence, or joy, or 
 sorrow, was wanted here: the easy and graceful attitude of the 
 lovely children, reposing side by side in each other's arms, 
 and all but breathing, form too touching a group to be viewed 
 without emotion. This exquisite production was placed in 
 the Model Room in the Exhibition at Somerset House, in the 
 year 1817, along with the figures of Terpsichore and Hebe, 
 by Canova. It is unnecessary to eulogise this fine work : the 
 exhibition was daily crowded with visitors to behold it ; and now 
 scarcely a traveller who feels interested in such productions, 
 ever passes through Litchfield without visiting the cathedral 
 to see this masterly specimen of English sculpture. The two 
 sisters, who both died young, are represented on a couch, 
 which may be regarded as the bed of death ; yet the vital 
 spark seems to be scarcely extinct. A few lines left on the 
 monument a short time after it was placed in the cathedral, by 
 one who appears to have felt its excellence, convey an accurate 
 idea of the fine conception which the sculptor has so ex- 
 quisitely embodied. 
 
 " How calm in death these infants He ! 
 They seem as they had sunk to rest ; 
 Then lapsed into eternity, 
 
 When not a sigh disturb'd the breast." 
 
 No production of genius was ever more generally admired, 
 or more liberally praised by all who saw it. Poetry and 
 prose were employed in its commendation ; it was talked of 
 in every company, and panegyrised in every newspaper, and 
 in some with considerable eloquence. The Literary Gazette 
 entered largely into an examination of its merits : from this 
 publication I have selected the following remarks, not because 
 they are more commendatory than what appeared in any 
 other papers, but because they are evidently the production 
 of a man who had studied the subject of art, and could sen- 
 sibly feel its excellencies. 
 
 " Monument to be placed in Litchfield Cathedral in memory of 
 Two Children. 
 
 f O fairest flowers ! no sooner blown than blasted.' 
 
 " There is an affecting simplicity in this design, far superior to 
 all the efforts of allegorical refinement. The two sisters are laid 
 asleep in each other's arms. This spectacle of early youth, in- 
 
284 MEMOIR OF CHANTREY, THE SCULPTOR. 
 
 nocence, affection, loveliness, and mortality, is exquisitely beau- 
 tiful. The disposition is natural and full of gentle feeling ; the 
 drapery negligently adjusted, to show the figures ; the heads aixd 
 naked forms very fleshy, and the excellence of the execution even 
 surpassed by the sweet and tender sentiment of the conception. 
 Mr. Chantrey in this master-piece has surpassed all his former pro- 
 ductions. 
 
 " The British Sculptor in this fine invention has chosen the 
 right course. Having a domestic sorrow to commemorate, he 
 consulted nature, in the first place, for the sentiment ; looked into 
 his own heart, and produced a work of warm and genuine feeling. 
 His monument not only exercises a supreme dominion over the 
 heart, but it awakens the most lively and pensive images of fancy, 
 through the medium of our sensibilities ; we praise Canova's Hebe 
 and Terpsichore, not only because of their peculiar beauties, but 
 because they are praised by others, and because that artist is 
 celebrated through Europe as the most eminent sculptor on the 
 continent. Much of the praise is deserved ; much is from the 
 head, a compliment of words and a form of fashion, in which we 
 join with seeming admiration, and with quite as much real indif- 
 ference and immediate forgetfulness, When we quit them they 
 pass too soon from our sight an'd our mind ; but, like the beauties 
 of the Medicean Venus, the Niobe, and the Apollo, which are 
 treasured among our eternal recollections, Chantrey's two peaceful 
 innocents, embracing in death, and lovely in "the sleep of the 
 grave, touch every chord of sensibility in the breast, and sooth 
 the mind with a thousand images of sweet and mournful tender- 
 ness. We are not loud in its praise, but our fixed looks, our 
 entire absorption, our lingering near, and frequent return to this 
 fine performance, are alone the best proofs of its excellence, and 
 its most unequivocal praise. We remove from it in vain ; it pur- 
 sues us into company, and appears before us in the waking visions 
 of the night. By uniting the excellence of art with the most 
 gentle but powerful impulses of nature, Chantrey has produced 
 a work which will live for ever among the most cherished and 
 soothing remembrances of his time," 
 
 In the years 1814 and 1815, Chantrey went to Paris, and 
 saw the celebrated collection of the Louvre on the eve of its 
 dispersion. Here he became acquainted with Canova; and 
 when the Roman sculptor visited London, the acquaintance 
 was renewed, and continued uninterrupted until his death. 
 These were to him journeys of infinite importance : during 
 his stay in Paris he might be said to live only in the Louvre, 
 for there nearly the whole of his waking hours were passed. 
 At this memorable place he not only studied the peculiar ex- 
 cellencies of the various works that it contained, but he ob- 
 
g 
 d 
 
 MEMOIR OF CHANTREY, THE SCULPTOR; 285 
 
 tained accurate copies of the finest statues there, with which 
 he enriched his collection at his residence in London. His 
 roup of Laocoon, his Apollo, Antinous, Germanicus, Venus 
 e Medici " the statue that enchants the world," Diana, and 
 many others, are faithfiil resemblances of the originals, and 
 they constitute a school for study to which young artists are 
 permitted to resort for practice and improvement 
 
 During the whole of this visit to France he indulged in his 
 favourite amusement of drawing, and his sketch-book presents 
 a faithful history of his journey* The carriage in which he 
 travelled the postillion that drove it the first bed in 
 which he slept after leaving his native country the towns 
 through which he successively passed Paris its public 
 buildings the garden of the Thuilleries the interior of 
 the Louvre the picturesque streets and cathedral of Amiens, 
 were amongst the objects that employed his pencil. His 
 drawings are dated; his progress may therefore be traced, 
 and the route of his travels accurately pointed out. I once 
 had the pleasure of looking over his sketches immediately 
 after his first tour into Scotland, and in addition to the his- 
 tory of his journey which they presented, imagination soon 
 converted them into a kind of barometer, by which to ascer- 
 tain his mode of living : some of them were fixed with tea, a 
 sober beverage, some with milk, some with malt liquor, 
 some with whiskey, and others with port wine, as these 
 various liquids happened to be before him. 
 
 In the autumn of 1819 he went to Italy, for the purposes 
 of observation and improvement. Not wishing to have his 
 time occupied in receiving and returning visits, he travelled 
 privately, in company with an English gentleman, John Read, 
 Esq., who resides at the village where Chantrey was born* 
 During this excursion he devoted almost every hour to the 
 study of objects intimately connected with his professional 
 pursuits. While at Rome he generally received that marked 
 attention which Italy invariably bestows on men eminent in 
 art : but he shunned as much as possible every thing like pa- 
 rade or ceremony, nor did he permit the many courtesies he 
 experienced to abstract his attention from those studies which 
 had induced him to visit Italy. During his stay at Rome he 
 was made a member of the Academy of St. Luke, as a com- 
 pliment to his talents, and an acknowledgment of his rank 
 in art. 
 
 Previously to this journey he had been long in the habit of 
 
286 MEMOIR OF CHANTREY, THE SCULPTOR. 
 
 sketching from nature; it was one of his greatest gratifications, 
 and in transmitting the minute detail as well as the more 
 obvious features of a scene to paper, he had wonderful facility, 
 which during his tour in Italy he still farther improved. 
 While in Rome, that exquisite poet, Thomas Moore, was 
 one of his associates : they visited Canova's sculpture-gallery 
 together, .and were delighted with the many beautiful groups 
 and images which his fine imagination had called into exist- 
 ence, and arrayed in grace and loveliness. Moore, in his 
 Fables for the Holy Alliance and Rhymes on the Road, where 
 he apostrophises the genius of Canova, has a beautiful allusion 
 to Chantrey's admiration of his talents. 
 
 " Wonderful Artist ! praise like mine, 
 Though springing from a soul that feels 
 Deep worship of those works divine, 
 Where Genius all his light reveals 
 Is little to the words that came 
 From him * thy peer in Art and Fame, 
 Whom I have known, by day, by night, 
 Hang o'er thy marble with delight 
 And while his lingering hand would steal 
 O'er every grace the taper's rays f, 
 Give thee, with all the generous zeal, 
 Such master spirits only, feel 
 That best of fame a rival's praise." 
 
 Chantrey returned to England confirmed and strengthened 
 in his own notions and conceptions of art, of which many 
 admirable specimens have since appeared from his hands. 
 Contemplating his progress, and studying the peculiar cha- 
 racter of his works, I am sometimes inclined to suppose that 
 had he been placed by fortune in a situation more propitious, 
 he might not have attained his present eminence. He had 
 formed his style, disciplined his fancy, and settled his own 
 feelings of art, before he emerged from obscurity ; and the 
 emotions which he experienced on beholding the Elgin mar- 
 bles was only a deeper and more intense continuation of what 
 he felt in his little lonely room in Sheffield. Had he been 
 otherwise situated, his strong natural good sense might not 
 have preserved him from being a copyist of other men's la- 
 
 * Chantrey. 
 
 f Canova always shows his fine statue, the Venere Pincitrice, by the 
 light of a small candle. 
 
MEMOIR OF CHANTREY, THE SCULPTORS 28? 
 
 bours ; and the contemplation of the divine productions of 
 antiquity, instead of inspiring him with the conception of 
 something truly great and English, such as Phidias would 
 have imagined and executed had he been of London and not 
 of Athens, might only have impressed him with the wish to 
 steal with discernment, and have taught him to look at nature 
 through the eyes of other men. Wishing Chantfey, there- 
 fore, to be no other than what he is, I am glad that in early 
 life he was allowed to think for himself draw his forms 
 from objects in real life and his sentiment from the human 
 heart. 
 
 In this hasty and imperfect notice, I have only glanced at 
 some, of the earlier productions of Chantrey \ and it is not my 
 intention to give a catalogue of his works, or to enter into a 
 critical analysis of their merits ; but the high character which 
 he has imparted to some of his busts and statues, render them 
 worthy of being particularly mentioned. The monumental 
 groups and figures, which he has already executed, are nu- 
 merous, and distinguished by fine taste and elevated feeling : 
 they are beautiful specimens of domestic sculpture ; in de- 
 sign, they are simple and full of pathos, and several of them 
 may be classed amongst the most dignified works of art. His 
 statues will secure him an -abiding fame : I have, therefore, 
 added a list of what may be considered his finest productions. 
 
 King George the Third, placed in the Common Council Room, 
 
 London. 
 
 Lord President Blair, placed in the Court of Session, Edinburgh* 
 Lord Viscount Melville, placed in the old Parliament House, 
 
 Edinburgh. 
 
 Spencer Perceval, placed in Northampton Church. 
 Dr. James Anderson, placed at Madras. 
 Lady Louisa Russell, placed at Woburn Abbey. 
 Robert Dundas, Lord Chief Baron for Scotland. 
 Francis Horner, for Westminster Abbey* 
 James Watt, Civil Engineer. 
 
 Cyril Jackson, Dean of Christ Church, for Oxford. 
 Sir Joseph Banks, for the Royal Society-*. to be placed in the 
 
 British Museum. 
 Lady Liverpool. 
 Dr. Hey, of Leeds. 
 
 Amongst the numerous BUSTS executed by this distinguished 
 sculptor, the following may be regarded as his best* 
 
288 MEMOIR OF CHANTRfcY, THE SCULPTOR* 
 
 J. Raphael Smith. John Home Tooke. Professor Playfair. 
 ^- Professor Porson. Sir Joseph Banks. John Rennie. James 
 Watt. Sir Walter Scott. William Wordsworth. Earl St. Vin- 
 cent Benjamin West, P. R. A. Sir Henry Englefield. Right 
 
 Hon. George Canning Marquis of Londonderry. His present 
 
 Majesty. Duke of Wellington. Earl Spencer. Sir Charles 
 Long. Bishop of London. Bishop of Rochester. Bishop of 
 Durham. Samuel Shore, Esq. 
 
 That this eminent artist should have devoted so much of 
 his time to the execution of busts, may perhaps be regretted. 
 There is a higher walk in sculpture^ in which all the excel- 
 lencies of his profession are required, and all the energies of 
 the -mightiest talent may be displayed. Here the genius of 
 Chantrey may move amid beings of his own creation, and 
 establish for himself a name and character not less elevated in 
 art than Canova's. He has attained much, but more remains 
 to be accomplished : in his busts he has given hearing and 
 thinking, beauty and intellect, to marble ; and in his statues 
 he has clothed the human figure with grace and dignity. Let 
 him persevere ! our own history and native poetry abound 
 with subjects both moving and heroic, presenting images of 
 perpetual interest, interwoven deeply with our national pride, 
 and inseparable from the mass of the people. These subjects 
 are worthy of his chisel, his ambition, and his fame. Let him 
 leave to others the gods of the heathen, and the cold mystical 
 allegory that has too long degraded his profession, and from 
 which, to his honour, he has been the first to depart, and 
 create a series of poetical groups and figures, deeply imbued 
 with sentiment and feeling, and hand down to posterity the 
 national character of his countrymen. I am glad to be 
 enabled to add, that such is the purpose of this celebrated 
 sculptor. 
 
289 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 Whittington Revolution House. Centenary Commemoration of 
 the Revolution of 1688. The Procession Ball and Concert. 
 
 Walk from Whittington to Chesterfield. Smelting Fur- 
 naces. Local History of Chesterjield. The Church Spire. 
 
 Walk to Ashover. Scene from Stone Edge. Approach 
 to Ashover. Ashover Church. Eastwood Hall, fyc. 
 
 r ROM Norton we had a pleasant walk over some fields to 
 Apperknowe Common, and from thence to Whittington. 
 There was no passing this village without loitering a short 
 time within it. We recognised the humble dwelling called 
 the Revolution House, and recollected the part which the 
 Earls of Devonshire and Danby, Sir John D'Arcy, eldest son 
 of the Earl of Holderness, and others, are represented to have 
 had in promoting the revolution of 1688, when the second 
 James, by a series of years of misrule, had become obnoxious 
 to the nation. These noble families, solicitous to put an end 
 to his government, and establish the Prince of Orange on the 
 throne, are reported to have held secret meetings for the pur- 
 pose. Whittington, and a moor near it, were the places 
 selected, and the Cock and Pynot, a small public-house in the 
 village, -sometimes sheltered these patriotic men on these 
 occasions. 
 
 On the 5th of November 1788, the centenary commemora- 
 tion of the revolution was celebrated with great magnificence 
 at Whittington, and the neighbouring town of Chesterfield. 
 The ceremonies of the day commenced with divine service at 
 the village church. The Rev. S. Pegge, the learned antiquary, 
 who had that morning entered into the eighty-fifth year of his 
 age, delivered a sermon upon the occasion, from the 118th 
 Psalm, verse xxiv. : " This is the day which the Lord hath 
 made, we will rejoice and be glad in it." After service, the 
 company paid a visit to the Revolution Parlour, and there par-* 
 
 u 
 
290 JUBILEE AT CHESTERFIELD. 
 
 took of a cold collation which had been prepared for them in 
 some new rooms that had just been added to the cottage. A 
 little after mid-day the procession began to form, and move in 
 regular order to Chesterfield. The carriages were preceded 
 by bands of music"; then followed the members of various clubs, 
 with their wands adorned with ribbons, and their flags and 
 different appropriate devices borne before them. The Duke 
 of Devonshire's coach, drawn by six horses richly caparisoned, 
 and decorated with orange trappings, accompanied by a train 
 of attendants on horseback, was the first carriage in the pro- 
 cession. The carriages of the Earl of Stamford, Lord George 
 and Lord John Cavendish, the Earl of Danby, Lord Francis 
 Osborne, and Sir Harry Hunloke, all similarly attended, suc- 
 ceeded : then followed a numerous train of coaches, chaises, 
 and gentlemen on horseback. Not fewer than five hundred 
 persons of distinction made a part of this splendid cavalcade, 
 which extended upwards of a mile from Whittington Bridge 
 to the Stone Gravels, which may be said to be the entrance 
 into Chesterfield. Upwards of forty thousand people were 
 assembled on this occasion, and a cheerful and joyous expres- 
 sion sat on every face. Although November, it was a fine 
 bright day ; the banners and flags along the whole line of the 
 procession were touched with sunbeams as they [waved and 
 fluttered to the breeze. Costly carriages, rich liveries, and 
 gaily caparisoned horses, gave a brilliant effect to the moving 
 mass, which altogether presented a grand and animated 
 spectacle. 
 
 When the procession had arrived at Chesterfield, the com- 
 pany separated into parties, and dined at the principal inns. 
 The Duke of Devonshire presided at one house, Lord George 
 Cavendish at another, and his brother, Lord John, filled the 
 president's chair at a third. In the evening, fire-works and 
 transparent paintings were exhibited in the streets, and the 
 festivities of the day closed with a ball, at which upwards of 
 three hundred ladies and gentlemen were present ; among 
 whom were the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, Lady Eli- 
 zabeth Foster, the Earl of Stamford, Lords George and John 
 Cavendish, the Earl of Danby, and his brother, Lord Francis 
 Osborne, Sir H. Hunloke and his Lady, Sir Francis Moli- 
 neux, and many other persons of rank and distinction. The 
 following day a public concert was gjven, which was splendidly 
 and numerously attended. It consisted of appropriate se- 
 lections from the works of the best masters, interspersed with 
 
PROPOSED MEMORIAL IN HONOUR OF THE REVOLUTION. 291 
 
 songs and glees suited to the occasion ; amongst which the 
 following original ode, written by the Rev. P. Cunningham of 
 Eyam, and set to music by Mr. Bower, then organist and 
 musical professor at Chesterfield, was performed with dis- 
 tinguished and deserved applause : 
 
 ODE. 
 
 When lawless Power his iron hand, 
 When blinded Zeal her flaming brand, 
 
 O'er Albion's island wav'd ; 
 Indignant Freedom wail'd the sight, 
 Eclips'd her sun of glory's light, 
 
 Her favourite realm enslav'd, 
 
 Distress'd she wander'd, when afar 
 She saw her Nassau's friendly star 
 
 Stream through the stormy air; 
 She call'd aloud a patriot band, 
 She bade them save a sinking land, 
 
 And deathless glory share. 
 
 Her cause their dauntless hearts inspir'd ; 
 With ancient Roman virtue fir'd, 
 
 They plough'd the surging main ; 
 With favouring gales from Belgia's shore, 
 Her heaven-directed hero bore, 
 
 And freedom crown'd his reign. 
 
 With equal warmth her spirit glows, 
 Though hoary Time's centennial snows 
 
 Now silver o'er her frame : 
 For, hark ! what songs of triumph tell, 
 Still grateful Britons love to dwell 
 
 On William's glorious name. 
 
 During this centenary jubilee it was proposed to erect a 
 monumental column at or near to Whittington, as a lasting 
 memorial of those proceedings which prepared the way for the 
 revolution of 1688. A liberal sum of money was subscribed, 
 and a committee appointed to carry the scheme into effect, but 
 the breaking out of the French revolution in less than twelve 
 months afterwards, and the rapid succession of a series of 
 appalling events, giving to the word a terrible and alarming 
 signification, the design was abandoned, and will probably 
 never be revived again. 
 
 On our way through Whittington we stopped at the Code 
 and Pynot) saw the Plotting Parlour, as it was once deno- 
 
 u 2 
 
292 GRAND EFFECTS OF THE SMELTING FIRES BY NIGHT, 
 
 minated, and the old chair, said to have been occupied by 
 the Earl of Devonshire, when he presided at those nocturnal 
 meetings, which are represented as having originated chiefly 
 with himself. Part of the old house has been taken down, 
 and a more convenient habitation erected in its place, but the 
 greater portion of it still remains, and as it is regarded with a 
 feeling of veneration, it will probably not be disturbed by 
 schemes of modern improvement, but left to crumble away 
 atom by atom, until it has become a heap of ruins. 
 
 We terminated our first day's journey at Chesterfield, where 
 we found a good inn and excellent accommodation for the 
 night. Twelve miles was but a short excursion for a day, yet 
 we had so loitering a walk that we did not reach Chesterfield 
 until night; and as we passed over Whittington Common we 
 had a fine opportunity of noticing the effects produced by the 
 fires that surround the town. The vicinity of Chesterfield 
 produces abundance of iron ore, which is smelted at the fur- 
 naces near. The vivid blaze they emit by night throws 
 over all the surrounding scene an air of grandeur. The light 
 is ever varying : sometimes it blazes forth in one wide sheet 
 of flame, covering the concave above with a stream of light, 
 and strongly illuminating every object within the sphere of its 
 operations ; then, as if suddenly extinguished, a momentary 
 darkness prevails, which is instantaneously succeeded by fitful 
 gleams of light shot from spiral flames, that throw a shifting 
 splendour over the heavens above, like the playful coruscations 
 of the northern sky. The breadth of light, the deep mass of 
 shadow, the transient obscurity, and the ever-varying pictures 
 these furnaces produce by night, are highly picturesque, and 
 full of grandeur. 
 
 Chesterfield is an old town, and although but a small place 
 at the time of the Norman survey, where it is mentioned as a 
 lailiwic appertaining to the manor of Newbold, it had a 
 church as early as the reign of William the Second, and in the 
 time of King John it became a corporate town, and a charter 
 to hold an annual fair for eight days during the year, and two 
 markets weekly, was at the same time bestowed upon it. The 
 market-place is a very spacious area, surrounded with houses, 
 that are principally used as shops. On the west side of it a 
 few old buildings intervene, which the corporation of Chester- 
 field, for the credit of the place, will, I hope, shortly remove, 
 and open the whole space beyond to the market-place. It is 
 indeed astonishing that an improvement so essential to the 
 
HISTORICAL NOTICES i 
 
 beauty of the town, and which might be accomplished at a 
 very trifling expence, has not yet been made. 
 
 Leaving to the topographer and the historian of this district, 
 if it should ever have one*, the task of pointing out the par- 
 ticular places where important events have occurred, and de- 
 tailing the circumstances by which they have been distin- 
 guished, I shall only briefly notice that in the year 1266 
 Robert de Ferrars, Earl of Derby, Baldwin Wake, Lord of 
 Chesterfield, John d'Egville, and others, appeared in arms 
 against Henry the Third. They assembled a numerous force 
 in the vicinity of Duffield, about six miles from Derby, marched 
 to Chesterfield, and took up a military post there, with 
 the hope of having their little army increased by the acces- 
 sion of some of those rebellious barons and their followers, 
 who, in the preceding year, had been beaten and dispersed at 
 Evesham. Their dreams of success were, however, soon over. 
 They had scarcely established themselves in the neighbourhood 
 of the town when they were surprised and attacked by Henry, 
 the eldest son of the King of Almaine. This rebel army was 
 soon beaten, and the greater part of them were put to the, 
 sword. The Earl of Derby himself took refuge in the church,, 
 and sought a hiding-place amongst some bags of wool that 
 had been deposited there. A woman in whom he had con- 
 fided pointed out the place of his concealment to his pursuers, 
 and he was taken prisoner. Several of the knights and barons 
 made their escape into the forest of the Peak, where they con- 
 tinued for two years leading a predatory life, close hemmed 
 around with danger, and subject to continual alarm. Robert 
 de Ferrars, the principal in this mad scheme, was conveyed 
 to Windsor in irons, and detained a prisoner for several years. 
 He was at length set at liberty, but his estates were confis- 
 cated, and he was ultimately deprived of the earldom of 
 Derby. 
 
 By an entry in the church register, the Earl of Newcastle,, 
 with his forces, appears to have been at Chesterfield in the 
 the months of May and December, 1643. Whilst the Earl 
 and his army were here they were attacked by a division of 
 the parliamentary forces, whom they defeated with consider- 
 able loss. 
 
 The spire of Chesterfield church, like the leaning tower at 
 
 * A History of Chesterfield and its immediate vicinity has been published 
 since the above paragraph was written. 
 
 U 3 
 
294 VIEW FROM STONE EDGE. 
 
 Pisa, is one of the curiosities of the place. Its crooked ap- 
 pearance, it is contended, is owing to its peculiar design and 
 construction ; that it was originally intended to be what it now 
 is, and that in fact it is a display of singular skill in steeple 
 architecture. All this is evidently incorrect : its inclination, 
 instead of accommodating' itself, as it is reported to do, to the 
 situation of the spectator, is to one point only. That it was 
 originally a straight spire there is but little doubt, but the 
 materials of which it is constructed not being of sufficient 
 strength and dimensions, have given way, and the structure 
 has shrunk into something like a twisted form ; and this, I 
 presume, to be the whole secret of Chesterfield church-spire. 
 No man who ever lived would voluntarily erect an object of 
 deformity, a thing that in its form and outline was offensive to 
 the eye, and in opposition to every principle of taste. A casual 
 observation only, is sufficient to convince any man that the 
 spire of Chesterfield church was at one time an erect structure, 
 and that it has lost its perpendicular subsequently to its 
 original formation. I feel almost ashamed of having said so 
 much on this subject ; nothing but the absurd notion that it is 
 a work of singular ability, could have induced me to have 
 made these observations. 
 
 Leaving Chesterfield, a fatiguing walk of four miles on the 
 road to Matlock, brought us to the summit of the hill that 
 overlooks Scarsdale. This elevated spot of ground is called 
 Stainage, or more properly Stone- Edge, so named from a range 
 of rocks that runs along its highest peak. Midway between 
 the toll-gate and the guide-post at the top of the hill, we sat 
 down by the road-side, to gaze upon the landscape before us. 
 I never saw a lovelier scene : at a short distance on our left was 
 a steep krioll, covered with gorse and fern, and intervening 
 tufts of heath; on our right rose a finely-formed eminence, 
 whose sides and summit were clothed with luxuriant trees, 
 rich with the sylvan honours. of a delightful and early spring, 
 just verging into the first days of summer : the undulating sur- 
 face of the ground between was beautifully diversified with 
 wooded slopes and cultivated meadows. The deep valley 
 immediately before us was one far-extended range of wood- 
 land scenery, amongst which we had occasional glimpses of 
 water, that lay like lucid mirrors in the vale below. In the 
 remote horizon appeared the majestic towers of Hard wick 
 Hall, and more to the left the extensive ruins of Bolsover 
 Castle crested the top of the farthest hill. The clouds that 
 
 20 
 
SITUATION OF ASHOVEK. 
 
 were occasionally interposed between us and a bright azure 
 sky, threw a peculiar charm over the whole prospect, which 
 momentarily assumed a different appearance, as sunshine or 
 cloud prevailed. We lingered about this fine scene, not less 
 delighted with the beautiful variety of feature by which it is 
 distinguished, than by those rapid changes which the wander- 
 ing lights and passing shadows produced : at one moment, the 
 woods in mid-distance presented a dark mass of thickly-en- 
 woven trees, stretching athwart the landscape, and strongly 
 relieved with brightly-illuminated meadows of the freshest 
 verdure, against which it lay. The next moment other lights 
 and other shadows succeeded, and, as they passed over 
 the scene, woods, villages, churches, and houses, that were 
 previously undistinguished, touched with sunny gleams, rose, 
 as if by the influence of magic, instantaneously into existence, 
 and exhibited in clearest detail a beauteous assemblage of parts. 
 Just as we were about to leave this interesting spot, a brilliant 
 rainbow threw a magnificent arch over the whole scene ; 
 it was 
 
 " A summer's eve, and Heaven's aerial bow 
 
 Spanned with bright arch the glittering hills below ;** 
 
 and a lovelier picture never lay beneath the bow of Heavenv 
 We watched the gradual fading away of this beautiful ancl 
 evanescent visitant, until not a trace of its presence remained ; 
 and then proceeded to Ashover, where we proposed to pass 
 the night. 
 
 Ashover is a very respectable and pleasant village. It is 
 romantically situated in a deep but narrow valley, which is 
 watered by a branch of the little river Amber ; and approach- 
 ing it from the Matlock road, its appearance is strikingly pic- 
 turesque. The light elegant spire of the church rises grace- 
 fully from the surrounding trees, and is a pleasing feature in 
 every view that is obtained of the village. The hills are lofty 
 and precipitous: in some places bare rocks break from 
 beneath the soil ; in others, they crest the summits, and trees 
 and houses are scattered amongst projecting crags and verdant 
 slopes. 
 
 The church at Ashover is a good Gothic structure : monu- 
 ments, coats of arms, and inscriptions, some of them of a very 
 ancient date, ornament the walls within. The Babingtons of 
 Dethick had their burial-place here ; and various memorials of 
 the antiquity and consequence of this family, (one of whom 
 
 u 4- 
 
296 RUINS OF EASTWOOD HALL. 
 
 was knighted by Edward the Third, at Marleur in Brittany,} 
 adorn the interior of this edifice. One of the Babington 
 tombs is curiously ornamented ; and, agreeably to the notions 
 of taste that once directed the execution of the monumental 
 sculpture of our churches, the different figures are painted 
 with gaudy colouring, which has now lost its freshness, and 
 has altogether a very dingy appearance. Against the northern 
 wall, near the west end of the church, there is a monument 
 to the memory of an artist, of whose fame we had never heard 
 before: <c To Francis Parkes, a wonderful proficient in the 
 art of painting, who died at Nottingham, aged 39 ; was born 
 at Knott Cross in this parish." Such is the inscription which 
 this unobtrusive tablet contains. I was pleased to meet, in 
 this remote corner of Derbyshire, even this brief notice of a 
 man of genius ; for I would at any time rather see the word 
 talent than birth recorded on a tomb-stone. 
 
 Near this memorial stands an old stone font, which is sup- 
 posed to be of Saxon origin. It is not only an ancient but 
 a curious relique ; the body of it is partly circular and partly 
 hexagonal, and it is ornamented with a variety of figures, 
 clothed in loose flowing drapery, and disposed in different 
 compartments, cast in metal. 
 
 It was evening when we arrived at Ashover, and having 
 caught a glimpse of a ruined edifice in the valley beyond the 
 village as we descended the hill, we were anxious 'to visit it 
 before we closed the labours of the day. This gloomy build- 
 ing stands at the foot of a high hill, covered with huge masses 
 of sand-stone rock, and crested with a dark wood of pines. 
 The structure, the scenery near, and the time of the day, for 
 it was now twilight, were in solemn accordance with each other, 
 and produced a train of serious reflections on the instability of 
 all human productions ; while the indistinctness that pervaded 
 the landscape, together with the profound stillness that pre- 
 vailed, imparted to the whole scene not only an imposing but 
 even a sublime effect. Had we beheld this ruin at another 
 time of the day, when 
 
 " The sun is in the heavens, and the proud day, 
 Attended with the pleasures of the world, 
 Is all too wanton and too full of gaudesj" 
 
 SHAKSPEARE. 
 
 it would have been only a speck in the prospect that surrounds 
 it ; every object in the valley would then have been rendered 
 
CATHERINE STRANGE. 297 
 
 distinct with excess of light, and the pine-crowned rock, which 
 was now invested with grandeur, would become but a sub- 
 ordinate feature. It is not a pleasing assemblage of beautiful 
 parts in the scenery of nature, nor yet the time of the day, nor 
 the peculiar circumstances of light or shadow under which it 
 is beheld, that alone powerfully impresses the mind, and ex- 
 cites the most interesting emotions ; recollections and asso- 
 ciations unsolicited and often arbitrary in their operations, will 
 sometimes make a little mound of earth, or a barrow on a 
 barren hill, when the idea of sepulture is connected with them, 
 of more importance to the feelings than mere picturesque 
 beauty can possibly be. A cross by the road-side, to mark 
 the place where a fellow-creature died, or a cairn of rugged 
 stones heaped over the bodies of the dead, are beheld with far 
 greater interest than rocks, and trees, and fields, and houses. 
 
 The old edifice near Ashover is called Eastwood Hall, and 
 a modern dwelling is now attached to the shattered walls that 
 are left. It was once a structure of some importance, as its 
 remaining windows and massy masonry denote. At a very 
 early period, and probably soon after its first erection, it be- 
 longed to a family of the name of Reresby, in whose posses- 
 sion it remained until the reign of James the First, when Sir 
 Thomas Reresby disposed of the manor which appertained to 
 Eastwood Hall, that he might more amply provide for his two 
 daughters. It is now vested in the widow and children of 
 Mr. John Nodder. In 1762 the hall was sold to the govern- 
 ors of Queen Anne's bounty, for the purpose of augmenting 
 the clerical stipend of the chapel of Brimington, near Ches- 
 terfield. 
 
 Amongst the most distinguished individuals who have at any 
 time been connected with the parish of Ashover, was Catha- 
 rine Strange, who in the reign of Elizabeth was married to 
 Richard Dakeyne, Esq., of Over Stubbing. She was the 
 daughter of the Earl of Rothes, and a great favourite with 
 the unfortunate Mary Queen of Scots, to whom she was 
 sincerely and warmly attached. With a fervour of friendship 
 of which the female character is peculiarly susceptible, she 
 softened by her attention the sorrows 'of her royal mistress 
 whilst she was in confinement, and when the last sad scene of 
 her life was closing in death, she accompanied her to the 
 scaffold. One of the afflictions that pressed most heavily 
 upon the last moments of Mary, arose from her inability to 
 reward her attendants for the numerous offices of kindness. 
 
298 CATHARINE STRANGE. 
 
 and the many proofs of attachment, she had experienced front 
 them. Whatever were her faults in other respects, she was 
 a tender and affectionate mistress, and never forgot the hand 
 that served her; and one of her last requests to Elizabeth was, 
 that she would be the friend of Catherine Strange^ 
 
299 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 Overtoil Hall Sir Joseph Banks. South WinJield. 
 Manor House. Description of the Ruins. Refactions on 
 their present appearance. Siege of the Manor House. 
 Crick. Friendly Societies. Whit-Monday in Derbyshire. 
 Walk from Crick to Cromford. Lea Wood. Dethick. 
 Historical Notice of Babington. 
 
 \\HEK we left Ashover, on the third morning of our ram- 
 bles, preparations were making for a day of festivity. It 
 was Whit- Monday, and the whole population of the village 
 were busy as bees in preparing for the holiday. The thoughts 
 of work were entirely abandoned, excepting amongst those 
 who were the purveyors of good cheer for the public. The 
 bellows of the smith were unemployed in the corner of 
 his shop, and no fire blazed on his hearth : he was leaning 
 against the shop-door with his brawny arms folded, and a 
 group of idlers were collected around him, who evidently 
 thought less of labour than enjoyment. All the public-houses 
 in the village were preparing entertainments for their guests, 
 who had put on their best apparel in honour of Whit- Monday, 
 and their good-humoured faces and frolic spirits, showed that 
 they were determined to make the most of this annual festival. 
 The morning of such a day is often far better than its close, 
 which is occasionally disfigured by quarrelsome dispositions, 
 and stained with riot and intemperance. 
 
 Proceeding along the Mansfield road, a walk of about a 
 mile brought us to Overton, a little village, that interested 
 us more from the associations connected with it, than from any 
 picturesque qualities it possesses : yet of these it is not deficient. 
 An old mansion, surrounded with magnificent trees and 
 lofty mountains, at the base of which some humble cottages 
 are scattered, when viewed in connexion with each other, 
 present a pleasing combination of forms and objects. Overton 
 Hall was the property, and occasionally the residence, of Sir 
 
300 RUINS OF SOUTH WINFIELD MANOR HOUSE. 
 
 Joseph Banks, the late venerable president of the Royal So- 
 ciety. From the elevated situation this distinguished individual 
 held, both in science and literature, and the space he occupied 
 in the estimation of the public, I frankly confess that so long 
 as he was sojourning amongst us, I could neither pass his house 
 in London in Soho-Square, or his residence at Overton, with- 
 out a feeling of veneration for his character. 
 
 Two miles from Ashover we came upon the river Amber, 
 near a small place called Wolley. The scenery here is beauti- 
 fully picturesque : the hills are of considerable eminence, and 
 well wooded, and the vale between is adorned with richly 
 cultivated meadows, and a sparkling stream. Our principal 
 object in this excursion was South Winfield, and the vener- 
 able ruins of the old manor near it. We therefore left the 
 Mansfield road near Wolley, and for the purpose of shorten- 
 ing our journey some " mile or twain," we took a bye-path 
 across the fields, and through some woods to Brackenfield 
 and Wessington. We were told it was impossible to mistake 
 our way, and we walked on with confidence until we found 
 our progress impeded by high hedges and a close thicket, 
 through which we could not pass. Notwithstanding the 
 assurance we had received, we had pursued a wrong path, 
 that terminated amongst the fields between Wessington and 
 South Winfield, and had some difficulty in regaining the road 
 from which we had departed, even though we saw the object 
 of our journey at a short distance, on an eminence before us. 
 At length we reached the place, and, having taken a short 
 repast at a small public-house near the church, we proceeded 
 immediately to the ruins of the manor castle. They occupy 
 the summit of a steep hill, which appears to have been moated 
 on three sides. The first view from the village of this dilapi- 
 dated structure displays a fine assemblage of parts : moulder- 
 ing towers, ruined arches, amongst which the dark ivy creeps, 
 embattled^parapets, and shattered walls, are seen rising above, 
 and mingled with groves of venerable trees centuries older 
 than the present building; the whole constituting not merely 
 a beautiful but magnificent picture. We passed along the 
 western front of this ancient edifice, and entered its deserted 
 courts near the principal tower. It is sickening to contem- 
 plate such a scene of change and devastation as the interior 
 view presents. From without the walls, the ruins, as I have 
 before observed, have a most majestic effect : time has broken 
 them into picturesque forms ; the heart is interested, and the 
 
SOUTH COURT. 301 
 
 eye gratified, with all that it beholds; but within, dilapidation, 
 disorder, and decay prevail, and the live and dead litter of a 
 farm-yard disfigures the scene. The rents and fissures which 
 time has made in the old walls, mended with modern masonry ; 
 the ornamented stone gothic windows, filled up with glaring 
 brick, all blended together with the heavy but splendid archi- 
 tecture of former times, exhibit a mass of discordant materials, 
 where the noble and the mean are used in tasteless confusion. 
 
 "To what base uses we may return! Why may not 
 imagination trace the noble dust of Alexander till he find it 
 stopping a bunghole ? As thus, Alexander died ; Alexander 
 was buried ; Alexander returned to dust ; the dust is earth ; 
 of earth we make loam ; and why of that loam whereto he 
 was converted might they not stop a beer barrel ? 
 
 " Imperial Caesar dead and turn'd to clay, 
 Might stop a hole to keep the wind away. 
 O that that earth which kept the world in awe, 
 Should patch a wall t' expel the winter's flaw !" 
 
 SHAKSPEARE. 
 
 It is even so, and the mutation which some of the most 
 durable and splendid of the mansions of our forefathers have 
 experienced, is scarcely less extraordinary. The interior 
 courts of South Winfield Manor -House are no more like 
 what they were when Mary Queen of Scots was confined 
 within them, than the living Alexander to a clod of lifeless 
 matter. The buildings that formed nearly the whole of the 
 southern court are now almost entirely destroyed, and the 
 most magnificent part of this ancient edifice, its splendid hall 
 and richly ornamented chapel, are totally roofless ; and trees 
 that lift their topmost branches far above the walls that mark 
 their dimensions, now inhabit them. The natural opera- 
 tions of time alone, could not, in so short a period, have pro- 
 duced so great a change in a structure that appears to have 
 been originally formed to bid defiance to his power. No ! 
 the devastating hand of man has been here at work, and 'the 
 thunderbolts of war have shattered and defaced a structure 
 which might otherwise have survived for ages. 
 
 From the south court we passed through an arched gate- 
 way to the east side of the building, where, from a little ver- 
 dant mound, we had a view of the ruins so brought together 
 and combined, as to produce a most exquisite picture. A 
 gothic arched gateway, connected with some mouldering walls, 
 
802 NORTH COURT. EASTERN TOWER. 
 
 everywhere hung with foliage, and enriched with the archi- 
 tecture of lofty windows, with pointed arches in good monastic 
 style, formed a rich screen, which occupied the foreground : 
 a congregation of towers and turrets, embattled parapets, and 
 broken and shattered walls, rose majestically beyond ; a dark 
 tone of colouring lay on every object near us, and the forms 
 were boldly and distinctly marked; a soft aerial tint, ap- 
 proximating to the blue haze of distance, hung upon the re- 
 moter parts of the building, and communicated an indescribable 
 charm to the whole. In this view the ivied walls at the 
 northern extremity of the ruins, and the stately trees about 
 them, unite to complete the composition. 
 
 We next visited the northern court, around which the state 
 apartments were carried. This must have been by far the 
 richest part of the building. The architecture of one side of 
 this court exhibits a beautiful specimen of what it originally 
 was : a porch, and a large b<iy projecting outwards from the 
 room, with three gothic windows slightly pointed, still remain : 
 their parapets are embattled, and adorned with quatrefoils and 
 roses. The great hall was a noble apartment ; its dimensions 
 are seventy-two feet by thirty-six : it is now occupied by a 
 colony of rooks. Beneath the hall, there is a room of equal 
 extent, the roof of which is formed by massy groined arches, 
 of excellent masonry, supported by a double row of heavy 
 stone columns. The intersections of the arches are orna- 
 mented and tied together with carved stone work, in the form 
 of roses. What this room could have been used for, it is now 
 difficult to conjecture. It could not be intended for a servants' 
 hall, it is too gloomy and cheerless for such a purpose ; and 
 although a very extensive apartment, there is neither a fire- 
 place nor chimney in it. Occasionally it may have been con- 
 verted into a prison, but it could not have been originally in- 
 tended for one : if it had, the space it occupies would probably 
 have been cut up into a series of dungeons. From this place 
 we ascended the eastern tower, and through a small window 
 framed with ivy, which we passed in our progress to the top, 
 we had a peep at a very pleasing landscape, in which Colonel 
 Haltoii's house, the village of South Winfield, and a part of 
 the country beyond, are included. The prospect both from 
 this tower and the more elevated one at the western extremity 
 of the ruins, is very extensive and various, but as I like fore- 
 ground as well as distance in a picture, I am never much de- 
 lighted with views from the tops of buildings. 
 
SIEGE OF THE M^NOR HOUSE. 303 
 
 A copious history of the manor and manor-house of South 
 Winfield, by T. Blore, Esq. F. S. A., is already in the hands 
 of many of my readers. This was intended as a specimen of 
 the general history of the county, an undertaking that was 
 never completed ; but as the part published contains an ample 
 account of this ancient mansion, I shall only briefly notice the 
 most prominent events with which it has been connected. At 
 the time of the Norman Survey it was held by William Pe- 
 veril, and in the reign of Henry the Sixth it came into the 
 possession of Ralph, Lord Cromwell, who built the mansion 
 which is now in ruins, and whose right was contested by 
 Henry Pierpoint, Knt. Lord Cromwell, however, retained 
 possession of it, and subsequently disposed of it to the second 
 Earl of Shrewsbury, in whose family it remained until the 
 decease of the seventh Earl in 1 666. It is now the property 
 of Winfield Halton, Esq., by whose ancestors it was pur- 
 chased in the reign of the second Charles. South Winfield 
 was one of the residences, or prisons, of Mary Queen of 
 Scots. The Earl of Shrewsbury was at one time her gaoler, 
 during her confinement ; at another, Sir Ralph Sadler had the 
 honour of superintending the royal captive. Whilst she was 
 in this retired part of the country, she is said to have entered 
 into a correspondence with some of her friends, which was 
 carried on with great secrecy; until in the year 1569 an at- 
 tempt was made to free her from her thraldom, by Leonard 
 Dacre. The attempt was unsuccessful, and the few privileges 
 Mary had previously enjoyed, were in consequence abridged. 
 The conduct of Elizabeth towards this unfortunate Queen has 
 been frequently and freely animadverted upon, and severely 
 reprobated. I therefore leave it to the brand that history 
 has fixed upon it, and which even time cannot wear away. 
 
 During the wars between Charles the First and his people, 
 South Winfield Manor House was garrisoned by parliament. 
 In 164-3 it was attacked by a division of the royal army, under 
 the command of the Earl of Newcastle, and after a short con- 
 test it was taken by storm. The noble victor, however, did 
 not retain his conquest long. Sir John Gell, of Hopton, a 
 man who to the most romantic bravery united considerable 
 military skill and determined perseverance, made an assault 
 upon it, with heavy artillery, from a situation which he had 
 taken upon Pentridge common. A half-moon battery, raised 
 for its defence on the east side of the building, so bravely sus- 
 tained the shock of the assailants, that a breach was found im- 
 
304- PEVERIL OF THE PEAK. 
 
 practicable. Sir John Gell, therefore, ordered the cannon to 
 be removed to a wood nearer the object of his attack : a furious 
 fire was immediately commenced, a breach was soon opened, 
 and the besieged were obliged to surrender. Col. Dalby, 
 the governor of South Winfield, was killed by a common sol- 
 dier, who fired at him through an opening in the wall, during 
 the siege. In 164-6 this fortress was dismantled, by an order 
 of parliament, and as its present appearance strongly indicates, 
 it was strangely neglected, and suffered to fall into decay for 
 many years afterwards. Mr. Blore observes, that " it had 
 been fortunate for the admirers of so venerable an edifice, had 
 that negligence been uniform to the present time, but a small 
 part of it having been occupied by the family of Halton, and 
 a partition of the estate having taken place, under a decree of 
 the Court of Chancery, the mansion was allotted to the late 
 Mr. Halton, who began to build a house at the foot of the 
 hill, next the manor ; and since that time some of the most 
 beautiful parts of the old building have been pulled down, for 
 the sake of the materials." 
 
 In perambulating the northern districts of Derbyshire, and 
 enquiring into its history, the name of Peveril so often occurs, 
 and is so mingled up with its ancient records, as to give it a 
 more than ordinary interest. At Castleton we find the name 
 of Peveril coeval with the date of the castle there : in the local 
 history of Eyam, of Haddon, of Bolsover, and South Win- 
 field, William Peveril, the natural son of the Norman con- 
 queror of this country, appears as one of the most important, 
 and one of the most favoured individuals of his time, and some 
 of the minor courts of Derby and Nottingham are still known 
 by his name. One of that series of Scotch novels which are 
 understood to be from the pen of Sir Walter Scott, has as- 
 sumed the title of PEVERIL OF THE PEAK, and the author has 
 made a member of this distinguished family one of the most 
 prominent characters in his romance. The name of Peveril, 
 and the history of his origin, may therefore not improperly 
 occupy a page or two in the detail of excursions made in a 
 country over which his authority once extended. 
 
 The earliest notice I find of this family is in the time of 
 Edward the Confessor, who bestowed on Ranulph Peveril the 
 keeping of the hundred of Dengy, or as it was then written, 
 Dengye ; in the county of Essex, and who resided at Hatfield 
 Pcvei-il, about half-way between Maldon and Braintree. This 
 gentleman married a Saxon lady of great beauty, in the year 
 
HISTORICAL NOTICE OF THE PEVERILS. 305 
 
 1066 : her name was Maude, and she was the daughter of 
 INGLERIC, a man, Cambden says, " of great nobility amongst 
 the English Saxons,'* and cousin to King Edward the Con- 
 fessor. The personal charms of Maude, the wife of Ranulph 
 Peveril, attracted the notice of William the Conqueror, and 
 she became his mistress. WILLIAM PEVERIL, of DERBYSHIRE, 
 and LORD of NOTTINGHAM, is said to have been the issue of 
 this connexion. She had besides two other sons, Castellane 
 Peveril, of Dover, and Sir Payne Peveril, afterwards Lord of 
 Brun, in the county of Cambridge. There is evidently an 
 error in some part or other of the history of this family. The 
 first William Peveril, the natural son of William the Con- 
 queror, held his large possessions and his honours during the 
 lifetime of his father. Maude, the wife of Ranulph Peveril, 
 therefore, could hardly have been his mother, unless some 
 error has crept into the account of her marriage, which is re- 
 presented to have taken place in 1066, the same year that 
 William, Duke of Normandy, was crowned King of England, 
 She was the mother of several children before her pretended 
 amour with the King ; if so, Peveril could scarcely have been 
 born earlier than the fourth or fifth year of William's reign ; 
 of course he must have been a youth of about seventeen years 
 of age when his father died. This by no means agrees with 
 the account which represents the Conqueror to have bestowed 
 upon his natural son, William Peveril, such extensive posses- 
 sions, shortly after he became King of England. Orderious 
 Vitalis, an early historian, states, that " Peveril had the cus* 
 tody of the newly-built castle of Nottingham committed to 
 him by the Conqueror, in the second year of his reign," 
 and in the Doomsday Survey, the castle in Peak Forest is ex- 
 pressly mentioned at the head of his manors. Now if the 
 first William Peveril was the son of Maude, the daughter of 
 Ingleric, she must have been the mistress of the Conqueror 
 long before her marriage with Ranulph Peveril* Payne Pe- 
 veril was standard-bearer to Robert, Duke of Normandy, the 
 father of William ; and William being forty years old when 
 he came to England, Maude was probably his mistress before 
 this time the only supposition which admits of her son 
 being appointed governor of Nottingham Castle, in the second 
 year of the reign of the first William. However this may be f 
 it is nevertheless certain, that William Peveril, who is repre- 
 sented as the natural son of the Conqueror, had immense 
 possessions bestowed upon him by his sovereign immediately 
 
306 THE LAST OF THE PEVERILS. 
 
 after the conquest. Blore, in his history of the manor of 
 South Winfield, says, " he had in Nottingham forty-eight 
 houses of merchants, twelve houses of knights, and thirty-nine 
 manors, with many dependent villages^, in Nottinghamshire : 
 forty-four lordships in Northamptonshire, and two in Essex. 
 He had one manor, and a dependent village, in Bedfordshire, 
 two towns in Oxfordshire, eight manors, and their depend- 
 encies, in Buckinghamshire ; and besides this manor of Win- 
 field, twelve manors and their villages, in Derbyshire." 
 
 After the death of his father, and during the reign of the 
 second William, Peveril was still a favourite at court, and at 
 a season of peril, fhe Castle of Helme, in Normandy, was 
 confided to his care. This fortress he held for the King, but 
 on its being closely besieged, he surrendered it, without having 
 made a determined defence. At his death, which took place 
 a few years afterwards, he left behind him one son of the same 
 name, to whom he bequeathed the whole of his immense 
 estates. The second William Peveril founded a priory at 
 Lenton, near Nottingham, for Cluniac monks, and an abbey 
 of black canons near Northampton; where, according to the 
 abbey register, he died in 1113. 
 
 The name and the honours of this wealthy family terminated 
 with the third William Peveril; who, in the year 1153, was 
 accused of murdering Ranulph, Earl of Chester, by poison. 
 For this crime, dreading the severity of Henry the Second, 
 he fled to the monastery of Lenton, and was there shorn a 
 monk ; but learning that the King intended to call at Lenton, 
 on his way to York, he threw off his religious habit, and pri- 
 vately quitted the kingdom ; leaving his large possessions, his 
 manors, and his castles, to be disposed of as his sovereign 
 might determine. He died a stranger in a foreign country, 
 arid his lands were granted to John, Earl of Moreton, after- 
 wards King John ; a man as little worthy of rank, riches, and 
 honours/ as the murderer of the Earl of Chester could pos- 
 sibly have been. 
 
 From South Winfield, a walk of about two miles brought 
 us to Crich, one of the most populous villages in the neigh- 
 bourhood. It occupies the summit of an immense limestone 
 hill, that overlooks all the eminences around it. On a cliff, 
 near the village, a circular tower has been erected, which i 
 serves as a land-mark amongst the hills of Derbyshire. This 
 lofty structure, and the tali spire of the church, make a part 
 of nearly every landscape in this mountainous district. The 
 
FRIENDLY SOCIETIES IN DERBYSHIRE. 307 
 
 tower is ascended from within, and from the top of it a view 
 is obtained of a wide extent of country, intersected with roads, 
 rivers, and canals, studded with villages and houses, vales 
 and eminences in some places bright with sunny fields 
 in others, dark with masses of intervening wood ; the whole 
 presenting to the eye of the spectator an immense panorama 
 of interesting objects. 
 
 As we entered the village, we found the inhabitants in the 
 full enjoyment of one of their most important festivities, and 
 as merry as high spirits and good cheer could make them. 
 
 Friendly Societies, or, as they are called here, Sick Clubs, 
 are established in every village and hamlet in the Peak of 
 Derbyshire that are sufficiently populous for the purpose ; 
 and where they are not, they have a more enlarged operation, 
 and the vicinity is included. The object and the constitution 
 of these societies are so generally understood, that it is use- 
 less in these pages to enter into detail on the subject ; but in 
 Derbyshire they appear to excite a peculiar interest, and all 
 their annual festivals are held on the same day. When we 
 left Ashover, in the morning, preparations were making for 
 this general holiday. The villagers were collecting together 
 in their best apparel, and decorating their hats and wands of 
 office with ribbons : such was the scene at Ashover. At 
 Crich, where we arrived a little after mid-day, the inhabit- 
 ants had formed themselves into a regular procession, and 
 were parading the village, accompanied with a band of music. 
 On these occasions each man carries a wand in his hand, 
 which is usually painted with different colours, and adorned 
 at the top with ribbons. The wands of the officers of the 
 society are tipt with gold, and otherwise ornamented, by way 
 of distinction. The people of Crich seemed delighted with 
 the bustle, and all was frolic and hilarity. This was our 
 noonday exhibition : in the evening, as we entered Cromford, 
 every house and cottage were emptied of their inmates, and 
 dancing, and music, and laughter, were heard through the 
 village. 
 
 " And all the village train, from labour free, 
 Led up their sports beneath the spreading tree ; 
 While many a pastime circled in the shade, 
 The young contending as the old survey* d j 
 And many a gambol frolick'd o'er the ground, 
 And sleights of art, and feats of strength went round j 
 X 2 
 
308 VIEW NEAR CRICH. 
 
 And still, as each repeated pleasure tir'd, 
 Succeeding sports the mirthful band inspir'd ; 
 The dancing pair, that simply sought renown 
 By holding out to tire each other down ; 
 The swain, mistrustless of his smutted face, 
 While secret laughter titter'd round the place." 
 
 GOLDSMITH'S Deserted Village. 
 
 I have no recollection of ever having seen on any one day, 
 so great a proportion of happy faces as we met with in our 
 circuitous ramble on Whit-Monday from Ashover to Crich, 
 Cromford, and Matlock. 
 
 During the short time we remained at Crich, we walked 
 over some fields to a high point of ground that overlooks the 
 rich vale through which the Derwent runs. Directly before 
 us, were the magnificent woods of Alderwesly. Looking to- 
 wards Cromford, we had a fine view of Lea Woods, Wel- 
 lersley Castle, and the scenery about Matlock. In the con- 
 trary direction, the eye wanders over hills and dales clothed 
 with foliage, until, in remote distance, it rests upon the tower 
 of All- Saint's Church, at Derby ; dimly seen, it is true, but 
 yet the most important object that can be discerned in the 
 far-off landscape. The hills in this part of Derbyshire, on 
 both sides of the Derwent, rise majestically from the valley ; 
 they present a pleasing variety of outline, and their steep sides 
 are adorned with some of the most beautiful woods that ever 
 waved their branches to the winds. The river, with here 
 and there a bridge thrown across the stream, courses through 
 the depths of the vale, and its margin is enriched with almost 
 every object that can delight in landscape scenery. 
 
 The road from Crich to Cromford is carried along the side 
 of a steep hill, by a gradual descent. It first passes through 
 Halloway, along a kind of mountain terrace that overlooks a 
 long series of miles of beautiful country ; it then sinks rapidly 
 amongst the thick woods that border Lea Mill. Every step 
 along this road varies the prospect, and the traveller is some- 
 times delighted with the beauty, and at others, elevated by 
 the magnificence of the views it presents. The hills, the 
 water, and the woods about Lea Mill form altogether one of 
 the most picturesque seclusions in the vicinity of Matlock. 
 
 Within little more than a mile of Lea Woods, is Dethick, 
 a village which from a very early period of history, belonged 
 to a family of the same name until the reign of the sixth 
 Henry, when it became the property of the Babingtons, in 
 
ANTHONY BABINGTON. 309 
 
 whose possession it remained until about the year 1586, when 
 it passed into other hands. Anthony Babington, during his 
 residence at Dethick, is said to have organized a plan for 
 releasing Mary Queen of Scots from her confinement at South 
 Winfield; but the design being suspected by the agents of 
 Elizabeth, the royal captive was more strictly watched, and 
 shortly afterwards removed to Fotheringay Castle, in Nor- 
 thamptonshire, where she was freed from her long imprison- 
 ment by the axe of the executioner. 
 
 That Babington should have plotted the release of Mary 
 is not improbable : he had a daring and romantic spirit, and 
 the prospect of a successful issue to such a project, would be 
 to a mind like his, a powerful stimulant, and make him reck- 
 less of consequences. Certain it is, that he entered into a 
 treasonable conspiracy against Elizabeth. John Ballard, a 
 priest of the English seminary at Rheims, was his principal 
 associate, arid several Catholic gentlemen, with a number of 
 others, were connected with them in this desperate attempt. 
 The vigilance of Elizabeth's government soon detected the 
 designs of the conspirators, who, being alarmed at their 
 danger, separated and fled in different directions. Babington 
 is reported to have stained his face with the juice of walnuts, 
 and to have taken refuge at a cottage in the neighbourhood 
 of Harrow on the Hill, but he was soon discovered in his 
 hiding-place, and conveyed to London with some of his as- 
 sociates, who had been previously taken. Their trial and 
 condemnation immediately succeeded and Babington and 
 his confederates, fourteen in number, expiated their offences 
 at the gallows or on the scaffold. The dreadful sentence of 
 the law, accompanied with all its horrors of hanging, quarter- 
 ing, and burning, was put in execution ; and thus ended this 
 ill-concerted and foolish attempt to destroy the government 
 of Elizabeth. This conspiracy hurried on the fate of Mary : 
 she was charged with being an accomplice in the plot, and 
 after an irregular trial before an incompetent tribunal, she 
 was condemned, and beheaded on the 7th of February 1587, 
 in the forty-fourth year of her age and the nineteenth of her 
 captivity. Hume, an historian whose authority cannot be 
 lightly regarded, and others of more modern date, profess to 
 believe this foul imputation on the fair fame of the Scottish 
 queen ; but the elegant historian of Scotland, the eloquent 
 and argumentative Robertson, has satisfactorily proved that 
 
 x 3 
 
310 LEA MILL. 
 
 she was not privy to the conspiracy of Babington and his 
 associates. 
 
 From Lea Mill, a pleasant walk by the side of the Derwent, 
 beneath the shadow of overhanging trees, brought us to 
 Cromford, and to the busy evening-scene that distinguished the 
 close of the day on Whit-Monday, which has been previously 
 noticed. 
 
311 
 
 SECTION V, 
 
 Morning at Matlock. Via Gellia. Hopton. Sir John GelL 
 Carsington. Rocks in the Vicinity of Brassington. 
 Derbyshire TrossacJcs. Tissington. Ancient Custom of 
 Dressing Wells with Flowers. Night Walk to Ashborne. 
 
 spent the night at Matlock, and the following morning 
 proceeded on our excursion. When we left this romantic 
 place, the woods that lie embosomed within the deep hollow 
 of the Dale were vocal with the Jsong of birds, every where 
 warbling forth their matin orisons to the new-born day. The 
 rush of the Derwent was accompanied with a prolonged and 
 softened sound, that, mingled with the lively strains of these 
 feathered choristers, gave a richer and mellower tone to their 
 wild but harmonious chantings. We quitted Matlock with 
 regret passed through the artificial opening that has been 
 made in Scarthing Rock left the greyhound-inn at Crom- 
 ford, on our right and entered into a deep but narrow dale 
 that leads to Bonsai and Via Geliia. A scene near the mill, 
 at the entrance into Bonsai Dale, particularly attracted our 
 attention : rocks, and hills, and wood, and water, are here 
 most happily combined. I once heard the younger Reinagle 
 observe, " that he never met with a more picturesque compo- 
 sition in nature than is here presented." 
 
 Following the route we had prescribed to ourselves, we left 
 the road to Bonsai on our right, and passed along Via Gellia, 
 on our way to Hopton. I entered on this classically deno- 
 minated road without any pleasurable anticipations. The 
 recollections of a former journey obtruded upon me, and I 
 experienced a tediousness of feeling, that could only be as- 
 cribed to disappointed expectations on a former occasion. It 
 was then the first week in September, but the weather was as 
 hot as in July ; not a cloud was seen in the heavens, and a 
 mid-day sun poured a flood of light and heat into the dales 
 
 x 4 
 
312 VIA GELLIA. 
 
 through which Via Gellia is carried. All was glare and flutter 
 to the eye; not a spot of shadow intervened to afford a 
 moment's shelter from the warm rays of a clear sun, which a 
 dusty limestone road rendered almost unbearable. Under 
 such circumstances hardly any place could be tolerable ; I 
 therefore passed along a road celebrated for its scenery, 
 heartily wishing myself in any other part of Derbyshire, and 
 wondering at the taste that had discovered any thing like 
 beauty in Via Gellia. Thus the mind throws its own sickly 
 or healthful hues over the objects of its contemplation, and 
 wraps them in gloom, or adorns them with loveliness, agree- 
 ably to the emotions by which it is influenced as ill-humour 
 dictates, or cheerful thoughts prevail. I now beheld Via 
 Gellia under more fortunate circumstances, and with other 
 feelings ; cloud and sunshine, a gleam of light and then a pass- 
 ing shadow, moved over the nills, increased their natural 
 beauty, and made one forget the monotony of form and cloth- 
 ing by which they are distinguished. High sloping acclivities, 
 chiefly covered with hazels, and sparingly sprinkled with dwarf 
 oak, and ash, mark each side of the road : hence every turn 
 that it makes, instead of a new scene, presents only a repetition 
 of the past and the parts as they succeed are so similar in 
 character and appearance, that we felt as if we were walking 
 the same ground over again, and made no sensible progress 
 in our journey. A gradual ascent of a few miles at length 
 brought us to the top of the hills that separate Hopton from 
 Matlock. In whatever direction we looked, the country was 
 beautiful. The road we had passed was marked by a continued 
 range of eminences, the outlines of which played into, and 
 were blended with each other, in pleasing and almost endless 
 variety. We now discovered that we had passed through Via 
 Gellia in a direction that prevented us from fully appreciating 
 its picturesque qualities. In ascending towards Hopton, our 
 view was bounded by the hills that closely environed us ; de- 
 scending, the prospect is every where varied and full of beauty : 
 the different eminences amongst which the road winds are seen 
 rising behind each other, their summits enveloped in a soft 
 aerial tint, and gradually becoming more shadowy in form, and 
 indistinct in outline, as they recede into distance, where they 
 are lost among others still more remote. I one evening passed 
 on the outside of a carriage along this romantic road to Mat- 
 lock. We shot rapidly through the dales : the quick succession 
 of scenery, and the frequent shifting of the hills before us, 
 
APPROACH TO HOPTOJJ. Sift JOHN GELL, 313 
 
 which seemed to change their positions at every turn we made, 
 together with the rich tone of colouring that a declining sun 
 spread over them, produced an effect almost magical. The 
 whole soon passed away, and left an impression on the mind 
 more like the recollection of a dream than the remembrance 
 of any thing that had actually occurred. 
 
 Approaching Hop ton, the country assumes a different cha- 
 racter ; the upper stratum is still lime, but the few rocks and 
 hills that occur are diminutive, when compared with those we 
 had left behind us ; yet, as a mineral district, it is interesting 
 and important* and immediately in the neighbourhood of 
 Hopton it is picturesque and beautiful. As we descended the 
 hill towards the village a deep dale lay before us, and the ele- 
 vated grounds on our right were crested with wood. The 
 road we were pursuing was dark with the shadows of closely- 
 tangled boughs and spreading foliage ; and our right was 
 thickly beset with some of the loftiest trees in the county of 
 Derby, between whose tall trunks we occasionally caught a 
 glimpse of verdant slopes and rocky knolls beyond, where the 
 light played vividly ; and many a lovely picture of this de- 
 scription we beheld on our approach to Hopton. Emerging 
 from amongst the trees at the foot of the hill, we came upon 
 a more open country, over which Hopton Hall enjoys a de- 
 lightful prospect. This pleasant mansion, the residence of 
 Philip Gell, Esq. M. P., is a good modern structure, and 
 finely situated at the foot of a steep eminence, amongst a thick 
 mass of luxuriant wood, intermingled with jutting craggs and 
 verdant knolls. The Hopton estate has been in the family of 
 the GELLS "upwards of two centuries. In J642, John Gell 
 was created a baronet by Charles the First, but he did not, 
 however, attach himself to the King's party on this account. 
 He was indeed the first individual of consequence in the 
 county of Derby, who took up arms in the cause of parliament. 
 He was an active and zealous partizan, and his example in- 
 fluenced the determinations of his neighbours so entirely, that 
 Lord Clarendon observes, " there was in Derbyshire no 
 visible party for the king, the whole country being under the 
 influence of Sir John Gell." After the termination of the 
 war, he complained of the treatment he had received from the 
 very power whose cause he had espoused, whose battles he 
 had fought, and whose exertions he had assisted with large 
 contributions from his own purse, greatly to the injury of his 
 fortune. He likewise sustained considerable loss when his 
 
314 BRASSINGTON PASTURES. 
 
 house was plundered by the enemy, for which he received no 
 compensation. In 1650, this enterprising officer had serious 
 charges preferred against him : he was tried for misprision of 
 treason, and was sentenced, by the high court of justice, to be 
 imprisoned for life, and his estates to -be confiscated ; but two 
 years afterwards he obtained the remission of his sentence. 
 With the third baronet, Sir Philip Gell, who died in 1719, 
 the title became extinct. 
 
 Situated close to Hopton is the village of Carsington, one 
 side of which is built under some limestone rocks, whose grey 
 crags jut over the tops of the houses ; but there is nothing in 
 the place that a tourist would stop to notice. Leaving Car- 
 sington, we enquired our way to Brassington ; and, strange as 
 it may appear, the man of whom we asked the question, al- 
 though he was a resident in the neighbourhood, told us " he 
 did not know such a place." We then enquired the name of 
 the village we had left : he answered, " Carson, to be sure." 
 " And what place do we come at next?" " Brasson," he 
 replied. These answers solved the mystery ; the three syl- 
 lables were cut down into two, which we found was the cus- 
 tomary pronunciation of the country ; we were, therefore, 
 prepared for these contractions in future. 
 
 Shortly after leaving Carsington, we crossed into the fields 
 called Brassington pastures. In these pastures, and on the 
 higher grounds north of the village, several curious specimens 
 of rock scenery are to be found. In some places, insulated 
 masses rise out of the ground, assuming a variety of fantastic 
 forms ; in others, a ridge of bare limestone crags crests an 
 eminence with a line of rocky arrows, into which it is split 
 and divided. These innumerable spires, that look like a long 
 continuation of huge sharks' teeth, are frequently met with in 
 the vicinity of Brassington. In a publication, now preparing 
 for the press, that I have lately seen, they are denominated the 
 Derbyshire Trossacks ; but in the district to which they parti- 
 cularly belong, they, as well as the insulated rocks I have 
 before alluded to, are known by different appellations ; Peter's 
 Pike, Elder Tor, Reynard's Tor, and Horboro Rocks, near 
 the top of which there is said to be a hermitage and the re- 
 mains of a well ; and others of a similar description, have here 
 a " local habitation and a name." These rocks are not pic- 
 turesque objects in landscape, but their forms and character 
 render them worthy of the observation of geologists. 
 
 Dove Dale was the chief object of our excursion ; and, as 
 
TISSINGTON. WELL-FLOWERING. 315 
 
 the day was fast declining, we passed through Bradbourn 
 without a pause, crossed the Ashbourne road about a mile and 
 a half from Grange Mill, and pursued our way along some 
 pleasant fields to Tissington, a village distinguished by 
 the residence of the ancient family of the Fitzherberts. In 
 the year 1643, Tissington Hall was garrisoned for the king; 
 but, in consequence of the unsuccessful result of a battle 
 fought near Ashbourne between the parliamentary and royal 
 forces, it was evacuated early in the following year. This old 
 mansion, together with the estate and manor appertaining 
 thereto, are now the property of Sir Henry Fitzherbert, Bart., 
 who resides at the Hall, and who succeeded his elder brother, 
 Sir Anthony, in the year 1 799. 
 
 An ancient custom still prevails in the village of Tissington, 
 to which indeed it appears to be confined for I have not met 
 with any thing of a similar description in any other part of 
 Derbyshire. It is denominated WELL- FLOWERING, and Holy 
 Thursday is devoted to the rites and ceremonies of this elegant 
 custom. The day is regarded as a festival ; and all the wells 
 in the place, five in number, are decorated with wreaths and 
 garlands of newly-gathered flowers, disposed in various devices. 
 Sometimes boards are used, which are cut to the figure in* 
 tended to be represented, and covered with moist clay, into 
 which the stems of the flowers are inserted, to preserve their 
 freshness ; and they are so arranged as to form a beautiful 
 mosaic work, often tasteful in design and vivid in colouring : 
 the boards, thus adorned, are so placed in the spring, that the 
 water appears to issue from amongst beds of flowers. On tHfe 
 occasion the villagers put on their best attire, and open their 
 houses to their friends. There is service at the church, where 
 a sermon is preached ; afterwards a procession takes place, and 
 the wells are visited in succession : the psalms for the day, the 
 epistle and gospel, are read, one at each well, and the whole 
 concludes with a hymn, sung by the church singers, and 
 accompanied by a band of music. This done, they sepa- 
 rate, and the remainder of the day is spent in rural sports and 
 holiday pastimes. 
 
 The custom of Well-Flowering, as it exists at Tissington, 
 is said to be a Popish relic; but in whatever way it originated,, 
 one would regret to see it discontinued. That it is of great 
 antiquity cannot be disputed ; it seems to have existed, at dif-* 
 ferent periods of time, in countries far remote from each other. 
 In the earlier ages of poetry and romance, wherever fountains 
 
316 ANTIQUITY OF DRESSING WELLS WITH FLOWERS. 
 
 and wells were situated, the common people were accustomed 
 to honour them with the titles of saints. In our own country, 
 innumerable instances occur of wells being so denominated. 
 u Where a spring rises or a river flows," says Seneca, " there 
 should we build altars and offer sacrifices." At the Fountain 
 of Arethusa in Syracuse, a place that every reader of poetry 
 and history has often heard of, great festivals were celebrated 
 every year. In Roman antiquity, the Fontinalia were religious 
 feasts, held in honour of the nymphs of wells and fountains : 
 the ceremony consisted in throwing nosegays into fountains, and 
 putting crowns of flowers upon wells. Many authorities might 
 be quoted in support of the antiquity of this elegant custom, 
 which had its origin anterior to the introduction of Christianity. 
 It was mingled with the rites and ceremonies of the Heathens, 
 who were accustomed to worship streams and fountains, 
 and to suppose that the nymphs, whom they imagined the 
 goddesses of the waters, presided over them. Shaw, in his 
 " History of the Province of Morray," observes, that " Hea- 
 thenish customs were much practised amongst the people 
 there ; and he cites as an instance " that they performed pil- 
 grimages to wells, and built chapels in honour of their foun- 
 tains." From this ancient usage, which has been continued 
 through a long succession of ages, and is still in existence at 
 Tissington, arose the practice of sprinkling the Severn and the 
 rivers of Wales with flowers, as alluded to by Dyer in his 
 poem of the FLEECE, and by Milton in his COM us, 
 
 with light fantastic toe the nymphs 
 
 Thither assembled, thither every swain ; 
 
 And o'er the dimpled stream a thousand flowers, 
 
 Pale lillies, roses, violets, and pinks, 
 
 Mix'd with the green of burnet, mint, and thyme, 
 
 And trefoil, sprinkled with their sportive arms : 
 
 Such custom holds along th' irriguous vales, 
 
 From Wreakin's brow to rocky Dolvoryn." 
 
 DYER. 
 
 <( The shepherds at their festivals 
 Carol her good deeds loud in rustic lays, 
 And throw sweet garland wreaths into her stream, 
 Of pancies, pinks, and gaudy daffodils." 
 
 MILTON. 
 
 We were now about four miles from Ashbourne, and within 
 two of Dove Dale ; but it was nearly dark, and as it was not 
 
VICINITY OF DOVE DALE. 317 
 
 our object to visit Ashbourne, and return four or five miles 
 from thence on the following morning, we enquired at a small 
 public-house by the road-side if accommodations for the night 
 could not be obtained nearer the dale, when we were told, that 
 a mile or two farther, across some fields and down a narrow 
 lane, we should 'find as good accommodations as any gentleman 
 could wish ; and if we did not choose to stop there, we might 
 go on to Mappleton. This exhilirating intelligence gave an 
 elastic impulse to our almost jaded spirits, and we pursued 
 with alacrity the path pointed out to us, until the night became 
 so totally dark that we literally groped our way to the Dog 
 and Partridge, a small public-house, well known by all who 
 visit Dove Dale. We reconnoitred the place, and soon con- 
 cluded to proceed farther. We observed in the house four or 
 five men sitting over a solitary farthing candle, around a few 
 almost extinct embers in the grate, which cast a feeble light 
 upon their pallid faces, and imperfectly exhibited a group of 
 figures, better suited for the pencil of Salvator than of either 
 Tenniers or Ostade. 
 
 Mappleton was the place we were next directed to ; but 
 being strangers to the road, which lay partly through open 
 fields, and our obtaining lodgings for three tired pedestrians 
 in a small village being uncertain, we proceeded a few miles 
 farther to Ashbourne. As we descended the hill into the 
 town all was still as midnight, save where in passing we dis- 
 turbed the watch-dog in his sleep, and were accosted with his 
 growlings. 
 
 There is hardly any silence more solemn and profound than 
 that which pervades a country town at midnight. In the 
 fields the sighing of the winds is heard amongst the branches ; 
 whenever the breeze stirs the very quiver of the leaves is 
 audible, and there is a voice in every grove and thicket. 
 Sometimes the low of cattle, the twitter of a lone bird among 
 the bushes, or the purling of a stream, breaks the stillness of 
 the night, even where the dwellings of men are few and far 
 apart ; but in the midst of a throng of houses, the habitations 
 of beings like ourselves, the idea of silence is alien to the 
 feeling that prevails, and the mind being sometimes more 
 powerfully influenced by associations than actual existences, 
 the stillness of a town is more awful and impressive than the 
 stillness of the country. Ashbourne, when we entered it, 
 seemed to be nearly deserted ; not an inn door was invitingly 
 open to receive us, and no lights were to be seen, except here 
 
318 MIDNIGHT AT ASHBOURNE. 
 
 and there a solitary bed-candle twinkling through the windows 
 of the upper apartments, and lighting the inhabitants to rest. 
 We however obtained lodgings at a tolerably good inn near 
 the middle of the town, and recruited our jaded spirits over a 
 short but hearty supper. We then retired to our separate 
 apartments, and reposed our weary limbs, but not on beds of 
 down, for we needed not such a luxury to make sleep sweet 
 and refreshing. 
 
 " Why rather, sleep, ly'st thou in smoky cribs, 
 
 Upon uneasy pallets stretching thee, 
 
 And hush'd with busy nightflies to thy slumber ; 
 
 Than in the perfum'd chambers of the great, 
 
 Under the canopies of costly state, 
 
 And lull'd with sounds of sweetest melody?'* 
 
 SHAKESPEARE. 
 
319 
 
 SECTION VI. 
 
 Ashbourne Church. Monument by Banks. Walk to Dove 
 Dale. View of the Dale from the Descent near Thorpe 
 Cloud. Character of the River Dove, Dove Dale Church. 
 Reynard's Cave. Fatal Occurrence there. View from 
 this part of the -Dale. The narrow Pass. Retrospect of the 
 Character of the whole Dale. Rocky Portals, and the 
 Meadows beyond. Rosseau, and his Visit to the Vicinity of 
 Dove Dale. 
 
 rtEFERRiNG my readers to the first section of this excursion* 
 they will observe that it was undertaken in the month of May* 
 Passing from Matlock through Via Geliia to Hopton, I recur- 
 red to a former journey made in the second week of Septem- 
 ber, to which the whole of the subsequent detail refers. It 
 was at this season of the year when we spent the night at 
 Ashbourne : the following morning, previously to our depart- 
 ure for Dove Dale, we walked through the principal streets, 
 and paid a visit to the church. The town is pleasantly situated 
 in a very beautiful country ; high hills shelter it from the cold 
 winds of the north, and towards the south it looks upon a fine 
 open valley, richly cultivated, through which the River Dove 
 meanders amongst some of the most fertile meadows in the 
 kingdom. The church was built about the middle of the 
 thirteenth century, and is an excellent specimen of gothic 
 architecture. It is in the form of a cross, with a square tower 
 in the centre, from which a lofty and elegantly ornamented 
 spire arises. The interior is light and spacious, and the pillars 
 that support the roof are strong and massy. These, in several 
 places, have been strangely defaced, and partly cut away, that 
 some unmeaning monumental tablets might conveniently be 
 put against them. It is a pity that the churchwardens who 
 suffered such a mutilation as this to take place, were not 
 made to do penance for their neglect of duty. There is a 
 beautiful little monument in this church, from the chisel of 
 Banks, which for execution, design, and feeling, would do 
 
320 MONUMENT IN ASHBOURNE CHURCH. 
 
 credit to the talents of any artist. It is to the memory of the 
 only child of Sir Brooke Boothby, a daughter, who died at 
 the age of five years and eleven months. On a marble pedes- 
 tal, a mattress, sculptured from the same material, is laid ; on 
 this the child reposes, but apparently not in quiet ; her head 
 reclines on a pillow, but the disposition of the whole figure 
 indicates restlessness. The little sufferer, indeed, appears as 
 if she had just changed her position by one of those frequent 
 turnings to which illness often in vain resorts for relief from 
 pain. The inscription on the tablet below enforces this 
 feeling : 
 
 " I was not in safety, neither had I rest, and the trouble came." 
 The pedestal below is inscribed 
 
 To PENELOPE, 
 
 Only child of Sir Brooke Boothby, and Dame Susannah Boothby, 
 Born, April llth, 1785. Died, March 13th, 1791. 
 
 She was in form and intellect most exquisite. 
 
 The unfortunate parents ventured their all on this frail bark, and the 
 wreck was total. 
 
 It is impossible to hang over the beautiful image which the 
 artist has here sculptured forth, and peruse the simple but 
 affecting inscriptions that are scattered around it, without 
 sympathising with the afflicted parents who had " ventured 
 their all of happiness on this frail bark," and found " the 
 wreck was total." This monumental design, which is ex- 
 quisitely finished, and full of tender feeling, probably sug- 
 gested to Chantrey the execution of that master-piece of 
 art, the group of the Two Children, now the grace and 
 ornament of Litchfield Cathedral, and the boast of modern 
 sculpture. 
 
 We left Ashbourne by the same road we had travelled over 
 the preceding evening ; and after a walk of about two miles, 
 we beheld at a short distance on our left, the airy sum- 
 mit of Thorp Cloud, which, instead of looking like a huge 
 mountain, as we had expected, had only the appearance of a 
 moderate-sized hill. Some richly-cultivated meadows, bounded 
 by high hawthorn hedges, and a deep dale beyond, lay be- 
 tween us and this lofty eminence ; we were therefore strangely 
 deceived both in the dimensions of its base, and the altitude 
 of its summit Proceeding onwards, the peak of Thorp Cloud 
 again disappeared, and we shortly afterwards came to the 
 Dog and Partridge, the public-house which we had passed 
 
FIRST VIEW OF DOVE DALE. 321 
 
 the night before, on our way to Ashbourne. Here we rested, 
 and took a short refreshment, previously to our proceeding 
 to Dove Dale. Entering the house, we observed traces of 
 blood on the threshold, and on a seat near the fire-place of 
 the first apartment into which we were admitted. Farther on, 
 in an unfrequented room, and half out of sight, lay the greater 
 part of a man's dress, almost covered with stains of blood. I 
 felt an involuntary shuddering at the sight, but it was only a 
 transient feeling; yet I confess that the figures we had ob- 
 served as we passed the house the former evening, were for a 
 moment associated with the bloody clothes. We learnt before 
 we left the house, that the man who kept it had been cutting 
 hay from a stack near his dwelling, and falling upon the knife, 
 he had been wounded in a dreadful manner. Profuse bleed- 
 ing ensued, and the appearances we had noticed were thus 
 accounted for. Shortly we left the house, which, at this par- 
 ticular time, was literally a house of mourning, and passing 
 along a good carriage-road descending into a valley near, that 
 led us to the little village of Thorpe. Our path now lay 
 through some open pastures, until winding round the northern 
 side of Thorpe Cloud, we first beheld the translucid waters 
 of the Dove playing and sparkling in the depths of the dale 
 below. Here we paused in silent contemplation of the scene. 
 The character of the first view of Dove Dale is simple gran- 
 deur : the hills swell boldly from both sides of the river, and 
 their majestic summits are often hid amongst the clouds ; the 
 parts are few, and the outlines sweep gracefully into each 
 other : yet here the dale exhibits only a small portion of its 
 rich materials, and curiosity is rather excited than gratified. 
 It was a fine morning when we first beheld the enchanting 
 scenery of the river Dove, yet still the summit of Thorpe 
 Cloud was sometimes obsc ired with vapour, or, in the phrase- 
 ology of the place, the " mountain had its cap on." When 
 we had reached the margin of the river, and were measuring 
 with the eye the altitude of the hills that shape its course, 
 we observed some sportsmen with their dogs ranging amongst 
 the bushes on the steep acclivities on our right, and so far 
 above us as to appear strangely diminutive in stature, and 
 but the miniature representations of what they were. As we 
 passed along the dale, the report of their guns occasionally 
 rung in loud discord among the rocks, interrupting the soli- 
 tude of the place, and destroying the peculiar tone of feeling 
 which it is eminently calculated to excite. 
 
322 CHARACTER OF THE RIVER DOVE. 
 
 The river Dove is one of the most beautiful streams that 
 ever gave a charm to landscape ; and while passing along the 
 first and least picturesque division of the dale, the ear was 
 soothed with its murmurings, and the eye delighted with the 
 brilliancy of its waters : in some places it flows smoothly and 
 solemnly along, but never slowly; in others, its motion is 
 rapid, impetuous, and even turbulent. The ash, the hazle, 
 the slender osier, and the graceful birch, hung with honey- 
 suckles and wild roses, dip their pensile branches in the 
 stream, and break its surface into beauteous ripples. Huge 
 fragments of stone, toppled from the rocks above, and partly 
 covered with moss and plants that haunt and love the water, 
 divide the stream into many currents ; round these it bubbles 
 in limpid rills, that circle into innumerable eddies, which, by 
 their activity, give life and motion to a numerous variety of 
 aquatic plants and flowers that grow in the bed of the river : 
 these wave their slender stems under the surface of the water, 
 which, flowing over them, like the transparent varnish of a 
 picture, brings forth the most vivid colouring. Occasionally 
 large stones are thrown across the stream, and interrupt its 
 progress : over and amongst these it rushes rapidly into the 
 pool below, forming in its frequent falls a series of fairy cas- 
 cades, about which it foams and sparkles with a beauty and 
 brilliancy peculiar to this lively and romantic river. 
 
 At the extremity of what I have here denominated the first 
 division of the dale, the path leaves the margin of the Dove, 
 and crosses a rocky knoll of considerable eminence. From 
 this elevated situation a new picture is presented : the rocks 
 have here a character peculiarly their own. On the left, they 
 shoot their spiral heads from amongst a grove of thickest 
 wood, or rise in insulated masses over the tops of the trees : 
 on the right, they are connected at their base, and their sum- 
 mits are split into huge cones and shattered pinnacles. 
 
 Descending from our elevation, and following the path by 
 the side of the river, we came to a curious assemblage of 
 broken rocks, closely united together below, but above in- 
 dented with deep fissures, and divided into pyramidal termin- 
 ations, which collectively are denominated DOVE DALE CHURCH. 
 This fantastic resemblance of a dilapidated structure is finely 
 situated at the base of an immense hill of wood, whose lofty 
 summit is adorned with overhanging crags. The foliage of 
 the trees is here of the most luxuriant description, and the 
 river sparkles with the vivid reflections of the many pic- 
 
DOVE DALE CHURCH. REYNARD'S CAVE. 323 
 
 turesque objects on its banks. This is one of the richest parts 
 of Dove Dale for the pencil of the artist, and Glover has 
 made it the subject of one of his best pictures : he has given 
 an accurate transcript of the features of the scene in all its 
 parts ; the local colouring is true to nature ; and he has im- 
 parted to his representation of this portion of Dove Dale an 
 appearance of magnitude, and a character of grandeur, which 
 give all but reality to the scene he has depicted. 
 
 The graphic illustrations that have hitherto been published 
 of this romantic dale, give but a very imperfect idea of the 
 scenery it contains. Gilpin's, I presume, was made from 
 recollection: rocks, woods, and a river, he remembered to 
 have seen, and when at leisure in his study he combined them 
 as best suited his fancy. The fact is, he painted much better 
 with his pen than with his pencil. Dayes was more accurate. 
 The view which he has given, in his Northern Excursion, of 
 the first entrance into the dale, is correct in all its forms ; but 
 the effect is far from imposing : the whole is muddy, and an 
 idea of littleness rather than magnitude is excited. Farring- 
 don, in his Derbyshire Depicta, is still more faulty ; he has 
 not given the character accurately of any scene or object in 
 the dale. This is taking a liberty with nature on the one 
 hand, and with the public on the other, utterly unwarrantable 
 both in art and morals. 
 
 About two hundred yards beyond Dove Dale Church, on 
 the contrary side of the river, is Reynard's Cave, one of the 
 most extraordinary and curious specimens of rock-scenery in 
 any part of Derbyshire. This cave consists of a stupendous 
 rib of rock, which is partly detached from the general mass, 
 and excavated into a magnificent natural arch, regularly 
 formed, and of great extent ; an open court is seen beyond, 
 and in distance the entrance into an interior cavern appears. 
 The rocks near this arch are adorned with ivy, and so formed 
 and connected together as to present to an active imagination 
 the rude resemblance of some mighty castle, and the fit abode 
 of those fabled beings whom one of the greatest favourites of 
 the nursery knew so well how to tame and subdue. 
 
 In Ashbourne church-yard there is a tomb-stone, inscribed 
 to the memory of an Irish divine, the Rev. Mr. Langton, dean 
 of Clogher, who lost his life near the entrance into Reynard's 
 Cave. A party of ladies and gentlemen were spending the 
 day in Dove Dale : the dean with difficulty had brought his 
 horse thus far, and, with an unaccountable temerity, he pro- 
 
 Y 2 
 
324 UNFORTUNATE OCCURRENCE. 
 
 posed to ascend the hills, and scale the most accessible parts 
 of the rocks on horseback. A young lady, a Miss La Roche, 
 with more courage than prudence, requested permission to 
 accompany him in his rash attempt: she mounted behind 
 him : they clambered the hill to a fearful height, while their 
 companions below were shuddering at their danger, and gaz- 
 ing upon them with an anxiety intense even to pain. At 
 length, the horse, unable to find secure footing, tottered un- 
 der his burden, stumbled, fell, and rolled headlong down the 
 steep. The dean was precipitated to the bottom of the dale : 
 life had not departed when he was taken up, but he expired 
 shortly afterwards. Miss La Roche was more fortunate ; she 
 was slightly hurt, and rendered insensible with the fall, but 
 she ultimately recovered to lament the dreadful consequences 
 of an adventure in which she had so unthinkingly participated. 
 Near this fatal spot we sat down to sketch the scenery in 
 this part of the dale. From the situation we occupied we had 
 a fine view of the narrow part of Dove Dale. We looked 
 into the deep ravine of rock before us. The sun was high in 
 the heavens, but his rays were excluded from all the lower 
 parts of the dell. A broad mass of light gleamed upon the 
 higher rocks on the right of the pass; the left lay in deep 
 shadow. One side was bare, save where a solitary bough or 
 two of ash or yew shot from a fissure, where they had found 
 a scanty soil and stinted nurture : the other was covered with 
 trees of various and graceful foliage. The light played 
 amongst the branches that crested the summit ; but below, 
 the blackness of shadow filled up the chasm, and dark flowed 
 the river from the narrow pass. We were sufficiently ele- 
 vated to obtain the sight of a lovely landscape beyond this vale 
 of rocks, that diversified and improved the composition. 
 Sometimes the light fell softly on the remote hills, while 
 nearer us the topmost cliffs were bathed in sunny splendour, 
 which, by the force of opposition, deepened the effect of a 
 mass of shade in the mid-distance of the landscape. The day 
 was peculiarly favourable for picturesque effects. At inter- 
 vals the sky was obscured by clouds, which dispersing, ad- 
 mitted a flood of light, that brightly illumined all around; 
 others succeeded, and occasionally threw the whole scene 
 into gloom; but the finest effects were produced, when, 
 through partial openings in the clouds, the concentrated rays 
 of the sun darted in brilliant lines of light, and for a moment 
 lit up the rocky summits of Dove Dale ; while every object 
 
SCENE IN DOVE DALE. 325 
 
 around them was enveloped in obscurity. The splendour 
 with which they were occasionally touched was at times so 
 intensely bright that they looked like turrets of fire, lifting 
 their illuminated peaks out of the clouds that rolled about 
 them. I wished to have seen this imposing picture an hour 
 or two nearer sunset ; at which peculiar time it would have 
 realised one of Sir Walter Scott's most beautiful descriptions 
 in the Lady of the Lake : 
 
 " The western waves of ebbing day 
 RolPd o'er the glen their level way ; 
 Each purple peak, each flinty spire, 
 Was bath'd in floods of living fire ; 
 But not a setting beam could glow 
 Within the dark ravines below 
 Where turn'd the path, in shadows hid, 
 Round many a rocky pyramid, 
 Shooting abruptly from the dell 
 Its thunder-splinter'd pinnacle, 
 Round many an insulated mass, 
 The native bulwarks of the pass." 
 
 About two hundred yards beyond Reynard's Cave is the 
 termination of the second grand division of Dove' Dale. Here 
 the narrow pass commences, affording only a passage for the 
 troubled waters of the Dove, and on the Derbyshire side of 
 the stream a very scanty pathway beneath the rocks : the op- 
 posite bank is totally impassable. Here the river, as if im- 
 patient at being restrained within the limits of this contracted 
 chasm, rushes with great impetuosity to a more open part of 
 the dale, when its turbulence subsides, and it becomes again 
 a placid, but a rapid stream. Sometimes the river occupies 
 the whole space between the rocks ; at others, the traveller 
 has occasionally to step from one huge stone to another, to 
 avoid the water that passes between. Through this upper 
 division of the dale, the rocks rise in perpendicular masses 
 on both sides of the river. In some places, imposing preci- 
 pices frown over the path below, inspiring emotions of awe 
 and terror. Beneath these we passed in silence, as if we 
 feared our voices would disturb the firm-fixed rock above, 
 and bring the incumbent mass, like a tremendous avalanche, 
 upon our heads. This, though not the most beautiful, is 
 certainly the most terrific part of Dove Dale. The three 
 divisions which I have noticed are dissimilar in form and 
 feature, yet the same general character pervades the whole. 
 
 Y S 
 
326 ROCKY PORTALS OF DOVE DALE. 
 
 The entrance into the dale, from the side of Thorpe Cloud, 
 is an appropriate introduction to the beauties that succeed : 
 proceeding onwards, the forms become more romantic, the 
 foliage thickens ; and the rocks assume a greater portion of 
 grandeur, every step varies the scene, but the same bold 
 impress is upon the whole. Some of the rocks are peculiar, 
 perhaps fantastic ; yet accompanied, as they are, with a 
 variety of beautiful foliage, hung with ivy, and chequered 
 with lichens, they are not only interesting, but even pictu- 
 resque objects ; and, where they call to mind the forms of 
 things to which they have but a remote resemblance, they do 
 it so imperfectly, that the imagination is amused in supplying 
 the deficiencies. The whole scenery indeed of this dale, 
 from the southern to the northern extremity, improves at 
 every step, until it reaches the very place where I have paused 
 to retrace its character, and it terminates with one of its sub- 
 limest features. A mighty pillar of insulated rock, which has 
 its base in the stream, rises from the left bank of the river ; 
 a bold mass of rock, whose conical summit penetrates the 
 clouds, occupies the right : between these huge portals flows 
 the river Dove. Through this contracted space, some flat 
 meadows, clothed with verdure, appear ; and still farther in 
 distance, bold swelling hills close in the prospect. The effect 
 of this scene is truly magical : it is an interesting transition 
 from one description of landscape to another, that excites 
 surprise by its suddenness, and charms with its beauty. 
 Through this magnificent portal we passed into the lovely 
 meadows beyond, where we stood a while to gaze upon the 
 gloomy ravine we had just left. We then sat down amongst 
 a grove of hazels in a sweet little vale, as dissimilar in cha- 
 racter to the scenery of Dove Dale as if they had been hun- 
 dreds of miles apart. The river flowed gently and beautifully 
 before us, the cattle were grazing in the meadows, appa- 
 rently unconscious of the presence of any human being, 
 the red-breast poured his lone requiem from amongst the 
 bushes that were scattered over the rising ground where we 
 sat, and the rush of the waters through the narrow part of 
 the dale came softly upon the ear, which was soothed with 
 its murmurs. The scene was delightfully tranquil, and the 
 mind, that only a few minutes before had been excited to 
 emotions of sublimity and terror, sunk into a state of pleasing 
 repose and luxurious languor. 
 
 Dove Dale was one of the favourite resorts of the enthu- 
 
ROUSSEAU IN DERBYSHIRE. 32? 
 
 siastic and sensitive Rousseau during his residence in its im- 
 mediate vicinity, and he is said to have planted many rare 
 and curious seeds in this sequestered spot. At this time he 
 lived chiefly at Wooton Hall, a retreat that was procured for 
 him principally through the influence of the historian Hume. 
 Rousseau lived in continual agitation and alarm. Plots and 
 conspiracies, he supposed, were entered into and carried on 
 against his personal safety and happiness in every country on 
 the continent of Europe, and he sought an asylum in Eng- 
 land from the imagined persecutions of imaginary enemies. 
 In April, 1766, when Rousseau had just settled in Derby- 
 shire, " Here," says he, " I have arrived at last at an 
 agreeable and sequestered asylum, where I hope to breathe 
 freely and at peace." But here he did not long remain " at 
 peace ;" he soon found cause of quarrel with those who were 
 endeavouring to serve him, and in the month of April fol- 
 lowing he quitted his " agreeable and sequestered asylum," 
 and returned to the Continent, heaping reproaches on his 
 best friends. He was an unamiable, petulant, and angry 
 man. The rent of the house in which he lived had been 
 greatly reduced, to allure him into the country ; his spirit 
 revolted at this, and as soon as he heard of it he indignantly 
 left the place. Whilst at Wooton Hall, he received a present 
 of some bottles of choice foreign wine ; this was a gift, and 
 his pride would not permit him to taste it ; he therefore left 
 it in the house untouched, for the next comer. For some 
 reason or other, or more probably for none, he had deter- 
 mined not to see Dr. Darwin. The Doctor, aware of his 
 objections, placed himself on a terrace where Rousseau had 
 to pass, and was examining a plant. " Rousseau," said he, 
 " are you a botanist ?" They entered into conversation, and 
 were intimate at once; but Rousseau, on reflection, imagined 
 that this meeting was the result of contrivance, and the in- 
 timacy proceeded no farther. It was indeed impossible for 
 any body to be on terms of friendship long with the eccentric 
 and ill-humoured Jean Jacques Rousseau. Madame de Stael, 
 in her reflections on this strange man and his writings, has 
 admirably depicted his character. " His faculties," she ob- 
 serves, " were slow in their operation, but his heart was 
 ardent : it was in consequence of his own meditations that he 
 became impassioned : he discovered no sudden emotion, but 
 all his feelings grew upon reflection. Sometimes he would 
 part with you with all his former affection ; but if an expres- 
 
 Y 4 
 
328 RETURN FROM DOVE DALE TO HOPTON. 
 
 sion had escaped you which might bear an unfavourable con- 
 struction, he would recollect it, examine it, perhaps dwell 
 upon it for a month, and conclude by a total breach with 
 you. Hence it was that there was scarcely a possibility of 
 undeceiving him, for the light which broke in upon him at 
 once was not sufficient to efface the wrong impressions which 
 had taken place so gradually in his mind : a word, a gesture, 
 furnished him with matter of profound meditation ; he con- 
 nected the most trifling circumstances like so many mathe- 
 matical propositions, and conceived his conclusions to be 
 supported by the evidence of demonstration." 
 
 From the meadows, where we awhile reposed, we pursued 
 the course of the Dove nearly two miles farther, through a 
 deep vale, barren of wood, and, with one or two exceptions, 
 devoid of beauty. We then left the margin of the stream, 
 crossed the hills to the Ashbourne and Buxton road ; and, 
 leaving Tissington on our right, returned, by the way of 
 Bradburn, to Hopton, and from thence to Wirksworth. 
 
329 
 
 SECTION VII. 
 
 Visit to Ham. Vale of Ham. Ham Hall, interesting 
 Apartment there. Village Church. Chantrej/s Monument 
 for the New Chapel. Observations on Monumental Sculp- 
 ture. Ancient Stone Cross in Ham. View in Ham Vale 
 ajter a Rain-storm. Congress Grotto. Morning Scene. 
 The rivers Hamps and Manyfold. Contemplated Im- 
 provements at Ham. Second Visit to Ham. The New 
 Hall. Intended Conservatory and Picture Gallery, fyc. 
 
 DURING an excursion to Dove Dale in the autumn of 1820, 
 I visited Ham, one of the most romantic places in any part 
 of the kingdom. On my way to this secluded spot, I passed 
 along the road on the eastern side of Thorpe Cloud ; and, 
 approaching the mill where the river Dove emerges from 
 Bunster Dale, I had a very pleasing view of Ham Hall, 
 nestled amongst woods, and environed with hills. This de- 
 lightful place, which has long been celebrated for the beauty 
 of its scenery, is the residence of Jesse Watts Russel, Esq. 
 M. P. It is situated on the Staffordshire side of the river 
 Dove, and therefore not properly an object for these excur- 
 sions ; but with those who visit Dove Dale, Ham is always a 
 point of attraction. Thorpe Cloud, one of the highest moun- 
 tains of Derbyshire, stands like a mighty sentinel over its 
 woods, gardens, groves, and meadows, that quietly repose in 
 the deep hollow at its base. Its proximity to Dove Dale, 
 the interesting and peculiar character of its scenery, and the 
 pleasure it afforded me while I was an inmate of the hospit- 
 able mansion there, have induced me to give it a place 
 amongst my observations on Derbyshire ; nor is this, I hope, 
 an unwarrantable trespass : it is merely crossing the river 
 that separates the two counties, and enriching my excursions 
 with both sides of the sweet dale, that is watered by the 
 brilliant stream of the Dove. 
 
330 VALE OF ILAM. ILAM HALL. 
 
 The hills about Ham Hall have a magnificent character; 
 they are thrown together in irregular forms, and, with one ex- 
 ception only, in connected masses. Some of their steep 
 acclivities are covered with wood ; others, with a smooth 
 glossy verdure; and in the space between them lies the 
 sweet vale of Ham. A village of a few houses only, scat- 
 tered amongst trees ; a country church, with a tower nearly 
 covered with ivy ; verdant meadows watered by a busy stream, 
 every where sparkling with light and on a gentle eminence, 
 a venerable mansion rising out of, and backed with luxuriant 
 foliage, are the principal features of this lovely spot, which is 
 one of the most romantic little vales that nature ever formed. 
 No glen in the Alps was ever more retired, or more delight- 
 ful to behold. As I approached Ham, and contemplated the 
 landscape around me, I felt as if I had been treading on fairy 
 ground. The parts were so beautiful, and so exquisitely 
 combined, and the whole so rare and unexpected, that it 
 seemed more like a scene of enchantment that might soon 
 pass away, than any thing real and permanent. When this 
 train of feeling had a little subsided, I entered the house, 
 which I found a good commodious " building, made with 
 hands," and the residence of the elegancies, as well as the 
 comforts of life. 
 
 My readers must keep in recollection that I am now de- 
 scribing a visit to Ham in the year 1820, a short time before 
 the old hall was pulled down, and a more noble structure 
 erected in its place. The principal entrance, agreeably to 
 the fashion that once generally prevailed, was a square hall 
 in the centre of the building, which communicated with the 
 adjoining apartments : a massy old-fashioned fireplace, ad- 
 mirably adapted for winter, with a huge unlighted log of 
 wood and some faggots in the grate, occupied nearly one side 
 of the room ; in a niche opposite, hung a Chinese gong, 
 whose loud and sonorous sound summoned the company at 
 Ham to dinner : bows, arrows, and targets, a fine old organ, 
 and some chairs of modern manufacture, completed the re- 
 maining part of the furniture of this apartment. 
 
 Jn the dining-room there were several good pictures, parti- 
 cularly a fine landscape by Gainsborough ; a portrait of Mr. 
 Watts Russell, by Sir William Beechey ; an excellent and 
 animated likeness of his Lady, by Phillips ; and Hilton's ad- 
 mirable picture of " Una amongst the Satyrs," from Spenser's 
 Fairy Queen. 
 
INTERESTING APARTMENT AT ILAM. 331 
 
 One apartment at Ham powerfully interested my feelings, 
 and I regretted to hear that it was destined to share the same 
 fate as the other parts of the building. It was a Gothic chapel 
 in miniature, which had been fitted up under the direction of 
 Mrs. Watts Russell, and was alike a monument of her 
 taste and her feeling: a library that occupied one part of 
 it, represented the exterior of an organ ; the windows were 
 stained glass, in which the figures of Faith and Hope were 
 beautifully painted; the wainscot and the furniture were 
 carved oak ; and the whole place together had the appearance 
 of being set apart for devotional purposes. Over the door 
 was an unadorned white marble tablet, inscribed To MY 
 TATHER. This simple inscription produced a series of images 
 and associations of a pensive nature, with which all that is 
 interesting and lovely in filial affection was intimately con- 
 nected. To this place, sacred to pious uses only, did the 
 daughter of the late David Pike Watts frequently retire, to 
 muse on the being and character of her late excellent father, 
 and hold communion with his departed spirit. 
 
 Within a few hundred yards of the front of Ham Hall, is 
 the village church, one of the most rural and pleasing objects 
 that the place affords. The tower appears to be a structure 
 of foliage, for the stone-work is so invested with ivy as to be 
 almost entirely obscured with its verdant covering ; and the 
 dial of the clock is half buried amongst thickly entwined 
 leaves. Ash, elder, and wild roses, of the most luxuriant 
 growth and colour, flourish close around the walls of the 
 church, and the adjoining burial-ground is covered with the 
 richest verdure, amongst which a grey stone occasionally ap- 
 pears, inscribed to the memory of those who sleep beneath. 
 No fence of stone marks the boundary line of this seques- 
 tered spot : towards the house, it is open to the lawn, or only 
 separated from it by an invisible fence : nearer the village, 
 a hedge of hawthorn, intermingled with ash, divides it from 
 the meadows of which it seems to be a part ; and altogether, 
 there is an air of great rural beauty and sanctified repose 
 about the church at Ham. During the time I was there, the 
 workmen were excavating a vault on the north side, where a 
 spacious Gothic chapel, communicating with the chancel, was 
 intended to be erected. This place is to be the honoured 
 receptacle of one of the finest works of CHANTREY a 
 monumental group to the memory of the late David Pike 
 Watts. 
 
332 OBSERVATIONS ON MONUMENTAL SCULPTURE. 
 
 Monumental sculpture generally consists of very common- 
 place ideas, dignified by the word classical, where the cardinal 
 virtues, unmeaning personifications, allegorical illusions, 
 difficult to be understood and winged females, representing 
 angels, occupy the most conspicuous situations ; but Chan- 
 trey's designs, in this department of his art, have a more 
 simple, a more affecting, and a sublimer character; they 
 appeal to the heart by a representation of what actually has 
 occurred, or what the mind naturally associates with the hour 
 of death and the disruption of all earthly ties. Human beings 
 are his only agents, and he employs them in those offices 
 where human beings alone can bear a part. His monument 
 for the new chapel at Ham is strikingly illustrative of the 
 correctness of these observations. In this fine work of art, 
 the venerable David Pike Watts is represented on his bed 
 of death, from whence he has half-raised himself by a final 
 effort of expiring nature, to perform the last solemn act of a 
 long and virtuous life : his only daughter and her children, 
 all that were dearest to him in life, surround his couch, and 
 bend at his side, as they receive from his lips the blessings 
 and benedictions of a dying parent, when the last half-uttered 
 farewell falters upon them. Nothing can be more affecting 
 than this family group : the figures here, committed to marble, 
 have the semblance of beings like ourselves, with passions, 
 feelings, and affections, similar to our own : we therefore 
 sympathise in their afflictions, and mingle our tears with 
 theirs. Fame, justice, wisdom, fortitude, charity, religion, 
 are all represented by certain understood modifications of the 
 human form, and they may be bodied forth in marble with 
 great skill and felicity of execution ; but, in comparison with 
 the work I have described, how cold and feeble are the 
 effects they produce ! As specimens of beautiful workman- 
 ship they may excite admiration, but they cannot reach 
 the heart and call its finer and more touching sympathies 
 into action. 
 
 In the village of Ham there is a curious old stone cross, 
 sculptured with many figures, and originally richly orna- 
 mented ; but the various devices that once adorned the dif- 
 ferent sides of this ancient relique are now nearly obliterated. 
 The origin of these crosses is but imperfectly known, but 
 that they are either Saxon or Danish, appears highly proba- 
 ble. Alfred the Great, who divided England into counties, 
 hundreds, and tythings, erected a number of crosses as land- 
 
VIEW AFTER A RAIN-STORM. 333 
 
 marks, which no man was permitted to remove, and, to give 
 them a sacred character, they were sculptured with religious 
 allusions, and the symbols of his faith. 
 
 I was now in the midst of the most delightful scenery, but 
 I had not an opportunity of exploring its various beauties on 
 the day of my arrival at Ham. The following morning the 
 rain fell in torrents, and I had the mortification of being pre- 
 vented from walking abroad at a place where the cunning 
 hand of nature has contrived to harmonise appearances that 
 seem to be in opposition to each other, and blend the lovely 
 and magnificent together with peculiar felicity. To be in 
 the midst of such scenes, and detained but one hour from 
 wandering amongst them, by so paltry a consideration as a 
 shower of rain, though not actually one of the " miseries of 
 human life," was yet a trial of patience, and I watched the 
 watery clouds roll about the hills with an anxious wish that 
 they would soon pass away. About noon they began to de- 
 part, and occasionally a sunny gleam, as it passed hastily 
 along, lighted up a little spot of verdure on the sides of 
 the mountains : shortly, the hill called Thorpe Cloud ap- 
 peared capped with light, while far below, the fleecy vapours, 
 as they ascended from the valley, curled around its ample 
 sides and obscured its base. The effect was transient, but as 
 long as it remained, it was scarcely less imposing than the 
 fine poetic picture with which Goldsmith has enriched his 
 Deserted Village. 
 
 " As some tall cliff, that lifts its awful form, 
 Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the storm; 
 Though round its breast the rolling clouds are spread, 
 Eternal sunshine settles on its head." 
 
 The sunshine, it is true, was very far from being eternal ; but 
 Thorpe Cloud was not less interesting on that account. A 
 brisk wind prevailed, and as the clouds passed onwards, others 
 appeared in succession, and their march athwart the heavens 
 was pictured on the landscape below ; where one part was at 
 one moment warm with sunny light, and the next dark with 
 shadow. It was highly amusing to mark the frequent and 
 rapid change of appearance which the hills that surround 
 Ham, and the various objects in the vale assumed as the clouds 
 passed over them. 
 
 The shower having entirely subsided, I wandered over the 
 
334 CONGREVE'S GROTTO. 
 
 meadows and along the margin of the river at the foot of 
 Thorpe Cloud, and spent the remainder of the day in Dove 
 Dale. The ensuing morning I devoted to the groves and 
 gardens of Ham Hall. At the end of a gravel-walk which 
 passes the front of the house, I came to a path that is carried 
 along the side of a steep rocky hill, covered with a variety of 
 lofty trees of the most luxuriant foliage. In this cool seques- 
 tered place there is a grotto, furnished with a stone seat and 
 table, formed in the rock, where Congreve is said to have 
 written his comedy of the " Old Bachelor," and a part of the 
 " Mourning Bride." It is now too closely embowered amidst 
 trees and branches to be a pleasant retreat. The holly, with 
 its bright green leaves, stands at the entrance, and yew and 
 elder bend over the rocky arch ; but sun and air are now ex- 
 cluded from it, and it is but ill adapted for poetic inspiration. 
 From this classic ground I descended the hill, and emerged 
 from the thick wood into an open meadow, through which I 
 rambled to a rugged seat, placed under a huge elm by the 
 side of the deserted channel of the river Manyfold. It was 
 morning; the sun shone brightly in the heavens, and the 
 rain, which had fallen in copious showers the preceding day, 
 had given a delightful freshness to the verdure of the fields, 
 and a livelier tone of colouring to every object around me. 
 My right, looking towards Thorpe, was a steep and lofty hill, 
 covered with wood, and involved in shadow ; another wood, 
 still more beautiful, that glowed with the bright effulgence of 
 the newly-risen sun, lay on my left : in distance, rising be- 
 hind a mass of trees, Thorpe Cloud reared his magnificent 
 head : a beautiful light rested on the side of this lofty emi- 
 nence, and some thin white clouds played about its summit. 
 The cattle that were grazing near the freshness of the 
 herbage on which they fed the smoke rising slowly from 
 a cottage chimney at the extremity of the wood on my right, 
 were all pleasing incidents in tne delightful morning pic- 
 ture that was here presented. Delight was not the only emo- 
 tion with which I gazed upon this tranquil scene : I heard 
 around me only accents of joy, and sounds of pleasure. Every 
 object that had life seemed to be freely and fully partaking of 
 the beneficent gifts of heaven, and for a while I forgot the 
 works, the employments, and the cares of man, in the con* 
 templation of that Being who has made so fair a world, and 
 filled it with happiness ; who reared the mightiest barriers of 
 
THE HAMPS AND MANYFOLD. 335 
 
 rock and hill with a word, adorned the vales with verdure, 
 clothed the woods with beauty, and led the streams through 
 pleasant pastures. 
 
 Returning from the meadows to the garden grounds of 
 Ham, I passed a narrow foot-bridge at the base of a rocky 
 bank, from whence the two subterranean streams, the Hanips 
 and the Manyfold, emerge, and " form a river at a burst." 
 This is one of the curiosities of this romantic place. The 
 river Manyfold formerly flowed beneath the amphitheatrical 
 sweep of wood that forms the back-ground of Ham Hall ; but 
 it has abandoned its ancient course, where it had continued 
 to run for ages, and now pursues its way, for the space of 
 five or six miles, through caverns deep in the mountains, 
 where it has obtained a passage to its forsaken channel, which 
 it again enters in the gardens at Ham. Here the united 
 rivers become a powerful stream, that within a few yards of 
 the place where they first appear, is precipitated over an arti- 
 ficial barrier, where it forms a cascade of considerable extent 
 and great beauty. The Manyfold now becomes a busy and 
 brilliant stream, which after winding round a part of the 
 village, about a quarter of a mile from the principal front of 
 the hall, flows through some pleasant meadows, and enters 
 the river Dove at a short distance from Thorpe Cloud. 
 
 This river is one of the beauties, and one of the blemishes, 
 of Ham. From the cascade in the garden to its junction with 
 the Dove, it is all play and sparkle; above, it is an inactive 
 pool, unless occasionally in winter, when it is inundated with 
 heavy rains, or the breaking up of a snow-storm : then its 
 subterranean passage, not being of sufficient capacity to admit 
 so large a body of water, it flows into its former channel, and 
 becomes an impetuous and ample stream. It is then in har- 
 mony with the scenery of Ham, and the beautiful woods that 
 decorate its banks ; but during three-fourths of the year it is 
 far from being an imposing object. Every thing about it, 
 with the exception of water only, has the appearance and the 
 character of a river. To behold this element still and lifeless, 
 amongst lofty and precipitous hills, with which the mind na- 
 turally associates impetuous streams and foaming cataracts, 
 seems something like an anomaly in nature, and we are always 
 dissatisfied at her deviation from her accustomed habits. Is 
 it not practicable to remedy this defect ? Cannot the stream of 
 the Manyfold, where it first commences its subterranean 
 career be divided, and a part of it made to flow continually 
 
336 SUGGESTED IMPROVEMENTS. 
 
 along its obvious channel ? The river scenery of Ham will 
 then be as beautiful as its woods. Other improvements may 
 be made in this romantic place : the wood immediately con- 
 nected with the house, should be rendered less impervious 
 and gloomy. It should be made to assume the character of 
 a grove, rather than a wood, and the trees, where they closely 
 beset each other, should be partly removed, and a pleasant 
 walk established amongst them, from whence occasional 
 glimpses of the scenery beyond might be admitted. When 
 the mansion now erecting is completed, this will no doubt be 
 done, and other improvements added, to make Ham one of 
 the most delightful residences in the kingdom, and an object 
 of attraction to all who visit Dove Dale. 
 
 The architecture that most prevailed in the reign of Eliza- 
 beth, has been made choice of for Ham Hall. This peculiar 
 style of building requires " ample space and room enough :" 
 wanting these, it is sometimes devoid both of grandeur and 
 of beauty. The structures of this period were immense, and 
 the park scenery around them of great extent. It is perhaps 
 from association only, that such edifices, and such scenes, appear 
 to be the natural concomitants of each other ; but there seems 
 to be a fitness in things that are usually connected, and time 
 sanctions the union. Hence it probably is, that the splendid 
 but ill-contrived structures of Elizabeth's reign, are not ex- 
 actly adapted to the scenery of the quiet vale of Ham, which 
 appears to shun the gaze of the world, not court it. A build- 
 ing of richly ornamented Gothic, like the structure at Fonthill, 
 would have been a fine object in such a place. The monks 
 and abbots of former times would gladly have selected so re- 
 tired and so beautiful a situation : they loved to fix their ha- 
 bitations in picturesque dales and valleys, amongst embowering 
 woods and murmuring streams ; where, secluded from the 
 noise and bustle of the world, nature's happiest harmonies 
 and sweetest melodies alone prevail. 
 
 The preceding observations were written shortly after my 
 first visit to Ham, which I again saw in June, 1823. The 
 scenery of the place had excited my highest admiration ; it 
 was still fresh in my recollection, and I anxiously wished 
 that the new structure should be every way worthy of so fine 
 a situation. I therefore approached the romantic vale where 
 it stands, under the influence of a more powerful interest than 
 if I had been an entire stranger to its beauties. Descending 
 the hill from Thorpe, I had the first view of the object of my 
 
VISIT TO ILAM IN 1823. 33? 
 
 journey. Ham Hall, though not entirely finished, had a 
 grand effect even at a distance ; approaching nearer, the de- 
 tail began to display itself, and the general design and ar- 
 rangement to be clearly understood. On a verdant knoll, a 
 little above the margin of the river Manyfold, that ran rippling 
 and sparkling through the meadows below, I stopped to gaze 
 upon the new mansion at Ham, which is truly a noble struc- 
 ture, and a proof of the professional skill and taste of the 
 architect. * The principal part of the building, with its large 
 bay windows, octagonal projections, and richly ornamented 
 parapets, is in that peculiar style of architecture which was 
 fashionable in the reign of Elizabeth ; but there are portions 
 of this structure that nearly assimilate with the gothic, both 
 in character and ornament, and these are decidedly the finest 
 and most imposing parts. The whole appears to be ad- 
 mirably contrived, both for picturesque effect and convenience; 
 but the most beautiful feature in this noble mansion is the 
 circular gothic lantern by which it is surmounted. It is not 
 a paltry thing, made merely for the purpose of admitting 
 light; its dimensions are ample, and perfectly in proportion 
 with the capacious base whereon it rests. The circle of which 
 it is composed presents to the eye a series of pointed arches, 
 resting on appropriate shafts : these, in connexion with each 
 other, describe a circle, and constitute the frame-work of the 
 lantern. Where light is wanted in the central part of a build- 
 ing, the dome is sometimes so constructed as to be a noble 
 ornament ; but the lantern at Ham is a more noble contrivance, 
 and one of the most tasteful and elegant architectural orna- 
 ments that ever adorned a building. The place altogether 
 does infinite credit to the taste and liberal spirit of the pro- 
 prietor, who will make this romantic spot this beauteous 
 gem in British scenery not less attractive than its neigh- 
 bouring Dove Dale. I have here mentioned a part only of 
 what is already accomplished at Ham : a museum, a splendid 
 conservatory, and a picture-gallery, upwards of eighty feet 
 long, are intended to He added. J. Watts Russel is in pos- 
 sion of some fine works of modern art, and he is rapidly 
 increasing his collection by new purchases. Hilton's picture 
 of " Una amongst the Satyrs," which in colouring, compo- 
 sition, and character, is a chef-d'oeuvre of the British school 
 of painting, and Howard's " Solar System," a composition 
 
 * John Shaw, Esq. of Bedford Square, London. 
 z 
 
S38 INTENDED PICTURE GALLERY. 
 
 of rare and varied excellence, fine imagination, and elegant 
 poetic feeling, already form a part of those select productions 
 of the pencil which are intended to adorn the picture-gallery at 
 Ham Hall. * The spirited proprietor of this delightful place, 
 in his purchase of works of art, is not only influenced by good 
 taste but by true English feeling. He knows there is abund- 
 ance of fine talent in his own country, which, if duly encouraged, 
 and exercised on subjects of history and imagination, might 
 produce works worthy of being associated in the same apart- 
 ment with the best productions of any age or nation in the 
 the world. 
 
339 
 
 SECTION VIII. 
 
 Wirksworth* - Moote Hall. Mineral Laws. Miraculous 
 Escape of a Miner. New Road from Matlock to Derby. 
 Unexpected Rencontre. General Character of the Scenery. 
 Beautiful Effect of Light during a Shower of Rain. 
 Walk to Belper. 
 
 ABOUT three miles south of Matlock Bath, within a capacious 
 amphitheatre of hills, lies WIRKS WORTH, the principal town 
 in the mineral districts of Derbyshire. It is a place of great 
 antiquity, and was of some note as early as the Conquest. It 
 is situated on the acclivity of a fine sweep of hill, that forms 
 one side of a pleasant valley. Like all old towns, it is irre- 
 gularly built, but it contains a number of good houses, and 
 several very genteel families reside in the place. The church 
 is built in the form of a cross, with a square tower in the 
 centre, which is surmounted with a short conical spire that has 
 neither grace nor dignity in its appearance. At the time I 
 visited Wirksworth, this venerable structure was undergoing 
 a thorough regeneration : the pews were taken down, the 
 pavements broken up, and vaults were excavating in various 
 parts of the church. The monuments against the walls were 
 covered to protect them from the dust, nothing but dirt 
 and litter were to be seen ; and, instead of the solemn breath- 
 ings of the organ, and the sounds of psalmody, the noise of 
 saws and hammers, mingled with an occasional laugh and the 
 clamour of tongues, were heard along the aisles. The whole 
 place, indeed, appeared less like a church than a huge work- 
 shop, where every thing was in confusion and disorder. 
 
 During our stay at Wirksworth, we stopped at the Lion 
 inn, a good house of entertainment, where we found a public 
 news-room, and for a while amused ourselves with the conflict- 
 ing opinions and observations of the Courier and the Morning 
 Chronicle. Truth, says an ancient sage, lies in the bottom of 
 a well : perhaps it would be as reasonable an expectation to 
 
 z 2 
 
340 MOOTE HALL AT WIRKSWORTH. 
 
 find it there, as in the columns of these two rival papers. 
 Wirksworth is the seat of the administration of the mineral 
 laws for the Low Peak of Derbyshire ; and the Moote Hall 
 is the judicial session house where all complaints are heard, 
 and all suits decided, that belong to this peculiar court. 
 
 The MOOTE HALL is a neat stone building, with the town's 
 arms carved over the door, and on each side are some em- 
 blematic devices in bas-relievo. Within, secured by a chain, is 
 the ancient brazen dish which regulates the admeasurement of 
 lead ore throughout the whole district. The following in- 
 scription is engraved upon it : 
 
 " This dishe was made the iiij day of October, the iiij yere of 
 the reigne of Kyng Henry the VIII. before George Erie of 
 Shrewesbury, Steward of the Kyng most Honourable house- 
 hold, and also Steward of all the honour of Tutbury, by the 
 assent and consent as well of all the Mynours as of all the 
 Brenners within and adjoining the Lordship of Wyrkys worth 
 Pervell of the said honour. This Dyshe to Remayne In the 
 Moote Hall at Wyrkysworth, hanging by a cheyne, so as the 
 Mchanntes or Mynours may have resort to the same att all 
 tymes to make the trw mesure at the same." 
 
 The lead mines of Derbyshire are of very remote antiquity. 
 The Odin mine at Castleton bears the name of one of the 
 Saxon deities ; it may, therefore, be inferred that it was 
 known to, and worked by the Saxons, previously to the intro- 
 duction of Christianity. In the wapentake of Wirksworth 
 there were lead mines so early as the year 835 ; at which 
 time a grant was made by the abbess of Repton, of her estate 
 at Wircesworth, on condition that an annual stipend of lead, 
 of the value of three hundred shillings, should be paid for 
 certain religious uses as she then directed. The laws that now 
 govern the mining interests of this county contain some 
 curious provisions : how they originated is now difficult to 
 determine ; but, from indisputable records, it appears " that 
 Edward the First directed the Sheriff of the County to call a 
 meeting at Ashbourne, of such persons as were best acquainted 
 with the rights and customs of the Mines." On this occasion, 
 their privileges were ascertained and confirmed, the two 
 courts of Moneyash and Wirksworth established, and a code 
 of permanent regulations adopted. These regulations con- 
 stitute the mineral law of Derbyshire at the present time. 
 The principal officers of these courts are denominated bar- 
 
MINERAL LAWS. 341 
 
 masters, and it is their peculiar duty to preside on all cases of 
 trial in which the mining interests of their respective juris- 
 dictions are concerned, and generally to see that justice is 
 fully and fairly administered. It is likewise the duty of the 
 barmaster to put miners in possession of any veins of lead ore 
 which they may discover. The mode of doing this is ex- 
 tremely simple, yet curious. When a man has found, or 
 imagines he has found a vein of ore in any part of the " King's 
 field," which, with very few exceptions, includes the whole of 
 the mineral districts of Derbyshire, he may claim it as his own 
 merely by fixing down a few sticks, put together in a peculiar 
 way, and notifying the same to the barmaster, who imme- 
 diately gives him complete and exclusive possession of his 
 newly-acquired property in a way as summary as it is decisive. 
 The barmaster, accompanied by two jurymen belonging to the 
 mineral court, enters the place, field, or meadow, where the 
 miner intends to commence his operations, marks out a plot 
 of ground of about fourteen yards square, takes it from the 
 former proprietor, whether it be freehold or not, and gives it 
 to a new possessor. But this is not all : the miner has now 
 only obtained a piece of land in which to sink his shaft. The 
 little insulated spot that has just been made his own is sur- 
 rounded with fields, some covered with -grass and some with 
 corn : through these the barmaster and the two jurymen soon 
 mark out a path to the public highway ; they arrange them- 
 selves on a line with each other, and with their arms wide 
 extended, and their fingers' ends just touching, they march 
 abreast from the mine in the most convenient direction to the 
 nearest public carriage road, placing stakes on each side as 
 they proceed, within which they confirm to the miner a car- 
 riage way in perpetuity, whereon he may cart his minerals, 
 uninterrupted by any authority whatever. Neither standing 
 corn nor any other description of property, with the exception 
 of " a dwelling-house, a high road, a garden, or an orchard," 
 is or can be exempt from this fundamental law of the miners. 
 A number of other provisions, equally singular, are included 
 amongst their regulations. " If any miner be killed or slain, 
 or damped upon the mine, within any groove," no king's co- 
 roner has power to interfere ; the barmaster becomes invested 
 with his authority, and holds an inquest accordingly. In 
 article the thirteenth it is provided, " that no person shall sue 
 any miner for debt that doth belong unto the mines in any 
 court but the mineral court ; and if any person do the contrary, 
 
 z 3 
 
342 MIRACULOUS ESCAPE OF A MINER. 
 
 he shall lose his debt, and pay the charges in law.'* In a sub- 
 sequent clause it is enacted, " that no officer, for trespass or 
 debt, shall execute or serve any writ, warrant, or precept, 
 upon any miner, being at work in the mine, nor when the miners 
 come and go to the Barmote Court, but the barmaster or his 
 deputy only." These extracts are sufficient to shew how ex- 
 tensive and various the authority of the barmaster is ; they 
 likewise exemplify the peculiar nature of those provisions 
 which govern and regulate the practice of the miners of 
 Derbyshire. 
 
 From Wirksworth we proceeded along the old Derby road 
 to Cromford, and passed near the mine called Godbeheres 
 Founder, which has been rendered memorable from an occur- 
 rence that took place there about five-and-twenty years ago. 
 Two men, named Boden and Pearson, were working in the 
 mine at different depths, when the earth and water suddenly 
 rushed in upon them, and in one moment buried them alive in 
 the deep recess below. On the third day after the accident 
 happened Pearson was found dead amongst the rubbish, and 
 the men who were employed in clearing away the earth that 
 had choaked up the entrance into the mine, had now so little 
 hope of finding Boden alive that they were scarcely at all dis- 
 posed to persevere in their exertions. They were, however, 
 prevailed upon to proceed, until on the eighth day of their 
 labours they distinctly heard Boden's signal, and ascertained 
 that he was living. They now worked with greater energy, 
 but more care, for a few hours longer, when they found the 
 object of their search, weak and almost exhausted, but still in 
 existence, and fully sensible of the miraculous nature of his 
 escape. His recovery from the effects of this premature en- 
 tombment was slow but effectual, and he returned to his usual 
 employment in about fourteen weeks, and lived many years 
 afterwards. When this accident took place Boden was in the 
 lower part of the mine ; Pearson was at a windlass in the 
 drift above, when the earth rushed suddenly upon him, and 
 he was found dead amongst the mass. Boden's situation was 
 equally perilous, but the earth was stopped in its fall by a pro- 
 jection that considerably narrowed the shaft where he was. 
 Thus circumstanced, with no prospect before him but death, 
 this poor man passed eight days in this narrow cell, without 
 light or food, or wherewithal to quench his thirst, which he 
 felt more severely than any other deprivation. Hunger he 
 bore with fortitude ; thirst was intolerable ; and during the 
 
UNEXPECTED RENCONTRE. 343 
 
 whole of his confinement he was sufficiently sensible to feel all 
 the horrors of his situation. He likewise suffered greatly from 
 cold, but having a few yards to move in, he found a windlass, 
 and exercised himself in turning it, but by some mishap the 
 handle fell into the deep vacuity beneath, and he could not 
 recover it again. Deprived of this means of employment, he 
 still found something to do. In the shaft where he was im- 
 prisoned a rope was suspended over his head ; he clambered 
 up it, and working at the earth above him, he loosened a poB- 
 tion of it from its lodgements, which fell into the chasm at his 
 feet. While thus engaged he imagined he heard the noise of 
 men labouring for his release : he listened, and was almost 
 breathless with anxiety. The sound, for a time, instead of 
 invigorating, only paralized his exertions ; but while in this 
 situation he yet contrived to make the signal that he was alive 
 distinctly heard and understood. Shortly afterwards, he once 
 more saw the light of heaven, and human faces gazing upon 
 him, as if they had actually beheld a dead man rising from the 
 grave, and not a living body. He was, indeed, little better 
 than the apparition of a man : eight days of mental and bodily 
 suffering had reduced him to a mere skeleton, when compared 
 with what he had been ; and the pallid hue and altered expres- 
 sion of his countenance had nearly obliterated his personal 
 identity. In this state he was restored to his family, who felt 
 as if a being from the grave had burst " its cerements," and 
 the dead had returned to life. 
 
 We now passed over Cromford Moor, leaving the rocks of 
 Stonnis and the Gang Mine on our right; and after another 
 mile of descending ground, came upon the new road from 
 Matlock to Belper. The last time I saw this valley was in 
 October 1 822. I was on my way to Derby, and from thence 
 to London, and the author of the Wanderer of Switzerland 
 was one of my companions. Near the woods that cover the 
 hills opposite to Crich, while he was bidding me adieu, and 
 requesting me to be the bearer of his friendly remembrances 
 to the celebrated artist whose illustrations of the Peak Scenery 
 of Derbyshire adorn these pages, we observed a person by the 
 road-side hammering amongst the rocks for geological speci- 
 mens and vegetable impressions, with which they abound. 
 We approached him more nearly ; when, on lifting up his head, 
 we gazed upon him with surprise : the man of whom we were 
 conversing stood before us. We were mutually pleased with 
 this unexpected rencontre, and after spending a short time to- 
 
344 AUTUMNAL FOLIAGE. 
 
 gather, we separated at the place where we had met. The 
 poet, accompanied by the sculptor, returned to Matlock ; I 
 proceeded to Belper, where he met me a few hours afterwards : 
 we then travelled in the same carriage to within one mile of 
 Derby, when I left him at Darley Abbey, the temporary resi- 
 dence of Watts Russel, Esq. 
 
 The road from Cromford to within four miles of Derby is 
 carried along the side of the Derwent, through a succession of 
 the most beautiful dales in the country. The scenery is every 
 where marked with the same general character : high sloping 
 hills, luxuriantly wooded, form the two sides of the dale ; well 
 cultivated meadows lie between, and in the deepest hollow of 
 the valley, the Derwent, which throughout the whole of its 
 windings is a noble stream, rushes rapidly over its bed, 
 amongst trees of as stately a growth as ever adorned the 
 margin of a river. My readers will call to recollection the 
 date of my excursion through those delightful vales that 
 separate Matlock from Belper, and the bright Italian summer 
 which preceded the autumn of 1822. It was October, but I 
 never saw the trees more beautiful : in some places, the alders, 
 by the side of the Derwent, formed a dark green margin of 
 wood; beyond these, and occasionally mingled with them, 
 every variety of tint that leaves can possibly assume was dis- 
 played, and blended together in that harmonious manner 
 which nature invariably observes in the management of all 
 her colouring. The ash had lost none of its leaves ; some 
 of them, indeed, were yet of a deep green ; others had put 
 on a livery of pale and beauteous yellow : the elms were 
 richly varied ; every hue, from a lively green to the deepest 
 orange, marked the foliage, all sliding into each other by the 
 nicest gradations, as beautifully as the colours of the rainbow. 
 
 I had parted with one artist amongst the woods of Alder- 
 wesley, and was proceeding on foot to Belper, accompanied by 
 another. Near Hot Stanwell Bridge we were overtaken by 
 a shower of rain. A high hill, covered with majestic wood, 
 was immediately before us : the sun shone brightly through 
 an opening amongst the clouds, and strongly illuminating the 
 falling shower, converted the watery particles, as they de- 
 scended, into drops of light. The leaves of the trees were 
 freshly wet, and glowed with the richest colouring, which the 
 filmy but transparent veil thrown over them had softened and 
 subdued, but not obscured. A screen of lofty trees, in deep 
 shadow, lay between us and this vivid picture, and we looked 
 
WALK TO HELPER. 345 
 
 through the intervening spaces upon the brilliant scene be- 
 yond. The effect was transient, but full of beauty, and we 
 loitered about this picturesque spot until the rich sunny 
 gleam, which had just " lighted up the storm," had passed 
 away. 
 
 After a walk of another four or five miles, by the side of 
 the Derwent, amongst high hills and overhanging woods, we 
 reached Belper, a place that, within less than half a century, 
 from a little village has become a populous and thriving 
 town. 
 
346 
 
 SECTION IX. 
 
 Recurrence to a former Visit to Belper. Bridge Hill. 
 ofBelperfrom the Road to Heage. Pentrich. Revolu- 
 tionists of 1817. Roman Station on Pentrich Common. 
 Alfreton. Hardwick Park. Hardwick Hall and Pic- 
 ture Gallery. 
 
 1 HAD been at Belper on a former occasion : it was the most 
 southern point of my excursions, and the last place I visited 
 within the mountainous districts of Derbyshire. I shall, 
 therefore, in my present detail, follow the route I then pur- 
 sued, and bring my various rambles in this interesting county 
 to a speedy termination. My remaining observations will 
 therefore be brief. Belper is one of the most flourishing 
 towns in Derbyshire ; the old part of it, although not actually 
 hidden amongst better and more modern erections, is but a very 
 insignificant portion of the whole place. New buildings, with 
 neat exteriors, flower gardens, orchards, and plantations, are 
 fast spreading along the rising grounds on one side of the 
 Derwent ; on the other is Bridge Hill, the residence of G. 
 B. Strutt, Esq. most delightfully situated on an eminence 
 that swells gracefully from the margin of the river, and com- 
 mands an uninterrupted view of the many lovely spots and 
 comfortable habitations that are scattered around his dwelling. 
 When he arises in the morning, looks across the vale be- 
 fore him, contemplates the moral improvement, the rapid 
 increase, and the present consequence of Belper, he may 
 with fervent arid honest exultation say, " Blessed be the me- 
 mory of my father ; he has brought order and beauty out of 
 rude and chaotic materials, and given richness and fertility to 
 a once-neglected and barren waste." 
 
 From Belper, my companion and myself had a long tract 
 of country to traverse before we reached Alfreton, the next 
 place where we intended to make a pause. We ascended the 
 
BRANDRETH AND HIS ASSOCIATES. 347 
 
 hill towards Heage, and having attained the summit, we 
 turned to gaze upon the scene we were leaving, before we 
 proceeded on our journey. On our right, and on our left, 
 lay a long range of lofty eminences ; before us, hills of great 
 altitude and steep acclivity rose from the margin of the Der- 
 went, which was seen winding through the valley far below. 
 I remember to have passed these hills when they were nearly 
 barren from their base to their highest elevations ; I now 
 beheld their lofty slopes every where cultivated, and the dales 
 between beautifully wooded and adorned with buildings. What 
 was once a little village only had now become a populous 
 town. The capacious valley in which Belper is situated is 
 the seat of great mechanical skill and commercial enterprise ; 
 a spirit of industry has moved over the face of it, and orchards 
 and gardens, villas and plantations, have succeeded, and a 
 wilderness of naked hills has been transformed into a para- 
 dise of beauty. Beholding such a scene as this, and con- 
 templating the power that called its beautiful adornments into 
 existence, I could bless the spirit of trade, and almost forget 
 the consequences that result from the erection of immense 
 factories, and the hardship of peopling them with children of 
 both sexes as soon as they have passed the years of infancy, 
 and making their pliant sinews and tender hands perform the 
 work of adults, at a time when they should be either running 
 wild about the fields, like nature's heirlings, or receiving les- 
 sons that might prepare them for the society of their fellow 
 creatures, and have a beneficial influence on their future lives. 
 About four miles from Belper we passed through Pentrich, 
 a small village, but of some note in the local history of this 
 district. During the wars between King Charles the First 
 and the parliamentary forces of that period, Pentrich Common 
 was the theatre of military operations; and in the year 1817 
 it was the scene of one of the most silly and absurd attempts 
 that ever entered into the contemplation of men. Here, in 
 the month of June, an infatuated rabble, nearly without arms 
 and destitute of a leader, assembled together for the purpose, 
 as they avowed, of overturning the government of the country. 
 Such conduct would really excite contempt, were not the 
 consequences frequently of too serious a character to admit 
 of such a feeling. These misguided men entertained the idea 
 of progressively increasing their number by terror. As they 
 proceeded, they demanded arms and men at every dwelling ; 
 and being denied admittance at a house in the vicinity of 
 
348 ANTIQUITY OF ALFRKTON. 
 
 Pentrich Common, Brandreth, the reputed captain of this 
 " set of lawless resolutes," shot a man who refused to ac- 
 company him in this mad expedition. More outrageous con- 
 duct never characterised the proceedings of any body of men, 
 however hardened and atrocious they had previously been. 
 The scheme ended, as all such attempts generally do, in the 
 speedy dispersion of the force collected, and the consequent 
 punishment of the most active. About forty of these revo- 
 lutionists were convicted at the ensuing Derby assizes. Bran- 
 dreth, the murderer of the man at Mrs. Hepworth's house, 
 was executed, as he richly deserved ; two of his less culpable 
 associates shared the same fate, and the greater part of the 
 others, who had pleaded guilty, were transported. 
 
 It is impossible to think of this transaction without revert- 
 ing to the generally disturbed state of the country when the 
 South Winneld and Pentrich men undertook their hazardous 
 expedition, and the means that were resorted to to organize 
 disaffection and foment disturbances. The agents in this 
 wicked business were far more reprehensible than the men 
 whom they misled ; they were labouring under many priva- 
 tions, their sufferings had made them , desperate, ancl pre- 
 pared them for the commission of crime and outrage. Under 
 such circumstances, it was worse than cruel to send spies and 
 informers among them, to make theno rebels, that they might 
 be punished for being so. 
 
 On Pentrich Common, the scene of a Roman encampment 
 may be traced : its form is nearly square, and the indications 
 of a double vallum, by which it is distinguished, are not yet 
 entirely obliterated. This is supposed to have been the first 
 Roman station north of Little Chester, from whence it is only 
 twelve miles distant. The Rev. Mr. Pegge, the antiquary, in 
 his observations on the Roman roads in Derbyshire, has 
 fixed the intermediate establishment between Little Chester 
 and Chesterfield at, or near to, Higham ; but this supposi- 
 tion divides the distance very unequally : it is therefore more 
 probable, that Pentrich Common was the site of this middle 
 station, and the present remains there favour the opinion. 
 
 Another two miles walk brought us to ALFRETON, a small 
 market town, said to have been founded by Alfred the Great, 
 and originally called ALFRED-TOWN, a tradition which is 
 countenanced by Cam-den himself. It is indeed pretended 
 that King Alfred once resided here ; and some individuals, 
 fond of making discoveries, are ingenious enough to point out 
 
HARDWICK PARK. 349 
 
 the place where the palace of this monarch once stood. This 
 probably is all idle and groundless conjecture, but that it is a 
 town of great antiquity can hardly be doubted. In the 
 Doomsday record it is called Elstretune, and it made a part 
 of the extensive possessions originally bestowed upon Roger 
 de Busli, a Norman chieftain who accompanied William the 
 Conqueror on his successful expedition to this country. Sub- 
 sequently it belonged to Ranulph, Lord of Alfreton, whose 
 son Robert was the founder of Beauchief Abbey ; afterwards 
 it became the property of a family of the name of Latham. 
 The Chaworths, the Babingtons of Dethick, and the Zouches 
 of Codnor Castle, it successively belonged to, from the latter 
 of whom it was purchased by the Moorewoods, who have 
 now possessed it for nearly two centuries. The family man- 
 sion stands upon a hill finely embosomed amongst majestic 
 trees, the growth of many a century. The church occupies 
 a pleasant situation near tne house. It is an ancient, and in 
 some respects a rude structure ; but its embattled tower, 
 surmounted with knotted pinnacles, rising out of the mass of 
 wood by which it is nearly surrounded, has a pleasing and 
 even picturesque effect from many situations in the vicinity of 
 Alfreton. The town contains about two hundred houses; 
 there is a good inn and post-house in it, and stockings and 
 a common brown earthen-ware are manufactured in the place. 
 From Alfreton we left South Normanton and Blackwell 
 on our right, and passed through Tibshelf to Hardwick, one 
 of the principal objects which had induced us to cross this 
 part of the country. Approaching the hall, we traversed an 
 extensive park well stocked with deer, and clothed with trees, 
 whose knarled trunks and broad-spreading foliage bespoke 
 them the monarchs of the scene, in the midst of which they 
 had flourished for ages. Symptoms of decay were seen in 
 some of their scathed and weather-beaten ramifications, and 
 their appearance excited a feeling of regret that their sylvan 
 honours were on the wane, and that the ravages of time had 
 desolated any of their branches. Pensive emotions are always 
 excited by a contemplation of the dilapidating march of this 
 mighty destroyer, but the objects that exhibit the deepest 
 impress of his frequent footsteps are rendered more truly 
 venerable by the change. The man whose brow is furrowed 
 with age, the oak of the forest that has stood the pelting 
 of many pityless winters, and whose boughs are scantily co- 
 vered with foliage, and nearly sapless, the ancient hall or 
 
350 HARDWICK HALL. 
 
 castle, mouldering away and sinking into ruins, are infinitely 
 more picturesque to the eye, and more interesting to the 
 mind, than mere beauty of form and fulness of perfection clan 
 possibly be. 
 
 Hardwick was built by Elizabeth, the celebrated Countess 
 of Shrewsbury ; and the parapets, that, like a light and grace- 
 ful coronet, crest the structure, exhibit some rich carved open- 
 work in stone, where the letters E. S., the initials of the 
 countess, repeatedly occur. Hardwick is a magnificent old- 
 fashioned edifice, and its four towers, when seen at a distance, 
 amongst the woods by which they are encompassed, have a 
 grand and imposing effect, but when nearly beheld, they lose 
 their consequence. This place, which is now the property of 
 the Devonshire family, and occasionally the residence of the 
 present duke, was built about the middle of the sixteenth cen- 
 tury. It is certainly a stately mansion, but rather singular 
 than beautiful : a long connected series of large windows in- 
 serted in huge stone frames, with comparatively but little space 
 between, the whole arranged in regular divisions, and formed 
 into spacious bays that project from within, with intervening 
 recesses without, constitute the whole of Hardwick ; which, in 
 its general character and appearance, may not inaptly be com- 
 pared to an immense but magnificent lantern, This house, 
 indeed, seems to have been designed as an experiment, to as- 
 certain how little of stone and how much of glass might possibly 
 be combined together in the formation of a splendid edifice. 
 A flood of light is admitted into all the apartments at Hard- 
 wick, and a person seated within them has an ample and 
 almost uninterrupted view of the scenery without. The rooms 
 are lofty and spacious, some of them enormous, and, where 
 they are not wainscotted half way from the floor, they are 
 hung with loose tapestry, now strangely faded, and never good. 
 Above, the walls are filled with figures and designs in plaster, 
 uncouthly formed, and very indifferently executed. A pro- 
 fusion of ornament, made up of miserable relievos in stucco, 
 covers the ceilings ; but such was the taste of the age when 
 this costly mansion was erected ; and altogether it affords a 
 good specimen of the architecture and the style of decoration 
 that prevailed in the days of Elizabeth. 
 
 The gallery at Hardwick is an immense apartment, every 
 where hung with pictures, chiefly portraits, but many of them 
 are placed at so great a height from the eye that their excel- 
 lence, if they have any, cannot be felt. There is however 
 
 21 
 
PICTURE GALLERY. 351 
 
 one use in storing this vast room with portraits, even though 
 as works of art they do not individually possess much merit : 
 there is no being amongst these numerous resemblances of 
 men without receiving serious and salutary impressions ; men 
 who, while they " strutted and fretted" away their little hour 
 of human existence, attracted the attention and obtained the 
 honours and regards of mankind, possessed splendid palaces, 
 and had a crowd of followers to do them homage, but who 
 now have no habitation but the grave. It is not the skill of 
 the artist alone that imparts to these portraits their most 
 powerful interest, but the associations they excite, and the 
 train of thinking and tone of feeling produced on beholding 
 them. We have here the likenesses of many dignified and 
 noble personages, and of some who are known only by name, 
 or remembered perhaps for something that had better be for- 
 gotten. Here is the picture of Henry the Eighth, by Holbein, 
 which I have previously noticed in my observations on Chats- 
 worth; of Elizabeth, the arbitrary daughter of this haughty 
 monarch, who, whatever were her excellencies in some res- 
 pects, one cannot love. Near the resemblance of this cruel 
 queen is the unfortunate Mary Queen of Scots, not in the 
 zenith of her beauty, but with a countenance faded, and 
 marked with grief and suffering. Here too is Stephen Gar- 
 diner, the persecuting Bishop of Winchester, and others, 
 likewise, who revive unpleasant recollections, and whose por- 
 traits are beheld with emotions remote from love and venera- 
 tion. In this gallery there are some good pictures of the 
 Devonshire family, one of the most splendid of which is the 
 long-armed duke on horseback. His horse is richly capari- 
 soned, and he is himself gaily dressed, as if for the purpose of 
 exhibition. The picture is, nevertheless, a valuable pro- 
 duction ; it is well painted, and displays an accurate portraiture 
 of the splendid costume in which the duke sometimes ap- 
 peared. The most pleasing effort of the pencil which I 
 noticed at Hardwick is a fancy portrait of the beautiful 
 Duchess of Devonshire, the mother of the present duke. She 
 is standing amongst the clouds in the character of Diana, with 
 the crescent beaming on her forehead. Advancing from out 
 the dark starry sky, the clouds appear to recede before her, 
 and to be lighted up by the effulgence that emanates from her. 
 There is a fine poetic feeling in this picture, and the whole is 
 exquisitely managed. 
 
 Hardwick Hall was another of the prisons of the Queen of 
 
352 MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS AT HARDWICK. 
 
 Scots, and some of her needle-work is still preserved with 
 great care, particularly the covers of a set of chairs, a counter- 
 pane, and the hangings of a bed, all richly and beautifully 
 embroidered. Mrs. Ann Radcliffe, the author of the Myste- 
 ries of Udolpho, &c. &c. in her Northern Tour, when 
 speaking of Hard wick, observes, that " the second floor is 
 that which gives its chief interest to this edifice, as nearly all 
 the apartments were allotted to Mary, and the furniture is 
 known by other proofs than its appearance to remain as she 
 left it." From Hardwick we proceeded to Bolsover, which I 
 shall make the subject of the last section of my excursions in 
 Derbyshire. 
 
353 
 
 SECTION X. 
 
 Walk from Hardwick to BoLsover. Bolsover. The Buckle 
 Manufacture formerly there. Bolsover Church. The Dead 
 Robin. Bolsover Castle. Ancient Fountain. Historical 
 Notice of Bolsover Castle. The Terrace, Rampart, and 
 Watch Towers. King Charles 1 Visit to Bolsover. Renishaiso 
 Hall. Return to Sheffield, 'Retrospection. Conclusion. 
 
 A PEDESTRIAN ramble of a few miles through Hardwick 
 Park, and by Glapwell, the seat of B. Hallows, Esq. brought 
 us to Bolsover ; and I have not, in any of my excursions, found 
 a more delightful walk. A foot-path is carried along the 
 brow of a hill, which overlooks the beautiful mansion and 
 grounds of Sutton : on the right, situated at one extremity of 
 the same eminence, is Bolsover Castle : on the left, the towers 
 of Hardwick Hall, rising majestically over the surrounding 
 woods, occupy the other : in the middle of this graceful sweep 
 of hill lies the village of Palterton. The houses are all ranged 
 on one side of the road ; the other is open to a wide expanse of 
 valley, rich in culture, and beautifully adorned with nearly 
 every object that can give a charm to landscape. 
 
 BOLSOVER is a populous village only ; it was once a market 
 town ; and it still retains many indications of an importance 
 which has passed away. The inhabitants are now almost 
 entirely employed in agricultural pursuits: formerly a con- 
 siderable manufacture of spurs and buckles was carried on in 
 this place. These were made in a very superior manner of 
 the best malleable iron, and then hardened on the surface 
 only, that they might admit of a fine polish. The process of 
 hardening used by the buckle-makers of Bolsover, is techni- 
 cally called case-hardening, and is well known amongst those 
 who are connected with the manufacture of articles of steel 
 and iron ; to those who are not it may be useful to intimate 
 that iron, properly so called, is incapable of receiving a very 
 
 A A 
 
354 MONUMENTS IN BOLSOVER CHURCH. 
 
 high polish ; the buckles and spurs were therefore formed and 
 filed into shape when in the state of iron only ; the exterior 
 surface was then converted into steel by a peculiar process, in 
 which burnt bones, and ashes made from the leather of old 
 shoes, were generally used. The manufactured article was 
 now internally iron, and therefore not liable to be easily 
 broken, but the exterior surface was converted into the purest 
 steel, and fitted to receive the most brilliant polish that can 
 possibly be imparted to this beautiful metal. 
 
 The land in the neighbourhood of Bolsover is very good, 
 and the rents reasonable, not more on an average than twenty 
 shillings an acre : the farmers are therefore many of them in 
 easy and comfortable circumstances. Those xvho are esteemed 
 the best managers pursue the following routine ; they lay down 
 their land in fallow every four or five years, and generally get 
 a crop of turnips at the end of the fallow ; they have then, 
 first year, wheat, second, clover, the third wheat again, and 
 the fourth oats. 
 
 Bolsover church is but a plain and homely structure with- 
 out, but within it is neat and even handsome. In a small 
 chapel, which has been added to the original building, there 
 are some costly monuments ; one of them contains a group of 
 figures in alabaster, and all the parts are richly and elabora- 
 tely ornamented : another to the memory of H. Cavendish, 
 Duke of Newcastle, is composed of different coloured mate- 
 rials, chiefly marbles. In design it is architectural : the co- 
 lumns that form part of the composition are lofty, and two 
 figures in white marble occupy the pediment they support : 
 emblematic devices, honorary inscriptions, and a variety of 
 decorative sculpture, are scattered about this splendid monu- 
 ment, My visit here was in autumn : at this season of the 
 year the red-breast begins to leave the fields and the woods, 
 and resort to .the hedges and trees of the cottage garden : 
 there he warbles forth his matins and his vespers amongst the 
 habitations of men : grown more familiar, he enters their 
 dwellings and picks his food from their tables. A robin at 
 Bolsover had flown into the chancel of the church, and unable 
 to obtain subsistence, where, perhaps, there was neither a 
 crumb of bread, nor a living thing besides himself, he had 
 perched upon this sumptuous monument, chaunted forth his 
 own melancholy requiem, and died amonst the tombs of the 
 noble and the great. When I found him, life seemed to have 
 only just departed; his plumage was fresh and unruffled, and 
 
BOLSOVER CASTLE. 355 
 
 lie occupied a situation on the monument as if he had been a 
 part of the design of the artist : no red-breast had ever a more 
 splendid sepulchre. A few months afterwards, when looking 
 over the museum of a friend, I regretted that 1 had not 
 brought away and preserved this bird, to complete his collec- 
 tion. " Here," said he, " you see every British bird, from 
 the eagle to the wren, with the exception of the robin him 
 I can catch and kill at any time whenever I want him, but 
 he shall live until then." 
 
 The church-yard at Bolsover is a remarkably clean and 
 neat looking place. The grave stones are placed in an up- 
 right position at the head of the grave, and many of them 
 contain devices and inscriptions that refer to the uncertainty of 
 life, and the evanescent nature of all human enjoyments. 
 This resting-place of the departed is capacious, and when I 
 saw it, it was covered with a fresh and cheerful verdure. The 
 turf is here but rarely disturbed, and when it is, the removal 
 appears to be done with care, and, as soon as the body is in- 
 terred, the grass sod is again laid upon the place. 
 
 BOLSOVER CASTLE, the place we next visited, occupies the 
 plain of a rocky hill, that rises abruptly from the meadows. 
 This building is of great extent, and, from the elevated situ- 
 ation it possesses, it is a land-mark for the country round. 
 The various parts of which the structure denominated Bolsover 
 Castle is composed, were built at different periods. The north- 
 east end, which was erected by Sir Charles Cavendish, about 
 the year 1613, is the oldest: it is now occupied. A broad 
 flight of steps leads to the entrance, and over the door is a 
 kneeling figure of a Hercules, who supports on his shoulders 
 a heavy balcony, that seems to oppress him with its weight ; 
 two lions sculptured in stone stand by his side. The interior 
 of this portion of Bolsover Castle exhibits a curious specimen 
 of the domestic arrangements, and accommodations of the age 
 when it was built. The rooms are small, and the walls are 
 wainscotted and fancifully inlaid and painted. The ceilings of 
 the best apartments are carved and gilt, and nearly the whole 
 of the floors are coated with plaster. In the pillar-hall there 
 are some old portraits of little or no value, and the labours of 
 Hercules are painted in different compartments. The star- 
 chamber has been richly gilt and carved, and the walls are 
 decorated with the portraits of twelve Roman emperors. The 
 only comfortable apartment that I observed in this old struc- 
 ture, is now called the drawing-room, a name it has recently 
 
 A A 2 
 
356 PILLAR PARLOUR. ANCIENT FOUNTAIN. 
 
 assumed in place of the pillar-parlour, by which designation 
 it was formerly known. A column of stone is placed in the 
 middle of the room : the capital is the point from whence the 
 ramifications of an arched ceiling branch ; the walls are wain- 
 seotted, and many old-fashioned devices, partly gilt, are intro- 
 duced amongst the ornaments. Emblematical representations 
 of the five senses, all very indifferently painted, occupy various 
 compartments round the top of the room, and the windows are 
 formed and fashioned to correspond with the interior deco- 
 rations. We had wandered over a great part of Bolsover 
 Castle before we entered this apartment, where, in the days of 
 chivalry and romance, " courtly dames and barons bold" com- 
 muned with each other. Whilst my companion proceeded 
 onwards, I sat down in a corner of the room to meditate on 
 those " by-gone" days: a species of delusion, of which I have 
 sometimes been the sport, soon began to interfere with the 
 realities of the scene : a train of thinking, in which I was dis- 
 posed to indulge, was soon succeeded by an almost complete 
 abstraction from every thing like thought, and the mind was 
 bewildered amidst its own creations : while thus absorbed, the 
 wind swept gently over the strings of an Eolian harp, and the 
 soft strain swelled wildly to the breeze, then died away in 
 sounds, that the ear followed with eagerness, until all was still. 
 The effect of these mysterious strains, breathed out in such a 
 place at such a time, and the breathless pause that succeeded 
 their close, I have sometimes endeavoured to recal to recol- 
 lection, but how feeble is the impression that now remains ! 
 
 A long and narrow flight of stairs brought us to the roof 
 of this building, from whence the view is nearly boundless ; 
 earth and sky, as we gazed upon the prospect around us, were 
 blended together in the far-off horizon, and the boundary line 
 was lost in the indistinct haze of distance. Descending from 
 our elevation, we visited the garden, which is surrounded with 
 a high wall, about three yards thick. In this garden there is 
 an old fountain of curious and expensive workmanship. The 
 Rev. S. Pegge, in his history of Bolsover Castle, has inserted 
 two or three very indifferent sketches of this fountain, accom- 
 panied with a communication on the subject, from Major 
 Rooke, who speaks in terms of commendation of the elegance 
 of the whole design, and the great excellence of the sculpture : 
 it is certainly a singular, but not an- elegant structure : it is 
 ornamented with griffins, birds, satyrs, and niches, in which 
 are the busts of eight Roman emperors. A more curious 
 
HUNTINGDON SMITHSON. 357 
 
 assemblage of objects can hardly be imagined, and by what 
 cunning they have been brought together to decorate a 
 fountain, it is equally difficult to conceive. The rusticated 
 pedestal, that forms the central part of this fountain, is sur- 
 mounted with a statue of Venus in the action of stepping out 
 of a bath, with some wet drapery thrown over her arm, but 
 she is altogether as unlovely in form and feature as any Venus 
 can possibly be. 
 
 My observations hitherto have only extended to that part 
 of Bolsover Castle that was formerly denominated the Little 
 House, to distinguish it from the more magnificent structure 
 near, which we proceeded to explore. This immense fabric, 
 whose walls are now roofless and rent into fissures, was built 
 by William, the first Duke of Newcastle, some time in the 
 course of the reign of the Second Charles; but it is said never 
 to have been entirely finished; yet there are some appearances 
 about it that lead to a different conclusion. The interior walls, 
 that now exhibit nothing but bare stones, have evidently been 
 wainscotted, in conformity to the taste that then prevailed, 
 and the iron hooks on which the huge shutters for the windows 
 hinged, are worn with frequent use ; it does not however ap- 
 pear that this immense edifice was ever long inhabited. The 
 doors, the windows, and the different apartments about it, 
 have all been designed on a scale of magnitude beyond what 
 is common in such structures ; every thing appears enormous : 
 the principal apartment now remaining is two hundred and 
 twenty feet by twenty-eight; and the whole western part, in- 
 cluding the Little House at the northern extremity, extends 
 about one hundred and fifty yards. 
 
 Huntingdon Smithson, an architect who has been honoured 
 with the notice of Horace Walpole, is understood to have fur- 
 nished the designs for Bolsover Castle, but he did not live to 
 witness its erection. He collected his materials from Italy, 
 where he was sent by the Duke of Newcastle for the purpose. 
 Smithson died at Bolsover in the year 1648, and was buried 
 in the chancel of the church, where there is a poetic inscrip- 
 tion to his memory, in which his skill in architecture is a 
 principal feature. Walpole says, that " Many of his draw- 
 ings were purchased by the late Lord Byron from his de- 
 scendants, who lived at Bolsover :" hence it appears that he 
 was a man of considerable eminence in his profession. The 
 immense pile of building that his genius contributed to pro- 
 duce, is gradually, though slowly, wearing away. Trees now 
 
 A A 3 
 
358 TERRACE AND RAMPARTS. 
 
 grow in some of the apartments, and the ivy creeps along the 
 walls ; but there is nothing strikingly picturesque in any part 
 of the structure which is now in ruins. The best view of 
 Bolsover castle is from the road, on the north-east entrance 
 into the town, from a place called Iron Cliff'. From the 
 Chesterfield road below, a good view of the whole structure 
 may be obtained, but the almost total want of majestic trees 
 and luxuriant foliage, renders it but an indifferent subject for 
 the pencil. 
 
 A broad terrace commences at the northern extremity of 
 Bolsover Castle, and extends along the whole front of the 
 building ; it then sweeps round the southern side of the vil- 
 lage, and inclines towards the east. On the right border of 
 this terrace four watch-towers yet remain ; they stand on the 
 brow of a natural rocky rampart, that terminates against the 
 ridge of hill along which we had just passed in our walk from 
 Hardwick through Glapwell and Palterton. Where this 
 junction takes place an artificial rampart, with a deep ditch, 
 commences and spans the other half of Boise' cr from the 
 south to the north-east. 
 
 Bolsover has been the site of a castle from the Norman 
 Conquest to the present time ; but of the first fabric of this 
 description not a singe vestige now remains. When the 
 Doomsday Survey was made it belonged to William Peveril, 
 Lord of Derbyshire, in whose family it remained for three 
 generations. King John, when Earl of Moreton, became the 
 possessor of Bolsover ; but during his contention with Long- 
 champ, Bishop of Ely, it became the property of that prelate. 
 Subsequently it again reverted to John, who, " in the 
 eighteenth year of his reign, issued a mandate to Bryan de 
 L'Isle, the .then governor of Bolsover, to fortify the castle, 
 and hold it against the rebellious barons ; or if he could not 
 make it tenable, to demolish it." *- This no doubt was the 
 period when the fortifications, yet visible about Bolsover, were 
 established. In the long and tumultuous reign of the third 
 Henry, this castle still retained its consequence. William 
 Earl Ferrars had the government of it for six years : after- 
 wards, it had eleven different governors in twice that term. 
 It is not necessary to trace this place through all its possessors. 
 In the reign of Henry the Eighth it was the property of 
 
 * Dugdale Bar. Vol. I. page 757. 
 
RENISHAW HALL. 359 
 
 Thomas Howard, the first Duke of Norfolk. On the at- 
 tainder of his son this castle escheated to the crown. Shortly 
 afterwards it was granted to Sir John Byron for fifty years. 
 In the reign of James the First, Gilbert Talbot, Earl of 
 Shrewsbury, was the owner of Bolsover. In the year 1613, 
 he sold it to Sir Charles Cavendish, whose eldest son William 
 was the first Duke of Newcastle, a personage of great emi- 
 nence amongst the nobility of his time, and in high favour at 
 court. He was sincerely attached to his royal master Charles 
 the First, whom he entertained at Bolsover Castle, on three 
 different occasions, in a style of princely magnificence. On 
 the King's second visit here, when he was accompanied by 
 his Queen, upwards of fifteen thousand pounds were ex- 
 pended. The Duchess of Newcastle, in her Life of the Duke, 
 her husband, says, " The Earl employed Ben Jonson in fitting 
 up such scenes and speeches as he could devise ; and sent for 
 all the country to come and wait on their Majesties ; and, in 
 short, did all that ever he could imagine to render it great, 
 and worthy nf their royal acceptance." It was this nobleman 
 who erected the edifice which is now in ruins. Mr. Bray, 
 in his Tour in Derbyshire, observes, " This place was seized 
 by the Parliament after the Duke went abroad, and was sold, 
 and begun to be pulled down, but was then bought by Sir 
 Charles, the Duke's youngest brother, and so restored to the 
 family." 
 
 In our way from Bolsover we took the Road to Renishaw, 
 leaving Stavely in the valley on our left. We had now but 
 few observations to make during the remainder of our ex- 
 cursion ; we therefore passed rapidly over scenes, which, 
 under other circumstances, might have delayed our steps, 
 and excited admiration : we, however, made a pause at 
 Renishaw, the residence of Sir George Sitwell, and the last 
 delightful spot that attracted our attention amongst the scenery 
 of Derbyshire. Renishaw Hall is situated on a gentle ele- 
 vation amongst groves of trees, lofty in growth and beautiful 
 in foliage. The park is spacious, and the gardens and the 
 pleasure-grounds are laid out with great taste, and exhibit a 
 very favourable specimen of the present improved style of 
 landscape gardening in England. The scenery that surrounds 
 this elegant mansion, although not of a sublime and elevated 
 character, is full of rural and sylvan beauty. 
 
 We were now but a short distance from Sheffield, where 
 we terminated our long and laborious peregrination. Having 
 
 A A 4 
 
360 RETROSPECTION. 
 
 regained my home, I sat down quietly at my fireside, and 
 took a brief retrospect of the principal scenes I had passed 
 during my various excursions amongst the hills and dales of 
 Derbyshire. Imagination moved rapidly over East Moor, 
 the boundary line of separation between the coal and lime- 
 stone districts of the county : Eyam, with its interesting local 
 history, Tideswell, the River Wye, Buxton and its numerous 
 improvements, Miller's Dale, Monsal Dale, Bakewell, Had- 
 don Hall, Chatsworth, and the River Derwent, were all pre- 
 sented in succession to my view, as beautiful, as brilliant, and 
 as full of change, as the figures in a Kaleidoscope : the Lath- 
 kill,- with its bright transparent stream, Alport, the friendly 
 hospitality of Stantori, the recent loss of a dear friend, and 
 the domestic afflictions there. The pleasurable iccollections 
 connected with this place were chequered with emotions of a 
 very different description ; the peculiarly kind and friendly 
 attentions of the late Henry Bache Thornhill, Esq. will long 
 have a place amongst my most cherished remembrances. 
 Unworthy should I be of the esteem with which he honoured 
 me while living, if, " while memory holds a seat within my 
 brain," I could either forget him or cease to lament his loss. 
 In the autumn of 1821 he went to France, with the hope 
 that a change of climate might restore the health of a beloved 
 daughter, just blooming into womanhood : his hopes and 
 wishes were alike defeated, and he shortly followed her to 
 the grave. Early in 1822 he returned to England, for a few 
 weeks only, and in June he wrote me an affectionate adieu 
 from Stanton. He was again visiting the country where the 
 mortal remains of his daughter were interred, and from 
 whence he never returned. In a few months after his arrival 
 on the Continent, a severe illness terminated his existence at 
 Tours, in France. These were not the only privations his 
 family were destined to suffer : in the succeeding month of 
 May, his eldest son, a young man about nineteen years of 
 age, of great acquirements, died at his father's house in Mon- 
 tague-Square, London. This brief but affecting history of 
 domestic calamity is given with a feeling of sorrow, and as a 
 testimony of attachment to the memory of a man whom I 
 shall ever remember with affection : his death has left a chasm 
 in my friendships, but his kindness and character will remain 
 indelibly impressed upon my mind. Peace to his ashes ! 
 
 From this gloomy subject I once more recurred to the re- 
 capitulation of my excursions : my third closed with the ro- 
 
CONCLUSION. 361 
 
 mantic and luxuriant scenery of Matlock ; my last included a 
 vast extent of country, and a great variety of objects : Norton, 
 the birth-place of Chantrey, Whittington, the Centenary 
 Commemoration of the Revolution there. Chesterfield, the 
 Rainbow-Scene from Stainage, Ashover, the Majestic Ruins 
 of South Winfield, Crich, Via Gellia, the Well-Flowering 
 at Tissington, Ashbourne, Dove Dale, Ham, Belper, Hard- 
 wick, Bolsover, and Renishaw, all came into the review of 
 places I had visited, and the sensations and emotions with 
 which the scenery of these gems in English landscape was 
 beheld, were once more felt and recognised. 
 
 In the progress of this work, which I have now brought to 
 a close, I have experienced both trouble and anxiety ; it lias 
 likewise been attended with gratifications and pleasures of no 
 common order : I have learnt accurately to note the appear- 
 ances of nature, and to relish her various beauties. In my 
 perambulations in Derbyshire, I have been taught to " look 
 through nature up to nature's God," and, under the canopy 
 of heaven, in the midst of open fields, heathy wastes, and 
 rocks, and mountains, I have felt those sublime and elevated 
 emotions, which neither temples built with hands, nor the 
 crowded assemblies of men, could excite. " My task is 
 done," and with the exception of what memory may once 
 more call into existence, the pains and pleasures that have 
 attended it are at an end. 
 
 " My task is done; my song hath ceased ; my theme 
 Has died into an echo ; it is fit 
 The spell should break of this protracted dream : 
 The torch shall be extinguish'd which hath lit 
 My midnight lamp and what is writ is writ 
 Would it were worthier ! but I am not now 
 That which I have boen and my visions flit 
 Less palpably before me and the glow 
 Which in my spirit dwells, is fluttering, faint, and low." 
 
 LORD BYRON'* CkUde Harold. 
 
 September 1823. 
 
362 
 
 PEAK ARCHERY. 
 
 SINCE the last page of these Excursions was written and in 
 the press, the Derbyshire Peak Archery Meeting has been 
 held at Chatsworth, and numerously and brilliantly attended. 
 This society of Bowmen originated with the Duke of Devon- 
 shire, who is its head and patron. This distinguished noble- 
 man lives in a style of princely magnificence. Wherever he is, 
 whether at his beautiful paladian villa } on the borders of the 
 Thames at Chiswick, at Devonshire House in Piccadilly, or at 
 his Palace of the Peak, at Chatsworth, the gaieties and the 
 elegancies of life are there also. Wherever he moves a 
 thousand fashionable satellites attend upon him ; and at the 
 Derbyshire Bow Meeting his accustomed influence brought 
 around his person both the noble and the lowly born, from 
 those who rode in carriages, blazoned with coronets or ar- 
 morial bearings, to the humble pedestrian, who, for many a 
 weary mile, had plodded it on foot across the heathy moors 
 that surround his mansion. The day was delightful ; and a 
 fine day, in such a climate as ours, is a wonderful exhilarator 
 of the animal spirits. When the air is chill or humid, and the 
 sky covered with clouds, the gloom that prevails without not 
 unfrequently throws a shadow over the sunshine of the heart, 
 and saddens the feelings ; but the day when the archers of the 
 Peak were assembled was one of the finest of the year ; and the 
 rains, which had fallen in copious showers at intervals for six 
 or eight weeks preceding, had given an uncommon freshness 
 to the verdure of the park. The foliage of the trees had recovered 
 from the shrivelled state in which it had been left by the 
 blights and unseasonable frosts, that had not only lingered 
 about departing winter, and " chilled the lap of May," but 
 had actually trespassed upon the brighter months of summer. 
 The lime-trees in Chatsworth Park are some of the finest in 
 
PEAK ARCHERY. 363 
 
 the county, and their white blossoms sparkled amongst the 
 green leaves as the light of a clear summer sun shone full upon 
 them. The eye was delighted with the delicate colouring and 
 pensile filaments of the blossoms of the lime, which filled the 
 air with fragrance, and breathed a delicious odour far around 
 them. On a rising ground, under the shade of these majestic 
 trees, the company that had visited Chatsworth to witness the 
 skill of the Peak Archers, were assembled. The plain below 
 was occupied by the targets, the rival Bowmen, and the per- 
 sonal friends of the Duke of Devonshire, who were seated in 
 groups, or parading the grounds in parties, giving life and 
 splendour to a scene as gay and brilliant as fashion, rank, and 
 beauty could possibly make it. The Archers were habited 
 in green dresses, lined with purple : the ladies wore small 
 white hats, ornamented with dark green pendant feathers. The 
 gentlemen had drap-coloured beavers, witli black and green 
 feathers intermixed. The costume in which the whole of the 
 Archers were dressed was simple, picturesque, and elegant, 
 and admirably, adapted for an advantageous display of both 
 form and feature. 
 
 From fifty to sixty ladies and gentlemen entered the lists as 
 competitors for the prize, and a band of music intimated the 
 commencement of the sports of the day. The Duke of De- 
 vonshire, who was attended by a page, had the honour of 
 drawing the first bow-string, and he early placed an arrow on 
 the outer verge of the target. But it was reserved for a lady 
 to bear away the prize ; with an aim as unerring as the " blind 
 boy's but-shaft," she hit the bull's-eye in the centre : her suc- 
 cess was announced by a signal from the provost or superin- 
 tendant of the target, and the pealing in of a loud strain of 
 music communicated her triumph to the assembled multi- 
 tude of spectators. Mrs. Jedediah Strutt was the fair victor 
 on this occasion, and shortly afterwards an arrow from Miss 
 Bateman's bow, penetrated the inner circle of the target. At 
 the termination of the contest, the two gold medals were ad- 
 judged to Mrs. J. Strutt and Col. Clowes. When this vic- 
 tory was decided, two sets of bows and arrows, in addition to 
 the usual prizes, were given by Mrs. Mundy, the lady para- 
 mount of the field, and Sir Charles Colville, the president. 
 In the contest for these prizes Miss Bateman was again suc- 
 cessful, and W. Mundy, Esq. won the gentlemen's bow and 
 arrows : the ladies, indeed, were the best marks-MEK ; they 
 
364 PEAK ARCHERY. 
 
 directed their shafts with greater certainty than the men, and 
 more frequently hit the target. 
 
 As the different candidates took their places in succession 
 on the ground, I watched the fixing of the arrow on the string, 
 saw the bow gradually drawn to its extreme tension, 
 heard the twang of the winged messenger as it departed, 
 tracked its progress through the air, and saw it strike or miss 
 the target with an interest far beyond what I had imagined 
 could have been excited by such an exhibition. Some of the 
 arrows trembled and wavered in their progress : others, driven 
 by a more determined and a firmer hand, passed steadily and 
 swiftly to the mark : but the Archers of the Peak are new to 
 the sport ; and probably some years of practice will pass away 
 before they will be sufficiently expert either to " notch" each 
 others shafts when on the target, or split a willow wand at a 
 hundred paces distant, with the skill and adroitness of Locks- 
 ley, the brave bowman of Ivanhoe. 
 
 The scene altogether was novel and pictorial in effect ; gra- 
 tifying to the eye by its peculiar and characteristic beauty, and 
 interesting to the mind from the associations it created : the 
 ballad history of Robin Hood, w T hich was the delight and 
 wonder of my boyhood, and the achievements of his faithful 
 associates, were once more revived and recollected. In ad- 
 vanced life, when the space between youth and age is a division 
 of fearful length, our early impressions seen through the vista 
 of departed years, become more powerfully interesting as they 
 are farthest removed : we love to dwell upon scenes and cir- 
 cumstances which delighted us when life and all its enjoyments 
 were new, and threw a charm over our earlier years. A pen- 
 sive feeling that lingers about half-forgotten remembrances, 
 was connected with tne animated picture in Chatsworth Park : 
 although far more refined, elegant, and imposing, than the 
 archery of Nottingham and Sherwood Forest, it was still a 
 scene of archery ; and the females who were mingled with it, 
 adorned it with beauty, and made it lovely to behold. When 
 drawing the arrow to the head, they were graceful in figure as 
 the statue of Diana ; and the anxious feeling with which they 
 marked its flight through the trackless air to its destination, 
 gave additional lustre to the eye, and to the whole counte- 
 nance a more animated and interesting expression. An artist 
 was upon the grounds studying the scenery of Chatsworth, 
 and storing his mind and his sketch-book with the brilliant 
 picture which the park presented : but only a TURNER could 
 
PEAK ARCHERY. 365 
 
 do justice to such a subject : he dips his pencil in light itself, 
 and every thing it touches glows and sparkles with sunshine ; 
 his colours are as ethereal, as beautiful, and as transparent as 
 the rainbow : he could impart to such a scene its peculiar 
 splendour, people it with groups of living figures, give grace 
 to their motions and animation to their features ; he could 
 clothe the hills and woods that surround this lovely spot with 
 the majesty of nature, and the glittering play of the waters of 
 the fountains amongst the branches of the trees would be but 
 sport for his pencil. Turner, at Chatsworth, on this bright 
 and busy day, might have produced a successful rival to his 
 own celebrated picture of Richmond Hill. 
 
 During the hours of shooting, the Duke of Devonshire's 
 Russian carriage was upon the ground, and the singularity of 
 its construction, together with the long-bearded Russ coach- 
 man, and the beauty, spirit, and prancing of the horses, 
 attracted general attention. At the close of the Archery, the 
 Duke seated himself in this curiously-fashioned vehicle, and 
 passed along the park, through a crowd of spectators, with 
 astonishing rapidity. The horses appeared to be as wild as 
 the untamed colts of Arabia: they were, nevertheless, as 
 manageable and as docile as any road-horse could possibly have 
 been. From the park, the Duke and his friends retired to. an 
 out-building, which had been fitted up for the occasion, at 
 Edensor. A company of about one hundred and seventy sat 
 down to dinner. A ball succeeded, and thus ended the Peak 
 Archery Meeting of 1 823, in Chatsworth Park. 
 
THE FLORA OF THE PEAK. 
 
 To MR. WM. EDWARDS, of the Moravian Academy at 
 Fulneck, I take this opportunity of returning my acknowledg- 
 ments for the following List of the Peak Plants of Derbyshire. 
 His accurate knowledge of the subject has enabled me" to lay 
 before my readers a valuable document. The communication 
 is given with the accompanying letter, in the form in which 
 it was received. 
 
 To MH. E.RHODES, the Author of PEAK SCENERY. 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 Various necessary engagements have prevented me from sooner com- 
 pleting the subjoined list of Peak plants, remarkable for variety or beauty 
 or other peculiarities. It may still be in time for insertion at the end of 
 your Fourth Part ; for its scientific and tabular form would make it appear 
 like a blotch in the midst of your glowing pictures of that delightful region. 
 I am sorry that I have not been able to render the catalogue more worthy of 
 a place in your work : it is principally defective in the ordinary class of 
 plants, to which I never directed much attention, having before gleaned a 
 tolerable collection of them elsewhere. This particularly refers to the 
 grasses, mosses, sedges and willows; in which classes, I believe, the Flora 
 of the Peak does not possess any great richness. Whatever plants I have 
 not myself seen, I have referred to their proper authorities, either in Pil- 
 kington's History of Derbyshire, or Smith's Flora Britannica. If this 
 trifling contribution can in any degree repay the pleasure which I have 
 derived from your labours, I shall think myself extremely happy. With 
 compliments to your family, 
 
 Fulneck, Feb. 24, 1820, 
 
 I am, very respectfully, yours, 
 
 W. EDWARDS. 
 
THE FLORA OF THE PEAK. 367 
 
 DIANDRIA. 
 
 Ligustrum vulgare ; Privet. 
 
 Fraxinus excelsior ; common Ash : abundant on limestone rocks. 
 Circaea alpina B. Smith's Fl. Brit. A variety of the Alpine Enchanter's 
 Nightshade : Lover's walk, Matlock Bath. 
 
 TRIANDRIA. 
 
 Eriophorum vaginatum ; single-headed Cotton-grass East-moor, 
 
 - . angustifolium , common ditto : Dove Dale, and turfy bogs, 
 
 TETRANDRIA. 
 
 Dipsaeus pilosus ; small Teasel : Matlock Bath, Sm. 
 Scabiosa columbaria ; fine-leaved Scabious : Heights of Dove Dale. 
 Galium pusillum ; least Mountain Bed-straw : Matlock Bath, in plenty. 
 Cornus sanguinea ; wild Cornel-tree. 
 
 PENTANDRIA. 
 
 Lithospermum officinale ; common Gromwell : frequent. 
 Cynoglossum officinale; Hound's-tongue: Ashover, Matlock. Pilk. 
 Primula vulgaris; common Primrose. 
 
 elatior; Oxlip. 
 
 ----- veris ; Cowslip. 
 
 Lysimachia nummularia ; creeping Loosestrife : moist shady places. 
 
 Convolvolus sepium ; great Bindweed. 
 
 Polemonium coernleum ; Greek Valerian, or Jacob's Ladder : Lover's Leap, 
 
 Buxton ; limestone cliffs near Bakewell. Its colour greatly exceeds that 
 
 of the cultivated plant in brilliancy. 
 Viola'lutea ; yellow Violet : near Middleton, as plentiful as kingcups in the 
 
 meadows. 
 Campanula latifolia ; giant Bell-flower. 
 
 . - . . trachelium ; Throatwort. 
 
 Verbascum thapsus; great Mullein. 
 
 Atropa belladonna; deadly Nightshade. Pilk. 
 
 Rhamnus catharticus ; Buckthorn. 
 
 Euonymus europaeus ; Spindle-tree : Matlock. 
 
 Gentiana amarella; autumnal Gentian : high pastures at Matlock Bath. 
 
 Conium Maculatum ; Hemlock. 
 
 Parnassia palustris; grass of Parnassus: Matlock, Buxton: a beautiful 
 
 floweret. 
 
 Linum catharticum ; purging Flax. 
 Drosera rotundifolia ; round-leaved Sun-dew. 
 
 HEXANDRIA. 
 
 Allium vineale ; crow Garlic : plentiful at Matlock Bath. 
 
 Ornithogalum luteum ; yellow Star of Bethlehem : near Derby. Mr. Whate- 
 
 ly. Sm. 
 
 Scilla nutans; wild Hyacinth. 
 Convallaria majalis ; Lily of the Valley : Via Gellia, Dove Dale, in 
 
 abundance. 
 
 Cdlchicum autumnale; meadow Saffron. 
 Alisma plantago ; great Water-plantain. 
 
368 THE FLORA OF THE PEAK. 
 
 OCTANDRJA. 
 Vaccinium myrtillus ; Bilberry. 
 
 vitis idaea; Whortle-berry. 
 
 , oxycoccus ; Cranberry. 
 
 Erica vulgaris j common Heath. 
 - - - - tetralix ; cross-leaved ditto, 
 
 cinerea ; fine-leaved ditto, 
 
 Daphne Mezereum ; Mezereon : Matlock. PUk. 
 .,.., laureola; spurge Laurel. 
 Adoxa mosehatellina; tuberous Moschatel, 
 Paris quadrifolia; herb Paris, 
 
 DECANDRIA. 
 Saxifraga caespitosa; tufted Saxifrage : Castleton. PUk. 
 
 . _ _ tridactylites ; rue-leaved ditto : Buxton. 
 
 hypnoides ; mossy ditto : Castleton, Dove Dale. 
 
 - granulata; white ditto : limestone hills. 
 
 Dianthus arenarius ; pheasant* s-eye Pink : Edensor. PUk. 
 
 deltoides; maiden Pink : Bakewell hills. PUk, 
 
 Silene nutans ; Nottingham Catchfly : Dove Dale. 
 
 Arenaria verna ; mountain Sandwort : near the mouths of mines at Matlock, 
 
 - saxatilis; rock ditto : Middleton Dale. PUk. 
 
 - laricifolia ; larch-leaved ditto : Middleton Dale. PUk. 
 
 ICOSANDRIA. 
 
 Pyrus domestica; true Service-tree, 
 
 aucupariaj mountain Ash. 
 
 aria; white Beam-tree : fissures of rocks, Matlock. PUk, 
 
 Rosa spinossissima ; Burnet Rose. 
 
 villosa; apple ditto : Dove Dale. 
 
 Rubus Chamaemorus ; mountain Bramble or Cloud-berry : Kinderscout. 
 
 PUk. Axedge : A. B. Lambert, Esq. Sm. 
 Rubus saxatalis ; stone Bramble or Cloudberry : hills opposite Matlock 
 
 Bath. PUk. 
 
 POLYANDRIA. 
 
 Chelidonium majus ; greater Celandine : Matlock, 
 Nymphaea lutea ; yellow Water-lily. 
 
 alba; white ditto. 
 
 Cistus Helianthemum ; dwarf Cistus: Matlock, &c. common. 
 Aquilegia vulgaris ; common Columbine : ditto. 
 Thalictrum minus ; lesser Meadow Rue : Castleton. 
 
 flavum; common ditto. 
 
 Helleborus viridis ; green Hellebore : Matlock. PUk. 
 Caltha palustris ; marsh Marigold. 
 
 DIDYNAMIA. 
 
 Ajuga alpina; Alpine Bugle: summit of a mountain near Castleton. Mr. 
 
 D. Turner. Sm. 
 Mentha piperita, var. a. ; Peppermint : in a rivulet in Bonsai Dale, near 
 
 Matlock. Sm. 
 
 Clinopodium vulgare ; wild Basil. 
 Origanum vulgare ; Marjorum. 
 
THE FLORA OF THE PEAK. 369 
 
 Thymus serpyllum ; wild Thyme. 
 
 acinos -; Basil ditto : Dove Dale. 
 
 Digitalis purpurea; purple and white Foxglove. 
 
 TETRADYNAMIA. 
 
 Thlaspi alpestre ; Alpine Shepherd's Purse : on limestone rocks, and about 
 
 the lead mines, Matlock Bath. Sm. 
 Cardamine impatiens ; impatient Lady's Smock : Matlock Bath, abundant 
 
 in the woods. 
 
 Erysimum cheiranthoides ; treacle hedge Mustard : near Ashbourne. Sm. 
 Turritis hirsuta ; hairy tower Mustard : Masson Hill. 
 glabra ; smooth ditto. Sm. 
 
 MONADELPHIA. 
 
 Geranium lucidum ; shining Crane's-bill : Matlock Bath. 
 . -.. . sanguineum ; bloody ditto : rocks opposite Haddon Hall. 
 
 DIADELPHIA. 
 
 Fumaria lutea ; yellow Furmitory : old walls near Castleton. Sm. 
 
 Spartium scoparium ; Broom. 
 
 Ulex nanus ; dwarf Furze ; Dove Dale. 
 
 Ononis arvensis ; Restharrow. 
 
 Anthyllis vulneraria ; Lady's Finger : common on limestone. 
 
 Vicia sylvatica ; wood Vetch : Abraham's Heights, Matlock. 
 
 SYNGENESIA. 
 
 Carduus nutans ; musk Thistle : common. 
 
 Cnicus eriophorus ; woolly-headed ditto : Matlock Bath. 
 
 Eupatorium cannabinum ; hemp Agremony : Matlock, &c. 
 
 Tanacetum vulgare ; common Tansy. 
 
 Conyza squarrosa ; Plowman's Spikenard: High Tor. 
 
 Tussilago farfara ; Colt's-foot. 
 
 petasites ; Butter-beer. 
 
 Inula dysenterica ; Fleabane. 
 
 GYNANDRIA. 
 Orchis bifolia ; butterfly Orchis. 
 
 pyramidalis ; pyramidal ditto. 
 
 ustulata : dwarf ditto. 
 
 conopsea; aromatic ditto, 
 
 militaris ; man ditto. 
 
 Ophrys apifera; bee Ophrys; Abraham's Heights. 
 
 muscifera; fly ditto : ditto. 
 
 cordata ; heart-leaved ditto : Peak Forest. Sm. 
 
 ._:._ ovata ; Twayblade. 
 
 MONCECIA. 
 
 Poterium sanguisorba ; Burnet. 
 Fagus sylvatica : Beech-tree. 
 
 DKECIA. 
 
 Empetrum nigrum ; black Crow-berry : Peak Forest. 
 Juniperus com munis ; Juniper. 
 Taxus baccata ; Yew-tree. 
 
 B B 
 
370 THE FLORA OF THE PEAR. 
 
 CRYPTOGAMIA. 
 
 Lycopodium clavatum ; common Club-moss : Bogs on East Moor. 
 
 selago ; fir ditto : ditto. 
 
 Polypodium calcareum ; rigid three-branched Polypody : Woods opposite 
 the New Bath, Matlock. 
 
 Aspidium aculeatum ; prickly shield Fern. 
 
 . . . dilatatum ; great- crested ditto. 
 
 Asplenium trichomanes ; maiden-hair Spleenwort : old walls, Matlock, &c. 
 
 ....... ruta muraria ; wall Rue ditto : ditto. 
 
 Scolopendrium vulgare; Hart's tongue. 
 
 Blechnum boreale ; rough Spleenwort. 
 
 Cyathea fragilis ; brittle cup Fern : Matlock 
 
 Sphagnum latifolium ; broad-leaved Bog-moss. 
 
 Trichostomum fontinaloides, B. ; river Fringe-moss : in the river at Mat- 
 lock Bath. Sm. 
 
 Hypnum Teesdalii ; Teesdalian Feather-moss : in woods on the south-east 
 side of the river at Matlock Bath. Mr. Teesdale. Sm. 
 
 proliferam ; opaque proliferous Feather-moss ; Matlock. 
 
 - recbgnitum ; lesser opaque Feather-moss ; Matlock. Sm. 
 
 Bryum nutans ; silky pendulous Thread-moss : Cromford Moor. Sm. 
 
 Jungermannia pulcherrima cochleariforme : near Hathersage. 
 
POSTSCRIPT 
 
 TO 
 
 THE QUARTO EDITION OF THIS WORK. 
 
 THE Author of these excursions having now accomplished 
 his original intention, and brought his labours to a close, 
 bids adieu to his readers, with a few words at parting. During 
 the progress of this protracted work, he has found the public 
 his most liberal patrons. To one individual only, besides his 
 engraver and his draftsman, is he under any extraordinary 
 obligation, and that individual is now no more. While living 
 he promoted the interests of this publication by his commu- 
 nications, his suggestions, and exertions. In some instances 
 the writer has been disappointed : he has solicited information 
 from those whom he thought competent to give it, and his 
 letters have been too often unnoticed. His townsmen, and 
 those who reside near him, appear to have felt a more lively 
 interest in this work even than the inhabitants of the county 
 the scenery and local history of which it has been his object 
 to explore. It was his intention, originally, to produce a 
 work nearly unique in the beauty of its decorations, elegant 
 in its typography, interesting in matter, and worthy of the 
 patronage of the county it professes to illustrate. To Derby- 
 shire he is under many obligations, to his townsmen more, 
 and he returns them his sincere thanks for their support, with 
 a satisfied feeling, that the last part of his PEAK SCENERY 
 will not be found inferior to the first. 
 
 September 1823. 
 
 BE 2 
 
PEAK SCENERY. 
 
 A few Copies of the Quarto Edition of this Work, illustrated 
 with Engravings by W. B. and G. COOKE, from Drawings by 
 F, CHANTREY, Esq. R. A. Sculptor, may be had of Messrs. 
 Longman and Co. or of the Author, Sheffield : 
 
 Imperial Quarto, India proof Plates, Four Parts, 1 21. 
 Royal Quarto, 2 vols. or Four Parts, 6/. 1 6s. 
 
 LIST OF THE PLATES. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 Beauchief Abbey. 
 
 Stoney Middleton. 
 
 Smelting Mill. 
 
 Castle Rock. 
 
 Middleton Dale. 
 
 View in Eyam. 
 
 Cross in Eyam Church-yard. 
 
 Cross at Wheston. 
 
 PART II, 
 
 View into Shirbrook Dell. 
 View on the River Wye. 
 View in Monsal Dale. 
 Rustic Bridge in ditto. 
 Cross in Bakewell Church-yard, 
 Haddon Hall. 
 Chatsworth House. 
 
 PART III. 
 
 Approach to Peak's Hole. 
 View from the interior of ditto. 
 View from the Winnats. 
 Watering Place. 
 Tufa and Limestone Rocks. 
 Northern entrance into Matlock 
 
 Dale. 
 Matlock High Tor. 
 
 PART IV. 
 
 Old Hall at Norton Lees. 
 Ruins of Southwingfield Manor 
 
 House. 
 
 View in Dove Dale. 
 View from near Reynard's Hall. 
 Northern entrance into Dove Dale. 
 View of Bolsover Castle, 
 Approach to Hathersage. 
 
 Copies of the Plates may be had separately, price 21. 12s. each 
 set. Single Parts 1 4s. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 ABBEY DALE, page 11. 
 Accidents in Dove-Dale, 323. 
 
 Mines, 70. 342. 
 
 Achilles, his Tomb, 64. 
 Alfreton, 348. 
 All-Saints Church, 2. 
 Alport, 229. 
 
 Rocks, 230. 
 
 Altar, Roman, 142. 
 
 Ancient Britons, Temples of, 256'. 
 
 Cemeteries, 64. 
 
 Crosses, 45. 133. 
 
 mode of Sepulture, 63. 
 
 Tapestry, 144. 
 
 Iron Works, 15. 
 
 Andle Stone, 235. 
 Andrew Geo. Esq., 207. 
 
 his Manufactory, 208. 
 
 Anecdote of Closterman, 161. 
 
 -of a Hindoo, 137. 
 
 of Verrio, 1 56. 
 
 Antiquity of Derbyshire Mines, 34O. 
 Arbor Low, 228. 
 
 Arkwright Sir Richard, 257. 
 
 Artists British, 165. 
 
 Ash, the Tree of the Peak, 41. 
 
 Ashford, 128. 
 
 Ashop River, 217. 
 
 Ashover, 295. 
 
 Ashbourn, 317. 
 
 Church, 319. 
 
 Monuments there, 320. 
 
 Autumnal Evening, 183. 
 
 Morning, 12. 
 
 Ax-edge, 94. 
 
 Babington Anthony, 309. 
 Bagshaw Sir William, 274. 
 
 Cavern, 214. 
 
 Rev. William, 1 99. 
 
 Bakewell, 130. 
 
 Church-Yard, 132. 
 
 Ancient Cross there, 152. 
 
 Chantry at, 135. 
 
 Bath, 309. 
 
 Banner Cross. 175. 
 
 Bar Moor Clough, 
 
 Basaltic Column, 197. 
 
 Banks Sir Joseph, 299. 
 
 the Sculptor, Monument by, 
 
 320. 
 
 Baslow Bar, 233. 
 Beauchief Abbey, 12. 
 
 House, 14. 
 
 Begging, Custom of at Castleton, 1 90. 
 
 Belper, 346. 
 
 Beton John, Monumental Inscription 
 
 of, 150. 
 Birchover, 240. 
 Bishop Purseglove, 74. 
 Black Marble, 129. 
 Blackwell Mill, 89. 
 Blue John, 191. 
 Boothby Sir Brook, 520. 
 Bolsover, Historical Notice of, 358. 
 
 King Charles' visit to, 359. 
 
 Buckle Trade, 553. 
 
 Castle, 355. 
 
 Church, 554. 
 
 Fountain at, 356. 
 
 Watch Towers, 558 
 
374 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Bradford River, 229. 
 
 Tor, 229. 
 
 Bradwell, 214. 
 
 Bridge-Hill, 346. 
 
 Bright-Pool, 118. 
 
 British Artists, 165. 
 
 Britons, Ancient Temples of, 256. 
 
 Britton John, Esq., F.S.A., 46. 
 
 Brassington, 514. 
 
 Broad-bottom Bridge, 205. 
 
 Scenery there, 206. 
 
 Brough, 216. 
 
 Bust of Laura by Canova, 261. 
 
 Buxton, 98. 
 
 Baths, 101. 
 
 Bath Charity, 102. 
 
 Church, 102. 
 
 Crescent, 1OO. 
 
 New Road to, 81. 
 
 Spar Shops, 104. 
 
 Stables, 101. 
 
 Stranger at, 95. 
 
 Building of Chatsworth, 151. 
 Burial, Ancient mode of, 64. 
 
 Camp Green, 181. 
 
 Calver Lime-Kilns, 222. 
 
 Canova, his Statue of the Mother of 
 
 Buonaparte, 261. 
 his Bust of Laura, 261. 
 Carsington, 314. 
 Castle^Dale, View of, 198. 
 Castle Rock, 29. 
 Castleton, 183. 
 
 Castle, 184. 
 
 Church, 183 
 
 Catholic Chapel at Glossop Hall, 202. 
 
 Cat Stone, 257. 
 
 Cat Tor, 206. 
 
 Cave Dale, 189. 
 
 Centenary, Commemoration of the 
 
 Revolution of 1681, 289. 
 Chantrey F., Esq., Sculptor, Memoir 
 
 of him, 276. 
 
 List of his principal Works, 
 
 288. 
 Chee Dale, 84. 
 
 Tor, ib. 
 
 Chesterfield, 292. 
 
 Church, 293. 
 
 Chinley, 199. 
 
 Chapel at H addon, 142. 
 Chapel-in-le- Frith, 199. 
 Chatsworth House, 151. 
 
 Park, 152. 
 
 Paintings at, 155. 
 
 Sculpture at, 1 4O. 
 
 Tapestry at, 1 59. 
 
 a Poem, extract from, 48. 
 
 projected Improvements 
 
 at, 261. 
 
 China Manufacture, 2. 
 Gibber, the Sculptor, 164. 
 Closterman, Anecdote of, 161. 
 Clouds, Observations on, 10. 216. 
 Coins Roman, 27. 
 Compstall Bridge, 207. 
 1 House, 208. 
 
 Conclusion, 361. 
 Congreve's Grotto, 354. 
 Cotton Factories, Remarks on, 73. 
 Cotton Printing, 208. 
 Cratcliff Tor, 24O. 
 Crazy Kate, 124. 
 Crich, 806. 
 
 Crescent at Buxton, 1OO. 
 Cressbrook, 113. 
 
 Dale, 118. 
 
 Mill, 112. 
 
 Cromford, 310. 
 Cucklet Church, 41. 
 
 Dale, 42. 
 
 Cunningham Rev. P., 47. 
 Custom at Glossop, 202. 
 
 at Tissington, 515. 
 
 at Hathersage, 181. 
 
 Darley Bridge, 244. 
 
 Church- Yard, 245. 
 
 Dale, 246. 
 
 Darwin Dr., his Botanic Garden, 58 , 
 
 Dead Robin, 554. 
 
 Dean of Clogher, his Death, 523. 
 
 Derby, 2. 
 
 China Manufacture, 2, 
 
 Infirmary, 3. 
 
 Derbyshire Diamonds, 94. 1 09. 
 
 Scenery, 7. 
 
 Trossacks, 314. 
 
 Derwent Dale, 18. 
 
 River, 217. 
 
 Dethick, 308. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 375 
 
 Dove Dale, 521. 
 
 Character of, 322. 
 
 Church, 322. 
 
 Portals of, 326. 
 
 River, Source of, 95. 
 
 Druidical Monuments, 239. 
 
 E 
 
 Earl Newburgh, 223. 
 
 Earthquake, remote effects of, 65. 
 
 East-Moor, 22. 
 
 East-Wood Hall, 297. 
 
 Ebbing and Flowing Well, 199. 
 
 Edensor, 149. 
 
 Church, 149. 
 
 Monument there, 149. 
 
 Edge-stone House, 124. 
 English Appenines, 15. 
 Epitaphs, 47. 134. 135. 
 Escape Miraculous of a Miner. 
 Evening Scene at Glossop, 2OO. 
 Exploding Ore, 68. 
 Explosion of Slickensides, 69. 
 Eyam, 21. 
 
 Church-Yard, 44. 
 
 Mineral Charter, 6O. 
 
 Moor, Barrow there, 63. 
 
 Plague there, 31. 
 
 Eyre, Family of, 224. 
 
 Fairfield, 92. 
 
 Faujas de St. Fond, 197. 
 
 Feudal Tyranny, Instance of, 225. 
 
 First Excursion, 1 1 . 
 
 Fitzherbert Sir Henry, 315. 
 
 Sir Thomas, 22O. 
 
 Fluor Mines, 191. 
 Flora of the Peak, 366. - 
 Fogs, Remarks on, 9. 
 Fountains at Bolsover, 356. 
 
 Chatsworth, 154. 
 
 Friendly Societies, 3O7. 
 Froggat-Edge, 21. 
 Funeral Custom, 181. 
 
 Gallery at Chatsworth, 157. 
 Haddon, 144. 
 
 Gallery, at Hardwick, 350. 
 Garden Scene at Chatsworth, 1 70. 
 Gell Sir John, 313. 
 Geological Observations, 22. 
 Gibbons G., the Carver, 1 62. 
 Glossop, 200. 
 
 Church, 203. 
 
 Hall, 201. 
 
 Chapel at, 202. 
 
 Glapwell, 353. 
 Goyt, the River, 210. 
 
 Junction of with the 
 
 Etherow, 208. 
 Great Finn, 124. 
 View from, 124. 
 
 H 
 
 Haddon Hall, 14O. 
 Hague Josh., Esq,. 2O3. 
 Hammer of Thor, 61. 
 Hamps River, 335. 
 Hardwick Hall, 349. 
 Hartle Morr, 239. 
 Hassop Hall, 224. 
 Hathersage, 179. 
 
 Church, 180. 
 
 Heath Cock, 233, 
 
 Heights of Abraham, 249. 
 
 High Low, 219. 
 
 High Tor, Matlock, 249. 
 
 Hindoo Stranger, 137. 
 
 Hirst Stones, 259. 
 
 Historical notice of the Peverils, 304. 
 
 Hob's House, 125. 
 
 Hobbes, 167. 
 
 Holloway, 308. 
 
 Hope, 216. 
 
 'Hope Dale, 182. 
 
 Hopton Hall, 313. 
 
 Hot Bath, Buxton, 101. 
 
 Ham Church, 331. 
 
 Hall, 337. 
 
 intended Monument there, 331. 
 
 Vale of, 333. 
 
 Visit to, 1820, 330. 
 
 in 1823, 336. 
 
 Junction of the Etherow and the 
 Goyt, 208. 
 
376 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 K 
 
 Kedlestone Hall, 4. 
 Kinderscout, 199. 
 King of the Peak, 141. 
 
 Lass of Taddington Dale, 127. 
 
 Last Excursion, 267. 
 
 Lathkill River, 227. 
 
 Lava, 23. 
 
 Lea Woods and Mill, 308. 
 
 Learn Hall, 219. 
 
 Leigh Dr., his Theory, 190. 
 
 Library, Chatsworth, 158. 
 
 Lime Hills. Buxton, 93. 
 
 Kilns at Calver, 222. 
 
 Trees at Haddon, 147. 
 
 Litton Mill, 111. 
 Little Chester, 3. 
 Little John, 180. 
 
 his reputed Grave, 180. 
 
 Long Cliff, 185. 
 
 Longstone, 225. 
 
 Lover's Leap, 90. 
 
 Loyd Mr., his Visit to Eldon-Hole, 
 
 214. 
 Lums-Dale, 247. 
 
 M 
 
 Mam Tor, 1 92. 
 Manor of Norton, 274. 
 Manyfold River, 335. 
 Marble Mills, 129. 
 Marine Impressions, 190. 
 Marple Bridge, 209. 
 Mary Queen of Scots, 150. 166. 297. 
 303. 
 
 Quarries, 226. 
 
 Masson Hill, 247. 
 
 View from, 252. 
 
 Matlock Bridge, 247. 
 
 Bath, 249. 
 
 Dale, 248. 
 
 High Tor, 249. 
 
 Scenery of, 249. 
 
 Winter Visit to, 260. 
 
 Mearsbrook House, 268. 
 Mellor Mill, 209. 
 Memoir of Chantrey, 276. 
 
 MemoirofSirR Arkwright, 257. 
 
 the Rev. P. Cunningham, 47 . 
 
 Meurrills Sampson, 75. 
 Middleton Bath, 27. 
 
 Church, 26. 
 
 Dale, 28. 
 
 Stony,. 22. 
 
 Midnight at Ashbourn, 317. 
 Mine, Haycliff; 68. 
 Odin, 191. 
 
 Speedwell, 195. 
 
 Mineral Charter of Eyam, 60. 
 Laws, 34O. 
 
 Miner, Miraculous Escape of, 70. 342. 
 
 Miller's Dale, HO. 
 
 Mill-stone Edge, 1 76. 
 
 Mists and Clouds, Observations en, 9. 
 
 Mock-Beggar Hall, 24O. 
 
 Moot Hall, 34O. 
 
 Mine, 246. 
 
 Mompesson, Rev. Win., 35. 
 Mrs., 37. 
 
 her Tomb, 39. 
 
 Money Ash, 226. 
 
 Monument in Ashbourn Church, 320. 
 
 in Edensor Church, 1 49. 
 
 in Youlgrave Church, 228. 
 in Glossop Church, 202. 
 
 for Ham Church, 331. 
 
 Monumental Sculpture, 332. 
 Monsal Dale, 120. 
 
 Morning Scene from Great Finn, 1 25. 
 
 ' near Hassop, 223. 
 
 in Hope Dale, 216. 
 
 . in Matlock Dale, 253. 
 
 311. 
 
 Mouse-hole Mine, 258. 
 Mother of Buonaparte, Statue of, 26 1 . 
 Motion in Landscape, 24. 
 Murder at Wardlow, 71. 
 Museum, Matlock Bath, 255. 
 Musical Mania, 243. 
 
 N 
 
 Needle Manufacture, 179. 
 
 Newton William, 1 1 2. 
 
 Night Scene in Small-Dale, 215. 
 
 Walk to Ashbourn, 317. 
 
 Norton, 27O. 
 Norton Hall, 271. 
 
 House, 273. 
 
 Lees, 269. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 377 
 
 Norton Manor of, 274. 
 
 O 
 
 Oakes, the Seat of Sir W. Bagshaw, 
 
 274. 
 Oldknow Saml., Esq., 2O9. 
 
 Padley Hall, 220. 
 
 Woods, 220. 
 
 Paintings at Chatsworth, 1 55. 
 
 at Hardwick, 350. 
 
 Palterton, 353. 
 
 Park, Chatsworth, 153. 
 
 Hardwick, 350. 
 
 Peak Archery, 362. 
 
 Cavern, 185. 
 
 Flora, 366. 
 
 Forest, 212. 
 
 Minstrel, 112. 
 
 Pentrich Common, 347. 
 
 Men 348. 
 
 Perilous Path, 116. 
 Petrolium Marble, 129. 
 Peveril Wm., 60. 
 
 Family, account of, 304. 
 
 Picturesque Beauty, Observations 
 
 on, 8. 
 
 Plague at Eyam, 31. 
 Plantations Modern, 202. 
 Poole'sHole, 93. 
 Portals of Dove-Dale, 326. 
 Postcript, 371. 
 Preliminary Chapter, 1. 
 Procession from Whittington, 290. 
 Purseglove Bishop, 74. 
 
 Quintus Cicero, Letter of, 236. 
 
 R 
 
 Rape of the Sabines, Picture of, 161, 
 Raven Tor, 110. 
 Renishaw Hall, 359. 
 Retrospective Review, 360. 
 Revolution House, 289. 
 Revolutionists of 1817, 47. 
 
 Reynard's Cave, 325. 
 Riley Grave-stones, 32. 
 RiberTop, 259. 
 River Ashop, 217. 
 
 Bradford, 229. 
 
 Derwent, 216. 
 
 Dove, 96. 322, 
 
 Etherow, 205. 
 
 Goyt, 96. 209. 
 
 Hamps, 335. 
 
 Lathkill, 227. 
 
 Manyfold, 335. 
 
 Now, 217. 
 
 Wye, 96. 
 
 Robin-Hood's Stride, 24O. 
 Rocks near Brassington, 314. 
 Rocky Portals, 326. 
 Road-making, 212. 222. 
 Road Sketches, xv. 
 Roman Altar, 143. 
 Coins, 27. 
 
 - Remains, 216. 
 
 Station, 348. , 
 
 Romantic Rocks, 250. 
 Rousseau J. J., 327. 
 Rotton-stone, 129. 
 Rowter Rocks, 240. 
 Rowsley, 147. 
 
 Rush-bearing, Custom of, 202. 
 Russian Prophecy, 50. 
 Russell J. Watts, Esq., 329. 
 Rutland Cavern, 255. 
 
 Sampson Meurrills 
 
 Scenery of the Derwent, 217. 
 
 Dove, 322. 
 
 Etherow, 205. 
 
 Goyt, 209. 
 
 Lathkill, 227. 
 
 Winpats, 192. 
 
 Wye, 96. 
 
 Sea-coast Views, 9. 
 Second Excursion, 81. 
 Seven-Rakes Mine, 259. 
 Seward Miss, 56. 
 Side-Mine, 259. 
 Shirbrook Dell, 90. 
 Shore Samuel, Esq., 268. 
 Short Dr., his Theory, 94. 
 Shuttleworth Ashton, Esq., 179. 
 SnowStorm, 178. 
 c c 
 
378 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Small-Dale, 215. 
 Snake-Stones, 239. 
 Snow-storm Scenery, 262. 
 Source of the Derwent, 216. 
 
 Dove, 96. 
 
 Lathkill, 227. 
 
 Wye, 96. 
 
 South Winfield, Ruins of, ,-500. 
 
 Siege of, 303. 
 
 Slickensides, 68. 
 Speedwell Mine, 195. 
 Staden Low, 98. 
 Stage Coach, 89. 
 Stanton House, 235. 
 
 Pictures at, 238. 
 
 Visit to, 233. 
 
 Lees, 237. 
 
 Moor, 237. 
 
 Statuary at Chatsworth, 16O. 
 
 Statue of Canova's, 261. 
 
 Strange Catherine, Notice of, 297. 
 
 Stranger at Buxton, 95. 
 
 Stoke Hall, 25. 
 
 Stonnis, View from, 251. 
 
 Taddington, 126. 
 
 Dale, 1 27. 
 
 Tale of Murder, 194. 
 Tapestry, 144. 159. 
 Theory of Dr. Leigh, 190. 
 Dr. Short, 94. 
 
 Whitehurst, 23. 
 
 Third Excursion, 175. 
 Thornhill Bache, Esq., 232. 
 
 Sir James, 161. 
 
 Thorpe Cloud, 320. 
 Thunder-Storm, 82. 
 Tideswell, 76. 
 
 Church, 74 
 
 Dale, 73. 
 
 Top, 72. 
 
 Tissington, 315. 
 
 Ancient Custom there, 3 15. 
 
 Toadstone, 23. 111. 
 
 Tomb of Sampson Meurrills, 35. 
 
 Topley Pike, 89. 
 
 Totley, 15. 
 
 TraycliffMine, 191. 
 
 Tufa Rocks, 250. 
 
 Tunstead, 107. 
 
 U 
 Unlucky Mistake, 253. 
 
 Verrio, Anecdote of, 156. 
 ViaGellia, 311. 
 View near Belper, 346. 
 
 Birchover, 241. 
 
 from Castle Hill, 156. 
 
 of Castleton Dale, 193. 
 
 in Chee Dale, 85. 
 
 near Crich, 308. 
 
 of Derwent Dale, 16. 
 
 of Dove-Dale, 321. 
 
 from East-Moor, 1 5. 
 
 of Glossop Dale, 200. 
 
 from Great Finn, 124. 
 
 the Grounds at Ham, 333. 
 
 near Hathersage, 178. 
 
 into Hope-Dale, 16. 
 
 of Ham Valley, 330. 
 
 from Masson, 252. 
 
 of Matlock Dale, 248. 
 
 from Millstone Edge, 176. 
 
 on the River Wye, 88. 
 
 from Stainage, 294. 
 
 Stanton Moor, 237. 
 
 near Stoke Hall, 20. 
 
 from Stonnis, 251. 
 
 theWinnats, 193. 
 
 near Winster, 244. 
 
 Village Custom, 181, 202. 315. 
 Volcano, supposed Crater of, 243. 
 
 W 
 
 Warm Baths, 102. 
 Wardlow, Murder at, 71. 
 Water-Hull Mine, 191. 
 Water-Swallows, 107. 
 Waterfall, Lums-Dale, 247. 
 Watson Samuel, 163. 
 
 White, F.L.S., 131. 
 
 Well-flowering, 315. 
 Wet-Withens, 63. 
 Wheston, 71. 
 
 Ancient Cross there, 71. 
 Whitehurst, his Theory, 23. 
 Whit-Monday, 299. 308. 
 Wliittington, 289. 
 
 Procession from, 29O. 
 
 Wild-Cat Tor, 250. 
 Willersley Castle, 257. 
 Winnats, 192. 
 Winster, 242. 
 Winter Scene, 262. 
 
INDEX. 579 
 
 Wolvehunt, 85. Wye River, 96. 
 Wormhill, 82. 
 
 Dale, 109. Y 
 
 Wormius on Ancient Sepulture, 63. Yew-Tree at Darley, 243. 
 
 Wirksworth, 539. Youlgrave, 228. 
 
 Wye Dale, 90. Church, 228. 
 
 THE END. 
 
LONDON: 
 
 Printed by A. & II. SpottUwoodc, 
 New-Street- Square. 
 

VC ,'09437 
 
 M304170 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY