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Article DESCRIPTION OF M1DDLETON DALE, ← Page 2 of 2
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Description Of M1ddleton Dale,
unwieldy bulwarks ; or rising in heavy buttresses , one above another ; and here and there a mishapen mass bulging out , hangs lowering over its base . No traces of men are to be seen , except in a road , which has no effect on such a scene of desolation ; and in the limekilns , constantly smoaking on the side ; but the labourers who occasionallattend them live at a distance . There is not a hovel in the Dale ;
y and some scanty withering bushes are all its vegetation ; for the soil between the rocks produces as little as they do ; it is disfigured with all the tinges of brown and red , which denote barrenness ; in some p laces it has crumbled away , and strata , of loose dark stones only appear ; and in others , long lines of dross and rubbish , shovelled out of mineshave fallen down the steeps . In these minesthe veins of
, , lead on one side of the Dale are observed always to have corresponding veins , in exactly the same direction , on the other ; and the rocks , though differing widely in different places , yet always continue in one stiie for some way together , and seem to have a relation to each other . Both these appearances make it probable , that Middleton Dale is a chasm rent in the mountain bsome convulsion of naturebeyond
y , the memory of mat ) , or perhaps before the island was peopled " : the scene , though it does not prove the fact , yet justifies the supposition ; and it gives credit to the tales of the people , who , to aggravate its horrors , always point to a precipice , down which they say a poor g irl of the village threw herself headlong , in despair , at the neglect of a man whom she loved : the people shew a cavern , where a skeleton
was once discovered ; but of what wretch is unknown ; his bones were the only memorial left of him . All the dreariness , however , of the place , which accords well with such traditions , abates upon the junction of another valley , the sides of which are still of rock , but ' mixed and crowned with fine wood ; and Middleton Dale becomes more mild bsharing in its beauties . Near this junction a clear . stream
y issues from under the hill , and runs down the Dale , receiving as it proceeds many rills and springs , all as transparent as itself : the principal rivulet is " full of little waterfalls ; they are sometimes continued in succession alone , a reach of considerable length , which is whitened
with froth all the way ; at other times the brook wreathes in frequent windings , and drops down a step at every turn ; or slopes between tufts of grass , in a brisk , though not a precip itate descent ; when it is most quiet , a thousand dimples still maik its vivacity ; it is _ every where aC ' tive ; sometimes rapid ; seldom silent ; but never furious or noisy : the first impressions which it makes are of sprig htliness and
gaiety , very differentftom those which belong to the scene all around ; but by dwelling upon both , they are brought nearer together ; and a melancholy thought occurs , that such a stream should ^ be lost in watering a waste " : the wilderness appears more forlorn which so much vivacity cannot enliven ; as the idea of desolation is heig htened by reflecting that the
' Flower is born to blush unseen , And waste its sweetness on the desart air : ' ¦ And that ' The nig htingale attunes her notes , Where none are left to hear . '
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Description Of M1ddleton Dale,
unwieldy bulwarks ; or rising in heavy buttresses , one above another ; and here and there a mishapen mass bulging out , hangs lowering over its base . No traces of men are to be seen , except in a road , which has no effect on such a scene of desolation ; and in the limekilns , constantly smoaking on the side ; but the labourers who occasionallattend them live at a distance . There is not a hovel in the Dale ;
y and some scanty withering bushes are all its vegetation ; for the soil between the rocks produces as little as they do ; it is disfigured with all the tinges of brown and red , which denote barrenness ; in some p laces it has crumbled away , and strata , of loose dark stones only appear ; and in others , long lines of dross and rubbish , shovelled out of mineshave fallen down the steeps . In these minesthe veins of
, , lead on one side of the Dale are observed always to have corresponding veins , in exactly the same direction , on the other ; and the rocks , though differing widely in different places , yet always continue in one stiie for some way together , and seem to have a relation to each other . Both these appearances make it probable , that Middleton Dale is a chasm rent in the mountain bsome convulsion of naturebeyond
y , the memory of mat ) , or perhaps before the island was peopled " : the scene , though it does not prove the fact , yet justifies the supposition ; and it gives credit to the tales of the people , who , to aggravate its horrors , always point to a precipice , down which they say a poor g irl of the village threw herself headlong , in despair , at the neglect of a man whom she loved : the people shew a cavern , where a skeleton
was once discovered ; but of what wretch is unknown ; his bones were the only memorial left of him . All the dreariness , however , of the place , which accords well with such traditions , abates upon the junction of another valley , the sides of which are still of rock , but ' mixed and crowned with fine wood ; and Middleton Dale becomes more mild bsharing in its beauties . Near this junction a clear . stream
y issues from under the hill , and runs down the Dale , receiving as it proceeds many rills and springs , all as transparent as itself : the principal rivulet is " full of little waterfalls ; they are sometimes continued in succession alone , a reach of considerable length , which is whitened
with froth all the way ; at other times the brook wreathes in frequent windings , and drops down a step at every turn ; or slopes between tufts of grass , in a brisk , though not a precip itate descent ; when it is most quiet , a thousand dimples still maik its vivacity ; it is _ every where aC ' tive ; sometimes rapid ; seldom silent ; but never furious or noisy : the first impressions which it makes are of sprig htliness and
gaiety , very differentftom those which belong to the scene all around ; but by dwelling upon both , they are brought nearer together ; and a melancholy thought occurs , that such a stream should ^ be lost in watering a waste " : the wilderness appears more forlorn which so much vivacity cannot enliven ; as the idea of desolation is heig htened by reflecting that the
' Flower is born to blush unseen , And waste its sweetness on the desart air : ' ¦ And that ' The nig htingale attunes her notes , Where none are left to hear . '