Homes and Haunts of the Most Eminent British Poets, Vol. 2 (of 2)Howitt, William
General
Homes and Haunts of the Most Eminent British Poets, Vol. 2 (of 2)
Howitt, William
Literary landmarks -- Great Britain; Poets, English -- Homes and haunts
The country as you proceed to Bothwell from Glasgow, from which it is
distant about ten miles, though from the first rich and well
cultivated, is not so agreeable, from the quantity of coal that is
found along the roads into Glasgow, and which seems to have given a
blackness to every thing. As you advance, however, it grows
continually more elevated, open, airy, and pleasant. About a mile
before you reach Bothwell, the tall, square church steeple of which,
seen far before you, serves you for a guide, a pair of lodge gates on
your right hand marks the entrance to the grounds of Bothwell Castle.
By writing your name and address in a book kept by the gate-keeper,
you are admitted, and can then pursue your way alone to the castle,
and make your own survey without the nuisance of a guide. The castle
lies about half-a-mile from the high-road. You first arrive at very
beautifully kept pleasure grounds, in which stands a good modern
mansion, the seat of the proprietor, Lord Douglas. Passing through
these grounds, and close to the right of the house, you soon behold
the ruins of the old castle. It is of a very red sandstone, extensive
in its remains, and bearing evidence of having been much more
extensive. Its tall red walls stand up amid fine trees and masses of
ivy, and seem as if created by Time to beautify the modern scene with
which they blend so well. The part remaining consists of a great
oblong square, with two lofty and massy towers overlooking the river
which lies to your left. There are also remains of an ample chapel.
From the openings in the ruins, the river below, and its magnificent
valley or glen, burst with startling effect upon you. The bank from
the foot of the castle descends with considerable steepness to the
river far below, but soft and green as possible; and beyond the dark
and hurrying river, rise banks equally high, and as finely wooded and
varied. Advancing beyond the castle you come again to the river, which
sweeps round the ruins in a fine curve. Here every charm of scenery,
the great river in its channel, its lofty and well wooded banks, the
picturesque views of Blantyre Priory opposite, the slopes and swells
of most luxurious green, and splendid lime-trees hanging their
verdurous boughs to the ground, mingle the noble and the beautiful
into an enchanting whole. A gravel walk leads you down past the front
of the castle, and presents you with a new and still more impressive
view of it. Here it stands aloft on the precipice above you, a most
stately remnant of the old times; and nature has not stinted her
labors in arraying it in tree, bush, and hanging-plant, so as to give
it the grace of life in its slow decay, making it in perfect harmony
with herself. Few scenes are more fascinating than this. Above you the
towers of the castle, which once received as its victorious guest
Edward I. of England; which again sheltered the English chiefs fleeing
from the disastrous field of Bannockburn; which was the stronghold of
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