Journals of Dorothy Wordsworth, Vol. 2 (of 2)Wordsworth, Dorothy
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Journals of Dorothy Wordsworth, Vol. 2 (of 2)
Wordsworth, Dorothy
Authors, English -- 19th century -- Diaries; Wordsworth, Dorothy, 1771-1855 -- Diaries; Wordsworth, William, 1770-1850 -- Family
We saw a single stone house a long way before us, which we conjectured
to be, as it proved, Moss Paul, the inn where we were to bait. The
scene, with this single dwelling, was melancholy and wild, but not
dreary, though there was no tree nor shrub; the small streamlet
glittered, the hills were populous with sheep; but the gentle bending of
the valley, and the correspondent softness in the forms of the hills,
were of themselves enough to delight the eye. At Moss Paul we fed our
horse;--several travellers were drinking whisky. We neither ate nor
drank, for we had, with our usual foresight and frugality in travelling,
saved the cheese-cakes and sandwiches which had been given us by our
countrywoman at Jedburgh the day before. After Moss Paul, we ascended
considerably, then went down other reaches of the valley, much less
interesting, stony and barren. The country afterwards not peculiar, I
should think, for I scarcely remember it.
Arrived at Langholm at about five o'clock. The town, as we approached,
from a hill, looked very pretty, the houses being roofed with blue
slates, and standing close to the river Esk, here a large river, that
scattered its waters wide over a stony channel. The inn neat and
comfortable--exceedingly clean: I could hardly believe we were still in
Scotland.
After tea walked out; crossed a bridge, and saw, at a little distance up
the valley, Langholm House, a villa of the Duke of Buccleuch: it stands
upon a level between the river and a steep hill, which is planted with
wood. Walked a considerable way up the river, but could not go close to
it on account of the Duke's plantations, which are locked up. When they
ended, the vale became less cultivated; the view through the vale
towards the hills very pleasing, though bare and cold.
_Saturday, September 24th._--Rose very early and travelled about nine
miles to Longtown, before breakfast, along the banks of the Esk. About
half a mile from Langholm crossed a bridge. At this part of the vale,
which is narrow, the steeps are covered with old oaks and every variety
of trees. Our road for some time through the wood, then came to a more
open country, exceedingly rich and populous; the banks of the river
frequently rocky, and hung with wood; many gentlemen's houses. There was
the same rich variety while the river continued to flow through Scottish
grounds; but not long after we had passed through the last turnpike gate
in Scotland and the first in England--but a few yards asunder--the vale
widens, and its aspect was cold, and even dreary, though Sir James
Graham's plantations are very extensive. His house, a large building,
stands in this open part of the vale. Longtown was before us, and ere
long we saw the well-remembered guide-post, where the circuit of our six
weeks' travels had begun, and now was ended.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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