Or the visitor may retrace his steps toward Glen Helen as far as the
chapel at Baregarrow, passing on the left the Hill of Reneuriling,
sometimes called Cronk Urleigh, or Eagle Mount, which is said to have
been the original Tynwald Hill of the island. At Baregarrow a lane
turns away to the left, and winds up along the southern slopes of
Sart Fell (1,560 feet). Whichever route be taken, as we penetrate the
hills we realize more and more the real nature of Manx mountains. The
central chain of hills extends for about twenty miles from Bradda Head,
a sea-cliff (766 feet), in the south-west, to North Barrule (1,842
feet), in the north-east, thus forming a true axis to the island. The
range is interrupted, not exactly in the middle, but more towards
the south, by the great lateral valley that pierces it completely
from sea to sea, and through which run road and rail between Peel and
Douglas. South of this great glen the highest summit is South Barrule
(1,565 feet); but north of it comes a cluster of much higher hills,
the culminating point of which is Snaefell (2,034 feet). These hills
are built of slate, like the hills of Cumberland and North Wales,
but there all analogy ceases. Snowdon and Scafell Pike are convulsed
masses of broken rock, whose black nakedness is not always scantily
clothed with a coverlet of bracken, or wiry grass, or sloppy bog-moss.
From the foot of the sheer crags extend long acres of scree-shoot, and
the hills are further torn in every direction by the deeply furrowed
channels of the torrents. In Man the hill slopes are everywhere smooth,
and modelled in regular contours; they are clad, no doubt, with moor,
and sodden in places with wet, but crag, and scree, and rock, are
almost wholly absent. They have even less ferocity than Skiddaw; and
Skiddaw, in addition, boasts a splendid "double-front," and a bold
black top that excited the enthusiasm of even the town-loving "Elia."
What little rock they exhibit is confined chiefly to the sides of one
or two glens--Sulby Glen, for instance, which is quite the finest in
the island--and to the beds of mountain streams; but none of this is
terrific.
[Illustration: GLEN MAYE.
One of the picturesque little glens with which the
island abounds. It is near Peel, on the western side.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account