beautiful and romantic scene is thus described by the author of "Wensley Dale." "But now, O Aysgarth! let my rugged verse The wonders of thy cataracts rehearse; Long ere the toiling sheets to view appear They sound a prelude to the pausing car. Now in rough accents, by the pendent wood, Rolls in stern majesty the foaming flood; Revolving eddies now, with raging sway To Aysgarth's ample arch incline their way. Playful and slow the curling circles move, As when soft breezes fan the waving grove; Till prone again, with tumult's wildest roar Recoil the billows, reels the giddy shore; Dash'd from its rocky bed, the winnow'd spray Remounts the regions of the cloudy way, While warring columns in fierce combats join, And make the rich, rude, thund'ring scene divine." Not far from hence are the ruins of Fors Abbey, a monastery of Cistertian monks, brought from Savigny by Ararius, son of Bardulph, in the year 1145: made subject to Byland, from whom an abbot and monks were sent in the year 1150, who, a few years after, were removed to 'I'oreval. At BAINBRIDGE, a mile and a half south from Askrigg, there are evident vestiges of a Roman station; and on a neighbouring hili are foundations of an ancient fortification enclosing an area of nearly five acres. About two miles from the village of Carperby is Bolton Castle, which, from its extensive remains, appears to have been a place of considerable strength. The plan of this castle is quadrangular, with a square tower at each angle, and a small one in the centre of the north and south sides; its greatest length is from east to west. In the centre is an open court, which gives light and air to the internal apartments. The grand entrance was A A 2 from from the east end, and near the southern tower;' there were besides, three other entrances, one on the north, and two on the west side. According to Grose, the walls are seven feet thick, and ninety-six in height. It was lighted by several stages of windows. The tower, on the south-west angle, where the unfortunate Mary Queen of Scots was confined. in 1568, is now occupied by a farmer. -During the civil wars in the reign of Charles I. Bolton Castle was bravely defended by Colonel Scrope, and a party of the Richmondshire militia, for the king, and was at last surrendered upon honourable terms, on the 5th of November, 1645. From neglect, and the damage it received during the siege, the tower on the north-east angle became so much injured that it fell to the ground on the evening of the 19th of November, 1761. Bolton Castle was erected by Richard Lord Scroop, hign chancellor to Richard II. whose family had resided in this county from the reign of King John. According to Leland, "it was making 18 yeres, and the charges of the building cam by yere to 1000 marks." He further remarks: "One thinge I much notyd in the haul of Bolton, how chimenys were conveyed by tunnills made in the syds of the walls, betwixt the lights in the haull. And by this meanes and by no covers is the smoke of the hearth in the haull wonder strangely conveyed. There is a fair clock at Bolton, cum motu solis & hunc, and other conclusions." There was a chapel in this castle, in which a chantry was founded by the above-mentioned Richard Lord Scrope, for six priests to celebrate divine service for the soul of Richard II. and his heirs one of them to be warden. Emanuel Lord Scrope, afterwards created Earl of Sunderland, was the last of that family who resided here. He died in the reign of Charles I. Bolton is remarkable for being the birth-place of Henry Henry Jenkins, that astonishing and singular instance of longevity. He was born in the year 1509, and died at Allerton upon Swale, December 8th, 1670, aged 169 years, being just 16 years older than the famous old Parr. He was brought up to the business of a fisherman, an employment which he followed 140 years. After he was more than 100 years he used to swim across rivers, and was called upon as an evidence to a fact of 140 years past. He was once butler to Lord Conyers. When advanced to the vast age of 160, he used to bind sheaves of corn for the farmers; and what is most astonishing, he preserved his sight and hearing to the last. When examined as an evidence, as above-mentioned, two or three other men, who attended at the same time, said that he was an old man when they were boys, though they themselves. were upwards of 100 years old. Being born before parish registers were kept, one of the judges asked Jenkins what remarkable battle or other event happened within his memory. To which he answered, that when the battle of Flodden was fought he was turned of twelve years of age; he said he was sent to take care of the horses belonging to Bolton, which carried the bows and arrows to the Earl of Surry's army at North Allerton: that they were sent on horseback on account of its then being harvest time. That shortly after his return home, he heard that the Scots had been defeated and their king slain. Being farther questioned if he remembered the abbies, he said that he was about 40 years of age when the Farl of Shrewsbury received the order to dissolve those in Yorkshire; that he saw the monks turned out of several convents, and that the country was all in an uproar. It is curious to consider what a multitude of events are crowded into the period of this man's life. He was born when the Catholic religion was established by law; and he saw the papal supremacy thrown off; the monasteries dissolved; popery in A a 3 fashion fashion again; and the Protestant religion finally established. In his time three queens were be headed: Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard, and Mary Queen of Scots; and a King of Spain resided here in quality of King of England. In his time the Invincible Armada of Spain was destroyed by the English; and the republic of Holland formed. A king of Scotland was crowned at Westminster, and his son and successor beheaded before his own palace; the royal family proscribed as traitors, and again settled on the throne; and finally, the great fire of London in 1666. About a mile and a half from Bolton Castle is Bolton Hall, the seat of Lord Bolton. The house does not possess any attractive properties, being plain and heavy; but the scenery of the park and grounds is such as should not be missed by the traveller of . taste. The hall was built by Charles marquis of Winchester, created duke of Bolton by William III. Wensley Dale is esteemed one of the richest in Great Britain. It abounds with wood, and has a fine river meandering through its fertile pastures. It is ́stocked with vast herds of cattle, and in some parts of it produces lead ore. We now cross the river Swale, which, though not of any considerable size, is noted for giving its name to lands, through which it runs for some length, called Swale Dale, and to an ancient family of that name, the last of whom was Sir Solomon Swale, Bart. who described himself of Swale-hall, in Swale Dale, by the river Swale. This gentleman became unfortunate, and was supplanted by a person who was a clerk in the exchequer office; and observing this family held their estate of the crown, and that they had omitted to renew for many years, procured a grant of the estate for himself. A great many lawsuits ensued, but to no other effect than to encrease the misfortunes of this gentleman, who died a pri soner soner in the Fleet; his adversary, however, had previously made away with himself. The Swale was held sacred by the Saxons, because, when first converted to christianity, upwards of 10,000 men, besides women and children, were baptized in it by Paulinus, archbishop of York. Swale-dale is a low, pleasant, and rich valley, abounding in grass, but very bare of wood, though here is a place just by, called Swale-dale Forest. It might have been so anciently, but at present the number of trees upon it are very inconsiderable. Eggleston Hall stands in a romantic situation on the banks of the river Swale, under the declivity of lofty hills towards the north, spreading its white front and turretted wings towards the south-west, covered with a grove of sycamores: a small lawn fronts the house, hanging on a stupendous cliff above the river; the nearer hills are cloathed with wood, and the more distant, though precipitous, are verdant and stocked with sheep: on each hand the river's margin is formed of level and sequestered meads lying at the foot of steep ascents. The country viewed from Eggleston is remarkably picturesque; on this hand the river meanders in the valley through a rich level: the ascents are in many parts graced with woods; on the more distant lands, scattered villages are seen, above which are vales winding by the foot of lofty bills, where cottages are agreeably disposed amongst the green inclosures, whilst the heights arising at the extent of the view are rugged and cloathed with heath. Eggleston was anciently a priory, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin and St. John the Baptist, and was endowed by Mattillas the widow of Gilbert de Leya, with the manors of Eggleston and Kilvington, held by one knight's fee, together with the patronage of the church of Thornton, which endowment was confirmed by the charter of Bishop Philip of Poictou, in the year 1200, and afterwards by Richard Mausco his successor, |