one of the six erected by the Cliffords of Skipton at Drebley, Laund, Holgill, Barden, Ungayne, and Gamelsworth for the accommodation of their gamekeepers-it was converted into a residence by Henry, Lord Clifford, in 1485. This Lord Clifford was the one commonly known as the Shepherd Lord, from the fact that after his father had been deprived of his estates because of his adherence to the Lancastrian cause, during the Wars of the Roses, the family fell upon evil times, and he himself was brought up by a shepherd in Cumberland. When the Yorkist cause finally triumphed, the family estates were restored to Henry, who was at that time about twenty-six years of age, and had received no education worthy of his rank. He was distinguished for his virtues and his love of a quiet existence, and he much preferred the solitude of Barden Tower to the pomp of Skipton Castle. He resided at Barden during the whole of the reign of Henry VII., and for some time after the accession of Henry VIII., and only came forward from his retirement to lead the men of Craven at the battle of Flodden Field, on which occasion he is said to have displayed all the warlike qualities of his ancestors. He was then in his sixtieth year, and for ten years longer he continued his peaceful avocations at Barden, where he and the Augustinian canons of Bolton made considerable investigations in astronomy and chemistry. After his death in 1523, Barden Tower was at times the residence of his son, but from an inventory prepared in 1572, it would appear that the Shepherd Lord was the only one of his race who regarded it as fitted for a permanent residence. According to this document, the only apartments furnished in the last-mentioned year were the hall and kitchen, which seems to argue that the lords of Skipton used the tower as a hunting-lodge, and occasionally refreshed themselves there, but never stayed in it for the night. When the famous Anne Clifford, Countess of Pembroke, succeeded to the family estates in the troublous times of the Civil War, she found most of her castles and great houses in ruins. It was not until some years later that she was able to commence her self-appointed task of rebuilding or restoring them. On each of the houses and strongholds so restored, she caused an inscription to be placed which set forth the particulars of its renovation, and each of these inscriptions wound up with a reference to a particular passage of Holy Writ and a Laus Deo. That at Barden, engraved above the principal doorway on the south of the tower, runs as follows: This Barden Tower was repayro by the Ladie Anne Clifford Counte nowe that it was repayrd by the sayd lady. Esa. Chapt. 58, ver. 12. The tower remained in good condition for two centuries after this, and about 1670-80 was used as a residence by members of the Burlington family. It was entire so far as the fabric was concerned in 1774, but soon afterwards it was despoiled of its lead and timber, and allowed to fall into its present ruinous condition. In its courtyard there is a remarkable old house, used as a farmstead, which is in its way as full of interest as the tower itself. It dates from the thirteenth century, and has walls of immense thickness, while the oak beams which support its roof are at least three hundred years old. The ancient chapel of the tower is very interesting, and there are some relics of antiquity in it and the farmhouse which are noteworthy as having once belonged to the Countess of Pembroke. The surroundings of Barden are indeed in every way full of charm and interest, and the ruined tower standing between the wild loneliness of the moors on one side and the pastoral stretches of the valley on the other forms a fitting sentinel to the fairyland which lies between it and Bolton Bridge. CHAPTER XXXIV The Wharfe from Barden to Cam Fell SURROUNDINGS OF THE WHARFE BETWEEN BARDEN BRIDGE AND APPLETREEWICK-EARL SEAT AND SIMON SEAT SKYREHOLME-PERCIVAL HALL-TROLLER'S GILL AND ITS LEGEND-STUMP CROSS CAVESAPPLETREEWICK-THE ANCIENT FAIR AT APPLETREEWICK-ROMANTIC HISTORY OF THE CRAVEN FAMILY HARTLINGTON-BURNSALL HEBDEN-LEGEND OF THE DEVIL'S BRIDGE-THORPE-SUB-MONTEM- DALE SOURCE OF THE WHARFE AT CAM FELL. I ON the immediate vicinity of Barden Tower there are two highways leading towards the villages of Upper Wharfedale, one passing along the foot of Barden Fell by way of Drebley to Burnsall, the other skirting the opposite bank of the river, underneath Earl Seat and Simon Seat, and reaching Burnsall by way of Appletreewick and Hartlington. Both these roads are remarkable for the beauty of the prospects to be obtained from them at various points, and both command wide views of mountain and valley, wood and river. The first is the shorter path to Upper Wharfedale, but the leisured man who is not particular as to time or destination will find most pleasure and interest in following the second one, which crosses the Wharfe at Barden Bridge, just below the tower, and winds away at the base of the fells towards Howgill. On a bright morning, at any period of the year, but especially in early summer, this excursion is one of the most delightful which the traveller can take in this part of Wharfedale. The highroad between Barden Bridge and Howgill is quiet and even solitary, and the views of the Wharfe winding along in the green valley beneath are as full of rest to the eye as VOL. II. 177 Ꮓ they are instinct with charm. Across the river rises the long swell of the Barden moors, culminating in the peak of Barden Fell, 1660 feet above sealevel, at the foot of which lies Drebley, a quaint, irregular hamlet raised on a plateau overhanging the river, where at one time stood one of the six hunting-lodges of the Cliffords when they kept their state at Skipton. At the head of the valley lie the woods and slopes of Appletreewick, backed by the dark moors of Hebden and Conistone; on the right hand rise the steep acclivities of Earl Seat and Simon Seat, covered on their lower slopes with trees and shrubs, and at their summits with rock and heather and bracken. The air hereabouts is delightfully fresh and invigorating, and the lover of pedestrianism will feel that its exhilaration is of such a nature that he could walk on under its influence for ever. This feeling is largely due to the fact that from Barden the land rises a good deal, and the mountain air blows more freely down the valley than it does amongst the thick woods of Bolton and of lower Wharfedale. At Howgill, a little hamlet lying at the foot of Simon Seat, on the banks of a rivulet running down to the Wharfe, there is a path which leads up the hillside to the summit of this very remarkable eminence. It is a somewhat stiff climb to the curiously-shaped rocks at the top, for the lower slopes of the hill are steep, and the moorland which lies beyond the edge of the woods which cover them is thickly carpeted with heather and bracken. No traveller, however, who wishes to form a thorough acquaintance with Wharfedale, or who has a liking for wide-spreading prospects of hill, moor, SIMON SEAT AND EARL SEAT 179 and valley, should neglect to climb Simon Seat. On the way up, the summit of Earl Seat, lower down the dale, comes into close view, but it is not until the moorland is gained that the huge pile of rocks which crowns Simon Seat becomes apparent. These rocks, which are known as the Hen Stones, are of very curious shape, and the man unlearned in geology might well spend several hours in examining their nooks and crannies. The highest point of Simon Seat is about 1590 feet above sea-level, and commands magnificent views of the surrounding country in Wharfedale and Airedale, and of the district lying between the Wharfe and the Nidd, but the most pleasing prospect which it affords is that of Appletreewick, lying immediately beneath it, a picturesque, old-world place on a shelving hill which slopes over green pastures and deep woods to the banks of the river. From the summit of Simon Seat a path leads down the hillside towards Skyreholme, a small village which contains some noticeable old houses, and stands at the entrance to a romantic defile known as Troller's Gill, up which the traveller should certainly journey ere he goes forward to Appletreewick and Burnsall. There is at Skyreholme one of those mills which were the pet aversion of Whitaker a century ago, but its presence does nothing towards despoiling the valley of its charm, and is scarcely notice able amongst the high hills which overlook it. A little way out of the village, on the right-hand side of Troller's Gill, stands Percival Hall, an ancient Elizabethan house which is said to have been one of the favourite harbouring-places of Nevison, a noted highwayman. It is somewhat curi |