as Wensleydale, and its exploration involves a certain amount of arduous exertion, but there are several matters of interest within its solitudes, and it possesses one great feature of attraction in the magnificence of the views at its western extremity, and particularly from Cover Head, whence there is a remarkable prospect of the valley of the Wharfe in the neighbourhood of Kettlewell. In the churchyard of Coverham there is a curious phenomenon which appears to have been noticed by every itinerant and topographer who has visited the place, viz., that one may stand within its walls while the bells are ringing for service and yet be unable to see anything of the church or to hear a sound of the bells. When it is remembered that the churchyard comprises no more than a single acre of land, this seems very remarkable, but the explanation is simple indeed. A sudden falling away of the ground makes it possible to lose all sight of the church, and the rushing of the river through the weir and wheel of a water-mill drowns the sound of the bells. There is another very picturesque old water-mill at Carlton, near Coverham, and a little way out of Coverham itself, on the road to East Witton, there is a fine old house known as Brathwaite Hall, the rooms of which are panelled with old oak, and where there is a good deal of beautiful carving in oak. But there are many places of this sort in the valley, which is not without still further interest in the fact that it gave a birthplace and a name to Miles Coverdale, Bishop of Exeter, who translated the Bible into English.

CHAPTER XLIV

Wensleydale

CHARM AND VARIETY OF WENSLEYDALE-WENSLEY-BOLTON HALLREDMIRE-BOLTON CASTLE AND MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS-AYSGARTH AND AYSGARTH FORCE-BISHOPDALE-ASKRIGG-BAINBRIDGE-THE RIVER BAIN AND SEMERWATER-HAWES-HARDRAW SCAR AND COTTER FORCE-SOURCE OF THE URE.

I

HAT portion of the valley of the Ure known as Wensleydale begins, strictly speaking, about the neighbourhood of Jervaux Abbey, and continues until the source of the river is approached on the west side of Hawes. For charm and variety of scenery there is perhaps no other valley or portion of a valley in Yorkshire which can put forward greater claims to notice. It is distinguished by certain features which are lacking in the most attractive parts of Wharfedale, and if not so bold and striking as the upper valley of the Swale, it has a greater charm for the traveller than the wild scenery of the latter in its possession of a certain homeliness of aspect and wealth of wood and vegetation which is absent from the greater part of Swaledale beyond Reeth. From the village of Wensley, from whence this part of the valley takes its name, to the source of the Ure on the western slopes of Lund's Fell, the traveller will experience a continual variety of scenery, and meet at almost every turn of the road with associations and suggestions of the most interesting nature. At Wensley he will find one of the most charming of English villages, and an ancient church full of historic monuments; at Bolton Castle a fine example of the medieval stronghold still fragrant with many memories of Mary Queen of Scots; at Aysgarth and Hardraw some of the most impressive waterfalls, or forces, in the county; at Bainbridge the site of a Roman camp; and at Semerwater, the most beautiful of the few lakes which Yorkshire possesses. It is obvious, then, that a journey along the length of Wensleydale, with an occasional deviation into

the minor valleys of Bishopdale and of the Bain, can scarcely fail to yield both delight and instruction to the lover of the picturesque and the antique. Such a one would do well to explore this beautiful valley either in the later weeks of spring, when the trees are in their first glory, or in the early part of autumn, when they are slowly changing from green to red, yellow, and brown-the heat of summer in a valley like this is somewhat intense, and by no means as pleasant as the cooler airs of May or September.

The village of Wensley, which stands as a sort of sentinel in the mouth of the dale bearing its name, is generally regarded by lovers of the beautiful in nature with an unreserved admiration. It lies in a picturesque, sheltered position on the north bank of the Ure, about a mile and a half to the south-west of Leyburn, which, though a very much larger place, is in its ecclesiastical parish. It is justly famous for its cleanliness, and for the neat appearance of the cottages about its village green, but its great glory is in its church, which is the most important ecclesiastical edifice in the dale, as far as architecture and associations are concerned. Now a small village, Wensley, when its church was built, was a place of some little importance, a market-town, having a weekly market established by royal licence in 1306. It appears to have fallen upon evil times by the beginning of the sixteenth century, for when Leland visited it he found it a somewhat poor-looking place, the houses of which were partly covered with

WENSLEY

345 slate and partly with thatch. Even then, however, it possessed a fair bridge the forerunner of the present one, which is of considerable width. Within the church, which stands on a slightly elevated position on the banks of the Ure, and in close proximity to the bridge, there are numerous objects of great interest. There is some evidence that there was a church here in the twelfth century, but the present choir appears to be of the time of Henry III., the nave of the time of Henry VII., and the square tower to date from a somewhat later period. In the chancel there is a triple sedilia, Early English in style, which was brought here from Easby Abbey, together with some stalls, wrought about with heraldic devices, which came from the same place. The most notable object in the church is the pew of the Bolton family, which was originally part of the Scrope chantry at Easby, and which is most elaborately ornamented, carved, and emblazoned, and exhibits eighteen panels, bearing the names and arms of members of the house of Scrope. In the chancel there is a remarkably fine brass representing a priest in his vestments, which is supposed by some authorities to commemorate Sir Simon de Wenselawe, rector of the parish about the end of the fourteenth century. There is a quantity of elaborate woodwork in the fronts and panels of the pews of this church, and in its vestry are two of the oldest parish registers in the country. The churchyard contains several tombs of architectural interest, and shelters the remains of two persons of some distinction-one, Thomas Maude, a poet, whose work, principally dealing with the beauties of the neighbourhood, deserves more recognition than it has had; the other, Peter Goldsmith, a native of Leyburn, who was surgeon on board the Victory at the battle of Trafalgar, and ministered to Nelson in his last moments.

From the village of Wensley a road leads through Bolton Park, in the direction of Redmire, passing Bolton Hall by the way, and affording a good view of a house which is more remarkable for the beauty of its situation, and for certain associations connected with it than for its pretensions to architectural distinction. It was built about 1678 by the eccentric Duke of Bolton-then Marquis of Winchelsea-who had come into possession of the lands of the Scropes by his marriage with Mary, the only surviving child of Emanuel, the last Lord Scrope of Bolton Castle, and who found the ancient home of his wife's forefathers no longer tenable. Of this Duke of Bolton some curious stories are told. It is said that he had a perfect passion for sitting long hours over his dinner-table, and that his unfortunate guests were at times obliged to spend twelve hours at the board, since he would allow none to rise until he gave the signal. As some compensation, however, he made no objection if a wearied diner went to sleep at table. He was also fond of going out with his hounds at night, and would hunt steadily through the dark hours, employing a small army of torch-bearers to throw the necessary light upon the woods and fields through which he and his pack took their way. The park in which

VOL. II.

2 X

this extraordinary individual built his house-now the seat of the Right Hon. Lord Bolton (cr. 1797)—is luxuriously wooded all the way from Wensley to Redmire, a pretty village on its western side, where there is a diminutive and ancient church with a good deal of Norman work in its architecture, and several rustic dwellings of picturesque appearance.

One of the most interesting matters in connection with Bolton Castle, which occupies a commanding and eminently striking position on the north bank of the valley at a short distance from Redmire, from whence it may be reached by a convenient bypath, is that it is the only one now left of all the prison-houses in which Mary Queen of Scots spent her captivity in England. From a first glimpse of it one can well imagine that the royal prisoner must have experienced some feeling of dismay when she was brought here and entrusted to the custody of Lord and Lady Scrope. Even in its present condition Bolton Castle is a grim fortress-stout, forbidding, apparently impregnable. It was built by Richard, the first Lord Scrope, in the reign of Richard II., and Leland says that the cost was eighteen thousand marks, a sum equal to £12,000. He also remarks that the timber necessary to its erection was brought from the forest of Engleby in Cumberland, "by dyvers draughts of oxen layde by the waye to carry it from place to place, until it came to Bolton." When completed, the castle was somewhat irregular in shape, its curtain walls, 7 feet in thickness, measuring 184 feet on the south, 187 feet on the north, 131 feet on the west, and 125 feet on the east side. At each angle there was a tower, each about 96 feet in height, and of these all, save that at the north-east corner, are still standing. Within there is a courtyard, 96 feet by 52 feet, the grand entrance to which is in the east curtain, near the south tower. The massive portcullis which defended this is now gone. Further security was given to the castle by double portcullises over each of the four doorways which opened into the courtyard, and there was a deep moat on the western side of the quadrilateral, On the north side of the castle there is a dungeon, 13 feet by 9 feet by 8 feet, which is hewn out of the solid rock, entered by a hole cut through the floor overhead and absolutely unlighted. Here remains the iron staple to which prisoners were chained. When Leland visited this place, he appears to have been much struck by the system of conveying smoke away from the hearths. "One thing I much notyd in the haull of Bolton," he remarks, "how chimneys were conveyed by tunnils made in the syde of the walls, betwixt the lights in the haull. And by this means, and by no covers, is the smoke of the hearthe in the haull wonder strangely conveyed." He also makes mention of a clock which he saw there "a fair clock, cum motu solis et lunae," and seems generally to have been somewhat astonished, from which one gathers that the Scropes of that time ordered their house after an advanced fashion.

It was about the middle of July 1568 when Mary Queen of Scots was brought prisoner to Bolton Castle, and she came there with a rather