Rambles among the Hills in the Peak of Derbyshire and the South Downs ... With illustrations

Front matter

RAMBLES AMONG THE HILLS. BY THE SAME AUTHOR. FIELD PATHS AND GREEN LANES. Being Country Walks, chiefly in Surrey and Sussex. Third Edition. "With Illustrations from Sketches made ou the spot. Post Svo, 10s. #d. List of Contents. Winchelsea and Rye. Hound about Hastings. Pevensey, Hursanouceux, and Bodlam. Leith Hill. Guildford, over the Hills. Caterham to Godstone. Norbury Park, Albury, and Deepdene. Mayfield. Alfriston and Wilmington. South Downs. Reigate, Gatton Park. Redhill to Crowhurst. Haywards Heath to East Grinstead. Petworth to Midhurst. Ewhurst, Albury, and Chilworth. Edenbridge to Penshurst. The Wye, from Ross to Chepstow. Haslemere and Godalming. Dorking. " Mr. Jennings has come within an ace of writing a classic, or something very like it. Without putting it on the same level as White's ' Selborne ' or Mr. Dudley Warner's ' Summer in my Garden,' we can say that he has given us a delightful story of his walks and rambles through Surrey and Sussex, which some people will like to read twice.

Such a book as this is the best jroof that a true lover of nature is abroad." — Spectator. Boisovei Castle \Froritispitcr. RAMBLES AMONG THE HILLS IX THE PEAK OF DERBYSHIRE AND THE SOUTH DOWNS. By LOUIS J. JENNINGS, AUTHOR OK " FIELD PATHS AND CREES LANKS." Kuinei Tower at Cow-dray. WITH ILLUSTRATIONS. LONDON : JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 1880. [All rights reserved.]

Preface

. The Walks described in the following pages have been taken at various times during the last two years, whenever the mood or the skies happened to be favourable. No doubt a native of each locality touched upon could mention many places or objects of interest which I did not see in the course of my visit, but ou that point my conscience is clear — I always saw all that I could in the time at my disposal. I do not profess to write a guide-book, but with regard to the Peak country in Derbyshire, and the line of the South Downs in Sussex, I believe that I have not left any important points unvisited.* In describing my rambles, I have generally confined myself to what came under my own eyes, without making * Some parts of the South Downe which are not mentioned in this volume hare already been dealt with in the author's Field Paths rind Green Lanes.

VI Preface. a hopeless attempt to enter into competition with Mr. Murray's invaluable Handbooks, to which I have been so often indebted for hints or guidance. Those works form in themselves a most varied and interesting library of reference on England and English local history, and to excel them in their special field does not, happily for me, fall within the range of my design. It will be seen that I have usually made out a track of my own, remote from much-frequented roads, and have carefully explained the path wherever it is at all difficult to find. When no such explanations are given, it is because none are needed. Everybody who is fond of walking likes to explore a little for himself, and I have left room enough for the exercise of that faculty. I may fairly say that I have been at great pains to ensure accuracy in the directions here given, and have more than once gone a long distance for the special purpose of verifying them.

This task has never been undertaken before as regards the South Downs, and the few books which pro- Preface. VII fess to treat of the Kinderscout are remarkable for the absence of any useful information which they afford concerning it. As in a former volume, which was received with so much kindness by the public, I have given a faithful account of occasional conversa tions with my fellow wayfarers, or of the scenes in which I have taken a part. Sometimes these little talks and adventures have served to lighten a day's journey, or to beguile a lonely evening at a country inn, and they may possibly have the same sort of effect upon these pages — at any rate, they aro what they profess to be, a plain unvarnished tale of actual occurrences. There are many strange people and odd scenes to be met with in England, if a man goes about keeping his eyes open for them, and is prepared to enter into the spirit of the thing when accident throws them in his way.

As for the beauty of this little country — for we must aU confess it is not large — no one will ever be capable of doing justice to it. Its endless variety Preface. VIII astonishes me more the more I see of it ; travel as much as one may, there is always a pleasant surprise in store — a landscape more striking than we have previously met with, fields and hills more exquisitely grouped, nobler and finer trees, or a view which somehow finds its way more directly to the heart. I do not believe there is any man alive who can say with truth that he has seen England thoroughly. One may have lived in much larger countries, it is true, but there are none which it takes so long to get tired of as England. Let the reader give it a few trials, avoiding beaten tracks which are haunted by tramps and the fearful man on the bicycle ; going always alone, and allowing himself plenty of time.

Let him study people as well as places, and muse long and quietly over the lovely pictures which will disclose themselves one after another to his eyes, and he will soon come to the conclusion that there is not a more beautiful or a more interesting country to travel in than his own. For my part, I wish I could believe that Preface. IX one half of the pleasure which my walks have given me will now be felt by those who are kind enough to read about them. For the illustrations which adorn this volume I am indebted to my friend Mr. A. H. Hallam Murray, who has made his sketches on the very spots described, and reproduced some of my favourite scenes with remarkable grace and fidelity. Kingston Manor House. Lewes, Sussex. CONTENTS.

Chapter I. Chatsworth

PAGE Chatsworth Park.— The Travelling Tinker.— Filial Gratitude.— The Two Ends of Life. — Darley Dale. — An Ancient Yew. — The Crusader's Heart. — A Comfortable Hotel. — Sunshine and Cloud. — Woods at Chatsworth. — Old Oaks in the Park. — Beeley Moor. — Pudding Pie Hill. — English Weather. — The Adopted Child.— Realities of Gipsy Life.— The Encampment. — Horse-dealing.— Through the Wood to Chatsworth. — The Library and its Treasures. — Claude Lorraine. — Generosity of the British Public . . . . . . 3

Chapter II. Haddon, Youlgreave, And Stanton

A Walk to Haddon Hall.— The Three Roads.— Old English Furniture. — The Ordnance Maps. — The Dakin and Lathkill. — Youlgreavc Church. — An Old Storm. — Mr. Burne Jones's Window. — A Visitor at Lunch. — "Not eat Cheese?" — A Wealthy Bachelor. — Coaxing the Women. — Birchover. — A Shady Road. — Stanton Moor.— A Labyrinth of Quarries. — Stanton Village. — View of Haddon. — The Mother's Last Home . . . Contents. XII 39

Chapter III. Eyam And Middleton Dale

A Derbyshire Village. — The Valley of Rocks. — A Cure for Love. — Church Tor.— An Old Garden. — Eyam Church aud Hall. — A Mother of Soldiers. — The Lead Trade.— A Clergyman's Devotion. — Cucklet Delph. — Roads about Chatsworth. — The Sheffield Road. — Wellington Pillar. — Froggatt Edge. — " The Fox House." — ,; Robin Hood " Inn. — Hard Times again. — The Jack of All Trades. — A Delicate Question . . . . 28

Chapter IV. Bakewell To Buxton And Axe Edge

Fishing in the Wye.— BakeweU Church. — Dorothy Vernon. — Ashford in the Water. — Monsal Dale. — Chee Tor. — Buxton and its Waters. — A Town of Invalids. — A Road to the Moors. — The " Cat and Fiddle." — A Quiver full of Arrows. — Shining Tor. — Axe Edge.— The Source of Four Rivers

Chapter V. Hardwicke Hall

A Field Path from Mansfield. — How to Escape the Turnpike Road. — " More glass than wall." — Horace Walpole and Hardwicke. — Old Rooms and Tapestiy. — An Industrious Queen. — The " Goddess of Peacocks." — A Travelling Trunk. — The Long Gallery. — Portraits and Books. — Unexpected Interview with " Tiger." — A Post which is no Sinecure.— Poaching as a Trade. — The Ruins at Hardwicke. — The Gamekeeper's Friends Contents. XIII

Chapter VI. Bolsover Castle

PAGE A Ghostly House. — Astray amid Ruins. — Regal Quarters for Owls and Bats. — The Old Woman. — An Ancient Hall. — Stepping backwards three hundred years. — Ominous Name for a Bedroom.— The Dungeons. — Subterranean Chambers. — A Haunted Kitchen. — The Gentleman with Ruffles. — From the Past to the Present. — " Commercial Gents" at Chesterfield. — How to Enjoy Life. — The Inquisitive Bagman. — Travelling in "Notions." 58

Chapter VII. Matlock And Dove Dale

The Two Matlocks. — Mr. Rhodes' Description. — The Prosaic View of Matlock. — Masson and the Hills. — The " Via Jelly." — Letting-out Scenery. — Lunch at the " Izaak Walton." — Dove Dale. — A Hard Road. — The Twelve Apostles. — Alstonfield Church.— A " Short Cut."— The Slough of Despond.— Lost in the Swamps. — Hartington at last. — An accommodating Hostess. — The Pedlar and his Cart. — Castleton. — An Unexpected Recognition 69

Chapter VIII. Castleton And The Peak

A Fine Morning. — Caves or Hills ?— Edale Valley. — View from the Hills. — A Solitary Farm. — Lonely Paths a.id Moors. — Edale Bridge and Cross. — A Long Way round by a Short Cut.— The Man with the Wooden Leg. — Two Unpleasant " Hakes." — In quest of the " Grapes."— A Village Problem. —Bad Trade Contents. XIV TAGI*. 91 100

Chapter IX. The Peak

A Castleton Lion.— Off for the Kinderscout.— Derwent Dale and the Woodlands.— The Duke of Norfolk's House.— Old Oak Furniture.— A Wild Country.— Tramps on the March.— The Kinderscout Region.— A Land of Chaos. — A Night Encampmeut. — Uabbit or Bacon ?— The Night Visitor.

Chapter X. The Kinderscout

A " Strictly Preserved " Mountain. — " Small Holdings " on the Moors. — Half a Yard of Shooting. — Waiting for a Chance Shot. — Trespassers Beware. — The Village of Hayfield. — A Preliminary Stroll. — Evening Talk. — Mad Jack and his Advice. — The Road to " t' Scout." — The River Sett. — A Warning to Strangers. — Old Pits Plantation. — The Heron Rock. — View of the Scout. — Character of the Scenery. — Mill Hill and Hollinhead. — Moss and Boulders. — The Mermaid's Pool. — " Go back, Go back 1 " — The Green Oases. — Peat Trenches and Gullies. — The Kinder Fall. — Redbrook. — Joseph Rocks. — The Old Smithy. — A Shooting Cabin. — The Three Knolls. — Stoneyford. — Birds and Trees. — The Cattle Salesman and the Drover. — A Story of Prison Life. — What was done to the Cobbler. — T' Feesh-pond and t' Kara-wan. — A Lesson for Jo. — Voices of the Night. .

Chapter XI. Sherwood Forest

— THE "DUKERIES." The Haunts of Robin Hood. — How to Get to Sherwood. — The Walk from Peafield Lane.— A Bad Field Path.— Some Advice to Visitors. — The " Butcher's Shambles " and " Major Oak." — An Elderly Juvenile. — Birklands.— Rufford Park and Abbey. — Woods and Game. — An Old Domain. — Edwinstowe. — Thoresby Park. — An Avenue of Beeches. — ■ Contents. XV PAC E Normanton Inn. — Clumber Park. — The Avenue of Limes. — Welbeck Abbey. — Model Lodges. — An Avenue of Firs. — The late Duke's Building Craze. — Tunnels and Underground Chambers. — How Money may be Squandered. — The Riding School and Gallop. — A Friend of the Duke's. — Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. — The Drives through the Park. — Lord George Bentinck. — Was he Poisoned ? — Clipstone and the Water Meadows. — Concluding Recommendations . . 126

PART IL

— SUSSEX. THE SOUTH DOWNS. — t —

Chapter I. Petersfield And Butser Hill

A Dull Town amid Fine Scenery. — Petersfield Hangers and Stonor Hill. — The Western Termination of the South Downs. — The Dumb Jockey. — A Playful Horse. — Bariton Village. — Gibbon's Home. — War Down and Butsor Hill. — The Portsmouth Road. — An April Storm. — East. Meon. — A "Holdish" Church. — "Nothing worth Seeing." — The Return by Langrish. — The Royal Marionettes.— Triumph of Virtue over Vice. — Company manners at the " Dolphin." . 149

Chapter II. Petersfield To Cocking And Midhurst

A Fresh Start. — The Blackbird's Song. — Harting. — Mysterious Disappearance of a Stag. — Up Park. — South Down Scenery. — Telegraph Hill. — How to get to " Kingley Bottom." — A Green Track and a Quiet Nook. — A Solitary Road. — Moss and Violets. — The " Devil's Jumps." — A Doubtful Corner. Voices of the Winds. — An Invaded Dingle. — The Village of Cocking. — An " inconvenient " House. — Blackthorn Winter. — Field Paths to Midhurst. — Bod or Politics ? Contents. XVI l'AUE 172 196

Chapter III. Midhurst To Amberley

South Down Inns. — Poor Accommodation. — The Road to Graffham.— A Village Churchyard. — Lavington Park and Church. — Au English Scene. — The Bishop's Grave. — Birds and Flowers.— Duncton Beacon. — Magnificent Views. — Sutton and the " White Horse."— The Wren.— An Old Cottage.— A Roman House under the Downs. — Making Home comfortable 1 ,900 years ago. — The Woods and Hills. — Duncton to Amberley. — Off by Train .......

Chapter IV. Steyning To Wiston And Amberley

A Sussex Town — Taking life Lei.surely. — The Sign-Painter. — A Child's Tribute to the Dead. — The Road to Wiston. — An Ancient Park. — Views of the Downs — A Picture from a Drawing-room Window. — Owners of Wiston. — The Entrance Hall. — Carvings and Pictures. — Wiston Church. — Sussex Lanes. — Chanctonbury Ring. — Views of the Surrey Hills. — Characteristic English Scenery. — Muntham Firs. — Over the Hills to Amberley 184

Chapter V. The South Downs Round Lewes

The Town of Lewes. — De Foe's Opinion. — A Good Centre for Exploration. — Southover. — Anne of Cleve's House. — A Walk on the Downs. — Mount Harry. — The Shepherd and his Sermon. — Good Descent of some Sussex Shepherds. — Ditchling Beacon. — Stanmer Village and Park. — A Dissolving View of Partridges and Mushrooms. — Cliffe Hill and Mount Caburn. — A Spot for an Afternoon Stroll Contents. XVII PAl

Chapter VI. Among The Downs

Glynde. — A Walk through Firle I'ark. — Firle Beacon and its Views. — Seaford. — Fairy Rings. — Alfriston. — Searching for Flints.— Moles. — Sheep Rot. — Farmers' Troubles.— A Sheep in Difficulties. — The River Ouse. — Southease. — A Scramble up the Downs 208

Chapter VII. South Down Villages

A Walk from Shoreham. — Godwits and Redshanks. — To Toynings over the Downs. — The Devil's Dyke. — A Village out-at-elbows. — Thc British " Harry " out for a Holiday. — " No Quality " in Poynings. — A Suitable Field for Judge Lynch. The Source of thc Stream. — The Village of Ringmer. — Gilbert White's Rookery. — New Commandments. — Ovingdcan Grange.— A Contrast to Poyning's Church. — A Walk over thc Hills. — Thc Village of Kingston.— Haunted Fields and Lanes. — Down Scenery and Characteristics. — Baldsdean.— A Delicate Question. — The Dog and the Adder. — Jugg's Lane. — " Move On." — Performing Bears. — A " Personally Conducted" Party 210

Chapter VIII. Old South Down Houses

Attachment of Sussex People to their Homes. — Old Sussex Families. — Danny Park and House. — A " Carolina Poplar." — Wolstonbnry Hill. — Old Houses near Plumpton.— A Cool Reception in Street. — The Head Man of the Village. — Street. Place and Church. — The Soldiers' Graves. — " So it Goes."— The " Clerk " of Ditchling.— The " Connissoir " of Rum. — Queer Guide to a Church. — " No Sense in Old Houses." — Wild Flowers. — Westmeston. — Plumpton Place. — A Dishonoured old House 242 h Contents. XVIII PAGK

Chapter IX. Wilmington, Eastbourne, And Beachy Head

A Hint for a Walk.— The Road Mender.— A Windmill broke Loose. — " Nothing but Bad Luck." — Rabbits and " Tigs." — Some Advice concerning Bees. — Wilmington and Jevington. — An Inn-keeper Proud of a Church. — No Place like Kent. — Jevington to Eastbourne. — East Dean and Friston. Birling Gap. — Gardening under Difficulties. — Darby's Hole. A Reminiscence of a Lighthouse. — Beachy Head. — The Last of the South Downs 25S

Chapter X. Heathfield To Ashiiurnham

The " Forest Ridge." — A Primitive Region. — Old-Fashioned Roads. — Crowborough Beacon. — The Ancient Beacon- Lights of Sussex. — Bye Lanes and Field Paths. — A Walk to Warbleton. — The Priory. — Legends of the House. — The Mysterious Skulls. — The Blood-stained Room. — Rushlake Green. — A Lively Night at the " Crown." — To Ashburnham. — The Old IronWorks. — Ashburnham Place. — The Libraries. Relics of Charles the First.— The Church.— A Princely Estate . 273

Chapter XI

"THE FINEST SEVEN MILES IN ENGLAND." A Hint from Cobbett.— Maidstone Town. — The Travelling Agent. — Maidstone Church. — The Hoppers. — Allington Castle. — A Chapter of Accidents. — Boxley Abbey. — Pennenden Heath. — The Painted Waggon. — A Loan of a " Tanner." — The " Dumb Borsholder. "—Manners and Customs of Hoppers. — Mere worth and Peckham. — Cobbett not a good Guide LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. FROM SKETCHES MADE ON THE SPOT AND DRAWN ON WOOD BY A. H. HALLAM MURRAY. ENGRAVED BY .7. W. WHYMPEB. bolsovek castiæ Frontispiece PAGE CHATSWORTH WOODS 8 EYAM CROSS 27 POX HOUSE 2S EAGLE ROCK 33 MONSAL DALE To face 41 RUINS AT HARDWICKE HALL 53 PIKE POOL, DOVE DALE . . 83 EDALE HEAD To fare 87 DERWENT HALL 97 KINDERSCOUT 106 REDBROOK 118 HAYFIELD, FROM ROAD NEAR EDALE CROSS . . . . 125 THE MAJOR OAK, SHERWOOD FOREST . . .

To face 131 THE DOWNS, LOOKING TOWARDS FIRLE BEACON . To fun- 147 GIBBON'S HOUSE. BURITON 149 EAST MEON 157 RUINS AT COWDRAY* 172 STEYNING 1S4 WISTON PARK, NEAR STEYNING .... To face 187 KINGSTON, NEAR LEWES 219 A PERSONALLY CONDUCTED PARTY 241 WARBLETON PRIORY PABT I. — ♦ — THE PEAK OE DERBYSHIRE. Ii

Chapter I. Chatsworth

Chatsworth Park.— The Travelling Tinker.— Filial Gratitude.— The Two Ends of Life. — Darley Dale. — An Ancient Yew. — The Crusader's Heart. — A Comfortable Hotel. — Sunshine and Cloud. — Woods at Chatsworth. — Old Oaks in the Park. — BeeleyMoor. —Pudding Pie Hill.— English Weather.— The Adopted Child. — Realities of Gipsy Life. — The Encampment. — Horse-dealing. — Through the Wood to Chatsworth. — The Library and its Treasures. — Claude Lorraine. — Generosity of the British Public. One afternoon on my arrival at Chatsworth — the very best head-quarters that can be chosen for excursions in Derbyshire — I strolled into the beautiful Park, and found that I had it all to myself, with the exception of an old man who was plodding slowly along, pushing a little tinker's cart before him. He was rather lame, and seemed very tired ; there was therefore every reason for supposing that a rest would be welcome to him.

I pulled out my pocket-knife, and asked him to grind it for me. His little barrow-like machine was so arranged that the wheel in front on which he rolled it from place to place became also the wheel for turning the leather bund round the grindstone. First he lifted up the lid I) PT. I. of a box, and pulled out a piece of tin with which he scraped the mud off the wheel. Then he put on the band, began working the treadle with his foot, and very soon a little shower of sparks was flying from my knife. From time to time he left off grinding, and tried the edge on his thumb-nail. I noticed that he was thin, grey,* and careworn, and that he spoke like a man of fair education and intelligence. I asked him if he travelled far. "Not a very wide circuit," said he, "for I have a lame leg, and cannot go far.

Besides, as you see, I am getting old. It's a bad thing to be old, sir." " How far do you go a-day ? " " About seven or eight miles is as much as I can do now. I go from Sheffield to Buxton — that is my round, but it takes me a long time to do it." " Is your home at Sheffield ? " I asked. , " I have no whoam now, sir, for you see all my children are grown up and married, and they seldom come near me. So I have no whoam." It seemed to him quite natural that as soon as his children were able to provide homes for themselves, he should be left without one. " But wherever I go," continued the old man, "it is not very easy now to get a place to sleep in. The public-houses do not want me, and I have to go to a lodging-house, where they charge me sixpence for a bed. It takes me a long time to earn sixpence, and if I did not have two or three customers on the road who gave me a little extra, I could not get along at all.

When Chatsworth. 5 CH. I. sleep at a public-house, I am obliged to drink something, or they would not take me in, and that soon spoils the day's work." He now pulled out a bottle of oil from his pocket, and took a stone from his box, and began sharpening up the knife, which he presently handed to me saying, " There, sir, that will pare off any corn now." The trees were all in the first fresh beauty of summer, the lilacs and laburnums were in flower, and along the road there passed a group of happy children, carrying in their hands branches of the hawthorn. They, too, in their time would desert the parent roof, and be themselves deserted, and life would seem no better a thing to them than it did to yonder poor old man, hobbling wearily along the last stage of his journey. Through meadows bedecked with flowers, and by the side of the river Derwent, shining in the sun like the river which another tinker saw in his dream, I walked on to Darley Dale, whither I was bound on a pilgrimage to see a yew-tree, reputed to be the largest in the county, and of great age.

Man's years are three-score and ten, but many such periods put together would not reckon the life of this old yew. I found it still green and vigorous, carefully guarded within an iron rail, and likely to see many changing seasons come and go long after all human beings now upon the face of the earth have passed to " the land where all things are forgotten." It stands a grim sentinel in the churchyard, watching the unceasing harvest gathered in, faster even than its own leaves fall. Inside the church there are records of PT. I. men who died five hundred years and more ago, but the yew was a venerable tree even then. I stood for a moment or two looking at an effigy of John de Darley, dated 1325. A little girl, the sexton's child, stepped up to me and said, " It is John de Darley sir. He died with his 'art in his 'and."

" With his what, my child ? " said I, all in the dark as to her meaning. "With his 'art in's 'and," repeated the girl. "He was a crusader, and that was how he died." The figure holds in its hand some object resembling a heart, and this has given rise to the belief that the crusader took the precaution to remove that portion of his frame ere laying down his arms for ever. Presently the sexton's daughter ran off to join a group which surrounded an organ-man outside. He was playing an air from Sonnambula, and somehow or other it had a strangely foreign sound among those fields' and hills. The boys demanded the air over again, and seemed im patient of a refusal. I said a few words to the biggest of them, who was about eight years old, and he nobly took the organ-grinder under his immediate personal protection.

" They shan't hurt him," said he ; and from that moment the Italian's life was safe. Then I found a way by the side of the river to Rowsley, and so back to Chatsworth, where, at the very gates of the Park — a Park of which it is impossible ever to grow weary — there is one of the most comfortable hotels in England, close to the pretty village of Edensor. If all hotels were like this one, how little temptation there would ever be to go home ! In wandering about Derbyshire the traveller will sometimes have to put up with hard fare, and may perchance even encounter unwelcome bedfellows, such as those which Robert Curzon tells us he met with in a Coptic monastery, where the mattrass was stuffed with fleas. But it is always easy to get back to the " Chats worth Hotel" as a centre for exploration, and there everything is so cheerful and pleasant — the dinner so excellent, the beds so clean and sleep-enticing, the entire arrangements of the house so perfect — that when, like the old tinker, I am too infirm to walk more than seven or eight miles a-day, I will go and spend my remaining years there, and recall bye-gone rambles under the shade of the oak-tree in front of the door, while the pretty chambermaids disport themselves in rustic dances on the lawn.

It was very doubtful weather when I started out the following mornino and the leaden clouds drove over the sky in heavy masses, " one long drift of ragged gloom." But it is a waste of time to pay any attention to the weather in England ; one has only to go on, and take its buffets and rewards " with equal thanks." I made towards the w-ood at the back of the " Palace of the Peak," and stood under the shelter of a noble beech during a heavy sliower, and watched the storm sweep by. Presently there appeared a bit of blue sky no bigger than one's hand ; it spread gradually over the heavens, and in the course of a few minutes the sun's beams straggled through the lovely foliage, making golden patches among the blue bells and ferns, and causing the PT. I. long grass to sparkle as if all the diamonds of Brazil had been scattered over it.

The notes of the thrush soon thrilled in the air, a cock-pheasant stepped out Chatsworth "Woods. proudly from the recesses of the wood, a squirrel darted up a neighbouring tree, and a rabbit came bustling out of the ferns to see what was the matter. The clouds had passed away, and the world smiled once more. Very soon had I climbed the hill, and wandered to thc right on the edge of the wood, over a carpet of the softest moss. This is one of the most delightful woods to be seen in all England, especially in June, when the rhododendrons flame all across its dark places, and the ground is blue with wild hyacinths. There is a broad green path in the heart of the wood, and another on its brow, and from the latter there is a charming view of the Park, and far away over other woods, brown moors, and distant hills.

Towards the end of this path some patriarchal oaks begin to make their appearance, and then a whole army comes in sight — an army which bears many signs of rough warfare upon it, but still presents an imposing front. In the days before Bess of Hard wicke, who had so remarkable a talent for making fortunes and getting rid of husbands, these trees were in their prime, and now they are permitted to remain in a solitary and deserted part of the Park, seldom intruded upon by any of the numberless feet which tread through the stately halls of Chatsworth. The lightning strikes them down, or hurricanes strip off great boughs, but hundreds of them still live on, their roots curling round rocks and boulders, their trunks all hollow or distorted into weird shapes, their branches prostrate upon the ground, but bearing green leaves every year.

A small stream finds its way down the hill amidst these time-worn fathers of the wood, and there are places where it seems to have carried away all the earth from beneath the trees, leaving them only rocks and stones to rest upon. The oak will continue to stand when all life is extinct in it. But many of these oaks are yet living, and in summer-time their branches partly conceal the Rambles among ihe Hills. 10 PT. I. woeful ravages which the long years have made. Each season, however, thins their number — like the "old Guard," or the soldiers of Waterloo, they disappear one by one, and soon there will scarcely be enough of them left to cover the gaps in the ranks. Above these relics of the ancient park, there is a gate leading out upon Beeley Moor, generally kept locked, but it is possible to find the means of unlocking it by enquiry at the Chatsworth Hotel.

Through this gate a beautiful moorland walk may be at once reached. Immediately on leaving the wood the views become delightful, over valleys and hills, far beyond Stanton, and towards the wild region of the " Peak " — for though Chatsworth is doubtless in the Peak country, yet the true Peak is far from here. We may see the faint outline of it in the distance, a blue tint on the edge of the horizon. Below the wood there is a brilliant picture disclosed of the Park, with the village church and the river, and the dark moors above Froggatt Edge. To the left, standing with one's back to the wood, is a hill ending in a sort of cape. Towards this I bent my steps, and ere long found myself upon an old cart road, running northwards, towards Chesterfield, and over looking wide tracts of moor. Then came a still older cart-road, to the left — north-west — and from more than one part of it commanding views are to be gained of Chesterfield, Hardwicke Hall, and the country near Bolsover Castle — that strange old house which no one can ever forget who has once wandered through its mysterious rooms and looked into its gloomy dungeon-chambers.