3i8 ^uttermete ^tsttict 



embossed by the small lilac blossoms of the antirrhinum ; 

 but at last the great charm is found in an aisle of clustered 

 pillars. Almost the whole aisle is standing, still connected 

 by the cornice wall which supported the roof. The honey- 

 suckle and ivy climb till they fall over on the other side. 

 There is a sombre corner where the great ash grows over 

 towards the tower, making a sort of tent in the recess. 

 There are niches and dark cells in the conventual range. 

 It is a small ruin, but thoroughly beautiful : and when the 

 stranger looks and listens, as he stands in the green level 

 between woods, he will feel how well the monks knew how 

 to choose their dwelling-places, and what it must have been 

 to the earnest and pious among those Cistercians to pace the 

 river bank, and attune their thoughts to the unceasing 

 music of the C alder flowing by. In the broad noon it is a 

 fine thing to see the shadows flung, short and sharp, on the 

 sward, and to catch the burnish of the ivy, and woo the 

 shade of the avenue : and, in the evening, it is charming to 

 see how the last glow of the west brings out the projections 

 and recesses of the ruins, and how the golden moon hangs 

 over the eastern mass of tree tops, ready to take her turn in 

 disclosing the beauties of the monastic retreat. 



The Abbey is carefully preserved, and liberally laid open 

 to strangers by the owner. It is no fault of his that this 

 house, a plain substantial modern dwelling, stands too near 

 the ruins. He did not build it : so there is nothing personal 

 in the natural wish of strangers that it stood somewhere else. 



At the gate the carriage is waiting, and it takes the cross 

 road, almost opposite the gate, up to Cold Fell. The drive 

 over that fell is commonly called dreary ; and it is so in bad 

 weather : but it has its charms. The sea-view is fine, — all 

 flecked with cloud-shadows as with islands : and so too is 

 the wide down sprinkled with sheep, that look as ragged as 



