HO HISTORY OF KIRK.BY-MOORSIDE. 



A Farewell Prospect from V hers'' -Hills, near 



Kirkby-Moorside : presented to me by a Gentleman^ 



whose name 1 am not to mention. 



What an expanse ! How striking is the view \ 

 Tho' often seen 'tis yet as ever new ! 

 From every hill the partial sights surprise, 

 Bat here the whole in one expansion lies. 

 Quickly ad vane' d to this commanding height, 

 All bursts at once on the enraptur'd sight, 

 Gives the wide landscape stretch'd afar, and near, 

 Where towns, fields, woods, in raried tints appear. 



Kirkby stands first as at my feet below, 

 Screen'd by these rising grounds when tempests blow, 

 Whose Terdant sides, and firs, and oaks display 

 A pleasing aspect in the face of day. 

 While to the south and west it far commands, 

 Extensive openings over fertile lands, 

 From whence the people temp'rate breezes share, 

 And reap the blessings of a healthful air. 



The town itself to grandeur has no claim, 

 Nor stands it noted in the ranks of fame ; 

 And yet revers'd but few are doom'd to know 

 Forlorn abodes, in dirt, and want and woe ; 

 For seldom here the lazy wretch we meet, 

 In tatter'd garments, and with shoeless feet ; 

 Nor the lost child, whose sickly looks declare 

 Want of nutrition, and a mother's care : 

 But frte'd extremes, extremes too oft at strife, 

 They mostly fill the middle ranks in life ; 

 Well fed and cloth'd, they present times enjoy, 

 With common comforts, and no hard employ ; 

 Notforc'd to mines, in deeps beneath the soil, 

 Jv or other labours of unhealthful toil. 



