240 THE WILD-FLOWERS OF SELBORNE 



in the village itself, and the lane past it leads to Ashey 

 Down, which he named his " Mount of Contemplation." 

 The picturesque approach to the church of Yaverland, 

 where he learnt to preach extempore, is more than 

 once noticed, and the fine old Jacobean mansion close 

 to the churchyard. Brading Harbour and the view 

 from the Culver cliffs are graphically described ; and 

 in The Dairyman s Daughter we are introduced to 

 the neighbouring village of Arreton, and to the pleasant 

 country beneath the south slope of Ashey Down. 



There have been many changes in the Island since 

 the time of Legh Richmond. Steamboats and rail- 

 ways have rendered it easy of access, and considerable 

 towns now flourish where only a few fishermen's huts 

 were to be seen at the close of the eighteenth century. 

 In those days, so we learn from John Wilkes of North 

 Briton fame, who had a little " villakin " in Sandham 

 Bay, it not infrequently took two hours to cross the 

 Solent from Portsmouth to Ryde. The latter place 

 was then a hamlet within the bounds of the parish of 

 Newchurch. The towns of Ventnor and Sandown did 

 not exist. Shanklin and Bonchurch together contained 

 only thirty-two houses. Bembridge, now a flourishing 

 little seaside resort, consisted of a cluster of cottages 

 at the entrance of the haven which then stretched for 

 three miles, almost as far as Brading church. But in 

 spite of the railways which now traverse the island in 

 every direction, and the upgrowth of towns consequent 

 upon the increase of population, the beauty of the 

 landscape is but little impaired. Now, as when Legh 

 Richmond reclined upon the turf beneath the " trian- 

 gular pyramid " on Ashey Down, a delightful panorama 

 meets the eye from that " lovely mount of observa- 

 tion." To the north "the sea appears like a noble 



