206 VOICES PROM THE WOODLANDS. 



sloping side of a gradual ascent from the valley that lay in 

 front ; they were dwelt in by men who worked on the farm, 

 or looked after the cattle when led out to pasture on the 

 hills where free of wood. The thane, De Lacie, who had 

 the privilege of going where he pleased, lived there, as also 

 a priest. 



This wild and secluded spot formed one of a series of 

 valleys that opened towards the river, and which had evi- 

 dently been hollowed out by the receding waters of the 

 deluge. Some of these valleys were filled with trees, and 

 it was difficult to penetrate them ; others resembled long 

 and narrow dingles, their precipitous sides being covered 

 either with underwood, or with a small and fragrant wild 

 thyme that grew about the ant-hills ; others, again, were 

 free from timber in their depth, but, here and there, noble 

 groups of beech-trees still lingered in all the pomp of 

 sylvan majesty. It was evident that Caesar never penetrated 

 into these beautiful valleys, for he wrote in his Commentaries 

 that the beech is not among the native forest-trees of 



