DOVE DALE REVISITED 7 



" The silver Dove, how pleasant is the name 1 " 



C. COTTON. 



Before entering on my own little excursions 

 on the Dove I will give a brief account of its 

 beginning and ending. 



From its source to its union with the Trent 

 the Dove serves as a boundary to the counties 

 of Staffordshire and Derbyshire; its whole 

 length is about forty-five miles. The source is 

 in Axe-edge, not far from the little village of 

 Dovehead. 



The water bubbles up through a little well, 

 whose sides are protected by a couple of flag- 

 stones. 



" Here springs the Dove \ and with a grateful zest 

 I drink its waters." 



REV. J. EDWARDS. 



In Mr. J. P. Sheldon's " Tour of the Dove, 

 etc.," 1894, he says at Dovehead "they will 

 find on a stone laid over the spring the mono- 

 gram of Walton and Cotton which some reverent 

 hand has carved." 



The " reverent hand " I find explained in 

 "The River Dove," Pickering, 1847, thus: 



''Angler. And now by your leave, I'll grave 

 the two first letters of their names in cipher on 

 this very stone that is over the fountain. 



