105 



ham, built on the slope of a hill, with the 

 dark ruins of the old castle frowning, " in 

 grim repose," over the low, stone-roofed 

 houses, and rendered more impressive from 

 the deepened shadow which the walls cast 

 in the declining sun. Behind the town 

 rises Middleham Moor, and on the opposite 

 side, to the right, appear the perpendicular 

 crags, known by the name of Leyburn Schale, 

 or Shawl, as the word is most commonly 

 pronounced. Farther up the dale, Bolton 

 Castle is seen rearing its top above a knoll 

 which partly obscures it ; and the prospect 

 to the west is bounded by the hills which 

 rise above Askrigg, and which become higher 

 and more rugged as the dale narrows. On 

 a summer eve, when the sky is a cloudless 

 expanse of purest blue, except where the 

 sun's declining rays have tinged with their 

 mellow lustre a mass of clouds in the west; 

 when the earth seems rejoicing in her beauty, 

 and the balmy air is like the breath of 

 flowers; when all Nature, animate and in- 



