MOORLAND IDYLLS. 



thicker, but because where the plants are 

 still short the Tyrian purple of the Scotch 

 heather is seen to greatest advantage ; 

 whereas, when they rise higher, the Scotch 

 heather is overtopped by the bushier and 

 coarser and taller-growing ling, with its 

 somewhat insipid pale pink blossoms. The 

 Poet thinks the fire makes the heath burn 

 brighter. I think myself it keeps the Jing 

 lower. 



Anyhow, that spur is one blaze of glory. 

 Not a spot on the moor flares so splendid a 

 purple. We passed through it, single file, 

 by the narrow footpath, where the ling rises 

 knee-high on either side, and the little brown 

 lizards dart wildly to their holes at first 

 sound of a footfall. Along the ridge, past 

 the broom-bushes, now hanging with silvery 

 pods, we continued on the path till we 

 reached the white beam-tree. There the 

 trail diverges a little suddenly to the left; 

 a cock-pheasant broke with a shrill cry on 

 the wing ; his whirr as he rose startled the 

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