[September, 1858.] 537 



DOVEDALE. 



By the Rev. W. M. Hind. 



Dovedale is classic ground. Were its romantic scenery less 

 enchanting, it would still retain a place among the notable 

 nooks and corners of Old England from its association with the 

 name of good old Izaak Walton. It is still the loved resort of 

 the votaries of the gentle art. The painter and the tourist still 

 frequent it to gratify their love for the picturesque, and have 

 not to mourn over there, as in Matlock Dale, the native beauty 

 of the scenery disfigured by the hand of man. Not unfre- 

 quently the botanist visits the lovely valley, and finds a fresh 

 enchantment in the scene, from his being able to decipher to 

 some extent the hieroglyphics in which the Divine Architect has 

 written his own praise and glory in the vegetable covering of 

 the rocks. My first visit to Dovedale was in August, 1849, 

 where I spent a portion of two days. In June, 1856, I re- 

 peated my visit, which, after one afternoon's exploring, was cut 

 short by a heavy rain. The plants which I observed on these 

 occasions are the proper subject of this paper. Those of my 

 readers who are acquainted with Dovedale will forgive me, I 

 trust, when I state, for the benefit of such as have not yet 

 visited the spot, that this dale is situated in the counties of 

 Stafford and Derbyshire, the bright-flowing Dove being the 

 boundary between the counties. On the Staffordshire side of 

 the entrance to the dale stands the comfortable and commodious 

 hostelry of the ' Izaak Walton.^ On the same side, proceeding 

 northwards up the dale, are the steep eminences of Bunster, 

 Ham Tops, and Hurt's Wood. On the Derbyshire side stands, 

 in the foreground, as the giant guardian of the valley, the lofty 

 Thorp Cloud, a commanding conical hill, which may be seen 

 some thirty miles off to the south. North of Thorp Cloud 

 stand the heights of Sharplow, Cromwell's Low, and Baley Hill. 

 I have but little to record of the floral treasures of the 

 Staffordshire side of the dale ; not, I believe, that there is any 

 lack in this respect, but simply because it is not so easy of 

 search. The naked steeps of Bunster are almost wholly inac- 

 cessible. At the foot of this hill, however, I found Hutchinsia 

 petrcea, Br., abundant, Geranium columbinum, L., Calamintha 



N. S. VOL. II. 3 Z 



