NATURE 



577 



THLRSDAV, APRIL 20, ic 



-U.IA' .4ArD SCENERY. 

 La)tdscapc in History and Other Essays. By Sir 

 Archibald Geil-cie, F. R.S. Pp. viii + 352. (London : 

 ^L^cmillan and Co., Ltd., 1905.) Price 8s. 6d. net. 



IX this collection of essays Sir Archibald Geikie 

 has given us in a connected form some of his 

 contributions to the study of the effect of geographical 

 environment and geological changes, not only in 

 determining the distribution of population and of the 

 centres of rule and of commerce, but also in in- 

 fluencing literature and the interpretation of history. 

 In some of them he treats of the part man has played 

 in controlling and directing those forces of nature 

 which tend to produce change on the surface of the 

 earth, and he has added a few essays dealing with 

 subjects which arise naturally out of such inquiries. 

 In this way he has produced a most readable book, the 

 several parts of which hang well together. 



When we have exhausted all the available docu- 

 ments, sought out the meaning of all the de- 

 scriptive place-names and gathered the local tradi- 

 tions, there remains the most trustworthy evidence of 

 all, namely, the examination of the ground to see 

 whether the events recorded can have occurred on the 

 area to which they have been assigned, either under 

 present conditions or other conditions the former 

 existence of which we can learn from what we see. 

 Our author gives as an example the story of the 

 Battle of Bannockburn, where the army of Edward 

 was compelled to crowd its attack into a narrow 

 space because Bruce had rested his left flank on what 

 the trained eye can see must at that time have been 

 a morass with impassable bogs and sheets of water, 

 though it is now dry and richly cultivated. 



Estuaries and the rivers which run into them pro- 

 vided landing places and opened up the inland regions 

 to the vessels of primaeval man, and on their banks 

 were sites for the settlements of the first comers and 

 the cities of later more civilised times ; while, on 

 the other hand, mountain ranges and tangled forests 

 separated tribes and offered an insurmountable barrier 

 to expansion and intercourse. 



Man, by cutting down or burning forests, and by 

 draining lakes and swamps, has altered the con- 

 ditions of many extensive tracts of country, changing 

 the climate, the amount of rainfall, and the rate of 

 waste of the hill-slopes and valleys. 



The south of Scotland and parts of the north of 

 England were once covered with small shallow pans 

 of water like Finland, " the land of a thousand 

 lakes." Most of these have got filled up in the 

 British Isles, and the process of reclaiming and 

 cultivating the areas once covered with water has 

 been hurried on by the advance of agriculture; but 

 history tells us how the early dwellers in these broken 

 grounds took advantage of them in their struggles 

 against the powerful races that from age to age in- 

 vaded them. The Caledonians met the Romans on 

 such ground, and the Scotch the English in later 

 times; and, further south, the Saxons long held their 

 NO. 1 85 I, VOL. 71] 



own in the flooded fenlands against William and his 

 Norman followers. 



The mythology of Greece and of northern Europe 

 is largely influenced by the character of the scenery 

 in which it took shape. It was recognised that the 

 plain of Tliessaly had once been covered with a sheet 

 of water, of which the remaining portions formed two 

 considerable lakes. The opening of the gorge by 

 which it was drained was attributed to Poseidon, the 

 God of the Sea, or in later times to Hercules. Here 

 we seem to have the tradition of an old controversy 

 as to whether the sea, the natural operation of 

 water running out of a lake or connected with in- 

 roads of the sea, or even artificial operations, had 

 contributed most to bring about the draining of the 

 area. 



The snowy summits of Olympus, rising serenely 

 above the shifting clouds into the calm, clear, blue 

 heaven, naturally came to be regarded as the fit 

 abode of the gods who ruled the world, and soon 

 Olympus came to be synonymous with heaven itself. 



So, also, in the countries of western and northern 

 Europe the grandeur and ruggedness of the scenery 

 and the " mountain gloom " are faithfully reflected 

 in the Teutonic myths and superstitions. 



Our author gives three examples of typical districts 

 to show how a knowledge of the causes which have 

 brought about the varied scenery of each, far from 

 checking the free play of fancy, enhances the pleasure 

 derived from their contemplation. 



He takes first the little cake of rock which caps 

 Slieve League in Ireland, and leads the imagination 

 to recall the time when it extended over all the 

 surrounding area ; but it has been removed over most 

 of the district, a patch being left here and there to 

 indicate the wide area over which it once extended. 



Then our author takes us to the Isle of Wight, and 

 showing us the " long backs of the bushless downs," 

 explains how they come to rise as they do from the 

 waves and run across the island from side to side. 

 The long story that they tell is a stimulus to the 

 imagination that greatly heightens the pleasure 

 derived from the scene. 



Again he carries us to the flanks of Slioch and the 

 shores of Loch Maree, and makes them tell their tale. 



He then goes on to describe the influence of scenery 

 upon our literature. Here he is, of course, dealing 

 with a later stage of mental development, and what 

 he gives us is chiefly a sketch of the distinguishing 

 physical features which inspired the descriptive 

 passages in the poets of nature. 



He tells us of the simple, child-like delight in nature 

 which was so characteristic of Chaucer. He points 

 out the placid rural quiet of the Colne Valley, 

 where Milton dwelt, and which inspired the two finest 

 lyrics in the English tongue'. He describes the 

 scenery of the Ouse near Olney and Weston, so 

 thoroughly characteristic of the southern lowlands 

 which filled Cowper with images of rural peaceful- 

 ness and gentle beauty. 



He points out how the poetry of Thomson ever 

 showed the impress of his early life in the Scottish 

 lowlands within sight of the Cheviot and Lammer- 

 muir Hills. 



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