THE EAST SWALE DISTRICT. 213 



line is about four miles, but it is much more if the windings of 

 the edge of the embankment are followed. This portion of the 

 great calcareous range is called the Hambleton Hills. In eleva- 

 tion it declines gradually from north to south from i,ioo to 

 950 feet, but the embankment is so steep that these hills as 

 viewed from Thirsk look much higher than they are in reality. 

 The Calcareous Gritstone which crests the embankment forms 

 fine precipices at three places — one above Boltby, the second 

 opposite Thirsk, and the third at the southern extremity of the 

 escarpment. These are called Boltby Scar, Whitestone Cliff, and 

 Roulston Scar. WTiitestone Cliff especially is a noble crag. It 

 measures fully one hundred feet in sheer perpendicular depth, 

 and beneath it, as at Boltby and Roulston, the embankment 

 slopes steeply for 500 feet, and is thickly strewn with fallen frag- 

 ments of the summit-cliff. At the foot of this slope we have 

 the only considerable tarn of these East Yorkshire hills. It is 

 called Gormire, and is about three-quarters of a mile in circum- 

 ference, with, on the east, the embankment of the main mass 

 of hill rising steeply from its shore, and on the other three sides 

 a high ridge of arenaceous hill sweeping round it. There are 

 no streams except the mere runnels of the hill-bank which flow 

 into it, and none flow from it ; so that its waters are mainly 

 supplied by rain, and diminished by evaporation. From the 

 summit of Whitestone Cliff the view upon a clear day is very fine 

 and extensive.* Immediately beneath is the precipice and the lake, 



* This is the locality of the following sonnet of Wordsworth's : 



' Dark and more dark the shades of evening fell ; 

 The wished-for point was reach'd, but late the hour, 

 And little could be gained from all that dower 

 Of prospect, whereof many thousands tell ; 

 Vet did the glowing West in all its power 

 Salute us: — there stood Indian citadel, 

 Temple of Greece, and Minster with its tower 

 Substantially expressed, a place for bell 

 Or clock to toll from. — Many a tempting isle, 

 » With groves that never were imagined lay 

 Midst seas how steadfast ! object for the eye 

 Of silent rapture : but we felt the while 

 We should forget them : they are of the sky, 

 And from our earthly memory fade away.' 



Jari. 1889. 



