298 Anniversary Address, 



The following is supplied by Mr Hardy. " The slanting 

 space in front is almost impassable from rough blocks, which 

 time after time are dropping from the mutilated columns ; 

 their surface almost hid by thickets of the hoary thistle 

 (Cnicus tenuiflorus). This is a great resort for birds, especi- 

 ally the Redstarts, of which several pairs were flitting about : 

 the females in alarm alighting on the walls, jerking and 

 spreading their tails, and uttering an alarm note ; while the 

 more guarded males, shy of human presence, kept more at a 

 distance, or flew to the trees in the cliffs. For embellishment 

 here, the foxglove is notably absent. The principal plants 

 about the edges of the cliffs are — Allium oleraceum, the 

 white horehound, in quantity, Trifolium striatum, and 

 Hieracium sylvaticum. The salad burnet {Poterium San- 

 guisorhd), forms a notable ingredient of the pastures all over 

 these hills. Towards the north-west is another towering 

 cliff, having at a distance a fancied resemblance to an Egyp- 

 tian Sphinx, and called the Cat's Crag, from being at no 

 very remote period the resort of the wild cat. On the south- 

 east, at the side of the pass, is a detached upstanding pillar 

 of whins tone, which is the ' Spindlestone,' on which the 

 traditional hero of the tale of the ' Laidley Worm,' hung his 

 bridle-rein, until he had ' won ' the overgrown beast, which 

 had made its den in the winding marshy hollow farther up ; 

 — for animals were on a great scale in those days, horses as 

 well as dragons. A rude British camp occupies the summit 

 of the cliff, accommodated to the irregularities of the area, 

 the precipice forming one of the ramparts. It is a double 

 camp ; the largest division being the easternmost. The 

 western compartment is bounded by a ditch, which may have 

 held water. This at length communicates with a hollowed 

 road, that descends the back of the hill, away towards Warn 

 water. This western single-walled section has a separate 

 entry, secured by an oblong guard-house ; and there is also 

 a principal entry common to both. The eastern camp has a 

 double wall. There are no hut circles. A strong wall, in 



