PEESIDENT S ADDRESS. 19 



Chancellor of England, whose family mostly resided at it, until 

 the title became extinct in the days of Charles I. It stood for 

 the king, and it was taken in 1645. This was one of the many 

 prisons of the beautiful but unfortunate Mary, Queen of Scots, 

 1568. On approaching this noble pile, from the east, were no- 

 ticed, with much interest, on each side of the road, the ancient 

 cottages, Castle Bolton, which crouch, as it were, under the 

 shelter of the castle. 



At Aysgarth the party left the carriages and proceeded on foot 

 to the waterfall, which was in great beauty. Aysgarth, the 

 Celtic word for water and promontory, for which Aysg-arth well 

 describes this remarkable situation. The rapids begin and soon 

 become the powerful cataracts on which Turner bestowed some 

 touches of his magic pencil. The Eiver Ure, like other northern 

 streams, especially near their source, varies greatly in respect of 

 the quantity of water which it discharges. In floods it is a 

 great, a mighty river, bursting with a prodigious effect through 

 magnificent rocks, but in drought only a few gentle rills, the 

 tears of the !N^aiads, run over the edges of the limestone. I^ear 

 the bridge, a structure of A.D. 1536, the Sea Pink, Armeria 

 maritima, was observed in beautiful bloom. Aysgarth church, 

 which stands in a prominent position above the falls, was also 

 visited. The manner in which the renovation of this ancient 

 structure has been completed was much admired. This church 

 may be regarded as the mother church for all the upper part of 

 "Wensleydale, including Askrigg and Hawes. Below this point 

 the parishes are of smaller extent and of more frequent occur- 

 rence, indicating more ancient and important settlements than 

 most of those in the higher part of the dales. 



In returning, the south side of the dale was taken, passing in 

 view the elegant and modern mansion of Bolton Hall, the scat 

 of Lord Bolton, where the river was recrossed by the Wcnsley 

 bridge, and the village of Wenslcy was arrived at. This beau- 

 tiful village is like Aysgarth, a large parish, including the whole 

 of the north side of the dale from Bolton to Leyburn. It may 

 be regarded as having been a place of importance in early times, 

 since it gave its name to the dale. After visiting the ancient 



