100 



KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



for nature has favored her with some of the most 

 beautiful and diversified scenery. 



If the reader will accompany us in our summer 

 rambles, it shall not be over the fenny district, 

 where — 



Lands with dykes and drains, 



Conceal the view. 



It shall not be over a tract of country where we 

 must watch our steps, as we value our lives ; and 

 where, according to the thrilling narratives of 

 nearly a bygone generation, many a man has 

 found not only a muddy envelopment, but a muddy 

 grave. 



We will propose to start from any point on the 

 circuitous line of country between the Little 

 Bytham station of the Great Northern Railway, 

 and the borough of Stamford ; or that between 

 the latter place and Bourn ; then we will journey 

 onwards until we arrive somewhere in the proxi- 

 mity of Grimsthorpe Castle, the seat of the Right 

 Hon. Lord Willoughby de Eresby. 



From the Little Bytham locality we should 

 traverse almost entirely the beautiful Grimsthorpe 

 estate, and our path would be surrounded by 

 nature's best attire, with all the loveliness of 

 woodland, pasture, and waving corn fields, to 

 excite our admiration. From the neighborhood 

 of Stamford, we should have the same beautiful 

 diversity of country, but with perhaps more of 

 the panoramic effect of hill and dale. From 

 Bourn, should the weather permit, and strength 

 be proportioned to the distance, we would on no 

 account forego the walk through " the woods," 

 as far as Edenham, possessing, as they do, in- 

 creased charms, and an ample store of attraction 

 for the lover of natural history. The woods will 

 delight us with their fine and thickly-studded 

 trees, and profusion of underwood ; struggling 

 their way upwards through the thick mossy 

 beds, and wreathing parasitic and other plants 

 which are scattered with a profusion that will 

 satisfy the desire of the most enthusiastic 

 botanist. 



The numerous " drives," too, will enchant by 

 the charming vistas they afford, and by the many 

 wild flowers their plant-covered paths present. 

 The feathered songsters also contribute their 

 warbling to enhance the beauty of the woods ; and 

 as we approach the brow of the hill, many of 

 the hare tribe will give us opportunity to see 

 them make a hasty retreat. Not even the kind 

 treatment of a Cowper would induce them to give 

 up so charming and luxurious an abode as they 

 enjoy. 



Should our excursion happen to "come off" 

 on a sultry day, we promise the admirer of ento- 

 mology such a display of the order Diptera, as 

 would invite all the world to take specimens. 

 But we have reached the boundary of woods, and 

 the brow of the hill ; and with a frame somewhat 

 exhausted, we shall instinctively pause to survey 

 the wide prospect before us. Edenham, with its 

 interesting church on an eminence, its browsing 

 cattle on the verdant slopes, and its rapid and 

 tortuous rivulet at our feet, bursts upon the view 

 with delightful influence, but only to awaken still 

 greater admiration at the charms more distant. 

 There, placed in the midst of gentle undulations 

 of country, and on a still higher eminence, is 

 the fine and stately Castle of Grimsthorpe ; and 



seen as it is through the vista of majestic trees, 

 the mind naturally blends admiration of nature 

 with historical associations of the scene. 



As we wend our way beyond Edenham, the 

 road presently becomes somewhat circuitous, and 

 leads amidst nature profuse and wild, as if to 

 make the contrast about to be presented to our 

 view the more striking and impressive. " The 

 Black Horse" inn, and its fine old tree with 

 spreading branches, inviting the weary traveller 

 to cool repose, is no sooner out of sight, than the 

 attention is withdrawn towards a plain gateway, 

 with (silent monitor to all idlers), " No admit- 

 tance except on business, 11 inscribed thereon. 



This is Grimsthorpe Wood-yard, of which 

 we will take a brief survey. Abundant evidence 

 is afforded of the nature of the establishment, by 

 the large quantities of prepared and refuse wood, 

 piled, and scattered, on the premises ; and yet 

 one is somewhat perplexed at the evident dispro- 

 portion between the work accomplished, and 

 workmen to accomplish it. Let us enter some 

 sheds to the left, whence issue a buzz, and 

 other indications of activity ; and our per- 

 plexity will soon be converted into wonder- 

 ment at the reality before us. Here is indeed 

 the mainspring of operation ! Before us we 

 have one of the most beautifully-constructed 

 steam engines, with its bright metal bindings, 

 and slender, colored body, performing an Hercu- 

 lean work, stretching its bands and cranks — its 

 sinew and muscle — to all parts of the establish- 

 ment; tearing and sawing, trimming and cutting, 

 grinding and sifting, with the full energy of its 

 giant strength. Irrespective of size or age, the 

 tender sapling and the sturdy oak alike yield to 

 its efforts. Circular saws, horizontal and up- 

 right saws, with fine teeth, and coarse teeth, are 

 all performing their movements with wonder and 

 precision, and with a power and facility which 

 steam alone can accomplish. 



In one shed, into which the right strong 

 limb of the leviathan " California" enters, is a 

 corn-mill, grinding the grain, produce of the 

 neighboring fields. To the extreme left we 

 find stone-cutting machines, adding their mono- 

 tonous tones to the din and discordant sounds of 

 the operations around. Building stones, of the 

 finest texture and great durability, quarried in 

 the neighborhood too, are here undergoing the 

 processes of grinding, cutting, and shaping, with 

 a facility unknown to the slow and wearing toil 

 of man. Nor are there serious deficiencies in 

 the minor accessories to this industrial and 

 mechanical workshop. Wherever the want is 

 shewn, there is the mechanical organism devised 

 and developed. The " California 11 has indeed 

 grown into one huge monster of action, fearful 

 to look at, but harmless in its operations — an em- 

 blem of the peaceful arts of civilised society, and a 

 great contributor to the comforts of life. 



Beautiful as was the country through which we 

 had so recently passed, assuredly equally beautiful 

 was the scene before us. The Creator is lovely in 

 any isolated aspect of creation ; but far more lovely 

 when we see features so harmoniously blended — 

 nature linked to toil and ingenuity as a natural 

 sequence. Grimsthorpe Wood-yard nestles, more- 

 over, at the foot of Grimsthorpe Castle. How 

 beautiful a sight it is, thus to see the workshop 



