Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1835-10-15

leaves Ocnfnd.
babe adicu 10 Abbotsford as the
sun was dcclining-and followed tho
stream of the now babbling Tweed, for
At had none OF that furious tide at this
season. which Scott sometimes de-
Scribes, and sought vet one other object
OF interest. which the Lay of the Last
Linstrel has made known TO every
American reader of the poem mean
Melrose Abbey. After walk of three
or four miles. we found ourselves in a
vale sheltered on every side by hills
place which the Monk had evidently
selected for pleasantncss and seclusion
and soon the towers of the Abbey
were in sight; and when we entered IL,
II not by The "pale moonlight" Us Scott
has enjoincd as the hour of visitation.
so as TO avoid 1.-THE gay beams of the
lightsomc day" which "gild bu, TO lout
the runs grey, 1T was in the twilight
of this season
''When the broken arches are dark ia night,
And each shaited oriel glimmers white;
When the cold lights uncertain shower
Streams on the ruined central tower;
When buttress and buttrcss alternately
Seemed framed Of elson and ivory;
When silver edges the imagery
And the scrolls that teach thee TO live and die"
have taken this quotation from the
Lay OF the Last Minstrel, because it is
not poetry in It's fictitious sense, but the
very best description of matter Of fact
for
"The Corbells' were carved gro,esquc aud
grim.
Aud the pillar, with clustered shan. so trim,
+ " tn base and capital furnishd around,
Seem'd bundles VI lances which garl1nds had
: bound"
and
Thou wouId,t have thought some fairy's hand
'TwiXi pop,ars straight The osier wand
! In many a frrakish knot had twincd,
Then framed a spell when the work was done.
And changed the willow wreath to stone"
I As our guide who happened to Jc an
intelligent man quoted these and other
/ passages, the ccuracy of the dcscrip-
ton, i saw, was remarkablc-and
Scott has with most happy facility,
seized upon existing objects to make
out poem, which Is so connected with
fact that it seems like History Itself
| have not doubt that two third of the
uneducated people about here, believe
that the wizard Michael Scott. whose IA
miliar spirit, according TO tradition, cleft
the Eden Hills in three was buried here
with the fatal book, that William OF Do
Lorraine possessed himself of a. dead of
night, 80 wildly has the Poet impressed
upon the mind, his Imagination as facts.
And the traveller on visiting any OF
these scenes for miles and miles around
is struck as in visiting the seat of Words
worth, with the idea that Scott by his
genius has given them III a charm.
which they had not before, and has
thus erected for himself monuments as
limperishable as tho hills of which he
has written, or so cOnsecrated them,
and associated them with himself as tc
make his name coeval with their ex-
isience. Though Melrose Abbey there
fore, every year may crumblc more and
more away, yet the peaks of Eden Hill,
will stand as long as earth can stand
+ and stand too as monuments 10 his me-
mory.
Melrose Abbey was built by David I
in 1876. Ii was built in the most ornate
style OF Gothic architecture, and wa.
therefore decorated with an infinite va.
/. riety of sculpture, most Of which is OK
ccllcntly fine. The church, which
alone remains, measures 2S7 feet in
length, and l37 at the greatest breadth.
II is said 10 be the most finished build
inc in C.. Britain of the kind, the French
taste IS visible in some of its decorations.
The crowdlng of the other building,
around it takes away from il the i'm
preston it would otherwise make. and
ihi, is, perhaps, the reason why Tor j,
may be that the fresh feeling is already
gomez did not admire II 50 much as |
did the solitary ruins Of Fountain Abbey.
near Studley Park. II stands eNamina-
ton the better, 20 be sure, the more YOU
sec H. the more YOU sec 20 sec. It's in
deed a study. About such lovely spots
as these and Dryburg Abbey. Scott
passed much of bis youth, and here
he felt the inspiration that made him
write, and here too fDryburg Abbey ,
are bis remains.
{ ~ viewing the ruins Of Great Britain
particularly Of abbcys and cathcdrals.
the traveller has constant reason 20
mourn over that fanalical spin: which
has demolished them, OF stnpi them
e 30 many If their ornaments 10
cast down the affairs and purge the kirk
Of an id0laGous monuments, was a COM
mon order during ihe reformation. Our
puritan fathers lcycllcd almosttcycry
thing Ia the shlpc Of an IMAGE. OIL
. yer Cromwell bombarded this abbey
10 overthrow toe devil den" Apay.
ing weaver u this neighbofhood. N
/ a moment Of inspired real. went up
lone night by means ~ ladder and.
wiih hammer and cLifel knocked 81
the heads AMI .imbs q thirteen cfigics
supposed 20 repre- chi our saviour and