The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1864-07-26
THE sRlPpERs s WIPE
feusdta % fatL

more varied than ia msns places. ans
when the san sets ~ the suhfJ SUN
met EVENING" there certainly Is q
particularly bright hne of dsucin.
light irem lhe horizon, ending whert
lbe waves ripple ia At the b.se Of 81,
cid.
sAy clia, Tor there .s oaly on st
Elruin, Buing out into the sea some
forty ards farther ll,an t,t resi- ot ibe
mainland. which iJrms almost a
siTaigh, line irom The harbor. mile
TO the east d tie village, 10 the re-.
mains Of the old caxlle, a hondred
yArds 20 The west ot ri.c cliff.
The S,srks tooth Cliff, as il Is
called, rises shout sixty feet above the
sea il used 10 BE- much higher once,
but every year, as tbe tides run high,
portion gives way.
ON, 81 lhc fishermen has often told
me ihal he coul remember we'll, rs a
child, It's being perfect bill, and that
I he aud the other lads used to amuse
/ themselves by sliding down the slip
perry turf facing the sea, and gathering
the mushrooms Tor which the hill used
~ bv e. celebrated.
f The -a encroaches very fast,
i lllougi l,a 20 rapidly as it did before
iley pot up ilre breaksaier
I Al certain times. Nhen the tides
are very low, you can see rock Gov
cred With long matted sea weeds !
hiss the fishermen call the Beltry
/ Rock, aud il is where the old parish
church used 10 stand
Three years ago, when the tides
we're very low, hired boat, aud
Was row,d out TO the Belfry. The
waters were as still aud clear as crys-
! a.. anu. gs1rns oSs. he side> Of the
clabboai, could distinctly make out
ia places ahtre tie foundations must
have stood. had leen reading the
account Of The old church il the coun-
ty history, aud il seemed TO me 20
strange 70 be floating over the found
alions Of hose Norman arches that
Lad once becn 50 much admired.
A. gazed down, SOW the red
lines 0! sea.weed lazlly moving at the
boliem. whele The shrimps were dart
ing quickly about, and the little GELS
showing their pointed heads from the
creyees Of What might have been old
building stones.
II Was an important village opec,
Elruin. and the church $50 said my
county history was The pride Of The
ue;ghborhood.
Tie noble family OF Blais for many
lu drcd ears owned the entire par
isb, and, among other strange thingS,I
read how, up to lG00, tl,y used to
cufarc, q toll on every boat in he vii.
age, us il returned from the herring
ol mackerel har, est and now no
boals we're permitted TO put out on
tie day that body was borne from
the castle o tie iamily vaults, long
sine, filled with sand aud sea-waler.
Tie fshrrmen's wives, even to the
present day irghtrn their noisy
children into silence by threatening
no hand item ov,r TO Tie Black
Earl.
Who this Black Earl was, could
never quite satisfactorily discover;
4 but tradition laid that an owner oi the
/ place, some hundreds oi years ago.had
I finished hir OF uneNampied wick ed
mes, I'y springing of the elf into The
sea; and this krow, that, cyen 10
this time, helore storm the fisher
men nill tell you that The form OF the
Black Earl is to be seen lowering
over where the cbancel of the church
once sIoOd, aud where his body, if il
could have been found, would have
I been buried.
Cant see much Of the rain,
young gentlemen, said the old fisher
man who had rowed them out, and
who had been watching, with evident
satisfaction, The interest | took in sur.
veying the site Of the church, which
he, IN common with tie other villa.
gers, took great delight in pointing
out,
VERY liulr,' said, waking from
The reyeiie about the old Norman
church., 81. Matthias, its vaults filed
with sand and sea weed, and all those
bodies esting round il, where the
once grassy churehy ard stretched,
wailisg iii The sea shall give up its
dead.
lad been thinking and dreaming,
iill | could almost fancy that The low
rolling Of The sea MAS the sound Of
tie organ, and that once more Elruin
Shsreh stood before me, With its lody
spire and deep-eoi windows, and thai
could see The simple fishing ioiA
boning before The I'D Earls pew.
who, with bis wife and daughters. saf
in rutiiea stale, surrounded by The
quantity carved monuments Of sleep
mg ancestors
did you ever see tie Black Earl. r
] said, raising my eyes from gazing
over the side u tie bo~i, seeing that
~, companion expected me to talk.
Thank The Lord, never, he an
spered rrflIne lis pipe my mother
dld, however, before that storm which
blew % une, mmon Lard fifty six
rcar. nrn On. dnr she r.nnles 4.