It is conceivable that in some lights, and in some states of the
atmosphere, a traveller, at the entrance of the valley, might really
imagine that he beheld a castle here; but, for myself, I must acknowledge
that it required a willing fancy to make me see it. As we drew nearer,
the delusion did not immediately grow less strong; but, at length, we
found ourselves passing at the foot of the declivity, and, behold! it was
nothing but an enormous ledge of rock, coming squarely out of the
hillside, with other parts of the ledge cropping out in its vicinity.
Looking back, after passing, we saw a knoll or hillock, of which the
castled rock is the bare face. There are two or three stone cottages
along the roadside, beneath the magic castle, and within the enchanted
ground. Scott, in the Bridal of Triermain, locates the castle in the
middle of the valley, and makes King Arthur ride around it, which any
mortal would have great difficulty in doing. This vale of St. John has
very striking scenery. Blencathra shuts it in to the northward, lying
right across the entrance; and on either side there are lofty crags and
declivities, those to the west being more broken and better wooded than
the ridge to the eastward, which stretches along for several miles,
steep, high, and bare, producing only grass enough for sheep pasture,
until it rises into the dark brow of Helvellyn. Adown this ridge, seen
afar, like a white ribbon, comes here and there a cascade, sending its
voice before it, which distance robs of all its fury, and makes it the
quietest sound in the world; and while you see the foamy leap of its
upper course a mile or two away, you may see and hear the selfsame little
brook babbling through a field, and passing under the arch of a rustic
bridge beneath your feet.
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