H. F. Waring

“ As our eye follows the curve of coast beyond, we notice the red cliffs which mark the situation of Bridport and the fishing village of Burton; and, subdued and harmonised by distance, the still receding heights beyond Abbotsbury fade away into an indefinite greenish blue, and terminate in the white rock of Portland, which lifts itself as a pale shadow in the far atmosphere. ”

“ What is the use of your persisting in shaving yourself, ill and nervous as you are? While there are hundreds of barbers in this great town; fifty I dare say in the next street! Now do, there’s a sensible man, dress quickly—never mind your beard—go and get shaved at the nearest barber’s, and depend on it you’ll find it quite a treat to be shaved;” adding, sotto voce, as I left the room, “since you will not grow a beard and moustache like everybody else.” ”

“ Now, I would just remark, that I had lately become less expert at shaving myself than I used to be. My hand had a habit of shaking; and occasionally a slip of the razor and a slight cut had made me start, so as to cause me a degree of trepidation at attacking my beard, which was as unpleasant as it was new to me. ”

“ The stony skeletons of these monsters, daily disinterred by the pickaxe of the workman, or the hammer of the geologist, attest the unquestionable facts of their animal organisation, even to minute details, details which have enabled us to establish conclusions respecting the condition of the world which they inhabited, as accurate as if we had ourselves been then in existence, with every faculty for observation and personal investigation. ”

“ Possessed of still greater interest is the reflection that at a much more remote epoch, while the earth was yet a desolate wilderness and man was as yet uncreated to inhabit, cultivate, and subdue, beneath and over these very cliffs, and amid the surrounding ooze, there swarmed countless multitudes of monstrous forms ”

“ Every one who knows Exeter will remember that the High Street forms the upper portion of the main street of the city, the lower part of which is called Fore Street, and terminates in a steep declivity leading towards the railway station ”

“ The road we are taking towards the town from the hill on the Charmouth side is beautifully diversified; and the dark pine wood, which at some little distance borders it upon our right, calls up a reminiscence of so strange a character, that I think it worth presenting to the reader.
About six years ago I was coming to Lyme Regis by this very road from Charmouth, where I had been engaged until a late hour on professional business. ”

“ He terminated this information with the following sage advice, to which I call the attention of my male readers: “If you want easy shaving, pick out the lowest barber’s shop you can find,—one, if possible, where they will shave you for one penny.”
Walking home with clean face and lightened heart, I met my wife, who, alarmed at my long absence, had come out in search of me. My first words were, “I’ll be my own barber henceforth;” ”

“ At last, just as I was beginning to despond, I arrived at a spot where a cab was drawn up by the pavement, and the driver stood holding his horse— (he was a good-natured looking man with a large pair of grey whiskers, and a very seedy coat) —to him I addressed myself, inquiring if he knew of any place in the neighbourhood where I could get shaved? ”

“ The superb curve of the cliffs, east of the little borough town of Lyme Regis, describes an arc of about 30 miles in length terminating in the Bill of Portland. Some of these cliffs are 700 or 800 feet high. ”