Thomas Jackson

“ The storm-tossed seaman from the ’whelming wave;
The ocean-beacon and the river-ranger,
That lures from evil, and that warns from danger.
A STROLL TO THE MOUNTAIN TELEGRAPH.
Placed on this mount, what various views delight
The ravished soul, and captivate the sight!
Lo! yonder mountains high o’er mountains rise,
Each higher than the last, the highest strike the skies.
The beauty of rural scenery has engaged the attention and been the theme of the poet and novelist under every clime and in every nation, from the arctic regions of the North to the burning tropics of the South. ”

“ No sooner are the last rays of the sun retiring from land and sea, than the watchful keeper hastens to kindle the beacon. If to the midnight hour I protract my musings, and cast a glance upon the sea, there shines the light. ”

“ On the left is the New Harbour, to the right the Skerries Light-house, before you St. George’s Channel. As you draw near the rocks you gain a full and varied view of the scene. In wildness and grandeur of aspect no place, assuredly, can surpass this portion of the Anglesey coast. Here nature exhibits her rude outline in the most sublime and magnificent scenery. ”

“ But what are high and impending rocks—what are the giant heavings of an angry ocean—and what the proudest summit of the Andes, when placed in the scale of such interminable vastness as the creating, balancing, and peopling of innumerable globes? In contemplating systems so infinite, who can forbear exclaiming—What a mole-hill is our earth, and how insignificant are we who creep so proudly on her surface. ”

“ The hand of science has extinguished the faint splendours of the last century, and lighted up midnight suns, fixing them in their furbished orbits, on elegant structures, high in aerial heaven, whose reflected rays mingle together, so as to form one concentrated blaze of light, intense and beautiful, illuminating and adorning the shore and rock. ”

“ The speck by night, the white tower by day, with its hammock and fairy bridge, comprise what is called South Stack, and, taken together it forms a prominent feature in the bold, romantic scenery of this iron-bound coast, and combines so many objects worthy of notice, natural and artificial, that be the observer what he may, poet, philosopher, or naturalist, he will find wherewithal to excite his curiosity, and reward his labour, in visiting a spot which has not many rivals in its kind in the wide world. ”

“ If long before the dawn of day I have arisen to my labours, there it still shines. The week, the month, the year rolls round, and there is no failure. What deeply interesting facts are announced by that brilliant light; it is as if an angel of mercy, with a voice of thunder, stood and announced what part it was of a dangerous coast to which the mariner was most contiguous, and in which direction he must look for shoal and breaker. ”

“ From the summit there is a commanding view of the Promontory, and you may mark its varying breadth and inequalities, its storm indented figure, and its broken fantastic cliffs, abrupt declivities, and deep gorges, as by some earthquake cleft.
There is, indeed, a charm connected with this mount, before which the pageant of pomp, and the heralds of emblazonry must bow down. That charm is
The power of thought, the magic of the mind. ”

“ Loud as they seem to us when uttered amid the stillness of the country, they would hardly be heard over the sea, and would be of small service as a language to the winged creatures whose homes are rocky precipices, ever dashed against by loud-sounding waves. To these the screaming hoarse voices of the sea-gulls are far better attuned, and these are indeed the only utterances which could avail them amidst the storm. ”

“ Imagination takes the place of memory, and, influenced by the appalling gloom that pervades the spot, conjures up shapes of human victims reeking in sacrifice, while Druidic priests in their long white garments, the tiara, or sacred crown, their temples enwreathed with chaplets of oak-leaves, the magic wand in their hand, and on their heads a serpent’s egg, as an ensign of their order, and thus attired we see them going forth to sacrifice, sullen, cruel, implacable, standing round the crimson-stained altar, shrouded with superstition, mystery, and death. ”

“ Since the opening of the Chester and Holyhead Railway, thousands of persons have availed themselves of the opportunity, thus afforded, of visiting this extreme western point of the Principality. And though the claims of business are weighty and urgent, still, many will secure a few days in some of the summer months, for the purpose of repairing, in some measure, the physical and mental waste of a year’s toil. Such persons, having arrived at the spot where they purpose making a short stay, are desirous to know how the brief season may be at once profitably spent. ”

“ In its course, it divides broad estuaries, it penetrates the bowels of the loftiest hills, forming an iron-road where the foot of man had never trod, and the hardiest rocks have succumbed to the irresistible energy of human actions and scientific skill—it crosses the important navigable river at Conway, and the Menai Straits, by means of immense iron-tubes, at such an elevation as not to impede the progress of the largest vessels. ”

“ Where is there a man so callous who has not felt the vivifying influence of nature, when the summer’s sun in his meridian glory shoots abroad his dazzling rays over many a fair and beautiful prospect, animating everything with the warmth of his genial fire. ”

“ To trace a mighty river to its source, has ever been considered a sublime and interesting employment. It is pleasing to ascend its course from the point where it opens into the ocean, and becomes an inlet of wealth to an empire, till we arrive at the spot where it bubbles up a spring just sufficient to irrigate the meadows of a neighbouring farm, and to observe, as it receives the confluence of tributary waters, how it diffuses its benefits to the tribes that dwell upon its banks. ”

“ In the summer months the sea-fowl are very numerous, thousands will be seen hovering round the huge rocks and caverns of which the coast is composed, and contribute much to impress the minds of visitors with a due sense of the grandeur and sublimity of the scene. After a few turnings, and expressions of surprise, in reference to the romantic scenery, the numerous birds wheeling in every direction, and their plaintive cry—the bridge will be attained. ”

“ Time and money are thus importantly saved, and a rapid and economical transit of goods, by lessening their costs, enable the humblest to partake of comforts which were formerly considered as luxuries only for the rich.
Amongst the railway enterprises in this kingdom, the Chester and Holyhead line must be considered as possessing peculiar claims to public attention. The stupendous character of the work—the difficulties which had to be overcome, and the vast sum invested in the undertaking, place this line in the foremost rank amongst the splendid achievements of our days ”

“ Grand receding arches of different shapes, supported by gigantic pillars of rock, formed by the incessant action of the waves, which, in stormy weather, roll with terrific violence against this high rocky coast, and exhibit a strange magnificence—a wild and savage beauty, mingle with a dread repose which continues to haunt the imagination even after quitting the scene. ”

“ Still more engaging is the task to trace the history of flourishing cities and thriving towns. The rise and progress of Holyhead, from an obscure and mean condition to one of increasing prosperity, is full of interest. Its early history appears to have had but little attention, and perhaps deservedly, from the insignificancy of the object. In giving a succinct account of it, the writer finds himself somewhat perplexed, in consequence of the very scanty materials with which he is furnished. The historical guide-stones placed along the march of time are few and far between. ”

“ For want of a more extensive area of shelter, and deeper water, great destruction of shipping has occurred on the rocks outside the Holyhead Old Harbour by vessels endeavouring to reach the Pier; hence the necessity of an outer harbour, sufficiently spacious to admit a man-of-war at all times. This necessity had for many years been deeply impressed upon the minds of gentlemen of talent and experience. The many fearful wrecks in the bay tended to produce a conviction that no money, within a reasonable limit, should be spared for effecting a spacious and complete harbour. ”

“ Holyhead is formed by Nature to become a great trading community. The bay presents a fine spacious opening, one half sheltered by eternal rocks, and on each side of its entrance, are brilliant lights to guide the mariner. It is, moreover, centrally situated in St. George’s Channel, in the tract of all its trade; and presents the only station from the Land’s End to the Clyde, on the east side of the channel, (except Milford,) to which vessels can approach when the tide has considerably ebbed. ”

“ Of one thing I am fully persuaded, that you will feel your health better, your spirits brighter, your appetite keener, your mind expanded, your thoughts assuming a loftier and yet more refined bearing, from your having visited Nature in a few of her sublimer abodes. ”

“ The Royal Hotel, which is contiguous to the Station, has undergone thorough alteration, and every care has been taken to adopt all modern improvements, with a view of securing to travellers and families every accommodation which a first-class hotel can afford. It is fitted up in a style of elegance which renders it one of the most complete establishments of the kind in the kingdom, and in every way suited for visitors of the highest grade of society; it is fit to accommodate Royalty itself, and we opine the day is not far distant when it will be honoured with such illustrious guests. ”

“ In fine weather it has a most dreary appearance, and in high winds the breaking of the sea against its rugged base, and the immense clouds of foam which darken the air, render the ocean inexpressibly awful and terrific. A bay light, to mark the situation of a cluster of dangerous rocks at the north entrance of Holyhead, was first placed here in 1730, for the convenience of ships navigating between the ports of Liverpool, Bristol, and Ireland. ”

“ When a heavy sea comes on, it breaks over the ridges of rubble-rocks, which are interspersed amongst the timber of the staging, and gradually lowers them, carrying away ridge after ridge, until that which was far above the water is completely submerged; and the sea acting upon these stones gradually solidifies the mass, which binds itself into the clayey bottom of the harbour, and the whole becomes tenaciously cemented to the ground. And this process will go on until the deposit shall have formed a place sufficiently inclined to sustain the breaking of the sea without removal. ”

“ Puffins resort to this place in great plenty; they come in a surprising manner, all in a flock in one night, and, when their season arrives, depart in the same manner. Those who love the bold and awful rather than the calm scenes of nature, will do well to visit this island. ”

“ The quarries are contiguous to the works, and here a great number of the workmen are employed; they are, perhaps, the most extensive in the country, and it is not an hypothesis to say that in no quarries extant is work of such magnitude and rapidity carried on. Holyhead Mountain, which affords the source of supply, consists of schistus quartz of so hard a nature that the tools of the workmen will scarcely touch it, and its edges will cut glass. ”

“ Holyhead, and, by the way
Tell me how Wales was made so happy as
To inherit such a haven.
For certain purposes, such as shelter, the harbour will become progressively available. Great benefit has been derived from the works, even in their present imperfect state. Hundreds of vessels have already taken shelter under the breakwater; the writer has counted as many as forty vessels at one time anchored in the Harbour; and the time is not far distant, when the spacious and beautiful haven will afford a refuge to ships of all sizes. ”

“ On each of the three Sundays of the wakes, all the inhabitants of the town and neighbourhood, old and young, repaired to the chapel, which is situated on a very high part of the mountain, on the west side, close to a cleft, or ravine, that leads down, or rather led down, to the sea shore, (as the pass is now partly obstructed by loose stones) ; the old to be spectators, and the young, of both sexes that were or thought that they were marriageable, to be actors. ”

“ Let our bird, however, but get upon the face of the waters, and we shall see it swim with grace and ease, while the very position of its legs, which renders it a bad walker, is suited to facilitate its diving. It dives very low, and the wings aid its progress as it rises to the surface when some tempting fish, or marine insect, induces it to urge onwards with great rapidity. It is by means of these short wings, too, that the guillemots clear the projecting ledges of rocks and cliffs, and jump from point to point, till they reach those high, and to us inaccessible, spots where they often build. ”

“ The Skerries are a group of bare or half covered rocks, eight or ten in number, about nine miles from Holyhead, and two miles from the northern extremity of the Isle of Anglesey. It is called in Welsh, Ynys y Moelrhoniaid, or the Isle of Seals, from the great number of seals seen about it. It is inhabited by a few poor sheep, and a numerous colony of rabbits. The length of the Island is about a quarter of a mile; it is greatly indented at the sides, and at high water is even divided into a number of smaller insulated rocks. ”

“ R. Warner, who wrote his interesting and learned work on North Wales, in 1798, merely observes, “The parish of Holyhead reckons a population of about 2000.” Mr. Bingley, in his instructive volume, gives us some half-dozen lines on the place; but Mr. Aiken, and several others have not so much as named it. From what they had heard and read, they concluded that the insignificant village possessed but few events at all worthy of being recorded, and those few not of the most interesting nature. They, therefore, refused
To strike their harps amid the cheerless gloom. ”

“ Harold, the son of Gormon, employed his whole army to draw a stone of enormous size from the shores of Jutland, to be placed over the grave of his mother. We may observe that our own churchyards, to this day, present but a modification of the usages we have described—in the mound and headstone we still see the tumulus and pillar of ancient times. To this origin, doubtless, may be referred many, if not all, of the large stones isolated from Druidical remains, and dispersed in different parts of the county. ”