Ridgepole

“ We shall not rightly understand this camp, or the ridgeway and contiguous ditch with which it is connected, unless we bear in mind the leading facct that all through the length of the ridgeway, extending from Grimesthorpe to Greasborough, and to some extent in the camp itself, the makers of the earthworks have supplemented or made use of the works of nature. This, as I have just said, is evident in the ridgeway which leads up the wood from Grimesthorpe, where there is no trace of either embankment or ditch. ”

“ These People make but small low Houses. The sides which are made of small Posts, watled with Boughs, are not above 4 foot and a half high: the Ridge-pole is about 7 or 8 foot high. They have a Fire-place at one end of their Houses, and Boards placed on the Ground to lye on. They inhabit together in small Villages built on the sides and tops of rocky Hills, 3 or 4 rows of Houses one above another, and on such steep Precipices, that they go [101] up to the first Row with a wooden Ladder, and so with a Ladder still from every Story up to that above it, there being no way to ascend. ”

“ Where is the handsome youth you clung to, on a winter morning, we know of? I know you!"—with its little ripples.
They soon came to where the rock cropped out from the sloping ground and formed a ledge along the margin of the diminished stream, and soon reached the little cove; there was the rude shelter which had covered Julia, and under it the couch of shavings on which she had rested, a little scattered and just as she had left it; and, near its foot, the still fresh brands that almost seemed to smoke. How strong and real it all came to the sensibilities of the girl! ”

“ Going along the top of the Long Ridge, or as the natives call it, the Ridge Pole, we were astonished at its hight and singular formation—it being, I believe, the most elevated point of land in the Alleghany mountains, though my data on this subject is by no means positive. The summit of the ridge is extremely narrow—being not more, in many places, than six or ten feet in width—the descent on the west side being regular, but steep, while on the east it is little else than a precipice for a thousand feet down. ”

“ One ridge and two upright poles make the framework, and they are held in place by the canvas, which is drawn and lashed fast to stakes driven in the ground, as may be seen in the drawing. The ridge-pole is eight feet long, one and a half inches thick, and four inches wide. Two inches from either end a half-inch hole is bored to receive the iron pins that are driven in the ends of the uprights as shown at Fig. ”

“ Goodwife Rigdale and Dolly had the last spare bed at the Elder's house; the cottage higher up the hill, on which Goodman Rigdale had [87] labored, and where Goodman Cooke and Jack had now one bunk, was filled with men whose houses were building; while Master Hopkins, however well he might mean by his friend's son, had not a roof to cover his own family. So Miles slept with Giles Hopkins at the Common House, where at night the beds were placed so thick one need not step on the floor in passing from the fire to his sleeping place. ”

“ The other side was protected from the tempest, which was at its greatest fury, by a high and perpendicular ledge of rocks which the course of the creek followed, but leaving a narrow space of hard land along the base. Under the shelter, Bart turned up stream with his charge, occasionally lifting his torch and inspecting the mossy ledge. Within a few feet of them the snow fell in wreaths and swirls, and sometimes little eddies of wind sifted it over them. ”

“ There is, perhaps, not a single object in the scene, that interrupts the solemn tone of feeling, impressed by its general characters of profound solitude, greatness and awful wildness. Castle Rigg is the central point of three vallies, that dart immediately under it from the eye, and whose mountains form part of an amphitheatre, which is completed by those of Derwentwater, in the west, and by the precipices of Skiddaw and Saddleback, close on the north. The hue, which pervades all these mountains, is that of dark heath, or rock ”

“ Retreat was evidently prudent, and when the dim light began to fade we were still climing that broad-backed miscellaneous ridge or congeries of ridges which divides the Grimsel from the Rhone glacier. In summer it is a wilderness of rocky hummocks and bowlders, affording shelter to the most ambitious stragglers of the Alpine rose, and visited by an occasional chamois — a kind of neutral ground between the kingdom of perpetual snow and the highest pastures — one of those chaotic misshapen regions which suggest the world has not been quite finished. ”

“ If you faced the north you looked out upon what farmers call a mowing lot, where early in the summer the grass grew fresh and green, with here and there a sprinkling of cowslips, and later on lay on the ground in great swaths of newly mown hay, filling the air with a delicious perfume. Beyond were sunny pasture lands and wooded hills, and in the distance the church spires of North Ridgefield, with the smoke of its manufactories rising above the tree tops. ”

“ Rydal-hall stands finely on an eminence, somewhat withdrawn from the east end, in a close romantic nook, among old woods, that feather the fells, which rise over their summits and spread widely along the neighbouring eminences. This antient white mansion looks over a rough grassy descent, screened by groves of oak and majestic planes, towards the head of Windermere, about two miles distant, a small glimpse of which is caught beyond the wooded steeps of a narrow valley. ”

“ A new camp had been selected on a dry slope, wood had been cut, the tubs distributed, and they were waiting for Bart and a good day. Both came together; and on the day following the close of his school, at an early hour they hurried off to tap the trees.
Spring and gladness were in the air. The trill of the blue-bird was a thrill; and the first song of the robin was full of lilac and apple blossoms. The softened winds fell to zephyrs, and whispered strange mysterious legends to the brown silent trees, and murmured lovingly over the warming beds of the slumbering flowers. ”

“ At the gates of Blagdon Park, eight miles from Newcastle, where the white bulls of the Ridleys guard the entrance in somewhat spectral fashion, the surroundings improve. Here the Ridleys have been seated for centuries, and from their wooded domain watched the belching smoke of the pits they own, which year by year and generation by generation have added to their wealth. Lord Ridley is now the representative of these owners of mineral wealth, and lord of Blagdon. Midway of the long park wall that borders the road on the way to Morpeth stand the modern lodge and gates, erected in 1887 ”

“ The village of Rydal is situated on the north side of the Lake, and Rydal Hall, the magnificent seat of the Le Flemings, seems embosomed in a beautiful park that occupies the declining front of the mountain. Near to the principal gate of entrance, the cottage residence of the poet Wordsworth peeps forth from the woods, as if endeavouring to recall to memory a name that can never be forgotten. The distance, and the whole background of the landscape, is composed of that mountain-chain in which Langdale Pikes and Silver How are the most elevated and conspicuous. ”

“ Here the Allen flows into the South Tyne, and nowhere in the whole of the county is there a more beautiful and romantic scene. By the side of the stream the Ridley woods stretch for a mile or two, and the delightful mingling of graceful ferns, overhanging trees, tall, rugged cliffs, flowering plants, and sparkling waters forms a succession of lovely scenes throughout their length, which, with the play of lights and shadows on the dimpled surface of the stream, and frequent glimpses of grassy glades and cool green alleys, make a walk through these enchanting woods an unforgettable delight. ”

“ His father's house, Miles insisted upon calling it, though Goodman Rigdale was at pains to explain to him that the cottage belonged not to any one man, but to the whole company; the Pilgrims at Plymouth and the merchants at London, who had advanced the money for the voyage, were to hold everything in common till seven years were up and then divide all equally, and till then no man could call a house his own. ”

“ Richborough, that frowns so grim down upon the Stour meadows and the flat Sandwich and Ramsgate road, is a favourite haunt of archæologists. It rises, rugged walls and bulging bastions, from low, earthy cliffs, ivy-clad in places, and shrouded by dense thickets of brushwood, where the earth falls away to the levels. The secretive ivy, incredibly aged, clasps the hoary masonry with a tenacity that will not allow of severance. They will live and die together, those walls and that "rare old plant, the ivy green." ”

“ This, Marco called the ridge-pole. They then cut other poles, which they placed with the end on one side upon the ground, and the other ends upon the ridge-pole. These were rafters, and upon the rafters they placed a great many branches of hemlock, which formed a roof. This roof, however, was only upon one side. The other side of the hut was open, and they built a fire opposite this opening, feeling safe in regard to their roof, as it was made of green branches. ”

“ The ground hereabouts—as everywhere else in Ridgefield—was exceedingly stony; and, in making the pathway, the stones had been thrown out right and left, and there remained in heaps on either side, from [21] generation to generation. All around was bleak and desolate. Loose, squat stone walls, with innumerable breaches, inclosed the adjacent fields. A few tufts of elder, with here and there a patch of briers and pokeweed, flourished in the gravelly soil. Not a tree, however, remained; save an aged chestnut, at the western angel of the space. ”

“ Far away down the valley, where the rivulet trickled on slowly to join the Derwent, where the grass was greenest, and the sun least scorching, cows lay lazily chewing the cud—sheep browsed the sweet herbage leisurely. There was a solemn stillness amongst the mountains; the sunbeams rested in great patches where they had first fallen; the wind, as it came and went, and went and came, stole through the tree-tops noiselessly; no bird burst from the ivy or the broom, breaking with sudden flight the stillness of that noontide hour ”

“ I passed some gentle well-grassed slopes of narrow-leaved Ironbark and spotted gum; and also several basaltic ridges, which head out into small plains gently sloping to the east and north-east. They are formed of a rich black soil, and generally a shallow creek meanders through them: sandstone ridges formed their boundary lower down, where, at their foot, water-holes generally existed, either with a constant supply of water, or readily filled by thunder-showers. The basaltic ridges, as well as the plains, were covered with a fine crop of dry grass ”

“ Its decay and resulting ruin were due to ages of neglect.
Beginning at Ryde, four miles north of Newport, we followed the coast, passing a succession of resort towns. Ryde is situated on a hillside sloping toward the sea, and its water front with drives and gardens, is one of the most charming we know of. The road from Ryde to Ventnor is crooked, narrow, and highly dangerous in places. At times it runs through closely bordering forests; again along the edge of an almost precipitous incline; then it climbs a long, terribly steep hill, but is never more than a few hundred yards from the coast. ”

“ Another, and the almost overcome girl was placed on a seat of soft, dry shavings, against the moss-grown rock, under the rude roof, out of the reach of the snow or wind; and another fire was lit of the dry shingle blocks, at her feet, from which her saturated shoes were removed, and to which warmth was soon restored.
Barton now took from a pocket on the outside of the "wamus," a small parcel, and produced some slices of tongue and bread, which the famished girl ate with the relish and eagerness of a hungry child. More wine, now mingled with water, completed her repast ”

“ Polly had her hens and a ramshackle hen-house; but not a spadeful of earth had been turned towards the wished-for garden. It was just the ordinary colonial backyard, fenced round with rude palings which did not match, and were mended here and there with bits of hoop-iron; its ground space littered with a medley of articles for which there was no room elsewhere: boards left lying by the builders, empty kerosene-tins, a couple of tubs, a ragged cane-chair, some old cases. ”

“ Having doubled the sharp promontory, that alters the course of the river, we saw in perspective sometimes perpendicular rocks, and then mountains dark with dwarf-woods, shooting their precipices over the margin of the water; a boundary which, for many leagues, was not broken, on either margin, except where, by some slight receding, the rocks embosomed villages, lying on the edge of the river, and once guarded them by the antient castles on their points. A stormy day, with frequent showers, obscured the scenery, making it appear dreary, without increasing its gloomy grandeur ”

“ The morning after we arrived in Riverdale I was up very early and walking around the house. I slept in the woodshed, and could run outdoors whenever I liked.
The woodshed was at the back of the house, and near it was the tool shed. Then there was a carriage house, and a plank walk leading to the barnyard.
I ran up this walk, and looked into the first building I came to. It was the horse stable. A door stood open, and the morning sun was glancing in. There were several horses there, some with their heads toward me, and some with their tails. ”

“ Nature has in a great measure made the rampart, and the absence of a natural barrier has been supplied by human agency. In the village of Kimberworth the course of the ridgeway can only be traced by the footpath which goes along the east side of the churchyard [7] and leads to a conspicuous part of the way known as Barber Balk. Here there is an artificial and not a natural bank or ridge, though the way still maintains the highest ground. An old packhorse lane runs upon the bank, which resembles a little railway embankment, the average breadth of the top being from six to eight feet. ”