Manufactures at Hathersage.

7

lightful prospect was canopied with a clear azure sky, save where occasionally some light thin clouds interposed their fleecy whiteness "between our gaze and heaven."

Hathersage contains about one hundred houses. Ashton Ashton Shuttleworth, Esq. who possesses considerable property in this place, and is Lord of the adjoining Manor of Padley, has lately erected a very handsome inn in the middle of the village, but the business on this road is apparently insufficient to support so large and expensive an establishment; it is therefore at present untenanted, in which state it has remained for several years. The manufacture of metal buttons was once prosecuted in this place with tolerable success, but it has lately progressively declined, and probably may soon be discontinued. Steel wire and needles are likewise made here, under the direction of men regularly initiated into the business, and in other respects competent to the undertaking. These manufactures may therefore have a more permanent duration; but establishments of this description are perhaps of a nature too exotic to flourish in a place like Hathersage, where the farming interest prevails, and where agricultural employment appears to be more congenial to the feelings and habits of the people. Under the influence of both pursuits this pleasant village may assume an equivocal character, neither entirely possessing the bustle of a manufacturing district, nor the quiet of a place the labour of whose inhabitants is solely devoted to the tillage of the fields and the cultivation of the products of the earth.

In the vicinity of Hathersage there are some excellent subjects for the pencil, and while my companion was sketching in the valley be

low the village, I visited the Churchyard on the hill above, where as tradition informs us lie the bones of Little John, the favourite companion of the celebrated forest marauder, Robin Hood. His burialplace is distinguished by stones placed at the head and foot of his grave; they are nearly four yards apart, and they are said to designate the stature of this gigantic man. However fabulous this account may be, the body here interred appears to have been of more than ordinary size. In October, 1784, this reputed grave of Little John was opened, when a thigh bone measuring two feet five inches was found within it. A tall man from Offerton, who on account of his stature had probably obtained the name of Robin Hood's faithful follower, was interred in this place; hence originated this village tradition; and that it might be rendered still more marvellous, when the bones were re-committed to the graye the stones that originally marked the stature of the tall man of Offerton were removed farther apart.

Hathersage Church has a good exterior, and within it is clean, and light, and well seated. In the chancel there are several ancient monuments belonging to the family of the Eyres of Highlow and Offerton, one of whom, Robert Eyre, was an officer, who, according to the inscription on his tomb, fought along with Falstaff's mad Harry at the battle of Agincourt.

On a tabular monument, inscribed to the memory of one of this family, who died March 21, 1459, are the effigies of fourteen children, engraved in brass, ten of whom were sons and four daughters. A place, that appears to have been once filled by another figure, is vacant; a daughter not born in wedlock originally occupied it, but

being unworthy, without any fault of hers, to be associated with those who were, she has been cut away and expelled from the situation which her father had assigned her.

In this church we observed the traces of a custom that once generally prevailed in various parts of the kingdom, but is now almost totally disused :---When unmarried women died they were usually attended to the grave by the companions of their early years, who, in performing the last sad offices of friendship, accompanied the bier of the deceased with garlands tastefully composed of wreaths of flowers and every emblem of youth, purity, and loveliness, that imagination could suggest. When the body was interred, the garlands were borne into the church, and hung up in a conspicuous situation, in memory of the departed. There is something extremely simple and affecting in this village custom, and one cannot but regret that it is now almost entirely discontinued. In Hathersage Church there were several of these memorials of early dissolution, but only one of a recent date: the others were covered with dust, and the hand of time had destroyed their freshness.

At a short distance from the Churchyard, and still higher up the hill, there is a place called Camp Green. It is a circular area of about fifty yards diameter, encompassed with a high mound of earth, round which a ditch, or moat, appears to have been carried. In some places the ditch is nearly filled up, and the mound is gradually crumbling into the area below; it is therefore highly probable that before the present generation has passed away, Camp Green will be known only by

SECTION II.

Hope Dale.---Recollections of a former Excursion.---Approach to Castleton.---Fine Autumnal Evening.---Castleton Church.---Peak's Hole.

FROM Hathersage to Castleton, a distance of six miles, the road lies through Hope Dale. Local attachment, and the common consent of travellers, have adorned this dale with a thousand beauties, and those who have the good fortune to reside within it, satisfied that their lot "is cast in pleasant places," represent it as one of the most delightful spots in the Peak of Derbyshire. It is indeed a lovely valley, and though inferior in picturesque beauty to many other parts of the same county, it yet contains some charming scenes, that, like light thrown into a picture by the hand of a master, have an almost magical effect. The traveller whose chief object is to reach the end of his journey with all possible expedition, beholds them with pleasure, and the artist loiters amongst them with sensations of delight. A beautiful river, its banks every where attired with stately trees, and light overhanging branches, winds gracefully through the dale, watering some excellent meadow land as it moves along. The cottages with which the valley is studded, are of a sober grey tone of colouring, and pleasant to the eye. The villages of Hope and Brough, half hid amongst surrounding trees and half revealed, increase the loveliness of the scene. Near Malham Bridge, where the road to Castleton crosses the Derwent, some very beautiful views occur; and farther on in the dale the near

approach to Hope is extremely picturesque. The little river that passes by this village is overhung with ash and alder, which grow luxuriantly on its banks amidst hazles, honey-suckles, and wild roses.

My journey through this dale of Hope was rendered peculiarly interesting by the recollection of having passed the same road several years before, in company with a much-esteemed and now-departed friend. He was then unwell, but not at all apprehensive that he should so soon go to the "home of his fathers." Our former friendship---his character and death---came forcibly upon my mind, and absorbed for a time every other consideration: he had a warm, benevolent, and affectionate heart, and though somewhat hasty in temper, he was steady and sincere in his attachments, and his transactions with mankind were invariably regulated by principles of honour and integrity he should have died hereafter." I well remember the time we passed this dale; it was a fine autumnal evening, and the sun was sinking behind the high mountains of the Winnats, as we approached the village of Castleton. The sweet serenity of the sky--the hour of the day---the season of the year---all were in unison, and conspired to produce a mental harmony :

"For autumn---solemn, tender, and serene,

"Breathed exquisite enchantment o'er the scene."

MONTGOMERY.---MS.

A little before us the river, rippling o'er its pebbled bed, quivered with light; a bridge, to which we were led by a turn in the road, was a good object in the foreground of the landscape: some full-grown and well-clothed trees hid the greater part of the village, and made it a better subject for the pencil: a few dwellings were partially dis