Travellers Stories | Page 7

every stream and tarn, and her guidance lent a new
charm to the scenes of grandeur and beauty through which she
conducted us.
We took a vehicle which the people call a jaunting car; it is a square
open carriage with two side seats and a door behind; and is drawn by
one horse. Two easy steps and a door easily opened let you in and out
when you please. The car holds four persons. The driver has a seat in
front, and under it he tied our carpet bag.
Never did four souls enjoy themselves more than we on this little
excursion. I could not give you an adequate idea of what we saw, or of
the pleasure we took. Think of coming down from one of these
beautiful hills into Eskdale, or Ennesdale, of walking four miles on the
banks of Ullswater, of looking with your living eyes on Derwent Water,
Grassmere, Windermere, and many other lovely spots of which you
have seen pictures and read descriptions; and of being one in the
pleasantest party in the world, as you think, stopping where, and when,
and as long as any one pleases.
It was on this journey that I first saw a real ruin. The ruins of Calder
Abbey I had never heard of; but the impression it made upon me I can
never forget; partly, perhaps, that it was the first ruin upon which I ever
gazed. One row of the pillars of the great aisle remains standing. The
answering row is gone. Two tall arches of the body of the main
building remain also, and different pieces of the walls. It is of
sandstone; the clusters of columns in the aisle look as if they were
almost held together by the ivy and honeysuckles that wave around
their mouldering capitals with every motion of the wind. In every

crevice, the harebell, the foxglove, and innumerable other flowers peep
forth, and swing in the wind. On the tops of the arches and walls large
flowering shrubs are growing; on the highest is a small tree, and within
the walls are oak trees more than a century old. The abbey was built
seven hundred years ago; and the ruins that are now standing look as if
they might stand many centuries longer. The owner of the place has
made all smooth and nice around it, so that you may imagine the floor
of the church to look like green velvet. It seems as if the ivy and the
flowers were caressing and supporting the abbey in its beautiful old
age.
As I walked under the arches and upon the soft green turf, that so many
years ago had been a cold rough stone pavement, trodden by beings like
myself; and felt the flowers and vines hanging from the mouldering
capitals touch my face; and saw, in the place where was once a
confessional, an oak tree that had taken centuries to grow, and whose
top branches mingled with the smiling crest of flowers that crowned the
tops of the highest arches,--the thought of the littleness and the
greatness of man, and the everlasting beauty of the works of the Creator,
almost overwhelmed me; and I felt that, after all, I was not in a
decaying, ruined temple, but in an everlasting church, that would grow
green and more beautiful and perfect as time passes on.
There is a fine old park around these lovely ruins; and, not far off, a
beautiful stream of water, with a curious bridge over it. The old monks
well knew how to choose beautiful places to live in. All harmonizes,
except--I grieve to tell of it--a shocking modern house, very near, very
ugly, and, I suppose, ridiculously elegant and comfortable inside. From
this hideosity you must resolutely turn away; and then you may say, as
I did, that your mortal eyes have never rested on any thing so lovely as
the ruins of Calder Abbey.
Sometimes Miss Martineau would tell us some pretty legend, or some
good story.
This was one of the legends: Near the borders of the Ullswater is the
beautiful Ara Force, one of the most lovely falls I have seen in England.
One may stand below, and look up at the rushing stream, or above, on
the top of the fall. Here, long ago, in the time of the crusades, stood a
pair of lovers; and here grows an old oak which was their trysting tree.
The lady was of noble birth, and lived in a castle near by; and her true

knight used to come at the still hour of evening to meet her at the Ara
Force.
At length the lover was called away to the Holy Land. As he left his
lady, he vowed to be her true