Traditions, Legends, Superstitions, and Sketches of Devonshire on the Borders of the Tamar and the Tavy, Illustrative of Its Manners, Customs, History, Antiquities, Scenery, and Natural History Volume 3 (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated.1838 Excerpt: ... The Duke of Bedford has an elegant house, called a cottage, at Endsleigh. The ride thither, through Blanche-down Wood (though that is a farabout track) is indeed so delightful, that all persons who would wish to approach near the cottage with most advantage, to enjoy the scenery, ought to go that way. I do not attempt any minute description of Endsleigh; many of its most beautiful views have been more than once drawn and engraved; and strangers from all parts of the country come to see it. There is a dell, called the Dairy Dell, watered by a running stream, that is of a most pleasing character; the Swiss Cottage is very pretty, so is the view from the terrace, which at sun-set appears to the greatest perfection; and the house exhibits much of comfort, combined with good taste, in its decorations. I once heard the Duke of Bedford say, that he had cut rides to the extent of forty miles in his domain of Endsleigh. Those I have seen, especially through Blanche-down, merit the attention of the traveller, and will well repay him for the trouble of finding them out. I remember one spot in particular, not far from Newbridge, that might truly be called Switzerland on a miniature scale. You ride through a wood, where the birds are so little molested, that I saw pheasants, woodpeckers, and birds of every description, amusing themselves by flying from bough to bough, in a manner that showed them to be very tame, or fearless of the approach of a human being. Their haunts seem, indeed, to be undisturbed. Below, the Tamar ran with great rapidity, foaming over the blackest rocks;--on the opposite side the river, a steep hill, covered with crags of granite of a greyish, hue, had, starting from between them, a vast number of young firs, lately planted: altogether the river, ...