GREY AND BLACK MARBLES.

ROTTEN STONE. 129

Ashford has been long celebrated for its marbles, which are obtained from the hills that afford it shelter, and are cut into form and polished at the mills originally erected by the late Mr. Henry Watson of Bakewell, who obtained a patent to secure to himself the advantages of his mechanical skill and ingenuity. The grey marbles dug from the quarries of Derbyshire are less esteemed than formerly, and the works where they are sawn into slabs and polished, are sinking into disuse and decay. This may be regretted, as the numerous shells and the great variety of figures they contain, when cut transversely, exhibit an infinite variety of vegetable and animal remains, that are not less curious than beautiful. The black marble of Ashford is not surpassed, perhaps not equalled, in any part of the world; its deep unvaried colour, and the compactness of its texture, fit it to receive the highest polish; a mirror can hardly present a clearer or a more beautiful surface: hence it is highly esteemed, but being difficult to work, it is too expensive for common occasions. In Chatsworth

House there are some columns of this marble, which are used as pedestals for busts, and some ornamented vases of exquisite beauty. Mr. White Watson, in his Delineation of the Strata of Derbyshire, mentions this material under the denomination of Bituminous Fetid Limestone, and he intimates "that its colour is owing to Petroleum, with which it abounds." He farther observes, "this limestone is subject to decompose, in which operation the calcareous particles are disengaged and escape, and their interstices are occupied by water, the same still occupying the same space, bulk for bulk, as before; but on being squeezed, the water comes out as from a sponge. On being exposed to the air, by laying it in the grass (which it destroys, and sweeter herbage springs up in its place) till perfectly dry, the water evaporating leaves a very light impalpable substance, called Rotten Stone, much esteemed for polishing metals, &c." To those who are acquainted with the peculiar use of this substance, I need offer no apology for this short extract from Mr. Watson's account of its formation. The subject is treated more largely in pages 45 and 46 of his work, and I gladly refer to his interesting detail of that curious operation of nature by which Rotten Stone. is produced, and I do this more freely as I understand the correctness of his theory has been disputed. - Dirtlow Moor, near Bakewell, where the surface is very wet, has the reputation of furnishing the best specimens of this useful article.

SECTION VIII.

Bakewell. - New Bath. · Bakewell Church Yard.

Stone Cross. - Epitaphs.

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Ancient

Anti

Chantry at Bakewell. quity of Bakewell. Castle Hill.-Interview with a poor Hindoo.

FROM Ashford, we pursued our route to Bakewell, which lies at the entrance into an open valley, about two miles lower down the river. The principal carriage road crosses the bridge on the right; we however preferred a footpath that led us over the fields, on the contrary side of the Wye, which we found a pleasant walk, and full of beauty. This road has been recently closed. Near Bakewell, the valley contracts: a broken rock marks one side of the road, and a steep wooded hill rises on the other; the intervening space is occupied by the river and a cotton-mill, that belongs to the Arkwrights. The scenery about this mill, when seen from the elevated bank at the bottom of which the footpath from Ashford is carried, is extremely beautiful. The foreground on the left, particularly about Holme-hall, is rich with foliage, and the river below the bridge, and the road on the right, winding round a craggy projecting rock, beyond which the spire of the church and a small part of the town appears, are fine features in the landscape. The vale of Haddon is seen in distance, through the opening, and fills up the coup d'œil of this pleasing picture.

Bakewell is pleasantly situated on a rising ground on the right bank of the river Wye. The Duke of Rutland, to whom nearly the whole place belongs, is progressively extending the many accommodations it affords to travellers, and increasing the respectability of its appearance. The old houses are gradually giving way to neat modern erections, and the whole is intended to be built with stone obtained in the neighbourhood, and on a regular and uniform plan. During

BATH AT BAKEWELL.

131

the summer months many people resort to this little town to enjoy the various pleasures it affords. The Wye is well stocked with trout and grayling, and those visitors who take up their residence at the Rutland Arms, a noble inn built by the Duke, have the privilege of angling in this part of the river. When fatigued with the sport of the day, they can console themselves with the pleasant anticipations of retiring to one of the best inns in the county of Derby, and of being regaled with the choicest viands and the best wines. The Rutland Arms, under the excellent management of its present hostess, is richly entitled to the liberal support which it now so generally receives.

The improvements already made in Bakewell, and others still more important, that are now in progress, are highly creditable to the good taste and liberal spirit of the Duke of Rutland. Situated as the town is in a beautiful valley, at nearly equal distances between Buxton and Matlock, and watered by one of the most busy and brilliant streams in this part of the kingdom, it can hardly fail to become a more general and delightful resort than it has hitherto been. The capacious Bath recently established, and now under the superintendence of Mr. White Watson, F. L. S. furnishes an additional accommodation to visitors. The temperature of the water is 60° of Fahrenheit's, and according to Mr. Charles Sylvester's analysis, ten wine quarts contain

Since the Bath was first opened to the public, two Shower Baths of different powers, have been added, and more recently a News Room has been established on the same premises, where the London papers and some of the magazines and reviews are regularly taken in. A good collection of minerals and fossils may be found in Mr. White Watson's rooms; and his garden, in connection with the walk from the Rutland Arms Inn to the Bath, furnishes a delightful promenade. This little town, when the plans for its improvement are matured, is likely to become one of the most attractive places in the Peak of Derbyshire. Mr. White Watson has been

long a collector of the minerals and fossils of his native county: he has attentively studied its various, and in some places strangely disordered, strata, and published several works on the subject, that are highly creditable to his talents. He was originally associated with Mr. Martin of Macclesfield, in the projected publication of a complete series of the minerals and fossils of Derbyshire. One volume only of this work has appeared, in which the specimens are drawn and coloured with great fidelity, delicacy, and beauty. It may be sincerely regretted that either the death of Mr. Martin, or any other circumstance, should have intervened to arrest the progress and prevent the publication of the remaining parts of this highly interesting and splendid work. Under the active patronage of the Dukes of Devonshire and Rutland, this production might perhaps be resumed, and completed agreeably to its original design otherwise it would probably be a ruinous speculation. I hope yet to see it revived under better auspices and a more cheering prospect.

The church at Bakewell is built in the form of a cross, with an octagonal tower, surmounted with a lofty handsome spire in the centre, and is a fine structure. It is situated on the side of a hill above the principal part of the town, and when seen from the meadows in Haddon-vale, it is a good object in the landscape. At the west end of the church, there is an ornamented Saxon arch, apparently of a much older date than the edifice itself, and within, near the same arch, there is a stone font of great antiquity. The different compartments of this font are sculptured over with figures rudely carved, the forms of which are now nearly obliterated. In one of the chancels there are several alabaster monuments, with full-length figures as large as life. Originally they were painted and gilt in the fashion of the times, and though but very indifferent as works of sculpture, they had once a very splendid effect. A recumbent figure, in an adjoining chancel, is in a better style: the drapery about it has been happily imagined, and well executed. This monument was erected to the memory of Sir Thomas Wednesley, who received his death-wound in the battle of Shrewsbury - a battle which Shakespeare has rendered memorable by the bravery of young Harry, the son of Henry the Fourth, and the humorous cowardice of Falstaff.

On the east side of the church stands an ancient Stone' Cross, which is conjectured to be about eight hundred years old: the ornaments, and the various devices sculptured on the

four sides of this memorial of a people's faith, are in many places so worn and defaced, that they cannot be accurately understood or clearly defined: BRAY, in his Sketch of a Tour into Derbyshire, has given three rudely executed etchings of this Cross, in which the figures it contains appear to have been correctly copied; but though this intelligent traveller was fond of antiquarian researches, he has evidently not regarded either its origin or history of sufficient consequence to engage his attention. The Cross at Eyam is similar in the style and manner of its workmanship, but it is much richer in its carving, and superior in form.

The Cross, which is now so much reverenced as a sacred symbol, was once regarded with horror and detestation: it was used as an instrument of the most disgraceful punishment, and the vilest of criminals only were subject to its ignominy. Constantine first abolished this use of it among the Romans: he rescued it from an appropriation to purposes which rendered it an object of aversion, and he made it reverenced and beloved. It was carved on his military standards, emblazoned on his banners, and he esteemed it as the noblest ornament of his diadem. His veneration for this sacred trophy is said to had a miraculous origin: he was himself the historian of the appearance by which it was produced, and he sanctioned the truth of his narrative with the solemnity of an oath. About mid-day he saw in the heavens a luminous representation of the Cross placed above the sun, and accompanied with an inscription BY THIS CONQUER: a legend which held out the promise of victory to Constantine. That this was a mere fiction—a political device-can scarcely be doubted: he it was, however, who first made the figure of the Cross an object of veneration, and succeeding Christians have reverenced this memorial of their faith.

In Bakewell church-yard some epitaphs are to be found not unworthy a place in the port-folio of the tourist: some are serious lessons of mortality-some are of a mixed character-and others are sufficiently ludicrous to excite a smile; yet but very few indeed have either poetic merit or whimsicality enough to preserve them from that oblivion in which all human productions must, sooner or later, be involved. The following stanzas may be estimated as the best which this church-yard affords : they are inscribed on a humble stone near the old Cross, and, if I mistake not, they are the production of Mr. C. Wesley, a brother of the great founder of the methodists.