: On Cambrian and Cumbrian Hills: Pilgrimages to Snowdon and Scafell by Salt Henry S - Caernarvonshire (Wales) Description and travel; Cumberland (England) Description and travel; Mountains Great Britain

@FreeBooks

Posted in: #FreeBooks #FreeBooksIndia #FreeBooksApp #gg

Vote Up Vote Down   0 Reactions

Login to give Reaction!

I PILGRIMS OF THE MOUNTAIN 11

II AT THE SHRINE OF SNOWDON 30

V WILD LIFE 82

VI THE BARREN HILLSIDE 100

ON CAMBRIAN AND CUMBRIAN HILLS

Pilgrims of the Mountain

The pilgrimages of which I write are not made in Switzerland; my theme is a homelier and more humble one. Yet it is a mistake to think that to see great or at least real mountains it is necessary to go abroad; for the effect of highland scenery is not a matter of mere height, but is due far more to shapeliness than to size. There is no lack of British Alps within our reach, if we know how to regard them; as, for instance, the gloomily impressive Coolins of Skye, the granite peaks of Arran, or, to come at once to the subject of this book, the mountains of Carnarvonshire and Cumberland.

For small and simple as are these Cambrian and Cumbrian hills of ours, when compared with the exceeding grandeur and vast complexities of the Swiss Alps or the Pyrenees, they are nevertheless gifted with the essential features of true mountains--with ridge and precipice, cloud and mist, wind and storm, tarn and torrent; nor are snow and ice wanting to complete the picture in winter-time. Why, then, with this native wealth within our shores, must we all be carried oversea to climb Alps with guides, when without guides, and at far less cost of time and money, we may have the same mountain visions, and hear the same mountain voices at home? A few of us, at least, will refuse to bow the knee in this fetish-worship of "going abroad"; for the benefit of going abroad depends mainly on person, temper, and circumstance; and to some mountain lovers a lifelong intimacy with their own hills is more fruitful than any foreign excursions can be.

But there were some pioneers, long before climbing became a fine art, who knew and loved the mountains too well to fear them. Take, for instance, the story--one of the most interesting in these early records--of the unknown clergyman who, about the middle of the last century, used to haunt the Welsh hills, and was "possessed with a most extraordinary mania for climbing." It is delightful to read of the enthusiasm with which he engaged in his pursuit.

His object was, to use his own expression, "to follow the sky-line" of every mountain he visited. For example, he would ascend Snowdon from Llanberis, but instead of following the beaten track he would take the edge of the mountain along the verge of the highest precipices, following what he called the "sky-line," until he reached the summit; he would then descend the other side of the mountain toward Beddgelert, in a similar manner. He appeared to have no other object in climbing to the wild mountain-tops, than merely, as he said, to behold the wonderful works of the Almighty. In following the "sky-line," no rocks, however rough, no precipices, unless perfectly inaccessible, ever daunted him. This singular mania, or hobby horse, he appears to have followed up for years, and continued with unabated ardour.

That enthusiast, I am sure, was a true pilgrim, and it is to be regretted that his name is unrecorded.

People sometimes write as if these mountains were "discovered," and first ascended, by English travellers, and as if the native dalesmen had known nothing of their own country before. Such statements can hardly be taken with seriousness, for it is evident that, as sheep were pastured on these hills from the earliest times, the shepherd must have long preceded the tourist as mountaineer. Thus we find Pennant, in his description of the "stupendous" ridges that surround Nant Ffrancon, remarking: "I have, from the depth beneath, seen the shepherds skipping from peak to peak; but the point of contact was so small that from this distance they seemed to my uplifted eyes like beings of another order, floating in the air." To the shepherds, of course, mountain climbing was not a sport but a business, and it would not have occurred to them to climb higher than was necessary; but who can doubt that, in the course of their daily rounds, the summits as well as the sides of the hills must have become known to them?

Free books android app tbrJar TBR JAR Read Free books online gutenberg

(0)

Login to post a comment!