HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1933-03-02, Page 7THURISDAY, MARCH 2, 1433
,THE SEAFORTH NEWS.
PAGE SEVEN.
D. H. Mnacln es
Chiropra'ct'or
Of Wingham, will beat the
Commercial Hotel, Seaforth
Monday, Wednesday and
Friday Afternoons
Diseases of all kinds success-
fully treated.
Electricity used.
'ROMANCEOF. WALTER
ISQO11TtS WORLD
The 'Wa'veirley'country is at its best
in the clear air .of a swntlmer even-
ing. Iitt was pasteigtht, o'c'lock when
I 'bega'n my afterdtinne'r walk by theTweed. The sun (bea'm'ed lin golden
splendor 'from 'behind .a bank of
beechtrees. I looked across the [river-
side, rover a hawthorn -.hedge into an
upland Of 'brown 'furrowed land' 'and
young potato vines, and :beyond to a
meadow yellow with ',lite bay. bay. Theterraced hill. was 'crdwned by a har-
der toll 'bushy green :woods. Below the
hill nested a gray cobble house, With
Stone walls running down into the
stream,
The sun came through the forest
with a thousand ,golden beams and
the 'flickering shadows lent a soft
Seek ye yon glades' where the proud
oak :o'eetops
IWhide-waving seas Of birch and 'hazel,
copse,
Leaving bettweea 'deserted isles of
land
W'h'ere stunted 'heath is patched with
ruddy sand,
And lonely lin the waste the yew
seen,
Or straggling hollies spread a bright
. er .green.
(Seldom has the persoh,aliby .af a lit
.erary man so :stamped itself on the
'oountrysiade about him. Because he
'was so identified with 'its es'sentiat
a charm, he remains •a ;central feature.
One ,can vision the Master of 'Aib'b'ots-
afodd' tram'p'ing the Melrose lanes, or
see him .seated +wdfh the blue lupin
anal yellow laburnum beside ;the .gard-
en walls, or loakin,g from the desk in
his 'glorious library out upon the tree -
lined river. (Carlyle paints ant Scott's
aoo.ntribntion "His 'his'tori'c novels
have -taught this truth . unknown to
'wniters of history; .that the bygone
;ages of the 'worl'd were actually :filled
by living men, not Iby by prdtocols,
state papers, controversies, and ab-
stractions- toll 'men." IHe rediscovered
the past. He delved in legend and
drew romance from -the driest records.
04 forgotten days. :It was his capacity
to 's'ee inexhaustible adventure in one
little isle' of lowlands and trossaoks.
Lo'akin:g at ,lichen -s'hrou'ded stones; he
aw a whole :realm of ;action, 'which
nen read, and never :forget: '
WWhere. with 'the rock's wood -covered
slide
;Were ;blended' late the ruins green,
IRise'turrets in fantastic pride,
;Anda ,feudal banners flaunt 'between,
IHe appreciated the value of atmos-
phere, . His stories invariably picture
sante sector of 'interest, in a way that
'brings the color of castle and 'forest
into !print. 'Scotland-livifs with all her
spiend'or; and, beyond the' borders of
his own hotme'iand, he catches the at-
mosphere of old 'England, France and
Palestine. He w,as, in the words .of
(Long, "the first novelist in any lang-
uage to make the -•scene an essential
element in the •action." Thus he ex -
ended ed the function of 'the novel and
made it a more fascinating treasury
or culture.
lI 'walked dawn the clover path in
he 'Iastt bright mood of twilight. A
herd of 'cows stood opposite me on a
knoll of jade green between two mas-
sive, square oaks, makinga Corot pic-
ture in the shimmering golden haze.
had been reading a book of fine .old
'cuts and a description fram The Mon-
astic 'Annals of 'Teviotd'ale, published
'in 118'312. It described: "`The river
Tweed, after sweeping around Old
Melrose, continues to lengthen its
'course by winding, as if reluctant to
quit the sequestered and lovely scenes
through which it flows; and, about a
mile below, fetching a bold 'compass,
it embraces the grounds of Dryibu'rgh,
where, among fruit tnees and flower-
ing shrubs, on the verge of a wood,
stand the 'picturesque remains of :the
ancient .abbey,"
In my 'contemplative mood, I re-
traced" the pilgrimage .of the after-
noon. There was IS'coft's View en
route to Dryburgh, a natural lookout,
over 'three mountains and the bending
'Tweed. 'Ilene Sir Walter'shorse
would bear himon his daily ride, and
and intvaarfably pause for the laird to
take in the wide sweep of teh horst -
ehtoe bend and the :rich forests that
reached fifty miles away to the Teviat
'Hills. 'There was the 'lane of 'beech
and yew leading into..Dryburgh Ab-
bey, an appnoadh such As tone seldom
sees apart from 'an Oriental monas-
tery. IA torrent of bird song swept
from the!blossomingsyringe, as I
walked before the toweringcedars 'af
Lebanonwhich had stood tsince`Cru-
sader days. by the brownabbey walls.
'Pink roses unfolded on the .ruins. (Thee
romance of Walter Scott's 'world was
still preserved in the peaceful' grounds
of that ancient shrine.
(Tit was nineathirty, the poet's chosen
'hour in early summer. A ,thrtesih' was
warbling his fluted sang into the
gathering dusk. (The sheep had turn-
ed intothe fen'oe-now for sleep. The
'Tweed grew dtarker, a'b4a'cken'e'd mir-
ror for the sun's last gleam. Otte
golden spat was long reflected Onathe tap of .a 'lacy elfin. 'I turned into
the lane, under the 'heavy thade of.
the yews. The smell: of hay :ricks and
he new -out 'clover calve over the
:d'a'mp earth. II stopped to pick a fox-
glove, and ,stat .far another raiment
:under k low -banging :larch. I' gazed
black tow:a.rd the Tweed, reluctant to
leave its summer delights. Bet 'the
tranquil vision had Faded. At the endof the lane was only a - dark bank oft
verdure.
endhanbmeat .to ,the ,shores. A mock-
ing'bird •poured out chis song from the
(hawthorn ,whileswallows darted
over the shallow, :slwitt-'flawing river.
rilwo .fishermen stood at 'the river
bend, casting' among the racks for,
trout.
(Here by the bonnie 'Tweed'side
walked Sit. 'Cuthbert, the silver-
tongued,'friend Of 'Scotland, Thomasthe ,Rhymer from his village of IEncil-
doune, "the nun in Dryburgh bower
in quest of her 'friend, and 'Sir Walter
as he ygloried in :the scenery Which he
:paints with loving touch in The -Pion-
eatery, :Contem_pories spoke of hurl
as "the wizard of the north," 'Perhaps,
this luxuriant, shadow -infested coun-
tryside 'kindled the unflagging inspir-
ation that made :him write with pas-
sionate
When stonate energy. hen he suspected
,p
'that :Byron ''was surpassing 'hint in if
:verse, he snatched up a prose frag-
ment of notes he had mad i I
e on some t
old tale years before, and in three
:weeks his unprecedented success,
1Waverley, ,was complete. Guy Man-
nering 'was written in six weeks. His
)'early avera'age was close to two
novels, His enthusiasm for learning,
this zest for making human life full,
give freshness to his work. There is
always a 'wholesome :story presented
with audacious sweep, swift with ac-
tion, and stamped with the tang of
'th-e out-of-doors, The exuberance aE
his mood ';haunts us in -an unforget-
mg table song, like Doc'hinvar.
711rOften the vigorous laird orf Abbots-
ford would tramp at evening along his
beloved Tweed, swinging his stout
cane, his dogs by his side. Here he
would !fraternize with the Delminie,
'Meg and Dick; or looking out over
beech- and oalc, write his dream into
'that infallible memory. IH•is•word's
might' have been 'written on the very
night that I etood lost in the spell of
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