Rarely did our timid ancestors tempt the valley, often preferring
a roundabout course over a line of hills, if by so doing the perils of
the lower ground could be avoided.
The pilgrim followed a narrow and beaten track: it was bordered on each
side by a deep ditch, nearly overgrown with weeds and brambles. He
traversed the intricate windings of the road with considerable facility;
but an hour had nearly elapsed ere he gained the brow of an eminence of
no very conspicuous height, though it commanded a pretty extensive view
of the country adjacent. From the east, a rich flood of glory blended
the whole into one broad mass of light, melting away the beauteous
frost-work, as the rays of morning dissipate the unreal visions that
have their existence only in darkness and repose. Southward lay the
borough, distinguishable only by the broad tower of All-Saints rising
from the mist, as if baseless and suspended. A bell boomed heavily
through the quiet atmosphere: its long and lingering echoes came on the
pilgrim's soul like the voice of other years--of hopes and anticipations
that had for ever departed.
Westward might be seen a curl of blue smoke from the newly-dignified
priory at Upholland, recently invested with that honour through the
grants and intercessions of Sir Robert de Holland, a proud knight in the
train of Thomas Earl of Lancaster.
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