The Wye and Its Associations: A Picturesque Ramble

Transcribed from the 1841 Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longmans edition by David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org
A PICTURESQUE RAMBLE.
By LEITCH RITCHIE, Esq.
AUTHOR OF “WANDERINGS BY THE LOIRE,” “WANDERINGS BY THE SEINE,” “THE MAGICIAN,” ETC.
LONDON:
LONGMAN, ORME, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS.
1841.
LONDON: PRINTED BY J. HADDON, CASTLE STREET, FINSBURY.
A portion of the lower part of the Wye has been described by Gilpin, Archdeacon Coxe, and some others; and the same portion has been touched upon, with greater or less minuteness, by Prince Puckler Muscau, and various Welsh tourists, as well as by Whateley in his Essay on Modern Gardening. It seemed, however, to the writer of the present sketch, that something more was due to the most celebrated river in England; and that another book (not too large for the pocket, and yet aspiring to a place in the library) which should point out the beauties of the Wye, and connect them with their historical and romantic associations—beginning at the source of the stream on Plinlimmon, and ending only at its confluence with the Severn—might still be reckoned an acceptable service by the lovers of the picturesque. Hence this little work, which may be consulted at will either as a finger-post by the traveller, or as a companion by the reading lounger at home.
London , November 28 th , 1840.
Philosophy of the picturesque—Peculiarities of English scenery—Worcester—Immigration of peasant girls—The Devils’ Garden—The Rest on the Stones—Plinlimmon—Inhabitants of the summit—The Inn—Source of the Wye.
Foreigners have often expressed their surprise that the English should travel so far in search of picturesque scenery, when they have abundance at home: but the remark is conceived in an unphilosophical spirit. We do not travel for the mere scenery. We do not leave the Wye unexplored, and go abroad in search of some other river of its own identical character. What we gaze at in strange lands is not wood, and water, and rock, but all these seen through a new medium—accompanied by adjuncts which array universal nature herself in a foreign costume. A tree peculiar to the country—a peasant in an un-English garb—a cottage of unaccustomed form—the slightest peculiarity in national manners—even the traces of a different system of agriculture—all contribute to the impression of novelty in which consists the excitement of foreign travel.