The Site of the Cabot Memorial.
Brandon Hill, the site of Bristol's memorial to the Cabots, lies between the north-west portion of the city and the wooded heights of Clifton.
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A fringe of houses encircles the base, but the remainder of its twenty-five acres, up to the rounded summit, 250 feet high, is open greensward, with gravelled paths, and seats under shady hawthorne bushes—the happy haunt of children from all parts of the city; and, as evening spreads her dusky mantle around, of whispering lovers, every seat accommodating a pair, sometimes two!
The Hill takes its name from the Irish saint, Brendan, a chapel and hermitage dedicated to him having once stood on its summit.
This St. Brendan is said to have been a great sailor, and claims to have himself discovered land across the Atlantic. Whether the claim be true or false, certain it is that the story of his "voyages," and the golden legends connected therewith, aroused men's curiosity and incited to subsequent expeditions, which, nearly a thousand years after Brendan's death, resulted in the discovery of the Northern Continent. The choice, therefore, of "St. Brendon's Hill" for the site of the memorial of that discovery is peculiarly appropriate; more especially as Brendan was the patron saint of sailors, and his chapel much frequented by Bristol mariners.
