The rambles here chronicled could not possibly be organized into an itinerary or moulded into a guidebook. The author simply invites those who have inclinations similar to his own, to wander with him, away from the customary paths of travel, and into the homes of certain distinguished authors or the scenes of their writings, and to visit with him various places of historic interest or natural beauty, without a thought of maps, distances, time-tables, or the toil and dust of travel. This is the real essence of rambling.
The chapter on “The Country of Mrs. Humphry Ward” was published originally in The Outlook in 1909, and “A Day in Wordsworth’s Country,” in the same magazine in 1910.
CONTENTS
| I. | The Lure of the Camera | [1] | |
| II. | Literary Rambles in Great Britain | [15] | |
| English Courtesy—The George Eliot Country— Experiences in Rural England. Overcoming Obstacles—A London “Bobby”—Carlyle’s Birthplace—The Country of Scott and Burns | |||
| III. | A Day in Wordsworth’s Country | [49] | |
| IV. | From Hawthornden to Roslin Glen | [73] | |
| V. | The Country of Mrs. Humphry Ward | [93] | |
| I. | mrs. ward and her work | [95] | |
| II. | the real robert elsmere | [110] | |
| III. | other people and scenery | [128] | |
| VI. | A Tour of the Italian Lakes | [147] | |
| VII. | Literary Landmarks of New England | [175] | |
| I. | concord | [179] | |
| II. | salem | [196] | |
| III. | portsmouth | [207] | |
| IV. | the isles of shoals | [222] | |
| VIII. | A Day With John Burroughs | [233] | |
| IX. | Glimpses of the Yellowstone | [251] | |
| X. | The Grand Cañon of Arizona | [271] | |
| Index | [297] | ||
ILLUSTRATIONS
| The Stepping Stones | Frontispiece |
| On the River Rothay, near Ambleside, England, and below Fox How, the home of Thomas Arnold of Rugby, grandfather of Mrs. Humphry Ward. One of the scenes in “Robert Elsmere” was suggested by these stones. | |
| A Path in Bretton Woods | [10] |
| White Mountains, N.H. | |
| Profile Lake | [12] |
| Showing the Old Man of the Mountains. In the Franconia Notch, White Mountains, N.H. The profile suggested to Hawthorne the tale of “The Great Stone Face.” | |
| The Grand Saloon, Arbury Hall | [22] |
| Near Nuneaton, England. The original of Cheverel Manor, in George Eliot’s “Mr. Gilfil’s Love Story.” | |
| A School in Nuneaton | [30] |
| Where George Eliot attended school in her eighth or ninth year. | |
| The Bromley-Davenport Arms | [34] |
| In Ellastone, England, the original of the “Donnithorne Arms” of “Adam Bede.” | |
| The Birthplace of Robert Burns | [40] |
| In Ayrshire, Scotland. The poet was born here January 25, 1759. The left of the building is the cottage of two rooms where the family lived. Adjoining, on the right, is the “byre,” or cow-house. | |
| The Burns Monument, Ayrshire | [44] |
| The monument was built in 1820. It is sixty feet high, and almost an exact duplicate of the monument in Edinburgh. | |
| The Brig o’ Doon, Ayrshire | [48] |
| The bridge over which Tam o’ Shanter rode to escape the witches. | |
| Grasmere Lake | [60] |
| “For rest of body perfect was the spot.” | |
| Dove Cottage, Grasmere | [64] |
| Wordsworth’s home for eight years. The view is from the garden in the rear of the cottage. | |
| Wordsworth’s Well | [68] |
| In the garden of Dove Cottage, where the poet placed “bright gowan and marsh marigold” brought from the border of the lake. | |
| Hawthornden | [76] |
| The home of the Drummond family, on the banks of the Esk, Scotland. | |
| The Sycamore | [80] |
| The tree at Hawthornden under which William Drummond met Ben Jonson. | |
| Ruins of Roslin Castle | [86] |
| In Roslin Glen overlooking the Esk. | |
| Mrs. Humphry Ward and Miss Dorothy Ward | [96] |
| At the villa in Cadenabbia, overlooking Lake Como, where Mrs. Ward wrote “Lady Rose’s Daughter.” | |
| “Under Loughrigg” | [100] |
| The view from the study window of Thomas Arnold at Fox How. | |
| The Passmore Edwards Settlement House | [104] |
| Tavistock Place, London. | |
| The Lime Walk | [110] |
| In the garden of Trinity College, Oxford. Referred to in “Robert Elsmere.” | |
| Cottage of “Mary Backhouse” | [114] |
| At Sad Gill, Long Sleddale. The barns and storehouses, on either end, give the small cottage an attenuated appearance. | |
| The Rectory of Peper Harow | [118] |
| In Surrey, England. The original of Murewell Rectory, the house of “Robert Elsmere.” | |
| The Rothay and Nab Scar | [130] |
| From Pelter Bridge, Ambleside, England. | |
| Lake Como | [138] |
| From “the path that led to the woods overhanging the Villa Carlotta.” | |
| Stocks | [144] |
| The home of Mrs. Humphry Ward, near Tring, England. | |
| Lake Maggiore, Italy | [150] |
| According to Ruskin the most beautiful of the Italian Lakes. | |
| Isola Bella, Lake Maggiore | [154] |
| The costly summer home of Count Vitaliano Borromeo in the Seventeenth Century. | |
| The Atrium of the Villa Maria | [170] |
| At Cadenabbia, Lake Como. | |
| “I call this my J. M. W. Turner” | [174] |
| View from the dining-room window of the Villa Maria. | |
| The Old Manse | [180] |
| In Concord, where Emerson wrote “Nature” and Hawthorne lived for three years. | |
| Walden Woods | [184] |
| The cairn marks the site of Thoreau’s hut and “Thoreau’s Cove” is seen in the distance. | |
| House of Ralph Waldo Emerson | [190] |
| Concord, Massachusetts. | |
| The Wayside | [194] |
| House in Concord, where Hawthorne lived in the latest years of his life. | |
| The Mall Street House | [200] |
| Salem, Mass. The room in which Hawthorne wrote “The Scarlet Letter” is in the third floor, front, on the left. | |
| The House of the Seven Gables | [204] |
| The house in Turner Street, Salem, Mass., built in 1669, and owned by the Ingersoll family. | |
| The Bailey House | [208] |
| The house in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, of Thomas Bailey Aldrich’s grandfather, known as “Captain Nutter” in “The Story of a Bad Boy.” | |
| ”Aunt Abigail’s” Room | [212] |
| In the “Nutter” House. | |
| An Old Wharf | [216] |
| On the Piscataqua River, Portsmouth, where Aldrich often played in his boyhood. | |
| Celia Thaxter’s Cottage | [224] |
| On Appledore, where the poet maintained her famous “Island Garden.” | |
| Appledore | [232] |
| Trap-dike, on Appledore, the largest of the “Isles of Shoals.” | |
| John Burroughs at Woodchuck Lodge | [238] |
| The summer home of Mr. Burroughs is near Roxbury, New York, in the Catskill Mountains. When not at work he enjoys “the peace of the hills.” | |
| John Burroughs at Work | [244] |
| The “study” is a barn, where the naturalist sits facing the open doors. He looks out upon a stone wall where the birds and small animals come to “talk with him.” The “desk” is an old hen-coop, with straw in the bottom, to keep his feet warm. | |
| Hymen Terrace | [254] |
| At Mammoth Hot Springs in the Yellowstone National Park. | |
| Pulpit Terrace | [258] |
| A part of Jupiter Terrace, the largest of the formations at Mammoth Hot Springs. | |
| Old Faithful | [264] |
| The famous geyser in the Upper Geyser Basin of the Yellowstone National Park. It plays a stream about one hundred and fifty feet high every sixty-five minutes, with but slight variations. | |
| The Grotto Geyser | [266] |
| A geyser in the Yellowstone National Park notable for its fantastic crater. | |
| The Cañon of the Yellowstone River | [268] |
| The view from Inspiration Point. | |
| The Trail, Grand Cañon | [278] |
| The view shows the upper part of Bright Angels’ Trail, as it appears when the ground is covered with snow. | |
| The Grand Cañon of Arizona | [290] |
| The view from Bright Angels’. The plateau over which the trail leads to the edge of the river is partly covered by a deep shadow. The great formation in the left foreground is known as the “Battleship.” |