“Then said I, master, pleasant is this place
And sweet are those melodious notes I hear;
And happy they, among man’s toiling race,
Who, of their cares forgetful, wander near.”
Bowles.
To those who might not happen to know St. Vincent’s rocks, Clifton, and the very beautiful scenery near the Hotwells, Bristol, it might be desirable to state that the river Avon winds here through a sinuous defile, on one side of which “the rocks” rise perpendicularly in a bold yet irregular manner, to the height of many hundred feet; the opposite side is not so bold, but it is, nevertheless, extremely beautiful, being clothed in many places with wood, and has besides a VALLEY, through which you may ascend to Leigh Down. This valley has been named the “Valley of Nightingales,” no doubt, in consequence of those birds making it their resort.
“Where foliaged full in vernal pride
Retiring winds thy favourite vale;
And faint the moan of Avon’s tide,
Remurmurs to the nightingale.”
C. A. Elton’s Poems, Disappointment.
In a note, Mr. Elton informs us that this stanza alludes to the “Valley of Nightingales opposite St. Vincent’s rocks at Clifton.” The lovers of the picturesque will here find ample gratification. If, in the following poem, the truth in natural history be a little exceeded in reference to a troop of nightingales, it is hoped that the poetical licence will be pardoned. The vicinity of the Hotwells has been lately much improved by a carriage drive beneath and around those rocks.
Seest thou yon tall ROCKS where, midst sunny light beaming,
They lift up their heads and look proudly around;
While numerous choughs, with their cries shrill and screaming,
Wheel from crag unto crag, and now o’er the profound?
Seest thou yonder Valley where gushes the fountain;
Where the nightingales nestling harmoniously sing;
Where the mavis and merle and the merry lark mounting,
In notes of wild music, now welcome the spring.
Seest thou yonder shade, where the woodbine ascending,
Encircles the hawthorn with amorous twine,
With the bryony scandent, in gracefulness blending;
What sweet mingled odours scarce less then divine!