The Rivers and Streams of England — Edition Insights

Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images available at The Internet Archive)

THE RIVERS AND STREAMS OF ENGLAND

AMERICA THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 64 & 66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK

AUSTRALASIA THE OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 205 FLINDERS LANE, MELBOURNE

CANADA THE MACMILLAN COMPANY OF CANADA, LTD. ST. MARTIN'S HOUSE, 70 BOND STREET, TORONTO

INDIA MACMILLAN & COMPANY, LTD. MACMILLAN BUILDING, BOMBAY 309 BOW BAZAAR STREET, CALCUTTA

THE RIVERS & STREAMS OF ENGLAND

PAINTED BY SUTTON PALMER

DESCRIBED BY A. G. BRADLEY

PUBLISHED BY 4 SOHO SQUARE

ADAM AND CHARLES LONDON, W

Though this is not a book on angling, a life-long attachment to the fly-rod on the part of the author, and to the delightful scenes into which such predilections notoriously lead one, makes it at once more difficult and more easy to write than if one were approaching the subject as a stranger to the atmosphere, and merely to "write round" the pictures Mr. Palmer has so admirably painted. But in my case it is by no means only this. A predilection for British landscape in general, and all that thereby hangs, has stimulated a far wider acquaintance with it than any mere angling rambles could achieve, and resulted in the publication of several books concerned with such things, and covering more or less about twenty counties. I feel this explanation is desirable, lest the note of intimacy with many far-sundered streams, in allusion and otherwise, that must occur in these pages may be suspect. The more so, as from the fascination of the Cook's ticket or what not, comparatively few of my countrymen have any considerable knowledge of their own land. The Rhine is certainly better known than the Wye, and the Danube probably than the Severn.

But these very experiences made the first proposal to write a book, other than a mere encyclopædia, within a brief space on such a big subject, seem almost hopeless. Rivers and streams from every direction, by scores, came surging out upon the memory at the very thought of it, in quite distracting fashion. It was finally agreed, however, that the literary part of the book should take shape in a series of essays or chapters dealing with the rivers mainly in separate groups or water-sheds, leaving the proportions to my discretion. Capricious in a measure this was bound to be. Selection was inevitable. It is not of supreme importance. _Caeteris paribus_, and without diverging more than necessary from the skilful illustrator, I have dealt more freely with the rivers I know best, and also with those I hold to be more worthy of notice. There are, of course, omissions, this book being neither a guide nor an encyclopædia, but rather a collection of descriptive essays and of water-colour sketches covering, though necessarily in brief, most of the groups. In this particular subject there is happily no need for author and illustrator to keep close company in detail. What inspires the pen, and in actual survey stirs the blood, is often unpaintable. What makes a delightful picture, on the other hand, tells sometimes but a dull tale in print. I have had to leave to the artist's capable brush, owing to the necessary limitations of the letterpress, several subjects; a matter, however, which seems to me as quite immaterial to the general purport of the book, as it is unavoidable. But otherwise I think we run reasonably together. At first sight the omission of the Thames in description may seem outrageous. A moment's reflection, however, will, I am sure, conduce to a saner view. Illustration is wholly another matter; but to attempt ten or fifteen pages on that great and familiar river, dealt with, too, in bulk and brief by innumerable pens, that could serve any purpose or gratify any reader, seems to me a fatuous undertaking. The Severn, on the other hand, as great, almost as important as the Thames, and still more beautiful, is by comparison an absolutely unknown river, and we have given it the first place.

THE BORDER RIVERS 101

THE RIVERS OF DEVON 161

THE RIVERS OF THE SOUTH-EAST 209

THE YORKSHIRE DALES 227

AN EAST ANGLIAN RIVER 269

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

1. The Derwent, High Tor, Matlock _Frontispiece_

FACING PAGE 2. The Severn, near Arley, Shropshire 6

3. The Severn, Bridgenorth, Shropshire 18

4. The Severn, near Cam, Gloucestershire 30

5. Chepstow with Wye and Severn 34

6. The Wye, Haddon Hall, Derbyshire 38

7. The Wye, Hay, Breconshire 40

8. The Wye, Ross, Herefordshire 46

9. The Monnow, Old Bridge, Monmouth 52

10. The Wye, Symond's Yat, Herefordshire 60

11. The Wye, Tintern, Monmouthshire 62

12. The Thames, looking towards Henley 64

13. The Avon, near Salisbury 66

14. The Thames, the Bells of Ouseley, Old Windsor 70

15. Stapleford on the Wiley 82

16. The Itchen, St. Cross, Winchester 88

17. The Itchen, and St. Giles' Hill, Winchester 94

18. The Dove, Dovedale, Derbyshire 100

19. The Tyne, Hexham, Northumberland 102

20. The Coquet, and Warkworth Castle, Northumberland 124