“Where Bortha hoarse5, that loads the meads with sand,
Rolls her red tide to Teviot’s western strand6,
Through slaty7 hills, whose sides are shagged with thorn,
And springs in scattered8 tufts the dark-green corn,
Towers wood-girt Harden, far above the vale”—
Harden, the cradle of the branch of the Scotts from which the author of the Lay was descended9; the “mountain home”, hidden in its narrow glen, to which the “Flower of Yarrow” was brought by “Auld Wat”—“a wide domain10, and rich, had purple heath been grain”.
At the town of Hawick, Teviot meets Slitrig, coming from the wild bounds of Liddisdale. All roads in Teviotdale seem to lead to Hawick, the capital of its trade as well as a centre of its history. Proud as its citizens are of the leading position of the burgh in the tweed and hosiery manufacture of the South of Scotland, and of the undiminished importance of its great lamb and sheep fairs, they are prouder still of the prowess of its sons in the dark days that followed Flodden, and in other scenes of Border strife11. Scott was familiar with its story, as with the streets and with the steep hills that surround this stirring little metropolis12 of industrial and pastoral life; and allusion13 23 has already been made to the literary and legendary14 memories attached to the site of the Tower in which the Douglases of Drumlanrig entertained their guests and protected their rights. From the parish church of St. Mary, since often rebuilt, the heroic Ramsay of Dalhousie was carried away by the Knight15 of Liddisdale, to be immured16 and to suffer a lingering death in the Douglas hold of Hermitage—
“Did ever knight so foul18 a deed?”
An older memorial of the past of Hawick is the Motehill, on which justice was dispensed19, and an outlook kept for enemies, in times beyond the range even of tradition. The great “Hawick Tradition” of the capture of the standard of the English marauders at Hornshole is kept green by the annual ceremony of the “Common Riding”, when Hawick is to be seen in its gayest and most jubilant mood. The words and tune20 of its slogan of “Teribus ye Teriodin” are supposed to have descended to it from heathen times, and to have originally been an invocation to the gods of the early Saxons and Norsemen—Thor and Odin. The defiant21 spirit of these warriors22 of old seems still to ring in the chaunt sung by the Cornet and his men as they ride round the marches in the beginning of June:
“Teribus ye Teriodin,
Sons of heroes slain23 at Flodden,
Imitating Border Bowmen,
Aye defend your rights and Common.”
24
A few miles up the Slitrig is Stobs Castle, an ancient seat of the Elliots, which became a military centre during the Great European War; and there are many other places of note and fame on the once hazardous24 way, now followed by the railway, that leads across the hills to the head-streams of the Liddel and thence to those of the North Tyne, or to the “Debatable Land”, the Solway, and Carlisle. Another crowd of warlike memories and of pastoral and woodland charms awaits those who, from Hawick, or from the old Douglas seat of Cavers, lower down Teviotdale, explore the Hobkirk valley, or pass over the skirts of Ruberslaw into Rule Water—to Bonchester and to Hobkirk, where Thomson planned his Seasons, and to Southdean, where the poet spent his early years, and to the Carter Bar and the Border.
A few miles below Hawick, past Hornshole and past Denholm, the birthplace of John Leyden—the poet, the Oriental scholar, the friend of Scott, whose “brief and bright career” closed too soon in the Malay East—below “dark Ruberslaw” and the Dunion, which interposes its round-backed form between the “mining Rule” and the “crystal Jed”, and more directly under the Minto Crags and the Chesters moors26, lies one of the loveliest bits on Teviot. Haughs and dells, green hills and wide sweeps of river spread around the fragments of Fatlips Castle, whose owner, a Turnbull, dwelt
25
“Mid cliffs from whence his eagle eye
Full many a league his prey27 could spy”;
and around Minto House, the home, since the union, of the Elliots, a race great in law and in war, in song and in statecraft, with whom, through their descent from “Gibbie with the Gowden Garters”, a daughter of Harden, Sir Walter could “count kin”. Jed Water and Ale Water come in from south and north, farther down, and here, too, every foot is famous. The “Minstrel” sings of scenes, on the track of William of Deloraine, “good at need”, among them
“Ancient Riddel’s fair domain,
Where Aill, from mountains freed,
Down from the lakes did raving28 come;
Each wave was crested29 with tawny30 foam31,
Like the mane of a chestnut32 steed”.
The inflow of this turbulent stream is below the fine old tree-surrounded Ancrum House. It is overshadowed by Penielheugh and by the ridge33 of Lilliard’s Edge, across which the main road from Carlisle, that has followed the course of the Teviot almost from its source, toils34 painfully over to the valley of the Tweed. On a day in 1545, Ancrum Moor25
“Ran red with English blood,
Where the Douglas true and the bold Buccleuch
’Gainst keen Lord Evers stood”—
a victory to which, according to traditions, “fair Maid Lilliard” contributed manfully, until, like a hero of “Chevy Chase”, she “fought upon her stumps”.
26
Jed Water is still more charged with the history and legends of the past. Much of it, including Jedburgh Abbey, is the patrimony35 of the branch of the Kerrs represented by the Marquis of Lothian, whose modern seat, Mount Teviot, lies opposite Jedfoot, while the ancient home of the family, Ferniehirst, begins to run to decay. It would take many pages to do justice—even “Jeddart justice”—to Jedburgh, whose townsfolk, armed with their “Jeddart staves” and to their slogan of “Jeddart’s Here!” were in the front of the Border Wars. Its Abbey, founded by David the Saint, who placed here Augustinian canons from Beauvais early in the twelfth century, is still, in spite of having been seven times burned, the stateliest and the best preserved of the medi?val religious houses of the Scott Country. The site of the Royal Castle, where in the “Golden Age” of the Borders Alexander III held court after his second marriage, has disappeared under public buildings; but the house in the Backgate is pointed36 out where Mary Queen of Scots lay sick to death after her perilous37 ride to Hermitage, as well as the lodging38 in the Castlegate occupied by Prince Charlie on his march into England.
His road lay over a shoulder of Carter Fell into Redesdale, where runs what is still the only way across the hills for wheeled traffic in the sixty miles between Wooler, on the Till, and Riccarton, on the Liddel, although the 27 Romans built over the Cheviots paved roads, one of which descended into the head of Kale Water, and, from the site of the old Border Trysts40 at Pennymuir, ran straight as a ruled line to the camp of Newstead, under Eildon. From end to end these hills are deserted41, except by the shepherd and the sportsman. Along the “wild and willowed42 shore” of Teviot and of Jed, the “glaring balefires blaze no more”. The race of the mosstroopers—of “John o’ the Side” and “Christie’s Will”, the “Laird’s Jock” and “Hobbie Noble”—is long extinct. But there are still to be found fine products of the soil, of the type of the stalwart tenant43 of Charlieshope. The Border spirit may have run into manufactures, and pastoral and arable44 farming, and Kirk and State contentions45, but anyone who fancies it is dead should attend a “Common Riding”, or an otter46 or fox-hunt, or a game of curling or of hand- or foot-ball in these parts; or a meeting or parting of Hawick “Teeries” or of “Jedburgh callants”. He will doubt no more.
Dryburgh Abbey is less than ten miles distant from Jedburgh, in a straight line. But there are marked features distinguishing it from its Teviotdale neighbour as well as from the Abbeys standing47 below and above it on Tweedside—Kelso and Melrose. It was planted in its corner of Berwickshire by baronial and not by kingly beneficence, its founder48 being the great Hugh de Morville, in David’s time Constable49 of Scotland 28 and Lord of Lauderdale, whose tomb is near the site of the high altar. It was smaller in size and less richly endowed than the other three, but is not less generously invested with historic and legendary interest. Its fate and condition are not dissimilar, for like the others it was many times burned and ravaged50 in the Border wars, and was afterwards abandoned for centuries to neglect and decay. These Tweedside monastic houses have now fallen upon happier times; for, apart from the reverence51 they have gathered from the past, and not least from their association with Sir Walter Scott, they have lately become national possessions, through the generosity52 of the Duke of Roxburghe at Kelso, of the Duke of Buccleuch at Melrose, and of Lord Glenconner at Dryburgh. The Pr?monstratensian Abbey on the bend of the Tweed under Bemerside Hill differs from its rivals in respect that it has preserved more of the monastic buildings and less of the church. Of Dryburgh Abbey Church—apart from the north transept, of which more has to be said—little is left beyond the gables of the south transept and of the west front, the latter pierced by a five-light window, surmounting53 some ruined walls, and the foundations of piers54. But the chapter house—St. Modan’s chapel—is extant, and its vaulted55 roof covers interesting architectural and arch?ological details, while of the cloisters56, sacristy, fratery, and other domestic buildings of the “White Friars” of Dryburgh there are considerable remains57, clad in ivy58 and overhung by immemorial yews59 and other trees. Enough survives to indicate a structure of much grace and beauty, showing a great range of styles from Romanesque to Later Pointed, and built of a local reddish sandstone which, as at Melrose, has weathered into a rich and harmonious60 variety of colour.
It is, however, in its situation and in its happy blending with its immediate61 surroundings that Dryburgh is chiefly distinguished62 from its compeers. It is secluded63 from the world, on the margin64 of the wide stream; hidden among woods and overlooked by hills. To reach it you have to circumvent65 rivers and climb up and down steep braes. The easiest way of approach is by crossing Lessudden Bridge, from the south bank of the Tweed above the tower of Littledean. This was the road followed by the “bold Baron” of Smailholm, whose tower and Beacon66 Hill, and the standing stones on the moor of Brotherstone, look down from the eastern and northern skyline on the scene
“Over Tweed’s fair flood, and Mertoun’s wood,
And all down Teviotdale”.
By Mertoun’s wood, the screen of Dryburgh from gales67 blowing from the sea, and now the property of Lord Polwarth, a Scott of the Harden blood, the way winds to the Abbey precincts, overshadowed by the great trees that surround Dryburgh House. Naturally the 30 feet first seek the tomb of Sir Walter in St. Mary’s Aisle68. The story of how the best beloved of the sons of the Border came to be laid under this fragment of the north transept and choir—a well-preserved piece of elegant First Pointed work—is itself a romance. His grandmother on the father’s side, Barbara Haliburton, was the daughter of a Merse laird, who was owner of part of the lands of Dryburgh, including the Abbey ruins. She became his inheritor; but before then Robert Haliburton had lost his lands through unwise speculation69. David Erskine, eleventh Earl of Buchan—brother of Lord Chancellor70 Erskine and of Harry71 Erskine, the brilliant wit and pleader—who has left the impress of his eccentric mind on the colossal72 statue of Wallace which stands, “frowning towards England”, above his suspension bridge for foot passengers crossing the Tweed from St. Boswells, became possessor of the ground; and, through Lady Scott, obtained a promise from the author of Waverley that he should be buried in this kindred earth. Lady Scott died in 1826, and Buchan in 1829, while Sir Walter himself was not laid here until 26th September, 1832. In his fragment of “Autobiography”, Scott records how he had come to his own again in this twice-hallowed spot; and, with a touch of prophecy as well as pathos73, he wrote: “And thus we have nothing left of Dryburgh, although my father’s maternal74 inheritance, but the right of stretching 31 our bones where mine may perhaps be laid ere any eye but my own glances over these pages.” Nowhere—not even in Melrose—could the Wizard rest more tranquilly75 than in this scene where nature and art, the present and the past, and life and death seem to be brought into perfect accord.
The funeral cortège, coming from Abbotsford, crossed the Tweed and Leader at Leaderfoot, and climbing, past Gladswood, by a road with which Scott was familiar, halted where he had often halted, and where multitudes have halted since, at a bold and sharp elbow of the path, raised three hundred feet above the river, whence an unrivalled view can be had into the heart of the Scott Country. Immediately below, across the stream, on a peninsula of land washed on three sides by the Tweed, is Old Melrose, a spot which had gathered sanctity many centuries before the medi?val abbeys rose in the valley. Here a mission station of the Christian76 faith was planted from distant Iona; and hence, probably, travelled Aidan to convert heathen Northumbria and to found Lindisfarne and Hexham; here dwelt, as first abbot, his companion Eata, and also Boisel, who gave his name to St. Boswell’s opposite, and to whom came for instruction Cuthbert, a shepherd lad who had been reared at Wrangham, near Brotherstone, and had tended his flock and seen visions in the Lammermoors. From “Mailros”, the bald promontory—its 32 very name attests77 the tongue in which the Celtic founders78 spoke—St. Cuthbert’s body in its stone coffin79 floated downstream on its many wanderings by water and land; and, as related by Bede, the hermit17 Drithelm was wont80 in winter to break the ice on the river, and, standing up to the neck in the water, recite his prayers. Although it was abandoned before the “Sair Saint” brought to the neighbourhood and to Scotland the first monks81 of the Cistercian Order, some of the prestige of Old Melrose must have clung to the name and been transferred to the Religious House on the new site, the ruddy walls of which can be descried82, sheltering at the foot of the Eildons, across the fields on which, long before the coming of the Columban missionaries83, the Romans planted the expeditionary camp and permanent station of Trimontium, that have only lately yielded their secrets to the spade.
This Bemerside Hill is a “Mount of Vision” from which all the chief shrines84 and high places of the Scott Country can be surveyed, at least with the mind’s eye. Abbotsford itself, if not in actual view, can be mapped into the scene by direction and position. Out of sight, directly under the brow of the hill, is the ancient square fortalice, with later buildings attached, and grounds stretching down towards the Tweed, where Haigs have been resident for seven centuries. They were benefactors85 of Melrose when Alexander III was king, and when Thomas the Rhymer was their neighbour and wellwisher, and uttered the prophecy that has so mightily86 helped its own fulfilment:
“Betyde, betyde, whate’er betyde,
Haig shall be Haig of Bemersyde.”
Sir Walter Scott was a later friend of the family, and was often a guest in the beautiful rose-garden below the mansion87. A grateful nation bestowed88 the house and manor89 on the late Field-Marshal Earl Haig, who now lies at rest close by Sir Walter at Dryburgh. The whole scene and surroundings seem to be touched by the spirit of prophecy and of poetry. On the hills opposite stood the “Eildon Tree” and the “Eildon Stone”; and beyond these, on Abbotsford property, the reputed “Rhymer’s Glen”, where “True Thomas” encountered the Queen of Fa?ry, although the tryst39 may well have been at Huntlywood, behind Brotherstone, on the Eden Water, and near Corsbie Tower, the ruined “Castle of Avenel”. As has been said, Drithelm and Cuthbert were visionaries, so were Boisel, the second Abbot of the old, and Waldave, the first Abbot of the new foundation; and centuries before the time of the Seer of Ercildoune they dreamed dreams and saw things not of this world and far into the future. According to popular belief, of like gifts was “Auld Michael”, whose words “cleft Eildon Hills in three”. 34 The last and the greatest of these “Wizard Scotts” is he who sleeps with his fathers in St. Mary’s Aisle.
点击收听单词发音
1 dedicated | |
adj.一心一意的;献身的;热诚的 | |
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2 resounds | |
v.(指声音等)回荡于某处( resound的第三人称单数 );产生回响;(指某处)回荡着声音 | |
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3 minor | |
adj.较小(少)的,较次要的;n.辅修学科;vi.辅修 | |
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4 clans | |
宗族( clan的名词复数 ); 氏族; 庞大的家族; 宗派 | |
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5 hoarse | |
adj.嘶哑的,沙哑的 | |
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6 strand | |
vt.使(船)搁浅,使(某人)困于(某地) | |
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7 slaty | |
石板一样的,石板色的 | |
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8 scattered | |
adj.分散的,稀疏的;散步的;疏疏落落的 | |
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9 descended | |
a.为...后裔的,出身于...的 | |
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10 domain | |
n.(活动等)领域,范围;领地,势力范围 | |
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11 strife | |
n.争吵,冲突,倾轧,竞争 | |
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12 metropolis | |
n.首府;大城市 | |
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13 allusion | |
n.暗示,间接提示 | |
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14 legendary | |
adj.传奇(中)的,闻名遐迩的;n.传奇(文学) | |
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15 knight | |
n.骑士,武士;爵士 | |
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16 immured | |
v.禁闭,监禁( immure的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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17 hermit | |
n.隐士,修道者;隐居 | |
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18 foul | |
adj.污秽的;邪恶的;v.弄脏;妨害;犯规;n.犯规 | |
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19 dispensed | |
v.分配( dispense的过去式和过去分词 );施与;配(药) | |
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20 tune | |
n.调子;和谐,协调;v.调音,调节,调整 | |
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21 defiant | |
adj.无礼的,挑战的 | |
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22 warriors | |
武士,勇士,战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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23 slain | |
杀死,宰杀,杀戮( slay的过去分词 ); (slay的过去分词) | |
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24 hazardous | |
adj.(有)危险的,冒险的;碰运气的 | |
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25 moor | |
n.荒野,沼泽;vt.(使)停泊;vi.停泊 | |
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26 moors | |
v.停泊,系泊(船只)( moor的第三人称单数 ) | |
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27 prey | |
n.被掠食者,牺牲者,掠食;v.捕食,掠夺,折磨 | |
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28 raving | |
adj.说胡话的;疯狂的,怒吼的;非常漂亮的;令人醉心[痴心]的v.胡言乱语(rave的现在分词)n.胡话;疯话adv.胡言乱语地;疯狂地 | |
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29 crested | |
adj.有顶饰的,有纹章的,有冠毛的v.到达山顶(或浪峰)( crest的过去式和过去分词 );到达洪峰,达到顶点 | |
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30 tawny | |
adj.茶色的,黄褐色的;n.黄褐色 | |
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31 foam | |
v./n.泡沫,起泡沫 | |
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32 chestnut | |
n.栗树,栗子 | |
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33 ridge | |
n.山脊;鼻梁;分水岭 | |
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34 toils | |
网 | |
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35 patrimony | |
n.世袭财产,继承物 | |
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36 pointed | |
adj.尖的,直截了当的 | |
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37 perilous | |
adj.危险的,冒险的 | |
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38 lodging | |
n.寄宿,住所;(大学生的)校外宿舍 | |
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39 tryst | |
n.约会;v.与…幽会 | |
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40 trysts | |
n.约会,幽会( tryst的名词复数 );幽会地点 | |
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41 deserted | |
adj.荒芜的,荒废的,无人的,被遗弃的 | |
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42 willowed | |
v.用打棉机打开和清理(willow的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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43 tenant | |
n.承租人;房客;佃户;v.租借,租用 | |
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44 arable | |
adj.可耕的,适合种植的 | |
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45 contentions | |
n.竞争( contention的名词复数 );争夺;争论;论点 | |
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46 otter | |
n.水獭 | |
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47 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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48 Founder | |
n.创始者,缔造者 | |
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49 constable | |
n.(英国)警察,警官 | |
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50 ravaged | |
毁坏( ravage的过去式和过去分词 ); 蹂躏; 劫掠; 抢劫 | |
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51 reverence | |
n.敬畏,尊敬,尊严;Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称;v.尊敬,敬畏,崇敬 | |
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52 generosity | |
n.大度,慷慨,慷慨的行为 | |
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53 surmounting | |
战胜( surmount的现在分词 ); 克服(困难); 居于…之上; 在…顶上 | |
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54 piers | |
n.水上平台( pier的名词复数 );(常设有娱乐场所的)突堤;柱子;墙墩 | |
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55 vaulted | |
adj.拱状的 | |
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56 cloisters | |
n.(学院、修道院、教堂等建筑的)走廊( cloister的名词复数 );回廊;修道院的生活;隐居v.隐退,使与世隔绝( cloister的第三人称单数 ) | |
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57 remains | |
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹 | |
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58 ivy | |
n.常青藤,常春藤 | |
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59 yews | |
n.紫杉( yew的名词复数 ) | |
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60 harmonious | |
adj.和睦的,调和的,和谐的,协调的 | |
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61 immediate | |
adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的 | |
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62 distinguished | |
adj.卓越的,杰出的,著名的 | |
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63 secluded | |
adj.与世隔绝的;隐退的;偏僻的v.使隔开,使隐退( seclude的过去式和过去分词) | |
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64 margin | |
n.页边空白;差额;余地,余裕;边,边缘 | |
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65 circumvent | |
vt.环绕,包围;对…用计取胜,智胜 | |
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66 beacon | |
n.烽火,(警告用的)闪火灯,灯塔 | |
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67 gales | |
龙猫 | |
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68 aisle | |
n.(教堂、教室、戏院等里的)过道,通道 | |
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69 speculation | |
n.思索,沉思;猜测;投机 | |
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70 chancellor | |
n.(英)大臣;法官;(德、奥)总理;大学校长 | |
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71 harry | |
vt.掠夺,蹂躏,使苦恼 | |
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72 colossal | |
adj.异常的,庞大的 | |
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73 pathos | |
n.哀婉,悲怆 | |
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74 maternal | |
adj.母亲的,母亲般的,母系的,母方的 | |
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75 tranquilly | |
adv. 宁静地 | |
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76 Christian | |
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒 | |
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77 attests | |
v.证明( attest的第三人称单数 );证实;声称…属实;使宣誓 | |
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78 founders | |
n.创始人( founder的名词复数 ) | |
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79 coffin | |
n.棺材,灵柩 | |
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80 wont | |
adj.习惯于;v.习惯;n.习惯 | |
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81 monks | |
n.修道士,僧侣( monk的名词复数 ) | |
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82 descried | |
adj.被注意到的,被发现的,被看到的 | |
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83 missionaries | |
n.传教士( missionary的名词复数 ) | |
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84 shrines | |
圣地,圣坛,神圣场所( shrine的名词复数 ) | |
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85 benefactors | |
n.捐助者,施主( benefactor的名词复数 );恩人 | |
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86 mightily | |
ad.强烈地;非常地 | |
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87 mansion | |
n.大厦,大楼;宅第 | |
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88 bestowed | |
赠给,授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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89 manor | |
n.庄园,领地 | |
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