We climbed the steep slope of the Castle Hill, sometimes passing an antique-looking house, with a high, notched5 gable, perhaps with an ornamented6 front, until we came to the sculptures and battlemented wall, with an archway, that stands just below the castle. . . . A shabby-looking man now accosted7 us, and could hardly be shaken off. I have met with several such boors8 in my experience of sight-seeing. He kept along with us, in spite of all hints to the contrary, and insisted on pointing out objects of interest. He showed us a house in Broad Street, below the castle and cathedral, which he said had once been inhabited by Henry Darnley, Queen Mary's husband. There was little or nothing peculiar9 in its appearance; a large, gray, gabled house standing10 lengthwise to the street, with three windows in the roof, and connected with other houses on each side. Almost directly across the street, he pointed11 to an archway, through the side of a house, and, peeping through it, we found a soldier on guard in a court-yard, the sides of which were occupied by an old mansion12 of the Argyle family, having towers at the corners, with conical tops, like those reproduced in the hotel at the Trosachs. It is now occupied as a military hospital. Shaking off our self-inflicted guide, we now made our way to the castle parade, and to the gateway13, where a soldier with a tremendously red nose and two medals at once took charge of us.
Beyond all doubt, I have written quite as good a description of the castle and Carse of Stirling in a former portion of my journal as I can now write. We passed through the outer rampart of Queen Anne; through the old round gate-tower of an earlier day, and beneath the vacant arch where the portcullis used to fall, thus reaching the inner region, where stands the old palace on one side, and the old Parliament House on the other. The former looks aged14, ragged15, and rusty16, but makes a good appearance enough pictorially17, being adorned18 all round about with statues, which may have been white marble once, but are as gray as weather-beaten granite19 now, and look down from between the windows above the basement story. A photograph would give the idea of very rich antiquity20, but as it really stands, looking on a gravelled court-yard, and with "CANTEEN" painted on one of its doors, the spectator does not find it very impressive. The great hall of this palace is now partitioned off into two or three rooms, and the whole edifice21 is arranged to serve as barracks. Of course, no trace of ancient magnificence, if anywise destructible, can be left in the interior. We were not shown into this palace, nor into the Parliament House, nor into the tower, where King James stabbed the Earl of Douglas. When I was here a year ago, I went up the old staircase and into the room where the murder was committed, although it had recently been the scene of a fire, which consumed as much of it as was inflammable. The window whence the Earl's body was thrown then remained; but now the whole tower seems to have been renewed, leaving only the mullions of the historic window.
We merely looked up at the new, light-colored freestone of the restored tower in passing, and ascended22 to the ramparts, where we found one of the most splendid views, morally and materially, that this world can show. Indeed, I think there cannot be such a landscape as the Carse of Stirling, set in such a frame as it is,—the Highlands, comprehending our friends, Ben Lomond, Ben Venue24, Ben An, and the whole Ben brotherhood25, with the Grampians surrounding it to the westward26 and northward27, and in other directions some range of prominent objects to shut it in; and the plain itself, so worthy28 of the richest setting, so fertile, so beautiful, so written over and over again with histories. The silver Links of Forth29 are as sweet and gently picturesque30 an object as a man sees in a lifetime. I do not wonder that Providence31 caused great things to happen on this plain; it was like choosing a good piece of canvas to paint a great picture upon. The battle of Bannockburn (which we saw beneath us, with the Gillie's Hill on the right) could not have been fought upon a meaner plain, nor Wallace's victory gained; and if any other great historic act still remains32 to be done in this country, I should imagine the Carse of Stirling to be the future scene of it. Scott seems to me hardly to have done justice—to this landscape, or to have bestowed33 pains enough to put it in strong relief before the world; although it is from the light shed on it, and so much other Scottish scenery, by his mind, that we chiefly see it, and take an interest in it. . . .
I do not remember seeing the hill of execution before,—a mound34 on the same level as the castle's base, looking towards the Highlands. A solitary36 cow was now feeding upon it. I should imagine that no person could ever have been unjustly executed there; the spot is too much in the sight of heaven and earth to countenance37 injustice38.
Descending39 from the ramparts, we went into the Armory40, which I did not see on my former visit. The superintendent41 of this department is an old soldier of very great intelligence and vast communicativeness, and quite absorbed in thinking of and handling weapons; for he is a practical armorer. He had few things to show us that were very interesting,—a helmet or two, a bomb and grenade from the Crimea; also some muskets43 from the same quarter, one of which, with a sword at the end, he spoke44 of admiringly, as the best weapon in the collection, its only fault being its extreme weight. He showed us, too, some Minie rifles, and whole ranges of the old-fashioned Brown Bess, which had helped to win Wellington's victories; also the halberts of sergeants45 now laid aside, and some swords that had been used at the battle of Sheriffmuir. These latter were very short, not reaching to the floor, when I held one of them, point downward, in my hand. The shortness of the blade and consequent closeness of the encounter must have given the weapon a most dagger-like murderousness. Ranging in the hall of arms, there were two tattered46 banners that had gone through the Peninsular battles, one of them belonging to the gallant47 42d Regiment48. The armorer gave my wife a rag from each of these banners, consecrated49 by so much battle-smoke; also a piece of old oak, half burned to charcoal50, which had been rescued from the panelling of the Douglas Tower. We saw better things, moreover, than all these rusty weapons and ragged flags; namely, the pulpit and communion-table of John Knox. The frame of the former, if I remember aright, is complete; but one or two of the panels are knocked out and lost, and, on the whole, it looks as if it had been shaken to pieces by the thunder of his holdings forth,—much worm-eaten, too, is the old oak wood, as well it may be, for the letters MD (1500) are carved on its front. The communion-table is polished, and in much better preservation51.
Then the armorer showed us a Damascus blade, of the kind that will cut a delicate silk handkerchief while floating in the air; and some inlaid matchlock guns. A child's little toy-gun was lying on a workbench among all this array of weapons; and when I took it up and smiled, he said that it was his son's. So he called in a little fellow four years old, who was playing in the castle yard, and made him go through the musket42 exercise, which he did with great good-will. This small Son of a Gun, the father assured us, cares for nothing but arms, and has attained52 all his skill with the musket merely by looking at the soldiers on parade. . . .
Our soldier, who had resigned the care of us to the armorer, met us again at the door, and led us round the remainder of the ramparts, dismissing us finally at the gate by which we entered. All the time we were in the castle there had been a great discordance53 of drums and fifes, caused by the musicians who were practising just under the walls; likewise the sergeants were drilling their squads54 of men, and putting them through strange gymnastic motions. Most, if not all, of the garrison55 belongs to a Highland23 regiment, and those whom we saw on duty, in full costume, looked very martial56 and gallant. Emerging from the castle, we took the broad and pleasant footpath57, which circles it about midway on the grassy59 steep which descends60 from the rocky precipice61 on which the walls are built. This is a very beautiful walk, and affords a most striking view of the castle, right above our heads, the height of its wall forming one line with the precipice. The grassy hillside is almost as precipitous as the dark gray rock that rises out of it, to form the foundations of the castle; but wild rose-bushes, both of a white and red variety, are abundant here, and all in bloom; nor are these the only flowers. There is also shrubbery in some spots, tossing up green waves against the precipice; and broad sheets of ivy62 here and there mantle63 the headlong rock, which also has a growth of weeds in its crevices64. The castle walls above, however, are quite bare of any such growth. Thus, looking up at the old storied fortress65, and looking down over the wide, historic plain, we wandered half-way round the castle, and then, retracing66 our steps, entered the town close by an old hospital.
A hospital it was, or had been intended for; but the authorities of the town had made some convenient arrangement with those entitled to its charity, and had appropriated the ancient edifice to themselves. So said a boy who showed us into the Guildhall,—an apartment with a vaulted68 oaken roof, and otherwise of antique aspect and furniture; all of which, however, were modern restorations. We then went into an old church or cathedral, which was divided into two parts; one of them, in which I saw the royal arms, being probably for the Church-of-England service, and the other for the Kirk of Scotland. I remember little or nothing of this edifice, except that the Covenanters had uplifted it with pews and a gallery, and whitewash69; though I doubt not it was a stately Gothic church, with innumerable enrichments and incrustations of beauty, when it passed from popish hands into theirs. Thence we wandered downward, through a back street, amid very shabby houses, some of which bore tokens of having once been the abodes70 of courtly and noble personages. We paused before one that displayed, I think, the sign of a spirit-retailer, and looked as disreputable as a house could, yet was built of stalwart stone, and had two circular towers in front, once, doubtless, crowned with conical tops. We asked an elderly man whether he knew anything of the history of this house; and he said that he had been acquainted with it for almost fifty years, but never knew anything noteworthy about it. Reaching the foot of the hill, along whose back the streets of Stirling run, and which blooms out into the Castle Craig, we returned to the railway, and at noon took leave of Stirling.
I forgot to tell of the things that awakened72 rather more sympathy in us than any other objects in the castle armory. These were some rude weapons—pikes, very roughly made; and old rusty muskets, broken and otherwise out of order; and swords, by no means with Damascus blades— that had been taken from some poor weavers73 and other handicraft men who rose against the government in 1820. I pitied the poor fellows much, seeing how wretched were their means of standing up against the cannon74, bayonets, swords, shot, shell, and all manner of murderous facilities possessed75 by their oppressors. Afterwards, our guide showed, in a gloomy quadrangle of the castle, the low windows of the dungeons76 where two of the leaders of the insurrectionists had been confined before their execution. I have not the least shadow of doubt that these men had a good cause to fight for; but what availed it with such weapons! and so few even of those!
. . . . I believe I cannot go on to recount any further this evening the experiences of to-day. It has been a very rich day; only that I have seen more than my sluggish78 powers of reception can well take in at once. After quitting Stirling, we came in somewhat less than an hour to
LINLITHGOW,
and, alighting, took up our quarters at the Star and Garter Hotel, which, like almost all the Scottish caravan-saries of which we have had experience, turns out a comfortable one. . . . We stayed within doors for an hour or two, and I busied myself with writing up my journal. At about three, however, the sky brightened a little, and we set forth through the ancient, rusty, and queer-looking town of Linlithgow, towards the palace and the ancient church, which latter was one of St. David's edifices79, and both of which stand close together, a little removed from the long street of the village. But I can never describe them worthily80, and shall make nothing of the description if I attempt it now.
July 8th.—At about three o'clock yesterday, as I said, we walked forth through the ancient street of Linlithgow, and, coming to the market-place, stopped to look at an elaborate and heavy stone fountain, which we found by an inscription81 to be the fac-simile of an old one that used to stand on the same site. Turning to the right, the outer entrance to the palace fronts on this market-place, if such it be; and close to it, a little on one side, is the church. A young woman, with a key in her hand, offered to admit us into the latter; so we went in, and found it divided by a wall across the middle into two parts. The hither portion, being the nave82, was whitewashed83, and looked as bare and uninteresting as an old Gothic church of St. David's epoch84 possibly could do. The interior portion, being the former choir85, is covered with pews over the whole floor, and further defaced by galleries, that unmercifully cut midway across the stately and beautiful arches. It is likewise whitewashed. There were, I believe, some mural monuments of Bailies and other such people stuck up about the walls, but nothing that much interested me, except an ancient oaken chair, which the girl said was the chair of St. Crispin, and it was fastened to the wall, in the holiest part of the church. I know not why it was there; but as it had been the chair of so distinguished86 a personage, we all sat down in it. It was in this church that the apparition87 of St. James appeared to King James IV., to warn him against engaging in that war which resulted in the battle of Flodden, where he and the flower of his nobility were slain88. The young woman showed us the spot where the apparition spake to him,—a side chapel89, with a groined roof, at the end of the choir next the nave. The Covenanters seem to have shown some respect to this one chapel, by refraining from drawing the gallery across its height; so that, except for the whitewash, and the loss of the painted glass in the window, and probably of a good deal of rich architectural detail, it looks as it did when the ghostly saint entered beneath its arch, while the king was kneeling there.
We stayed but a little while in the church, and then proceeded to the palace, which, as I said, is close at hand. On entering the outer enclosure through an ancient gateway, we were surprised to find how entire the walls seemed to be; but the reason is, I suppose, that the ruins have not been used as a stone-quarry, as has almost always been the case with old abbeys and castles. The palace took fire and was consumed, so far as consumable, in 1745, while occupied by the soldiers of General Hawley; but even yet the walls appear so stalwart that I should imagine it quite possible to rebuild and restore the stately rooms on their original plan. It was a noble palace, one hundred and seventy-five feet in length by one hundred and sixty-five in breadth, and though destitute90 of much architectural beauty externally, yet its aspect from the quadrangle which the four sides enclose is venerable and sadly beautiful. At each of the interior angles there is a circular tower, up the whole height of the edifice and overtopping it, and another in the centre of one of the sides, all containing winding91 staircases. The walls facing upon the enclosed quadrangle are pierced with many windows, and have been ornamented with sculpture, rich traces of which still remain over the arched entrance-ways; and in the grassy centre of the court there is the ruin and broken fragments of a fountain, which once used to play for the delight of the king and queen, and lords and ladies, who looked down upon it from hall and chamber92. Many old carvings93 that belonged to it are heaped together there; but the water has disappeared, though, had it been a natural spring, it would have outlasted94 all the heavy stone-work.
As far as we were able, and could find our way, we went through every room of the palace, all round the four sides. From the first floor upwards95 it is entirely96 roofless. In some of the chambers97 there is an accumulation of soil, and a goodly crop of grass; in others there is still a flooring of flags or brick tiles, though damp and moss-grown, and with weeds sprouting98 between the crevices. Grass and weeds, indeed, have found soil enough to flourish in, even on the highest ranges of the walls, though at a dizzy height above the ground; and it was like an old and trite99 touch of romance, to see how the weeds sprouted100 on the many hearth-stones and aspired101 under the chimney-flues, as if in emulation103 of the long-extinguished flame. It was very mournful, very beautiful, very delightful104, too, to see how Nature takes back the palace, now that kings have done with it, and adopts it as a part of her great garden.
On one side of the quadrangle we found the roofless chamber where Mary, Queen of Scots, was born, and in the same range the bedchamber that was occupied by several of the Scottish Jameses; and in one corner of the latter apartment there is a narrow, winding staircase, down which I groped, expecting to find a door, either into the enclosed quadrangle or to the outside of the palace. But it ends in nothing, unless it be a dungeon77; and one does not well see why the bedchamber of the king should be so convenient to a dungeon. It is said that King James III. once escaped down this secret stair, and lay concealed105 from some conspirators106 who had entered his chamber to murder him. This range of apartments is terminated, like the other sides of the palace, by a circular tower enclosing a staircase, up which we mounted, winding round and round, and emerging at various heights, until at last we found ourselves at the very topmost point of the edifice; and here there is a small pepper-box of a turret107, almost as entire as when the stones were first laid. It is called Queen Margaret's bower108, and looks forth on a lovely prospect109 of mountain and plain, and on the old red roofs of Linlithgow town, and on the little loch that lies within the palace grounds. The cold north-wind blew chill upon us through the empty window-frames, which very likely were never glazed110; but it must be a delightful nook in a calmer and warmer summer evening.
Descending from this high perch111, we walked along ledges112 and through arched corridors, and stood, contemplative, in the dampness of the banqueting-hall, and sat down on the seats that still occupy the embrasures of the deep windows. In one of the rooms, the sculpture of a huge fireplace has recently been imitated and restored, so as to give an idea of what the richness of the adornments must have been when the building was perfect. We burrowed113 down, too, a little way, in the direction of the cells, where prisoners used to be confined; but these were too ugly and too impenetrably dark to tempt3 us far. One vault67, exactly beneath a queen's very bedchamber, was designated as a prison. I should think bad dreams would have winged up, and made her pillow an uncomfortable one.
There seems to be no certain record as respects the date of this palace, except that the most recent part was built by James I., of England, and bears the figures 1620 on its central tower. In this part were the kitchens and other domestic offices. In Robert Bruce's time there was a castle here, instead of a palace, and an ancestor of our friend Bennoch was the means of taking it from the English by a stratagem114 in which valor115 went halves. Four centuries afterwards, it was a royal residence, and might still have been nominally116 so, had not Hawley's dragoons lighted their fires on the floors of the magnificent rooms; but, on the whole, I think it more valuable as a ruin than if it were still perfect. Scotland, and the world, needs only one Holyrood; and Linlithgow, were it still a perfect palace, must have been second in interest to that, from its lack of association with historic events so grand and striking.
After tea we took another walk, and this time went along the High Street, in quest of the house whence Bothwellhaugh fired the shot that killed the Regent Murray. It has been taken down, however; or, if any part of it remain, it has been built into and incorporated with a small house of dark stone, which forms one range with two others that stand a few feet back from the general line of the street. It is as mean-looking and commonplace an edifice as is anywhere to be seen, and is now occupied by one Steele, a tailor. We went under a square arch (if an arch can be square), that goes quite through the house, and found ourselves in a little court; but it was not easy to identify anything as connected with the historic event, so we did but glance about us, and returned into the street. It is here narrow, and as Bothwellhaugh stood in a projecting gallery, the Regent must have been within a few yards of the muzzle117 of his carbine. The street looks as old as any that I have seen, except, perhaps, a vista118 here and there in Chester,—the houses all of stone, many of them tall, with notched gables, and with stone staircases going up outside, the steps much worn by feet now dust; a pervading119 ugliness, which yet does not fail to be picturesque; a general filth120 and evil odor of gutters121 and people, suggesting sorrowful ideas of what the inner houses must be, when the outside looks and smells so badly; and, finally, a great rabble122 of the inhabitants, talking, idling, sporting, staring about their own thresholds and those of dram-shops, the town being most alive in the long twilight123 of the summer evening. There was nothing uncivil in the deportment of these dirty people, old or young; but they did stare at us most unmercifully.
We walked very late, entering, after all that we had seen, into the palace grounds, and skirting along Linlithgow Loch, which would be very beautiful if its banks were made shadowy with trees, instead of being almost bare. We viewed the palace on the outside, too, and saw what had once been the principal entrance, but now looked like an arched window, pretty high in the wall; for it had not been accessible except by a drawbridge. I might write pages in telling how venerable the ruin, looked, as the twilight fell deeper and deeper around it; but we have had enough of Linlithgow, especially as there have been so many old palaces and old towns to write about, and there will still be more. We left Linlithgow early this morning, and reached Edinburgh in half an hour. To-morrow I suppose I shall try to set down what I see; at least, some points of it.
July 9th.—Arriving at
EDINBURGH,
and acting125 under advice of the cabman, we drove to Addison's Alma Hotel, which we find to be in Prince's Street, having Scott's monument a few hundred yards below, and the Castle Hill about as much above.
The Edinburgh people seem to be accustomed to climb mountains within their own houses; so we had to mount several staircases before we reached our parlor126, which is a very good one, and commands a beautiful view of Prince's Street, and of the picturesque old town, and the valley between, and of the castle on its hill.
Our first visit was to the castle, which we reached by going across the causeway that bridges the valley, and has some edifices of Grecian architecture on it, contrasting strangely with the nondescript ugliness of the old town, into which we immediately pass. As this is my second visit to Edinburgh, I surely need not dwell upon describing it at such length as if I had never been here before. After climbing up through various wards35 of the castle to the topmost battery, where Mons Meg holds her station, looking like an uncouth127 dragon,—with a pile of huge stone balls beside her for eggs,—we found that we could not be admitted to Queen Mary's apartments, nor to the crown-room, till twelve o'clock; moreover, that there was no admittance to the crown-room without tickets from the crown-office, in Parliament Square. There being no help for it, I left my wife and J——- to wander through the fortress, and came down through High Street in quest of Parliament Square, which I found after many inquiries128 of policemen, and after first going to the Justiciary Court, where there was a great throng129 endeavoring to get in; for the trial of Miss Smith for the murder of her lover is causing great excitement just now. There was no difficulty made about the tickets, and, returning, found S——- and J——-; but J——- grew tired of waiting, and set out to return to our hotel, through the great strange city, all by himself. Through means of an attendant, we were admitted into Queen Margaret's little chapel, on the top of the rock; and then we sat down, in such shelter as there was, to avoid the keen wind, blowing through the embrasures of the ramparts, and waited as patiently as we could.
Twelve o'clock came, and we went into the crown-room, with a throng of other visitors,—so many that they could only be admitted in separate groups. The Regalia of Scotland lie on a circular table within an iron railing, round and round which the visitors pass, gazing with all their eyes. The room was dark, however, except for the dim twinkle of a candle or gaslight; and the regalia did not show to any advantage, though there are some rich jewels, set in their ancient gold. The articles consist of a two-handed sword, with a hilt and scabbard of gold, ornamented with gems130, and a mace131, with a silver handle, all very beautifully made; besides the golden collar and jewelled badge of the Garter, and something else which I forget. Why they keep this room so dark I cannot tell; but it is a poor show, and gives the spectator an idea of the poverty of Scotland, and the minuteness of her sovereignty, which I had not gathered from her royal palaces.
Thence we went into Queen Mary's room, and saw that beautiful portrait— that very queen and very woman—with which I was so much impressed at my last visit. It is wonderful that this picture does not drive all the other portraits of Mary out of the field, whatever may be the comparative proofs of their authenticity132. I do not know the history of this one, except that it is a copy by Sir William Gordon of a picture by an Italian, preserved at Dunrobin Castle.
After seeing what the castle had to show, which is but little except itself, its rocks, and its old dwellings133 of princes and prisoners, we came down through the High Street, inquiring for John Knox's house. It is a strange-looking edifice, with gables on high, projecting far, and some sculpture, and inscriptions134 referring to Knox. There is a tobacconist's shop in the basement story, where I learned that the house used to be shown to visitors till within three months, but it is now closed, for some reason or other. Thence we crossed a bridge into the new town, and came back through Prince's Street to the hotel, and had a good dinner, as preparatory to fresh wearinesses; for there is no other weariness at all to be compared to that of sight-seeing.
In mid58 afternoon we took a cab and drove to Holyrood Palace, which I have already described, as well as the chapel, and do not mean to meddle135 with either of them again. We looked at our faces in the old mirrors that Queen Mary brought from France with her, and which had often reflected her own lovely face and figure; and I went up the winding stair through which the conspirators ascended. This, I think, was not accessible at my former visit. Before leaving the palace, one of the attendants advised us to see some pictures in the apartments occupied by the Marquis of Breadalbane during the queen's residence here. We found some fine old portraits and other paintings by Vandyke, Sir Peter Lely, Sir Godfrey Kneller, and a strange head by Rubens, amid all which I walked wearily, wishing that there were nothing worth looking at in the whole world. My wife differs altogether from me in this matter; . . . . but we agreed, on this occasion, in being tired to death. Just as we got through with the pictures, I became convinced of what I had been dimly suspecting all the while, namely, that at my last visit to the palace I had seen these selfsame pictures, and listened to the selfsame woman's civil answers, in just the selfsame miserable136 weariness of mood.
We left the palace, and toiled137 up through the dirty Canongate, looking vainly for a fly, and employing our time, as well as we could, in looking at the squalid mob of Edinburgh, and peeping down the horrible vistas138 of the closes, which were swarming140 with dirty life, as some mouldy and half-decayed substance might swarm139 with insects,—vistas down alleys141 where sin, sorrow, poverty, drunkenness, all manner of sombre and sordid142 earthly circumstances, had imbued143 the stone, brick, and wood of the habitations for hundreds of years. And such a multitude of children too; that was a most striking feature.
After tea I went down into the valley between the old town and the new, which is now laid out as an ornamental144 garden, with grass, shrubbery, flowers, gravelled walks, and frequent seats. Here the sun was setting, and gilded145 the old town with its parting rays, making it absolutely the most picturesque scene possible to be seen. The mass of tall, ancient houses, heaped densely146 together, looked like a Gothic dream; for there seemed to be towers and all sorts of stately architecture, and spires147 ascended out of the mass; and above the whole was the castle, with a diadem148 of gold on its topmost turret. It wanted less than a quarter of nine when the last gleam faded from the windows of the old town, and left the crowd of buildings dim and indistinguishable, to reappear on the morrow in squalor, lifting their meanness skyward, the home of layer upon layer of unfortunate humanity. The change symbolized149 the difference between a poet's imagination of life in the past—or in a state which he looks at through a colored and illuminated150 medium—and the sad reality.
This morning we took a cab, and set forth between ten and eleven to see Edinburgh and its environs; driving past the University, and other noticeable objects in the old town, and thence out to Arthur's Seat. Salisbury Crags are a very singular feature of the outskirts151. From the heights, beneath Arthur's Seat, we had a fine prospect of the sea, with Leith and Portobello in the distance, and of a fertile plain at the foot of the hill. In the course of our drive our cabman pointed out Dumbiedikes' house; also the cottage of Jeanie Deans,—at least, the spot where it formerly152 stood; and Muschat's Cairn, of which a small heap of stones is yet remaining. Near this latter object are the ruins of St. Anthony's Chapel, a roofless gable, and other remains, standing on the abrupt153 hillside. We drove homeward past a parade-ground on which a body of cavalry154 was exercising, and we met a company of infantry155 on their route thither156. Then we drove near Calton Hill, which seems to be not a burial-ground, although the site of stately monuments. In fine, we passed through the Grass-Market, where we saw the cross in the pavement in the street, marking the spot, as I recorded before, where Porteous was executed. Thence we passed through the Cowgate, all the latter part of our drive being amongst the tall, quaint71 edifices of the old town, alike venerable and squalid. From the Grass-Market the rock of the castle looks more precipitous than as we had hitherto seen it, and its prisons, palaces, and barracks approach close to its headlong verge157, and form one steep line with its descent. We drove quite round the Castle Hill, and returned down Prince's Street to our hotel. There can be no other city in the world that affords more splendid scenery, both natural and architectural, than Edinburgh.
Then we went to St. Giles's Cathedral, which I shall not describe, it having been kirkified into three interior divisions by the Covenanters; and I left my wife to take drawings, while J——- and I went to Short's Observatory158, near the entrance of the castle. Here we saw a camera-obscura, which brought before us, without our stirring a step, almost all the striking objects which we had been wandering to and fro to see. We also saw the mites159 in cheese, gigantically magnified by a solar microscope; likewise some dioramic views, with all which I was mightily160 pleased, and for myself, being tired to death of sights, I would as lief see them as anything else. We found, on calling for mamma at St. Giles's, that she had gone away; but she rejoined us between four and five o'clock at our hotel, where the next thing we did was to dine. Again after dinner we walked out, looking at the shop-windows of jewellers, where ornaments161 made of cairngorm pebbles162 are the most peculiar attraction. As it was our wedding-day, . . . . I gave S——- a golden and amethyst-bodied cairngorm beetle163 with a ruby164 head; and after sitting awhile in Prince's Street Gardens, we came home.
July 10th.—Last evening I walked round the castle rock, and through the Grass-Market, where I stood on the inlaid cross in the pavement, thence down the High Street beyond John Knox's house. The throng in that part of the town was very great. There is a strange fascination165 in these old streets, and in the peeps down the closes; but it doubtless would be a great blessing166 were a fire to sweep through the whole of ancient Edinburgh. This system of living on flats, up to I know not what story, must be most unfavorable to cleanliness, since they have to fetch their water all that distance towards heaven, and how they get rid of their rubbish is best known to themselves.
My wife has gone to Roslin this morning, and since her departure it has been drizzly167, so that J——- and I, after a walk through the new part of the town, are imprisoned168 in our parlor with little resource except to look across the valley to the castle, where Mons Meg is plainly visible on the upper platform, and the lower ramparts, zigzagging169 about the edge of the precipice, which nearly in front of us is concealed or softened170 by a great deal of shrubbery, but farther off descends steeply down to the grass below. Somewhere on this side of the rock was the point where Claverhouse, on quitting Edinburgh before the battle of Killiecrankie, clambered up to hold an interview with the Duke of Gordon. What an excellent thing it is to have such striking and indestructible landmarks171 and time-marks that they serve to affix172 historical incidents to, and thus, as it were, nail down the Past for the benefit of all future ages!
The old town of Edinburgh appears to be situated173, in its densest174 part, on the broad back of a ridge124, which rises gradually to its termination in the precipitous rock, on which stands the castle. Between the old town and the new is the valley, which runs along at the base of this ridge, and which, in its natural state, was probably rough and broken, like any mountain gorge175. The lower part of the valley, adjacent to the Canongate, is now a broad hollow space, fitted up with dwellings, shops, or manufactories; the next portion, between two bridges, is converted into an ornamental garden free to the public, and contains Scott's beautiful monument,—a canopy176 of Gothic arches and a fantastic spire102, beneath which he sits, thoughtful and observant of what passes in the contiguous street; the third portion of the valley, above the last bridge, is another ornamental garden, open only to those who have pass-keys. It is an admirable garden, with a great variety of surface, and extends far round the castle rock, with paths that lead up to its very base, among leafy depths of shrubbery, and winds beneath the sheer, black precipice. J——- and I walked there this forenoon, and took refuge from a shower beneath an overhanging jut177 of the rock, where a bench had been placed, and where a curtain of hanging ivy helped to shelter us. On our return to the hotel, we found mamma just alighting from a cab. She had had very bad fortune in her excursion to Roslin, having had to walk a long distance to the chapel, and being caught in the rain; and, after all, she could only spend seven minutes in viewing the beautiful Roslin architecture.
点击收听单词发音
1 noted | |
adj.著名的,知名的 | |
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2 nauseating | |
adj.令人恶心的,使人厌恶的v.使恶心,作呕( nauseate的现在分词 ) | |
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3 tempt | |
vt.引诱,勾引,吸引,引起…的兴趣 | |
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4 virgin | |
n.处女,未婚女子;adj.未经使用的;未经开发的 | |
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5 notched | |
a.有凹口的,有缺口的 | |
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6 ornamented | |
adj.花式字体的v.装饰,点缀,美化( ornament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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7 accosted | |
v.走过去跟…讲话( accost的过去式和过去分词 );跟…搭讪;(乞丐等)上前向…乞讨;(妓女等)勾搭 | |
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8 boors | |
n.农民( boor的名词复数 );乡下佬;没礼貌的人;粗野的人 | |
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9 peculiar | |
adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的 | |
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10 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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11 pointed | |
adj.尖的,直截了当的 | |
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12 mansion | |
n.大厦,大楼;宅第 | |
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13 gateway | |
n.大门口,出入口,途径,方法 | |
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14 aged | |
adj.年老的,陈年的 | |
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15 ragged | |
adj.衣衫褴褛的,粗糙的,刺耳的 | |
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16 rusty | |
adj.生锈的;锈色的;荒废了的 | |
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17 pictorially | |
绘画般地 | |
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18 adorned | |
[计]被修饰的 | |
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19 granite | |
adj.花岗岩,花岗石 | |
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20 antiquity | |
n.古老;高龄;古物,古迹 | |
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21 edifice | |
n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿,教室) | |
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22 ascended | |
v.上升,攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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23 highland | |
n.(pl.)高地,山地 | |
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24 venue | |
n.犯罪地点,审判地,管辖地,发生地点,集合地点 | |
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25 brotherhood | |
n.兄弟般的关系,手中情谊 | |
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26 westward | |
n.西方,西部;adj.西方的,向西的;adv.向西 | |
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27 northward | |
adv.向北;n.北方的地区 | |
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28 worthy | |
adj.(of)值得的,配得上的;有价值的 | |
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29 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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30 picturesque | |
adj.美丽如画的,(语言)生动的,绘声绘色的 | |
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31 providence | |
n.深谋远虑,天道,天意;远见;节约;上帝 | |
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32 remains | |
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹 | |
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33 bestowed | |
赠给,授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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34 mound | |
n.土墩,堤,小山;v.筑堤,用土堆防卫 | |
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35 wards | |
区( ward的名词复数 ); 病房; 受监护的未成年者; 被人照顾或控制的状态 | |
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36 solitary | |
adj.孤独的,独立的,荒凉的;n.隐士 | |
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37 countenance | |
n.脸色,面容;面部表情;vt.支持,赞同 | |
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38 injustice | |
n.非正义,不公正,不公平,侵犯(别人的)权利 | |
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39 descending | |
n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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40 armory | |
n.纹章,兵工厂,军械库 | |
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41 superintendent | |
n.监督人,主管,总监;(英国)警务长 | |
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42 musket | |
n.滑膛枪 | |
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43 muskets | |
n.火枪,(尤指)滑膛枪( musket的名词复数 ) | |
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44 spoke | |
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说 | |
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45 sergeants | |
警官( sergeant的名词复数 ); (美国警察)警佐; (英国警察)巡佐; 陆军(或空军)中士 | |
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46 tattered | |
adj.破旧的,衣衫破的 | |
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47 gallant | |
adj.英勇的,豪侠的;(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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48 regiment | |
n.团,多数,管理;v.组织,编成团,统制 | |
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49 consecrated | |
adj.神圣的,被视为神圣的v.把…奉为神圣,给…祝圣( consecrate的过去式和过去分词 );奉献 | |
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50 charcoal | |
n.炭,木炭,生物炭 | |
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51 preservation | |
n.保护,维护,保存,保留,保持 | |
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52 attained | |
(通常经过努力)实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 ); 达到; 获得; 达到(某年龄、水平、状况) | |
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53 discordance | |
n.不调和,不和,不一致性;不整合;假整合 | |
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54 squads | |
n.(军队中的)班( squad的名词复数 );(暗杀)小组;体育运动的运动(代表)队;(对付某类犯罪活动的)警察队伍 | |
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55 garrison | |
n.卫戍部队;驻地,卫戍区;vt.派(兵)驻防 | |
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56 martial | |
adj.战争的,军事的,尚武的,威武的 | |
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57 footpath | |
n.小路,人行道 | |
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58 mid | |
adj.中央的,中间的 | |
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59 grassy | |
adj.盖满草的;长满草的 | |
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60 descends | |
v.下来( descend的第三人称单数 );下去;下降;下斜 | |
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61 precipice | |
n.悬崖,危急的处境 | |
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62 ivy | |
n.常青藤,常春藤 | |
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63 mantle | |
n.斗篷,覆罩之物,罩子;v.罩住,覆盖,脸红 | |
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64 crevices | |
n.(尤指岩石的)裂缝,缺口( crevice的名词复数 ) | |
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65 fortress | |
n.堡垒,防御工事 | |
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66 retracing | |
v.折回( retrace的现在分词 );回忆;回顾;追溯 | |
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67 vault | |
n.拱形圆顶,地窖,地下室 | |
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68 vaulted | |
adj.拱状的 | |
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69 whitewash | |
v.粉刷,掩饰;n.石灰水,粉刷,掩饰 | |
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70 abodes | |
住所( abode的名词复数 ); 公寓; (在某地的)暂住; 逗留 | |
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71 quaint | |
adj.古雅的,离奇有趣的,奇怪的 | |
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72 awakened | |
v.(使)醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 );(使)觉醒;弄醒;(使)意识到 | |
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73 weavers | |
织工,编织者( weaver的名词复数 ) | |
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74 cannon | |
n.大炮,火炮;飞机上的机关炮 | |
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75 possessed | |
adj.疯狂的;拥有的,占有的 | |
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76 dungeons | |
n.地牢( dungeon的名词复数 ) | |
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77 dungeon | |
n.地牢,土牢 | |
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78 sluggish | |
adj.懒惰的,迟钝的,无精打采的 | |
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79 edifices | |
n.大建筑物( edifice的名词复数 ) | |
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80 worthily | |
重要地,可敬地,正当地 | |
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81 inscription | |
n.(尤指石块上的)刻印文字,铭文,碑文 | |
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82 nave | |
n.教堂的中部;本堂 | |
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83 whitewashed | |
粉饰,美化,掩饰( whitewash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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84 epoch | |
n.(新)时代;历元 | |
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85 choir | |
n.唱诗班,唱诗班的席位,合唱团,舞蹈团;v.合唱 | |
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86 distinguished | |
adj.卓越的,杰出的,著名的 | |
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87 apparition | |
n.幽灵,神奇的现象 | |
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88 slain | |
杀死,宰杀,杀戮( slay的过去分词 ); (slay的过去分词) | |
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89 chapel | |
n.小教堂,殡仪馆 | |
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90 destitute | |
adj.缺乏的;穷困的 | |
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91 winding | |
n.绕,缠,绕组,线圈 | |
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92 chamber | |
n.房间,寝室;会议厅;议院;会所 | |
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93 carvings | |
n.雕刻( carving的名词复数 );雕刻术;雕刻品;雕刻物 | |
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94 outlasted | |
v.比…长久,比…活得长( outlast的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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95 upwards | |
adv.向上,在更高处...以上 | |
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96 entirely | |
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
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97 chambers | |
n.房间( chamber的名词复数 );(议会的)议院;卧室;会议厅 | |
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98 sprouting | |
v.发芽( sprout的现在分词 );抽芽;出现;(使)涌现出 | |
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99 trite | |
adj.陈腐的 | |
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100 sprouted | |
v.发芽( sprout的过去式和过去分词 );抽芽;出现;(使)涌现出 | |
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101 aspired | |
v.渴望,追求( aspire的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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102 spire | |
n.(教堂)尖顶,尖塔,高点 | |
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103 emulation | |
n.竞争;仿效 | |
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104 delightful | |
adj.令人高兴的,使人快乐的 | |
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105 concealed | |
a.隐藏的,隐蔽的 | |
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106 conspirators | |
n.共谋者,阴谋家( conspirator的名词复数 ) | |
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107 turret | |
n.塔楼,角塔 | |
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108 bower | |
n.凉亭,树荫下凉快之处;闺房;v.荫蔽 | |
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109 prospect | |
n.前景,前途;景色,视野 | |
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110 glazed | |
adj.光滑的,像玻璃的;上过釉的;呆滞无神的v.装玻璃( glaze的过去式);上釉于,上光;(目光)变得呆滞无神 | |
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111 perch | |
n.栖木,高位,杆;v.栖息,就位,位于 | |
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112 ledges | |
n.(墙壁,悬崖等)突出的狭长部分( ledge的名词复数 );(平窄的)壁架;横档;(尤指)窗台 | |
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113 burrowed | |
v.挖掘(洞穴),挖洞( burrow的过去式和过去分词 );翻寻 | |
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114 stratagem | |
n.诡计,计谋 | |
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115 valor | |
n.勇气,英勇 | |
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116 nominally | |
在名义上,表面地; 应名儿 | |
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117 muzzle | |
n.鼻口部;口套;枪(炮)口;vt.使缄默 | |
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118 vista | |
n.远景,深景,展望,回想 | |
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119 pervading | |
v.遍及,弥漫( pervade的现在分词 ) | |
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120 filth | |
n.肮脏,污物,污秽;淫猥 | |
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121 gutters | |
(路边)排水沟( gutter的名词复数 ); 阴沟; (屋顶的)天沟; 贫贱的境地 | |
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122 rabble | |
n.乌合之众,暴民;下等人 | |
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123 twilight | |
n.暮光,黄昏;暮年,晚期,衰落时期 | |
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124 ridge | |
n.山脊;鼻梁;分水岭 | |
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125 acting | |
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的 | |
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126 parlor | |
n.店铺,营业室;会客室,客厅 | |
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127 uncouth | |
adj.无教养的,粗鲁的 | |
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128 inquiries | |
n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 );疑问;探究;打听 | |
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129 throng | |
n.人群,群众;v.拥挤,群集 | |
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130 gems | |
growth; economy; management; and customer satisfaction 增长 | |
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131 mace | |
n.狼牙棒,豆蔻干皮 | |
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132 authenticity | |
n.真实性 | |
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133 dwellings | |
n.住处,处所( dwelling的名词复数 ) | |
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134 inscriptions | |
(作者)题词( inscription的名词复数 ); 献词; 碑文; 证劵持有人的登记 | |
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135 meddle | |
v.干预,干涉,插手 | |
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136 miserable | |
adj.悲惨的,痛苦的;可怜的,糟糕的 | |
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137 toiled | |
长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的过去式和过去分词 ); 艰难缓慢地移动,跋涉 | |
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138 vistas | |
长条形景色( vista的名词复数 ); 回顾; 展望; (未来可能发生的)一系列情景 | |
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139 swarm | |
n.(昆虫)等一大群;vi.成群飞舞;蜂拥而入 | |
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140 swarming | |
密集( swarm的现在分词 ); 云集; 成群地移动; 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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141 alleys | |
胡同,小巷( alley的名词复数 ); 小径 | |
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142 sordid | |
adj.肮脏的,不干净的,卑鄙的,暗淡的 | |
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143 imbued | |
v.使(某人/某事)充满或激起(感情等)( imbue的过去式和过去分词 );使充满;灌输;激发(强烈感情或品质等) | |
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144 ornamental | |
adj.装饰的;作装饰用的;n.装饰品;观赏植物 | |
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145 gilded | |
a.镀金的,富有的 | |
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146 densely | |
ad.密集地;浓厚地 | |
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147 spires | |
n.(教堂的) 塔尖,尖顶( spire的名词复数 ) | |
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148 diadem | |
n.王冠,冕 | |
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149 symbolized | |
v.象征,作为…的象征( symbolize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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150 illuminated | |
adj.被照明的;受启迪的 | |
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151 outskirts | |
n.郊外,郊区 | |
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152 formerly | |
adv.从前,以前 | |
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153 abrupt | |
adj.突然的,意外的;唐突的,鲁莽的 | |
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154 cavalry | |
n.骑兵;轻装甲部队 | |
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155 infantry | |
n.[总称]步兵(部队) | |
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156 thither | |
adv.向那里;adj.在那边的,对岸的 | |
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157 verge | |
n.边,边缘;v.接近,濒临 | |
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158 observatory | |
n.天文台,气象台,瞭望台,观测台 | |
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159 mites | |
n.(尤指令人怜悯的)小孩( mite的名词复数 );一点点;一文钱;螨 | |
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160 mightily | |
ad.强烈地;非常地 | |
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161 ornaments | |
n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 );点缀;装饰品;首饰v.装饰,点缀,美化( ornament的第三人称单数 ) | |
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162 pebbles | |
[复数]鹅卵石; 沙砾; 卵石,小圆石( pebble的名词复数 ) | |
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163 beetle | |
n.甲虫,近视眼的人 | |
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164 ruby | |
n.红宝石,红宝石色 | |
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165 fascination | |
n.令人着迷的事物,魅力,迷恋 | |
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166 blessing | |
n.祈神赐福;祷告;祝福,祝愿 | |
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167 drizzly | |
a.毛毛雨的(a drizzly day) | |
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168 imprisoned | |
下狱,监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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169 zigzagging | |
v.弯弯曲曲地走路,曲折地前进( zigzag的现在分词 );盘陀 | |
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170 softened | |
(使)变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 ); 缓解打击; 缓和; 安慰 | |
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171 landmarks | |
n.陆标( landmark的名词复数 );目标;(标志重要阶段的)里程碑 ~ (in sth);有历史意义的建筑物(或遗址) | |
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172 affix | |
n.附件,附录 vt.附贴,盖(章),签署 | |
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173 situated | |
adj.坐落在...的,处于某种境地的 | |
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174 densest | |
密集的( dense的最高级 ); 密度大的; 愚笨的; (信息量大得)难理解的 | |
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175 gorge | |
n.咽喉,胃,暴食,山峡;v.塞饱,狼吞虎咽地吃 | |
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176 canopy | |
n.天篷,遮篷 | |
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177 jut | |
v.突出;n.突出,突出物 | |
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