So the sergeant-in-charge, who lives here with his wife and family, and is apparently14 given free quarters and no pay, on the implied condition that he makes what he can out of tips given by tourists, is not burdened with military responsibilities. The present incumbent15 appears to have developed strong antiquarian tastes, is learned in the local military operations of Cromwell’s era, and a successful seeker after old-time cannonballs and other relics16 of strange, unsettled times.
You cannot choose but explore the interior of the Castle, for as you approach there is, although you may not suspect it, an Eye noting the fact. The Eye is the sergeant’s, and there is that way about old soldiers which admits of no denial when he proposes that he shall show you over. You are shepherded from one little room to another, peer from what the sergeant calls the “embershaws” (by which he means embrasures), and then, offering the expected tribute for seeing very little, depart.
The coastguard path ascends18 steeply from[196] Dartmouth Castle and follows a rough course along a deeply indented20 headland of dark slate21-rock, that plunges22 almost everywhere, without hesitation23, into deep water. Patches of sands are few and inaccessible24; and, confronting every good ship making from the south-west for Dartmouth, the black Ham Stone rises with an ugly menace from sunshiny seas, ringed around with its own little circle of foam25. Thus you come, round Hollowcombe Head and Redlap Cove26 to Stoke Fleming, past rocky bastions, where the rival yellows of sea-poppy and yellow toad-flax enliven the dark slate, and the Devon “wall-flower” the spur valerian, not the gilly-flower—flourishes bravely in occasional masonry27 walls.
Stoke Fleming, standing high and wind-swept, is of a Cornish sternness, and its great dark church tower is so bleak-looking, that not even the sunniest day can put a cheerful complexion28 upon it. It was built in the Perpendicular29 period, and is just about as complete an example of long-drawn perpendicularity30 as can be imagined, rising, stage upon stage, until at last it ends, for all the world as though the old-time architect of it had gone on, like a child building with a “box of bricks,” as far as he dared. A perky little banneret vane on the roof aids this impression. Ferns grow plentifully31 in the joints32 of the masonry, to the very summit, and are every now and then removed, but they always reappear. The tower is said to have been built as a mark for sailors, but however that may be, it is certainly one of a very numerous type in South Devon, and own brother to that of Halwell, quite six miles from the sea.
Below Stoke Fleming lies the charmingly sequestered33 glen of Blackpool, where a little stream comes out of an emerald valley and oozes34 away through a perfect semicircle of sands, guarded by pinnacled35 rocks. Dense36 masses of trees, some of them strangely exotic in appearance, overhang the road. This quiet and beautiful spot was the scene of a descent by the Bretons in 1403. An expedition set out from across the Channel, under the command of one Du Chatel, and after raiding Tenby and Plymouth came ashore37 at Blackpool with the object of taking Dartmouth in the rear. Unfortunately for them, the Devonshire folk had got[198] wind of what was in store, and when the raiders landed they happened unexpectedly upon some six hundred defenders38, lying hid until the supreme39 moment, behind entrenchments. Among these valiant40 defenders of hearth41 and home were many women, who fought like devils and slew42 great numbers of Breton knights43 and men-at-arms with catapults. Only a sorry remnant of the invaders44 escaped those gentle creatures, and Dartmouth was on that occasion saved. But, bolder and with the reward of boldness, others came the next year and sailed in to Dartmouth town and burnt it to the ground.
Blackpool sands were destined45 to witness a yet more historic landing, for it was here that the great Earl of Warwick, the “Kingmaker,” who had made Edward the Fourth king, and then quarrelled with his handiwork, came back from exile in 1471, with an armed expedition, intent upon unmaking him. It was Warwick’s last throw, and ended[199] a few weeks later with his defeat and death at the battle of Barnet.
Sunday-school treats are held nowadays on the golden sands of Blackpool; sands that in more than a figurative sense have been found golden, for a discovery was made here in modern times of gold coins dating from that period, and doubtless lost in the confusion of the landing.
The entirely46 uninteresting hamlet of Street passed, standing at the head of the next rise, the road goes, steep and winding47, down to one of the most remarkable48 stretches of coast-line in Devon; the famous Slapton Sands, a flat two miles of raised beach along which, ages ago, the present high road was formed. The sands take their name from the village of Slapton, a mile inland, and consist of small shingle49 thrown up by the sea, and banking50 back the outflow of three streams, which thus forms a long and marshy51 freshwater lake, the whole length of this shingly52 bank. Just as you come down-hill upon the finest view from above of the sea, the sands, the Ley, as this freshwater lake is named, a long and lofty blank wall shuts out the scene and proclaims the malignant53 humour of the landowner who built it.
Sparse54 and hungry-looking grass grows on the ridge1 of the shingle, but the yellow sea-poppy thrives, and so does the spurge, or milkwort, whose poisonous juice is milk-white and innocent-looking. Here, too, on the inner face of the bank, looking upon the rush-grown waters of the Ley, the purple blossoms and hairy leaves of the[200] mallow are abundant, while bordering the highway, and braving the dust of it, are masses of the thrift55 or sea-pink.
The Ley, or Lea, is one of the most noted56 resorts of wild birds in Devon, and its two hundred acres are frequented in winter by sportsmen, whose headquarters are the lonely “Sands Hotel,” standing solitary57, a mile from anywhere, on the shingly ridge, facing the sea one way, and on the other the highroad and the Ley.
The waters of the Ley are crowded with ferocious58 pike and other fish, and the vast banks of sedge and rush are peopled thickly, not only with the winter concourse of wild duck and geese, but with the shy birds of the fields and woods. Inland, the marshy lowlands ascend19 gently, with white-faced cottages in little groups among the trees, and an old bridge spans the water at a favourable59 point and helps a bye-road on the way to Slapton. The scene is not greatly disturbed; the midday coach comes by on the high road, with a cheerful tootling of its horn, and disappears, on the way to Torcross; a wild bird pipes as it flies overhead, and a fish leaps up from the still water, after a fly; that is the summer aspect. But in winter the wild-fowler wakes the echoes of the hills with his sport, and when the gales60 blow strong out of the south-west there is a sea-wrack in the air and foam in the road, that make the enterprise of walking from Street to Torcross almost as wet a business as sea-bathing.
Torcoss is a hamlet at the extremity61 of the[201] Sands, where the road turns inland to Charleton, Stokenham, and Kingsbridge. Its back is to the slightly projecting headland that divides these sands from the further stretches of sand and shingle, extending towards the Start, and with an air of wondering mildly at its own existence, and further wondering if it is really worth while to exist at all, it faces the long flat road along which we have come. Of all the unlikely places, here is an hotel, and out of that hotel, as the present chronicler passed, there came a German waiter in a dress suit, and stood on the beach among the bronzed fishermen, watching the evolutions of a naval62 squadron, half a mile off-shore, in the deep water of Start Bay. Thinking many things and strange, I passed upon my way.
The direct road to Kingsbridge lies to the right hand, through Stokenham. That the quiet of country life was in the long ago occasionally[202] broken by picturesque63 doings denied to us is evident in this extract from the parish records of the year 1581:
“Henri Muge, a pirat of the sea, was hanged in chains upon the Start, the 28 day of September.”
Another interesting record at Stokenham—which, by the way, you must be careful not to pronounce “Stok’n’am” but “Stoke-en-ham,” as though it were a dish, like eggs-and-ham—is the epitaph upon:
“Katherine Randle, daughter of William Richard Randle, who was shot March 12th, 1646.
“Kind reader, judge! Here’s under laid
Thrown from the top of earthly pleasure
Headlong; by which she’s gained a treasure.
Environed with Heaven’s power,
Rounded with Angels from that hour
In which she fell: God took her home,
Not by just law, but martyrdom.
Roar’d out aloud ‘I’m murdered!’
And shall this blood which here doth lye
Do men not think, tho’ gone from hence,
Let bad men think, so learn ye good,
Live each that’s here doth cry for Blood.”
This is a relic17 of the siege of Salcombe Castle and the military operations between Cavaliers and the Parliament troops. It seems that the Puritan soldiery, attacking a farm-house, were[203] met with a stout69 resistance and fired through a window, mortally wounding the farmer’s daughter.
To follow the coast from Torcross to the Start, it is necessary at this point to take to the sands, or, more strictly70 speaking, the shingle; extremely heavy walking, but endurable on account of the interesting rocks piled up in huge masses on the shore. The slaty71 cliffs have here fallen in ruins, with picturesque results. Some of the great blocks twenty feet or more in height, have sides quite smooth and lustrous72.
We are here in a district not indeed far removed from modern accommodation, but in the same primitive73 condition as it must have been a century, or even more, ago. The fine shingle gives place to a waste of laminated slate and then, where the cliffs die away for a space into a marshy bottom, to a scrubby flat piece of waste leading to the hamlet of Beesands, marked on many maps as Beeson Cellar.
Beesands has a perpetual air of rejoicing, for on every fine day the waste between the sea and the one row of fishermen’s cottages flies its banners to sea and sky. It is only the domestic wash hung out to dry, but the effect is one of festival.
There is a something Irish in the look and the manners and customs of Beesands. The drying-ground of washing and of fishing-nets is rich in old tins and brickbats, and is populated numerously with fowls74, housed as a rule in decayed boats turned keel upward. They are the most trustful cocks and hens in the world, and follow[204] the fishermen into the inn and the cottages like dogs.
A tourist not preoccupied75 with the arts would inevitably76 style this a “miserable77 place,” a “wretched hole,” or other things uncomplimentary; but to a painter, wanting atmosphere and utter unconventionality, it is delightful78. Poor fisherfolk are its only inhabitants, and its one inn neither offers accommodation to the tourist, nor, if it did, would he be likely to accept it. For one thing, strangers, either here or at the sister hamlet of Hall Sands are rare, both places being innocent of roads of any kind. Just a row of rude whitewashed79 cottages on the level: that is Beesands, and just a double row of somewhat superior cottages on the cliffside; that is Hall Sands.
[205]
A mile of climbing up cliff paths and scrambling80 down, and then across another scrubby bottom where the white campions grow, brings the adventurous81 stranger to Hall Sands, built into the tall dark cliffs, just as the house-martens plaster their nests against the eaves. The hardihood—the foolhardihood, if you like it better—that ever induced mortal man to build houses in this perilous82 position under the threatening eaves of the cliffs and on the margin83 of the waves can only be appreciated by those who look upon the place itself. It beggars description.
The scene is one of a wild beauty, the cliffs rising dark and craggy overhead, draped thickly with ivy84, the end of the street blocked with gigantic masses of fallen rock, and the sea at the very foot of some of the houses; with here and there a narrow strip of beach.
The hardy85 fisherfolk exist chiefly on seine-net fishing and crab86 and lobster-catching. The trained Newfoundland dogs that are still a feature of this hamlet and of Beesands are fewer than of yore. There were some seven or eight of them, taught to swim out through the particularly rough surf of this shore, to meet incoming boats and bring the end of a rope to the beach, so that the boats might be hauled in.
The later history of Hall Sands is somewhat thrilling. It seems that for some years past the shingle in front of Hall Sands has been dredged away by the contractors87 for the extension works at Keyham Dockyard, Plymouth, for the purpose of making concrete, and that the Government committed the incredible folly88 of allowing it. The inevitable89 and foretold90 result happened. In September 1903 most of the foreshore disappeared in a storm, and in the spring of 1904 the very existence of Hall Sands was threatened. The one inn of the place, the “London,” stood with other cottages on a piece of rock jutting91 out to sea. Suddenly, one afternoon, a heavy ground-swell wrecked92 them. The landlady93 was making tea, when the side of the house disappeared, without warning. Since then Hall Sands has been without an inn. To help build the new concrete sea-wall and the slipway, which have since been built in the effort to remove the danger[208] that ought never to have been incurred94, the Government granted £1,750, while the Member of Parliament for the county division subscribed95 £250, and the contractors contributed an unascertained sum. The whole miserable history would assure us, if we did not already know it, that Governments—it matters not of what party—are entirely callous96 upon subjects that do not endanger their own existence. Now if this had happened in Ireland, the outcry against the “murdering Saxon” would have been appalling97.
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1
ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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creek
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| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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garrison
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| n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防 | |
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sergeant
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| n.警官，中士 | |
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artillery
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| n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队) | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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animation
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| n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作 | |
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civilian
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| adj.平民的，民用的，民众的 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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erecting
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| v.使直立，竖起( erect的现在分词 )；建立 | |
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obsolete
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| adj.已废弃的，过时的 | |
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ordnance
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| n.大炮，军械 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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incumbent
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| adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的 | |
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relics
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| [pl.］n.遗物，遗迹，遗产；遗体，尸骸 | |
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relic
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| n.神圣的遗物，遗迹，纪念物 | |
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ascends
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的第三人称单数 ) | |
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ascend
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| vi.渐渐上升，升高；vt.攀登，登上 | |
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indented
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| adj.锯齿状的，高低不平的；缩进排版 | |
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slate
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| n.板岩，石板，石片，石板色，候选人名单；adj.暗蓝灰色的，含板岩的；vt.用石板覆盖，痛打，提名，预订 | |
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plunges
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| n.跳进，投入vt.使投入，使插入，使陷入vi.投入，跳进，陷入v.颠簸( plunge的第三人称单数 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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inaccessible
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| adj.达不到的，难接近的 | |
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foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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cove
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| n.小海湾，小峡谷 | |
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masonry
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| n.砖土建筑；砖石 | |
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complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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perpendicular
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| adj.垂直的，直立的；n.垂直线，垂直的位置 | |
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perpendicularity
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| n.垂直，直立；垂直度 | |
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plentifully
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| adv. 许多地，丰饶地 | |
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joints
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| 接头( joint的名词复数 )； 关节； 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所） （非正式）； 一块烤肉 （英式英语） | |
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sequestered
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| adj.扣押的；隐退的；幽静的；偏僻的v.使隔绝，使隔离( sequester的过去式和过去分词 )；扣押 | |
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oozes
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| v.（浓液等）慢慢地冒出，渗出( ooze的第三人称单数 )；使（液体）缓缓流出；（浓液）渗出，慢慢流出 | |
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pinnacled
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| 小尖塔般耸立的，顶处的 | |
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dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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defenders
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| n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者 | |
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supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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valiant
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| adj.勇敢的，英勇的；n.勇士，勇敢的人 | |
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hearth
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| n.壁炉炉床，壁炉地面 | |
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slew
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| v.（使）旋转；n.大量，许多 | |
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knights
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| 骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马 | |
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invaders
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| 入侵者，侵略者，侵入物( invader的名词复数 ) | |
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destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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shingle
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| n.木瓦板；小招牌(尤指医生或律师挂的营业招牌)；v.用木瓦板盖（屋顶）；把（女子头发）剪短 | |
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banking
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| n.银行业，银行学，金融业 | |
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marshy
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| adj.沼泽的 | |
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shingly
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| adj.小石子多的 | |
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malignant
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| adj.恶性的，致命的；恶意的，恶毒的 | |
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sparse
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| adj.稀疏的，稀稀落落的，薄的 | |
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thrift
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| adj.节约，节俭；n.节俭，节约 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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ferocious
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| adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的 | |
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favourable
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| adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的 | |
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gales
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| 龙猫 | |
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extremity
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| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
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naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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virtuous
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| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
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groan
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| vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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avenge
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| v.为...复仇，为...报仇 | |
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innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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slaty
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| 石板一样的，石板色的 | |
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lustrous
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| adj.有光泽的；光辉的 | |
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primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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fowls
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| 鸟( fowl的名词复数 )； 禽肉； 既不是这； 非驴非马 | |
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preoccupied
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| adj.全神贯注的，入神的；被抢先占有的；心事重重的v.占据（某人）思想，使对…全神贯注，使专心于( preoccupy的过去式) | |
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76
inevitably
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| adv.不可避免地；必然发生地 | |
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miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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whitewashed
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| 粉饰，美化，掩饰( whitewash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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80
scrambling
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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81
adventurous
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| adj.爱冒险的；惊心动魄的，惊险的，刺激的 | |
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82
perilous
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| adj.危险的，冒险的 | |
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margin
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| n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘 | |
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ivy
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| n.常青藤，常春藤 | |
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85
hardy
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| adj.勇敢的，果断的，吃苦的；耐寒的 | |
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86
crab
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| n.螃蟹，偏航，脾气乖戾的人，酸苹果；vi.捕蟹，偏航，发牢骚；vt.使偏航，发脾气 | |
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contractors
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| n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 ) | |
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folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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90
foretold
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| v.预言，预示( foretell的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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jutting
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| v.（使）突出( jut的现在分词 )；伸出；（从…）突出；高出 | |
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92
wrecked
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| adj.失事的，遇难的 | |
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landlady
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| n.女房东，女地主 | |
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incurred
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| [医]招致的，遭受的； incur的过去式 | |
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subscribed
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| v.捐助( subscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；签署，题词；订阅；同意 | |
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callous
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| adj.无情的，冷淡的，硬结的，起老茧的 | |
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appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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