Page:A tour through the northern counties of England, and the borders of Scotland - Volume I.djvu/281

 appropriate contemplation, the recollection of extinguished grandeur, or the conviction of the evanescence of all human labour. Descending by the walk, called after Ann Bulleyn, we proceeded to the Abbey, along the banks of the reservoir, which is skirted to the right hand by a solemn line of spruce firs; the abbey still in front, but almost offending the eye by one broad uninterrupted view of its walls, in which is no partial concealment, no opportunity afforded for the creation of fancy; an effect that might easily have been produced by scattering a few trees over the carpet of sod before it, or hanging its walls with masses of ivy. Robin-Hood wood, into which we now enter, (so called from being the scene of the severe battle fought between that noted outlaw and a friar of Fountain-Abbey) exemplifies the truth of the above observation, by giving us the ruin through the trees to the right hand; which is thus rendered extremely grand, interesting, and picturesque. Its detail on approach is equally beautiful; the members being plain, uniform, and light; all built, probably, at the same time, about the beginning of the thirteenth century. We particularly admired the clustered pillars of the transept, which must have been, when perfect, surprisingly fine, ascending in slender shafts to the springing of the roof. At the eastern end