Page:A tour through the northern counties of England, and the borders of Scotland - Volume II.djvu/296

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u To whom Sarum's plain gives place, though famous for

' c her flocks, " Yet hardly doth she tythe our Cotswold wealthy locks. " Though Lemster him exceed for finenesse of her ore^ " Yet (mite he puts her down for his abundant store; " A match so lit as he contenting to her mind, " Few vales (as I suppose) like Ev'sham hapt to find: " Nor any other wold like Cotswold ever sped, " So fair and rich a vale, by fortuning to wed!"'

POLYOLKIOK.

From its situation, upon one or the highest points of this tract, Stow has received an addition to its name, and is called Stow-on-the-Wold. Nothing, indeed, can be more exposed than its scite, which is so lofty as to render it an object for many miles round the country, and the very palace of the winds. An old proverb tells us, that this place warts three of the four elements out of four earth, fire, and water; from the scarcity of its common lands, the dearth of wood, and the absence, or at least the great depth, of springs; but the loss is made up in the fourth element, which is here found in an everlasting current. The want of water also is now obviated by the ingenuity of a com- mon mechanic, who has found means to sup- ply the town with a sufficient quantity of the clement upon reasonable terms, by the simplest machine imaginable. The structure which contains the apparatus consists of two divisions; a circular

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