Lonsdale Magazine, 1820, vol.1
p.173
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Lonsdale Magazine, 1820, vol.1 p.173
ill-judged combination of colours." In speaking of pleasure grounds, he says, "A studied pleasure ground ought to be one of the finest things in nature, or wherefore studied?" In this species of ornamental gardening, he animadverts severely on the prevailing taste for introducing exotics. He allows they may have a tolerable effect in some situations when aged, but, "they are injuriously introduced when planted in large patches, where at every turn they are intruded on the eye." He applauds Mr. King of Grasmere for having shut out his plantations of larches from the road by natives, "as all such unsightly utility ought to be." In some instances he conceives the proprietors of grounds have injured their estates by the improper management of their woods. The owner of the Purse Crag, on Ulls Water has hurt his estate by felling all the woods; though " the profit derived from their sale could not be very considerable, and the land, if to be sold, would be regarded as infinitely less vauable to the situation purchaser. In passing some strictures on the grounds at Rydal Hall, he says, "A thick wood, which has been undisturbed for a long time is uniformly a repetition of the surface, on which it stands, and is unpleasant to the eye." He therefore considers that the greatest beauty consists in tasteful thinning of those woods which are too umbrageous. And, in planting, to prefer indignous (sic) trees; for neither the form nor colour of foreign ones accord with the sober tints of a British landscape. He often stops to heave a sigh over those spots where some lovely scene has been destroyed by the removal of those trees in which that loveliness consisted. Of one place he gives the following elegaic description:- "The distant features of this singular amphitheatre were rendered still more singularly beautiful by the oaks which are gone, for some had in their aged arms a peculiar grandeur scarcely to be imagined from viewing those which remain; and there were points from which a previous weeding would have given to the spectator round, scenes of such extraordinary diversity and beauty, that the greatest masters would have gazed on them with wonder and delight." The profusion of firs and larches which every where prevails, he looks upon as an evil. How beautiful would many a prospect be if "animated by the presence if the leafy lords of the soil, instead of vile and extensive spriggeries of larches." Black Italian poplars "though not equal to oak, ash, and birch trees, in form and colour, are certainly better adapted for the purpose of ornament than either firs or larches." Firs, when at their full growth have sometimes a fine effect near old buildings. But often, he remarks, those whose only aim is obtaining wealth, either forget or never knew, that ornament might be rendered subservient even to that purpose. We shall conclude our extracts from his observations on taste, with the following very appropriate remark:- "In places remoate from the public road, or in flat countries, where little can be seen, deformity is less an evil. But, in the finest parts of this island, not only to destroy the lovely, but to substitute deformity, is, by wholesale, to mar the pleasures of those, who, by travelling, enrich the very persons who act the part complained of, and who ought to make it their study to exhibit so far as they are concerned, 'nature to advantage dressed.'" With regard to the engravings which accompany the Guide to the Lakes, it is impossible to convey any clear idea through the medium of words. They are all executed in the soft ground style. The fore grounds exhibit a strong grain in order to give the distances a superior effect. Cattle are often introduced with extraordinary neatness. And the artist's choice of birches, for screenes, gives an astonishing softness to several of his subjects. The whole series gives the very character of the country, depicted in some of its finest scenes. The map of the Lake and adjoining district is excellent. It was our original intention to conclude this review with a few strictures on the work before us. The faults however appear so trivial, that it seems almost impertinent to notice them. But as a few hints may perhaps be of some utility to the author in preparing another edition, we shall recommend to his notice some trifling alteration in the arrangement. |
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