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page 51
[incongru]ity additions and accommodations adapted to the
needs of each successive occupant, who, being for the most
part proprietor, was at liberty to follow his own fancy: so
that these humble dwellings remind the contemplative
spectator of a production of nature, and may (using a strong
expression) rather be said to have grown than to have been
erected; - to have risen, by an instinct of their own, out
of the native rock - so little is there in them of
formality, such is their wildness and beauty. Among the
numerous recesses and projections in the walls and in the
different stages of their roofs, are seen bold and
harmonious effects of contrasted sunshine and shadow. It is
a favourable circumstance, that the strong winds, which
sweep down the vallies, induced the inhabitants, at a time
when the materials for building were easily procured, to
furnish many of these dwellings with substantial porches;
and such as have not this defence, are seldom unprovided
with a projection of two large slates over their thresholds.
Nor will the singular beauty of the chimneys escape the eye
of the attentive traveller. Sometimes a low chimney, almost
on a level with the roof, is overlaid with a slate,
supported upon four slender pillars, to prevent the wind
from driving the smoke down the chimney. Others are of a
quadrangular shape, rising one or two feet above the roof;
which low square is often surmounted by a tall cylinder,
giving to the cottage chimney the most beautiful shape in
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