Old Cumbria Gazetteer |
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| Raven Ray, North Yorkshire | ||
| Raven Ray | ||
| county:- | North Yorkshire | |
| locality type:- | pass | |
| locality type:- | valley | |
| coordinates:- | SD696755 (about) | |
| 1Km square:- | SD6975 | |
| 10Km square:- | SD67 | |
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| evidence:- | descriptive text:- Otley 1823 (8th edn 1849) placename:- Ravenwray |
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| source data:- | Guide book, A Concise Description of the English Lakes, the
mountains in their vicinity, and the roads by which they may be
visited, with remarks on the mineralogy and geology of the
district, by Jonathan Otley, published by the author, Keswick,
Cumberland now Cumbria, by J Richardson, London, and by Arthur
Foster, Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria, 1823; published 1823-49,
latterly as the Descriptive Guide to the English Lakes. goto sourcePage 196:- "..." "About 200 yards above the Force [Thornton Force], is the rugged pass of RAVENWRAY. Its wild and lofty scenery may be better understood after perusing the following sonnet:" goto sourcePage 197:- "Dark frowns the cliff upon the mountain stream," "That 'gainst its time-worn fragments breaks below," "And all in unison its waters flow" "With the wild scene around. The wailing scream" "Of the lone raven, from its stunted yew" "Heard ominous - alone its solitude" "Disturbs; and on the awe-struck sole intrude" "Thoughts that its inmost energies subdue" "To their strong workings. On the rocky steep" "Dimly the grey-haired Son of Song appears;" "While o'er the harp his airy fingers sweep;" "And at his bidding, forms of other years" "Start into being - mighty men of yore -" "Like the wild dream that fashioned them - no more!" "P." "This may seem sufficiently poetical,- but a writer in sober prose says, thereanent:" "'Surely this is the haunt of the untamed genius of wild poetry - here, surely, she hatches and broods over her infant ideas - here perfectly acquaints them with these complicated features, ere she attempts to teach them how to soar:- I stood picturing to myself these ideal beings sporting themselves upon the terrific cliffs, or dancing in airy rings upon the untouched summits of the thousand multiformed sprays - some taking incredible leaps from the apex of one cliff to that of another - and others, as wanting gravity, creeping with their feet heavenward, and laughing and grinning their derision at my gravity and earthly attraction.'" "The cliff on the west side is a rocky promontory about 40 yards high, spotted with ivy and evergreen shrubs; whilst the Doe runs beneath over fragments of rocks, forming very romantic cascades." |
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| evidence:- | old map:- Balderston c1890 map placename:- Raven Ray |
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| source data:- | Map, the hills in the Ingleton area, probably by Robert R
Balderston, engraved by Goodall and Suddick, Leeds, West
Yorkshire, about 1890. BS1SD67X.jpg "Raven Ray" item:- private collection : 27.1 Image © see bottom of page |
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