Page:Forget Me Not (1826).djvu/39

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BOLTON ABBEY.

If thou wouldst view fair Melrose aright,
Go visit it by the pale moon-light:
For the gay beams of lightsome day
Gild but to flout the ruins gray.
Lay of the Last Minstrel.

The sun had just risen, when Emma, De la Roche, and myself, mounted our horses, and set forward on our expedition to the abbey. It was one of those sultry days common towards the end of summer, and which contribute to render the cooling breezes of autumn, so soon to refresh the air, doubly welcome. Every thing seemed to foretell that the day would be intensely hot: as we rode along through a rich and highly cultivated country, we could observe the cattle collecting themselves to the sides of the pools or river, endeavouring to catch the slight breezes which played upon the face of the waters; while some, venturing into the stream, sought to cool their burning limbs in its waves, but even here they could find no repose: the warmth of the day had brought out all the insect tribes, which, buzzing around, stung them almost to madness. In vain they fled; the watchful foe pursued; nor could any stratagem elude his insatiable thirst for blood, until, worn out with the

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