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Journals of Dorothy Wordsworth, Vol. 1 (of 2)
·
Dorothy Wordsworth
240
The
Castle
stands
nobly,
overlooking
the
Clyde.
When
we
came
up
to
it
I
was
hurt
to
see
that
flower-borders
had
taken
place
of
the
natural
overgrowings
of
the
ruin,
the
scattered
stones
and
wild
plants.
It
is
a
large
and
grand
pile,
of
red
freestone,
harmonizing
perfectly
with
the
rocks
of
the
river,
from
which,
no
doubt,
it
has
been
hewn.
When
I
was
a
little
accustomed
to
the
unnaturalness
of
a
modern
garden,
I
could
not
help
admiring
the
excessive
beauty
and
luxuriance
of
some
of
the
plants,
particularly
the
purple-flowered
clematis,
and
a
broad-leaved
creeping
plant
without
flowers,
which
scrambled
up
the
castle
wall
along
with
the
ivy,
and
spread
its
vine-like
branches
so
lavishly
that
it
seemed
to
be
in
its
natural
situation,
and
one
could
not
help
thinking
that,
though
not
self-planted
among
the
ruins
of
this
country,
it
must
somewhere
have
its
natural
abode
in
such
places.
If
Bothwell
Castle
had
not
been
close
to
the
Douglas
mansion
we
should
have
been
disgusted
with
the
possessor's
miserable
conception
of
"adorning"
such
a
venerable
ruin;
but
it
is
so
very
near
to
the
house
that
of
necessity
the
pleasure-grounds
must
have
extended
beyond
it,
and
perhaps
the
neatness
of
a
shaven
lawn
and
the
complete
desolation
natural
to
a
ruin
might
have
made
an
unpleasing
contrast;
and
besides,
being
within
the
precincts
of
the
pleasure-grounds,
and
so
very
near
to
the
modern
mansion
of
a
noble
family,
it
has
forfeited
in
some
degree
its
independent
majesty,
and
becomes
a
tributary
to
the
mansion;
its
solitude
being
interrupted,
it
has
no
longer
the
same
command
over
the
mind
in
sending
it
back
into
past
times,
or
excluding
the
ordinary
feelings
which
we
bear
about
us
in
daily
life.
We
had
then
only
to
regret
that
the
castle
and
house
were
so
near
to
each
other;
and
it
was
impossible
not
to
regret
it;
for
the
ruin
presides
in
state
over
the
river,
far
from
city
or
town,
as
if
it
might
have
had
a
peculiar
privilege
to
preserve
its
memorials
of
past
ages
and
maintain
its
own
character
and
independence
for
centuries
to
come.
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