Below wild dells romantic pathways ope;
Around, above it, spreads a shadowy cope
Of forest trees: flower, foliage, and clear rill
Wave from the cliffs, or down ravines elope;
It seems a place charmed from the power of ill
By sainted words of old: so lovely, lone, and still.

And many are the pilgrim's feet which tread
Its rocky steps, which thither yearly go;
Yet, less by love of Nature's wonders led,
Than by the memory of a mighty woe,
Which smote, like blasting thunder, long ago,
The peopled hills. There stands a sacred tomb,
Where tears have rained, nor yet shall cease to flow;
Recording days of death's sublimest gloom;
Mompesson's power and pain,--his beauteous Catherine's doom.

[2] Dr. Mead, in his Narrative of the Great Plague in London,
particularly mentions its introduction into Eyam, through the
medium of a box of clothes, sent to a tailor who resided there.

[3] Table Book, 1827, p. 481.

The cross at Eyam stands near the entrance into the chancel of the
church. According to village tradition, this rare relic was found
on some of the neighbouring hills. It is curiously ornamented with
symbolic devices in bold relief. "It has suffered dilapidation from
the culpable neglect of those who should have felt an interest in its
preservation. About two feet of the top of the shaft is wanting, as
may be seen by reference to the engraved sketch, (_See the Cut_,)
which was taken in the year 1815." The sexton of the church, who was
then an old man, told Mr. Rhodes in 1818, that he well recollected the
missing part being thrown carelessly about the churchyard, as if of no
value, until it was broken up by some of the inhabitants, and knocked
to pieces for domestic purposes. The preservation of the Cross, to the
extent we have shown, is referable to the philanthropic Howard,
who, in a visit to Eyam, about the year 1788, or 44 years since,
particularly noticed the finest part of the relic lying in a corner
of the churchyard, and nearly overgrown with docks and thistles. "The
value this hitherto unregarded relic had in the estimation of Howard,"
says Mr. Rhodes, "made it dearer to the people of Eyam: they brought
the top part of the cross from its hiding-place, and set it on the
still dilapidated shaft, where it has ever since remained." Other
crosses, similar in appearance and workmanship, have been found on
the hills of Derbyshire, particularly one in the villag