ROBIN HOOD'S BAY, near which there is now a small fishing-town, was formerly famous as being the occasional retreat of the renowned hero of "the Greenwood," Robin Hood; who had always in readiness at this place, a number of small fishing-boats, in which, when closely pursued, he could put off to sea, with the outlaws under his command; thus eluding the vigilance of his pursuers, and bidding defiance to the whole power of England, civil and military. To the extensive alum-mines in its vicinity, Robin Hood's Bay now owes much of its notoriety. There is, however, in its immediate neighbourhood, an object which cannot fail to attract the attention of the admirers of the picturesque. This object is a precipitous cliff, known by the name of Stoupe Brow. The road from Robin Hood's Bay to Stoupe Brow lies along a sandy beach; above which towers a steep and rocky cliff, which, at the time of high tide, is "Swill'd by the wild and wasteful ocean." This road, however, is unsafe, unless the water, though rising, have still left uncovered a spacious area of sand, or unless the tide be receding. The height of Stoupe Brow above the level of the sea is eight hundred and ninetythree feet; and, as it is almost superfluous to say, few appearances in nature are more awfully magnificent, than is the spectacle of a storm viewed from its summit. The fierce riot of the waves, the wild flash of the lightning, and the deep roar of the angry winds, as heard and seen from an eminence so commanding, must be left to the reader's imagination. The most elaborate description would fail to convey any adequate idea of the wild and fearful grandeur of such a "strife of nature." The main road from Robin Hood's Bay to Scarborough, lies over the moors, and, in some parts, very near the edge of the steep cliff. On this road, in the year 1809, there happened an accident, of which the circumstances, were they not so well attested as to leave no room for doubt, might appear absolutely impossible. A lady and two gentlemen, occupying a travelling carriage, were on their way to Scarborough, when the driver, having on some account dismounted, the horses, freed from control, broke into a gallop. Within a few moments, both horses and carriage fell over the edge of the cliff down a tremendous precipice, the depth of which cannot be much less than one hundred feet; and the lower portion of which is absolutely perpendicular. Three times did the carriage roll over in its fall; and yet, neither it, nor the horses, nor the travellers, suffered any material injury. A more remarkable instance of the protecting providence of Him, without whose will "not a sparrow falleth to the ground," is perhaps not on record. WILLIAM HENRY JOHN, SON OF LIEUTENANT-COLONEL JOHN SIDNEY, AND THE LADY SUSAN NORTH. THOU hast a bright face, fair child, Full of glee and gladness wild, |