Page:Ivanhoe (1820 Volume 3).pdf/291

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.

ous death, they are to be found in those blackletter garlands, once sold at the low and easy rate of one halfpenny,


"Now cheaply purchased at their weight in gold."


The Outlaw's opinion proved true; and the King, attended by Ivanhoe, Gurth, and Wamba, arrived, without any interruption, within view of the Castle of Conningsburgh, while the sun was yet in the horizon.

There are few more beautiful or striking scenes in England, than are presented by the vicinity of this ancient Saxon fortress. The soft and gentle river Don sweeps through an amphitheatre, in which cultivation is richly blended with woodland, and on a mount, ascending from the river, well defended by walls and ditches, rises this ancient edifice, which, as its Saxon name implies, was, previous to the Conquest, a royal residence of the kings of England. The outer walls have probably been added by the Normans, but the inner keep bears token of very great antiquity. It is situated on a mount at one angle of the inner