National Geographic : 1922 May
THROUGH THE HEART OF ENGLAND IN A CANOE Photograph by K. J. Evans THE FERRY AT BABLOCKHYTHE HAS ITS PLACE IN ENGLISH POETRY is mentioned in Matthew Arnold's "Gipsy Scholar." Note the rope by which the ferry is operated. sign-board was painted by Sir Hamo Thorneycroft, and represents a rose in a glass of beer, in which liquid it appears to be flourishing .greatly. Over the sign board is a small penthouse to act as a defense against the weather. PASSING THE SCENE OF THE "KENIL WORTI" TRAGEDY Four miles below is the ferry (see above) where Matthew Arnold saw the Scholar-Gipsy "crossing the stripling Thames at Bablockhythe," and about a mile on the right the village of Cumnor, where was enacted the tragedy of Amy Robsart, described by Sir Walter Scott in "Kenilworth." At this point we could see Oxford, but as the river describes a great horseshoe curve, it was some time before we ap proached the outskirts of the city. The sordid nature of the last two miles, covered with railways, warehouses, and gasometers, is only equaled by the mem ory of its departed glories. On the left, where now is a cemetery, stood the great Abbey of Osney, and just below the old keep of Oxford Castle rears its hoary head from among the hideous litter and lumber of a gas-works and a railway; yet it was the scene of one of the most romantic adventures of the Middle Ages. In the year 1142 King Stephen was besieging the castle, in which was his rival, Matilda. A frost set in, followed by a heavy snowstorm, and the case of the garrison was desperate. But Matilda was a true Plantagenet. With four chosen knights, dressed all in white, she stole out of a little postern gate, and under cover of darkness fled across the frozen river and over the snows to Abing don, seven long miles away, where help awaited her. A little farther on the river divides and passes under the old Grand Pont, or Folly Bridge, the center of Oxford's aquatic life. OXFORD A TOWN THAT BELONGS TO THE WORLD Oxford is one of those towns which, like Rome, Prague, and a few others, are This picturesque spot 487