But a moment she turned her eyes away, A fall she heard and a groan; She looked again, but, no Parson was there, He'd vanished from off the stone!
Soon spread the dread tale through Monyash town-- They made a great hue and cry; And some off to this place--and some to that, To seek the lost man did hie.
Bad tidings from Bakewell--no Parson there-- No parson could else be found; 'Twas noon, yet no tidings--they still searched on, And missed they no likely ground.
At last the searchers went into the Dale, And there at the foot of Fox Torr-- They found the Parson, all cold and dead, 'Mong the rocks all stained with gore.
They took up his corse--and six stalwart men, Slowly bore it along the Dale; And they laid the dead in his house that night, And many did him bewail.
When time had passed over--a day or twain, They buried him in the grave; And his bones now rest in the lone Churchyard, Till doomsday them thence shall crave.
O dread was the death of that luckless man-- Not soon will it be forgot; The dismal story--for ages to come-- Will often be told, I wot.
You may not now see in Monyash town The deadman's sear tuft of grass; But still it is there, in memory stored, And thence it never shall pass.
You may not now find Fox Torr by that name, The swain thus knows it no more; But pointing thereat from the Lathkil grot, He'll shew you the Parson's Torr.
And now, my dear friends, what more need I say? I've told you the story through:-- If you've in the least been pleased with my song, Then I am well-pleased with you.
[111] The door in the south transept, locally called the _Newark_ door.
[112] The river Lathkil issues from a cavern in the limestone rock, directly opposite the Parson's Torr.
[** asterism]In the following Index the titles of the Ballads are given in SMALL CAPITALS, and the first lines in _italics_.
A NEW SONG ON THE GREAT FOOT-RACE AT DERBY, 252
A POEM FOUND BY MR. * * * AND DEDICATED TO MAJOR TROWELL, 190
A RHAPSODY ON THE PEAK OF DERBYSHIRE, 248
A STRANGE BANQUET, OR THE DEVIL'S ENTERTAINMENT BY COOK LAUREL AT THE PEAK IN DERBYSHIRE, 125
"_All you that delight in merriment_," 119
AN ELEGY UPON THE DEATH OF THE GREATEST GENTRY IN DARLEY DALLE, 146
"_As our king lay musing in his bed_," 2, 3, 4