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Two miles from Enniskerry, on the Dublin road, and\u00a0in the county of Dublin, which commences at the bridge\u00a0of that village, is the extraordinary chasm in the range of
\nDublin mountains, called the Scalp. Here the opposite\u00a0hills appear to have been rent asunder by some tremendous\u00a0convulsive shock, and being composed of granite
\nstrata, the internal structure, when exposed to view, presents the secret recesses of mature in an awful and appalling\u00a0point of view. Enormous masses of granite, many
\ntons in weight, are tossed about in the most irregular\u00a0manner, and so imperfect and unfinished was the effort of\u00a0nature in creating this gulf, that the opposite sides of the
\npass are distant only the breadth of a narrow road from\u00a0each other; in some places immeasurable masses actually,\u00a0interrupt the continued regularity of the limit of the road,
\nAs road-makers in latter days appear so adverse to any\u00a0thing like a consideration of the picturesque, so in this\u00a0instance they have destroyed the effect produced in passing
\nthrough. this frightful chasm, by what they call an\u00a0improvement; formerly the road passed in the exact point\u00a0in which the opposite sides, if continued downward,\u00a0might be supposed to meet, and so on each side rose those\u00a0confused and chaotic masses of rock, apparently possessing\u00a0so slight a dependence upon each other that you are uncertain\u00a0of what moment their obruitive motion may commence\u00a0again; but the short road lately made through\u00a0part of-the defile runs along the side of one of the hills,\u00a0amongst the rude masses themselves, so that the height\u00a0of both sides is apparently much diminished, and the\u00a0conquest here effected of art over nature lessens our idea\u00a0of her wonderful works.<\/p>\n
To the east of the Scalp, a lead mine has been opened\u00a0some years since, by a company of persons in Dublin, and\u00a0worked for some time with varying success. Here mica\u00a0is found in great abundance with a sort of greyish white\u00a0splintery quartz with mica flakes interwoven – an approximation\u00a0to quartz rock of which Shankill peak, In the neighbouring\u00a0district, is totally composed.<\/p>\n
<\/a>The Scalp – c1900<\/p><\/div>\n
Beyond the mines of Shankill, or Ballycorus, on the declivity\u00a0of the hill is an ancient castle, the external wall of\u00a0which is still perfect, and used as a shepherd\u2019s dwelling.\u00a0In this edifice, called Puck’s Castle, the unhappy monarch\u00a0James, slept the night after his defeat at Old Bridge, while\u00a0his army bivouacked in front. Tradition states, that James\u00a0being apprehensive of an ambush, in the woods of Windgate\u00a0, took a boat at Killiney-bay, and coasted to the town\u00a0of Wicklow, where he slept in a house now inhabited by\u00a0Dr. Smith.*<\/p>\n
The Dublin road is now one continued descent of eight\u00a0miles, passing through a few villages of little consequence,\u00a0Kilternan, Golden-ball, Steepaside +, Kilgobbin, where
\nthere is an old castle, Sandyford, and Dundrum, three\u00a0miles from Dublin, a place remarkable for the purity and\u00a0wholesomeness of its atmosphere, and where invalids come
\nfrom town in crowds every morning, in the summer\u00a0season, to drink goats whey **; Windy Harbour #, Milltown,\u00a0upon the river Dodder, Cullenswood, and Ranelagh,\u00a0which last place is in the suburbs of Dublin.<\/p>\n
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\n* This anecdote relative to King James rests an the authority of an
\nunpublished MS. in the possesion of a private individual. From
\nWicklow, he must have proceeded tn Shelton abbey, in the vale of
\nArklow, which was the last place he slept at in the county of Wicklow.<\/p>\n
+sw Stepaside
\n**sw now Goatstown
\n#sw or Windy Arbour<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
From ‘Guide to the County of Wicklow’ by Rev. G.N. Wright Published by Baldwin, Cradock and Joy, Paternoster Row (London) 1822 Two miles from Enniskerry, on the Dublin road, and\u00a0in the county of Dublin, which … Continue reading