the proud monarch of the plain, whose bold arching head rises to the
altitude of upwards of 1300 feet. A pathway from the London road leads
through plantations to its summit, from whence the admirer of nature may
luxuriate in the enjoyment of a magnificent prospect, whilst he
contemplates all that variety of hill and dale, wood, rock and stream,
studded with mansions and villages, stretched like a map throughout a
circumference of nearly 400 miles.
This NATURAL HEART OF SHROPSHIRE forms a conspicuous feature in the
landscape from all parts of the surrounding country; while it is
universally regarded, from the king in his palace to the peasant in his
cottage, as the centre towards which the best wishes and affections of
the heart converge, in that well-known convivial sentiment which
possesses the advantage over other toasts,—in being old without age,
inasmuch as it is unchanged by time, and never out of place—
“ALL FRIENDS ROUND THE WREKIN.”
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