Note 62 — Chapter XXII

This large isolated mass of rock or stone, pitched on end, near the roadway and river, a few yards from our camp, was sometimes called by us the “Hanging Rock,” sometimes the “Hanging Stone,” and very often the “Leaning Stone.” In future mention in these pages we shall call it the “Leaning Stone.” This large stone was so overhanging on the side towards Ormein, that it formed an excellent shelter for the traveller to rest and light his bivouac fire. Occasionally the “Leaning Stone” brought to mind the “Druids’ Stone” we once sketched, at Stanton, near Monmouth; sometimes it reminds us of the famous “Boulder, or Bowder Stone,” in the romantic gorge of Borrowdale, near “Castle Crag” and Derwent Water, in Cumberland; but the “Bowder Stone” has this difference, that it overhangs on both sides, and has a narrow aperture underneath, through which two persons or lovers, joining hands, it is said, will have their secret wish. Perhaps the Leaning Stone of the beautiful valley of the Sjiriaglns has some such mystic power—who knows? We leave it to some other wanderer over fjeld and fjord to discover.