L t'MJ j ^ 
 
 CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 THE 
 WORDSWORTH COLLECTION 
 
 FOUNDED BY 
 CYNTHIA MORGAN ST. JOHN 
 
 THE GIFT OF 
 VICTOR EMANUEL 
 
 OF THE CLASS OF 1919 
 
The original of tiiis book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924103708644 
 
TOPOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION 
 
 OF 
 
 THE COUNTRY OF THE LAKES 
 
 IN 
 
 ^8e Jiiottfi of (Englanb. 
 
 P 5 
 
This Essay, tvhich ivas published several years ago as an In- 
 troduction to some Views of the Lakes, by the Rev, Joseph 
 Wilkinson, [an expensive voork, and necessarily of limited 
 circulation,) is 7io'w, with emendations and additions, at- 
 tached to these volumes ; Jrom a consciousness of its having 
 been written in the same spirit which dictated several of the 
 poems, and from a belief that it will tend materially to 
 illustrate them. 
 
 31 5 7 
 
 o RMG ^ 
 
 CP NT? 
 
TOPOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION 
 
 OF 
 
 THE COUNTRY OF THE LAKES. 
 
 At Lucerne in Switzerland there existed, some years 
 ago, a model of tile Alpine country which encompasses 
 the Lake of the four Cantons. The spectator ascended 
 a little platform, and saw mountains, lakes, glaciers, 
 rivers, woods, waterfalls, and valleys with their cottages 
 and every other object contained in them, lying at his 
 feet; all things being represented in their appropriate 
 colours. It may be easily conceived that this exhibition 
 afforded an exquisite delight to the imagination, which 
 was thus tempted to wander at will from valley to valley, 
 from mountain to mountain, through the deepest re- 
 cesses of the Alps. But it supplied also a more sub- 
 
 p 4 
 
216 DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 stantial pleasure ; for the sublime and beautiful region, 
 with all its hidden treasures, and their bearings and re- 
 lations to each other, was thereby comprehended and 
 understood at once. 
 
 Something of this kind (as far as it can be performed by 
 words, which must needs be inadequately) will here be at- 
 tempted in respect to the Lakes in the north of England, 
 and the vales and mountains enclosing and surrounding 
 them. The delineation if tolerably executed will in some 
 instances communicate to the traveller, who has already 
 seen the objects, new information; and will assist in 
 giving to his recollections a more orderly arrangement 
 than his own opportunities of observing may have per- 
 mitted him to make ; while it will be still more useful to 
 the future traveller, by directing his attention at once to 
 distinctions, in things which, without such previous aid, 
 a length of time only could enable him to discover. It 
 is hoped, also, that this Essay may become genei'ally 
 serviceable by leading to habits of more exact and con- 
 siderate observation than, as far as the writer knows, 
 have hitherto been applied to local scenery. 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES. 217 
 
 To begin, then, with the main outlines of the country. 
 I know not how to give the reader a distinct image of 
 these more readily, than by requesting him to place him- 
 self with me, in imagination, upon some given point ; let 
 it be the top of either of the mountains. Great Gavel, or 
 Scawfell ; or, rather, let us suppose our station to be a 
 cloud hanging midway between these two mountains, at 
 not more than half a mile's distance from the summit of 
 each, and not many yards above their highest elevation ; 
 we shall then see stretched at our feet a number of val- 
 leys, not fewer than nine, diverging from the point, on 
 which we are supposed to stand, like spokes from the 
 nave of a wheel. First, we note, lying to the south-east, 
 the vale of Langdale, which will conduct the eye to the 
 long Lake of Winandermere stretched nearly to the sea ; 
 
 or rather to the sands of the vast bay of Morcamb, serving 
 here for the rim of this imaginary wheel; — let us trace it in 
 
 a direction from the south-east towards the south, and we 
 
 shall next fix our eyes upon the vale of Coniston, running 
 
 up likewise from the sea, but not (as all the other valleys 
 
 do) to the nave of the wheel, and therefore it may not 
 
^18 DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 be inaptly represented as a broken spoke sticking in the 
 rim. Looking forth again, with an inclination towards 
 the west, immediately at our feet lies the vale of Duddon, 
 in which is no lake, but a copious stream winding among 
 fields, rocks, and mountains, and terminating its course 
 in the sands of Duddon. The fourth valley next to be 
 observed, viz. that of Eskdale, is of the same general 
 character as the last, yet beautifully discriminated from 
 it by pecuHar features. Next, almost due west, look 
 down upon, and into, the deep valley of Wastdale, with 
 its little chapel and half a dozen neat scattered dwellings, 
 a plain of meadow and corn-ground intersected with 
 stone walls apparently innumerable, like a large piece of 
 lawless patch-work, or an array of mathematical figures, 
 such as in the ancient schools of geometry might have been 
 sportively and fantastically traced out upon sand. Beyond 
 this little fertile plain lies, within its bed of steep moun- 
 tains, the long, narrow, stern, and desolate Lake of Wast- 
 dale ; and beyond this a dusky tract of level ground con- 
 ducts the eye to the Irish Sea, The several vales of 
 Ennerdale and Buttermere, with their lakes, next pre- 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES. 219 
 
 sent themselves ; and lastly, the vale of Borrowdale, of 
 which that of Keswick is only a continuation, stretching 
 due north, brings us to a point nearly opposite to the 
 vale of Winandermere with which we began. From this 
 it will appear, that the image of a wheel thus far exact, 
 is little more than one half complete ; but the deficiency 
 on the eastern side may be supplied by the vales of 
 Wytheburn, Ulswater, Hawswater, and the vale of Gras- 
 mere and Rydal ; none of these, however, run up to the 
 central point between Great Gavel and Scawfell. From 
 this, hitherto our central point, take a flight of not more 
 than three or four miles eastward to the ridge of Hel«^ 
 vellyn, and you will look down upon Wytheburn and 
 St. John's Vale, which are a branch of the vale of Kes- 
 wick ; upon Ulswater, stretching due east, and not far 
 beyond to the south-east, (though from this point not 
 visible,) lie the vale and lake of Hawswater; and lastly, 
 the vale of Grasmere, Rydal, and Ambleside, brings 
 you back to Winandermere, thus completing, though on 
 the eastern side in a somewhat irregular manner, the 
 representative figure of the wheel. 
 
220 DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 Such, concisely given, is the general topographical view 
 of the country of the Lakes in the north of England ; and 
 it may be observed, that, from the circumference to the 
 centre, that is, from the sea or plain country to the moun- 
 tain stations specified, there is — in the several ridges that 
 enclose these vales and divide them from each other, I 
 mean in the forms and surfaces, first of the swelling 
 grounds, next of the hills and rocks, and lastly of the 
 mountains — an ascent of almost regular gradation from 
 elegance and richness to the highest point of grandeur. 
 It follows therefore from this, first, that these rocks, 
 hills, and mountains, must present themselves to view 
 in stages rising above each other, the mountains cluster- 
 ing together towards the central point; and, next, that 
 an observer familiar with the several vales, must, from 
 their various position in relation to the sun, have 
 had before his eyes every possible embellishment of 
 beauty, dignity, and splendour, which hght and shadow 
 can bestow upon objects so diversified. For example, 
 in the vale of Winandermere, if the spectator looks for 
 gentle and lovely scenes, his eye is turned towards the 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES. 221 
 
 south ; if for the grand, towards the north ; in the vale 
 of Keswick, which (as hath been said) lies almost due 
 north of this, it is directly the reverse. Hence, when 
 the sun is setting in summer far to the north-west, it is 
 seen by the spectator from the shores or breast of Winan- 
 dermere, resting among the summits of the loftiest moun- 
 tains, some of which will perhaps be half or wholly hid 
 by clouds, or by the blaze of light which the orb diffuses 
 around it ; and the surface of the lake will reflect before 
 the eye correspondent colours through every variety of 
 beauty, and through all degrees of splendour. In the 
 vale of Keswick, at the same period, the sun sets over 
 the humbler regions of the landscape, and showers down 
 upoiithem the radiance which at once veils and glorifies, — 
 sending forth, meanwhile, broad streams of rosy, crimson 
 purple, or golden light, towards the grand mountains in 
 the south and south-east, which, thus illuminated, with 
 all their projections and cavities, and with an intermixture 
 of solemn shadows, are seen distinctly through a cool and 
 clear atmosphere. Of course, there is as marked a dif- 
 ference between the noo7itide appearance of these two 
 
222 DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 opposite vales. The bedimming haze that overspreads 
 the south, and the clear atmosphere and determined 
 shadows of the clouds in the north, at the same time of 
 the day, are each seen in these several vales, vs^ith a con- 
 trast as striking. The reader will easily perceive in 
 what degree the intermediate vales partake of the same 
 variety. 
 
 I do not indeed know any tract of country in which, 
 within so narrow a compass, may be found an equal 
 variety in the influences of light and shadow upon the 
 sublime or beautiful features of landscape ; and it is 
 owing to the combined circumstances to which I have 
 directed the reader's attention. From a point between 
 Great Gavel and Scawfell, a shepherd would not require 
 more than an hour to descend into any one of eight of the 
 principal vales by which he would be surrounded ; and 
 all the others lie (with the exception of Hawswater) at 
 but a small distance. Yet, though clustered together, 
 every valley has its distinct and separate character ; in 
 some instances, as if they had been formed in studied 
 contrast to each other, and in others with the united 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES. 223 
 
 pleasing differences and resemblances of a sisterly rival- 
 ship. This concentration of interest gives to the coun- 
 try a decided superiority over the most attractive districts 
 of Scotland and Wales, especially for the pedestrian tra- 
 veller. In Scotland and Wales are found undoubtedly 
 individual scenes, which, in their several kinds, cannot 
 be excelled. But, in Scotland, particularly, what deso- 
 late and unimpressive tracts of country almost perpetually 
 intervene ! so that the traveller, when he reaches a spot 
 deservedly of great celebrity, would find it difficult to 
 determine how much of his pleasure is owing to excel- 
 lence inherent in the landscape itself; and how much to 
 an instantaneous recovery from an oppression left upon 
 his spirits by the barrenness and desolation through 
 which he has passed. 
 
 ^But, to proceed with our survey; — and, first, of the 
 Mountains. Their forms are endlessly diversified, 
 sweeping easily or boldly in simple majesty, abrupt and 
 precipitous, or soft and elegant. In magnitude and gran- 
 deur they are individually inferior to the most celebrated 
 of those in some other parts of this island ; but, in the 
 
224 DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 combinations which they make, towering above each 
 other, or lifting themselves in ridges like the waves of a 
 tumultuous sea, and in the beauty and variety of their 
 surfaces and their colours, they are surpassed by none. 
 
 The general surface of the mountains is turf, rendered 
 rich and green by the moisture of the climate. Some- 
 times the turf, as in the neighbourhood of Newlands, is 
 little broken, the whole covering being soft and downy 
 pasturage. In other places rocks predominate ; the soil 
 is laid bare by torrents and burstings of water from the 
 sides of the mountains in heavy rains ; and occasionally 
 their perpendicular sides are seamed by ravines (formed 
 also by rains and torrents) which, meetmg in angular 
 points, entrench and scar over the surface with numerous 
 figures like the letters W and Y. 
 
 The Mountains are composed of the stone by mi- 
 neralogists termed schist, which, as you approach the 
 plain country, gives place to lime-stone and free-stone ; 
 but schist being the substance of the mountains, the 
 predominant colour of their rochy parts is bluish, or 
 hoary gray — the general tint of the lichens with which 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES. 225 
 
 the bare stone is encrusted. With this blue or grey 
 colour is frequently intermixed a. red tinge, proceeding 
 from the iron that interveins the stone, and impregnates 
 the soil. The iron is the principle of decomposition in 
 these rocks ; and hence, when they become pulverized, 
 the elementary particles crumbling do\^Ti overspread in 
 many places the steep and almost precipitous sides of 
 the mountains with an intermixture of colours, like the 
 compound hues of a dove's neck. When, in the heat of 
 advancing summer, the fresh green tint of the herbage 
 has somewhat faded, it is again revived by the appearance 
 of the fern profusely spread every where ; and, upon this 
 plant, more than upon any thing else, do the changes 
 v/hich the seasons make in the colouring of the moun- 
 tains depend. About the first week in October, the rich 
 green, which prevailed through the whole summer, is 
 usually passed away. The brilliant and various colours 
 of the fern are then in harmony with the autumnal woods; 
 bright yellow or lemon colour, at the base of the moun- 
 tains, melting gradually, through orange, to a dark russet 
 brown towards the summits, where the plant being more 
 
 2 
 
226 DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 exposed to the weather is in a more advanced state of 
 decay. Neither heath nor fiarze are generally found upon 
 the sides of these mountains, though in some places they 
 are richly adorned by them^ We may add, that the 
 mountains are of height sufficient to have the surface to- 
 wards the summits softened by distance, and to imbibe 
 the finest aerial hues. In common also with other moun- 
 tains, their apparent forms and colours are perpetually ^ 
 changed by the clouds and vapours which float round 
 them : the effect indeed of mist or haze, in a country of 
 this character, is like that of magic. I have seen six or 
 seven ridges rising above each other, all created in a 
 moment by the vapours upon the side of a mountain, 
 which, in its ordinary appearance, showed not a 
 projecting point to furnish even a hint for such an 
 operation. 
 
 I will take this opportunity of observing, that they, 
 who have studied the appearances of nature, feel that the 
 superiority, in point of visual interest, of mountainous 
 €)ver other countries — is more strikingly displayed in 
 winter than in summer. This, as must be obvious, is 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES. 227 
 
 partly owing to the forms of the mountains, which, of 
 course, are not affected by the seasons ; but also, in no 
 small degree, to the greater variety that exists in their 
 winter than their summer colouring. This variety is such, 
 and so harmoniously preserved, that it leaves little cause 
 of regret when the splendour of autumn is passed away. 
 The oak-coppices, upon the sides of the mountains, re- 
 tain russet leaves ; the birch stands conspicuous with its 
 silver stem and puce-coloured twigs; the hollies, with 
 green leaves and scarlet berries, have come forth to view 
 from among the deciduous trees, whose summer foliage 
 had concealed them ; the ivy is now plentifully apparent 
 upon the stems and boughs of the trees, and among the 
 woody rocks. In place of the uniform summer-green of 
 the herbage and fern, many rich colours play into each 
 other over the surface of the mountains ; turf (the tints 
 of which are interchangeably tawny-green, olive, and 
 brown,) beds of withered fern, and grey rocks, being 
 harmoniously blended together. The mosses and Hchens 
 are never so fresh and flourishing as in winter, if it be 
 not a season of frost; and their minute beauties prodi- 
 
 () 2 
 
228 DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 gaily adorn the fore-ground. Wherever we turn, we 
 find these productions of nature, to which winter is 
 rather favourable than unkindly, scattered over the walls, 
 banks of ^arth, rocks, and stones, and upon the trunks 
 of trees, with the intermixture of several species of small 
 fern, now green and fresh ; and, to the observing pas- 
 senger, their forms and colours are a source of inex- 
 haustible admiration. Add to this the hoar-frost and 
 snow, with all the varieties they create, and which volumes 
 would not be sufficient to describe. I wiU content myself 
 with one instance of the colouring produced by snow, 
 which may not be uninteresting to painters. It is ex- 
 tracted from the memorandum-book of a friend ; and for 
 its accuracy I can speak, having been an eye-witness of 
 the appearance. *' I observed," says he, " the beau- 
 tiful effect of the drifted snow upon the mountains, and 
 the perfect tone of colour. From the top of the moun- 
 tains downwards a rich olive was produced by the pow- 
 dery snow and the grass, which olive was warmed with 
 a little brown, and in this way harmoniously combined, 
 by insensible gradations, with the white. The drifting 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES, 229 
 
 took away the monotony of snow ; and the whole vale of 
 Grasmere, seen from the terrace walk in Easedale, was 
 as varied, perhaps more so, than even in the pomp 
 of autumn. In the distance was Loughrigg-Fell, the 
 basin-wall of the lake : this, from the summit downward, 
 was a rich orange-olive ; then the lake of a bright olive- 
 green, nearly the same tint as the snow-powdered moun- 
 tain tops and high slopes in Easedale; and lastly, the 
 church with its firs forming the centre of the view. Next 
 to the church with its firs, came nine distinguishable 
 hills, six of them with woody sides turned towards us, 
 all of them oak-copses with their bright red leaves and 
 snow-powdered twigs ; these hills — so variously situated 
 to each other, and to the view in general, so variously 
 powdered, some only enough to give the herbage a rich 
 brown tint, one intensely white and lighting up all the 
 others — were yet so placed, as in the most inobtrusive 
 manner to harmonise by contrast with a perfect naked, 
 snowless bleak summit in the far distance." 
 
 Having spoken of the forms, surface, and colour of the 
 mountains, let us descend into the Valleys. Though 
 
 Q 3 
 
230 DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 these have been represented under the general image of 
 the spokes of a wheel, they are, for the most part, wind- 
 ing ; the windings of many being abrupt and intricate. 
 And, it may be observed, that, in one circumstance, 
 the general shape of them all has been determined by 
 that primitive conformation through which so many 
 became receptacles of lakes. For they are not formed, 
 as are most of the celebrated Welsh valleys, by an ap- 
 proximation of the sloping bases of the opposite moun- 
 tains towards each other, leaving little more between 
 than a channel for the passage of a hasty river ; but the 
 bottom of these valleys is, for the most part, a spacious 
 and gently declining area, apparently level as the floor of 
 a temple, or the surface of a lake, and beautifully broken, 
 in many cases, by rocks and hills, which rise up like 
 islands from the plain. In such of the valleys as make 
 many windings, these level areas open upon the traveller 
 in succession, divided from each other sometimes by a 
 mutual approximation of the hills, leaving only passage 
 for a river, sometimes by correspondent windings, with- 
 out such approximation ; and sometimes by a bold ad- 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES. 231 
 
 vance of one mountain towards that which is opposite to 
 it. It may here be observed with propriety, that the 
 several rocks and hills, which have been described as 
 rising up like islands from the level area of the vale, 
 have regulated the choice of the inhabitants in the situ- 
 ation of their dwellings. Where none of these are found, 
 and the inclination of the ground is not sufficiently rapid 
 easily to carry off the waters, (as in the higher part of 
 Langdale, for instance,) the houses are not sprinkled over 
 the middle part of the vales, but confined to their sides, 
 being placed merely so far up the mountain as to pro- 
 tect them from the floods. But where these rocks and 
 hills have been scattered over the plain of the vale, (as 
 in Grasmere, Donnerdale, Eskdale, &c.) the beauty 
 which they give to the scene is much heightened by a 
 single cottage, or cluster of cottages, that will be almost 
 always found under them or upon their sides ; dryness 
 and shelter having tempted the Dalesmen to fix their 
 habitations there. 
 
 I shall now speak of the Lakes of this country. The 
 form of the lake is most perfect when, like Derwent- 
 
 o 4 
 
^32 DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 water and some of the smaller lakes, it least resembles 
 that of a river ; — I mean, when being looked at from 
 any given point where the whole may be seen at once, 
 the width of it bears such proportion to the length, that, 
 however the outline may be diversified by far-shooting 
 bays, it never assumes the shape of a river, and is con- 
 templated with that placid and quiet feeling which be- 
 longs peculiarly to the lake — as a l3ody of still water 
 under the influence of no current; reflecting therefore 
 the clouds, the light, and all the imagery of the sky and 
 surrounding hills; expressing also and making visible 
 the changes of the atmosphere, and motions of the 
 lightest breeze, and subject to agitation only from the 
 winds — 
 
 — The visible scene 
 
 Would enter unawares into his mind 
 
 With all its solemn imagery, its rocks, 
 
 Its woods, and that uncertain heaven received 
 
 Into the bosom of the steady lake ! 
 
 It must be noticed, as a favourable characteristic of the 
 lakes of this country, that, though several of the largest, 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES. 233 
 
 such as Winandermere, Ulswater, Haws water, &c. do, 
 when the whole length of them is commanded from an 
 elevated point, lose somewhat of the peculiar form of the 
 lake, and assume the resemblance of a magnificent river ; 
 yet, as their shape is winding, (particularly that of Uls- 
 water and Haws water) when the view of the whole is 
 obstructed by those barriers which determine the wind- 
 ings, and the spectator is confined to one reach, the ap- 
 propriate feeling is revived ; and one lake may thus in 
 succession present to the eye the essential characteristic 
 of many. But, though the forms of the lai'ge lakes have 
 this advantage, it is nevertheless a circumstance favour- 
 able to the beauty of the country, that the largest of 
 them are comparatively small ; and that the same valley 
 generalUy furnishes a succession of lakes, instead of being 
 filled with one. The valleys in North Wales, as hath been 
 observed, are not formed for the reception of lakes ; those 
 of Switzerland, Scotland, and this part of the north of 
 England, are so formed ; but, in Switzerland and Scot-< 
 land, the proportion of diffused water is often too great, 
 as at the lake of Geneva for instance, and in most of the. 
 
234 DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 Scotch lakes. No doubt it sounds magnificent and flat- 
 ters the imagination to hear at a distance of expanses of 
 water so many leagues in length and miles in width ; 
 and such ample room may be delightful to the fresh- 
 water sailor scudding with a lively breeze amid the ra- 
 pidly-shifting scenery. But, who ever travelled along the 
 banks of Loch-Lomond, variegated as the lower part is 
 by islands, without feeling that a speedier termination 
 of the long vista of blank water would be acceptable ; and 
 without -wishing for an interposition of green meadows, 
 trees, and cottages, and a sparkling stream to run by 
 his side ? In fact, a notion of grandeur, as connected 
 with magnitude, has seduced persons of taste into a ge- 
 neral mistake upon this subject. It is much more de- 
 sirable, for the purposes of pleasure, that lakes should 
 be numerous, and small or middle-sized, than large, not 
 only for communication by walks and rides, but for va- 
 riety, and for recurrence of similar appearances. To 
 illustrate this by one instance : — how pleasing is it to 
 have a ready and frequent opportunity of watching, at 
 the outlet of a lake, the stream pushing its way among 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES. 235 
 
 the rocks in lively contrast with the stillness from which 
 it has escaped ; and how amusing to compare its noisy 
 and turbulent motions with the gentle playfulness of the 
 breezes, that may be starting up or wandering here and 
 there over the faintly-rippled surface of the broad water ! 
 I may add, as a general remark, that, in lakes of great 
 width, the shores cannot be distinctly seen at the same 
 time, and therefore contribute little to mutual illustration 
 and ornament; and if, like the American and Asiatic 
 lakes, the opposite shores are out of sight of each other, 
 then unfortunately the traveller is reminded of a nobler 
 object ; he has the blankness of a sea-prospect without 
 the same grandeur and accompanying sense of power. 
 
 As the comparatively small size of the lakes in the 
 North of England is favourable to the production of 
 variegated landscape, their boundary-line also is for the 
 most part gracefully or boldly indented. That uni- 
 formity which prevails in the primitive frame of the 
 lower grounds among all chains or clusters of moun- 
 tains where large bodies of still water are bedded, is 
 broken by the secondary agents of nature, ever at work 
 
236 DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 to supply the deficiencies of the mould in which things 
 were originally cast. It need scarcely be observed that 
 using the word, deficiencies, I do not speak with refer- 
 ence to those stronger emotions which a region of 
 mountains is peculiarly fitted to excite. The bases of 
 those huge barriers may run for a long space in straight 
 lines, and these parallel to each other; the opposite 
 sides of a profound vale may ascend as exact counter- 
 parts or in mutual reflection like the billows of a troubled 
 sea; and the impression be, from its very simplicity, 
 more awful and sublime. Sublimity is the result of 
 Nature's first great dealings with the superficies of the 
 earth ; but the general tendency of her subsequent oper- 
 ations, is towards the production of beauty, by a mul- 
 tiplicity of symmetrical parts uniting in a consistent 
 whole. This is every where exemplified along the 
 margin of these lakes. Masses of rock, that have been 
 precipitated from the heights into the area of waters, lie 
 frequently like stranded ships; or have acquired the 
 compact structure of jutting piers ; or project in little 
 peninsulas crested with native wood. The smallest 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES. 237 
 
 rivulet — one whose silent influx is scarcely noticeable 
 in a season of dry weather so faint is the dimple made 
 by it on the surface of the smooth lake — will be found 
 to have been not useless in shaping, by its deposits of 
 gravel and soil in time of flood, a curve that would 
 not otherwise have existed. But the more powerful 
 brooks, encroaching upon the level of the lake, have in 
 course of time given birth to ample promontories, whose 
 sweeping line often contrasts boldly with the longitudinal 
 base of the steeps on the opposite shore ; while their flat 
 or gently-sloping surface never fails to introduce, into 
 the midst of desolation and barrenness, the elements of 
 fertility, even where the habitations of men may not 
 happen to have been raised. These alluvial promon- 
 tories, however, threaten in some places to bisect the 
 waters which they have long adorned ; and, in course of 
 ages, they will cause some of the lakes to dwindle into 
 numerous and insignificant pools ,• which, in their turn, 
 will finally be filled up. But the man of taste will say, 
 it is an impertment calculation that leads to such un- 
 welcome conclusions; — let us rather be content with 
 
2S8 DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 appearances as they are, and pursue in imagination the 
 meandering shores, whether rugged steeps, admitting of 
 no cultivation, descend into the water; or the shore is 
 formed by gently-sloping lawns and rich woods, or by 
 flat and fertile meadows stretching between the margin 
 of the lake and the mountains. Among minuter recom- 
 mendations will be noted with pleasure the curved rim 
 of fine blue gravel thrown up by the waves, especially 
 in bays exposed to the setting-in of strong winds ; here 
 and there are found, bordering the lake, groves, if I 
 may so call them, of reeds and bulrushes ; or plots of 
 water-lilies lifting up their large circular leaves to the 
 breeze, w^hile the white flower is heaving upon the 
 wave. 
 
 The Islands are neither so numerous nor so beau- 
 tiful as might be expected from the account I have 
 given of the manner in which the level areas of the vales 
 are so frequently diversified by rocks, hills, and hillocks, 
 scattered over them ; nor are they ornamented, as are 
 several islands of the lakes in Scotland, by the remains 
 of old castles or other places of defence, or of monastic 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES. , 239 
 
 edifices. There is however a beautiful cluster of islands 
 on Winandermere ; a pair pleasingly contrasted upon 
 Rydal ; nor must the solitary green island at Grasmere 
 be forgotten. In the bosom of each of the lakes of 
 Ennerdale and Devock-water is a single rock which, 
 owing to its neighbourhood to the sea, is — 
 
 " The haunt of cormorants and sea-mews' clang," 
 
 a music well suited to the stern and wild character of the 
 several scenes ! 
 
 This part of the subject may be concluded with ob- 
 serving — that, from the multitude of brooks and tor- 
 rents that fall into these lakes, and of internal springs 
 by which they are fed, and which circulate through them 
 like veins, they are truly living lakes, " vivi lacus ;* 
 and are thus discriminated from the stagnant and sullen 
 pools frequent among mountains that have been formed 
 by volcanoes, and from the shallow meres found in flat 
 and fenny countries. The water is also pure and crys- 
 talline ; so that, if it were not for the reflections of the 
 incumbent mountains by which it is darkened, a delusion 
 
240 DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 might be felt, by a person resting quietly in a boat oil 
 the bosom of Winandermere or Derwent- water, similar 
 to that which Carver so beautifully describes when he 
 was floatin.": alone in the middle of the lake Erie or 
 Ontario, and could almost have imagined that his boat 
 was suspended in an element as pure as air, or rather 
 that the air and water were one. 
 
 Having spoken of Lakes I must not omit to mention, 
 as a kindred feature of this country, those bodies of still 
 water called Tarns. These are found in some of the 
 valleys, and are very numerous upon the mountains. A 
 Tarn, in a Vale, implicvS, for the most part, that the bed 
 of the vale is not happily formed ; that the water of the 
 brooks can neither wholly escape, nor diffuse itself over 
 k large area. Accordingly, in such situations, Tarns 
 are often surrounded by a tract of boggy ground which 
 has an unsightly appearance ; but this is not always th& 
 case, and in the cultivated parts of the country, when 
 the shores of the Tarn are determined, it differs only 
 from the Lake in being smaller, and in belonging mostly 
 to a smaller valley or circular recess. Of this class of 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES. 241 
 
 miniature lakes Loughrigg Tarn, near Grasmere, is the 
 most beautiful example. It has a margin of green firm 
 meadows, of rocks, and rocky woods, a few reeds here, 
 a little company of water-lilies there, with beds of gravel 
 or stone beyond ; a tiny stream issuing neither briskly 
 nor sluggishly out of it ; but its feeding rills, from the 
 shortness of their course, so small as to be scarcely 
 visible. Five or six cottages are reflected in its peaceful 
 bosom; rocky and barren steeps rise up above the 
 hanging enclosures ; and the solemn pikes of Langdale 
 overlook, from a distance, the low cultivated ridge of 
 land that forms the northern boundary of this small, 
 quiet, and fertile domain. The mountain Tarns can 
 only be recommended to the notice of the inquisitive 
 traveller who has time to spare. They are difficult of 
 access and naked ; yet some of them are, in their per- 
 manent forms, very grand ; and there are accidents of 
 things which would make the meanest of them interest- 
 ing. At all events, one of these pools is an acceptable 
 sight to the mountain wanderer, not merely as an inci- 
 dent that diversifies the prospect, but as forming in his 
 
 R 
 
242 DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 mind a centre or conspicuous point to which objects, 
 otherwise disconnected or unsubordinated, may be re- 
 ferred. Some few have a varied outline, with bold 
 heath-clad promontories ; and, as they mostly lie at the 
 foot of a steep precipice, the water, where the sun is not 
 shining upon it, appears black and sullen ; and round 
 the margin huge stones and masses of rock are scat- 
 tered ; some defying conjecture as to the means by which 
 they came there, and others obviously fallen from on 
 high — the contribution of ages ! The sense, also, of 
 some repulsive power strongly put forth — excited by 
 the prospect of a body of pure water unattended with 
 groves and other cheerful rural images by which fresh 
 water is usually accompanied, and unable to give any 
 furtherance to the meagre vegetation around it — 
 heightens the melancholy natural to such scenes. Nor 
 is the feeling of solitude often more forcibly or more 
 solemnly impressed than by the side of one of these moun- 
 tain pools : though desolate and forbidding, it seems a 
 distinct place to repair to ; yet where the visitants must be 
 rare, and there can be no disturbance. Water-fowl 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES. 243 
 
 flock hither; and the lonely Angler may oftentimes 
 here be seen : but the imagination, not content with this 
 scanty allowance of society, is tempted to attribute a 
 voluntary power to every change which takes place in 
 such a spot, whether it be the breeze that wanders over 
 the surface of the water, or the splendid lights of evening 
 resting upon it in the midst of awful precipices. 
 
 ** There, sometimes does a leaping fish 
 Send through the tarn a lonely cheer ; 
 The crags repeat the raven's croak 
 In symphony austere : 
 Thither the rainbow comes, the cloud, 
 And mists that spread the flying shroud, 
 And sunbeams, and the sounding blast, — 
 
 Though this country is, on one side, bounded by the 
 sea, which combines beautifully, from some elevated 
 points of view, with the inland scenery ; yet the aestuaries 
 cannot pretend to vie with those of Scotland and Wales : 
 — -the Lakes are such in the strict and usual sense of 
 the word, being all of fresh water ; nor have the Rivers, 
 
 R 2 
 
244 DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 from the shortness of their course, time to acquire that 
 body of water necessary to confer upon them much 
 majesty. In fact, while they continue in the mountain 
 and lake-country, they are rather large brooks than 
 rivers. The water is perfectly pellucid, through which 
 in many places are seen to a great depth their beds of 
 rock or of blue gravel which give to the water itself an 
 exquisitely cerulean colour : this is particularly striking 
 in the rivers, Derwent and Duddon, which may be 
 compared, such and so various are their beauties, to 
 any two rivers^ of equal length of course in any coun- 
 try. The number of the torrents and smaller brooks is 
 infinite, with their water-falls and water-breaks; and 
 they need not here be described. I will only observe 
 that^ as many, even of the smallest of these rills, have 
 either found, or made for themselves, recesses in the 
 sides of the mountains or in the vales, they have tempted 
 the primitive inhabitants to settle near them for shelter ; 
 and hence the retirement and seclusion by which these 
 cottages are endeared to the eye of the man of sen- 
 sibility. 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES. 245 
 
 The Woods consist chieHy of oak, ash, and birch, 
 and here and there a species of elm, with underwood of 
 hazel, the white and black thorn, and hollies ; in moist 
 places alders and willows abound ; and yews among the 
 the rocks. Formerly the whole country must have been 
 covered with wood to a great height up the mountains ; 
 and native Scotch Firs (as in the northern part of Scot- 
 land to this day) must have grown in great profusion. 
 But no one of these old inhabitants of the country re- 
 mains, or perhaps has done for some hundreds of years ; 
 beautiful traces however of the universal sylvan appear- 
 ance the country formerly had, are yet seen, both in the 
 native coppice-woods that remain, and have been pro- 
 tected by enclosures, and also in the forest-trees and hol- 
 lies, which, though disappearing fast, are yet scattered 
 both over the inclosed and uninclosed parts of the moun- 
 tains. The same is expressed by the beauty and intri- 
 cacy with which the fields and coppice-woods are often 
 intermingled : the plough of the first settlers having 
 followed naturally the veins of richer, dryer, or less stony 
 soil ; and thus it has shaped out an intermixture of wood 
 
 R 3 
 
246 DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 and lawn with a grace and wildness which it would have 
 been impossible for the hand of studied art to produce. 
 Other trees have been introduced within these last fifty 
 years, such as beeches, larches, limes, &c, and plant- 
 ations of Scotch firs, seldom with advantage, and often 
 with great injury to the appearance of the country ; but 
 the sycamore (which I believe was brought into this 
 island from Germany, not more than two hundred years 
 ago) has long been the favourite of the cottagers ; and, 
 with the Scotch fir, has been chosen to screen their 
 dwellings ; and is sometimes found in the fields whither 
 the winds or waters may have carried its seeds. 
 
 The want most felt, however, is that of timber trees. 
 There are few magnificent ones to be found near any of 
 the lakes ; and, unless greater care be taken, there 
 will in a short time scarcely be left an ancient oak that 
 would repay the cost of felling. The neighbourhood of 
 Rydal, notwithstanding the havoc which has been made, 
 is yet nobly distinguished. In the woods of Lowther, 
 also, is found an almost matchless store of the grandest 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES. 247 
 
 trees, and all the majesty and wildness of the native 
 forest. 
 
 Among the smaller vegetable ornaments provided 
 here by nature, must be reckoned the juniper, bilberry, 
 and the broom-plant, with which the hills and woods 
 abound ; the Dutch myrtle in moist places ; and the 
 endless variety of brilliant flowers in the fields and 
 meadows ; which, if the agriculture of the country were 
 more carefully attended to, would disappear. Nor can 
 I omit again to notice the lichens and mosses, — their 
 profusion, beauty, and variety exceed those of any other 
 country I have seen. 
 
 Thus far I have chiefly spoken of the features by 
 which Nature has discriminated this country from 
 others. I will now describe, in general terms, in what 
 manner it is indebted to the hand of man. What I 
 have to notice on this subject will emanate most easily 
 and perspicuously from a description of the ancient 
 and present inhabitants, their occupations, their con- 
 dition of life, the distribution of landed property among 
 them, and the tenure by which it is holden. 
 
 R 4 
 
248 DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 The reader will suffer me her© to recall to his mind 
 the shapes of the valleys and their position with respect 
 to each other, and the forms and substance of the in- 
 tervening mountains. He will people the valleys with 
 lakes and rivers ; the coves and sides of the moun« 
 tains with pools and torrents ; and will bound half of the 
 circle which we have contemplated by the sands of the 
 sea, or by the sea itself. He will conceive that, from 
 the point upon which he before stood, he looks down 
 upon this scene before the country had been penetra- 
 ted by any inhabitants : — to vary his sensations and to 
 break in upon their stillness, he will form to himself 
 an image of the tides visiting and re- visiting the Friths, 
 the main sea dashing against the bolder shore, the rivers 
 pursuing their course to be lost in the mighty mass of 
 waters. He may see or hear in fancy the winds sweep- 
 ing over the lakes, or piping with a loud voice among 
 the mountain peaks ; and, lastly, may think of the pri- 
 meval woods shedding and renewing their leaves with no 
 human eye to notice, or human heart to regret or wel- 
 come the change. " When the first settler^ entered this 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES. 249 
 
 region (says an animated writer) they found it over- 
 spread with wood ; forest trees, the fir, the oak, the 
 ash, and the birch, had skirted the fells, tufted the hills, 
 and shaded the valleys through centuries of silent soli- 
 tude ; the birds and beasts of prey reigned over the 
 meeker species ; and the helium inter omnia maintained 
 the balance of nature in the empire of beasts." 
 
 Such was the state and appearance of this region when 
 the aboriginal colonists of the Celtic tribes were first 
 driven or drawn towards it, and became joint tenants with 
 the wolf, the boar, the wild bull, the red deer, and the 
 leigh, a gigantic species of deer which has been long 
 extinct; while the inaccessible crags were occupied by 
 the falcon, the raven, and the eagle. The inner parts 
 were too secluded and of too little value to participate 
 much of the benefit of Roman manners ; and though 
 these conquerors encouraged the Britons to the improve- 
 ment of their lands in the plain country of Furness and 
 Cumberland, they seem to have had little connection 
 with the mountains, except for military purposes, or in 
 subservience to the profit they drew firom the mines. 
 
250 DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 When the Romans retired from Great Britain, it is 
 well known that these mountain fastnesses furnished a 
 protection to some unsubdued Britons, long after the 
 more accessible and more fertile districts had been seized 
 by the Saxon or Danish invader. A few though distinct 
 traces of Roman forts or camps, as at Ambleside, and 
 upon Dunmallet, and two or three circles of rude stones 
 attributed to the Druids, are the only vestiges that remain 
 upon the surface of the country, of these ancient occu- 
 pants ; and, as the Saxons and Danes, who succeeded to 
 the possession of the villages and hamlets which had been 
 established by the Britons, seem at first to have confined 
 themselves to the open country, — we may descend at 
 once to times long posterior to the conquest by the Nor- 
 mans when their feudal polity was regularly estabhshed. 
 We may easily conceive that these narrow dales and 
 mountain sides, choaked up as they must have been with 
 wood, lying out of the way of communication with other 
 parts of the Island, and upon the edge of a hostile king- 
 dom, could have little attraction for the high-born and 
 powerful ; especially as the more open parts of the 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES. 251 
 
 country furnished positions for castles and houses of de- 
 fence sufficient to repel any of those sudden attacks, 
 which, in the then rude state of military knowledge, could 
 be made upon theni. Accordingly, the more retired 
 regions (and, observe, it is to these I am now confining 
 myself) must have been neglected or shunned even by 
 the persons whose baronial or signioral rights extended 
 over them, and left, doubtless, partly as a place of re- 
 fuge for outlaws and robbers, and partly granted out for 
 the more settled habitation of a few vassals following the 
 employment of shepherds or woodlanders. Hence 
 these lakes and inner valleys are unadorned by any of 
 the remains of ancient grandeur, castles, or monastic 
 edifices, which are only found upon the skirts of this 
 country, as Furness Abbey, Calder Abbey, the 
 Priory of Lannercost, Gleaston Castle, — long ago a 
 residence of the Flemings, — and the numerous an- 
 cient castles of the Cliffords and the Dacres. On the 
 southern side of these mountains, [especially in that part 
 known by the name of Furness Fells, which is more 
 remote from the borders,) the state of society would ne- 
 
252 DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 cessarily be more settled ; though it was fashioned not a 
 little, with the rest of the country, by its neighbourhood 
 to a hostile kingdom. We will therefore give a sketch 
 of the oeconomy of the Abbots in the distribution of lands 
 among their tenants, as similar plans were doubtless 
 adopted by other Lords, and as the consequences have 
 affected the face of the country materially to the present 
 day, being in fact one of the principal causes which give 
 it such a striking superiority, in beauty and interest, 
 over all other parts of the island. 
 
 " When the Abbots of Furness," says an author 
 before cited, '' enfranchised their villains, and raised them 
 to the dignity of customary tenants, the lands, which 
 they had cultivated for their lord, were divided into 
 whole tenements ; each of which, besides the customary 
 annual rent, was charged with the obligation of having 
 in readiness a man completely armed for the king's 
 service on the borders, or elsewhere : each of these 
 whole tenements was again subdivided into four equal 
 parts ; each villain had one ; and the party tenant con- 
 tributed his share to the support of the man at arms, 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES. 253 
 
 and of other burdens. These divisions were not pro- 
 perly distinguished; the land remained mixed; each 
 tenant had a share throuo^h all the arable and meadow- 
 land, and common of pasture over all the wastes. These 
 sub-tenements were judged sufficient for the support of 
 so many families ; and no further division was permitted. 
 These divisions and sub-divisions were convenient at the 
 time for which they were calculated ; the land, so par- 
 celled out, was, of necessity, more attended to ; and 
 the industry greater, when more persons were to be 
 supported by the produce of it. The frontier of the 
 kingdom, within which Furness was considered, was in 
 a constant state of attack and defence ; more hands, 
 therefore, were necessary to guard the coast, to repel 
 an invasion from Scotland, or make reprisals on the 
 hostile neighbour. The dividing the lands in such 
 manner as has been shown, increased the number of 
 inhabitants, and kept them at home till called for ; and, 
 the land being mixed, and the several tenants united in 
 equipping the plough, the absence of the fourth man 
 was no prejudice to the cultivation of his land, which 
 was committed to the care of three. 
 
254^ DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 While the villains of Low Furness were thus distri- 
 buted over the land, and employed in agriculture ; those 
 of High Furness were charged with the care of flocks 
 and herds, to protect them from the wolves which 
 lurked in the thickets, and in winter to browse them 
 with the tender sprouts of hollies and ash. This custom 
 was not till lately discontinued in High Furness ; and 
 holly-trees were carefully preserved for that purpose 
 when all other wood was cleared off; large tracts of 
 common being so covered with these trees, as to have 
 the appearance of a forest of hollies. At the Shepherd's 
 call, the flocks surrounded the holly-bush, and received 
 the croppings at his hand, which they greedily nibbled 
 up, bleating for more. The Abbots of Furness enfran- 
 chised these pastoral vassals, and permitted them to 
 enclose quillets to their houses, for which they paid en- 
 croachment rent*'' — West's Antiquities of Furriess, 
 
 However desirable, for the purposes of defence, a 
 numerous population might be, it was not possible to 
 make at once the same numerous allotments among the 
 untilled valleys, and upon the sides of the mountains, as 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES. 255 
 
 had been made in the cultivated plains. The enfran- 
 chised shepherd, or woodlander, having chosen there 
 his place of residence, builds it of sods, or of the 
 mountain-stone, and, with the permission of his lord, 
 encloses, like Robinson Crusoe, a small croft or two 
 immediately at his door for such animals chiefly as he 
 wishes to protect. Others are happy to imitate his 
 example, and avail themselves of the same privileges ; 
 and thus a population, mainly of Danish or Norse ori- 
 gin, as the dialect indicates, crept on towards the more 
 secluded parts of the valleys. Chapels, daughters of 
 some distant mother church, are first erected in the 
 more open and fertile vales, as those of Bowness and 
 Grasmere, offsets of Kendal ; which again, after a 
 period, as the settled population increases, become 
 mother-churches to smaller edifices, scattered, at leno-th, 
 in almost every dale throughout the country. The en- 
 closures, formed by the tenantry, are for a long time 
 confined to the home-steads ; and the arable and meadow 
 land of the vales is possessed in common field ; the 
 several portions being marked out by stones, bushes, or 
 
256 DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 trees ; which portions, where the custom has survived, 
 to this day are called dales^ from the word deylen^ to 
 distribute ; but while the valley was thus lying open, 
 enclosures seem to have taken place upon the sides of 
 the mountains ; because the land there was not inter- 
 mixed, and was of little comparative value; and, therefore, 
 small opposition would be made to its being appropriated 
 by those to whose habitations it was contiguous. Hence 
 the singular appearance which the sides of many of 
 these mountains exhibit, intersected, as they are, al- 
 most to their summit, with stone walls, of which the 
 fences are always formed. When first erected, they 
 must have little disfigured the face of the country ; as 
 part of the lines would every where be hidden by the 
 quantity of native wood then remaining ; and the lines 
 would also be broken (as they still are) by the rocks 
 which interrupt and vary their course. In the mea- 
 dows, and in those parts of the lower grounds where 
 the soil has not been sufficiently drained, and could not 
 afford a stable foundation, there, when the increasing 
 value of land, and the inconvenience suffered from 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES. 25Y 
 
 intermixed plots of ground in common field, had in- 
 duced each inhabitant to inclose his own, they were 
 compelled to make the fences of alders, willows, and 
 other trees. These, where the native wood had 
 disappeared, have frequently enriched the valleys 
 with a sylvan appearance ; while the intricate inter- 
 mixture of property has given to the fences a grace- 
 ful irregularity, which, where large properties are 
 prevalent, and larger capitals employed in agricul- 
 ture, is unknown. This sylvan appearance is still 
 further heightened by the number of ash-trees which 
 have been planted in rows along the quick fences, and 
 along the walls, for the purpose of browzing cattle at 
 the approach of winter. The branches are lopped off 
 and strewed upon the pastures ; and, when the cattle 
 have stripped them of the leaves, they are used for 
 repairing hedges, or for fuel. 
 
 We have thus seen a numerous body of Dalesmen 
 creeping into possession of their home-steads, their little 
 crofts, their mountain-enclosures ; and, finally, the whole 
 vale is visibly divided ; except, perhaps, here and there 
 
258 DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 some marshy ground, which, till fully drained, would 
 not repay the trouble of enclosing. But these last par- 
 titions do not seem to have been general, till long after 
 the pacification of the Borders, by the union of the 
 two crowns ; when the cause, which had first deter- 
 mined the distribution of land into such small parcels, 
 had not only ceased, — but likewise a general improve- 
 ment had taken place in the country, wllli a corre- 
 spondent rise in the value of its produce. From the 
 time of the union, it is certain that this species of feudal 
 population would rapidly diminish. That it was for- 
 merly much more numerous than it is at present, is 
 evident from the multitude of tenements (I do not mean 
 houses, but small divisions of land,) which belonged 
 formerly each to its several proprietor, and for which 
 separate fines are paid to the manorial lord at this day: 
 These are often in the proportion of four to one, of the 
 present occupants. " Sir Launcelot Threlkeld, who 
 lived in the reign of Henry VII. was wont to say, he 
 had three noble houses, one for pleasure, Crosby, in 
 Westmoreland, where he had a park full of deer ; one 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES. 259 
 
 for profit and warmth, wherein to reside in winter, 
 namely, Yanwith, nigh Penrith ; and the third, Threl- 
 keld (on the edge of the vale of Keswick) well stocked 
 with tenants to go with him to the wars." But, as I 
 have said, from the union of the two crowns, this nu- 
 merous vassalage (their services not being wanted) would 
 rapidly diminish ; various tenements would be united in 
 one possessor ; and the aboriginal houses, probably 
 little better than hovels, like the kraels of savages, or 
 the huts of the Highlanders of Scotland, would many 
 of them fall into decay, and wholly disappear, while 
 the place of others v/as supplied by substantial and 
 comfortable buildings, a majority of which remain to 
 this day scattered over the valleys, and are in many the 
 only dwellings found in them. 
 
 From the time of the erection of these houses, till 
 within the last fifty years, the state of society, though 
 no doubt slowly and gradually improving, underwent no 
 material change. Corn was grown in these vales (through 
 which no carriage-road had been made) sufficient upon 
 each estate to furnish bread for each family, and no 
 
 s 2 
 
260 DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 more : notwithstanding the union of several tenements, 
 the possessions of each inhabitant still being small, in 
 the same field was seen an intermixture of different 
 crops ; and the plough was interrupted by little rocks, 
 mostly overgrown with wood, or by spongy places, which 
 the tillers of the soil had neither leisure nor capital to 
 convert into firm land. The storms and moisture of the 
 climate induced them to sprinkle their upland property 
 with outhouses of native stone, as places of shelter for 
 their sheep, where, in tempestuous weather, food was 
 distributed to them. Every family spun from its own 
 flock the wool with which it was clothed ; a weaver was 
 here and there found among them ; and the rest of their 
 wants were supplied by the produce of the yarn, which 
 they carded and spun in their own houses, and carried 
 to market, either under their arms, or more frequently 
 on pack-horses, a small train taking their way weekly 
 down the valley or over the mountains to the most com- 
 modious town. They had, as I have said, their rural 
 chapel, and of course their minister, in clothing or in 
 manner of life, in no respect differing from themselves, 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES. 261 
 
 except on the Sabbath-day; this was the sole distin- 
 guished individual among them ; every thing else, person 
 and possession, exhibited a perfect equality, a commu- 
 nity of shepherds and agriculturists, proprietors, for the 
 most part, of the lands which they occupied and 
 cultivated. 
 
 While the process above detailed was going on, the 
 native forest must have been every where receding ; but 
 trees were planted for the sustenance of the flocks in 
 winter, — such was then the rude state of agriculture ; 
 and, for the same cause, it was necessary that care should 
 be taken of some part of the growth of the native forest 
 Accordingly, in Queen Elizabeth's time, this was so 
 strongly felt, that a petition was made to the Crown, 
 praying, " that the Blomaries in high Furness might be 
 abolished, on account of the quantity of wood which was 
 consumed in them for the use of the mines, to the great 
 detriment of the cattle." But this same cause, about a 
 hundred years after, produced effects directly contrary 
 to those which had been deprecated. The re-estabhsh- 
 
 s 3 
 
262 DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 merit, at that period, of furnaces upon a large scale, 
 made it the interest of the people to convert the steeper 
 and more stony of the enclosures, sprinkled over with 
 remains of the native forest, into close woods, which, 
 when cattle and sheep were excluded, rapidly sowed and 
 thickened themselves. I have already directed the 
 reader's attention to the cause by which tufts of wood, 
 pasturage, meadow, and arable land, with its various 
 produce, are intricately intermingled in the same field, 
 and he will now see, in like manner, how enclosures 
 entirely of wood, and those of cultivated ground, are 
 blended all over the country under a law of similar 
 wildness. 
 
 An historic detail has thus been given of the manner 
 in which the hand of man has acted upon the surface of 
 the inner regions of this mountainous country, as incor- 
 porated with and subservient to the powers and processes 
 of nature. We will now take a view of the same agency 
 acting, within narrower bounds, for the production of the 
 few works of art and accommodations of life which, in so 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES. 26S 
 
 simple a state of society, could be necessary. These 
 are merely habitations of man and coverts for beasts, 
 roads and bridges, and places of worship. 
 
 And to begin with the Cottages. They are scat- 
 tered over the valleys, and under the hill sides, and on 
 the rocks ; and, even to this day, in the more retired dales, 
 without any intrusion of more assuming buildings. 
 
 Clustered like stars some few, but single most, 
 And lurking dimly in their shy retreats, 
 Or glancing on each other cheerful looks, 
 
 Like separated stars with clouds between. 
 
 MS.- 
 
 The dwelling-houses, and contiguous outhouses, are, in 
 many instances, of the colour of the native rock, out of 
 which they have been built ; but, frequently the dwelling- 
 house has been distinguished from the barn and byer by 
 roughcast and white wash, which, as the inhabitants are 
 not hasty in renewing it, in a few years acquires, by the 
 influence of weather, a tint at once sober and variegated. 
 As these houses have been from father to son inhabited 
 by persons engaged in the same occupations, yet neces- 
 
 s 4 
 
264 DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 sarily with changes in their circumstances, they have re- 
 ceived additions and accommodations adapted to the 
 needs of each successive occupant, who, being for the 
 most part proprietor, was at liberty to follow his own 
 fancy ; so that these humble dwellings remind the con- 
 templative spectator of a production of nature, and may 
 (using a strong expression) rather be said to have grown 
 than to have been erected ; — to have risen by an instinct 
 of their own out of the native rock ! so little is there in 
 them of formality; such is their wildness and beauty. 
 Among the numerous recesses and projections in the 
 walls and in the different stages of their roofs, are seen 
 the boldest and most harmonious effects of contrasted 
 sunshine and shadow. It is a favourable circumstance, 
 that the strong winds, which sweep down the valleys, 
 induced the inhabitants, at a time when the materials for 
 building were easily procured, to furnish many of these 
 dwellings with substantial porches; and such as have 
 not this defence, are seldom unprovided with a projection 
 of two large slates over their thresholds. Nor will the 
 singular beauty of the chimneys escape the eye of the at- 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES, 265 
 
 tentive traveller. Sometimes a low chimney, almost 
 upon a level with the roof, is overlaid with a slate, sup- 
 ported upon four slender pillars, to prevent the wind 
 from driving the smoke down the chimney. Others are 
 of a quadrangular shape, rising one or two feet above 
 the roof; which low square is often surmounted by a tall 
 cylinder, giving to the cottage chimney the most beau^ 
 tiful shape in which it is ever seen. Nor will it be too 
 fanciful or refined to remark, that there is a pleasing 
 harmony between a tall chimney of this circular form, 
 and the living column of smoke, through the still air 
 ascending from it. These dwellings, as has been said, 
 are built of rough unhewn stone ; and they are roofed 
 with slates, which were rudely taken from the quarry 
 before the present art of splitting them was understood, 
 and are therefore rough and uneven in their surfaces, so 
 that both the coverings and sides of the houses have fur- 
 nished places of rest for the seeds of lichens, mosses, 
 ferns, and flowers. Hence buildings, which, in their 
 very form call to mind the processes of nature, do thus, 
 clothed with this vegetable garb, appear to be received 
 
266 DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 into the bosom of the living principle of things, as it acts 
 and exists among the woods and fields; and, by their 
 colour and their shape, alfectingly direct the thoughts to 
 that tranquil course of nature and simplicity, along which 
 the humble-minded inhabitants have through so many ge- 
 nerations been led. Add the little garden with its shed for 
 bee-hives, its small beds of pot-herbs, and its borders and 
 patches of flowers for Sunday posies, with sometimes a 
 choice few too much prized to be plucked ; an orchard 
 of proportioned size ; a cheese-press, often supported by 
 some tree near the door ; a cluster of embowering syca- 
 mores for summer shade ; with a tall Scotch fir, through 
 which the winds sing when other trees are leafless ; 
 the little rill or household spout murmuring in all sea- 
 sons ; — combine these incidents and images together, 
 and you have the representative idea of a mountain- 
 cottage in this country so beautifully formed in itself, 
 and so richly adorned by the hand of nature. 
 
 Till within the last fifty years there was no conunu- 
 nication between any of these vales by carriage-roads ; 
 all bulky articles were transported on pack-horses. 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES. 267 
 
 Owing, however, to the population not being concen- 
 trated in villages but scattered, the valleys themselves 
 were intersected as now by innumerable lanes and path- 
 ways leading from house to house and from field to field. 
 These lanes, where they are fenced by stone walls, are 
 mostly bordered with ashes, hazels, wild roses, and beds 
 of tall fern, at their base ; while the walls themselves if 
 old are overspread with mosses, small ferns, wild straw- 
 berries, the geranium, and lichens ; and if the wall hap- 
 pen to rest against a bank of earth, it is sometimes 
 almost wholly concealed by a rich facing of stone-fern. 
 It is a great advantage to a traveller or resident, that 
 these numerous lanes and paths, if he be a zealous ad- 
 mirer of nature, will introduce him, nay, will lead him 
 on into all the recesses of the country, so that the hidden 
 treasures of its landscapes will by an ever-ready guide 
 be laid open to his eyes. 
 
 Likewise to the smallness of the several properties is 
 owing the great number of bridges over the brooks 
 and torrents, and the daring and graceful neglect of 
 danger or accommodation with which so many of them 
 
268 . DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 are constructed, the rudeness of the forms of some, and 
 their endless variety. But, when I speak of this rude- 
 ness, I must at the same time add that many of these 
 structures are in themselves models of elegance, as if 
 they had been formed upon principles of the most 
 thoughtful architecture. It is to be regretted that these 
 monuments of the skill of our ancestors, and of that 
 happy instinct by which consummate beauty was pro- 
 duced, are disappearing fast; but sufficient specimens 
 remain to give a high gratification to the man of genuine 
 taste. Such travellers as may not be accustomed to pay 
 attention to these things, will excuse me if I point out 
 the proportion between the span and elevation of the 
 arch, the lightness of the parapet, and the graceful 
 manner in which its curve follows faithfully that of the 
 arch. 
 
 Upon this subject I have nothing further to notice, 
 except the places of worship, which have mostly a little 
 school-house adjoining. The architecture of these 
 churches and chapels, where they have not been recently 
 rebuilt or modernised, is of a style not less appropriate 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES. 269 
 
 and admirable than that of the dwelling-houses and 
 other structures. How sacred the spirit by which our 
 forefathers were directed ! The religio loci is no where 
 outraged by these unstinted, yet unpretending, works 
 of human hands. They exhibit generally a well-pro- 
 portioned oblong with a suitable porch, in some instances 
 a steeple tower, and in others nothing more than a small 
 belfry in which one or two bells hang visibly. — But 
 these objects, though pleasing in their forms, must ne- 
 cessarily, more than others in rural scenery, derive their 
 interest from the sentiments of piety and reverence for 
 the modest virtues and simple manners of humble life 
 with which they may be contemplated. A man must be 
 very insensible who would not be touched with pleasure 
 at the sight of the chapel of Bultermere, so strikingly 
 expressing by its diminutive size how small must be the 
 congregation there assembled, as it were, like one family ; 
 and proclaiming at the same time to the passenger, in 
 connection with the surrounding mountains, the depth of 
 that seclusion in which the people live that has rendered 
 necessary the building of a separate place of worship for 
 
270 DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 so few. A Patriot, calling to mind the images of the 
 stately fabrics of Canterbury, York, or Westminster, 
 will find a heart-felt satisfaction in presence of this lowly 
 pile, as a monument of the wise institutions of our 
 country, and as evidence of the all-pervading and pater- 
 nal care of that venerable Establishment of which it is 
 perhaps the humblest daughter. — The edifice is scarcely 
 larger than many of the single stones or fragments of 
 rock which are scattered near it. 
 
 We have thus far confined our observations on this 
 division of the subject to that part of these Dales which 
 runs up far into the mountains. In addition to such 
 objects as have been hitherto described, it may be men- 
 tioned that, as we descend towards the open part of the 
 Vales, we meet with the remains of ancient Parks, and 
 with old Mansions of more stately architecture ; and it 
 may be observed that to these circumstances the country 
 owes whatever ornament it retains of majestic and fiiU- 
 grown timber, as the remains of the park of the ancient 
 family of the RatclifFs at Der went- water, Gowbray- 
 park, and the venerable woods of Rydal. Through the 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES. 271 
 
 open parts of the vales are scattered, with more spacious 
 domains attached to them, houses of a middle rank, 
 between the pastoral cottage and the old hall-residence 
 of the more wealthy Estatesman, 
 
 Thus has been given a faithful description, the mi- 
 nuteness of which the reader will pardon, of the face of 
 this country as it was, and had been through centuries, 
 till within the last fifty years. Towards the head of 
 these Dales was found a perfect Republic of Shepherds 
 and Agriculturalists, among whom the plough of each 
 man was confined to the maintenance of his own family, 
 or to the occasional accommodation of his neighbour. 
 Two or three cows furnished each family with milk and 
 cheese. The Chapel was the only edifice that presided 
 over these dwellings, the supreme head of this pure Com- 
 monwealth ; the members of which existed in the midst 
 of a powerful empire, like an ideal society or an organised 
 community, whose constitution had been imposed and 
 regulated by the mountains which protected it. Neither 
 Knight, nor Esquire, nor high-born Nobleman, was here; 
 but many of these humble sons of the hills had a con- 
 
272 DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 sciousness that the land, which they walked over and 
 tilled, had for more than five hundred years been pos- 
 sessed by men of their name and blood ; — and venerable 
 was the transition, when a curious traveller, descending 
 from the heart of the mountains, had come to some 
 ancient manorial residence in the more open parts of the 
 Vales, which, through the rights attached to its pro- 
 prietor, connected the almost visionary mountain Re- 
 public he had been contemplating with the substantial 
 frame of society as existing in the laws and constitution 
 of a mighty empire. 
 
 Such, as I have said, was the appearance of things till 
 within these last fifty years. A practice, by a strange 
 abuse of terms denominated Ornamental Gardening, was 
 at that time becoming prevalent over England. In 
 union with an admiration of this art and in some in- 
 stances in opposition to it, had been generated a relish 
 for select parts of natural scenery ; and Travellers instead 
 of confining their observations to Towns, Manufactories, 
 or Mines, began (a thing till then unheard of) to wander 
 over the Island in search of sequestered spots distin- 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES. 273 
 
 guisbed, as they might accidentally have learned, for the 
 sublimity or beauty of the forms of Nature there to be 
 seen. — Dr. Brown, the celebrated Author of the Estimate 
 of the Manners and Principles of the Times, published 
 a letter to a Friend in which the attractions of the Vale 
 of Keswick were delineated with a powerilil pencil, and 
 the feeling of a genuine Enthusiast. Gray the Poet 
 followed ; he died soon after his forlorn and melancholy 
 pilgrimage to the Vale of Keswick, and the record left 
 behind him of what he had seen and felt in this journey 
 excited that pensive interest with which the human mind 
 is ever disposed to listen to the farewell words of a Man 
 of genius. The journal of Gray feelingly show^ed how the 
 gloom of ill health and low spirits had been irradiated 
 by objects, which the Author's powers of mind enabled 
 him to describe with distir\ctness and unaffected simpli- 
 city. Every reader of this journal musthave been impressed 
 with the words that conclude his notice of the Vale of 
 Grasmere — " Not a single red tile, no flaring gentle- 
 man's house or garden-wall, breaks in upon the repose 
 of this little unsuspected paradise; but all is peace, 
 
 T 
 
274 DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 rusticity, and happy poverty in its neatest and most 
 becoming attire." 
 
 What is here so justly said of Grasmere applied 
 almost equally to all its sister Vales. It was well for 
 the undisturbed pleasure of the Poet that he had no 
 forebodings of the change which was soon to take place ; 
 and it might have been hoped that these words, indi- 
 cating how much the charm of what was^ depended upon 
 what was not, would of themselves have preserved the 
 ancient franchises of this and other kindred mountain 
 retirements from trespass ; or, (shall I dare to say ?) 
 would have secured scenes so consecrated from profan- 
 ation. The lakes had now become celebrated ; visitors 
 flocked hither from all parts of England ; the fancies 
 of some were smitten so deeply, that they became set- 
 tlers ; and the Islands of Derwent- water and Winander- 
 mere, as they offered the strongest temptation, were the 
 first places seized upon, and were instantly defaced by 
 the intrusion. 
 
 The venerable wood that had grown for centuries 
 round the small house called St. Herbert's Hermitao-e, 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES. 275 
 
 had indeed some years before been felled by its native 
 proprietor, and the whole island had been planted 
 anew with Scotch firs left to spindle up by each other's 
 side — a melancholy phalanx, defying the power of the 
 winds, and disregarding the regret of the spectator, who 
 might otherwise have cheated himself into a belief, that 
 some of the decayed remains of those oaks, the place of 
 which is in this manner usurped, had been planted by 
 the Hermit's own hand. Comparatively, however, this 
 sainted spot suffered little injury. The Hind's Cottage 
 upon Vicar's island, in the same lake, with its embower- 
 ing sycamores and cattle shed, disappeared, at the bid- 
 ding of an alien improver, from the corner where they 
 had stood ; and right in the middle, and upon the precise 
 point of the island's highest elevation, rose a tall square 
 habitation, with four sides exposed, like an observatory, 
 or a warren-house reared upon an eminence for the de- 
 tection of depredators, or, like the temple of QEolus, 
 where all the winds pay him obeisance. Round this 
 novel structure, but at respectful distance, platoons of 
 firs were stationed, as if to protect their commander when 
 weather and time should somewhat have shattered his 
 
 T 2 
 
276 DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 strength. Within the narrow limits of this island were 
 typified also the state and strength of a kingdom, and .its 
 religion as it had been and was, — for neither was the 
 druidical circle uncreated, nor the church of the present 
 establishment ; nor the stately pier, emblem of commerce 
 and navigation ; nor the fort, to deal out thunder upon 
 the approaching invader. The taste of a succeeding 
 proprietor rectified the mistakes as far as was practicable, 
 and has ridded the spot of all its puerilities. The 
 church, after having been docked of its steeple, is ap- 
 plied, both ostensibly and really, to the purpose for which 
 the body of the pile was actually erected, namely, a boat- 
 house ; the fort is demolished, and, without indignation 
 on the part of the spirits of the ancient Druids who offi- 
 ciated at the circle upon the opposite hill, the mimic ar- 
 rangement of stones, witli its sanctum sanctornmiy has 
 been swept away. 
 
 The present instance has been singled out, extravagant 
 as it is, because, unquestionably, thisbeautiful country has, 
 in numerous other places, suffered from the same spirit, 
 though not clothed exactly in the same form, nor active in 
 an equal degree. It will be sufficient here to utter a regret 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES. 277 
 
 for the changes that have been made upon the principal 
 Island at Winandermere, and in its neighbourhood. What 
 could be more unfortunate than the taste that suggested the 
 paring of the shores, and surrounding with an embankment 
 this spot of ground, the natural shape of which was so 
 beautiful ! An artificial appearance has thus been given to 
 the whole, while infinite varieties of minute beauty have 
 been destroyed. Could not the margin of this noble 
 island be given back to nature ? Winds and waves 
 work with a careless and graceful hand ; and, should 
 they in some places carry away a portion of the soil, the 
 trifling loss would be amply compensated by the addi- 
 tional spirit, dignity, and loveliness, which these agents 
 and the other powers of nature would soon communicate 
 to what was left behind. As to the larch-plantations 
 upon the main shore, — they who remember the original 
 appearance of the rocky steeps scattered over with native 
 hollies and ash-trees, will be prepared to agree with 
 what I shall have to say hereafter upon plantations in 
 
 general. 
 
 But, in truth, no one can now travel through the more 
 
 T 3 
 
278 DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 frequented tracts, without being offended at almost every 
 turn by an introduction of discordant objects, disturbing 
 that peaceful harmony of form and colour which had 
 been through a long lapse of ages most happily pre- 
 served. 
 
 All gross transgressions of this kind originate, doubt- 
 less, in a feeling natural and honourable to the human 
 mind, viz. the pleasure which it receives from distinct 
 ideas, and from the perception of order, regularity, and 
 contrivance. Now, unpractised minds receive these 
 impressions only from objects that are divided from 
 each other by strong lines of demarcation ; hence the 
 delight with which such minds are smitten by formality 
 and harsh contrast. But I would beg of those who 
 are eager to create the means of such gratification, 
 first carefully to study what already exists; and they 
 will find, in a country so lavishly gifted by nature, an 
 abundant variety of forms marked out with a precision 
 that will satisfy their desires. Moreover, a new habit 
 of pleasure will be formed opposite to this, arising out 
 of the perception of the fine gradations by which in 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES. 279 
 
 nature one thing passes away into another, and the 
 boundaries that constitute individuality, disappear in 
 one instance, only to be revived elsewhere under a more 
 alluring form. The hill of Dunmallet, at the foot of 
 Ulswater, was once divided into different portions, by 
 avenues of fir-trees, with a green and almost perpendi- 
 cular lane descending down the steep hill through each 
 avenue ; — contrast this quaint appearance with the image 
 of the same hill overgrown with self-planted wood, — 
 each tree springing up in the situation best suited to 
 its kind, and with that shape which the situation con- 
 strained or suffered it to take. What endless melting 
 and playing into each other of forms and colours does 
 the one offer to a mind at once attentive and active ; 
 and how insipid and lifeless, compared with it, appear , 
 those parts of the former exhibition with which a child, 
 a peasant perhaps, or a citizen unfamiliar with natural 
 imagery, would have been most delighted ! 
 
 I cannot, however, omit observing, that the disfigure- 
 ment which this country has undergone, has not pro- 
 ceeded wholly from those common feelings of human 
 
 T 4 
 
280 DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 nature which have been referred to as the primary sources 
 of bad taste in rural scenery; another cause must 
 be added, which has chiefly shown itself in its effect 
 upon buildings. I mean "^a warping of the natural 
 mind occasioned by a consciousness that, this country 
 being an object of general admiration, every new house 
 would be looked at and commented upon either for 
 approbation or censure. Hence all the deformity and 
 ungracefulness that ever pursue the steps of constraint 
 or affectation. Men, who in Leicestershire or North- 
 amptonshire would probably have built a modest dwell- 
 ing like those of their sensible neighbours, have been 
 turned out of their course ; and, acting a part, no won- 
 der if, having had little experience, they act it ill. The 
 craving for prospect also, which is immoderate, parti- 
 cularly in new settlers, has rendered it impossible that 
 buildings, whatever might have been their architecture, 
 should in most instances be ornamental to the landscape ; 
 rising as they do from the summits of naked hills in 
 staring contrast to the snugness and privacy of the an- 
 cient houses. 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES. 281 
 
 No man is to be condemned for a desire to decorate 
 his residence and possessions ; feeling a disposition to 
 applaud such an endeavour, I would show how the endmay 
 be best attained. The rule is simple ; with respect to 
 grounds — work, where you can, in the spirit of nature 
 with an invisible hand of art. Planting, and a removal 
 of wood, may thus and thus only be carried on with 
 good effect ; and the like may be said of building, if An- 
 tiquity, who may be styled the co-partner and sister of 
 Nature, be not denied the respect to which she is entitled. 
 I have already spoken of the beautiful forms of the an- 
 cient mansions of this country, and of the happy manner 
 in which they harmonise with the forms of nature. Why 
 cannot these be taken as a model, and modern internal 
 convenience be confined within their external grace and 
 dignity ? Expense to be avoided, or difficulties to be 
 overcome, may prevent a close adherence to this model ; 
 still, however, it might be followed to a certain degree 
 in the style of architecture and in the choice of situation, 
 if the thirst for prospect were mitigated by those con- 
 siderations of comfort, shelter, and convenience, which 
 
282 DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 used to be chiefly sought after. But, should an aversion 
 to old fashions unfortunately exist, accompanied with a 
 desire to transplant into the cold and stormy North, the 
 elegancies of a villa formed upon a model taken from 
 countries with a milder climate, I will adduce a passage 
 from an English poet, the divine Spenser, which will 
 show in what manner such a plan may be realised with- 
 out injury to the native beauty of these scenes. 
 
 *' Into that forest farre they thence him led, 
 
 Where was their dwelling in a pleasant glade 
 
 With MOUNTAINS round about environed, 
 
 And MIGHTY WOODS which did the valley shade, 
 
 And like a stately theatre it made, 
 
 Spreading itself into a spacious plaine ; 
 
 And in the midst a little river plaide 
 
 Emongst the pumy stones which seem'd to 'plaine 
 
 With gentle murmure that his course they did restraine. 
 
 Beside the same a dainty place there lay. 
 
 Planted with mirtle trees and laurels green, 
 
 In which the birds sang many a lovely lay 
 
 Of God's high praise, and of their sweet loves teene, 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES. . 28S 
 
 As it an earthly paradise had beene ; ■ 
 
 In whose enclosed shadotv there was pight 
 
 A fair pavilion, scarcely to be seen, 
 
 The which was all within most richly dight, 
 
 That greatest princes living it mote well delight." 
 
 Houses or mansions suited to a mountainous region, 
 should be " not obvious, nor obtrusive, but retired ;" 
 and the reasons for this rule, though they have been 
 little adverted to, are evident. Mountainous coun- 
 tries, more frequently and forcibly than others, remind 
 us of the power of the elements, as manifested in winds, 
 snows, and torrents, and accordingly make the notion 
 of exposure very unpleasing ; while shelter and comfort 
 are in proportion necessary and acceptable. Far-winding 
 valleys difficult of access, and the feelings of simplicity 
 habitually connected with mountain retirements, prompt 
 us to turn from ostentation as a thing there eminently 
 unnatural and out of place. A mansion, amid such 
 scenes, can never have sufficient dignity or interest to 
 become principal in the landscape, and render the moun- 
 tains, lakesf or torrents by which it may be surrounded. 
 
^84. DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 a subordinate part of the view. It is, I grant, easy to 
 conceive, that an ancient castellated building, hanging 
 over a precipice or raised upon an island, or the peninsula 
 of a lake, like that of Kilchurn Castle, upon Loch Awe, 
 may not want, whether deserted or inhabited, sufficient 
 majesty to preside for a moment in the spectator's thoughts 
 over the high mountains among which it is embosomed ; 
 but its titles are from antiquity — a power readily sub- 
 mitted to upon occasion as the vicegerent of Nature: it 
 is respected, as having owed its existence to the neces- 
 sities of things, as a monument of security in times of 
 disturbance and danger long passed-away, — as a record 
 of the pomp and violence of passion, and a symbol of 
 the wisdom of law ; — it bears a countenance of autho- 
 rity, which is not impaired by decay. 
 
 " Child of loud-throated war; the mountain-stream 
 
 Roars in thy hearing ; but thy hour of rest 
 
 Is come, and thou art silent in thy age !" MS. 
 
 To such honours a modern edifice can lay no claim ; and 
 the puny efforts of elegance appear contemptible, when, 
 in such situations, they are obtruded in rivalship with 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES. ^85 
 
 the sublimities of Nature. But, towards the verge of 
 a district Uke this of which we are treating, where the 
 mountains subside into hills of moderate elevation, or 
 in an undulating or flat country, a gentleman's mansion 
 may, with propriety, become a principal feature in the 
 landscape; and, itself being a work of art, works and 
 traces of artificial ornament may, without censure, be 
 extended around it, as they will be referred to the 
 common centre, the house ; the right of which to im- 
 press within certain limits a character of obvious orna- 
 ment will not be denied, where no commanding forms of 
 nature dispute it, or set it aside. Now, to a want of the 
 perception of this difference, and to the causes before 
 assigned, may chiefly be attributed the disfigurement 
 which the Country of the Lakes has undergone, from 
 persons who may have built, demolished, and planted, 
 with full confidence, that every change and addition was 
 or would become an improvement. 
 
 The principle that ought to determine the position, 
 apparent size, and architecture of a house, viz. that it 
 should be so constructed, and (if large) so much of it 
 
286 DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 hidden, as to admit of its being gently incorporated into 
 the scenery of nature — should also determine its colour. 
 Sir Joshua Reynolds used to say, " if you would fix 
 upon the best colour for your house, turn up a stone, 
 or pluck up a handful of grass by the roots, and see 
 what is the colour of the soil where the house is to stand, 
 and let that be your choice." Of course, this precept, 
 given in conversation, could not have been meant to be 
 taken literally. For example, in Low Furness, where 
 the soil, from its strong impregnation with iron, is uni- 
 versally of a deep red, if this rule were strictly followed, 
 the house also must be of a glaring red ; in other places 
 it must be of a sullen black ; which would only be adding 
 annoyance to annoyance. The rule, however, as a ge- 
 neral guide, is good; and, in agricultural districts, 
 where large tracts of soil are laid bare by the plough, 
 particularly if (the face of the country being undulating) 
 they are held up to view, this rule, though not to be im- 
 plicitly adhered to, should never be lost sight of; — the 
 colour of the house ought, if possible, to have a cast or 
 shade of the colour of the soil. The principle is, that 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES. 287 
 
 the house must harmonise with the surroundinir land- 
 scape : accordingly, in mountainous countries, with still 
 more confidence may it be said, " look at the rocks and 
 those parts of the mountains where the soil is visible, and 
 they will furnish a safe direction." Nevertheless, it will 
 often happen that the rocks may bear so large a propor- 
 tion to the rest of the landscape, and may be of such a 
 tone of colour, that the rule may not admit even here 
 of being implicitly followed. For instance, the chief 
 defect in the colouring of the Country of the Lakes, 
 (which is most strongly felt in the summer season) is an 
 over-prevalence of a bluish tint, which the green of the 
 herbage, the fern, and the woods, does not sufficiently 
 counteract. If a house, therefore, should stand where 
 this defect prevails, I have no hesitation in saying, that 
 the colour of the neighbouring rocks would not be the 
 best that could be chosen. A tint ought to be introduced 
 approaching nearer to those which, in the technical lan- 
 guage of painters, are called warm: this, if happily 
 selected, would not disturb but would animate the land- 
 scape. How often do we see this exemplified upon a 
 
288 DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 small scale by the native cottages, in cases where the 
 ^ glare of white-wash has been subdued by time and en- 
 riched by weather-stains ! ' No harshness is then seen ; 
 but one of these cottages, thus coloured, will often form a 
 central point to a landscape by which the whole shall be 
 connected, and an influence of pleasure diffused over all 
 the objects that compose the picture. But where the 
 cold blue tint of the rocks is enriched by the iron tinge, 
 the colour cannot be too closely imitated ; and it will be 
 produced of itself by the stones hewn from the adjoining 
 quarry, and by the mortar, which may be tempered with 
 the most gravelly part of the soil. The pure blue gravel, 
 from the bed of the river, is, however, more suitable to 
 the mason's purpose, who will probably insist also that 
 the house must be covered with rough-cast, otherwise it 
 cannot be kept dry ; if this advice be taken, the builder 
 of taste will set about contriving such means as iTiay 
 enable him to come the nearest to the effect aimed at. 
 
 The supposed necessity of rough-cast to keep out rain 
 in houses not built of hewn stone or brick, has tended 
 greatly to injure English landscape, and the neighbour- 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES. 289 
 
 hood of these Lakes especially, by furnishing such apt 
 occasion for whiteninoj buildino;s. That white should be 
 a favourite colour for rural residences is natural for many 
 reasons. The mere aspect of cleanliness and neatness 
 thus given, not only to an individual house, but, where 
 the practice is general, to the whole face of the country, 
 produces moral associations so powerful, that, in the 
 minds of many, they take place of every other relating 
 to such objects. But what has already been said upon 
 the subject of cottages, must have convinced men of 
 feeling and imagination, that a human habitation of the 
 humblest class may be rendered more deeply interesting 
 to the affections, and far more pleasing to the eye, by 
 other influences than a sprightly tone of colour spread 
 over its outside. I do not, however, mean to deny, that 
 a small white building, embowered in trees, may, in 
 some situations, be a delightful and animating object — 
 in no way injurious to the landscape; but this only, 
 where it sparkles from the midst of a thick shade, and 
 in rare and solitary instances ; especially if the country 
 be itself rich, and pleasing, and full of grand forms. On 
 
 u 
 
290 DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 the sides of bleak and desolate moors, we are indeed 
 thankful for the sight of white cottages and white houses 
 plentifully scattered, where, without these, perhaps every 
 thing would be cheerless : this is said, however, with 
 hesitation, and with a wilful sacrifice of some higher enjoy- 
 ments. But I have certainly seen such buildings glitter- 
 ing at sunrise, and in wandering lights, with no common 
 pleasure. The continental traveller also will remember, 
 that the convents hanging from the rocks of the Rhine, 
 the Rhone, the Danube, or among the Appenines or the 
 mountains of Spain, are not looked at with less com- 
 placency when, as is often the case, they happen to be 
 of a brilliant white. But this is perhaps owing, in no 
 small degree, to the contrast of that lively colour with 
 the gloom of monastic life, and to the general want of 
 rural residences of smiling and attractive appearance, in 
 those countries. 
 
 The objections to white, as a colour, in large spots 
 or masses in landscapes, especially in a mountainous 
 country, are insurmountable. In nature, pure white is 
 scarcely ever found but in small objects, such as 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES. t^91 
 
 flowers ; or in those which are transitory, as the clouds, 
 foam of rivers, and snow. Mr. Gilpin, who notices 
 this, has also recorded the just remark of Mr. Locke, 
 of N , that white destroys the gradations of dis- 
 tance ; and, therefore, an object of pure white can 
 scarcely ever be managed with good effect in landscape- 
 painting. Five or six white houses, scattered over a 
 valley, by their obtrusiveness, dot the surface, and di- 
 vide it into triangles, or other mathematical figures, 
 haunting the eye, and disturbing that repose which 
 might otherwise be perfect. I have seen a single white 
 house materially impair the majesty of a mountain ; 
 cutting away, by a harsh separation, the whole of its 
 base, below the point on which the house stood. Thus 
 was the apparent size of the mountain reduced, not by 
 the interposition of another object in a manner to call 
 forth the imagination, which will give more than the 
 eye loses ; but what had been abstracted in this case 
 was left visible ; and the mountain appeared to take its 
 beginning, or to rise from the line of the house, instead 
 of its own natural base. But, if I may express my own 
 
 u 2 
 
292 DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 individual feeling, it is after sunset, at the coming on 
 of twilight, that white objects are most to be complained 
 of. The solemnity and quietness of nature at that time 
 are always marred, and often destroyed by them. When 
 the ground is covered with snow, they are of course 
 inoifensive ; and in moonshine they are always pleasing 
 — it is a tone of light with which they accord ; and the 
 dimness of the scene is enlivened by an object at once 
 conspicuous and cheerful. I will conclude this subject 
 with noticing, that the cold, slaty colour, which many 
 persons, who have heard the white condemned, have 
 adopted in its stead, must be disapproved of for the 
 reason already given. The flaring yellow runs into 
 the opposite extreme, and is still more censurable. 
 Upon the whole, the safest colour, for general use, is 
 something between a cream and a dust-colour, commonly 
 called stone-colour ; — there are, among the Lakes, ex- 
 amples of this that need not be pointed out. 
 
 The principle taken as our guide, viz. that the house 
 should be so formed, and of such apparent size and 
 colour, as to admit of its being gently incorporated with 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES. 293 
 
 the scenery of nature, should also be applied to the 
 management of the grounds and plantations, and is 
 here more urgently needed ; for it is from abuses in this 
 department, far more even than from the introduction 
 of exotics in architecture (if the phrase may be used) 
 that this country has suffered. Larch and fir plant- 
 ations have been spread every where, not merely with a 
 view to profit, but in many instances for the sake 
 of ornament. To those who plant for profit, and are 
 thrusting every other tree out of the way to make room 
 for their favourite, the larch, I would utter first a regret 
 that they should have selected these lovely vales for 
 their vegetable manufactory, when there is so much 
 barren and irreclaimable land in the neighbouring moors, 
 and in other parts of the Island, which might have been 
 had for this purpose at a far cheaper rate. And I 
 will also beg leave to represent to them, that they ought 
 not to be carried away by flattering promises from the 
 speedy growth of this tree ; because, in rich soils and 
 sheltered situations, the wood, though it thrives fast, is 
 full of sap, and of little value ; and is, likewise, very 
 
 u 3 
 
294 DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 subject to ravage from the attacks of insects, and from 
 blight. Accordingly, in Scotland, where planting is 
 much better understood, and carried on upon an in- 
 comparably larger scale than among us, good soil and 
 sheltered situations are appropriated to the oak, the 
 ash, and other deciduous trees ; and the larch is now 
 generally confined to barren and exposed ground. There 
 the plant, which is a hardy one, is of slower growth ; 
 much less liable to injury ; and the timber is of better 
 quality. But there are many, whose circumstances 
 permit them, and whose taste leads them, to plant with 
 little regard to ' profit ; and others, less wealthy, who 
 have such a lively feeling of the native beauty of these 
 scenes, that they are laudably not unwilling to make 
 some sacrifices to heighten it. Both these classes of 
 persons, I would entreat to enquire of themselves 
 wherein that beauty which they admire consists. They 
 would then see that, after the feeling has been gratified 
 that prompts us to gather round our dwelling a few 
 flowers and shrubs, which, from the circumstance of 
 their not being native, may, by their very looks, 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES. 295 
 
 remind us that tliey owe their existence to our hands, 
 and their prosperity to our care ; they will see that, after 
 this natural desire has been provided for, the course of 
 all beyond has been predetermined by the spirit of the 
 place. Before I proceed with this subject, I will pre- 
 pare my way with a remark of general application, 
 by reminding those who are not satisfied with the 
 restraint thus laid upon them, that they are liable to a 
 charge of inconsistency, when they are so eager to 
 <;hange the face of that country, whose native attractions, 
 by the act of erecting their habitations in it, they have 
 so emphatically acknowledged. And surely there is not 
 in this country a single spot that would not have, if well 
 managed, sufficient dignity to support itself, unaided by 
 the productions of other climates, or by elaborate de- 
 corations which might be becoming elsewhere. 
 
 But to return; — having adverted to the considerations 
 that justify the introduction of a few exotic plants, pro- 
 vided they be confined almost to the doors of the house, 
 we may add, that a transition should be contrived with- 
 out abruptness, from these foreigners to the rest of the 
 
 u 4? 
 
296 DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 shrubs, which ought to be of the kinds scattered by 
 Nature through the woods — holly, broom, wild-rose, 
 elder, dogberry, white and black thorn, &c. either 
 these only, or such as are carefully selected in conse- 
 quence of their uniting in form, and harmonising in 
 colour with them, especially with respect to colour, 
 when the tints are most diversified, as in autumn and 
 spring. The various sorts of fruit-and-blossom-bearing 
 trees usually found in orchards, to which may be added 
 those of the woods, — namely, the wilding, black cherry 
 tree, and wild cluster-cherry (here called heck-berry), 
 may be happily admitted as an intermediate link between 
 the shrubs and the forest trees ; which last ought almost 
 entirely to be such as are natives of the country. Of 
 the birch, one of the most beautiful of the native trees, 
 it may be noticed, that, in dry and rocky situations, it 
 outstrips even the larch, which many persons are tempted 
 to plant merely on account of the speed of its growth. 
 Sycamore, and the Scotch fir (which, when it has room 
 to spread out its arms, is a noble tree) may be placed 
 with advantage near the house ; for, from their massive- 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES. 297 
 
 ness, they unite well with buildings, and in some situa- 
 tions with rocks also; having, in their forms and apparent 
 substances, the effect of something intermediate betwixt 
 the immoveableness and solidity of stone, and the sprays 
 and foliage of the lighter trees. If these general rules be 
 just, what shall we say to whole acres of artificial 
 shrubbery and exotic trees among rocks and dashing 
 torrents, with their own wild wood in sight — where 
 we have the whole contents of the nurseryman's cata- 
 logue jumbled together — colour at war with colour, 
 and form with form — among the most peaceful subjects 
 of Nature's kingdom every where discord, distraction, 
 and bewilderment ! But this deformity, bad as it is, is 
 not so obtrusive as the small patches and large tracts of 
 larch plantations that are over-running the hill-sides. 
 To justify our condemnation of these, let us again recur 
 to Nature. The process, by which she forms woods 
 and forests, is as follows. Seeds are scattered indiscri- 
 minately by winds, brought by waters, and dropped by 
 birds. They perish, or produce, according as the soil 
 upon which they fall is suited to them ; and under the 
 
298 DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 same dependence, the seedling or sucker, if not cropped 
 by animals, thrives, and the tree grows, sometimes 
 single, taking its own shape without constraint, but for 
 the most part being compelled to conform itself to some 
 law imposed upon it by its neighbours. From low and 
 sheltered places, vegetation travels upwards to the more 
 exposed ; and the young plants are protected, and to a 
 certain degree fashioned, by those that have preceded 
 them. The continuous mass of foliage which would be 
 thus produced, is broken by rocks, or by glades or open 
 places, where the browzing of animals has prevented 
 the growth of wood. As vegetation ascends, the winds 
 begin also to bear their part in moulding the forms of 
 the trees ; but, thus mutually protected, trees, though 
 not of the hardiest kind, are enabled to climb high up 
 the mountains. Gradually, however, by the quality of 
 the ground, and by increasing exposure, a stop is put to 
 their ascent ; the hardy trees only are left ; these also, 
 by little and little, give way, — and a wild and irregular 
 boundary is established, graceful in its outline, and 
 never contemplated without some feeling more or 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES. 299 
 
 less distinct of the powers of nature by which it is 
 imposed. 
 
 Contrast the hberty that encourages, and the law that 
 limits, this joint work of nature and time, with the dis- 
 heartening necessities, restrictions, and disadvantages, 
 under which the artificial planter must proceed, even he 
 whom long observation and fine feeling have best quali- 
 fied for his task. In the first place his trees, however 
 well chosen and adapted to their several situations, must 
 generally all start at the same time ; and this,, circum- 
 stance would of itself prevent that fine connection of 
 parts, that sympathy and organization, if I may so ex- 
 press myself, which pervades the whole of a natural 
 wood, and appears to the eye in its single trees, its 
 masses of foliage, and their various colours when they 
 are held up to view on the side of a mountain; or, 
 when spread over a valley, they are looked down upon 
 from an eminence. It is then impossible, under any cir- 
 cumstances, for the artificial planter to rival the beauty 
 of nature. But a moment's thought will show that, if 
 ten thousand of this spiky tree, the larch, are stuck in at 
 
300 DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 once upon the side of a hill, they can grow up into no- 
 thing but deformity ; that, while they are suffered to 
 stand, we shall look in vain for any of those appearances 
 which are the .chief sources of beauty in a natural 
 wood. 
 
 It must be acknowledged that the larch, till it has 
 outgrown the size of a shrub, shows, when looked at 
 singly, some elegance in its form and appearance, es- 
 pecially in spring, decorated, as it then is, by the 
 pink tassels of its blossoms ; but, as a tree, it is less 
 than any other pleasing ; its branches (for houghs it has 
 none) have no variety in the youth of the tree, and little 
 dignity even when it attains its full grovfl^] leaves \t 
 cannot be said to have, consequently neither affords 
 shade nor shelter. In spring it becomes green long be- 
 fore the native trees ; and its green is so peculiar and 
 vivid that, finding nothing to harmonise with it, wherever 
 it comes forth, a disagreeable speck is produced. In 
 summer, when all other trees are in their pride, it is of 
 a dingy lifeless hue ; in autumn of a spiritless unvaried 
 yellow, and in winter it is still more lamentably distin- 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES. 301 
 
 guished from every other deciduous tree of the forest, 
 for they seem only to sleep, but the larch appears abso- 
 lutely dead. If an attempt be made to mingle thickets, 
 or a certain proportion of other forest-trees, with the 
 larch, its horizontal branches intolerantly cut them down 
 as with a scythe, or force them to spindle up to keep 
 pace with it. The spike, m which it terminates, ren- 
 ders it impossible, when it is planted in numbers, 
 that the several trees should ever blend together so 
 as to form a mass or masses of wood. Add thousands 
 to tens of thousands, and the appearance is still the 
 same — a collection of separate individual trees, ob- 
 stinately presenting themselves as such ; and which, 
 from whatever point they are looked at, if but seen, may 
 be counted upon the fingers. Sunshine, or shadow, has 
 little power to adorn the surface of such a wood; and 
 the trees not carrying up their heads, the wind raises 
 among them no majestic undulations. It is indeed 
 true, that, in countries where the larch is a native, and 
 where without interruption it may sweep from valley to 
 valley and from hill to hill, a sublime image may be 
 
302 DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 produced by such a forest, in the same manner as by 
 one composed of any other single tree, to the spreading 
 of which no limits can be assigned. For subHmity will 
 never be wanting, where the sense of innumerable mul- 
 titude is lost in, and alternates with, that of intense 
 unity ; and to the ready perception of this effect, si- 
 milarity and almost identity of individual form and 
 monotony of colour contribute. But this feeling is 
 confined to the native immeasurable forest ; no artifi- 
 cial plantation can give it. 
 
 The foregoing observations will, I hope, (as nothing 
 has been condemned or recommended without a sub- 
 stantial reason) have some influence upon those who 
 plant for ornament merely. To those who plant for 
 profit, I have already spoken. Let me then entreat 
 that the native deciduous trees may be left in com- 
 plete possession of the lower ground ; and that plant- 
 ations of larch, if introduced at all, may be confined 
 to the highest and most barren tracts. Interposition 
 of rocks would there break the dreary uniformity of 
 which we have been complaining ; and the winds would 
 
- COUNTRY OF THE LAKES. 303 
 
 take hold of the trees, and imprint upon their shapes a 
 wildness congenial to their situation. 
 
 Having determined what kinds of trees must be wholly 
 rejected, or at least very sparingly used, by those who 
 are unwilling to disfigure the country ; and having shown 
 what kinds ought to be chosen; I should have given, 
 if I had not already overstepped my limits, a few prac- 
 tical rules for the manner in which trees ought to be 
 disposed in planting. But to this subject I should at- 
 tach little importance, if I could succeed in banishing 
 such trees as introduce deformity, and could prevail 
 upon the proprietor to confine himself either to those 
 found in the native woods, or to such as accord with 
 them. This is indeed the main point; for, much as 
 these scenes have been injured by what has been taken 
 from them — buildings, trees, and woods, either through 
 negligence, necessity, avarice, or caprice — it is not 
 these removals, but the harsh additions that have been 
 made, which are the worst grievance — a standing and 
 unavoidable annoyance. Often have I felt this distinc- 
 tion with mingled satisfaction and regret ; for, if no po- 
 
S04 DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 sitive deformity or discordance be substituted or super- 
 induced, such is the benignity of nature that, take 
 away from her beauty after beauty, and ornament after 
 ornament, her appearance cannot be marred ; — the 
 scars, if any be left, will gradually disappear before a 
 healing spirit ; and what remains will still be soothing 
 and pleasing. — 
 
 " Many hearts deplored 
 The fate of those old trees ; and oft with pain 
 The traveller at this day will stop and gaze 
 On wrongs which nature scarcely seems to heed : 
 For sheltered places, bosoms, nooks, and bays, 
 And the pure mountains, and the gentle Tweed, 
 And the green silent pastures, yet remain." 
 
 There are few ancient woods left in this part of Eng- 
 land upon which such indiscriminate ravage as is here 
 " deplored" could now be committed. But, out of the 
 numerous copses, fine woods might in time be raised, 
 probably without any sacrifice of profit, by leaving, at 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES. 305 
 
 the periodical fellings, a due proportion of the healthiest 
 trees to grow up into timber. — This plan has fortu- 
 nately, in many instances, been adopted ; and they, 
 who have set the example, are entitled to the thanks 
 of all persons of taste. As to the management of 
 planting with reasonable attention to ornament, let the 
 images of nature be your guide, and the whole secret 
 lurks in a few words ; thickets or underwoods - — single 
 trees — trees clustered or in groups — groves — un- 
 broken woods, but with varied masses of foliage — 
 glades — invisible or winding boundaries — in rocky 
 districts, a seemly proportion of rock left wholly bare, 
 and other parts half hidden — disagreeable objects con- 
 cealed, and formal lines broken — trees climbing up to 
 the horizon, and in some places ascending from its sharp 
 edge in which they are rooted, with the whole body of 
 the tree appearing to stand in the clear sky — in other 
 parts woods surmounted by rocks utterly bare and na- 
 ked, which add to the sense of height as if vegetation 
 could not thither be carried, and impress a feeling of 
 duration, power of resistance, and security from change ! 
 
 - . X 
 
306 DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 I have been induced to speak thus at length with a 
 wish to preserve the native beauty of this dehghtful dis- 
 trict, because still farther changes in its appearance must 
 inevitably follow, from the change of inhabitants and 
 owners which is rapidly taking place. — About the same 
 time that strangers began to be attracted to the country, 
 and to feel a wish to settle in it, the difficulty, that 
 would have stood in the way of their procuring situ- 
 ations, was lessened by an unfortunate alteration in the 
 circumstances of the native peasantry, proceeding from 
 a cause which then began to operate, and is now felt in 
 every house. The family of each man, whether estates- 
 man or farmer, formerly had a twofold support ; first 
 the produce of his lands and flocks ; and secondly, the 
 profit drawn from the employment of the women and 
 children, as manufacturers ; spinning their own wool in 
 their own houses, (work chiefly done in the winter sea- 
 son,) and carrying it to market for sale. Hence, how- 
 ever numerous the children, the income of the family 
 kept pace with its increase. But, by the invention and 
 universal application of machinery, this second re- 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES. 307 
 
 source has been wholly cut off; the gains bemg so far 
 reduced, as not to be sought after but by a few aged 
 persons disabled from other employment. Doubtless, 
 the invention of machinery has not been to these people 
 a pure loss ; for the profits arising from home-manufac- 
 tures operated as a strong temptation to choose that 
 mode of labour in neglect of husbandry. They also 
 participate in the general benefit which the island has 
 derived from the increased value of the produce of land, 
 brought about by the establishment of manufactories, 
 and in the consequent quickening of agricultural indus- 
 try. But this is far from making them amends; and 
 now that home-manufactures are nearly done away, 
 though the women and children miglit at many seasons 
 of the year employ themselves with advantage in the 
 fields beyond what they are accustomed to do, yet still 
 all possible exertion in this way cannot be rationally ex- 
 pected from persons whose agricultural knowledge is so 
 confined, and above all where there must necessarily be 
 so small a capital. The consequence, then, is — that, 
 farmers being no longer able to maintain themselves 
 
 X 2 
 
308 DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 upon small farms, several are united in one, and the 
 buildings go to decay, or are destroyed ; and that the 
 lands of the estatesmen being mortgaged and the owners 
 constrained to part with them, they fall into the hands 
 of wealthy purchasers, who in like manner unite and con- 
 solidate ; and, if they wish to become residents, erect 
 new mansions out of the ruins of the ancient cottages, 
 whose little enclosures, with all the wild graces that grew 
 out of them, disappear. The feudal tenure under which 
 the estates are held has indeed done something towards 
 checking this influx of new settlers ; but so strong is 
 the inclination that these galling restraints are endured; 
 and it is probable that in a few years the country on the 
 margin of the Lakes will fall almost entirely into the 
 possession of Gentry, either strangers or natives. It is 
 then much to be wished, that a better taste should 
 prevail among these new proprietors; and, as they 
 cannot be expected to leave things to themselves, that 
 skill and knowledge should prevent unnecessary devi- 
 ations from that path of simplicity and beauty along 
 which, without design and unconsciously, their humble 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES. 309 
 
 predecessors have moved. In this wish the author 
 will be joined by persons of pure taste throughout 
 the whole Island, who, by their visits (often repeated) to 
 the Lakes in the North of England, testify that they 
 deem the district a sort of national property, in which 
 every man has a right and interest who has an eye to 
 perceive and a heart to enjoy. 
 
 X 3' 
 
310 DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 A FEW words may not improperly be annexed, with 
 an especial view to promote the enjoyment of the Tourist. 
 And first, in respect to the Time when this Country can 
 be seen to most advantage. Mr. West, in his well- 
 known Guide to the Lakes, recommends the interval 
 from the beginning of June to the end of August; and, 
 the two latter months being a season of vacation and 
 leisure, it is almost exclusively in these that strangers 
 visit the Country. But that season is by no means the 
 best; there is a want of variety in the colouring of the 
 mountains and woods; which, unless where they are 
 diversified by rocks, are of a monotonous green ; and, 
 as a large portion of the Valleys is allotted to hay-grass, 
 a want of variety is found there also. The meadows, 
 however, are sufficiently enlivened after hay-makino- 
 begins, which is much later than in the southern part 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES. 3 J I 
 
 of the Island. A stronger objection is rainy weather, 
 setting in often at this period with a vigour, and con- 
 tinuing with a perseverance, that may remind the dis- 
 appointed and dejected traveller of those deluges of rain, 
 which fall among the Abyssinian Mountains for the 
 annual supply of the Nile. The months of September 
 and October (particularly October) are generally at- 
 tended with much finer weather; and the scenery is then, 
 beyond comparison, more diversified, more splendid, 
 and beautiful ; but, on the other hand, short days pre- 
 vent long excursions, and sharp and chill gales are un- 
 favourable to parties of pleasure out of doors. Never- 
 theless, to the sincere admirer of Nature, who is in good 
 health and spirits, and at liberty to make a choice, the 
 six weeks following the 1st of September may be re- 
 commended in preference to July and August. For 
 there is no inconvenience arising from the season which, 
 to such a person, would not be amply recompensed by 
 the Autumnal appearance of any of the more retired 
 Valleys, into which discordant plantation, and unsuitable 
 buildings have not yet found entrance. — In such spots, 
 
 X 1< 
 
312 DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 at this season, there is an admirable compass and pro- 
 portion of natural harmony in form and colour, through 
 the whole scale of objects; — in the tender green of the 
 after-grass upon the meadows interspersed with islands of 
 grey or mossy rock crowned by shrubs and trees ; in the 
 irregular inclosures of standing corn or stubble-fields in 
 like manner broken ; in the mountain sides glowing with 
 fern of divers colours; in the calm blue Lakes and 
 River-pools ; and in the foliage of the trees, through all 
 the tints of Autumn, from the pale and brilliant yellow 
 of the birch and ash, to the deep greens of the unfaded 
 oak and alder, and of the ivy upon the rocks, upon the 
 trees, and the cottages. Yet, as most travellers are 
 either stinted or stint themselves for time, I would re- 
 commend the space between the middle or last week in 
 May and the middle or last week of June, as affordino- 
 the best combination of long days, fine weather, and 
 variety of impressions. Few of the native trees are 
 then in full leaf; but, for whatever may be wanting in 
 depth of shade, far more than an equivalent will be found 
 in the diversity of foliage, in the blossoms of the fruit- 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES. 313 
 
 and-berry-bearing trees which abound in the woods, 
 and in the golden flowers of the broom and other 
 shrubs, with which many of the copses are interveined. 
 In those woods, also, and on those mountain-sides 
 which have a northern aspect, and in the deep dells, 
 many of the spring-flowers still linger ; while the open 
 and sunny places are stocked with the flowers of ap- 
 proaching summer. And, besides, is not an exquisite 
 pleasure still untasted by him who has not heard the 
 choir of Linnets and Thrushes chaunting their love- 
 songs in the copses, woods, and hedge-rows, of a moun- 
 tainous country ; safe from the birds of prey, which 
 build in the inaccessible crags, and are at all hours seen 
 or heard wheeling about in the air ? The number of 
 those formidable creatures is probably the cause why, 
 in the narrow valleys, there are no Sky-larks ; as the 
 Destroyer would be enabled to dart upon them from the 
 near and surrounding crags, before they could descend 
 to their ground-nests for protection. It is not often 
 that Nightingales resort to these Vales ; but almost all 
 the other tribes of our English warblers are numerous; 
 
314 DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 and their notes, when Hstened to by the side of broad 
 still waters, or when heard in unison with the murmur- 
 ing of mountain-brooks, have the compass of their power 
 enlarged accordingly. There is also an imaginative 
 influence in the voice of the Cuckoo, when that voice has 
 taken possession of a deep mountain valley, very differ- 
 ent from any thing which can be excited by the same 
 sound in a flat country. Nor must a circumstance be 
 omitted which here renders the close of Spring especially 
 interesting; I mean the practice of bringing down the 
 ewes from the mountains to yean in the valleys and 
 enclosed grounds. The herbage being thus cropped as 
 it springs, that first tender emerald green of the season, 
 which would otherwise have lasted little more than a 
 fortnight, is prolonged in the pastures and meadows for 
 many weeks ; while they are farther enlivened by the 
 multitude of lambs bleating and skipping about. These 
 sportive creatures, as they gather strength, are turned 
 out upon the open mountains, and with their slender 
 limbs, their snow-white colour, and their wild and light 
 motions, beautifully accord or contrast with the rocks 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES, 315 
 
 and lawns, upon which they must now begin to seek 
 their food. And last, but not least, at this time the 
 traveller will be sure of room and comfortable accom- 
 modation, even in the smaller inns. I am aware that 
 few of tho^, who may be inclined to profit by this re- 
 commendation will be able to do so, as the time and 
 manner of an excursion of this kind is mostly regulated 
 by circumstances which prevent an entire freedom of 
 choice. It will therefore be more pleasant to me to 
 observe, that, though the months of July and August are 
 liable to many objections, yet it not unfrequently happens 
 that the weather, at this time, is not more wet and 
 stormy than they, who are really capable of enjoying the 
 sublime forms of Nature in their utmost sublimity, 
 would desire. For no Traveller, provided he be in good 
 health and with any command of time, would have a 
 just privilege to visit such scenes, if he could grudge the 
 price of a little confinement among them or interruption 
 in his journey for the sight or sound of a storm coming- 
 on or clearing-away. Insensible must he be who would 
 not congratulate himself upon the bold bursts of sunshiny 
 
316 DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 the descending vapours, wandering lights and shadows, 
 and the invigorated torrents and water-falls, with which 
 broken weather, in a mountainous region, is accompanied. 
 At such a time there is no cause to complain, either of 
 the monotony of midsummer colouring or the glaring- 
 atmosphere of long, cloudless, and hot days. . 
 
 Thus far respecting the most eligible season for visit- 
 ing this country. As to the order in which objects are 
 best seen — a Lake being composed of water flowing 
 from higher grounds, and expanding itself till its re- 
 ceptacle is filled to the brim, — it follows from the nature 
 of things, that it will appear to most advantage when 
 approached from its outlet, especially if the Lake be in 
 a mountainous country ; for, by this way of approach, 
 the traveller faces the grander features of the scene, and 
 is gradually conducted into its most sublime recesses. 
 Now, every one knows, that from amenity and beauty 
 the transition to sublimity is easy and favourable ; but 
 the reverse is not so ; for, after the faculties have been 
 raised by communion with the sublime, they are indis- 
 posed to humbler excitement. 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES. 317 
 
 It is not likely that a mountain will be ascended with- 
 out disappointment if a wide range of prospect be the 
 object, unless either the summit be reached before sun-rise, 
 or the visitant remains there until the time of sun-set, and 
 afterwards. The precipitous sides of the mountain, and 
 the neighbouring summits, may be seen with effect under 
 any atmosphere which allows them to be seen at all ; but 
 he is the most fortunate adventurer who chances to be 
 involved in vapours which open and let in an extent 
 of country partially, or, dispersing suddenly, reveal the 
 whole region from centre to circumference. 
 
 After all, it is upon the mind which a Traveller 
 brings along with him that his acquisitions, whether of 
 pleasure or profit, must principally depend. — May I be 
 allowed a concluding word upon this subject ? 
 
 Nothing is more injurious to genuine feeling than the 
 practice of hastily and ungraciously depreciating the 
 face of one country by comparing it with that of another. 
 True it is. Qui bene distinguit bene docet ; yet fasti- 
 diousness is a wretched travelling companion ; and the 
 best guide to which in matters of taste we can entrust 
 
318 DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 ourselves, is a disposition to be pleased. For example, 
 if a Traveller be among the Alps, let him surrender up 
 his mind to the fury of the gigantic torrents, and take 
 delight in the contemplation of their almost irresistible 
 violence, without complaining of the monotony of their 
 foaming course, or being disgusted with the muddiness 
 of the water — apparent wherever it is unagitated. In 
 Cumberland and Westmorland let not the comparative 
 w^eakness of the streams prevent him from sympathising 
 with such impetuosity as they possess ; and, making the 
 most of present objects, let him, as he justly may do, 
 observe with admiration the unrivalled brilliancy of the 
 water, and that variety of motion, mood, and character, 
 that arises out of the want of those resources by which 
 the power of the streams in the Alps is supported. — 
 Again, with respect to the mountains ; though these are 
 comparatively of diminutive size, though there is little 
 of perpetual snow, and no voice of summer-avalanches 
 is heard among them; and though traces left by the 
 ravage of the elements are here comparatively rare and 
 unimpressive, yet out of this very deficiency proceeds a 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES. 319 
 
 sense of stability and permanence that is, to many minds, 
 more grateful — 
 
 *^ While the coarse rushes to tlie sweeping breeze 
 Sigh forth their ancient melodies." 
 
 See the Ode, Pass cf Kirkstone, 
 
 Among the Alps are few places that do not preclude 
 this feeling of tranquil sublimity. Havoc, and ruin, 
 and desolation, and encroachment, are every where more 
 or less obtruded ; and it is difficult, notwithstanding the 
 naked loftiness of the PiJces^ and the snow-capped sum- 
 mits of the Moimts^ to escape from the depressing sens- 
 ation that the whole are in a rapid process of disso- 
 lution, and, were it not that the destructive agency must 
 abate as the heights diminish, would, in time to come, be 
 levelled with the plains. Nevertheless I would relish to 
 the utmost the demonstrations of every species of power 
 at work to effect such changes. 
 
 From these general views let us descend a moment to 
 detail. A stranger to mountain-scenery naturally on 
 his first arrival looks out for sublimity in every object 
 
320 DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 that admits of it ; and is almost always disappointed. For 
 this disappointment there exists, I believe, no general 
 preventive ; nor is it desirable that there should. But, 
 with regard to one class of objects, there is a point in 
 which injurious expectations may be easily corrected. It 
 is generally supposed that waterfalls are scarcely worth 
 being looked at except after much rain, and that, 
 the more swoln the stream, the more fortunate the 
 spectator ; but this is true only of large cataracts with 
 sublime accompaniments ; and not even of these without 
 some drawbacks. The principal charm of the smaller 
 waterfalls or cascades, consists in certain proportions of 
 form and affinities of colour, among the component 
 parts of the scene, and in the contrast maintained be- 
 tween the falling water and that which is apparently at 
 rest ; or rather settling gradually into quiet, in the pool 
 below. Peculiarly, also, is the beauty of such a scene, 
 where there is naturally so niuch agitation, heightened, 
 here by the glimmerings and, towards the verge of the 
 pool, by the steady ^ reflection of the surrounding images. 
 Now, all those delicate distinctions are destroyed by 
 
COUNTRY OF THE LAKES, 321 
 
 « 
 heavy Hoods, and the whole stream rushes along in 
 
 foam and tumultuous confusion. I will conclude with 
 
 observing, that a happy proportion of component parts 
 
 is generally noticeable among the landscapes of the 
 
 North of England ; and, in this characteristic essential to 
 
 a perfect picture, they surpass the scenes of Scotland, 
 
 and, in a still greater degree, those of Switzerland. 
 
 THE END. 
 
ERRATA. 
 
 In Advertisement to the River Duddon, line 1. for Tell read Fell 
 
 17th Sonnet, dele the title 
 
 Page 61. line 5. from bott. dele and 
 
 62. line o. from bott. for Birkett's read Burkitt's 
 79. line 15. dele comma after again 
 111. line 3. from bott. for regions read region 
 127. line 1. dele comma after gain 
 
 158. line 5. after crags, substitute a comma for the semicolon 
 179. end of first stanza, for the song I learn, read song do I le ar 
 184. second stanza, read the first two lines thus : 
 This Abbot, for he was a holy man, 
 As all monks are, or surely ought to be, 
 
 200. line 4. afterlight, substitute a comma for the semicolon 
 208. line 2. for and read with 
 
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