THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES ADVERTISEMENT. IT may be proper to state what will be found in this volume. For much of its contents (especially for the "Introduction" the whole of the "Description of the Scenery of the Lakes" and a considerable portion of the " Directions and Information for the Tourist"} Mr. WORDSWORTH is answerable ; and he has much satisfac- tion in having been the means of inducing- his friend PROFESSOR SEDGWICK, to contribute " Three Letters on the Geology of the JLake District," most valuable for the importance of the matter they contain, and for the vigorous and eloquent style in which they are written. The " Botanical Notices" have been kindly furnished by Mr- GOUGH, themore ample listsof plants in the neighbour- hood of Kendal being entirely the fruits of that gentleman's personal researches. For the remaining contents of the book, original and selected, the Editors hold themselves responsible ; the Itineraries and admeasurements of dis- tance having been compiled principally from GREEN'S excellent Guide to the Lakes, in two bulky volumes, of which it has been said, " that they contain the most minute and accurate information extant of the country." The Diagrams of the Mountains have been drawn ex- pressly for the Work by Mr. FUN TOFF, of Keswick, whose knowledge of the country (as his beautiful Model of the Lake District gives abundant proof) is a sufficient guarantee for their accuracy. CONTENTS. Ambleside 48 Angle Tarn (Troutbeck) 55 Angle Tarn (Borrowdale) 68, 88 Ash Course 83 Ara-Force ... 105, 107 Arthur's Bound Table ... 128 Bardsea 4 Barrow Cascade 74 Belle Isle 45 Birker Force ... 20, 66 BleaTarn 48 Black-lead Mine 80 Bleaberry, or Bartness Tarn 93 Black Sail 95 Bowness 45 Borrowdale 73 Bowder Stone 76 Borrowdale Yews ... 80 Bowfell 88 Bowscale Tarn 91 Broughton 19 Burton 30 Butterlip How 69 Burnmoor Tarn 66 Buttermere 93 Bassenthwaite Water ... 104 Brother-water 109, 111, 117 Blowick 109 Brougham Hall 129 Castle ... 129 Calder Abbey ... 67, 100 Bridge 100 Carl Lofts 132 Carlisle 133 Cartmel 27 Casterton 30 Castlerigg Brow ... 62 Castle Head 72 Castle Crag 79 Catchedecam 124 Causey Pike 92 Coniston Cockley Beck Coekermouth Countess' Pillar ... Corby Crummock Water Dacre Castle Dalton Deepdale Derwent Water ... Dockray Dove Crag Druid's Circle, Keswick Duddon Dungeon Gill Dunmail Raise Easedale Eagle Crag Edenhall Egremont Elter Water Ennerdale Water ... Bridge 15,21 . 64 . 101 . 132 ,. 133 . 94 ,. 107 ,. 15 . 109 70,73 .. 105 .. 109 78 ,. 17 ,. 49 . 61 62,80 ,. 80 ,. 133 . 103 53 100 22 5,87 54 Esthwaite Lake Eskdale Fairfield Ferry -house (Windermere) 22, 52. Fleetwood Route ... 4 Floutern Tarn .*. . ... 98 Friar's Crag 72 Furness Abbey 5 Giant's Grave 128 Caves ... ... 129 Glencoin 107 Glenridding 108 Goats Tarn 21 Gowbarrow Park 105, 107 Grasmere 59 Grisedale 108 Grisedale Tarn 61 Greenup ... 62, 80 VI Grisedale Pike 92 Grassmoor 92 Hardknott ... ... 66 Castle 20 Hartshop 101 Hawkshead 22 Hawes Water ... 37,40,65 Hays Water ... 66, 109 Haul Gill 67 Helm Crag 69 Helvellyn 61 Old Penrith 130 Over-Sands Route ... 24 Patter dale 67 Penrith 128 Pillar 98 Preston 24 Red Tarn 124 Round Knott 53 Rosthwaite 80 Rydal Water 68 Waterfalls 51 Saddleback 91 Scout Scar 34 Screes 66 Scawfell 66 High Street 39 Holy well 27 Holker 27 Honister Crag 9 Humphrey Head 2C Ingleborough 2 Ivy Crag 64 KendalKoute 29 Kendal 32 Kentmere 39 Kepple Cove Tarn ... 124 Keswick ... 57, 69 Kirkby Lonsdale ... 3, 29 Kirkstone 57 Pass of 111, 121 Lancaster 24 Lancaster Sands 25 Langdale 48 Pikes 50 Langstreth ... 63, 80 Levers Water 20' Levens Bridge 27 Ling Crag ... 94, 98 Long Sleddale 37 Long Meg & her Daughters 129 Low Wood ... 42, 56 Loughrigg Fell 63 Lodore 74 Lorton Yew 96 Lowes Water 97 Lowther Castle 130 Lyulph's Tower ... 110, 131 Matterdale 107 Mayburgh 129 Milnthorpe 31 Mickle Door 87 Nab Scar 54 Newlands 92 Newby Bridge 28 North, Route from the ... 44 Old Man, Coniston ..-. 20 Old Church 106 Scales Tarn 91 Scale Force ... 94, 98 Scarf Gap 95 Scale Hill ... 95, 96 Seathwaite 80 Tarn 21 Seathwaite (Furness) ... 19 Shap Wells 37 Shap Abbey 132 Skiddaw 88 Sour-milk Gill, Easedale 62 Sprinkling Tarn ... 68, 83 Stake 63,80 Strands 66 Sty Head 68,79,103 TTT-TI f!3 9 itockley Bridge 82 Station-house, Windermere 23 Stickle Tarn ... 50, 59 Stock Gill Force 51 St. John's Vale ... 62, 78 Stanley Gill 10 Stonethwaite 80 St. Bees 102 Striding Etipe 124 Stybarrow Crag 108 Sunken Church 20 Swirrel Edge 124 Thirlmere ... 61, 78 Tilberthwaite ... 16, 21, 55 Troutbeck ... 38,41 Jllswater 105 UlphaKirk 16 Jlverston ... 4, 15, 25 iValney Scar 16 Warton Crag 30 WansfellPike 54 vn Wastdale Head ... 66,88,99 Winder mere 44 Wast Water ... 67, 99 I Wishing Gate 60 Watendlath 77 Workiugton 101 Wether lam 21 Whinlatter Whitehaven 101 , Yew Crag 95 Wrynose 64 Yewdale ... 16, 65 DESCRIPTION OF THE SCENERY OF THE LAKES. SECTION FIRST. VIEW OF THE COUNTRY AS FORMED BT NATURE. Vales diverging from a common Centre. Effect of Light and Shadow as dependant upon the position of the Vales. Moun- tains, their Substance, Surfaces, and Colours. Winter Colour- ing. The Vales, Lakes, Islands, Tarns, Woods, Rivers, Climate, Night. ---p. 1 SECTION SECOND. ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY AS AFFECTED BY ITS INHABITANTS. Retrospect. Primitive Aspect. Roman and British Antiquities. Feudal Tenantry, their Habitations and Enclosures. Tenantry reduced in Number by the Union of the Two Crowns. State of Society after that Event. Cottages, Bridges, Places of Worship, Parks and Mansions. General Picture of Society. 30 SECTION THIRD. CHANGES, AND RULES OF TASTE FOR PREVENTING THEIR BAD EFFECTS. Tourists. New Settlers. The Country disfigured. Causes of false Taste in Grounds and Buildings. Ancient Models recom- mended. Houses. Colouring of Buildings. Grounds and Plan- tations. The Larch. Planting. Further Changes probable. Conclusion. - - - - - - - - -48 APPENDIX. THREE LETTERS ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE LAKE DISTRICT, BY THE REV. PROFESSOR SEDGWICK. STAGES. Miles. Lancaster to Kendal, by Kirkby Lonsdale 30 Lancaster to Kendal, by Barton 22 Lancaster to Kendal, by Milnthorpe 21 Lancaster to Ulverston, over Sands 21 Lancaster to TJlverston, by Levens Bridge 35J Ulverston to Hawkshead, by Coniston Water Head 19 Ulverston to Bowness, by Newby Bridge 17 Hawkshead to Ambleside 5 Hawkshead to Bowness 6 Kendal to Ambleside 14 Kendal to Ambleside, by Bowness 15 From Ambleside round the two Langdales and back again ... 18 Ambleside to Ullswater 10 Ambleside to Keswick 16| Keswick to Borrowdale, and round the Lake 12 Keswick to Borrowdale and Buttermere 23 Keswick to Wastdale and Calder Bridge 27 Calder Bridge to Buttermere and Keswick 29 Keswick, round Bassenthwaite Lake 18 Keswick to Patterdale, Pooley Bridge, and Penrith 38 Keswick to Pooley Bridge and Penrith 24 Keswick to Penrith 17J Whitehaven to Keswick 27 Workington to Keswick 21 Penrith to Hawes Water 27 Carlisle to Penrith , 18 Penrith to Kendal ,. ... 27 INTRODUCTION. MR. WEST, in his well-known Guide to the Lakes, recommends, as the best season for visiting this country, the interval from the beginning of June to the end of August ; and the two latter months being a time of vaca- tion and leisure, it is almost exclusively in these that strangers resort hither. But that season is by no means the best : the colouring of the mountains and woods, unless where they are diversified by rocks, is of too un- varied a green ; and, as a large portion of the vallies is allotted to hay-grass, some want of variety is found there also. The meadows, however, are sufficiently enlivened after hay-making begins, which is much later than in the southern part of the island. A stronger objection is rainy weather, setting in sometimes at this period with a vigour, and continuing with a perseverance, that may remind the disappointed and dejected traveller of those deluges of rain which fall among the Abyssinian mountains, for the an- nual supply of the Nile. The months of September and October (particularly October) are generally attended with much finer weather ; and the scenery is then, beyond com- parison, more diversified, more splendid, and beautiful ; but, on the other hand, short days prevent long excursions, 11 TIME FOH VISITING THE COUNTRY. and sharp and chill gales are unfavourable to parties of pleasure out of doors. Nevertheless, to the sincere ad- mirer 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 recommended in preference to July and August. For there is no inconvenience arising from the season which, to such a person, would not be amply compensated by the autumnal appearance of any of the more retired vallies, into which discordant plantations and unsuitable buildings have not yet found entrance. In such spots, at this season, there is an admirable compass and proportion of natural harmony in 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 irre- gular 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, the space between the middle or last week in May, and the middle or last week in June, may be pointed out as affording 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, more than an equiva- lent will be found in the diversity of foliage, in the blos- soms of the fruit-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 inter- TIME FOR VISITING THE COUNTRY. Ill veined. In those woods, also, and on these 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 the 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 mountainous 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 these formidable creatures is probably the chief cause, why, in the narrow vallies, there are no skylarks ; as the destroyer would be enabled to dart upon them from the surrounding crags, before they could descend to their ground-nests for protection. It is not often that the nightingale resorts to these vales ; but almost all the other tribes of our English warblers are numerous ; and their notes, when listened to by the side of broad still waters, or when heard in unison with the murmuring 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 different 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 interest- ing ; I mean the practice of bringing down the ewes from the mountains to yean in the vallies 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 B 2 IT TIME FOR VISITING THE COUNTRY. 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 and lawns, upon which they must now be- gin to seek their food. And last, but not least, at this time the traveller will be sure of room and comfortable accommodation, even in the smaller inns. I am aware that few of those who may be inclined to profit by this recommendation will be able to do so, as the time and manner of an excursion of this kind are mostly regulated by circumstances which prevent an entire freedom of choice. It win therefore be more pleasant to observe, that, though the months of July and August are liable to many objec- tions, yet it often 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, pro- vided 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 sunshine, the descending vapours, wandering lights and shadows, and the invigorated torrents and water- falls, with which broken weather, in a mountainous re- gion, is accompanied. At such a time there is no cause to complain, either of the monotony of midsummer co- louring, or the glaring atmosphere of long, cloudless, and hot days. Thus far concerning the respective advantages and dis- advantages of the different seasons for visiting this coun- ORDER OF APPROACH VIEWS FROM THE HEIGHTS. V try. 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 receptacle is filled to the brim, it follows, that it will appear to most advantage when ap- proached 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 tran- sition to sublimity is easy and favourable ; but the reverse is not so ; for, after the faculties have been elevated, they are indisposed to humbler excitement.* 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 remain there until sun-set, and after- wards. 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 in- volved in vapours which open and let in an extent of country partially, or, dispersing suddenly, reveal the whole region from centre to circumference. * The only instances to which the foregoing observations do not apply, are Derwent "Water and Lowes Water. Derwent is distin- guished from all the other Lakes by being surrounded with sub- limity : the fantastic mountains of Borrowdale to the south, the solitary majesty of Skiddaw to the north, the bold steeps of Wallow Crag and Lodore to the east, and to the west the clustering moun- tains of Newlands. Lowes Water is tame at the head, but towards its outlet has a magnificent assemblage of mountains. Yet as far as respects the formation of such receptacles, the general observa- tion holds good : neither Derwent nor Lowes Water derive any supplies from the streams of those mountains that dignify the land- scape towards the outlets. B 3 VI COMPARISONS, HOW INJURIOUS. A stranger to a mountainous country may not be aware that his walk in the early morning ought to be taken on the eastern side of the vale, otherwise he will lose the morning light, first touching the tops and thence creeping down the sides of the opposite hills, as the sun ascends, or he may go to some central eminence, commanding both the shadows from the eastern and the lights upon the western mountains. But, if the horizon line in the east be low, the western side may be taken for the sake of the reflections, upon the water, of light from the rising sun. In the evening, for like reasons, the contrary course should be taken. 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 few words on 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 fastidiousness is a wretched travelling companion ; and the best guide to which, in matters of taste we can entrust 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 contem- plation of their almost irresistible violence, without com- plaining of the monotony of their foaming course, or being disgusted with the muddiness of the water apparent even where it is violently agitated. In Cumberland and West- morland, let not the comparative weakness of the streams prevent him from sympathising with such impetuosity as they possess ; and, making the most of the present objects, let him, as he justly may do, observe with admiration the COMPARISONS, HOW INJURIOUS. Ml unrivalled brilliancy of the water, and that variety of mo- tion, 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 moun- tains ; 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 compa- ratively rare and unimpressive, yet out of this very defi- ciency proceeds a sense of stability and permanence that is, to many minds, more grateful " While the coarse rushes to the sweeping breeze Sigh forth their ancient melodies." Among the Alps are few places that do not preclude this feeling of tranquil sublimity. Havoc, and ruin, and desolation, and encroachment, are everywhere more or less obtruded ; -and it is difficult, notwithstanding the naked loftiness of the pikes, and the snow-capped summits of the mounts, to escape from the depressing sensation, that the whole are in a rapid process of dissolution ; 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 imagery naturally on his first arrival looks out for sublimity in every object that admits of it ; and is almost always disappointed. For this disappointment there exists, I believe, no general preven- tive ; nor is it desirable that there should. But with re- gard to one class of objects, there is a point in which in- Vlll ALPINE SCENES, ETC. jurious expectations may be easily corrected. It is gene- rally 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, however, is true only of large cataracts with sublime ac- companiments : and not even of these without some draw- backs. In other instances, what becomes, at such a time, of that sense of refreshing coolness which can only be felt in dry and sunny weather, when the rocks, herbs, and flowers glisten with moisture diffused by the breath of the precipitous water ? But, considering these things as ob- jects of sight only, it may be observed that 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 between the falling water and that which is apparently at rest, or rather settling gradually into quiet in the pool below. The beauty of such a scene, where there is naturally so much agitation, is also heightened, in a peculiar manner, by the glimmering, and, towards the verge of the pool, by the steady, reflection of the sur- rounding images. Now, all those delicate distinctions are destroyed by heavy floods, and the whole stream rushes along in foam and tumultuous confusion. A happy pro- portion of component parts is indeed noticeable among the landscapes of the North of England ; and, in this charac- teristic, essential to a perfect picture, they surpass the scenes of Scotland, and, in a still greater degree, those of Switzerland. DIRECTIONS AND INFORMATION THE TOURIST. 1HERE are three approaches to the Lakes through Yorkshire ; the least adviseable is the great north road by Catterick and Greta Bridge, and onwards to Penrith. The Traveller, however, taking this route, might halt at Greta Bridge, and be well recompensed if he can afford to give an hour or two to the banks of the Greta, and of the Tees, at Rokeby. Barnard Castle also, about two miles up the Tees, is a striking object, and the main North Road might be rejoined at Bowes. Every one has heard of the great fall of the Tees above Middleham, interesting for its gran- deur, as the avenue of rocks that leads to it, is to the geologist. But this place lies so far out of the way as scarcely to be within the compass of our notice. It might, however, be visited by a Traveller on foot, or on horse- back, who could rejoin the main road upon Stanemoor. The second road leads through a more interesting tract of country, beginning at Ripon, from which place see Fountain's Abbey, and thence, by Hackfall and Masham, to Jervaux Abbey, and up the vale of Wensley ; turning aside before Askrigg is reached, to see Aysgarth-force, upon the Ure ; and again, near Hawes, to Hardraw Scar, of which, with its waterfall, Turner has a fine drawing. Thence over the fells to Sedbergh, and Kendal. 2 CHOICE OF APPROACH. The third approach from Yorkshire is through Leeds. Four miles beyond that town are the ruins of Kirkstall Abbey, should that road to Skipton be chosen ; but the other, by Otley, may be made much more interesting-, by turning- off at Addington to Bolton Bridge, for the sake of visiting- the Abbey and grounds. It would be well, however, for a party previously to secure beds, if wanted, at the inn, as there is but one, and it is much resorted to in summer. The Traveller on foot, or horseback, would do well to follow the banks of the Wharf upwards, to Burnsall, and thence cross over the hills to Gordale a noble scene, beautifully described in Gray's Tour, and with which no one can be disappointed. Thence to Malham, where there is a respectable village inn, and so on, by Malham Cove, to Settle. Travellers in carriages must go from Bolton Bridge to Skipton, where they rejoin the main road ; and should they be inclined to visit Gordale, a tolerable road turns off beyond Skipton. A mile north of Settle, under Giggles- wick Scar, the road passes an ebbing and flowing well, worthy the notice of the Naturalist ; and when at Clap- ham, six miles from Settle, the Tourist bhoukl not omit to inquire for Clapham Cave, a striking and curious cavern which has recently been discovered within the grounds of Mr. Farrer, of Ingleborough Hall. It is situated within half a mile of the New Inn, from whence parties may be accommodated with a guide to this beautiful and singular object. Four miles to the right of Ingleton, is Weather- cote Cave, also a fine object ; and in the same vicinity are several other caverns of a similar description. About a mile distant from Weathercote is Chapel--le-dale, a favour - able point for the ascent of Ingleborough, the height of CHOICE OF APPROACH. 3 which is 2361 feet above the level of the sea ; but whoever diverges for these, must return to Ingleton, and proceeed to, Kirkby Lonsdale, near which town observe the view from the bridge over the Lune, and descend to the chan- nel of the river ; and by no means omit looking at the Vale of Lune from the Church-yard. From this point to Kendal is 13 miles, by a good road. The journey towards the lake country through Lan- cashire, is, with the exception of the Vale of the Ribble, at Preston, uninteresting, till you come near Lancaster, and obtain a view of the fells and mountains of Lancashire and Westmorland, with Lancaster Castle, and the Tower of the Church seeming to make part of the Castle, in the foregroumd. The Tourist approaching through Lancashire should determine, when at Preston, upon the route which he will take on entering the Lake District. The Railway from Preston to Fleetwood, communicating with steam-boats which cross the Estuary, to Bardsea, on the Furness coast, has opened out another route by which the Lake District may be approached, and it therefore becomes necessary that the Tourist should decide whether he will take this route ; or proceed forward to Lancaster and cross the Sands to Ulverston, or (which is most direct) to Kendal, by the vale of Lune or Kent, and thence to Bowness. The latter route is perhaps attended with least danger, and brings the Tourist at once into the region of the Lakes without ex- posure to the uncertainties of a sea voyage. If, however, the Tourist should wish to visit Furness Abbey before entering on the Lake District, then either of the two for- mer routes should be selected All these roads will be found noticed in the following pages. 4 FLEETWOOD ROUTE. We purpose to conduct the Stranger by each of the three Routes before mentioned, in succession, to AMBLESIDE, a* temporary head-quarters, and after- wards point out the approach from the North. FLEETWOOD ROUTE. 1. PRESTON to ULVERSTON, by FLEETWOOD. To Fleetwood, by Railway 1 honr. Fleetwood to Bardsea* by Steam-boat 1J Bardsea to Ulverston Smiles. Correct information of the times of starting the Trains from Preston to Fleetwood may be obtained at the Rail- way Station. Fares, 4s., 3s., and 2s., according to the class. At Fleetwood an elegant Hotel has been erected, which is conducted by Mons. VANTINI, the Proprietor of the Euston Hotel, in London, and there are other comfortable Inns in this rising town. Conveyances are in attendance on the arrival of the Steamer at Bardsea to take passen- gers forward to Ulverston, which is three miles distant, and from whence the Excursion to Furness Abbey, a "cir- cuit of 14 miles, may be conveniently made, taking the direct road to Dalton ; but by all means returning through Urswick, for the sake of the view from the top of the hill before descending into the grounds of Conishead Priory. If time should serve, Pedestrians might proceed at once from Bardsea to Furness Abbey by the following route, taking Dalton in the road to Ulverston. Bardsea is within a short walk of Conishead Priory, the magnificent residence of T. R. G. BRADYLX, Esq., which the Tourist would be much gratified by visiting. Miles. Miles. 5 Bardsea to Furness Abbey by Birkrigg 5 Miles. Milet. 2 Dalton 7 6 Ulverston 12 * Inns and Public Houses, are marked thus (*). FURNESS ABBEY. 5 FDRNESS ABBEY, according to the authority of John Stell, a Monk who belonged to the House, was first plant- ed at Tulket, in Amounderness, in the year 1124; three years after which, viz. on the 1st of July, 1127, it was translated, and founded by Stephen, Earl of Bologna and Morton (afterwards King of England), in the vale of Be- kansgill,* in the Peninsula of Furness. Furness is an abbreviation of frudernesse (as the name appeared in Doomesday Book), or Futhernesse, as it seems to have been more frequently written, Puttier is conjec- tured by Dr. Whitaker to be a personal name, probably that of the first Saxon planter or proprietor of the district : Nesse is a promontory ; than which hardly any appellation could be more appropriate, as descriptive of the southern extremity of the territory where the Abbey stands. The Monks of Furness originally belonged to the Sa- vignian order ; an order which, of all others, complied most scrupulously with the rules of the great parent of monachal institutions, St. Benedict. About 1148, in the Pontifi- cate of Eugenius III., the whole order of Savignian Monks matriculated into the Cistercian or Bernardine, in honour of St. Bernard, a man of great sanctity and learning, who reformed and remodelled the Benedictine rules. In the the time of Bajocis, their fifth Abbot, it was, when the Monks of Furness (after some hesitation and opposition) consented to become Cistercians, the rules of which order they religiously observed till the general Dissolution of Monasteries. Rising from its titular Saint, Bernard, and twelve monks, who filiated from Citeauxf, the Cistercian order, in an * Bekansgill,fromLethel Bekan,the Solanum Let hale, or Deadly Night Shade, which once abounded in the district. * Hence the name of the order, Cistercian. C f) FLEETWOOD ROUTE. iiuTi'dihly short time, became of great repute and corre- sponding extent. So rapid was its progress that before the death of Saint Bernard, he bad founded 160 Monas- teries ; and in the space of fifty years from its first estab- lishment as an order, it had acquired 800 Abbeys! All the Houses belonging to this Order were dedicated to the Virgin Mary. In England and Wales there were eighty-five Houses of the Cistercian order ; of which number two only were situated in the County of Lancaster, viz. Furness and Whalley. Until the time of Pope Sextus IV. their rules and observances, both as to fasting and religious devotions, were uncommonly rigorous ; but this Pontiff published a decree to mitigate the austerities of their spiritual exercises, and to preserve uniformity in table and dress. From this time they were allowed to eat flesh three times in a week, for which purpose a particular dining room, distinct from the usual Refectory, was fitted up in every Monastery. Their dress was a white* Cassock, with a Caul and Scapulary of the same. For the Choir dress they wore a white or grey Cassock, with Caul and Scapulary of the same, and a girdle of black wool ; over that a Mozet, or Hood, and a Rochet, the front part of which descended to tae girdle, where it ended in a round, and the back part reached down to the middle of the leg behind. Whenever they appeared abroad, they wore a Caul aud a full black Hood. This is only a general description of their dress; for every House had something particular to itself. With respect to the power, privileges, benefactions and possessions of Furness Abbey, it would take almost an entire volume fully to narrate and illustrate the whole. * The dress of the Savignians was grey, from which thev were iiMiallv called Grey Monks. FUUNESS ABBEY. < The lordship of Furness comprehends all that tract of land, with the islands included, commencing in the north at the Shire Stones, on Wrynose Hills, and descending by Elterwater into Windermere, and by the outlet of that lake, at Newby Bridge, over Leven Sands into the sea. Extending along the sea, it includes the isle of Foulncy, the Pile of Fouldrey, and the Isle of Walney. Beyond which, turning to the north-east, it ascends, first by the estuary of Duddon, and then by the river itself, which, by the names of Duddon and, higher up, of Cockley Beck, traces an ascending line to Shire Stones again, where the boundary commenced. The power of the Abbot, throughout the whole of this territory, in affairs both ecclesiastical and civil, was con- fessedly omnipotent. Within these limits he exacted the same oath of fealty which was paid to the King. The veneration which the sanctity and dignity of his office in- spired, and the circumstance of his territory being bounded on the one hand by seas almost impassable, and on the other by mountains almost insurmountable, conspired to give to Furness the character and importance of a separate and in- dependent kingdom. Even the military establishment of the district depended upon the Abbot ; and every Mesne Lord obeyed his summons in raising his quota of armed men for guarding the coasts or for the border service. He had the patronage of all the Churches, except one. He had also, by prescription, the appointment of Coroner and Chief Constable, and all Officers incident to the Courts Baron. He, and all his men, were free from all county amercia- ments, and suits of counties and wapentakes. He had a free market and fair in Dalton ; with a Court of criminal jurisdiction. He issued summonses and attachments by his own bailiffs. He had the return of all writs ; and the c 2 8 FLEETWOOD ROUTE. Sheriff, with his officers, were prohibited from enuring his territories under any pretext of office whatever. His lands and tenants were exempt from all regal exactions of tal- liage, toll, passage, pontage, and vectigal ; and no man was to presume to disturb or molest the Abbot, or any of his tenants, on pain of forfeiting ten pounds to the King ! In addition to all which he was immediate owner and occu- pant of almost half the low country. And for protections, privileges, and immunities, there were few Monasteries indeed that could boast so much. Pope Eugenius III. and Pope Innocent III. both conferred special favours on the Furness Monks ; and the princely foundation of STE- PHEN was confirmed and secured to them by the Charters of twelve succeeding Monarchs of England. Immense wealth was, besides, conferred on them by propitiatory offerings of the neighbouring families of opulence, who consecrated their substance with their bodies to the sacred retirement of the Abbey. With these means and appliances, the Monks exercised absolute dominion over the whole peninsula of Furness during four centuries, from the foundation of the Abbey till the general dissolution of Monasteries in the time of Henry VIII., when all power and authority, wealth and honours, were surrendered up to the King. The last Abbot was humbled to accept, as a pension, during the remainder of his life, the profits of the Rectory of Dalton, which were then valued at 33 6s. 8d. per annum. Such is a brief and bare outline of the history of this once great and magnificent Abbey. The situation of the Monastery indicates the peculiar good taste of the archi- tects. Secluded in a deep glen, which nevertheless opens out below into an expanse of fertile meadows, irrigated by a murmuring brook ; and screened by a forest of stately FURNESS ABBEY. 9 timber, the contemplative Monks could here, unawed and unseen, perform their holy rites, and pour out their souls in prayer ! " Such is the dwelling, grey and old, which in some world-worn mood, The youthful poet dreamed would suit his future solitude ; If the old Abbey be his search, he might seek far and near Ere he could find a gothic Cell more lonely than was here. Long years have darkened into time since Vespers here were rung ( And here has been no other dirge than what the winds have sung . And now the drooping ivy wreaths in ancient clusters fall ; And moss o'er each device hath grown upon the sculptured wall." We find nothing to add to Mr. West's description of the edifice in the " Antiquities of Furness," published in 1805. The ruins since that time have undergone very little alteration : The magnitude of the Abbey may be known from the dimensions of the ruins ; and enough is standing to shew that in the style of architecture prevailed the same sim- plicity of taste which is found in most houses belonging to the Cistercian monks, which were erected about the same time with Furness Abbey. The round and pointed arches occur in the doors and windows. The fine cluster- ed Gothic and the heavy plain Saxon pillars stand con- trasted. The walls shew excellent masonry, are in many places counter-arched, and the ruins discover a strong ce- ment. The east window of the church has been noble ; some of the painted glass that once adorned it is preserved in a window in Windermere Church. The window consists of seven compartments, or partitions. In the third, fourth, and fifth, are depicted, in full proportion, the Crucifixion, with the Virgin Mary on the right, and the beloved dis- c 3 10 FLEETWOOD BOUTE. ciple on the left side of the cross : angels are expressed receiving the sacred blood from the five precious wounds : below the cross is a group of monks in their proper habits, with the abbot in a vestment : their names are written on labels issuing from their mouths : the abbot's name is de- faced, which would have given a date to the whole. In the second partition are the figures of St. George and the dragon. In the sixth is represented St. Catharine, with the emblems of her martyrdom, the sword and wheel. In the seventh are two figures of mitred abbots, and under- neath them two monks dressed in vestments. In the middle compartment, above, are finely painted, quarterly, the arms of France and England, bound with the garter and its motto, probably done in the reign of Edward III. The rest of the window is filled up by pieces of tracery, with some figures in coats armorial, and the arms of seve- ral benefactors, amongst whom are Lancester, Urswick, Harrington, Fleming, Millum, &c. On the outside of the window at the Abbey, under an arched festoon, is the head of Stephen the founder ; oppo- site to it, that of Maude his queen, both crowned, and well executed. In the south wall, and east end of the church, are four seats adorned with Gothic ornaments. In these the officiating priest, with his attendants, sat at intervals during the solemn service of high mass. In the middle space, where the first barons of Kendal are interred, lies a procumbent figure of a man in armour, cross-legged. The chapter-house is the only building belonging to the Abbey which is marked with any elegance of Gothic sculp- ture ; it has been a noble room of sixty feet by forty-five. The vaulted roof, formed of twelve ribbed arches, was supported by six pillars in two rows, at fourteen feet dis- tance from each other. Now, supposing each of the pillars FURNESS ABBEY. 1 1 to be eighteen inches in diameter, the room would be di- vided into three alleys, or passages, each fourteen feet wide. On entrance, the middle one only could be seen, lighted by a pair of tall pointed windows at the upper end of the room ; the company in the side passage would be concealed by the pillars, and the vaulted roof, that groined from those pillars, would have a truly Gothic disproportioned appear- ance of sixty feet by fourteen. The northern side alley was lighted by a pair of similar side lights, and a pair at the upper end : the southern side alley was lighted by four small pointed side windows, besides a pair at the higher end at present entire, and which illustrate what is here said. Thus, whilst the upper end of the room had a pro fusion of light, the lower end would be in the shade. The noble roof of this singular edifice did but lately fall in : the entrance or porch is still standing, a fine circular arch, beautified with a deep cornice, and a portico on each side. The only entire roof of any apartment now remaining, is that of a building without the enclosure wall, which was the school-house of the Abbot's tenants. It is a single- ribbed arch that groins from the wall. The tower has been supported by four magnificent arches, of which only one remains entire. They rested upon four tall pillars, whereof three are finely clustered, but the fourth is of a plain unmeaning construction. The west end of the church seems to have been an ad- ditional part, intended for a belfry, to ease the main tower; but that is as plain as the rest : Had the monks even in- tended it, the stone would not admit of such work as has been executed at Fountains and Rieval Abbies. The east end of the church contained five altars, besides the high altar, as appears by the chapels ; and probably there was a private altar in the sacristy. In magnitude, this Abbey 12 FLEETWOOD ROUTE. was the second in England belonging to the Cistercian monks, and next in opulence after Fountains Abbey in Yorkshire. The church and cloisters were encompassed with a wall, which commenced at the east side of the great northern door, and formed the strait enclosure ; and a space of ground, to the amount of sixty-five acres, was surround- ed with a stone wall, which enclosed the mills, kilns, ovens, and fish-ponds belonging to the Abbey, the ruins of which are still visible. This last was the great enclosure, now called the Deer Park, in which such terraces might be form- ed as would equal, if not surpass, any in England. EXPLANATION OF THE GROUND-PLAN OF FUBNESS ABBEY. A, B, C, Q, T, V, N, represent the parts of the church. A, the east end of the church, where the high altar stood. Be- hind that was the circumambulatory. In the south wall was placed the piscina, or cistern, at which the priest washed his hands before service ; there is also a small niche, and over it hung the manutergium, on each side of the cistern for receiving the purifactories. Below these are four stalls, or seats, in the wall, richly ornamented in the Gothic style, in which the officiating priest, with his assistants, sat at intervals, in time of ce- lebrating high mass. Q, the choir. CC, chapels. V, vestry. TT, the transept. At the north end of the transept below T, is the great door into the church ; and at the south end is a door-case leading to the dormitory, through which the monks came into the church at midnight to sing matins, or morning prayers. On the west side of the door at the north end of the transept, there is a spiral stair-case, which, after rising in a perpendicular direction for a considerable height, has branched out into a passage in the western wall, and led to another flight of spiral stairs, on the top of one of the clustered columns, which supported the central spire over the intersection of the nave and the transept. These different flights of steps have formed the communication between the ground floor of the church and the higher parts of the spire. N, the nave of the church. Above N, is the southern aisle ; and below N, is the northern aisle. In the south wall adjoining the transept, is a door- way opening into a quadrangular court. There has probably been also a door- way in the north wall, near the west end of the nave. B, the belfry, or tower, at the west end of the church. In the wall on the south side of the ruins of this tower, close to the west window, there is a part of the spiral stairs which led to the top of the tower. GROUND PLAN OF FURNESS ABBEY. 14 FLEETWOOD ROUTE. < II, CL, II, K, L, M, NO, O, P, PL, QC, R, S, U, represent the chapter-house, the cloisters, and part of the Abbey adjoining. CH, the chapter-house, over which were the library and scrip- torium. The roof is represented as it lately stood. The porch has been ornamented with a deep ox-eye cornice, and pilasters of mar- ble. The pilasters are demolished/but the roof is entire. On each side of this porch there is a portico in the wall, with a similar cornice. R, the dining-room, or refectory. There has been a passage lead- ing from it to K, the kitchen and offices, over which were lodging- rooms for the secular servants. L, the locutorium, the calefactory, and conversation room. H, halls and rooms. S, a building on the outside of the strait enclosure, supposed to have been the school-house. There is a stone seat all round, and in the south wall is the stone pillar upon which was erected the pulpit of the teacher. The roof of this building is entire, and also that of a passage adjoining. Over these have been apartments. PP, passages. CL, the opposite wing of the cloisters razed to the ground. QC, the area of the quadrangular court. PL, a porter's lodge and gateway. M, the mill. SIR, the mill race. O, the great oven. NO, the ruins of a building of uncertain extent, supposed to have been the Noviciate. .UU, the ruins of buildings of uncertain extent and appropriation. The rivulet from the north, which constantly runs through the valley, is conducted by the east end of the church and side of the cloisters in a subterraneous passage or tunnel, which is arched over. Another temporary brook from the west, has been conducted by NO, and under S, in a similar manner. There has also been a sub- terraneous passage, leading from the race of the rivulet, under K, and forwards in an unknown direction. It has probably been con- ducted under some part of the church, and has served for a drain or sewer. DIMENSIONS OF THE CHURCH, THE CHAPTER-HOUSE, AND CLOISTERS. The inside length of the Church, from east to west, is 275 feet 8 inches : the thickness of the east end wall, and the depth of the east end buttress, 8 feet 7 inches : the thickness of the wett end wall, 9 feet 7 inches : the depth of the west end buttress, 10 feet 8 inches : the extreme length of the church, 304 feet 6 inches. The inside width of the east end is 28 feet, and the thickness of the two side walls, 10 feet. The total width of the east end is, therefore, 38 feet. The height of the arch above Q, from the floor to the under side of the centre-stone, is 52 feet 6 inches. The inside length of the TRANSEPT is 130 feet : the south wall is 6 feet, and the north wall 3 feet 6 inches in thickness : the inside width of the transept is 28 feet four inches : the thickness of the two side walls, 8 feet 8 inches. The whole breadth of the transept is, therefore, 37 feet. The inside width of the Nave is 66 feet ; and the thickness of the two side walls, 8 feet ; therefore the whole width of the nave is 74 feet. The height of the side walls of the church has been about 54 feet. DALTON. ULVER8TON. 15 The inside of the CiiAPTEu-IIousE measures GO feet by 45 feet 6 inches, and the thickness of each wall, 3 feet 6 inches. The inside width of the CtoisxEHS is 31 feet 6 inches, and the thickness of the two walls, 8 feet. The area of the quadrangular court is 338 feet G inches by 102 feet 6 inches. On solemn days the monks used to walk in proces- sion round this court, under a shade. DALTON. Dalton was anciently the capital of Furness, and has a population of about 800. Market day on Satur- day. The Courts of the Liberty and Manor of Furness are held in the Castle, which consists of an ancient square tower, situated at the top of a spacious market-place over- looking 1 the town. The late distinguished artist GEORGE ROMNEY, the portrait-painter, was born at a place called Beckside, in Dalton, on the 5th December, 1734. ULVERSTON is a flourishing- market town and port, and is the emporium of Furness at the present day. Popula- tion, about 5000. Market day on Thursday. Considera- ble quantities of wrought iron ore from the neighbouring- country are exported from this place. INNS, Sun Inn, Bradyll's Arms. From this quarter the Lakes would be advantageously approached by Coniston, in the following order ; thence to Hawkshead, and by the Ferry over Windermere, to Bowness and Ambleside ; a much better introduction than by going- direct from Coniston to Ambleside, which ought not to be done, as that would greatly take from the effect of Windermere : ULVERSTON to CONISTON WATER HEAD. 6 Lowiek Bridge 618 Coniston Water Head* 16 2 Nibthwaite ... 8 | This road is along a narrow vale, beautifully divided by hanging inclosures and scattered farms, half way up the sides of the mountains, whose various heads are covered with heath and brown vegetation. About three miles from 16 FLEET WOOD ROUTE. Ulverston observe a farm-house on the left and a group of houses before you on the right. Stop at the gate on the brow of the hill, and have a distant view of the lake. The whole range of Coniston fells is now in sight, and under them a lower sweep of dark rocks frown over the crystal surface of the lake. Advancing, on the left see Lowick Hall, once the seat of a family of that name. Cross the river Crake at Lowick, and keep on the eastern side of the lake of Coniston till you reach the inn at its head. tSxrumon* from OToitiatoit ? CLlatcr f&eafc. From this inn, a leisurely Traveller might have much pleasure in looking into Yewdale and Tilberthwaite, re- turning thither from the head of Yewdale by a mountain track which has the farm of Tarn Hows a little on the right. By this road is seen much the best view of Coniston Lake from the south. An enterprizing Tourist might go to the Vale of Dud- don, over Walna Scar, down to Seathwaite, Newfield, and to the rocks where the river issues from a narrow pass into the broad vale. The distance is 1 Coniston Church ...... 1 2 Runner from Goat Scar 3 1 Top of Walna Scar ... 4 2 Newfield ............ 6 The stream is very interesting for the space of a mile above this point, and below, by Ulpha Kirk, till it enters the Sands, where it is overlooked by the solitary mountain Black Comb, the summit of which, as that experienced surveyor, Colonel Mudge, declared, commands a more ex- tensive view than any point in Britain. Ireland he saw more than once, but not when the sun was above the ho- rizon. EXCURSION TO THE VALE OF DUDDON. " Close by the Sea, lone sentinel, Black-Comb his forward station keeps ; He breaks the sea's tumultuous swell, And ponders o'er the level deeps. He listens to the bugle horn, Where Eskdale's lovely valley bends; Eyes Walney's early fields of corn ; Sea-birds to Holker's woods he sends,. Beneath his feet the sunk ship rests, In Duddon Sands, its masts all bare : * * * * * * The Minstrels of Windermere, by Chas. Farish, B.lX The following; description of the scenery in this Excur- sion is extracted from Mr. Wordsworth's Notes to the River Duddon : " This recess (the vale of Duddon), towards the close of September, when the after-grass of the meadows is still of a fresh green, with the leaves of many of the trees faded, but perhaps none fallen, is truly enchanting. At a point elevated enough to shew the various objects in the valley, and not so high as to diminish their importance, the stran- ger will instinctively halt. On the foreground, a little be- low the most favourable station, a rude foot-bridge is thrown over the bed of the noisy brook foaming by the way-side. Russet and craggy hills, of bold and varied outline, sur- round the level valley, which is besprinkled with grey rocks plumed with birch trees. A few homesteads are interspersed, in some places peeping out from among the rocks like her- mitages, whose sites have been chosen for the benefit of sun- shine as well as shelter ; in other instances, the dwelling- house, barn, and byre, compose together a cruciform struc- ture, which, with its embowering trees, and the ivy clothing part of the walls and roof like a fleece, call to mind the remains of an ancient abbey. Time, in most cases, and D FLEETWOOD HOCTE. nature every where, have given a sanctity to the humble works of man, that are scattered over this peaceful retire- ment. Hence a harmony of tone and colour, a consum- mation and perfection of beauty, which would have been marred had aim or purpose interfered with the course of convenience, utility, or necessity. This unvitiated region stands in no need of the veil of twilight to soften or dis- guise its features. As it glistens in the morning sunshine, it would fill the spectator's heart with gladsomeness. Looking from our chosen station, he would feel an impa- tience to rove among its pathways, to be greeted by the milkmaid, to wander from house to house, exchanging ' good-morrows' as he passed the open doors; but, at even- ing, when the sun is set, and a pearly light gleams from the western quarter of the sky, with an answering light from the smooth surface of the meadows ; when the trees are dusky, but each kind still distinguishable ; when the co;>l air has condensed the blue smoke rising from the cot- tage chimneys ; when the dark mossy stones seem to sleep in the bed of the foaming brook ; then, he would be un- willing to moveforward, not less from a reluctance to re- linquish what he beholds, than from an apprehension of disturbing, by his approach, the quietness beneath him. Issuing from the plain of this valley, the brook descends in a rapid torrent passing by the church-yard of Seathwaite. From the point, where the Seathwaite brook joins the Dud- don, is a view upwards, into the pass through which the river makes its way into the plain of Donnerdale. The perpendicular rock on the right bears the ancient British name of THE PEN ; the one opposite is called WALLA- n.vunow CRAG, a name that occurs in other places to de- signate rocks of the same character. The chaotic aspect of the scene is well marked by the expression of a stranger, EXCURSION. TO THE VALE OF DUDDON. iif who strolled out while dinner was preparing 1 , and at his return, being asked by his host, ' What way he had been wandering-?' replied, 'As far as it \s finished !'" An easier approach to Seathwaite is by either of the two following- routes : 1 Coniston Church 1 2J Torver 3| 7 Broughton 10J 3 Ulpha Kirk-house ... 15 2 Newfield, nr. Seathwaite Chapel 17 1 Duddon Bridge ... 1H 3J Torver 3J B, 2 Broughton Mills 8 a Three miles beyond town take the road to the right GJ 4 Newfield 12 Both these roads afford many pleasing- and extensive pros- pects, and are thus described by Mr. GREEN: " The road leading from Coniston to Broughton is over high ground, and commands a view of the River Duddon ; which, at high water, is a grand sight, having the beautiful and fertile lands of Lancashire and Cumberland stretching each way from its margin. In this extensive view, the face of nature is displayed in a wonderful variety of hill and dale, wooded grounds, and buildings. Amongst the latter, Broughton Tower, seated on the crown of a hill, rising elegantly from the valley, is an object of extraordi- nary interest. Fertility on each side is gradually dimi- nished, and lost in the superior heights of Black Comb, in Cumberland, and the high lands between Kirkby and Ulverston. " The road from Broughton to Seathwaite is on the banks of the Duddon, and on its Lancashire side is of vari- ous elevations. The river is an amusing companion, one while brawling and tumbling over rocky precipices, until the agitated water becomes again calm by arriving at a smoother and less precipitous bed, but its course is soon 20 FJLEETWOOD ROUTE. again ruffled, and the current thrown into every variety of form which the rocky channel of a river can give to water." The Tourist may either return to the inn at Coniston by Broughton, or, by turning to the left before he comes to that town ; or, which would be much better, he may cross, from Ulpha Kirk over Birker Moor, to Birker Force, at the head of the finest ravine in the country ; and thence up the Vale of the Esk, by Hardknott and Wrynose, to Amble- side. Near the road, in ascending from Eskdale, are con- spicuous remains of a Roman fortress, called by the coun- try people " HaYdknott Castle" most impressively si- tuated half-way down the hill on the right of the road that descends from Hardknott into Eskdale. It has escaped the notice of most Antiquarians, and is but slightly men- tioned by Lysons. There is a DRUIDICAL CIRCLE about half a mile to the left of the road ascending Stone-side from the Vale of Duddon : the country people call it "Sunken Church." From SPRINGFIELD, in Seathwaite, over the Mountains to- BIRKER FORCE and STANLEY GILL, in Eskdale, and thence to Ambleside. 4 Birker Force- 4 2 Stanley Gill ... ... 6 16 Ambleside, over Hard- knot and Wrynose 22 The ascent to LEVERS WATER and the Top of the OLD MAN, perhaps rarely equalled, is recommended before leaving Coniston; but the ground being rugged, it should not be undertaken without a guide. The route is> 2 Coniston Church ... 6$ 1 Water head 7J 1 Black Bull* 1 2 J North side of Levers Water 3 1 Low Water 4J This excursion is thus noticed by a recent Tour- ist : " A lofty ridge sweeps round in a circular form to. the northern point of the Old Man, called Wetherlam, under which lies a fine tarn, called Levees Water. The sides are deep, and almost precipitous ; and the enclosed LEVERS WATER AND THE OLD MAN. 21 valley might, almost be fancied the crater of an extinct volcano. Copper-mining is here carried on, much to the injury of this magnificent scene, which it deforms by the introduction of mean and unsightly objects. The height of the Old Man is 2577 feet, and the ascent, especially from the south, steep and difficult. The view from it is inferior to no mountain view in the country, excepting those from Scawfell and Hclvellyn : if, indeed, it be in- ferior to the latter. A walk of half a mile from the top, towards the north-west, will bring the visitor in sight of a deep-seated tarn, called Seathwaite Tarn, which sends a tributary stream to the Duddon ; and, besides Levers Water, there are two other small tarns on the eastern sides. The stream from Goats Tarn flows into Co- niston. Those who can devote a day to the excursion will do well to follow the moutain range to Wetherlam, descending into Tilberthwaite, and so returning to Corns- ton. This lake is six miles long and three-quarters of a mile in breadth. Its greatest depth is twenty-seven fa- thoms, and it is famous for its char, a species of trout, which inhabits the deep water, and is only taken at par- ticular times of the year. Large quantities are potted, and sent to the south. They do not attain a large size, sel- dom, perhaps, exceeding a pound in weight. Coniston, Windermere, Wastwater, Buttermere, Crummock, and Ullswater, are, it is said, the only lakes which contain them. The char of Coniston stand highest, and those of Ullswater lowest, in repute." *The road from Coniston Water Head to Ambleside, direct, is 8 miles ; but, as has been before said, a circuitous route by Hawkshead, the Ferry, and Bowness, 15 miles, in the following order, is recommended as a much better introduction to Windermere : D 3 22 FLEETWOOD ROUTE. To HAWKSHEAD, 3 m. From HAWKSHEAD, by the Grove and Esthwaite Hall, round ESTHWAITE WATER. IJ Nearer Sawrey 2{ 2J Hawkshead 5 J Esthwaite Water i The Grove J Esthwaite Hall From HAWKSHEAD to the FERRY, through Colthouse and High Wray. Ferry House, by Belle Grange 6i j Colthouse ... J 1J Blelham Tarn ... 2 * High Wray 2J From HAWKSHEAD to AMBLESIDE, by the Ferry, Winder- mere, and Bowness. 2J Nearer Sawrey 2J Ij Ferry House, through Farther Sawrey ... 4 2 Bowness, over Windermere by the Ferry 6 4 Low Wood Inn 10 2 Ambleside 12 HAWKSHEAD is a compact little market-town, at the southern end of which, on a good elevation, stands the Parish Church, commanding a pleasant prospect of the Vale and Lake of Esthwaite, the latter of which is two miles long and half a mile in breadth. Here is a Free Grammar School, founded in 1585 by Edwyne Sandys, Archbishop of York, whose family name is yet found in the vicinity. Some years ago this school was filled with pupils not only from the neighbourhood but from the surrounding counties, numbering at one period about 1 20. The poet Wordsworth and his brother, the late Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, with many others distinguish- ed for classical attainments, were educated here. The pleasantest way round Esthwaite Water is by the Grove and Esthwaite Hall, passing Esthwaite Lodge, (T. Beck, Esq.,) on the right, a little beyond which the road is on the banks of the lake to its outlet near the bridge. From thence through the village of Sawrey, with Lake Field (J. R. Ogden, Esq.,), on the left, pass on its eastern side, and, by Colthouse at its head, to Hawkshead. From Hawkshead to the Ferry-house on Windermere, BOTANICAL NOTICES. 23 the road on either side of the lake passes over hilly ground through the villages of Sawrey. The sight of Winder- mere from the top of the hill is extremely fine, and on the margin of the lake to the Ferry-house it has peculiar charms. The Tourist halting here for a while should visit the Station-house, which is within a short and pleasant walk of the Inn, and commands a most lovely prospect of nearly the whole extent of the lake. Proceed to Bowness by the Ferry, and from thence to Low Wood and Ambleside ; or, if there be an objection to crossing the Ferry, there is a good road, abounding in a delightful succession of changes, on the west side of the lake, 8 miles, to Amble- side. BOTANICAL NOTICES. ATBOPA Belladonna. About Furness Abbey. CIHCJEA alpina. On the road-side between Ulverston and Hawkshead. SAXTFRAOA ttflJnri'! 1 On the Old Man Mountain, Coniston. f These three species may be found on HHHm huvnoides 4 m ? st . of the moun t ains in the Lake j District. GERANIUM sylvaticum. Coniston Water Head. OBNITHOPUS perpusillus. On the road-side on the East side of Coniston Lake. HABENARIA albida. On the high ground between Coniston and Hawkshead. SPIH,*A salicifolia. At Pool Bridge, near Hawkshead. MECANOPSIS cambrica ) . , , . , -r, -,. , HYPERICUM Androfomam } Ab ut the Fer ^ Winderm <*e. GERANIUM columbinum. Near Fell-foot, Newby Bridge. SERRATULA tinctoria, By the river-side, near Newby Bridge. 24 THE OVER-SANDS ROUTE. From PRESTON to LANCASTER, 20 in. is accomplished in three- quarters of an hour, by RAILWAY. Fare 5s. and 3s. according to class. LANCASTER, the capital of the County Palatine of Lancaster, is very finely situated on a hill rising 1 abruptly from the river Lune, which falls into the Bay of More- cambe at the distance of six miles. There is excellent accommodation at three good inns, the King's Arms, Royal Oak, and Commercial. On the summit of the hill is the Castle, a majestic structure originally built by Roger de Poictou in the llth century, and re-edified by John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, in the 14th. It has been greatly enlarged in modern times, and now serves as the county gaol. The Parish Church of St. Mary's, an ancient structure with a lofty tower, stands also on the Castle Hill. A handsome new church has been recently erected in Penny Street, and there are several other Epis- copal and Dissenting Places of Worship in the town. The County Lunatic Asylum is a handsome building, situated on Lancaster Moor, about a mile from the town, and is capable of accommodating 300 patients. The fo- reign commerce of Lancaster has been on the decline for many years, having been injured by the competition of Liverpool ; and the river being difficult of navigation, in neap tides the larger ships generally unload at Glasson Dock, five miles distant from the town. Lancaster is connected with the principal towns of the county by a canal, which is carried over the Lune two miles from the town by a magnificent aqueduct, erected by the late Mr. Rennie. Two packet-boats to and from Kendal and Pres- ton pass through daily. Lancaster is celebrated for the LANCASTER TO ULVEBSTOX. 25 manufacture of mahogany furniture, and several cotton and silk mills have of late years been established here. The formation of the Railway to Lancaster has been of great importance to the town, and may be considered as the be- ginning- of a new era in its history transforming a list- less and stationary community into one of those "hives of industry" by which the commercial character of this coun- try is sustained. Market days, Wednesday and Saturday. LANCASTER to ULVERSTON, OVER SANDS. Flookburgh* 15 3J Rest Bank* 3J J Lancaster Sands ... 3J 9 Kent's Bank (across the Sands) ... .,. ... 12} 1 Lower Allithwaite ... 13 j f Cark* 15f J Leven Sands 16 5 * Across the Sands to Ul- verston 21 The Stranger, from the moment he sets his foot on those Sands, seems to leave the turmoil and traffic of the world behind him ; and, crossing the majestic plain whence the sea has retired, he beholds, apparently from its base, the cluster of mountains among which he is going to wan- der, and towards whose recesses, by the Vale of Coniston, he is gradually and peacefully led. " On entering the Sands to the left," says Mr. West, " Heysham-point rises abruptly, and the village hangs on its side in a beautiful manner. Over a vast extent of sands, Peel Castle, the ancient bulwark of the bay, rears its venerable head above the tide. In front appears a fine sweep of country sloping to the south. To the right Warton Crag presents itself in a bold style. On its arched summit are the vestiges of a square encampment, and the ruins of a beacon. Grounds stretching from the eye for many a mile, variegated in every pleasing form by woods and rocks, are terminated by cloud- topt Ingleborough. A little further on the same hand, another vale opens to the sands, and shews a broken ridge of rocks, and beyond them groups of mountains towering 26 OVER-SANDS HOUTE. to the sky. Castle-steads, a pyramidal hill that rises above the station at Kendal, is now in sight. At the bottom of the bay stands Arnside Tower, once a mansion of the Stanleys. The Cartmel coast now, as you advance, be- comes more pleasing. Betwixt that and Silverdale Nab (a mountain of naked rock) is a great break in the coast, and through the opening the river Kent rolls its waters to join the tide. In the mouth of the estuary are two beau- tiful conical isles, clothed with wood and sweet verdure. As you advance toward them they seem to change their, position, and hence often vary in appearance. At the same time a grand view opens of the Westmorland moun- tains, tumbled about in a most striking manner. At the head of the estuary, under a beautiful green hill, He- versham village and church appear in fine perspective. To the north, Whitbarrow Scar, a huge arched and bended cliff, of an immense height, shews its storm-beaten front. The intermediate space is a mixture of rocks, and woods, and cultivated patches, that form a romantic view. At the side of the Eau, or river of the sands, a guide on horseback, called the Carter, is in waiting to conduct pas.- sengers over the ford. The priory of Cartmel was charg- ed with this important office, and had synodals and peter- pence allowed towards its maintenance. Since the dissolu- tion of the priory, it is held by patent of the Duchy of Lancaster, and the salary, twenty pounds per annum, is paid by the Receiver-General." On leaving Lancaster Sands at Kent's Bank, having the bold headland of Humphrey Head on the left, pass through Flookborough and Cark, and begin to cross Leven Sands at Cark Lane, three miles, whence the distance is two miles to Ulverston. At, the JSau, or ford of the river Leven, another Carter conducts you over the stream. LANCASTER TO ULVERSTON BY LEVENS BRIDGE. 27 On entering these Sands you have " on the right a grand view of Alpine Scenery. A rocky hill, patched with wood and heath, rising immediately from the coast, directs the eye to an immense chain of lofty mountains, apparently increased in magnitude and height since they were seen from Hest Bank." Near Humphrey Head is HOLYWELL, noted for its mineral water, and in the immediate vicinity of Flookborough, in a richly-wooded park, stands HOLKER HALL, the magnificent residence of the Earl of Burling- ton. About a mile from Holker is CARTMEL, whose ancient church, once a priory, is an interesting object. BOTANICAL NOTICES. PTRUS Aria VERONICA spicata ,-. 1^.11 i, \ i HKI.IANTKT5MUM c^wm - On rocks at Humphrey-head, near ASTBAOALUS glycyphyllos HTPOCH^RIS maculata J COSVALLABIA multiflora, at Holker. To those Tourists who dislike to cross the Sands, the following extended route by Levens Bridge is offered. The road is excellent, and passes through a pleasant and agreeable country. The objects upon it, as far as Levens Bridge, are noticed in the KENDAL ROUTE, p. 31. LANCASTER to ULVERSTON, by LEVENS BRIIX:E. 3 Lindal* 23.} 2 Newton* 25.J Newby Bridge* 27^ Low Wood* 2f)i Greenodd* 32^ Illverston 36 i 12 Hale* 12 2 Beetham* 12 \ 1J Milnthorpe 13| 1J Heversham* ... 15 lj Levens Bridge 16^ 4 Witherslaok* ... 20^ After crossing Levens Bridge the Ul version road turns off, five miles from Kendal, over extensive mosses, to the left, having the noble limestone rock of Whitbarrow (yielding but few fossils), whose abrupt escarpment forms a remark- able object in the scenery, on the right hand. The road 28 OVEU-SANDS ROUTE. passes CASTLE HEAD, on the left, before reaching Lirt- dal, where there is a long and tedious hill to overcome, from the top of which is seen in retrospect an extensive view of Morecambe Bay. The road is now a gradual descent to Newby Bridge, at the foot of Windermere, where there is a comfortable Inn. Prom Newby Bridge to Ulverston is a pleasant drive of eight miles, passing on the road the extensive Cotton Mills of Ainsworth and Co., at Backbarrow, and the Gunpowder Works of Dave Barker, and Co. at Low Wood. [Deviation. Another road to Bowness branches off at the Bridge Inn on the Moss to the right, leading through Lyth, Crosthwaite, and Winster. The distance to Bow- ness from Milnthorpe by this road is about ten miles.] From Ulverston the Tourist may follow the route to Ambleside by Coniston, already recommended, or he may proceed more directly by Newby Bridge, as follows : TJLVERSTON to BOWNESS and AMBLESIDE, by Newby Bridge. Bowness 16 Ambleside ... , '2'2 3 Green Odd 3 3 Low Wood 6 2 Newbv Bridge* ... 8 BOTANICAL NOTICES. LATnu.EA sqriamaria. } CO.VYZA. fquarrosa. J- In Levens Park. vulyare, var. cambriciim. ) * . Near Low Levens. HOTTOMA palustris. \ ANDBOMEDA/>0/t/Za. / SIUM angustifolium. \ On Bfigsteer Moss. inundation. I APICM gravtolens. S i L A v s pratensis } HTOSCYAMUS niger. > Near Levens Church. CYNOGIOSSUM afficinale. ) VEBBASCUM Tliapsus. ^ SIUM repens. > At foot of Brigsteer Sear, AQUII>EGIA viilgaris. } POL v PODIUM calcarevm. Whitbarrow M syloaticum. Whitbarrow woods. TO KENDAL BY KIHRBY LONSDALE. 29 ALLIUM Schcenoprasum. Rusmittle, Lyth. OPIIKYS muscifera. Rusmittle. HABENARIA bifolia. ) Rusmitt ie. GYMNADENIA conopsea. ) INULA Helenium. Fellside farm, Crosthwaite. GRAMMITIS Ceterach. Near Fell-side, do. DBOSEBA rotundifolia. longifolia, Anglica. GENTIANA Pneumonanthe. On Fowlshaw Moss. UTRICULARIA vulgaris. minor. SCIKPCS maritimus. VERBENA officinalis. Road-side at Lindal. Let us now go back to Preston, and conduct the Stranger to Ambleside by THE KENDAL ROUTE. The Railway will carry him in three-quarters of an hour to Lancaster, already noticed, from whence there are three roads to Kendal, severally described in the following Ta- bles. The old road to Kendal by Burton is 22 miles, but by making a circuit of eight miles, the Vale of the Lune to Kirkby Lonsdale will be included. The whole tract is pleasing'; there is one view, mentioned by Gray and Mason, especially so. In West's Guide it is thus pointed out: " About a quarter of a mile beyond the third mile-stone, where the road makes a turn to the right, there is a gate on the left which leads into a field where the station meant will be found." The shortest and most direct road to Kendal is by Milnthorpe. LANCASTER to KENDAL, by KIRKBY LONSDALE. 5 Caton ... 5 2 Claughton 7 2 Tunstall 13 2 Burrow 15 2 Hornby* 912 Kirkby Lonsdale ... 17 2 Melling 11 j 13 Kendal 30 KiRKBY 1 LONSDAXE contains a population of 1643, and is beautifully situated on the west bank of the river Lune. 30 KENDAL ROUTE. Market-day, Thursday. Inns, Rose and Crown, and Green Dragon. The bridge over the Lune is a very picturesque and interesting structure. It is lofty, and has three noble arches beautifully ribbed. The history of the erection of this bridge is enveloped in obscurity. The Clergy Daugh- ters' School and the School for the education and training of Female Servants, at Casterton, a mile and a half dis- tant, are objects of interest, and worthy of a visit. See page 3. BOTANICAL NOTICES. SAPONAHIA officinalis. Under Kirkby Lonsdale bridge. GAI.IUM boreale. Under Kirkby Lonsdale bridge. ALLIUM oleraceum. Near Kirkby Lonsdale bridge. HYPEBICTTM dubium. Below the bridge. GEnAnivMphceum. Between Kirkby Lonsdale and Cowan bridge SALIX Smitkiana. ~\ - Weigeliana. f On the banks of the Lune, near Kirkby tenuifolia. S Lonsdale. Croweana. j LANCASTER to KENDAL, by BURTON. 10J Burton 10| J End Moor* 16 4f Crooklands* 15* 6 Kendal 22 INNS. Burton, Royal Oak, King's Arms. A good part of the way from Lancaster to Burton is cheered with fine prospects of the sea, and the mountains of Lancashire and Westmorland. About six miles from Lancaster, at a short distance, on the left, is Warton Crag, a bold elevation, and highly interesting to the Bo- tanist. After leaving Burton the road passes, on the right, a stupendous limestone-rock, called Farlton Knott, said to resemble the rock of Gibraltar in outline ; and about three miles from Kendal a hill on the right, called Helm, or Castlesteads, with the traces of a Roman encamp- ment on its summit, is passed. TO K.ENDAL BY MILNTHORPE. 31 LANCASTER to KENDAL, by MILNTIIOBPE. 2J Slyne* 2J It Bolton-le-Sands* 4 2 Carnforth* 6 2 Junction of the Milnthorpe and Burton roads ... 8 Beethom 12'j 1J Milnthrpe 13* 1J Heversham* 16 1J Levens Bridge ... 16$ 4J Kendal 21} 4 Hale* ............ 12 This road leaves Warton Crag- on the left, and branches off from the Burton road at a distance of eight miles from Lancaster ; then passes through the pleasant village of Beethom to Milnthorpe, where there is a good inn The Cross Keys. DALLAM TOWER, the residence of George Wilson, Esq., is seen on the left, in a richly- wooded park. One mile from Milnthorpe pass through Heversham, the birth-place of the late venerable Bishop Watson. A mile further stands LEVENS HALL, the ancient and picturesque seat of the Hon. F. G. Howard, which is deserving- of notice. The gardens were origi- nally laid out by the gardener of James II. in the old Dutch style, and are the admiration of every visitor of this delightful spot. The park is separated from the house by the high-road, and is well stocked with deer. There is a pleasant walk through the park by following- the river Kent, and passing- through the village of Sedgwick, to Kendal. A mile from Levens pass on the left HEAVES LODGE, the residence of James Gandy, Esq., and on the right, at a short distance, SEDGWICK. HOUSE, the seat of John Wakefield, Esq. A mile further, to the left, stands SIZERGH HALL, the ancient family seat of the Stricklands. BOTANICAL NOTICES. POTENTILLA verna. Whitbarrow "Woods. OSMUNDA regalis. By the road side under Whitbarrow. VACCINIUM oxycoccos. Very abundant on Fowlshaw MOBS. SPARGANIUM natans. Fowlshaw. CAMPANULA latifolia. In the hedges. -- trachelium. In Park-head Lane. E 2 32 KENDAL ROUTE. KENDAL, is the largest and most important town, though not the metropolis, of the County of Westmorland, and is situated on the west bank of the river Kent, in a pleasant and fertile valley encompassed by hills of considerable height. It consists of two main streets, in continuity, from North to South, from which all the other streets, lanes, and al- leys branch off at right angles. Kendal is a place of great antiquity, but the re-erections and enlargements which have taken place within the last half century have given it a modern appearance. The houses are built of moun- tain limestone, peculiarly rich in organic remains, which is obtained in great abundance from Kendal Fell, on the west side of the town. This material is quarried out in large blocks, and, being capable of a very high polish, is also extensively used in the manufacture of chimney-pieces. The woollen manufactures of this kingdom were first es- tablished, by Act of Parliament, in Kendal. John Kemp, a manufacturer from Flanders, was the person who first received " protection" to establish himself in this country, and he settled here in the reign of Edward III. (1331). To the woollen manufacture this town has long been in- debted for its prosperity ; latterly, however, owing to com- petition in Yorkshire, &c. the trade in coarse woollens has not increased, and some of the manufacturers have turned their attention to the manufacture of fancy fabrics for waistcoatings, carpets, and worsted goods. The Castle occupies a verdant knoll of oval shape on the east side of the town, and commands a pleasing and extensive prospect to the north and south-west. This fortress was the seat of the ancient Barons of Kendal, and the birth-place of Catherine Parr, the last wife of Henry VIII. No records have been preserved to establish the date of this castle. There is, however, very little doubt KENDAL. 33 but it was raised altogether, or in part, by one of the first Barons of Kendal. If in part only by one of the first Barons, the completion of it must be assigned to those who lived in the 12th or in the early part of the 13th century. The circular tower or this castle is the most entire part of the ruin, and has evidently been the strongest ; but the precise time when it was erected, and whether the rest of the building be coeval with it, must, it is to be feared, for ever remain in obscurity. The order of archi- tecture and the arrangements of the apartments, however, carry a pointed resemblance to some of the Castles (Cock- ermouth Castle for a particular instance) which have been referred to the time of the Conqueror. The date of the Castle's decay or destruction may fairly be taken from the attainder of Queen Catherine's brother, the Marquis of Northampton, in 1553, and as only nineteen years inter- vened between that event and the time when it has been proved to be in ruins (1565), the most plausible conclu- sion seems, that it was dismantled or thrown down in the Marquis's unsuccessful engagements against the Crown in favour of Lady Jane Grey. The Castle and lands an- nexed to it have lately been purchased by William Thomp- son, Esq. M. P. Alderman of London. For further par- ticulars respecting the history of this venerable edifice, and the family of the Parrs, see the " Annals of Kendal." The Church is a spacious five-aisled Gothic structure. In it are three "quires," or private chapels, memorials of the ancient dignity of three neighbouring families, the Bellinghams, Stricklands, and Parrs. The Natural History Society's Museum is worthy the notice of passing Visitors. A considerable collection of specimens will be found in the following branches of natural science Mineralogy, Geology, Ornithology, Bo- tany, &c. E 3 34 KENDAL ROUTE. There are many pleasant walks in the vicinity of Kendal, and to those who feel an interest in Botanical and Geo- logical pursuits, this neighbourhood has peculiar charms. The WALK TO SCOUT SCAR, a noble limestone cliff about two miles to the west of Kendal, is especially interesting. The Naturalist who may wander to this beautiful spot will find abundant material for interesting examination. For the use of the Botanist we subjoin a list of the rarer plants to be found in this locality. Many of the less com- mon species of land shells, especially of the Helix, Pupa, and Vertigo genus, will be found in their peculiar habitats in the course of a ramble across the face of the hill. Se- veral of the beds of the (carboniferous) limestone, exposed in the escarpment, yield in abundance the characteristic shells and corals of this formation. Part of the upper Ludlow rocks of the Silurian system will be observed cropping out beneath the limestone, and rising through the peat- moss, in rounded masses, in various parts of the valley below. A walk round the southern extremity of the fell, by the new road down to the village of Brigsteer, will amply repay the geologist by a beautiful section through the limestone and Silurian beds, down to the level of the moss, which may be seen there. We may observe that the most characteristic fossils of the neighbourhood may generally be purchased from Collectors in Kendal. The travelled blocks of greenstone, &c., from the lake rocks, resting on different parts of the fell, and in many instances crowning its highest elevations (blocs perches) will not be passed unnoticed. BOTANICAL NOTICES IN THE WALK TO SCOUT SCAR. CORONOPUS Ruettii. Beast Banks. AHENAHIA verna. ~\ SFERGULA rwdosa Ab tfa Liine . ki i nB Kendal felL GKNTIANA Amarella * __ campestris * BOTANICAL NOTICES. 35 Abundant on Kendal fell. On Kendal fell. GALIUM pusillum \ ASPERULA cynanchica ) GNAPIIALIUM dioicum POLY PODIUM calcareum GRAMMITIS Ceterach SCOLOPENDRIUM vulgare J ASPLENIUM viride. On the edge of Scout Scar. SESLERIA cezrulea. Kendal fell and Scout Scar. HELIANTHEMUM canum HIPPOCREPIS comosa THALICTRUM minus GERANIUM sanguineum HYPEHICUM montanum hirsutum PYRUS Aria SEDUM Anglicum POTEHIUM sanguisorba CONYZA squarrosa EPIPACTIS latifolia BBACHIPODIUM sylvaticum RHAMNUS catharticus Frangula OPHRYS Nidus Avis LATHR^EA squamaria CLINOPODIUM vulgare ORIGANUM vulgare RUB us saxatilts PRIMULA elatior CONVALLARIA majolis EPIPACTIS palustris ORCHIS latifolia In Spital Wood. PRIMULA elatior j 36 KENDAI, ROUTE. PKUNUS Padus \ , . . w COBYDALIS claviculata f In S P ltal Woo Laverock Lane. CABDAMINF, amara j GEUM rivale ~\ [ Laverock bridge. ./ EQUISETUM kyemale. Near Old Field "Wood, by the river side. POLYPOJOIUM Dryopteris "\ -- Phegopteris J. At Scarfoot. ASPIDIOM aculeatum, var. lonchitiforme J MEUM athamanticum. Docker Garths. KIBES alpinum. Docker Brow. Tarn. namaria . TANACETUM vulgare ) In a field near Jenkin GEBANIUM robertianum, white var. $ Crag Lane. SIUM latifolium. Stock Beck. SENECIO saracenicus. Do. MECANOPSiscaTw&rtca. Peat Lane, Oxenholme, & Sprint bridge. CNICUS heterophyllus. Peat Lane. CBYPTOCBAMMA crispa. Do. GERANIUM columoimim. Canal Banks. CALAMINTHA ojfficinalis. Kendal Castle. ALLIUM arenarium, By the river side near Helsington & 'lint bridge. TAMUS communis. Common in hedges. COI.CHICUM autumnale. Mintsfeet. GALEOPSIS ver-ncolor. Sprint bridge, and Burneside Hall. LTCOPUS europceus. Burneside Tarn. BIDENS tripartita. Near Burneside Hall. THALICTRUM minus. Lane to Cowan Head. EUONYMUS europceus. Near Hundhow. SENECIO sylvalicus. Pine Crags. SEDUM anglicum. Pine Crags and Ratherheath. NARCISSUS Pseudo-Narcissus. Do. GERANIUM phceum. Pepper-hag, near Burneside. - sylvaticum. Common in most of the wooded lanes. SIUM inundatum. Coppy Tarn, Tenter-fell, Stricklandgate. HABENABIA viridis. Tenter-fell, Do. SANGUISOBBA affidnalis. In meadows round the town. ANCHUSA sempervirens. Near Tolson Hall gate. ' Gilling-grove, Kendal. Before proceeding to Bowness and Ambleside, the Tourist may conveniently make the following 37 <5xfumou0 from To SHAP WELLS. 2* Skelsmergh Stocks* ... 2J 2J Plough Inn* 5 4: High Borrow Bridge* 9 6 Shap Wells 15 SHAP WELLS. A spacious Hotel with Baths and every accommodation for visitors has been erected at this place. Shap Spa is stated by Mr. Alderson in his " Trea- tise," to be a most genial and sanative saline spring, milder than the Harrogate, and more active than the Gilsland Water, and in its properties nearly allied to that of Lea- mington. It is much frequented by persons seeking health or recreation. BOTANICAL NOTICES NEAR SHAP. CARDDUS nutans. Near the Toll-bar. CNICUS heterophyllus. Hardendale.. CAMPANULA glomerata. Do. POLYQONUM viviparum. Do. GALIUM boreale. Do. HIEBACICM Lawsoni. Between Shap and Anna Well. POTEEIUM sanguisorba. Hardendale Nab. SESLERIA ccerulea. Do. To HAWES WATEE, through LONG SLEIXDALE. 4| Watch Gate ...... 4 2 Sadgill Bridge ...... 9 3 Long Sleddale Chapel 7-* 4| Chapel Hill ..... 14 " Following the road from Kendal to Shap for about four miles, the traveller will see, far under him, a deep narrow valley, turning somewhat westward into the mountains : this is Long Sleddale, into which a cross-road down a steep hill will conduct him. If not one of the grandest character, it has the advantage at least of being thoroughly free from the intrusion of art. There is nothing to mar its harmony : and while passing along the narrow lanes, enclosed by thickly lichened walls, tufted with wild flowers and crested by hedges, as the eye rests on the brilliant 38 KENDAL ROUTE. green of the meadows, the sparkling- purity of the stream, or the autumnal tints of the copses, we heartily rejoice in our emancipation from the turnpike-road, and acknowledge this to be a genuine and lovely specimen of pastoral sce- nery.* The upper portion of the dale is bleak and sterile, and the ascent to the summit of the pass which divides it from Mardale is wearisome ; but, on attaining the summit, the bird's-eye view of the deep green secluded glen beneath, and the abruptness and ruggedness of the descent, will strike one who is unaccustomed to mountain-passes with surprise and delight. There is a small public-house, the White Bull, where rough but clean accommodation may be had, at Mardale Green, about a mile above the head of Hawes Water. This lake is three miles long, ' a sort of lesser Ulswater,' Mr. Wordsworth says, ' with this advantage, that it remains undefiled by the intrusion of bad taste ;' and, from the remoteness of the situation, it is long likely to remain so. The eastern bank is richly clothed by natural wood, of no great size or beauty, but richly feathering the hill-side and shore of the lake." The tourist may return to Kendal through Kentmere, by reversing the order of the next excursion ; or, he may proceed to Bowness by striking across the summit of High Street on the right from the pass of Nanbield, and descend- ing into the valley of Troutbeck, which opens to Win- * The Geologist will examine with interest a narrow band of limestone which crosses this valley, the shales of which abound with lower Silurian fossils. It will be found, with the greatest facility, near the junction of two small mountain streams which pass down the lateral vale, in which is situated the hamlet of Little London. This limestone band may be traced through the valleys of Kentmere (behind the Hall) and Troutbeck, near Low Wood, thence by Coniston Water Head, the Old Man, Torver, Broughton Mills, and across the river Duddon. IIAWES WATER. 39 dermere a little below Low Wood. The distance from Mardale to the public-house at Troutbeck is about six miles, from thence to Bowness it is four miles. High Street is 2700 feet above the level of the sea. Remains of the Roman Road from Kendal (Concangium) to Pen- rith (Petriana), may be traced along its summit. The views from it are extremely fine, and the road all the way to Bowness abounds in charming prospects. BOTANICAL NOTICES LONG SLEDDALE. ANCHUSA sempervirens. By the road-side in the vale of Long Sleddale. CNICUS heterophyllns. In fields near the road. MECPANOPSIS cambrica. Near the Chapel. OXYRIA remformis EPILOBICM alsinifolium SAXIFRAGA stellaris aizoides hypnoides ALCHEMILLA alpina COCHLEAHIA officinalis FESTUCA ovina, var. vivipara LYCOPODIUM selaginoides CBYPTOGRA&IMA crispa Above Buckbarrow Well. On the sides of Goatsca, RUBUS Chamoemorus. On the top of Goatscar. ASPIDIDM Oreopteris. Stony places. GXAPHALIUM dioicum. Very fine on high pastures.* To HAWES WATER, through KENTMEBE. 5 Staveley* 4 Kentmere Chapel* Nanbield 12J Head of Hawes Water* 15 On leaving Kendal, the Ambleside road is to be pursued as far as Staveley, at which place a road to the right * The Botanist will look in vain for STIPA pennata, if this beanti- ful grass really ever grew here. SIBTTIOBPIA europasa, said to grow at Buckbarrow Well, is nothing more than CHBYSOSPLENIUM oppo- sitifolium, with large foliage but no flowers. The Silurian limestone before noticed, furnishes none of the plants or land-shells charac- teristic of the mountain Limestone. 40 KENDAL RODTE. leads direct into the valley of Kentmere. This road is practicable for carriages as far as the Chapel (near which is a small ale -bouse), beyond this point the excursion must be made on foot. A little to the south of the Chapel stands KENTMERE HALL, now occupied as a farm-house, an ancient building with a square tower. BERNARD GILMN, who, from his learning and piety, was called the " Apostle of the North," was born here in 1517. To- wards the head of the vale, Kentmere Tongue shoots boldly forward from the Sleddale side of the dale towards Hill Bell and Rainsbarrow, which, with High Street, altogether produce, from certain points, arrangements, which, in sublimity, are scarcely equalled in Westmorland. The road crosses Kentmere Tongue on its northern side, from which it is a steep ascent to the pass at Nan- bield, where there is a fine prospect of Hawes Water and the country about Lowther and Penrith. From this place the road descends precipitately to Mardale Green, passing a mountain tarn called Small Water in its rugged track. Before reaching Mardale, the stream which flows from Small Water is joined by a brook issuing from a little lake called Blea Water, lying at the Mardale end of High Street, under a high and perpendicular rock. This lake has on one side the mountain called Riggendale, and on the other the hill that separates it from Small Water. The Kentmere road is joined at the foot of Harter Fell by that from Kendal through Long Sleddale, by which the tourist may return to Kendal ; or, he may proceed to Bowness by the route over High Street, already pointed out. From CHAPEL HILL round HAWES WATER. 3 Foot of the Lake ... 3 2 Foot of the Lake on the 2 Bridge between the vil- eastern side 7 lages of Bampton ... 5 3 Chapel Hill 10 41 KENDAL to AMBLESIDE, Direct. 5 Staveley* 6 1J Ings Chapel BOWNESS AND AMBLESIDE ROADS. 43 It has been before mentioned that the Bowness and Ambleside roads from Kendal divide at the turnpike- gate not two miles from Kendal. This road on the whole is of a more varied description than the direct one ; its localities are often pleasing, and its opening south- ward through Underbarrow is certainly fine. Windermere first bursts on the eye, like a fairy vision, about a mile and a quarter from Bowness. Here it is seen spotted with all its pretty islands, and skirted by shores richly wooded. Presently Bowness comes into view, and the whole length of the lake stretching northward and southward. The Rydal mountains raise their heads at a considerable distance. The road from Bowness to its junction with that direct from Kendal to Ambleside is partly through wooded grounds. RAYRIGG, the seat of the Rev. Fletcher Flem- ing, stands on a slight elevation above the surface of the lake, and at an agreeable distance from the road. On rising the hill beyond Rayrigg, it passes Millar Ground, an ancient farm-house, and soon joins the Ambleside road at Cook's House, having on the left a view of Win- dermere, with the Pikes of Langdale, forming a landscape of surpassing richness. The road from this point to Ambleside has been before noticed. BOTANICAL NOTICES. POLTPODIUM Dryopteris, near the 5th milestone. THLASPI alpestre, near the 6th do. DBOSEBA longifolia } MENYANTHES trifoliata r HYPERICUM elodes V Near the 7th do. NYMPH^A alba I NUPHAB lutea Thus far for those who approach the Lakes by the South. 44 ROUTE FROM THE NORTH. Travellers from the North would do well to go from Carlisle by Wig-ton, and proceed along- the Lake of Bas- senthwaite to Keswick ; or, if convenience should take them first to Penrith, it would be still better to cross the country to Keswick, and beg-in with that vale, rather than with Ullswater. It is worth while to mention, in this place, that the banks of the river Eden, about Corby, are well worthy of notice, both on account of their natural beauty, and the viaducts which have recently been carried over the bed of the river, and over a neighbouring- ravine. In the Church of Wetherby, close by, is a fine piece of monumental sculpture by Nollekens. The scenes of Nun- nery, upon the Eden, or rather that part of them which is upon Croglin, a mountain stream there falling into the Eden, are, in their way, unrivalled. But the nearest road thither, from Corby, is so bad, that no one can be advised to take it in a carriage. Nunnery may be reached from Corby by making a circuit and crossing the Eden at Ar- mathwaite bridge. A portion of this road, however, is bad enough. WINDERMERE. Windermere is the largest of the English Lakes, being ten miles in length, and more than a mile at its greatest breadth. Its two principal feeders are the rivers Brathay and Rothay, which join near Croft Lodge, and pour their united waters into the head of the lake. The Brathay rises in the group of lofty mountains between Langdale and Borrow dale. The Rothay issues partly from Rydal BOWNESS. 45 Water and partly out of the hills at the head of Amble- side. A circumstance very interesting to the Naturalist should be mentioned here. The Char and Trout, at the approach of the spawning season, may be seen proceeding together out of the lake up the stream to the point where the Brathayand Rothay meet, when they uniformly separate, as if by mutual arrangement, the char always, and all of them, taking the Brathay, and the trout the other stream, the Rothay. Is it a difference in the quality of the waters, or some geological peculiarity in the river beds, that influences these fish in their choice of streams? Numerous Islands adorn the surface of this lovely lake, the largest of which, BELLE ISLE, the summer residence of H. Curwen, Esq., contains upwards of thirty acres. This island is well wooded, and being intersected by shady walks, open to tourists, affords a pleasant change to those who land upon its shores. LADY HOLME, a small island nearly opposite to Rayrigg, had, in the time of Henry VIII. a chapel dedicated to our Lady within its small territory, belonging to Furness Abbey, but no traces of this sanctu- ary are left to mark its site. BOWNESS, pleasantly situated upon the wertenx side of the lake, and at an equal distance from each extremity, contains two comfortable and commodious inns, the Royal Hotel, Ullock's, (so designated since the visit of the Queen Dowager), and the Crown. The Church is an ancient structure with a square tower, dedicated to St. Martin. The chancel window is of painted glass, and was brought hither from Furness Abbey after the de- struction of that monastery. (See p. 9, for a description of this window.) The remains of the late learned Bishop Watson, of Llandaff, rest in the Church yard, close by the eastern window. His tomb bears the following- sim- F 3 46 WINDERMEKE. pie and unpretending inscription : " Ricardi Watson, Epis- copi Landavensis, cineribus sacrum, obiit Julii 1, A.D. 1816, .ZEtatis 79." A handsome school-house looks down from an eminence in the centre of the village, and stands as a monument of the munificence of the late John Bolton, Esq. of Storrs Hall, who erected the edifice at his own expense. The lower part of Windermere is rarely visited, but has many interesting points of view, especially at Storrs Hall and at Fell-foot, where the Coniston mountains peer nobly over the western barrier, which elsewhere, along the whole lake, is comparatively tame. For one also who has as- cended the hill from Grathwaite on the western side, the Promontory called Rawlinson's Nab, Storr's Hall, and the Troutbeck Mountains, about sun-set, make a splendid landscape. The view from the Pleasure-house of the Station near the Ferry has suffered much from Larch plan- tations ; this mischief, however, is gradually disappearing, and the Larches, under the management of Mr. Curwen, are giving way to the native wood. Windermere ought to be seen both from its shores and from its surface. None of the other lakes unfold so many fresh beauties to him who sails upon them. This is owing to its greater size, to the islands, and its having two vales at the head, with their accompanying mountains of nearly equal dignity. Nor can the grandeur of these two terminations be seen at once from any point, except from the bosom of the lake. The Islands may be explored at any time of the day ; but one bright unruffled evening, must, if possible, be set apart for the splendour, the stillness, and solemnity of a three hours' voyage upon the higher division of the lake, not omitting, towards the end of the excursion, to quit the expanse of water, and peep into the calm river at its- AMBLESIDE. 47 head ; which, in its quiet character,* at such a time, ap- pears rather like an overflow of the peaceful lake itself, than to have any more immediate connection with the rough mountains whence it has descended, or the turbulent tor- rents by which it is supplied. Many persons content themselves with what they see of Windermere during their progress in a boat from Bowness to the head of the lake, walking thence to Ambleside. But the whole road from Bowness is rich in diversity of pleasing or grand scenery ; there is scarcely a field on the road side, which, if entered, would not give to the landscape some additional charm. In addition to the two vales at its head, Windermere communi- cates with two lateral Vallies ; that of Troutbeck, distin- guished by the mountains at its head by picturesque re- mains of cottage architecture ; and, towards the lower part, by bold foregrounds formed by the steep and winding banks of the river. This Vale, as before mentioned, may be most conveniently seen from Low Wood. The other lateral Valley, that of Hawkshead, is visited to most advantage, and most conveniently, from Bowness ; crossing the lake by the ferry then pass the villages of Sawrey, and, on quitting the latter, you have a fine view of the Lake of Esthwaite, and the cone of one of the Langdale Pikes in the distance. From Bowness many pleasant walks may be taken ; but this station is too remote from the moun- tains for making excursions, which may be more conve- niently done from Low Wood or Ambleside. BOTANICAL NOTICES. LOBELIA Dortmanna, in Windermere, and most of the Lakes. ALLIUM carinatum, on Seamew Crag, "Windermere. CONVALLAHIA majalis, on Holme Island, do. HYPEBICUM Androscemum, near the landing-place from the Ferry. * Since this was first written, the natural beauty of this scene has been grievously impaired. 48 t&cmmott* from 3mSlf sine . AMBLESIDE is a small market-town, situate in the vale of the Rothay, one mile north of Windermere. Excellent accommodations are here provided for tourists at several good inns ; and, as the town is in the neighbourhood of many very interesting excursions, Visitors to the Lakes usually make it their head-quarters for some time. Am- bleside was formerly a Roman Station (the Dictis of the Notitia), and some slight traces of a fortress are percep- tible in a field at the head of Windermere, where tesselated pavement, urns, and other Roman relics have been dug up. This Station was established, undoubtedly, as a check upon the pass of Kirkstone, Dunmail-raise, and of Hard- knot and Wrynose. On the margin of Rydal Lake, a coin of Trajan was discovered lately. Vales of Great and Little LANGDALE. 1 Clappersgate 1 1} Guide Post 2\ | Skelwith Fold ... 3 1 Colwith Bridge ... 4 1J Little Langdale Tarn 5.J 2J Blea Tarn 7| 2 Wall End 9| 1J Lisle Bridge 11 2 Langdale Chapel 13 IJ High Close 14 J First sight of Grasmere 15 2 Pelter Bridge, keeping the Lakes on the left 17 1 Ambleside 18 This is a charming excursion. From Ambleside pro- ceed to Clappersgate, where cross the Brathay, and pro- ceed with the river on the right to the hamlet of Skelwith- fold ; when the houses are passed, turn, before you descend the hill, through a gate on the right, and from a rocky point is a fine view of the Brathay River, Langdale Pikes, &c. ; then proceed to Colwith-force ; and, after passing Little Langdale Tarn, the ancient road from Kendal to Whitehaven takes the left hand ; the one to be pursued turns to the right, leading over the Common to Blea Tarn. The scene in which this small piece of water lies, sug- GREAT AND LITTLE LANGDALE. 49 gested to the Author the following description (given in his Poem of the Excursion), supposing the spectator to look down upon it, not from the road, but from one of its elevated sides. "Behold! Beneath our feet, a little lowly Vale, A lowly Vale, and yet uplifted high Among the mountains ; even as if the spot Had been, from eldest time, by wish of theirs, So placed, to be shut out from all the world ! Urn-like it was in shape, deep as an Urn ; With rocks encompassed, save that to the South Was one small opening, v.'here a heath-clad ridge Supplied a boundary less abrupt and close ; A quiet treeless nook,* with two green fields, A liquid pool that glittered in the sun, And one bare Dwelling ; one Abode, no more ! It seemed the home of poverty and toil, Though not of want : the little fields, made green By husbandry of many thrifty years, Paid cheerful tribute to the moorland House. There crows the Cock, single in his domain : The small birds find in spring no thicket there To shroud them ; only from the neighbouring Vales The Cuckoo, straggling up to the hill tops, Shouteth faint tidings of some gladder place." At this point the Langdale Pikes appear in new and noble features ; indeed, " a more dignified and impressive assemblage of mountain lines scarcely exists in the north of England." The highest pike, called Harrison Stickle, is perhaps about three miles from the eye, but Stickle Pike, receding towards the pass of the Stake into Borrowdale, is more than four. After leaving the Tarn the road de- scends by Wall End into the head of Great Langdale, from whence it is recommended to deviate by Millbeck to see DUNGEON GILL, a mile distant. The Gill, having * No longer strictly applicable, on account of recent plantations. 50 EXCURSIONS FROM AMBLESIDE. its source between the Pikes, passes through a deep cleft of the mountain, into the cheeks of which a " mighty block hath fallen" from the neighbouring heights, and got so wedged in as to form a grotesque natural arch. LANG- DALE PIKES may be conveniently ascended from Mill beck, where a guide may be obtained. The best ascent is by a peat road from Millbeck to STICKLE TARN, a pretty circular piece of water celebrated for its fine trout, reposing under the frowning rocks of Pavey Ark. The usual way of gaining the summit from this point is to have the Tarn on the right and the Pike on the left ; but it is easier, although more circuitous, to pass the Tarn on the left, from the foot, and round its head to the top of Pavey Ark, and thence to the top of the Pike called Harrison Stickle, which is 2409 feet in height. Although this Pike is inferior in elevation to many of the neighbouring mountains, the views from it are varied and extensive. On leaving the Pikes follow the road down Great Langdale, as far as the Chapel, passing Thrang Crag Slate Quarry on the left, which those who take an interest in geological science ought not to omit looking at. Near the Chapel there is a small ale-house, from which it is five miles to Ambleside. The road is either by Loughrigg Tarn, or by the Western side of Rydal and Grasmere Waters. The latter course is much to be preferred. The road strikes off near the Chapel, and in winding up the hill the whole vale of Langdale, with the small Lake of Elterwater and Loughrigg Tarn, are seen to advantage. The view from High Close is exqxiisite, and Mr. Green says " there is not a finer thing in West- morland." Half a mile from this point will bring you in sight of Grasmere, from whence, keeping the lakes on the left, it is two miles to Pelter Bridge, and afterwards one AQUATIC EXCURSIONS. 51 mile to Ambleside. This excursion is altogether twenty- one miles (if Dungeon Gill and the Pikes are visited), of which, if assisted by a cart, it will be necessary to walk from five to seven miles. STOCK GILL, FORCE, half a mile from Ambleside, is a most interesting Waterfall if seen to advantage, " but its beauties are in a great degree lost to the generality of vi- sitors, who see the fall only from the footpath skirting the top of the bank, and almost perpendicularly from the bot- tom of the channel. The spectator looks down upon the scene rather than upwards or horizontally ; his view of the water is likewise impeded by a redundancy of wood." Stock Gill rises in the Sc/ees, on the side of Scandale foil, not far from Kirkstone, and", passing through Amble- side, joins the river Rothay a quarter of a mile below the town, about four miles from its source. This rivulet is the finest of its kind in the Lake District. Access to the Waterfall may be had on application at the Salutation Hotel. BOTANICAL NOTICES. PYROLA media, Stock Gill Force. IMPATIENS noli-me-tangere. do. POLYPODIUM Phegopteris, do. ROSA bractescens, Ambleside. HYMENOPHILLUM Wilsoni, Nook, Ambleside. AQUATIC EXCURSION on WINDERMERE. | Landing at Clappersgate j Mouth of the river ... 1 PullWyke 2J If Low Wood Inn ... 4J Return to the mouth of the river Landing f Ambleside Holme Point 4| To the Landing at Clappersgate, where boats are moor- ed, the walk is three quarters of a mile. After taking boat, steer a short and attractive course by skirting the deeply-indented coast of Brathay into Pull Wyke, a pretty bay surrounded by rich woods, over which peep the Lough- 52 EXCUBSIONS FROM AMBLESIDE. rigg and other elevated summits ; and from Pull Wyke pro- ceed by the grounds at Low Wray to the craggy and wooded promontory a little southward. From this place make for the Inn at Low Wood in a direct line, and see the Lang- dale and Rydal Mountains in two several and distinct but desirable arrangements, separated by the imposing heights of Loughrigg. Then return to the mouth of the Brathay by Holm Point, and up the river to the landing place. From AMBLESIDE to the FERRY, by Water. 1J Mouth of the river by the Landing 1J Belle Grange ... 4J J Ferry House, passing be- tween the Lily of the Valley Holms 7 | From the Ferry-house to the Landing on Cur- Round the Island ... 9 From the Pier to the Head of the Lake ... 14 Ambleside 15J If the Station-house is visited from the Ferry- house, the length of line will be 1J miles more 17 wen's Island ... 7j The best situation on the water for a view of the coun- try around is about half a mile from the junction of the Brathay with the lake, and parties in an excursion downwards will do well to pass in that direction, and from that point rather near to the Lancashire shore, by which the high lands at Rydal, Ambleside, Trout-beck, and Ap- plethwaite, will be seen to the greatest advantage, parti- cularly Hill Bell and the neighbouring summits. In pro- ceeding towards the Ferry, that part of the lake between the two islands called the Lily of the Valley Holmes, having the Station-house about a mile from the eye, and as side-screens the bold and wooded elevation above Har- row Slack on the right, and Curwen's Island on the left, forms a lovely picture. Rather than first touch at the great Island, it will be more pleasant to row direct for the Ferry-house, thence to the Station, and afterwards return to the Ferry. From the Ferry, Curwen's Island should be visited, after leaving which the party may visit Bow- ness, or return direct to Ambleside. EXCURSIONS FROM AMBLESIDE. 53 By a tourist halting- a few days in Ambleside, the Nook also might be visited a spot where there is a bridge over Scandale-beck, which makes a pretty subject for the pen- cil. And, for residents of a week or so at Ambleside, there are delightful rambles over every part of Loughrigg Fell and among the enclosures on its sides ; particularly about Loughrigg Tarn, and on its eastern side about Fox How and the properties adjoining to the northwards. A few out of the main road are particularized in the follow- ing Tables : From AMBLESIDE, under Loughrigg Fell, to GRASMERE. J Rothay Bridge ... J J Miller Bridge Cottage f J Miller Bridge Steps 1 J Fox Ghyll If } Pelter Bridge ... 2 J Coat How 2i l| West's Station 4 | Tail End 4 | Grasmere Church ... 5J 4 Ambleside 9J To LOUGHRIGG TARN, over Longhrigg Fell. i Rothay Bridge ... 1 Deviation from the Gras- mere road on the left 1} First sight of Loughrigg Tarn J Loughrigg Tarn ... 3 1 First sight of Grasmere 4 2 Pelter Bridge, keeping the Lakes on the left ... 6 1 Ambleside 7 LOUGHRIGG TARN and GRASMERE. Clappersgate 1 Guide-post 2J Loughrigg Fold 2} J The Oaks 3 Grasmere Church ... 6 4 Ambleside * 10 ELTER WATER. The foot of Elter Water, either by Skelwith Bridge or Loughrigg Fold, over Little Loughrigg, is 3^ miles from Ambleside. Extensive Gunpowder Works are carried on at Elterwater. ROUND KNOTT. If down the fields to the steps over the Rothay Miller Bridge Steps ... Deviation on the left 1 Leaving the Loughrigg Tarn road on first com- ing to the runner ... 1J O J Round Knott ...... 2 | Down a green lane by Coat How to Pelter Bridge 2J 1 Ambleside ......... 3 54 EXCURSIONS FROM AMBLESIDE. IVY CRAG. Clappersgate (turn on the right at Mr. Robinson's) 1 First sight of the Conis- ton mountains 1J Ivy Crag 1J Coat How } Pelter Bridge 1 Ambleside J Opening at the top of the hill to W indermere ... If IVY CRAG is an elevated rock on the south-east of Loughrigg Tarn. This walk, and the walk to Round Khott, a little knoll above Fox Ghyll, are noticed by Mr. Green with more than his usual earnestness, and are recommended as the most delightful of the Loughrigg Excursions. WANSFELL PIKE. Low Fold Terrace Road under Strawberry Bank .. 1J Wansfell Pike Waterfall Lane Ambleside J Skelgill RYDAL WATERFALLS. 1J Lower Fall ...... 1J I If Ambleside Higher Fall ... 2 | FAIRFIELD. 1 Rydal 1 1| Turn on the right be- tween Rydal Hall & Rydal Mount to Nab Scar 2J Fairfield 5 Nook End Bridge over the High and Low Pikes 9 Ambleside 9J FAIKFIELD is the high mountain closing on the north the domain of Rydal, with an elevation of 2950 feet. Commence the ascent to Fairfield at Rydal by the road between Rydal Hall and Rydal Mount, beyond which there is a green lane that leads to the Common, whence it is a steep and craggy climb to Nab Scar. From a cer- tain point on Nab Scar there is an exquisite view com- manding eight lakes : viz. Windermere, Blelham Tarn, Esthwaite Water, Rydal Water, Coniston Water, Elter Water, Grasmere Lake, and Easedale Tarn. The tra- veller, if so inclined, may proceed to the top of Fairfield by following the ridge. EXCURSIONS FROM AMBLESIDE. 55 BOTANICAL NOTICES. JUNCUS triglumis, Fairfield. LUZULA spicata, do. From AMBLESIDE to HAWS WATER, over High Street. 3 3 Woundale 3^ By Troutbeck Tongue to High Street, where Hays viT ater is seen on the left Junction of High Street withRiggendale; Blea Water on the right 9 Chapel Hill 11 To HA WES WATER, through Troutbeck and Kentmere. 4 Troutbeck 4 I 3J Nanbield 11 3 Kentmere Chapel ... 7} | 2 Chapel Hill 13i HAWES WATER does not exceed three miles in length, and varies in width from half a mile to a quarter. It is seldom visited by tourists, though the solemn grandness of its rocks and mountains renders it eminently picturesque. See p. 37. From AMBLESIDE to HAYS WATER. Low Hartshope . Hays Water Head 2 Return by Low Harts- hope 7 Ambleside From AMBLESIDE to ANGLE TARN. Low Hartshope ...... 7 | 1J Low Hartshope 10 Angle Tarn ...... 8| | 7 Ambleside ...... 17 HAYS WATER and ANGLE TARN are situated on the west side of High Street, and celebrated for the fine trout with which they abound. YEWDALE. Skelwith Bridge ... 3 Turn on the left at tht top of the hill between Skelwith and Colwith Bridges 3| Oxen Fell 4| i Hodge Close 5J If Shepherd's Bridge ... 7 1 Black Bull Inn, Coniston 8* 1 Water Head Inn ... 9J 8 Ambleside ... 17 TILBERTHWAITE. Shepherd's Bridge, in Yewdale Tilberthwaite 1J Litte Langdale ... 10 5 Ambleside, over Colwith and Skelwith Bridges 15 G 2 56 EXCURSIONS FROM LOW WOOD INN. TILBERTHWAITE, returning by Elterwater Hall. 7 Shepherd's Bridge, in Yewdale 7 3 Little Langdale Road by Tilberthwaite ... 10 2 Langdale Chapel, by Fletcher's Wood and Elterwater Hall ... 12 5 Ambleside, by High Close, Grasmere, and Rydal Waters 17 From AMBLESIDE round the Lake of WINDERMERE. 1 Brathay Bridge 4 High Wray 3 Ferry House ... 7 Newby Bridge 8 Bowness 6 Ambleside 15 23 29 From AMBLESIDE round the Lake, by the FEEBY POINTS. 1 Brathay Bridge ... 1 2 Bowness 10 7 Ferry-house, by High 6 Ambleside 16 Wray & Belle Grange 8 From AMBLESIDE by the Eastern Side of ESTHWAITE WATER and the Eastern Side of WINDERMERE. 5 Hawkshead 2 Sawrey 2 Ferry-house Bowness Ambleside 11 17 LOW WOOD INN. From this inn, which is commodious and under excel- lent management, all the above Excursions may be made with the same convenience as from Ambleside. WALK to SKELGILL from LOW WOOD. 1J Low Fold 1 J Troutbeck road 3 ij Skelgill 2f 1 Low Wood 4J J Low Skelgill 3 CIRCUIT from LOW WOOD by Ambleside, Kirkstone, and Troutbeck. If Ambleside 1} 4J Troutbeck 10 4 Guide-post on Kirkstone 5J 2 Low Wood 12 WALK or HORSE-RIDE through TROUTBECK and APPLE- THWAITE to BOWNESS, or back to LOW WOOD. 2 Guide-post in Troutbeck 2 I 2i Cook's house 5| -J The How in Applethwaite 2 J | 1J Bowness 7 If the return is from Cook's House to Low Wood, the round will be eight miles. These Excursions abound in delightful prospects, and the view from the top of the hill about a mile from the AMBLESIDE TO KESWICK DIRECT. 57 inn, on the Troutbeck road, is the finest of its kind amongst the lakes. From this point the islands of Win- dermere are seen "almost all lying 1 together in a cluster, below which all is loveliness and beauty above, all ma- jesty and grandeur." The distance from Ambleside to the inn at Patterdale is ten miles, and the Pass of Kirkstone and the descent from it are very impressive ; but this vale, nevertheless, like the others, loses much of its effect by being entered from the head ; so that it is better to go from Keswick through Matterdale, and descend upon Gowbar- row Park ; you are thus brought at once upon a magnifi- cent view of the two higher reaches of the lake. After having duly explored the beauties of Ambleside and the neighbourhood, the next Station the tourist should aim at is Keswick, which may be approached by various routes. The Direct Road is the only one that can be travelled over by carriages, but the hardy pedestrian might select from the several routes hereafter pointed out which he will pursue. There is, however, a carriage road from Ambleside to Keswick by Wast Water, but the circuit is so extended that it is seldom adopted. This road is through Coniston, 8 miles Broughton, 9 miles more and over Birker Fell (a road somewhat rug-ged) by San- ton Bridge to Nether Wastdale, 1 8 miles. From Nether Wastdale pass through Gosforth to Calder Bridge, Egre- mont, Lamplugh, and by Scale Hill to Keswick, 34 miles making altogether a circuit of 69 miles. If Whiteha- ven be included, the circuit would be 76 miles. AMBLESIDE to KESWICK DIRECT. IJ Rydal 1 3J Swau, Grasmere* ... 5 2 Dunmail Raise 7 1} Nag's Head, Wythburn I G 3 4 Smalthwaite Bridge 3 Castlerigg ...... 1 Keswick 58 AMBLESIDE TO KESWICK DIRECT. A mile and a half from Ambleside the tourist reaches the romantic village of Rydal. On the right is seen, embosomed in wood, RYDAL HALL, the residence of Lady le Fleming, in whose grounds two pretty water- falls are pointed out to every one, and may be seen on application at the Cottage near the Chapel. The upper fall is in a glen above the Hall, but the lower fall, which is the more beautiful, is seen from a summer-house in the pleasure-grounds. Rydal Chapel is a neat edifice, and was erected and endowed at the expense of Lady le Fleming. RYDAL WATER is one of the smallest of the English lakes, but certainly one of the most beautiful, from its woody islets and picturesque shores ; but it ought to be observed here, that Rydal-mere is no where seen to advantage from the main road. Fine views of it may be had from Rydal Park ; but these grounds, as well as those of RYDAL MOUNT (Wm. Wordsworth, Esq.) and IVY COTTAGE now called GLEN ROTHAY (Wm. Ball, Esq.), from which also it is viewed to advantage, are private. A foot-road passing behind Rydal Mount and under Nab Scar to Grasmere, is very favourable to views of the lake and the vale, looking back towards Ambleside. The horse-road, also, along the western side of the lake, under Loughrigg fell, as before mentioned, does justice to the beauties of this small mere, of which the traveller who keeps the high road is not at all aware. About 200 yards beyond the last house on the Keswick side of Rydal village, the road is cut through a low wooded rock, called Thrang Crag. The top of it, which is only a few steps on the south side, affords the best view of the vale which is to be had by a traveller who confines himself to the public road. GRASMERE. 59 " Between Rydal and Grasmere the high road formerly ran winding among-, and over a succession of knolls; and being- half hidden in its serpentine course, afforded a series of exquisite views, without deforming- this lovely valley. But the steepness of the hills was ill suited to the convenience of increasing traffic, and about twelve years ago a new road was made, which runs close along- the lower end of Grasmere, and is fenced from it by a long-, straight, odious stone wall, which offends the eye, and cuts the sweetest part of the landscape with its rectilinear deformity." The road skirts the margin of the lake, which is about a mile in circumference and contains one bare green island, and presently reaches the village of GKASMERE, which is beautifully situated a quarter of a mile, from the high road, at the northern end of the lake. There are two small Inns in the vale of Grasmere, one near the Church (the Red Lion), the other (the Swan) on the main road. From the former the valley may be more conveniently explored in every direction, and a mountain walk taken up Easedale to Easedale Tarn (2^ miles), one of the finest tarns in the country, thence to Stickle Tarn and to the top of Lang- dale Pikes. See also the vale from Butterlip How, half a mile from the inn. " It is the most exquisite elevation of moderate height in the neighbourhood." Helm Crag may be visited from Grasmere. It is two miles to its summit, which is extremely rugged, and the ascent is somewhat difficult. The shattered apex of this mountain, as seen from certain points in the valley, bears a striking resemblance to a lion couchant, with a lamb peacefully regarding the end of his nose, and to an old women cow- 60 AMBLESrDE TO KESwiCK DIRECT. ering.* ALLAN BANK, the residence of T. Dawson, Esq. is only a short distance out of the road leading from the Red Lion to Easdale, and from some places in the avenue, Helm Crag is a pleasing object. Seat Sandal and all the lofty mountains south of it are seen sublimely towering over the pretty undulating Butterlip How and other eleva- tions, and the whole vale of Grasmere is hardly any where seen to greater advantage than from this point. In the vale of Grasmere, on the old road leading to Ambleside, and about a mile from the village, is a gate, which, time out of mind, has been called the WISHING GATE, from a belief that wishes formed or indulged there, have a favourable issue. A boat is kept by the Innkeeper, and this circular vale, in the solemnity of a fine evening, will make from the bosom of the lake, an impression that will be scarcely ever effaced. The steep and rugged road from Grasmere to Patter- * Mr. Wordsworth, in one of his Poems on the Naming of Places > entitled " Joanna," thus introduces the old lady : When I had gazed perhaps two minutes' space Joanna, looking in my eyes, beheld That ravishment of mine, and laughed aloud. The Rock, like something starting from a sleep, Took up the Lady's voice, and laughed again ; That ancient Woman seated on Helm-crag Was ready with her cavern ; Hammar-scar, And the tall Steep of Silver-how, sent forth A noise of laughter ; southern Loughrigg heard, And Fairfield answered with a mountain tone ; Helvellyn far into the clear blue sky Carried the Lady's voice, old Skiddaw blew His speaking-trumpet ; back out of the clouds Of Glaramara southward came the voice ; And Kirkstone tossed it from its misty head. WYTHBURX THIRLMERE. 6l dale, by Grisedale Tarn, turns off at a smithy four miles and three quarters from Ambleside. Beyond the toll-bar the road begins to ascend the Pass of Dunmail Raise, between Steel Fell on the west, and Seat Sandal on the east. At the hig-hest point, which is 720 feet above the sea, it passes a low cairn, or pile of stones, said to have been raised in the year 945, by the Anglo- Saxon King Edward, after the defeat and death, on this spot, of Dunmail (or Dumhnail) the British King of Cumbria, and the consequent destruction of that kingdom. From Dunmail Raise to Wythburn Water the road on the right is bounded by craggy mountains, all verging from the mighty Helvellyn, which rises pre-eminent among them. The river on the right of the Raise divides the counties, from whence to the Nag's Head, Wythburn, it is one mile and a quarter. This is a convenient Station for ascending Helvellyn, and the mountain track approach- ing it may be observed from the door of the inn. Another favourable point for commencing the ascent of this moun- tain is at the sixth milestone from Keswick. The ascent of Helvellyn will be hereafter noticed in the Patterdale Excursions. The direct road from Grasmere to Keswick does not (as has been observed of Rydal-mere) shew to advantage THIRLMERE, or Wythburn Lake, with its surrounding mountains. By a traveller proceeding at leisure, a devia- tion ought to be made from the main road, when he has advanced a little beyond the sixth mile-stone short of Keswick, from which point there is a noble view of the vale of Legberthwaite, with Blencathra (commonly called Sad- dleback) in front. Having previously enquired, at the Inn near Wythburn Chapel, the best way from this mile- stone to the bridge that divides the Lake, he must cross . 62 AMBLESIDE TO KESWICK BY EASEDALE. it, and proceed with the lake on the right, to the hamlet a little beyond its termination, and rejoin the main road upon Shoulthwaite Moss, about four miles from Keswick ; or, if on foot, the tourist may follow the stream that issues from Thirlmere down the romantic vale of ST. JOHN'S, and so (enquiring- the way at some cottage) to Keswick, by a circuit of little more than a mile. By following the direct road, and when about a mile from Keswick, at the top of Castlerigg Brow, " one of the richest mountain scenes is gradually unfolded that can be enjoyed from any of the carriage roads in the North of England." A more inter- esting tract of country is scarcely any where to be seen, than the road between Ambleside and Keswick, with the deviations that have been pointed out. BOTANICAL NOTICES. HESPEKIS matronalis, Kivulets about Dale Head, Thirlmere. SAXIFBAGA hypnoides, between Thirlmere and Keswick. PENCEDANUM Ostruthium, by a brook from the north end of Thirlmere. From AMBLESIDE, through Grasmere, Easedale, Greenup, and Borrowdale, to KESWICK. Grasmere Church ... Goody Bridge ... Thorneyhow Far Easedale ... Wythburn Dale Head Push forward to Greenup Dale Head 94 Down Greenup vale to Stonethwaite ... 13 Keswick .... 20 Pursue the road, as before described, as far as Grasmere, from whence " the valley of Easedale runs far into the northern hills on the western side of Helm Crag. Near its mouth a stream flows from Easedale Tarn, and from the whiteness of the broken water is called SOUR-MILK GILL. Up this seldom-visited glen the foot-traveller may pursue his way from Grasmere to Keswick, ascending by a steep and laborious climb to a narrow level tract of moor called Colddale fell ; after which he will descend into the AMBLESIDE TO KESWICK BY THE STAKE. 63 Stonethwaite branch of Borrovvdale, nor will he regret, though the way be longer and far more laborious, having exchanged the high road for the freedom of the mountain- side." From AMBLESIDE, through Great Langdale, to the STAKE, and thence, through Borrowdale, to KESWICK. Langdale Chapel ... Lisle Bridge, near Dun- geon Gill ......... Langdale Head ... Top of the Stake ... 4 Stonethwaite 17 1 Rosthwaite* ... 18 1 Bewder Stone 19 5 Keswick 24 The finest approach to Great Langdale is by pursuing the Keswick road to Pelter Bridge (one mile), which hav- ing crossed, pass on the side of the Rothay by Coat How to Rydal and Grasmere lakes, thence by High Close and Langdale Chapel to Lisle Bridge and Millbeck, which places have been before noticed in the Langdale Excur- sion. Ascending the Stake, the road is on the side of a turbulent stream, which dashes down into the valley of Langdale. Half a mile beyond the top of the Langdale Stake, is presented the descent into Borrowdale by the side of a river through the valley of Langstreth, where all is in a state of wildness and desolation. At the top of the Stake is a grand exhibition of the high summits of Bow Fell, Hanging Knotts, Scawfell Pikes, and Great Gable , and at a considerable distance is seen Skiddaw, partly ob- scured by nearer mountains. Half way down the vale the road crosses the river, having, while looking towards Stonethwaite, a large and curious stone on the right, called Black Cap, above which is Sergeant Crag, and nearer Stonethwaite is the bold rocky elevation of Eagle Crag on the right. From Stonethwaite, the road to Keswick is by Rosthwaite, in Borrowdale, where there is a small public-house. Bowder Stone, Lowdore and Barrow, will hereafter be described. 64 AMBLESIDE TO KESWICK BY HARDKNOTT, &C. From AMBLESIDE, "over Wrynose and Hardknott, to WAST WATER, thence by Sty Head to KESWICK, or return to Am- bleside bv Sty Head Tarn through Langdale, or by Seathwaite, through Eskdale. 5 Netherbeck Bridge ... 25 1 Overbeck Bridge ... 26 J Head of Wast Water 2C.} 1 Wastdale Head ... 27$ 2 Sty Head 2QJ 1 2 Keswick by Bo wder Stone 41 J From Sty Head to Amble- 1 Clappersgate 1 2 Skelwith Bridge ... 3 side, by Sty Head Tarn, SprinklingTarn, & Angle . Tarn, and thence through the vale of Langdale, 16 J the round 46 From Sty Head, by Sea- thwaite, and thence thro' Greenup and Eskdale to Ambleside 48 1 Colwith Bridge & Force 4 2 Fell Foot 6} 1J Top of Wrynose ... 8 2J Cockley Beck 10J 1J Hardknott Castle ... 12| 2 Brotherikeld ... 13 J Bridge over the river Esk 13J 2 J Dalegarth Hall & Stanley Gill 16 1 Road on the left by TJlpha to Broughton 17 3 Santon Bridge ... 20 2 Strand's Public House 22 1 From Santon bridge di- rect to Crook, at the foot of Wast Water, 3 miles 23 This road, which is by Skelwith and Colwith Bridges, and through Little Langdale, has been described in the Langdale Excursion as far as the place where it diverges to Blea Tarn and Great Langdale, a distance of scarcely seven miles from Ambleside. Hence the road is to Fell Foot, formerly a public-house, when this was the main road from Kendal to Whitehaven, a fact which those who now traverse it will find it hard to believe. At the time we are speaking of, the only mode for the conveyance of goods was on the backs of pack-horses, long traing of which were often to be seen traversing these hills.* From Fell Foot we begin the ascent of Wrynose to the three Shire Stones, where the counties of Cumberland, West- morland, and Lancaster unite on the top of the hill. Here the road enters Lancashire, having the stream which di- vides it from Cumberland on the right, and descends, though not abruptly, upon Cockley Beck, only to cross * Bells were attached to the collar of the leading horse of the train. A collar of this kind may be seen in the Museum, at Kendal. OVER WBYNOSE AND HARDKNOTT. 65 the valley and climb another mountain no less high and difficult of ascent, called Hardknott, which sepa- rates Seathwaite from Eskdale. " The aspect of the up- per part of the valley at Cockley Beck, where it is crossed by the mountain-road of which we have been speaking, is not such as, in this land of beauty, calls for any mea- sured tribute of admiration. A tract of desolate hills, nurses of the Esk and Duddon, rises towards the north- west into the lofty range of Scawfell and Bowfell. The head of Eskdale lies between these, the highest and the roughest mountains in the country ; and we might here fancy ourselves deep in the recesses even of the wilder parts of the Scottish Highlands. The precipices of Scaw- fell, and of the higher point of that great mountain, called The Pikes, tower darkly and awfully on the western side; and even on the eastern, where Bowfell slopes down more gently, the passage of the traveller must be slow and cau- tious. No precipice, however, bars up the head of the dale, which rises gradually to the green ridge, which marks the water's source between Eskdale and Borrowdale. This height, itself a depression between Green End and Bowfell, is called Ash Course. From it we look directly down the whole of Borrowdale, and command a view of Derwent-water, with its specks of islands, the whole closed by the elegant pyramidal group of Skiddaw, which is here seen from head to foot, and to the greatest advan- tage. The outbreak of the river from this upland glen to the lower valley, some five or six miles from Ash Course, forms a succession of falls and rapids for a con- siderable distance, fringed with birch and mountain-ash, the first signs of better soil and milder climate. These, in their varied combinations of rock and water, furnish ample studies for the artist or sketeher. H 66 AMBLESIDE TO KESWICK BY HARDKNOTT, &C. " After crossing Cockley Beck, the Kendal and White- haven road begins to climb the side of Hardknott, and descends on the opposite side, with equal rapidity, down a still longer declivity, into Eskdale." Something more than half way down the hill, about 1*20 yards on the right of the road, are the remains of Hardknott Castle (mentioned in p. 20) from whence there is a magnificent scene of Scawfell and the Pikes, supported by the immense buttresses rising from the Esk. " Pro- ceeding down the valley we come, about two miles from the foot of the hill, to a public-house at Bout ; within two miles of which, at the foot of the valley, is situated a very fine waterfall called Birker Force, far up a deep, nar- row, and thickly-wooded ravine. The stream is s'mall, and the height of its shoot is not remarkable ; but in the picturesque character of its accompaniments it is inferior to none of those that are better-known in the country." From the hamlet of Bout the main road should be followed nearly to Santon Bridge, where it turns off to the right to the Strands at Nether Wastdale, a distance of two miles, where there are two small inns. There is from Bout a rough mountain road which traverses the moor to Wastdale Head, passing a cheerless sheet of wa- ter called Burnmoor Tarn, between Scawfell and the Screes. " Near the way-side the stream which runs down to Bout forms a cascade, bare and unadorned by enclosing preci- pices, yet possessing a character of grandeur, at all events when swollen by recent rains. The path leads high over the southern shoulder of Scawfell, and then descends down a steep peat track into Upper Wastdale, a little above the lake." From Wastdale Head, the road is on the western side of Wastwater to the Strands. The eastern side of the lake is skirted by the Screes, and is not only difficult AMBLESIDE TO KESWICK BB HARDKNOTT, &C. 67 but dangerous to attempt, from the loose and crumbling- nature of the materials of which it is composed. Tourists tarrying- here for a day or two will find many pleasant ex- cursions in the neighbourhood, and from a hill called Latterbarrow is gained perhaps the best general view of the surrounding country. [See Plate I. of Sketches of the Mountains.] CALDER ABBEY, a small but beautiful ruin, is 8 miles from the Strands, but this place is more generally visited in going from Wastdale by Ennerdale Water, Lowes Water, and Scale Hill to Keswick. " There is a simplicity and severity about Wast Water not to be found in any of its neighbour Lakes, except perhaps that of Ennerdale, which is equally destitute of the cheerfulness imparted by cultivation, but inferior in the height and ruggedness of its mountain boundaries." It is three miles long, half a mile broad, and forty-five fathoms in depth, being deeper than any of the other lakes. " Within some half an hour's walk from Strands is a re- markable spot called Haul-gill, or else Hollow-gill. It is a deep ravine at the south-west foot of the Screes ; among granite rocks, which, by the decomposition of their felspar, have been wasted into abrupt peaks and preci- pices a sort of miniature mimicry of the aiguilles of Chamouni. This is one of the most curious and striking- things in the whole district ; it is a good place for ascend- ing the Screes from Nether W 7 astdale (as the valley below the lake is called) for those who have strong nerves. There is a very beautiful vein of spicular iron here ; also some fine hcematite." On the way from the Strands to the two houses called Crook, which the tourist must now pursue on his road to H 2 68 AMBLESIDE TO KESWICK BY HARDKNOTT. &C. Keswick by Sty Head, the Screes are occasionally in view, from whence the Great Gable is seen in the vista formed by Middle Fell, Yewbarrow, and Kirkfell on the left, and on the right by Lingmell and the north end of the Screes. Advancing toward the head of the lake Scawfell is a com- manding object, and the Pikes begin to shew their sepa- ration by the gradual development of the aperture of Mickle Door, which divides their summits. From Wastdale Head, a sequestered hamlet, with a chapel, but no inn, you commence a precipitous ascent to Sty Head, the highest Pass in the district, having the huge rocks of Great Gable on the left and those of Lingmell Crag on the right ; in front, Great End. Ling- mell Crag is succeeded by Broad Crag, and the Pikes tower magestically over the whole. From Sty Head the road descends by a horse-track through Seathwaite and Borrowdale to Keswick, a distance of twelve miles. The objects on this road will be more particularly noticed here- after, in the walk to Sty Head from Keswick. From Sty Head, the road to Ambleside is either by leaving Sprinkling and Angle Tarns on the left hand, and pro- ceeding through Langdale ; or, through Borrowdale and Stonethwaite (calling at Rosthwaite for refreshment, if required), thence over Greenup through Easedale and Grasmere. It may be observed that the ascent of Scawfell may be made with less exertion and fatigue from the Strands than from any other Station. A boat may be taken to the head of the lake, where the ascent commences at once upon Lingmell, and, with a guide to point out the way, the dis- tance to the summit is about three miles. The ascent of Scawfell from Borrowdale will be hereafter more fully no- ticed^ 69 KESWICK. KESWICK. is a small market-town of neat appearance, and is delightfully situated near the foot of Derwentwater. Tourists generally make Keswick their head-quarters for a time, and are here provided with every accommodation both as respects domestic comfort and the requisites for their excursions. The principal manufactures of Keswick consist of black-lead pencils, and coarse woollens, flannels, &c. The mineral black-lead (Plumbago) of which pencils are manufactured, is found in the mines of Borrowdale, and although these mines are in the vicinity of Keswick, the pencil-makers are obliged to purchase all their mate- rial at the Company's warehouse in London, whither it is sent from the mines in casks and exposed for sale only on the first Monday in every month. There are in Keswick two museums, exhibiting, in addition to many foreign cu- riosities, the natural history and mineral productions of the surrounding country. At each of these the visitor can purchase specimens illustrating the geology of the neigh- bourhood. An accurate model of the Lake District in- geniously constructed by Mr. Flintoff, is also exhibited here in the summer season, and is well worth a careful examination. A new Church has recently been built at the south end of the town by John Marshall, Esq. pur- chaser of the estates in this vale that belonged to Green- wich Hospital. A Parsonage and School House have since his decease been added by the family of Mr. Marshall, of Hallsteads. The Church is an elegant structure, and is delightfully situated on a gentle eminence, from which an extensive panoramic view of the surrounding country may be had. The Parish Church, called Crosthwaite Church, is a mile from the town, in the opposite direction. INNS Royal Oak and Queen's Head. 70 DERWETCT WATER. DERWENT WATER is upwards of three miles in length and a mile and a half in its greatest breadth. It is adorn- ed by several richly-wooded islands, amongst which are Lord's Island, St. Herbert's Island, Vicar's Island, and Ramps Holme. Lord's Island, the largest in the Lake, situated perhaps a hundred yards from the shore, under Wallow Cragg, was the strong -hold of the powerful fa- mily of the Ratcliffes, Earls of Derwent Water, whose pos- sessions, it need hardly be said, were forfeited after the Rebellion of 1715, and transferred to Greenwich Hospital. On St. Herbert's Island are the remains of a Hermitage, said to have been fixed here by St. Herbert, the contem- porary and friend of St. Cuthbert, in the seventh cen- tury. There is also on this lake a Floating Island, which is generally under water, but it occasionally rises to the surface for a short time, when it again sinks. The cause of this phenomenon has not been very clearly explained. The most probable supposition is, that the moss is buoyed up, being swollen by gas produced by the decomposition of vegetable matter. On piercing it with a boat-hook, gas (carburetted hydrogen and azote) issues in abundance. The scenery of Derwent Water is distinguished for its wild sublimity and magnificence. The Vale of Keswick stretches, without winding, nearly North and South, from the head of Derwent Water to the foot of Bassenthwaite Lake. It communicates with Borrowdale on the South j with the river Greta, and Thirlmere, on the East, with which the Traveller has be- come acquainted on his way from Ambleside ; and with the vale of Newlands on the West which last vale he may pass through, in going to, or returning from, Butter- mere- The best views of Keswick Lake are from Crow Park ; Friar's Crag; the Stable-field, close by; the Vicar- VALE OF KESWICK. 71 age, and from various points in taking the circuit of the Lake. More distant views, and perhaps full as interesting, are from the side of Latrigg, from Ormathwaite, and thence along the road at the foot of Skiddaw towards Bassenthwaite, for about a quarter of a mile. There are fine bird's-eye views from the Castle-hill ; from Ashness, on the road to Watendlath, and by following the Watendlath stream down towards the Cataract of Lodore. This lake also, if the weather be fine, ought to be circumnavigated. There are good views along the western side of Bassen- thwaite Lake, and from Armathwaite at its foot ; but the eastern side from the high road has little to recommend it. The traveller from Carlisle, approaching by way of Ireby, has, from the old road on the top of Bassenthwaite-hawse, much the most striking view of the Plain and Lake of Bassenthwaite, flanked by Skiddaw, and terminated by Wallow Crag on the south-east of Derwent Lake ; the same point commands an extensive view of Solway Frith and the Scotch Mountains. They who take the circuit of Derwent Lake, may at the same time include BOR- ROWDALE, going as far as Bowder-stone, or Rosthwaite. Borrovvdale is also conveniently seen on the way to Wast- dale over Sty Head ; or, to Buttermere, by Seatoller and Honister Crag ; or, going over the Stake, through Lang- dale, to Ambleside. Buttermere may be visited by a shorter way through Newlands, but though the descent upon the vale of Buttermere, by this approach, is very striking, as it also is to one entering by the head of the vale, under Honister Crag, yet, after all, the best entrance from Keswick is from the lower part of the vale, over Whinlatter to Scale Hill, where there is a roomy Inn, with very good accommodation. 72 EXCURSIONS FKOM KESWICK. BOTANICAL NOTICES NEAR KESWICK. LEPIDIUM Smithii, near Lodore. BARTRAMIA arcuata, do. THALICTRUM majus, do. SILENE maritima, on Derwentwater, between Keswick and Lo- dore. Ci'RCiEA.a.lpina, on the margins of Derwentwater. MENTHA rotundifolia, between Lodore and Bowder Stone. GERANIUM jfoz>M IB, Keswick. pyrenaicum, do. ASTRAGALUS glycyphyilus, Culgarth Pike, Keswick. ROSA gracilis, Whinlatter. VIOLA lutea, hills about Keswick. TEESDAUA nudicaulis, around Derwentwater. CICUTA virosa, about Keswick. UTBICULARIA intermedia, ditch at the foot of Derwentwater. LITTORELLA lacustris, about Derwentwater. ASARCM europceum, about Keswick. ORCHIS ustulaia, do. ALLIUM oleraceum, borders of Derwentwater. JuNCus - /iJt/bmw, foot of do. CONVAILARIA mu.ltifl.ora, Castlehead Wood, near Keswic-k. 22xrumon$ from CASTLE HEAD. CASTLE HEAD, or CASTI/ET, as it is called by the in- habitants, is considered the best Station in the neighbour- hood (of easy access) for a bird's-eye view of the lake and surrounding mountains, and has consequently been select- ed for our Diagram. [See Plate No 2.] Castle Head is approached by a good foot-path which strikes out of the Borrowdale road half a mile from Keswick, and leads by a winding ascent to the summit of the hill. From it the spectator looks over the soft bosom of the lake full into the gorge of Borrowdale, which is the grand aspect. FRIAR'S CRAG Is a rocky promontory which stretches out into the lake about one mile from Keswick, and, being the favourite promenade of the natives, is readily pointed out to strangers. The way to it is by the road leading to the Strand, thence pi 1 & 5 ^o oo^ |s|^ ^*s! .glwl m O> >t^ t>^ I\J K. ^&*!?S m !fe?&j) . S-KS R ^^c^criSa ti S^> ci g SSs* 1 ^ ^-^ g> . ff irtl Si! I 74 EXCURSIONS FROM KESWICK. Keswick is Barrow House, the seat of Joseph Pockling- ton, Esq. It is surrounded by fine old trees, and has within the grounds a pretty cascade, which may be seen on application at the lodge. A mile more will bring the traveller to the celebrated Fall of Lodore, which lies im- mediately at the back of the premises belonging to the inn. After incessant rains this Waterfall, with its accompaniments, is a noble object, but unfortunately for those who visit the Lakes, not one in a hundred sees it at such a time. The stream falls through a chasm between the two towering perpendicular rocks of Gowdar Crag upon the left, and Shepherd's Crag upon the right. These cliffs are most beautifully enriched with oak, ash, and birch trees, which fantastically impend from rocks where vegetation would seem almost impossible. The height of the fall is about 150 feet. Mr. Southey, the Poet- Laureate, has noticed this interesting spot by the following ingeni- ous lines : How does the water come down at Lodore? Here it comes sparkling, And there it lies darkling ; Here smoking and frothing, Its tumult and wrath in. It hastens along, conflictingly strong, Now striking and raging, as if a war waging, In caverns and rocks among. Rising and leaping, Sinking and creeping, Swelling and flinging, Showering and springing, Eddying and whisking, Spouting and frisking, Turning and twisting Around and around, Collecting, disjecting, With endless rebound, EXCURSIONS FROM KESWICK. 75 Smiting and fighting, A sight to delight in, Confounding, astounding, Dizzying and deafening the ear with its sound. Receding and speeding, And shocking and rocking, And darting and parting, And threading and spreading, And whizzing and hissing, And dripping and skipping, And whitening and brightening, And quivering and shivering, And hitting and splitting, And shining and twining, And rattling and battling, And shaking and quaking, And pouring and roaring, And waving and raving, And tossing and crossing, And flowing and glowing, And running and stunning, And hurrying and skurrying, And glittering and flittering, And gathering and feathering, And dinning and spinning, And foaming and roaming, And dropping and hopping, And working and jerking, And guggling and struggling, And heaving and cleaving, And thundering and floundering, And falling and brawling and sprawling, And driving and riving and striving, And sprinkling and twinkling and wrinkling, And sounding and bounding and rounding, And bubbling and troubling and doubling, Dividing and gliding and sliding, And grumbling and mumbling and tumbling, And clattering and battering and shattering, And gleaming and streaming and steaming and beaming, And rushing and flushing and gushing and brushing, And flapping and sapping and clapping and slapping, And curling and whirling and purling and twirling, 76 EXCURSIONS FROM KESWICK. Retreating and meeting and beating and sheeting, Delaying and straying and playing and spraying, Advancing and prancing and glancing and dancing, Recoiling, turmoiling, and boiling and toiling, And thumping and bumping and jumping and plumping, And dashing and flashing and splashing and clashing, And so never ending, but always descending, Sounds and motions for ever and ever are blending, All at once and all o'er, with a mighty uproar And this way the water comes down at Lodore. At Lodore, in still weather, an extremely fine echo is to be heard ; and a cannon is kept at the inn to be dis- charged for the gratification of strangers. A mile from Lodore is the village of Grange, where there is a bridge that crosses the Derwent. Should the tourist wish to see Bowder Stone, the road into Borrowdale must be kept for one mile farther. This Stone is of a prodigious bulk, and lies like a ship upon its keel. It is 62 feet long and 36 feet high ; its circumference is 84 feet, and it weighs about 1771 tons. Mr. Houseman thinks that "this massive body, which is a little mountain of itself, has, in some former age, probably by some great convulsion of nature, been detached from the rock above," and other writers agree with him in this conjecture. " That it should stop in this position after the violence of its motion in its descent from the mountain, is surprising, and to place it in its present position, or even to move it by any power of art, seems utterly impossible." From this point a fine view of the upper part of Borrowdale is obtained, with the village of Rosthwaite and Castle Crag on the right, Eagle Crag and Glaramara in front, and Scawfell Pikes in the extreme distance. Returning to Grange-bridge, the tra- veller must cross it, and pass through the village of Grange to the hamlet of Manesty, near which place is a medici- nal spring. Proceeding at a considerable height along the EXCURSIONS FROM KESWICK. 77 open side of Cat Bells, which commands one of the best views of the lake and valley, and soon crossing the broad opening- of Newlands, the road enters the village of Por- tinscale, from which place it is one mile and a half to Keswick. WATENDLATH. Over Barrow Common 2 Ashness Bridge 2J Wooden Bridge between High Lowdore and Wa- 1} Watendlath 5 2 Rosthwaite 7 6 Keswick, by Bowder Stone and Lowdore 13 tendlath 3j The valley of WATENDLATH is interesting for its se- clusion and loneliness, and the primitive character of its inhabitants. It runs parallel with the vale of Borrowdale on the east, and is not easily accessible except on foot or horseback. The stream which forms the Waterfall of Lodore issues from a beautiful circular little lake situate in this upland valley. The road thither from Keswick turns from the road to Borrowdale beyond Wallow Crag, and passes just behind Barrow House. A pretty rustic bridge crosses the stream where it issues from the tarn, and leads over the Borrowdale fells to Rosthwaite, a little above Bowder Stone. " This is a very pleasant morn- ing's ride from Keswick ; it may be varied on foot by turning to the left instead of the right at Watendlath, and crossing the Wythburn fells to Thirlmere, distant about four miles from Watendlath, over rough, heathery, track- less hills, which, on a fine day, especially when the heath is in blossom, make a wild and delightful walk. From Thirlmere the road to Keswick has been noticed in the direct route from Ambleside to Keswick, p. 62. Watendlath may also be visited on foot by High Lo- dore. The road turns of! at the first house beyond the inn, and is very steep till the stream is gained. A devia- 78 EXCURSIONS FROM KESWICK. tion to the left will presently unfold a truly magnificent view of the lake and the Skiddaw range through the deep chasm of the waterfall. From this place it is half a mile to the wooden bridge before alluded to. BOTANICAL NOTICE WATENDLATH. a, above Watendlath Tarn. VALE OF ST. JOHN. From Keswick through the secluded VALE of ST. JOHN is an interesting excursion of about thirteen miles. A visit to the DRUID'S TEMPLE may be included in this walk by pursuing the old road to Penrith. The circle is a mile and three-quarters from Keswick, and will be found in a field on the right of the road, and just on the crown of the hill, whence there is a commanding view of Sad- dleback, Skiddaw, Helvellyn, and many of the highest mountains in Cumberland. The stones that form this hallowed Temple are forty-eight in number, describing a circle of near a hundred feet in diameter. Most of these stones are a species of granite, and all of them varying in form and size. On the eastern side of this monument there is a small inclosure formed within the circle by ten stones, making an oblong square, seven paces in length and three in width, which recess Mr. Pennant supposes to have been allotted to the priests, a sort of holy of holies, where they met, separated from the vulgar, to perform their rites and divinations, or to sit in council to deter- mine on controversies, or for the trial of criminals. Within a short distance from Threlkeld, four miles from Keswick, a road branches off to the right to the vale of St. John, "a very narrow dell, hemmed in by mountains, through which a small brook makes many EXCURSIONS FROM KESWICK. 79 meamlerings, washing little inclosures of grass-ground which stretch up the rising of the hills. In the widest part of the dale you are struck with the appearance of an ancient ruined castle, which seems to stand upon the sum- mit of a little mount, the mountains around forming an amphitheatre. This massive bulwark shews a point of various towers, and makes an awful, rude, and Gothic appearance, with its lofty turrets and ragged battlements. *.* * As you draw near, it changes its figure, and proves no other than a shaken massive pile of rocks which stand in the midst of this little vale, disunited from the adjoin- ing mountains, and have so much the real form and re- semblance of a castle, that they bear the name of the CASTLE ROCKS OF ST. JOHN."* This is the scene of Sir Walter Scott's Poem of the Bridal of Triermain. The tourist, after leaving the vale, enters the high road from Ambleside to Keswick about four miles from the latter place. KESWICK to STY HEAD. 4 Grange Bridge 4 1 Bowder Stone 6 1 Rosthwaite 6 ^ Burthwaite Bridge ... 6^ J Strand's Bridge ... 7 | Seatoller Bridge 7J \ Seathwaite Bridge ... 8 \ Seathwaite, which is op- posite the Black Lead Mines 1 Stockley Bridge ... 9 If Stv Head Tarn 11} J Sty Head 12 12 Back to Keswick ..24 This road, as far as Bowder Stone, has already been noticed. A little beyond Bowder Stone, in the gorge of Borrowdale, rises a high and nearly detached rock called Castle Crag, the site of an ancient fortification, supposed to be of Roman origin, and to have been used to guard the Pass and secure the treasures contained in the bosom of * Hutchinson. i 2 80 EXCURSIONS FROM KESWICK. these mountains. The Saxons, and, after them, the Fur- ness monks, maintained the fort for the same purpose. All Borrowdale was given to the monks of Furness, pro- bably by one of the Derwent family, and Adam de Derwentwater gave them free ingress and egress through all his lands. The Grange was the place where they laid up their grain and their tithe, and also the salt they made at the Salt Spring, of which works there are still some vestiges remaining below Grange. From the sum- mit of this rock the views are so singularly great and pleasing that they ought never to be omitted.* <( Beyond the hamlet of Rosthwaite '(where there is a small public- house, the last in the valley) six miles from Keswick, the valley divides into two branches, that to the left being called Stonethwaite, that on the right Seathwaite. Stone- thwaite is subdivided into two branches, of which the east- ern, called Greenup, leads into the fells towards the head of Easedale, and so communicates with Grasmere ; while the Langstreth branch turns south, and communicates with Langdale by the Pass of the Stake. On entering Stone- thwaite, Eagle Crag is a prominent object. Following the valley of Seathwaite, which is the principal, we come, two miles from Rosthwaite, to a large substantial farm-house, called Seatoller, by which a rough mountain-road diverges to the right, and, passing under Honister Crag, descends upon Buttermere. A mile beyond Seatoller the Black-lead (or as it is provincially termed, l Wad') mine indicates its position, high on the hill-side, by those unsightly heaps of rubbish which always attend mining operations. Under the mine, and rather nearer to Seatollar, a dark spot is seen in the copse-wood, which thus far clothes the hill. These are the celebrated Borrowdale Yews, four in number, * West's Antiquities of Furness. EXCURSIONS FROM KESWICK. 81 not to mention some smaller ones. Among them one is prominent, which, being in the vigour of its age, and un- decayed, ranks among the finest specimens of its kind in England. The Lorton Yew is larger, and that in Pat- terdale Church-yard may equal or exceed this in size, but they have lost the mighty limbs and dark umbrageous foliage, contrasting so well with the rich chesnut-coloured trunk, which are here still to be seen in mature perfection. Mr. Wordsworth, after commemorating that of Lorton, continues, Worthier still of note Are those fraternal Four of Borrowdale, Join'd in one solemn and capacious grove ; Huge trunks ! and each particular trunk a growth Of intertwisted fibres serpertine Up-coiling, and inveterately convolved, Nor uninform'd with Phantasy, and looks That threaten the profane ; a pillar'd shade, Upon whose grassless floor of red-brown hue, By sheddings from the pining umbrage tinged Perennially beneath whose sable roof Of boughs, as if for festal purpose, deck'd With unrejoicing berries, ghostly Shapes May meet at noontide Fear and trembling Hope, Silence and Foresight Death the Skeleton, And Tune the Shadow, there to celebrate, As in a natural temple scatter'd o'er With altars undisturb'd of mossy stone, United worship ; or in mute repose To lie, and listen to the mountain-flood Murmuring from Glaramara's* inmost caves. " At the hamlet of Seathwaite wood and cultivation end : the road, now reduced to a horse-track, follows the rapidly-ascending bed of the stream for a mile farther, and then, turning sharp over a little bridge, thrown across that * A part of the Borrowdale Fells, above Rosthwaite, between Seathwaite and Langstreth. i 3 82 EXCURSIONS FROM KESWICK. branch of the Grange river which comes down from Ash Course, begins immediately to mount Sty Head. But Stockley Bridge, as it is called, will detain our attention for a time, as a perfect miniature model of a bridge and waterfall. It is a rough stone arch, apparently wedged rather than cemented together, hardly two yards in span, or one in breadth, with no parapet except a slight eleva- tion of the outer stones on either side, between which there seems hardly room for a horse to plant his feet. It is thrown over a rocky cleft, ten or twelve feet above the stream, with a small glittering cascade above, and a sea- green pool below ; for the purest spring is not more free from taint of moss, than the water which descends from these hills. Small as it is, this is one of the most perfect specimens left of those native bridges, the gradual disap- pearance of which is generally lamented. " The height of Sty Head above the valley is said by Mr. Baines (' Companion to the Lakes') to be 1250 feet: this, however, is its height above the sea ; its height above Stockley Bridge probably does not exceed 750 or 800 feet. At the top of the first ascent is a small plain, in which lies a narrow sheet of water, called Sty Head Tarn. Beyond it, the road still rises, until turning a sharp point of a rock, with a chasm at our feet, Wastdale lies in view more than a thousand feet below ; while in front the pre- cipices of the Pikes rise double that height. The gran- deur of the scene is enhanced by the suddenness with which it comes into view, and by a nervous sensation which the stranger, especially if on horseback, will be likely to experience ; for he seems to hang over the precipice, so narrow is the path that winds among the crags which here crest the declivity. On the Wastdale side of Gavel gar- nets abound in the hard flinty slate. Sty Head Tarn is EXCURSIONS FROM KESWICK. 83 fed by a rill from Sprinkling Tarn, the source of one branch of the Grange river, which lies some hundred feet higher, under the broad front of Great End. To Sprink- ling Tarn, or, with care, even to Ash Course, horses may be taken in the ascent of the Pikes. Passing south of the tarn, we proceed eastward up the hillside towards Ash Course, where this route unites with the shorter and more direct one, which follows the water up from Stockley Bridge." The return to Keswick may be varied, by striking over the mountains into the vale of Langstreth and through Seathwaite. ASCENT OF SCAWFELL. The last Excursion conducted the tourist to Sty Head and as far as Ash Course in the ascent of Scawfell. The present will place him on the summit of the highest moun- tain in England. The following account of a visit to this lofty eminence is extracted from a letter to a friend of Mr. Wordsworth, and may not be uninteresting. " Having left Rosthwaite in Borrowdale, on a bright morning in the first week of October, we ascended from Seathwaite to the top of the ridge, called Ash Course, and thence beheld three distinct views ; on one side, the con- tinuous Vale of Borrowdale, Keswick, and Bassenthwaite, with Skiddaw, Helvellyn, Saddleback, and numerous other mountains, -and, in the distance, the Solway Frith and the Mountains of Scotland ; on the other side, and below us, the Langdale Pikes their own vale below them ; Windermere, and far beyond Windermere, Ingle- borough in Yorkshire. But how shall I speak of the de- liciousness of the third prospect ! At this time, that was most favoured by sunshine and shade. The green Vale 84 EXCURSIONS FROM KESWICK. of Esk deep and green, with its glittering serpent stream, lay below us ; and, on we looked to the Mountains near the Sea, Black Comb pre-eminent, and, still beyond, to the Sea itself, in dazzling brightness. Turning round we saw the Mountains of Wastdale in tumult ; to our right, Great Gavel, the loftiest, a distinct, and huge form, though the middle of the mountain, was, to our eyes, as its base. We had attained the object of this journey ; but our ambition now mounted higher. We saw the summit of Scawfell, apparently very near to us ; and we shaped our course towards it ; but, discovering that it could not be reached without first making a considerable descent, we resolved, instead, to aim at another point of the same mountain, called the Pikes, which I have since found has been estimated as higher than the summit bearing the name of Scawfell Head, where the Stone Man is built. The sun had never once been overshadowed by a cloud during the whole of our progress from the centre of Bor- rowdale. On the summit of the Pike, which we gained after much toil, though without difficulty, there was not a breath of air to stir even the papers containing our re- freshment, as they lay spread out upon a rock. The still- ness seemed to be not of this world : we paused, and kept silence to listen ; and no sound could be heard : the Scawfell Cataracts were voiceless to us ; and there was not an insect to hum in the air. The vales which we had seen from Ash Course lay yet in view ; and, side by side with Eskdale, we now saw the sister Vale of Donnerdale terminated by the Duddon Sands. But the majesty of the mountains below, and close to us, is not to be conceived. We now beheld the whole mass of Great Gavel from its base, the Den of Wastdale at our feet a gulph im- EXCURSIONS FROM KESWICK. 85 measurable : Grasmire and the other mountains of Crum- mock Ennerdale and its mountains ; and the Sea beyond ! We sat down to our repast, and gladly would we have tempered our beverage (for there was no spring or well near us) with such a supply of delicious, water as we might have procured, had we been on the rival summit of Great Gavel ; for on its highest point is a small triangular re- ceptacle in the native rock, which, the shepherds say, is never dry. There we might have slaked our thirst plen- teously with a pure and celestial liquid, for the cup or basin, it appears, has no other feeder than the dews of heaven, the showers, the vapours, the hoar frost, and the spotless snow. While we were gazing around, " Look," I exclaimed, "at yon ship upon the glittering sea !" "Is it a ship ?" re- plied our shepherd-guide. " It can be nothing else," inter- posed my companion ; " I cannot be mistaken, I am so accustomed to the appearance of ships at sea." The Guide dropped the argument ; but, before a minute was gone, he quietly said, " Now look at your ship ; it is changed into a horse." So it was, a horse with a gallant neck and head. We laughed heartily ; and, I hope, when again in- clined to be positive, I may remember the ship and the horse upon the glittering sea ; and the calm confidence, yet submissiveness, of our wise Man of the Mountains, who certainly had more knowledge of clouds than we, whatever might be our knowledge of ships. I know not how long we might have remained on the summit of the Pike, without a thought of moving, had not our Guide warned us that we must not linger ; for a storm was coming. We looked in vain to espy the signs of it. Mountains, vales, and sea were touched with the clear light of the sun. " It is there," said he, pointing to 86 EXCURSIONS FROM KJESWICK. the sea beyond Whitehaven, and there we perceived a light vapour unnoticeable but by a shepherd ascustoraed to watch all mountain bodings. We gazed around again, and yet again, unwilling to lose the remembrance of what lay before us in that lofty solitude ; and then prepared to depart. Meanwhile the air changed to cold, and we saw that tiny vapour swelled into mighty masses of cloud which came boiling over the mountains. Great Gavel, Helvellyn, and Skiddaw were wrapped in storm ; yet Langdale, and the mountains in that quarter, remained all bright in sunshine. Soon .the storm reached us ; we sheltered under a crag ; and almost as rapidly as it had come it passed away, and left us free to observe the struggles of gloom and sunshine in other quarters. Langdale now had its share, and the Pikes of Langdale were decorated by two splendid rain- bows. Skiddaw also had his own rainbows. Before we again reached Ash Course every cloud had vanished from every summit. I ought to have mentioned that round the top of Scaw- fell-PiKE not a blade of grass is to be seen. Cushions or tufts of moss, parched and brown, appear between the hugh blocks and stones that lie in heaps on all sides to a great distance, like skeletons or bones of the earth not needed at the creation, and there left to be covered with never-dying lichens, which the clouds and dews nourish ; and adorn with colours of vivid and exquisite beauty. Flowers, the most brilliant feathers, and even gems, scarce- ly surpass in colouring some of those masses of stone, which no human eye beholds, except the shepherd or traveller be led thither by curiosity : and how seldom must this happen ! For the other eminence is the one visited by the adventurous stranger ; and the shepherd has no in- ducement to ascend the PIKE in quest of his sheep ; no food being there to tempt them. EXCURSIONS FROM KESWICK. 87 We certainly were singularly favoured in the weather ; for when we were seated on the summit, our conductor, turning his eyes thoughtfully round, said, " I do not know that in my whole life, I was ever, at any season of the year, so high upon the mountains on so calm a day." (It was the 7th of October.) Afterwards we had a spectacle of the grandeur of earth and heaven commingled ; yet without terror. We knew that the storm would pass away ; for so our prophetic Guide had assured us. Before we reached Seathwaite in Borrowdale, a few stars had appeared, and we pursued our way down the Vale, to Rosthwaite hy moonlight. Thus far Mr. Wordsworth. " Scawfell is separated from the Pikes by a deep chasm, called Mickledoor, at the bottom of which a narrow ridge, like the roof of a house, slopes into Eskdale on one side, and into Wastdale on the other. So far all is easy ; but the ascent of Scawfell from this point ought not to be undertaken without a guide well acquainted with the prac- ticable passes of this mountain. It is encompassed by precipices, varied with narrow terraces of turf, and slanting sheets of naked rock ; and a stranger might chance to find himself entrapped into some place, where to go backwards or forwards would be equally difficult and dangerous. " If the traveller be bound from the Pikes into Eskdale, a direct and practicable descent may be found by way of Mickledoor ; or a tolerably straight course may be shaped from the Pikes either into Wastdale or, if the traveller be returning to Keswick, back to Sty Head by the western side of the mountain, leaving Great End to the right, and keeping farther down the hill-side than would at first seem necessary, to avoid some deep and apparently impassable ravines, which run out from among the crags of Great EXCURSIONS FROM KESWICK. End. These oblige him to descend below the level of Sty Head. " From Ash Course, an hour well used will take the walker, in a different direction, to the head of Langdale. The way lies past Angle Tarn, under the northern pre- cipice of Bowfell. The best descent into Langdale is down a steep rugged gully, called Rosset Gill. The circuit from Keswick to Ambleside by Sty Head, the Pikes, Ash Course, and Langdale, may be reckoned at thirty miles, and lies throughout among the finest scenery of the country." BOTANICAL NOTICES. THALICTRDM alpinum, between Great End Crag and Scawfell Pikes. Watson. s, Black Rocks of Great End. SILENE acaulis, \ Black Rocks of Great End Crags. SAXIFBAGA oppositifolia, J Watson. OXYRIA reniformis, Black Rocks of Great End. SALIX herbacea, Scawfell Pikes. SKIDDAW. Skiddaw is the fourth English mountain in height, be- ing 3022 feet above the level of the sea, and 291 1 above Derwent Water. To the highest point from Keswick it is six miles, and is so easy of access that persons may ride to the summit on horseback. The approach to Skiddaw is by the Penrith road for about half a mile, chiefly along the banks of the Greta to a bridge just beyond the toll- bar. Having crossed the bridge, the road ascends some- what steeply, and after passing Greta Bank skirts Latrig at a considerable elevation. A little beyond the planta- tion the tourist will see another road, which he must take, though only for a few yards, when he must again turn just beyond a gate on the left, at right angles, by the side EXCURSIONS FROM KESWICK. 89 of a fence to a hollow at the foot of the steepest hill in the ascent. From this place the road rises precipitately for almost a mile by the side of a stone wall, which it crosses about one-third of the way up, and then leaves on the right, after which it is an easy ascent over a barren waste, called Skiddaw Forest, to the foot of the Low Man, where there is a fine spring of water, which will be found very refreshing to the aspiring traveller. Beyond this well, having the first and second summits, or Men, as they are called, on the left, the road ascends easily by a good beaten track to the Third Man, which is the highest point that can be seen from the valley, and from this ele- vated station the whole extent of the vale beneath is most beautifully displayed. After passing the fourth and fifth heap of stones, the traveller will soon place himself upon the highest summit of this mountain. Derwent Water cannot be seen from this lofty eminence, being obscured by others of less elevation, which hide also the high grounds lying between Wythburn and Langdale. On the right of the third Man is presented a most magnificent assemblage of mountains. Looking in a south-western direction, is seen that sublime chain extending from Coniston to En- nerdale, amongst which Scawfell stands pre-eminent, hav- ing on its left Great End, Hanging Knot, Bowfell, and the fells of Coniston ; and on the right Lingmell Crags, Great Gable, Kirkfell, Black Sail, the Pillar, the Steeple, and the Hay Cock, with Yewbarrow and part of the Screes through Black Sail. Black Combe may be descried through an opening between the Gable and Kirkfell. To the north of the Ennerdale mountains are those of Buttermere ; and High Crag, High Style, and Red Pike peer nobly over Cat Bells, Robinson, and Hindscarth. Still further to the north, rising from the vale of Newlands, is Rawling End, K 90 EXCURSIONS FROM KESWICK. whence, aspiring, are Causey Pike, Scar Crag Top, Sail, 111 Crags, Grasmire, and Grisedale Pike. On the right of Grisedale Pike and Hobcarter Crag is Low Fell, over which, in a clear atmosphere, may be observed the northern part of the Isle of Man ; and perhaps one day out of a hundred, Ireland may be seen. The town and Castle of Cockermouth are distinctly seen over the foot of Bassenthwaite, with Workington at the foot of the Der- went on its left. Whitehaven is hid from our view, but all the Sea Coast from St. Bees Head by Sol way Frith to Rockcliffe Marsh may be easily traced. Over the northern end of Skiddaw, Carlisle may be plainly seen, if the state of the atmosphere be favourable, and the Scotch mountains of Criffell, &c. give a fine finish to the fertile plains of Cumberland. Looking eastward, Penrith and its Beacon are seen, with Cross-fell in the distance ; and far away to the south-east the broad head of Ingleborough is visible over some of the Westmorland fells. Saddleback here displays its pointed top, and nearly due south is seen the lofty summit of Helvellyn. Through the gap of Dunmail Raise, Lancaster Castle is sometimes visible beyond Gummershow at the foot of Windermere, with the aid of a telescope. Having thus hastily sketched out some of the objects which are so far to be seen in this Excursion ; it remains for an intelligent guide to point the direction in which they may be found, and also to particularize others which are not here noticed, and which are presented in the pro- gress of the tourist. The descent, for the sake of variety, might be made into the valley of Bassenthwaite, where refreshments may be had at the Castle Inn, near the foot of the lake, whence it is eight miles to Keswick by the eastern and ten by the western road. EXCURSIONS FROM KESWICK. 91 BOTANICAL NOTICES. S \ i.i x herbacea, Summit of Skiddaw. CAHKX rigida, Skiddaw. SAXIFRAGA aizoides, do. stellaris, do. VIOLA lutea, do. SADDLEBACK. Saddleback is, in the opinion of some tourists, better worth a visit than Skiddaw. " Derwent Water," says Dr. Southey, " as seen from the top of Saddleback, is one of the finest mountain scenes in the country. The tourist who would enjoy it should proceed about six miles along the Penrith road, then take the road which leads to Hesketh New Market, and presently ascend by a green shepherds' path which winds up the side of a ravine ; and having gained the top, keep along the summit, leaving Threlkeld Tarn below him on the right, and descend upon the Glenderaterra, the stream which comes down between Saddleback and Skiddaw, and falls into the Greta about two miles from Keswick." The ancient name of this mountain is Blencathra. The modern one of Saddleback has been given to it from the peculiarity of its formation, as seen from the neighbourhood of Penrith, where it takes something of the form of a saddle. Its height is 2787 feet. At the base of an enormous perpendicular rock called Tarn Crag, near Linthwaite Pike, is Scales Tarn, a small lake deeply seated among the crags, which, from the peculi- arity of its situation, is said to reflect the stars at noon- day. In Bowscale fell, and lying about three miles from Scales Tarn, in a north-easterly direction, is Bowscale Tarn, which sends a tributary to the Caldew. This tarn is the seat of a singular superstition, having been supposed K 2 92 EXCURSIONS FROM KESWICK. by the country people to be inhabited by two immortal fish: " Both the undying fish that swim In Bowse-ale Tarn did wait on him ; The pair were servants of his eye In their immortality ; They moved about in open sight, To and fro for his delight." Song at the Feast of Brougham Castle. We are not told in what way the belief originated. GRISEDALE PIKE Rises to the height of 2580 feet above the level of the sea. It is situated to the west of Keswick, above the vil- lage of Braithwaite, and well deserves a visit. They who love wild scenery will find much pleasure in continuing their walk along the ridge which connects Grisedale Pike with Grassmoor, returning to Keswick over Causey Pike, which is a pleasant morning's walk. BOTANICAL NOTICE. ABBUTUS Uva- Ursi, descending Grassmoor to Crummock Water. RIDE from KESWICK to BUTTERMERE, through Newlands. 1J Portinscale 1J 1J Swinside 2f * Stair 3J l| Stoneycroft, right ... 4 i Emerald Bank, left ... 5 \ Bridge near Mill Dam 5j J Birkrigg j 5| I Gill Brow 6 Aikin 6$ i- Keskadale 7 1} Newlands Haws 8j 1 Inn at Buttermere ... 10 The road to Newlands is by the village of Portinscale, and thence between the Foe Park Woods and Swinside, to the Three Road Ends. The one on the right leads through Newlands to Buttermere. This road skirts the southern flank of Swinside, and continues winding through the glade in a pleasant and agreeable manner. At Rawling End i EXCURSIONS PROM KESWICK. 93 (a mountain so called) the scenery is excellent, either re- trospectively in the direction of Skiddaw, across the valley towards Cat Bells, or up the vale of Newlands. A fine branch of the vale of Newlands extends from Emerald Bank to Dale Head, guarded on the south by Maiden Moor and High Crag, and on the north by Gold Scalp and Hindscarth. Above Keskadale, the last houses in the valley, the road ascends steeply to Newlands Haws through the screening sides of which Great Robinson is advantage- ously displayed. In the descent from the Haws to Butter- mere, there are numerous grand and impressive changes, and the road runs at an alarming height above the ravine which separates this from the opposite hill called Whitelees. The chain of mountains developed in the descent of the Haws is the most magnificent in the whole circumference of the valley. High Style swells to an apex truly sublime, and the whole visible horizon from Green Crags to Red Pike is scarcely equalled in Cumberland. (See Plate No. 3.) The white stream called Sourmilk Gill, issuing from Bleaberry Tarn, or Bartress Tarn, down the rocky steep, forms a beautiful feature in the landscape. The road passes a neat little chapel recently erected by the Rev. Mr. Thomas on the site of a still smaller one, which was said to have been the smallest in England, and not capable of containing within its walls more than half a dozen households. At a short distance from the chapel stands the Inn where Mary Robinson, the Beauty of Buttermere, was for a number of years the unceasing object of public curiosity. The LAKE of BUTTERMERE is one mile and a quarter in length, and little more than half a mile in breadth. Buttermere Moss and Great Robinson bound it on the east ; Hay Stacks, so called from their form, High Crag, High K3 94 EXCURSIONS FROM KESWICK. Style, and Red Pike rising proudly to a vast height, en- close it on the west; and Fleet with, at the head of the lake, seems to shut out all communication southwards. At the north end, or outlet of the lake, it is separated from Grummock Water by an enclosed and verdant plain beau- tifully ornamented with woods and hedge rows, over which is seen at some distance, Lowfell, an eminence which separates Lowes Water from Lorton. Buttermere affords excellent sport for the angler. Most persons content themselves with what they can see of Buttermere in one day, but many days might be profitably employed in exploring the beauties of this se- cluded vale. To such transient visitors it is recommended to see SCALE FORCE, one of the highest waterfalls in the country. The road to this place is by a footpath across the fields, which, from the soft and boggy nature of the ground, is anything but agreeable in damp weather ; a better arrangement will therefore be to take a boat at the head of Crummock Water, and proceed to the stream which issues from the fall, where parties are usually land- ed. From this point it is a mile to the Force, which is one clear fall of 160 feet between two vast perpendicular walls of syenite, beautifully adorned by numerous small trees which have taken root in the fissures of the rock, and are watered with the spray of the falling waters. On returning to the boat, row direct to Ling Crag, a little rocky promontory at the foot of Melbreak, and from a point two or three hundred yards above this promontory is the best Station for a view of the two lakes of Crummock and Buttermere, and the surrounding mountains. CRUMMOCK WATER is bounded on the east by the lofty mountains of Whiteside, Grassmoor, and Whitelees ; and Melbreak is the western barrier for a considerable distance. EXCURSIONS FROM KESWICK. 95 Scale Hill is upwards of three miles from Ling Crag, and, if time should permit, parties might resort thither for re- freshment at an excellent Inn, and afterwards return to Buttermere. The road recommended in the return to Keswick is by Borrovvdale. A mile and a half from the Inn at Buttermere, Hassness, the residence of Ben- son, Esq., is passed on the right, and half a mile more will bring the traveller to a farm-house called Gatesgarth. [From this place a mountain road strikes off to the right, between Haystacks and High Crag, to Ennerdale, by the Pass of Scarf Gap, and is met by another path over Black Sail, which descends through the vale of Mosedale, between Kirkfell and the Pillar to Wastdale Head. These roads are indicated on the Map. A horse may be taken over these hills in dry weather, but those who can walk will find walking quicker and pleasanter than riding : indeed a good deal of the road must be done on foot. Over these mountains it will be prudent to obtain the help of a guide.] From Gatesgarth the road to Borrowdale is by a labo- rious ascent of nearly three miles to the summit of But- termere Haws, having the almost perpendicular rock of Honister Crag on the right and Yew Crag on the left hands. In both of these stupendous rocks are extensive quarries of valuable roofing slates. A very interesting combination of mountains is exhibited from the top of the road, which begins to descend rapidly to Seatoller, in Borrowdale, from whence it is a mile and three-quarters to Rosthwaite, where there is a public-house. From thence, passing Bowder Stone, Grange (where consult Diagram of the Mountains, Plate 3), and Lodore, it is six miles to Keswick. This Excursion may be made (but with some difficulty) in a car. 96 EXCURSIONS FROM KESWICK. DRIVE to SCALE HILL and BUTTEEMERE. 2 Braithwaite 2J 2j Summit of Whinlatter 6 3 Lorton 8 4 Scale Hill 12 4 Butter mere 16 9 Thro' New lands toKeswick 25 The best approach to Crummock and Buttermere is by Whinlatter and Swinside to Scale Hill, ten miles, or by a more circuitous road through the vale of Lorton, twelve miles. The road to Scale Hill leaves that to Bassen- thwaite at the village of Braithwaite, where the ascent of Whinlatter commences, and although long and tedious, the traveller is fully compensated for his toil by the noble retrospective views of the vale of Keswick which are un- folded. From the fourth milestone Grisedale Pike is on the left for two miles. A little beyond the sixth mile- stone, a road branches off to the left, along Swinside, and it is that which persons of taste on foot, on horseback, and even in carriages, take, on their way to Scale Hill. On entering this road the traveller may feel some disap- pointment, but, having ascended the hill, he will be charm- ed with views of the vale of Lorton, and extending even to the Scotch mountains. The more circuitous route through the vale of Lorton turns off from the Cockermouth road at the famous Yew Tree,* and joins the terrace road * " pride of Lorton Vale, Which to this day stands single, in the midst Of its own darkness, as it stood of yore, Not loth to furnish weapons for the bands Of Umfraville or Percy, ere they march'd To Scotland's heaths : or those that cross'd the sea, And drew their sounding bows at Azincour ; Perhaps at earlier Crecy, or Poictiers. Of vast circumference, and gloom profound, This solitary tree, a living thing, Produced too slowly ever to decay ; Of form and aspect too magnificent To be destroyed." EXCURSIONS FROM KESWICK. 97 just mentioned about a mile and a half from Scale Hill. A quarter of a mile beyond the junction of these roads, are two other roads ; that on the left leads to Butter- mere ; the other to the Inn at Scale Hill. Scale Hill is well situated for parties wishing to visit Crummock Water, Buttermere, Lowes Water, and En- nerdale. From Scale Hill a pleasant walk may be taken to an eminence in Mr. Marshall's woods, and another by crossing the bridge at the foot of the hill, upon which the inn stands, and turning to the right, after the opposite hill has been ascended a little way, then follow the road for about half a mile that leads towards Lorton, looking back upon Crummock Water, &c., between the opening of the fences. Turn back and make your way to I/OWES WATER, A smalt lake, about a mile in length, situated in a deep secluded valley about two miles from Crummock, and sur- rounded by the bold mountains of Black Fell, Low Fell, and Melbreak. The valley is prettily wooded and has an air of pastoral beauty. It is only seen to advantage from the other end, therefore any traveller approaching from the foot must look back upon it on arriving at its head. The following Table will shew the route to be observed WALK round LOWES WATER from SCALE HILL. Lowes Water Church f Thence by Kirk Head, Bar Gate, Steel Bank, and High Nook, to Water Yeat 2J Gill falling from Car- ling Knott 2| 1 Place or High Water End 3| Bottom or Low WaterEnd 4J if Crabtree Beck 1 Join the road from Scale Hill to the Chapel at the Smithy Scale Hill . 7 98 EXCURSIONS FEOM KESWICK. CRUMMOCK WATER AND BCTTERMERE Are no where so impressive as from the bosom of Crum- mock Water ; and the following Excursion to Buttermere from Scale Hill will be found highly interesting. LAND and WATER EXCURSION from SCALE HILL. Boat House on Crummock Water ............ 1 Flat Fields at Rannerdale 2 Station above Ling Crag 3J If To Scale Force and back 5 1 Join the road at the head of the lake 6 1 Inn at Buttermere ... 1 Scale Force and Green's Station at Ling Crag have been noticed at p. 34. ENNERDALE WATER Is situated four miles to the south of Lowes Water. It is three-quarters of a mile in breadth, and extends two miles and a half in length. The scenery is wild and ro- mantic, and beyond the head of the lake are seen some of the highest mountains in the country, of which the most conspicuous is the Pillar, rising to the elevation of 2893 feet. Owing to its difficulty of access to Southern tour- ists, Ennerdale Water is rarely seen except from a dis- tance. It may be approached from the Inn at Buttermere by Scale Force and Floutern Tarn ; and also from Scale Hill through Mosedale and by Floutern Tarn, and by several other mountain roads, all terminating at Crosdale, where the best views of the lake are obtained. The following Tables may be useful to the traveller. WALK from BUTTERMERE to its union with the way from Crosdale to ENNERDALE WATER. 2 Scale Force 2 where is one of the best 2 Floutern Tarn ... 4 views of the lake ... 6 1J Join the road from Cros- 1 Ennerdale Water ... 7 dale to Ennerdale Water EXCURSIONS PROM KF.SWICK. 99 Three ways on Foot to CROSDALE, from SCALE HILL by High Nook. A mile on the high road to Lowes Water High Nook Passage to Crosdale over Blake Fell; Or, to Crosdale deviating at the top of Blake Fell on the left ; Or, to Crosdale by com- mencing the ascent with the rivulet on the left, at High Nook, and then turning on the right ... From Crosdale toEnner- dale Water it is 1 mile ; the finest views are half way ............ 4J From SCALE HILL, on a horse road, toENNERDALE WATER. 2J On this road by High Trees and Fell Dyke to Cros- dale 8J J Half way to the lake, the best prospect 8} \ Margin of the lake ... 9} 2| Lowes Water End, at the head of Lowes Water 2} } Enter the common ... 3\ 1J- Lampleugh Church ... 6J | Road on the left, beyond the church 6 From CROSDALE the tourist may proceed to WAST- DAL.E HEAD by pursuing 1 the following 1 route, or he may return to Buttermere by the foot-road over Scarf-gap after he has passed through the secluded valley of Giller- thwaite, as the upper part of Ennerdale is called. This road he will find marked upon the map. From CROSDALE, on foot, to the Eastern Side of ENNERDALE WATER, and through Ennerdale and Mosedale to WASTDALE HEAD. 1 Join the lake 1 J Bowness 1 .', 2 Head of the lake ... 3 A 1} Gillerthwaite 6 2$ Foot of the road to But- termere over Scarf Gap 7J Sheep-fold on the river side 8 From which, with the stream on the left, ascend to the top of Black Sail 8| Wastdale Head, through Mosedale ... ll TWO DAYS EXCURSION TO WASTVVATER, Wast Water is seen to the greatest advantage by ap- proaching it from the open country by the Strands at its foot, rather than by Sty Head. The latter road enters Wastdale at the head of the lake, and can only be taken on foot or on horseback. The tourist, therefore, should 100 EXCUHSIONS FROM KESWICX. commence this Excursion by going- over Whinlatter to Scale Hill, already noticed, and proceeding by Lowes Water and Lampleugh Cross to Ennerdale Bridge, thence to Calder Bridge, from which place there is only one near road ; and that is by Gosforth to the Strands in Nether Wastdale, near the foot of Wast Water. This road, al- though in parts steep and not very good, may without dif- ficulty be travelled over by light carriages ; but there is an excellent carriage road, which makes, however, a circuit of many miles, through Cockermouth, Workington, Whitehaven, and Egremont to Calder Bridge. By leav- ing Workington on the left, and passing from Cocker- mouth direct to Whitehaven the distance is shortened two miles. From Scale Hill it is about two miles to Lowes Water ; whence to Lampleugh Cross, where there are two small public houses, four miles ; to Ennerdale Bridge, at the foot of Ennerdale three miles more ; and from Ennerdale Bridge seven miles to Calder Bridge, where excellent accommodation may be had at two comfortable inns. CAI/DER ABBEY is one mile from Calder Bridge. Little of this rain is left, but that little is well worthy of notice. It is situate on the north side of the river Calder, close to the residence of Captain Irwin, and was founded in 1 134 by the second Ranulph des Meschines for Cister- cian monks, and was dependent on Furness Abbey. From Calder Bridge to Gosforth three miles, thence to the Strands public-house four miles. Circuitous Carriage Road. This road as far as the famous Lorton Yew-tree, eight miles from Keswick, has been already noticed. From the Yew-tree the turnpike-road must be kept, and after driving through a rich fertile country for four miles, the traveller will reach EXCURSIONS FROM KESWICK. 101 COCKERMOUTH, a borough-town sending two members to Parliament, situated upon the Cocker, where it falls into the Derwent. There are here manufactures of hats, coarse woollens, linen, and leather. The Castle is for the most part in ruins, and belongs to General Wyndham, who occasionally resides there. Market-days, Monday and Saturday. Inns, Globe, Sun. From Cockermouth to Whitehaven direct, it is fourteen miles, and by Workington sixteen miles. On leaving Cockermouth, by turning aside a few steps, a fine view of the river Derwent and the Castle may be had from the Bridge. WORKINGTON is situated on the south .bank of the Derwent, and has a good harbour well secured by a break- water. In the vicinity of the town are several valuable coal mines, which are principally worked by Henry Cur- wen, Esq. the lord of the manor. Some of these have lately been destroyed by the sea breaking in upon them. The streets are irregularly built, but have of late years been much improved by modern erections. Workington Hall stands on a gentle eminence on the east side of the town, and is celebrated as having afforded an asylum to the unfortunate Mary Queen of Scots, after her escape from Dunbar Castle. Population, 7226. WHITEHAVEN ranks the second town in importance in Cumberland. It is situated on a bay, and the harbour has been greatly improved by an elegant and substantial stone pier, said to be the largest in the kingdom. The town is built with great regularity, and the streets are spacious. The Castle is the residence of the Earl of Lonsdale, who is lord of the manor and proprietor of the coal mines, which are perhaps the most extraordinary in the world. In the William Pit there are 500 acres under 102 EXCURSIONS FROM KESWICK. the sea, and the distance is two miles and a half from the shaft to the extreme part of the workings. There is a stable also under the sea in this immense pit for forty- five horses. The shaft is one hundred and ten fathoms. [See Appendix, Letter ii. p. 22.] The coals are princi- pally exported to Ireland, and yield a large revenue to the noble proprietor. Ship-building is carried on here to some extent, and the principal manufactures of the town are linen sail-cloth, checks, ginghams, sheetings, thread, twine, cables, &c. From Whitehaven it is six miles to EGREMONT by way of Hensingham, and seven by ST. BEES, " a place distin- guished from very early times for its religious and scho- lastic foundations. ' St. Bees,' say Nicholson and Burn, ' had its name from Bega, a holy woman from Ireland, who is said to have founded here, about the year 650, a small monastery, where afterwards a church was built in memory of her. The aforesaid religious house having been destroyed by the Danes, was restored by William de Meschines, son of Ranulph, and brother of Ranulph de Meschines, first Earl of Cumberland after the Conquest ; and made a cell of a prior and six Benedictine monks to the Abbey of St. Mary at York.' After the dissolution of the monasteries, Archbishop Grindal founded a free school at St. Bees, from which the counties of Cumber- land and Westmorland have derived great benefit ; and recently, under the patronage of the Earl of Lonsdale, a college has been established there for the education of ministers of the English Church. The old Conventual Church was repaired under the superintendence of the Rev. Dr. Ainger, the late Head of the College ; and is well worthy of being visited by any strangers who may be led to the neighbourhood of this celebrated spot." EXCURSIONS FROM KESWICK. 103 EGREMONT is a neat little town, with about 1500 in- habitants, situate on the north side of the river Ehen, which flows from Ennerdale lake, seven miles dis- tant, by a good road. The ruins of the Castle stand on an eminence to the west of the town. This fortress is not of very great extent, but bears singular marks of antiquity and strength. From Egremont it is five miles of pleasant road to Calder Bridge, to which place the traveller was conducted by the route from Scale Hill. Should the tourist prefer the approach to Wast Water by Sty Head, the following is the route. The objects on the road have been described as far as Sty Head at page 79. and the ascent of this mountain pass from the Strands is also described at page 67. FIRST DAT. WAST WATER by Borrowdale, a Two Days' Excursion on horseback. 12 Sty Head 12 2 Wastdale Head ... 14 1 Head of Wast Water 15 J Overbeck Bridge ... 15J 1 Netherbeck Bridge ... 16 jj 1J End of the direct road to Calder Bridge by Harrow Head 17-f | Crook at the foot of the lake 18$ 1J Strand's Public House 20 1 Junction of the Strand's road with the shortest road 21J 2J Gosforth 24 3 Calder Bridge, where there are two good inns ... 27 SECOND DAT. WALK to CALDER ABBEY, a mile from Calder Bridge From Calder Bridge to Ennerdale Bridge ... Kirkland Road on the left to Egre- mont and Whitehaven Lampleugh Cross (the Cockermouth road is to the left) 10 1 Lampleugh Church 11 5 Scale Hill 16 11 Keswick, over Swinside and Whinlatter ... 27 BOTANICAL NOTICES. ABABIS petrcea, Screes, near Wastwater. THALICTBCM majus, do. PoTENTiLLA/rwft'cose^in the Devil's Hedge-gate, Wastdale Screes. RHODIOLA rosea, AVastdale Screes. SAXIFBAGA oppositifolia, do. GNAPHALIUM dioicum, do. 104 EXCURSIONS FEOM KESWICK. Round BASSENTHWAITE WATER. 8 Peel Wyke* 8 1 Ouse Bridge 9 3 Bassenthwaite Sandbed 13 5 Keswick 18 1 Castlelnn 10 Before bidding adieu to Keswick, the tour of Bassen- thwaite Water should not be omitted : nor should the traveller forget to enquire for Greta Hall, the residence of Robert Southey, Esq., Poet Laureate; situated on a gentle eminence near the town. The lake of Bas- senthwaite lies four miles north of Derwent Water, and is four miles in length, and in some places near a mile in breadth. In commencing this Excursion proceed to the village of Braithwaite, at the foot of Whinlatter, which the tourist must leave on the left. Passing through the hamlet of Thornthwaite and skirting the base of the rugged moun- tains of Lord's Seat and Barf, the road undulates pleasantly through wood and glade till it reaches Peel Wyke, where there is a small ale-house, whence it passes along the margin of the lake to Ouse Bridge, which crosses the Der- went, where, and at Armathwaite close by, are the best views, for those who keep the road generally pursued in making the circuit of the lake ; but the pedestrian would be fully recompensed if he were to deviate at the Castle Inn, one mile from Ouse Bridge, and follow the Hesket road for about a mile, and then turn on the right to the top of the Hawes, from which is presented a magnificent view of the vale of Bassenthwaite and those of Embleton and Isell. The distance from the Castle Inn to Keswick is eight miles ; the road winding agreeably on the eastern side of the lake. ULLSWATER. 8 Moor End 8 7 Gowbarrow Park ... 16 5 Patterdale 20 Patterdale to Penrith. 10 Pooley Bridge 10 6 Penrith 16 Ullswater is of an irregular figure, somewhat resembling the letter Z, and composed of three unequal reaches, the middle of which is somewhat longer than the northern one. The shortest is seen from the inn at Patterdale, and is not half the length of either of the others. Ulls- water is less than Windermere, but larger than the rest of the English lakes, and lies engulphed in the majestic mountains that rise sublimely from the valley. From Keswick there are several roads by which Ulls- water may be approached. 1st. By a bridle-road that turns off from the Penrith road at the third mile-stone, and crosses the Vale of St. John near its foot, then enters the Vale of Wanthwaite, and, after passing- through Matterdale, unites at Dock- ray with 2nd. A good carriage-road that leaves the Penrith road about eight miles from Keswick, and skirts the base of a bleak uninteresting mountain called Mell Fell, which the traveller has on his left hand till he reaches Dockray, before mentioned. From Dockray the traveller will de- scend upon Gowbarrow Park, and is thus brought at once upon a magnificent view of the higher reaches of the lake. ARA-FORCE thunders down the ghyll on the left at a small distance from the road. 3rd. Ullswater may be approached by proceeding direct to Pooley Bridge at the foot of the lake, where the angler would find much diversion both in the lake and in the neighbouring streams. [See Diagrams of the Mountains. i, 3 106 ULLS WATER. Plate 3.] Pooley Bridge is also favourably situated for visiting Hawes Water, ten miles, and Lowther Castle, four miles ; and the town of Penritb, to be hereafter no- ticed, is only six miles distant. If Ullswater be approached from Penrith, a mile and a half brings you to the winding vale of Eamont, and the prospects increase in interest till you reach Patterdale ; but the first four miles along Ullswater by this road are comparatively tame. The following account of Ullswater is from Mr. Words- worth : In order to see the lower part of the lake to ad- vantage, it is necessary to go round by Pooley Bridge, and to ride at least three miles along the Westmor- land side of the water, towards Martindale. The views, especially if you ascend from the road into the fields, are magnificent ; yet this is only mentioned that the transient visitant may know what exists ; for it would be inconve- nient to go in search of them. They who take this course of three or four miles on foot, should have a boat in rea- diness at the end of the walk, to carry them across to the Cumberland side of the lake, near Old Church, thence to pursue the road upwards to Patterdale. The Church- yard Yew-tree still survives at Old Church, but there are no remains of a Place of Worship, a New Chapel having been erected in a more central situation, which Chapel was consecrated by the then Bishop of Carlisle, when on his way to crown Queen Elizabeth, he being the only Prelate who would undertake the office. It may be here mentioned that Bassenthwaite Chapel yet stands in a bay as sequestered as the site of Old Church ; such situations having been chosen in disturbed times to elude marauders. The trunk or body of the Vale of Ullswater need not be further noticed, as its beauties shew themselves : but DLLS WATER. 107 the curious traveller may wish to know something of its tributary streams. At Dalemain, about three miles from Penrith, a stream is crossed called the Dacre, or Dacor, which name it bore as early as the time of the Venerable Bede. This stream does not enter the lake, but joins the Eamcnt a mile be- low. It rises in the moorish country about Penruddock, flows down a soft sequestered valley, passing by the an- cient mansions of Hutton John and Dacre Castle. The former is pleasantly situated, though of a character some- what gloomy and monastic, and from some of the fields near Dalemain, Dacre Castle, backed by the jagged sum- mit of Saddleback, with the valley and stream in front, forms a grand picture. There is no other stream that conducts to any glen or valley worthy of being mentioned, till we reach that which leads up to Ara-force, and thence into Matterdale, before spoken of. Matterdale, though a wild and interesting spot, has no peculiar features that would make it worth the stranger's while to go in search of them ; but, in Gowbarrow Park the lover of Nature might linger for hours. Here is a powerful brook, which dashes among rocks through a deep glen, hung on every side with a rich and happy intermixture of native wood ; here are beds of luxuriant fern, aged hawthorns, and hollies decked with honeysuckles; and fallow-deer glancing and bounding over the lawns and through the thickets. These are the attractions of the retired views, or constitute a foreground for ever-varying pictures of the majestic lake, forced to take a winding course by bold promontories, and environed by mountains of sublime form, towering above each other. At the outlet of Gowbarrow Park, we reach a third stream, which flows through a little recess called Glencoin, where lurks a single house, yet 108 ULLSWATER. visible from the road. Let the artist or leisurely traveller turn aside to it, for the buildings and objects around them are romantic and picturesque. Having passed under the steeps of Stybarrow Crag, and the remains of its native woods, at Glenridding Bridge, a fourth stream is crossed. The opening on the side of Ullswater Vale, down which this stream flows, is adorned with fertile fields, cottages, and natural groves, that agreeably unite with the trans- verse views of the lake ; and the stream, if followed up after the enclosures are left behind, will lead along bold water-breaks and waterfalls to a silent Tarn in the reces- ses of Helvellyn. Eagles formerly built in the precipitous rock which forms the western barrier of this desolate spot. These birds used to wheel and hover round the head of the solitary angler. It also derives a melancholy interest from the fate of a young man, a stranger, who perished some years ago, by falling down the rocks in his attempt to cross over to Grasmere. His remains were discovered by means of a faithful dog that had linger- ed here for the space of three months, self-supported, and probably retaining to the last an attachment to the skele- ton of its master.* But to return to the road in the main vale of Ullswater. At the head of the lake (being now in Patterdale) we cross a fifth stream, Grisdale Beck : this would conduct along a woody steep, where may be seen some unusually large ancient hollies, up to the level area of the valley of Grisdale ; hence there is a path for foot- travellers, and along which a horse may be led to Gras- mere. A sublime combination of mountain forms appears in front while ascending the bed of this valley, and the impression deepens till the path leads almost immediately * Vide the Poems of Scott and Wordsworth. ULLSWATER. 109 under the projecting masses of Helvellyn. Having re- traced the banks of the stream to Patterdale, and pursued the road up the main Dale, the next considerable stream would, if ascended in the same manner, conduct to Deep- dale, the character of which valley may be conjectured from its name. It is terminated by a cove, a craggy and gloomy abyss, with precipitous sides ; a faithful receptacle of the snows that are driven into it, by the west wind, from the summit of Fairfield. Lastly, having gone along the west- ern side of Brothers-water and passed Hartsop Hall, a stream soon after issues from a cove richly decorated with native wood. This spot is, I believe, never explored by Travellers; but, from these sylvan and rocky recesses, whoever looks back on the gleaming surface of Brothers- water, or forward to the precipitous sides and lofty ridges of Dove Crag, &c., will be equally pleased with the grand- eur, and the wildness of the scenery. Seven Glens or Valleys have been noticed, which branch off from the Cumberland side of the vale. The opposite side has only two streams of any importance, one of which would lead up from the point where it crosses the Kirk- stone-road, near the foot of Brothers-water, to the decay- ing hamlet of Hartsop, remarkable for its cottage archi- tecture, and thence to Hays-water, much frequented by anglers. The other, coming down Martindale, enters Ullswater at Sandwyke, opposite to Gowbarrow Park. No persons but such as come to Patterdale merely to pass through it, should fail to walk as far as Blowick, the only enclosed land which on this side borders the higher part of the lake. The axe has here indiscriminately levelled a rich wood of birches and oaks, that divided this favoured spot into a hundred pictures. It has yet its land-locked bays, and rocky promontories ; but those beautiful woods 110 EXCURSION ON THE - are gone, which perfected its seclusion ; and scenes, that might formerly have been compared to an inexhaustible volume, are now spread before the eye in a single sheet, magnificent indeed, but seemingly perused in a moment! From Blowick a narrow track conducts along the craggy side of Place-fell, richly adorned with juniper, and sprinkled over with birches, to the village of Sandwyke, a few straggling houses, that with the small estates attached to them, occupy an opening opposite to Lyulph's Tower and Gowbarrow Park. In Martindale, the road loses sight of the lake, and leads over a steep hill, bringing you again into view of Ulls water. Its lowest reach, four miles in length, is before you ; and the view terminated by the long ridge of Cross Fell in the distance. Immediately under the eye is a deep-indented bay, with a plot of fertile land, traversed by a small brook, and rendered cheerful by two or three substantial houses of a more ornamented and showy appearance than is usual in those wild spots. EXCURSION ON THE BANKS OF UIiLSWATEB. We are induced to -subjoin an account of a short Ex- cursion on the Banks of Ullswater, made at a time when it is seldom seen but by the inhabitants. As the journal was written for one acquainted with the general features of the country, only those effects and appearances are dwelt upon, which are produced by the changeable- ness of the atmosphere, or belong to the season when the excursion was made. A.D. 1805. On the 7th of November, on a damp and gloomy morning, we left Grasmere Vale, intending to pass a few days on the banks of Ullswater. A mild and dry BANKS OF ULLSWATER. Ill autumn had been unusually favourable to the preservation and beauty of foliage ; and, far advanced as the season was, the trees on the larger Island of Rydal-mere retained a splendour which did not need the heightening of sunshine. We noticed, as we passed, that the line of the grey rocky shore of that island, shaggy with variegated bushes and shrubs, and spotted and striped with purplish brown heath, indistinguishably blending with its image reflected in the still water, produced a curious resemblance, both in form and colour, to a richly-coated caterpillar, as it might ap- pear through a magnifying glass of extraordinary power. The mists gathered as we went along : but, when we reached the top of Kirkstone, we were glad we had not been discouraged by the apprehension of bad weather. Though not able to see a hundred yards before us, we were more than contented. At such a time, and in such a place, every scattered stone the size of one's head becomes a com- panion. Near the top of the Pass is the remnant of an old wall, which (magnified, though obscured, by the vapour) might have been taken for a fragment of some monument of ancient grandeur, yet that same pile of stones we had never before even observed. This situation, it must be allowed, is not favourable to gaiety ; but a pleasing hurry of spirits accompanies the surprise occasioned by objects transformed, dilated, or distorted, as they are when seen through such a medium. Many of the fragments of rock on the top and slopes of Kirkstone, and of similar places, are fantastic enough in themselves ; but the full effect of such impressions can only be had in a state of weather when they are not likely to be sought for. It was not till we had descended considerably that the fields of Hartshop were seen, like a lake tinged by the reflection of sunny clouds : I mistook them for Brothers-water, but, soon 112 EXCURSION ON THE after, we saw that Lake gleaming faintly with a steelly brightness, then, as we continued to descend, appeared the brown oaks, and the birches of lively yellow and the the cottages and the lowly Hall of Hartshop, with its long roof and ancient chimneys. During great part of our way to Patterdale, we had rain, or rather drizzling vapour ; for there was never a drop upon our hair or clothes larger than the smallest pearls upon a lady's ring. The folio wing morning, incessant rain till eleven o'clock, when the sky began to clear, and we walked along the eastern shore of Ullswater towards the farm of Blowick. The wind blew strong, and drove the clouds forward, on the side of the mountain above our heads ; two storm- stiffeued black yew-trees fixed our notice, seen through, or under the edge of, the flying mists, four or five goats were bounding among the rocks ; the sheep moved about more quietly, or cowered beneath their sheltering places. This is the only part of the country where goats are now found ;* but this morning, before we had seen these, I was reminded of that picturesque animal by two rams of moun- tain breed, both with Ammonian horns, and with beards majestic as that which Michael Angelo has given to his statue of Moses. But to return ; whert our path had brought us to that part of the naked common which over- looks the woods and bush-besprinkled fields of Blowick, the lake, clouds, and mists were all in motion to the sound of sweeping winds ; the church and cottages of Patter- dale scarcely visible, or seen only by fits between the shift- ing vapours. To the northward the scene was less vision- ary ; Place Fell steady and bold ; the whole lake driving onward like a great river waves dancing round the small * A.D. 1842. These also have disappeared. BANKS OF ULLS WATER. 113 islands. The house at Blowick was the boundary of our walk ; and we returned, lamenting to see a decaying and uncomfortable dwelling in a place where sublimity and beauty seemed to contend with each other. But these re- grets were dispelled by a glance on the woods that clothe the opposite steeps of the lake. How exquisite was the mixture of sober and splendid hues ! The general colour- ing of the trees was brown rather that of ripe hazel nuts ; but towards the water, there were yet beds of green, and in the highest parts of the wood, was abundance of yellow foliage, which, gleaming through a vapoury lustre, remind- ed us of masses of clouds, as you see them gathered toge- ther in the west, and touched with the golden light of the setting sun. After dinner we walked up the vale : I had never had an idea of its extent and width in passing along the public road on' the other side. We followed the path that leads from house to house ; two or three times it took us through some of those copses or groves that cover the little hil- locks in the middle of the vale, making an intricate and pleasing intermixture of lawn and wood. Our fancies could not resist the temptation ; and we fixed upon a spot for a cottage, which we began to build, and finished as easily as castles are raised in the air. Visited the same spot in the evening. I shall say nothing of the moon- light aspect of the situation which had charmed us so much in the afternoon ; but I wish you had been with us when, in returning to our friend's house, we espied his lady's large white dog lying in the moonshine upon the round knoll under the old yew-tree in the garden, a ro- mantic image the dark tree and its dark shadow and the elegant creature, as fair as a spirit ! The torrents murmured softly : the mountains down which they were M 114 EXCURSION ON THE falling did not, to my sight, furnish a back-ground for this Ossianic picture ; but I had a consciousness of the depth of the seclusion, and that mountains were embracing us on all sides; "I saw not, but I felt that they were there." Friday, November 9th. Rain, as yesterday, till 10 o'clock, when we took a boat to row down the lake. The day improved, clouds and sunny gleams on the moun- tains. In the large bay under Place Fell three fishermen were dragging a net, picturesque group beneath the high and bare crags ! A raven was seen aloft ; not hovering like the kite, for that is not the habit of the bird, but pass- ing on with a straight-forward perseverance, and timing the motion of its wings to its own croaking. The waters were agitated ; and the iron tone of the raven's voice, which strikes upon the ear at all times as the more dolorous from its regularity, was in fine keeping with the wild scene before our eyes. This carniverous bird is a great enemy to the lambs of these solitudes ; I recollect frequently see- ing, when a boy, bunches of unfledged ravens suspended from the church-yard gates of H , for which a reward of so much a head was given to the adventurous destroyer. The fishermen drew their net ashore, and hundreds of fish were leaping in their prison. They were all of the kind called skellies, a sort of fresh- water herring, shoals of which may sometimes be seen dimpling or rippling the surface of the lake in calm weather. This species is not found, I believe, in any other of these lakes ; nor, as far as I know, is the chevin, that spiritless fish (though I am loth to call it so, for it was a prime favourite with Isaac Walton), which must frequent Ullswater, as I have seen a large shoal passing into the lake from the river Eamont. Here are no pike, and the char are smaller than those of the other lakes, and of inferior quality ; but the grey trout BANKS OF ULLSWATEK. 115 attains a very large size, sometimes weighing above twenty pounds. This lordly creature seems to know that " re- tiredness is a piece of majesty ;" for it is scarcely ever caught, or even seen, except when it quits the depths of the lake in the spawning season, and runs up into the streams, where it is too often destroyed in disregard of the law of the land and of nature. Quitted the boat in the bay of Sandwyke, and pursued our way towards Martindale along a pleasant path at first through a coppice bordering the lake, then through green fields and came to the village (if village it may be called, for the houses are few and separated from each other), a sequestered spot, shut out from the view of the lake. Crossed the one-arched bridge, below the chapel, with its " bare ring of mossy wall," and single yew-tree. At the last house in the dale we were greeted by the mas- ter, who was sitting at his door, with a flock of sheep collected round him, for the purpose of smearing them with tar (according to the custom of the season) for pro- tection against the winter's cold. He invited us to enter, and view a room built by Mr. Hasell for the accommoda- tion of his friends at the annual chase of red deer in his forests at the head of these dales. The room is fitted up in the sportsman's style, with a cupboard for bottles and glasses, with strong chairs, and a dining-table ; and orna- mented with the horns of the stags caught at these hunts for a succession of years the length of the last race each had run being recorded under his spreading antlers. The good woman treated us with oaten cake, new and crisp ; and after this welcome refreshment and rest, we proceeded on our return to Patterdale by a short cut over the moun- tains. On leaving the fields of Sandwyke, while ascend- ing by a gentle slope along the valley of Martindale, we M 2 116 EXCURSION ON THE had occasion to observe that in thinly-peopled glens of this character the general want of wood gives a peculiar interest to the scattered cottages embowered in sycamore. Towards its head, this valley splits into two parts ; and in one of these (that to the left) there is no house, nor any building to be seen but a cattle-shed on the side of a hill, which is sprinkled over with trees, evidently the re- mains of an extensive forest. Near the entrance of the other division stands the house where we were entertain- ed, and beyond the enclosures of that farm there are no other. A few old trees remain, relics of the forest, a little stream hastens, though with serpentine windings, through the uncultivated hollow, where many cattle were pasturing. The cattle of this country are generally white, or light- coloured ; but these were dark brown or black, which heightened the resemblance this scene bears to many parts of the Highlands of Scotland. While we paused to rest on the hill-side, though well contented with the quiet every-day sounds the lowing of cattle, bleating of sheep, and the very gentle murmuring of the valley stream, we could not but think what a grand effect the music of the bugle-horn would have among these mountains. It is still heard once every year, at the chase I have spoken of; a day of festivity for the inhabitants of this district except the poor deer, the most ancient of them all. Our ascent, even to the top, was very easy ; when it was ac- complished we had exceedingly fine views, some of the lofty fells being resplendent with sunshine, and others partly shrouded by clouds. Ullswater, bordered by black steeps, was of dazzling brightness ; the plain beyond Pen- rith smooth and bright, or rather gleamy, as the sea or sea sands. Looked down into Boardale, which, like Sty- barrow, has been named from the wild swine that formerly BANKS OF ULLSWATER. 117 abounded here ; but it has now no sylvan covert, being smooth and bare, a long, narrow, deep, cradle-shaped glen, lying so sheltered that one would be pleased to see it planted by human hands, there being a sufficiency of soil ; and the trees would be sheltered almost like shrubs in a green-house. After having walked some way along the top of the hill, came in view of Glenridding and the moun- tains at the head of Grisdale Before we began to de- scend, turned aside to a small ruin, called at this day the chapel, where it is said the inhabitants of Martindale and Patterdale were accustomed to assemble for worship. There are now no traces from which you could infer for what use the building had been erected ; the loose stones and the few that yet continue piled up resemble those which lie elsewhere on the mountain ; but the shape of the building having been oblong, its remains differ from those of a common sheepfold ; and it has stood east and west. Scarcely did the Druids, when they fled to these fastnesses, perform their rites in any situation more ex- posed to disturbance from the elements. One cannot pass by without being reminded that the rustic psalmody must have had the accompaniment of many a wildly-whistling blast ; and what dismal storms must have often drowned the voice of the preacher! As we descend, Patterdale opens upon the eye in grand simplicity, screened by moun- tains, and proceeding from two heads, Deepdale and Harts- hope, where lies the little lake of Brother-water, named in old maps Broader-water, and probably rightly so ; for Bas- senthwaite-mere at this day is familiarly called Broad- water ; but the change in the appellation of this small lake or pool (if it be a corruption) may have been assisted by some melancholy accident similar to what happened about twenty years ago, when two brothers were drowned there, M 3 118 EXCURSION ON THE having' gone out to take their holiday pleasure upon the ice on a new-year's day. A rough and precipitous peat-track brought us down to our friend's house Another fine moonlight night ; but a thick fog rising from the neighbouring river, enve- loped the rocky and wood-crested knoll on which our fancy-cottage had been erected ; and, under the damp cast upon my feelings, I consoled myself with moralizing on the folly of hasty decisions in matters of importance, and the necessity of having at least one year's knowledge of a place before you realise airy suggestions in solid stone. Saturday, November 10th. At the breakfast-table, tidings reached us of the death of Lord Nelson, and of the victory at Trafalgar. Sequestered as we were from the sympathy of a crowd, we were shocked to hear that the bells had been ringing joyously at Penrith to celebrate the triumph. In the rebellion of the year 1745, people fled with their valuables from the open country to Patterdale, as a place of refuge secure from the incursions of strangers. At that time, news such as we had heard might have been long in penetrating so far into the recesses of the moun- tains ; but now, as you know, the approach is easy, and the communication, in summer time, almost hourly ; nor is this strange, for travellers after pleasure are become not less active, and more numerous than those who formerly left their homes for purposes of gain. The priest on the banks of the remotest stream of Lapland will talk fami- liarly of Buonaparte's last conquests, and discuss the pro- gress of the French revolution, having acquired much of his information from adventurers impelled by curiosity alone. The morning was clear and cheerful after a night of sharp frost. At 10 o'clock we took our way on foot to- BANKS OF ULLSWATER. 119 wards Pooley Bridge, on the same side of the lake we had coasted in a boat the day before. Looked backwards to the south from our favourite station above Blowick. The dazzling 1 sunbeams striking upon the church and village, while the earth was steaming with exhalations not trace- able in other quarters, rendered their forms even more in- distinct than the partial and flitting veil of unillumined vapour had done two days before. The grass on which we trod, and the trees in every thicket, were dripping with melted hoar-frost. We observed the lemon-coloured leaves of the birches, as the breeze turned them to the sun, sparkle, or rather flash, like diamonds, and the leafless purple twigs were tipped with globes of shining crystal. The day continued delightful, and unclouded to the end. I will not describe the country which we slowly travelled through, nor relate our adventures : and will only add, that on the afternoon of the 13th we returned along the banks of Ullswater by the usual road. The lake lay in deep repose after the agitations of a wet and stormy morn- ing. The trees in Gowbarrow Park were in that state when what is gained by the disclosure of their bark and branches compensates, almost, for the loss of foliage, ex- hibiting the variety which characterises the point of time between autumn and winter. The hawthorns were leaf- less; their round heads covered with rich green berries, and adorned with arches of green brambles, and eglantines hung with glossy hips ; and the grey trunks of some of the ancient oaks, which in the summer season might have been regarded only for their venerable majesty, now at- tracted notice by a pretty embellishment of green mosses and fern intermixed with russet leaves retained by those slender outstarting twigs which the veteran tree would not have tolerated in his strength. The smooth silver 120 EXCURSION ON THE branches of the ashes were bare ; most of the alders as green as the Devonshire cottage-myrtle that weathers the snows of Christmas. Will you accept it as some apology for my having dwelt so long on the woodland ornaments of these scenes that artists speak of the trees on the banks of Ullswater, and especially along the bays of Sty- barrow crags, as having a peculiar character of picturesque intricacy in their stems and branches, which their rocky stations and the mountain winds have combined to give them. At the end of Gowbarrow Park a large herd of deer were either moving slowly or standing still among the fern. I was sorry when a chance-companion, who had joined us by the way, startled them with a whistle, dis- turbing an image of grave simplicity and thoughtful en- joyment ; for I could have fancied that those natives of this wild and beautiful region were partaking with us a sensation of the solemnity of the closing day. The sun had been set some time ; and we could perceive that the light was fading away from the coves of Helvellyn, but the lake, under a luminous sky, was more brilliant than before. After tea at Patterdale, set out again : a fine evening ; the seven stars close to the mountain top ; all the stars seemed brighter than usual. The steeps were reflected in Brothers water, and above the lake appeared like enormous black perpendicular walls. The Kirkstone torrents had been swoln by the rains, and now filled the mountain pass with their roaring, which added greatly to the solemnity of our walk. Behind us, when we had climbed to a great height, we saw one light, very distinct, in the vale, like a large red star a solitary one in the gloomy region. The cheerfulness of the scene was in the skv above us. BANKS OP ULLS WATER. 121 Reached home a little before midnight. Thus far Mr. Wordsworth ; and the following verses, from his Miscellaneous Poems, may be appropriately intro- duced here : ODE. THE PASS OF KIRKSTONE. WITHIN the mind strong fancies work, A deep delight the bosom thrills, Oft as I pass along the fork Of these fraternal hills : Where, save the rugged road, we find No appanage of human kind ; Nor hint of man, if stone or rock Seem not his handy-work to mock By something cognizably shaped ; Mockery or model roughly hewn, And left as if by earthquake strewn, Or from the Flood escaped : Altars for Druid service fit ; (But where no fire was ever lit, Unless the glow-worm to the skies Thence offer nightly sacrifice;) Wrinkled Egyptian monument ; Green moss-grown tower ; or hoary tent ; Tents of a camp that never shall be raised ; On which four thousand years have gazed ! 2. Ye plough-shares sparkling on the slopes ! Ye snow-white lambs that trip Imprisoned 'mid the formal props Of restless ownership ! Ye trees, that may to-morrow fall To feed the insatiate Prodigal ! Lawns, houses, chattels, groves, and fields, All that the fertile valley shields ; 122 ODE ON THE PASS OF K1RKSTONE. Wages of folly baits of crime, Of life's uneasy game the stake, Playthings that keep the eyes awake Of drowsy, dotard Time ; O care ! O guilt ! O vales and plains, Here, 'mid his own unvexed domains, A Genius dwells, that can subdue At once all memory of Yon, Most potent when mists veil the sky, Mists that distort and magnify ; While the coarse rushes, to the sweeping breeze, Sigh forth their ancient melodies ! 3. List to those shriller notes ! that march Perchance was on the blast, When through this Height's inverted arch, Home's earliest legion passed ! They saw, adventurously impelled, And older eyes than theirs beheld, This block and yon, whose Church-like frame Gives to the savage Pass its name. Aspiring Road ! that lov'st to hide Thy daring in a vapoury bourn, Not seldom may the hour return When thou shalt be my Guide : And I (as often we find cause, When life is at a weary pause, And we have panted up the hill Of duty with reluctant will) Be thankful, even though tired and faint, For the rich bounties of Constraint ; Whence oft invigorating transports flow That choice lacked courage to bestow ! 4. My soul was grateful for delight That wore a threatening brow; A veil is lifted can she slight The scene that opens now ? Though habitation none appear, The greenness tells man must be there ; HELVELLYN. The shelter that the perspective Is of the clime in which we live ; Where Toil pursues his daily round ; Where Pity sheds sweet tears, and Love, In woodbine bower or birchen grove, Inflicts his tender wound. Who comes not hither ne'er shall know How beautiful the world below ; Nor can he guess how lightly leaps The brook adown ths rocky steeps. Farewell thou desolate Domain ! Hope, pointing to the cultured Plain, Carols like a shepherd boy ; And who is she ? Can that be Joy ! Who, with a sun-bean* for her guide, Smoothly skims the meadows wide ; While Faith, fvoia yor der opening cloud, To hill and vale proclaims aloud, " Whate'er the weak may dread, the wicked dare, Thy lot, O man, is good, thy portion fair !" BOTANICAL NOTICE. THALICTBUM majus, Ullswater. HELVELLYN. The altitude of Helvellyn is stated, according to the Ordnance Survey, to be 3055 feet above the level of the sea. From the different summits of this mountain com- prehensive views are obtained of several of the lakes, and the hills in every direction are thence seen under a more than usually picturesque arrangement. The ascent is frequently commenced from the inn at Wythburn, on the road from Ambleside to Keswick, the distance from that point being much less than from other places ; but the acclivity is too steep for a horse to keep his footing. From Patterdale, however, the ascent for a considerable distance, may, with a little management, be 1 24 HELVELLYX. made on horseback, by taking the track up Glenridding towards the lead mines. When riding becomes imprac- ticable, the least objectionable road is by ascending Svvir- rel Edge, a rocky projection of the mountain, crowned by the conical hill called Catchedecam, rather than by attempt- ing a nearer approach to the summit over Striding Edge, a sharp ridge stretching from the rugged brows of the mountain, and forming the southern boundary of Red Tarn.* Some persons are bold enough to traverse this giddy, dangerous height, the top of which in many places is said scarcely to afford room to plant the foot, and is beset with awful precipices on either side. (See p. 1 08 of the Scenery.) The summit of the mountain is a smooth mossy plain, inclining gently to the west, but terminating abruptly by broken precipices on the east. There are on this moun- tain two Men (as they are called), heaps of stones, about a quarter of a mile from each other, and from an angle in the hill between these the best view of the country northward is to be had. Skiddaw, with Saddleback on its right, first claims attention. Nearer the eye, lying in a hollow of the mountain, is Kepple Cove Tarn, bounded on the south by * " A cove, a huge recess, That keeps, till June, December's snow ; A lofty precipice in front, A silent tarn below ! * * * * There sometimes doth 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, That, if it could, would hurry past ; But that enormous barrier holds it fast." WOBDSWOBTH'S Fidelity. HELVELLYN. 125 Svvirrcl Edge and Catchedecam. Further south, between the projecting masses of Swirrell Edge and Striding Edge, lies Red Tarn ; and beyond them nearly the whole of the middle and lower divisions of Ullswater are seen. On the eastern or Westmorland side of Ullswater, are Swarth- fell, Birk-fell, and Place-fell ; and over them, looking in a south-easterly direction, may be seen Kidsay Pike, High Street, and Hill Bell ; and still further south, and far dis- tant from the eye, the broad top of Ingleborough is visi- ble. Angle Tarn is seen reposing among the hills beyond Patterdale. On the Cumberland side of the lake, Hall- steads, the residence of John Marshall, Esq., is delight- fully situated ; and at a greater distance, beyond Penrith, the ridge of Crossfell is stretched out. Looking south, hav- ing on the right St. Sunday's Crag, are Scandale fell, Fair- field, and Dolly Wagon Pike : over these summits appear the lakes of Windermere, Coniston, and Esthwaite, with the flat country extending southward to Lancaster. To the right of Dolly Wagon Pike is Seat Sandal, with a patch of Loughrigg fell between them ; beyond may be descried the mountains of Coniston, with Black Combe in the distance. Langdale Pikes and Wrynose are seen be- yond Steel fell ; and more to the right, over Wythburn head, Scawfell and the Pikes looking down in majesty upon their more humble neighbours. Great End and Lingmel Crag project from the vast mass of moun- tains among which the Pikes on Scawfell stand unrivalled ; and nearer the eye, are the Borrowdale mountains, Gla- ramara, and Rosthwaite Cam being the most conspicuous. Great Gable rears his mighty head on the right of the Pikes ; and more to the north is Kirkfell, over which, on a clear day, the Isle of Man may be seen. Next succeeds the great cluster of mountains extending from Derwent N 1 26 HELVELLYN. Water to Ennerdale. The first range beyond the heights of Wythburn, are Gate Crag, Maiden Moory-andCat Bells, all near Derwent Water ; and over these are Dale Head and Robinson. On the confines of Buttermere, are seen Honister Crag, Fleetwith, Haycocks, High Crag, High Stile, and Red Pike ; and still more remote, and north of the Pillar, the Ennerdale Haycocks. Whitelees Pike, Grassmoor, Cawsey Pike, and Grise- dale Pike, all lie between the above range and the lake of Bassenthwaite, a great part of which lake may be observed from Helvellyn, and beyond Bassenthwaite the distant plains of Cumberland, with the summits of the Scottish mountains. Derwent Water is hid from view. A fine cool spring of Water, called Brownrigg Well, which affords a refreshing draught at all seasons, will be found on the western side of the mountain, about 300 yards from its summit. Scawfell and Helvellyn being the two mountains of this region which will best repay the fatigue of ascending them, the following Verses may be here introduced with pro- priety. They are from Mr. Wordsworth's Miscellaneous Poems. ON HER FIRST ASCENT TO THE SUMMIT OF HELVELITIT, INMATE of a Mountain Dwelling, Thou hast clomb aloft, and gazed, From the watch towers of Helvellyn ; Awed, delighted, and amazed! Potent was the spell that bound thee Not unwilling to obey ; For blue Ether's arms, flung round thee, Stilled the pantings of dismay. HELVELLTN. 127 Lo ! the dwindled woods and meadows ! What a vast abyss is there I Lo ! the clouds, the solemn shadows, And the glistenings heavenly fair I And a record of commotion Which a thousand ridges yield ; Ridge, and gulf, and distant ocean Gleaming like a silver shield! Take thy flight ; possess, inherit Alps or Andes they are thine ! With the morning's roseate Spirit, Sweep their length of snowy line; Or survey the bright dominions In the gorgeous colours drest Flung from off the purple pinions, Evening spreads throughout the west t Thine are all the coral fountains Warbling in each sparry vault Of the untrodden lunar mountains ; Listen to their songs ! or halt, To Niphate's top invited, Whither spiteful Satan steered : Or descend where the ark alighted, When the green earth re-appeared: For the power of hills is on thee, As was witnessed through thine eye Then, when old Helvellyn won thee To confess their majesty ! BOTANICAL NOTICE. SAXIFBAGTA nivalis, Helvellyn. . palmata, do. SAUSSUBEA alpina, do. PYBOLA secunda, between Great Dodd and Helvellyn. SALIX herbacea, top of Helvellyn. JUNCUS triqlumis, west side of Helvellyn. CABEX rigida, Helvellyn. RIIODIOLA rosea, do. ALCHEMILLA alpina, near the summit of do. N2 128 PENRITH. PENRITH is a neat and clean town, situated in a fertile valley, a mile from the confluence of the Eamont and Low- ther, with a population of 5385. Market-day, Tuesday. It is a great thoroughfare, being at the junction of the two great roads from the South to Glasgow and Edinburgh. Penrith and the neighbourhood abound in objects of anti- quarian curiosity. In the church-yard there is a monu- ment of great antiquity, called the Gianfs grave, consist- ing of two stone pillars about ten feet high and fifteen feet asunder, and four large semicircular stones, two on each side of the grave, embedded in the earth. The common vulgar report is, that this is the tomb of Sir Ewan or Owen Caesarius, a gigantic warrior, who reigned in this country in the time of the Saxons. Near this monument there is another antique stone pillar, six feet high, called the Gianfs thumb. The Castle is an object of interest, and stands on the west side of the town. It was probably erected by the Neville family in the time of Richard II. as a defence for the inhabitants of the town from their Scottish enemies, and was dismantled in the time of the Commonwealth. The Beacon stands on the summit of a hill on the east side of the town, and is a most conspicuous and interesting object for some distance round Penrith. A curious relic of British antiquity, called Arthur's Round Table, is to be found about a mile to the south of the town, on the Westmorland side of the Eamont. It is a circular area 29 yards in diameter, surrounded by a broad ditch and elevated mound, with two approaches cut through the mound opposite to each other. It is supposed to have been an arena for tournaments in the days of chivalry. A few hundred yards to the west of the Round Table is an PENRITH. 129 elevation called Mayburgh, on which is a circular enclo- sure 100 yards in diameter, formed by a broad ridge of rounded stones heaped up to the height of fifteen feet. In the centre of the circle is a rude pillar of stone eleven feet high. This is believed to have been a place of Druidical judicature. There is a more remarkable monument, by some supposed of Druidical times, six miles north-east of Penrith, called Long Meg and her Daughters.* It is situated on the summit of a hill near Little Salkeld and is a circle of 350 yards in circumference formed by seventy-two stones, many of which are ten feet high, with one at the entrance eighteen feet high. Brougham Hall, the residence of Lord Brougham, stands on a gentle eminence one mile and a half to the south-east of Penrith, and from its situation and beautiful prospects has been styled the " Windsor of the North." The majestic ruins of Brougham Castle stand on the south of the rivers Eamont and Lowther at their confluence, and are about a mile from Penrith. This castle was anciently the seat of the Veteriponts, and from them descended to the Cliffords and Tuftons : it still belongs to the Earl of Thanet. Camden supposes it to stand on the site of the Roman Station Brovoniacum. About two miles below Brougham Castle, on the rocky banks of the Eamont., are " two very singular grottoes or excavations in a perpendicular rock, by a narrow ledge of which they are alone accessible. One of them is but a small narrow recess, but the other is more capacious, and appears to have had a door and window." It was formerly secured by iron gates, and the marks of iron grating and hinges are still observable upon the rock. These grottoes are called The Gianfs Caves, or I sis Parlis, and in Sandford's * See Scenery of the Lakes, p. 32. N 3 ISO LOWTI1ER CASTLE. MS. Account of Cumberland it is said that Sir Hugh Cesario lived here, and " was buried in the north side of the church i' th' green field." Five miles from Penrith, near Plumpton, are the extensive ruins of Old Penrith, formerly a Roman Station, supposed by Camden to be Petriana, and by Horsley Bremetenracum. INNS, Crown and George. LOWTHER CASTLE, the magnificent residence of the Earl of Lonsdale, stands in an extensive park comprising 600 acres of richly-wooded land, and is five miles south of Pen- rith. This noble structure is built of pale freestone, and combines the majestic effect of a fortification with the splendour of a regal abode. "Lowther! in thy majestic Pile are seen Cathedral pomp and grace, in apt accord "With the baronial castle's sterner mien ; Union significant of God adored, And charters won and guarded by the sword Of ancient honour ; whence that goodly state Of polity which wise men venerate, And will maintain, if God his help afford." The north and south fronts are of a widely different character, the former presenting the appearance of a castle, and the latter that of a cathedral, with pointed and mullioned windows, delicate pinnacles, niches and cloisters. The scene from this front "accords well with the solemn character of the edifice, being a lawn of emerald green and velvet smoothness, shut in by or- namental trees and shrubs and by timber of stately growth." The prospect from the north front is more ex- tensive, and that from the great central tower is extremely grand. A high embattled wall surrounds the entrance court, which is approached through an arched gateway. The interior of the Castle is fitted up in a stile of splen- EXCURSIONS FROM PENRITH. 131 dour corresponding with the richness of the exterior. The grand stair-case has an imposing appearence, and the apart- ments are enriched with a vast quantity of massive plate, and contain several pictures of great value. The building of the Castle was commenced in 1802, from a design by Stnirke. Through the liberality of the noble Proprietor it is allowed to be seen by visitors at all seasonable times on application at the lodge. If during this tour the stranger has complained, as he will have had reason to do, of a want of majestic trees, he may be abundantly recompensed for his loss in the far- spreading woods which surround this mansion. Visitants, for the most part, see little of the beauty of these magnifi- cent grounds, being content with the view from the Terrace; but the whole course of the Lowther, from Askham to the bridge under Brougham Hall, presents almost at every step some new feature of river, woodland, and rocky land- scape. A portion of this tract has, from its beauty, ac- quired the name of the Elysian Fields ; but the course of the stream can only be followed by the pedestrian. BOTANICAL NOTICES. EPIPACTIS ensifolia, Woods at Lowther. grandiflora, Woods at Lowther opposite Askham Hall. I3xruv0ion0 from To the INN at PATTERDALE. 1J The Cumberland road runs by Red Hills ... 1J 2} Dalemain 3J 2 Junction with the West- morland road 51 1} Watennillock 7J 1J Hallsteads 8f 2J Lyulph's Tower 11 4 Inn at Patterdale ... 15 1 32 EXCURSIONS FROM TENRITH. From PENRITH, on the Westmorland side of the Eamont, to POOLEY BRIDGE, and thence on the northern side of Ullu- water to the INN at PATTERDALE. 1} Oyer Eamont Bridge to Arthur's Round Table 1J 4J Pooley Bridge ... ... 6f J Junction with the Cum- berland road 6} 9J Inn at Patterdale ... loi From PENRITH to HAWES WATER. 5 Lowther, or Askham* 5 7 By Bampton* to Hawes Water 12 Return by Butterswick 16 To SHAP ABBEY. 5 Over Moor Dovack to Powley 21 6 By Dalemain to Penrith 27 5 Askham 5 4 Bampton Church ... 9 1 Shap 13 11 Penrith 24 3 Shap Abbey 12 SHAP ABBEY. Of this once magnificent building-, little more than the tower now remains. It was built by Thomas, son of Gospatrick, in the reign of King John, for the Canons of the Praemonstratentian Order, that had been first placed at Preston Patrick, near Kendal. ID the neighbourhood of this Abbey is an area upwards of half a mile in length and twenty or thirty yards broad, formed by huge blocks of granite placed at a distance of ten or twelve yards from each other. This stupendous monument of antiquity is called Carl Lofts, and is thought by Pennant to be of Danish origin. Dr. Burn supposes it to have been a Druidical Temple. It is now very much reduced, and can with difficulty be traced, owing to many of the stones having been broken up in clearing the ground for agricultural purposes. CIRCUITOUS WALK to EAMONT BRIDGE, ARTHUR'S ROUND TABLE, MAYBOROUGH, BROUGHAM HALL, COUNTESS'S PILLAR, BROUGHAM CASTLE, and back to PENRITH. Eamont Bridge 1 Arthur's Round Table \\ Mayborough ij Return to Arthur's Round Table If Lowther Bridge ... 2 Brougham Hall 2J 1J Countess's Pillar, 50 yards beyond the third mile- stone 3} | Brougham Castle ... 4J l| Over the Bridge and thro' Carlton to Penrith ... 5J CARLISLE. 133 WALK to the GIANT'S CAVE, on the Cumberland side of the Eamont, 3} miles. To EDENHALL, KIRKOSWALD, NUNNERY, ARMA- THWAITE, CORBY, and CARLISLE. 1 Carleton 1 3 Edenhall 4 $ Langwathby 4J 2f Long Meg and her daugh- ters 7J 3 Armathwaite Bridge ... 16J 1 Walk from the bridge by Armathwaite Castle, 1 mile up the Eden ... 16} 1 Return to the Bridge 17* 7 Corby 24J 3J Kirkoswald 10J 2 Nunnery 12J 5 Carlisle, by Wetherall 29J RLISLE, Direct. 7 Carleton 15J 2J Carlisle 18 PENRITH to CA 5 Plumpton 5 2 High Hesket 7 1J Low Hesket 8J CARLISLE. CARLISLE, the capital of Cumberland, is an ancient city and bishoprick. It is situated within eight miles of the Scottish border, and is surrounded by a fertile and open country. Carlisle was a Roman Station, and is within a mile of Hadrian's Wall. In the wars between England and Scotland it was a place of great importance. The town is well built, and many of the streets are very spacious. The Castle is said to have been built in the year 780, and some of the massive and antique buttresses on the north battery are ascribed to William Rufus. Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned here in 1568, but the rooms she oc- cupied have been recently taken down. The Cathedral is a venerable structure, and the east window is said to be the largest, as it is certainly the finest, in the island. The new Jail is situated at the southern entrance of the city, contiguous to the County Court-houses, the principal fea- tures of which are two magnificent circular towers. A News Room, Reading and Coffee Rooms, have recently been erected from a design by Rickman and Hutchinson, of Birmingham, and are a great ornament to the city. 134 HEIGHTS OF LAKES ABOVE THE SEA. There are extensive cotton works carried on here, and the steam-chimney of Messrs. Dixons' cotton-mills is a remark- able object for many miles round. Woollens, linens, and other articles are also manufactured here, and Carlisle is particularly celebrated for its whips and hats. Carlisle is within a few miles of the Solway, and is in commu- nication with the Irish Channel by a ship-canal to Bow- ness, from which port steam-packets are constantly plying to Liverpool, Dublin, Belfast, &c. On the other hand, the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway connects the city of Carlisle with Newcastle, Sunderland, and the whole northern coast, so that it is the thoroughfare of the great interchange of merchandise between the east and west. Population, 21,354. Market-days, Wednesday and Sa- turday. INNS, Bush, Coffee House, and Victoria. Lanercost Priory, Naworth Castle, and Gillsland Spa, may be conveniently visited from Carlisle by Railway Conveyance. HEIGHTS OF LAKES ABOVE THE SEA. Feet. Red Tarn (Helvellyn) - 2400 Sprinkling Tarn (Borrowdale) - 1900 Hawes Water _______ 714 Thirlmere -_------ 473 TJllswater 460 Derwentwater _______ 288 Crummock Water --_-_-- 260 Bassenthwaite Water _____ 210 Esthwaite Water _----_- 198 Grassmere _______ 196 Wastwater - 160 Windermere _______ 116 Collision Water - - 105 For Heights of the Mountains, see the Map. DESCRIPTION SCENERY OF THE LAKES. DESCRIPTION SCENERY OF THE LAKES SECTION FIRST. VIEW OF THE COUNTRY AS FORMED BY NATURE. AT Lucerne, in Switzerland, is shewn a Model of the Alpine country which encompasses the Lake of the four Cantons. The Spectator ascends a little platform, and sees mountains, lakes, glaciers, rivers, woods, waterfalls, and Tallies, with their cottages, and every other object contained in them, lying at his feet ; all things being re- presented in their appropriate colours. It may be easily conceived that this exhibition affords an exquisite delight to the imagination, tempting it to wander at will from valley to valley, from mountain to mountain, through the deepest recesses of the Alps. But it supplies also a more substantial pleasure : for the sublime and beautiful region, with all its hidden treasures, and their bearings and relations to each other, is thereby comprehended and un- derstood at once. Something of this kind, without touching upon minute details and individualities which would only confuse and embarrass, will here be attempted, 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 VALES DIVERGING FROM 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 permitted 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, with- out such previous aid, a length of time only could enable him to discover. It is hoped, also, that this Essay may become generally serviceable, by leading to habits of more exact and considerate observation than, as far as the writer knows, have hitherto been applied to local scenery. 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 those 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 vallies, not fewer than eight, 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 Morecamb, 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, * Anciently spelt Langden, and so called by the old inhabitants to tliN day dean, from which the latter part of the word is derived, being in many parts of England a name for a valley. A COMMON CENTRE. running 1 up likewise from the sea, but not (as all the other vallies do) to the -nave of the wheel, and therefore it may lie not inaptly represented as a broken spoke sticking in the rim. Looking 1 forth again, with an inclination towards the west, we see immediately at our feet the vale of Dud- don, 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 vale, next to be observed, viz. that of the Esk, is of the same general character as the last, yet beautifully discriminated from it by peculiar features. Its stream passes under the woody steep upon which stands Muncaster Castle, the ancient seat of the Penningtons, and after forming' a short and narrow restuary enters the sea below the small town of Ravenglass. Next, almost due west, look down into, and along the deep valley of Wastdale, with its little chapel and half a dozen neat dwellings scattered upon 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 sport- ively and fantastically traced out upon sand. Beyond this little fertile plain lies, within a bed of steep moun- tains, the long, narrow, stern, and desolate lake of Wast- dale ; and, beyond this, a dusky tract of level ground conducts the eye to the Irish Sea. The stream that issues from Wast-water is named the Irt, and falls into the actuary of the river Esk. Next comes in view Enner- dale, with its lake of bold and somewhat savage shores. Its stream, the Ehen or Enna, flowing through a soft and fertile country, passes the town of Egremont, and the ruins of the castle, then, seeming, like the other rivers, to break through the barrier of sand thrown up by the winds B 2 VALES DIVERGING FROM on this tempestuous coast, enters the Irish Sea. The vale of Buttermere, with the lake and village of that name, and Crummock-water, beyond, next present themselves. We will follow the main stream, the Cokcr, through the fertile and beautiful vale of Lorton, till it is lost in the Derwent, below the noble ruins of Cockermouth Castle. Lastly, Borrowdale, of which the vale 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 com- plete ; but the deficiency on the eastern side may be sup- plied by the vales of Wytheburn, Ulswater, Hawswater, and the vale of Grasmere and Rydal ; none of these, how- ever, run up to the central point between Great Gavel and Scawfell. From this, hitherto our central point, take a flight of not more than four or five miles eastward to the ridge of Helvellyn, and you will look down upon Wytheburn and St. John's Vale, which are a branch of the vale of Keswick ; 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 man- ner, the representative figure of the wheel. 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 mountain stations specified, there is in the several ridges that enclose these vales, and divide them from each other, T mean in the forms and surfaces, first of the swelling A COMMON CENTRE. 5 grounds, next of the hills and rocks, and lastly of the mountains an ascent of almost regular gradation, from elegance and richness, to their highest point of grandeur and sublimity. 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 clustering 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 light and shadow can be- stow 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 south ; if for the grand, towards the north : in the vale of Kes- wick, 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 Winandermere, resting among the summits of the loftiest mountains, some of which will perhaps be half or wholly hidden by clouds, 6r by the blaze of light which the orb diffuses around it ; and the surface of the lake will reflect before the eve 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 hum- bler regions of the landscape, and showers down upon them 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 B 3 6 LIGHT AND SHADOW. clear atmosphere. Of course, there is as marked a dif- ference between the noontide appearance of these two opposite vales. The bedimming haze that overspreads the south, and the clear atmosphere and determined sha- dows of the clouds in the north, at the same time of the day, are each seen in these several vales, with a contrast as striking-. The reader will easily conceive in what de- gree the intermediate vales partake of a kindred 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 lig-ht and shadow upon the sublime or beautiful features of landscape ; and it is owing to the combined circumstances to which the reader's attention has been directed. 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 dis- tinct and separate character : in some instances, as if they had been formed in studied contrast to each other, and in others with the united pleasing differences and resem- blances of a sisterly rivalship. This concentration of inter- est gives to the country a decided superiority over the most attractive districts of Scotland and Wales, especially for the pedestrian traveller. In Scotland and Wales are found, undoubtedly, individual scenes, which, in their several kinds, cannot be excelled. But, in Scotland, par- ticularly, what long tracts of desolate country 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 excellence inherent in the landscape itself; and how much to an instantaneous MOUNTAINS. 7 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 combinations which they make, towering above each other, or lifting themselves in ridges like the waves of a tumul- tuous sea, and in the beauty and variety of their surfaces and 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 not unfre - quently their perpendicular sides are seamed by ravines (formed also by rains and torrents), which, meeting in angular points, entrench and scar the surface with nume- rous figures like the letters W and Y. In the ridge that divides Eskdale from Wastdale, gra- nite is found ; but the MOUNTAINS are for the most part composed of the stone by mineralogists termed schist, which, as you approach the plain country, gives place to limestone and freestone ; but schist being the sub- stance of the mountains, the predominant colour of their rocky parts is bluish, or hoary grey the general tint of the lichens with which 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 8 MOUNTAINS. and impregnates the soil. The iron is the principle of decomposition in these rocks ; and hence, when they be- come pulverized, the elementary particles crumbling down, overspread in many places the steep and almost precipi- tous 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 over the same ground : and, upon this plant, more than upon any thing else, do the changes which the seasons make in the colour- ing of the mountains 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 mountains, melting gradually, through orange, to a dark russet brown towards the summits, where the plant, being more exposed to the weather, is in a more advanced state of decay. Neither heath nor furze are generally found upon the sides of these mountains, though in many places they are adorned by those plants, so beau- tiful when in flower. We may add, that the mountains are of height sufficient to have the surface towards the summit softened by distance, and to imbibe the finest aerial hues. In common also with other mountains, 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 ap- pearance, showed not a projecting point to furnish even a hint for such an operation. WINTER COLOURING. I will take this opportunity of observing, that they who have studied the appearances of nature feel that the supe- riority, in point of visual interest, of mountainous over other countries is more strikingly displayed in winter than in summer. This, as must he ohvious, is 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, retain 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 upon the steep rocks. In places of the deep summer-green of the herb- age 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 lichens are never so fresh and flourishing as in winter, if it be not a season of frost ; and their minute beauties prodigally adorn the foreground. Wherever we turn, we find these productions of nature, to which winter is rather favourable than unkindly, scat- tered over the walls, banks of earth, 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 passenger, their forms and colours are a source of inexhaustible admiration. Add to this the hoar- frost and snow, with all the varieties they create, and 10 VALES. which volumes would not be sufficient to describe. I will content myself with one instance of the colouring produced by snow, which may not be uninteresting to painters. It is extracted 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 beauti- ful effect of the drifted snow upon the mountains, and the perfect tone of colour. From the top of the mountains downwards a rich olive was produced by the powdery snow and the grass, which olive was warmed with a little brown, and in this way harmoniously combined, by insen- sible gradations, with the white. The drifting 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 mountain tops and high slopes in Easedale ; and lastly, the church, with its firs, forming the centre of the view. Next to the church 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 in relation 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 VALES. Though VALES. 1 1 these have been represented under the general image of the spokes of a wheel, they are, for the most part, winding ; 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 Welch vallies, by an approximation of the sloping bases of the opposite mountains towards each other, leaving little more between than a channel for the passage of a hasty river ; but the bottom of these vallies is mostly a spacious and gently declining area, apparently level as the floor of a temple, or the surface of a lake, and broken in many cases, by rocks and hills, which rise up like islands from the plain. In such of the vallies as may make windings, these level areas open upon the tra- veller in succession, divided from each other sometimes by a mutual approximation of the hills, leaving only pas- sage for a river, sometimes by correspondent windings, without such approximation ; and sometimes by a bold advance of one mountain to that which is opposite it. It may here be observed with propriety that the several rocks snd 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 situation of their dwellings. Where none of these are found, and the inclination of the ground is not sufficiently rapid easily to carry off the wa- ters, (as in the higher part of Langdale, for instance,) the houses are not sprinkled over the middle of the vales, but confined to their sides, being placed merely so far up the mountain as to be protected 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 12 LAKES. beauty 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 habi- tations there. I shall now speak of the LAKES of this country. The form of the lake is most perfect when, like Derwent-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-receding bays, it never assumes the shape of a river, and is contemplated with that placid and quiet feeling which belongs peculiarly to the lake as a body 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 ; express- ing 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, such as Winandermere, Ulswater, Hawswater, do, when the whole length of them is commanded from an elevated point, loose 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 Ulswater LAKES. 13 and Hawswater) when the view of the whole is obstructed liv those barriers which determine the windings, and the spectator is confined to one reach, the appropriate 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 large lakes have this advantage, it is nevertheless favourable to the beauty of the country that the largest of them are comparatively small ; and that the same vale generally famishes a succession of lakes, instead of being filled with one. The vales in North Wales, as hath been observed, are not formed for the re- ception of lakes ; those of Switzerland, Scotland, and this part of the North of England, are so formed ; but, in Switzerland and Scotland, the proportion of diffused wa- ter is often too great, as at the lake of Geneva for instance, and in most of the Scotch lakes. No doubt it sounds magnificent and flatters the imagination, to hear at a dis- tance 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 rapidly-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 termina- tion 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 general mistake upon this subject. It is much more desirable, for the purpose of pleasure, that lakes should be numerous, and small or middle-sized, than large, not only for com- munication by walks and rides, but for variety, and for recurrence of similar appearances. To illustrate this by 14 LAKES. 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 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 re- mark, 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 the op- posite shores are out of sight of each other, like those of the American and Asiatic lakes, then unfortunately the traveller is reminded of a nobler object ; he has the blank- ness af a sea-prospect without the grandeur and accom- panying sense of power. As the comparatively small size of the lakes in the North of England is favourable to the production of va- riegated landscape, their boundary-line also is for the most part gracefully or boldly indented. That uniformity which prevails in the primitive frame of the lower grounds among all chains or clusters of mountains where large bo- dies of still water are bedded, is broken by the secondary agents of nature, ever at work to supply the deficiences of the mould in which things were originally cast. Using the word deficiences, I do not speak with reference to those stronger emotions which a region of mountains is peculiarly fitted to excite. The bases of those huge bar- riers 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 counterparts, or in mutual reflec- tion, like the billows of a troubled sea ; and the impression be, from its very simplicity, more awful and sublime. Sub- LAKES. 15 limity is the result of Nature's first great dealings with the superficies of the earth ; but the general tendency of her subsequent operations is towards the production of beauty ; by a multiplicity of symmetrical parts uniting in a consistent whole. This is every where exemplified along the margins of these lakes. Masses of rock, that have been precipitated from the heights into the area of waters, lie in some places like stranded ships ; or have acquired the compact structure of jutting piers; or project in little peninsulas crested with native wood. The smallest rivu- let 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 of sweeping outline that contrasts boldly with the longitudinal base of the steeps on the op- posite shore ; while their flat or gently-sloping surfaces never fail to introduce, into the midst of desolation and barrenness, the elements of fertility, even where the habi- tations of men may not have "been raised. These alluvial promontories, 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, checking these intrusive calculations, let us rather be content with appearances as they are, and pursue in imagination the meandering shores, whether rugged steeps, admitting of no cultivation, descend into the water ; or gently-sloping lawns and woods, or flat and fertile meadows stretch betweed the margin of the 16 WATER-FOWL. !;tk<> and the mountains. Among- minuter recommenda- tions will be noticed, especially along bays exposed to the setting-in of strong winds, the curved rim of fine blue gravel, thrown up in course of time by the waves, half of it perhaps gleaming from under the water, and the cor- responding half of a lighter hue ; and in other parts bor- dering the lake, groves, if I may so call them, of reeds and bulrushes ; or plots of water-lilies lifting up their large target-shaped leaves to the breeze, while the white flower is heaving upon the wave. To these may naturally be added the birds that enliven the waters. Wild ducks in spring-time hatch their young in the islands, and upon reedy shores ; the sand-piper, flitting along the stony margins, by its restless note at- tracts the eye to motions as restless : upon some jutting rock, or at the edge of a smooth meadow, the stately heron may be descried with folded wings, that might seem to have caught their delicate hue from the blue waters, by the side of which she watches for her sustenance. In winter, the lakes are sometimes resorted to by wild swans ; and in that season habitually by widgeons, goldings, and other aquatic fowl of the smaller species. Let me be al- lowed the aid of verse to describe the evolutions which' these visitants sometimes perform, on a fine day towards the close of winter. Mark how the feather'd tenants of the flood, With grace of motion that might scarcely seem Inferior to angelical, prolong Their curious pastime ! shaping in mid air (And sometimes with ambitious wing that soars High as the level of the mountain tops,) A circuit ampler than the lake beneath, Their own domain; but ever, while intent On tracing and retracing that large round, ISLANDS. 17 Their jubilant activity evolves Hundreds of curves and circlets, to and fro, reward and downward, progress intricate Yet perplcx'd, as if one spirit swayed Their indefatigable flight. Tis done Ten times, or snore, I fancied it had ceased ; But lo ! the vauish'd company again Ascending; they approach I hear their wings Faint, faint, at first, and then an eager sound Past in a moment and as faint again ! Thpy tempt the sun to sport amid their plumes : They tempt the water or the gleaming ice, To shew them a fair image ; 'tis themselves, Their own fair forms, upon the glimmering plain, Painted more soft and fair as they descend Almost to touch.; then up again aloft, Up with a sally and a flash of speed, As if they scorn'd both resting-place and rest! The ISLANDS, dispersed among- these lakes, are neither so numerous nor so beautiful as might be expected from the account that has been 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 of the lakes in Scotland and Ireland) by the remains of castles or other places of defence ; nor with the still more interesting- ruins of reli- gious edifices. Every one must regret that scarcely a ves- tige is left of the Oratory, consecrated to the Virgin, which stood upon Chapel- Holm, in Winandermere, and that the Chantry has disappeared, where mass used to be sung-, upon St. Herbert's Island, Derwent-water. The islands of the last-mentioned lake are neither fortunately placed nor of pleasing- shape ; but if the wood upon them were managed with more taste, they might become interest- ing features in the landscape. There is a beautiful cluster on Winandermere ; a pair pleasingly contrasted upon ISLANDS. Ryda. ; nor must the solitary green island of Grasmere be forgotten. In the bosom of each of the lakes of Ennerdale and Devockwater is a single rock, which, owing to its neighbourhood to the sea, is " The haunt of cormorants and sea-mew's clang," a music well suited to the stern and wild character of the several scenes. It may be worth while here to mention (not as an object of beauty, but of curiosity), that there occasionally appears above the surface of Derwent-water, and always in the same place, a considerable tract of spongy ground covered with aquatic plants, which is called the Floating, but with more propriety might be named the Buoyant^ Island ; and, on one of the pools near the lake of Esthwaite, may sometimes be seen a mossy Islet, with trees upon it, shifting about before the wind, a lusus na- turae frequent on the great rivers of America, and not unknown in other parts of the world. -' fas habeas invisere Tiburis arva, Albuneaeque lacum, atque umbras tcrrasque natautes."* This part of the subject may be concluded with observ- ing that, from the multitude of brooks and torrents 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 discri- minated 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 of crystalline purity ; so that, if it were not for the reflections of the incumbent mountains by which * See that admirable Idyllium, the Catillus and Salia, of Landor. TARNS. 1 9 it is darkened, a delusion might be felt, by a person rest- ing quietly in a boat on the bosom of Winandermere or Derwent-water, similar to that which Carver so beautifully describes when he was floating; alone in the middle of 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 TABNS. In the economy of nature these are useful, as auxiliars to Lakes ; for if the whole quantity of water which falls upon the mountains in time of storm were poured down upon the plains without intervention, in some quarters, of such receptacles, the habitable grounds would be much more subject than they are to inundation. But, as some of the collateral brooks spend their fury, finding a free course toward and also down the channel of the main stream of the vale before those that have to pass through the higher tarns and lakes have filled their several basins, a gradual distribution is effected ; and the waters thus reserved, instead of uniting to spread ravage and de- formity with those which meet with no such detention, contribute to support, for a length of time, the vigour of many streams without a fresh fall of rain. Tarns are found in some of the vales, and are numerous upon the mountains. A Tarn, in a Vale, implies, 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 a large area. Accordingly, in such situations, Tarns are often surrounded by an unsightly tract of boggy ground ; but this is not always the case, and in the cultivated parts of the country, when the shores of the Tarn are determined, it differs only from the Lake 20 TARNS. in being- smaller, and in belonging- mostly to a smaller valley, or circular recess. Of this class of miniature lakes, Lough- rigg Tarn, near Grasmerc, 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 ridg-e 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 perma- nent forms, very grand ; and there are accidents of things which would make the meanest of them interesting. At all events, one of these pools is an acceptable sight to the mountain wanderer ; not merely as an incident that diver- sifies the prospect, but as forming in his mind a centre or conspicuous point to which objects, otherwise disconnected or insubordinated, may be referred. 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 scattered ; some defying- conjecture as to the means by which they came thither ; and others obviously fallen from on high the contribution of ages ! A not unpleasing sadness is induced by this perplexity, and these images of decay ; while the prospect of a body of pure TAKXS .ESTUARIES. 21 water unattended with groves and other cheerful rural images by which fresh water is usually accompanied, and unable to give furtherance to the meagre vegetation around it excites a sense of some repulsive power strongly put forth, and thus deepens 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 mountain 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 flock hither ; and the lonely Angler may 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 tin-" 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." It will be observed that this country is bounded on the south and east by the sea, which combines beautifully, from many elelevated points, with the inland scenery ; and, from the bay of Morecamb, the sloping shores and back- ground of distant mountains are seen, composing pictures equally distinguished for amenity and grandeur. But the actuaries on this coast are in a ffreat measure bare at low 22 HIVERS WOODS. water ;* and there is no instance of the sea running far up among 1 the mountains, and mingling with the lakes, which are such in the strict and usual sense of the word, being of fresh water. Nor have the streams, from the shortness of their course, time to acquire that body of water necessary to confer upon them much majesty. In fact, the most considerable, while they continue in the mountain and lake-country, 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 exqui- sitely 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 country. The number of the torrents and smaller brooks is infinite, with their water- falls and water-breaks ; and they need not here be de- scribed. I will only observe that, as many, even of the smallest 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, cottages so placed, by seeming to withdraw from the eye, are the more endeared to the feel- ings. The WOODS consist chiefly of oak, ash, and birch, and here and there wych-elm, with underwood of hazle, the white and black thorn, and hollies ; in moist places alders * In fact there is not an instance of a harbour on the Cumberland side of the Solvvay Frilh that is not dry at low water ; that of Ravenglass, at the mouth of the Esk, as a natural harbour, is much the best. The Sea appears 'o have been retiring slowly for ages from this coast. From Whitehavcn to St. Bees extends a track of level ground, about five miles in length, which formerly must have been under salt water, so as to have made an island of the high ground that stretches between it and the Sea. WOODS. 23 and willows abound; and yews among the rocks. .For- merly the whole country must have heen covered with wood to a great height up the mountains ; where native Scotch firs* must have grown in great profusion, as they do in the northern part of Scotland to tin's day. But not one of these old inhabitants has existed, perhaps, for some hundreds of years ; the beautiful traces, however, of the universal sylvanf appearance the country formerly had, yet survive in the native coppice-woods that have been protected by inclosures, and also in the forest-trees and hollies, 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 intricacy with which the fields and coppice-woods are often inter- mingled : 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 and lawn, with a grace and wildness which it would have been im- possible 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 plantations of 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 fir, has been chosen to screen their dwellings ; and is sometimes * This species of fir is in character much superior to the American which has usurped its place : Where the fir is planted for ornament, let it be by all means of the aboriginal species, which can only be procured from the Scotch nurseries. f A squirrel (so I have heard the old people of Wytheburn say) might have gone from their chapel to Keswick without alighting on the ground. 24 VEGETABLE OIINAMENTS CLIMATE. found in the fields whither the winds or the waters may have carried its seeds. The want most felt, however, is that of timber trees. There are a 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 ancient trees, and the majesty and wildness of the native forest. Among the smaller vegetable ornaments must be reckon- ed the bilberry, a ground plant, never so beautiful as in early spring, when it is seen under bare or budding trees, that imperfectly intercept the sun-shine, covering the rocky knolls with a pure mantle of fresh verdure, more lively than the herbage of the open fields ; the broom that spreads luxuriantly along rough pastures, and in the month of June interveins the steep copses with its golden blos- soms ; and the jumper, a rich evergreen, that thrives in spite of cattle, upon the uninclosed parts of the mountains : the Dutch myrtle diffuses fragrance in moist places ; and there is an 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 pro- fusion, beauty, and variety, exceed those of any other country I have seen. It may now be proper to say a few words respecting CLIMATE, and "skiey influences," in which this region, as far as the character of its landscapes is affected by them, may, upon the whole, be considered fortunate. The coun- try is, indeed, subject to much bad weather, and it has CLIMATE. 25 been ascertained that twice as much rain falls here as in many parts of the island ; but the number- of black driz- zling days, that blot out the face of things, is by no means proportionally great. Nor is a continuance of thick, flagging-, damp air, so common as in the West of England and Ireland. The rain here comes down heartily, and is frequently succeeded by clear, bright weather, when every brook is vocal, and ev&ry torrent sonorous ; brooks and torrents which are never muddy, even in the heaviest floods, except, after a drought, they happen to be defiled for a short time by waters that have swept along dusty roads, or have broken out into ploughed fields. Days of unsettled weather, with partial showers, are very frequent ; but the showers, darkening, or brightning, as they fly from hill to hill, are not less grateful to the eye than finely in- terwoven passages of gay and sad music are touching to the ear. Vapours exhaling from the lakes and meadows after sun-rise, in a hot season, or, in moist weather, brood- ing upon the heights, or descending towards the valleys with inaudible motion, give a visionary character to every thing around them ; and are in themselves so beautiful as to dispose us to enter into the feelings of those simple nations (such as the Laplanders of this day) by whom they are taken for guardian deities of the mountains ; or to sympathise with others who have fancied these delicate apparitions to be the spirits of their departed ancestors. Akin to these are fleecy clouds resting upon the hill tops; they are not easily managed in picture, with their accom- paniments of blue sky ; but how glorious are they in nature ! how pregnant with imagination for the poet ! and the height of the Cumbrian mountains is sufficient to ex- hibit daily and hourly instances of those mysterious attach- ments. Such clouds, cleaving to their stations, or lifting c 26 CLIMATE. up suddenly their glittering heads from behind rocky barriers, or hurrying out of sight with speed of the sharpest edge will often tempt an inhabitant to congratulate him- self on belonging to a country of mists and clouds and storms, and make him think of the blank sky of Egypt, and the cerulean vacancy of Italy, as an unanimated and even a sad spectacle. The atmosphere, however, as in every country subject to much rain, is frequently unfavour- able to landscape, especially when keen winds succeed the rain, which are apt to produce coldness, spottiness, and an unmeaning or repulsive detail in the distance, a sun- less frost, under a canopy of leaden and shapeless clouds, is, as far as it allows things to be seen, equally disagree- able. It has been said that in human life there are moments worth ages. In a more subdued tone of sympathy may we affirm, that in the climate of England there are, for the lover of nature, days which are worth whole months, I might say even years. One of these favoured days sometimes occurs in spring-time, when that soft air is breathing over the blossoms and new-born verdure, which inspired Buchanan with his beautiful Ode to the First of May ; the air, which, in the luxuriance of his fancy, he likens to that of the golden age, to that which gives motion to the funereal cypresses on the banks of Lethe; to the air which is to salute beatified spirits when expi- atory fires shall have consumed the earth with all her habitations. But it is in autumn that days of such affect- ing influence most frequently intervene ; the atmosphere seems refined, and the sky rendered more crystalline, as the vivifying heat of the year abates ; the lights and shadows are more delicate; the coloring is richer and more finely harmonized; and, in this season of stillness, CLIMATE. 27 the ear being unoccupied, or only gently excited, the sense of vision becomes more susceptible of its appropriate enjoyments. A resident in a country like this which we are treating of, will agree with me, that the presence of a lake is indispensable to exhibit in perfection the beauty of one of these days ; and he must have experienced, while looking on the unruffled waters, that the imagination, by their aid, is carried into recesses of feeling otherwise im- penetrable. The reason of this is, that the heavens are not only brought down into the bosom of the earth, but that the earth is mainly looked at, and thought of, through the medium of a purer element. The happiest time is when the equinoxial gales are departed ; but their fury may probably be called to mind by the sight of a few shattered boughs, whose leaves do not differ in colour from the faded foliage of the stately oaks from which these relics of the storm depend : all else speaks of tranquillity ; not a breath of air, no restlessness of insects, and not a moving object perceptible except the clouds gliding in the depths of the lake, or the traveller passing along, an inverted image, whose motion seems governed by the quiet of a time, to which its archetype, the living person, is, perhaps, insensible : or it may happen, that the figure of one of the larger birds, a raven or a heron, is crossing silently among the reflected clouds, while the voice of the real bird, from the element aloft, gently awakens in the spectator the recollection of appetites and instincts, pur- suits and occupations, that deform and agitate the world, yet have no power to prevent nature from putting on an aspect capable of satisfying the most intense cravings for the tranquil, the lovely, and the perfect, to which man, the noblest of her creatures, is subject. Thus far of climate, as influencing the feelings through c 2 28 NIGHT. its effect on the object of sense. We may add, that what- ever has been said upon the advantages derived to these scenes from a changeable atmosphere, would apply, perhaps still more forcibly, to their appearance under the varied solemnities of night. Milton, it will be remembered, has given a clouded moon to Paradise itself. In the night- season also, the narrowness of the vales, and comparative smallness of the lakes, are especially adapted to bring surrounding objects home to the eye and to the heart. The stars, taking their stations above the hill-tops, are contemplated from a spot like the Abyssinian recess of Rasselas, with much more touching interest than they are likely to excite when looked at from an open country with ordinary undulations : and it must be obvious, that it is the bays only of large lakes that can present such contrasts of light and shadow as those of smaller dimensions display from every quarter. A deep contracted valley, with dif- fused waters, such a valley and plains level and wide as those of Chaldea, are the two extremes in which the beauty of the heavens and their connexion with the earth are most sensibly felt. Nor do the advantages I have been speaking of imply here an exclusion of the aerial effects of distance. These are insured by the height of the mountains, and are found, even in the narrowest vales, where they lengthen in perspective, or act (if the expres- sion may be used) as telescopes for the open country. The subject would bear to be enlarged upon; but I will conclude this Section with a night-scene suggested by the vale of Keswick. The fragment is well known, but it gratifies me to insert it, as the Writer was one of the first who led the way to a worthy admiration of this country. . " Now sunk the sun, DOW twilight sunk, and night Rode in her zenith ; not a passing breeze NIGHT. 29 Sigh'd to the grove, which in the midnight air Stood motionless, and in the peaceful floods Inverted hung : for now the billows slept Along the shore, nor heav'd the deep; but spread A shining mirror to the moon's pale orb, Which, dim and waning, o'er the shadowy cliffs, The solemn woods, and spiry mountain tops, Her glimmering faintness threw : now every eye ? Oppressed with toil, was drown'd in deep repose, Save that the unseen Shepherd in his watch, Propp'd on his crook, stood listening by the fold, And gaz'd the starry vault, and pendant moon ; Nor voice, nor sound, broke on the deep serene ; But the soft murmur of swift-gushing rills, Forth issuing from the mountain's distant steep, (Unheard till now, and now scarce heard) proclalm'd All things at rest, and imag'd the still voice Of quiet, whispering in the ear of night."* * Dr. Brown, the author of this fragment, was from his infancy brought up in Cumberland, and should have remembered that the practice of fold- ing sheep by night is unknown among these mountains, and that the image of the Shepherd upon the watch is out of its place, and belongs only to countries, with a warmer climate, that are subject to ravages from beasts of prey. It is pleasing to notice a dawn of imaginative feeling in these verses. Tickel, a man of no common genius, chose, for the subject of A Poem, Kensington Gardens, in preference to the Banks of the Derwent, within a mile ar two of which he was born. But this was in the reign of Queen Ann, or George the first. Progress must have been made in the interval ; though the traces of it, except in the works of Thompson and Dyer, are not very obvious. c 3 30 SECTION SECOND. ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY, AS AFFECTED BY ITS INHABITANTS. HITHERTO 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 in- debted 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 condition of life, the distribution of landed property among- them, and the tenure by which it is holden. The reader will suffer me here to recall to his mind the shapes of the vallies, and their position with respect to each other, and the forms and substance of the intervening- mountains. He will people the vallies with lakes and rivers : the coves and sides of the mountains 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 stood, he looks down upon this scene before the country had been penetrated 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 PRIMITIVE ASPECT. 31 mighty mass of waters. He may see or hear in fancy the winds sweeping over the lakes, or piping with a loud voice among the mountain peaks ; and, lastly, may think of the primeval woods shedding and renewing their leaves with no human eye to notice, or human heart to regret or welcome the change. " When the first settlers entered this 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 vallies, through centuries of silent solitude ; the birds and beasts of prey reigned over the meeker spe- cies ; and the bellum 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 se- cluded, and of too little value, to participate much of the benefit of Roman manners ; and though these conquerors encouraged the Britons to the improvement of their lands in the plain country of Furness and Cumberland, they seem to have had little connexion with the mountains, except for military purposes, or in subservience to the profit they drew from the mines. 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 a few circles of rude stones attributed to 32 ROMAN AND BHITISH ANTIQUITIES. the Druids,* are the only vestiges that remain upon the surface of the country of these ancient occupants ; 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 Normans, when their feudal polity was regularly established. 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 kingdom, could have little attraction for the high-born and power- ful ; especially as the more open parts of the country furnished positions for castles and houses of defence, suf- * It is not improbable that these circles were once numerous, and that many of them may yet endure in a perfect state, under no very deep cover- ing of soil. A friend of the Author, while making a trench in a level piece of ground, not far from the banks of the Kamont, but in no connection with that river, met with some stones which seemed to him formally arranged ; this excited his curiosity, and, proceeding, he uncovered a perfect circle of stones, from two to three or four feet high, with a sanctum sanctorum, the whole a complete place of Druidical worship of small dimensions, having the same sort of relation to Stonehenge. Long Meg and her Daugh- ters near the river Eden, and Karl Lofts near Shap (if this last be not Danish), that a rural chapel bears to a stately church, or to one of our noble cathedrals. This interesting little monument having passed, with the field in which it was found, into other hands, has been destroyed. It is much to be regretted, that the striking relic of antiquity at Shap has been in a great measure destroyed also. The DAUGHTERS of LONG MEG are placed not in an oblong, as the STONES of SHAP, but in a perfect circle, eighty yards in diameter, and seventy-two in number, and from above three yards high, to less than so many feet : a little way out of the circle stands LONG MEG herself a single stone eigh- teen feet high. When the Author first saw this monument, he came upon it by surprise, therefore might over-rate its importance as an object; but he must say, FEUDAL TENANTRY. 33 ficient to repel any of those sudden attacks, which, in the then rude state of military knowledge, could be made upon them. Accordingly, the more retired regions (and to such 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 refuge for outlaws and robbers, and partly granted out for the more settled habitation of a few vassals follow- ing the employment of shepherds or woodlanders. Hence these lakes and inner vallies are unadorned by any remains of ancient grandeur, castles, or monastic edifices, which are only found upon the skirts of the country, as Furness Abbey, Calder Abbey, the Priory of Lanercost, Gleaston Castle, long ago a residence of the Flemings, and the numerous ancient castles of the Cliffords, the Lucys, and the Dacres. On the southern side of these mountains (especially in that pat't known by the name of Furness Fells, which is more remote from the borders), the state of society would necessarily be more settled ; though it also tbat though it is not to be compared with Stonehcnge, he has not seen any other remains of those dark ages which can pretend to rival it in singu- larity and diguity of appearance. A weight of awe not easy to be borne Fell suddenly upon my spirit, cast From the dread bosom of the unknown past, When first 1 saw that sisterhood forlorn; And Her, whose strength and stature seem to scorn The power of years pre-eminent, and placed Apart, to overlook the circle vast. Speak, Giant-mother ! tell it to the Morn, While she dispels the cumbrous shades of night ; Let the Moon hear, emerging from a cloud, When, how, and wherefore, rose on British ground That wondrous Monument, whose mystic round Forth shadows, some have deemed, to mortal siffht The inviolable God that tames the proud. 34 FEUDAL, TENANTRY. was fashioned, not a little, by its neighbourhood to a hos- tile kingdom. We will, therefore, give a sketch of the economy 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 theirlord, 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 sub- divided into four equal parts ; each villain had one ; and the party tenant contributed his share to the support of the man of arms, and of other burdens. These divisions were not properly distinguished ; the land remained mixed ; each tenant had a share through 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 parcelled 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 HABITATIONS ENCLOSURES. 35 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 \v;i* committed to the care of three. " 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 browze them with the tender sprouts of hollies and ash. This custom was not till lately discontinued in High Furness ; and holly-trees were care- fully 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 enfranchised these pastoral vassals, and permitted them to enclose quillets to their houses, for which they paid encroachment rent." WEST'S Antiquities of Fur- ness. However desirable, for the purposes of defence, a nu- merous population might be, it was not possible to make at once the same numerous allotments among the untilled vallies, and upon the sides of the mountains, as had been made in the cultivated plains. The enfranchised shep- herd, or woodlander, having chosen there his place of re- sidence, builds it of sods, or of the mountain-stone, and, with the permission of his lord, encloses, like Kobinsou Crusoe, a small croft or two immediately at his door for 36 ENCLOSURES. such animals 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 origin, as the dialect indicates, crept on towards the more secluded parts of the vallies. Chapels, daughters of some distant mother church, are first erected in the more open and fertile vales, as those of Bowness and Grasmere, offsets to Kendal : which again, after a period, as the set- tled population increases, become mother-churches to smaller edifices, planted, at length, in almost every dale throughout the country. The inclosures, 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 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 intermixed, and was of little comparative value ; and, therefore, small opposition would be made to its being appropriated by those to whose habitations it was conti- guous. Hence the singular appearance which the sides of many of these mountains exhibit, intersected, as they are, almost to the summit, with stone walls. When first erected, these stone fences 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 meadows, 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 TENANTRY REDUCED. 37 of land, and the inconvenience suffered from intermixed plots of ground in common field, had induced each inha- bitant to enclose 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 vallies with a sylvan appearance ; while the intricate intermixture of property has given to the fences a graceful irregularity, which, where large properties are prevalent, and large capitals employed in agriculture, is unknown. This sylvan appearance is heightened by the number of ash-trees planted in rows along the quick-fences, and along the walls, for the purpose of browzing the cattle at the approach of winter. The branches are lopped off and strewn upon the pastures ; and when the cattle have stripped them of the leaves, they are used for repairing the 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 some marshy ground, which, till fully drained, would not repay the trouble of enclosing. But these last partitions do not seem to have been general till long after the paci- fication of the Borders, by the union of the two crowns ; when the cause, which had first determined the distribu- tion of land into such small parcels, had not only ceased, but likewise a general improvement had taken place in the country, with a correspondent rise in the value of its pro- duce. From the time of the union, it is certain that this species of feudal population must rapidly have diminished. That it was formerly 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 be- 38 STATE OF SOCIETY. longed formerly each to a several proprietor, and for which separate fines are paid to the manorial lords 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 for profit and warmth, wherein to reside in winter, namely, Yanwath, nigh Penrith ; and the third, Threlkeld (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 numerous vassalage (their services not being wanted) would rapidly diminish ; various tene- ments would be united in one possessor ; and the abori- ginal houses, probably little better than hovels, like the kraels of savages, or the huts of the Highlanders of Scot- land, would fall into decay, and the places of many be supplied by substantial and comfortable buildings, a majo- rity of which remain to this day scattered over the vallies, and are often the only dwellings found in them. From the time of the erection of these houses, till within the last sixty years, the state of society, though no doubt slowly and gradually improving, underwent no ma- terial change. Corn was grown in these vales (through which no carriage-road had yet been made) sufficient upon each estate to furnish bread for each family, and no more : notwithstanding the union of several tenements, the pos- sessions 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 STATE OF SOCIETY. 39 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 was 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 1 their way weekly down the valley or over the mountains to the most commodious 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 them- selves, except on the Sabbath-day ; this was the sole dis- tinguished individual among- them ; every thing else, person and possession, exhibited a perfect equality, a com- munity 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 na- tive 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 woods. Accord- ingly, 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-establishment, at that period, of furnaces upon a large scale, made it the interest of the 40 COTTAGES. people to convert the steeper and more stony of the in- closures, sprinkled over with remains of the native forest, into close woods, which, when cattle and sheep were ex- cluded, rapidly sowed and thickened themselves. The reader's attention has been directed 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 incorporated with and subservient to the powers and processes of na- ture. 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 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 vallies, and under the hills, and on the rocks ; and, even to this day, in the more retired dales, without any intrusion of more assuming buildings : Cluster'd 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 COTTAGES. 41 or fire-house, as it is ordinarily called, has been distin- guished from the barn or byer by rough-cast 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 necessarily with changes in their circumstances, they have received without incongruity 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 contemplative spec- tator 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 for- mality, 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 bold and harmoni- ous effects of contrasted sunshine and shadow. It is a favourable circumstance, that the strong winds, which sweep down the vallies, 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 attentive traveller. Sometimes a low chimney, almost upon a level with the roof, is overlaid with a slate, supported 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 42 COTTAGES. cylinder, giving to the cottage chimney the most beautiful 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 liv- ing column of smoke, ascending from it through the still air. These dwellings, mostly built, as has been said, of rough unhewn stone, 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 surface, so that both the coverings and sides of the houses have furnished places of rest for the seeds of lichens, mosses, ferns, and flowers. Hence buildings, which in their very form call to mind the pro- cesses of nature, do thus, clothed in part with a vegetable garb, appear to be received 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, affectingly direct the thoughts to that tranquil course of nature and simplicity, along which the humble-minded inhabitants have, through so many generations, been led. Add the little garden with its shed for bee-hives, its small bed 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 clus- ter of embowering sycamores for summer shade ; with a tall fir, through which the winds sing when other trees are leafless ; the little rill or household spout murmuring in all seasons ; combine these incidents and images to- gether, 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 sixty years there was no commu- LANES AND PATH-WAYS BRIDGES. 43 nication between any of these vales by carriage-roads ; all bulky articles were transported on pack-horses. Owing-, however, to the population not being concentrated in vil- lages, but scattered, the vallies themselves were intersected as now by innumerable lanes and pathways 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 strawberries, the geranium, and lichens : and, if the wall happen 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 admirer of nature, will lead him into all the recesses of the country, so that the hidden treasures of its landscapes may, 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 are construc- ed, the rudeness of the forms of some, and their endless variety. But when I speak of this rudeness, 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 produced, are disappearing fast ; but sufficient specimens remain* to give a high gratification to the man Writen some time ago. The injury done since, is more than could bare been calculated upon. Singula de nobis anni prcedantur cutties. This is in the course of things 44 PLACES OF WORSHIP. of genuine taste. Travellers who may not have been accustomed to pay attention to things so inobtrusive, 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 faith- fully 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.f The architecture of these churches and chapels, where they have not been recently rebuilt or modernised, is of a style not less appropriate and admirable than that of the dwelling-houses and other structures. How sacred the spirit by which our fore- fathers were directed ! The religio loci is no where violated by these unstinted, yet unpretending, works of human hands. They exhibit generally a well-proportioned but why should the genius that directed the ancient architecture of these vales have deserted them ? For the bridges, churches, mansions, cottages, and their richly-fringed and flat-roofed outhouses, venerable as the grange of some old abbey, have been substituted structures, in which baldness only seems to have been studied, or plans of the most vulgar utility. But some improvement may be looked for in future; the gentry recently have copied the old models, and successful instances might be pointed out, if I could take the liberty. f In some places scholars were formerly taught in the church, and at others the school-house was a sort of anti-chapel to the place of worship* being under the same roof; an arrangement which was abandoned as ir- reverent. It continues, however, to this day in Borrowdale. In the parish register of that chapelry is a notice, that a youth who had quitted the valley, and died in one of the towns on the coast of Cumberland, had requested that his body should be brought and interred at the foot of the pillar by which he bad been accustomed to sit while a school-boy. One cannot but regret that parish registers so seldom contain any thing but bare names ; in a few of this country, especially in that of Loweswater, I have found interesting notices of unusual natural occurrences characters of the deceased, and particulars of their lives. There is no good reason why such memorials should not be frequent ; these short and simple annals would in future ages become precious. PARKS AND MANSIONS. 45 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 necessarily, 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 Buttermere, 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 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 paternal 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. As we descend towards the open country, we meet with halls and mansions, many of which have been places of defence against the incursions of the Scottish borderers ; and they not unfrequently retain their towers and battle- ments. To these houses, parks are sometimes attached, 46 GENERAL PICTURE OF SOCIETY. and to their successive proprietors we chiefly owe what- ever ornament is still left to the country of majestic tim- ber. Through the open parts of the vales are scattered, also, houses of a middle rank between the pastoral cottage and the old hall residence of the knight or esquire. Such houses differ much from the rugged cottages before de- scribed, and are generally graced with a little court or garden in front, where may yet be seen specimens of those fantastic and quaint figures which our ancestors were fond of shaping out in yew-tree, holly, or box-wood. The passenger will sometimes smile at such elaborate display of petty art, while the house does not deign to look upon the natural beauty or the sublimity which its situation almost unavoidably commands. Thus has been given a faithful description, the minute- ness of which the reader will pardon, of the face of this country as it was, and has been through centuries, till within the last sixty years. Towards the head of these Dales was found a perfect Republic of Shepherds and Agriculturists, among whom the plough of each man was confined to the maintenance of his own family, or to the occasional accommodation of his neigbour.* Two or three cows furnished each family with milk and cheese. The * One of the most pleasing characteristics of manners in secluded and thinly-peopled districts, is a sense of the degree in which human happiness and comfort are dependent on the contingency of neighbourhood. This is implied by a rhyming adage common here, " Friends are far, when neigh- bours are nar" (near); This mutual helpfulness is not confined to out-of- door work; but is ready upon all occasions. Formerly, if a person became sick, especially the mistress of a family, it was usual for those of the neighbours who were more particularly connected with the party by ami- cable offices, to visit the house, carrying a present ; this practice, which is by no means obsolete, is called arming the family, and is regarded at a pledge of a disposition to be otherwise serviceable iu a time of disability and distress. GENERAL PICTURE OF SOCIETY. 47 chapel was the only edifice that presided over these dwell- ings, the supreme head of this pure Commonwealth ; the members of which existed in the midst of a powerful em- pire, like an ideal society or an organized community, whose constitution had been imposed and regulated by the mountains which protected it. Neither high-born noble- man, knight, nor esquire, was here ; but many of these humble sons of the hills had a consciousness that the land, which they walked over and tilled, had for more than five hundred years been possessed by men of their name and blood ; and venerable was the transition, when a carious 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 rights attached to it* proprietor, 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. 48 SECTION THIRD. CHANGES, AND RULES OF TASTE FOR PREVENTING THEIR BAD EFFECTS. SUCH, as hath been said, was the appearance of things till within the last sixty years. A practice, denominated Ornamental Gardening^ was at that time becoming 1 pre- valent over England. In union with an admiration of this art, and in some instances 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 seques- tered spots, distinguished, 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 powerful 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 hu- man mind is ever disposed to listen to the farewell words of a man of genius. The journal of Gray feelingly showed how the'gloom of ill health and low spirits had been irra- NEW SETTLERS. 49 dialed by objects, which the Author's powers of mind enabled him to describe with distinctness and unaffected simplicity. Every reader of this journal must have been impressed with the words which conclude his notice of the Vale of Grasmere : " Not a single red tile, no flaring gentleman's house or garden-wall, breaks in upon the repose of this little unsuspected paradise ; but all is peace, rusticity, and happy poverty, in its neatest and most be- coming attire." What is here so justly said of Grasmere applied almost equally to all its sister Vales. It was well for the undis- turbed 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, indicating 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 tres- pass ; or (shall I dare to say ?) would have secured scenes so consecrated from profanation. 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 settlers ; and the Islands of Derwent- water and Winandermere, 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 Hermitage, had indeed some years before been felled by its native proprietor, and the whole island 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 him- self into a belief, that some of the decayed remains of those 50 THE COUNTRY DISFIGURED. oaks, the place of which was in this manner usurped, had been planted by the Hermit's own hand. This sainted spot, however, suffered comparatively little injury. At the bidding- of an alien improver, the Hind's Cottage, upon Vicar's Island, in the same lake, with its embowering sycamores and cattle-shed, disappeared from .the corner where they 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 astro- nomer's observatory, or a warren-house reared upon an eminence for the detection of depredators, or, like the temple of CEolus, where all the winds pay him obeisance. Round this novel structure, but at a respectful distance, platoons of fir were stationed, as if to protect their com- mander when weather and time should somewhat have shattered his strength. Within the narrow limits of this island were typified also the state and strength of a king- dom, 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 thun- der upon the approaching invader. The taste of a suc- ceeding proprietor rectified the mistakes as far as was practicable, and has ridded the spot of its puerilities. The church, after having been docked of its steeple, is applied, 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 officiated at the circle upon the opposite hill, the mimic arrangement of stones, with its sanctum sanctorum, has been swept away. The present instance has been singled out, extravagant THE COUNTRY DISFIGURED. 51 as it is, because, unquestionably, this beautiful 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 for the changes that have been made upon the prin- cipal Island at Winandermere, and in its neighbourhood. What could be more unfortunate than the taste that sug- gested 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 additional 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 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 preserved. 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 * These are disappearing fast, under the management of the present Proprietor, and native wood is resuming its place. D 2 52 CAUSES OF FALSE TASTE. 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 r habit of pleasure will be formed opposite to this, arising out of the perception of the fine gradations by which in 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 perpendicular 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 spring- ing up in the situation best suited to its kind, and with that shape which the situation constrained or suffered it to take. What endless melting and playing into each other of forms and colours does the one ofTer to a mind at once attentive and active ; and how insipid and lifeless, compared with it, appear those parts of the former exhi- bition with which a child, a peasant perhaps, or a citizen unfamiliar with natural imagery, would have been most delighted ! The disfigurement which this country hag undergone, has not, however, proceeded wholly from the common feel- ings of human nature which have been referred to as the ANCIENT MODELS RECOMMENCED. primary sources of bad taste in rural imagery ; another cause must be added, that 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 appro- bation or censure. Hence all the deformity and ungrace- fulness that ever pursue the steps of constraint or affecta- tion. Persons, who in Leicestershire or Northampton- shire would probably have built a modest dwelling like those of their sensible neighbours, have been turned out of their course ; and, acting a part, no wonder if, having had little experience, they act it ill. The craving for prospect, also, which is immoderate, particularly in new settlers, has rendered it impossible that buildings, what- ever 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 ancient houses. 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 end may 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 Antiquity, 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 ancient mansions of this country, and of the happy manner in which they har- monize with the forms of nature. Why cannot such be D 3 54 ANCIENT MODELS RECOMMENDED. taken as a model, and modern internal convenience be confined within their external grace and dignity. Ex- pense 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 considerations of comfort, shelter, and convenience, which used to be chiefly sought after. But should an aversion to old fashions unfortu- nately 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 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 without injury to the native beauty of these scenes. "Into that forest farre they tbence him led. Where was their dwelling in ti pleasant glade With MUNTAINS 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 puny stones which seem'd to 'plaine With gentle murmure that bis 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, As it an earthlv paradise had beene ; In whose enclosed sJiadow there was pight A fair pavillion, scarcely to be seen, The which was all within most richly dight, That greatest princess living it mote well delight." Houses or mansions suited to a mountainous region, ANCIENT MODELS RECOMMENDED. 55 should be " not obvious, not obtrusive, but retired ;" and the reasons for this rule, though they have been little ad- verted to, are evident. Mountainous countries, more fre- quently and forcibly than others, remind us of the power of the elements, as manifested in winds, snows, and tor- rents, and accordingly make the notion of exposure very unpleasing ; while shelter and comfort are in proportion necessary and acceptable. Far-winding- vallies difficult of access, and the feelings of simplicity habitually connected with mountain retirements, prompt us to turn from osten- tation 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 to render the mountains, lakes, or torrents, by which it may be surrounded, 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 or 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 moun- tains among which it is embosomed ; but its titles are from antiquity a power readily submitted to upon occa- sion as the vicegerent of Nature : it is respected, as hav- ing owed its existence to the necessities of things, as a monument of security in times of disturbance and danger long passed away, as a record of the pomp and vio- lence of passion, and a symbol of the wisdom of law ; it bears a countenance of authority, which is not impaired by decay. "Cbild 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 !" 56 COLOURING OF BUILDINGS. 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 the sublimities of Nature. But, towards the verge of a dis- trict like this of which we are treating, where the moun- tains 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 artifi- cial ornament may, without censure, be extended around it, as they will be referred to the common centre, the house ; the right of which to impress within certain limits a character of obvious ornament 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 under- gone, from persons who may have built, demolished, and planted, with full confidence that every change and addi- tion was or would become an improvement. The principle that ought to determine the position, ap- parent size, and architecture of a house, viz. that it should be so constructed, and (if large) so much of it 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 hand- ful 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 ex- ample, in Low Furness, where the soil, from its strong im- pregnation with iron, is universally of a deep red, if this rule COLOUURING OF BUILDINGS. 57 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 general 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 un- dulating) they are held up to view, this rule, though not to be implicitly 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 the house must harmonise with the surrounding 1 land- landscape : 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 vi- sible, and they will furnish a safe direction." Never- theless, it will often happen that the rocks may bear so large a proportion 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 pught to be introduced approaching nearer to those which, in the technical lan- guage of painters, are called ivarm : this, if happily select- ed, would not disturb, but would animate, the landscape. How often do we see this exemplified upon a small scale by the native cottages, in cases where the glare of white- wash has been subdued by time and enriched by weather- 58 COLOUKING OF BUILDINGS. stains ! No harshness is then seen ; but one of these cottages, thus coloured, will often form a central point to a landscape hy 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 pur- pose, 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 may 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- hood of these Lakes especially, by furnishing such apt occasion for whitening buildings. That white should be a favorite 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 many minds, they take place of all others. But what has already been said upon the subject of cottages, must have convinced men of feeling and imagination, that a human dwelling of the humblest class may be rendered more deeply interest- ing 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 COLOURING OF BUILDINGS. 59 H small white building, embowered in trees, may, in -oim 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 abound with grand forms. On the sides of bleak and desolate moors, we are indeed thankful for the sight of white cottages and white houses plentifully scat- tered, where, without these, perhaps every thing- would be cheerless : this is said, however, with hesitation, and with a wilful sacrifice of some higher enjoyments. But I have certainly seen such buildings glittering at sunrise, and in wandering lights, with no common pleasure. The con- tinental 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 complacency 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 con- trast 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 landscape, especially in a mountainous country, are insurmountable. In nature, pure white is scarcely ever found but in small objects, such as flowers ; or in those which are transitory, as the clouds, foam of rivers, and snow. Mr. Gilpin, who notices this, has also record- ed the just remark of Mr. Locke, of N , that white destroys the gradations of distance ; 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, 60 COLOURING OF BUILDINGS. dot the surface, and divide it into triangles, or other ma- thematical 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 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 inoffensive ; 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, examples of this that need not be pointed out.* * A proper colouring of houses is now becoming general. It is best that the colouring material should be mixed with the rough-cast, and not laid on as a tcash afterwards. THE LARCH. 61 The principle taken as our guide, viz. that the house should he so formed, and of such apparent size and colour, as to admit of its being- gently incorporated with the works of nature, should also be applied to the manage- ment of the grounds and plantations, and is here more urgently needed ; for it is from abuses in this department, fur more even than from the introduction of exotics in architecture (if the phrase may be used), that this country has suffered. Larch and fir plantations have been spread, 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 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 incomparably 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 the circumstances of many permit, and their taste leads them, to plant with little regard to profit ; and 62 PLANTING. there are others, less wealthy, who have such a lively feel- ing 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 remind us that they 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, I will remind 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 change 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 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 decora- tions which might be becoming elsewhere. Having adverted to the feelings that justify the intro- duction of a few exotic plants, provided they be confined almost to the doors of the house ; we may add, that a transition should be contrived, without abruptness, from these foreigners to the rest 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 consequence of their being united in form, and harmonising in colour with them, especially with respect PLANTING. 63 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 he 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 t lu- 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. The Scotch fir is less attractive during- its youth than any other plant ; but, when full- grown, if it has had room to spead out its arms, it becomes a noble tree ; and, by those who are dis- interested enough to plant for posterity, it may be placed along with the sycamore near the house ; for, from their massiveness, both these trees unite well with buildings, and in some situations with rocks also ; having-, in their forms and apparent substances, the effect of something- intermediate betwixt the immoveableness and solidity of stone, and the spray 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 catalogue jumbled together colour at war with colour, and form with form ? among the most peaceful subjects of Nature's kingdom, everywhere 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 overrunning the hill sides. To jus- tify our condemnation of these, let us again recur to Na- 64 PLANTING. tare. The process, by which she forms woods and forests, is as follows. Seeds are scattered indiscriminately by winds, brought by waters, and dropped by birds. They perish or produce, according 1 as the soil and situation upon which they fall are suited to them : and under the same depen- dence, the seedling or the sucker, if not cropped by ani- mals (which Nature is often careful to prevent by fencing it about with brambles or other prickly shrubs), thrives, and the tree grows, sometimes single, taking its own shape without constraint, but for the most part 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 as- cends, 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 : those also, by little and little, give way and a wild and irregular boun- dary is established, graceful in its outline, and never con- templated without some feeling, more or less distinct, of the powers of Nature by which it is imposed. Contrast the liberty 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 qualified PLANTING. 65 for his task. In the first place, his trees, however well chosen and adapted to their several situations, must gene- rally start all at the same time ; and this necessity wo'uld of itself prevent that line connexion of parts, that sym- pathy and organization, if I may so express myself, which pervades the whole of a natural wood, and appears to the eve 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 therefore impossible, under any circumstances, 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 once upon the side of a hill, they can grow up into nothing 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 out- grown the size of a shrub, shows, when looked at singly, some elegance in form and appearance, especially 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 boughs it has none) have no variety in the youth of the tree, and little dignity, even when it attains its full growth ; leaves it cannot be said to have, conse- quently neither affords shade nor shelter. In spring the larch becomes green long before the native trees ; and its green is so peculiar and vivid, that, finding nothing to harmo- nize 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 spirit- less unvaried yellow ; and, in winter, it is still more lamentably distinguished from every other deciduous tree 66 PLANTING. of the forest, for they seem only to sleep, but the larch appears absolutely 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 terminating spike renders it impos- sible that the several trees, where planted in numbers, 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 in- dividual trees, obstinately 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 pro- duced 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 sublimity will never be wanting where the sense of innumerable multitude is lost in, and alternates with, that of intense unity ; and to the ready perception of this effect, similarity and almost identity of individual form and monotony of colour con- tribute. But this feeling is confined to the native im- measurable forest ; no artificial plantation can give it. The foregoing observations will, I hope (as nothing has been condemned or recommended without a substantial reason), have some influence upon those who plant for ornament merely. To such as plant for profit, I have already spoken. Let me then entreat that the native PLANTING. 67 deciduous trees may be left in complete possession of the lower ground ; and that plantations of larch, if in- 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 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 my limits had not already been overstepped, a few practical rules for the manner in which trees ought to be disposed in planting. But to this subject I should attach 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 in- jured by what has been taken from them buildings, trees, and woods, either through negligence, necessity, avarice, or caprice it is not the removals, but the harsh additions that have been made, which are the worst grievance a standing and unavoidable annoyance. Often have I felt this distinction, with mingled satisfaction and regret ; for, if no positive deformity or discordance be substituted or superinduced, 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 pleas- ing. ^ 68 FURTHER CHANGES PROBABLE. " Many beans 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, nroks, and bays, And the pure mountains, and the gentle Tweed, And tbc green silent pastures, yet remain." There are few ancient woods left in this part of England 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 with- out sacrifice of profit, by leaving, at the periodical fellings, a due proportion of the healthiest trees to grow up into timber. This plan has fortunately, 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 or- nament, 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 unbroken 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 concealed, 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 naked, 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 ! The author has been induced to speak thus at length, by a wish to preserve the native beauty of this delightful CONCLUSION. 69 district, because still further 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 desire to settle in it, the difficulty, that would have stood in the way of their procuring situations, 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 estatesman or farmer, for- merly 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 season), and carrying it to market for sale. Hence, however numerous the children, the income of the family kept pace with its increase. But, by the invention and universal application of machinery, this second resource has been cut off; the gains being so far reduced, as not to be sought after but by a few aged per- sons disabled from other employment. Doubtless, the invention of machinery has not been to these people a pure loss ; for the profits arising from home-manufactures 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 bv the establishment of manufactories, and in the consequent quickening of agricultural industry. But this is far from making them amends ; and now that home-manufactures are nearly done away, though the women and children might, at many seasons of the year, employ themselves with advantage in the fields beyond what they are accus- 70 CONCLUSION. tomed to do, yet still all possible exertion in this way cannot be rationally expected from persons whose agri- cultural knowledge is so confined, and, above all, where there must necessarily be so small a capital. The conse- quence, then, is that proprietors and farmers being no longer able to maintain themselves 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 consolidate ; 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 set- tlers ; 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 deviations from that path of simplicity and beauty along which, without design and unconsciously, their humble predeces- sors 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. 71 SECTION FOURTH. ALPINE SCENES COMPARED WITH CUMBRIAN. As a resident among the Lakes, I frequently hear the scenery of this country compared with that of the Alps ; and therefore a few words shall be added to what has been incidentally said upon that subject. If we could recall, to this region of lakes, the native pine-forests, with which many hundred years ago a large portion of the heights was covered, thenj during spring and autumn, it might frequently, with much propriety, be compared to Switzerland, the elements of the landscape would be the same, one country representing the other in miniature. Towns, villages, churches, rural seats, bridges and roads, green meadows and arable grounds, with their various produce, and deciduous woods of diver- sified foliage which occupy the vales and lower regions of the mountains, would, as in Switzerland, be divided by dark forests from ridges and round-topped heights covered with snow, and from pikes and sharp declivities imperfectly arrayed in the same glittering mantle : and the resemblance would be still more perfect on those days when vapours, resting upon and floating around the summits, leave the elevation of the mountains less dependent upon the eye than on the imagination. But the pine-forests have wholly disappeared ; and only during late spring and early autumn is realized here that assemblage of the imagery of 72 ALPINE SCENES different seasons, which is exhibited through the whole summer among the Alps, winter in the distance, and warmth, leafy woods, verdure and fertility at hand, and widely diffused. Striking, then, from among the permanent materials of the landscape, that stage of vegetation which is occupied by pine-forests, and, above that, the perennial snows, we have mountains, the highest of which little exceed 3000 feet, while some of the Alps do not fall short of 14,000 or 15,000, and 8,000 or 10,000 is not an uncommon eleva- tion. Our tracts of wood and water are almost as dimi- nutive in comparison ; therefore, as far as sublimity is dependent upon absolute bulk and height, and atmos- pherical influences in connection with these, it is obvious that there can be no rivalship. But a short residence among the British Mountains will furnish abundant proof, that, after a certain point of elevation, viz. that which allows of compact and fleecy clouds settling upon or sweep- ing over the summits, the sense of sublimity depends more upon form and relation of objects to each other than upon their actual magnitude ; and, that an elevation of 3000 feet is sufficient to call forth in a most impressive degree the creative, and magnifying, and softening powers of the atmosphere. Hence, on the score even of sublimity, the superiority of the Alps is by no means so great as might hastily be inferred ; and, as to the beauty of the lower regions of the Swiss Mountains, it is noticeable that, as they are all regularly mown, their surface has no- thing of that mellow tone and variety of hues by which mountain turf, that is never touched by the scythe, is distinguished. On the smooth and steep slopes of the Swiss hills, these plots of verdure do indeed agreeably unite their colour with that of the deciduous -trees, or make COMPARED WITH CUMBRIAN. 73 a lively contrast with the dark green pine-groves that de- fine them, and among which they run in endless variety of shapes but this is most pleasing at jirst sight ; the permanent gratification of the eye requires finer gradations of tone, and a more delicate blending of hues into each other. Besides, it is only in spring and late autumn that cattle animate by their presence the Swiss lawns ; and, though the pastures of the higher regions where they feed during the summer are left in their natural state of flowery herb- age, those pastures are so remote, that their texture and colour are of no consequence in the composition of any picture in which a lake of the Vales is a feature. Yet in those lofty regions, how vegetation is invigorated by the genial climate of that country ! Among the luxuriant flowers there met with, groves, or forests, if I may so call them, of Monk's-hood are frequently seen ; the plant of deep rich blue, and as tall as in our gardens ; and this at an elevation where, in Cumberland, Icelandic moss would only be found, or the stony summits be utterly bare. We have, then, for the colouring of Switzerland, prin- cipally a vivid green herbage, black wodds, and dazzling snows, presented in masses with a grandeur to which no one can be insensible ; but not often graduated by Nature into soothing harmony, and so ill suited to the pencil, that though abundance of good subjects may be there found, they are not such as can be deemed characteristic of the country ; nor is this unfitness confined to colour : the forms of the mountains, though many of them in some points of view the noblest that can be conceived, are apt to run into spikes and needles, and present a jagged out- line, which has a mean effect transferred to canvass. This must have been felt by the ancient masters ; for, if I am not mistaken, they have not left a single landscape, the E 2 74 ALPINE SCENES materials of which are taken from the peculiar features of the Alps ; yet Titian passed his life almost in their neighbourhood ; the Poussins and Claude must have been well acquainted with their aspects ; and several admirable painters, as Tibaldi and Luino, were born among the Ita- lian Alps. A few experiments have lately been made by Englishmen, but they only prove that courage, skill, and judgment may surmount any obstacles ; and it may be safely affirmed, that they who have done best in this bold adven- ture, will be the least likely to repeat the attempt But, though our scenes are better suited to painting than those of the Alps, I should be sorry to contemplate either coun- try in reference to that art, further than as its fitness or unfitness for the pencil renders it more or less pleasing to the eye of the spectator, who has learned to observe and feel, chiefly from Nature herself. Deeming the points in which Alpine imagery is superior to British too obvious to be insisted upon, I will observe that the deciduous woods, though in many places unap- proachable by the axe, and triumphing in the pomp and prodigality of Nature, have, in general,* neither the variety nor beauty which would exist in those of the mountains of Britain, if left to themselves. Magnificent walnut-trees grow upon the plains of Switzerland ; and fine trees of that species are found scattered over the hill-sides : birches also grow here and there in luxuriant beauty ; but neither these, nor oaks, are ever a prevailing tree, nor can even be said to be common ; and the oaks, as far as I had an op- portunity of observing, are greatly inferior to those of Britain. Among the interior vallies, the proportion of beeches and pines is so great that other trees are scarcely noticeable ; and surely such woods are at all seasons much * The greatest variety of trees is found in the Valais. COMPARED WITH CUMBRIAN. 75 less agreeable than that rich and harmonious distribution of oak, ash, elm, birch, and alder, that formerly clothed the sides of Snovvdon and Helvellyn, and of which no mean remains still survive at the head of Ulswater. On the Italian side of the Alps chesnut and walnut trees grow at a considerable height on the mountains ; but, even there, the foliage is not equal in beauty to the " natural product" of this climate. In fact, the sunshine of the South of Europe, so envied when heard of at a distance, is in .many respects injurious to rural beauty, particularly as it incites to the cultivation of spots of ground which in colder cli- mates would be left in the hands of nature, favouring at the same time the culture of plants that are more valuable on account of the fruit they produce to gratify the palate, than for affording pleasure to the eye as materials of landscape. Take, for instance, the Promontory of Bellagio, so fortu- nate in its command of the three branches of the Lake of Como, yet the ridge of the Promontory itself, being for the most part covered with vines interspersed with olive trees, accords but ill with the vastness of the green unap- propriated mountains, and derogates not a little from the sublimity of those finely-contrasted pictures to which it is a fore-ground. The vine, when cultivated upon a large scale, notwithstanding all that may be said of it in poetry,* * Lucretius has charmingly described a scene of this kind. " Inque dies magis in montem succedere sylvas Cogebant, infraque locum concedere cultis : Prata, lacus, rivos, segetes, vinetaque laeta Collibus et campis ut haberent, atque olearum Camlet distinguens inter plaga currere posset Per tumulos, et corivalleis, camposque profusa : Ut nunc esse vides vario distincta lepore Omnia, qua? pomis intersita dulcibus ornant, Arbustisque tenent felicibus obsita circum." z 3 76 ALPINE SCENES makes but a dull formal appearance in landscape ; and the olive tree (though one is loth to say so) is not more grate- ful to the eye than our common willow, which it much resembles ; but the hoariness of hue, common to both, has in the aquatic plant an appropriate delicacy, harmonising- with the situation in which it roost delights. The same may no doubt be said of the olive among the dry rocks of Attica, but I am speaking of it as found in gardens and vineyards in the North of Italy. At Bellagio, what En- glishman can resist the temptation of substituting, in his fancy, for these formal treasures of cultivation, the natu- ral variety of one of our parks its pastured lawns, coverts of hawthorn, of wild-rose, and honeysuckle, and the ma- jesty of forest trees ? such wild graces as the banks of Derwent-water shewed in the time of the Ratcliffes ; and Gowbarrow Park, Lowther, and Rydal do at this day. As my object is to reconcile a Briton to the scenery of his own country, though not at the expense of truth, I am not afraid of asserting that in many points of view our LAKES, also, are much more interesting than those of the Alps ; first, as is implied above, from being more happily proportioned to the other features of the landscape ; and next, both as being infinitely more pellucid, and less sub- ject to agitation from the winds.* Como (which may * It is remarkable that Como (as is probably the case with other Italian Lakes) is more troubled by storms in summer than in winter. Hence the propriety of the following verses. " Lari ! margine ubique confragoso Nulli ccelicolum negas sacellum Picto. pariete saxeoque tecto ; Hinc miracula multa navitarum Audis, nee placido refellis ore, Sed nova usque paras, Noto vel Euro jEstivas quatientibus cavernas, Vel snrgentis ab Adduae cubili Cseco grandinis imbre provoluto." LANDOB, COMPABED WITH CUMBRIAN. perhaps be styled the King of Lakes, as Lugano is cer- tainly the Queen) is disturbed by a periodical wind blow- ingfrom the head in the morning, and towards it in the afternoon. The magnificent Lake of the four Cantons, especially its noblest division, called the Lake of Uri, is not only much agitated by winds, but in the night time is disturbed from the bottom, as I was told, and indeed as I witnessed, without any apparent commotion in the air ; and when at rest, the water is not pure to the eye, but of a heavy green hue as is that of all the other lakes, appa- rently according to the degree in which they are fed by melted snows. If the Lake of Geneva furnish an excep- tion, this is probably owing to its vast extent, which allows the water to deposit its impurities. The water of the English lakes, on the contrary, being of a crystalline clear- ness, the reflections of the surrounding hills are frequently so lively, that it is scarcely possible to distinguish the point where the real object terminates, and its unsubstan- tial duplicate begins. The lower part of the Lake of Ge- neva, from its narrowness, must be much less subject to agi- tation than the higher divisions, and, as the water is clearer than that of the other Swiss lakes, it will frequently ex- hibit this appearance, though it is scarcely possible in an equal degree. During two comprehensive tours among the Alps, I did not observe, except on one of the smaller lakes, between Lugano and Ponte Tresa, a single instance of those beautiful repetitions of surrounding objects on the bosom of the water, which are so frequently seen here: not to speak of the fine dazzling trembling net-work, breezy mo- tions, and streaks and circles of intermingled smooth and rippled water, which makes the surface of our lakes a field of endless variety. But among the Alps, where every thing tends to the grand and the sublime, in surfaces as 78 PHENOMENA. well as in forms, if the lakes do not court the placid reflec- tions of land objects, those of first-rate magnitude make compensation, in some degree, by exhibiting those ever- changing fields of green, blue, and purple shadows or lights (one scarcely knows which to name them), that call to mind a sea-prospect contemplated from a lofty cliff. The subject of torrents and water-falls has already been touched upon ; but it may be added, that in Switzerland, the perpetual accompaniment of snow upon the higher re- gions takes much from the effect of foaming w r hite streams ; while., from their frequency, they obstruct each other's in- fluence upon the mind of the spectator ; and, in all cases, the effect of an individual cataract, excepting the great Fall of the Rhine at Scbaffhausen, is diminished by the general fury of the stream of which it is a part. Recurring to the reflections from still water, I will des- scribe a singular phenomenon of this kind of which I was an eye-witness. Walking by the side of Ulswater upon a calm Septem- ber morning, I saw, deep within the bosom of the lake, a magnificent Castle, with towers and battlements; nothing could be more distinct than the whole edifice ; after gaz- ing with delight upon it for some time, as upon a work of enchantment, I could not but regret that my previous knowledge of the place enabled me to account for the ap- pearance. It was in fact the reflection of a pleasure-house called Lyulph's Tower the towers and battlements mag- nified and so much changed in shape as not to be immedi- ately recognized. In the meanwhile, the pleasure-house itself was altogether hidden from my view by a body of vapour stretching over it and along the hill-side on which it stands, but not so as to have intercepted its communi- cation with the lake ; and hence this novel and most im- PHENOMENA. 79 pressive obiect, which, if I had been a stranger to the spot, would, from its being inexplicable, have long- detained the mind in a state of pleasing astonishment. Appearances of this kind, acting upon the credulity of early ages, may have given birth to, and favoured the belief in, stories of subaqueous palaces, gardens, and pleasure- grounds the brilliant ornaments of Romance. With this inverted scene I will couple a much more extraordinary phenomenon, which will shew how other elegant fancies may have had their origin, less in inven- tion than in the actual processes of nature. About eleven o'clock on the forenoon of a winter's day, coming suddenly, in company of a friend, into view of the Lake of Grasmere, we were alarmed by the sight of a newly-created Island ; the transitory thought of the mo- ment was, that it had been produced by an earthquake or some other convulsion of nature. Recovering from the alarm, which was greater than the reader can possibly sym- pathize with, but which was shared to its full extent by my companion, we proceeded to examine the object before us. The elevation of this new island exceeded considerably that of the old one, its neighbour ; it was likewise larger in circumference, comprehending a space of about five acres ; its surface rocky, speckled with snow, and sprinkled over with birch trees ; it was divided towards the south from the other island by a narrow frith, and in like man- ner from the northern shore of the lake ; on the east and west it was separated from the shore by a much larger space of smooth water. Marvellous was the illusion ! Comparing the new with the old Island, the surface of which is soft, green, and unvaried, I do not scruple to say that, as an object of sight, it was much the more distinct. "How little faith," we 80 COMPARATIVE ESTIMATE. exclaimed, "is due to one sense, unless its evidence be con- firmed by some of its fellows! What Stranger could possibly be persuaded that this, which we know to be an unsubstantial mockery, is really so ; and that there exists only a single Island on this beautiful Lake ?" At length the appearance underwent a gradual transmutation ; it lost its prominence and passed into a glimmering and dim in- version, and then totally disappeared ; leaving behind it a clear open area of ice of the same dimensions. We now perceived that this bed of ice, which was thinly suffused with water, had produced the illusion, by reflecting and refracting (as persons skilled in optics would no doubt easily explain) a rocky and woody section of the opposite mountain named Silver-how. Having dwelt so much upon the beauty of pure and still water, and pointed out the advantage which the Lakes of the North of England have in this particular over those of the Alps, it would be injustice not to advert to the sublimity that must often be given to Alpine scenes, by the agitations to which those vast bodies of diffused water are there subject. I have witnessed many tremendous thunder-storms among the Alps, and the most glorious effects of light and shadow : but I never happened to be present when any Lake was agitated by those hurricanes which I imagine must often torment them. If the com- motions be at all proportionable to the expanse and depth of the waters, and the height of the surrounding mountains, then, if I may judge from what is frequently seen here, the exhibition must be awful and astonishing. On this day, March 30, 1822, the winds have been acting upon the small Lake of Rydal, as if they had received command to carry its waters from their bed into the sky ; the white billows in different quarters disappeared under clouds, or COMPARATIVE ESTIMATE. 81 rather drifts of spray, that were whirled along, and up into the air by scouring winds, charging each other in squadrons in every direction, upon the Lake. The spray, having been hurried aloft till it lost its consistency and whiteness, was driven along the mountain tops like flying showers that vanish in the distance. Frequently an ed- dying wind scooped the waters out of the basin, and forced them upwards in the very shape of an Icelandic Geyser, or boiling fountain, to the height of several hundred feet. This small Mere of Rydal, from its position, is subject in a peculiar degree to these commotions. The present season, however, is unusually stormy : great numbers of fish, two of them not less than 12 pounds weight, were a few days ago cast on the shores of Dervvent-water by the force of the waves. Lest, in the foregoing comparative estimate, I should be suspected of partiality to my native mountains, I will support my general opinion by the authority of Mr. West, whose Guide to the Lakes has been eminently serviceable to the Tourist for nearly 50 years. The Author, a Roman Catholic Clergyman, had passed much time abroad, and was well acquainted with the scenery of the Continent. He thus expresses himself: "They who intend to make the continental tour should begin here ; as it will give, in miniature, an idea of what they are to meet with there, in traversing the Alps and Appenines ; to which our northern mountains are not inferior in beauty of line, or variety of summit, number of lakes, and transparency of water ; not in colouring of rock, or softness of turf; but in height and extent only. The mountains here are all accessible to the summit, and furnish prospects no less surprising, and with more variety, than the Alps themselves. The tops of the highest Alps are inaccessible, being covered 82 COMPARATIVE ESTIMATE. with everlasting snow, which commencing' at regular heights above the cultivated tracts, or wooded and verdant sides, form indeed the highest contrast in nature. For there may be seen all the variety of climate in one view. To this, however, we oppose the sight of the ocean, from the summits of all the higher mountains, as it appears in- tersected with promontories, decorated with islands, and animated with navigation." WEST'S Guide, p. 5. THE END. HUDSON AND NICHOLSON, PRINTERS, KENDAL. APPENDIX. THREE LETTERS ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE LAKE DISTRICT, ADDRESSED TO WM. WORDSWORTH, ESQ. BY THE REV. PROFESSOR SEDGWICK. ~ C* CO S3? THREE LETTERS GEOLOGY OF THE LAKE DISTRICT. LETTER I. MY DEAR SIR, In writing these letters, I am only endea- vouring to perform a promise, made many years since when I had the happiness of rambling with you through some of the hills and valleys of your native country. One of your greatest works seems to contain a poetic ban against my brethren of the hammer, and some of them may have well deserved your censures : for every science has its minute philosophers, who neither have the will to soar above the material things around them, nor the power of rising to the contemplation of those laws by which Nature binds into union the different portions of her kingdom. But geology has now a different form and stature from what she had in earlier days : she is the handmaid of labourers who are toiling, as they be- lieve, for the good of their fellow men : she claims kindred with all the offspring of exact knowledge : and she lends no vulgar help to the loftiest investigations of human thought. To reject her altogether, can only be done consistently by one who shuts his eyes to the light of material science ; and this, I know, is no part of your philosophy ; for no one has put forth nobler views of the universality of nature's kingdom than yourself. You wish not her provinces to be dissevered, but each of them to contribute to the good of the whole state . You believe however, and I subscribe to the same creed, that material science is only so far truly good, as it tends to elevate the mind of man ; giving him a higher conception of his ca- pacities and duties, and a better poww in following them to their proper end. F 2 GEOLOGY OF THE All nature bears the impress of one great Creative Mind, and all parts of knowledge are, therefore, of one kindred and family. In toiling along the narrow path leading to some favourite object of our search, we may perhaps forget the world without us, and so become bigots in our philosophy ; labouring only for our own ends, or at best for that which may seem but for the good of a sect or party. True philosophy has a loftier and better aim. Truth, of whatever kind, she considers as a part of herself, which she has to bring under the government of her will ; and her only end is " the glory of God, and the good of man's estate-" But I must leave these high subjects of speculation, and descend to more homely matters : and in commencing my task I meet with a great difficulty. I wish to convey some general notion of the structure of the Lake District ; and it would be an easy task, even within the compass of one letter, to enumerate the successive great rock formations, to explain their order, and to give a short description of them. But in this way my narrative would inevitably be so dry and repul- sive, that no one but a professed geologist would ever think of reading it, and even such a person would do so with very little profit. I wish to address more general readers any intelligent traveller whose senses are open to the beauties of the country around him, and who is ready to speculate on such matters of interest as it offers to him. I will therefore endeavour to avoid technical language as far as 1 am able, and I do not profess to teach, in a few pages, the geology of a most complicated country (for that would be an idle at- tempt) ; but rather to open the mind to the nature of the subject, and to point out the right way towards a compre- hension of some of its general truths. The region, I wish in this way to notice, is bounded on the West, by the sea-coast extending from the mouth of the Eden to the mouth of the Lune on the North, by the low country bordering the Eden, and stretching from the Sol way Firth to the calcareous hills near Brough and Kirkby Stephen on the East, by the chain of calcareous mountains which ranges from the neighbourhood of Settle (through Ingle- borough, Whernside, Wildboar Fell, &c.) to Stainmoor and on the South, by Morecambe Bay and the lower part of the valley of the Lune. But in the following short sketch, many tracts comprehended within these boundaries, will be hardly noticed. By whatever line a good observer enters the region en- closed within the above mentioned limits, he must be struck LAKE DISTRICT. 5 with the great contrast between the hills and mountains that are arranged on its outskirts, and those which rise up towards its centre. On the outskirts, the mountains have a dull out- line, and a continual tendency to a tabular form : but those in the interior have a much more varied figure, and some- times present outlines which are peaked, jagged, or serrated. This difference arises partly from the nature of the component rocks, and partly from their position : for the more central mountains are chiefly made up of slaty beds, with different degrees of induration, which are highly inclined, and some- times nearly vertical : while the outer hills are, with limited exceptions, made up of beds which are slightly inclined, and sometimes nearly horizontal. Good instances of these facts may be seen at Kendal Fell and Whitbarrow Scar. They may be studied in all their de- tails by one who ascends the water-courses between Ingleton and the caves in Chapel-le-dale and perhaps still better in the valleys between Clapham and Horton. In all these places, the great beds of limestone, at the base of the calcareous mountains, are seen to rest upon the inclined edges of the slates ; and there are hundreds of other places on the out- skirts of the lake-mountains where we may find a similar ar- rangement of the beds. One whose attention has been caught by such phenomena, and has learned to draw the right con- clusion from them, has taken the first firm step in geology ; he has learned that the tabular, calcareous hills, which sur- round the country of the lakes, are of a newer date than the slate rocks within it. But our observer must not rest contented with this conclu- sion. A study of the slate rocks must soon convince him, that their component beds were deposited by the sea, and were once nearly horizontal ; that some great disturbing forces afterwards raised them up, and sometimes twisted them into complicated curves, till at length they permanently set- tled into their present position and that many of these ef- fects were brought about before the existence of the over- lying beds of limestone. Should this remark lead him to speculate on the interval of time that may have elapsed between the periods of the two formations he has been considering, he may return to some of those places where they are seen one resting on the other ; and he will find that the overlying horizontal beds of lime- stone are sometimes separated from the contorted or inclined beds of slate, by masses of conglomerate or cemented shingles, containing innumerable abraded fragments and rolled pob- F 3 t) GEOLOGY OF THE bles, derived from the harder beds associated with the slates : and from the condition of the pebbles he may prove, that at the time the conglomerates were formed, many of the ancient slates were as hard and solid as they are at the present day. Hence he will further conclude that the slate rocks (which contain many regular beds of sea shells and corals) were de- posited by the sea during a long lapse of ages that they were elevated and contorted by great internal movements that they passed nearly into the solid state in which we find them now that afterwards, on the outskirts of their eleva- tion, they were ground down into great irregular masses and banks of shingle and that all this succession of events was complete before the existence of any part of the overlying calcareous chain. Such facts will teach him, that he has been studying phenomena which not only indicate succession, but were elaborated during vast intervals of time. Again, the previous conclusion may be fortified, by an ex- amination of the organic remains which are buried in the slate rocks and the overlying limestone. The indications given by the organic forms prove that there had been a complete change in the animal kingdom, between the epochs of the two formations, for they hardly interchange a single species. However incomprehensible this may be, it never could have been brought about, compatibly with any known operations of nature, without a great change of physical conditions, and a long lapse of ages. What has been stated requires for its comprehension, no previous knowledge of Geology : and any man may make the right observations, and draw the right conclusions from them, when he is once awake to the interest of those phenomena which rise up on every side of him, and seem to court his senses. But there are other questions belonging to the rudiments of geology, which I may now touch upon. The world is not as it was when it came from its Maker's hands. It has been modified by many great revolutions, brought about by an inner mechanism of which we very imperfectly comprehend the movements ; but of which we gain a glimpse by studying their effects : and there are many causes still acting on the surface of our globe with undiminished power, which are chang- ing, and will continue to change it, so long as it shall last. No one can carefully examine a mountain chain, without being convinced that all its inequalities have been greatly modified ; and that there was a time when many of them had no existence : that many yawning chasms were once closed, LAKE DISTRICT. 7 and many hollows once filled up by continuous bands of the strata, which still tally, even in their minutest subdivisions, on the opposite sides of a gorge or valley. The calcareous mountains and valleys skirting the lake country, offer the most perfect illustrations of this view : and we learn that these mountains, though unaffected by some of the great physical revolutions which elevated the older slates, have been lifted out of the sea, rent asunder, and worn down into their present forms, by other causes of like kind, but acting at a later period. I may now mention a theory which is not without its ad- vocates, and was once a favourite doctrine with a large school of geologists. This theory assumes, that many of the valleys and great depressions presented by the surface of the earth, have been scooped out simply by the erosion (continued du- ring a countless succession of past ages) of the waters flow- ing through them. I affirm in reply that the erosion of rivers and torrents, however indefinitely continued, could not account for the hollows and inequalities of any one of our mountain chains that in instances, almost without number, we find streams making their way through clefts and gorges of solid rock and escaping towards the sea, on one side of a chain, while nature offers them an easy and uninterrupted line of descent on the other side that the configuration of no high country yet examined is in accordance with this theory and that, as a general fact, the streams and torrents of our hilly regions have flowed, only during a few thousand years, through the channels in which we now behold them. The lake mountains offer many beautiful illustrations of this conclusion. Let an observer examine the whole course of any river (such, for example, as the Derwent, the Cocker, the Eamont, the Lune, or the Kent) from its mouth to the last threads of its ramification through the higher elevations of the country. He may first mark the transporting powers of a river in the formation of silt and marsh lands ; and the way in which the action of vegetable life, producing great layers of bog earth and turf, combines with this transporting power in raising up and changing the surface of the country. From the marsh lands spreading out on the coast (and per- haps resting on beds of shells like those now living in the sea), he may ascend to the mid region of the river's course, and mark the fertilizing influence of the waters, and the beautiful fringe of country that borders them. He may ascend still higher, and see the torrents wearing out deep grooves and ploughing furrows in the sides of the mountains ; bearing 8 GEOLOGY OF THE gravel and rounded stones to the plains below, and exposing them to the action of the elements. Lastly, he may mark the mounds of rubbish at the foot of all the great precipices, and the fragments of solid rock scattered on the sides of the valley by which he is ascending. Impressed by such pheno- mena, produced during past ages by the erosion of the ele- ments, he may perhaps begin to lean towards that false theory I have before alluded to. But other facts must, in their turn, be noticed, which have a most important bearing upon the question in de- bate. While we ascend the ramifications of a river, we frequently meet with pools of comparatively stagnant water ; and sometimes a succession of those tarns and lakes which give so much brightness and beauty to the country here described. Now all these expanses of nearly stagnant wa- ter (for this is the homely view in which we must now regard them) are the recipients of the mud and gravel brought down from the neighbouring hills. At every point, where a mountain stream enters a tarn or lake, is accumulated a delta of greater or less extent, which is a chronometer to tell us during what time the transporting agents have been carrying on their work. It would be idle to draw any exact conclusion from such rough indicators of past time ; but they all conspire in one story, and tell us in plain terms, that mountain torrents, in the channels where they now flow, have been pushing silt and gravel and blocks of stone before them, only during a few thousand years. Had rivers been playing their present part during an indefinite lapse of ages, not a lake or a tarn could, I believe, have existed in Westmorland and Cumberland. The same conclusion is forced on the mind by the valleys of North Wales, and every hilly country I have yet examined. Should any one ask, how then were these valleys formed ? We may reply, by every great disturbing force which has acted on the crust of the earth since the first deposition of the beds which form the mountains. There has been a long succession of physical revolutions ; and to the combined effects of them all, the older rocks must have been more or less ex- posed. But during the last few thousand years, this part of the world has been almost quiescent, and the pencilling of its outline has only been slightly touched by the erosion of the waters and the gnawing of the elements. Again, we are certain that there have been enormous changes in the relative levels of sea and land. Near the top of Ingleborough, about 2000 feet above the coast level, are beds which were once tran- LAKE DISTRICT. 9 quilly deposited at the bottom of the sea : for they are full of well-preserved shells and corals. The highest parts of Snow- don, are marked by impressions of sea shells ; and similar or- ganic spoils have been found, in some distant chains, at five times the height of any English mountain. Such changes of level, howsoever brought about, must have produced an incom- parably greater transporting power than is shewn in any ordi- nary action of the elements. Accordingly, in our own coun- try, we find heaped on the flanks of the mountains, choking up the valleys, and spreading far and wide along the plains, great masses of alluvial drift, entirely unconnected with any erosion of the existing rivers. We believe that these masses were formed by the sea, during periods when it was changing its level ; and we sometimes (at the height of considerably more than 1000 feet) see proofs of the truth of our hypothe- sis, by finding sea shells of modern species, imbedded in the heaps of incoherent rubbish which have been drifted over the surface. As far as regards the phenomena just noticed, it is a mat- ter of indifference, whether we suppose the sea to have come down from the tops of the mountains, or the mountains to have been pushed up from the bottom of the sea. The latter supposition agrees with the known powers of nature, and Iknow of no other intelligible cause for a change of oceanic level. Mountains are simply the highest points of elevation, marking the places where subterranean forces have pushed upwards with greatest intensity, or met with least resistance. The first movements would throw the horizontal deposits into a dome- shape ; if pushed too far, the outer coating of the dome would crack and burst asunder in different directions, according to the conditions of the moving and resisting powers. It might be sometimes in lines diverging from a centre, like the higher valleys of Cumberland. These cracks and fissures, whether formed under the sea, or in the open air, would be the first ru- diments of future valleys : and it is obvious that at all future times, the abrading power of water would act with most in- tensity upon the lines of fracture and the projecting ends of the shattered strata. Combining this remark with the fact, that there have been many great oscillations of the land, and a long succession of geological periods marked and dated by the plainest physical records, we need not wonder that the valleys of Cumberland and Westmorland (traversing as they do some of the oldest rocks which have obtained a known place in the chronicles of the earth) should present pheno- mena not to be explained by any forces, however long conti- nued, which are now seen to act on the surface of the country. 10 GEOLOGY OF THE One who is alive to the interest of the subject I have just touched on, may, when following the coast between Carlisle and Lancaster, or ascending by any one of the valleys towards the higher mountains of the district, find excellent examples both of modern river sediment, and more ancient marine drift. The older gravel often contains blocks of enormous size, bear- ing witness to the greatness of that power which moved them from their parent seat. But there are transported bowlders unconnected with any other drifted matter, sometimes many tons in weight, and in positions most strange and difficult to be accounted for. To follow this subject into its details would lead me far be- yond the limits of this letter. I will, therefore, almost con- fine my notice to the travelled blocks of Shap granite ; and they have too distinct a mineral structure to be mistaken, in whatever company we may meet with them. The manner in which they have been scattered over the surface may be understood from the following facts : 1 . Setting out from Wasdale Crag near Shap (where is the parent rock), they have passed over the steep calcareous ridge that stretches from Orton Scar to Knipe Scar ; we find them scattered, far and wide, upon the low country bordering the Eden ; many of them have been floated to the height of seve- ral hundred feet above that river, against the steep sides of the great Cross Fell ridge ; and in one or two places, near Dufton, the blocks almost cover the ground, and have been mistaken for the decomposing surface of a great mass of un- disturbed granite. 2. They have been carried towards the East, and many were stranded on the barrier of Stainmoor; but thousands of blocks, and some of several tons weight, were pushed over that ridge, and then scattered over the plains of Yorkshire. Some floated over the Hambleton hills and were lodged in the valleys near Scarborough : many others were driven over the chalk downs to the coast of Holderness. 3. Bowlders from Wasdale Crag, some of very great size, have descended the valley of the Kent to the head of More- cambe Bay. Such a movement we may comprehend, allow- ing an adequate propelling force of water. But they are not confined to the sides of the water-courses. They have been floated to the tops of hills, and across great chasms and depressions. They are found, in numbers, on the high hills between Kendal and Sedbergh, in positions they could not have reached without crossing valleys, now at least, seve- ral hundred feet in depth. I might here notice the bowlders LAKE DISTRICT. 1 1 of granite and other hard rock, which have been drifted from the western valleys of Cumberland over the plains of Lancashire and Cheshire, and to the very tops of the hills between Cheshire and Derbyshire the gigantic masses of crystalline rock (some of them not less than forty or fifty feet in diameter) which have descended from the sides of Mont Blanc, then crossed the great valley of Switzerland, and after- wards been lodged against the sides, or pushed over the tops, of the Jura chain and the innumerable Scandinavian bowl- ders which are scattered over all the northern plains of Germany. But my limits admit of no details, and I will rest my conclusions on facts supplied by the north of England. Here then is a great difficulty. By what power were these " erratic blocks" scattered over the north of England, and lodged in positions that seem so utterly strange and anoma- lous? We may readily admit any change in the relative level of land and water ; and therefore, any propelling power of oceanic currents consequent upon such a change, and ne- cessary to account for the superficial drift that sometimes contains, as before stated, recent marine shells at the height of considerably more than a thousand feet. But no propel- ling force of water seems capable of driving gigantic bowl- ders across ravines and valleys, from mountain top to moun- tain top ; yet we want an agent capable of doing this, when we endeavour to account for the phenomena above described. Late observations on the marine shells derived from the Crag of Norfolk and Suffolk, and other very recent marine deposits on the eastern coast of England, make it probable, that during a period not long before the great diluvial drift our climate was much colder than it is at the present day. The appearances on the coast of North America have given rise to the same conclusion ; and the labours of M. M. Agas- siz, Charpentier, and other Swiss naturalists, have, I think, clearly proved, that, just before the historic time, the gla- ciers of the Alps were far more extended than they are now. If this be true, may we not suppose that, at the same period, the higher valleys of England and Scotland were filled with glaciers, and that numberless blocks of stone which had rolled down the mountain sides, or been torn off from the neigh- bouring precipices, were then packed up in thick-ribbed ice? No one will, .1 trust, be so bold as to affirm that an unin- terrupted glacier could ever have extended from Shap Fells to the coast of Holderness, and borne along the blocks of granite through the whole distance, without any help from the floating power of water. The supposition involves diffi- 1 2 GEOLOGY OF THE culties tenfold greater than are implied in the phenomenon it pretends to account for. The glaciers descending through the valleys of the higher Alps have an enormous transport ing power : but there is no such power in a great sheet of ice expanded over a country without mountains, and at a nearly dead level. The period of refrigeration (if such indeed there were) had at length an end ; and we can hardly conceive any gene- ral change of climate without some great oscillation in the water level. Let us then suppose the earth to sink, or the ocean to rise up, so that the coast line may reach our higher valleys, and then currents of the sea may float away the ancient glaciers with their imbedded fragments of rock. In this way we can conceive it possible that blocks of Shap granite may have been stranded on the side of Cross Fell, or floated over the top of Stainmoor and the crest of the Ham- bleton hills ; and dropped, by the gradual melting of the ice- bergs, on the spots where we now find them. Soon after- wards, our island may have gained a condition of equilibrium, and the land may have risen, or the sea descended, to its present level ; in which there appears to have been very little change during the period of modern authentic history. The previous hypothesis is not new. It was first started, forty or fifty years since, to explain the transporting power which had brought away millions of bowlders and fragments of rock from the Scandinavian chain, and scattered them over the plains in the north of Germany, and in Poland and a part of Russia. But it seemed to be entangled in the greatest difficulty, for how were we to find the ice, which was the most important part of the machinery ? Geological pheno- mena appeared to indicate a gradual lowering of temperature, from the oldest epoch down to the present period : and hence it was inferred, that in the epoch just before the historic time, the earth must have been warmer than in our days. But no analogy can stand against the direct evidence of facts ; and if there has been a period of refrigeration, accompanied by a great oscillation in the level of land and water, the glacial theory will then lend itself readily to the transport of the " erratic blocks,'' and it involves no supposition which is in antagonism with the known workings of nature. For sea and land have changed their relative levels many times ; and ice- bergs, year by year, do bear away great blocks of stone from the arctic regions, and drop them in the sea many hun- dred miles from the shores they first started from. But whe- ther the glacial theory truly accounts for all the strange LAKE DISTRICT. 13 movements of the Shap granite, above described, is a ques- tion on which I wish not to offer any decided opinion. One thing at least is certain, that, by whatever cause the " erratic blocks" were floated across our valleys and over our mountains, their dispersion took place at a comparatively re- cent time. For many of them, though lying bare on the sur- face, and exposed to all the action of our climate, still clink under the hammer, and hardly shew more signs of decay than the granite of an Egyptian obelisk. I see no reason for sup- posing that the movement of the great bowlders necessarily took place before the existence of the human race. On this question there seems no direct or conclusive evidence leading to one side or the other. We know, indeed, that bowlders, like those above described, are often associated with ancient marine drift, containing bones of mammals of extinct species (such as Mammoth, Mastodon, Rhinoceros, Hippopotamus, &c. &c.) and we believe that no human bones have been found in the old gravel of Europe, except in situations which seem to shew that they were introduced at a more recent date. But allowing the negative conclusion, that no human bones were entombed along with the extinct mammals, in the old gravel of Europe, it does not thence follow, that the human race was in no other part of the world ever coeval with the Mastodon and the Mammoth. Whatever may become of such a question, the direct evidence remains untouched ; and the condition of the travelled bowlders of Shap granite proves that they were not floated away from the hills of West- morland during any ancient and indefinite period of time long before the creation of our species. If we have the clearest proofs of great oscillations of sea- level, and have a right to make use of them while we seek to explain some of the latest phenomena of geology, may we not reasonably suppose that within the periods of human his- tory, similar oscillations have taken place in those parts of Asia which were the cradle of our race, and may have pro- duced that destruction among the early families of men, which is described in our sacred books, and of which so many tra- ditions have been brought down to us through all the streams of authentic history? Whatever may become of this question, and of some others, which the limits of this letter barely permit me to touch upon, this I will affirm, that among the records of creation discover- ed to us by the monuments of the earth's crust, we find no chapter more difficult than that which links the past with the present, and leads us up to the historic period, and the be- 14 GEOLOGY OF THE ginning of the works of man. Among the older records, we rind chapter after chapter of which we can read the charac- ters, and make out their meaning : and as we approach the period of man's creation, our book becomes more clear, and nature seems to speak to us in language so like our own, that we easily comprehend it. But just as we begin to enter on the history of physical changes going on before our eyes, and in which we ourselves bear a part, our chronicle seems to fail us a leaf- has been torn out from nature's record, and the succession of events is almost hidden from our eyes. The strange hypotheses sober and good observers have been driven to invent, in their endeavours to explain pheno- mena, which in the language of geology, happened but as yesterday, are but proofs of the difficulty and obscurity of that chapter in the natural history of the earth, which, being the nearest to that describing changes of our own days, one might have expected to have been the most plain and legible. With this remark I conclude my long letter. In my next 1 hope to notice the successive deposits of the lake mountains, and the way in which they are related to one another. Believe me, my dear Sir, Very faithfully your's, A. SEDGWICK. Cambridge, May 23, 1842. LETTER II. MY PEAR SIR, In my preceding letter I shortly noticed the external features of the Lake district, the structure of its valleys, the erosion of its surface by the daily action of the elements, the accumulations of alluvial silt and gravel within its area, the heaps of diluvial drift, and the great bowlders which have travelled from the higher mountains far and wide over theNorth of England. My present object is to convey some notion of the structure of the great mountain masses, and to shew how the several parts are fitted one to another. This can only be done after great labour. The cliffs where the rocks are laid bare by the sea, the clefts and fissures in the hills and valleys, the deep grooves through which the waters flow, all must be in turn examined : and out of much 15 seeming confusion, order will at length appear. We must in imagination sweep off the drifted matter that clogs the surface of the ground ; we must suppose all the covering of moss and heath and wood to be torn away from the sides of the mountains, and the green mantle that lies near their feet to be lifted up ; we may then see the muscular integuments, and sinews, and bones of our mother Earth, and so judge of the part played by each of them during those old convulsive movements whereby her limbs were contorted and drawn up into their present posture. But all these preliminary labours must here be taken for grant- ed, and I must content myself with giving, in the best way I can, a bare outline of the results to which observers have in this way come. The rock formations in the mountain tracts between the basins of the Eden and the Lune, (as defined in my former letter,) are divided into the following natural groups : 1 . New red sandstone, magnesian limestone and conglo- merate, &c. 2. The carboniferous series, including the carboniferous or mountain limestone. 3. Old red sandstone. 4. Upper slates of Westmorland, Low Furness, and a part of Yorkshire, based on the limestone of Coniston Water Head. 5. A great deposit of green slate and porphyry, forming some of the highest mountains of Furness Fells, Westmor- land, and Cumberland. 6. Skiddaw slate, passing, in the heart of Skiddaw forest, into a complicated group of crystalline or ' metamorphic' slates. As all the preceding groups were deposited under the sea, the highest (No. 1.) must be of the newest, and the lowest (No. 6.) of the oldest date. From beneath them all rise great masses of granite and other kinds of crystalline unbedded rock (No. 7), pushed by the force of subterranean fires into the posi- tions where we now find them. But the date of their erup- tion cannot be made out from their inner structure ; and we can only define the epochs of their appearance by the effects they have produced on the more regular aqueous deposits through which they have forced their way. The wood-cut appended to these letters may convey some notion of the relative positions of the several great deposits. The left side of the section represents a descending series from the calcareous mountains of Westmorland and Yorkshire to the granite in the centre of Skiddaw Forest (No. 7) : but some great derangements of the groups, produced by lines of fault, G 2 1 6 GEOLOGY OF THE are not delineated, as they would make the section too com- plicated for a first general view. The right side of the sec- tion (commencing with No. 7) represents an ascending series from Skiddaw Forest to Cross Fell. No attempt is however made to give with any exactness the relative magnitudes of the successive groups ; nor would it be possible, on such a scale, to delineate the contortions of the beds'. In the above order I now proceed to notice the successive formations. WEW RED SANDSTONE, MAGNESIAN LIMESTONE AND CONGLOMERATE, &C. This is the newest formation of the country under notice ; for wherever it is associated with other deposits it is always found to rest upon them. It fills all the lower part of the basin of the Eden, from the neighbourhood of Brough to the shores of the Solway Firth. At Maryport it is cut off by the coal-measures ; but it re-appears at St. Bees' Head, and strikes along the coast to the estuary of the Duddon, and the western promontories of Low Furness ; and it is seen in a few spots on the shores of Morecambe Bay. In some parts of this long coast range it seems to have been entirely washed away, and in other places it is covered up by enormous heaps of diluvial drift, the colour of which is derived from the abraded fragments of the red sandstone. If we cross to the other side of Morecambe Bay, we meet with the same great formation on the coast of Lancashire ; and it may thence be traced, through the plains of Cheshire, to the great red central plain stretching across our island from the mouth of the Tees to the mouth of the Severn. The upper part of the formation supports a very fertile soil, and contains much red gypseous marl, and sometimes very large deposits of rock salt : but of this part we find few, if any, traces on the flanks of the Cumbrian mountains. The lower part is sometimes covered with an arid and sterile soil, and is chiefly made up of a strong thickly-bedded red sandstone, in various degrees of induration. In this form it is seen in several parts of the basin of the Eden : but it is valuable as a building stone, and was largely used in the churches and mo- nastic monuments of the middle ages. The rock here described may be seen, in all its varieties, in the quarries near Carlisle, in the ravines below Furness Abbey, and on the banks of the Calder. At St. Bees' Head it is beautifully exposed to view, and rests on some'beds of gyp- LAKE DISTRICT. 17 seous marl or 'plaster rock' (not to be confounded with the upper gypseous marls above noticed), which were formerly worked. From beneath the marls rise the magnesian lime- stone and conglomerate ; and these are in their turn under- laid by a lower red sandstone, forming a connecting link between the coal series and the deposits I am here enume- rating. The conglomerates at Barrow-mouth, under St. Bees' Head, are of insignificant thickness ; but at Stenkreth Bridge, near Kirkby Stephen, they are seen in far greater force ; and by their unequal resistance to the waters of the Eden have given rise to some very striking scenery. They contain both an- gular and water-worn fragments of the mountain limestone and coal measures : and we thence infer, that they were not deposited till the carboniferous series had passed into a solid form. It is impossible to study the evidence for this conclu- sion without being driven to the belief, that a long cycle of ages must have rolled away between the period of the lime- stone, and that of the conglomerates which rest upon its edges and are partly made up of its ruins. There are instances without number, in other parts of England, in which the whole new red sandstone series is unconformable to the lower rocks on which it rests. It often passes over their inclined edges, like a lintel over the side-posts of a door; and in such cases we have proof positive, that the lower beds had become solid and were set on edge before the red sand- stone was dropped upon them. The formation seldom appears at a high level. Were Eng- land to descend a few hundred feet, all the great central plain above noticed, would be under water ; and the waters of the Sol way Firth would extend to the foot of Stainmoor, and co- ver nearly all the space now marked, in our geological maps, by the colour of the new red sandstone. From this fact we may infer, that the cluster of the Lake mountains and the chain of Cross Fell had been (at least partially) elevated before the period of the new red sandstone. The position of its beds seems to justify this conclusion ; for they rest upon the outskirts of the carboniferous rocks in their long range from Kirkby Stephen to Maryport ; and, after being expanded on both sides of the Eden, they abut against the great terrace presented by the ridge of Cross Fell (see wood-cut). A great cleft or ' fault' (sometimes called the ' Pennine fault') ranges from the foot of Stainmoor along the base of this ter- race, producing such an enormous ' upcast' towards the N.E., G 3 18 GEOLOGlT OF THE that the carboniferous beds, which on one side of the ' fault' are lifted to the height of nearly 3000 feet, are on the other side of it deeply buried underneath the new red sandstone and the alluvion of the Eden. But I must quit a subject re- quiring for its discussion a knowledge of details I have no right to presume the readers of this letter to be acquainted with. Should any one enquire what was the interval of time be- tween the period of the new red sandstone and of the diluvial rubbish described in the former letter ? we may reply, that Cumberland gives us no materials for determining such a ques- tion. It only teaches us, that while the drifted matter was forming, the red sandstone was as solid as we now find it in the quarries. This fact, of itself, implies a great interval of time between the two deposits ; and other parts of England leave us in no doubt as to the right answer to the previous question. The new red sandstone is, in many parts of England, over- laid by a series of secondary formations beginning with the lias and ending with the chalk, each requiring a period of many ages for its elaboration. They contain the remains of many successive creations of organic beings, fitted to perform all the functions of life f but under conditions differing from those of the world in which we now live. Among their strata are the remains of gigantic reptiles, lines of undisturbed coral reefs, beds innumerable of sea shells which have lived and died on the spots where we now find them, and the petrified stumps of trees in the very soil in which they once grew. Phenomena of this kind are repeated again and again. These facts, however striking in themselves, become incom- parably more so when studied in combination : and they de- monstrate, that successive physical epochs were distinguished by successive changes in the forms of animal and vegetable life, each change brought about by no natural transmutation of species, nor by any material law we can comprehend, but by an act of creative power. However hard it may be for the mind to grasp a succession of facts like these, assuredly long periods of time are implied in their very existence. Nor do we end here. The chalk and its imbedded flints were all solid, and its organic remains were all petrified before the London clay and the other regular ' tertiary' beds were deposited upon it. The London clay swarms with the traces of organic life, which are utterly unlike the fossils of the chalk, and equally unlike the living Fauna of our island. We can- LAKE DISTRICT. 19 not take one step in geology without drawing upon the fa- thomless stores of by-gone time. Man, and all his fellow- beings in the kingdoms of animated nature, arc creatures but of yesterday : and in no sense (except as the offspring of the same creating and controlling mind) are they the de- scendents or relations of those beings which are found en- tombed among the monuments of the ancient world. But to what does all this tend ? It contains a reply to the question before started. Portions of the diluvial drift, and, I believe, all the ' erratic bowlders', have passed over the country since the period of the chalk and of the newest ' tertiary' rocks on the eastern coasts of England. Thousands of ages must therefore have elapsed between the time of their jour- ney and the epoch of the new red sandstone. There remains another question. If the new red sandstone be of such vast antiquity, what were the forms and conditions of animal and vegetable life coeval with it? The following summary contains the only reply permitted by the limits of this letter. 1. The lower red sandstone, between the magnesian lime- stone and the coal measures, is by its structure and position more nearly related to the formations above it than to those below it : but its vegetable fossils are nearly identical with those of the carboniferous epoch. 2. The corals, shells, and fish of the magnesian limestone and conglomerate differ in species from the fossils of the car- boniferous series. At the same time there are some generic forms in this limestone identical with those of the older rocks ; but unlike any which appear between the lias and the chalk, or in any newer deposit. 3. The remains of no reptiles have been discovered below the new red sandstone and magnesian limestone : but they appear among the beds of those deposits under forms so strange and anomalous, that anatomists have only found a place for them by interpolating new chapters in nature's history, and separating the class of reptiles into new orders and genera. The Palceosaurus (old lizard) of the magnesian limestone, approaches in the structure of its teeth to the hard-backed crocodiles ; but in its bony structure it comes nearer to the scaly lizards. In the new red sandstone is a lizard with jaws like the beak of a bird of prey ; hence the name Rhyncho- saurus. In the upper beds of the same formation are im- pressions of large feet resembling the marks of a human hand; hence the name C/iirot/terium, or hand-beast. These mon- sters are now proved to be gigantic batrachians (animals of 20 GEOLOGY OF THE the same order with frogs and toads), and they had jaws arm- ed with formidable teeth resembling those of the crocodile.* 4. The vegetable fossils of the new red sandstone belong to a peculiar Flora. They do not interchange species either with the vegetable fossils of the carboniferous epoch, or with those of the lias and oolites : still less do they resemble the vegetables of the tertiary period, or the present Flora of Europe. We cannot believe that these successive forms of animated nature were created and destroyed by the mere impulses of a capricious will : but we do believe that they were called into being, and wisely adapted to the successive conditions of our planet, during its progress from a chaotic state till it reached the perfection in which we now find it. Of the physical changes our planet has undergone, we may gain, at least, a glimmering of knowledge from a study of its physical records. We may suppose, on analogy, fortified by considerations of a more direct and higher kind, that it was once expanded through space in the form of a luminous va- pour. We believe, on good evidence, that it was once in a fluid state. The crystalline condition of its inner parts im- plies a fluidity derived from heat : and if this conclusion be true, the crust of the earth must have passed through many stages of higher temperature before it descended to the mean temperature of the present day. The same conclusion is for- tified by the fossils of the older rocks, which indicate a cli- mate warmer than that of the modern period. Again, enormous masses of carbon are now fixed in the upper parts of the earth's crust, both in chemical combination with other elements, and more simply and tangibly in great beds of coal and other carbonaceous deposits. Much of this fixed and solid carbon may once have floated round the earth as one of the constituents of its atmosphere. A dense atmos- phere highly charged with carbonic acid may have been well fitted to the rank vegetation of the carboniferous epoch : such an atmosphere may also have been adapted to the respiration of the cold-blooded monsters of the secondary rocks ; but ut- terly unfit for tribes of warm-blooded mammals, created at a later period, and now flourishing on the surface of the earth. However limited may be our knowledge of the successive physical changes of our planet, this at least is certain, that the Author of Nature has, during all periods, formed organic * See Owen's admirable "Report on fossil Reptiles." Proceedings of the British Association, 1840 and 1841. LAKE DISTRICT. 21 beings on the same great plan : so that we can reason from the organs to the functions of a cold-blooded monster of the old world, with as much certainty as an anatomist can reason on the adaptation of a skeleton to the habits and wants of a living species. No sober geologist now dares to give an ideal history of the revolutions of the earth. He may speculate indeed, on points respecting which he is at present supplied with very imperfect evidence: but such speculations he considers of little moment. He studies phenomena, groups them together, contemplates them in all their bearings, and so attempts to rise from phenomena to laws. Should he fail in this attempt ; still all his steps are in the right direction, and in the end will not fail to lead him towards some higher truth. CARBONIFEROUS SERIES. The rocks included under this name, form an irregular girdle almost surrounding the higher lake mountains. To describe them in detail would require a large volume ; and I must content myself with little more than a bare enu- meration of the four groups into which they may be conve- niently divided. First group, or upper coal-measures This group extends along the coast from the the north side of St. Bees' Head to Maryport ; and at both places, as before stated, it is covered by the new red sandstone. From the coast it may be follow- ed to the interior, where it bends round the north side of the higher mountains, gradually diminishing in breadth, and at length ending abruptly in the neighbourhood of Rosley Hill. It contains many thin worthless bands of coal ; but there are eight or ten different beds in it, which have been profitably worked. The two beds, from which coal has been so long extracted near Whitehaven and Workington (one of them, the main band, sometimes nine or ten feet thick), are in tho upper part of the group ; the four or five beds formerly work- ed in the Harrington field, are in the lower part of it ; and its aggregate thickness is perhaps not less than 1 ,000 feet. The whole deposit once consisted of alternations of sand and finely laminated mud ; with countless fragments of drifted vegetables sometimes single, sometimes matted together in thick and widely extended beds. Occasionally the plants are upright in posture, and so entire that they seem not to have been drifted from the spots on which they grew : in such cases the coal-beds become the indications of forests and 22 GEOLOGY OF THE bogs submerged in by-gone ages, during the changes of level between land and water. In course of time the drifted sand beds became sandstone ; the mud became slaty clay or shale ; the vegetable fossils were bituminized ; and the whole for- mation passed into the condition in which we now see it. In the upper part of this group (as exhibited in different parts of the North of England) are no marine remains ; but it contains some beds of shells belonging to fresh-water genera. All the plants are of extinct species ; many of them of extinct genera ; and they are of forms which indicate a high tropical temperature. Among them are coniferous trees, like those in some of the South-sea Islands ; gigantic reeds ; tree-ferns ; enormous creeping plants with sharp pinnated leaves (Stig- maria) ; trees with fluted stems; and many other strange but beautiful forms of vegetable life, seemingly pushed to rank- ness and luxuriance by great heat and moisture. It is in vain to speculate on the exact duration of the car- boniferous epoch : but we are sure that it lasted through a vast period of time. One who has any feeling for the wonders of the old world, and arty interest in the powers of human skill, will do well to visit the Whitehaven coal-field. The enormous under-ground excavations the costly machinery a living world many hun- dred feet beneath the surface of the earth the streams of gas perpetually rising from the coal beds, which thus give back to the atmosphere a part of the very elements they once drank up from it the great breaks and contortions of the solid strata the prodigious influence the mineral treasures are now exerting upon the habits of the whole civilized world these assuredly, in whatever light we regard them, (physi- cally or morally), are topics of no vulgar interest. But in- viting as the subject is, I must here leave it. - Second group, or millstone grit. This group is of compli- cated structure, being made up of coarse sandstone (occasion- ally used for millstones), siliceous flagstone, shale, and two or three thin bands of coal. On the north side of the Lake mountains it is seen only in a very degenerate form : but in the calcareous chain on the south-eastern side, it is finely ex- posed to view along the tops of the highest mountains ; and is not less than six or seven hundred feet thick. There is not, however, any single mountain in which this whole series is well exhibited. Of the coarser grits, deserving the name of mill- stone, there are three great beds ; the lowest of which forms the tabular rock, resting, like a huge coping stone, on the top of Ingleborough. The coal beds in this group are gene- LAKE DISTRICT. 23 rally very poor, and only worked by horizontal drifts from the sides of the mountains : but a little above Hawes they increase in thickness, and are worked to considerable profit, by vertical shafts. Few shells have been found in this subdivision of the car- boniferous series : but as it rests upon marine deposits, and in some parts of Yorkshire is surmounted by beds with marine shells, we may conclude that it is of marine rather than fresh water origin ; in which case we must consider the coal beds as formed by vegetable matter drifted from the land into a shallow sea or estuary. Third group, or shale limestone This group forms the upper part of the calcareous zone on the north side of the Cumbrian mountains. There, however, it never rises to a high level, and it is so much covered up with drifted matter, that its subdivisions cannot be easily followed. But in the brows of thehigher hills between Penyghentand Stainmooritisseen in great perfection, and sometimes reaches the thickness of 1 ,000 or 1 ,200 feet. To give one example ; all the great precipices under the crown of Ingleborough, are made up of the rocks of this complicated group, in which are five beds of limestone, alternating with shale, sandstone, and a few thin bands of coal. The beautiful fossil marble, so much used in the north of England, is derived from the two highest calcareous beds of this group : the black marble is obtained exclusively from the lowest. Several of the coal bands, especially one under the highest (or ' upper scar') limestone, have been extensive- ly worked, both by horizontal drifts and by shafts. All the limestone beds are full of marine shells and corals: from which we may conclude, that the coal bands alternating with them, were formed of vegetable matter which had drifted into the sea. Fourth, and lowest group, or great scar limestone. This beautiful rock is almost entirely made up of animal remains, especially shells and corals ; and must once have stretched far and wide among shores and shoals which, though long ob- literated from the face of the earth, were the first rudiments of the British Isles. During this period the scar limestone formed a fringing coral reef round the cluster of the Lake mountains. Even now it may be traced uninterruptedly through the greater part of their circumference ; and on the west coast between Egremont and Duddon-mouth, where it has almost disappeared, there are three small patches of lime- stone seeming to indicate its former continuity on that side of Cumberland. 24 GEOLOGY OF THE On the southern limits of the country here described, the great reef was in ancient times severed by faults and breaks, which were gradually opened out into wide valleys : but it requires little effort of imagination to conceive that all the great patches of limestone, now marked in this part of our geolo- gical maps, were once united. On the eastern limit of the country under notice, the limestone forms an almost pure and uninterrupted calcareous mass, five or six hundred feet in thickness. In the northern part of the zone it degenerates in thickness, and is interrupted by alternating beds of sand- stone. It must, during the progress of its formation, have been com- paratively solid : and hence, during subsequent periods of its disruption and elevation., it was incomparably less contorted than the older slate rocks, which at one time were soft and pliable. To its internal structure, and to all the disturbing forces that have since acted upon it, we are to ascribe its ex- traordinary features its mural precipices, its caverns, its re- ciprocating springs, and its deep clefts and gorges. No for- mation in our island shows features of more play and beauty. The fair bright islands of Killarney the clefts of Cheddar, and St. Vincent's rocks the delicious valleys of the Wye and the High Peak (and to come nearer the lake country) the sub- lime gorge of Gordale the fine grey precipices at the foot of Ingleborough the caverns of Chapel-le-dale and Clapham the rocks of Kirkby Lonsdale bridge and the great white terrace of Whitbarrow all belong to the features of this limestone. The organic remains of this rock are in infinite abundance, and are described at great length by many authors, especially by Mr. Phillips.* In this place it is only necessary to state, that considered as a group they differ specifically from the fossils both of the older and newer formations. The newer deposits, commencing with the new red sandstone, contain as above mentioned, numberless reptiles, many of which were of gigantic size, and were the tyrants and scavengers of the ancient deep. In the carboniferous series no reptiles have yet been found : their place is supplied by animals of a different class, but of kindred habits fierce ' sauroid fish' creatures breathing by the help of gills, and having the skele- tons of fish ; but with jaws armed with great conical teeth like those of large crocodiles or lizards. * Geology of Yorkshire, Vol. II. These remains are abundant in Kendal Fell. LAKE DISTRICT. 25 Though the limestone is, like a great potsherd, broken into many fragments, and is now elevated to the tops of mount- ains ; yet its beds (excepting on the lines of certain great faults) are nearly horizontal in its whole southern and eastern range. In its northern range it is considerably more tilted. The horizontal limestone (as before noticed) is seen to rest on the inclined slate rocks in the valleys between Horton and Clapham, without the intervention of a conglomerate. But in such cases, the jagged edges of the slates have been worn off by the continued erosion of water, and rubbed down almost to a smooth horizontal surface: a fact which shews, that there must have been a long interval of time between the elevation of the slates and the commencement of the super- incumbent coral reef. At Thornton Force, near Ingleton, (a place on every account deserving a visit), the inclined slates are separated from the horizontal limestone by a thin band of conglomerate ; and thus we arrive at the same con- clusion by independent evidence. In terminating this notice of the carboniferous series, I may remark, that very thin bands of impure coal are occasionally found in the great scar limestone that all its darker beds de- rive their colour from bituminous matter and that, in a few places within the district, carbonaceous shales appear near its base, and have given rise to unprofitable coal works. But the same dark shales, in the range of the series from Stain- moor through Cross Fell towards Scotland, become greatly expanded, and alternate with sandstone ; and at length, in the basin of the Tweed, give rise to a profitable coal-field far be- low the geological level of any one which is worked in the more southern parts of our island. OLD RED SANDSTONE, &C. This deposit is made up of marl, sandstone, and coarse conglomerate ; marking a period of great attrition produced by the beating of the sea upon the edges of the old contorted slates, from their first elevation to the time when the reefs of limestone began to form about them. The older rocks were solid, and had been scooped into deep valleys before the existence of the greater part of the conglomerates. This conclusion is proved by the condition of the imbedded pebbles ; and by the fact, that in the upper part of the valley of the Rother, above Sedbergh, enormous masses of the old red conglomerates almost fill up an ancient valley of the slate rocks. It is implied also, though on less impressive evidence, from 26 GEOLOGY OF THE the position of the conglomerates in the upper parts of the basin of the Kent. The formation is interrupted and irregu- lar ; having to all appearance been ground down, by the action of the sea upon the older strata, into great banks of coarse shingles, but never spread out into long and continuous beds. This at least is its present appearance between the terrace of the limestone and the slates. Near Orton, a deposit of a red, and sometimes a grey sand- stone, resting upon a conglomerate, seems to form an under terrace to the limestone, but its relations are not clear. In its farther range to the N. W. the formation is almost always seen as a conglomerate : and in that state is shewn in three or four places between Shap Fells and the river Lowther ; but always under the limestone terrace or near its base. Its largest development is in the very coarse conglomerates near the foot of Ullswater, where it rises into a succession of round-topped hills several hundred feet high, and is of great thickness : but towards the N. W. it suddenly dies away. In the neighbourhood of Hesket Newmarket, it however breaks out again in three or four insignificant patches ; after which it is not again seen under the long range of the carboniferous rocks towards the west coast of Cumberland. There is perhaps no true passage between the old red sandstone, above described, and the overlying beds of lime- stone : it is not, however, probable that any long lapse of time intervened between one formation and the other. As soon as the rude mechanical action that produced the conglo- merates had ceased, the shell beds and coral reefs began to skirt the ancient shores. In Herefordshire and some of the neighbouring counties, the old red sandstone exhibits a complete and uninterrupted sequence of deposits from the slate rocks to the carboniferous limestone, and is of enormous thickness. It is there divided into three groups the lowest characterized by red flagstone (or ' tilestone') the middle group by bands 01 concretionary limestone (or cornstone') the highest by*red sandstone and conglomerate. As a general rule, the old red sandstone of the North of England represents only the highest of these three groups. While the two lower groups were forming in Herefordshire, the active powers of nature were employed, among the Cumbrian mountains, in elevating and contorting the ancient rocks, and not in laying down new deposits. To this remark there seems to be an almost solitary exception on the banks of the Lune, a little above Kirkby Lonsdale : for there we meet with somebeds of red flagstone, of the age of the LAKE DISTRICT. 27 lower bods of 'tilestone,' and full of fossils, surmounted by bands of concretionary limestone, and by red marls and con- glomerates. But even there the sequence is not complete and uninterrupted : for the red flagstones were in a solid state, and were tilted up, before the marls arid conglomerate! were formed upon them. Wo have no right to expect many organic remains in a coarse mechanical rock like that above described. But in Scotland and Herefordshire the formation contains beds with many fossils, especially fish : and of all strange monsters, they are amongst the strangest which underground labours have brought to the light of day. As a group, they differ generically from all other living and fossil fish : some of them, in external characters, making a link with the crustacean or- der having the gills and skeleton of a fish combined with a rough bony covering like that of a crab.* In other places, especially in Devonshire, the formation has the mineral struc- ture of a slate rock, and abounds with shells and corals; which considered as a group, are formed on a type intermediate be- tween that of the carboniferous limestone and of the older elates. Before I attempt any sketch of the older slate rocks of the Cumbrian mountains, let me endeavour to translate into com- mon language that chapter in the strange old chronicles of the earth, of which we have been turning over the leave* from the end to the beginning. First then, we have the record of an ancient revolution given by the old conglomerates Secondly, the great scar limestone tells us of a long period of repose. Its coral reefs were formed in a shallow sea (for in such seas only do corals grow) : but in course of time it sank down, and a sea many hundred feet deep floated over it, and spread out upon it banks of sand, and mud, and drifted vegetables washed from the neighbouring land. Thirdly, again was a period of repose, when a second band of limestone, with its shells and corals, was tranquilly deposited : after which was a second subsidence, like the former, and followed by like effects. These operations were six times repeated in the formation of the eastern calcareous mountains ; each period of repose and each subsidence producing a repetition of like * I take this opportunity of strongly recommending to the rea- der, a work on the old red sandstone of Scotland, at once popular and scientific, and full of the most lively interest ; by Mr. H. Miller. EDINBURGH, 1841. H 2 28 GEOLOGY OP THE phenomena. Fourthly, came the period of the millstone grit, when the bays and estuaries were gradually filled up r and marine animals ceased to leave their traces among the waters. Lastly, the lagoons and estuaries were converted into lakes and marshes ; a rank tropical vegetation covered the ground, and produced the materials of future coal-fields. Still we are compelled to invoke the same powers of nature : for some of our coal-fields are thousands of feet in thickness, and I can see no intelligible means of accounting for them without the intervention of vast and repeated changes be- tween the levels of land and water. But here I will escape from the slippery ground of hypothesis, and conclude this long letter. Believe me, my dear Sir, Very faithfully yours, A, SEDGWICK. Cambridge, May 24, 1842. LETTER III. MY DEAR SIR, In my former letter I described the new- red sandstone, the carboniferous series, and the old red sand- stone skirting the Lake mountains. I must now attempt a sketch of the slate rocks and granitic masses of the central region* Technical details I wish as far as possible to avoid : but I cannot omit them altogether, and_ am reluctantly com- pelled to begin this letter with them. Among the deposits above described, there is seldom any difficulty in making out the order of the beds: but the slate rocks are highly inclined ; sometimes set on edge ; occasionally (though rarely in the Lake country) turned upside down ; so that their order is in certain places involved in almost inex- tricable confusion. Every one, who pretends to observe for himself, must be provided with a good map and a pocket compass ; and as he rambles across the country, he may often see the slaty beds rising like a knife's edge through the soil, and running over the hills and across the valleys in undulating l-AKE DISTRICT. 29 or zig-zag lines. At such points of view, he may, by help of his compass easily determine, in a general way, the direc- tions of the beds, and the points towards which they incline. Should he wish to make more accurate observations, he must be provided with a spirit-level, for determining a horizontal plane, and a clinometer, for measuring the inclination of the beds : but these instruments ("though easily packed along with the compass in a small pocket-case) are only necessary to one who is engaged in a detailed survey. The true direction of a stratum at any point is represented by the line formed by the intersection of the smooth sur- face of the stratum with a horizontal plane; and this is determined correctly by the horizontal edge of the spirit- level when applied to the surface. This line is tech- nically called the strike of the bed. A line drawn on the surface of a bed, perpendicular to the line of strike (as above denned) is called the line of dip or rise, accord- ingly as we take it in the descending or ascending direc- tion. The quantity of dip is measured by the clinometer, and gives the inclination of the line of dip to the horizon. The directions of the several lines are determined by the compass, and may then be laid down on a map. In this way, after multitudes of observations and comparisons (carefully registered, and if possible laid down on a map), we may make out all the essential changes of dip and strike ; and we gradually learn to connect them together, to explain the features of the country by their help, and to draw from them results that are consistent with one another, and tell us the true order of the mineral masses. But among the older and more crystalline slates it is some- times impossible to distinguish the several strata so as to mark their position. All the slate beds were at first in the condi- tion of a very fine mud or silt, deposited, layer upon layer, by the sea : and in passing into a solid state the layers cohered so firmly as to become inseparable afterwards by any ordinary means. But another change of structure was at "the same time brought about : the particles all underwent a new crys- talline arrangement (like that of the laminae of a piece of spar) producing a regular cleavage more or less inclined to the ori- ginal beds. It is by these cleavage planes, and not along the planes of the true beds, that the quarry-men obtain the fine roofing slates. The observer must therefore learn to dis- tinguish the nearly vertical laminations of the great open slate quarries from the true beds which are generally much less in- clined. H 3 30 GEOLOGY OF THE How then arc we to determine the position of the true beds of slate ? This can sometimes be done by help of alter- nating bands of coarser materials wherein the original bed- ding has not been obliterated by the slaty structure : a mass of slate between two such bands, must have its bedding paral- lel to them, whatever may be the direction of its laminae of cleavage In other instances we infer the position of the true beds merely from analogy, knowing their situation in the neighbouring country Fortunately we may in many in- stances ascertain the lines of the true beds by an internal and secure test. The planes of the slates are often marked by parallel stripes of different colours. Among the finer green slates these stripes are generally paler than the other parts of the rock ; and as they mark the original lines of sedi- ment, they are therefore parallel to the true bedding : indeed they generally mark the passage from one bed to another. Sometimes these stripes are seen on slaty laminae cutting through pyritous bands with shells and corals ; and in such cases the stripes upon the smooth surfaces of the slates are always parallel to the fossil bands. To make this structure understood ; let us place flat layers of coloured clay one over another, and then press them together so that they may cohere and form one plastic mass ; and let us so arrange them that no layer of coloured clay may be visible exceptingthe one at the top. In thispositionno inner structure can meet the eye. But if a cut be made with a knife vertically through the mass, parallel stripes of colour (representing the different layers of clay) will immediately shew themselves on the face of the section thus obtained. The artificial section made by the knife represents the vertical slaty planes obtain- ed by the quarry-man's wedge ; and the stripes of coloured clay are strictly analogous to the sedimentary lines upon the smooth surface of the slates. There are, however, quarries of coarse slate, or flagstone, without the crystalline structure and the fine even surfaces above described, in which the bedding is distinctly visible, and each flagstone represents a true bed. The ripple mark (exactly like that on sea-sand between high and low water) is sometimes seen on the surface of such beds ; and they are occasionally studded with the impressions of organic remains. Many of them are found on the hills south of Kendal, espe- cially on Kirkby Moor ; but the finest examples are seen in the quarries near Ingle ton and Horton. There is another difficulty in the structure of slate rocks which must be shortly noticed. They are often intersected LAKE DISTRICT. 31 by a double set of parallel fissures or 'joints,' produced ap- parently by a contraction of the mass while passing into a solid state. These lines may have been influenced by the crystalline action of the whole mass ; for they often divide the rocks on a mountain side into regular prismatic blocks, ami produce much confusion in the position of the true beds. They do not however so affect the inner composition of the rock as to produce persistent laminae parallel to their own planes ; and they are not therefore to be confounded with slaty cleavage. Their direction and inclination is variable ; but when they run nearly in the direction of the beds they may be called strike joints ; when they are nearly transverse to the beds they may be called dip joints. I must however here quit these dry details. My only wish, in alluding to them, is to save the observer from early difficulties, and to start him in the right direction. After all, it is only by ex- perience in the field that he will learn to interpret correctly the complicated characters impressed upon the older slates.* UPPER DIVISION OF THE SLATE ROCKS.f This division is based on the calcareous slates, which stretch from Millum, in the south-western corner of Cumberland, through the head of Coniston Water and the head of Win- dermere, to the neighbourhood of Shap Wells. To the south of this line, it is expanded through Furness Fells and a con- siderable portion of Westmorland ; being bounded to the * Among the Cumbrian mountains, the laminae of slaty cleavage are generally inclined at a great angle to the horizon. Sometimes the beds undulate and the cleavage planes remain constant. In such cases, the inclination of the cleavage planes to the true beds is con- tinually changing. In Devonshire and Cornwall we find (though very rarely) highly inclined beds with nearly horizontal cleavage planes ; and we also find cleavage planes of great perfection which are parallel to the true beds. I know of no examples of like kind in the North of England : for there the cleavage planes (at least in the fine slate quarries) are always transverse to the beds ; but amongst the finer slates the strike of the beds and the strike of the cleavage planes are nearly in the same direction. Again in Devonshire and Cornwall, and in the chain of the Ardennes, I have seen a second set of cleavage planes, beautifully penetrating the slate rocks, and shewing the perfection of their crystalline ar- rangement : and these double cleavage planes were associated with the striped and double-jointed structure above noticed. As far as I know, there is no example of a second cleavage plane to be seen among the Lake mountains, t No. 4. in the wood-cut. 32 GEOLOGY OF THE south-east by Morecambe Bay and the carboniferous forma- tions above described. The rocks within this area may be separated into several ill-defined groups. Three will be here adopted, in the hope that, as the country is more examined and better understood, they may be brought into strict ac- cordance with the three principal Silurian groups of Mr. Murchison.* Upper group This group commences with red flag- stones, which above Kirkby Lonsdale, and close to their junction with the old red sandstone, contain calcareous con- cretions and numerous fossils. In making a traverse towards Kirkby Moor, the red flagstone is succeeded, in descending or- der, by purple, grey, greenish grey, and blue flagstone Some of the greenish bands exactly resemble some of the harder flagstones among the ' Ludlow rocks' of Mr. Murchison : and the red flags nearly resemble the ' tile stones' of Hereford- shire, but are far less crystalline and micaceous. Still in descending order, the flagstones are followed by the hard grey siliceous rocks which extend, with many undu- lations and changes of ' strike,' through the hills between the upper part of the valleys of the Kent and the Lune. Among them are beds with an imperfect slaty structure ; and here and there are open and earthy bands (giving a honeycombed appearance to the rock), not unusually of a reddish-brown colour, and with innumerable casts of fossils. Very thin, impure, calcareous beds (but of no continuity, and unfit for use) are seen in a few places near the lines of fossils. The most remarkable of them is at Oxenholme, on the side of the old road from Kendal to Kirkby Lonsdale. The whole group appears to be based on a set of hard thick beds, among which the fossils gradually disappear. They are of various colours ; bluish-grey, greenish-grey, and occasionally of a dark purple and reddish tint ; but their cha- racters and distribution are ill-defined. We may perhaps class * In a paper read before the Geological Society of London, in 1832, I adopted Mr. J. Otley's threefold division of the Cumbrian slate rocks ; and I separated the upper division into three ill-defined groups; viz. First, the fossiliferous rocks of the fells south of Kendal and of Kirkby Moor. Secondly, rocks like the former in structure, but with a more slaty impress, and with very few traces of fossils. Thirdly, a complicated group of calcareous slate (of which there are two principal bands), alternating with hard coarse siliceous beds, and with several thick beds of fine roofing slate obtained by trans- verse cleavage (Ireleth slate) the whole resting on the fossiliferous limestone of Coniston Water Head. LAKE DISTRICT. 33 with these the hard thick beds which break out from under Kendal Fell, and the similar beds which skirt the marshes near Withcrslack and extend to the hills near Lindal. Middle group. This group contains many hard, thick, siliceous beds, nearly like those at the base of the preceding subdivision ; but subordinate to it are coarse slates with a decided transverse cleavage, producing the striped surfaces above described. Good examples of this kind may be seen on the road from Kendal to Bowness, and on the old road from Kendal to Newby Bridge. The fine elevations of Howgill Fells and Middleton Fell are chiefly formed by the rocks of this subdivision : but those mountains are separated from the formations on the west bank of the Lune by enormous ' faults,' and are thrown into such contortions that it is difficult to reduce the subordinate masses to any certain order. Their strike also differs from that on the west bank of the Lune, being nearly east and west ; and at the north end of Middleton Fell, the beds are so much bent to the south as to range nearly at right angles to the average strike of the central mountains. The more slaty beds of this group generally effervesce with acids ; but in no part of it have any good fossil bands been yet found. Hence there is considerable uncertainty as to its exact geological place ; es- pecially as its upper and lower limits are so ill defined. Lower, or Ireleth slate, group. The base of this group is well defined by the range of the Coniston limestone. (Seethe wood-cut.) Its upper limit is not defined by any fossil bands, and may be considered in some measure as arbitrary : but it must enclose all the calcareous beds, and all the beds of good roofing slate. If a line be drawn from the crest of the hills between Broughtcn and Ulverston, through the foot of Co- niston Water, to a point a little below the Ferry House on Windermere ; and from thence be prolonged (bending a little towards the east, so as to preserve a parallelism to the range of the Coniston limestone) through the lower part of Long Sleddale and the contorted slates near the foot of Bannisdale, it may be assumed as an approximate boundary between the lower and middle groups. Among the deposits on the north side of this line a slaty structure decidedly predominates ; and the rocks weather into fine picturesque forms, of which there are many beautiful examples between Broughton and the foot of Coniston Water. The same features on a less scale are seen near the Ferry House on Windermere, where the rocks have an aspect so unlike the higher groups, that I at first mistook their nature, 34 GEOLOGY OF THE and supposed them to represent some ancient slates brought out by a great dislocation. The most remarkable beds in this group split, by a trans- verse cleavage, into fine roofing slates distinguished from the more ancient slates, chiefly by a darker colour, and by the absence of green chloritic flakes upon the surface of the laminae. Noble quarries have long been opened in these slates near Kirkby Ireleth. Very fine beds of a dark-coloured flagstone (sumetimes superficially coated with crystals of py- rites) are also worked in this group, especially in its lower portions. It contains also three or four bands of calcareous slate, two of which are fossiliferous.. One of these ranges on the south side of the estuary of the Duddon the other, already noticed, forms the base of the whole series. The latter is the most important from its numerous fossils, its thickness and continuity, and from its enormous shifts and displacements in its long range : especially where it strikes across the valleys that intersect its course. In this way it becomes an indication, not merely of the prevailing strike of the group, but of the manner in which its mineral masses have been fractured and dissevered during the periods of their elevation. Before I quit the upper division of the slate rocks, I may remark that the prevailing strike of the lower group is N.E.; and traces of the same general impress may be found in the two upper groups as far as the shores of Morecambe Bay. There are however some remarkable deviations from this rule even in the lower group; and in the two upper groups the ex. ceptions are so numerous, and the rocks exhibit such compli- cated undulations, that it is difficult to bring their bearings to any rules of symmetry Again, the great scar limestone skirting the shores of Morecambe Bay is literally shattered into fragments by enormous north and south ' faults:' and all the slate rocks on the southern border of the lake mountains have also been ripped up by great ' faults' (with the same general direction), which have greatly altered the positions and bearings of the beds. Valleys have been scooped out on lines of fracture : and all the great water channels that de- scend towards Morecambe Bay (from the Lune on the east to the Duddon on the west) have a prevailing north and south course. There still remains a question, what is the age of this upper division of the slate rocks ? An answer can only be given by an appeal to the fossils. So far as I am acquainted with the fossils of the upper group, they contain about forty LAKE DISTRICT. 35 species found in the ' Upper Silurian' rocks of Mr. Murchi- son, and five or six which he refers to the lowest beds of the old red sandstone ; but which in Westmorland are distributed through the whole of the upper group. With these, are eight or ten species not yet described. The conclusion is inevitable, viz. that the whole group represents only the upper Silurian rocks (Ludlow, &c.). The Coniston lime- stone and the calcareous slates of Kirkby Ireleth contain nu- merous corals of the Wcnlock and Dudley limestone. Among them the chain coral ( Catenipora) is abundant. They contain also one or two Silurian Trilobites ; and shells of several genera (especially the genus Orthis) specifically the same with the shells of the ' Caradoc sandstone.' It therefore follows, that the base of the lower group, here described, is of the age of the lower Silurian rocks (not using that term in any extended and infinite sense, but strictly as it was firstemploycd by its author) and that thewhole upperdi vision represents the ' Silurian system'; the middle part of it being, unfortunately, almost without fossils to help us in the demar- cation of the three groups.* MIDDLE DIVISION OF THE SLATE BOCKS GREEN SLATB AND PORPHYRY.f This division forms one vast group, rising into the highest and most rugged mountains of the whole region. It contains * I formerly attempted to class the Coniston limestone with the limestone of Bala, and the rocks of the middle group with the slate rocks of the Berwyns and of South Wales. But after the discovery of a better arrangement of the Devonian slates, I abandoned this view, and adopted the one here given. In the Geological Map of Westmorland, belonging to the ' Kendal Natural History Society,' one tint only is given to the upper division of the slates ; from the impossibility of drawing, with Jiny degree of correctness, the lines of demarcation between the groups. Should fossils be ever found in sufficient abundance to determine the point, it might be well perhaps to tint the whole division in two colours one represent- ing the upper, and the other the lower Silurian rocks. In the ab- sence of well-defined calcareous beds any further subdivision will perhaps be found impossible. Of the Coniston fossils, I procured during my survey a good series, which has been since improved bj somo excellent specimens I owe to my friend Mr. J. Marshall. My list from the upper group is still very imperfect ; and would have been more so, but for the kind assistance of my friends Messrs. Gough and Danby, of Kendal. My best fossils from Kirkby moor were procured in 1822, under the guidance of Smith, the 'father of English geology," on the day I first became acquainted with him. f No. 5. in the wood-cut. 36 GEOLOGY OF THE two distinct classes of rock aqueous and igneous : but they are piled one upon another in tabular masses of such regular- ity, and are so interlaced and blended, that we are compelled to regard them as the effects of two distinct causes, acting simultaneously during a long geological period. The igneous portions present almost every variety of felstone and felstone porphyry ; sometimes passing into greenstone, and rarely into masses with a structure like that of basalt. All the aqueous rocks have more or less a slaty structure, and pass in their most perfect form into the finest roofing slates.* But why are rocks, so different both in appearance and origin, to be confounded in one formation ? Because nature has made them inseparable. The tabular masses of true erupted ' plutonic rock alternate with, and pass by insensible gradations into, great beds of breccia and 'plutonic' silt. The breccias are often as hard as the parent rocks ; being cement- ed by a felspathic paste, occasionally studded with garnets and crystals of felspar ; and they sometimes put on a colum- nar form : and the plutonic silt passes into a hard, flaky, shin- ing rock, which often has a transverse cleavage with an uneven, shining, wavy surface (exactly like that of some varieties of German schaalstein). We have only to follow such changes a little farther, and we are conducted, without seeing where we pass their boundaries, into great deposits of the most per- fect roofing slates. Of these slates, quartz in the finest * I have adopted the WOT 'd felstone from the Germans ; who by the word feldstein, sometimes express those minerals which we commonly, but inaccnrately.have called compact felspar. The words compact spar involve a contradiction. The name schaalstein (or, ahale-stone) has been applied to a great variety of slaty rocks, in Nassau and the Hartz, intermediate between true slates and erupt- ed trappean rocks. The word -plutonic is used to distinguish ig- neous rocks, erupted under the sea, from volcanic rocks which have been poured out in the open air. Any rock is called a porphyry, which has a nearly uniform base studded with crystals. Granite is formed by the union of quartz, felspar, andwzico when the mica is replaced by hornblende, the rock becomes a syenite. Greenstone is a fine-grained rock composed of felspar and hornblende, and when these minerals are well defined, the rock is called a syenitic green- rtone. When the crystals are very small, and the rock almost compact, it is said to be basaltic. These different forms of rock pass insensibly one into another. A conglomerate is formed by pebbles more or less rounded by water. A breccia is chiefly made up of angular fragments. All the minerals mentioned in these let- ters may bo easily procured, and will soon be sufficiently familiar to any one who wishes to study the older rocks. LAKE DISTRICT. 37 state of comminution, and earthy chlorite partly derived from the plutonic silt, arc the chief constituents. The plutonic rocks were poured out under a deep sea ; and the breccias were formed mechanically (like volcanic breccias found among streams of modern lava), and were cemented under great pressure. The plutonic silts have an intermedi- ate structure ; but their beds must have been spread out by the waters of the sea. The roofing slates arc but the extreme case of fine aqueous sediment, chiefly derived from the erupted matter, and sinking into successive beds during intervals of repose : and so far they are analogous to the fine beds of vol- canic silt so often formed by the waters of a lake out of the ashes of a modern crater. In the Cumbrian mountains, no organic remains are found among these rocks. The aqueous deposits seem to have been too often interrupted by igneous action to permit the growth of shell beds and coral banks. Shells and corals are however found (though rarely) among the slate rocks of Snowdonia : but there the igneous beds are less abundant, and were pro- bably poured out at longer intervals of time. When I began, twenty years since, to examine the Lake country, I believed in the igneous origin of basaltic and pro- phyritic rocks : but I was staggered in my creed, and filled with astonishment, almost at every step, when I saw the alternating masses of slate and porphyry, and the way in which they were blended together. The Wernerian hypothe- sis has now passed away, and has been extinguished by the more mature discoveries of an advancing science ; but it lent itself readily to the explanation of many perplexing facts, and had the merit, at first sight, of great simplicity : and I may venture to affirm, that no one is prepared to understand it, or to do any justice to its author, who has not studied, in the field, such phenomena as are continually offered by the Cum- brian slates.* The southern boundary of this great group is defined by the range of the Coniston limestone. The northern boundary cannot be well understood without the aid of a geological map : but an approximation may be made to it by draw- ing a line from the foot of Wolf crag to Wanthwaite crag * The alternations of aqueous and igneous rocks have been illus- trated, with many excellent details, in the recent works of Sir H. De la Beche and Mr. Murchison. The explanation given above was adopted soon after I had finished my Survey of Cumberland, and was published in 1832. See the Proceedings cf the Geological Society of London, Vol. i. p. 401. 38 GEOLOGY OF THE continuing it thence by Wallow Crag, near Keswiek by the foot of the great precipices at the head of Newlands, the base of Honister crag, and the upper precipices of High Stile, and so round by the great coves of Ennerdale Head to the north side of the Hay Cock and lastly, from the Hay Cock to the north side of Seatallan, and thence in a devious line, which turns to the north, extending several miles beyond Ponsonby Fells. With limited exceptions, all the stratified rocks (aqueous and igneous) in the high mountains enclosed within these boundaries, strike towards the N.E., and dip at a great angle towards the S.E. ; and their whole thickness, after every deduction, must be enormous. The beds were set on edge by a gigantic force, urging them from below ; and in the progress of elevation, mountain masses were torn asunder and starred by diverging lines of ' fault.' In a few places indeed the dip was reversed : but the great beds of porphyry (which must have passed into a solid state in cool- ing) held the masses firm, and kept them from being twisted and bent about, like the upper slates. Of the brecciated rocks, above described, a fine example occurs on the side of the road at Barrow near Keswiek. Masses, similar in structure and colour, pass through Wan- thwaite crag and the foot of Binsey crag. Numerous ex- amples may also be seen in the great precipices that over- hang the higher parts of Eskdale, Wastdale, Ennerdale, and Borrowdale ; in the passes between Borrowdale and Grasmere ; at the head of Kentmere ; and on almost every line of traverse through the higher mountains.* The plutonic silt, and other beds intermediate between the erupted rocks and the slates, are spread, here and there, almost through the whole country under notice. They are sometimes cellular (probably from the action of heat), the cells being filled with agates and other minerals ; and they generally effervesce briskly when first plunged in acids. The position and range of some of the principal slate beds cannot escape notice, as they are often marked by lines of great open quarries. The only difficulty is to know their true dip ; for the slaty impress has often destroyed all external traces of the bedding. On this point I must refer to the remarks at the beginning of this letter. One of the best spots for studying, among these old rocks, the difference between cleavage and dip, is near the jaws of Borrowdale, especially * The brecciated rocks near Barrow have often been noticed. They are not, however, local phenomena; but belong to the gene- ral structure of this middle division of the slates. LAKE DISTRICT. 39 in the great crags which overhang the Skiddaw slate on the north side of the gorge. Of the external features of the Lake mountains I attempt not to speak ; except so far as they are connected with the inner frame-work 01 the country. The rocks were elevated and rent asunder and the rudiments of all the deeper valleys were thus formed in times immeasurably removed from our own days. Again and again, have the mountains been shat- tered by faults, and swept by denuding currents. Their va- ried structure has produced features of many forms. Some have been worn down by the corroding power of time, and are now buried under soil and moorland ; others have stood al- most unmoved among the buffetings of the elements, and have an aspect now nearly as rugged as that with which they were first lifted from the sea. Another zone, belonging to the green slate and porphyry formation, appears on the north side of the third and lowest division of the slate rocks ; which thus forms a ' mineral axis' with a repetition of the same formations on its opposite sides (See the wood-cut). This zone begins at Berriar, skirts the eastern side of Carrock Fell, rises into High Pike, and is well marked in Binsey crag : it afterwards gradually thins away, and it disappears near Brigham. In this range it rests on the Skiddaw slate, and is immediately surmounted by the carbo- niferous limestone, the upper division of the slates not appear- ing on this side of Cumberland. Compared with the groups above described, it is in a very degenerate form : it contains however almost every variety of rock above noticed. In several parts of it the porphyries so abound as almost to ex- clude all appearance of true slates. Near High Pike it is penetrated by many metallic veins, probably connected with the causes which produced the syenite of Carrock Fell, and the granite of Skiddaw Forest. LOWER DIVISION OF THE SLATE ROCKS SKIDDAW SLATE.* This division (the true position of which was first determin- ed by Mr. J. Otley) is spread over a large area ; being bounded by the rocks of the preceding division, and the car- boniferous zone extending from the old red sandstone, near the foot of Ullswater, to Egremont. For a few miles south of Egremont, the western end of the Skiddaw slate is imme- diately overlaid by the new red sandstone. * No. 6. in the wood-cut. I 2 40 GEOLOGY OP THE It is of great but unknown thickness ; and it has little con- stancy in its strike and dip, being- thrown into great undula- tions, indicated by the irregular features and varied outline of the country. The coombs and peaks surrounding Skiddaw Forest, and the beautiful succession of grassy mountains be- tween Derwent Water and Crummock present the best fea- tures of this formation. It is chiefly composed of a dark coloured glossy slate, occasionally penetrated by great veins of white quartz ; and small veins of that mineral are some- times seen to ramify through every part of the rock : but it contains no organic remains, and hardly a trace of carbonate of lime. Hoofing slate has in a few places been obtained from it : but most of the quarries have been abandoned. Occasionally, it passes into the state of a micaceous flagstone, and it alternates, rarely, with coarse gritty beds. On the whole, it is distinguished from the higher groups by its dark colour and fine texture, by the aljscnce of alternating bands of igneous rock, and by its seldom effervescing with acids. Many of the beds of the middle division of slates contain a con- siderable portion of carbonate of lime and effervesce briskly in acids. Again, in the Skiddaw slate many of the masses flake off parallel to the beds, and the cleavage planes are not so well defined as they are among- the green slates : in other places, however, the stratification is very obscure. Except as being the base of the whole scries of the Cumbrian deposits, and the matrix of some curious metallic veins, this division pos- sesses little comparative interest. Before I end this sketch of the Cumbrian rocks, I must notice a beautiful group of crystalline slates, which arc seen in Skiddaw Forest, between the black slates (above described) and the granite of the Caldcw. If we descend from the high peaks of Skiddaw or Saddleback to any of the bosses of gra- nite which break out near the banks of the rivulet, we cross a series of slaty rocks nearly in the following order : 1 . Dark glossy slate studded with a few crystals of chias- tolite. It is overlaid by, and passes into, common Skiddaw slate. 2. A similar slate with more numerous crystals of chiasto- lite ; passing at its lower limit into a hard, shining, sonorous rock almost made up of matted crystals of that mineral. 3. Mica slate spotted with ill-formed crystals of chiastolite. 4. Quartzose, and micaceous slates of very irregular struc- ture ; sometimes passing, when close to the granite, into the form of gneiss. I believe that this beautiful mineral group is nothing more LAKE DISTRICT. 41 than the Skiddaw slate, altered and mineralized by the long continued action of subterranean heat. The granite, though a fused rock, may not have produced the whole of this change ; but it is at least an indication of the kind of power by which the ' metamorphic' structure was brought about. I here bring to an end my notice of the Cumbrian slates. To one who is not interested by the complicated structure of the older rocks, it may have appeared tedious and repulsive; but I knew not how to make it snorter, and it relates perhaps to the most difficult chapter in geology . GRANITE, SYENITE, PORPHYRY, PORPHYRITIC DYKES, AND OTHER IGNEOUS ROCKS. It remains for me to notice a series of rocks, not formed, bed upon bed, by the agency of water ; but protruded by subterranean fires among the deposits above described. Granite of Skiddaw Forest, frc I mention this rock first, because it rises out from beneath the oldest strata of Cum- berland (No. 7, in the wood-cut) ; and appears to indicate the cause that first elevated the cluster of mountains, of which the peaks of Skiddaw and Saddleback form the highest points. But I can offer no proof that it is older than the beautiful syenite of Carrock, or the granite of Eskdale, or the red sy- enite of Ennerdale and Buttermere. It breaks out at Syning Gill, between Saddleback and Skiddaw ; afterwards at a lower level near the Caldew, in the channel of which it may be seen for more than a mile ; and lastly, about a mile above Swinside, near the first ramifications of the rivulet. At this last place it derives great interest from its near approach to the syenite of Carrock Fell, from its changes of structure, from the mineral veins by which it is traversed, and from the highly crystallized atod altered form of all the neighbouring slate rocks.* Syenite of Carrock Fell, Sfc. This beautiful rock exhibits almost endless varieties of structure : but it is chiefly noted for its crystals of hypersthene, and for the great quantities of * None of the veins were worked to profit when I last visited the spot, nearly twenty years since. They were, however, occa- sionally opened by mineral dealers : for they contain apatite, schorl, tungsten, wolfram, and several other minerals in considerable abun- dance. I was struck with the close resemblance of the mineralized portion of Skiddaw Forest to certain parts of Cornwall near the junction of the granite and slate. The physical phenomena are nearly the same ; but the Cornish slates are of a much more recent date than the slates of Skiddaw. i 3 42 GEOLOGY OF THE titaniferous oxide of iron disseminated through its mass. On the eastern side of the hill it passes into a common syenite. In its farther range towards the east, it becomes almost as compact as basalt, and has, here and there, a globular struc- ture : and, lastly, in its prolongation in the form of a narrow tongue into the extreme branches of the gills on the east side of High Pike, it passes into a felspar rock. This whole mass plunges under a group of igneous and altered rocks : and when on the spot, I considered it only as an instance of one of the porphyries, near the base of the middle di- vision of the slates (green slate and porphyry), in an un- usual state of crystallization. Should this opinion (thrown out as a conjecture) be confirmed, we must then consider this syenite as older than the neighbouring granite : for all the granites are unquestionably of more recent date than the two lower divisions of the Cumbrian slates. Porphyry of St. John's Vale. Of this rock (which never, I believe, passes into a true granite, but might be described as a variety of syenite) there are two principal masses one, stretching for about a mile northwards from St. John's Cha- pel the other, of still larger dimensions, ranging in the same direction, on the other side of the valley, from the base of Wanthwaite Crag. Two other small masses break through the Skiddaw slate a little farther towards the east, near White Pike. What was the exact date of the eruption of these plutonic rocks, I do not pretend to determine. When the largest mass was protruded, it bore upon its surface an enormous fragment of Skiddaw slate, which was thus ele- vated far above its natural level, mineralized by heat, and jammed against the base of Wanthwaite Crag. I mention these phenomena, because they are of great interest to any one who wishes to mark the effects produced by tbe protru- sion of igneous rocks. The subterranean forces had strength to raise the great masses of porphyry through the soft and yielding Skiddaw slate : but not to push them through the higher group of green slates, which were held together too firmly by the older bands of bedded porphyry to be penetrated by such a move- ment. Hence it is, that the porphyry of St. John's abuts against, but does not pierce, the middle division of the slates, which range through Great Dod and Helvellyn. The great ' fault ' represented by the deep valley between Raise Gap and the bottom of St. John's vale, must obviously have been formed after the eruption of the porphyry. Granite of Eskdale, 8fc. This is, out of all comparison, LAKE DISTRICT. 43 the largest mass of Cumberland granite. It ranges south- ward as far as Bootlc, on the north side of which place it abuts against some highly mineralized Skiddaw slate ; and it forms the rugged hills on both sides of the Esk and the Mite, ranging up to the higher forks of those rivers. At its north- western and north-eastern extremities it runs out into two long projecting masses one of which strikes over Irton Fell and blends itself with the syenite of Wastdale foot : the other, after ranging along the side of Scawfcll, above Burnt- moor Tarn, breaks out, here and there, from under the turf- bogs, and passes over the hills into Wastdale Head. It would be in vain for me, in this short summary, to at- tempt any regular description of this granite : but the follow- ing facts deserve notice About half a mile from Bootle, the granite has been in- jected, in the form of large ramifying veins, into a black por- phyritic rock, which is, I believe, only an altered condition of Skiddaw slate. In one of the water-courses in the same neighbourhood the greater part of the rock is quite earthy in structure ; but shews a number of hard spheroidal central masses, like the hard balls in decomposing basalt. Descending into Wastdale Head by Burntmoor Tarn, we meet with traces of granite veins, and fragments of slate entangled in the granite. In the upper parts of Eskdale, the granite in one or two places passes into a nearly compact rock, and has a semi- columnar structure. At the upper surface of the granite, and near the lines of demarcation between the granite and the slates, there is not unusually a zone of fclspathic or syenitic rock ; which forms such a passage between the two formations that it is no easy matter to determine the exact boundary line of either. These appearances seem to have been caused by the gradual fusion and altered structure of the masses at the base of the green slate and porphyry. Red felspathic veins (in structure like the peculiar rocks just noticed) shoot from the granite into the green slates and porphyries. Many examples of this kind are seen in the hills near Eskdale head. On the north-western side of Devock Water, are many fine masses of crystalline quartz rock close to the junction of the granite and green slate. Pyritous veins with micaceous iron ore are found here and there, at the junction of the granite and the slate. Facts 44 GEOLOGY OF THE like these may help the observer in drawing right conclusions from the intricate phenomena presented by this part of Cum- berland. Syenite of Ennerdale and Buttermere. 'This beautiful rock ranges from the neighbourhood of Nether Wastdale Chapel to a point about two miles above the foot of the lake. After being covered by some highly crystallized and rugged masses of slate and porphyry, it breaks out again in Bolton wood, and extends towards the north as far as the side of Reveling Pike ; and thence across Ennerdale Water to the Scaw and Herdhouse at the latter mountain abutting against the Skiddaw slate. Its eastern boundary ranges on the north side of Seatallan and the Haycock ; and then descends in a long undulating line through the great coves ; and crosses the Ennerdale river under the Pillar. The red syenite forms the rugged hills, from the lower part of Ennerdale Water to a point more than two miles above the head of the Lake ; then ascends towards the N.E. by the shoulder of Red Pike, and thence it may be followed to Buttermere and the hills beyond Scale Force. After many a toilsome walk, I made out the boundaries of the Eskdale granite and the Ennerdale syenite. But there was no good physical map on which I could lay down my ob- servations correctly. What is here stated may be enough, and perhaps more than enough, for the readers of these letters. The following are the best places for studying the nature of the syenite and its effects upon the stratified rocks: The junction between the south side of Reveling Pike and the western shore of Ennerdale Water. The junction of the syenite and Skiddaw slate at Herdhouse The south side of the whole pass from Ennerdale by Floutern Tarn to But- termere ; and the whole escarpment under Red Pike, High Stile, and High Crag The junctions in the upper part of Ennerdale below the Pillar. The syenite abuts against the Skiddaw slate of Reveling Pike ; and below the junction, in the hills skirting the west side of Ennerdale Water, the slate rocks are much mineral- ized. Similar effects may be seen on the north side of Herd- house ; where the black slates are so changed that they can hardly be distinguished from the porphyries of the middle division. Between the foot of Buttermere and Floutern Tarn the phenomena along the line of junction are most varied and instructive. The syenite runs through the Skiddaw slate in the form of enormous dykes, or ramifies through it in veins. In some places the formations are in almost inextri- LAKE DISTRICT. 45 cable confusion the slate rocks in one place abutting on the syenite, in another supporting it, and in a third resting upon it. A great mass of the Skiddaw slate has been caught up by the syenite, carried to the top of Red Pike, and wedged against the green porphyries of High Stile. Three masses of syenite break through the mineralized Skiddaw slate in the brows overhanging Buttermere ; and close to one of them is a mineral vein. Lastly, where the line of junction crosses Enncrdalc, below the Pillar, veins of syenite are seen stream- ing from tho central mass into the green slate and porphyry of the middle group. In no one case, however, has this syenite in mass penetrated the green slates or passed over them. Granite of Wusdnle Crags, near Shap. This fine red porphyritic granite is too well known to need description': but the effects it has produced on the neighbouring deposits requires a short notice. The rocks on all sides of it are ex- tremely mineralized and changed, apparently by the action of heat. It breaks out at the base of the upper division of the slates, and for some distance appears to have cut offthe Coniston limestone. The limestone, however, appears again on the north side of it, and runs down to Shap Wells, but in an alter- ed, shattered, and partly brecciated condition. The flagstones (of the upper division of the slates) are tilted from the granite at a great angle, arc much indurated, and have a splintery fracture. Lastly, the slates close to the granite, above Was- dalc Head, are completely mineralized, and pierced by small veins of granite injected from the central mass. As a general conclusion from all the preceding facts, ne- cessarily given in a most condensed form we may venture to affirm, that all the great masses of porphyry, granite, and syenite, above noticed, are rocks of fusion that portions of them were raised while in a fluid state (otherwise how can we account for the granitic masses injected among the slates?) and lastly, that the same heat which fused the granite or syenite, acting perhaps for many ages upon all the neigh- bouring rocks, produced that altered and mineralized struc- ture Avhich is so often seen round the centres of eruption. Porphyritic dykes, and other igneous rocks. Some of the porphyritic dykes arc of great interest ; and the subterranean forces by which they were injected among the great breaks and ' faults ' of the slate series, have had a very powerful in- fluence upon the position of the beds, and the features of the country. One or two of them must be noticed. 1. The finest dyke in Cumberland is seen in Kirkfell at Wastdale Head : the mountain has been rent asunder from 46 GEOLOGY OF THE top to bottom, and a great dyke of granitic porphyry has risen through the fissure. Its junction with the granite at the base of the mountain is not seen, and should it hereafter be found to blend itself with the central mass, it will then be an example of a gigantic granite vein : but from its structure and the straightness of its course I should rather compare it with the porphyry dykes (or 'elvans') of Cornwall ; and if this view be right, it must have been injected through a fis- sure cutting both through the granite and the green slates. I may here also notice one or two vertical sycnitic dykes which rise from Wastdale Head and cut through the mine- ralized slates between Great End and Scawfell Pikes. 2. A beautiful dyke of red syenitic porphyry may be traced from the crown of the hill west of Thirlmere into a great water-course above Armboth. It shews many changes of structure, and is in some places almost compact at its junc- tion with the slate ; in which respect it is similar to many Cornish 'elvans.' 3. Many striking examples of red porphyritic dykes are- seen in the channel of the Duddon below Seathwaite, and in the hills on the west side of the river. They are seen also on the north side of Black Coombe, and in one of the deep gills that descend from its north-eastern side towards Bootle : and on its western side granitic dykes break out near its base. Black Coombe is of contorted Skiddaw slate ; and has by a great 'fault' been raised two or three thousand feet above its natural level. May we not conclude, that the same sub- terranean forces which rent the solid rocks asunder and poured the dykes of molten matter through the cracks, employed also their strength in dissevering whole mountains, and ele- vating Black Coombe into its present position among the green slates and bedded porphyries ?* * Any one who takes an interest in these phenomena, would do well to make a traverse from the south-western shore of the Dud- don sands to the Whicham valley, and thence over Black Coombe to Bootle. On this line the formations appear in the following order : Mountain limestone (Hodbarrow Point, &c.) Dark colour- ed slate and flagstone Coniston limestone Green slate and por- phyry (Millum Park) Skiddaw slate at a low level on the south- east side of the great 'fault.' All the preceding groups dip towards the S.E. The great 'fault' ranges down the Whicham valley, and on the north-western side of it the contorted beds of Black Coombe are brought up w r ith a dip reversed towards the N.W. In the remaining part of the section over Black Coombe, Skiddaw slate is continued ; then porphyry and altered Skiddaw slate; and lastly, granite and granite veins. The two last are seen near Bootle. LAKE DISTRICT. 47 4. There are five places, not far from the Shap granite, where red porphyritic dykes come to the surface on thenorth side of Wet Sleddale in the valley above High Borough Bridge (the dyke strikes nearly north and south and descends towards Bannisdale) on the crown of the hill at the right- hand side of the road ascending from the same place towards Shap and in two places farther north, and near the road side. These dykes cannot, I think, be properly described as granite veins ; because no veins resembling them are seen near the junction of the granite and the slates. They are, however, indications of the same powers of nature which pro- duced the granite, but acting at a later period. 5. Lastly (to avoid details inevitably dry and tedious), I may add that dykes resembling those above described are found near the foot of Coniston Lake on the road between Coniston and Hawkshead on the north side of Middleton Fell and among the slate rocks between the valleys of Dent and Sedbergh. All the preceding dykes were, I believe, injected before the period of the old red sandstone. But there are, among the Cumbrian mountains, masses and dykes of dark-coloured trappean rock, sometimes approaching the structure of basalt, which are perhaps of a newer date. They perform no part, however, which makes them of any importance to my present outline ; and geological dates founded on the mineral struc- ture of plutonic rock cannot be much relied upon.* In whatever way the mountain masses of granite and sy- enite were protruded, they must have produced enormous derangements among all the slate rocks. Judging, however, from the Black Coombe ' fault,' and from the dykes in the valley of the Duddon, and at Wastdale Head, in Cumber- land, I believe that the greatest elevations and contortions * For the sake of those who may" wish to examine the country in detail, I may mention a few examples of such dykes as are al- luded to in the text. The road-side near Long Close, and thence up to the brow of Great Dod, on the eastern side of Skiddaw : in this brow there are many dykes. The western side of Bassenthwaite Lake. Near the foot of the same lake, and along the ridge of the hill on the north side of the road from thence to Cockermouth. Two or three places to the S. and S.E. of Cockermouth. The left side of the road from Penruddock and Threlkeld, near Lane-head. These are all in the Skiddaw slate. (In the middle division of the slates there may be many recent trappean rocks : but it must be very difficult to sepa- rate them from the old bedded porphyries.) Near Bowland Bridge, on the old road from Kendal to Ulverston, &c. &c. 48 GEOLOGY OP THE of the slates took place after the eruption of the granite and syenite. The subterranean powers, pent in by the cooling of the plutonic rocks, pushed the whole region upward into an irregular dome. The strusrorle between the expansive forces below and the tension of the rocks above (igneous as well as aqueous) may have been long continued ; the whole slate series may have been thrown into great undulations, and set on edge ; dyke after dyke may have been injected ; and the highest parts of the dome may have been starred by di verging faults, cutting their way indifferently through slates, granites, and syenites. The valleys now diverging from Scawfell represent the directions of these ancient 'faults': and many other breaks and faults (represented in direction by the other valleys of the Lake country) must have been formed during this period of disruption and confusion, before the conglomerates of the old red sandstone were spread upon the outskirts of the mountains* On the northern side of the district described in these let- ters, many of the valleys descending from the higher moun- tains are turned aside by the terrace of the carboniferous limestone ; and, after running some distance parallel to its 'strike', escape through it, by fissures of a newer date. But on the south side, the upper division of the slates was fis- sured by many great north and south ' faults,' which traverse the limestone without being turned aside by it, and must therefore have been produced at some period after it was de- posited. Faults of different ages sometimes intersected one another, and afterwards contributed to form one valley. Thus, Langdale and the upper part of Windermere shew the direction of one of the old diverging lines of fault : but the lower part of the lake is in the direction of one of the more recent lines of fracture. In the preceding letters I have endeavoured to explain the structure of the district in the same way in which a mechan- ist teaches the movements of a machine by taking it to pieces. All the deposits have been described in a contrary order from that in which they were put together by nature's hand. Let me now endeavour, in imagination, to re-construct the great frame-work of the Cumbrian mountains. First, Beds of mud and sand were deposited in an ancient sea, apparently without the calcareous matter necessary to the life of shells and corals, and without any traces of organic forms. These were the elements of the Skiddaw slate. Secondly, Plutonic rocks were then for many ages, poured out among the aqueous sediments beds were broken up and LAKE DISTRICT. 49 re-cemented plutonic silt and other materials in the finest comminution were deposited along with the igneous rocks the effects were again and again repeated, till a deep sea was filled with a formation many thousand feet in thickness. These were the materials of the middle division of the Cum- brian slates, Thirdly, A period of comparative repose followed. Beds of shells and bands of corals formed upon the more ancient rocks : they were interrupted by beds of sand and mud, and these processes were many times repeated ; and thus in a long succession of ages were the deposits of the upper slates com- pleted. Fourthly, Towards the end of the preceding period, moun- tain masses of plutonic rock were pushed through the older deposits and alter many revolutions, all the divisions of the slate series were elevated and contorted by movements not affecting the newer formations. Fifthly, The conglomerates of the old red sandstone were then spread out, by the beating of an ancient surf, continued for many ages, upon the upheaved and broken edges of the slates. Sixthly, Again recurred a period of comparative repose ; the coral reefs of the mountain limestone, and the whole car- boniferous series, were formed ; but not without many great oscillations between the levels of land and sea. Seventhly, An age of disruption and violence succeeded, marked by the discordant position of the rocks, and by the conglomerates under the new red sandstone. At the beginning of that time was formed the great north and south ' Craven fault,' which rent off the eastern calcareous mountains from the older slates ; and soon afterwards, the great ' Pennine fault,' ranging from the foot of Stainmoor to the coast of Northumberland, and lifting up the terrace of Cross Fell above the plain of the Eden. Some of the north and south fissures (shewn by the directions of the valleys leading into Morecambe Bay) may have been formed about the same time ; others must have taken place at later periods. Eighthly, Afterwards ensued the more tranquil period of the new red sandstone : but here our records, on the skirts of the lake mountains, fail us, and we have to seek them in other countries. Ninthly, Thousands of ages rolled away during the second- ary and tertiary epochs. Of those times we have no monu- ments in Cumberland. But the powers of nature are never in repose ; her work never stands still. Many a fissure 50 GEOLOGY OF THE may in those days have started into an open chasm, and many a valley been scooped out upon the lines of ' fault'. Tenthly, Close to the historic time, we have proofs of new disruption and violence, and of vast changes of level between land and sea. Ancient valleys may have been opened out anew, and fresh valleys formed by such great movements in the oceanic level. Whatever strain there may have been in the more solid parts of our island at this time, their greatest power must have been exerted upon ancient valleys, where the continuity of the beds was already broken. Cracks among the strata may, during this period, have passed into open fissures vertical escarpments have been formed by un- equal elevations on the sides of the lines of fault and sub- sidences have given rise to many tarns and lakes. The face of nature may therefore have been greatly changed while the land was settling to its present level. But let me not be misunderstood ; this last period may have been of very long duration. I am only attempting to give an outline of a long series of physical facts, proved by physical evidence. I wish to pause before I reach the mo- dern period ; and do not profess to link geology to the tradi- tions of the human race. By some rash and premature at- tempts of this kind, much harm has been already done to the cause of truth and Christian charity. While geology is an advancing science, and the limits of her discoveries are so ill- defined, such attempts must almost inevitably involve some of the elements of error, and end in uncertain conclusions, ill fitted to form the base of historic truth. Any description of the mineral veins of Cumberland, would involve me in difficult details quite unfit for these letters ; and with their present condition, I am not acquainted. The anti- mony works in the Skiddaw slate, near the .foot of Bassen- thwaite Lake, are, as I am informed, now deserted, Ores of lead and copper are still extracted from several parts of the middle division of the slates. The large works near Ulls- water and Coniston Water Head well deserve a visit The mines of plumbago, or black lead (carburet of iron), near the head of Borrow dale, are so peculiar to Cumberland that they must not be entirely passed over. The mineral is found in a large and very irregular vein, cutting through the green slate and porphyry not in ribs parallel to the sides of the vein, nor in the form of crystalline masses imbedded in spar ; but, here and there, in large irregular lumps or congeries of lumps ; which begin and swell out, and then thin off, without any ap- parent order. The miners have sometimes followed the vein LAKE DISTRICT. 5 1 for years without stumbling on any of the larger rich masses:* and the works are now, I believe, very unproductive. Several irregular veins, with much red oxide of iron, are found in the neighbouring hills ; but none of them have produced the lumps of carburet of iron. Plumbago is sometimes found in small flakes among the slags of our great iron furnaces ; and it has also been found among coal strata near the sides of ' trap dykes.' In such cases we can give an intelligible account of its formation : but I do not venture to account for its sublim- ation among the rocks of Borrowdale. I may, however, observe that the Skiddaw slate, which supports the green slate and porphyry, sometimes, I believe contains a small quantity of carbon.f The iron mines of Low Furness and of Bigrigg Moor near Whitehaven, are also characteristic of the lake country. Red oxide of iron has been produced abundantly during many geological periods ; and the old red sandstone derives its co- louring matter chiefly from that mineral. But the great de- posits of ' kidney ore,' near Dalton and Whitehaven, are of a newer date ; as they are found in the fissures and hollows of the carboniferous limestone. They in some places mark the pre- sence of a great irregular ' fault :' in others they have been precipitated in open water-worn caverns. The best example of the latter kind is seen at Bigrigg Moor. In all these places the ' kidney ore ' was probably introduced during the period of the new red sandstone, while the waters of the sea, satu- rated with red oxide of iron, flowed through the fissures and caverns of the limestone, and filled them gradually up with the metallic matter held in partial solution. . In ending this imperfect outline of the structure of your native mountains, permit me to add one or two remarks, not, I trust, unconnected with the object of these letters. Geo- * One of the largest masses ever found in this mine, yielding about 70,000 Ibs. of the purer sorts of this mineral, besides more of an inferior quality, was discovered about forty years ago. f- A sub-carburet of iron is found in very thin veins or ' strings,' among the slate rocks of Cornwall, north of the Lizard district. But there the slates are perhaps not older than' the lower part of the old red sandstone : and I may remark that carbonaceous matter and many impressions of plants occur in the Rhenish provinces, among still older rocks; but among none of such antiquity as the Skiddaw slate. K 2 52 GEOLOGY OF THE logy links itself with every material science. The earth is a great laboratory and storehouse of old experiments, where- in we may discipline our thoughts, and rise to the compre- hension of the laws of nature : and it is by such means that we learn to bring the materials around us under our control, and make them obedient to our will. Exact science is the creature of the human mind a body of necessary truths built upon mere abstractions. But when physical phenomena are well defined, and their laws made out by long and patient observations, or proved by adequate experiments : they then, by an act of thought, may be made to pass into the form of mere abstractions, and so come within the reach of exact mathematical analysis : and many new physical truths, un- approachable in any other way, and far removed from direct observation, may thus be brought to light, and fixed as firmly as are the truths of pure geometry. Laws of atomic action all that belongs to the highest ge- neralizations of chemical philosophy, may gain light and strength from the advances of geology. For what are crys- talline rocks, and cleavage planes of slates, and all the per- plexing phenomena of metallic veins, but the results of che- mical action carried on upon a gigantic scale of experiments made of old in nature's laboratory which we can sometimes feebly imitate ? The laws of electro chemical action are among the great discoveries of modern times. We can now separate metals from the fluid in which they are dissolved, in imitation of what nature has done among the cracks and veins of our ancient strata. It is not possible to tell what great things may not hereafter be brought to pass by this happy union of observation and experiment. Again, we are assured from direct observation, that the same chemical and mechanical laws by which the materials of our globe are now bound together, have remained un- changed from the time when the solid foundations of the earth were laid. Changes of phenomena imply only a change of conditions, not a change in the primary laws of matter. We may therefore hope, that as geology advances farther towards exactness, as a science of observation, its phenomena may be brought more nearly under the goverment of known mecha- nical laws, and more closely defined by the powers of exact calculation. For ages to come, geology may offer problems to call forth the utmost skill of mechanical philosophy. The density of the earth's mass is not yet exactly known ; and no one perhaps has yet found where he is to fix the fulcrum of LAKE DISTRICT. 53 the lever which is to weigh the world. I believe that this problem will one day be more exactly solved (as it was a few years since attempted) by observations at the bottom of a mine ; where geology and astronomy, aided by the refine- ments of mechanical skill, must all combine in a common labour. This object if once gained would not be sterile ; but would be pregnant with many results of deep physical importance. But it would be idle for me to dwell on the prospects of geo- logy, or on its bearings on the progress of the exacter sciences. Let me, however, add, that as all parts of nature, material and moral, are the offspring of one creative mind, and are wisely fitted to one another ; so we believe that the discovery of every new physical truth must tend to the support of every other truth, whatever be its kind, and to the good of the human race. The great formations of geology, however varied in their features, or imposing in their combination, derive their chief interest from being the monuments of successive periods of time. There is, therefore, a kind of historical animation in our labour which hardly belongs to any other physical pur- suit. The same remark applies to the organic remains buried among the successive strata of the earth. However in- structive they may be in shewing us certain forms of organic life, and whatever delight they may give the naturalist, by enabling him to fill up great chasms in the history of animated nature ; in the mind of the geologist they have a still higher value, when he regards them as the marks of creative power which called into existence successive races of beings adapted to successive conditions of the earth. In this view, they have been not unaptly called ' the medals of creation" each series marking but one chapter in the physical records of past time. There is one view of geology, considered by some as a sign of its imperfection, but which, in truth, is a part of its glory. Many of its conclusions are as firmly fixed as the truths of demonstration : but the boundaries of its conquests are still undefined ; and there is still so much of wild untamed nature about it, that it is almost as well fitted to inflame the imagination, as to inform the reason. We profess to build only on observation and experiment : but there are many wide provinces in geology still unexplored ; many that are known imperfectly ; and in no part of her realms are her subjects bound by such unyielding fetters as to have no room for the mind's creative powers. While we are moving on towards 54 GEOLOGY OF THE a resting-place we are longing for, among objects which to many may seem harsh-featured and repulsive, we may re- fresh our souls by sometimes soaring into the airy regions of hypothesis, or in fostering dreams as wild as those of a poet's fancy. You, Sir, have told us of ' the mighty voice of the moun- tains," and have interpreted its language, and made it the de- light of thousands : and in ages yet unborn, the same voice will cheer the kindly aspirations of the heart, and minister to the exaltation of our better nature. But there is another 'mighty voice,' muttered in the dark recesses of the earth : not like the dismal sounds of the Lebadean cave; but the voice of wisdom, of inspiration, and of gladness ; telling us of things unseen by vulgar eyes of the mysteries of creation of the records of God's will in countless ages before man's being of a Spirit breathing over matter before a living soul was placed within it of laws as unchangeable as the oracles of nature of harmonies then in preparation ; but far nobler now that they are the ministers of thought and the instruments of intellectual joy ; and to have their full consummation only in the end of time, when all the bonds of matter shall be cast away, and there shall begin the reign of knowledge and uni- versal love Whatever be the value of geology as a science, its bearings upon the ordinary wants of life are too obvious to call for any comment. It leads us to the most glorious portions of the world, and carries us amongst men of kind hearts, and up- right independent thoughts. It is among the mountains, as you have told us, that we are to listen to ' liberty's chosen music:' and the very objects with which we have there to struggle, give back to us, as the earth's touch did of old to the giant's body, new spirits and enduring strength. Some of the happiest summers of my life were passed among the Cumbrian mountains, and some of the brightest days of those summers were spent in your society and guid- ance. Since then, alas, twenty years have rolled away : but I trust that many years of intellectual health may still be granted you ; and that you may continue to throw your gleams of light through the mazes of human thought to weave the brightest wreaths of poetic fancy and to teach your fellow-men the pleasant ways of truth and goodness, of nature and pure feeling. But here I must conclude my letters ; which though of more than twice the length I first intended, do not contain a hundredth part of what might be LAKE DISTRICT. 55 said on the structure of your country. Such as they are, I send them to you with great good-will ; and rejoice in the thought of having at length performed a promise, made to you many years since, but claimed by you only now. With the honest expressions of admiration and regard, and with hearty wishes for your happiness, I remain, my dear Sir, Very faithfully your's, A. SEDGWICK. Cambridge, May 30, 1842. THE END. KENDAL: PRINXID BT HUDSON AND NICHOLSON. y^ ^ ^ >w^ * University of California SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024-1388 Return this material to the library from which it was borrowed. KtC'D l.D-URL JilOV 6 J99J A 000 989 228 2