The angler in the Lake district; or, Piscatory colloquies and fishing excursions in Westmoreland and Cumberland

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ANGLER IN THE LAKE DISTRICT

OR,

PISCATOEY COLLOQUIES

AND

FISHING EXCUESIONS

IN

WESTMORELAND AND CUMBERLAND,

JOHN DAVY, M.D., P.E.S., Etc.

' And, 0 ye fountains, meadows, hills, and groves,
Think not of any severing of our loves."

WOEDSWOETH.

LONDON:

LONGMAN, BROWN, GHEEN, LONGMANS, & ROBERTS.

1857:

. The right of translation u reserved.

"Remember that the wit and invention of mankind were bestowed for
other purposes than to deceive silly fish ; and that however delightful AngUng
may be made to appear, it ceases to be innocent when used otherwise than a
recreation." Izaak Walton.

London :

Printed by Spottiswoode & Co.

New-street Square.

1)33

DEDICATORY NOTE.

The Angler to his Friend.

Dear Amicus,

Two years have gone by since I
addressed you last — two short years — yet how
pregnant of events — of heroical feats of arms
in the field, of feeble doings in council, and
their inevitable consequence — national losses,
and all but national disgrace.

The even tenor of the Angler's way and
those pleasant journeyings we have had to-
gether, described in the following pages, are a
remarkable contrast to the scenes we might
have witnessed in the East, and the horrors we

A 2

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t/W rf'ywi

DEDICATORY NOTE.

might have been sharers of there, had our
offered services been accepted.

As our art is " the contemplative man's re-
creation/' and we have so enjoyed it together,
can I do better than inscribe this little volume
to you as a donum amiciticB^ and through you to
all gentle lovers of the angle, and of scenery
and scenes such as those of the Lake District,
— once the favourite haunts of the angler, and
which might be so again, could unlawful fish-
ing be prevented ?

I am,

Your loving Friend,

PiSCATOR.

Lesketh How, Ambleside :
December, 1856.

ADVERTISEMENT.

In the following pages the Author, availing
himself of his leisure, has endeavoured to give
an account of those parts of the Lake District
which are most interesting to the angler and
tourist.

The form of dialogue which he has adopted,
so tempting and favourable to varied discussion,
has often led him on to the consideration of
other matters than piscatory, and some of them
of higher moment, such as the instincts of
animals, the poets' homes, and kindred subjects,
for the introduction of which he trusts he may
be pardoned so long as Angling deserves to be
called ^^ the contemplative man's recreation.'*

CONTENTS.

Page

Dedicatory Note iii

Advertisement ------ y

Colloquy I.
Angler*s Home.— Table Talk - - - - 1

Colloquy IL
Mountain Tarns. — Tarn Fishing. — Scenery and

Incidents - - - - - - 35

Colloquy III.
Santon Bridge, Cumberland. — The River Irt. —

Evening Fishing. — Varied Discussion - 62

Colloquy IV.
Wasdale Head. — Wastwater. — Lake- fishing - 92

Colloquy V.
Ennerdale Lake. — Lake-fishing continued - 111

Colloquy VI.
Eskdale, and the River Esk - - - - 129

CONTENTS,

Colloquy VII.

Page

The Lake-District revisited. — Varied Discussion,

Local and Piscatory - - - - 157

Colloquy VIII.
Vale of St. John. — Memorabilia, and Discussion

by the Way ------ 184

Colloquy IX.
The River Duddon and its Course - - - 216

Colloquy X.
The Greta. — Derwentwater. — The Derwent - 251

Colloquy XI.
Merry May. — Derwentwater. — Borrowdale - 275

Colloquy XIL
Crummock Water 301

Colloquy XIII.
Windermere ------- 318

Colloquy XIV.
Sunday and Sunday Musings - - - - 338

THE

ANGLER IN THE LAKE DISTRICT.

f

COLLOQUY L
The Angler's Home. Table Talk,

Amicus.
OOKINGr out at my bedroom win-
dow, on rising this morning, I in-
voluntarily exclaimed, " My friend
has chosen well the spot for his

retirement ! " — the pastoral valley was so bright
below, lighted up by a gleam of sunshine ; —
the little stream, winding through it, swollen
by the night's rain, making music ; — the hill
opposite, bounding the valley, which I think
you call Loughrigg, so charming in its fine
form and varied surface of coppice, grove, and
// B

THE ANGLERS HOME,

meadow ; and your beautiful lake, your Winder-
mere, partly seen where the valley expands
in the distance.

PiscATOR. I am well content with my choice :
to me, it has much to recommend it ; climate,
scenery, and quietude, and this without soli-
tude. I hope, after the fatigues of yester-
day, you slept well, and are refreshed.

Amicus. That I did, and with great enjoy-
ment of my cool bed. I thought of tropical
heat, and the tropical annoyance of insects, and
enjoyed it the more. Have you ever hot nights
here?

PiscATOE. I may say never; and like you,
having felt, more than I ever wish to feel again,
the oppressive night's heat of the tropics, and
of the south of Europe and of the East in
summer, the coolness of the nights here, with
the absence of insects within doors, I hold to
be one of the blessings of the place. So cool is
it even in the height of summer early and
late, that we are seldom without a fire in the
morning and evening; — this is a comfort — a
word, by the by, untranslatable into the lan-
guages of the East, owing, I presume, to the
want of the reality.

CLIMATE OF THE LAKE DISTRICT, 3

Amicus. But have you not more rain than
you wish, and less sunshine? And have you
not, in consequence, too damp an atmosphere,
and too wet a soil ?

PiscATOR. There is a belief to that effect ;
but I think it is held only by those not per-
sonally acquainted with the district. It is true
that the quantity of rain that falls here is
great; but not so the number of rainy days.
The difference is chiefly in the heaviness of the
showers : a fall of two inches of rain in the
twelve hours is not at all uncommon. In
many parts of England, where the yearly
amount of rain is vastly less, the number of
rainy days is even greater. The pouring rain,
the heaviest, is most frequently followed by a
clear sky, as if the atmosphere were purged and
purified by it. Moreover, owing to the pecu-
liarity of our soil, the absence of clay, — the
peculiarity of the surface, one of almost unin-
terrupted declivities, — the rain rapidly runs
off, feeding those innumerable rills, those
many rivers and lakes, which constitute so
marked and beautiful a feature of the district,
leaving the roads dry and clean. And this
reminds me of an anecdote of our great poet,

B 2

4 FECULIARITIES OF CLIMATE

which I heard him himself relate. What think
you induced him to take up his abode here?
You may suppose it was the surpassing beauty
of its scenery. No such thing ; none of those
poetical elements which he so finely describes
in his poem, written on the banks of the Wye,
tempted him ; or in these other lines, —

" Clouds, mists, streams, watery rocks and emerald turf,
Bare hills and valleys full of caverns, rocks.
And audible seclusions, dashing lakes.
Echoes and water-falls and pointed crags.
That into music touch the passing wind."

No, it was none of these, but the dry, clean
roads, so favourable for walking exercise. Pray
remember how different this district would be^
were it not so amply supplied with rain. It
would no longer be a lake district ; no longer a
pastoral district: desolation would take the
place of fertility ; a repulsive, arid aspect the
place of the attractive verdant covering now so
delightful. Even as it is, we have rather to
complain of times of drought, to which the
country is subject, than to excess of rain ; — a
drought of three or four weeks, drying up our
springs and almost our streams, withering and
arresting the growth of our pastures, as un-

OF THE LAKE DISTRICT,

pleasing in its effects on the eye, as it is trying
to the interests of the farmer. Now, let us sit
down to breakfast ; after which, we will, if you
please, make the tour of our little valley, and
visit spots which I am sure will interest you,
both for their intrinsic beauty, and the minds
associated with them. Fox How, which from
the window you may see peering above the
trees, shall be one of them, the Holiday Eetreat
of the gifted and energetic Arnold ; and Rydal
Mount, not more than half a mile distant, the
beloved home of Wordsworth, and worthy of
him, shall be another; not to mention other
and minor notabilities.

Amicus. Now that we are at this social meal,
indulge me with some further particulars of
your district ; for, by what you have said, you
have excited my curiosity. Being in the midst
of mountains, have you not severe winters ?
And having so much rain, have you not a pro-
portional amount of snow ?

PiscATOR. No, indeed ; we have neither the
one nor the other ; and so we are favoured. Our
winters are comparatively mild ; and what is
remarkable, we have comparatively little snow ;
— a happy circumstance, for were it as you

B 3

6 ADVANTAGES OF CLIMATE

suppose, we should be buried in snow, and
have to lead a terrible winter life. Our valleys
stand but little above the level of the sea : this
circumstance, and the proximity of the sea on
either side, and our deep lakes and other col-
lections of water, such as the smaller lakes or
tarns, and the innumerable springs and streams,
may account for the absence of intense winter
cold, and in part also, though not so distinctly,
for the little snow that falls.

Amicus. Your explanation seems satisfac-
tory; collections of water seeming to be the
great moderators of temperature, absorbing heat
in summer, giving it out in winter, and so
conducing to an equilibrium. I have often
thought how great are our obligations to the
sea, and that we are hardly grateful enough
for its benefits.

PiscATOii. For which of our common benefits
are we sufficiently grateful, whether it be
the beautiful face of nature that delights us,
the atmosphere with its vital air that we
breathe, or the fertile earth that supports us !
As to the sea, I may mention another circum-
stance in connection with it, affording further
scope for gratitude. There was, there is good

OF THE LAKE DISTRICT.

ground for belief, a time when England was
not an island, but a portion of the Continent,
and when, before other and distant terrestrial
changes had taken place, not having its shores
washed by a warm sea, such as the Grulf-stream,
it was subject to such severe winters, that these
our valleys, in their length and breadth, were the
seat of glaciers, of the existence and action of
which we have here everywhere proof, as I shall
have pleasure, in the excursions which I hope
we shall make together, to point out to you.

Amicus. You spoke of the absence of clay
in the district, as one of its happy peculiarities'
How is that, especially as the rocks of the
district are, I understand, chiefly of slate, — clay-
slate ?

PiscATOE. Of metamorphic clay-slate; that
is, of slate that has been subjected to an indu-
rating cause, — an action rendering it hard, and
little liable to disintegrate, such as that of heat.
There is reason to believe that, before the
glacier period, there might have been a fiery
one, when the effect I allude to was produced.
Moreover, owing to the heavy rains, and the
little stagnant water in the district, hardly an
opportunity is afforded for the accumulation of

B 4

POTTED CHARR.

clay. CJay is composed of disintegrated par-
ticles of extreme fineness most easily suspended
in water, and consequently can never find
their rest till they are carried to a place of
rest from the mountains where abraded, and
from the higher levels, to the plains and lower
levels; and thus transported, — happily from
regions where clay is less needed, that is, where
there is most rain, to those where it is most
wanted, the plains, where there is less rain, —
and being specially retentive of moisture, and
giving it out slowly, it thus, in a manner,
compensates for the deficiency.

Amicus. How good are these potted fish
which I have been enjoying along with your
eulogy of the district I Are they the famed
charr of your lake, or trout ? One pleasant
property belonging to - them is their freedom
from bones. Is this in consequence of solution
in the process of cooking, or one of the felicities
specially belonging to a fish of your favoured
country ?

PiscATOR. You are not serious, I know, in
asking the latter question ; but I will answer
you seriously. As to your first question, were
you at an inn, the waiter probably would call

EFFECT OF COOKING ON BONES. 9

the fish charr, the charr being in greater esti-
mation, especially for potting ; but if you in-
quired of the cook who prepared them, and
she would tell the truth, most likely you would
be informed that they are trout, such as you
have been eating. Know that a large pro-
portion of the so-called potted charr is trout ;
the distinction is difficult ; and if the trout be
of good quality, it is not, when thus prepared,
inferior to charr. As to your second question,
if you carefully examine the fish you are eating,
you will find that it retains its bones ; but that,
instead of being hard and resisting, as they
originally were, they are now soft and yielding.
This change is the effect of the cooking — of
the baking process by which the animal matter,
the cartilaginous portion of the bone, has been
rendered almost gelatinous. It is by an ana-
logous process that bones have been softened
so as to admit of being easily chopped and
divided for agricultural use, viz., by steaming
or boiling under pressure.

Amicus. Might not a small quantity of
vinegar be added with advantage ? It would
promote, as an antiseptic, the keeping of the
fish, and might do away with the necessity of

10 A RECEIPT FOR

covering them with butter to exclude the air.
In Greece and the Ionian Islands, vinegar is
much used for the like purpose; in this way
quails are preserved as well as fish, and most
easily and economically.

PiscATOK. And salmon, you know, in this
country. Though vinegar is wholesome, it
is not every one who likes vinegar ; and I may
mention, as an economical hint, that if the fish
be potted for immediate use, the covering of
butter may be dispensed with ; they will keep
untainted for at least a week, and even in the
height of summer.

Amicus. Having got on this subject, I
shall be glad to know if you can inform me
what is the best method of potting ; so that,
should I be at any time successful in my distant
angling expeditions, I may have it in my power
to instruct a cook in the method, and I may
have the benefit of it in conveying home some
of my spoils.

PiscATOK. I cannot do better than let you
have the receipt of an experienced potter of
charr, a worthy neighbour of mine, and a
woman of skill in most things that come
within her sphere of action, — a woman so

POTTING CHARR. 11

worthy, and so esteemed for higher qualities,
that her portrait in her old age has been
painted, paid for by a friendly subscription,
and presented to her daughters. It is as follows,
and in her own words : — " One dozen of charr,
dress and wipe with a dry cloth ; strew a little
salt in and over them, and let them lie all
night ; then wipe them with a dry cloth, and
season with one ounce of white pepper, quarter
of an ounce of cayenne, half an ounce of pounded
cloves, and a little mace. Clarify two pounds of
butter. Then put them with their backs down
into a pot lined with paper ; and then pour the
butter over, and bake four hours in a slow oven."
There are other methods of preserving fish
not undeserving of the attention of the angler.
I shall mention one which I saw practised in the
wilds of Connemara, and in my behalf, by the
very civil, and I may add very handsome,
hostess of " Flyn's or Half-way House." The
white trout, as fresh as possible, as soon as they
were brought to the inn after the day's fishing,
were divided longitudinally, sprinkled thickly
with salt and sugar, and then left to dry.
After two or three days they would be fit for
packing, and would keep a considerable time.

32 AN ANGLING INCIDENT,

affording an article relishable at the breakfast
table, at least by many.

Amicus. Thank you for this information ;
and now let me remind you of what you were
about to mention, from the letter before you,
which you thought would interest me, and I
have no doubt will.

PiscATOR. In this letter which I have just
received from a friend, an ardent angler and a
very accurate observer, and as truthful a relator,
he mentions an incident strikingly showing
how low is the sense of feeling in the trout.
The incident was this: He was fishing in
Derbyshire, in the Lathkin, — that river cele-
brated by Izaak Walton as affording the best
trout in England; — he caught one of herring-
size, an under-size according to the rules for
angling there. In extricating the hook, which
he did hastily, a portion of the upper jaw was
torn off. The fish, as he could not keep it, he
threw back into the river. Keturning an hour
after, he made a cast at the same spot, hooked
a fish, and on landing it, to his surprise, found
it was the identical one he had taken before,
minus the half of its jaw. What think you of
this ? Could you have imagined it ?

DEGBEES OF ANIMAL SENSITIVENESS. 13

Amicus. Unless so well authenticated, I
could not have believed it.

PiscATOR. Considering the predatory habits of
fish, how subject they are to accidents, this low
degree of sensitiveness has no doubt been kindly
and wisely bestowed on them. We are too apt
to reason from our own feelings concerning the
feelings of other animals, and thereby make
snreat mistakes. Different races of animals are

o

certainly endowed with different degrees of
feeling ; we have a rough criterion of the degree
in the nervous system of each. Shakspeare it
is, I think, who says —

" The sense of death is most in apprehension ;
And the poor beetle which we tread upon
In corporal suffering feels a pang as great
As when a giant dies."

Here we have truth and error mixed, and ad-
mirably expressed, and most humanely. The
truth is, and it is most true, that the sense of
death is most in apprehension, dying being
mostly without any acute pain, a state of stupor
or insensibility commonly preceding it. The
error is, the implied idea that the insect and
man are equally sensitive.

Amicus. I am glad to hear you speak thus.

14 PERCEPTION HOW MODIFIED,

and to have enforced the fact that the feeling of
the salmonidae — for I suppose the incident you
have related applies to the whole of the family —
is so obtuse, inasmuch as too often, when I pull
a beautiful trout out of the water and see it
writhing in the act of extricating the hook
from its mouth, I am seized with compunction
of conscience, and feel as I would not wish to
feel for the deed I have committed.

PiscATOR. You have forgotten the maxim to
kill your fish before extracting the hook. But
passing that by, I can assure you that with more
practice you will lose your over-acute feeling.
It is remarkable how habit reconciles one to
acts : I may mention an anecdote in illustration
of this. When a student engaged in some
physiological inquiries on the blood, I had
occasion to ask the assistance of a butcher ; it
was to hold the head of a sheep whilst I laid
bare the jugular vein of the animal. It required
a little careful manipulation with the scalpel,
some gentle strokes of the knife after the first
incision, which could occasion little pain and
were attended with hardly any loss of blood.
Suddenly, the butcher let go his hold of the
head, turning away, saying " he could not stand

OVER-POWERED, OR NEGLECTED. 15

it," — he who would have had no hesitation in
thrusting his knife into the throat of the sheep,
or knocking down with his pole-axe a bullock.
The one which " he could not stand " was new to
him ; the other, to which he was indifferent, he
was accustomed to. There is another quality
befriending the over-sensitive angler, — that of
abstraction. Eager in the sport, at the instant
of success, the mind is more intent on the
capture, the prize gained, than on the feelings
of the captive. Even when man is contending
with man, this is the case, whether the struggle
be that of the athlete, or of the warrior.
The surgeon, in performing an operation, is
a good example. It is related of Cheselden
that, before entering on an operation, he was
always affected constitutionally in a very dis-
agreeable manner ; but that when engaged in
it, his unpleasant sensations all vanished, his
mind was so concentrated on what he was
about. A friend of mine, a surgeon, has told
me of his own experience, similarly illustra-
tive, how, when operating, he did not hear —
that is, he was not conscious of — the screams
of his patient (it was before chloroform was
in use), though so loud that they attracted

16 MEMORY OF PAIN SHORT.

the attention of persons in the street, their
attention being free, while his was otherwise
directed.

Amicus. This, indeed, is a singular instance
of an unobserved impression ; for of course the
ear must have been affected. The wave of
sound must have been conveyed to the tym-
panum, though in vain as to the production of
intelligent cognition.

PiscATOR. How many lost or unrecognised
impressions are there of the same kind, though
not so remarkable; indeed, how few of the ever-
flowing impulses of light, from visible objects,
do we perceive, unless the mind be prepared
to see them! — and as regards the more deli-
cate, unless the observer be trained for the pur-
pose, they, as is well known to the astronomer,
take place unnoticed. Is it not Cicero who
said, " How many things does the painter ob-
serve, which we do not see ? " Moreover as to
pain, even in the instance of man, — and we may
well suppose it is not less so in the instance of
fish, — the memory of it is of short duration.
How soon is the suffering from sea sickness for-
gotten ! How soon does the mother forget the
pains of labour ! Were it otherwise, how few

. THE TROUT OF THE LATHKIN, 17

would go down a second time to the "great
deep ! '' how few would be the second births !

Amicus. Yet, as the adage has it, " the burnt
child dreads the fire."

PiscATOK. In its destructive, consuming
agency, and by its increasing heat with proxi-
mity, it gives constant warning.

Amicus. You just now spoke in praise of the
trout of the Lathkin. What I have heard of
them is not so favourable : I have been assured
by a friend, who has often fished that well-
preserved stream, that a trout in good condi-
tion is rarely to be taken there.

PiscATOK. Izaak Walton is my authority, and
the time, of course, the past. He, speaking of
the stream, describes it as " by many degrees
the purest and most transparent he had ever
seen, either at home or abroad" — (he had never
been in Westmoreland), — "and as breeding
the reddest and best trouts in England."
These are his words. As to the real quality of
these trout at present, I agree with your friend ;
they may have been excellent, but now they
certainly are not: all I have taken, excepting
the smaller, have borne marks of being ill fed ;
they were soft, lank and flabby,
c

18 BAD EFFECT OF OVER STOCKING.

Amicus. Is there any obvious cause for the
change, supposing that, in Walton's time, they
deserved the reputation they had for excel-
lence ? Is the quality of the water altered?
Is it less pure or transparent than it was ?

PiscATOR. Still the little stream retains its
beauty, as regards purity and transparency.
The water, I fancy, is not in fault. You spoke
of the river as carefully preserved. My belief is,
strange as it may seem, that here lies the cause.
Let me explain. Owing to the severe restriction
on fishing this stream, so few fish are taken
from it that it is overstocked; it has more
in its waters than they can properly support,
and the consequence is, that food failing, or,
what is equivalent, food of a good quality, the
effects are exhibited in a falling off in the
condition of the fish. I scarcely need remind
you, that one rule is applicable to all living
things, whether animals or vegetables, of what-
ever class, a population or herd, trees or fishes :
for their proper growth, support, and well-
being there must be an adequate supply of
food, adequate space, adequate air ; stint them
of these, and deterioration follows. If you
plant too thickly and do not thin, you have

THE DOCTRINE OF MALTHUS, 19

worthless wood ; if you encourage breeding, as
in the instance of the trout, and carefully, too
carefully, preserve the fish, they will soon
multiply in excess, and be in danger of starving
each other. Were their numbers thinned, so
that what remained might have a sufficiency
of food, I have no doubt the trout of the
Lathkin would soon be worthy of, and recover,
their old repute. I have known instances of
the like kind, of waters overstocked having
fish of indifferent quality, and of their im-
proving in quality and size on their numbers
being diminished.

Amicus. I fancy, from what you say, you are
a disciple of JNIalthus, who, if I recollect rightly,
advocates the principle, that the amount of
population must be regulated by the amount of
supply of subsistence.

PiscATOE. In a large sense, I adopt his
doctrine, which, in principle, I think unim-
peachable, so long as man — and the same may
be said of other animals, and of plants, — in
brief, of all organic living things — cannot exist
without food ; and so long as the tendency is in
the instance of man, and of other animals
inhabiting a suitable climate, — that is, a

C 2

'20 THE DOGS OF CONSTANTINOPLE,

climate favourable to health, life, and increase, —
CO increase in a higher ratio than the ordinary
means of subsistence, a check is needed, that the
mouths be not too many for the available food,
or, in other words, that the increase of the one
should bear a due proportion to that of the
other. Even intelligent man feels the moral
check too feeble. We are assured in Holy Writ
that we shall always have the poor with us,
which all experience confirms — a proof of the
inadequacy of this check. Amongst brute
animals — and the remark especially applies to
fish — the only natural checks are feebleness,
disease, and death, with the evil of degeneracy
affecting the whole race.

Amicus. Notwithstanding all the objections
which have been made to the doctrines of
Malthus, I cannot but think he is right, and,
like you, I can hardly avoid adopting his |
principles. When in Constantinople, I wit-
nessed what seemed to me in exact accordance
with them, in the instance of the canine race,
there free and unowned, living as best they
can, and one hardly knows how. Now, what
is remarkable, each quarter of the city has a
limited number, and tolerably stationary, I was

MAN AND BRUTE ANIMALS. 21

assured, one year with another, neither in-
creasing nor diminishing, the means of sub-
sistence being their limit, there being no other ;
for they are most jealous of rights as to
quarters, as much so as if they were fully
indoctrinated in the principles we are talking
about. If one ventures to pass his boundary
into an adjoining quarter, he is immediately
attacked ; and woe befall him, unless he is able
to make a precipitate retreat.

PiscATOK. It is curious to trace the resem-
blances that are observable in the societies of
animals and of men, and how many qualities
they have in common. An interesting book I
have no doubt might be written on the subject
by a competent person, tending to show that the
line between instinct and reason, or, more pro-
perly speaking, intelligence, is nowise a strongly
marked one ; that in some degree, in propor-
tion to the similitude of organisation, there
is a similitude of nature, and that the highest
in the scale amongst brutes are but little in-
ferior to the lowest in the scale of our own
species ; in other words, inasmuch as the
reasoning faculty is connected with the brain
in man, so may the instinctive faculty be con-
c 3

22 EXAMPLES OF THE RESEMBLANCE

nected with the brain and nervous system of
brute-animals ; and as man in some of his
actions is guided by instinct, so brutes in some
of their doings may be guided by reason. Ee-
member the analogy that exists, with diffe-
rences, comparing the nervous system in
different classes of animals ! May not such
a vast variety of structure, associated as we
know it to be with as great a variety of in-
stincts, be the corporeal cause of that variety ?
Amicus. If not asking too much, I should be
glad to hear you illustrate what you say by
examples, general propositions being so easily
made, and of so little value. But I will not
task you to enter into the anatomical and
physiological part of the subject : that had
better be reserved for a winter evening and
the fireside.

PiscATOE. The subject, even limited as you
wish, is so large, that I hesitate on entering
upon it, for I am nowise prepared to do it
justice ; however, to give you some definite
idea of my meaning, I will mention a few
facts that have come under my notice, or that
I have heard of well authenticated, — facts
displaying conduct on the part of brutes very

BETWEEN MAN AND ANIMALS. 23

like that of man under the same circumstances.
When in Ceylon many years ago, a friend of
mine, who was Deputy Quartermaster-Greneral,
consulted me about an elephant belonging to
his department, one that had a deep burrowing
sore on its back, just over the back-bone, which
had long resisted the ordinary mode of treat-
ment employed. After due examination I re-
commended, as necessary, the free use of the
knife, that issue might be given to the accu-
mulated matter; but no one of the ordinary
attendants would undertake the operation.
Being assured by my friend that the brute
would behave well under it, I undertook it.
The elephant was not bound ; he was made to
kneel down, his keeper at his head : with an am-
putating knife, using all my force, I made the in-
cision requisite through his tough integuments ;
he did not flinch, but rather inclined towards
me when using the knife, and uttered merely a
low, as it were suppressed groan ; in short, he
behaved as like a human being as possible, as
if conscious, as I believe he was, that the pain
inflicted was unavoidable, and that the opera-
tion, as I am happy to say it proved, was for
c 4

24 EXAMPLES OF THE RESEMBLANCE

his benefit. From the elephant, I will pass to
the dog. The then Grovernor of Ceylon, the
late Sir Eobert Brownrigg, had one of more
than ordinary sagacity ; he always accompanied
his master, being allowed so to do, except on
particular occasions, as on going to church, or
council, or to inspect the troops, when the
general always wore his sword. Now, when
he saw the sword girded on, he would give his
attendance no further than the outer door ;
without a word being said he would return and
wait the coming back of his master, patiently
waiting up stairs at the door of his private
apartment. Here is another instance : once,
when fishing in the Highlands, I saw a party
of sportsmen with their dogs cross the stream,
the men wading, the dogs swimming, with the
exception of one who stopped on the bank pite-
ously howling ; after a few minutes, he suddenly
ceased and started off full speed for a higher
part of the stream. I was able to keep him in
view, and he did not stop till he reached a spot
where a plank connected the banks, on which
he crossed dry-footed and soon joined his com-
panions. Are not these instances of memory
associated with a certain degree of reasoning ? I

BETWEEN MAN AND ANIMALS. 25

shall mention another, in which memory — ex-
perience— was associated with feeling. It also
occurred in Ceylon ; it impressed me so much
at the time that I made a note of it, which,
with your leave, I will read to you, the note-
book being at hand. "Kandy, April 7th, 1818,
4 P.M." (pray endure my tediousness) : the note
proceeds: — "This afternoon there has been a
good deal of lightning, thunder, and rain. At
this instant the lightning is vivid, and the
thunder loud, bursting overhead, and rolling
as it were from hill to hill. What surprises
me is, that the birds are now unusually vocal ;
they seem to rejoice in the storm, as if conscious
of its beneficial effects, like the inhabitants of
the desert, who, when they see sheet lightning,
hail it (according to Park) with acclamations as
a sure indication of rain." The account con-
tinues : " I cannot help listening attentively to
the birds, and I am confident that not a note is
interrupted by the loudest thunder. Their
singing at this time is the more extraordinary,
since had the weather been dry and fine, and
of course hot, they would at this hour of the
day have been silent. How different (I add) is
the effect of a thunder storm in England, where

26 EXAMPLES OF THE BESEMBLANCE

it is generally accompanied by hail or cold rain !
Beasts and birds retire to cover, and keep a
mournful silence, or utter notes of distress.
Comparing the two, — the birds of England,
and Ceylon, — may I not say that they are
as differently affected by the thunder storm, as
the sailor on the ocean apprehensive of, and the
traveller in the desert welcoming, its effects ?
And may it not be inferred, that birds -as well
as men are taught by experience, have the same
confidence in the uniformity and constancy of
nature, and are under the influence of associated
impressions ? "

Amicus. The incident is an interesting one,
and I thank you for the relation so precisely
given. It brings to my recollection one nowise,
like yours, of a poetical kind ; but belonging,
I think you will agree with me, to the same
category. When in the West Indies, officially
employed, every morning, on week days, I had
to drive to my office. Near my house were
many negro huts, and poultry, not a few, the
property of their inmates. No sooner did
my carriage pass into the common road, than
the fowls gave chase ; it was a regular occur-
rence. Questioning my intelligent native driver

BETWEEN MAN AND ANIMALS. 27

on the subject, he pointed out the cause, — the
hungry, ill-fed poultry expected some droppings
from the horses. Close also to my house,
an industrious man, who had been a slave,
was intently occupied in reclaiming a piece of
rocky ground, and occasionally used gunpowder
to break the rocks. This was in hearing of
the same poultry : I watched them sometimes
when an explosion took place ; the sound
startled them at the instant, but they did not
rush towards the spot. I need not draw the
inference. Pray proceed.

PiscATOR. Your instance is a good one.
The next I shall give betokens, I think, — and I
hope you will agree with me, — a kind of moral
sense. The cook in the house of a friend of
mine, a lady on whose accuracy I can rely, from
whom I had the anecdote, missed a marrow-
bone : suspicion fell on a well-behaved dog,
a great favourite, and up to that time distin-
guishedly honest; he was charged with the
theft ; he hung down his tail, and for a day or
two was altered in his manner, having become
shy, sullen, and sheepish, if I may use the
expression for want of a better ; and so he con-
tinued, till, to the amusement of the cook.

28 EXAMPLES OF THE RESEMBLANCE

he brought back the bone, and laid it at her
feet ; when, with the restoration of the stolen
property, he resumed his cheerful manner.
Now, how can we interpret this conduct of the
dog, unless we suppose that he was aware he
had done amiss, and that the evil doing preyed
on him till he had made restitution ? Even
in animals most under the influence of pure
instinct, we often see adaptation of means to
ends, under new circumstances, very like the
prompting of reason. A pair of swallows have
constructed their nest under the eaves of my
dressing-room window. On their arrival, they
generally find it broken into and used by the
house-sparrow, which breeds earlier in the
spring than the swallow. If the weather be
favourable for repairing it, they immediately
undertake the work; but, if otherwise, — if it
be a time of drought, when it may be difficult
to find moist clay, or, could it be found, to use
it advantageously, — they do not attempt the
repair, but wait patiently for the first rains and
damp weather ; which being come, they no longer
procrastinate. Animals, we know, are capable
of a certain degree of education ; the ape, the
bear, the dog, the horse, afford good examples.

BETWEEN MAN AND ANIMALS. 29

And, as you are aware, what is taught in some
instances, becomes in a manner hereditary ; in
this respect again, as it is believed by many,
resembling the human race.

Amicus. I thank you for these few details.
I am willing to adopt your notion of the ap-
proximation of the higher order of brutes to
our own race, in faculties as well as in organi-
sation ; and, for the sake of humanity, I wish it
were generally adopted.

PiscATOE. If true, I could wish it adopted ;
not else. As regards humanity, I doubt its
having any material influence, reflecting how
gently and kindly brutes are treated by the
gentle and kind ; and how rudely and cruelly
treated are beings of our own kind by the rude
by nature, and cruel.

Amicus. Yet, on the idea you entertain, may
there not be a greater disposition to show
kindness to animals, and consideration for
their feelings, than on the opposite presump-
tion of an altogether absence of resemblance ?
In training, more I believe is effected by gentle
means than by harsh, by encouragement than
by fear ; by gaining the regard of the animal,
than by exciting its terror. We know that

30 MORAL CONSIDERATIONS.

animals are capable of attachment, and seem to
have a decided sense — many of them at least
— of what is amiable and good. How much
nobler and more pleasing is this view of their
character, and how much more grateful a
conduct in accordance towards them, than the
considering them mere brutes, and treating them
as brutes most commonly are treated !

PiscATOE. I grant your views are pleasing,
and may have some influence if inculcated and
adopted. But thej^e is the difficulty in this
busy world of ours, in which the business or
pleasure of the hour occupies almost entirely
most minds, and in which too seldom is there
just consideration given for the feelings of our
fellow-men.

Amicus. You spoke of the Lathkin as too
strictly preserved. That surprises me ; — I
mean the accomplishment of the thing, being
told by you of the difficulties attending it here
in your Lake District. Pray how is it ef-
fected ?

PisCATOR. What is difficult in Westmore-
land, almost impracticable, is easy in Derby-
shire. In the one county — ours — landed pro-
perty is much more divided than in the other ;

FREE ANGLING. 31

and the yeomanry class, under the designation
of statesmen, is still a large one, though their
number is diminishing. In consequence, per-
haps, of there being few great properties here
with manorial rights, the rivers and lakes have
been considered in a manner free ; and not only
have the small farmers, but also the labouring
men, whether in village or country, indulged
themselves in angling, affording proof how
general is the taste for it. In the latter
county, on the contrary, this taste is checked ;
the landed properties are large ; for instance,
the river, the Lathkin mentioned, and the
adjoining larger ones, the Wye and the Der-
went, run through the domains of two great
proprietors, the Dukes of Rutland and Devon-
shire. The aristocratic feeling is strong for
the preservation of game ; it is almost a dis-
tinctive mark; no right than that of fishing
and shooting is more jealously maintained.
Gret permission, if you can, to wet a line in the
Lathkin, and be assured you will not be half
an hour, whether late or early on its banks,
\vithout having a visit from a keeper, and
probably from another and another m the
course of the day, who will require the pro-

32 VAJRIED CONDITION OF PEASANTRY,

duction of your credentials, and inspect them
most inquisitorially. As to the labouring men
thereabouts, fishing they never think of;
they might as well think of doing any other
impossible thing. Not only, if detected, would
they be subject to fine or imprisonment, but
they would be sure to be sent out of the
country, being so much at the mercy of the
great landlords. Even were an a.ngling rod
found in their cottage, they would have to rue
the discovery. So lost are they to all interest
in the sport, that I never saw a passing labourer
stop to watch my doings, or to inquire after my
success.

Amicus. Such exclusiveness is almost to
be regretted. I fear in Derbyshire, at least,
the different classes are too wide apart, and
that the peasantry have not that kindness
shown them, which, as fellow-men, they are
entitled to, and the exercise of which would be
for the advantage of all concerned. Such a
state approaches too nearly that of serfage, as
serfage does too nearly that of slavery. I, for
my part, would rather live amongst your freer
peasantry with very indifferent angling, than in
those princely territories under such absolute

THE POETS HOME. 83

rule and restricted water privileges. Surely
the character of the peasantry must suffer.

PiscATOR. I think it does suffer, but I
cannot say to what extent. The northern
peasantry are distinguished for their bold and
independent bearing, their rough manners and
plain talk, and I hope I may add for simple
honesty : of the Derbyshire peasantry I know
less, and I am not prepared to give an opinion.
And now,' having finished our pleasantly pro-
tracted meal, let us prepare for our walk.

PiscATOK. Now we are alone, tell me how
you liked our after breakfast walk.

Amicus. It more than pleased, it delighted
me; especially Eydal Mount, its house, its
gardens, its terraces ; so unpretending, so beau-
tiful, everything so well preserved, and I
should suppose, unaltered. When you kindly
afforded me an opportunity of paying my
respects to the revered widow of the poet, I
could almost imagine myself in his presence,
and realize what Eydal Mount was during his
lifetime.

PiscATOR. Never was there a place so little

D

34 BYDAL MOUNT,

altered, so carefully and lovingly preserved
There is a moral charm in it heightening all its
other charms. I am sure you will never forget
them ; I fear almost to talk about them, lest I
should expose myself to the charge of sentimen-
tality.

Amicus. Truly the home of a good man and
a great poet is a sacred place, vatis sacra domus,
a subject for thoughtful musings rather than for
common conversation : I respect your feeling.
In coming here, you promised me a further plea-
sure, the exploring in your company some of
your wilder fishing haunts ; where, you told me,
and I believe you, if we have not good angling,
we shall have some compensation in the
scenery.

PiscATOK. I well remember, and to-morrow,
if you please, I will be your guide to one of our
highest neighbouring tarns, where there are
good trout, though not easily taken, and scenery
of a kind that can hardly fail to interest you.

COLLOQUY IL

Mountain Tarns. — Tarn Fishing. — Scenery
and Incidents.

Amicus.
EEE we are at last at Goodie Tarn,
and though it is not a perfect spe--
culum DiancB^ it reminds me in its
form and mirror-like surface of that
celebrated one at Albano, and yet how different
are the accompaniments of the two. Here we
are in profound solitude, not a vestige of human
art apparent, or of man except a trace of his
footsteps, of some angler's like ourselves im-
pressed on the peaty ground.

PiscATOK. Truly the accompaniments are dif-
ferent. From the Italian tarn, or rather I should
say from its elevated crater-like margin, the
majestic dome of St. Peter's is in sight, the
triumph of modern architecture, and on the
intervening campagna, the old Eoman aque-

36 MOUNTAIN AIR.

ducts, hardly less impressive even in their ruins,
both noble works. Yet, those around us are
not less impressive or noble in their native
wildness and grandeur, — the everlasting hills
that were uplifted who can say how long before
a stone of the "eternal city" was laid, and
which will endure in all probability to the end
of time, when not a stone of that city may be
found standing one upon another.

Amicus. Though it is calm, and against our
angling, how delightfully cool and fresh is the
air here! How charming the pure ethereal
blue of the sky overhead appearing through
the broken masses of white fleecy clouds ! How
fine the effects of the mountains looking south-
wards, chain after chain. I can count five^
rising in succession, marked by different tints
of grey passing into blue with the distance, and
those nearer and loftier with their heads hid
in, or partially seen through, the clouds !

PiscATOR. We are now at an elevation little
short of 2000 feet, and consequently have a
, commanding view. Let me direct your attention
to another feature of the scenery, that which
gives the district its name. How many lakes
do you see ?

MOUNTAIN VIEWS. 37

Amicus. The more conspicuous mountains
diverted my attention; now you direct it to
them, I fancy I can distinguish four or five.
Pray what are they ?

PiscATOK. That immediately below us is
Easedale Tarn, which is partly fed from this
tarn, this probably nearly 1000 feet above it ;*
the next is Grrasmere; the next, Kydalmere;
and the last and most distant, Windermere;
the whole constituting one chain, and owing
their origin to so many basin-like depressions
in the ground formed when the mountains
were uplifted, and their enduring character as
lakes to the abundant supply of water in the
form of rain with which this district is blessed.

Amicus. How peculiar is the silence, as well
as solitude of this lofty region. Since we have
been here, the only sound I have heard has
been that of the lone cuckoo, that "wandering
voice." How different from the dale by which
we ascended, which I think you called Far-
Easedale ; there even in its upper and wildest
part, I was charmed with the pastoral sounds,
the bleating of the sheep and lambs, making
the solitude cheerful. Pray, has the sheep any
note or cry of alarm? I fancy I heard one,

]> 3

38 MOUNTAIN SOLITUDE.

when we came upon them suddenly, and they
ran off affrighted, something between a hiss
and a whistle. Surely I was not mistaken !

PiscATOE. You were not. I believe the cry
is peculiar to our mountain breed of sheep.*" It
is wel] known to the shepherds. It denotes
their wildness, and the wild sheep, I have read,
uses the same note of alarm. The silence you
speak of, is indeed peculiar, and worthy of
note : commonly when I have been here, it has
been less marked. I have rarely been here at
this season without hearing, besides the wan-
dering voice of the cuckoo, the shrill scream of
the hawk, soaring over its eyrie, or the deep
croak of the passing raven floating in mid-air,
and to the angler, the more pleasing and
cheering sound, that of the leaping trout. The
perfect calm bodes us anglers no good. Were
there a wind we should hear its music amongst
the rocks, and might have a chance of success
in our angling. I fancied when we stopt,
after climbing the steep ascent of the mountain
side, coming from Far-Easedale, that I saw you
counting your pulse. If so, what was the
result ?

Amicus. My breathless state and my beating

MO UNTAIN EXERCISE AND ITS RISKS. 39

heart reminding me of some former hints of
yours, on the impropriety of elderly gentlemen
attempting the ascent of mountains and its
danger, I wished to have some exact evidence
in my own case, and therefore I counted my
pulse. To my surprise and almost alarm I
found it exceedingly quick. However, now we
have rested awhile in the cool air, I am so
refreshed and easy in my feelings that we will
attempt, if you please, the hill above, for the
sake of the prospect, which I have no doubt
must be glorious.

PiscATOR. Would 'that we were a few years
younger, I will not say how many, then I
should have no objection to the higher ascent,
to climb the hill rising above us ; I would even
propose the ascent of the Langdale Pikes within
two miles of where we are, or the mighty Scaw-
fell not far distant, where, as the poet sings, you
may be

" Awed, delighted, and amazed."

But the time is past, not for the enjo3niient in
our case of the sublime pleasure, but for the
attaining it without experiencing a degree of
fatigue that would mar the pleasure and with-

I D 4

40 PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS

out running a risk as regards health, which it
is well to avoid. You allude to my former
warnings briefly given. I have had many a
trial in ascending mountains, as I know you
have in your wanderings, and though I have
not reached the greatest altitudes, I have been
on some, as Etna, only second to them. The
result of my experience, I may repeat, is that
only the young, or at most those of middle life
and with vigorous and unimpaired constitutions,
should subject themselves to such labours,
such trials, and I use the latter word advisedly,
for I know no exercise so trying to the vital
organs, or more endangering them. How often
have I seen even young men, thoroughly over-
come in ascending a mountain, and, having
reached its summit, throw themselves on the
ground, and there remain prostrate till it was
time to descend, altogether incapable, from
sheer fatigue, of the enjoyment they looked
forward to when they set out. In the exertion
of ascending, the strain is mainly on the heart,
and indirectly through it on the lungs and
nervous system, especially the brain. I have
made some observations on these occasions on
the pulse and respiration, the results of which

OF ASCENDING MOUNTAINS, 41

I may briefly mention in confirmation of your
own. The pulse I have always found amazingly
accelerated, and also the respirations; but
without any marked increase of the temperature
of the body, I mean of the deep seated parts,
as shown by the thermometer placed under the
tongue. The last mountain I ascended, was
Groatfield in the island of Arran, in height only
a little inferior to Scawfell, being 2900 feet
above the level of the sea, from Which it rises
rapidly, the distance from the shore from
Brodick, the village from which I started,
being only about two miles and a half as it is
roughly estimated. On reaching the summit,
I counted my pulse and respirations ; the pulse
was 120 and bounding, the respirations 32 and
laborious. After resting ten minutes, the res-
pirations were diminished to 16, the pulse to
90 ; and after ten minutes more, to 14 and 84 ;
. ordinarily the one is about 13 or 14, the other
about 50. Even after this rest, looking at the
second hand of my watch I saw double, warning
me of the danger of apoplexy. Such danger it
is easy to understand, from the increased action
of the heart, if, as is so often the case in
advancing age, there is a weakened state of the

42 CAUTIONS REGARDING

bloodvessels of the brain. A youth of seventeen
accompanied me : his pulse also I counted when
we reached the top, and found it to be 120.
This I mention to show that the great accele-
ration of mine was not peculiar to me. No,
my friend, let us confine ourselves to these
middle heights, give up those ambitious aspi-
rings, or, what may be better still, keep to our
low and safe levels, the river, and the lake, and
our gentle art.

Amicus. Are you not pointing a moral ? I
dare say you are right, and that men of our
standing would do well to leave to their juniors
those labours, whether they be official, tasking
the intellect, or pursuits tasking both mind and
body, to the undertaking of which, a restless
ambition too frequently increasing with years
is the prompter.

PiscATOR. There is no harm in the moral
application which was casual, and, in our case,
little danger of being exposed to temptation, as
we are neither general officers nor statesmen.
Let me, however, modify my advice as to shun-
ning altogether mountain heights. There are
mountainous districts of easy reach, some two
or three thousand feet above the level of the

MOUNTAIN EXERCISE, 43

sea, inhabited countries with passable carriage
roads : these regions are very desirable abodes,
especially within the tropics, for their pure and
cool air, as well as for the grand scenery by
which they are commonly surrounded. Such
regions are well fitted for us, and if you please,
you may attach a moral to the recommendation.
To recur for an instant to the exercise of ascend-
ing mountains, I may state, that here in our
district amongst the peasantry, heart complaints
are of common occurrence attributable, and
they commonly are so attributed, to this cause,
the ascending the hills after their sheep, espe-
cially in winter, when, if there be snow on the
fells, they have the additional fatigue and
strain of carrying up hay. In our own instance
to-day, we were imprudent, we ascended too
fast, I suppose from a natural impatience to
reach the tarn. We should have taken more
time, and stopt at spots almost inviting rest,
those little green terraces of beautiful pasture
not of unfrequent occurrence, where, besides
rest, we should have done well to have exercised
our eyes whilst reposing our limbs, directing
them to the dale below, and its bounding
hills.

44 DURABILITY OF MOUNTAINS.

Amicus. Even in our somewhat laborious
ascent, I had an eye to them ; and I was struck
with the beauty of vegetation, all so fresh and
verdant, the bracken in its tender green,
ferns of many kinds, dwarfing as we ascended,
the delicate pasture accounting well for the ex-
cellency of the mutton fed on it, and the many
little flowering plants springing out of the turf,
as if intended for ornament even in these wilds.
Nor did the rocks escape my notice, so many
detached in great masses, and in one spot espe-
cially, quite a ruin of rocks, a vast shattered
heap at the foot of a precipice. Surely, judging
from what I saw, these mountains which you call
everlasting, are subject to decay and degradation!

PiscATOR. Yes, like all earthly things ; yet
I think we may call them everlasting. That
they are lower than they once were, I have no
doubt. These broken rocks to which you refer,
and the vast collection of detritus now forming
their sides, are demonstrative proofs. Probably
when they were first elevated, their summits
might have consisted of softer materials, because
less subjected to the hardening influences which
may have acted on the deeper parts ; and at one
period, I allude to the glacial period, they

THE ANGLER'S REST. 45

might have been exposed to an agency greatly
more destructive than any which they are
now liable to suffer from. This, I say, is pro-
bable ; and remember, that now there is, as it
were, a conservative element in action, — the
beautiful turf, which, in clothing the sides of
the hills, protects them in a great measure from
the wasting and destructive effects of frost and
rain. As we cannot fish, there not being a breath
of wind to ruffle the tarn, we will, if you please,
take our luncheon. I will guide you to a
spot, with which I am sure you will be pleased,
and with which I have a pleasant association.

Amicus. This is, indeed, a pleasant spot.
Here we can rest on the soft-flowering heather,
drink from the living water falling into the
rock-basin, and should we be disposed to sleep,
be lulled by the sound, little more than a
tinckle of the trickling stream. But what of
the association you revert to, evidently with so
much pleasure ?

PiscATOK. It was not an ordinary incident of
an angler's life, at least not of mine, inasmuch
as the association was that of a charming,
blooming girl, now a happy wife and mother, —
who after a long forenoon's wanderings with me

4^ AN ANGLING INCIDENT.

from tarn to tarn, over the hills, here sat down
with me, as we are about to do, to an angler's
meal, and after refreshment, poured out some
wild snatches of song, which, as I now think
of them, bring to my mind the lady in Comus,
or rather, I should say, the effect of her voice.
Now, do not think me romantic. Had you
heard my young friend — would that she were
here now, and as young — I am sure you would
absolve me, she had so rare a charm of voice,
and power of music.

Amicus. It was indeed a pleasant incident,
and might not be so rare (excepting the vocal
part) did a little more confidence exist between
the sexes, and were the world less fastidious
and censorious.

PiscATOE. Anglers and old anglers like us,
may well adopt the knightly motto, Honni soit
qui mat y pense. There is a little addition,
which I may make, and which will amuse you,
and I give it as somewhat marking the primi-
tive subjection of the sex in these parts. My
young friend, in her activity and love of scenery,
had ascended high up Langdale Pike, when I
was fishing in Stickle tarn, below : on descending,
not seeing me, and seeing two men, natives.

TARN FLIES. 47

fishing with the lath — that poaching implement
— she addressed herself to them for informa-
tion — asking " If they had seen a gentleman
ansflino:, and could direct her to him." Oh I
they replied, "your master is yonder, hid by
that big rock." And she was soon by my side,
laughing, and making me smile at this strange
mistake, and I may surely say, no common
compliment. See, the water is beginning to
move ; a breeze is springing up, and let us be
moving. Though I have little hope of much
success, we will try ; you take one side of the
tarn, I will follow the other. I would recom-
mend you to try brown flies, or woodcock's
speckled wing, with hare's ear dubbing ; brown
flies, some speckled, some light brown, abound
amongst the heather and bracken.

Amicus. We have soon made the circuit of
this little tarn. What have you done ? I have
taken one trout only, — an ill-fed one, of about
half a pound, the only fish I rose.

PiscATOR. I have not had a rise ; nor have I,
seen a fish rise. The wind is so light and
unsteady, that it is not worth our while to stop.
We will descend, if you please, to Easedale
Tarn, and try it. There perhaps we may be

48 TARNS AND THEIR CHARACTER.

more successful ; I wish I could dispense with
the perhaps, an odious word, but too applicable
to tarn-fishing, in which the chances always are
against success, so much so, that I would give
it up entirely, were it not for the sake of the
mountain air and the mountain scenery.

Amicus. I admire these mountain tarns, in
their naked beauty. These I infer are good
examples of the whole, — Easedale of the larger
class. Goodie Tarn of the smaller. Nakedness,
the almost total absence of trees, verdant
slopes, and rugged rocks, seem to be their
characteristics. The vast quantity of rain that
falls amongst these woodless mountains, with-
out which I have heard you say your lakes
and tarns would be in danger of becoming
horrid chasms, confirm an idea I have long
formed, that too much stress has been laid by
meteorologists on the presence of wood, as the
promoter of rain. Do you suppose these tarns
like the Speculum Diance and most of the
smaller Italian lakes, to be of volcanic origin,
and their basins the craters of extinct volcanoes ?

PiscATOR. The features you have mentioned,
are the common ones of our tarns, and these,
you see, are fair specimens of the whole.

QUESTION OF THE ORIGIN OF TARNS, 49

There is one adjoining which I should like you
to see, for the sake of the grand fa9ade of rock
that rises from its shore. I speak of that one
already mentioned. Stickle Tarn, at the head of
Langdale, and at the foot of the Pikes. As to
the question of the formation of these tarns, I
am not aware there is any proof of their having
been volcanic, at least craters of volcanoes, there
being no traces of volcanic ejecta anyivher^
known in the district. Moreover, their forms,
mostly very irregular, or, in the instance of the
larger ones and of all the lakes, more or less
elongated, rather favour the idea of their
hollows being rents or chasms, and these formed
contemporaneously with the mountains.

Amicus. Why such a nakedness of wood? Is
it owing to elevation, or to peculiarity of soil
and climate.

PiscATOR. The cause here is, I believe, the
same as in the wilder parts of Ireland, Donegal,
Connemara, and Kerry, — the want of protec-
tion from cattle, and especially from sheep.
The treeless fells, remember, are unenclosed.
Wherever in this district enclosures are made
and planted, the result is successful. Even
here at Goodie Tarn, you see there is one tree,

E

50 DERIVATION OF THE WORD TARN,

a mountain ash of tolerable size, growing out
of a steep bank and overhanging the water, so
situated as to be free from depredation; and
often in the higher fells, in cutting for peat,
buried trees, the remains of old forests, are
exposed, and these of no inconsiderable size.
In this instance, as in so many others, do we
not see an adaptation of circumstances to pre-
vailing wants ! Pasture is the great want of
sheep ; and here, where the land, the fells are
given up to them, the close cropping of the
herbage, as well as their droppings, favour the
growth of the grasses they like best, and are
best fitted for them.

Amicus. Whence the name Tarn ? Is it not
peculiar to the Lake District ?

PiscATOR. I am not an etymologist, and may
not be able to satisfy you. I have heard it
derived from Taarne, the Danish for tears,
implying, as it were, that these collections of
water we call tarns are fed and supported by
the drops of water from the rocks.

Amicus. If not true, the derivation is at least
poetical, or rather, I should say, fanciful ;
genuine poetry, in strictness, never being severed
from truth. Our great poet had for his motto —

WORDSWORTH AND " VERITASr 51

it was a family one — " Veritas." And may not
that word have had an influence on his mind,
and through his mind on his writings, so distin-
guished for truthfulness ?

PiscATOK. I agree with you that the highest
poetry is the most truthful, and also that the
poet's motto might have had some faint in-
fluence, as well as his name, on the poet's muse.
You will see, as I think, a happy use of this
motto in the new church at Ambleside, where,
inscribed on the three memorial windows
placed there to the poet and his dearest female
relations, it serves as a connecting link; and
let me tell you, that these windows denote
equally near and remote respect for and admi-
ration of the poet's worth and genius, the
subscription that paid for them having been
made principally in the immediate neighbour-
hood amongst the friends of the deceased, and
across the Atlantic, in the United States
amongst those who knew him chiefly through
his writings, at the invitation of a man who
revered the poet, and was worthy of his friend-
ship, the late Professor Henry Eeed. You
may remember his fate, — how, like Milton's
friend, so eloquently bewailed in Lysidas, he

E 2

k

52 PROFESSOR HENRY REED.

perished by shipwreck, returning from this
country, — his first visit, as well as his last.
May he, too, not be

" Without the meed of some melodious tear."

Now let us descend, and be careful, for our
descent will be by a shorter way than our
ascent, of greater steepness, and not without
risk, where the rocks are rugged, and so nearly
precipitous, that a false step might cost you
your life.

Amicus. Besides trout, are there any other
fish in the tarn we have just left, and in that
we are descending upon ? From their situation,
bounded by such lofty heights, I infer they are
deep; and as deep water is favourable to the
charr, am I right in supposing that there are
charr in them ?

PiscATOR. They may have been once deep,
but at present they are not remarkably so ;
there is hardly a winter that they are not
frozen over. Judging from the debris on the
skirting hill sides, there must be a vast accu-
mulation of the same in their beds. As to the
fish in them, in Coodle Tarn I believe there is
only one kind, the trout : in Easedale Tarn

CHARR'BREEDING PROCESS. 53

there are perch as well as trout, and I hope
now some charr, for only last summer I intro-
duced a few, some hatched in my own room.

Amicus. Considering the delicacy of this fish
in its habits and its rareness, I am surprised
to hear you speak thus of their hatching.
Pray, how was it accomplished ?

PiscATOK. Wait a minute till we have de-
scended this steep, almost a precipice, and have
got safely on the green slopes below. Do not
miss that transverse projection of rock, bearing
marks in its wear how long it has been trodden
by the foot of man, an impress lost in the ever
growing turf, — a circumstance this which may
well be matter of reflection.

Amicus. Now we are over the perilous part,
and on the soft and pleasant turf, tell me of
the breeding process.

PiscATOR. It is remarkable for its facility.
The ova, taken from a live charr when quite
mature (it was on the 25th of November), were
mixed at the instant of expulsion with milt
also from a living fish equally mature ; and
then distributed, some in shallow earthen pans
with or without gravel, and some in finger-
glasses, and covered with water to the depth of

E 3

54 CIRCUMSTANCES OF HATCHING.

three or four inches. The vessels thus charged
were placed in a room, where there was
commonly a fire by day, the temperature
rarely falling below 50°, or rising above 5^°,
The water — pure spring water — was changed
twice a day. Such were the circumstances.
In due time, without any further trouble,
no more than when seeds are sown in a pot
and watered, the eggs were hatched, the young
produced, varying in time from forty-four to
sixty-six days. For about six weeks, the only
attention the fry required was a daily change
of water ; so long they needed no food, sub-
sisting, as in the instance of the young salmon
and trout in the same stage of growth, on the
attached residual yolk, — that yolk from which
they had been originally developed and organ-
ised. \\Tien the whole of the yolk was ab-
sorbed, and they required other food, and were
so advanced in form and power as to be able to
seek it, then I brought them here.

Amicus. Would it not have been better to
have kept them some time longer, till of a less
tender age, and better capable of avoiding
their many enemies ?

PiscATOE. My means were not adequate.

INTERESTING PHENOMENA, 55

Such trials as I made to keep some longer
were unsuccessful^ whether owing to not giving
them proper food, or not affording them a
sufficient supply of fresh and cold water.
Eemember they are not, in this early stage, so
helpless as at first might be imagined : they are
quick in their movements ; this and their
minuteness of size, and their tendency to nestle
under stones, tolerably secure them. Let me
advise you, whenever you have an opportunity,
to engage in the breeding of any of the
Salmonidse of which you can procure the ova
and the milt, whether of the trout, salmon, or
charr (the facilities in each instance are much
the same), not to lose it. You will find the
subject interesting, especially if you call in aid
the microscope; then, you may witness the
progressive formation of a living being in all
its complicated organisation, from its crude
elements comprised in the substance of the
egg, — to compare delicate things with coarse —
nature's work with man's — like the building
up of a house, or the construction of a ship ;
you may watch the changes, the metamor-
phoses in their course ; you may see demon*
strated in the transparent structure of the
£ 4

56 EASEDALE TARK

embryo, the marvellous circulation of the blood,
its double course through the gills, corre-
sponding to the lungs, and through the body,
from the mere impulse of the ever-acting
heart ; with other particulars, of a curious kind,
which you may well imagine. Now we are at
the margin of the lake, let us follow the same
plan as at Goodie Tarn ; you go in one direction,
I in the other. The fresh breeze that has
sprung up is in our favour. As we part where
the rivulet enters, I think we may calculate on
meeting where, in a somewhat fuller stream,
the out-flowing one starts on its downward
journey.

Amicus. We have met as you calculated ; and
unless you have had much better sport than I
can boast of, I infer, as it is gettmg late, you
will not be disposed to make another circuit.
I have taken only three fish, — trouts of herring
size.

PiscATOR. And I have taken only twice that
number, and the largest little larger than
yours ; but they are well fed, and will appear
to advantage, if you compare them with any
we may take in our descent; and it' may be

SOUR'MTLK GILL. 57

worth while to try the beck, were it merely
for the sake of comparison.

Amicus. This " beck," as you call the rivulet,
is in its broken rapid course a good example
of the mountain stream ; and what a fine fall
is this we are just come to; the volume of
water, white in foam, making one clear leap
over the black rock into the deep ruffled pool
below.

PiscATOR. That is Sour-milk-gill; and in
that pool between two no inconsiderable falls, — •
in that dubb, as such a pool is here called, — '
where you would least expect to find a fish, you
will, if you make a cast, probably get a rise,
and hook one.

Amicus. See, I have one! and how dark
and ill formed ; how large its head, how lank
its body, and how shattered its tail-fin. Poor
fish ! what a specimen of the half starved and
tempest-tossed. I infer by mishap it has come
down the cataract and got imprisoned. And
lo ! now I have opened it, though this is July,
there are a few ova of full size loose within.

PiscATOR. The fact is worthy of note, and
pray make a note of it ; see, they are trans-
parent, and without any marks of development.

58 NORTHERN DIALECT.

Amicus. " Sour-milk-gill/' — what a signi-
ficant name !

PiscATOR. Our JSTorthern dialect is rich in
descriptive and distinctive names. Mere, tarn,
beck, gill, force, dubb, are words expressive
of different varieties of water. Almost, indeed
I may say every natural object here has a
name, and commonly an expressive, and often
a picturesque one. That bold headland is
Helm-crag ; that connecting ridge, Lancrigg ;
the opening gently descending dale, Easedale ;
the higher dale, Far-Easedale; that pretty knoll
far down in the dale, crowned with wood with
grassy slopes, is Butterlip-How ; then, not far
off, some of them in sight, are Silver-How, Fair-
field, the Pikes, Wry-nose, Hard-knott,the Great
Gable, and others, more than I can remember.
This richness of names marks well the old
country, and the breed of its people, — names
to me more pleasing than those, rarely found
here, of castellated holds and baronial resi-
dences.

Amicus. I like your predilection. How
different the associations, and how well adapted
for the poetry of nature !

PiscATOR. And Nature's Poet has made

NAMING OF I'LACES. 59

good use of them. There is a good example
in Wordsworth's Poems on the naming of
places, in that entitled Joanna. I will task
my memory to repeat some of the resounding
lines : —

— " 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 his misty head."

And besides their poetical use, let me tell
you, they have another, an historical one, —
they are, as it were, the records of the early
times of the district and of its inhabitants,
of which for proof let me recommend to you
for perusal a little work containing a good deal
of research, lately published, entitled "The
Northmen in Cumberland and Westmoreland,"
the author of which, as you may infer from the

60 NORTHMEN— DESCENT.

title, considers those hardy independent races,
especially the Norwegians, as the original of
the existing population. Alluding to the
practice of the Northmen, of giving the name
of the departed chief not only in the mound
{How) in which he was buried, but also in
many cases to the valley or plain in which
it was situated, he remarks, — and I repeat his
words now, because so applicable, — "Upon
many of the lower heights which encircle
our beautiful lakes, the Viking has reared his
tomb — from the summit of Silver-How, an
old chieftain looks down upon the lowly grave
of Wordsworth ; and the tourist, as he climbs
upon Butterlip-How, a favourite site for the
survey of the lovely plain of Grrasmere, treads
over the ashes of a once nimble-footed North-
man. We might almost imagine, in the still-
ness of a summer eve, the ghosts of those grim
warriors, seated each on his sepulchral hill,
looking down, as was their firm belief, upon
the peaceful scene below. Silver-How is de-
rived from the proper name of Solvar; while in
Butterlip-How we find the name Buthar Lipr
(pronounced, as nearly as may be, Butterlip,)
Buthar the nimble, "

NORWEGIAN ORIGIN OF PEOPLE, 61

Amicus. This, too, is poetical ; and if worthy
of any credit historically, imparts a fresh in-
terest to those scenes, and to the district gene-
rally. I am glad to hear you say that I shall
find in the book to which you refer me,
weighty evidence that the hypothesis is not a
fiction.

PiscATOR Indeed you will, and not only
in the names of places analogous to those
in Norway, but also in the idiom of the people,
their customs, bodily form, and complexion;
and a goodly origin it is, of which the people
may well be proud.

Now let our day's fishing end ; let us make
the best of our way home, where we can re-
sume the pleasant subject ; and where you can
consult the book itself. Let us hope that
to-morrow we may have as pleasant a day, with
better sport.

COLLOQUY IIL

Santon Bridge, Cumberland. — The River Irt,
— Evening Fishing, — Varied Discussion,

Amicus.
OW pleasant has been our morning
ride from your mountain home,
under Fairfield and Scandale Pike,
through the pastoral valleys of Lang-
dale and Eskdale, and over the wild bounding
hills with those singular names of Wry-nose
and Hard-knott. I hardly know of what I saw
which pleased me most, there was such an
accordance and harmony throughout ; the neat
and substantial farm-house of stone, in its
sheltered site, with its ornamental tre^s, the
dark yew, the umbrageous sycamore, or stately
fir, or graceful birch; the meadows, whether
lying low, or on the hill sides, so well enclosed
and cared for, with their beautiful pastures, won

GLACIER PHENOMENA, 63

by a toilsome industry from the marsh or
mountain ; and in addition, the fine finish of
nature — if I may use the expression — in the
rounded lower hills and hummocks, dome-like,
often in a manner insulated, so advantageously
contrasting with the loftier heights, the bold
girding mountains. I can readily believe what
you stated the other day, that glaciers have
existed here. Are not the forms I have men-
tioned, with others, such as the terrace-shape
of many of the declivities, owing to their action?

PiscATOR. It can hardly be doubted. There
is not a valley in the Lake District which does
not bear marks more or less of such an action :
the harder rocks recently exposed are invari-
ably found scratched and grooved in lines
almost parallel ; boulders are of frequent occur-
rence, and moved worn stones, after the manner
of moraines, and enormous beds of drift are
common ; in brief, here on a comparatively small
scale may be seen and studied all the pheno-
mena of glacier action, — an epitome of what
is to be seen on a larger scale, and in progress
in the valley sof the Alps.

Amicus. What of their antiquity ? Are there
any data for calculating the age of the glaciers

64 GLACIAL PERIOD.

of which we thus see, or presume we see, the
effects ?

PiscATOE. From the nature of the materials
of which the drifts or moraines consist, the
glacial period here, it may he inferred, was
a recent one in geological history ; and, were
we authorised in coming to a conclusion, from
the circumstance that nothing organic has yet
been discovered in these accumulations, — no
implement of art, no bones, no remains of
trees, — it would be that the glacial followed
the fiery period, and was anterior to the time
of the country being inhabited by man, or even
in a state fitting it for the support of animals
or plants. But the inquiry is in its infancy: I
can lay no stress on this inference.

Amicus. We crossed two mountain streams
on our way, and saw three pretty lakes or tarns ;
what were they ?

PiscATOR. That long piece of water in
Langdale, more like a river than a lake, and
from which the Brathay flows, is Elter Water ;
the next is little Langdale Tarn, a tarn
abounding in trout of herring size ; and the
third, at a greater elevation, is Blea Tarn, of
which, in the "Excursion," you will find a

mVJER AND MOUNTAIN SCENERY, Q5

description, with its surrounding scenery, in
the account of the Kecluse, whose abode was
in the solitary farm-house, such a one as there
still is in this secluded little highland dale.
The rivers we passed were the Duddon, so well
known now in song, in its infant stage near its
source, which we crossed at Cockley Beck, and
the Esk, somewhat further from its source, — a
stream, to my mind, in its purity, frequent falls
and deep pools in rocky basins, not less deserving
of a poet's notice, — perhaps in its beautiful
wildness and accompaniments even more worthy
of admiration. Nowhere does Scawfell, the
highest of our mountains, appear to such ad-
vantage as from the upper valley of the Esk,
with its companion Bowfell, rising grandly in
their drear moorland solitude.

Amicus. In ascending from Langdale, we
had a view of a pretty water-fall. Can you tell
me its name ?

PiscATOR. It is Colwith-Force, the stream
a tributary of the Brathay. I am glad that you
have mentioned it, not that I intend to descant
on its beauty, but to notice a fact relative to
the Charr, which has lately come to my know-
ledge ; namely, its ascending thus far and
F

66 BREEDING PLACE OF CHARR.

through rough water, and, according to my
informant, in the breeding season, and only
then, and for the purpose of spawning. The
person from whom I learnt this is a notorious
poacher, and well acquainted with the habits of
the fish. According to him, though some
-^.spawned at the foot of the fall, more preferred
the lower, wider, and stiller portion of the
Brathay, and still more the shoals of Winder-
mere, for their breeding-place; thus, in such
variety of locality, showing a remarkable latitude
of choice for a purpose in which we suppose
instinct to be so mainly concerned. You may
ask, perhaps, " Am I certain of the fact ? " Had
the man a theory to support, or any interest, I
might have my doubts of his accuracy ; but, as
his object was only the nefarious one of taking
breeding charr, I cannot question it.

Amicus. This village, which you tell me is
called Santon Bridge, both in its situation and
simple character, reminds me of our last fishing
station, Bampton Grrange.* Here, as there,
we seem to be on the outskirts of the Lake
District; and I fear too, as there, at some
-distance from our fishing ground.

* The Angler and his Friend, p. 232.

S ANTON BRIDGE. 67

PiscATOE. You are right again ; we are on
the boundaries of the Lake District, but much
nearer the sea and at a lower level, and are
leaving the pastoral region for the arable, — the
sheep country for the corn country; and the
lake, where we purpose to have a day's fishing,
Wastwater, is from hence somewhat more distant
than Haweswater from Bampton Grrange, not
less than three miles ; but the river, the Irt, in
which I hope we shall get some sport, is close
at hand : the bridge in the village which we
crossed, and which gives name to the village, is
over it. Whether we have any success or not
in fishing this stream, I am sure you will be
pleased with it, especially that part of it flowing
through the grounds of Irton Hall, — grounds
hardly inferior in sylvan beauty to the banks of
the Teme, in Oakley Park, and superior in
another respect, in the impressive grandeur
imparted by the mountains seen in the distance.
Now, in the middle of July, they are without
snow; were it April or October, they would
probably be crested with snow, and would have
even more of an Alpine character. As the
fishing here is best in the evening and the sun
is yet high, we will, if you please, whilst our

68 THE RIVER IRT.

dinner is getting ready, take a stroll by the
river side, pay our respects to the worthy
gentleman, the proprietor of the Hall, and ask
his leave for our angling, which, knowing his
courtesy and kindness of old, I am sure will not
be refused. How well do I remember when I
first asked it ; it was in company, alas ! with the
same friend who was my companion at Bampton
Grange, and this was his last fishing excursion,
and a most pleasant one it was ; he died a few
days after his return from it, — so near often, and
too often, are our pleasures and griefs, enjoyable
life and the cold grave.

Amtcfs. I thank you for this our walk ; you
spoke justly of the scenery and of its sylvan
beauty. I shall not fail to advise any friend of
mine coming here to go where you brought
me ; first, to the pretty summer-house, near the
Lodge, looking down on the tumbling stream
raging amongst rocks in its rapid descent, par-
tially hid by its wooded banks, partially dis-
closed; and next to the terrace on which the
Hall stands, flanked, especially on the left, by
those noble trees, and overlooking the park-like
meadows stretching down to the river, here
winding quietly along, with occasional breaks, —

IRTON HALL. 69

the delight of the angler, — those little falls
and rapids giving life to its waters,

PiscATOR. It is, indeed, a spot of heauty!
Would that the trees, those silver firs that
you admired, could be secured from the effects
of age. Did you not notice that they are
showing marks of decay ?

Amicus. Do you speak of the largest trees,
the domicile of the innumerable rooks ?

PiscATOR. The same; and let me tell you
that the rooks have the blame for their decay.

Amicus. And do you believe it ? May they
not, in this instance, as in many others, do good
rather than harm ?

PiscATOR. Probably so. Their droppings — a
kind of guano, abounding in lithic acid, a rich
manure — cannot fail to fertilise the soil where
they fall; it is not unlikely, indeed, that the
trees owe their noble growth rather than their
decay to the very birds they shelter : this, at
least, is the more pleasing and grateful view of
the association.

Amicus. Pray, what were those small pro-
jecting platforms, which I saw by the margin
of the stream in several places ?

PiscATOR. They are deserving of attention,
F 3

70 HOD-FISHING.

being a contrivance, and I am sure you will
think a poaching one, for the capture of fish.
Be on your guard how you step on them, for
they are of feeble structure, and will not always
support the weight of a man, especially one
part, an opening, which is only lightly covered.
They are here called " hods," and are made of
wicker-work, sticks thrust into the overhanging
bank, and crossed with others, and covered
with turf. Their intent is to produce deep
shade, a tempting resting place during the day
for the larger fish, which, as I before men-
tioned, when speaking of the evening angling,
shun the garish light. There is, I know, one
close by. Ha ! I see the landlord is going to
the garden with a lister, that three-pronged
spear in his hand. Let us follow him ; I dare
say he is about to look into his hod, with the
hope of getting a fish in part for his supper
fare and in part for our dinner.

Amicus. You were right. What a strange
proceeding. He throws himself down with his
face to the earth over the hod !

PiscATOR. See, he removes some dried ferns,
and now through the opening he has made, he
looks into the water. Now he clutches his
spear, and carefully introduces it without rais-

CULINARY HINT, 71

ing his head. Be sure there is a fish there.
He strikes, and with effect I Behold the prize,
" a mort," of at least three pounds, — a fresh-
run fish, and in excellent condition.

Amicus. A most easy and rude way this of
fishing, and well deserving the name of poach-
ing : yet, truly on the part of the man, it is a
prostration with profitable effect ! If there be
many of these hods, and they are well attended
to, the angling cannot be good.

PiscATOR. Indeed they are too many, every
small proprietor having one or more, spoiling
the river for fair angling, except shortly after a
fresh, such as that which the late heavy rains
have produced, and which has tempted me to
bring you here, when at this season we may be
pretty sure that a good many fish have run up
from the sea ; and now that the water is clear-
ing, we may have a tolerable chance of success. —
" Landlord, I know you intend a portion of this
fish to be on the table at our dinner. Let it, if
you please, be the tail portion: and do tell
your good woman, who is not above taking and
remembering a hint from an old and travelled
angler, to boil it, and in the manner I described
to her when I was last* here."

F 4

72 EVENING FISHING.

Amicus. Favour me with your cooking pro-
cess, as skill in dressing a fish I hold to be a
proper accompaniment of the skill of catching
it ; and, according to my reading, most accom-.
plished anglers seem to pride themselves in
possessing it.

PiscATOR. Is not this another of the advan-
tages attending angling ; I mean its promoting
an art so low as that of cooking in this country,
and so little cultivated in its refinements ? As
to this process, it is a simple one, and well
known to our craft. It is simply this : to make
the water boil before putting in the fish, and
that the temperature, the boiling point may
be higher, throwing into the kettle a handful
of salt. In ten or fifteen minutes such a piece
of fish as we are to have, of about a pound
and a half, will be thoroughly dressed, will be
firm and flaky, with the curd preserved and
bloodless, — the last-mentioned quality the proof
of its being sufficiently done.

PisCATOR. I hope this evening fishing has
not disappointed you, and that your success
has been at least equal to mine, which has

PLEASURES OF A SUMMER EVENING. 73

not been great, having killed only two morts,
the largest not exceeding three pounds, one
" spod " of about ten ounces, and a few small
river trout.

Amicus. My success has been less ; one large
fish, of the kind you call a "mort" I infer (would
that it were mori) I hooked and lost from its
getting entangled in weeds ; and the trouts I
have taken, about a dozen, were hardly worth
taking, they were so small. Notwithstanding,
I have had no small enjoyment in my ramble
by the river-side this fine evening after the
heat of the day. At this time, by such a
stream and amidst such scenery, angling is
indeed "the contemplative man's recreation,"
and something more ; may we not say, that the
river-side is the contemplative man's study.
How glorious were the mountain peaks rising
above the dark wood, reflecting the lingering
light of day ! How pleasant, almost musical
in the silence of the late evening, the sound
of the falling water and of the rippling stream !
How refreshing the cool air ! I felt grateful
for so much enjoyment. — My thoughts at times,
heightening perhaps the enjoyment, reverted
to other scenes, in other countries less favoured

74 INFL UENCES OF CL IMA TE.

by nature, to the hot south, and hotter tropics,
where exercise is a toil, the "far niente" a
pleasure, and where even the pleasure of rest
is broken in upon by the pest of insects.
Thinking of such distant scenes, I thought
how thankful we Englishmen should be for
such a land as ours, and such a climate !

PiscATOR. Yours was a pleasant train of
thought! How much, indeed, do we owe
to our climate ! Perhaps even our rational
freedom, our best institutions. Were it dif-
ferent, were it either like that of Northern
Eussia, or of Southern Naples or Sicily, should
we have preserved the sustained vigour that
marks our race, and which is as remarkable in
the races of our domestic animals, — a vigour
to which we owe so much ?

Amicus. In my pensive mood by the river
side, I remembered me of a former remark of
yours, how angling affords an opportunity,
hardly to be enjoyed otherwise, • to become
acquainted with the habits of the people, and
began to reflect on the contrast that is so
marked between the natives of this district and
of any part of Ireland which I have yet visited.
How different their manners, how different

CHARACTEIl OF THE PEASANTRY, 75

their dress, how different their dwellings ! An
incident shortly before probably conduced to
the train of thought. It was the assistance
given me by a working man, an angler, who
seeing my flies entangled in a tree, out of my
reach, without being asked, mounted into the
tree, cut off the branch without saying a word,
or more than a word, and taking, without
thanking me, a few flies I gave him, with thanks
for his trouble.

PiscATOE. There is good and bad in both,
and perhaps tolerably balanced. Steadiness
here is commonly associated with a repulsive
silent gravity; levity there with an agreeable
conversational sprightliness ; neatness and pro-
priety of dress here with thrift and parsimony ;
raggedness and little attention to dress there
with less regard to saving and lucre, and more
devotion to the kindly feelings. Here bastardy
is common ; there it is most uncommon ;
prudence, in one instance, checking early
marriages; early marriages, in the other,
fostering female virtue, and that virtue en-
hancing respect for the sex. But I am
running into a parallel, tempted by the subject,
which, pray, excuse.

76 INFLUENCES ON CHARACTER.

Amicus. There are puzzling features in both
people : as mountaineers, from what I have
heard and seen of those of this country, they
are nowise an impulsive or imaginative people,
are poor in traditionary lore, little tainted with
superstition, and not remarkable for religious
feeling. The Lake-poets, I believe, were not of
the district ; respected in their adopted country,
as they all were, it was, I am assured, rather
as men than as poets. You will smile at what
I am about to mention, — and perhaps with
better knowledge may question its truth, —
how a farmer's wife, a shrewd woman in
her way, when one of these distinguislied
men was taken to his last home, — on the
family of the deceased poet becoming the
subject of conversation, — naively remarked,

she supposed Mrs. , the widow, " would

carry on the business." Such was her view of
the divine art.

PiscATOR. There is a consistency in cha-
racter. How the character of a people is
formed is commonly a difficult problem to
solve. Its formation seems to depend on a
variety of circumstances, something probably
on race, a good deal ab initio on climate and

HAWKSTEAD SCHOOL. 77

soil and geographical position ; these most
commonly determining the prevailing occu-
pations, and the occupations having their
influence in the formation of habits and modes
of thought. Not an imaginative people, any
more than the Danes, those"" of this district are
a calculating people. I was assured by an
eminent man, a native, himself a distinguished
mathematician and astronomer, and who had
received his school education in one of the
villages of the district, Hawkshead, that that
school had sent to Cambridge in his recol-
lection, then extending to fifty years, no fewer
than twelve senior wranglers.

Amicus. When we visited that neat and
pretty village the other day, you pointed out
the school-room ; you pointed out the Dame's
house where our great Poet nestled when a
boy, and the yew tree by the road side, an
early subject of his muse, — of those ^^ lines," as
they are called, which contain the germ of his
after writings, and are almost equal to anything
he ever wrote, but you said nothing of the glories
of the school.

PiscATOR. Alas ! they are passed away. A
school, which, when at its height, little more

78 DECLINE OF ENDOWED SCHOOLS.

than half a century ago^ had at one time more
than 100 boys within its walls, many of them
in preparation for our universities, has not, I
believe, now one fifth of that number, and
most of this small number are instructed, it is
said, only in the merest rudiments of reading,
writing, and arithmetic. The causes of the
decline I will not enter upon; it is nowise a
pleasant subject, and I regret to think it is not
a solitary example : too many of the endowed
schools of the district, which in their time have
done good service, have fallen off in like
manner. Would that the government would
look to them ; and in originating new not
forget the old ; nor let their endowments make
them independent and exempt from all super-
vision and correcting control. — How we have
strayed from what we began conversing about !
Pray, if you can, put the broken thread into
my hand.

Amicus. I was telling you of the pleasure I
had in the late evening : it was I that digressed,
nor do I regret it, from fishing into a higher
though not pleasanter subject of talk.

PiscATOE. I remember ; and pray remember
that I forewarned you of this tendency, when

NIGHT-FISHING. 79

speaking of the social privileges of anglers.
As regards evening fishing, I agree with
you as to its enjoyments, provided it be not
extended into the night, nor followed longer
than it is agreeable ; if longer, then I think
we must call it poaching. Dark-fishing, that
is, when you cannot see your flies, and are
guided by the ear and not by the eye, is
truly a deed of darkness ; — being a killing
time, the larger fish then on the alert foraging,
it is a favourite time of the poacher. If an
exception is to be made in favour of night-
fishing, it is, I think, in the north, and in the
height of summer, when the late and early
twilight meet. Then and there, it certainly
has its charms ; and I would advise the young
angler, — that is, the man young in years, —
to try it occasionally. Apart from the sport,
there is an enjoyment of another kind, arising
out of the peculiarities of the hour, — the
mysterious light, the solemn stillness, the
profound solitude, — the sleep of nature. Even
now, after the lapse of so many years, I have
fresh in memory the feelings produced at such
a time, when a student youth fishing in the
romantic grounds of Craigy Hall, hear Edin-

80 MORTS AND SPODS.

burgh, amongst the rocks under that picturesque
wide-spanning arch, the utile dulci bridge, so
inscribed, and so fittingly.

Amicus. As a traveller I know well the
feeling to which you refer and its solemnity,
and could wish myself younger to have the
enjoyment as an angler unchecked by thoughts
of risk of health, and other prudential considera-
tions.— Now to return to our fish; — pray, what is
the fish which is here called a Mort, and what
that called a Spod ?

PiscATOR, The terms, I need not tell you,
are provincial. Here, I believe, they are
indiscriminately applied to the white trout or sea
trout and to the salmon on its first advent from
the sea. The distinction between morts and
spods rests chiefly on size ; the former of larger
size, commonly from a pound and a half to four
pounds and a half, — the latter, smaller, from ten
ounces to a pound and a half.

Amicus. Provincial as the terms are, they
sound oddly. What is their derivation and
meaning, if they have any ? If there be truth
in the Northmen original of the people, ought
we not to find that these terms have a Norwe-
orian root ?"

WHENCE THE NAME SALMO ? 81

PiscATOK. They are as local as they are
provincial ; but whence derived is somewhat
uncertain. Perhaps mort may be from old
Norse, murta ; Danish, murt ; Suiv-Grothic, mbrt
a trout ; and spod, from the Danish, speed, signify-
ing tender, delicate. I am indebted for these
derivations, conjectural as they are, to the author
of the work of which we were speaking ; and they
are as plausible as the derivations of many
others in common use, especially the names of
fishes.

Amicus. That I had not thought of. Pray
are the words by which the Salmonidse are
now known, such as you speak of, so obscure
and unintelligible as regards their signification ?

PiscATOR. I fear I must answer in the
affirmative. Let us go over them, beginning
with the generic name Salmo, You will smile
when I say it is a question whether the word
is derived from a river, the Sale, a branch of
the Elbe, frequented by the fish, or from sal^
salt, it having been chiefly known to the
Komans, and in the market of Eome as a
salted fish. Pliny, I believe, is the earliest
author in which mention is made of it, and that
very briefly and not very correctly, seemingly

82 WHENCE THE NAME TROUT f

ignorant of its migratory habits. The passage
is this : — " In Aquitania salmojluviatilis marinu
omnibus prcEfeHur.''^

Amicus. Were not the Greeks acquainted
with it, and does not the searching Aristotle
make mention of it ?

PiscATOK. Eemember it is a fish of cold waters,
and that it is unknown in the Mediterranean
and in all the rivers emptying themselves
into that sea, as well as into its branches, the
^gean and the Euxine, and you are answered.
Even the trout, it would appear, had not the
attention of Aristotle, though it might have
come under his notice, occurring as it does in
some of the rivers of ancient Macedonia.

Amicus. What of its name ? I hope you can
say something satisfactory concerning it.

PiscATOR. I wish I could ; judge for yourself,
when I tell you that some naturalists have
given it up in despair, that some have referred
it to the base Latin of the middle ages, after
this manner. Trout, Trutta ; Trocta^ rpcuKTYj^,
vorator ; others to the German, Trutt, signify-
ing that which is pleasing, an object of desire ;
a derivation, I think you will agree with me,
we may at least highly approve of as anglers.

\

NAMES OF OTHER SPECIES. 83

Amicus. Good ! I quite approve. What have
you to say of the specific names of Ferox^ Solar ^
Eroxy Umbla*i

PiscATOE. You impose on me a hard task.
To begin with the last on your list, the charr, —
S. umhlay the umbra probably of Ausonius, —
may owe its name, it has been conjectured
with some plausibility, to its colour and shy-
ness, — seen as a shadow, obscurely seen in
the water. Of the first, S, ferox, a name re-
cently given, the explanation is obvious; the
size of the fish, its strength and voracity, its for-
midable teeth, have well earned it this its appel-
lation, that is, if it be truly a distinct species,
and not the common trout, the growth of many
years, coarsely and abundantly fed. The word
Salar applied to the chief of the Salmonidae,
the noble salmon, labours under the same ob-
scurity as the generic name, and may be held to
be a synonyme. Of eriox sudfario, I can offer
nothing satisfactory, even less so than of the
provincial terms, Mort and Spod, with which
we started our conversation; — perhaps these
also were originally provincial names, and might
have been used with as little accuracy. There
is a verse or two of Ausonius which may be

G 2

84 CONFUSION OF NAMES,

mentioned in point, applicable to one of

them,

" Teque inter geminas species neutrumque et utrumque,
Qui necdum salmo, nee jam salar, ambiguusque
Amborum, medio Fario intercepte sub aevo."

Now as Ausonius was a native of Graul, of
Bordeaux, he might have had an opportunity
of becoming familiar with the names as applied
to the salmon provincially used, and the fisher-
men of the Garonne might have made as many
distinctions (which his words imply) as some of
ours do at present, or till very recently : take
the Eibble, for instance. Willughby informs^
us, in his Historia Piscium, that the fishermen of
that river applied to the salmon no less than,
six different names, according to the age of
the fish ; calling those of one year, smelts,
those of the second, sprods, of the third, morts,
of the fourth, fork-tails, of the fifth, half-fish,
and of the sixth, lastly, when presumed to be
of full size, and not till then, salmon. And,
in Connemara, I have heard nearly as many
distinctive names used, founded on a like sup-
position as to age ; thus they call there the
young fish, before descending to the sea, fry
(salmon-fry), on their first return, peel, on their

SOURCES OF ERRORS OF NAMES. 85

next^ that is, in the following year, forked-tails^
and not till the year after, salmon.

Amicus. Great, indeed, is the obscurity : the
subject of the names, the specific ones, from
what you say, I presume is an almost hopeless
one ; fortunately, it is of little importance.

PiscATOK. Excepting in connexion with facts.
The subject is unquestionably obscure in itself,
but that is not a reason it should be given up
in despair. The provincial names we have
been speaking of, I have no doubt have been
assigned with little care, and may be, many
of them, incorrect, whilst given to distinguish
ages confounding species, or vice versa, as in
the well known instances of the parr and smolt.
Let us hope, as in these instances, the exact re-
searches of the naturalist will make clear what
is uncertain and obscure.

Amicus. You have made mention of Pliny
and Aristotle ; since I have become addicted to
angling, I have at spare hours been consulting
these authors, those main authorities in the
ancient world on natural history, relative to
fishes, but I cannot say with adequate return
for the trouble of turning over the pages. The
Roman seems to be the echo of the Greek, and

o 3

86 ARISTOTLE'S HISTORY OF ANIMALS.

not unfrequently a broken and confused one.
In Aristotle I find a great quantity of infor-
mation, indicating extraordinary acuteness on
his part as an observer, and uncommon in-
dustry and perseverance; but as regards its
communication, expressed too often so gene-
rally as to be of little avail.

PiscATOR. His history of animals is a re-
markable treatise; and in considering it, we
should remember the time when it was written,
and the plan of the work, — how, it may be
presumed, the author had little help from the
writings of others, was chiefly dependent on
his own observations; and how he undertook
not to enter on the history of animals in detail,
— that boundless expanse of created living
things, — but merely to give a general sketch
of the more remarkable families.

Amicus* What you say may be just ; I will
not question it ; or that Aristotle was the father
of Natural History, and that we are under
great obligations to him; but surely, it was
tinfortunate that so great a master, who became
so great an authority, should have adopted such
a method.

PisCATOR. Let us think of him in his ex

EXAMPLES OF HIS ACCURACY. 87

cellences rather than in his defects. Genera-
lization is the characteristic of an early period
and of an infant stage of science, as well as
of impatient intellect and of daring genius.
The inductive method, the strictly natural
history method, belongs to a more advanced
period and stage of knowledge, when the at-
tention is given more to differences than to
resemblances. Had Bacon lived at the time
of Aristotle, he probably would not have
proposed a scheme for inquiry like that de-
tailed in his Novum Organum, The defects
of the old plan, long worked on, and so un-
profitably, may well have led to the new one.
When you say you have turned over the pages
of Aristotle with little profit, you are, I think,
hardly just. Eemember that, though he deals
much in general propositions, he commonly
enforces them by examples, and often gives
striking instances of the minuteness as well
as accuracy of his observations. How well
he describes the eyes of the mole which, even
now, is considered by the vulgar to be blind
and without eyes. How correctly he describes
the peculiarities of the cuckoo, separating the
fabulous from the true, which in recent times

G 4

88 HOW PLINY AND ARISTOTLE

were hardly believed till confirmed by Jenner.
How curious are his observations on the manner
of breeding of fish of the cartilaginous family !
How well selected the circumstances which
he adduces in presumptive evidence that fish
hear, and smell, and sleep ; I say presumptive,
because I do not hold them to be conclusive.
I agree with you in your opinion respecting
the Koman, as very inferior to his great pre-
cursor and original ; but even from his pages,
some knowledge may be gleaned.

Amicus. I stand rebuked for the hasty
opinion I first offered, — that, respecting the
Stagyrite, and thank you for what you have
said. I see my mistake ; I overlooked the vast
chasm of centuries between the early and ad-
vanced stage of natural science, and incon-
siderately expected in the one what could
only be attained in the other. When I next
refer to Aristotle, it will be with due respect,
and in search of particulars, — his miscellaneous
observations.

PiscATOR. Pray do so. You will find it
a warehouse in which there are many rare and
valuable articles, as well as many crude and
imperfect ones. To read either with benefit —

SHOULD BE READ, 89

Aristotle or Pliny — we must use our own light,
that which modern science affords.

Amicus. As, for instance, when the former
states that the eel is of no sex ; that it has not
its origin from an egg, but is of spontaneous
evolution from mud aided by rain ; or, when
the latter adduces, under the proposition,
quGBdam gignuntur ex non genitis, that the eel
is produced from filaments detached from
the surface of an old eel, by the rubbing itself
against a rock in the sea, — the filaments thus
abraded becoming young eels.

PiscATOK. The instance you give is a
glaring one. But remember, it is only very
recently that the true mode of the produc-
tion of the eel has been ascertained. I
can recollect when as loose ideas nearly
as those of Aristotle and Pliny were enter-
tained respecting this then mysterious fish,
and by naturalists and physiologists of emi-
nence. One advantage afforded by consulting
such works as those we are speaking of, be-
longing to the remote past, is that they bring
strongly before us the state and quality of
knowledge of the times in which they were
written j and are doubly instructive, as not only

90 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ANCIENT

showing the amount of that knowledge, but
also the methods employed in obtaining it and
in reasoning upon it. Comparing modern
science with ancient, as portrayed by these
authors, what strikes us more forcibly than the
silence on all instrumental helps and demon-
strated experiments ! Instruments the arms
of science, and more than the arms, even the
eyes, by which her great conquests have been
made, are of modern times, and how com-
paratively recent ! The ancients used only their
unaided senses, — increasing the more our ad-
miration of what they accomplished.

Amicus. You mentioned the cuckoo and the
knowledge of its peculiarities, I presume, in
breeding, as an example of Aristotle's accuracy
of observation, and how for a time doubted,
confirmed by our illustrious countryman Jennen
Pray, where is his account of the bird to be
found ?

PiscATOK. You will find it in the Philo-
sophical Transactions for 1788. Do read it*
It is most curious and interesting in its details^
and an admirable example of the modern
method of inquiry compared with the ancient.
After reading it, you will not feel surprised

AND MODERN SCIENCE, 91

that its author (then a young man, and it was
his first paper) should have become the dis-
coverer of that which has immortalised his
name.

Our conversation has brought us, as it has so
often done before, and I hope often will again,
late into the night. Now let us to our beds.
We shall find them all that anglers need, neat
and clean, though perhaps too soft, and our
bed-room (a double-bedded one, with which we
must put up), like this little sitting-room, a
pattern of its kind.

COLLOQUY IV.
Wasdale Head, — Wastwater. — Lake-fishing,

Amicus.
0 this is Wasdale Head, which I
have so long desired to see. How
grand are these mountain forms
by which it is surrounded ! How
charming the little pastoral region which they
inclose ; a farm house here, a farm house there,
and there the humblest of churches distin-
guishable only by its primitive and charac-
teristic belfrey; a single arch supporting its
single bell. Pray, what are the names of those
majestic heights ?

PisCATOR. That in front of us is the Great
Gable, that on the right Great End, a shoulder
of Scawfell ; that nearer the lake and less bold,
Lingwell ; on the other side are Blacksail, Kirk-
fell, and Yewbarrow; and that deep and gloomy

FISH OF WASTWATER. 93

hollow, from which the pretty stream breaks
out, the principal feeder of the lake, is Morsdale
Bottom. We are fortunate in our weather and
season : never have I seen this mountain valley
look more charming ; the clouds partially hiding
the mountain tops ; the breaks of sunshine here
and there — those smiles of nature ; the bright
light green of the new mowed meadows con-
trasted, where nearest to the lake, with the
dark hue of its surface ; and how much more
not to be described. But let us hasten to the
farm house, and get some refreshment ; we are
yet in time for a little evening fishing. I have
engaged a boat ; and I am assured, if the wind
do not fail us, we may have a good chance of
taking some nice trout, and perhaps a charr.
Trout and charr are the principal fish as
constant residents, besides which there are perch
and the migratory ones, the salmon, morts, and
spod; but these latter are rarely taken with
the fly : nor, must I omit another, the boiling,
the history of which is somewhat obscure.

Amicus. This farm house is quite worthy of
the place, and I may say the same of our kind
hostess. Did you ever see more cleanliness,
neatness, and order ! The little flower garden

94 A DALE FARM HOUSE.

in front, with its trimmed shrubs; the pretty
entrance porch ; and here within, the flagged
floors of sandstone, freshened with ochre ; the
black oaken polished staircase ; the clean, car-^
petted bed-rooms, — all in such keeping.

PiscATOR. This is a fair specimen of a Dale
farm house. All here are alike ; and altogether,
I am told, there are only seven; and those
belonging to so many farms ; the little chapel
in accordance, its side walls imder six feet in
height, enclosing eight pews, one for each
family, with the parson's. It is a curiosity of
its kind; that is, in its smallness ; in other
respects, differing but little from the churches
of the district generally. You noticed its
belfrey, perched on its western gable; I dare
say the bell may often be heard sounding in the
dead of night, when the wind is high — for
it hangs, you may perceive, unsheltered.

Amicus. I have enjoyed our tea, with such
good cream, bread and butter. I did not
expect to fare so well.

PisCATOR. Here where there is no inn or
public house, the farmers are in the habit of re-
ceiving casual tourists. The care of them is left
to their wives, and some provision is commonly

WASTWATER, 95

made to supply their wants — for which we
may well be grateful, — though of course it is
for their profit. Now let us be off for the lake.

Amicus. Inform me, if you please, as we
go, about the lake, — this Wastwater — a dreary
name, if " wast " signifies as I infer waste, —
its aspect is so dark and gloomy.

PiscATOE. Certainly ; and it may owe this its
name to the colour of its shore, which you may
perceive is composed chiefly of dark rock and
shingle, to the depth of its water, and the shade,
and that especially of the mountain ridge which
rises so abruptly from its southern side. The
lake you see conforms in shape to the majority
of those of the larger size belonging to the dis-
trict, its length greatly exceeding its width ;
the one about three miles and a half, the other
about half a mile where widest. In depth,
it is hardly second to any: it was sounded,
I have been told, in different places by an
accurate observer. Colonel Mudge of the Eoyal
Engineers, in 1818 and 1826; and found, where
deepest, to be 47 fathoms or 282 feet. Owing
to this, its depth, it is somewhat paradoxical
in its qualities. It is reported never to freeze,
and yet to be very cold. That it never freezes

I

96 QUALITIES OF WASTWATER,

— has never been frozen — is not correct : last
winter, that of 1854-5, an unusually severe
one, it was in part frozen ; on its lower end
there was ice, I was told, at least an inch thick;
and seventeen years previously, I was assured
by the same person, an eye-witness, that it was
also in part covered with ice. As to its tem-
perature, it is not surprising that it should
be considered cold, being the subject of remark
chiefly in summer, when, like springs from
a certain depth, its temperature is low, ap-
proaching nearer the mean annual one than
shallower waters which are more readily affected
by atmospheric influences. Owing to this
peculiarity, the early fishing is not good ; nor
are the fish, it is said, early in condition. July
is esteemed the best month here for angling.
Another singularity of this lake anglers should
be aware of is, its being subject to sudden
and violent squalls, and these from the south,
whence, perhaps, you would least expect them
in that direction, being sheltered by the Screes.

Amicus. The Screes ! pray what are they,
or it?

PiscATOE. The mountain ridge, the southern
boundary of the lake is known by this name.

THE SCREES. 97

It is a peculiar feature of the scenery; is almost
everywhere inaccessible; and this, whether
in its scarped portion, consisting of loose,
shifting debris, like a volcanic mountain, or
in its perpendicular and rent precipices. The
name is, I believe, provincial; but whence
derived, I am ignorant, or what its exact
meaning. Perhaps it may be the synonyme
of scratch, implying the worn, naked, and torn
aspect of the mountain side.

Amicus. Indulge my curiosity about the
Botling. I have heard of the fish, thus called,
before, as peculiar to Wastwater, and as seldom
taken, except in the fall of the year, and then,
when running up the stream with the intent of
spawning. Do you consider it a distinct species
of the Salmonidee ?

PiscATOR. I can speak of the Botling only
from what I have heard concerning it, for
I have never seen it. I owe all I know of it
chiefly to one of the statesmen of the place,
himself an angler, and whose house is the chief
resort of tourists, — that which we first passed,
and found so crowded that we were obliged
to go to the next. According to him, the
Botling is always a male; he describes it as

H

98 THE BOTLING,

a powerful fish, differing chiefly from the
common trout in its greater size, greater thick-
ness, and the marked manner in which its
under jaw is turned up and hooked. It varies
in weight from four pounds to twelve pounds ;
one of the latter weight, which he killed with
the lister, he found, on measuring, so thick,
that its girth exceeded its length by four inches.
In colouring and marking, he said, it also
resembled the ordinary lake trout, the brown
spots on its back being only proportionally
larger.

Amicus. Is it a monster lake trout that has
had the good fortune to escape capture, till
it has attained this, its goodly size ? or is it a
Salmo-ferox ?

PiscATOK. I am disposed to consider it the
first, as I am told its teeth are like those of
the lake-trout; but on this information I cannot
depend, not having been given by a naturalist.
There being males only met with, may perhaps
be accounted for by the circumstance that
the female trout, in the act of spawning, is more
easily taken; and, consequently, none escape
long enough to attain so large a size. Here
is our boat and boatmen. Let us lose no time

LAKE FLIES, 99

in putting together our rods, and starting on
our evening excursion. Step in. As there
is little breeze, we will go towards the further
end of the lake, trolling as we go, and take our
chance for a little more wind, and only a little
more is required to try our flies in returning,
— rough water, I am assured, being here un-
favourable for sport. I shall use my brass
minnow.

Amicus. And I shall troll with flies. What
kind had I best use ?

PiscATOK. The cock-a-bundy and Broughton
point are esteemed good killing flies here.
You cannot do better than try them, and for
your third dropper I would recommend a red
hackle.

Amicus. How different is this lower part of
the lake, which we have at length reached, from
the upper ! There all is in harmony ; the pas-
toral little meadows, the lonely farm-houses,
the upland treeless enclosures, the wild moun-
tains,— these the grand features of the scene.
Here, is there not rather incongruity than har-
mony ? at least to my mind : the villa, such as
that amongst the trees and the ornamental
planting about it, do not accord well with the

H 2

100 INCONGRUOUS SCENERY,

desolate wild Screes with which they stand so
in contrast.

PiscATOK. As a matter of taste^ I am dis-
posed to agree with you. Yet I almost envy
the proprietor of that pretty villa, and I cer-
tainly cannot but admire his courage in having
selected such a spot for his residence, and in
having planted so largely. Who would have
supposed that trees could so flourish here, for
already, you see, there are many of a respect-
able size? You too, I think, might envy the
proprietor were you to land and see how,
from some points of view, the incongruity you
complain of disappears, as is the case when
the wood forms either the foreground or the
middle distance to the landscape, adding beauty
to almost sublimity.

Amicus. Our fishing in returning has been
little better than our trolling. I have taken
only two small trouts, and you, I perceive, have
taken only two or three more, and the largest
of them under half-a-pound.

PiscATOK. The wind and weather have not
favoured us ; let us hope for better success to-
morrow morning.

THE DALE TEACHER. 101

Amictjs, I was up early, and before you,
wishing to see more of this valley. I walked
up the height, from whence I could look down
into Morsdale Bottom, which, owing to bright
sunshine, I found less gloomy than I expected.
I had the company of the school-master, of
whom last night we had so favourable an
account from our worthy hostess, the farmer's
wife. He seems to me an excellent specimen
of the Dale-teacher. Anywhere he might be
taken for a school-master, so formal in his
•conversation, and a little dictatorial ; but at
the same time modest and simple-mannered,
as if his natural disposition could not be over-
powered by his calling. He interested me by
what he told me of himself and his little flock,
how his only payment from the parents of the
children he taught was in board and lodging,
residing with each family a week or more in
turn, according to the number of scholars the
family yielded, — a week the allowance for each
one. At this time his abode is here, in this very
house, and for three weeks, three of the seven
children belonging to the farmer being under
.his care. At the end of the three weeks, he
.will take up his abode with the next family in

H 3

102 WHITTLEGAIT,

turn, he says, and so on in succession through-
out the year, there being no interruption, I
understood him to say, to his labours. His
salary, i, e, money salary, is the small one of 8/.
a year, and that from an endowment, if I was
correctly informed.

PiscATOR. I know the man and respect him^
and know that he is respected, and a welcome
guest from house to house. The manner in
which he is remunerated is far better, is more
friendly and kind than that of the ^^whittle-
gait," a mode in usage in many of the other
Cumberland dales, according to which the
school-master has to seek his victuals merely
from the houses in succession, the children of
which he teaches, without having a bed in the
house, or being considered an inmate, and con-
sequently has to trudge often from a distance to
his lodging, which, if he be a bachelor, as our
friend is, must be comfortless enough. As we
go to the lake after breakfast, we will look in
on his little school. The schoolroom is by the
road side, and in size is small, in just proportion
with the church, and therefore I think we may
justly conclude, the smallest in the kingdom.
Both the church and schoolroom present a

PASTURES AND FLOCKS, 103

singular contrast with the barns, which here, as
in most parts of the Lake District, are large
and substantial buildings, greatly larger even
than the dwelling-houses. But there is reason
in this disparity, — they are so capacious to
hold the hay required for the winter feed of the
flocks, — those belonging to this valley, reck-
oning the number in each, amounting to many
thousands, which during the summer range the
fells.*

Amicus. What you have just said reminds
me of a pretty sight I saw in my morning
ramble, — a flock of two or three hundred
sheep descending like a little army from the
higher fells, marshalled by the shepherds' dogs,
and followed in the rear by the shepherds
themselves. Enquiring, I learnt they were
driven down for change of pasture, now the hay
had been gathered in, the change being con-
sidered serviceable to the ewes and lambs.

PiscATOR. The change you speak of is
commonly practised in the Lake District. And,

* Three thousand two hundred and two was the
actual number at the time of our visit : the largest
flock of the five, one of one thousand two hundred ; the
smallest of two hundred and two.^

H 4

104 WAFTUD SOOT.

in connection with it, I may mention that
whilst on the fells, at least in my neighbour-
hood, they become of a very dark and im-
comely hue, as if smirched with soot, which I
believe to be really the case, — soot wafted
from the nearest manufacturing districts to our
hills; which said soot, I would hope may, in com-
pensation, whilst freeing them from a nuisance,
help to fertilise our upland pastures. What
confirms me in forming this opinion of the source
of the blackening matter is, that I have often
seen a black pellicle, or thin film on our lakes
and mountain tarns, occurring simultaneously
with light rain in an almost calm state of the
atmosphere after dark and windy weather ; and
moreover from finding the matter of the tarn-
film, and of that adhering to the fleeces of the
sheep, to possess the chemical qualities of
soot.

Amicus. I can readily believe what you say,
and adopt your opinion, considering how
heavier matters than soot, or the substance of
smoke, are conveyed by the wind to distances
that may be called immense. When in the
Mediterranean, it was in 1830, I witnessed at
Malta a shower of dust that hid the sun, con^

VILLAGE SCHOOL, 105

sisting of earthy particles, which spread over
thousanis of square miles of that sea, having
been observed to fall about the same time in
Sicily, Sardinia, and many parts of Italy, as
well as in Malta, supposed to have been raised
from the deserts of Africa, and driven by a
wind or gale known to have prevailed on that
coast, to the limits of its force : the dust fell
when there was a lull. Analogous to this, when
in the West Indies, I saw in Barbadoes the
remains of a shower of volcanic dust, in places
some lines thick, which occurred during the
last eruption of the Soufriere mountain in St.
Vincent, in 1812, at least sixty miles distant in
a straight line, and which, in falling, not only hid
the sun, but so obscured its light as to create
the darkness of night at midday.

PiscATOK. We were speaking of the school-
master— a more important subject: I can
assure you that the children, whom on a former
occasion I had the curiosity to examine, I found
as well advanced in reading as those in the
better class of our village schools. Besides
reading, they are taught writing, the common
rules of arithmetic, and, as the master said, a
little geography. When I last paid a visit to

106 DALE PASTOR.

the school, the girls were receiving their lesson,
the boys were out at play.

Amicus. I like to think of this primitive
teacher, and of the respect attached to his
character for his usefulness and good conduct.
I hope he is aided by the clergyman, whose
comfortable house and spacious barns you
pointed out to me, and who, with his 30Z.
a year salary, house and glebe, is a compara-
tively wealthy man.

PiscATOK. I believe not ; but do not ask me
about him, for what I have heard I could not
repeat with any satisfaction. You have read
of Eobert Walker, that remarkable man, the
former pastor of Seathwaite, in the vale of the
Duddon. Would that he were taken and fol-
lowed as a model by the clergymen of the
dales. Too frequently, judging from what has
been told me, they are the reverse of him ;
neither making themselves useful nor respected;
lowering themselves mentally, and consequently
not elevating the minds of the people under
their care ; too often, in brief, giving way to
drinking, and fallifig into low sottish habits.

Amicus. I almost regret having started the
subject ; yet I should not say so ; for what you

DALE CLERGYMEN. 107

have stated may help to explain one of the
peculiarities of the dale people which has
always puzzled me; I allude to their feeble
religious feeling, their want of poetical senti-
ment, and of the imaginative faculty — admitted,
I think, by you in our conversation at Santon
Bridge — feelings these and sentiments which
we are disposed to associate with mountain
scenery, and which we so often find so asso-
ciated, whether in the instance of our own,
the Scottish Highlanders, the Vaudois of the
Vallais, or the Nestorian Christians of the
Chaldean mountains.

PiscATOR. The subject is a delicate, as well
as an obscure and painful one. The Dale-
clergymen, in most instances, have been Dale-
men, who have entered the church as a business
for maintenance. Poorly paid, as they com-
monly are, and withdrawn from the society
of educated men, is it surprising that they
should fall into the habits of those with whom
they associate, attend more to farming than
to learning, to the culture of their land than of
themselves ; and if not so occupied, do worse
in their idleness? Unless there be strength
of character and worthy energy with resolve.

108 DANGERS OF SECLUSION.

I do not see how deterioration, under such
circumstances, is to be avoided ; or how, gene-
rally speaking, better influences can be ex-
pected to be exercised on the minds of the
people. I have heard it remarked, and that
by a worthy successor of Eobert Walker, not
his immediate successor, it was in expressing
disappointment of the people, — that, provided
he, the clergyman, drank gin and water with
them, they would be satisfied, and require
no more from him. I should add, he had been
but a short time with them, yet long enough
to make him despair of the grown-up gene-
ration. Sometimes I have thought that a
change of system might be useful, and correct
the evil, — the adoption of one somewhat like
that followed by the Methodists, that of
relieving the ministers periodically, and se-
lecting men best fitted for the work before
them; you know the adage, if I may intro-
duce so humble a one, when speaking on so
high a subject, of the new broom and its effi-
cacy; and there are, are there not? other
adages as telling and in point. Even as re-
gards the ordinary race of men, — being con-
fined long to one spot, to the same routine of

EXAMPLES OF ENNUI. 109

duties, too often has an injurious and deadening
effect on the faculties, leading to a tcedium vitce,
to vice, and sometimes even to suicide. Our
army was an example of the kind during the
late long peace, especially the regiments sta-
tioned in our colonies before the relief plan
was entered upon, viz., that of changing them
every third year. In Malta and Gibraltar, I
remember, striking instances occurred, illus-
trating what I have said; in the latter gar-
rison, when the tcedium had reached its acme,
it was shown by frequency of desertion ; in
the former, where desertion was less prac-
ticable from its being an island, by frequency
of suicide. As to the character of the Dales-
people, I am disposed to think that, such as it
is, it acts more at present on their ministers,
than any neglect on the part of the latter
on them. Let us discuss this further some
other time. Our car is arrived from Strands
to take us to Ennerdale. As the wind is high,
too high for a boat on the lake, we will stop
and try the fishing from the shore, from whence,
I am assured, it is commonly as good as from
a boat, owing to the great depth of the water
at a distance from the shore.

no SHORE FISHING.

Amicus. I suppose in the deep water there
is little feed ; and on that account the shore-
fishing here, where the lath is prohibited, is
not inferior to the other. Pray let us not forget
the school-room in passing.

COLLOQUY V.
Ennerdale Lake, — Lake-fishing continued.

Amicus.
AM charmed with this lake, and
not a little pleased with our drive
here. Earely, in so short a space,
have I witnessed greater and more

sudden transitions of scenery. First, on leaving
Wasdale-head, and arriving at the pretty
village of Strands in Nether- Wasdale, though
little more than three miles distant, we had
left behind the wild and grand, the pastoral
and mountain, for the comparatively tame and
cultivated, a cheerful hilly country, with suf-
ficiency of wood, a good proportion of arable
land, now in its harvest glory, and no want
of substantial farm-houses, with here and there
a house of greater pretensions, denoting the
well-kept country gentleman's residence. Next,

112 BORDER DISTRICT.

after quitting Calder Bridge, where, thanks to
its second inn, we succeeded in getting a car,
how sudden was the change from the rich park
bordering the river and village, it almost a
town, to the naked upland fell, seemingly-
stretching away on the right interminably
into the wild mountain district from which we
had started. And, next in our descent, how
rapid was our passage from the bordering hilly
com country into this, in one direction at least
hardly less wild and grand than that from
which we took our departure.

PisCATOE. We are, remember, on the borders
of the' Lake District, and the transitions you
speak of are the natural consequences. We
witnessed the same when we visited Hawes-
water last year, going from Shap-fells to Bamp-
ton Grrange, and from thence by Lowther to
Pooley Bridge and Ulswater. The variety
afforded in these border rambles is, to me, very
delightful, — a variety not confined to scenery,
but extending as much, or more, to almost
every particular object that meets the eye, the
crops, the farm-houses, the natives, and even
the wild vegetation by the way side. I hope
you saw and admired the beautiful colouring in

VILLAGE MAIDENS. 113

many a spot after our leaving Strands, between
it and Calder Bridge, — the golden blossom
of the gorse, mixed with the purple heath and
blue bell.

Amicus. I did — in Autumn reminding me
of spring ; and you, I hope, saw at Strands the
village maidens performing their toilet at the
little stream, which runs close to the inn,
nowise abashed at being observed, as if it were
their regular habit; to be sure, it consisted
merely in the washing of their face, hands
and arms, and the combing their hair; and
the time was the early morning, when few were
out and stirring.

PiscATOK. That I did; and that, too, in-
terested me, as marking primitive ways; I
witnessed it in going to the church, one of the
same form as that of Wasdale-head, but triple
its size, and with the complement of two bells
to its belfry, and a churchyard well filled with
graves and grave-stones inscribed with simple
lines " in memoriam^^ — very many of them of
persons of advanced ages; the church (a de-
pendency of St. Bees) having the privilege
of burying, whilst that at Wasdale-head is
limited in its offices to marrying and chris-
I

114 PARISH OFFICERS,

tening. This I mention, lest, from having
seen no grave-stones in its churchyard, you
might come to the wrong conclusion that they
are there dispensed with, which I believe is
no where the case in the Lake District.

Amicus. Even short as our stay was at
Strands, I did not neglect the churchyard, nor
fail to observe what you speak of. Another
thing I saw which pleased me was that in the
list of those on the church door liable to fill
parish offices, all but one were landed pro-
prietors, yeomen, or, in the language of the
country, statesmen. In crossing the fell, the
driver called it " an unstinted common." What
does that mean ?

PiscATOE. A common in the strictest sense of
the word, in contradistinction to a stinted one,
in which there is some kind of division or
limited right. This fell, I have been informed,
belongs to Calder Bridge, and being "unstinted,"
any one living there possessing but the smallest
portion of land may send on the common as
many sheep, horses, or cattle, as he pleases.
This is a great boon, and as such I believe
is peculiar to England, and may have had
some influence in checking that abject poverty

BOON OF RIGHT OF COMMON. 116

and dependence which we too frequently
witness amongst the peasantry of Ireland and
Scotland^ where there is no common land.
The notion is an old one ; there are some in-
teresting remarks on the subject in Languet's
Letters to his friend Sir Philip Sidney,
not unworthy of attention at the present
time.

Amicus. I cannot but think with you, that
the advantage is a great one ; and may it long
be continued, for the sake of the small pro-
prietors ! What an advantage to a labourer, as
I understand it, to inhabit a dwelling with a
right of common, on which he can feed a cow
or a few sheep ; and what a motive in the
desire to possess them, and better his circum-
stances, to labour hard and put by his earnings,
and defer marriage. I have read those letters
to which you refer, and if I remember right,
the occasion of the reflections was the then
tendency towards enclosing and turning common
lands into private pastures, and thereby dimi-
nishing the means of subsistence of the people,
and consequently their numbers, — the people,
in the old doctrine of Languet and Sidney,
"an abundant people," constituting "the surest

I 2

I

116 BARENESS OF PEAT

strength of a country." In crossing the fell, I
learnt that it is enclosed — though an extent of
many miles — the enclosing wall the work, at a
distant period, of the Calder Bridge people ; and
I remarked that though called fell, it yields good
pasture, is little infested with rushes, and, as far
as I could see, is entirely without peat or bog, —
indeed, the absence of bog in the Lake Dis-
trict, comparing it with the Highlands of Scot-
land, or with most parts of Ireland, surprises me.
PiscATOR. The absence is not entire. There
are some low situations in the district, or on
its confines, where there is perfect peat, and
others, even on the high grounds, where it is
met with in the act of forming. Of the former
a good example is afforded in more than one of
the valleys lying between the mountains and
the sea, between Broughton and Ulverstone.
Why peat is not so common here as in Ireland
and Scotland may be owing to some difference
in the features of the country, and also to some
difference of climate. The steepness of the
declivities, the rapid descent of most of the
valleys, are hardly favourable situations for the
formation of bog ; and the heavy rains producing
torrents, with occasional drought, must likewise

IN THE LAKE DISTRICT 11 7

be unfavourable. Besides, there may be some
special cause in Ireland favouring the growth
of bogs, which may be absent here. In
Belgium and Holland, one would expect to find
rushes of common occurrence; yet, in a little
tour I recently made through a good part of
both countries, I hardly ever saw a rush.
What determines the growth of one plant more
than another, — and bog, remember, is formed
by the decay of certain aquatic plants, — is
always more or less a problem. In crossing
the fell, how vast was the view ! in one direc-
tion, the Solway and the hills of Dumfriesshire,
in another, the open sea, and the Isle of Man,
like a shadow in the horizon.

Amicus. What impressed me most were some
masses of clouds, resembling distant snow-cap-
ped Alps, both in form and colouring. How
grand I thought would the appearance have
been considered, — what an effect it would have
had on the mind, were the forms real moun-
tains, instead of their simulacra !

PiscATOR. Your reflection is just as regards
impression; and your instance is a good ex-
ample in point : — how much depends on asso-
ciation ; that is, on the ideas connected with the

I 3

118 ENNEBDALE LAKE,

appearances ! Eob what is most esteemed and
held to be precious of this, — whether a ribbon
or a jewel, — and how poor and valueless they
become ! But see, our boatman is beckoning
to us ; and not too soon, as we seem to be in
danger of passing into the sentimental. Whilst
you are finishing the putting together your
rod (mine is in order), I will step into the inn,
— well called the " Angler's Inn," and give
some directions for our evening meal, and
secure our beds ; a necessary precaution where
tourists often come in suddenly and unex-
pectedly.

Amicus. You did well, for I see a party
approaching. Now we are afloat, tell me, if
you please, the names of the more conspicuous
hills which rise in varied forms and different
distances so finely above the lake.

PiscATOK. I admire with you these hills,
they are so picturesque in their forms and
grouping, and, as their names imply, bearing
resemblance, in many instances, to familiar
objects, the works of man, a circumstance,
I fancy, which has a heightening impressive
effect on the mind. But, to answer your
question : that nearest headland projecting into

SURROUNDING MOUNTAINS, 119

the lake, the emerald green summit of which
is so conspicuous and beautiful in sunshine,
is Angle-fell, so called from the goodness
of the fishing-ground below, where, projecting
into the water, is a rock called " Angle-stone."
That distant mountain overtopping the others,
rising column-like, is the well-known " Pillar."
That one of more massive form is Grreen Grable.
Those others are High Fell, Hardess, and Bow-
ness-knot.

Amicus. What is that midway in the Lake,
where it is narrowest, between Angle-fell and
the opposite promontory? Is it a boat or a
rock?

PiscATOR. Indeed, it resembles a boat, and
at a distance may well be mistaken for one ;
but it is no such thing ; neither is it a rock ;
in brief, it is a puzzle, for it is a collection of
water-worn stones, the largest not exceeding
a man's head in size. Judging from the ap-
pearance, you would say surely it must be
artificial, the work of man; yet there is no
tradition in the country that a single stone
was ever conveyed to the spot by man; and
then the improbability of forming an islet
of stones in the middle of this lake is so great

I 4

120 SINGULAR ISLET.

as to discountenance even the romance of the
attempt. The solution of the problem I be-
lieve to be, that it is of glacier origin, and*
a portion of an ancient moraine. I have
examined it with some care, and this is the
only conclusion I can arrive at.

Amicus. What are its dimensions, and what
the depth of water adjoining ?

PiscATOR. It may be about twelve yards
in leng-th, and three or four where widest;
you see, it tapers to a point at each end.
There is deep water on each side, but deepest
at its upper side ; from its ends a shoal extends
across the lake, of which the islet may be
considered the summit, the shoal, like it, where
I could observe it, being formed of small
rounded stones.

Amicus. A very curious phenomenon, and
to my mind well explained : I must land on it
before we return.

PiscATOR. That we will do after going to the
head of the lake, where I wish to show you
the charr-dubb, — the breeding place of the
charr, of which I made mention to you on a
former occasion.* As it is calm, all we can

* The Angler and his Friend, p. 246.

CHARACTER OF A BORDER LAKE. 121

do in the way of fishing is by trolling, re-
peating our practice in Wastwater.

Amicus. Judging from the appearance of
the lake, I infer it is about the size of Wast-
water ; and judging from the height of the
enclosing hills, in parts it must be almost as
deep.

PiscATOR. You are not far from the mark.
It is about three miles long ; about one mile
wide where widest, and about half a mile
where narrowest; where deepest, it is said to
be twenty-five fathoms. Its freezing is a rare
occurrence ; last winter, that of 1854-5, the
greatest part of it, the boatman says, was frozen
over.

Amicus. How much of its beauty it owes
to its irregularity of form, — these ins and outs
of its shores, and their varied aspect, wooded
and naked, wild and cultivated, meadow land
and rock ; truly in its character a border-lake !

PiscATOR. We are nearing the head of the
lake : it is time to wind up. The fish are no
in a feeding mood ; we have not had a single
run. Observe the bottom, how it is formed
of shingle. Here, I am told, a good many
charr are known to spawn.

122 CHARR—DUBB.

Amicus. Our boatman has cleverly brought
us up this narrow arm of the lake ; and now
you say we must land, to see the charr-dubb.

PiscATOK. Here we are at it. Observe it
well; how shallow it is, — now the water is
low, not more than one or two feet deep, and
of equable depth from bank to bank, and about
the average width of thirty feet, with a bottom
throughout well adapted for spawning, com-
posed of sand, gravel, and stones. Were it
not for the slight fall where it joins the lake,
denoted by the ripple, it might be a question
whether it is not a continuation of the narrow
branch of the lake rather than an expansion
of the tributary rivulet, the Lissa, — Lissa-
beck in the language of the country.

Amicus. I am glad to have seen the dubb.
From the term, I had formed a different idea
of it ; I had fancied it a deep pool, and as such
ill fitted for a breeding place.

PiscATOE. I experienced the same difficulty
till I saw it and found how, from its situation
and other circumstances, it is well adapted for
the breeding place of a fish like the charr, that
commonly spawns in the lake itself.

Amicus. Our boatman tells me that in

i

STRUCTURE OF SKIN OF TOAD, 123

November, when the charr enter the dubb,
so great is the crowd of fish, that the water
is actually darkened by them. What a curious
sight it must be !

PiscATOK. I have been assured of the same
by a friend, a naturalist, who has witnessed
it himself, as I hope some day to do.

Amicus. Here in the grass is a young toad,
fully formed, yet so small, that very recently
it must have been a tadpole. In miniature,
it has the repulsive aspect of the full-grown
reptile ! Is its ugliness its defence ? Its ac-
tivity is hardly sufficient to secure it against
enemies. How easily I have caught it !

PiscATOR. Its aspect certainly is as little
inviting as that of the full-grown, but it is not
to this, I apprehend, it owes its safety ; rather,
as in the instance of its senior, to its being
unpalatable. If your curiosity is strong enough
to overcome an aversion, and you bring the
little toad in contact with the tip of your
tongue, you will experience a disagreeable
taste; at least, this is the result of my ex-
perience ; and leading me to the conclusion
that the structure of its young skin, like
that of the old animal, is glandular, and its

124 POISON OF TOAD QUESTIONED,

glandules capable of secreting an acrid, offen-
sive matter.

Amicus. Is it not Shakspeare, through his
witches in the dark cave by the side of their
bubbling cauldron, that speaks of the "sweltered
venom " of the toad ? Yet I have been taught
to believe — and Cuvier is my authority, —
that the toad is harmless, and the notion of
its poison a vulgar error.

PiscATOR. According to two countrymen of the
great naturalist, who have recently given their
attention to the subject, not only is the toad
poisonous, but its poison is of a very deadly
kind; such, they say, is the conclusion they
have been led to by their experiments.

Amicus. What am I to believe? What is
your belief in the matter ?

PiscATOR. That which I before mentioned,
viz., that the secretion yielded by the cu-
taneous glandules is an acrid, offensive matter,
not such a poison as to be entitled to be called
deadly. Such trials as I have made, and I
have made many, only admit of this inference.
But, apart from experiment, it is not easy, nor
do I think it wise, to put aside the doctrine of
final causes ; viewed in this relation, it seems

FINE TACKLE, 125

to me more satisfactory that such a helpless
animal, and one so useful in our gardens as a
devourer of insects, worms, and slugs, should
owe its safety to an acrid secretion, sufficiently
acrid for the purpose, than to an intensely
poisonous one, which can be of no use to the
creature in procuring it its food. We linger
here too long ; let us away. The want of wind,
and the perfect purity and clearness of the
water of the dubb, in which I see fish rising,
may caution us not to wet our lines here.

Amicus. See, a ripple is appearing. We are
now a good way down the lake, and still with-
out a run. Let us give up trolling, and try
our best flies and finest tackle. I shall use a
casting-line delicately graduated, made of gut
that has been passed through a " gut-finer," an
ingenious little implement, for the knowledge
of which I stand indebted to an accomplished
angler. I see there is a reddish fly on the
water, and the fish are beginning to stir and
rise,

PiscATOR. We may make the trial: I shall
use a casting-line, ending in a single hair, and
small flies tied to hair. But though we may
put forth all our skill, I cannot be sanguine of

126 ANGLING SUCCESS.

success, it is so bright ; and the little wind that
is, is from a bad quarter, — the chilling and
inauspicious east. Would that we had a west-
erly or south-westerly breeze, and that the
month was April or May, when the fishing is
best, instead of September, when I believe it is
worst. I have heard of an angler who, at a
favourable time and season, has killed here in
one day, with his single rod, fourteen dozen,
many of a pound, but the majority under six
ounces. Further to enhance your opinion of
Ennerdale Lake as a fishing station, I may
mention, that trout even of six pounds are
occasionally taken with the troll, and even of
eight pounds with the net ; and that it is fre-
quented by the salmon. And now, whilst wield-
ing our rods, I fear to little purpose, tell me,
if you please, of your " gut-finer," for it is new
to me.

Amicus. It is very simple, — a steel blade,
about four inches long, and less than one wide,
in which sixteen circular apertures have been
drilled, each provided with an inner rasping
edge, and from the first to the last in regular
gradation as to size, so that by passing the gut
through them in succession, you may reduce it

GUT'FINJER. 127

to any degree of fineness you please. The
instrument is to be had at a fishing-tackle
shop in Derby ; thence I got the one I have,
and by post ; it weighs under an ounce. The
friend at whose recommendation I got it
assures me — and this is the chief recommen-
dation— that using gut fined by it, he has been
able to take good fish, over a pound, in still
water, where, with ordinary tackle, nothing can
be done. I cannot speak of it yet from my
own experience.

PiscATOR. The gut you have shown me, so
prepared, is beautifully fine, and for fine fishing
I do not doubt must be invaluable, and
superior, I should think, to the single hair. I
hope we shall presently have proof of its excel-
lence.

Amicus. The sun is set, and the fish have
long ceased rising. Is it not time to stop?
We have had a pleasant day, thanks to the
scenery, not to our sport. The latter has as
much come short of my expectations, as the
former has exceeded them ; so I am well content
though even my fine gut has had little efficacy.
I see in our pannier there are less than a dozen
trout, and not one of them of a respectable size.

128 THE ANGLER'S HOPE.

The boatman tells me, as a consolation, that he
has witnessed as little success before, but that
rarely, an addition nowise consolatory.

PiscATOR. Eemember, that on starting I fore-
boded in some measure what has occurred,
founded on the season, and more so on the low
state of the water, and promised you rather the
enjoyments of scenery than angling success.
To-morrow, with a like interest — that is,
scenery rather than fishing — we will go ta
Eskdale. That dale, I am sure, will interest
you in its wild beauty and varied character.
Some future day, and not later in the spring
than the first week in May, I hope we may
have our revenge here, redeem our character as
anglers, and give your fine gut a fair trial.

k

COLLOQUY VL
JEskdale, and the River Esk,

Amicus.
N this bleak morning, with a cold
easterly wind, and leaden sky, we
have done well in taking the lower
road to the railway, which you say
passes about two miles and a half from Calder
Bridge at Sellafiel.

PiscATOR. We shall not only avoid the fell
which ought to be crossed in fine weather, but
we shall, moreover, see another variety of coun-
try, and pass through Egremont, a place famed
in poetic story.

Amicus. What is the little village we have
just left behind us, bordering the river that
runs out of the lake ?

PiscATOR. It is the village of Ennerdale, and
the river is the Ehen. I have been guilty of

130 ENNERDALE VILLAGE AND CHURCH.

an omission, both in coming and going, in not
calling your attention to it, to the churchyard
on one side of the road, and the clergyman's
dwelling on the other, for they are the scene
of Wordsworth's beautiful and pathetic poem,
" The Brothers."

Amicus. Both in going and returning, I had
a passing glance at them. In the churchyard
I observed some grave-stones. Are they of
later date than that affecting poem ? For, if
I recollect rightly, it is mentioned therein, as
denoting the simple primitive manners of the
people — the natives of this secluded district —
that grave-stones were not used here.

PisCATOR. True : the poet's words are, —

" In our churchyard
Is neither epitaph nor monument ;
Tombstone nor name — only the turf we tread ; J
And a few natural graves." I

But in this particular he idealised : as I before '
said, grave-stones are to be met with in every
burying-ground of the district, however wild its
situation and primitive the manner of the
people. In a note to the poem, the author
mentions that "it was intended to conclude ,
a series of pastorals, the scene of which waaii

WORDSWORTH'S POETRY. 131

laid amongst the mountains of Cumberland and
Westmoreland." How much is it to be regretted
that the intention was not carried into effect,
though perhaps you will say, it has been ac-
complished in the body of his poetry; that
his poems altogether are a great pastoral, and
almost all that can be desired as regards the
Lake District. Be this as it may, need I re-
mark that in these delightful productions of
the poet's mind, we must not expect literal
exactness of description. His object was to
convey his own impressions to the minds of
his readers ; and this he probably thought he
could best effect after the manner of the
accomplished artist, whether in sculpture or
painting, by the refining, idealising method.
This I mention in consequence of your re-
mark. Had the poet been more exact, would
he have been more successful ? His de-
scriptions probably would have ceased to be
poetry, and might have been unendurably tire-
some. And I mention this the more to im-
press on you that in reading Wordsworth, even
when particular objects are introduced, whether
mountain, lake, or ruin, church or dwelling, we
are not to look for exactness of local descrip-

K 2

132 ''THE PILLAR'' Sr " THE BROTHERSr

tion. This grave-yard is one instance in point ;
the mountain, " The Pillar/' of which notice is
taken in the same poem, is another : the
younger of the two brothers is described as
having ascended this mountain, falling asleep
on its summit, and subject to the malady of
walking in his sleep, rising and losing his life
in his precipitous fall ; yet when the poem was
written, " The Pillar " mountain was considered
inaccessible ; we are assured, in a recent history
of Cumberland, that till 1826 it had never
been scaled.

xAlMICUS. I thank you for the caution, and
shall repeat it to some friends of mine, who
occasionally trouble me, when reading the " Ex-
cursion," to point out to them the exact spots
the scenes of the incidents described. As to
the justness of the thing, I am hardly com-
petent to judge. I am a great -advocate for
truthfulness, even in poetry, and fancied that
truthfulness, even to a fault as some thought,
was one of the characteristics of Wordsworth's
poetry.

PisCATOE. So it is in general ; from no writ-
ings, I believe, can you derive a more accurate
idea of the Lake Country than from his, though

AN IRON BEGION. 133

no one description may be strictly exact. I
may have my doubts as to the theory, as you
have, with all deference to the artistic views
of a man who considered poetry as matter of
highest art, and elaborated his verse accord-
ingly.

Amicus. What a change in the aspect of the
country ! We seem to be in a region of iron
and forges. The road is actually coloured by
iron, so too are the dresses of the labourers,
and what a number of carts we have passed
bearing iron-ore, as I infer, to be smelted,
where in more than one spot in the distance
we see volumes of smoke pouring forth into .
the atmosphere. And lo ! a turnpike gate, the
first we have come to since we left the turn-
pike road at Ambleside. And lo ! an embank-
ment, thrusting itself out in the valley as if it
were a railway in growth.

PiscATOR. It is a branch railway in pro-
gress, from the coast junction line, of which
we shall soon have the benefit. We are now
in a district of the red sandstone formation,
in which there is limestone, coal, and iron ;
and in what you point out, you see the con-
sequences. These, limestone, coal, and iron,

K 3

134 EGHEMONT,

where there is intelligent energy amongst the
people, are as surely productive of manu-
factories, as the mountain fells and wholesome
pastoral valleys are of flocks and herds.

Amicus. And this is Egremont through
which we are now passing. Its somewhat
trist appearance, with those castellated ruins,
of imposing aspect on the adjoining mount,
is in accordance with its name. Surely it
is a declining place. It reminds me a little,
in its single long street, and those thatched
dark-roofed dwellings, breaking the line of
slate-roofed houses, of an Irish country town.

PiscATOK. Like the castle, I believe it has
seen better days; and will probably, though
not so with the castle, see them again, when
the railway is completed; but even now its
material condition may be better than it ap-
pears, for it is supported by industry, and
is not without productive trades, especially
tan-yards.

Amicus. You spoke of Egremont's fame
in poetic story : what of it ?

PiscATOR. That fame is connected with
the history of the castle and its earlier pos-
sessors, the Lucys. The most interesting le-

SELLAFIEL STATION, 135

gend belonging to it you will find described
in spirited verse by Wordsworth, "The Horn
of Egremont," a tale of two noble brothers, one
noble by nature as well as birth, the other,
a craven and a fratricide in intention, pros-
perous in villany for a while, but at length,
exposed and punished, contrite and forgiven.
But read the poem ; it is as happy an example
of poetry in action, as the other poem, " The
Brothers," is of poetry in meditation ; the
contrast is altogether striking.

Amicus. Here we are at the Sellafiel Station,
and with a few minutes to spare before the
arrival of the train that is to convey us on.
What a hut of a station! And what a spot
for a station! the wide sea in front, a low
lying land in the rear, and a long waste of
sandy shore making the junction; rarely have
I seen a less inviting spot, or more dreary
landscape.

PiscATOR. Pray make allowance for the
murky sky, the chilling east wind, and the
lowering clouds, shutting out the distant moun-
tains. On a fine day, with sunshine on the sea
and the mountains unobscured under a bright
sky, you might think differently of it. See,

K 4

136 SMELT-FISHING IN MAY,

there is the estuary of the river, which, little
more than two hours ago, we saw pleasantly
gliding out of its parent lake, now about to
be lost in the all-devouring and boundless sea.

Amicus. Our conversation this morning
seems to have made you somewhat poetical.
With equal justice the sea may be considered
the parent of the stream, — the ocean the com-
mon parent of all streams. What it receives it
returns, and in a purer state ; and so both are
fed and preserved in their unchanging con-
dition ; both ever giving and ever taking. But
of the river, — as an angler I should like to know
of its fishing. In its sluggish course it is
unpromising.

PiscATOE. The angler who can reconcile his
conscience to the killing of Salmon-fry, when
about to take their departure from their native
stream, may, I am assured, have good sport
here in the latter end of April, and the be-
ginning of May, when they are of their largest
size and best condition as smelts; and, as it
said that for a while they go backward and
forward, gradually seasoning themselves to
the salt water, a day's fishing here at that
season, to determine this point, might be

JiAVENGLASS. 137

instructive. Young salmon of half a pound,
I am told, are occasionally taken here when
the smelts are migrating.

Amicus. A quarter of an hour's "ride,"
as the Americans would call it, has brought
us to Eavenglass. This town, too, seems to
have seen better days.

PiscATOK. Its sand-barred harbour, the
estuary of three rivers, the Irt, Ite, and Esk,
is better adapted for receiving the small
coasting craft of the olden time than the
larger vessels now in use; and at that time
there were more border baronial residences
and religious houses, priories and monasteries
than at present, and with more of influence
and power; hence, it may be, its falling off.
As there is nothing to detain us here, the
sooner we start for Eskdale the better. The
car with its single horse is ready.

Amicus. What a change again, and how
sudden ! I little expected these stately groves ;
and if I am not mistaken, I see a castellated
building through the trees.

PiscATOR. That building is Muncaster Castle ;
and this fine avenue opening into Eskdale, and
these stately woods, belong to the domain.

138 ENTRANCE OF ESKDALE,

Did our time permit, we would go to the
castle, for from it is a view of surpassing
beauty, Eskdale in its whole length, from the
sea to its limitary mountains.

Amicus. Fortunately, the sun is shining
out, blue sky is appearing, and the higher
hills in the distance are showing themselves
above the clouds. As we advance, how wilder
and wilder it becomes, and with how many
touches of beauty, — the river acquiring the
character of the mountain stream, gushing
amongst rocks from pool to pool, — the skirting
hills pine-crowned, and the bosky hollows with
all their variety of underwood. Even the few
farm-houses we pass seem to denote transition
in their aspect to a ruder and more primitive
condition, — such as, perhaps, might be ex-
pected in going from a frequented to a more
secluded region.

PiscATOE. The rock formation here is of a
bolder kind than any we have yet seen, and the
hills are nobler in their forms. The prevailing
rock is granite, accounting for these forms ; and
the qualities of soil it yields on disintegration
may equally account for the luxuriancy of the
wild vegetation which we witness, and the fine

ESKDALE, ]39

growth of timber amongst crags and precipices,
as if designed for the study of the landscape-
painter.

Amicus. There is the sign of a public-house.
Is that to be our resting place ? In its low-
liness of appearance, it seems very suitable
to its secluded situation.

PiscATOR. That is the "Wool Pack," a
fitting name; wool is the chief commercial
staple of the dale: I know it well. Like
most of the public-houses of the dales, its pro-
prietor is a farmer. The comforts it affords
to the wayfaring man, for whom it is chiefly
intended, are greater than might be expected,
judging from its appearance. One objection
to it is that it is rather far from the best part
of the river for angling, and from the finest
portion of the dale for its scenery. We will
go about a mile higher, where I hope we shall
find shelter; and where, if the good people
of the farm are, as I trust, well and doing well,
we shall be sure of a kind reception.

Amicus. I hope you have not forgotten
the way ; our driver says he never was so far
in Eskdale before. See, the road terminates !
Where are we ? What are we to do ?

140 BROTHERELKELD,

PiscATOR. Do not be uneasy. That gate
opening into the meadow is our way. Beyond
are the chimneys of the farm-house, rising
above the trees. Though it is three years since
my last visit, I cannot be mistaken ; the house
is the last in the dale.

Amicus. A welcome cry, and yet in no
friendly guise ! What a rush of clamorous
dogs !

PisCATOR. Were other wanting, a sure sign
we are near the house. Those five or six
barking dogs are sheep-dogs; it is a harvest
field they are rushing from, at the sound of our
wheels. The people must be there ; so near,
we are sure of finding the house opeli.

Amicus. I thank you for bringing me to
Brotherelkeld, — a name, you inform me, of
the olden time. * The house, the situation, the
family, are in happy keeping, — all smacking of
the olden time, and in character with pastoral
life; — at least, so it seems to me, at first
sight. I liked the hearty welcome the old
people gave you, and their quick recollection
of you.

* Buther Elldr, the house of Buther, the older or
old. See " The Northmen in Cumberland."

A DALESMAN FARMER, 141

PiscATOR. These good people — the farmer
and his wife — are what they appear ; and, may
I not say, something more, both in substance
and worth. From the appearance of the old
man in his rough apparel, you would hardly
suppose him to be one of the largest sheep-
farmers in the country, with a flock probably
not under 2000; nor, from the hard aspect
of the dame, and her curt words, would you
expect so warm a heart and such genuine kind-
ness. But I will not anticipate : while we are
here, you will be able to judge for yourself; and
I need not say be observant, for the place
is a study; I hardly know another affording
so good an example of the dale shepherd's life.
But we must not forget Eskdale and our
angling. On a former occasion, I explored the
higher dale, and have a pleasant recollection
of its wildness and grandeur. Do see it ; you
cannot miss the way ; you can fish as you go.
I will presently follow, and we will meet here
in the evening.

Amicus. Well met. Since we parted at
noon, I have not seen the face of man. How

142 WILD UPLANDS.

profound are these mountain solitudes, and
how dismal they must be in gloomy weather !
Happily, there were gleams of sunshine, patches
of blue sky with light clouds over head, and
with cattle here and sheep there, even in the
wildest and most secluded spots where not the
faintest vestige of man was to be seen, I felt
only a cheerful influence, reminding me of
what I used to feel within the tropics, when in
a mountainous region, three or four thousand
feet above the level of the sea, where I could
almost tell the elevation by the pleasant inward
feeling, as if breathing an air at once soothing
and exhilarating.

PiscATOK. I have experienced what you
describe ; it is one of the pleasures of mountain
travel, especially in a warm climate. I hope
you were not disappointed in what you saw.

Amicus. No wise. I went up as far as the
foot of Bowfell and Scawfell. The wild and
dreary grandeur of the scenery there ex-
ceeded anything I have seen in the Lake
District, and has left an impression I shall
not soon forget. I tried the rivulet, but
with no success, taking only, in the deeper
pools, a few small ill-fed brook trout. See-
ing the character of the stream, now so small,

THE RIVER ESK. 143

with its wide shingly bed, denoting how at
times it is a wide raging torrent, I was rather
surprised at taking even these. Lower down,
where the two streams meet to form the Esk, there
I captured a half dozen better fed and larger
fish, — the largest of herring size, and as many-
more in those deep and beautiful pools between
that junction and the house. Never have I
seen water of greater purity or of finer colouring,
or a more picturesque succession of the rapid
and still.

PiscATOR. I confined my fishing, and with
success little exceeding yours, to the lower part
which you so much admire, and justly. The
light-coloured rock forming the channel of the
river, the green skirting banks, the pure white
of the falls, the equally pure and almost azure
hue of the deep pools, are indeed charming
in their variety and contrasts with the accom-
paniments of wood and meadow and marks of
culture, separating this from the wilder naked
mountain region which you ascended.

Amicus. I can now more readily believe
that the colour of water in mass is blue, for
were it not for the faint yellowish hue reflected
from the worn rock-basins, these pools would
be entirely azure, little differing from that of

144 THE ANGLER'S EVENING MEAL,

the sky, — that depending too on water, or
aqueous vapour. Pray what is the rock ? Is
it not granite ?

PiscATOR. In its forms it resembles granite,
and belongs, I infer, to the same formation;
but in composition it is different ; I have some
difficulty in giving it a name. Compact and
finely crystalline, it is probably felspathic ; the
light hue it acquires from the effect of wea-
thering is in accordance. Now let us sit down
to our evening meal. Our kind hostess has
her kettle boiling, her little round table spread
before the wood fire, and some roasted potatoes
ready. With the tea we have brought with us,
and the remains of our piece of spiced beef, and
the bread, butter, and milk she will provide,
we cannot fail, if you have such an appetite
as I have, making a hearty good comfortable
meal. We are to have the room to ourselves,
this outer room, " the house," as it is provin^
cially called, not the inner, the spacious one in
which we have just put our rods, and which
I believe is never used excepting on grand
occasions, such as the yearly clipping-feast,
a christening, or a wedding.

Amicus. Why, this is more than comfort

DALE DIET. 145

it is luxury. You in the nursing rocking-chair
which you have chosen^ I in the elbow-chair,
both cushioned, — the chairs, I presume, of the
old master and mistress ; the cheerful hearth
and our well-provisioned table ; potatoes, milk,
butter, all excellent.

PiscATOR. These are the produce of the farm,
with the exception of the wheaten bread. The
flour is imported ; but the bread is made here,
and with yeast from their own brewing. About
this yeast I learnt a secret, when I was last
here, how it can be kept good at least a month,
by changing the water daily ; and, what is also
worth knowing, how brewer's yeast can be
deprived of its bitterness by a like change of
water.

Amicus. Surely this bread, which reminds
me of Spanish bread, and is superior to any I
have tasted since I left Cadiz, is not household
bread.

PiscATOR. It is " quality bread," as they call
it, and is a dainty, I dare say, reserved for the
old people. The family bread is oaten cake,
of which there is a baking every two or three
months. It and cheese are two of the chief
articles of diet of the farm-servants.
L

146 SKIMMED MILK CHEESE

Amicus. As we were coming by train to
Eavenglass, I looked into a recently published
Gruide-book of the Lake District, and read some
particulars about the cheese of the district
which surprised me, given, as they were, as
matter-of-fact to show the backward and rude
state of the country, and the benefit likely
to result by the force of example, from inter-
course, according to the writer, with a more
enlightened and advanced stage of society.
It, the cheese, is described as hard enough
to strike fire with steel, as fit to be used as
a substitute for flint in the gun-lock; and,
marvel of marvels, it is told that one rolling
down a hill side occasioned a conflagration by
setting fire to the brushwood.

PiscATOR. You may well say "marvel of
marvels." The skimmed-milk cheese of the
district is certainly hard enough, and un-
avoidably, the butter being entirely and inten-
tionally separated ; but it is not miraculously
hard ; like other things, it is obedient to phy-
sical laws. Had the writer considered what
are the qualities requisite for a substance to
act the part of a flint to strike fire with steel,
and the conjunction of circumstances necessary

AND ITS ROMANCE, 147

to produce the effect, she would have escaped
being imposed on by the laughter-making
hyperboles of the shrewd and sometimes
humorous natives. Need I remind you that,
to strike fire with flint, a filament of steel
must be abraded, which, heated by the friction
of the collision, burns in the air by uniting
suddenly with its oxygen. And, further, that
no hardness that is known to belong to, or that
can be imparted to any animal substance, not
even bone or ivory, tooth or nail, is capable
of producing the effect, L e, the abrasion of
steel, in the manner required. As to the ad-
vantages of intercourse such as are likely to
result from the system of railways in progress,
let us hope there will be an exchange of
benefits ; and that the dalespeople will not only
derive some knowledge, and learn improved
methods from their lowland neighbours, but
that the latter also may learn something
from the former, and most of all, not to hold
them in disrespect.

Amicus. Those who can entertain such a
feeling towards them should come here to
be disabused of it. Where have I ever seen
more order, neatness, and propriety? I have

L 2

148 IN-DOOR ORDER.

been prying about, but in vain, to find anything
dirty or out of place. Upstairs, where I have
been to change my wet shoes, the same order
and neatness are to be seen as below, and not
only in the comfortable spare bedrooms, where
we are to sleep, but also in those of the servants.
Even the oaken floors are polished. I am
astonished; and also at the number and
quantity of useful articles, — so much crockery,
so much glass, and the endless variety of little
useful articles. This within doors; but without,
how different; I can see no garden ground,
no vegetables grown, not a single flower ; and
in the fields, no green crops, only potatoes.
In regard to these, may not lowland example
be useful ?

PiscATOK. I thought you would be surprised
as well as pleased at what you saw of the
domestic economy, seen as you have seen it
in its ordinary working order. Did you ob-
serve the small detached building in the yard,
opposite the entrance? it is the working kit-
chen, and may partly account for the perfect
cleanliness of the house. The chief cause,
however, as far as I have had an opportunity
of observing, is, that everything is cleaned

HOUSEHOLD GEAR. 149

the instant it has been used, and that instant
put in its place, everything having a place.
The contrivances for bestowing things away
are curiously varied, — hooks, shelves, bags,
drawers, and above all, chests, are in requisition
for the purpose. In that large cupboard of old
quaintly carved oak, the aumbry, as it would
be called in Scotland, the family supply of
oaten bread is kept. On the shelves, in the
inner room, you might have seen a goodly
array of cheeses ; that orderly collection of big
earthen jars, of small kegs and barrels, are
for holding and conveying beer to the field
labourers. Look at this wall ; what a miscel-
lany of things is there arranged. I wish you
would make a catalogue of them; but that
would tire an auctioneer; and long may the
time be before any such labour be required ! In
the inner room the cupboards, the beaufets
are as well replenished, and with the more
valuable articles of glass and earthenware.

Amicus. But why such an endless variety,
and such profusion ?

PiscATOK. I fancy these mark the family
means and wants ; — well to do in the world,

150 DALE SHEEP-SHEARING.

long settled here, far apart from borrowing
help, and having occasionally to exercise a
large hospitality, for instance, at the sheep-
shearing, when, I am told, there are more
than 100 persons collected, most of them
dalesmen unpaid, volunteers to help in the
clipping, with a few specially invited to witness
the work and partake of the festivities, — all
of whom are to be fed and feasted, — for such
is the old usage on the occasion.

Amicus. I should like to see our notable
active hostess at such a time, and to witness
the doings.

PiscATOR. Do you remember the sheep-
shearing festivity as described by Shakspeare
in his ^^ Winter's Tale." From what I have
heard, this, as conducted here, is very much
the counterpart of that, the day being given
to business, to work ; the evening to carousing,
singing, and dancing ; and sure I am that the
dame here is quite equal to her, the old farmer's
wife in the play, in her best days, as described
by him —

" when my old wife liv'd, upon

This day, she was both pantler, butler, cook ;
Both dame and servant : welcom'd all : serv'd all,"

THE RUSH CANDLE. 151

Amicus. It is interesting to find old usages
preserved ; and where can they be so well
preserved as here, and in places like this?
As I first observed, everything here smacks of
the olden time : look at these cups and saucers ;
how antique is their pattern, how dark and
grotesque the colouring and the figures on
them. I can fancy them from Fienza. I have
been asking whether rushlights are still in use
here ; and I am told they are, and are home
made.

PiscATOR. See the stand for burning them,
partly made of wood, the bottom ; partly of
iron, the stem, and the latter so constructed
with its terminal cavity and side bracket, as
to answer both for the rush candle and the
" white candle," as the common tallow candle
is called here.

Amicus. Pray show me how it is used ; and
tell me how the rushlight is prepared, and why
the common candle is called a " white candle? "

PisCATOR. To distinguish it from the greenish
rush candle. The latter is prepared much
in the same manner as in Connemara; here
a mixture of butter and grease is employed
to saturate the rush. And in burning, of

L 4

152 DRINKS COMPARED.

course it is placed obliquely at a regulated
angle ; and I may remark that, in using a
common tallow candle, it is well to adopt the
same practice, so that it may consume its own
wick, and not require snuffing : the chemical
reason of this I need not explain to you. You
well observe that old habits and things have
their resting place. Yet, I believe, only within
certain limits, and that even in these seclusions,
there is no want of tendency to change; all
that is required is the conviction that the
change will be beneficial and practicable. The
dales people are shrewd people and keenly alive
to their own interest. I was glad to hear, — it is
an instance in point, — that the field labourers
here are beginning to substitute coffee for beer.
Our hostess tells me that they prefer it, find-
ing it more refreshing than beer, and not so
soon followed by thirst. The change has
been made since my last visit ; and, probably,
on our next visit, we may find that coffee
has given place to tea, — as experience proves
that the ]atter, for the refreshment it affords,
deserves the preference. This I have had
assurance of from a distinguished Arctic ex-
plorer and naturalist. As to the absence of

THE BED A MAllK OF CONDITION. 153

flowers, vegetables, and green crops, noticed
by you as a defect, — that of the two first, I
apprehend, is characteristic of the absolute
pastoral life ; that of the last of the same — of
a want of the goodly modern union of the
pastoral and agricultural, which is more or
less a desideratum throughout the dale district,
and, I may say, the Lake District likewise.

Amicus. Within the inner room is an inner,
a bedroom. The door was open, and I looked
into it. It too was a pattern of neatness and
order, as if for show rather than use.

PiscATOR. That is the bedroom of the master
and mistress, and comparing it with the servants'
bedrooms, clean and decent as they are, marks
well the difference of rank. The bed, I believe,
is one of the best characteristics of condition, at
least in all the lower grades of society.

Amicus. I have been looking for books,
somewhat curious to know the literature of the
dales; but the only book I have found has
been an almanac and of the present year.

PiscATOR. This too must surprise you; in
truth, the dales folk are not very much of a
reading people ; they are too much occupied ;
and the men are so much abroad as to have

154 THE DALESMEN AND BOOKS,

little time and opportunity for reading. Here
they rise early, before day in the winter ; they
are little within doors; and they go to bed
early, even in winter, almost as soon as it is
dark, never using a light. Did you not observe
them half an hour ago passing through, and how
they took off their clouted shoes before going up
stairs ? — which, by the bye, may account, with
the application of a little beeswax now and
then, for the stairs and flooring being so clean
and polished.

Amicus. What a singular state ! Now indeed
I can fancy the dales people as representing a
past period, — that when books were scarce and
princely property ; or somewhat later, when the
few books in use were chained to the reading-
desks.

PiscATOH. This idea of yours is rather an
exaggerated one. Probably the books belong-
ing to the family, now that the young people
are settled in life and out in the world, are put
by in some drawer or chest well cared for.
Though not a reading people, I can assure
you that commonly, in the poorest houses even,
there is a shelf holding a few volumes.

Amicus. Though I have not seen it, yet I

THE SAMPLER. 155

will believe there is a Bible in the house ; I am
not so sure mentally of the stored library.

PiscATOK. Do not at least doubt the Bible.
Did you in the best bedroom observe the
framed sampler hung on the wall ? It pleased
me much, so much indeed that I made a copy
of the words worked on it by the daughter of
our host, a maid, as stated, in her twelfth year.
I will read them to you, for they too are of the
olden time, and distinctive, as I hope and
believe, of the simple morals and religion of the
dales people : —

" Be you to others kind and true,
As you'd have others be to you,
And neither say or do to men
Whatever you would not take from them.

" Teach me, Lord, Thy name to know,
Teach me, Lord, Thy name to love :
May I do Thy will below.
As Thy will is done above."

Amicus. Excellent w^ords; I thank you for
repeating them. What a homily are they ; and
how much more deserving of being imprinted
on the mind than any of the formulas of the
modern Positive Philosophy.

PiscATOE. And now, after our long talk, let

156 VALUE OF GOOD HABITS.

us say good night, and to our beds ; remem-
bering, however useful books may be, and book-
learning, that all knowledge is not written, and
that the most elaborate and profound, without
such habits as we have here witnessed, is of
little worth and of little avail in the conduct of
life.

COLLOQUY VIL

The Lake- District revisited, — Varied Discus^
sion, Local and Piscatory,

PiSCATOK.

ELCOME again to my mountain
home and to our pastoral valley.
When you last visited us, autumn
was advancing; the flocks were
quitting the brown fells for the green meadows ;
and the District in the rich autumnal hues of its
woodlands and mountain slopes was in its most
attractive dress, according to the ordinary esti-
mation of Lake-tourists.

Amicus. It is a pleasure to me at all seasons
to come here, apart even from that of shaking
an old friend by the hand, and the receiving
his friendly welcome. The season is indeed
changed ; and yet the change of aspect is not
so great as I should have expected; for the

158 PECULIAR BEAUTIES OF SEASONS.

meadows now in April are only of a darker
green, and the woodlands only more delicately
tinted than they were in September; and as
then, the flocks, I perceive, are in the lowland
pastures. When I compare the two seasons, I
hardly know which to like most, — each here,
and indeed everywhere in the country, where
the face of nature is fairly displayed, having so
many charms. What is your opinion of each
as regards beauty ; or rather, I would ask you,
what is your opinion as regards beauty of
scenery of the District at the different periods
of the year ? and I am the more particular in
asking, inasmuch as an acquaintance of mine,
fastidious about scenery — unhappy man in
being so fastidious ! — has often questioned me
about it.

PiscATOK. The inquiry is not easily answered,
so much depending on individual taste and
feeling, and even on the pursuits of individuals.
My own opinion I will give you freely. First,
I would remark that each season of the year
has its peculiar beauties. Of spring and autumn
I need not speak, they in their peculiarities are
so well marked and striking. Summer and
winter are more open to question ; and perhaps

WINTER AND SUMMER COMPARED, 159

you will be surprised when I say, I hardly
know which here to give the preference to. In
the full-blown summer in this district there is
almost an excess of verdure ; all is beautiful
of its kind, but there is comparatively little
variety; the eye becomes tired for want of
variety; it ranges from hill to valley, and the
same hue, or nearly the same, the unfailing
green, is the one predominating colour. In the
winter, on the contrary, especially in a mild
winter, the more common one here, in
place of such monotony there is an endless
diversity of colouring and effect. We have the
dark evergreens, the pines, and yews, and
hollies, imparting solemnity, the silver-barked
birch, and the golden-trunked Scotch fir giving
brightness to the woodland ; then, there are
the cryptogamous plants, — mosses, lichens,
and some ferns, and in addition, the ivy in
full strength of vegetation, clothing the rocks
and the more venerable trees with a rich
embroidery of many hues, — the finest green
and silvery white the prevailing colours. Then,
moreover, what we witness in the atmosphere —
do not charge me with exaggeration if I say,—
more than compensates as regards beauty for

160 WINTER ATMOSPHERE.

any deficiencies on this account chargeable to-
the earth.

Amicus. What of the mnter atmosphere of
which you speak with so much emphasis?
Pray, be a little more explicit.

PiscATOR. The accidents of light and shadow,
the qualities of clouds and mist; it is these
I have in mind, and these are hardly to be
described, which in the winter season are most
remarkable, whether for beauty, as in fine
weather with gleams of enlivening sunshine,
or for grandeur of effect in bad, in the dark
and driving storm. But let me not overpraise
winter. It has its drawbacks, even in relation
to scenery. There are times, as when the
country is covered with snow, that even I
cannot praise it. Then the face of nature is
dreary and repulsive, — monotonously dreary,
and chillingly repulsive. Snow may well be
called nature's winding sheet! Fortunately,
however, as I mentioned on a former occasion,
snow-storms are of rare occurrence in che
District, and the continuance of snow of short
duration.

Amicus. You have not spoken of your frozen
state ; for, I presume, favoured as you describe

EFFECTS OF FROST. 161

your district to be, a time of frost is not un-
known to you. What can you say in its com-
mendation ? How then is your landscape ?

PiscATOR. I ought not to have forgotten
a well set-in frost with which we are occasionally
visited, as indeed you know from what you
heard related when we were last year at
Wastwater, — an event the delight of the skater
and fowler, of the young and active, and
healthy, with its bright sunshine by day, and
bright starlight by night, its clear sky and
bracing air, and within doors the glowing fire,
illustrating, may I say, the effect of the cold
condensed air on the blood. Believe me then,
our district is not without its charm of land-
scape. How magical, as it were, is the change
that then comes over the scene, — the babbling
brook silent, the liquid lake a glassy plain, the
watery rocks brilliant with ice and pendent
icicles ! Look into the first book of " The
Prelude ; " no doubt you know it ; what a
charming picture is there given of the aspect
of nature at such a time! Moreover, to the
inquirer, this is a time specially for his study,
— the rock rifted by ice, the clod pulverised,
the soil opened, the temperate stream favour-
M

162 WINTER THE SEASON OF INTELLECT.

able to life, flowing from beneath the ice-
covered lake; the tepid spring, so it seems
by comparison, gushing from the frozen ground.
How instructive are these ! and how can they,
with other specialties, fail to excite both interest
and admiration in the reflecting mind ? When
speaking of snow, I expressed myself un-
guardedly ; I called it nature's winding sheet ;
but, considering its use in the economy of
nature, it ought not to be so called, unless
indeed, we look to the revival imder it; and
that what is so death and shroud-like, is not
an extinguisher but a preserver of vegetable
life, a nourisher of the fertile earth.

AiCMUS. What you say of your wintry aspect
I am sure will be attractive to my enquiring
friend. He has his own views about the sea-
son, independent of locality and scenery. He
holds it to be the intellectual season, — that
which throws us further from the sensuous
south to the reflecting north ; that which
hardens and gives vigour to both our minds and
bodies, checking effeminacy and preventing
degeneracy. You would be amused to hear
him speak of the influences, the ennobling
«ind strengthening of this his favourite season ;

ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES, 163

illustrating his notions by comparing the feeble
races of the south with the hardy races of the
north ; he even goes so far as to maintain that,
most of our great truths, especially in morals
and religion, are of northern origin, or what is
equivalent, of the mountain or desert. And,
even in our northern regions, he is confident we
owe the greatest efforts of genius, whether in
science or literature, to winter. He refers, in
confirmation, to what Milton says of his muse,
— how its visitations were mostly between the
autumnal and vernal equinox. Turn, he would
add, to that great record of science, the " Phi-
losophical Transactions," and find if you can
any important paper or announcements of dis-
covery, unless bearing date of the same period
of the year.

PiscATOR. Speculation is amusing, and,
fairly followed out, is always more or less
instructive. I hope to see your friend here,
and to have his company by my winter fire-
side, — a proper time and place for discussing
such a topic. So far I can agree with him,
that difficulties are requisite to stimulate the
mind to exertion ; and that nothing very great
or good has been accomplished in countries,

H 2

164 DIFFICULTIES STIMULATE MIND.

whether from climate or other circumstances,
favouring rest and indulgence. The Jewish
law was promulgated in the Desert, and from
Mount Sinai ; the Mahommedan in the arid
Arabia; Eome rose to greatness contending
with difficulties ; Spain fell off from her great-
ness when ease and indulgence took the place
of exertion. But does not all history, the rise
and fall of every empire and state, tell the
same story ?

Amicus. I believe so; thankful, therefore,
let us be — and can we be too thankful ? — that
England has such a climate, and especially
a winter climate, which I trust will always
prevent our degenerating, aided, as our climate
is, by our field and river sports, so conducive to
manly exertion.

PiscATOR. What you now say reminds me
of our favourite sport, and of my promise, when
I invited your visit, to take you another ramble
through our Lake District.

Amicus. I shall be glad to be under your
guidance ; and, at this season, I hope to have
better sport than last year at a later season, —
a hope founded on what you told me, that
s-pring is the best time for trout-fishing.

DISTRIBUTION OF SPECIES. 165

Now, I pray, allow me to ask one or two ques-
tions on points connected with angling, or
rather the natural history of the prized species.
And first of their distribution : on a former
occasion*, when expressing your doubts as to
there being a parr, a distinct species, you
mentioned an inquiry you were then engaged
in, and some of the results you had obtained,
tending to show how it was probable that the
ova of the Salmonidae might be conveyed by
foreign agents from river to river, from lake
to lake, and so the species might be introduced
de novo. Pray, have you brought your inquiry
to a conclusion ? or what further progress have
you made ? Do tell me.

PiscATOR. It is too much to say that I have
brought the ' inquiry to a conclusion, — if by
that you mean I have exhausted it. That
is not easily done, if ever accomplished, in any
matter of physical research. However, I have
obtained some additional results, not without
interest, as I think you will consider them.
I shall mention only those I consider the
more important. First, I have found that

* The Angler and His Friend, p. 260.
SI 3

166 EXPERIMENTS RELATING TO

the impregnated ova, when tolerably advanced,
may be kept for many days in air, saturated
with moisture, without suffering loss of vitality,
or having their power sensibly impaired. Se-
condly, in accordance with the foregoing, that,
in rainy weather, they will bear exposure to the
atmosphere, if placed on moss or other moist
plants, so long as three days, without detri-
ment. Thirdly, that they are capable of
bearing a reduction of temperature to thirty-
two degrees Fahrenheit, i. e,, to the freezing
point of water, and may be attached to ice,
and included in ice, provided they are not
themselves frozen, without losing their vitality.
Now, reasoning from these results, there seems
little difficulty in imagining how a certain
diffusion of the species may be accomplished, —
whether, as hinted at when we last conversed
on the subject, by means of water-fowl, the
ova adhering to their feet, beak, or plumage,
or of other erratic animals, — or, to offer an-
other conjecture, even by means of travelling
masses of ice, glaciers, and icebergs. This last
conjecture may seem far-fetched ; but reflecting
on the erratic masses of rock, so widely scattered
from their original site, conveyed, there is good

' SPREAD OF SPECIES, 167

^reason to believe, through the instrumentality
of ice, I think you will allow that this idea
of the mode of distribution comes within the
scope of probability.

Amicus. What you say seems plausible ; but
is there not a more commonly received notion
as to the manner of the spread of species, — at
least, of certain species, those in greatest es-
timation, — viz., by artificial means rather than
by natural? When speaking of the grayling,
you mentioned the conjecture that it was
introduced into this country in the time of the
monastic institutions, and I think I have read
in one of your provincial papers, that the charr
of the Lake District was similarly imported.

PiscATOK. It is a popular notion that the
monks were our great benefactors in this re-
spect. It is a most easy way of explaining the
fact — the spread of certain fish ; and how can
we gainsay it or prove a negative? That in
some instances they may have introduced
certain fish is highly probable; — but it does
not thence follow that natural causes have not
been in operation, effecting the same thing.
And, if we enter fully and fairly into the sub-
ject, I think we must arrive at the conclusion

M 4

168 POPULAR NOTIONS AND ERRORS.

that these natural causes have been on the,
whole most potential. How often do we meet
with rare species in situations where it is diffi-
cult to imagine that they owe their advent to
the hand of man ? Thus the charr is not only
found in the lakes of the Lake District within
sound of the abbey bell, but also in those of
some of the wildest parts of Connemara and of
the Scottish Highlands. A like remark applies
to some of the Coregoni, such as the Schelly
and Vendace. Popular notions I am disposed
to hold always in doubt. How rude are they
and often unfounded : the monks in many
instances have taken the place of the giants.
Think of the Fingalian roads, of the cave
named after the same mythical hero, of the
Giant's Causeway, and the like : natural effects
referred to superhuman or supernatural agency !
Amicus. You have just said that the ova are
capable of retaining their vitality under the
circumstances you described, provided they are
tolerably advanced. Do you mean by that,
their drawing near the time of being hatched ?
I should have supposed that it would have
been the contrary, — that the simpler the
structure of the ovum, the less would be the

INSECURITY OF EARLY LIFE. 169

danger of suffering from external agents, — -
the more retentive it would be of life, according
to the analogy of seeds.

PiscATOR, According to another analogy and
more akin, viz., that of young animals, es-
pecially of our own kind, the hold of life is
least secure the earlier the age, — the most dis-
tant from the complete and complex structural
development. To say nothing of abortions,
how dreadful is the loss of life amongst infants
when not tenderly cared for ; and even with all
possible care how much greater is the risk of a
fatal termination of the same disease in the in-
stance of the child than of the adult. But what
I stated was not founded on analogy, — never to
be trusted except as a guide to inquiry, — it is
founded on carefully made experiments, and
those of two kinds ; one in which ova, after
impregnation, were exposed in water to a tem-
perature certain degrees above the natural
hatching temperature of the breeding beds:
another, in which they were sent packed in
moist wool to considerable distances, — not less
than 500 miles, or including their return not
less than 1000, and on one occasion double that
distance. The results of both accorded; the

170 STOCKING OF RIVERS.

ova of the earliest age were all killed in the
trials ; those most advanced, the oldest, mostly
escaped with retention of life.*

Amicus. Your experimental results are better
than my analogical conjectures. Your opposite
analogy would hardly have satisfied me, but
your facts do completely. I shall take a note
of them and hope to profit by them practi-
cally, that is, by introducing fish into waters
seemingly fitted for them, such as the charr and
the grayling, at present unknown in them.

PiscATOR. Such attempts are laudable, and in
many instances, probably, will be rewarded with
success ; it is too much to expect that they will
invariably be so; for as with plants so with
animals, — with fishes, — there are physical cir-
cumstances of locality difficult of appreciation,
favourable and unfavourable, the effect of
which can only be ascertained by actual ex-
perience ; and which require to be taken into
account in considering the distribution of
species.

Amicus. There is another point on which

* For an account of these experiments, see the
"Philosophical Transactions," for 1856 ; and the "Pro-
ceedings of the Royal Society, vol. viii. p. 27.

HATCHING: ITS MEANING. 171

perhaps you can enlighten me. In speaking of
the ova of the Salmonidse, when describing the
production of the young fish, you have used the
term hatching. Pray is it in the same sense as
you would employ it, were you describing the
chick breaking out from the imprisoning egg-
shell ? the word, as I understand it, meaning, in
its radical sense, to break, and the chick in ovo
effecting the breaking by means of its sharp-
pointed, hammer-like, hard beak, — by a process
of repeated tapping — a capital instance surely
of instinctive action, and of a natural provision
in such a beak for accomplishing it, especially
considering that the hard horny point is cast
off after it has done its work, — that is, when
the chick is at large.

PiscATOR. I use the term in the same sense ;
for the egg-shell of the Salmonidae and, I believe,
of fish generally, is ruptured by the efforts of
the young fish acting instinctively, somewhat,
though not exactly, after the same manner as
that practised by the chick in ovo.

Amicus. How is it accomplished ? I should
like to know ! Pray, tell me ; for these first
efforts of animals seem to me peculiarly inte-
resting as pure examples of instinct.

172 PROCESS OF HATCHING.

PiscATOR. I will tell you as well as I can the
little I know of the process collected from my
own observations. The embryo fish undergoes
development, gradually increasing in size from
the absorption of the substance of the yolk, and
the conversion of that substance into the sub-
stance of its various dissimilar organs. This is
the most remarkable of metamorphoses, WTien
near its full time, an absorption, I believe, of the
shell commences and proceeds till rendered so
thin as to be no longer able to resist the force
acting on it within — that is, the efforts of the
foetal fish. But as the foetus is folded in the
egg so as to form nearly a circle, its muscular
exertions to straighten itself, chiefly by the ac-
tion of the tail, impel it forward, and the head
being one of the firmest parts of the body, the
probability is that the membrane will yield to
it, and that the young fish will be impelled
head foremost into its world of waters. Some-
times, as I have seen, the tail first appears;
this is a mishap, and it may be of a fatal kind,
for the tail being the chief moving power of the
fish, its action, impelling forwards, tends rather
to prevent than promote the extrication of the
head. It is a somewhat curious siofht to see

PISCICULTURE. 173

the young fish in this predicament, — its bulk
being still within the shell, and the protruding
tail so delicate as easily to escape observation
when in motion; the appearance is as if the
egg itself moved spontaneously.

Amicus. You have made angling interesting
to me, and, now, — I thank you for it, — you are
doing the same for the breeding of fish ; give
me, if you please, a little further information on
the matter. Tell me what is most essential
for conducting the process with the best chance
of a successful issue, and with the least trouble
and the simplest means.

PiscATOR. You are easily answered. All
that I have found necessary, whether in the
instance of the ova of the chair, the salmon, or
the minnow, have been pure water, changing
it once a day, and clean vessels of glass or
earthenware, — the size and volume of water in
some proportion to the number of ova : if not
exceeding half a dozen, a tumbler will suffice.
The temperature is of less importance : if that
of a room, with a fire in winter, so as to range
from 45° to 65i°, the hatching will be unduly
early ; if of a lower temperature, the hatching
will be retarded; and the lower it is, the

174 CIRCUMSTANCES FAVOURING

greater will be the retardation ; in this respect,
analogous to what occurs in vegetable life, in
the case of germinating seeds.

Amicus. You say nothing of gravel for a bed
or of the exclusion of light, — the one and the
other, noticeable, I think you have said, in the
natural process.

PiscATOR. They may be useful though not
essential in that process; remember I am
speaking of the artificial, and of the easiest
mode, and most inviting way of conducting it.
Try it, and be assured you will find it answer,
and in the curious phenomena of young life and
development it will exhibit, especially if you
call in the aid of the microscope, it will most
amply repay the little care and attention it may
require.

Amicus. Of what use is the gravel in the
natural process, if not required in the artificial ?

PiscATOR. I believe it has a double use or
more, — first, that of covering and protecting
the ova during the foetal development; and
next, after their hatching, that of affording
hiding places for the young fish, and the means
of keeping themselves free of impurities by the
friction which can hardlv be avoided whilst

ARTIFICIAL BREEDING. 175

they are in motion amongst the gravel. I may
mention that the surface of the fish, however
young, is covered with mucus, apt by its ad-
hesive quality to retain minute impurities, —
vegetable and animal organisms and their
semina, from which scarcely any water is
absolutely free, and which growing, acting as
parasites, may, if not rubbed off, have a fatal
effect on the young fish.

- Amicus. Do not these impurities and para-
sitical growths collect chiefly about the gills in
the instance of the young fish ? If I recollect
rightly, you have told me so.

PiscATOR. They do, and, I believe, for this rea-
son, that the gills through which the water passes
in the act of respiration, or the function of aera-
tion of the blood analogous to it, perform the
part of a filter catching at their outer margins
and detaining the matters suspended in the
water as impurities, — thereby proving a check
on the flow of water, and the aeration depending
on that flow. I have often examined with the
microscope the obstructing adhering matter,
and have found it commonly of a mixed nature,
fibres of the simplest form of vegetation, —
particles of soot entangled in them, and granules

176 USE OF GRAVEL TO YOUNG FISH.

and nuclei of various kinds. I may mention
that, besides gravel, if you do not wish to
restrict yourself to the simplest means, it may
be of some advantage to put into the water, in
the artificial process, some aquatic plants, which,
in vegetating, may help to keep the water
pure, and favour the increase of infusoria, the
food of the young fish.

Amicus. You have spoken of the interest
attending the artificial process of hatching.
Favour me, if you please, with some of the
results of your experience, so that I may be
able better to appreciate the interest.

PiscATOR. Perhaps you will not consider
them in the relation so interesting as they ap-
peared to me in the observation, — the interest
in a thing happily increasing with the attention
bestowed, often imparting a momentary im-
portance to what, except to the actual observer,
must seem trifling. But do not mistake me ;
do not suppose that I make the remark with
any intent to undervalue minute observations.
As to your request, let me recollect, for without
reference to notes, the describing of observa-
tions of this kmd tasks the memory. I had best
begin again ab ovo.

RISKS OF OVA IN HATCHING. 177

In the artificial mode of breeding, when I
have obtained ova from living fish, under water,
and added to them milt in its milk-like state —
also from living fish, and expressed under water
— a certain number, and only a certain num-
ber, of these ova have become impregnated,
and have been hatched ; of the remainder,
some have become opaque almost immediately
from the absorption of water; and some, the
larger proportion, have retained their trans-
parency for a variable time ; many of them
more than a month. Why a portion should
receive into their interior the spermatozoon, the
impregnating particle, why others should so
soon absorb water, and by the congelation of
the yolk become opaque ; and why another
portion should resist so long the entrance of
water without progressive development, at
present, I believe, can only be conjectured.
Next, of the impregnated ova : these, if carefully
examined will be found to vary in size *; to be

* Of twelve mature ova of a salmon from the Dee,
the heaviest weighed one grain and eight-tenths, the
lightest one grain and two-tenths of a grain. The ova
of the oharr I have found to vary in diameter, from
sixteen to twenty hundredths of an inch, and in weight
from one grain to seven-tenths of a grain.

N

178 VARIABLE TIME OF HATCHING.

hatched at different times, even though kept
in the same vessel and treated exactly alike;
and the young fish likewise to differ in size, in
activity and in strength. In the instance of
the ova of salmon, I have witnessed in the
time of hatching, under the same circumstances,
a difference of seventeen days; and in that
of the charr a difference of ten days and more,
with a slight variation of circumstances, such
as a difference of two or three degrees of tem-
perature. Further, as regards the absorption
or consumption of the yolk, by which, for a
certain time the young fish are supported, that
too in different individuals is variable in point
of time. Such variations at first, may seem
somewhat startling, but when we consider the
course of nature generally, it seems rather in ac-
cordance with that course; her laws, especially
in regard to living beings, having a certain lati-
tude, exceeding commonly our idea of them.
It is well to keep this in mind ; it may help
to explain and reconcile disputed points and
differences of opinion, as, for instance, regarding
the time that elapses between the hatching of
the ova of the salmon and the migration of the
salmon fry to the sea.

THE STORMONTFIELD EXPERIMENT. 179

Amicus. Your remarks remind me of the
account I have lately read, of the results of
an experiment recently made on the artificial
breeding of the salmon, at Stormontfield, on
the Tay, how some of the young fish assumed
the silvery scale, became smelts, and migrated '
the first year ; whilst others continued parrs,
and did not assume the smelt state till the
following year, when in turn they also sought
the sea.

PiscATOR. Those results are instructive;
they help to reconcile the apparently conflicting
observations of Messrs. Yoimg and Shaw. It
has been made a question whether the fry
that migrated the second year were in reality
hatched at the same time as those which took
their seaward departure twelve months earlier
— on the supposition that parr of the year
following might possibly find their way into
the pond ; but, from all I have been able to
learn, there . is no good ground whatever for
the suspicion, inasmuch as the water, the feeder
of the pond, passes through a bank of gravel,
excluding thereby the idea of any such error.
In reasoning, perhaps, on these matters, we
are too apt under the influence of ana-

N 2

180 ANALOGIES DECEPTIVE.

logies, to create difficulties for ourselves. Ee-
gardless of that latitude already alluded to,
fixing more the attention on the periodical
changes of animals of the higher classes, we
are too apt to presume there is the same
regularity in the changes of the lower; but
this does not necessarily follow : on the con-
trary, the lower we descend in the scale of
beings, the wider, I apprehend, will be the
range of time for the metamorphosis to- which
the several species are subject. In the instance
of the frog, to give an example, I have
known the change from the tadpole to the
perfect animal arrested for many weeks, when
the supply of food has been scanty. Eecurring
to the Stormontfield experiment, may it not
be inferred that those which migrated first,
were probably those of greatest vigour, and had
the lion's share of food ; and vice versa of those
remaining?

Amicus. You spoke of the interest in the
inquiry being increased, by bringing into use
the microscope.

PiscATOR. And to an almost unlimited
degree; indeed, I believe that the subject —
the microscopic examination of the embryo

INTEREST OF EMBRYOLOGY. 181

fish in its progress — might occupy one's whole
life without being exhausted, so wonderful,
mysterious, and complicated are the changes
which take place in the course of the organic
development. Even to the superficial observer
the phenomena cannot fail of being interesting,
such as the heart in its action, the cir-
culation of the blood in its vessels, the change
of form of the blood corpuscles from circular
as is their outline in the embryo, to elliptical,
as they are in the fully formed young fish, —
such, moreover, as the advanced state of some
of the organs at an early period, the eyes and
pectoral fins, for example, and the late pro-
duction of others, the dorsal and abdominal fins,
for instance, the scales, its defensive armour,
which are but slowly formed, no traces of them
existing in the foetal fish. Even, in what is
abnormal, there is an interest ; as in animals
of higher organisation, so in these, — occa-
sionally marks of imperfect or partially ar-
rested development may be witnessed; thus,
I have seen a young salmon, destitute en-
tirely of eyes, otherwise on quitting the egg
well formed, and at the same time active, and

N 3

182 ADMIRABLE ADAPTATIONS.

as well as I could judge, with instinctive habits,
the same as if it had perfect vision.

Amicus. If leisure permit, there is nothing
I should like better than the pursuit you
speak of. And since, under your guidance,
I have become an angler, I will not despair of
the higher calling.

PiscATOR. And rest assured you will be
well repaid. The building up of an organic
being, is one of the most wonderful of works ;
nowhere is design more manifestly exhibited,
and the fine adaptation of means to ends. I
will mention one example. The young of the
salmon, of the Salmonidae, and indeed of fish
generally, on quitting the egg, carry with them
a load, a liberal supply of aliment in the
yolk sac attached to them, on which, in their
feeble state, they feed by an act, not of eating,
but of absorption ; thereby losing weight ;
thereby becoming lighter, less encumbered, and
fitter for action. Comparing the young fish
on quitting the egg with one six weeks old,
just when the vitelline sac — the store of food
it brings with it — has disappeared, removed
by absorption, I have found a diminution of
weight equal to forty per cent. ; and this, accom-

SERMONS IN MORE THAN STONES. 183

panied with a marvellous increase of energy
and activity, fitting the young fish to provide
for itself; and, remember that this change
from comparative indolence to vigorous exer-
tion follows change of season, the hatching
being at a time when the water is cold, and
insects and all kinds of food are scarce; the
stage of activity, when the spring is com-
mencing, and food of a suitable kind is be-
coming plentiful. Can you wish for, or ima-
gine a more striking instance of adaptation ?

Amicus. It is, indeed, admirable ! If there
be " sermons in stones," what theology is there
not, what evidences of Natural Eeligion are there
not in the ovum, and its living products !

N 4

COLLOQUY VIIL

St JohfLS Vale, — Memorabilia by the Way :
varied Discussion.

PiSCATOR.

HIS fine April morning is tempting ;
the wind from the south-west and
warm ; the streams in good condi-
tion, clearing after the late rains.
Let us lose no time. With your leave — and
you have placed yourself under my guidance,
whilst you are my guest — we will mount our
ponies and proceed to the Vale of St. John.
We shall have a chance of some small angling
sport, and the certainty at least of a most
pleasant ride.

Amicus. Now we are on our way, if you
please, remember that I am almost a stranger
here ; so point out, I pray, whatever things you
think interesting and worthy of note ; and, I

ROADSIDJE INTJE RESTS. 185

am sure there must be many such, when I call
to mind the charm of immortal verse, and that
hereabouts was the abode of the charmer.

PisCATOR. I will attend to your request ; for
what is pleasanter than to relate to another,
a friend, what is interesting to oneself ? I may
begin even on starting. You see how good this
turnpike road is leading to Eydal and Gras-
mere, and yet it is little beyond the memory of
man when it was first made passable for car-
riages, or even carts. A worthy yeomen of the
former place has told me that he knew the
labourer, who was one of those first employed
in making a cart-road between Grasmere and
Ambleside, a man who died only about fifteen
years ago ; and, in Clark's account of the district,
written little more than sixty years ago, he
describes how, before the turnpike road was in
being, a causeway was begun between Eydal
Hall and Ambleside, not by means of ordinary
labour, but by that of schoolboys and their
master. Every Thursday and Saturday after-
noon Mr. Bell, the master, and his scholars
gave themselves to the work, they gathering
and bringing the stones, he paving with them.

Amicus. What you mention is indicative of a

186 RYDAL HALL.

rude and primitive state, difficult now to realize,
especially in sight of that large white house of
modern aspect. Is it Kydal Hall ? The scenery
around it is worthy of a more picturesque
building.

PiscATOR. It is ; and that woodland is Eydal
forest ; a familiar haunt of Wordsworth. Some
day we must have a ramble in it. I can point
out to you many of his favourite old trees, oaks
of a goodly size, the largest hardly inferior in
stateliness to the Lord's Oak which we are now
under ; and, do observe it, for it is an arboretum,
so to speak, in itself, from the many plants
which have taken root and are growing on it,
not only ferns^ mosses and lichens, but like-
wise the holly, the yew and the ash. We
must have a walk too through the grounds,
and see the pretty falls. The stream that
makes them we have just crossed as it flows
meandering through the park to join the
Eothay. It takes its rise in Fairfield, that fine
mountain ridge, above 2000 feet in height,
which, you may observe, screens Eydal from the
north, and is still crested with snow. The beck,
to use the Dale-idiom, is a charming mountain
stream in its upland part, and not without trout.

THE LORD'S OAK. 187

Some fine day, rod in hand, we must follow it
up — or better down, as the Poet sings —

" Down Rydal cove from Fairfield's side."

There, though so near the busy haunts of man,
you will find perfect seclusion, and all, or almost
all, you could wish to have in solitude ; — in brief,
it is the counterpart of Far-Easedale with
an improvement, a lighter and fresher air, from
being more elevated, and more extended, and
having a finer prospect, Windermere being seen
in the distance ; on which account the following
it down deserves the preference.

Amicus. Had you not directed my attention
to the oak which you call the Lord's Oak, I
infer, from its superior magnitude, the parasi-
tical growths you pointed out would have
escaped my notice. You did not mention the
mistletoe as one of them — that true parasite.

PiscATOR. It is somewhat remarkable, that in
a district such as this, in which, probably owing
to the quantity of rain that falls, adventitious
growths are far from uncommon on the older
trees, the mistletoe is unknown ; and I believe
the few attempts that have been made to
introduce it, have, with one exception, failed

188 RYDAL VILLAGE,

of success ; and yet we know not why ; a priori,
one would say, that a plant which is even too
common in Monmouthshire and Herefordshire
could not be rare in Westmoreland ; but, in
truth, advanced as botanical science is, there is
little known as to the habitats of plants in the
way of idiosyncrasy and causation.

Amicus. This little village of Eydal delights
me; — its situation, its neatness, the happy
admixture of the lowly cottage and substantial
dwelling, with its becoming chapel, all so
accordant! What is its history, if history it
has?

PiscATOR. It is almost entirely a dependance
of the adjoining Hall, and a good example of
the feudal dependency mitigated by modern
usage. The cottages are occupied chiefly by
old servants, they and their houses older than
the chapel, which, as you may judge from its
style, is a modern erection. You will find its
story in two interesting poems of Wordsworth
dedicated to it, and in one of them an explana-
tion at once poetical, and I believe true, of the
direction, pointing to the east,

" That symbol of day-spring from on bigh,"
of our sacred buildings.

GLEN ROTH A COTTAGE. 189

Amicus. Whose is this cottage or nee ^ skirting
the village? There is nothing feudal in its
appearance.

PiscATOK. It too has its history. It is a
creation of fine taste, and has been the residence
of a succession of men of cultivated tastes,
Kydal Mount, rising above and contiguous to
it, no doubt the attraction, with its own special
beauty. Its first inmates were men who, at
the end of the last war, not the Crimean, laid
by the sword and here courted the Muses.
Here the translator of Camoens, of whom I
have before made mention as a friend and an
angler, enjoyed a few short years of domestic
happiness, too soon interrupted by the loss of
his wife, in a most distressing way, from her
dress taking fire. His successor, the graceful
narrator of his campaigns and travels, owed his
removal to a happier cause, not the disruption
but the accomplishment of a union with an
amiable woman; and his successor again, a
man the whole tenor of whose life has been
peace, one of the Society of Friends, makes the
spot his occasional retreat, not unmindful of the
Muses. We are approaching Nab Scar. Do
you see that cottage by the roadside ? It too

J 90 NAB'SCAR,

is not without fame. There lived, and there
died a man of genius, — the son of a man of
genius, gifted intellectually almost like his
father, and even more infirm of purpose.

Amicus. You speak of Hartley Coleridge.
Alack ! Alack ! That so much power should
have been combined with so much weakness.
It reminds me of an early pathetic letter I have
seen of his father's, written when the son was a
joyous boy. His words were " There is a some-
thing, an essential something wanting in me.
I feel it, / know it, though what it is, I can-
not but guess. I have read somewhere that in
the tropical climates there are annuals of
as ample girth as forest trees ; so, by a very
dim likeness, I seem to myself to distinguish
power from strength and to have only the
power."

PiscATOR. A curious and melancholy psycho-
logical condition, and yet I dare say true.

Amicus. What loud harsh note was that ? It
seems to come from yonder wooded islet.

PiscATOR. It is the cry of the heron. This
beautiful little lake Eydalmere, is the sole
property of the lady of the manor ; and under
protection a few herons, here secure from mo-

RYDALMERE. 191

lestation, yearly build their nests in those
Scotch firs, and at this season add an interest
to the spot.

Amicus. Pray, how lies the road to Gras-
mere ? Eydalmere seems to be shut in almost
as much above as below by the approaching
mountain abutments.

PiscATOR. There are, and it may surprise you,
three roads to Grasmere, — the upper, the first
made and the most rugged ; the middle, an
improvement on that; and the lower, the
present turnpike road, as good as you could
wish, the three well marking advancing im-
provement. As we have a choice, we will take
the middle way, — not as tutissime, though safe
it is, but as jucundissime.

Amicus. And now we are well on it, most
pleasant it is. Eydalmere so delectable in one
direction to look down upon, and Grasmere in
the other. How fine is the effect of the green
islet with its clump of dark firs, — it, and the
surrounding hills reflected from the mirror face
of the calm lake. Does the mere derive its
name from its colouring ?

PiscATOR. You are far off the mark. Wliat
think you of the wild boar giving it a name ?

192 GBASMERE.

It was formerly written Grresmere, sometimes
Grismere ; and grise being the old name of the
wild swine, the derivation I hope you receive as
unobjectionable. What renders it not im-
probable is, that the country round in the
olden time was covered with wood, and wild
boar abounded here. There is a saying in
accordance, that once the squirrel could travel
from Kendal to Keswick without once touching
the ground.

Amicus. On the islet, under the shade of the
firs, I see a house, but without windows; yet
of stone and strongly built. What is it ?

PiscATOK. A hog-house ; a shelter, how-
ever, not for swine, but sheep. It, as his verses
tell us, was once a favourite haunt of the
Poet : —

Hither does a poet sometimes row
His pinnace, a small vasrant barge up-piled
With plenteous stores of heath and withered fern,
(A lading which he with his sickle cuts
Among the mountains,) and beneath this roof,
He makes his summer couch, and here at noon
Spreads out his limbs, while yet, unshorn, the sheep,
Panting beneath the burden of their wool,
Lie round him, even as they were a part
Of his own household : nor, while from his bed

THE WISHING'GATE. 198

He looks through the open door-place toward the lake,
And to the stirring breezes, does he want
Creations lovely as the work of sleep.
Fair sights and visions of romantic joy."

Ah ! here we are at the " Wishing-Grate/'
another object of the poet's regard, so well
testified when he mourned in verse (happily
labouring under a mistake) " The Wishing-
Grate destroyed/' — verse as amiable as philoso-
phical, and I may add moral ; one stanza I will
repeat to you, —

" Not fortune's slave is man : our state
Enjoins, while firm resolves await

On wishes just and wise.
That strenuous action follow both,
And life be one perpetual growth
Of heaven-ward enterprise/*

Amicus. This, a spot commanding a scene of
so much beauty, one that might so occupy and
charm the senses and delight the mind, is the
last I should expect that would be chosen for
wishing ! But in this even we may find a
moral.

PiscATOR. Presently we shall come in sight

of the poet's first abode in the Lake District ; —

a house known before (as if auspicious of its

coming inmates) by the sign of "The Dove

o

194 fHE POETS MARRIED HOME.

and Olive-Bough."* There it is, with its little
orchard rising above it. There began his
married life; there, probably, he passed some
of his happiest days, in "Plain living and
high thinking." Would that we had a faithful
account of this portion of his life ! How in-
teresting would it be and instructive, — a model
kind of life, in its simplicity, frugality and
dignity, and I am sure I may add, in true en-
joyment. With a very limited income, — li-
mited we have been told to a hundred a-year f —
yet he exercised hospitality. Here he had for
his guests, men whose names will go down with
his to after times, — South ey, Coleridge, Lamb,
Scott, — not to mention others of hardly less
mark. Plain living indeed was theirs, and
high thinking. Wine or beer never appeared

* " There, where the Dove and Olive Bough
Once hung, a poet harbours now,
A simple water-drinking bard."

The Waggoner, Canto I.

•j- The means of the poet at the outset of his marriage
life were so limited, owing in part to an unsettled
account, and unpaid debt due to the family irom a noble
lord, whose agent Mr. Wordsworth's father had been,
and which was not paid till the late Lord Lonsdale came
to the title and property. See Memoirs, vol. i. p. 88.

A GROUNDLESS ANECDOTE. 195

at his table. Water or tea was their symposial
beverage.

Amicus. What you say reminds me of a
little anecdote, which I have read, — how Sir
Walter Scott, a man of more luxurious habits,
when a guest of Wordsworth, not satisfied with
such a paradisaical mode of living, after his
dinner, was wont to resort to the public-house
for a draught of home-brewed; and, at the
same time, to avoid giving offence, would say
he was going to take a meditative stroll.

PiscATOR. And, one day walking earlier
than usual, with his friend, and coming to the
inn, he was addressed by the publican, '^ Ay,
Master Scott ! you are early to-day for your
drink," thus disclosing the secret. So runs the
story, does it not ?
' Amicus. Precisely so. Is it not true?

PisCATOR- It is one of the many stories that
might be true, but are not true. It was the
invention of an author who too often did not
distinguish between the creations of his fancy
and the realities occurring around him ; and
by fine writing and a happy style, always gave
the air of truth to his narrative. Scott, I
rknow, once only, and for a day, visited Words-

196 ERRONEOUS STATEMENTS,

worth whilst residing here, and then in company
with Davy; it was the day they ascended
Helvellyn together. \

Amicus. It little imports, whether true or
false. The incidents of such a life are of minor
interest. His poetry, I apprehend, reflects his
mode of life.

PiscATOK. Just so. It was his wish that
his life should be read in his writings; he
desired no other biography. Many things said
of him had better been left unsaid, such as have
been given to the world with no kindly feeling
towards a man to whom we owe so much ; and,
more objectionable still, such as have been
founded in error, as the statement derived from
the writer just mentioned, that he was reserved
and close in conversation, — that he was slo-
venly and had little regard for order in his
dealings with books ; — instead of which, I can
assure you, he was more than commonly orderly
and careful about books ; and in conversation,
open and confiding, giving utterance to his
thoughts — to compare him to a gushing spring
— as they welled up in his mind.

Amicus. I remember the charges, and am
glad to hear them rebutted. I think I have
somewhere read of his cutting the leaves of a

" THE COTTON I AN LIBRARY:' 197

costly new work he found on a friend's table
with a knife smeared with butter.

PiscATOR. Just so ; and the friend, the
narrator! How often has the exclamation
been made " Oh ! save me from my friends ! "
It is possible that the ||oet may have done
what is reported of him ; but who that knew
him well would have any hesitation in de-
claring that it was done inadvertently. I have
been favoured, as a neighbour, with books from
his library (he had a goodly collection of books,
though they were not his pride, after the manner
of Southey), and never did I find one of them
in a state otherwise than denoting proper care.
Some of them, from their peculiar binding —
done in the house when under the influence
of the res angusta — were not a little inte-
resting and curious, their covering being
printed cotton ; and pleasant were they to look
at, and in cold weather, pleasant were they to
handle, from their soft feel and absence of chill.
They were called by the ladies, whose handy
work they were, ^' The Cottonian Library."

Amicus. I suppose, it was from hence that
he went forth in the wain with wife and chil-
dren, driven by a serving maid, —

o 3

198 CHANGES OF ABODE.

" Something in the guise
Of those old patriarchs, when from well to well,
They roamed through wastes where now the tented
Arabs dwell,"

as related in the charming descriptive epistle
addressed to his friend Sir Greorge Beaumont.

PiscATOE. It was from Grrasmere that he
set out in that primitive style, but not from
the cottage at Townend ; I believe it was from
Allan Bank, that larger house you see yonder,
conspicuous under those dark crags, for the
verses to which you allude bear the date of
1811 ; and he informs us in his brief, too brief,
autobiography that he changed his abode to
Allan Bank in the spring of 1808. Undoubt-
edly, his manner of life, as you remark, is
portrayed in his poetry, that is, partially ;
how can it be otherwise ? The words I have
quoted, and to which I like to return, are,
as you may remember, from a noble outbreak
of feeling worthy of Milton. I will repeat
them to you. Their being written in London,
and in 1802, will account for the outbreak.

" O friend ! I know not which way I must look
For comfort, being as I am opprest.
To think that now our life is only drest
For show : mean handy-work of craftsman, cook,
Or groom ! We must run j^littering like a brook

NOBLE THOUGHT, 199

In open sunshine, or we are unblest :
The wealthiest man among us is the best :
!No grandeur now in nature or in book
Delights us. Rapine, avarice, expense,
This is idolatry ; and these we adore :
Plain living and high thinking are no more :
The homely beauty of the good old cause
Is gone ; our peace, our fearful innocence,
And pure religion breathing household laws."

Amicus. And, I would repeat to you, were I
not sure that you know it, the sonnet that
follows, addressed to Milton, one of that stirring
series dedicated to national independence and
liberty, not uncalled for at the time, — a time
of inglorious peace, of prostration to despotic
power in the first Napoleon, not unlike that
witnessed at present in the person of his suc-
cessor.

PiscATOK. And would that we had a like
-poet to address us in the same stirring language,
to warn us of impending danger, and recall
our thoughts to better things than military
glory. But a truce to these reflections. Here
we are on the beaten turnpike, and there is
Dunmail-raise before us, a^d there is Grrasmere
Church. You must see its interior; it is so
near that a quarter of an hour will suffice for
the deviation,

o 4

200 THE POETS GRAVE.

Amicus. And here we are in the church-
yard ; and here, shaded by yew and sycamore,
is the poet's earthly resting place; children,
sisters, friends, congregated around him ; —

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH
the sole inscription on his simple head-stone.
Now, let us enter the church. So, that is his
mural monument.

PiscATOK. Eead the inscription. I will not
ask whether you like it or not; for it is not
for criticism, it is too sacred for that; you
will, I am sure, agree with me as to its truth-
fulness.

TO THE MEMORY
OF

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH,

A TRUE THILOSOPHER AND POET,

WHO BY SPECIAL GIFT AND CALLING OF ALMIGHTY GOD,

WHETHER HE DISCOURSED ON MAN OR NATURE,

FAILED NOT TO LIFT UP THE HEART TO HOLY THINGS,

TIRED NOT OF MAINTAINING THE CAUSE OF THE

POOR AND SIMPLE ;

AND, SO, IN PERILOUS TIMES WAS RAISED UP

TO BE A CHIEF MINISTER, NOT ONLY OF NOBLEST POESY,

BUT OF HIGH AND SACRED TRUTH.

And pray read what is below.

THIS MEMORIAL IS PLACED HERE BY HIS FRIENDS AND
NEIGHBOURS, IN TESTIMONY OF RESPECT, AFFECTION, AND
GRATITUDE.

PLACE OF PILGRIMAGE. 201

Of the friends, I may mention many were
Americans of the United States : a noble
fellowship, and may we not hope a pledge of
enduring union? Now let us hasten away.
That house within its garden, which we are
passing, is the Eectory, where the poet lived
two years, between his leaving Allan Bank and
his taking up his residence at Kydal Mount.

Amicus. That Eydal Mount in its beauty so
fit for a poet's living residence, as the spot
where he lies interred is for his grave ! What
a place of pilgrimage it will be, and his grave
too, to all true admirers of genuine poetry and
beautiful nature ! The road you have brought
me, seems to me, as it were a via sacra, full of
memorabilia and of a worthy kind and pleasure-
able in reflection.

PiscATOR. I cannot say so without reserve.
Before we ascended the hill leading to the
" Wishing-Grate," where the rock has been broken
up in working a quarry, a spot of wildness and
confusion in its littered heaps of stones and
neglected culture, — a spot, — the ground being
common, where many a tramping party has
spent the night, and crime has been committed
I can tell nothing of but evil; — the locality

202 DUNMAIL-HAISE.

seems as if it were cursed. In the solitary
cottage by the road side a man hanged himself;
and just opposite, where there is the ruin of
another cottage, a like act was perpetrated
before the dwelling was deserted. It is too
much to expect in our pilgrimage on earth,
however favoured the region, to find it an
Eden, that is, in its primitive blissfulness. Pray
excuse the shade which I have thrown into your
sunshine. Here is Dunmail-raise : and now we
are in Cumberland. That pile of stones marks
the boundary of the two counties and a
memorable event, — the end of the aboriginal
British sway, in the time of the Saxon king
Edmund, by whom the native chief was here
defeated and slain : you will find notice of it in
Wordsworth's " Waggoner," that picturesque
descriptive poem, a mixture of the comic and
pathetic, describing to the life an unhappy
waggon journey, and the end of the grand old
commodious waggon and team.

Amicus. A fit place for battle, rout and
slaughter, as " White-Moss," as I think you
called the last-mentioned ill-favoured spot, is for
acts of violence. This limitary spot, with the

WYTHBURN. 203

wild fells on each side, is little inferior to
Kirkstore in savage grandeur.

PiscATOE. It is indeed a wild pass ; and here
the waters divide. That little stream is the
infant Eothay ; and that other descends to
Wythburn, and is one of the principal feeders
of Thirlmere. Both take their rise in the
" mighty Helvellyn/' the vast mountain mass
which we see rising on our right.

Amicus. Cultivation is again appearing. I
see a few houses, and lo ! there is a little chapel,
almost rivalling that of Wasdale-head in small-
ness, and built after the same model, with its
adjunct (the two emblematic of good and evil)
the public house.*

PiscATOR. See the long line of lake is open-
ing out before us. Yonder is Eagle, or, more
corrrectly, Grlimmer-crag, Crag of the Ewe-
lamb, and yonder is Eaven-crag ; and there is
" the Eock of Names."

Amicus. ^\Tiat mean you by that, " the Eock
of Names?"

PiscATOR. Stop and look. What see you on
that perpendicular face ?

* " The Horse," late " The Nag*s Head ; " later, when
" The Wagojoner " was written, " The Cherry Tree."

•204 THE ROCK OF NAMES,

Amicus. I see well cut in goodly and conspi-
cuous letters W. W. and others.*

PiscATOR. They were cut by the hand of the
poet, and long may they be preserved in memo-
riam, in accordance with the poet's wishes and
hopes as expressed in the lines written respect-
ing this rock, ending

" fail not, thou loved rock ! to keep

Thy charge when we are laid asleep ."f

I heard a dear friend of his say, that the rock
was pointed out to him by Wordsworth himself,
and with a fond earnestness, showing regard.
They two walked from Eydal Mount here, ex-
pressly for the purpose of seeing it. Mark well
the spot ; how it is close to the road on our right,
and nearly in a line with the head of the lake.
Amicus. I do ; and I join heartily in your
wish for its preservation. To appreciate the

* The other initials are,

M. W., Mary Wordsworth.

D. W., Dorothy Wordsworth.

S. T. C, Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

J. W., John Wordsworth.

S. H., Sarah Hutchinson.

See Memoirs^ vol. ii. p. 310.
t See Notes to the Eighth Edition of Poems. London,
1845, p. 538.

D ALTON'S RAIN-GAUGE. 205

value of such a relic, an autograph on an endu-
ring rock, and that rock a chosen one in a choice
spot, one should imagine how it will be valued,
should it be spared, centuries hence ! Had we
the initials of Shakespeare or of Milton thus in-
scribed, how inestimable would they be !

PiscATOR. As I have what is notable to point
out to you on our way, know that this road we
have travelled, was travelled yearly and for many
a year by Balton to ascend Helvellyn in the
cause of science. There he had a rain-gauge, the
first, I believe, ever brought into the district ; it
it was used in prosecution of those meteoro-
logical researches, on which and on his atomic
theory his well earned reputation as an original
inquirer chiefly rests.

Amicus. How pleasant is this road : the rich
furze in bloom on the fell scenting the mild
breeze ; the dark waters delicately rippled, re-
flecting the hues rather than the forms of the
girding hills ; and those in advance not with-
out the ornament of wood.

PiscATOE. We are now fast approaching the
vale of St. John; one ascent more, and you
will see it.

Amicus. A noble and beautiful prospect !

206 VALE OF ST. JOHN.

PiscATOR. Observe that rocky eminence stand-
ing out from the hill, of a somewhat castellated
form, and in a misty state of the air, with
refracted lights, if there happen to be gleams of
sunshine, having a greater resemblance to a
baronial stronghold. See in it the magical
towers of romance, at times appearing and at
times disappearing, as so picturesquely described
by the latest Wizard of the North.

Amicus. A curious delusion ! But how often
are we cheated by our senses, without the
pleasure of a resulting romance !

PiscATOR. Here we leave the high road.
This on our right, which we are now entering,
will lead us to a hamlet, where in a stedding
belonging to an honest " statesman," the pro-
prietor of some twenty acres, which he himself
farms, we can put up our ponies ; and after
our day's fishing return to and refresh our-
selves with what provisions we have brought in
our baskets. The river is close to the house,
and the best part for angling.

Amicus. I hope your friend is a credit to the
name.

PisCATOE. He is an honest industrious fellow ;
would that all statesmen were! neighbourly

A STATESMAN. 207

and kind hearted, and his wife equally so. I
have never found them idle, and always found
them ready to give me shelter. Here we are at
his gate. His dogs sound the alarm ; and
behold the man himself !

Amicus. What a Hercules ! and what an
honest open face ! indeed, as to frame and
looks, he is a good specimen of a Cumberland
yeoman.

PiscATOR. Now our ponies are taken care of,
let us to the river, and there part for a time,
to meet here not later than six ; and, that you
may have a remembrancer, I have put under
the care of the good woman of the house what
we brought with us ; and have had her word
that some potatoes shall be ready for us at that
hour.

Amicus. Here are stepping-stones almost
under water, and so distant from each other,
and so rough and uneven, that it must be a bold
and active person to use them for crossing.
What a charming stream, and what noble
heights near and distant ! Pray what flies had
I better use ?

PiscATOR. Small and bright ones; for our
fishing to-day must be fine ; and as much for

208 ANGLING RESULTS.

smolts or smelts, as the salmon-fry ready to
migrate are called here, as for trout. And,
that you may not be disappointed, pray consider
angling secondary to seeing the vale and
having the enjoyment of exercise in the open
air, and by the river side in this pleasant
weather. You, if you please, follow the
stream ; I will take the contrary course.

Amicus. I have come in before you, having had
but little success, and finding that the valley
became tamer the farther I went. You had pre-
pared me for little angling sport, and it could
hardly have been worse ; for I have taken only
four smolts and two small trouts. Nevertheless,
I have passed the time not unpleasantly;
besides now and then stopping at a farm house,
the two or three that were near the river, for
curiosity sake, I rested awhile to indulge the
same feeling in examining my captured fish. Of
the smolts, two I found were males and two
females ; the milts in the former were very
narrow, as if shrunk, after having been emptied
of their fluid contents ; the roes in the latter
were very small and granular. The largest of

PARR AND SMOLT SCALES. 209

the four was seven inches in length, and was
very salmon-like in form ; the smallest was only-
four inches. Well fed and fat, their scales
were loose and easily detached, and very silvery
from much lustrous matter deposited on their
inner surface. The transverse markings had
nearly disappeared ; but when the scales were
removed, they were to be seen, though less
distinct than in the parr, indicating some
absorption of the colouring matter.

PiscATOK. These your observations accord
with mine, tending to prove that the silvery
scales you speak of are new ones ; and that they
hide the markings in the true skin, partly from
being less transparent than the old, owing to a
thicker deposit of pearly or nacreous matter on
their inner surface, and partly to the markings
themselves having faded a little, and it may be,
as you say, from absorption. The nacreous
matter, I may observe, is easily detached by
rubbing the scales with water in a mortar. If
you compare the quantity obtained from pan-
scales and smolt scales, you will be satisfied how
great is the preponderance of this matter in the
latter.

210 ROMAN PEARLS.

Amicus. Is what you call nacreous matter
the same as that used to make Koman pearls ?

PiscATOR. It is the same, obtained from
white fish, such as the bleak, white-baite, roach
and dace applied to glass. You will find the
method described in Mr. Yarrell's " History of
British Fishes." The same matter is used by
the Chinese in their drawings ; by means of it
they impart to the coloured figures of fishes
a perfectly natural silvery gloss worthy of imita-
tion by our artists.

Amicus. Now, tell me, if you please, what
has been your success.

PiscATOR. Much on a par with yours,
have taken only a few smelts, and a few
trout, neither worth mentioning. I have
had a very pleasant ramble too; and have
got, as I hope you have, a good appetite. See,
the table is laid, and the potatoes are on it, and
smoking by the side of our cold meat and fruit
pasties.

Amicus. These potatoes are excellent : so
mealy and dry ! How have they been dressed ?

PiscATOR. There is the cooking utensil still
on the fire, — an iron crock with an iron cover ;
and in the way it is used serving as an oven. —

ENGLISH YEOMEN. 211

You see peats are placed above as well as
below,

Amicus. I see; and can readily understand
that it is applicable to many uses. How useful
it might be to a colonist !

PiscATOR. And what an excellent colonist
would this our friend the statesman make, and
the like of him, accustomed as he is to hardy
life and able to turn his hand to many things ;
leading with his wife, as nearly as it is possible
in a civilised country, a life akin to that of the
colonist.

Amicus. And what an excellent soldier too he
would make for the same reasons, — so self-
relying and self-dependent, as well as strong
and active.

PiscATOR. In the olden time, the yeomanry
of the country formed the greater part of the
body of our armies; whilst now it is chiefly
composed of men brought up in our manufac-
tories and almost unacquainted with rural life
and its various occupations ; and hence their
helplessness in the field and that inferiority in
providing for and taking care of themselves as
compared with foreign troops, especially the
French. A general now-a-day could not

P 2

212 DALE PECULIABITIES.

address his men preparing for the storm —
such as that of the Eedan — after the manner
of Shakespear in " Henry V."

" And you, good yeomen,
Whose limbs were made in England, show us here
The mettle of your pasture."

Another advantage attending yeomen soldiers
was that at the end of the war they resumed
with their return home their home occupations,
like the Eomans in the best time of the
Eepublic.

Now let us to horse; it is time to be
starting on our return. The moon is up ; so we
shall have the advantage of its light.

You spoke just now of having looked into
some farm houses, indulging your curiosity :
now we are on our way, pray tell me the impres-
sion you received ? It is well to know what a
stranger observes.

Amicus. All I have seen to day, both in the
houses I looked into and that one in which we
were so kindly received, accord with my former
experience, — the experience of last autumn.
Within, I observed the same neatness, cleanli-
ness and order ; without, a somewhat careless
agriculture and a total neglect of horticulture*

HABITS OF A PASTORAL PEOPLE, 213

Not a cultivated flower have I seen to-day
since we crossed Dunmail-raise, nor a garden
vegetable and a fortiori, not a garden. Why
this neglect ?

PiscATOK. The tastes of men are more or
less acquired ; and happy favouring circum-
stances seem to be required to form the more
delicate and refined taste. This I mention in
relation to flower-gardens. As to the neglect of
kitchen-gardens, may it not be said, that they
imply a certain opulence, and if not luxury,
certainly a degree of comfort in the way of
living hardly to be found in a poor moun-
tainous district such as this? Moreover its
being a pastoral district greatly stands in the
way of horticulture of any kind ; it would be
difficult for a farmer here to defend a garden-
plot from the incursions and depredations of his
stock, especially his sheep, which, when pressed
by hunger in the spring hardly any ordinary
wall will keep out. Eemember, no pastoral
people have been an horticultural people ; the
two occupations are in a manner incompatible ;
from Holy Writ we learn that they were sepa-
rated from the commencement.

Amicus. Yet agriculture is not so incom-

P 3

214 RUDE FARMING.

patible with pastoral life ; on the contrary, in
its improved state a union of the two is re-
quired.

PiscATOR. Truly, in its improved state ; but
that is not the condition of farming in this
district, in which the holdings are commonly
small and the farmers without capital whether
of money or knowledge. Look at their dung-
heaps exposed to the action of the heavy rains,
washing out their richest portion, and you need
not look further to be convinced at least of
their want of the more precious article.

Amicus. On this little fishing excursion how
sparing has been our conversation on fishing.
Let me ask a question about it : Why is it that
you have not proposed trying the lakes we have
passed; first Eydalmere, next Grrasmere, and
last Thirlmere, which, from their situation and
character as pieces of water, I should suppose
would abound in fish.

PiscATOR. Simply because I could not pro-
mise you sport in them. In each of them
there are pike as well as trout ; and that may be
one and probably is the chief cause that angling
is bad in them. Eydal lake and Thirlmere
are both tolerably preserved ; and as the trout

PIKE, THE DESTROYER. 315

in them are of excellent quality, it seems more
than probable that were it not for the pike —
that most voracious of fishes — they would soon
be plentiful. Another cause, in addition, ope-
rates in Grrasmere — it is over fished, and
another, that the lath or otter is used in it, as
it is also, though in a less degree, in the others.
See, the descending moon is not far above the
mountain ridge ; we must quicken our speed, or
we shall lose the benefit of her light, — and
how charming is it in its mysterious effects.
A canter, where we can canter, is advisable,
both to escape the dark and to counteract the
chilling effect of the night air. Allons.

T A

COLLOQUY IX.
The Duddon and its course.

Amicus.
HEKE shall our next angling ex-
cursion be? I hope to the Dud-
don; that river so well sung by
the poet.

PiscATOR. Your wish is my law. Let it be
to the Duddon, " that cloud-born stream," and
that you may see it well, we will ascend to its
birth-place, and follow it downwards. Carpe
diem should be the angler's motto, and in more
senses than one ; so, if you please, we will
presently set out. In half an hour we shall be
able to make our preparations and have our
horses ready. We will not go by the beaten
way, but by the pleasantest, — as the seeing the
country will be as much an object in this excur-
sion a-s in our last to the vale of St. John.

AMBLESIDE CHURCH. 217

Amicus. The half-hour is hardly ended and
we are in our saddles. What alacrity, when
what is agreeable is before us ! And, this in-
deed promises to be a pleasant day : — the wind
is again from the right quarter, mild and
fragrant, stealing sweets from your sweetbriar
hedge and the violets, your garden violets,
beneath it. Again, if you please, as we proceed,
point out to me what you think worthy of
notice. I have almost forgotten what I saw
last year, when we went to Santon Bridge.

PiscATOR. That I will do with pleasure. And
now we are leaving the village, pray be ob-
servant of our new church, so finely and well
situated both for picturesque effect and con-
venience of access. I hope you admire its
form, and do not object to its lofty, massive
and conspicuous spire. Next Sunday, you must
see its interior, and those offerings which it
holds to the memory of the poet and his family,
which, whatever may be their artistic value, I
am sure will please you, as indicative of grate-
ful feeling. To prepare you for what you
will see, I may mention that they are the
windows of painted glass, of which I spoke
to you before, — one is to Wordsworth, one to

218 MEMORIAL WINDOWS,

his sister Dorothy and his sister-in-law. Miss
Hutchinson, and one to his daughter, and
in fiituro, long may it be so, to Mrs. Words-
worth : Veritas, the family motto, over each.
How befitting it is that these the female
members of his family should be thus remem-
bered can be duly appreciated only by those
who are aware of what he owed to them, — the
beneficial influence they shed around his home,
the help, the comfort, the happiness he derived
from their ministering. They indeed were
everything to him. In his writings full justice
perhaps has been done to his charming sister ;
but less so to his hardly less deserving sister-
in-law, — a woman of most upright mind and
vigorous intellect. It was from her, I may tell
you, that he acquired his knowledge of the
noble character of the Pedlar *, the travelling
merchant of the olden time, the chief per-
sonage in the " Excursion." The character was a
real one. It had fallen to her lot to have been

* See note to the *' Excursion," with an extract from
Heron's " Journey in Scotland/' vol. i. p. 89, descrip-
tive of the estimation in which the business of the
pedlar was formerly held.

THE POETS PEDLAR. 219

brought up in the family of such a one, who
after the earning of a little independence by
carrying a pack, sat down in Kendal, opening a
shop, and on his knee there she heard related
the incidents of his wanderings. To explain
how this happened to her, I should mention
that she was one of a large family of children
that became scattered owing to the early death
of their parents ; and so scattered was taken in
charge by a relation to whom the good pedlar
was married. I have called him noble ; he
truly belonged, as the poet has it, to "the
aristocracy of Nature," and on that sole account
was so courageously signalled out to be the
leading and chief person in the poem.

Amicus. These particulars are interesting;
they are new to me and I thank you for them.

PiscATOR. Now we have crossed the Eothay
and are near the Brathay, observe that
chateau-like house on the right, so like a Swiss
country seat. It is Croft Lodge ; a pleasant
dwelling, under the shelter of Loughrigg.
Wealth has created it ; the wealthy hitherto
have possessed it; wealth gained in trade or
business, and it has had many inconstant occu-

220 CROFT LODGE,

piers, charmed with its beauties, and after a
while growing tired of them ; reminding me of
a saying " that many fall in love with the dis-
trict, but that few marry it." The present pro-
prietor, however, I trust, will prove himself an
exception.

Amicus. And why not the enduring tie,
where there is so much and varied beauty and
so many facilities of living ?

PiscATOR. Beauty that pleases the eye, and
even delights the mind, is not in itself all
sufficient, at least in scenery. Here tedium
is unavoidable after a while, unless a person
has, as the saying is, " resources in himself," —
unless he can find himself occupation, and that
in good part in-door occupation, such as science
or literature affords. Even the mere country
gentlemen may weary here, — the fishing is so
indifferent, the shooting worse, and the hunting
almost a farce, or a tremendous labour — the
one to those who look on, the other to those
who follow on foot in a country of stone walls,
mountains and precipices, in which a man must
make his own legs his hunter.

Amicus. There is reason in what you say.

LANGDALE PIKES. 221

and I shall endeavour to remember it, and let
any Mend of mine, desirous of settling here,
have the benefit of your experience. The river
we are now come to I recognise again as the
Brathay. How charming it is in its long reach,
in its varied aspect of pool and rapid, with so
many accompaniments of beauty, and especially
the terminating mountains, rising like towers—
aericB arces — in the distance, — and, by the
bye, they are very like in form those summits
to which the term was first applied by Virgil.

PiscATOR. Yes, but on a grander scale than
the Corc3n:ean ; they are Langdale pikes at the
head of Langdale, rising above Dungeon Grhyll
Force and Stickle Tarn. The former of poetic
celebrity, and a good example of the attraction
that poetry can impart to a spot ; the other
as deserving, but less sung, less attractive : so
accidental even is local fame. Let me call
your attention to the chapel we are now
passing — Brathay Chapel, — somewhat foreign
in its aspect, but chiefly remarkable from the
circumstance of owing its existence to gratitude,
— for success in business on the part of its
erector, — a feeling shown further in that ad-

222 B RATH AY HALL,

joining building which is a schoolroom; and
further still in a larger schoolroom higher up
the dale. My authority was the late Mr.
Wordsworth. Brathay Hall and estate became
by purchase the property of a London silk-
mercer. This gentleman in walking over the
grounds with the Poet gave him some parti-
culars of his life, and ended them with the
expression of the motive under the influence
of which he built and endowed the chapel and
school.

Amicus. A noble minded man !

PiscATOK. And his family are worthy of him;
and sure I am that they with their good
pursuits do not find a tedium in the country ;
nor would they probably were they to spend
the whole of the year here instead of a part of
it. When riches gained in trade are thus
beneficially used, who can envy their possessor !
What a dignity is thus given to trade. It is
pleasant to think that this is not a solitary
example of the kind in the Lake District. I
hope we shall visit Keswick together. There
some of the members of another family which
has acquired wealth in business have similarly
distinguished themselves.

LOUGHBIGG TARN, 223

Amicus. Which of the two roads before us is
ours? Were we to leave the choice to our
ponies, there would be no question, for one is
almost formidable in its steepness.

PiscATOK. And that is our way, and when we
reach its summit I am sure you will not be
displeased. The other, crossing the Brathay,
at Skelwith Bridge, is the one we took before,
leading into Little Langdale.

Amicus. Here, indeed, we have pleasure
after short toil. What an exquisite spot of
beauty !

PiscATOR. This is Loughrigg Tarn, " Diana's
looking glass," as our Poet has called it, the
most beautiful of our tarns ; indeed, almost
the only one that can truly be called beautiful,
wooded as its banks are in parts, cultivated
as they are in parts, and not without cottages ;
whilst the tarn of the district commonly is
situated on the wild, solitary, treeless fell, at
an elevation above enclosures, and culture, and
the dwellings of men. Here, at one time, a
little romance of life was formed: here the
friend of the Poet, the late Sir George Beau-
mont, once meditated having a home, and
would, it is understood, have accomplished it.

224 SIR GEORGE BEAUMONT.

had not some difficulty arisen about the pur-
chase, which could not well be got over. Had
the idea been carried into execution, what a
paradise might have been formed here ; nature,
beautiful as it is already, made more so by art,
under the cautious guidance of the painter and
poet. You may remember in the epistle of the
latter to the former, an expression of regret at
the failure of the intention — following his
admirable description of the scene.

"I sighed and left the spot,
Unconscious of its own untoward lot,
And thought in silence with regret too keen.
Of unexperienced joys that might have been ;
Of neighbourhood and intermingled arts.
And golden summer days uniting cheerful hearts."

Amicus. It is a spot to linger at and desire,
and yet it is untenanted, except by the small
farmer and cotter, — which surprises me.

PiscATOE. What prevented Sir Greorge Beau-
mont from having a possession here no doubt
has prevented others, — the difficulty of effect-
ing a purchase. Where properties are very
small, as in the Lake District commonly, and
very much intermixed and often entailed, he
who requires more than one acre or two will

GREAT LAN GD ALE, 225

rarely be able to effect his purpose. This
difficulty acts as a conservative principle ; and
reflecting on the natural beauty of spots like
this, and that wealth and taste are not neces-
sarily united, I am not sure that the country
would benefit much by its removal.

Amicus. Descending the hill, I infer we are
again in Langdale. I see a village, and beyond
it another.

PiscATOR. We are now entering that part of
the valley which bears the name of Great
Langdale; the lower portion belongs to Skel-
with. That village to which you point is
Elterwater, and that beyond is the village of
Great Langdale, marked by its church. What
think you is the solitary building from which
that column of smoke ascends? But why
should I ask; you can hardly conjecture. It
is a powder mill, — and not far off is a bobbin
mill ; and yonder is a slate quarry. The cop-
pices around supply wood to the two first, —
wood fit for making bobbins and charcoal ; .and
the native rock is of a quality yielding to the
skilled workman roofing slate. So these ma-
nufactures, if I may so call them, are not here
incongruous, — they are, as it were, natural,
Q

226 STATE OF THE LAKE DISTRICT.

arising out of the peculiar fitness of the locality
for conducting them successfully. The slate
quarry, from the manner in which it has been
worked, its great extent, its excavations, and
picturesque aspect, is worthy of a visit from
those who have not seen the Welsh slate
quarries, even more vast. Whilst I think of it,
if ever you intend to build, and are not too
distant, let me recommend your getting slate
from hence, or from this district : it has justly
the preference for buildings in which regard is
had to what is pleasing, on account of its
lighter colour and more agreeable hue, and I
believe I may say greater strength.

Amicus. We have been some time silent, as if
by mutual consent. I have been intent on the
succession of pleasing objects and delectable
views at every turn of the road, all in cha-
racter ; the wild and cultivated so happily
intermixed ; the pleasant meadows below ; the
winding stream ; the pretty antique farm
houses, shaded with the fir and yew ; and most
conspicuous, the rugged steeps, — those moun-
tain fells narrowing the dale as we ascend, and
bringing it to an end.

BLEA TARN AND THE RECLUSE. 227

PiscATOK. In a scene like this, conversation
is hardly necessary; and I have had nothing
special to point out till now. That pretty
waterfall, or rather succession of falls, marks the
direction of Stickle Tarn, up under the pikes ;
and a little to the left is Dungeon Grhyll Force.
We are fast approaching the last house in the
dale ; there we shall have to ascend and make a
detour by Blea Tarn, over Wrynose, and Cock-
ley-beck, on the Duddon, where our angling
may commence. We are getting into a cooler
air, and may hasten our pace. You will now
have a better view of Blea Tarn, and the wild
little mountain valley, with its single farm-
house, the imagined scene of the Eecluse of the
Poet, than when you passed it before lower
down. Do observe it well.

Amicijs. We get on rapidly, notwithstanding
the steepness of the way. That must be
Cockley-beck ; I cannot forget it. There is
the single arched primitive bridge over the
mountain stream, and there the solitary cottage
with its two or three companion sycamores
pleasantly shading it, though hardly yet in
leaf. What a wild ride we have had over these

Q 2

228 CHARM OF MOUNTAIN AIR.

high green mountain fells ; and how agreeable,
and as I feel exhilarating, — but why, I hardly
know ; whether it be the effect of our breathing
a purer air, or a lighter one, or a cooler one ;
for I cannot but believe that the air is con-
cerned in the sensation.

PiscATOR. Probably so, and probably owing
to diminished pressure ; for chemical research
hitherto has not detected any material dif-
ference in the composition of the mountain
air and the air of the valleys. It is a de-
lightful sensation, and nowhere have I ex-
perienced it in a higher degree than in
mountain regions within the tropics; there,
even by the mere sensation, I always knew
when I had attained a certain height above the
level of the sea. Coolness of atmosphere might
have been there concerned more than here
in the pleasant feeling, passing, for instance,
from a temperature of 80°, or higher, to one
of 60°, or even lower. Now, we will dismount ;
our servant, after giving our horses a feed of
oatmeal and water will take them back. We
shall be able, I do not doubt, to get some one
here to carry our old-fashioned saddle-bags,
containing a change, to Seathwaite, where we

" THE STEPPING-STONESr 229

shall find sleeping quarters, a place not without
its special interest ; and there we will meet ; the
river will be your sure guide. Fish the deeper
pools, disregarding the shallows and rapids;
as there is a wind, there is a prospect of
sport. When you come to the "Stepping-
stones," you are at Seathwaite : they are a good
mark.

Amicus. Well met. These, I presume, are
the "Stepping-stones." Here I have been
waiting for you, a spot well fitted for waiting,
independent of the interest connected with it,
from the sonnet dedicated to them, pointing
to the extreme feelings of the child and of
declining manhood.

PiscATOR. And where

" The struggling rill insensibly is grown
Into a brook of loud and stately march."

Is it not fine, bursting out of that immense
chasm, as if the mountain had been cleft to give
the stream passage ; and, as if in the convulsive
act, all that ruin of rocks, all those disjointed
fragments lying in confusion on the steep de-

Q3

230 SEATHWAITE OF OLD.

, -%

clivities, had been produced. Now, for your
sport. What has been your success ?

Amicus. A few smelts, and a few brandlings,
and some small trout. I have measured a few
of the former; the largest of the smelts is about
seven inches in length, the smallest of the
brandlings not exceeding three and a half ; and
many I saw in the beautifully clear water higher
up the stream even smaller, seeming to denote
that there are, at the present time, fry in the
river of different ages.

PiscATOK. From the examination of those
I have taken, I have come to much the same
conclusion. I will show you the way to our
farmhouse inn, and pray be observant as you
go. We are told, and we have it on good
authority that, when the last clergyman but
one came to reside £tt Seathwaite, " the place
was as if it had never before been inhabited.
There were no roads, no woods, no meadows,
no neighbours." That clergyman was Eobert
Walker — the Wonderful Eobert Walker, the
epithet applied to him by his neighbours who
knew him best. You will see the change that
has occurred, and mainly owing to Eobert
Walker.

" THE WONDERFUL ROB. WALKERS 231

Amicus. You excite my curiosity. Pray
gratify it with some account of a man of whom,
as of a phenomenon, I have already heard
vaguely.

PiscATOE. Wonderful has not been the only
term applied to him : it is the culminating one
of others — of humble, worthy, good, patriarchal;
and the more I reflect on the character, the
more sensible I am of the propriety of it. For-
tunately, though he lived in obscurity, he was
not without a biographer. Appended to the
sonnets on the Duddon, is a very instructive
account of him by the Poet, and also in the "Ex-
cursion ;" the Parish priest, so finely delineated
in the seventh book, is a painting of this very
man, somewhat idealized. You will find also
many and additional particulars of him in a
little book bearing the quaint title of " The Old
Church Clock."

Amicus. Tell me, if you please, what you
know of him. Besides your epithets, even
what I already see — these trim meadows, the
ladder-styles by w^hich we pass from one field to
another, even the fastenings of the gates, so
simple and ingenious, mark peculiarity, and

Q 4

232 ROBERT WALKER'S EARLY LIFE,

make me the more desirous to be informed
about him.

PiscATOK. I have been unguarded, perhaps,
in exciting so much your curiosity, which, com-
monly, it is more easy to raise than to satisfy :
but, in this instance, the task I think will not
be very difficult. Let me consider; where
shall I begin? Each period of Eobert Wal-
ker's life was remarkable. He was, we are told,
a weakly child, one of twelve, the youngest ;
and that on account of his weakly state, his
father, a small statesman, gave him what
schooling he could, which, as he was born and
brought up in this very township, at Under-
crag, you may well imagine was scanty enough.
Before he reached manhood, when he was
about seventeen, he became a schoolmaster.
This was at Grosforth, near Egremont, in Cum-
berland, where he remained two or three years.
Thence he removed to Buttermere, where
he obtained a nomination, and entered deacon's
orders. There he acted both as minister and
schoolmaster; and in the latter capacity, to
enable him to live on his small salary, after
the manner of the country he went from house
to house, abiding a fortnight at a time at each.

OCCUPATIONS AND HABITS. 233

We are informed by his great grandson, that
now, to add to his means, he began a system
of industry, the relation of which will surprise
you. I will read it to you, having brought the
little book containing it in my pocket : — "In
the mornings before school-time, and in the
evenings, he laboured in manual occupations:
during the day he taught the school. He
made his own sermons, and performed the whole
duty twice on Sundays. In summer, he rose
between three and four o'clock, and went to
the field with his scythe, his rake, and in
harvest time, with his sickle. He ploughed,
he planted, he went up the mountains after
the sheep, he sheared and salved them ; he dug
peat, all for hire. When engaged in these
employments, he would be at work long before
those who were regular labourers, and remain
after they had finished their day's work. Nor was
he only diligent in such labours, but he excelled.
In winter, he occupied himself in reading,
writing his sermons, or in those domestic em-
ployments which are now generally performed,
if not by machinery, by old and indigent fe-
males. He was an excellent spinner of linen
and woollen thread. All his own cloathes, and

234 BOB, WALKER AT SEATHWAITE,

afterwards those of his family, were of his spin-
ning. He knit and mended his own stockings,
and made his own shoes [and tanned his own
leather]. In his walks, he never neglected
to gather the wool from the hedges and bring
it home. He was also the physician and
lawyer of the place ; he drew up all wills, con-
veyances, bonds, &c. ; wrote all letters, and
settled all accounts ; and frequently went to
market with sheep, wool, &c., for the farmers."

Amicus. Truly marvellous ! What next ?

PiscATOR. The next step in his career was
his removal to Torver, on the banks of Coniston
Water. There he took priest's orders, and
presently after a wife, a respectable maid-
servant, whose affections he had gained at But-
termere ; and who brought him a fortune of
40/., which he forthwith invested in the funds.
This, his marriage, was preparatory to another
change, to the curacy of Seathwaite, his per-
manent residence; and where, as curate, he
officiated for sixty-seven years, commencing on
a stipend of 5Z., gradually increased to 17/.,
and from which no offer of emoluments could
tempt him to remove. He equally resisted
improving his income by accepting an addi-

THE\ DUDDON. 235

tional and adjoining cure, that of Ulpha ; be-
lieving that he could not perform rightly the
duties of both, and thinking he might be
considered grasping and avaricious. And now,
having brought him to Siethwaite, there is the
house he occupied, on the other side of the
brook which we have to cross by that pretty
rustic bridge. We can resume the subject by
and by ; see, there is the farmhouse where we
have to seek a quarter !

Amicus. Oh ! the advantage of a good appe-
tite. Most true is the adage that " it needs no
sauce." I have enjoyed this dale fare of eggs
and bacon, with our little dish of fish and these
excellent potatoes. Yet good as the fish were
I have eaten better.

PiscATOE. The Duddon, from the purity of
its waters and their force as a mountain stream,
sweeping bare the rocks over which it flows
and producing shifting beds of shingle, affords
little feed; and the fish being poorly fed are
deficient in firmness, especially high up, where
we have angled to-day. We shall find them
improve in quality as we get nearer the sea.
Now we are refreshed, we will, if you please,
pay a visit to the chapel and to the minister's

236 OTHER MOTIVES OF

house hard by ; they are within a few minutes'
walk.

Amicus. The house is nowise remarkable^ a
neat substantial little cottage.

PiscATOK. The first time I was here, it was
occupied by Eobert Walker's successor, the Rev.
Mr. Tyson, since deceased, who had been seven
years Eobert Walker's curate and was then well
advanced in years, — a decent, respectable man
and respectably dressed in black, even to black
worsted stockings, but in no manner a re-
markable character. Would that I had seen
Robert Walker himself ! Here is a description
of him by one who did see him, and in his
ordinary homely dress. " I found him (says the
writer, and it was 1754), sitting at the head
of a long square table, such as is commonly
used in this country by the lower class of
people, dressed in a coarse blue frock, trimmed
with black horn buttons, a checked shirt, a
leathern strap about his neck for a stock, a
coarse apron and a pair of great wooden soled
shoes plated with iron to preserve them (what
we call clogs in these parts), with a child upon
his knee eating his breakfast." The writer
adds, — " His wife and the remainder of his

ROBERT WALKER, 237

children were some of them employed in
waiting upon each other, the rest in teazing
wool, at which trade he is a great proficient;
and moreover, when it is made ready for sale,
will lay it by sixteen or thirty-two pounds'
weight upon his back, and on foot, seven or
eight miles, will carry it to the market even in
the depth of winter." Concluding with the
remark: "I was not much surprised at this,
as you may possibly be, having heard a great
deal of it related before. But I must confess
myself astonished with the alacrity and good
humour that appeared both in the clergyman
and his wife, and more so at the sense and in-
genuity of the clergyman himself."

Amicus. How primitive, and may I not say
apostolical ! I have witnessed in my wan-
derings nothing equal to this, not even amongst
the Grreek clergy, whose mode of life is com^-
monly simple enough and without ostentation
and the burden of riches. The chapel, I per-
ceive, is of the ordinary form of those of the
mstrict, and but little larger than that of
Wastwater.

PiscATOK. You see, from the alacrity of fetch-
ing the key and opening it, the people here have

238 SEATHWAITE CHAPEL.

a pride in showing it. That pew, the clergy-
man's, is lined with cloth of Eobert Walker's
own spinning. When he came here, he found it
without pews ; so it remained for many years ;
then he used it as a school-room and his place
was by the communion table. He is described
as sitting there, wearing a cloak of his own
making. His great grandson relates that
" many a time when his family wanted cloth,
he used to take the wheel into the school and
spin there," and that "he had also a cradle
there of his own making." "Frequently (he
says) have the cradle and the wheel and the
teaching required the ingenuity of the clergy-
man at the same moment." After the chapel
was " pewed," the school teaching was given up
there, the free space was so curtailed ; and
about the same time the present little school-
room which we passed was built. We are assured
that he received no money for teaching, the
parents being too poor, and that he was re-
quited only by offices of love. They assisted
him to dig his potatoes and fuel, to cut his hay
and reap his corn. Now, let us go out into the
churchyard. Here is his grave. Kead the
inscription on the head-stone.

ROBERT WALKERS LAST DAYS, 239

IN MEMOET
OK

THE REV. ROBERT WALKER,

WHO DIED ON THE 25tH OF JUNE. 1802, IN

THE 93rd year OF HIS AGE, AND

IN THE 67th tear OF HIS CURACY AT SEATHWAITE.

ALSO OF ANN HIS WIFE, WHO DIED ON THE 28TH OF
JANUARY, 1800, IN THE 9 3RD YEAR OF HER AGE."

After the death of his wife, we are informed
that he whose ^^ health and spirits and faculties
were unimpaired till then," then experienced
^^such a shock that his constitution gradually
decayed." These are the words of his great-
grandson, who adds the following touching par-
ticulars. "His senses, except his eyes, still
preserved their powers. He never preached
with steadiness after his wife's death ; his voice
faltered ; he always looked at the seat she had
used. He could not pass the tomb without a
tear of sorrow. He became when alone sad and
melancholy; though still among his friends
kind and good-humoured. He went to bed
about twelve o'clock the night before he died.
As his custom was, he went tottering and
leaning on his daughter's arm to examine the
heavens and meditate a few minutes in the

240 CHARACTER AND FURTHER

open air. ^ How clear the moon shines to-
night.' He said these words, sighed and lay
do\vn. At six the next morning he was found
a corpse." His great grandson, in his eulogy of
him, says in concluding : " He was a passionate
admirer of Nature ; she was his mother, and he
was a dutiful child. While engaged on the
mountains, it was his greatest pleasure to view
the rising sun ; and every tranquil evening, as
it slided behind the hills, he blessed its depar-
ture. He was skilled in fossils and plants ; he
was a constant observer of the stars and winds ;
the atmosphere was his delight; he made
many experiments on its nature and properties.
In summer he used to gather a multitude of
flies and insects, and by his entertaining descrip-
tions amuse and instruct his children." When
mentioning the epithets applied to him, humble
was one of them as well as wonderful, and it
was not the least remarkable of them. Here
is a mark of it. Though in priests' orders, and
though highly respected, he did not for several
years administer the Sacrament. A clergyman
from Broughton used to come three times a
year, we are told, for the purpose.

Amicus. Thank you for this account of a

PARTICULARS OF ROBERT WALKER. 241

remarkable man ; a good and great man, and in
my mind more deserving of the title of great
than those who have earned it in command of
armies and in fields of blood — the heroes of the
vulgar.

PiscATOR. I in part agree Avith you, — be-
lieving that humility is one of the qualities of
the highly gifted. Perhaps you will somewhat
lower your opinion of Eobert Walker when I
tell you that he died worth 2000Z., and this
after bringing up decently and settling in life
a large family ; and he had twelve children.

Amicus. Not a jot, as I infer he effected it by
his economy and good management, and as you
say he was without greed and declined increase
of income likely to interfere with his duties.
It surprises me, however, that he could have
laid by so much.

PiscATOR. In his time there was no public
house here. From Mr. Tyson I learned that
his house afforded refreshment, and that he did
not object to payment in return, supplying
even malt liquor of his own brewing; never,
however, allowing any excess to be committed,
and never permitting spirits to be drunk under
his roof. This may have been gne of the many

242 ROBERT WALKER'S EULOGY

small sources of his accumulated gains. And,
considering his general character, we may, I
think, give him credit for thus opening his
house with the good intent of preventing the
establishment of the ordinary public house, in
which drunkenness is too often encouraged
rather than checked. Now let us return to
our quarters. To-morrow, we should be astir
early, and make the best of our way down the
Duddon. The day's exercise should ensure us
sound sleep ; and, if we dream, may it be of
Eobert Walker, a " Gospel Teacher "

" Whose good works formed an endless retinue :
Such priest as Chaucer sang in fervent lays ;
Such as the heaven-taught skill of Herbert drew ;
And tender Goldsmith crowned with deathless
praise ! "

And surely most fortunate is he of all priests in
having such a poet as the Minstrel of the
Duddon to sing his praises. And this reminds
me of a remark of the sober-minded Mr. Tyson
(he was drying his onions at the time we en-
tered into conversation with him) who, on my
saying that Mr. Wordsworth had immortalised
in verse his predecessor, naively remarked " Yes,
indeed, sir, for a considerable time."

7iV VERSE AND PROSE. 243

Amicus. G-ood morning ! I have been out
before you and have had a pleasant short stroll;
first, by the brookside, the tributary stream of
the Poet, —

" Hurrying with lordly Duddon to unite."

In it I took two or three brandlings ; and above
the rapids two or three brook trout, remarkable
for their blackness and slimy softness, — the
one, in their slow growth, supposing the brand-
lings to be twelve months old, denoting, I infer,
poor feed, the other, in their colour, indica-
ting scanty light, and so according in colour
with the dark hue of the stream, derived from
the colour of its rocky bed. A little later, in
returning, I revisited the chapel, and was more
observant of its site and accompaniments, of
the magnificent yew shading it, and of the
larches, now goodly trees, which might have
been planted by Kobert Walker ; and, within, I
consulted the register in which I found this,
which I have copied —

"Buried June 28th, the Eev. Eobert Walker.
He was curate of Seathwaite sixty-six years.
He was a man singular for his temperance, in-
dustry, and integrity."

B 2

244 MANUFACTURING GRADATION

PiscATOK. A modest and characteristic notice,
and certainly without flattery. Had you fol-
lowed the stream up you would have come to a
tarn, — Seathwaite Tarn, which I hope some day
to fish with you. It abounds in small trout, I
am told, for I have not yet visited it.

Amicus. Close to the pretty pool, below the
wooden bridge, in which I took the brandlings,
is a ruined building. Is that the remains of a
cloth-mill, of which, I fancy, I have somewhere
read?

PiscATOR. It is, and marks the transition
grade from the spinning-wheel to the great
manufactory. It failed, I suppose, because it
could not stand competition with the gigantic
undertakings of the great capitalist. Pray
hasten your breakfast, for it is time we should
be starting. I will precede you. Again the
river will serve you as an unerring guide. I
have paid the reckoning; we will meet at
Ulpha Kirk.

Amicus. I am glad to find you here, — here,
at Ulpha, so unmistakeable by its pretty chapel,
conspicuously standing above the Duddon, a

ULPHA KIRK. 245

good mark to the weary traveller coming in,
like me when day is closing in.

PiscATOK. And, I am glad to see you, for I
began to fear some accident might have befallen
you. The site of the kirk perhajDS suggested
to the Poet tfie leading idea in the sonnet
commencing, —

" The Kirk of Ulpha to the pilgrim's eye,
Is welcome as a star, that doth present
Its shining forehead through the peaceful rent
Of a black cloud diffused o'er half the sky :
Or as a fruitful palm-tree towering high
O'er the parched waste beside an Arab's tent."

Amicus. Ha ! how, that last line brings back
past times and scenes, and the comfort I have
had when journeying in the wilds of Ceylon at
the sight of the palm, the cocoa-nut palm, which
there is almost a domestic tree, marking always
human dwellings, for nowhere else, never in the
wild woods out of the protection of man, do you
meet with it. The natives view it in this light ;
they say, it never flourishes " except you walk
under it and talk under it," and there is reason
in the saying, for if not guarded, it is sure to be
thrown down in the wilder parts of the country
by the elephants, for the sake of its leaves,

B 3

246 DELIGHTS OF THE DUDDOX,

PiscATOR. And in confirmation I may remark,
that in the West India Islands and tropical
America, where palms have no such natural
enemies, they grow wild and abound, constitut-
ing a chief charm of the woodlands, and a
marked peculiarity in their favour comparing
them with those of India *, where the wild
elephant is found. But what of your sport,
and why have you loitered so long ?

Amicus. Wandering by the pleasant Duddon
how could I but remember your carpe diem^ and
'd,didi festina lente ; and the day I have enjoyed,
and that leisurely, — sometimes fishing, where
the water was most inviting, and sometimes
resting, where the banks were most flowery and
tempting, where sweet sounds were mixed
with vernal odours, the music of the stream
and the song of birds. As to my angling suc-
cess, see my pannier. There are a good many
smolts in it and a few trout, the largest not

* I had written, " and of Africa ; " but I have learnt
from a missionary, well acquainted with the western
coast and its interior, that there elephants and palms
both abound, probably owing to the soil and climate
specially favouring the growth of palms, and in situa-
tions not easy of access.

SOUNDS FROM FISH. 247

exceeding a quarter of a pound. Pray what
have you done ?

PiscATOK. My doings have been much the
same as yours, with the addition of a sea-trout,
which I did not expect to take at this season,
— one of about two pounds, — in good con-
dition and evidently a fresh run fish.

Amicus. In handling two or three of the
trout I took to day, the instant they were
drawn out of the water, I am confident they
emitted a sound, which has perplexed me,
knowing that they have no voice, no vocal
organ.

PiscATOR. I have often made the same re-
mark in handling freshly taken trouts. From
the observations I have made since my attention
has been directed to it, I am satisfied it is
owing to the escape of air from the air-bladder
compressed by the hand, and its passing
through the orifice opening into the gullet. If
you make the trial under water, you will wit-
ness its verification. The circumstance, I may
remind you, is in accordance with the idea en-
tertained by some physiologists, that the air-
bladder is the analogue of the lung. We are
losing time. See the table is spread in the

B 4

248 THE COURSE OF THE DUDDOK.

clean little room within ; and I dare say, to day
as well as yesterday, our exercise with a pretty
long fast will have gotten us an appetite and
relish for our dinner ; so make your necessary
change as speedily as possible : the damsel
there will show you your room, which you will
find more comfortable than the ruder one at
Seathwaite.

Amicus. Good morning ! How fortunate we
are in our weather ; and in such weather with
the bursting spring, how beautiful is Donner-
dale, the Vale of the Duddon !

PiscATOK. And how beautiful is the Duddon
itself ! now an ample stream, yet with the same
untamed mountain character, oftener dashing
amongst rocks than resting in deep pools.
From the fell, we shall have to follow it to-day
in our angling, into the lowland meadows, and
from thence to the still lower sands — that
plain of sand, where wandering, lingering, it
ends its course in the sea ; and let us join in
the Poet's wish, as expressed in the last of his
Duddon sonnets, and in the " After-thought,''

RIVER POETRY, 249

alluding to the river, its ending and ever
enduring, —

" And may thy Poet, cloud-born stream ! be free,
The sweets of earth contentedly resigned,
And each tumultuous working left behind
At seemly distance, to advance like thee,
Prepared in peace of heart, in calm of mind
And soul to mingle with eternity."

You remember the ^^ After-thought, " be- ^
ginning — ^

" I thought of thee, my partner and my guide,"

and ending mysteriously, profoundly, and
cheeringly —

" Through love, through hope, and faith*s transcendant
power,
We feel that we are greater than we know."

Amicus. Charming poetry ! true philosophy !

PiscATOR. Here again we part to meet at
Broughton. The road to the town, pray keep
in mind, is over the last bridge on the D addon,
the many arched one, and what a contrast with
that of the small single arch at Cockley-beck !

Amicus. And what a contrast are the Duddon
Sands, its terminus, with the mountains that
gave the river birth ; and yet they, the sands

250 MUTATIONS.

and the mountains, are they not the same
only changed in form ?

PiscATOK. And, as what remains of the
mountains, though called everlasting, may in
process of time become sand and find a resting
place in the ocean, so in further progress, the
loose sand may become fixed and acquire
solidity, be lifted up again and again in its
mountain altitude, be the birth-place of another
Duddon.

COLLOQUY X.

The Greta. — Dericentwater. — The Derwent

Amicus.
HAVE found in your library
" Southey's Colloquies."* I opened
the book with hesitation, — a feeling
of short duration, the charm of the
writing increasing as I proceeded, and I may add
the weight of the matter, embodying evidently
the mature thoughts of a man of genius on
subjects always interesting — the progress and
prospects of society.

PiscATOR. The book is a favourite of mine
on many accounts. There is originality in the
design, — a conversation on the past and present,
and that carried on between a ghost and a living
man. The one of a no less distinguished person

* " Sir Thomas More, or Colloquies on the Progress
and Prospects of Society," 2 vols. 8vo. London, 1829.

252 SOUTHETS COLLOQUIES,

than Sir Thomas More, the best of men, the
other, the author himself, under the assumed
name of Montesimos : then the scenery described
is the immediate neighbourhood of the Poet's
residence in which he so much delighted ; and
delightful in itself, he has preserved its charm,
in description, to say nothing of what is more
important — the philosophical views, so vigo-
rously expressed, which he takes of society in
its ever-changing state, during the memorable
historical period comprised between the Protes-
tant Eeformation, the great religious movement,
and the French Eevolution, the great political
movement.

Amicus. The mention made of the Grreta in
the course of the " Colloquies," excites in me a
desire to see it; and if the angling in it be in
any degree proportionate to the beauties attri-
buted to it, it must be a most delectable stream
and well worthy of being explored. What say
you of making our next excursion to it ?

PiscATOK. Good ! we cannot do better. And,
that you may see it thoroughly, we will trace it
from Thirlmere, its principal source, to the
Derwent, which it joins within a hundred yards
of the Lake Derwentwater, from which the river.

ADVANCING SPRING. 253

the Derwent, issues. The time is favourable ;
owing to the dry weather we have lately had, we
shall have no great difficulty in following it in
its wildest and most romantic track, and where
pent up in the gorge of the valley, we may have
to ford it to make our way. The mail coach
will take us in good time to the vale of St.
John; we shall have the greater part of the
day before us ; and fishing as we go, we shall
have no difficulty in reaching Keswick before
nightfall. To morrow, if you please, we will
start after an early breakfast.

Amicus. Here we are on our fishing ground,
at ten o'clock, after a pleasant drive this fine
April morning. Much as I admired the Vale,
when I first saw it, now it appears to me even
more beautiful than at first.

PiscATOR. A true sign of real beauty is the
improving on acquaintance. I am always mis-
trustful of the first impression. Moreover,
since you were here, though so short a time ago,
spring has advanced ; the early trees, the birch
and the larch, have opened their delicate
foliage, and a warmer hue has become diffused

254 THE VALE OF ST. JOHN',

where there is woodland, here not scant, from
the expanding buds of the common trees. Then,
too, the meadows had not the animation which
they at present possess in the young lambs, now
racing and sporting in all the glee of a happy
existence, — the very emblems of such an ex-
istence.

Amicus. Whilst we are putting together our
rods, tell me, if you please, the names of these
hills, the principal features of what I am ad-
miring.

PiscATOR. The blue mountain rising grandly
in the distance, immediately before us, is
Saddleback; that steep hill close by, rising
abruptly from the river, clad with larches,
is Naddle Fell ; the rocky height opposite is
Walter Crag or Fell, which in its castellated
form is best seen from a point lower down in
the valley. It is this crag, remember, of which
I made mention before, as the scene of romance,
figuring mysteriously in the " Bridal of Trier-
maine." The hill behind us covered with mixed
wood is Grreenhow. Now, let us part : you pro-
ceed, and I will follow. Wait for me where the
river changes its character, there where its rapids
commence. We shall need some refreshment,

ST, JOHN'S BECK. 255

such as our sandwiches afford, before entering
on the difficult part of our way ; and you must
allow me then to be your guide.

Amicus. I am glad you have overtaken me.
It is now two o'clock, and our sandwiches will
not come amiss. Shall I confess that I have
been disappointed in the river, both as to fish-
ing and beauty. I have risen very few fish, and
taken only some small trout and two or three
smolts ; nor am I surprised, there are, since
leaving the upper portion of the beck, so few
pools of any promise, and hardly a rock to break
the even flow of the water over its gravelly and
artificially embanked bed.

PiscATOR. You passed too rapidly where you
should have lingered and fished diligently. I
speak of the upper portion of the beck, there
the very perfection of a trout stream, flowing
as it does amongst rocks and over rocks, deep
and shallow in succession, keeping its natural
course, having good bottom feed, and also
surface feed, from flies bred in the adjoining
wood, and not without good trout, of which in
my pannier you may see a half-a-dozen, one

256 THE GOOD LORD CLIFFORD,

rather exceeding half-a-pound. Here, where
we are now, where the river begins its winding
course, we may consider the Greta commencing,
or a little farther down, where it is met by the
Glendermaken, a rivulet (now so small that
you will hardly notice it) rising out of two small
tarns, Bowscale and Threlkeld, the latter, like
the castellated form of rock we have left
behind us, a subject of fabulous narrative,
being described as almost inaccessible, though
not difficult of approach; as unfathomable,
though shallow ; as so deep in shade, from the
surrounding and overhanging mountains, that
the sun never shines on it and the reflection of
the stars may be seen in it at noonday, — a
marvel, I need hardly remark, not an exaggera-
tion simply, but altogether imaginary. An
interesting story, and a true one, however, you
may remember, is connected with the name, viz.
that of the Shepherd Lord, "the Good Lord
Clifford," who, in the troublesome times of the
Eoses, owed his life, after his father's death on
the bloody field of Ferrybridge, to seclusion in
these wilds, — a story charmingly given in verse
by Wordsworth and in prose by Southey ; — by
the latter, you may recollect, in the "Colloquies"

" THE SHEPHERD LORDr 257

you were speaking of; by the former in the
poem entitled " Song at the Feast of Brougham
Castle," upon the restoration of Lord Clifford,
the shepherd, to the estates and honours of
his ancestors, concluding thus beautifully :

" Love had he found in huts where poor men lie ;
His daily teachers had been woods and rills,
The silence that is in the starry sky,
The sleep that is among the lonely hills.

" In him the savage virtue of the race,
Revenge, and all ferocious thoughts were dead :
Nor did he change ; but kept in lofty place,
The wisdom which adversity had bred.

*' Glad were the vales, and every cottage hearth ;
The Shepherd Lord was honoured more and more ;
And, ages after he was laid in earth,
' The Good Lord Clifford ' was the name he bore."

Amicus. I remember the story and its happy
ending, and I thank you for repeating the
verses. \\Tiilst waiting for you, I inquired of
the ploughman, whom you see hard by, where
the Grreta begins and St. John's Beck ends.
Though living on the spot, he could give me no
precise information ; he seemed even ignorant
of the name of the Grreta.

PiscATOR. A proof of the little interest he
takes in it, and of the little curiosity of the

258 THE GRETA,

people of the country in matters which do not
affect their interests. The same man, probably,
could tell you the names of all the hills in sight,
these localities really interesting him, in con-
nexion with the erratic habits of the sheep.
Apart from this consideration, his ignorance of
the Greta is not surprising, inasmuch, as St.
John's Beck, at its origin, is, when low, little infe-
rior in volume of water to the Grreta so that it
might be well called the Grreta through its
whole course, if its upper portion deserved the
name as much as the lower, which we are about
to see.

Amicus. You allude to the meaning of the
word Grreta, I infer — " the loud lamenter,"
which, according to Southey, is the plain En-
glish of its Norse name, synonymous, I think his
friend Coleridge somewhere remarks, with the
Cocytus of the Grreeks.

PiscATOR, Exactly so; and when we have
explored it, I am sure you will agree with me
that it deserves so to be called.

Amicus. I am at a loss to understand its
course ; for if Keswick lies, as you say, to the
left, I see no opening in that direction by which
it can pass.

PiscATOR. Truly so ; the gorge it enters, and

''THE LOUD LAMENTERr 259

by which it descends, is hidden ; the dividing
hills approach so near to each other, of which
you will presently have ocular proof. Now, let
us renew our angling, and proceed on our way.

Amicus. Here we are, safe after our fa-
tiguing scramble and struggle. The name
Grreta is certainly well deserved, for rarely have
I heard a more clamorous stream, and never
followed a more difficult one, yet I will
not call it infernal, as it rather leads to
a paradise. Shame, I say, to the landed
proprietors, who have not made a pathway,
so that its wild beauty may be enjoyed
without risk of life, and enjoyed also by
those not equal to the fording of rapids over
slippery rocks, and the climbing of heights,
almost precipices, where a single false step
might be one too many, and a last one.

PiscATOK. It is strange indeed, that such
a mountain stream, and so praised as it has
been by a distinguished author, should be so
neglected. As far as we are concerned, how-
ever, we need not, I think, lament the neglect.
For the difficulty of seeing it, the little risks
incurred, give a zest, and surely add to the

82

260 RIVER SECLUSION,

interest. How charming in their perfect se-
clusion were certain spots, where nothing was
to be seen but sky, wood, and water ; and no
sounds were audible but the song of the thrush,
mingling with the ever resounding voice of
*^ the loud lamenter." Where wildest, I was
reminded of the Teme, as it descends with
the same character of a mountain torrent from
the upper vale of Leintwardine to the lower
one of Downton. The hills in both places
are as steep, and are similarly wooded ; but
how different the care bestowed ! there, by
a safe path, you can walk at ease, and view
at leisure all the tumult of the rushing waters,
and see as in a picture the fine effects produced.
Now tell me of your angling ; what has been
your success ?

Amicus. Nil ; and yet I tried several good
pools. Is not the Greta here too much of a
torrent to afford tolerable sport ? The rocks
are washed so clean that there can be little
bottom feed ; and unless there be fly on the
water, which there was not to-day, I should
hardly expect success, even were there fish to
allow of it. How have you fared ?

PiscATOK. Very little better ; I have taken

NEAR APPROACH TO KESWICK, 261

only one ill-conditioned trout, and two or three
smolts. Let us now hasten to our inn. I see
the smoke of Keswick ascending, a proof that
we are near ; and lo ! that large building I it
is a bobbin mill ! and yonder another ! it is
a pencil manufactory. Now, our way is easy.
Even to the verge of the town, the Greta, you
see, retains its distinctive character ; so, a small
portion of it at least, wild perhaps enough
for most tastes, may be seen without fatigue,
risk, or trouble, and it was the portion, I appre-
hend, that was enjoyed by Southey, who un-
fortunately was not an angler. To-morrow we
will, if you like, take our ease on the lake, and
perhaps try the gentle Derwent.

Amicus. On. our way to the lake, pray tell
me what fish it contains, and what sport we are
likely to have. '

PiscATOE. The first question is more easily
answered than the second. The blue haze of
the atmosphere giving so fine an effect to the
Alpine group of mountains seen over that
green surface of meadow, with the little or
no wind, augurs ill for angling sport of any

S 3

262 FISH OF DERWENTWATER,

kind. As to your second inquiry, the fish of
Derwent water, — they are of several kinds, —
trout, pike, perch, eel, vendace, minnow, thorn-
back. Is not this an ample list ? I was about
to add, salmon and sea-trout; but I remembered
that these are now become so rare as not to de-
serve being mentioned, the capture of one or the
other having become the merest accident. The
same remark applies to the capture of the
vendace ; not because it is so rare, but because
it is contrary to the habits of this fish to take
the fly, or any of the baits commonly used here
in angling. I have heard of one instance only
of its having been taken with the artificial
fly, and that by an old fisherman of long ex-
perience, and likewise of one only of its having
been captured with the worm. The fish on
which the angler must chiefly depend for sport,
is the trout, and next to the trout, the pike
and perch. The trout is pretty abundant,
especially since more care has been taken of
the fishing, through the meritorious exertions of
an angling association, and since the use of the
base lath or otter has been prohibited.

Amicus. I am surprised to hear you say
that the vendace is found here, and moreover,
that it is not rare. I had always supposed

THE VENDACE. 263

that it is confined to Lochmaben, in Dum-
friesshire, and the adjoining lakes.

PiscATOR. That is still the general belief,
indeed, it is only recently that it has been
ascertained, in a satisfactory manner, to have
a larger range of localities. In this lake,
within the last eight years, a good many have
been taken by the net, and many also in the
same way in Bassenthwaite Lake, that which
receives the Derwent, and is distant from this
only about three or four miles. That it is not
a scarce fish here, may, I think, be inferred
from the circumstance of two lately having
been killed by a stroke of an oar ; and that
the fish is a true vendace I am satisfied, having
compared a specimen from Lochmaben with
one from Derwent water, and also with one
from Bassenthwaite Lake, and found them si-
milar. The two first mentioned I can show you
at home ; I owe them to the kindness of
friends ; the last, you may see in the Museum
of Keswick, which is worthy of a visit on other
accounts.

Amicus. You have not mentioned the charr
amongst the fish of Derwentwater. Is it un-
known here ?

s 4

264 WATER SUITABLE TO THE CHARE.

PiscATOE. It is ; and its absence is, I think,
a proof of the great delicacy of this fish ; for
more than one attempt has been made to in-
troduce it, but without success. The failure
is commonly attributed to deficiency of depth
of water, where deepest being only about
fourteen fathoms. But, as I know there are
charr in lakes in Connemara, even of less
depth, this explanation is hardly satisfactory.
I am more disposed to consider the quality
of the water as the cause. My conjecture is
that it is not sufficiently pure. It may have
some taint from the adjoining mines and me-
talliferous rocks; or it may be too much impreg-
nated with vegetable matter, either in solution
or suspension. One of the marvels of the lake,
its floating island, which occasionally appears
and disappears, composed chiefly of vegetable
matter, seems to favour this supposition; and
the colour of the water, I think you will agree
with me, is also in favour of it : pray observe
it in the Derwent as it flows out of the lake.
The proximity of the town, with a population
amounting to 2400, and its drainage, must
tend to render the water somewhat impure.

Amicus. Speaking of marvels, is not another

FANCIED ''BOTTOM WIXD." 265

marvel of this lake its "bottom wind?" denoted,
it is said, by a ruffled surface, — a surface
raised in waves, when the atmosphere is still,
and supposed to be owing to the evolution of
air from beneath. May not such a disturbance,
and the air, whatever it is, that is disengaged,
have an injurious influence ? ,

PiscATOR. It is not well to try to explain
what is obscure by that which is more obscure.
As to the reputed "bottom wind," I cannot
credit it: were air disengaged, it ought to
be seen rising in bubbles, not producing waves.
If the fact of there being waves on the lake,
in a calm state of atmosphere, be well authen-
ticated, rest assured we must seek some other
agent for its production than this imaginary
" bottom wind." Here we are at the lake ; and
the boat is ready to take us on it, and happily
close our discussion about these obscurities.
Step in ; we need not take our rods out of their
bags, for the glassy surface of the water — not a
ripple anywhere to be seen — gives assurance
that no angling skill at present can avail.
Boatman, take us, if you please, in the direction
best adapted for seeing the lake to advantage.

Amicus. Here one can well do without ang-

266 MOUNTAINS SEEN FROM THE LAKE.

ling, at least on a first visit. Truly this is de-
lightful! What beauty is imparted by these
wooded islets ! How fine the effect of the
mountains — which you well called an Alpine
assemblaofe — seen in their various distances !
Looking upwards, pray tell me the name of
that finely formed hill at the head of the lake,
standing out like a giant fortress.

PiscATOR. That is Castle Crag, at the en-
trance of Borrowdale, skirted by Catbell Hill,
with its precipitous flanks on the right, and by
Castle Hill, one even more bold, on the left ;
and bounding the view in that direction is the
loftiest of our mountains, Scawfell.

Amicus. And what are the names of these
pretty islands ?

PiscATOR. That we have just passed, so taste-
fully wooded, and with a dwelling on it as
tasteful, is Derwent Isle, formerly called Vicar's
Isle, having been a dependence of Fountain's
Abbey. That we are nearing is St. Herbert's
Isle, so called from a recluse of that name, who
had a hermitage on it and there lived and died,
and if tradition be true, died, according to a
long-entertained wish, at the same instant as his
beloved friend St, Cuthbert. Fix that verdant

LAKE ISLETS, 267

isle in your memory ; we will read, when we re-
turn home, the Poet's lines addressed to this very
spot. I think they are amongst those called " In-
scriptions." That smaller islet — a tangled brake
as it were on the water, shaded with a few Scotch
firs, is Eamsholme ; and the larger one, close to
the shore, just come in sight on our turning the
promontory, is the Lord's Isle, which in the
olden time was the site of an earl's residence,
of that unfortunate family now extinct, which
derived its title from Derwentwater, — and now,
alas ! alas ! those tall trees and the rookery they
support are, I believe, the only remnants of its
former pride of place. Those I have named
are the four more conspicuous islets; besides
there are many smaller, or rather rocks which
are nameless. Now, boatman, let us to the
river, that we may try it, as fishing on the lake
in its present calm state is hopeless.

Amicus. Now we are nearing the river, how
shallow the water is becoming ; we are passing
over a shoal of gravel, well fitted, I should
suppose, for the spawning bed of the charr.

PiscATOK. Eight ; but that shoal, I am in-
formed, is of recent formation, and occasioned
by the Greta when in flood breaking over its
banks and pouring itself into the lake direct.

268 JUNCTION OF DERIVE NT AND GRETA.

Amicus. How pleasant is this little inlet of
the lake, with its shaded banks hardly hiding
the green meadows ! Surely here is its outlet,
and this must be the river, though hardly dis-
tinguishable, its current is so dull, from the still
lake.

PiscATOK. It is the Derwent ; and a few yards
further, just where you see the first little rapid,
owing to a slight fall, is the entrance and junc-
tion of the Grreta. Boatman, we will now land.
We will prepare our rods, and try what our
skill can accomplish, as you assure us there are
trout and good ones to be taken, fortune and
weather favouring. Now we are ready; you
Amicus, proceed, and I will slowly follow. As
there is no wind, I need hardly say you must
confine your fishing to the streams.

Amicus. I meet you with my pannier empty,
having taken only one smolt. I fished too
within a mile of the adjoining lake, trying
every rapid offering a chance. Surely we have
been misinformed.

PiscATOK. 1 think not. The state of the at-
mosphere is unfavourable, and also the lowness

THE RIVER DERWENT, 269

of the water. I saw no fly on the water ; and
a solitary swallow that I saw, the first of the
season, was flying high. My success has been
little better than yours; I have not risen a
single trout and have taken only four smelts.
What think you of the river ?

Amicus. Were there sport, I should approve
it, for it is a pleasant and easy river to fish, un-
encumbered with wood, wide enough for a good
cast ; wading unnecessary ; a fair succession of
pools and gentle rapids, admirably adapted,
I should think, for the grayling ; moreover, all
that meets the eye is of an agreeable and cheer-
ful kind, flowery meadows, a wide expanse of
sky, and noble hills near and distant.

PiscATOR. The meadows are indeed now
flowery; how abundant the anemone on this
side the river and the primrose on the other
side ! and here, at least, we have not, as in the
instance of the Grreta, to make a laborious way,
there being both a river foot-path and steps
where there are fences. Pray observe the
graceful lines of the lower hills, giving a finish
as it were to the landscape, owing undoubtedly
to a glacier-wearing and polishing action. We
have a good part of the afternoon before us,

270 GRETA HALL,

and, as there is so little temptation to persist in
our angling, we had, I think, better change the
scene to the town, which is not without its
objects of interest. As we return we can visit
the spot in which are the mortal remains of
Southey, and where, in memory of him, his form
is preserved in monumental marble. See, yon-
der is Crosthwaite Church and churchyard, the
receptacle of both ; and further on, nearer the
Grreta, standing on that eminence above the
stream — the delight of the poet — is Greta
Hall, where he spent so many years and so
happily, as he assures us, of his useful and
laborious intellectual life, exemplifying a fa-
vourite saying of his, in lahore quies.

Amicus. Eespecting as I do the man, and
both for his genius and his worth, I shall have
pleasure in accompanying you. Would that I
could say with you that I had known the poet
and seen him, where he was seen to most ad-
vantage, in his own house and amongst his
beloved and inspiring books.

PiscATOR. That indeed was a privilege, like
admission to Eydal Mount, in the lifetime of
his great confrere. Each dwelling was cha-
racteristic ; the one, Eydal Mount, a paradise

NOTABILIA OF KESWICK, 271

surrounded by all the charms of nature, not un-
aided by art; the other, Greta Hall, an ar-
moury of the mind — a library throughout, even
the passages, and so orderly and carefully
arranged, that even to the most careless ob-
server what was seen must have appeared a
labour of love.

Amicus. WTiat else is worthy of attention in
Keswick ? Judging from Southey's writings and
the memoir of his life, I should infer nothing.

PiscATOR. Though he has been dead only a very
few years, the inference, if applicable before, is
hardly so now. Philanthropy and intelligence
have of late been active here in spite of
apathy and ignorance. You saw last night
how the town was lighted with gas. We had
to step over to-day, in the principal street,
the cuttings for laying the pipes for bringing in
a supply of water. I before spoke of a museum
as being worthy of being seen ; and the more
creditable it is, as formed by an individual.*
Of more importance are the institutions con-
nected with education, as the library, the schools
and the Mechanics' Institute, which, on a former

* The late Mr. Crosthwaite, to whose family it still
belongs.

272 PENCIL MANUFACTURERS.

occasion, I mentioned were mainly owing, as
well as the erection of the new church, St.
John's, to the liberality of one family.* Few
towns indeed of its size are better provided with
educational means, at least for the workincr
classes, or have been more fortunate in having
persons to direct and carry them into effect.
As we approached the town last evening, by
the Grreta, the air, you remember, was scented
with sandal wood, and I accounted for it by the
manufactory we passed, one of pencils. This is
a branch of art peculiar to Keswick, owing its
origin to the mine of plumbago, or pencil lead,
which for a long period had been opened in an
adjoining dale — Borrowdale ; an art so exten-
sively carried on at present, as to supply not only
the United Kingdom, but also a good portion of
the world with this useful article. If time per-
mitted, — I fear it will not, — we should go into

* That of the Marshalls. To members of that family
the town is indebted for St John's church and its
endowment, the vicarage house, the schoolroom, and
library adjoining. The first vicar of St. John's, the
late Rev. Frederick Myers, connected with that family
by marriage, will long be gratefully remembered in
Keswick, for his energy and ability as a minister, his
benevolence and amiability as a man.

THE BENEFACTORS OF KESWICK. 273

the workshops and see the processes employed,
and the number of hands and the division of
labour engaged in the making of a thing so
simple as a pencil. Ah! here we are at the
churchyard.

Amicus. As you deprecated criticism on the
memorial to Wordsworth in Grrasmere Chiirch,
so I think it is best to refrain from it in the
instance of Southey's. The only wish I will
venture to express is, that it were better seen.

PiscATOK. The occupation of our churches by
pews, with a view to comfort, has a woeful
effect artistically considered. This church, now
of so spacious a size, has been enlarged since
the poet's time, and at the cost of another indi-
vidual— a benefactor of Keswick, to whom I
believe the town is indebted for that large
schoolroom hard by ; and not for that alone.

Amicus. Happy examples these of the volun-
tary system ! Would that Government would
exert itself a little more, not in the way of cen-
tralisation, to which it shows a bad tendency,
but in acts of local beneficence, and in memory
of the distinguished dead. What a gracious

T

274 A VAIN WISH, AND PERHAPS HOPE!

deed it would have been, and how useful, had
Southey's library been purchased by the Go-
vernment and presented to the town. A few
thousands would have accomplished it : the
dispersion of his books would have been pre-
vented; the collection, next to his writings,
would have been his best monument, and his
children would have doubly profited by it.

PiscATOR. Perhaps the time may come when
such acts will be witnessed : happy times they
will be ; but, I fear they are far distant. Let
us drop so chimerical a subject. The hour is
near that the coach passes through by which we
are to return, so we must hasten to the inn to
be in readiness. There is another fishing ex-
cursion that I contemplate, and which I am
sure you will like, and which will require our
return here, when I trust we shall have more
leisure and be able to see more of the imme-
diate neighbourhood and of the things worthy
of being seen both in the town and country.

COLLOQUY XL
Merry May, — Derwentwater, — Borrow dale.

PiSCATOE.

AM glad I have been able to
persuade you to protract your stay
here. Now we are entering the
merry month of May, we may hope

for milder days than those we have had since
our return from Keswick. And as the snow is
beginning to disappear on Fairfield, I think we
may venture to-morrow to proceed on the
excursion we have been contemplating.

Amicus. I am always happy to be under
your guidance. The weather we have had
lately is characteristic of our climate, and of
the season — a season where, according to the
direction of the wind, winter and spring seem
as it were struggling for the mastery. WTiat a
contrast between the meadows, every day

276 SPRING PROGRESS.

brightening in verdure, and the higher hills
crested with snow; and how marvellous, that
with such bleak winds as have lately pre-
vailed, and a temperature, at night, at or near
the freezing point, and occasionally below it, the
buds should be bursting, the flowers expanding,
and vegetation generally making such progress !
PiscATOK. Eemember that the sun is now
exerting a powerful influence, warming the earth
and the waters, and thus favourable to the
ascent of the sap, and the active processes of
change on which vegetable growth depends.
Eemember, moreover, that the determined time
is arrived, when, in the course of nature, a large
number of our plants awake as it were from
their winter sleep, and spring into active life :
each species observing its period with wonderful
regularity, denoting a vis insita in the individuals
almost as strongly marked as in the instance of
animals. It would be no great stretch of fancy
to associate the budding or flowering of the
one with the hatching and birth of the other.
We might couple the appearance of the snow-
drop and sweet-scented violet with the exclusion
from their ova of the young of our favourite
fish, the Salmonidse ; flowers next in succession

VITAL FORCE. 277

with the appearance of the tadpole of the frog^
and triton, and the birth of the lamb : we might
compare the progress of the expanding bud or
bulb with 'that of the ova, — those of birds
for example, each kind of which has its deve-
loping period ; thus the time of incubation of
the barn-door fowl is as near as possible three
weeks; of the common duck, a month; of the
goose, five weeks ; of the swan, six weeks. I
need not specify analog6us examples of the
opening of the leaves of several trees, or the
flowering of the bulbs of several plants.

Amicus. It is a good subject for reflection,
and surely for admiration, seeing how that
which appears to be the regulating influence is
co-ordinate in its various degrees, from just
above the freezing point of water to the highest
average heat of the tropics, with distinct species
of animals and vegetables, securing to the whole
of our globe at its surface animal and vegetable
life, and for most part with a profuse bounty.

PiscATOR. Yes, the external temperature is
so co-ordinate, as you remark, with the plants
and the families of the lower animals, mainly
the oviparous — not so much so with the vivi-
parous, and of these least of all with the highest

T 3

278 MODIFYING TEMPERATURE.

class, man and the other mammalia; and, it
may be said, for the simple reason that these,
as regards the reproductive process, the em-
bryonic and foetal development, are in a great
measure independent of external temperature ;
the parents having within themselves the
power of preserving a constancy of temperature
by means of respiration — that degree of tem-
perature most suitable to a healthy and vigo-
rous existence : the Grreenland whale sporting
and breeding in the cold waters of the Arctic
Sea, as well as the Esquimaux wife and mother
breathing the air of an Arctic atmosphere, are
striking examples of such an independency. In
the instance of birds and the hatching of their
eggs, the temperature of which during the
brooding time is preserved pretty equably by
the transmitted warmth of the sitting mother,
the independency in question is displayed in
nearly an equal degree; but not so in the oviparous
animals, such as those of the reptile class, and
the class of fishes whose ova after* exclusion
are forsaken with few exceptions by the parents
and left to the mercy of the elements; and,
these indeed are merciful, and well supply the
absence of parental care ; showing again the

ORDER ly NATURE, 279

order, harmony and beneficence of nature. But
in this our discussion we are forgetting our
fishing. If, as I propose, we are to set out to-
morrow, we must be stirring early to avail
ourselves of the mail, which now passes nearly
two hours sooner than it did last month, as if
in accordance with the influence we have been
speaking of. I will see that all things shall be
ready we need take with us.

PiscATOR. Here we are again at Keswick ; and
as there is wind and cloud, and we have the
day before us, we will try the lake. The old
fisherman says we may have a chance of killing
a trout or two, and that to a zealous angler is
sufficient encouragement.

Amicus. Fine as the mountain groups ap-
peared when we were last here, now after a
fresh fall of snow covering their summits, they
have even more of an Alpine character ; and
how beautiful are the scattered birch in their
young rich foliage, showing a hue of gold
blended with the tender green, as seen on
yonder hill side, where brightened by that
gleam of sunshine !

T 4

280 SPRING WOODLAND BEAUTY,

PiscATOR. And, how beautiful the complexion
of the woods on that other hill side, produced
by the admixture of an infinite variety of tints
of the opening leaves of the many different
kinds of trees that clothe the declivity. But to
our sport. That we may have success, we must
look mainly to our flies; we must content
ourselves with an occasional glance at the face of
nature — a modest glance, as at the face of
a young beauty, and I believe the more pure
will be the enjoyment. What engrosses too
much the sense ends often in satiety.

Amicus. The wind is cold; the clouds dark
and lowering ; I fear we shall have no sport. I
have had only one rise.

PiscATOR. We have not yet come to the best
ground, that off the outlet of the lake, on each
side of the gravelly shoal, where you see the
waves breaking, and between it and the reeds
to the right.

Amicus. Ah, you have a fish, and he fights
bravely. Where is the landing net ?

PiscATOR. Forgotten, the boatmen says, in
our haste. Never mind. My pannier is at
hand ; it will serve the purpose for want of
a better. Immerse it well. There is our fish

THE SWAN'S NEST. 281

summarily secured, and safe in the basket by
one act. It is a beautiful fish, well fed, over a
pound, short and thick, silvery below, of a rich
olive brown above; a good specimen of the
Derwentwater trout, and I am sure it will cut
red and be well flavoured when dressed.

Amicus. What is that amongst the reeds ?

PiscATOR. That fine bird just gliding out,
like the guardian of the place, that male
swan, may enable you to conjecture. The
great heap you see of broken reeds rising
securely above the water, is a swan's nest ; and
the female, now we have a better view of it,
you may distinguish sitting on it. The pair
belong to a friend of mine, whose house is
yonder, a lover of all things graceful, and
who, with the hope of adding a new feature of
beauty to this charming lake, has introduced
these birds and others, but with less success
than he deserves, as hitherto he has failed
in naturalising them by breeding: no young
ones have yet been reared. The nest, I am
assured, is constructed entirely by the male,
who with his powerful bill breaks off portions
of the reeds as they grow in the water, selecting
those suitable for the purpose ; and, what in

282 EXAMPLE OF INSTINCT,

relation to instinct is more remarkable, I have
heard, that a nest, when altogether finished,
had suddenly an addition made to it, followed by
a flood, by which addition it was saved from
being inundated by the consequent rise of the
water. Was not this like intuition ?

Amicus. A curious instance this of high
instinct, if it may not be referred to instinct
and experience combined. By experience,
I mean the recollection of injury from a former
flooding of the nest.

PiscATOR. Whichever way considered, the
incident is hardly less remarkable. I am dis-
posed to refer the effort, as well as the prescience
of its necessity, to pure instinct. Instinct, let
us keep in mind, has in its operations hardly
a limit ; as the sexual feeling impels the building
of the nest and the sitting on the eggs, so
some feeling produced by a state of atmosphere
preceding a heavy fall of rain, and consequent
flood, may impel to the heightening of the
nest. Is it more remarkable than the building
of the ark by Noah ?

The fish have altogether ceased to rise ; and
the best time of the day is past for fishing at
this season, — one o'clock ; — and of bad augury,

DALTOS'S FRIEND. 283

as you remarked, the few swallows which
were skimming in their rapid flight the lake,
have taken their departure, — so, if agreeable to
you, we will follow their example, and land.
We have still time to explore Borrowdale,
and whilst the ponies we shall ride are getting
ready, for which we shall be indebted to a kind
friend of mine, the same whose taste I spoke
of, we will step into the town and pay our
respects to a venerable old man, who in a
humble way has laboured well in the cause of
science.

Amicus. I thank you for having given me an
opportunity of shaking hands with your vener-
able friend, Jonathan Otley, the companion of
Dalton in his mountain excursions, and the
author of the first, and you say the best, the
most exact guide-book of the district. He was
evidently pleased, and naturally, when we
spoke of his connexion with Dalton. "We
suited each other very well," was his remark.
His accuracy, for which you say he is dis-
tinguished in all things, was shown by his
correcting you, when you observed that he, and
the more celebrated philosopher, were of the

284 JONATHAN OTLEY.

same age. "Nay, Mr. Dalton was three
months my senior, having been born in Sep-
tember, 1776, and I in the January following.''
From his appearance, I should not have sup-
posed he was so old. Age has dealt kindly
with him ; and yet I fear he feels the pressure
of age, and finds the consolations of old age
but very inadequate.

PiscATOR. And so these consolations, even
of the best kind, necessarily must be, — old
age with failing faculties being the preparation
for death, in due course should be the weaning
from life. And contented ought we to be,
if we have the same consolations as this vene-
rable man can reckon upon, a well-sjDent life,
an intellect improved by self-education, and
the possession of bodily comforts, earned by
industry in an honest calling, and preserved
by frugality. He started as a basket-maker,
and became the assistant and companion of
men of science. In the excellent life of Dr.
Dalton, by Dr. Henry, one of the publications
of the Cavendish Society, you will see his
account of his mountain excursions with Dalton,
and a notice of the gas rising from the floating
island of which we were speaking, as an oc-

VALE OF NEWLAXDS. 285

casional occurrence in Derwentwater.* Here
are our ponies ; let us mount and be off.

Amicus. As you have kindly done before,
pray, as we proceed, point out to me any object
specially worthy of notice, remembering that
I am a stranger here, and that all we see
I shall see for the first time.

PiscATOK. I shall keep in mind your
wishes; and, in return, tell me your impres-
sions.

Amicus. That I will do; and to begin, I
may remark, I little expected so soon to pass
into a country with so gentle and pleasing
an aspect as this which, with the turn of the
road, we are just skirting.

PiscATOK. It is the vale of Newlands, rich
and cultivated, more like a part of Kent than of
Cumberland. We shall presently quit it, and
be again in the midst of the genuine lake-
scenery.

Amicus. How just your late remark ! This
mountain turfy path we have been following

* He died some months after this our visit, viz., in
December, 1856. Such was the respect in which he was
held by his fellow- townsmen, that on the day of his
funeral the shops in Keswick were closed.

286 LODORE.

for the last ten minutes, the lake below us,
a belt of woodland only intervening, the grand
mountain masses meeting the eye in every
direction, is indeed of the genuine lake district
scenery, and a fine example of it !

PiscATOR. The woodland belt skirting the
lake, is a part of Derwent Park. See, close
to the shore, where towards the head of the
lake, those pretty diminutive islets, little more
than rocks, rise above the water, is a steam-
engine and other works, strangely contrasted
with the adjoining dark firs, the ornament of
that little promontory. There, there is a lead-
mine ; and the water from that mine, as it flows
into the lake, may be one of the causes of the
unfitness of the lake for charr, judging from
the destructive effects of water from a similar
mine, on a larger scale, on the charr at Ulswater.
l^ow we are at the head of the lake, where
the floating island is occasionally seen. Yonder
is Lodore, where, were not the streams so low,
I should have invited you to go to see its
water-fall, which, when in full volume after
heavy rains, is worthy of a passing glance.
Those bold rugged hills behind are well called
the Knots, and, assuredly, they are hard

ENTRANCE OF BORROWDALE. 287

knots. Now we are in Borrowdale ; and now
in Grange, formerly the property of the monks
of Furness Abbey; and that capacious barn
is of the olden time, and in accordance with
the name of the hamlet. Observe the extended
bridge, and the vast and wide spread beds of
drift, denoting a rush of water when in flood,
which, without such indications, you could
hardly have imagined, judging from the present
diminutive size of the river, — now bearing-
the name not of the Derwent, but of Borrow-
dale Beck.

Amicus. How neat are these low white-
washed cottages or farm-houses, with the row
of yew-trees standing before them*, denoting,
may I not say, comfort, strength, and anti-
quity.

PiscATOR. The terms, I believe, are not
inappropriate, and they are applicable to all the
hamlets in this wild, grand, and sequestered
dale, as if under a special local influence.
These dalesmen, I may inform you, are most
independent, chiefly statesmen, not only having
landed property of their own, freehold, but
enjoying also manorial rights, each property
a little manor in itself, the possessor at liberty

288 CASTLE CRAG.

to open a mine, or to do whatever his free will
may prompt, though the land belonging to him
should not exceed an acre or two.

Amicus. How grand is that wooded hill,
rising in the gorge of the dale !

PiscATOE. It is a hill of no mean renown ;
you saw it before from the lake ; it is Castle-
crag, and was once a Eoman fortress or beacon
station. According to traditional rumour, the
baronial dwelling on Lord's Isle was in part
built of stones taken from its summit and
from the fortress standing on it ; and we are
told that from the isle they were again re-
moved, and have at last, — if at last, — found
a resting place in the Town-house of Keswick,
and this so late as the beginning of the last
century, — the island house having been standing
and a dwelling in 1715, when, just before the
breaking out of the rebellion of that year, it
was visited by the unfortunate lord, the last
of his chivalrous race. Well does the poet
say, "there are sermons in stones." See, there
is a single stone, and that too of some repute,
as the ladder ascending it shows. It is the
famed "bowder stone,'* sometimes, but very
improperly, called a boulder; but, in fact.

A REMARKABLE SCENE, 289

not one of the mysteriously moved masses of
distant origin^ only a vast fragment of rock,
that has fallen from the cliff above, as its
quality and fractured surface clearly prove.
Let us rest here for a moment, and look around.
I am sure you will admire the grandeur, beauty,
and wildness, so singularly combined in this
assemblage of mountain, rock, and wood, — all
in a state of nature, and wanting only to be
perfect a full stream, which it sometimes has,
rushing in force through its rocky and winding
channel.

Amicus. It is, indeed, a remarkable scene,
and admirable of its kind ! Surely there must
be a special cause to which it is referrible.

PiscATOR. That cause, I believe, is to be
found in the nature of the rock. Here it is
of the eruptive kind, little differing from basalt;
and, in its outbreak, projected from beneath,
it is easy to account for the broken and irre-
gular ground in all its boldness; and in the
elements of which the rock is formed, yielding
by its disintegration and decomposition a fer-
tile soil, for the luxuriancy of the wild vege-
tation clothing the ruggedness and softening
it into beauty.

u

290 SLATE QUARRY.

Amicus. Here is another change in the
character of the rock. Is that the entrance
of a quarry ?

PiscATOR. Yes ; and those men under yonder
shed are employed in cleaving the fragments of
rock into roofing slate. Observe the skill of
that workman ; how by a few taps well directed
to the edges with his thin knife-like hammer,
and then using it as a wedge, he separates the
laminae, and then, by two or three additional
blows, knocking off what is superfluous, he gives
them their proper form. Step into the quarry 5
the passage will admit our horses. Be care-
ful, however, when you reach its end, — the
end of the passage, — the main excavation being
there suddenly precipitous.

Amicus. What a grand dome, and how fine
the effect of the light penetrating from the
central opening above into the darkness !

PiscATOR. Now let us remount and hasten on,
for we have still a good way to go, and a good
deal to see.

Amicus. Another hamlet, and pleasantly si-
tuated, and provided with a public house.

PiscATOR. This is Eosswhaite; and a good
station it is for the tourist who wishes to ex-

ROSSWHAITE, 291

plore thoroughly the dale and the adjoining
mountains, or for the angler who can make
his sport subordinate to the enjoyment of
scenery ; for, as you may infer, the fishing here
is not of a very exciting kind ; yet, formerly we
are told, salmon ran up this stream, and it is
said that after a flood lake-trout may be taken
in it even now. That comparatively large
house, near the public house, was, I am in-
formed, built by a Miss Barker, though never
occupied by her, — a somewhat eccentric lady
to whom Southey addressed so many of the
letters which have found a place both in his
Memoirs and in the Selection (would that they
had been more choice!) recently published,
proving his regard and respect for her worth
and talents. Now we are advancing, let me
call your attention to that lateral valley on our
left, and the hamlet far up, sheltered and shut
in by those mountain heights. It is Stone-
whaite, where, it is said, and I believe truly,
the sun is never seen during the three winter
months. The bold hill immediately above it is
Eagle's Crag.

Amicus. The sombre hue of the houses
accords with its dreary name and position.

u 2

292 SEATOLLER,

Before us is a more cheerful sight. Here, in-
deed, is a little paradise; it raises in my mind
the idea of " the happy valley," such as is de-
scribed in " Easselas."

PiscATOK. That is Seatoller, the property of
a worthy gentleman ; and that low white-washed
cottage so extended in length with its pretty
garden, is his residence. Everything here, you
may perceive, denotes care and taste, and ex-
ercised where care and taste are not. wasted, for
happily, whilst sheltered from the cold winds of
the north, this the very extremity of the dale is
well open to the south, and has a good share of
sunshine : were it not so, these meadows would
not be so green, the very perfection of mountain
pasture, or those young plantations so thriv-
ing and vigorous. Now we are about to leave
the dale for the fell, button up your coat, and
be prepared for a cold air and a keen blast.
We have a steep ascent to surmount, and a lofty
height to reach, but when we are there, you
will not, I think, regret the labour.

Amicus. So this is Honister Crag, and
those pieces of water beyond and far beneath,
are, I infer, Buttermere and Crummock Water.
You somewhat raised my expectations as to

HONISTER CRAG, 293

what we were to see on quitting the dale, but
the grand view now opening out before us
greatly exceeds them. How like a mighty pro-
montory is this Honister Crag, and were the
atmosphere less clear, the lowland to which it
descends by a such a steep escarpment would
not ill represent the sea. Nor, in the opposite
direction, looking towards Helvellyn, is the pros-
pect, though totally different, less peculiar: I
could fancy myself in Norway and on its higher
fells, which surely cannot be wilder or more
rugged, or bearing probably a more wintry
aspect, every summit we see, and a good part
of the general surface, being covered with snow.
Pray what is that path-like line descending
from the crag, so like a slide, such as boys
make for their amusement down a steep rock or
bank?

PiscATOK. It is a sledge track, by which
slates are brought from the quarry above, nearly
2000 feet above the level of the sea, and it may
be over 1000 feet in direct descent to the
mountain road. The poor men who work here
have a hard and perilous labour ; they accom-
pany the sledge in its descent, and when emp-
tied of its load, they have to drag it back —

V 3

294 SEATHWAITE,

reascending, where from the steepness you
would not suppose a man could stand ; and
here they live throughout the week, returning
to their families only to spend the Sunday.

Amicus. A hard life indeed, — proving how
man may become accustomed to any kind of
life : for, I cannot imagine any other more la-
borious or less attractive.

PiscATOR. It is not, I would hope, without
some compensating attractions, — those common
to the hardy mountaineer, — enjoyments to be
felt rather than described, and to which even
danger gives a zest. But we have not time to
moralise ; we must hasten our return, for the
sun is getting low, and I wish to take you into
Seathwaite, the Seathwaite of Borrowdale, a
recess of the dale well worthy of a visit.

Amicus. Our dismounting and leading our
horses down has warmed my chilled blood.
What a pretty torrent, or rather succession
of cascades, is this which we have skirted the
whole way of the steep descent !

PiscATOE. Imagine what it is, as I have seen
it after heavy rain. Then it is more than pretty ;
and where it reaches the dale and dashes under
these widely spreading larches, — nobler trees

« THE FOUR BROTHERSr 295

than we could expect to find here, — it makes a
scene that I have often wished to have trans-
ferred to canvas. Our way, now we are passed
Seatoller, is over that single-arched bridge to
the right ; the road you see passing under that
flourishing plantation will take us to Seathwaite.

Amicus. Here is a new aspect of scenery and
a milder air; I could now imagine myself in
one of the mountain valleys of Glreece. Those
old and large hollies, which are so abundantly
scattered over the hill-side on our right, are not
unlike the evergreen oak, the ilex, or the more
stately oak, the vallania ; and that spacious dry
bed of a torrent, which you say you never before
saw dry, is exactly like a fiumara of the same
region : and that clump of trees before us, which
you call " The Four Brothers," reminds me in
its funereal hue of a mass of C3rpress. The dark
hue of these trees surprises me, exceeding that
even of the cypress. Are they ordinary yews ?

PiscATOR. It was chiefly to show you these
yews that I wished you to come here ; not but
that Seathwaite has other circumstances im-
parting an interest to it. Let us dismount, and
fasten our horses to this old holly tree. Now
unfold your map ; you see that we are here in
u 4

296 EXCESSIVE RAIN-FALL.

the very heart of the Lake District, in the most
central spot amongst the mountains, — these in
a manner radiating from hence, and the lakes
likewise similarly arranged, as if their basins
were rents diverging from this centre. That
fiumara-like bed, the bright sky, the mild dry
air, — mild at least in comparison with that of
the fell we have just left, do not suggest that
this mountain valley has a greater fall of rain,
than with one exception, any spot even in
Europe, where a rain-gauge has been kept.*
Yet such I believe is the fact; as many as 160
inches having been registered here in twelve
months.t A peculiarity this, undoubtedly owing
to the position; and what we witness now,
denoting extreme drought, is doubtless owing
in part to the same cause, — conducive to the
water running off rapidly, in conjunction with

* The exception alluded to is "the Stye" or Sprinkling
Fell, about a mile and half from Seathwaite, in a south-
westerly direction, and 580 feet above it : there it has
been inferred from limited observations that about one
third more rains falls than at Seathwaite. See PhiL
Trans, for 1851.

f In one month, the month of February, 1848, the
enormous quantity of thirty inches of rain was registered
herei

POETRY OF YEWS. 297

the absence of rain for a longer time than is
usual. As to the yews, which I am pleased
to find excite your surprise, let me tell you
they have not been unsung. They have been
the subject of some fine lines by our great poet,
who, contrasting them with a yew, not far dis-
tant—

" The pride of Lorton vale,
Which to this day stands single in the midst
Of its own darkness, as it stood of yore : "

Says of these,

" But worthier still of note
Are those fraternal four of Borrowdale,
Joined in one solemn and capacious grove.'*

The meditative description of them which
follows is happily in accordance with the solem-
nity of their aspect, so distinct in character.

Amicus. Viewed at a little distance, such
indeed is their appearance; but now we are
under their wide-spreading branches, and see
nearer their colour, that which seemed black is
a fine dark green, conveying, with their delicate
foliage and richly coloured and massive trunks
and limbs, rather the idea of beauty and strength,
than of gloom and solemnity, of beauty and

298 A NOBLE TREE,

strength combined, and I might add of comfort,
seeing how the ground beneath is free from
weeds, and knowing as we do, that, shaded so
densely, it is equally protected from night dews
and a scorching sun. I have measured the
largest of the four, a noble tree in its matu-
rity, without any marks of decay or approaching
old age. I had expected it would have mea-
sured more; four feet from the ground, it is
about twenty-five feet in girth. There is a
fifth yew, I see, a little detached, but so little
as almost to belong to the group. Is it men-
tioned by the poet ?

PiscATOR. No ; no more than those qualities of
the trees which you have adverted to; and
which, however true, would not ^^have accorded
with the train of thought which inspired the
verses. Eemember, that as in painting so in
poetry, little effect can be produced without
unity of design ; and that there is hardly a
subject not capable of producing different trains
of thought, Eemarkable as these trees we are
under are, what think you of another, even more
remarkable — an antediluvian ! A few years ago,
there was a tree of vast size, that was so re-

PENCIL-LEAD MINE, 299

ported, situated, as I heard it described, a little
higher in the dale. My informant, who saw it
about forty years ago, said it was then prostrate,
and presented, with its dark cavernous trunk
and the trees that grew out of it, a most sin-
gular appearance, fully realising at least the
idea of great antiquity. Now let us away : time
will not allow of our paying a visit to the mine
from whence the pencil lead has been obtained ;
nor, indeed, is it worth a visit, being no longer
worked ; that rent in the side of the hill, about
half a mile distant, marks its site. Nor have
we time to go to yonder farmhouse, and ques-
tion the rain-gauge which is there kept.* We
must speed back, or night will overtake us ; and
I think I may promise that you will not be dis-
pleased in returning by the way we came ; for,
in so doing, you will see the dale in a different
aspect, with enough of grandeur, and perhaps
more of beauty, especially in its middle part,

* One of the many which were under care of the late
Mr. John Fletcher Miller, F.R.S., an accurate and
zealous observer, to whom we are indebted for much
valuable information respecting the meteorology of the
Lake District.

300 MARKS OF GLACIER ACTION.

with its terrace-like transverse declivities gently
sloping, as we shall see them lighted up by the
setting sun, — graceful forms, owing, I believe,
to glacier action, of which there are other and
clear indications in Borrowdale.

COLLOQUY XIL
Crummock Water,

PiSCATOR.

HOUGrH the wind is from the same
unkindly quarter, the north-east,
and we can hardly calculate on
good fishing, yet having come out
we had better not turn back ; and pretty sure
that this would be your feeling, I have ordered
the ponies : and see, they are brought to take
us to Crummock Water.

Amicus. I am willing and ready ; so let us be
off. It has been a rule with me on excursions
of this kind to disregard weather : and I do not
remember ever to have repented.

PiscATOR. He who waits for weather ought
to have time at command, which you and I
have never had. He who waits must necessarily
lose time, and probably often patience ; moreover,

302 EXPOSURE TO WEATHER.

he must lose that variety of atmospheric phe-
nomena in which there is so much to excite
interest and break the dull uniformity of every-
day life. Only those who have lived in the
East, under a cloudless sky for months together,
can perhaps duly appreciate the feeling. Even
the getting wet occasionally from exposure to
rain, and having now and then to contend with
storms, is not without a certain kind of enjoy-
ment.

Amicus. The putting on dry clothes after
having been drenched with rain, I allow to b^
enjoyment; and comfortable shelter after ex-
posure to wind and cold. I remember once in
ascending Etna, when the wind was more
violent than was agreeable, and the temperature
in the higher regions lower than our Sicilian
guides had been accustomed to, on our arrival
at the Casa Inglese, which is situated just
below the steep ascent of the crater, a lad of
the party was so overcome by his sufferings
from cold, that he got off his mule cr3dng — a
note that was presently converted into laughter,
when under cover, aided by the exhilarating
effect of a glass of aqua ardente. Even walking
in rain I can allow to be pleasant, when it is

PRECAUTIONS, 303

mild and gentle, bringing out the delicious
sweetness of this month of flowers, and accom-
panied as it sometimes is in favoured spots by
the music of our groves. But, surely you are not
an advocate for encountering weather, whether
pelting rain or driving storm, likely to be in-
jurious to health.

PiscATOR. In askings you seem to be for-
getting your own rule. In reply, I would
remark, an angler should be hardy. One of the
uses of angling, as I think I said in praising
the exercise, is, that it checks effeminacy.
At the same time I would not have health
neglected or seriously endangered; and with
proper precautions, we need entertain no fear
on this score.

Amicus. What are the proper precautions
you allude to. I should be glad to be informed
of them.

PiscATOR. They are but few ; such as continu-
ing exercise on getting wet, and putting on
dry clothes, and especially flannel next the
skin, immediately on cessation from exercise.
A warm bath is a luxury mostly out of reach on
such occasions, but a foot-bath is commonly
available, and it is not to be despised : if one is
cold, the warmth of the water is presently

304 EFFECTS OF WIND AND SUN.

conveyed to the whole inner frame by the
blood circulating through the extremities. A
cup of warm tea, or a basin of warm broth, has
the like warming effect, coming in the stomach
almost in contact with the great arterial and
venous trunks. Hot tea is better even, as less
exciting than the aqua ardente you spoke of, or
any other spirituous dram, the effect of which
is only temporary, and is liable to be followed
by depression. Even if perspiring from exer-
cise, unavoidable in warm weather, the same
precaution of change of clothing is hardly less
necessary, or is less conducive to comfort than
it is to health.

Amicus. Now we have got on this subject,
tell me, if you can, the best way of resisting
what I have often found unpleasant — the getting
my face scorched, and lips cracked and ulcerated
from exposure on these excursions, — exposure to
sun and wind ; and the effect, if I am not mis-
taken, is as much from the latter as the former.

PiscATOR. You are probably right in ex-
pressing the opinion that the wind is concerned
as well as the sun: it may act by its drying
influence as much as the sun does by its
stimulating inflaming influence. The latter

SAFEGUARDS, 305

may be prevented by painting the face black
with Indian ink; imitating what nature has
done in the instance of the Negro. But that,
you will say, is impracticable. The next best
safeguard is a wide-brimmed hat ; the hat
white, the under surface of the brim black or
green. I need not explain to you the rationale
of this. And as some protection from the
parching influence of the wind, I would recom-
mend the rubbing the face and lips before start-
ing, with a little sweet oil, or cold cream, or lip-
salve, containing oily or fatty matter, whether
bear's grease, or what commonly represents it,
hog's lard. The ancients understood the use of
oil as an external application better than we
moderns ; as also the benefit of girding up the
loins, when about to be exposed to the weather
in taking exercise. Let me advise you, in this
latter particular, to follow their example ; it
may save you from lumbago — not an enviable
malady. A bandage of a few yards, three or
four inches wide, of knit worsted — it being
elastic — answers the purpose well. I adopted
it first in the East, after seeing how our couriers,
who in Turkey have to make their long journeys
of despatch on horseback, gird themselves well

306 ARMY CLOATHING,

up before getting into the wide saddle. I
would also advise, for exercise, cloathing as light
as possible ; that is, no more than is sufficient to
afford protection whether from sun or wind, and
altogether of woollen, and without lining. It is
of importance not to be unduly heated ; light
cloathing is advisable on that account ; and
if of woollen, it is a tolerable security against
being chilled : the lighter it is, the sooner it
dries, if exposed to rain. Eeason, it is to be
regretted, and science, have hitherto been little
consulted in regard to dress ; and least of all
where it is most important, as in the instance
of our troops, serving in all climates. Think
of a board of army-cloathing without a medical
officer on it ! But this is of a piece with the
ill-regulated diet of our soldiers ; as if diet and
cloathing had no connexion with health.

Amicus. Your mention of oil, reminds me of
the Psalmist, who evidently refers to such a
use of it as that you recommend, when he speaks
of its making the face of man to shine, asso-
ciating it (marking its importance) with wine
and bread, as the gift of the Almighty. Now
to another point : I remember your saying that
angling — wading in angling — is one of the best

WADING, AND TREATMENT OF CORNS, 307

remedies for corns, which I have heard called
the opprobrium ckirurffice, and which in their
annoyance are certainly one of the petty "mise-
ries" of life. Now, though I have waded
bravely, as you know, in angling, I have not
been rewarded as to my corn, only so much so,
that it is less troublesome — abated but not
cured.

PiscATOR. If I spoke of wading as a cure, I
expressed myself too strongly : I know no cure
for corns ; but this I am sure of, that they may
be next to cured by wading, or, what is equi-
valent, bathing the feet night and morning in
tepid water ; so softening the hardened cuticle
of which they consist, and then removing it by
assiduous paring (I use a file), and the avoid-
ance of pressure by wearing well-made shoes
and stockings.

Amicus. Thanks. Now, pray tell me some-
thing of the way we shall go, and the distance.

PiscATOR. To Scalehill, the comfortable inn
close to Crummock Water, where we shall have
to leave our horses : the distance is about ten
miles. The country through which we are to
pass, being on the outskirts of the Lake District,
has a very mixed character, in part wild and

X 2

308 BRAITHWAITE,

desolate, in part, and for most part, cultivated,
not unlike that bordering on Ennerdale in one
direction, and on Hawes Water in the opposite,
and like each of those rather arable than pastoral,
growing largely oats and barley, but little
wheat. This pretty suburb of Keswick, which
we are now passing through, is Portinscale.

Amicus. What is the name of this deep
hollow, shut in seemingly on all sides, which
we are now entering ?

PiscATOR. It is Braithwaite ; a spot of bad
character for unwholesomeness, attributed, I
do not know how justly, to its confined air and
bad drainage. Groitre is said to be common
here ; and yet the water is reputed good.

Amicus. What is this moorland which we are
now ascending. Here certainly there is no
deficiency of ventilation.

PiscATOR. This is Windlatter. The guide
with whom I first crossed it, maintained that
its proper name is Windclatter ; it is so exposed
to the winds. And this reminds me of the
conversation we then had about storms, and the
incidents he related of their effects. Probably
you have never heard of what is called by the
shepherds " storm-stricken ; " individuals dying

« STORM'STRICKENr 309

under exposure to a violent wind, accompanied
by rain, such as I hope you will never be
exposed to, even on my hardening system. I
will relate to you one instance, a well authen-
ticated one, which occurred only a few years
ago in the persons of two men and a boy be-
longing to Kentmere, who went thence to fish
in some of the mountain tarns. The time was
towards the fall, early in November. Not re-
turning, their friends became alarmed, and a
search was made for them, the people of the
country all round joining in it, according to
custom. When hope of finding them was
nearly given up, they were discovered all three
together under the shelter of a rock ; the bodies
of the men resting in a sitting posture, that of
the boy on the knee of one of the men, with a
bit of bread in his hand — all three wet and cold,
and stark dead, without any appearance of bodily
hurt. They were considered storm-stricken ;
overtaken, as it was known they had been,
by a violent gale accompanied by heavy rain.

Amicus. I can readily believe in the loss
of life under such circumstances, even though
the temperature of the air might have been
many degrees above the freezing point. A

X 3

310 VALE OF LORTON:

strong wind, acting on a wet surface, has a
wonderful effect in reducing temperature ; and
the body has little power to resist it when
weakened by fatigue and long fasting, as was
probably the case in this instance. The me-
morable winter of 1854 in the Crimea, afforded
too many and disastrous proofs of the fatal
agency of these causes combined. Now we
have reached the highest part of the road, and
are leaving behind us the dreary moorland,
how pleasant, wide, and extended is the pros-
pect that is opening out before us.

PiscATOR. That is the vale of Lorton on
our right, and I fancy I see the spot where the
gigantic yew, " its pride," is situated. Where
the smoke ascends is Cockermouth; and beyond,
towards the horizon, is the Solway and the
Scottish coast.

Amicus. You have well called this a border
and transition land : on our left only hills are
to be seen, and we appear to be making the
circuit of their belt.

PiscATOR. True ; our way has described
nearly half a circle, an unavoidable detour to
escape these mountains.

Amicus. Is this Scalehill? If so, we are
sooner arrived than I expected.

SCALE HILL, 311

PiscATOR. This is Scalehill, and is it
not charmingly situated? There is the river
below, flowing out of the lake here hid from
us ; and the many singing birds we hear making
music is a sure sign that there is no want
of wood and cover. A friend, who resides in
the neighbourhood, has placed his boat at our
disposal; we shall find it, I have no doubt,
ready in the boat-house close to the water.

Amicus. Now we are a little off the shore,
this lake reminds me of that of Ennerdale.
Wliat is its size ?

PiscATOR. Both in form and size it does
not differ much from the one you have named,
being about three miles in length, three-quarters
of a mile in width where broadest, and about
a quarter of a mile where narrowest. Its
depth is such that it rarely freezes; in its
deepest parts, it has been found to be twenty-
two fathoms: the last winter but one, the
greatest portion of it was covered with ice,
which I have been assured had not occurred
for forty years before.

Amicus. As there are gleams of sunshine

X 4

312 C RUM MOCK WATER,

and occasionally a good ripple, I do not despair
of some success. What flies should I use ?

PiscATOR. At this season, the March Brown
answers well here, and flies of that kind, the
prevailing colour of which is brown. Ah ! there
was a rise, and the fish is hooked. Boatman,
be ready with the landing-net. It plays feebly.
See, now we have him, he is not worth keeping ;
for though exceeding half a pound, he is ill-
fed, flabby, and unfit for the table. I shall
return him to his element, to get into better
condition. This lake, like Wastwater, is not
an early one, and probably owing to the
same cause, the coldness of its water. You
have a fish, but it is a small one, yet of a
length — about nine inches — that according
to the rules established here, may be killed;
a licence, you will say and truly, showing that
the trout of this lake are not first-rate in size.

Amicus. I hope they make compensation
in quality. The fish I have just taken is in
good condition, though not equal in brightness
or thickness to the trout you captured in Der-
wentwater.

PiscATOE. When in best condition, they are
hardly equal to the Derwentwater trout, — the

FISH OF THE LAKE, 513

feed here, I apprehend, being less abundant,
and inferior. The Crummock tront rarely
much exceeds half a pound, and seldom, or
ever, cuts red when dressed y when best, its
flesh, if I may so call the muscle of a fish,
is cream-coloured.

Amicus. WTiat other fish are found in this
lake? From its depth and the clearness of
its water, I infer there are charr.

PiscATOR. You are right; and besides
charr there are pike — confined to one part
where the water is shallow and reedy ; and also
perch and eels, and occasionally sea-trout. The
charr, excepting when young and small, is
rarely if ever taken with the fly, and not often
with the minnow.

Amicus. Have the young charr the markings
of the parr and young trout ?

PiscATOR. I cannot speak from my own
experience ; an acquaintance of mine who often
fishes here, and has frequently taken them,
has assured me that they are destitute of those
markings: but as those he took might have
lost the bars which characterise the early stage
of growth, I must consider the point unde-
termined. He called those he spoke of charr-

314 SURROUNDING MOUNTAINS.

smelts, and described them as about six inches
long.

Amicus. The likeness of this lake to that of
Ennerdale increases as we advance. What
a grand mass of mountain is that on our
left ; and how fine are those mountains in the
distance, towering one over the other.

PiscATOK. The first you pointed to, the
nearest, that on the left, on the brow of which
snow is still resting, is Grrasmore; the more
distant are Eed Pike, High Stile, Grreat Grable,
the Haycocks, Grreen Grable, and Honister
Crag.

Amicus. Pray what is the name of that
dale, scooped as it were from the great moun-
tain mass of Grrasmore ; and so finely modelled
as if a work of exquisite art, if I may so speak,
a perfect mountain corry, as the Highlanders
would call it ?

PiscATOR. It is Eanadale; and, to anticipate
your questioning, those headlands which we
are nearing, and where the lake appears to ter-
minate, are Linn Crag and Hawes Point.

Amicus. The upper portion of the lake,
just opening, pleases me much. How pretty
are these wooded islets on our right ; and how

USE OF A WOODEN LEG, 315

humanising, I may say, is that neat cottage
mansion on our left, with sheltering plan-
tations of young and flourishing trees just
bursting into leaf.

PiscATOR. Those are Scale and Holm islets.
That neat dwelling belongs to a worthy old
gentleman, the proprietor of half the lake and
of a good deal of the land that we see. I have
heard an anecdote of him which may amuse
you. Owing to some accident, he lost a leg,
the place of which is supplied by a wooden
one. At some merry meeting or carouse, where
the excitement exceeded the bounds of good
manners, and his ire was roused (it was before
he felt the infirmities of age), it is reported, and
well vouched for, that, having no cane or stick
or other implement at hand, in his impatience
to restore order by threatening the unruly with
chastisement, he unbuckled and brandished
his wooden leg, and with the best effect, both
in the way of awe and merriment, if the two
can be united.

Amicus. The first instance I ever heard of
a leg being converted into an arm, and so well
employed to preserve order.

PiscATOK. One story brings up another.

316 A TEMPTATIOX,

Eelating this reminds me of an anecdote I heard
at the same time, the subject of which was
a young clergyman, a native of the country,
who then had recently taken orders. He was
remarkable for his bodily strength and agility,
and had been distinguished as a wrestler. His
love of the sport tempted him to witness a
wrestling match. It was a grand occasion of its
kind; two rival parties, whether counties or
parishes, I forget which, being opposed. When
the struggle for mastery was well advanced, the
odds were so decidedly against the side to which
he belonged, that fears began to spread of defeat :
then he was appealed to, earnestly entreated
to doff his black coat on the emergency, and
come to the rescue. " Nay ! nay ! (he said) he
could not do that." The contest continued, the
best man of his party was thrown. He could
stand it no longer, — so the story goes, — he
off with his black coat, entered the ring, and
threw his man ; and, as you may suppose, was
hailed with acclamation as victor by his people.

Amicus. I hope this was the greatest clerical
irregularity he ever committed.

PiscATOK. Here, where we are, near Scale
Island ; the fishing ground is good, and as a

SCALE FORCE. 317

good breeze has sprung up, let us try our best
skill.

Amicus. Our skill has not been exerted with
much effect. We have taken altogether only-
eight fish, the largest, little exceeding half a
pound. Is it worth while to persist now the
wind is failing?

PiscATOK. I think not. We have had no
better sport than we expected on starting : but
we have seen the fish of this lake, and that is
something ; and, what is better, we have seen the
lake itself and enjoyed its scenery. We will
finish, if you please, by landing and going to
Scale Force, — a waterfall which is near ; it is
only about half a mile from the shore. It is one
of the celebrities of the place, and you may as
well see it, though, owing to the dryness of the
season, you will see it to disadvantage.

COLLOQUY XIIL
Windermei^e,

Amicus.
EEJOICE that the unkindly, cold
and parching east and north-east
winds have given place to the mild
and genial south and south-west,
and the drought to a moist air and refreshing
showers. What a change has taken place in
the face of the country within the last two or
three days ! the outburst of foliage, the flower-
ing of shrubs, the growth of grass in the pas-
tures, altogether, is more like what is witnessed
in regions approaching the arctic in their cli-
mate than what is usual in our average tempe-
rate one. See, the oak is coming into leaf and
flower, and the other late trees, even the ash, the
latest of all, is bursting its black buds and open-

A SPEING OUTBURST. 319

ing its delicate blossom. As I went to and
came from Eydal Mount this morning — that
delightful walk by the high road skirting Eydal
Park — it was interesting to observe the advance
of vegetation, and especially in the forest trees,
and the variations as to forwardness, not only
of different kinds, but also of individuals of the
same kind. All the sycamores were nearly in
full leaf, and in the bright light green of their
leaves resembling as nearly as possible the
Oriental plane; so were the beeches, and so
were the limes; some of the oaks were just
showing their tender delicate leaves, whilst
others had them tolerably unfolded. What I
witnessed recalled the remarks you made on the
vis insita, and of the influence of temperature,
in our conversation at Keswick.

PiscATOE. Is it not this exhibition of the active
powers of Nature which imparts such a charm
to spring — the cheerful and endearing season — -
as much so as the aspect of those failing powers
tinges with melancholy, even amidst its more
brilliant hues, the autumnal season? I hope
in your morning walk your attention was not
exclusively directed to what you have so well
described. I hope you looked upwards, and to

320 CHARMING SCENERY.

Fairfield, from which the snow has now entirely
disappeared.

Amicus. That I did, and with admiration, —
high clouds breasting it like balloons, and itself
of that beautiful deep blue, blending and yet
contrasted with the green below in admirable
harmony. The colouring, as seen from your
garden, which I passed through on my return,
seemed to me perfect : in the foreground, the
rich bloom of the fruit trees, the apple, the
cherry, the pear ; Kydal Park and Forest with its
varied grounds forming the middle distance,
and Fairfield and Scandale Pike the remote.
In viewing this charming whole, I had very
much the feeling of Virgil's shepherd of non
invideo, miror magis!

PiscATOE. A just compliment. As to fruit
trees, I wish they were more cultivated in this
district; and both for use and ornament, for
what trees are more beautiful in flower ? But
enough of our scenery. Before you leave us,
we have agreed to have one more day's fishing.
I hear that charr are now being taken in Win-
dermere ; and, if you please, it shall be there,
and to-day, for the weather seems favourable ;
should we not have success, you will witness

WATERHEAD.— WINDERMERE. 321

the mode of fishing, and have an opportunity of
seeing more of this, the largest, and on the
whole, I think, the most beautiful of our English
lakes. I have ordered a boat to be in readiness ;
and the fisherman to whom it belongs, and who
will acccompany us, is skilled in the kind of
angling to which you will be introduced, but
which, being little better than poaching, as I
think you will consider it, I am sure you will
never follow. We will drive down to Waterhead.
A pair of swallows that for several years have
built their nests and reared a family under the
eaves above the window of my dressing-room,
made their first appearance this morning (May
20), and have already commenced repairing
their home, broken into by the house-sparrows.
I hail their advent as a sign of settled mild
weather. How pleasant it was, as the harbinger
of so much that is agreeable, to hear again
their gentle twitter !

Amicus. So, this is Waterhead. Why, here is
a little fleet of boats, and all, you say, for hire ;
and there is a steamboat, and you tell me there
is another, — indications these of a busy place,
and, I infer, exclusively for pleasure.

PiscATOR. Your inference is right. As beauty

T

322 FISH OF WINDERMERE,

is the staple of the district, so pleasuring, to use
a colloquialism, may be said to be its business,
and especially here.

Amicus. All I see around me, the many
neat cottages and gardens, the many hand-
some villas and grounds, shew this : nor am I
surprised, looking at the general features of
the country, hereabout particularly, where, with
so much near beauty, there is combined so much
of grandeur as displayed in the distant and
girding mountains.

PiscATOE. As the fisherman says we may have
a chance of killing a trout with the rod, we will
commence our angling in our ordinary way.
Let me advise you to put on at least one green
drake, and let it be the tail fly. This is about
the time that the green drake comes on, and
no fly is more attractive to the trout or charr.
Boatman, take us off the mouth of the river ;
that is good ground for trout. The river I
speak of is the one formed by the junction of
the Brathay with the Eothay.

Amicus. By the way tell me something of
the fish of the lake, and the mode of fishing
which you spoke of as. poaching, and something
too, if you please, of the lake itself; that I may
be prepared.

CHARR. 323

PiscATOR. Of the latter, a good part you will
see yourself to-day, and I am sure you will be
pleased with it : I wish I could give you the
same assurance respecting the fish, which are
more easily named and described than caught.
They are the trout and charr, the pike and
perch, and eel. A salmon has occasionally
been taken, but hitherto so rarely, that Win-
dermere cannot be considered a salmon lake. All
the fish of this lake are good of their kind ;
none better. The trout range in size from half
a pound and under to three and four pounds
and over, though fish so heavy as the latter are
not often taken. The charr are mostly of about
half a pound, and rather under than over this
weight. The fisherman we have with us says
the largest he has ever taken weighed nineteen
ounces. Two kinds are met with, which are
called the silver and red or gilt charr ; the latter
distinguished by its bright red metallic lustre
markings. It is said to spawn later than the
other, viz., in the beginning of February ; the
silver or light coloured charr spawning chiefly
in November. I apprehend they are merely
varieties, owing their differences chiefly to their
feed, and it may be to the quality of the water

Y 2

324 ANGLING SEASON.

in which they are found ; the silver charr
frequenting parts of the lake of less depth than
the haunts of the red charr. The best season
for angling here, and both for trout and charr,
is from the last week of April to the first week
of June, or if cool, to the middle of this month.
The pike is taken throughout the spring and
summer. Perch fishing is best in the very
height of summer. The same baits serve for
the trout and charr, viz., the artificial fly and
minnow ; but the former is more successful
with the trout ; the latter with the minnow.
Ah ! a rise ! and another ; and this has taken
the fly. Be ready with the landing net. See,
a trout of at least a pound ; thick and well fed,
and how like that of Derwentwater !

Amicus. I have risen two or three fish, but
in vain.

PiscATOR. We will change our ground. Take
us, boatman, nearer that point. If you have
no success there, we will try better and more
distant ground.

Amicus. What you call a point, I would
rather call a headland, it is so bold ; and how
finely wooded! Those dark Scotch firs here
have a grand effect. Were I to give way to

DIMENSIONS OF LAKE, 325

feeling for mere enjoyment, I should be tempted
to follow the example of yonder lone angler,
who has cast anchor, and who is fishing listlessly,
I presume, for perch.

PiscATOR. Eegarding him, I may repeat the
words you said this morning, but in a different
sense, haud invideo, miror magis ! I should
be sorry for our angling to be a dreamy pursuit.
Eest assured, the more active it is, with exercise
for its object, and recreation, the better and
more healthful it is. The trouts are not in a
taking mood here. Let us away to the islands.
If anywhere, there we are most likely to do
better. We will trowl by the way with our
flies and with my artificial minnow. The dis-
tance we have to go is about four or five miles ;
nearly half the length of the lake, which is
reckoned ten, or by the boatmen, tempted
perhaps by their interests to make the most of
the distance, twelve. And I may add now,
in reply to your former inquiry, that where
widest it is about a mile, and where deepest
about forty fathoms. This depth, and the vast
body of water, commonly secures it from
freezing. During the many years I have known
the lake, I have only once seen it frozen entirely

Y 3

326 WINDERMERE AND THE

over; and that was in the ruthless winter of
1854-55, which, in the annals of war, and the
sufferings and losses of our brave army, was as
memorable as that of 1812-13 (when it was
also frozen over) for the disastrous retreat of the
French under the first Napoleon. This brings
the East to my recollection, and especially the
Bosphorus, for the resemblance of Winder-
mere to the Bosphorus is remarkable. Both
have the appearance of noble rivers ; indeed the
latter is a salt-river flowing constantly from the
Black Sea into the Sea of Marmora ; both are
skirted by high grounds and ornamented with
villas, groves and gardens. I remember once,
on entering the Bosphorus from the Black Sea,
hearing a Turk from the highlands of AsiaMinor,
remark (it was his first visit) " he had never
before a just idea of Paradise." Might not an
observation somewhat of the same kind be ex-
pected to come from the denizen of one of our
great manufacturing towns on first coming in
sight of Windermere, ^\^lich of the two is most
beautiful, it may be difficult to determine.
Windermere has the advantage in its girding
mountains, ever varying in appearance with the
state of the atmosphere, and the degree and

BOSPHORUS COMPARED. 327

direction of the sun's light, especially towards
its rising and setting. The Bosphorus has its
advantage in the C3rpress groves rising here and
there along its shores, in the stateliness of some
of its palaces, its picturesque minarets, and in
the purity and azure blue of its waters, and I
may add in the greater animation imparted to its
course, not only in the many graceful caiques
constantly plying in its channel, but also in the
innumerable sea-fowl, many of them as grace-
ful, there in restless movement, and from
being unmolested, showing a strange (to us
strange) fearlessness of man. Nor let me
forget another peculiarity and charm in this
month, of which Windermere is destitute, the
nightingales, which abound in its groves, and
early and late fill the air with melody. Perhaps
you may consider the wandering voice of the
cuckoo, the song of the thrush, and of the many
warblers which come to us so pleasantly over
the water from the nearest wood, a tolerable
substitute. Pray think so. Were we a fort-
night later, we might have a pleasure which I
never experienced on the Bosphorus, the breeze
scented delicately and deliciously by the lily of
the valley, a flower growing wild and abun-

Y 4

328 WRAY CASTLE,

dantly on two or three of the islets we are ap-
proaching, and which from that circumstance
are named " Lily of the Valley Islands."

Amicus. How gracefully the ground on our,
right rises and falls ! all the minor hills below
the mountains have the same soft perfect lines
of beauty.

PiscATOR. That is in accordance with the
general character of the district, here remark-
ably well exemplified; and which, as I have
before said, I believe is referrible to glacier
action, the tendency of which is to remove by
its grinding operation all asperities.

Amicus. What a contrast between that
massive, dark, rectilinear castle and the
cheerful green bosom-like hill on which it
stands ! What is its history ? I hope there are
legends and tales of romance associated with it.
Has it a drawbridge and wet ditch, and other
appurtenances of a baronial stronghold ?

PiscATOR. Observe it carefully, and you will
no longer entertain such a hope. That is Wray
Castle, and is altogether a modern building, and
erected by its present proprietor and inhabitant,
who has too much knowledge of sanitary con-
ditions to surround himself with stagnant water.

SINGULAR PHENOMENA. 329

making an enemy to health where there is no
fear of neighbouring hostility. As to the
structure itself we need not criticise it : it is
well placed, and at a distance may well pass for
what you supposed it to be, and have the
desired effect on the uninformed mind and the
careless eye. On the other side, a little lower
down, you may see the grand chimneys of
Calgarth, that which was once a hall now a
farm house, with which some traditions are
connected, and a story, too marvellous to be true,
of a skull which had no resting place out of
Calgarth, resuming its place as often as it was
removed. As well authenticated, I may mention,
that Windermere itself occasionally exhibits
singular phenomena ; one of them of a spectral
appearance. What think you of a white horse,
such as the spectre war-steed of the O'Donnough
at Killarney, being seen passing over the lake ;
and what of an iris on its surface rivalling a
rainbow? One has been vouched for by a
popular writer, who says he witnessed it himself;
the. other by a man of science, to whom we are
indebted for valuable information respecting the
meteorology of the district, especially for a
record of its rain.

3S0 BELLEGRANGE,

Amicus. Of coarse the one is as much a
natural appearance as the other. The phantom
horse, I suppose, you will agree with me, may-
be referred to a flitting mist somewhat of
equine form, and the rainbow iridiscence to re-
flected broken light from a sooty film spread
over the surface. In this manner, the latter, if
I recollect rightly, was explained by the scientific
observer.* As we proceed along this shore, so
finely wooded on our right, with its succession
of rocky promontories, where already the broom
is in flower enlivening the dark heath, one may
well dispense with angling, — trowling, I would
say, at least, for the first voyage, is an appro-
priate manner of fishing, nowise diverting the
attention. What is that secluded embowered
house just coming into view?

PiscATOR. That is Bellegrange ; and probably
because it is so solitary and so embowered in
wood, it is often without a tenant ; and yet few
spots are more beautiful or have in immediate
proximity pleasanter walks or drives, or are
more favourably situated for enjoying the

♦ Mr. J. F. Miller. See New Ed. Phil. Journal.

BELLEISLAND, 831

beauties of the lake and its sports : proof, is it
not, that solitude and seclusion are not at-
tractive to social man? We are now near the
island and our fishing ground, and let us be
prepared.

Amicus. Eeally these wooded islands are
charming. Here Windermere, I think, rivals
Killarney ! \\Tiat an intricacy of channels 1
What an admixture of headlands and islands !
Did you not assure me that there is a greater
extent of lake below, I should have supposed
that here is its termination, the view beyond is
so entirely intercepted.

PiscATOR. This is the island region of the lake,
— the islands its Cyclades, if I may so call them i
they and their grouping suggest the name ; they
are twelve or thirteen in number. All of them
are uninhabited, excepting the largest Belle-
island, on which a modern house has been built
after the manner of the Pantheon at Eome, on
the site of an ancient mansion that belonged to
the fighting race of the Philipsons, which in the
time of the Great Eebellion, when surrounded
by a Parliamentary force, stood a siege under the
most daring of the family, " Kobin the Devil,"

332 A DARING DEED,

that daring Cavalier whose iron head-piece is
now hanging in the parish church of Kendal.*

Amicus. This is an angler's paradise, if the
sport be any way in proportion to the surround-
ing beauty. There ! I rose a fish, and he is
hooked, and now he is landed ; a nice trout of
at least three-quarters of a pound, an auspicious
beginning.

PiscATOE. You were too sanguine. Not
another rise have we seen, either at the natural
or artificial fly. The boatman says the fish are
sulky, and he augurs a change of weather. See,
the Old Man of Coniston is almost hid in mist,
and clouds are collecting about all the higher
mountains, and how fine is the effect of the at-

* The siege was raised by his brother, with a force
from Carlisle ; we are told, that "the next day being
Sunday, he with three or four more rode to Kendal to
take revenge of some of the adverse party there, passed
the watch, and rode into the church, up one aisle and
down another." But not finding the person he was in
quest of, he '' was unhorsed by the guards on his return
and his girths broken, but his companions relieved him
by a desperate charge ; and clapping his saddle on with-
out any girth, he vaulted into the saddle, killed a sentinel,
and galloped away and returned to the island by two
o'clock. Upon the occasion of this, and other like
adventures, he obtained the appellation aforesaid of
Rohin the Devil.''' — Nicholson and Burn's Antiquities.

LILY OF THE VALLEY ISLAND, 333

mospheric haze and low clouds in increasing their
apparent alitude ! This nearest islet is one of the
Lily of the Valley Islands. You must land on it,
for such a spot is not of every-day occurrence.

Amicus. I have enjoyed our little island
ramble. Never before have I seen the charm-
ing flower that gives a name to the islet grow-
ing wild, and never I think, before, have I ever
seen such a variety of native wood in so small
a space and such a variety and profusion of wild
flowers. Here is a handful that I have col-
lected, the primrose, the blue bell, the lesser
celandine, the wood anemone, the ranunculus,
and others with which I am not familiar.

PiscATOK. I regret that the pride of the
island, the lily of the valley, is not yet in
flower ; had it been, another sense would have
been gratified. A charm of this island and the
adjoining ones is that they are without en-
tangling brakes or marshy swamps, are dry, and
everywhere accessible, as if under a kindly in-
fluence checking the growth of all that is
noxious and offensive, affording shade and
shelter without closeness ; a spot, where a
Jaques might rest and meditate ; and where, at

334 MODE OF LATH-FISHING.

the foot of yonder yew-tree, you might almost
expect to see a philosopher of his mood recum-
bent. Now to our boat again, and homeward :
and on our way we will trowl for charr, using
the lath, that you may witness the kind of fish-
ing that I promised you should see. Fisherman,
pray get your tackle ready.

Amicus. This lath-tackle is cumbrous and
troublesome. It may be killing, but the
managing of it cannot be agreeable. I see the
board, which you call the lath, is worked on the
principle of the boy's kite. What is the length
of the main line and what that of the droppers
to which the minnow-baited hooks are at-
tached ?

PiscATOE. The main is about sixty yards ; the
first dropper about twenty-four yards, with eight
yards of gut; the second about twenty-two,
and the third, the last, that nearest the board,
about twenty, each with the same length of gut
as the first. You see the boatman fastens the
end of the line to a pole which he fixes erect,
and now that he resumes his oars, and impels
the boat gently through the water, he fixes his
eyes on the line with the hope of seeing it
vibrate, the sign of a fish being hooked.

ROMAN' REMAINS. 335

Amicus. My patience is exhausted. A good
half-hour has been spent in this lath-trowling
and fruitlessly. It is getting cold, and I am
getting chilled. Let us give it up and hasten
home. I shall be glad to take an oar. The
mountains that are yet visible are getting
darker and darker. We shall be fortunate if
we escape a wetting before we land. The
fisherman tells me that last spring, in this very
month, he took in one afternoon two dozen and
three charr, fishing where we are and in the
same manner. I can hardly credit it.

PiscATOR. I am not displeased that we have
had no success with the lath ; I should be bet-
ter pleased were it always the same. That it
occasionally is a murderous method cannot be
doubted ; indeed, apart from that it has nothing
to recommend it, and I am sure it will never be
liked by the genuine angler, who does not angle
for his bread, but for recreation and exercise.
We will land at the confluence of the two
rivers ; and in our walk home I shall be able to
point out the remains of a Roman encampment
preserved not in stone but in turf, which, how-
ever paradoxical it may appear, is often more
enduring.

336 ROMAN ROAD.

Amicus. What a width of purple brightness
is given by that great copper-coloured beech
expanding its young leaves in the grounds of
Croft Lodge ! I never before felt disposed to
admire this variety of tree. Whilst at a certain
distance, I saw distinctly the outlines of the en-
campment, which you say was Eoman, now I
am near they have disappeared. It seems
strange, considering the nature of this country,
that the Eomans should have penetrated into
it. ^\Tiat could have attracted them ?

PiscATOK. That they were well acquainted
with the district is certain — there are so many
vestiges of them, in forts, encampments and
roads ; of the latter, the most remarkable
being along the summits of one of the higher
mountain ranges, still known by the name of
"High Street." What the attractions were
must be matter of conjecture : if mere love of
enterprise, extension of territory, and the lust
of conquest and possession, were not sufficient,
under the impulse of which they overran and
subdued so large a portion of the ancient world,
— rest assured, it was not the beauty of the
scenery, of mountain, lake and forest that drew
them here. The taste for these, the cultivated
taste, is modern.

LOVE OF ENTERPRISE, 337

Amicus. True ! That same love of enterprise,
of contending with and overcoming difficulties,
that same love of distinction which impelled
the early navigators in their hazardous voyages,
the same that has gained us our Eastern em-
pire, and which is never or rarely absent
from the energetic man. Even in our sports,
our river and field-sports, do not we see the
same displayed, though in a less marked but
more harmless manner than in the field of
blood and strife — unless, indeed, the greater
exertions and triumphs, those of conquering
armies, lead, as was long the case amongst the
Komans, to a better government and an ad-
vancing civilisation ? We are losing sight of
the river and lake, both objectively and sub-
jectively, if I may use these far fetched meta-
physical terms, and too soon I shall have to
retrace my steps, rather, I should say, re-
turning as I purpose to do by the express train,
rush back to busy and hurried city life. Let
me here, for where I can do it more appro-
priately, thank you for the pleasure I have
had in your company in this your I^ake District
and in these our fishing excursions.

COLLOQUY XIV.
Sunday and Sunday Musings,

Amicus.
THANK you for having persuaded
me to stay over the Sunday and
for having taken me to your new
church. I admire its interior, and
even more its situation, commanding from the
rising ground on which it stands and from its
position such charming views both towards
your mountains and lake. The memorial win-
dows too in which it is so rich, especially those
to the poet and his female relations, to which
you specially called my attention in the Words-
worth — chapel, if I may so call it — pleased
me much. They are a grateful and graceful
tribute, and addressed to the eye are the more
likely in their sentiment to reach the hearts

SUNDAY FISHING,

and understanding of the uneducated, and ex-
cite a desire to know the poet and his writings.

As I stood admiring the prospect, looking to-
wards Windermere and feeling the mild breeze
from the lake, so auspicious to angling, I was
not without a longing to be afloat on its surface,
or by the river side rod in hand.

PiscATOR. I have often on a Sunday expe-
rienced the same temptation ; and when a
younger man and with somewhat more latitudi-
narianism, and amongst Eoman Catholics, I
have occasionally given way to it, where by so
doing no offence would be given, reconciling
myself to the yielding with the reflection that
such gentle exercise on solitary and secluded
waters was a better mode of spending time than
idling it in desultory talk or in thoughts as
desultory. And the old fisherman who was
usually my companion, himself a Eoman Catho-
lic, was even more strongly of my opinion, and
always concluded, when his opinion of Sunday
fishing was asked, with saying, " We might do
things very much worse." Let me add, that
when we did fish on a Sunday, it was only when
the weather was peculiarly tempting, and that
we engaged in it, as well as I remember more
z %

340 SUNDAY'S REST.

sedately, and made it, even more than common,
" the contemplative man's recreation."

Amicus. I can easily imagine that in such
situations as those you allude to, amongst the
gentle murmurs of the ever-flowing water in its
course to the ocean, there to find its rest for a
time, analogous to our rest in the grave, as
the vapour which rises from the same ocean
may be held to be analogous to the resurgent
spirit; or on the secluded lake, — there may
be an almost involuntary disposition to serious
thought and religious musings, especially on
this day, whatever the form of creed, —
a recurring from the past and present to the
mysterious future, that mystery of mysteries,
beginning where life, mortal life, ends. But
even with this admission it is best, I think, to
shun the temptation, and make the Sabbath a
day of rest.

PiscATOR. Yes; but not after the Jewish
fashion ; remembering that " The Sabbath was
made for man, and not man for the Sabbath."
Let it be a day of rest from toil, and devoted to
man's higher wants, religious and intellectual,
including such pursuits, I would even say

A ROMAN CATHOLIC CONGREGATION. 341

amusements, as tend to raise him in the scale of
being, and make him better and happier.

Amicus. On a second visit to Donegal, at-
tracted there again by the pleasure I had in my
first, that made in your company, spending
the Sunday at Grweedore, and abstaining from
angling, I went to the Catholic chapel, about
five miles from the hotel, situated in a wild
spot, a desert of sand and bog ; the sand hills
skirting the sea, the bog constituting the land.
There I witnessed an interesting scene ; some
hundreds of people collected from all the
country round, all neatly and cleanly dressed,
and orderly behaved ; some arriving on horse-
back, man and wife on the same horse, he in
the saddle or pad, she behind holding by him,
seated on the crupper, but more on foot, the
men commonly walking apart and so the wo-
men, and the latter, whetht^r married or single,
distinguishable, the former ^v^earing a cap, the
latter their heads naked, their hair neatly and
becomingly parted and plaited. The form of ser-
vice was that of the mass, high mass, and was per-
formed with all its due rites, and attended to on
the part of the people with all due reverence.
Indeed, the ceremony in its forms and effects

342 INSTINCTIVE RELIGIOUS FEELING.

seemed to me a striking instance of the instinc-
tive religious feeling belonging to man ; the cere-
mony to the majority of the congregation, as re-
gards the words, being in a dead language, to
them an unknown tongue ; and yet the effect,
notwithstanding, as I believe, a decidedly reli-
gious one, and I would hope one beneficial to
their minds, the grand idea of a divine sacrifice
being known by all to be involved in it.

PiscATOE. Again I think you are right. I
am disposed to be very liberal in regard to all
religious ceremonies, and an optimist more or
less in respect of them. It has fallen to my lot
to witness the worship of pilgrims, prostrate on
the summit of Adam's Peak, one of the highest
mountains of Ceylon, before the supposed im-
pression of the foot of Buddou which has rendered
that mountain sacred ; to have been present in
the gallery of the Mosque of St. Sophia, in Con-
stantinople, during the worship in the bare area
below, when hundreds of voices were raised in
solemn prayer from the prostrate assembly ; and
also to have been present like you at a Eoman
Catholic mass, both in the humble chapel in the
wilds of Connemara or Donegal, and amidst the
gorgeous splendours of the Sistine, and of St,

EVILS OF INTOLERANCE, 348

Peter's, and the quire of that other grand archi-
tectural creation, the Domkirche, the Cathedral
of Cologne. I will not compare the ceremonies,
nor need I pass any opinion respecting them ;
but this I will say, that I could not but see
belonging to each a devotional feeling in
common, separating as it were, stages of exist-
ence ; carrying the mind with its aspirations
from the present to the future, and breathing
the non omnis moriar ; in brief, affording in the
religious feeling expressed one of the strongest
marks of humanity, and of the difference
between man and the brute that perishes.

Amicus. How well for mankind had it been,
had such a liberality as yours been more
common, especially in past ages ; then history
would not have had such dark and terrible
pages detailing the persecutions of the strong
over the weak, on account of difference of re-
ligious persuasion.

PiscATOR. Truly so; nor so many glorious
pages recording heroic j&rmness, the enduring
strength of faith, the conquering and trium-
phant mind.

Amicus. The heroism of the martyr in the
history of our kind compensates, shall I say, for

Z 4

344 INFLUENCES OF WAR,

the brutal cruelty of the bigot ; but that is too
strong an expression, and perhaps unjust, and
yet I hardly know a more appropriate.

PiscATOR. Let us hope that some of the
severest persecutors acted from a sense of duty,
and sternly under that belief overcame their
humane feelings.

Amicus. Are you not stretching your charity
too far, when you say some of the severest?
What think you of an Alva, or of a De Mont-
fort ?

PiscATOR. That they were cruel men, and
acted in accordance with their disposition.
But even in their case, we may make some
allowance for character formed as theirs wasf
mainly in the camp and field, in war, where life
is thought lightly of, where there is so little
regard for it and for human suffering ; and duty
and sacrifice are the leading ideas in the
genuine soldier and competent leader. But I
must admit, and I speak from some experience,
that one of the worst effects of war is the
manner in which it hardens the heart of man,
and overpowers the ordinary feelings gf hu-
manity.

Amicus. On the other hand, is not this sense

WAR — HOW JUSTIFIABLE. 345

of duty, this readiness to sacrifice life at its
call, one of the redeeming circumstances of
war ? calling out the heroical spirit like that of
the mart3n:s, which makes light of all that
worldlings most value ; and acts as a check to
that softness and effeminacy which peace,
ease, wealth, and indulgence are so apt to
engender, and by engendering, conduce to the
decline and fall of nations.

PiscATOR. I would fain hope it may be so ; but
I am not sure that it is so. I doubt very much
that war improves the individual character, and
if not the individual, I do not see how it can
the national character. Its evils are tremendous.
When it is entitled to the quality for which
you give it credit, I apprehend it must be
experienced by those who engage in it on justi-
fiable grounds, and with unquestionable mo-
tives— pro arisetfocis — for what is most dear
and honoured, for religion and liberty, in which
great risks are run, great sacrifices are made ;
such wars as the ennobling struggles of the
Netherlanders against the Spaniards; of the
United States of America that earned them
their independence ; of our own country in the
instance of the " Great Kebellion," when the.

346 DREAMS,

chain of absolute power that endangered our
liberties was broken for ever.

Amicus. Having nothing to offer in reply-
to your reflections but to express approval,
allow me to turn the conversation to another
subject. What we have been talking of, part
of it so shadowy, has called up the idea of
dreams in my mind, especially of one I had
last night ; and which, though yourself not a
dreamer, knowing that you take an interest
in them as mental phenomena, and as occa-
sionally helping to elucidate the obscure and
mysterious, I am tempted to relate, if I may
task your patience.

PiscATOR. You excite jny curiosity ; pray
proceed.

Amicus. I fancied I was at home ; that it
was night; that leaving my room with the
candle, the light was extinguished; and that
then walking upstairs in the dark to go to bed,
from above, I saw a light below, and supposing
it to proceed from a candle carried by a servant,
I called to have my candle relighted ; at that
instant, I awoke. Now, listen to what follows ;
it is the remarkable part. WTien awake, the
light continued before me ; I saw it not only

SPECTRAL ILLUSIONS. 347

in the room, but also when directing my eyes
to the bed-cloathes, to the white sheet, which
almost enveloped my face, there it was ; but
closing my eyes again, all was darkness. My
belief then was, and still is, and I trust you
will agree with me, that the luminous appear-
ance on waking was merely a continuance of
the idea or impression in sleep. And this
granted, may we not reasonably infer that in
the same manner ideas, impressions of forms
and persons experienced in sleep, renewed
cerebral actions, on waking may be preserved
for a few seconds, and be considered as spectral
illusions, or by the vulgar as spectres or appa-
ritions. ^

PiscATOR. I see no objection to your infer-
ence. Even when waking, the impression is
not lost the instant it is produced ; it has more
or less of duration; thus, on extinguishing a
candle, where there is no other, a light seems
to hover around it for a perceptible moment
of time, when we know no new rays of light
are emitted, and all that were produced have
passed away. Had the whole occurrence you
describe in its several parts taken place in
your bedroom, and had you, on suddenly waking.

348 GHOSTLY APPARITIONS,

seen not only a light, but the bearer of the
light, nothing would have been wanting to
constitute a ghostly apparition, especially were
the bearer a deceased servant or friend. Though
you courteously give me credit for not being
a dreamer, I could relate instances of dreams
I have had, similar in their significance to those
of yours, and others somewhat different, which
I would designate as day-dreams, recurring
vivid ideas not produced at the instant, ob ex-
terno, and yet, not distinguishable from such*
First I will tell you how I saw the spectre — do
not laugh, — of a crucible ! It was when I was
at College, and engaged in chemical studies.
Eeading, reclining on my sofa, and it was
by day, I saw a platina crucible which I
valued falling from the adjoining table. I
sprung up to try to save it, but grasped only
air; no crucible was there, neither fallen,
falling, or on the table ; it was, as I before said,
a spectral crucible. Next, of a person ; this I
witnessed when still a young man ; and it was
in Kandy, in Ceylon, and in mid-day. Eeading
at a table before an open window looking into
a garden, I saw, on looking out, a gentleman,
an acquaintance, a man of singular appearance.

BAY DREAMS. 349

and like no one else, whether in figure or dress,
pass before me. I fancied he had come to pay
me a visit, but he did not come in ; then, I
supposed he had mistaken the door, and had
gone to the next ; I sent my servant to see ;
no, he was not there, nor had he been ; there was
a sentry at the outer gate ; I sent to know if he
had gone out ; the reply was, he had not come in;
I sent then to his house to inquire where he
was, and the answer returned was, that he was
then in bed, his habit being to sit up during
the greater part of the night, and to be a-bed
during a good part of the day. Now, suppose
this gentleman had been found dead in his
bed, how impressive would have been the
coincidence ! what a capital ghost-story would
have been realised ! So singular were the
habits and appearance of this gentleman, so
lank and shadowy his form, so spiritual his
nature, that a friend of mine to whom I related
my experience, jocosely said, " I do not believe
in your philosophical explanation ; rest assured
that our acquaintance, at the time you saw him,
was abroad in the spirit, luxuriating in his
higher existence."

Amicus. What you state is interesting, es-.

350 PHANTASMS,

pecially as solitary examples^ if they were so,
and not like these recorded of Nicolani, who,
you know, for a time, when troubled with
deranged digestive organs, saw phantasms
innumerable, simulacra of the living and dead,
often in rapid succession. Pray, at the time,
was your health anywise deranged ?

PiscATOR. I was in my usual state of health,
and at the time leading an active life, and free
from all cares, — excepting, on the latter occasion,
those connected with our position, for it was
during a rebellion, and it was very questionable
whether we had sufficient force to put it down,
or even to resist the enemy, had we been vigor-
ously attacked ; but I was young, as I have said,
at the time, and even insecurity and the hazard
of unequal war preyed then but little on my
mind.

Amicus. Of old, in the Homeric times, dreams
were held to be from the gods, and for
beneficent ends. I sometimes indulge in this
antique notion, or at least fancy that they
are not altogether useless and wasted ; and
I am disposed to think that those of our
fellow-mortals most familiar with grief and
bodily suffering will most readily adopt my

USE OF DREAMS. 351

opinion. I knew a man who had an ill-tem-
pered wife of the Xantippe class; he never,
he assured me, dreamt of her, but occasionally
of a new attachment to a creature charming
in body and mind. And, since I have become
an angler, it has not been after enjoying the
sport that it has recurred to me in sleep, but,
on the contrary, when for an unusually long
time I have been so situated as to have been
deprived of it.

PisCATOK. I like your optimism ; and be-
lieving there is "good in ever3^hing," either
manifest or latent, I will not exclude dreams ;
they may be for higher ends than those you
allude to ; they may be useful as connecting
the material with the immaterial, the pal-
pable and sensuous with the purely ideal,
the present with the past, without regard to
common time ; and so to excite reflection on
the higher spiritual nature of man and spe-
culation on his destiny, associated with that
most comforting and to be cherished aspiration
of the non omnis moriar. And now, as the
night is well advanced, and you have to leave
early to-morrow morning, let us say good night.
I shall be up "to speed the parting guest,"

3^2 PROSPECTIVE PLEASURES,

though with reluctance, and pray remember
your promise, make a note of it, that we are
to meet again in autumn, and that in compen-
sation for the bad angling here in our Lake
District, I shall have the privilege of conducting
you to some of the best, such as the island of
Lewis affords. And there, in addition to the
pleasure of the very best of sport, you will have
an opportunity of seeing much that is inte-
resting and peculiar in that wild country in
its transition state, under the influence of a
beneficent and enlightened proprietor, from
waste into culture, from rudeness into civili-
sation.

Amicus. One attraction might suffice, — two
will be doubly binding. Good night.

THE END.

London :

Printed by Spottiswoode and Co.

New-street- Square.

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