Lays and Legends of the English Lake Country

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White John White. Lays and Legends of the English Lake Country

INTRODUCTION

PREFACE

THE PAST (IN SIGHT OF DACRE CASTLE.)

THE BANNER OF BROUGHTON TOWER

NOTES TO "THE BANNER OF BROUGHTON TOWER."

GILTSTONE ROCK; OR, THE SLAVER IN THE SOLWAY

NOTE

CRIER OF CLAIFE

NOTES TO "CRIER OF CLAIFE."

THE CUCKOO IN BORRODALE

NOTES TO "THE CUCKOO IN BORRODALE."

KING EVELING

NOTES TO "KING EVELING."

SIR LANCELOT THRELKELD

NOTES TO "SIR LANCELOT THRELKELD."

PAN ON KIRKSTONE

NOTES TO "PAN ON KIRKSTONE."

ST. BEGA AND THE SNOW MIRACLE

NOTES TO "ST. BEGA AND THE SNOW MIRACLE."

CREWL-WORK

HART'S-HORN TREE

NOTES TO "HART'S-HORN TREE."

BEKAN'S GHYLL

NOTES TO "BEKAN'S GHYLL."

THE CHIMES OF KIRK-SUNKEN

NOTES TO "CHIMES OF KIRK-SUNKEN."

THE RAVEN ON KERNAL CRAG

NOTES TO "THE RAVEN ON KERNAL CRAG."

LORD DERWENTWATER'S LIGHTS. 1716

NOTES TO "LORD DERWENTWATER'S LIGHTS."

THE LAURELS ON LINGMOOR

NOTES TO "THE LAURELS ON LINGMOOR."

THE VALE OF SAINT JOHN

NOTES TO "THE VALE OF SAINT JOHN."

THE LUCK OF EDENHALL

NOTES TO "THE LUCK OF EDENHALL."

HOB-THROSS

NOTES TO "HOB-THROSS."

THE ABBOT OF CALDER

NOTES TO "THE ABBOT OF CALDER."

THE ARMBOTH BANQUET

NOTES TO "THE ARMBOTH BANQUET."

BRITTA IN THE TEMPLE OF DRUIDS (THE LAST HUMAN SACRIFICE.)

NOTES TO "BRITTA IN THE TEMPLE OF THE DRUIDS."

THE LADY OF WORKINGTON HALL

NOTES TO "THE LADY OF WORKINGTON HALL."

THE ALTAR ON CROSS-FELL (FORMERLY FIENDS'-FELL.)

NOTES TO "THE ALTAR ON CROSS-FELL."

WILLIE O' SCALES

NOTES TO "WILLIE O' SCALES."

ERMENGARDE

NOTES TO "ERMENGARDE."

GUNILDA; OR, THE WOEFUL CHASE

NOTES TO "GUNILDA; OR, THE WOEFUL CHASE."

THE SHIELD OF FLANDRENSIS

NOTES TO "THE SHIELD OF FLANDRENSIS."

THE ROOKS OF FURNESS

NOTES TO "THE ROOKS OF FURNESS."

KING DUNMAIL

NOTES TO "KING DUNMAIL."

THE BRIDALS OF DACRE

NOTES TO "THE BRIDALS OF DACRE."

THRELKELD TARN: OR, TRUTH FROM THE DEEPS

NOTES TO "THRELKELD TARN; OR TRUTH FROM THE DEEPS."

ROBIN THE DEVIL'S COURTESY

NOTES TO "ROBIN THE DEVIL'S COURTESY."

THE LAY OF LORD LUCY OF EGREMOND

NOTES TO "THE LAY OF LORD LUCY OF EGREMOND."

SÖLVAR-HOW

NOTES TO "SÖLVAR HOW."

THE CHURCH AMONG THE MOUNTAINS

NOTES TO "THE CHURCH AMONG THE MOUNTAINS."

Отрывок из книги

The English Lake District may be said, in general terms, to extend from Cross-Fell and the Solway Firth, on the east and north, to the waters of Morecambe and the Irish Sea; or, more accurately, to be comprised within an irregular circle, varying from forty to fifty miles in diameter, of which the centre is the mountain Helvellyn, and within which are included a great portion of Cumberland and Westmorland and the northern extremity of Lancashire.

The resumption, at no distant period, of the manors which had been granted to Alexander, renewed in all their strength the feelings of animosity with which the Scots had been accustomed to regard their southern neighbours, and the feuds between the two kingdoms continued with unabated violence for more than three centuries longer. The dwellers in the unsettled districts lying along the English and Scottish borders, being originally derived from the same Celtic stock, had been gradually and progressively influenced as a race by the admixture of Saxon and Danish blood into the population; and although much of the Celtic character was thereby lost, they seem to have retained in their mountains and forests much of the spirit, and many of the laws and manners, of the ancient Britons. They continued to form themselves into various septs, or clans, according to the Celtic custom; sometimes banded together for the attainment of a common end; and as often at feud, one clan with another, when some act of personal wrong had to be revenged upon a neighbouring community. Thus a state of continual restlessness, springing out of mutual hatred and jealousies, existed among the borderers of either nation. The same feelings of enmity were fostered, and the same system of petty warfare was carried on, between the borderers of the two kingdoms. Cumberland and Westmorland, from their position, were subject to the frequent inroads of the Scots; by whom great outrages were committed upon the inhabitants. They drove their cattle, burned their dwellings, plundered their monasteries, and even destroyed whole towns and villages. A barbarous system of vengeance and retaliation ensued. Every act of violence and bloodshed was perpetrated; whilst the most nefarious practices of free-booting became the common occupation of the marauding clans; and a raid into a neighbouring district had for them the same sort of charm and excitement which their descendants find in a modern fox chase. Even after the union of the two kingdoms under one sovereign, when the term "Borders" had been changed to "Middle Shires," as being more suitable to a locality which was now nearly in the centre of his dominions, the long cherished distinctions and prejudices of the inhabitants were maintained in all their vigour; and it required a long period of conflict with these to be persevered in, before the extinction of the border feuds could be completely effected. These distractions have now been at an end for more than two centuries. The mountains look down upon a peaceful domain; the valleys, everywhere the abode of quiet and security, yield their rich pasturage to the herds, or their corn-fields redden, though coyly, to the harvest; and the population, much of it rooted in the soil, and attached by hereditary ties to the same plots of ancestral ground in many instances for six or seven hundred years, is independent, prosperous, and happy.

.....

Thus being of necessity nurtured much in solitude, and, habited in rustic garb, bred up to man's estate among the simple dalesmen, to whom, as well as to himself, his rank and station were unknown, he was reared in so great ignorance that he could neither read nor write; for his parents durst not have him instructed in any kind of learning, lest by it his birth should be discovered; and when subsequently he was restored to his title and estates, and took his place among his peers, he never attained to higher proficiency in the art of writing than barely enabled him to sign his name.

One of the first acts of Henry VII. was to restore the lowly Clifford to his birthright and to all that had been possessed by his noble ancestors. And his mother, who did not die till the year 1493, lived to see him thus suddenly exalted from a poor shepherd into a rich and powerful lord, at the age of one and thirty.

.....