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the lake. It is a charming old-fashioned house, and its
position has every advantage, except that it stands too low.
On the high wall by the road side, immediately before
reaching the gate of Rayrigg, the stranger will be struck
with the variety of ferns. That wall is an excellent
introduction to the stone fences of the region, richly
adorned as many of them are with mosses and ferns.
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Passing between woods, resounding with brawling streams, the
road leads up a rather steep ascent, the summit of which is
called Miller Brow. Hence is seen what, in our opinion, is a
view unsurpassed for beauty in the whole Lake District. The
entire lake lies below, the white houses of Clappersgate
being distinctly visible at the north end and the Beacon at
the south: and the diversity of the framework of this sheet
of water is here most striking. The Calgarth woods, for
which we are indebted to Bishop Watson, rising and falling,
spreading and contracting below, with green undulating
meadows interposed, are a perfect treat to the eye; and so
are the islands clustering in the centre of the lake. Wray
Castle stands forth well above the promontory opposite; and
at the head, the Langdale Pikes, and their surrounding
mountains seem, in some states of the atmosphere, to
approach and overshadow the waters; and in others to retire,
and shroud themselves in soft haze and delicate hues
peculiar to cloud land. There is a new house, built just
below the ridge at Miller Brow by William Sheldon, which we
have thought, from the time the foundation was laid, the
most enviable abode in the country,- commanding a
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