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Page 31:-
Glencoyn was formerly the estate of a family of Harrisons,
one of whom going to London upon a law-suit, (then depending
between him and the Lord of Graystock, for damage done by
his deer,) was arrested there by his counsel and attorney
for costs: he was thereupon obliged to sell his estate,
which was bought by Mr William Graves, (master of an house
in Lincoln's-Inn Fields famous for selling Burton ale,) for
L.600. Graves lived to see it worth L.4000,
and it is now in the possession of F. Hodgkinson, Esq; his
son-in-law.
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Glencoyne Beck
county boudary
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Glencoyn Beck, which runs nearly through the middle of the
estate, divides Cumberland from Westmorland, and takes its
rise in a valley called Glencoyn-Dale, and not upon
Helveylin, as some modern authors chuse to assert. But when
we consider the great labour attending these researches, we
need not wonder at such inaccuracies among such as write to
amuse, and not instruct. This brook is plentifully stocked
with fish: I remember, some years ago, taking 147 trouts
with the hook in it.
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Helvellyn etc
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The view up the Lake is extensive and beautiful. The Lake
itself is spotted with islands, just large and numerous
enough to vary its smooth surface. The Vale of Glenridding
then opens to the view; then Patterdale unfolds itself, and
shews an old church and hall, situated in a fertile and
romantic valley: the rich fields of Blawike are seen gently
slopping (sic) to the water's edge; whilst beyond, and above
the rest, the British Alps, Glencoyn Pike, Catsby [Catsty]
Pike, St Sunday's Cragg, and Bleas-Fell, rear their heads.
Above all, Helveylin rises with precipice over precipice,
and hides his rugged summit amidst almost continual mists.
Snow is seldom a wanting here; and I know a gentleman who
went from Penrith to it, in order to dine in a snow drift
upon Midsummer-day. His account of his journey being curious
and singular, will plead my excuse if I insert it at length.
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Helvellyn, ascent
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"I had often, from the neighbourhood of Penrith, seen specks
of snow in the height of Summer, on the summit of a hill,
the name of which I did not at that time know, and a strong
desire seized me of dining in so elevated a situation, and
upon such a seat as is not at all common in Britain at that
season. Accordingly, about two o'clock of the a Midsummer
morning, I set forward, and rode about eleven miles to
Glencoyn, which lyes at the bottom of that heap of mountains
on the summit of which this snow was seen. Leaving my horse
at the house which stands in this small valley, I began to
ascend: it was now betwixt four and five o'clock, and I
experienced what I would not have believed to be possible at
that time of the morning, viz. a heat greater than I
have felt in any situation at noon. The rays of the sun,
just now risen, were reflected from the Lake, and thrown
right into the valley, which resembles pretty much the half
of a beehive cut longitudinally: in front were rocks almost
perpendicular; on the right hand, a steep hill covered with
heath; on the left, another hill cloathed with wood: such a
stagnation of the air as then took place, and such an
intensity of heat, had an effect resembling suffocation. The
summit of the first hill afforded no alleviation of the
uneasiness thus occasioned; for the air heated, and rarified
in the valley, was ascending. The north wind, however,
compensated for this in the upper parts of the mountain, and
with severe toil I, in about five hours, reached the snow,
and the summit. The surface of it was covered with dust, so
that I was obliged to make a hole in it with my staff to
procure clean snow to drink, or rather eat to my dinner,
Such a prospect was never presented to me as from this
place, though I have been upon almost every high mountain in
the North of England, and upon many in Scotland. After I had
satisfied myself with surveying the countries beneath, and
the sea at a distance, I began to set forward on my return;
and after having spent about ten hours in the ascent and
descent, arrived again, though by a different way, in
Glencoyn."
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Patterdale
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As Patterdale forms a principal object in our view, and is
otherwise remarkable, I shall say a few words concerning it.
The church is a perpetual curacy, and was worth about
L.13 per annum till the year 1743, when the
interest of L.200 was allotted to it by the governors
of Queen Ann's bounty: with this addition it is now worth a-
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bout
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erratum from p.194
for Catesby, read Catsty.
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gazetteer links
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-- "Glencoyn Beck" -- Glencoyne Beck
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-- "Glencoyn" -- Glencoyne
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-- "Helveylin" -- Helvellyn ascent 1780s
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-- St Patrick's Church
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