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I shall proceed to relate a few of these, and begin first
with the mode of building their towns and villages. These
were, from very obvious reasons which have been already
alluded to, either built upon a hill, or in the
neighbourhood, or even immediately under the shelter of some
strong place. Such situations were more particularly
necessary in the north of England than elsewhere; since,
when elevated, they commanded a wider prospect, and afford a
readier information of the approach of those enemies whom
they were daily afraid of; or, when in the neighbourhood of
a strong place, they enjoyed from thence a protection when
the enemies were really come. The first sort still retain
the name of the hills on which they were built; and the
latter, with the addition of by, those of the persons
or families who were possessors of the strong places to
which they were contiguous. Watches were also kept in those
times at the fords and passages of rivers, to stop the
incursions of secret thieves, or to intercept them with
their booty at their return: the persons employed in these
watches were lodged in sheds and booths, which by degrees
were converted into more substantial buildings, and forming
little towns, still retain the words Wath or Ford, as a part
of their names: or, again, if such towns were built on the
turning of a river, their names terminate in Wick, or Wike,
which is still used to signify an acute angle, or a creek.
There are many other circumstances which regard the
situations of towns in these parts; but as they originate in
a good measure from the nature of the soil, I shall defer
meddling with them until I come to speak of the subject. I
cannot, however, pass over the method of building each
particular house, especially as it is somewhat singular, and
begins of late to be disused. From the front-door an entry
runs close behind the fire-place of the better kitchen,
directly across the building, to the back-door, which opens
into a yard where the byres and stables generally are. On
one side of this entry is the door leading into the
down-house or kitchen, where they brew, bake, &c; on the
other side of the entry is the passage into the house
itself, for so the better kitchen is called; but this
passage is close to the back-door, so that before you arrive
at the fire you have almost gone round it. The various parts
and doors of this entrance into the house are known by the
names of Hallen, Heck, and Mill-doors, or the Space between
the doors. Opposite to the fire-place is the door of the
chamber, or, as it is called in its genuine English name, of
the Bower, where the master and mistress of the family
sleep. the word Parlour is encroaching fast upon its ancient
names: its bed is, in the better sort of houses in these
times, placed up stairs, or upon the loft, to use the
general and ancient expression: the down-house is become the
back-kitchen; the old name of Ambry, for a pantry, is almost
lost; and the sconce, long-settle and hemmil, are superceded
by more modern furniture. These are a few of the changes
which have been introduced of late days into the custom of
building houses in Cumberland and the neighbouring parts
with a few years past; and though I am willing to believe
that modern fashions may have given more elegance to
buildings, yet I am far from thinking that they have
provided better in general for excluding either the wintry
winds, or the heats of Summer. This objection, however, to
modern improvements, will not hold in the comparison of the
old chimneys with those that are now used: the bak, the
randle-tree, the black-hood, and the stoothing, have little
to boast of, but their superior utility in drying winter
provisions. A circumstance of diminished consequence in
these times, on account of the more general resort to
markets, and the augmentation of rural commerce.
I know not that it is worth while noticing the following
circumstances; but I never see one of the most antiquated
sort of houses that are found in the neighbourhood of those
lakes, without imagining a resemblance between them and the
houses of some nation, (and particularly of the Greeks,) in
remote ages, if one can form an adequate
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