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Page 68:-
guest. By some device or another, Scott managed to pay a
daily visit to the Swan without his friends being aware of
it. But, when he, Wordsworth, and Southey were to ascend
Helvellyn, mounting their ponies at the Swan, the host saw
their approach, and cried out to Scott, "Eh, sir! you've
come early for your drink to-day." It was a complete escape
of the cat from the bag; but Wordsworth was not one to be
troubled by such a discovery. No doubt he took the unlucky
speech more serenely than his guest.
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Dunmail Raise
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From the Swan, the road to Keswick ascends Dunmail Raise;- a
steep pitch of road, though its highest point is only 720
feet above the sea. On the right there is a stream which
divides the counties of Cumberland and Westmorland; and on
either hand rise the mountains of Steel Fell and Seat
Sandal. The cairn,- a rude mass of stones near the top of
the ascent, which the stranger should be on the look out
for, marks the spot of a critical conflict in the olden
time,- that is, in A.D. 945,- when the Anglo Saxon King
Edmund defeated and slew Dunmail, the British King of
Cumbria, and then put out the eyes of the two sons of his
slain foe, and gave their inheritance to Malcolm, King of
Scotland.
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Thirlmere
Armboth House
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At the Nag's Head, the little inn which is about a mile and
a-quarter further on, the traveller must decide on one of
three courses,- as politicians are wont to do. He may go up
Helvellyn, or he may bowl along on the high road, straight
through Legberthwaite, and immediately under Helvellyn; or
he may go on foot, or on a pony, round the western side of
the lake, which is
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gazetteer links
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-- Dunmail Raise Stones
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-- Dunmail Raise
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-- Nag's Head Inn
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-- Ambleside to Keswick
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-- Swan Hotel
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