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Page 156:-
The plumbago is the finest ever discovered: but there is
great uncertainty about finding it. At one time, a mass of
it was discovered lying along like a mighty tree, the
thicker part being of the finest quality, and the
ramifications of a poorer, till, at the extremities, it was
not worthy even to clean stoves. At other times the
searchers have been altogether at fault, for a long time
together. There was a time when the value of this plumbago
was so little known that the shepherds used it freely to
mark their sheep: and next, the proprietors were obtaining
from thirty to forty shillings a pound for the lead of one
single "sop" which yielded upwards of twenty-eight tons.
Those were the days when houses were built at the entrance,
where the workmen were obliged to change their clothes,
under inspection, lest they should he tempted to carry away
any of the precious stuff in their pockets.
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Borrowdale Yews
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Under the mine, (the wad) and a little onward, amidst
the copsewood, are the dark tops of the Borrowdale yews to
be seen,- the "fraternal four," which, as Wordsworth tells
us, form "one solemn and capacious grove." The size attained
by the yew in this district is astonishing. One which for
many years lay prostrate at the other end of Borrowdale,
measured nine yards in circumference, and contained 1,460
feet of wood. The famous Lorton yew (p.87.) has about the
same girth; and one of these four measures seven yards
round, at four feet from the ground.
At Seatoller, the roads which part off right and left are
familiar to the traveller who has accomplished the preceding
excursions,- the one leading to Rosthwaite and the other to
Honister Crag.
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gazetteer links
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-- (black lead mine, Seathwaite)
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-- Borrowdale Yews
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