|
page 41
choaked up as they must have been with wood, lying out of
the way of communication with other parts of the Island, and
upon the edge of a hostile kingdom, could have little
attraction for the high-born and powerful; especially as the
more open parts of the country furnished positions for
castles and houses of defence, sufficient to repel any of
those sudden attacks, which, in the then rude state of
military knowledge, could be made upon them. Accordingly,
the more retired regions (and to such I am now confining
myself) must have been neglected or shunned even by the
persons whose baronial or signioral rights extended over
them, and left, doubtless, partly as a place of refuge for
outlaws and robbers, and partly granted out for the more
settled habitation of a few vassals following the employment
of shepherds or woodlanders. Hence these lakes and inner
vallies are unadorned by any remains of ancient grandeur,
castles, or monastic edifices, which are only found upon the
skirts of the country, as Furness Abbey, Calder Priory, the
Priory of Lannercost, Gleaston Castle, - long ago a
residence of the Flemings, - and the numerous ancient
castles of the Cliffords, the Lucys, and the Dacres. On the
southern side of these mountains, (especially in that part
known by the name of Furness Fells, which is more remote
from the borders,) the state of society would necessarily be
more settled; though it also was fashioned, not a little, by
its neighbourhood to a hostile king-
|