button to main menu  Otley's Guide 1823 (8th edn 1849)

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Page 180:-
But mark! she well the bargain knew;
A bun then from her pocket drew,
And shewed it first to little Cue,
Then over threw it;
Now flew the bun, now ran the dog,
For eager was the mangy rogue,
Nor stood to view it.
'Now, crafty sir, the bargain was,
That you should have what first did pass
Across the Bridge - so now alas!
The dog's your right;'
The cheater cheated, struck with shame,
Squinted and grinned, then in a flame
He vanished quite.
There is no doubt, however, that the Bridge was built previous to the time of Edward I.; as it appears that in the third year of that reign, there was a grant of pontage for its repair. It is built of freestone, and has three ribbed arches, the two larger of the span of 55 feet each, and the smallest of 28 feet. The roadway is 180 feet in length, but so narrow that 'two wheelbarrows tremble when they meet.' In heavy floods, the river rises a height of 15 feet or more. In ordinary seasons the battlements are about 52 feet above the level of the water. The views of the river from the centre are singularly beautiful; it here flows through a rocky channel, narrow, but of a profound depth; and the banks on either side are adorned with fine trees. In the spring of 1841, a drover committed suicide by precipitating himself over the parapet on the north side into the water.
  Kirkby Lonsdale
KIRKBY LONSDALE contains about 1300 inhabitants.[1] It was formerly, as its name implies, the Kirk or Church Town of Lunesdale. it possesses a too
[] By the census of 1841, 1260.
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gazetteer links
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button -- Kirkby Lonsdale
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