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Page 37:-
the rank of captain: He made himself very acceptable to the
Usurper, by taking prisoner Sir Timothy Featherstonhaugh at
the battle of Worcester. The same Brown had a brother named
Richard, whose son James likewise served under Cromwell.
Richard, however, being loyal, that he might prevent any
others of his sons from entering the service of the
parliament, sold How-Town, and purchased a customary
tenement at Knott, in the manor of Water-Millock. He
lived to a very great age; dying, as appears by the
parish-register, at the age of an hundred and four. Abraham
his son likewise lived to the age of ninety-nine years and
ten months; and in such surprising health and vigour, that
at the age of eighty-six he mowed in one day an acre of
land. His age and activity attracted the notice of the Duke
of Norfolk so far, that he promised to enfranchise his
estate, provided he lived to the age of an hundred; but this
his death prevented by two months.
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Swarth Beck
cataracts
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Next sail towards the Westmorland side of the Lake, to the
foot of Swarth-beck. If this brook chance to be full of
water, the vast number of grand cascades will here regale
the eye of the beholder: these fall in innumerable
gradations, over hollow craggy rocks, till the brook
precipitates itself into the Lake. The noise of these falls
is very considerable, and may be heard at the distance of
two miles, and is reverberated from rock to rock in a
thousand different tones. These sounds are the
barometer of the neighbourhood. Traditions handed won
from father to son have formed a set of rules, by which the
farmer is enabled to predict with tolerable certainty the
weather of the day from the sound these cascades emit the
preceding evening.
It might perhaps puzzle even a philosopher to assign a
reason why the different state of the atmosphere should thus
affect the sound: the peasants think not of the cause, but
are seldom mistaken in the event: this I know for certain,
that in a squally south wind, which blows in gusts from the
mountains, the noise and bellowing of these cataracts emit a
variety of notes, which I cannot better explain than by
comparing them to an AEolian Harp.
Also look at the black, barren, and almost perpendicular
mountain called Swarth-Fell: here your boatman will shew you
the rock down which the late Edward Hassel, Esq; led his
horse, that he might be in at the death of a fox; so steep
and dangerous is the descent, that no one since that time
durst ever attempt it, nor would any one give credit to it,
were there not at this day many living witnesses of the
desperate enterprize.
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fish, Ullswater
char
skelly
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By this time the fishermen will be ready with their boats
and nets, if ordered, to attend the travellers in their
return; I shall therefore say a few words concerning the
fishing, and the species of fish here found.
The fisheries of Ulswater belong to many different persons,
and pay to the lord of the adjoining soil a very high
quit-rent. Mr Hodgkinson has by much the largest share,
viz. from Stibray to Hole-Beck in Gowbarrow. The fish
found in this Lake are trout, perch, eels, char,
skellies; and a fish peculiar to this and buttermere,
(where there are very few,) called Grey Trout. These
grey trouts in form resemble the other trouts, but are much
larger, weighing thirty or forty pounds: one was killed a
few years ago which weighed fifty-six; but the ordinary
weight is from seven to twenty pounds each. They are found
chiefly in the deep water, below House-Holm island: they
are, however, sometimes taken in all parts of the Lake,
though but seldom, except in October, which is their
spawning time. During that month the King of
Patterdale usually sets a net across the foot of
Coldrill-Beck, where most of them go up to spawn: a few
indeed attempt getting up at Glenridding-Beck, but not one
has ever been known to enter any other of the streams. Some
of the trouts, however, escape the net, but are generally
taken by the neighbouring farmers, who strike them at
night-time with spears by the light of a torch. These
unlawful practices the Gentlemen of the neighbourhood have
not been able to prevent: It is indeed impossible they
should, for
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the
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gazetteer links
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-- "How Town" -- Howtown
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-- "Knott" -- Knotts Farm
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-- "Swarthbeck" -- Swarth Beck
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-- "Swarth Fell" -- Swarth Fell
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-- "Ulswater" -- (Ullswater (CL13inc)2)
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