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Gentleman's Magazine 1751 p.52
have the appearance of huge fragments of rock, irregularly
heaped on one another; but in the prospect round, nature has
lavished such variety of beauty as can scarce be believed
upon report, or imagined by the most luxuriant fancy. The
plains of Basingthwaite, watered by a fine lake, appear like
a paradise to the West; and the islands that lie
interspersed among the windings of Darwent, and the lake of
Keswic, exceed description; beyond these, to the South, lie
the mountains of Barrowdale, which are yet higher than
Skiddow: The western seas, the Isle of Man, all the South
coast of Scotland, and the mountains of Pennygent and
Ingleborough, in Yorkshire, diversify other parts of this
delightful landscape. The spot upon which I stood is one
intire shiver of slate, and the precipice to the westward is
frightful. The plants of Skiddow are the myrtle berries,
generally called blackberries, the vitis idaea of
Dioscorides, mossberries, great variety of mosses, and among
others the muscus squammosus pulcher digitatus of
Tournefort.
On Friday morning, pursuant to our appointment, we set out
from Orthwaite [1], and our Cockermouth friends fell in with
us before we reached Keswic; so that we stay'd there no
longer than was necessary to hire a guide, and consequently
I had no time for critical examination. It is distant from
Orthwaite 7 computed miles, and forms the west side of the
base of Skiddow; it is skirted with the lake of
Basingthwaite, which is about one mile wide and 5 miles
long, and on the opposite side Widehope fells, with their
impending woods, form a very pleasing and romantic
appearance. The town seems to be ancient, and the poorer
inhabitants subsist chiefly by stealing, or clandestinely
buying of those that steal, the black-lead, which they sell
to Jews and other hawkers.
Near Keswic is also another lake about two miles broad, and
4 miles long, in which several beautiful islands are
interspersed, but not inhabited by German miners, as was
asserted by a worthy brother of yours lately defunct [2].
When I saw them they were so many Ortygias, or islands of
Calypso, covered with beautiful woods, which were then
felling.
On one of these, called Lady Island, Ld Derwentwater had
formerly a castle, now in ruins, intended to prevent the
depredations which were frequently committed by the Scots
before the union.
We left Keswic at 9 in the morning, and wou'd have proceeded
by water, and sent our horses overland, but this way of
travelling wou'd have cost us more time than we cou'd
afford. On our left, in the way from Keswic, a ridge of rude
craggy rocks extended near 4 miles; on our right was Keswic
lake, and beyond it a group of pyramidical hills, which
formed an uncommon appearance. At the head of Keswic lake,
the Darwent is contracted to a narrow river, and runs
between two precipices, covered with wood to the top, the
perpendicular height of which is 800 yards. On approaching
this place we imagined it to be our ne plus ultra, but our
guide soon convinced us that we were mistaken. On the West
side of the Darwent in this Herculean streight, and directly
under one of these stupendous precipices lies the village of
Grange. The white prominent rocks, which were discovered at
an immense height, thro' the apertures of the wood, would
have filled a poetical imagination with the ideas of the
Dryades, the Bacchum in remotis, and other fables of
antiquity. Here we were obliged many times to alight, the
gut being very rocky, and the mountains would indeed have
been impassable, if the river had not made a way.
We had now reached the Bowder stone of Barrowdale, which is
much the largest stone in England, being at least equal in
size to a first rate man of war; it lies close by the road
side, on the right hand, and seems to have been a fragment
detached from the impending precipice above, by lightening
or some other accident. From hence we had good road thro'
groves of hazel, which in this vale, as there is no occasion
for hedges, grow very large, and bear excellent nuts.
Before we came to Barrowdale chapel, which is situated on
the left, the valley expands, and the two streams divide,
which form the Darwent by their union. The area of
Barrowdale chapel
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