Journals of Dorothy Wordsworth, Vol. 1 (of 2)Wordsworth, Dorothy
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Journals of Dorothy Wordsworth, Vol. 1 (of 2)
Wordsworth, Dorothy
Authors, English -- 19th century -- Diaries; Wordsworth, Dorothy, 1771-1855 -- Diaries; Wordsworth, William, 1770-1850 -- Family
After ascending a considerable way we began to descend again; and now
we met a team of horses dragging an immense tree to the lead mines, to
repair or add to the building, and presently after we came to a cart,
with another large tree, and one horse left in it, right in the middle
of the highway. We were a little out of humour, thinking we must wait
till the team came back. There were men and boys without number all
staring at us; after a little consultation they set their shoulders to
the cart, and with a good heave all at once they moved it, and we passed
along. These people were decently dressed, and their manners decent;
there was no hooting or impudent laughter. Leadhills, another mining
village, was the place of our destination for the night; and soon after
we had passed the cart we came in sight of it. This village and the
mines belong to Lord Hopetoun; it has more stone houses than
Wanlockhead, one large old mansion, and a considerable number of old
trees--beeches, I believe. The trees told of the coldness of the
climate; they were more brown than green--far browner than the ripe
grass of the little hay-garths. Here, as at Wanlockhead, were haycocks,
hay-stacks, potato-beds, and kail-garths in every possible variety of
shape, but, I suppose from the irregularity of the ground, it looked far
less artificial--indeed, I should think that a painter might make
several beautiful pictures in this village. It straggles down both sides
of a mountain glen. As I have said, there is a large mansion. There is
also a stone building that looks like a school, and the houses are
single, or in clusters, or rows as it may chance.
We passed a decent-looking inn, the Hopetoun Arms; but the house of
Mrs. Otto, a widow, had been recommended to us with high encomiums. We
did not then understand Scotch inns, and were not quite satisfied at
first with our accommodations, but all things were smoothed over by
degrees; we had a fire lighted in our dirty parlour, tea came after a
reasonable waiting; and the fire with the gentle aid of twilight,
burnished up the room into cheerful comfort. Coleridge was weary; but
William and I walked out after tea. We talked with one of the miners,
who informed us that the building which we had supposed to be a school
was a library belonging to the village. He said they had got a book into
it a few weeks ago, which had cost thirty pounds, and that they had all
sorts of books. "What! have you Shakespeare?" "Yes, we have that," and
we found, on further inquiry, that they had a large library, of long
standing, that Lord Hopetoun had subscribed liberally to it, and that
gentlemen who came with him were in the habit of making larger or
smaller donations. Each man who had the benefit of it paid a small sum
monthly--I think about fourpence.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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