Journals of Dorothy Wordsworth, Vol. 1 (of 2)Wordsworth, Dorothy
General
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
We found the ferryman at work in the field above his hut, and he was at
liberty to go with us, but, being wet and hungry, we begged that he
would let us sit by his fire till we had refreshed ourselves. This was
the first genuine Highland hut we had been in. We entered by the
cow-house, the house-door being within, at right angles to the outer
door. The woman was distressed that she had a bad fire, but she heaped
up some dry peats and heather, and, blowing it with her breath, in a
short time raised a blaze that scorched us into comfortable feelings. A
small part of the smoke found its way out of the hole of the chimney,
the rest through the open window-places, one of which was within the
recess of the fireplace, and made a frame to a little picture of the
restless lake and the opposite shore, seen when the outer door was open.
The woman of the house was very kind: whenever we asked her for anything
it seemed a fresh pleasure to her that she had it for us; she always
answered with a sort of softening down of the Scotch exclamation,
"Hoot!" "Ho! yes, ye'll get that," and hied to her cupboard in the
spence. We were amused with the phrase "Ye'll get that" in the
Highlands, which appeared to us as if it came from a perpetual feeling
of the difficulty with which most things are procured. We got oatmeal,
butter, bread and milk, made some porridge, and then departed. It was
rainy and cold, with a strong wind.
Coleridge was afraid of the cold in the boat, so he determined to walk
down the lake, pursuing the same road we had come along. There was
nothing very interesting for the first three or four miles on either
side of the water: to the right, uncultivated heath or poor
coppice-wood, and to the left, a scattering of meadow ground, patches of
corn, coppice-woods, and here and there a cottage. The wind fell, and it
began to rain heavily. On this William wrapped himself in the boatman's
plaid, and lay at the bottom of the boat till we came to a place where I
could not help rousing him.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account