But gracious spirits of the light Shall call a welcome down On her, the beauteous lady bright, And lead her to her own. Not to that home o'er which the tide Unceasing heaves and rolls; But through that porch which opens wide Into the land of souls. NOTES TO "BEKAN'S GHYLL." In the Chartulary of Furness Abbey, some rude Latin verses, written by John Stell a monk, refer to a plant called _Bekan_, which at some remote period grew in the valley in great abundance, whence the name of Bekansghyll was anciently derived. The etymology is thus metrically rendered: "Hæc vallis, tenuit olim sibi nomen ab herba Bekan, qua viruit; dulcis nunc tunc sed acerba, Inde domus nomen Bekanes-gill claruit ante." This plant "whose juice is now sweet, but was then bitter," is assumed to be one of the species of Nightshade which are indigenous in the dell and flourish there in great luxuriance; probably the Solanum Dulcamara, the bitter-sweet or woody nightshade, although the Atropa Belladonna, the deadly nightshade, also grows among the ruins of the Abbey. This "lurid offspring of Flora," as Mr. Beck calls it, the emblem of sorcery and witchcraft, might well give the name of Nightshade to that enchanting spot. But what authority the monks may have had for their derivation it is now impossible to ascertain. Various glossaries and lexicons are said to have been consulted for _bekan_, as signifying the deadly nightshade but without effect; "and after all," says Mr. Beck, "I am inclined to believe that Beckansgill is a creation of the monastic fancy." Bekan is Scandinavian, and a proper name: and has probably been localised in this district by the Northmen from the period of its colonisation. It is said to have been quite in accordance with the practice of these rovers to give the name of their chiefs not only to the mounds in which they were buried, but also in many cases to the valley or plain in which these were situated, or in which was their place of residence; or to those ghylls or small ravines, which, with the rivers or brooks, were most frequently the boundaries of property. Bekan's gill may be associated in some way with one of the northern settlers whose name has thus far outlived his memory in the district.