Tales and Legends of the English LakesArmistead, Wilson
General
Tales and Legends of the English Lakes
Armistead, Wilson
Folklore -- England -- Lake District; Legends -- England -- Lake District; Tales -- England -- Lake District
"Beneath this lowly, grass-encircled spot,
Lie the remains of Joseph of the Knot.
Death, grisly tyrant, no distinction shows
'Twixt him who all, and him who nothing knows.
Yes, ye! ye mighty sons of boasted wit!
All--all, like Joseph, must to death submit.
Though on his fingers many a ring he bore,
And round his brow the gaudy honours wore,
For him his plumes although the peacock shed,
And reynard's brush graced Joseph's hoary head;
Though armed with whips he constantly appeared,
Death mocked his honours, nor his armour feared.
But ah! despise not Joseph's humble lot--
His life so mean--his death so soon forgot:
In the last day--that great decisive day,
When death shall yield his temporary prey--
By lords, by kings, his fate may be desired--
Where nothing's given, nothing is required."
EMMA AND SIR EGLAMORE.
A LEGEND OF ULLSWATER.
About a quarter of a mile from Lyulph's Tower, a hunting seat of the
late Duke of Norfolk, on the banks of Ullswater, is a lonely brook, the
Airey or Aira, which, at Aira Force, falls over the rocks a height of 80
feet, into a beautiful and deep glen, covered with luxuriant foliage of
fern and sweet-scented hawthorns. A picturesque bridge unites the
precipitous rocks down which the foaming torrent pursues its ceaseless
course.
This beautiful waterfall is the scene of the touching legend of the
"Somnambulist," which has been versified by Wordsworth. The tale is,
that Emma, a beautiful lady, betrothed to one Sir Eglamore, was walking
in her sleep on the banks of the fall; and that her lover, who had
unexpectedly returned after a long absence--so long as to have affected
her health--was struck with the apparition of the maid, who had become
subject to night wanderings. He watched her for some time plucking the
twigs from the trees, and casting them into the stream, uncertain
whether she were a real object, or a mere phantom of his imagination. He
touched her, and, suddenly breaking her slumber, the affrighted maid
shrieked, and, starting back, fell down the rocks into the stream below.
The knight plunged in after her, and rescued her; but, though
consciousness returned for a short period, and she recognised him, she
expired within a few minutes upon the bank. The heart-broken knight
built a cell upon the edge of the fall, and lived there in solitude for
several years, shunning all intercourse with the world.
List, ye who pass by Lyulph's Tower
At eve, how softly then
Doth Aira Force, that torrent hoarse,
Speak from the woody glen!
Fit music for a solemn vale!
And holier seems the ground
To him who catches on the gale
The spirit of a mournful tale,
Embodied in the sound.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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