The English LakesBradley, A. G. (Arthur Granville)
History
The English Lakes
Bradley, A. G. (Arthur Granville)
Lake District (England)
He was hung at Carlisle, and
Mary returned to her father's inn and resumed her former position. She
had no child and bore no reproach, among her simple neighbours the most
fortunate, probably, but the most celebrated of the villain's many
victims. She eventually married a farmer from Caldbeck, and her grave
may be seen to-day, near by that one distinguished by the curiously
sporting tombstone beneath which lies the dust of John Peel of immortal
memory.
Crummock is just twice the length of Buttermere, with about the same
average width of half a mile. Like the other, it is pressed between the
feet of steep mountains, and has the same charm at the open and upper
end of silvery strand shelving from meadowy banks, with the same
clusters of fir, alder, or gnarled oak grouped gracefully about the
grassy shore. Here, too, on still summer days the same crystal water
shows far out into the lake the clean, white, gravelly bottom on which
it lies. There are two or three boats, moreover, available on Crummock,
and it is out on the bosom of the lake that this whole beautiful vale,
above and below it, is displayed perhaps to the best advantage. The now
remoter heights of Honister and its companions fill the head. The steeps
of High Stile and Red Pike dip to the gorge near by, whence issues the
hoarse murmur of Scale Force making its sheer leap of a hundred and
twenty feet, and spraying with perennial moisture the ferns, mosses, and
feathery saplings that cling to its shaggy cliffs. Above the lower
heights upon the eastern shores rise the higher fells of Whiteside and
Grassmoor, the latter bearing the strange unhealed red scars where its
whole front was shaved away a century and a half ago by a tremendous
waterspout.
A May morning out on Crummock, the fly rod laid aside in despair for the
moment with its capricious little trout, though the compensations forbid
so untoward a word; the boat drifting idly with gently gurgling keel
upon the faint ripples stirred by the very softest of zephyrs; the
distant murmur of the Cocker splashing toward the lake head; the faint
dull roar of Scale Force, and, above all, the silent throng of
overhanging mountains fairly pealing with the cuckoo's note, is a memory
always to be treasured. Another such morning, too, comes back to me,
when splashes of brilliant blue lay here and there upon the eastern
shore of the lake, disclosing to a nearer view great beds of
bluebells at the height of their glory. A moonlight night again, the
sequel of the same or another such effulgent day, is before me as, idly
trolling for the bigger trout, those prowlers of the night, one felt the
awesome black shapes of the mountains piled up on every hand, while the
slow, measured stroke of the oar struck molten silver as we crossed and
recrossed the moon's shining path.
[Illustration: SCALE FORCE, CRUMMOCK WATER]
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.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account