Daily Yellowstone journal. [volume] (Miles City, Mont.) 1882-1893, 1891-04-28

brian Peassntry.
Copyright, 1901. by Edgar L. wakeman.1
KEswIcK. England. April 13.-It would
not be a surprising thing II the English
lake district were as well known, in that
almost measureless topography of senti-
ment and universal geography Of litera-
ture, TO as many American as English peo-
pie. For out Of its tender heart have is-
sued countless streams Of ever living
thought and imagery, flowing 50 deep,
strong and Ear that they have long ago
penetated to uttarmost lands, and are as
fatheriand waters TO all who own the good
old Saxon tongue.
Perhaps, too, Of late years It is actually
seen, at least from one beaten track
through it, by as many American as En-
gitsh eyes. But our people as a rule do
not know it as Englishmen or Scotchmen
or Irishmen know IL We hurry through
e 10 critictse, compare, analyze, tolernte,
and thus lose the precious charm of those
things which. aside from its OCCASIONAL
snbhmity and always exquisite lowell
nnss, make the region almost consecrnted
ground That, too, not from ba<baKic
ruins, hideous scars Of war and more In
tolerAble monuments OF ecclesiastical
Strifes and victories. The tenderest Of all
benedietion Is here The Almighty never
elsewhere fashioned the face Of the earth
In more entrancing mold.
And tben, as IL the fat were that SIN
further grace should shine from every Seat
urs. lofty souled men and women were
born here or came here, and In the centur-
les worshiped God through all this tran
scendent handiwork by pouring forth their
hearts and souls in ever living psalms.
Thus was the complete magic wrought,
f.a 49,
In from the Irish sea to cut grim Lanca-
shire almost in twain, 70 the wondrous
tide bores Of Solway frth over against the
land Of Burns, you can turn your eyes
scarcely upon a mountain or vale, lake or
nrur, crag or tarn, rock or rivulet, forest
or copse, beck or waterfall, hamlet or
home that does not send thrilling through
the vision n exultant memory some tender
association with tender life, or strike some
subtle chord upon the harp Of fadeless
song.
The Scotch glory in the straths and crags
Of their highlands and islands; the Irish
have a pathetic and mournful pride in
.sieir a-aient Celtic and later ecclesiastic
monuments and an exultant pride in their
Giants Causeway, their lone peaks Of DON
egal and COnnemara, and their matchless
Killarney. while the English fondly fancy
the peaSs and valleys Of North Wales, are
sosnto bea.lties Of SURPRISING splendor.
But ths English lake district is, as 1t were,
nnfuro'u feast for common enjoyment Il
u the one spot In the three kingdoms
where gentle genii Of the place are power
ful enough 70 annihilate the race bitter.
ness Of centuries. Indeed, it Is the sweet
and pensive lullaby nest Of all Britain.
Its geography, ethnology and etymolo0y
may have much to do with this. The re |
gion, from a race standpoint, Is almost |
neutral ground Y Is in the northwestern,
and. all things considered. the most 10 |
mote. portion Of England Its area com
prises the northern. SEA detached part Of j
Lancashire and all Of the important shfres |
Of WestmorelAnda and Cumberland. Three |
sidea-its northern, western and southern |
-are shut In By the Irish SEA and estuaries.
while a natural barrier on the eastern side /
Il furmed by the Pennine range Of hills,
which furnishes Yorkshire, Durham and |
Northumberland their wild and SAVAGE
folis and moorS Peopled originally BY /
CAmbro-C Celts. their descendants chung 10 /
a region almost tnaooeasible In the past,
and thus sustained, from the barbaric stone
Age TO the golden ago OF poetry and an.
fsw abrupt divisions and impingcments
frum Roman, Danish and early EnRlish IN
vaston- All influences Cor change were
gradual and gentle, and never
marksdly unequal. from the English on the
east and south. the Irish on the west and
the CAledoOisnsen the north
During thres extsndsd visits 20 ehs
region. In which most Of my time ~.
paBsd among the peasAntry, there haya
oeen found very many disnimi laritias b.
tWnen these people and the peasant class In
any other portion Of England Though
he student Of boOkB may kaal to find thi.
Epparent in the literary remains OF the
host Of prose writer's and poets who drew
almost their sole Inspiration from the LAKE
and though there may remain no
evidence thar these curious distinctions At
Hracted the everyday attention Of the men
md women az genius, who 90 long lived
where these contrasts were constantly aD-
parent the interesting fact still rsmains
hat Cumbrian men and women, a. all the
Inhabitants of north Lancashire, Cumber-
and and Westmoreland are genericaIly
'allsd. are almost a. different from other
owly Engiish folk. In traditions, super
fitions. manners, customs and particularly
n vernacular, as arethose Of Wales. who
o patriotically treasure every vestige Of
hair ancient Kymric LIE and tongue
More fortunate than the poor clnnsmen
4 the Scottish Highlands. whom the de-
~ Of the clan system barbarously drove
rom their homes and sol, the decay OF
sndalism LETT these CumbriAn ~statesmen"
he actual possessors Of the soil Many Of
heir little estates" have been gradually
Wallowed mp By the nobility. and By rich
nen who have bocome mighty landholders
D the lake region But there are thou
Hnds remaining who today occupy the very
ame parcels Of ground. defined by the !
ienticnl metes aud bounds, possezsed BY
herr villein ancestors Of hundreds Of years
20.
These have stood stin." They have
little encnoachment / have
Jund ''stata1men's" houses In remote I
lans. all the way from the Solway 70 /
Iorocambe bay. where can be traced the ,
utire series Of evolutions in habitations :
'om a cell quarried out Of the mountain |
d 70 the half modern, heavily built, rock /
latched Cumbrian cottage Along the /
1Iway firth, &C Bownesa, can poiut out :