The morning news., 1894-10-21

TO the petty value OF the estate ] had
boyishly determined to renounCe the
legacy; but as 7 had never visited the
glorious Lake district Of England. I be
came possessed Of a sudden impulse to
do this, now that I had an abundance of
leisure, and at the same time secretly in
spect my Insignificant Inheritance.
] was in London, at my accustomed inn,
with few old ONonian companions, when
this resolve was formed. They seemed to
have a clear perception of my real pur-
pose, and at once assailed me with jollying
jeers and all manner of cutting and bOis-
ferrous satire.
Suppose Tou'n restore your ancestral
halls, while you're gomez" said one Of my
friends soberly.
Dig out the moat repair the draw
bridge, mend the portcullis and plant
anew the family standard" solemnly
urged another.
Don't forget your friends, now. when
You come TO lease your shOoungs" in
sisted another In the same lofty and ex-
asperating strain.
In this way they gaily tormented me,
until, to hide my real purpose, announced
that my tour would be in Norway; at
which they all set up such an incredulous
shout and renewed tOrmenting banter.
that to evade their practical jokes and
merry prosecutions, I actually had Porter
Bob take my sparse luggage to the Kings
Cross station Of the North Eastern rail
way, rather than to the Euston station,
for the North Western, and COM
promised myself before them by
looking direct to Hull; at least
seating myself in a compartment
of the Flying Scotsman train with all
the composure Of a hardened criminal
I left the Flying Scotsman" at York
and crossed Yorkshire and Lancashire to
Windermere, I'm Westmoreland. Then fol-
lowed few weeks of the most pOetical
vvandnrfnpu fUtalIipapt traveller
possibly experience For out Of the heart
of this glorious region have issued count
less streams of thought and imagery, flow
ing so deep and strong and far that they
have penetrated to uttermost lands, and
are as fatherland waters TO all who own
the good old Saxon tongue.
To me 1t seemed that the sweetest ana
most encompassing of all benedictions
was here. The Almighty never elsewhere
fashioned the face Of the earth in more
enhancing mold. And then. as If the fat
were that added winsomeness and grace
should shine from every feature, lofty
souled men and women were born here,
or came here, and in the years worshipped
the God through all this transcendant
handiworlI by pouring forth their hearts
and souls in everything psalms.
Thus was the complete magic of THIS
Umbrian region wrought; until from
Morecambe Bay to Solway Firth, over
against the land of Burns, you can turn
your eyes scarcely upon mountain or vale,
lake or river, crag or tarn, rock or rivulet,
forest or copse, beck or waterfall, hamlet
or home, that does not send thrilling
through the vision to eXultate memory
some tender association with tender life.
or strike some subtle chord upon the
harp of fadeless song.
l wandered on foot and alone, save for
an occasional rest on the box of the swift
coaches, filled with gay tourists, which
wake endless echoes of stirring bugle
notes throughout the enchanted region
and thus came close to the things not set
down in guide books tales or song; to
things undiscoverable, even in the literary
remains of the host of prose writer's and
poets, who drew almost their sole inspra-
ton from this wondrous Lake country;
and to things without which / could not
make clear the lives of the few who have
their place within this simple tale.
l found first that here among the dales
and crags were an isolate people. These
dalesmen are nearly all statesmen" or
men owning and tilling their own pieces
of land, which have come down to them
intact from their forefathers. who were
enfranchised villeins, under the ancient
feudal lords.
To this very day, in countless instances.
they occupy the very same estates par
celed out to their ancestors for service in
the Border wars by the ancient barons.
They have sustained no encroachment.
They are land proud and house proud;
and they are as free as the wild fowl of
their mountain eeries and as stern as the
everlasting stone about them.
In remote glens and dales you will find
'statesmens' houses where can be traced
the entire series of evolutions in habita-
tion, from a cell quarried out of the noun
tain side to the half-modern, heavily built,
rock-tiled Umbrian cottage.
MANY are SO old that a1tarS and pa ryin crs
dug from the Roman wall of Severus, are
built into fireplaces and partition walls.
Wordsworth observed them in their Won
derful historic aspect, and marVeled that
they appeared to be received into the
bosom of the living principle of things"
so closely do they seem part of the hard
hills on which they stand
Precisely as in his time, outside these
stone built Umbrian cottages you will
come beneath the pleasant shade of syca
mores and always see standing near. the
tall frs through which the winds sing
when other trees are leafiess."
Each has its tiny orchard, whose occu-
pants. gnarled and messy, are grown to
the size Of primeyal forest trees. An
ample herb-bed is nurtured with the
greatest care. There is q near rill or
spring-spout with its ceaseless musical
wimple, and invariably a comely garden
titled with the diligence of those in Hol-
land.
The most comfortable Of stone outbuild-
| ings, often extending from tho main struc-
ture in the oldeo form of a stout enclos-
| ure, or court 'Ldds something Of faudal
! picture esqueness % these 'statesmens' fire
old homes, and give perfect winter hous-
| ing TO the cattle ami the diminutivc, but
| hardy Umbrian Inounta,a sheep; AMI no
home is without it's long stone shed for the
innumerable hives of bees which distil
from the mountain heather the darkest
but ever the sweetest, honey to be found
in Britain.
The interiors Of thC%a sturdy doInici'es
are found to bo none the loss characteris-
tic, Standing in the door OF any Of tncnl,
your eyes may again trace in the ANTIQUE $
of utensils and furnishings. a Cu,nplet g
museum of rustic household evolution.
from the stone age to our own sge of
! Brummagen and braiS.
YoJ VIII flnl vt.hiu them the quern. old
as Aryau life, the ancient Celtic mother
or drinkug-cup. the rudnst and earliest
/ OF spinning wheels, WIZ dIlft Of the first
/ English klns, varied hy faulty bits of
"Wedgewocd' brought here from Staf-
/ fordshirc by hawking Cdpsivs; strange old
| chests, clocks. bureaus and settles; all
/ mingled In most startling contrast with