diff options
Diffstat (limited to '42856-0.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 42856-0.txt | 8250 |
1 files changed, 8250 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/42856-0.txt b/42856-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6533c97 --- /dev/null +++ b/42856-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8250 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42856 *** + + JOURNALS + OF + DOROTHY WORDSWORTH + VOL. I + + + + +[Illustration: _Dorothy Wordsworth_] + + + + + JOURNALS + OF + DOROTHY WORDSWORTH + + EDITED BY + WILLIAM KNIGHT + + VOL. I + + [Illustration: Rock of Names. Thirlmere.] + + London + MACMILLAN AND CO., LTD. + NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN CO. + 1897 + + _All rights reserved_ + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PAGE + PREFATORY NOTE vii + + I. DOROTHY WORDSWORTH'S JOURNAL, WRITTEN AT ALFOXDEN + (FROM 20TH JANUARY TO 22ND MAY 1798) 1 + + II. DOROTHY WORDSWORTH'S JOURNAL OF DAYS SPENT AT + HAMBURGH IN SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER 1798 19 + + III. DOROTHY WORDSWORTH'S JOURNAL, WRITTEN AT + GRASMERE (14TH MAY TO 21ST DECEMBER 1800) 29 + + IV. DOROTHY WORDSWORTH'S JOURNAL, WRITTEN AT + GRASMERE (FROM 10TH OCTOBER 1801 TO 29TH + DECEMBER 1801) 61 + + V. DOROTHY WORDSWORTH'S JOURNAL, WRITTEN AT + GRASMERE (FROM 1ST JANUARY 1802 TO 8TH JULY + 1802) 77 + + VI. DOROTHY WORDSWORTH'S JOURNAL, WRITTEN AT + GRASMERE (9TH JULY 1802 TO 11TH JANUARY 1803) 139 + + VII. RECOLLECTIONS OF A TOUR MADE IN SCOTLAND + (A.D. 1803) 159 + + + + +PREFATORY NOTE + + +The Journals written by Dorothy Wordsworth, and her reminiscences of +Tours made with her brother, are more interesting to posterity than her +letters. + +A few fragments from her Grasmere Journal were included by the late +Bishop of Lincoln in the _Memoirs_ of his uncle, published in 1850. The +_Recollections of a Tour made in Scotland_ in 1803, were edited in full +by the late Principal Shairp in the year 1874 (third edition 1894). In +1889, I included in my _Life of William Wordsworth_ most of the Journal +written at Alfoxden, much of that referring to Hamburg, and the greater +part of the longer Grasmere Journal. Some extracts from the Journal of a +Tour on the Continent made in 1820 (and of a similar one written by Mrs. +Wordsworth), as well as short records of subsequent visits to Scotland +and to the Isle of Man, were printed in the same volume. None of these, +however, were given in their entirety; nor is it desirable now to print +them _in extenso_, except in the case of the _Recollections of a Tour +made in Scotland_ in 1803. All the Journals contain numerous trivial +details, which bear ample witness to the "plain living and high +thinking" of the Wordsworth household--and, in this edition, samples of +these details are given--but there is no need to record all the cases in +which the sister wrote, "To-day I mended William's shirts," or "William +gathered sticks," or "I went in search of eggs," etc. etc. In all cases, +however, in which a sentence or paragraph, or several sentences and +paragraphs, in the Journals are left out, the omission is indicated by +means of asterisks. Nothing is omitted of any literary or biographical +value. Some persons may think that too much has been recorded, others +that everything should have been printed. As to this, posterity must +judge. I think that many, in future years, will value these Journals, +not only as a record of the relations existing between Wordsworth and +his sister, his wife, her family and his friends, but also as an +illustration of the remarkable literary brotherhood and sisterhood of +the period. + +Coming now to details. + + +I + +I do not know of any Journal written at Racedown, and I do not think +that Dorothy kept one while she and her brother lived in Dorsetshire. In +July 1797 they took up their residence at Alfoxden; but, so far as is +known, it was not till the 20th of January 1798 that Dorothy began to +write a Journal of her own and her brother's life at that place. It was +continued uninterruptedly till Thursday, 22nd May 1798. It gives +numerous details as to the visits of Coleridge to Alfoxden, and the +Wordsworths' visits to him at Nether-Stowey, as well as of the +circumstances under which several of their poems were composed. Many +sentences in the Journal present a curious resemblance to words and +phrases which occur in the poems; and there is no doubt that, as brother +and sister made use of the same note-book--some of Wordsworth's own +verses having been written by him in his sister's journal--the +copartnery may have extended to more than the common use of the same MS. + +The archaic spellings which occur in this Journal are retained; but +inaccuracies--such as Bartelmy for Bartholemew, Crewkshank for +Cruikshank--are corrected. In the edition of 1889 the words were printed +as written in MS.; but it is one thing to reproduce the _bona fide_ text +of a journal, or the _ipsissima verba_ of a poet, and quite another to +reproduce the incorrect spellings of his sister. + + +II + +From the Journal of the days spent at Hamburg in 1798--when the +Wordsworths were on their way to Goslar, and Coleridge to +Ratzeburg--only a few extracts are given, dating from 14th September to +3rd October of that year. These explain themselves. + + +III-VI + +Of the Grasmere Journals much more is given, and a great deal that was +omitted from the first volume of the _Life of Wordsworth_ in 1889, is +now printed. To many readers this will be by far the most interesting +section of all Dorothy Wordsworth's writings. It not only contains +exquisite descriptions of Grasmere and its district--a most felicitous +record of the changes of the seasons and the progress of the year, +details as to flower and tree, bird and beast, mountain and lake--but it +casts a flood of light on the circumstances under which her brother's +poems were composed. It also discloses much as to the doings of the +Wordsworth household, of the visits of Coleridge and others, while it +vividly illustrates the peasant life of Westmoreland at the beginning of +this century. What I have seen of this Journal extends from 14th May to +21st December 1800, and from 10th October 1801 to 16th January 1803. It +is here printed in four sections. + + +VII + +When the late Principal Shairp edited the _Recollections of a Tour made +in Scotland_ in 1803, he inserted an elaborate and valuable +introduction, with a few explanatory and topographical notes. With the +consent of Mrs. Shairp, and of the Principal's son, Sheriff J. C. +Shairp, many of them are now reproduced, with the initials J. C. S. +appended. As some notes were needed at these places, and I could only +have slightly varied the statements of fact, it seemed better for the +reader, and more respectful to the memory of such a Wordsworthian as the +late Principal was, to record them as his. I cordially thank Mrs. +Shairp, and her son, for their kindness in this matter. It should be +added that Dorothy Wordsworth's archaic spelling of many of the names of +places, such as--Lanerk, Ulswater, Strath Eyer, Loch Ketterine, +Inversneyde, etc., are retained. + +These Recollections of the Tour made in Scotland were not all written +down at the time during the journey. Many of them were "afterthoughts." +The Alfoxden and Grasmere Journals were "diaries," in the sense +that--except when the contrary is stated--they were written down day by +day; but certain portions of the Scottish Journal suggest either that +they were entirely written after the return to Grasmere, or were then +considerably expanded. I have not seen the original MS. Dorothy +transcribed it in full for her friend Mrs. Clarkson, commencing the work +in 1803, and finishing it on 31st May 1805 (see vol. ii. p. 78). This +transcript I have seen. It is the only one now traceable. + +It should be mentioned that Dorothy Wordsworth was often quite incorrect +in her dates, both as to the day of the week and the month. Minute +accuracy on these points did not count for much at that time; and very +often a mistake in the date of one entry in her Journal brought with it +a long series of future errors. The same remark applies to the Grasmere +Journal, and to the record of the Continental Tour of 1820. + +Many friends and students of Wordsworth regretted the long delay in the +publication of the Tour made in Scotland in 1803. In the _Recollections +of the Table-Talk of Samuel Rogers_ (1856), p. 208, we find the +following: "I do indeed regret that Wordsworth has printed only +fragments of his sister's journal; it is most excellent, and ought to +have been published entire." It will always hold a place of honour in +itinerary literature. It possesses a singular charm, and has abiding +interest, not only as a record of travel, but also as a mirror of +Scottish life and character nearly a hundred years ago. + + +VIII + +The Journal of a Mountain Ramble, by William and Dorothy Wordsworth in +November 1805, calls for no special remark. The ramble was from Grasmere +by Rydal and Kirkstone Pass to Patterdale and Ullswater, thence to the +top of Place Fell, at the foot of which Wordsworth thought of +buying--and did afterwards buy--a small property near the Lake, thence +to Yanworth, returning to Grasmere by Kirkstone again. The story of this +"ramble," written by Dorothy, was afterwards incorporated in part by +William Wordsworth in his prose _Description of the Scenery of the +Lakes_--another curious instance of their literary copartnery. + + +IX + +In 1820 the poet, his wife, and sister, along with Mr. and Mrs. +Monkhouse, and Miss Horrocks (a sister of Mrs. Monkhouse), spent more +than three months on the Continent. They left Lambeth on the 10th of +July, and returned to London in November. Starting from Dover on 11th +July, they went by Brussels to Cologne, up the Rhine to Switzerland, +were joined by Henry Crabb Robinson at Lucerne, crossed over to the +Italian Lakes, visited Milan, came back to Switzerland, and passed +through France to Paris, where they spent a month. Dorothy Wordsworth +wrote a minute and very careful Journal of this tour, taking notes at +the time, and extending them on her return to Westmoreland. Mrs. +Wordsworth kept a shorter record of the same journey. Crabb Robinson +also wrote a diary of it. Wordsworth recorded and idealised his tour in +a series of poems, named by him "Memorials of a Tour on the Continent, +1820," very few of which were written on the spot; and when, in the +after-leisure of Rydal Mount, he set to work upon them, it is evident +that he consulted, and made frequent use of, the two family Journals, +particularly the one written by his sister. In a letter to Mrs. Clarkson +from Coblentz, dated 22nd July, Dorothy said: "Journals we shall have in +abundance; for all, except my brother and Mrs. Monkhouse, keep a +journal. Mine is nothing but notes, unintelligible to any one but +myself. I look forward, however, to many a pleasant hour's employment at +Rydal Mount in filling up the chasms." + +The originals of these two Journals still exist, and it is hard to say +whether the jottings taken at the time by the wife, or the extended +Journal afterwards written by the sister, is the more admirable, both as +a record of travel and as a commentary on the poet's work. Dorothy's MS. +is nearly as long as her Recollections of the Scottish Tour of 1803. +Extracts from both Journals were published in the library edition of the +Poems in 1884, and in the _Life of William Wordsworth_ in 1889; but +these were limited to passages illustrative of the Poems. + +It is not expedient to print either Journal in full. There are, +however, so many passages of interest and beauty in each--presenting a +vivid picture of the towns and countries through which the Wordsworths +passed, and of the style of continental travelling in those days--that +it seems desirable to insert more numerous extracts from them than those +which have been already printed. They will be found to illustrate much +of the state of things in Germany, Switzerland, Italy and France in the +first quarter of the present century; while they afford an interesting +contrast to that which meets the eye of the traveller, and ministers to +his wants, at the present day. In the 80 pages extracted from Dorothy's +Journal alone, it is such passages that have, in the main, been +selected. + +In October 1821, Mr. Robinson was a visitor at Rydal Mount; and after +reading over the Journals of Mrs. and Dorothy Wordsworth, he wrote thus +in his _Diary_:-- + + "_2nd Oct. '21._--I read to-day part of Miss, and also Mrs. W.'s + Journal in Switzerland. They put mine to shame.[1] They had adopted + a plan of journalising which could not fail to render the account + amusing and informing. Mrs. W., in particular, frequently + described, as in a panorama, the objects around her; and these were + written on the spot: and I recollect her often sitting on the + grass, not aware of what kind of employment she had. Now it is + evident that a succession of such pictures must represent the face + of the country. Their Journals were alike abundant in observation + (in which the writers showed an enviable faculty), and were sparing + of reflections, which ought rather to be excited by than obtruded + in a book of travels. I think I shall profit on some future + occasion by the hint I have taken." + + [Footnote 1: Perhaps the most interesting entry in Henry Crabb + Robinson's Journal of the tour is the following: "_26th June + 1820._--I made some cheap purchases: if anything _not wanted_ + can be cheap."] + +Again, in November 1823, Robinson wrote:-- + + "Finished Mrs. Wordsworth's Journal. I do not know when I have felt + more humble than in reading it. It is so superior to my own. She + saw so much more than I did, though we were side by side during a + great part of the time." + +Robinson advised Dorothy Wordsworth to publish her Journal of this +Continental Tour, and she replied to him, 23rd May 1824:-- + + "... Your advice respecting my Continental Journal is, I am sure, + very good, provided it were worth while to make a book of it, + _i.e._ provided I _could_ do so, and provided it were my wish; but + it is not. 'Far better,' I say, 'make another tour, and write the + Journal on a different plan!' In recopying it, I should, as you + advise, omit considerable portions of the description.... But, + observe, my object is not to make a book, but to leave to my niece + a neatly-penned memorial of those few interesting months of our + lives...." + + +X + +In 1822, Dorothy Wordsworth went with Joanna Hutchinson to Scotland, for +change of air and scene. She wrote of this journey:-- + + "I had for years promised Joanna to go with her to Edinburgh--that + was her object; but we planned a little tour, up the Forth to + Stirling, thence by track-boat to Glasgow; from Dumbarton to Rob + Roy's cave by steam; stopping at Tarbet; thence in a cart to + Inverary; back again to Glasgow, down Loch Fyne, and up the Clyde; + thence on the coach to Lanark; and from Lanark to Moffat in a cart. + There we stopped two days, my companion being an invalid; and she + fancied the waters might cure her, but a bathing-place which nobody + frequents is never in order; and we were glad to leave Moffat, + crossing the wild country again in a cart, to the banks of the + river Esk. We returned to Edinburgh for the sake of warm baths. We + were three weeks in lodgings at Edinburgh. Joanna had much of that + sort of pleasure which one has in first seeing a foreign country; + and in our travels, whether on the outside of a coach, on the deck + of a steamboat, or in whatever way we got forward, she was always + cheerful, never complaining of bad fare, bad inns, or anything + else...." + +It was a short excursion, but was memorialised in the usual way by +Dorothy's ever ready pen. + + +XI + +In the following year, 1823, Wordsworth and his wife left Lee Priory, +"for a little tour in Flanders and Holland," as he phrased it in a +letter to John Kenyon. He wrote 16th May:-- + + "We shall go to Dover, with a view to embark for Ostend to-morrow, + unless detained by similar obstacles. From Ostend we mean to go to + Ghent, to Antwerp, Breda, Utrecht, Amsterdam--to Rotterdam by + Haarlem, the Hague, and Leyden--thence to Antwerp by another route, + and perhaps shall return by Mechlin, Brussels, Lille, and Ypres to + Calais--or direct to Ostend as we came. We hope to be landed in + England within a month. We shall hurry through London homewards, + where we are naturally anxious already to be, having left Rydal + Mount so far back as February...." + +The extracts taken from Mary Wordsworth's Journal show how far they +conformed to, and how far they departed from, their original plan of +travel. In them will be found the same directness and simplicity, the +same vividness of touch, as are seen in her Journal of the longer tour +taken in 1820. + + +XII + +In 1828, Dorothy Wordsworth went to the Isle of Man, accompanied by +Mrs. Wordsworth's sister Joanna, to visit her brother Henry Hutchinson. +This was a visit, earlier by five years than that which the poet took +with his sister to the Isle of Man, before proceeding to Scotland, a +tour which gave rise to so many sonnets. Of the later tour she kept no +Journal, but of the earlier one some records survive, from which a few +extracts have been made. + +In conclusion, I must mention the special kindness of the late Mrs. +Wordsworth, the daughter-in-law of the poet, and of Mr. Gordon +Wordsworth his grandson, in granting free access to all the Journals and +MSS. they possessed, and now possess. Without their aid the publication +of these volumes would have been impossible. + +WILLIAM KNIGHT. + + + + + I + + DOROTHY WORDSWORTH'S JOURNAL + WRITTEN AT ALFOXDEN + FROM 20TH JANUARY TO 22ND MAY 1798 + +DOROTHY WORDSWORTH'S JOURNAL, WRITTEN AT ALFOXDEN IN 1798[2] + + [Footnote 2: In the original MS. there is no title. The above is a + descriptive one, given by the editor.--ED.] + + +Alfoxden, _January 20th 1798_.--The green paths down the hill-sides are +channels for streams. The young wheat is streaked by silver lines of +water running between the ridges, the sheep are gathered together on the +slopes. After the wet dark days, the country seems more populous. It +peoples itself in the sunbeams. The garden, mimic of spring, is gay with +flowers. The purple-starred hepatica spreads itself in the sun, and the +clustering snow-drops put forth their white heads, at first upright, +ribbed with green, and like a rosebud when completely opened, hanging +their heads downwards, but slowly lengthening their slender stems. The +slanting woods of an unvarying brown, showing the light through the thin +net-work of their upper boughs. Upon the highest ridge of that round +hill covered with planted oaks, the shafts of the trees show in the +light like the columns of a ruin. + +_21st._ Walked on the hill-tops--a warm day. Sate under the firs in the +park. The tops of the beeches of a brown-red, or crimson. Those oaks, +fanned by the sea breeze, thick with feathery sea-green moss, as a grove +not stripped of its leaves. Moss cups more proper than acorns for fairy +goblets. + +_22nd._--Walked through the wood to Holford. The ivy twisting round the +oaks like bristled serpents. The day cold--a warm shelter in the +hollies, capriciously bearing berries. Query: Are the male and female +flowers on separate trees? + +_23rd._--Bright sunshine, went out at 3 o'clock. The sea perfectly calm +blue, streaked with deeper colour by the clouds, and tongues or points +of sand; on our return of a gloomy red. The sun gone down. The crescent +moon, Jupiter, and Venus. The sound of the sea distinctly heard on the +tops of the hills, which we could never hear in summer. We attribute +this partly to the bareness of the trees, but chiefly to the absence of +the singing of birds, the hum of insects, that noiseless noise which +lives in the summer air.[3] The villages marked out by beautiful beds of +smoke. The turf fading into the mountain road. The scarlet flowers of +the moss. + + [Footnote 3: Compare Keats, _Miscellaneous Poems_-- + + There crept + A little noiseless noise amongst the leaves + Born of the very sigh that silence heaves. ED. + + And Coleridge, _The Æolian Harp_-- + + The stilly murmur of the distant sea + Tells us of silence. ED.] + +_24th._--Walked between half-past three and half-past five. The evening +cold and clear. The sea of a sober grey, streaked by the deeper grey +clouds. The half dead sound of the near sheep-bell, in the hollow of the +sloping coombe, exquisitely soothing. + +_25th._--Went to Poole's after tea. The sky spread over with one +continuous cloud, whitened by the light of the moon, which, though her +dim shape was seen, did not throw forth so strong a light as to chequer +the earth with shadows. At once the clouds seemed to cleave asunder, and +left her in the centre of a black-blue vault. She sailed along, followed +by multitudes of stars, small, and bright, and sharp. Their brightness +seemed concentrated, (half-moon). + +_26th._--Walked upon the hill-tops; followed the sheep tracks till we +overlooked the larger coombe. Sat in the sunshine. The distant +sheep-bells, the sound of the stream; the woodman winding along the +half-marked road with his laden pony; locks of wool still spangled with +the dewdrops; the blue-grey sea, shaded with immense masses of cloud, +not streaked; the sheep glittering in the sunshine. Returned through the +wood. The trees skirting the wood, being exposed more directly to the +action of the sea breeze, stripped of the net-work of their upper +boughs, which are stiff and erect, like black skeletons; the ground +strewed with the red berries of the holly. Set forward before two +o'clock. Returned a little after four. + +_27th._--Walked from seven o'clock till half-past eight. Upon the whole +an uninteresting evening. Only once while we were in the wood the moon +burst through the invisible veil which enveloped her, the shadows of the +oaks blackened, and their lines became more strongly marked. The +withered leaves were coloured with a deeper yellow, a brighter gloss +spotted the hollies; again her form became dimmer; the sky flat, +unmarked by distances, a white thin cloud. The manufacturer's dog makes +a strange, uncouth howl, which it continues many minutes after there is +no noise near it but that of the brook. It howls at the murmur of the +village stream. + +_28th._--Walked only to the mill. + +_29th._--A very stormy day. William walked to the top of the hill to see +the sea. Nothing distinguishable but a heavy blackness. An immense bough +riven from one of the fir trees. + +_30th._--William called me into the garden to observe a singular +appearance about the moon. A perfect rainbow, within the bow one star, +only of colours more vivid. The semi-circle soon became a complete +circle, and in the course of three or four minutes the whole faded away. +Walked to the blacksmith's and the baker's; an uninteresting evening. + +_31st._--Set forward to Stowey at half-past five. A violent storm in +the wood; sheltered under the hollies. When we left home the moon +immensely large, the sky scattered over with clouds. These soon closed +in, contracting the dimensions of the moon without concealing her. The +sound of the pattering shower, and the gusts of wind, very grand. Left +the wood when nothing remained of the storm but the driving wind, and a +few scattering drops of rain. Presently all clear, Venus first showing +herself between the struggling clouds; afterwards Jupiter appeared. The +hawthorn hedges, black and pointed, glittering with millions of diamond +drops; the hollies shining with broader patches of light. The road to +the village of Holford glittered like another stream. On our return, the +wind high--a violent storm of hail and rain at the Castle of Comfort. +All the Heavens seemed in one perpetual motion when the rain ceased; the +moon appearing, now half veiled, and now retired behind heavy clouds, +the stars still moving, the roads very dirty. + +_February 1st._--About two hours before dinner, set forward towards Mr. +Bartholemew's.[4] The wind blew so keen in our faces that we felt +ourselves inclined to seek the covert of the wood. There we had a warm +shelter, gathered a burthen of large rotten boughs blown down by the +wind of the preceding night. The sun shone clear, but all at once a +heavy blackness hung over the sea. The trees almost _roared_, and the +ground seemed in motion with the multitudes of dancing leaves, which +made a rustling sound, distinct from that of the trees. Still the asses +pastured in quietness under the hollies, undisturbed by these +forerunners of the storm. The wind beat furiously against us as we +returned. Full moon. She rose in uncommon majesty over the sea, slowly +ascending through the clouds. Sat with the window open an hour in the +moonlight. + + [Footnote 4: Mr. Bartholemew rented Alfoxden, and sub-let the house to + Wordsworth.--ED.] + +_2nd._--Walked through the wood, and on to the Downs before dinner; a +warm pleasant air. The sun shone, but was often obscured by straggling +clouds. The redbreasts made a ceaseless song in the woods. The wind rose +very high in the evening. The room smoked so that we were obliged to +quit it. Young lambs in a green pasture in the Coombe, thick legs, large +heads, black staring eyes. + +_3rd._--A mild morning, the windows open at breakfast, the redbreasts +singing in the garden. Walked with Coleridge over the hills. The sea at +first obscured by vapour; that vapour afterwards slid in one mighty mass +along the sea-shore; the islands and one point of land clear beyond it. +The distant country (which was purple in the clear dull air), overhung +by straggling clouds that sailed over it, appeared like the darker +clouds, which are often seen at a great distance apparently motionless, +while the nearer ones pass quickly over them, driven by the lower winds. +I never saw such a union of earth, sky, and sea. The clouds beneath our +feet spread themselves to the water, and the clouds of the sky almost +joined them. Gathered sticks in the wood; a perfect stillness. The +redbreasts sang upon the leafless boughs. Of a great number of sheep in +the field, only one standing. Returned to dinner at five o'clock. The +moonlight still and warm as a summer's night at nine o'clock. + +_4th._--Walked a great part of the way to Stowey with Coleridge. The +morning warm and sunny. The young lasses seen on the hill-tops, in the +villages and roads, in their summer holiday clothes--pink petticoats and +blue. Mothers with their children in arms, and the little ones that +could just walk, tottering by their side. Midges or small flies spinning +in the sunshine; the songs of the lark and redbreast; daisies upon the +turf; the hazels in blossom; honeysuckles budding. I saw one solitary +strawberry flower under a hedge. The furze gay with blossom. The moss +rubbed from the pailings by the sheep, that leave locks of wool, and the +red marks with which they are spotted, upon the wood. + +_5th._--Walked to Stowey with Coleridge, returned by Woodlands; a very +warm day. In the continued singing of birds distinguished the notes of a +blackbird or thrush. The sea overshadowed by a thick dark mist, the land +in sunshine. The sheltered oaks and beeches still retaining their brown +leaves. Observed some trees putting out red shoots. Query: What trees +are they? + +_6th._--Walked to Stowey over the hills, returned to tea, a cold and +clear evening, the roads in some parts frozen hard. The sea hid by mist +all the day. + +_7th._--Turned towards Potsdam, but finding the way dirty, changed our +course. Cottage gardens the object of our walk. Went up the smaller +Coombe to Woodlands, to the blacksmith's, the baker's, and through the +village of Holford. Still misty over the sea. The air very delightful. +We saw nothing very new, or interesting. + +_8th._--Went up the Park, and over the tops of the hills, till we came +to a new and very delicious pathway, which conducted us to the Coombe. +Sat a considerable time upon the heath. Its surface restless and +glittering with the motion of the scattered piles of withered grass, and +the waving of the spiders' threads. On our return the mist still hanging +over the sea, but the opposite coast clear, and the rocky cliffs +distinguishable. In the deep Coombe, as we stood upon the sunless hill, +we saw miles of grass, light and glittering, and the insects passing. + +_9th._--William gathered sticks.... + +_10th._--Walked to Woodlands, and to the waterfall. The adder's-tongue +and the ferns green in the low damp dell. These plants now in perpetual +motion from the current of the air; in summer only moved by the +drippings of the rocks. A cloudy day. + +_11th._--Walked with Coleridge near to Stowey. The day pleasant, but +cloudy. + +_12th._--Walked alone to Stowey. Returned in the evening with Coleridge. +A mild, pleasant, cloudy day. + +_13th._--Walked with Coleridge through the wood. A mild and pleasant +morning, the near prospect clear. The ridges of the hills fringed with +wood, showing the sea through them like the white sky, and still beyond +the dim horizon of the distant hills, hanging as it were in one +undetermined line between sea and sky. + +_14th._--Gathered sticks with William in the wood, he being unwell and +not able to go further. The young birch trees of a bright red, through +which gleams a shade of purple. Sat down in a thick part of the wood. +The near trees still, even to their topmost boughs, but a perpetual +motion in those that skirt the wood. The breeze rose gently; its path +distinctly marked, till it came to the very spot where we were. + +_15th._--Gathered sticks in the further wood. The dell green with moss +and brambles, and the tall and slender pillars of the unbranching oaks. +I crossed the water with letters; returned to Wm. and Basil. A shower +met us in the wood, and a ruffling breeze. + +_16th._--Went for eggs into the Coombe, and to the baker's; a hail +shower; brought home large burthens of sticks, a starlight evening, the +sky closed in, and the ground white with snow before we went to bed. + +_17th._--A deep snow upon the ground. Wm. and Coleridge walked to Mr. +Bartholemew's, and to Stowey. Wm. returned, and we walked through the +wood into the Coombe to fetch some eggs. The sun shone bright and clear. +A deep stillness in the thickest part of the wood, undisturbed except by +the occasional dropping of the snow from the holly boughs; no other +sound but that of the water, and the slender notes of a redbreast, which +sang at intervals on the outskirts of the southern side of the wood. +There the bright green moss was bare at the roots of the trees, and the +little birds were upon it. The whole appearance of the wood was +enchanting; and each tree, taken singly, was beautiful. The branches of +the hollies pendent with their white burden, but still showing their +bright red berries, and their glossy green leaves. The bare branches of +the oaks thickened by the snow. + +_18th._--Walked after dinner beyond Woodlands.[5] A sharp and very cold +evening; first observed the crescent moon, a silvery line, a thready +bow, attended by Jupiter and Venus in their palest hues. + + [Footnote 5: This house was afterwards John Kenyon's,--to whom + _Aurora Leigh_ is dedicated,--and was subsequently the residence + of the Rev. William Nichols, author of _The Quantocks and their + Associations_.--ED.] + +_19th._--I walked to Stowey before dinner; Wm. unable to go all the way. +Returned alone; a fine sunny, clear, frosty day. The sea still, and +blue, and broad, and smooth. + +_20th._--Walked after dinner towards Woodlands. + +_21st._--Coleridge came in the morning, which prevented our walking. Wm. +went through the wood with him towards Stowey; a very stormy night. + +_22nd._--Coleridge came in the morning to dinner. Wm. and I walked after +dinner to Woodlands; the moon and two planets; sharp and frosty. Met a +razor-grinder with a soldier's jacket on, a knapsack upon his back, and +a boy to drag his wheel. The sea very black, and making a loud noise as +we came through the wood, loud as if disturbed, and the wind was silent. + +_23rd._--William walked with Coleridge in the morning. I did not go out. + +_24th._--Went to the hill-top. Sat a considerable time overlooking the +country towards the sea. The air blew pleasantly round us. The landscape +mildly interesting. The Welsh hills capped by a huge range of tumultuous +white clouds. The sea, spotted with white, of a bluish grey in general, +and streaked with darker lines. The near shores clear; scattered farm +houses, half-concealed by green mossy orchards, fresh straw lying at the +doors; hay-stacks in the fields. Brown fallows, the springing wheat, +like a shade of green over the brown earth, and the choice meadow plots, +full of sheep and lambs, of a soft and vivid green; a few wreaths of +blue smoke, spreading along the ground; the oaks and beeches in the +hedges retaining their yellow leaves; the distant prospect on the land +side, islanded with sunshine; the sea, like a basin full to the margin; +the dark fresh-ploughed fields; the turnips of a lively rough green. +Returned through the wood. + +_25th._--I lay down in the morning, though the whole day was very +pleasant, and the evening fine. We did not walk. + +_26th._--Coleridge came in the morning, and Mr. and Mrs. Cruikshank[6]; +walked with Coleridge nearly to Stowey after dinner. A very clear +afternoon. We lay sidelong upon the turf, and gazed on the landscape +till it melted into more than natural loveliness. The sea very uniform, +of a pale greyish blue, only one distant bay, bright and blue as a sky; +had there been a vessel sailing up it, a perfect image of delight. +Walked to the top of a high hill to see a fortification. Again sat down +to feed upon the prospect; a magnificent scene, _curiously_ spread out +for even minute inspection, though so extensive that the mind is afraid +to calculate its bounds. A winter prospect shows every cottage, every +farm, and the forms of distant trees, such as in summer have no +distinguishing mark. On our return, Jupiter and Venus before us. While +the twilight still overpowered the light of the moon, we were reminded +that she was shining bright above our heads, by our faint shadows going +before us. We had seen her on the tops of the hills, melting into the +blue sky. Poole called while we were absent. + + [Footnote 6: Of Nether-Stowey, the agent of the Earl of Egmont.--ED.] + +_27th._--I walked to Stowey in the evening. Wm. and Basil went with me +through the wood. The prospect bright, yet _mildly_ beautiful. The sea +big and white, swelled to the very shores, but round and high in the +middle. Coleridge returned with me, as far as the wood. A very bright +moonlight night. Venus almost like another moon. Lost to us at Alfoxden +long before she goes down the large white sea. + + * * * * * * + +_March 1st._--We rose early. A thick fog obscured the distant prospect +entirely, but the shapes of the nearer trees and the dome of the wood +dimly seen and dilated. It cleared away between ten and eleven. The +shapes of the mist, slowly moving along, exquisitely beautiful; passing +over the sheep they almost seemed to have more of life than those quiet +creatures. The unseen birds singing in the mist.[7] + + [Footnote 7: Compare _The Recluse_, 1. 91-- + + Her Voice was like a hidden Bird that sang. ED.] + +_2nd._--Went a part of the way home with Coleridge in the morning. +Gathered fir apples afterwards under the trees. + +_3rd._--I went to the shoemaker's. William lay under the trees till my +return. Afterwards went to the secluded farm house in search of eggs, +and returned over the hill. A very mild, cloudy evening. The rose trees +in the hedges and the elders budding. + +_4th._--Walked to Woodlands after dinner, a pleasant evening. + +_5th._--Gathered fir-apples. A thick fog came on. Walked to the baker's +and the shoemaker's, and through the fields towards Woodlands. On our +return, found Tom Poole in the parlour. He drank tea with us. + +_6th._--A pleasant morning, the sea white and bright, and full to the +brim. I walked to see Coleridge in the evening. William went with me to +the wood. Coleridge very ill. It was a mild, pleasant afternoon, but the +evening became very foggy; when I was near Woodlands, the fog overhead +became thin, and I saw the shapes of the Central Stars. Again it closed, +and the whole sky was the same. + +_7th._--William and I drank tea at Coleridge's. A cloudy sky. Observed +nothing particularly interesting--the distant prospect obscured. One +only leaf upon the top of a tree--the sole remaining leaf--danced round +and round like a rag blown by the wind.[8] + + [Footnote 8: Did this suggest the lines in _Christabel_?-- + + The one red leaf, the last of its clan, + That dances as often as dance it can, + Hanging so light, and hanging so high, + On the topmost twig that looks up at the sky. ED.] + +_8th._--Walked in the Park in the morning. I sate under the fir trees. +Coleridge came after dinner, so we did not walk again. A foggy morning, +but a clear sunny day. + +_9th._--A clear sunny morning, went to meet Mr. and Mrs. Coleridge. The +day very warm. + +_10th._--Coleridge, Wm., and I walked in the evening to the top of the +hill. We all passed the morning in sauntering about the park and +gardens, the children playing about, the old man at the top of the hill +gathering furze; interesting groups of human creatures, the young +frisking and dancing in the sun, the elder quietly drinking in the life +and soul of the sun and air. + +_11th._--A cold day. The children went down towards the sea. William and +I walked to the top of the hills above Holford. Met the blacksmith. +Pleasant to see the labourer on Sunday jump with the friskiness of a cow +upon a sunny day. + +_12th._--Tom Poole returned with Coleridge to dinner, a brisk, cold, +sunny day; did not walk. + +_13th._--Poole dined with us. William and I strolled into the wood. +Coleridge called us into the house. + + * * * * * * + +_15th._--I have neglected to set down the occurrences of this week, so I +do not recollect how we disposed of ourselves to-day. + +_16th._--William, and Coleridge, and I walked in the Park a short time. +I wrote to ----. William very ill, better in the evening; and we called +round by Potsdam. + +_17th._--I do not remember this day. + +_18th._--The Coleridges left us. A cold, windy morning. Walked with +them half way. On our return, sheltered under the hollies, during a +hail-shower. The withered leaves danced with the hailstones. William +wrote a description of the storm.[9] + + [Footnote 9: See "A whirl-blast from behind the hill" in the "Poetical + Works," vol. i. p. 238.--ED.] + +_19th._--Wm. and Basil and I walked to the hill-tops, a very cold bleak +day. We were met on our return by a severe hailstorm. William wrote some +lines describing a stunted thorn.[10] + + [Footnote 10: See _The Thorn_, "Poetical Works," vol. i. p. 239.--ED.] + +_20th._--Coleridge dined with us. We went more than half way home with +him in the evening. A very cold evening, but clear. The spring seemingly +very little advanced. No green trees, only the hedges are budding, and +looking very lovely. + +_21st._--We drank tea at Coleridge's. A quiet shower of snow was in the +air during more than half our walk. At our return the sky partially +shaded with clouds. The horned moon was set. Startled two night birds +from the great elm tree. + +_22nd._--I spent the morning in starching and hanging out linen; walked +_through_ the wood in the evening, very cold. + +_23rd._--Coleridge dined with us. He brought his ballad finished.[11] We +walked with him to the Miner's house. A beautiful evening, very starry, +the horned moon. + + [Footnote 11: The ballad was finished by February 18, 1798. See _Early + Recollections_, etc., by Joseph Cottle, vol. i. p. 307 (1837).--ED.] + +_24th._--Coleridge, the Chesters, and Ellen Cruikshank called. We +walked with them through the wood. Went in the evening into the Coombe +to get eggs; returned through the wood, and walked in the park. A duller +night than last night: a sort of white shade over the blue sky. The +stars dim. The spring continues to advance very slowly, no green trees, +the hedges leafless; nothing green but the brambles that still retain +their old leaves, the evergreens, and the palms, which indeed are not +absolutely green. Some brambles I observed to-day budding afresh, and +those have shed their old leaves. The crooked arm of the old oak tree +points upwards to the moon. + +_25th._--Walked to Coleridge's after tea. Arrived at home at one +o'clock. The night cloudy but not dark. + +_26th._--Went to meet Wedgwood at Coleridge's after dinner. Reached home +at half-past twelve, a fine moonlight night; half moon. + +_27th._--Dined at Poole's. Arrived at home a little after twelve, a +partially cloudy, but light night, very cold. + +_28th._--Hung out the linen. + +_29th._--Coleridge dined with us. + +_30th._--Walked I know not where. + +_31st._--Walked. + +_April 1st._--Walked by moonlight. + +_2nd._--A very high wind. Coleridge came to avoid the smoke; stayed all +night. We walked in the wood, and sat under the trees. The half of the +wood perfectly still, while the wind was making a loud noise behind us. +The still trees only gently bowed their heads, as if listening to the +wind. The hollies in the thick wood unshaken by the blast; only, when it +came with a greater force, shaken by the rain drops falling from the +bare oaks above. + +_3rd._--Walked to Crookham, with Coleridge and Wm., to make the appeal. +Left Wm. there, and parted with Coleridge at the top of the hill. A very +stormy afternoon.... + +_4th._--Walked to the sea-side in the afternoon. A great commotion in +the air, but the sea neither grand nor beautiful. A violent shower in +returning. Sheltered under some fir trees at Potsdam. + +_5th._--Coleridge came to dinner. William and I walked in the wood in +the morning. I fetched eggs from the Coombe. + +_6th._--Went a part of the way home with Coleridge. A pleasant warm +morning, but a showery day. Walked a short distance up the lesser +Coombe, with an intention of going to the source of the brook, but the +evening closing in, cold prevented us. The Spring still advancing very +slowly. The horse-chestnuts budding, and the hedgerows beginning to look +green, but nothing fully expanded. + +_7th._--Walked before dinner up the Coombe, to the source of the brook, +and came home by the tops of the hills; a showery morning, at the +hill-tops; the view opened upon us very grand. + +_8th._--Easter Sunday. Walked in the morning in the wood, and half way +to Stowey; found the air at first oppressively warm, afterwards very +pleasant. + +_9th._--Walked to Stowey, a fine air in going, but very hot in +returning. The sloe in blossom, the hawthorns green, the larches in the +park changed from black to green in two or three days. Met Coleridge in +returning. + +_10th._--I was hanging out linen in the evening. We walked to Holford. I +turned off to the baker's, and walked beyond Woodlands, expecting to +meet William, met him on the hill; a close warm evening ... in bloom. + +_11th._--In the wood in the morning, walked to the top of the hill, then +I went down into the wood. A pleasant evening, a fine air, the grass in +the park becoming green, many trees green in the dell. + +_12th._--Walked in the morning in the wood. In the evening up the +Coombe, fine walk. The Spring advances rapidly, multitudes of primroses, +dog-violets, periwinkles, stitchwort. + +_13th._--Walked in the wood in the morning. In the evening went to +Stowey. I staid with Mr. Coleridge. Wm. went to Poole's. Supped with Mr. +Coleridge. + +_14th._--Walked in the wood in the morning. The evening very stormy, so +we staid within doors. Mary Wollstonecraft's life, etc., came. + +_15th._--Set forward after breakfast to Crookham, and returned to +dinner at three o'clock. A fine cloudy morning. Walked about the +squire's grounds. Quaint waterfalls about, about which Nature was very +successfully striving to make beautiful what art had deformed--ruins, +hermitages, etc. etc. In spite of all these things, the dell romantic +and beautiful, though everywhere planted with unnaturalised trees. +Happily we cannot shape the huge hills, or carve out the valleys +according to our fancy. + +_16th._--New moon. William walked in the wood in the morning. I +neglected to follow him. We walked in the park in the evening.... + +_17th._--Walked in the wood in the morning. In the evening upon the +hill. Cowslips plentiful. + +_18th._--Walked in the wood, a fine sunny morning, met Coleridge +returned from his brother's. He dined with us. We drank tea, and then +walked with him nearly to Stowey.... + +_19th._-- ... + +_20th._--Walked in the evening up the hill dividing the Coombes. Came +home the Crookham way, by the thorn, and the "little muddy pond." Nine +o'clock at our return. William all the morning engaged in wearisome +composition. The moon crescent. _Peter Bell_ begun. + +_21st_, _22nd_, _23rd_.-- ... + +_24th._--Walked a considerable time in the wood. Sat under the trees, in +the evening walked on the top of the hill, found Coleridge on our return +and walked with him towards Stowey. + +_25th._--Coleridge drank tea, walked with him to Stowey. + +_26th._--William went to have his picture taken.[12] I walked with him. +Dined at home. Coleridge and he drank tea. + + [Footnote 12: This was the earliest portrait of Wordsworth by W. + Shuter. It is now in the possession of Mrs. St. John, Ithaca, + U.S.A.--ED.] + +_27th._--Coleridge breakfasted and drank tea, strolled in the wood in +the morning, went with him in the evening through the wood, afterwards +walked on the hills: the moon, a many-coloured sea and sky. + +_28th, Saturday._--A very fine morning, warm weather all the week. + +_May 6th, Sunday._--Expected the painter, and Coleridge. A rainy +morning--very pleasant in the evening. Met Coleridge as we were walking +out. Went with him to Stowey; heard the nightingale; saw a glow-worm. + +_7th._--Walked in the wood in the morning. In the evening, to Stowey +with Coleridge who called. + +_8th._--Coleridge dined, went in the afternoon to tea at Stowey. A +pleasant walk home. + +_9th._-- ... Wrote to Coleridge. + +_Wednesday, 16th May._--Coleridge, William, and myself set forward to +the Chedder rocks; slept at Bridgewater. + +_22nd, Thursday._[13]--Walked to Chedder. Slept at Cross. + + [Footnote 13: It is thus written in the MS., but the 22nd May 1798 + was a _Tuesday_. If the entry refers to a _Thursday_, the day of the + month should have been written 24th. Dorothy Wordsworth was not exact + as to dates.--ED.] + + + + + II + + DOROTHY WORDSWORTH'S JOURNAL + OF + DAYS SPENT AT HAMBURGH + IN SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER 1798 + +EXTRACTS FROM DOROTHY WORDSWORTH'S JOURNAL OF DAYS SPENT AT HAMBURGH, +IN SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER 1798[14] + + [Footnote 14: This is not Dorothy's own title. Her Journal has no + title.--ED.] + + +Quitted London, Friday, 14th September 1798. Arrived at Yarmouth on +Saturday noon, and sailed on Sunday morning at eleven o'clock. Before we +heaved the anchor I was consigned to the cabin, which I did not quit +till we were in still water at the mouth of the Elbe, on Tuesday morning +at ten o'clock. I was surprised to find, when I came upon deck, that we +could not see the shores, though we were in the river. It was to my eyes +a still sea. But oh! the gentle breezes and the gentle motion!... As we +advanced towards Cuxhaven the shores appeared low and flat, and thinly +peopled; here and there a farm-house, cattle feeding, hay-stacks, a +cottage, a windmill. Some vessels were at anchor at Cuxhaven, an ugly, +black-looking place. Dismissed a part of our crew, and proceeded in the +packet-boat up the river. + +Cast anchor between six and seven o'clock. The moon shone upon the +waters. The shores were visible rock; here and there a light from the +houses. Ships lying at anchor not far from us. We[15] drank tea upon +deck by the light of the moon. I enjoyed solitude and quietness, and +many a recollected pleasure, hearing still the unintelligible jargon of +the many tongues that gabbled in the cabin. Went to bed between ten and +eleven. The party playing at cards, but they were silent, and suffered +us to go to sleep. At four o'clock in the morning we were awakened by +the heaving of the anchor, and till seven, in the intervals of sleep, I +enjoyed the thought that we were advancing towards Hamburgh; but what +was our mortification on being told that there was a thick fog, and that +we could not sail till it was dispersed. I went on to the deck. The air +was cold and wet, the decks streaming, the shores invisible, no hope of +clear weather. At ten however the sun appeared, and we saw the green +shores. All became clear, and we set sail. Churches very frequent on the +right, with spires red, blue, sometimes green; houses thatched or tiled, +and generally surrounded with low trees. A beautiful low green island, +houses, and wood. As we advanced, the left bank of the river became more +interesting. + + [Footnote 15: _i.e._ William and Dorothy Wordsworth, Coleridge, and + Chester.--ED.] + +The houses warm and comfortable, sheltered with trees, and neatly +painted. Blankenese, a village or town scattered over the sides of three +hills, woody where the houses lie and sleep down below, the houses +half-concealed by, and half-obtruding themselves from, the low trees. +Naked boats with masts lying at the bare feet of the Blankenese hills. +Houses more and more frequent as we approach Hamburgh. The banks of the +Elbe more steep. Some gentlemen's seats after the English fashion. The +spires of Altona and Hamburgh visible a considerable time. At Altona we +took a boat, and rowed through the narrow passages of the Elbe, crowded +with vessels of all nations. Landed at the Boom House, where we were +received by porters, ready to carry our luggage to any part of the town. +William went to seek lodgings, and the rest of the party guarded the +luggage. Two boats were about to depart. An elegant English carriage was +placed in one, and presently a very pretty woman, conducted by a +gentleman, seated herself in it, and they rowed off. The other contained +a medley crew of all ages. There was an old woman, with a blue cap +trimmed with broad silver lace, and tied under her chin. She had a short +coloured cloak, etc. While we stood in the street, which was open on one +side to the Elbe, I was much amused by the various employments and +dresses of the people who passed before us.... There were Dutch women +with immense straw bonnets, with flat crowns and rims in the shape of +oyster shells, without trimming, or with only a plain riband round the +crown, and literally as large as a small-sized umbrella. Hamburgher +girls with white caps, with broad overhanging borders, crimped and +stiff, and long lappets of riband. Hanoverians with round borders, +showing all the face, and standing upright, a profusion of riband.... +Fruit-women, with large straw hats in the shape of an inverted bowl, or +white handkerchiefs tied round the head like a bishop's mitre. Jackets +the most common, often the petticoat and jacket of different colours. +The ladies without hats, in dresses of all fashions. Soldiers with +dull-looking red coats, and immense cocked hats. The men little +differing from the English, except that they have generally a pipe in +their mouths. After waiting about an hour we saw Wm. appear. Two porters +carried our luggage upon a sort of wheelbarrow, and we were conducted +through dirty, ill-paved streets to an inn, where, with great +difficulty, and after long seeking, lodgings had been procured for us. + + * * * * * * + +Breakfasted with Mons. de Loutre. Chester and I went to the promenade. +People of all ranks, and in various dresses, walking backwards and +forwards. Ladies with small baskets hanging on their arms, long shawls +of various colours thrown over their shoulders. The women of the lower +order dressed with great modesty.... Went to the French theatre in the +evening.... The piece a mixture of dull declamation and unmeaning rant. +The ballet unintelligible to us, as the story was carried on in singing. +The body of the house very imperfectly lighted, which has a good effect +in bringing out the stage, but the acting was not very amusing.... + +_Sunday._--William went in the boat to Harburgh. In our road to the boat +we looked into one of the large churches. Service was just ended. The +audience appeared to be simply composed of singing boys dressed in large +cocked hats, and a few old women who sat in the aisles.... Met many +bright-looking girls with white caps, carrying black prayer-books in +their hands.... Coleridge went to Ratzeberg at five o'clock in the +diligence. Chester accompanied me towards Altona. The streets wide and +pleasant in that quarter of the town. Immense crowds of people walking +for pleasure, and many pleasure-waggons passing and repassing. Passed +through a nest of Jews. Were invited to view an exhibition of waxwork. +The theatres open, and the billiard-tables attended. The walks very +pleasing between Hamburgh and Altona. A large piece of ground planted +with trees, and intersected by gravel walks. Music, cakes, fruit, +carriages, and foot-passengers of all descriptions. A very good view of +the shipping, and of Altona and the town and spires of Hamburgh. I could +not but remark how much the prospect would have suffered by one of our +English canopies of coal smoke. The ground on the opposite side of the +Elbe appears marshy. There are many little canals or lines of water. +While the sun was yet shining pleasantly, we were obliged to blink +perpetually to turn our eyes to the church clock. The gates are shut at +half-past six o'clock, and there is no admittance into the city after +that time. This idea deducts much from the pleasure of an evening walk. +You are haunted by it long before the time has elapsed.... + +_Wednesday._--Dined with Mr. Klopstock. Had the pleasure of meeting his +brother the poet, a venerable old man, retaining the liveliness and +alertness of youth, though he evidently cannot be very far from the +grave.... The party talked with much interest of the French comedy, and +seemed fond of music. The poet and his lady were obliged to depart soon +after six. He sustained an animated conversation with William during the +whole afternoon. Poor old man! I could not look upon him, the benefactor +of his country, the father of German poetry, without emotion.... + +During my residence in Hamburgh I have never seen anything like a +quarrel in the streets but once, and that was so trifling that it would +scarcely have been noticed in England.... In the shops (except the +established booksellers and stationers) I have constantly observed a +disposition to cheat, and take advantage of our ignorance of the +language and money.... + +_Thursday, 28th September._--William and I set forward at twelve o'clock +to Altona.... The Elbe in the vicinity of Hamburgh is so divided, and +spread out, that the country looks more like a plain overflowed by heavy +rain than the bed of a great river. We went about a mile and a half +beyond Altona: the roads dry and sandy, and a causeway for +foot-passengers.... The houses on the banks of the Elbe, chiefly of +brick, seemed very warm and well built.... + +The small cottage houses seemed to have little gardens, and all the +gentlemen's houses were surrounded by gardens quaintly disposed in beds +and curious knots, with ever-twisting gravel walks and bending poplars. +The view of the Elbe and the spreading country must be very interesting +in a fine sunset. There is a want of some atmospherical irradiation to +give a richness to the view. On returning home we were accosted by the +first beggar whom we have seen since our arrival at Hamburgh. + +_Friday, 29th._--Sought Coleridge at the bookseller's, and went to the +Promenade.... All the Hamburghers full of Admiral Nelson's victory. + +Called at a baker's shop. Put two shillings into the baker's hands, for +which I was to have had four small rolls. He gave me two. I let him +understand that I was to have four, and with this view I took one +shilling from him, pointed to it and to two loaves, and at the same time +offering it to him. Again I took up two others. In a savage manner he +half knocked the rolls out of my hand, and when I asked him for the +other shilling he refused to return it, and would neither suffer me to +take bread, nor give me back my money, and on these terms I quitted the +shop. I am informed that it is the boast and glory of these people to +cheat strangers, that when a feat of this kind is successfully performed +the man goes from the shop into his house, and triumphantly relates it +to his wife and family. The Hamburgher shopkeepers have three sorts of +weights, and a great part of their skill, as shopkeepers, consists in +calculating upon the knowledge of the buyer, and suiting him with scales +accordingly.... + +_Saturday, 30th September._--The grand festival of the Hamburghers, +dedicated to Saint Michael, observed with solemnity, but little +festivity. Perhaps this might be partly owing to the raininess of the +evening. In the morning the churches were opened very early. St. +Christopher's was quite full between eight and nine o'clock. It is a +large heavy-looking building, immense, without either grandeur or +beauty; built of brick, and with few windows.... There are some +pictures, ... one of the Saint fording the river with Christ upon his +back--a giant figure, which amused me not a little.... Walked with +Coleridge and Chester upon the promenade.... We took places in the +morning in the Brunswick coach for Wednesday. + +_Sunday, 1st October._--Coleridge and Chester went to Ratzeberg at +seven o'clock in the morning.... William and I set forward at half-past +eleven with an intention of going to Blankenese.... The buildings all +seem solid and warm in themselves, but still they look cold from their +nakedness of trees. They are generally newly built, and placed in +gardens, which are planted in front with poplars and low shrubs, but the +possessors seem to have no prospective view to a shelter for their +children. They do not plant behind their houses. All the buildings of +this character are near the road which runs at different distances from +the edge of the bank which rises from the river. This bank is generally +steep, scattered over with trees which are either not of ancient growth, +or from some cause do not thrive, but serve very well to shelter and +often conceal the more humble dwellings, which are close to the sandy +bank of the river.... We saw many carriages. In one of them was +Klopstock, the poet. There are many inns and eating-houses by the +roadside. We went to a pretty village, or nest of houses about a league +from Blankenese, and beyond to a large open field, enclosed on one side +with oak trees, through which winds a pleasant gravel walk. On the other +it is open to the river.... When we were within about a mile and a half +or two miles of Altona, we turned out of the road to go down to the +river, and pursued our way along the path that leads from house to +house. These houses are low, never more than two storeys high, built of +brick, or a mixture of brick and wood, and thatched or tiled. They have +all window-shutters, which are painted frequently a grey light green, +but always painted. We were astonished at the excessive neatness which +we observed in the arrangement of everything within these houses. They +have all window curtains as white as snow; the floors of all that we saw +were perfectly clean, and the brass vessels as bright as a mirror.... I +imagine these houses are chiefly inhabited by sailors, pilots, +boat-makers, and others whose business is upon the water. + +_Monday, October 2nd._--William called at Klopstock's to inquire the +road into Saxony. Bought Burgher's poems, the price 6 marks. Sate an +hour at Remnant's. Bought Percy's ancient poetry, 14 marks. Walked on +the ramparts; a very fine morning. + + + + + III + + DOROTHY WORDSWORTH'S JOURNAL + WRITTEN AT GRASMERE + (14TH MAY TO 21ST DECEMBER 1800) + +EXTRACTS FROM DOROTHY WORDSWORTH'S JOURNAL, WRITTEN AT GRASMERE + + +_May 14th, 1800._--Wm. and John set off into Yorkshire after dinner at +half-past two o'clock, cold pork in their pockets. I left them at the +turning of the Low-wood bay under the trees. My heart was so full that I +could hardly speak to W. when I gave him a farewell kiss. I sate a long +time upon a stone at the margin of the lake, and after a flood of tears +my heart was easier. The lake looked to me, I knew not why, dull and +melancholy, and the weltering on the shores seemed a heavy sound. I +walked as long as I could amongst the stones of the shore. The wood rich +in flowers; a beautiful yellow (palish yellow) flower, that looked +thick, round, and double--the smell very sweet (I supposed it was a +ranunculus), crowfoot, the grassy-leaved rabbit-looking white flower, +strawberries, geraniums, scentless violets, anemones, two kinds of +orchises, primroses, the heckberry very beautiful, the crab coming out +as a low shrub. Met an old man, driving a very large beautiful bull, and +a cow. He walked with two sticks. Came home by Clappersgate. The valley +very green; many sweet views up to Rydale, when I could juggle away the +fine houses; but they disturbed me, even more than when I have been +happier; one beautiful view of the bridge, without Sir Michael's.[16] +Sate down very often, though it was cold. I resolved to write a journal +of the time, till W. and J. return, and I set about keeping my resolve, +because I will not quarrel with myself, and because I shall give William +pleasure by it when he comes home again. At Rydale, a woman of the +village, stout and well dressed, begged a half-penny. She had never she +said done it before, but these hard times! Arrived at home, set some +slips of privet, the evening cold, had a fire, my face now +flame-coloured. It is nine o'clock. I shall now go to bed.... Oh that I +had a letter from William. + + [Footnote 16: _i.e._ Rydal Hall, the residence of Sir Michael le + Fleming.--ED.] + + * * * * * * + +_Friday Morning, 16th._--Warm and mild, after a fine night of rain.... +The woods extremely beautiful with all autumnal variety and softness. I +carried a basket for mosses, and gathered some wild plants. Oh! that we +had a book of botany. All flowers now are gay and deliciously sweet. The +primrose still prominent; the later flowers and the shiny foxgloves very +tall, with their heads budding. I went forward round the lake at the +foot of Loughrigg Fell. I was much amused with the busyness of a pair of +stone-chats; their restless voices as they skimmed along the water, +following each other, their shadows under them, and their returning back +to the stones on the shore, chirping with the same unwearied voice. +Could not cross the water, so I went round by the stepping-stones.... +Rydale was very beautiful, with spear-shaped streaks of polished +steel.... Grasmere very solemn in the last glimpse of twilight. It calls +home the heart to quietness. I had been very melancholy. In my walk back +I had many of my saddest thoughts, and I could not keep the tears within +me. But when I came to Grasmere I felt that it did me good. I finished +my letter to M. H.... + +_Saturday._--Incessant rain from morning till night.... Worked hard, +and read _Midsummer Night's Dream_, and ballads. Sauntered a little in +the garden. The blackbird sate quietly in its nest, rocked by the wind, +and beaten by the rain. + +_Sunday, 18th._--Went to church, slight showers, a cold air. The +mountains from this window look much greener, and I think the valley is +more green than ever. The corn begins to shew itself. The ashes are +still bare. A little girl from Coniston came to beg. She had lain out +all night. Her step-mother had turned her out of doors; her father could +not stay at home "she flights so." Walked to Ambleside in the evening +round the lake, the prospect exceeding beautiful from Loughrigg Fell. It +was so green that no eye could weary of reposing upon it. The most +beautiful situation for a home, is the field next to Mr. Benson's. I was +overtaken by two Cumberland people who complimented me upon my walking. +They were going to sell cloth, and odd things which they make +themselves, in Hawkshead and the neighbourhood.... Letters from +Coleridge and Cottle. John Fisher[17] overtook me on the other side of +Rydale. He talked much about the alteration in the times, and observed +that in a short time there would be only two ranks of people, the very +rich and the very poor, "for those who have small estates," says he, +"are forced to sell, and all the land goes into one hand." Did not reach +home till ten o'clock. + + [Footnote 17: Their neighbour at Town-End, who helped Wordsworth to + make the steps up to the orchard, in Dove Cottage garden.--ED.] + +_Monday._--Sauntered a good deal in the garden, bound carpets, mended +old clothes, read _Timon of Athens_, dried linen.... Walked up into the +Black Quarter.[18] I sauntered a long time among the rocks above the +church. The most delightful situation possible for a cottage, commanding +two distinct views of the vale and of the lake, is among those rocks.... +The quietness and still seclusion of the valley affected me even to +producing the deepest melancholy. I forced myself from it. The wind rose +before I went to bed.... + + [Footnote 18: I think that this name was given to a bit of the valley + to the north-east of Grasmere village; but Mr. Gordon Wordsworth's + opinion is that "'The Black Quarter' was simply the family nickname + for Easedale. The phrase seems to disappear from the Journals as they + got more accustomed to local names. It is an excellent description of + the usual appearance of these fells, and makes a contrast to the name + of the White Moss, which lay behind Dove Cottage; as Easedale lay in + front, and was equally in their thoughts."--ED.] + +_Tuesday Morning._--A fine mild rain.... Everything green and +overflowing with life, and the streams making a perpetual song, with the +thrushes, and all little birds, not forgetting the stone-chats. The post +was not come in. I walked as far as Windermere, and met him there. + + * * * * * * + +_Saturday, May 24th._--Walked in the morning to Ambleside. I found a +letter from Wm. and one from Mary Hutchinson. Wrote to William after +dinner, worked in the garden, sate in the evening under the trees. + +_Sunday._-- ... Read _Macbeth_ in the morning; sate under the trees +after dinner.... I wrote to my brother Christopher.... On my return +found a letter from Coleridge and from Charles Lloyd, and three papers. + +_Monday, May 26th._-- ... Wrote letters to J. H., Coleridge, Col. Ll., +and W. I walked towards Rydale, and turned aside at my favourite field. +The air and the lake were still. One cottage light in the vale, and so +much of day left that I could distinguish objects, the woods, trees, and +houses. Two or three different kinds of birds sang at intervals on the +opposite shore. I sate till I could hardly drag myself away, I grew so +sad. "When pleasant thoughts," etc.[19]... + + [Footnote 19: Compare _Lines written in Early Spring_, "Poetical + Works," vol. i. p. 269-- + + In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts + Bring sad thoughts to the mind. ED.] + +_Tuesday, 27th._--I walked to Ambleside with letters ... only a letter +from Coleridge. I expected a letter from Wm. It was a sweet morning, the +ashes in the valley nearly in full leaf, but still to be distinguished, +quite bare on the higher ground.... + +_Wednesday._--In the morning walked up to the rocks above Jenny +Dockeray's. Sate a long time upon the grass; the prospect divinely +beautiful. If I had three hundred pounds, and could afford to have a bad +interest for my money, I would buy that estate, and we would build a +cottage there to end our days in. I went into her garden and got white +and yellow lilies, etc., periwinkle, etc., which I planted. Sate under +the trees with my work. Worked between 7 and 8, and then watered the +garden. A beautiful evening. The crescent moon hanging above Helm Crag. + +_Thursday._--In the morning worked in the garden a little. Read _King +John_. Miss Simpson, and Miss Falcon, and Mr. S. came very early. Went +to Mr. Gill's boat. Before tea we fished upon the lake, and amongst us +caught 13!... + +_Friday._--In the morning went to Ambleside, forgetting that the post +does not come till the evening. How was I grieved when I was so +informed. I walked back, resolving to go again in the evening. It rained +very mildly and sweetly in the morning as I came home, but came on a wet +afternoon and evening, and chilly. I caught Mr. Olliff's lad as he was +going for letters. He brought me one from Wm. and 12 papers. I planted +London Pride upon the wall, and many things on the borders. John sodded +the wall. As I came past Rydale in the morning, I saw a heron swimming +with only its neck out of water. It beat and struggled amongst the +water, when it flew away, and was long in getting loose. + +_Saturday._--A sweet mild rainy morning. Grundy the carpet man called. I +paid him £1: 10s. Went to the blind man's for plants. I got such a load +that I was obliged to leave my basket in the road, and send Molly for +it.... + +_Sunday, June 1st._--Rain in the night. A sweet mild morning. Read +ballads. Went to church. Singers from Wytheburn. Walked upon the hill +above the house till dinner time. Went again to church. After tea, went +to Ambleside, round the Lakes. A very fine warm evening. Upon the side +of Loughrigg my heart dissolved in what I saw: when I was not startled, +but called from my reverie by a noise as of a child paddling without +shoes. I looked up, and saw a lamb close to me. It approached nearer and +nearer, as if to examine me, and stood a long time. I did not move. At +last, it ran past me, and went bleating along the pathway, seeming to be +seeking its mother. I saw a hare on the high road.... + +_Monday._--A cold dry windy morning. I worked in the garden, and planted +flowers, etc. Sate under the trees after dinner till tea time.... I went +to Ambleside after tea, crossed the stepping-stones at the foot of +Grasmere, and pursued my way on the other side of Rydale and by +Clappersgate. I sate a long time to watch the hurrying waves, and to +hear the regularly irregular sound of the dashing waters. The waves +round about the little Island seemed like a dance of spirits that rose +out of the water, round its small circumference of shore. Inquired about +lodgings for Coleridge, and was accompanied by Mrs. Nicholson as far as +Rydale. This was very kind, but God be thanked, I want not society by a +moonlit lake. It was near eleven when I reached home. I wrote to +Coleridge, and went late to bed. + +_Wednesday._-- ... I walked to the lake-side in the morning, took up +plants, and sate upon a stone reading ballads. In the evening I was +watering plants, when Mr. and Miss Simpson called, and I accompanied +them home, and we went to the waterfall at the head of the valley. It +was very interesting in the twilight. I brought home lemon-thyme, and +several other plants, and planted them by moonlight. I lingered out of +doors in the hope of hearing my brother's tread. + +_Thursday._--I sate out of doors great part of the day, and worked in +the garden. Had a letter from Mr. Jackson, and wrote an answer to +Coleridge. The little birds busy making love, and pecking the blossoms +and bits of moss off the trees. They flutter about and about, and +beneath the trees as I lie under them.[20] I would not go far from home, +expecting my brother. I rambled on the hill above the house, gathered +wild thyme, and took up roots of wild columbine. Just as I was returning +with my load, Mr. and Miss Simpson called. We went again upon the hill, +got more plants, set them, and then went to the blind man's, for London +Pride for Miss Simpson. I went up with them as far as the blacksmith's, +a fine lovely moonlight night. + + [Footnote 20: Compare _The Green Linnet_, in the "Poetical Works," + vol. ii. p. 367.--ED.] + +_Friday._--Sate out of doors reading the whole afternoon, but in the +morning I wrote to my aunt Cookson. In the evening I went to Ambleside +with Coleridge's letter. It was a lovely night as the day had been. I +went by Loughrigg and Clappersgate and just met the post at the +turnpike. He told me there were two letters but none for me, so I was in +no hurry and went round again by Clappersgate, crossed the +stepping-stones and entered Ambleside at Matthew Harrison's. A letter +from Jack Hutchinson, and one from Montagu, enclosing a £3 note. No +William! I slackened my pace as I came near home, fearing to hear that +he was not come. I listened till after one o'clock to every barking dog, +cock-fighting, and other sports. Foxgloves just coming into blossom. + +_Saturday._--A very warm cloudy morning, threatening to rain. I walked +up to Mr. Simpson's to gather gooseberries. It was a very fine +afternoon. Little Tommy came down with me. We went up the hill, to +gather sods and plants; and went down to the lake side, and took up +orchises, etc. I watered the garden and weeded. I did not leave home, in +the expectation of Wm. and John, and sitting at work till after 11 +o'clock I heard a foot at the front of the house, turn round, and open +the gate. It was William! After our first joy was over, we got some tea. +We did not go to bed till 4 o'clock in the morning, so he had an +opportunity of seeing our improvements. The buds were staying; and all +looked fresh, though not gay. There was a greyness on earth and sky. We +did not rise till near 10 in the morning. We were busy all day in +writing letters to Coleridge, Montagu, etc. Mr. and Miss Simpson called +in the evening. The little boy carried our letters to Ambleside. We +walked with Mr. and Miss S. home, on their return.... We met John on our +return home. + +_Monday 9th._--In the morning W. cut down the winter cherry tree. I +sowed French beans and weeded. A coronetted landau went by, when we were +sitting upon the sodded wall. The ladies (evidently tourists) turned an +eye of interest upon our little garden and cottage. Went round to Mr. +Gill's boat, and on to the lake to fish. We caught nothing. It was +extremely cold. The reeds and bullrushes or bullpipes of a tender soft +green, making a plain whose surface moved with the wind. The reeds not +yet tall. The lake clear to the bottom, but saw no fish. In the evening +I stuck peas, watered the garden, and planted brocoli. Did not walk, for +it was very cold. A poor girl called to beg, who had no work, and was +going in search of it to Kendal. She slept in Mr. Benson's ... and went +off after breakfast in the morning with 7d. and a letter to the Mayor of +Kendal. + +_Tuesday 10th._--A cold, yet sunshiny morning. John carried letters to +Ambleside. Wm. stuck peas. After dinner he lay down. John not at home. I +stuck peas alone. Cold showers with hail and rain, but at half-past +five, after a heavy rain, the lake became calm and very beautiful. Those +parts of the water which were perfectly unruffled lay like green islands +of various shapes. William and I walked to Ambleside to seek lodgings +for C. No letters. No papers. It was a very cold cheerless evening. John +had been fishing in Langdale and was gone to bed. + +A very tall woman, tall much beyond the measure of tall women, called +at the door. She had on a very long brown cloak and a very white cap, +without bonnet. Her face was excessively brown, but it had plainly once +been fair. She led a little bare-footed child about two years old by the +hand, and said her husband, who was a tinker, was gone before with the +other children. I gave her a piece of bread. Afterwards on my way to +Ambleside, beside the bridge at Rydale, I saw her husband sitting by the +roadside, his two asses feeding beside him, and the two young children +at play upon the grass. The man did not beg. I passed on and about a +quarter of a mile further I saw two boys before me, one about 10, the +other about 8 years old, at play chasing a butterfly. They were wild +figures, not very ragged, but without shoes and stockings. The hat of +the elder was wreathed round with yellow flowers, the younger whose hat +was only a rimless crown, had stuck it round with laurel leaves. They +continued at play till I drew very near, and then they addressed me with +the begging cant and the whining voice of sorrow. I said "I served your +mother this morning." (The boys were so like the woman who had called at +... that I could not be mistaken.) "O!" says the elder, "you could not +serve my mother for she's dead, and my father's on at the next +town--he's a potter." I persisted in my assertion, and that I would give +them nothing. Says the elder, "Let's away," and away they flew like +lightning. They had however sauntered so long in their road that they +did not reach Ambleside before me, and I saw them go up to Matthew +Harrison's house with their wallet upon the elder's shoulder, and +creeping with a beggar's complaining foot. On my return through +Ambleside I met in the street the mother driving her asses, in the two +panniers of one of which were the two little children, whom she was +chiding and threatening with a wand which she used to drive on her +asses, while the little things hung in wantonness over the pannier's +edge. The woman had told me in the morning that she was of Scotland, +which her accent fully proved, but that she had lived (I think at +Wigtoun), that they could not keep a house and so they travelled.[21] + + [Footnote 21: Compare the poem _Beggars_, in the "Poetical Works" vol. + ii. pp. 276-281.--ED.] + +_Wednesday, 13th June._[22]--A very cold morning. We went on the lake to +set pike floats with John's fish. W. and J. went ... alone. Mr. Simpson +called, and I accompanied him to the lake side. My brothers and I again +went upon the water, and returned to dinner. We landed upon the island +where I saw the whitest hawthorn I have seen this year, the generality +of hawthorns are bloomless. I saw wild roses in the hedges. Wm. and John +went to the pike floats. They brought in two pikes. I sowed kidney beans +and spinnach. A cold evening. Molly stuck the peas. I weeded a little. +Did not walk. + + [Footnote 22: This and the two following dates are incorrectly given. + They should be "Wednesday 11th, Thursday 12th, and Friday 13th + June."--ED.] + +_Thursday, 14th June._--William and I went upon the water to set pike +floats. John fished under Loughrigg. We returned to dinner, two pikes +boiled and roasted. A very cold air but warm sun. W. and I again went +upon the water. We walked to Rydale after tea, and up to potter's. A +cold night, but warmer. + +_Friday, 15th June._--A rainy morning. W. and J. went upon the lake. +Very warm and pleasant, gleams of sunshine. Caught a pike 7-1/2 lbs. +Went upon the water after tea, Mr. Simpson trolling. + +_Saturday._--A fine morning but cloudy. W. and John went upon the lake. +I staid at home. We drank tea at Mr. Simpson's. Stayed till after 10 +o'clock. + +_Sunday._--John walked to Coniston. W. and I sauntered in the garden. +Afterwards walked by the lake side. A cold air. We pushed through the +wood. Walked behind the fir grove, and returned to dinner. The farmer +and the blacksmith from Hawkshead called. + +_Monday._--Wm. and I went to Brathay by Little Langdale and Collath, and +... It was a warm mild morning with threatening rain. The vale of Little +Langdale looked bare and unlovely. Collath was wild and interesting, +from the peat carts and peat gatherers. The valley all perfumed with the +gale and wild thyme. The woods about the waterfall bright with rich +yellow broom. A succession of delicious views from ... to Brathay. We +met near ... a pretty little boy with a wallet over his shoulder. He +came from Hawkshead and was going to sell a sack of meal. He spoke +gently and without complaint. When I asked him if he got enough to eat, +he looked surprised, and said Nay. He was 7 years old but seemed not +more than 5. We drank tea at Mr. Ibbetson's, and returned by Ambleside. +Lent £3: 9s. to the potter at Kendal. Met John on our return home at +about 10 o'clock. Saw a primrose in blossom. + +_Tuesday._--We put the new window in. I ironed, and worked about a good +deal in house and garden. In the evening we walked for letters. Found +one for Coleridge at Rydale, and I returned much tired. + +_Wednesday._--We walked round the lake in the morning and in the evening +to the lower waterfall at Rydale. It was a warm, dark, lowering evening. + +_Thursday._--A very hot morning. W. and I walked up to Mr. Simpson's. W. +and old Mr. S. went to fish in Wytheburn water. I dined with John and +lay under the trees. The afternoon changed from clear to cloudy, and to +clear again. John and I walked up to the waterfall, and to Mr. +Simpson's, and with Miss Simpson. Met the fishers. W. caught a pike +weighing 4-3/4 lbs. There was a gloom almost terrible over Grasmere +water and vale. A few drops fell but not much rain. No Coleridge, whom +we fully expected. + +_Friday._--I worked in the garden in the morning. Wm. prepared pea +sticks. Threatening for rain, but yet it comes not. On Wednesday evening +a poor man called--a hatter. He had been long ill, but was now +recovered. The parish would not help him, because he had implements of +trade, etc. etc. We gave him 6d. + +_Saturday._--Walked up the hill to Rydale lake. Grasmere looked so +beautiful that my heart was almost melted away. It was quite calm, only +spotted with sparkles of light; the church visible. On our return all +distant objects had faded away, all but the hills. The reflection of the +light bright sky above Black Quarter was very solemn.... + +_Sunday._-- ... In the evening I planted a honeysuckle round the yew +tree.... No news of Coleridge.... + +_Monday._--Mr. Simpson called in the morning. W. and I went into +Langdale to fish. The morning was very cold. I sate at the foot of the +lake, till my head ached with cold. The view exquisitely beautiful, +through a gate, and under a sycamore tree beside the first house going +into Loughrigg. Elter-water looked barren, and the view from the church +less beautiful than in winter. When W. went down to the water to fish, I +lay under the wind, my head pillowed upon a mossy rock, and slept about +10 minutes, which relieved my headache. We ate our dinner together, and +parted again.... W. went to fish for pike in Rydale. John came in when I +had done tea and he and I carried a jug of tea to William. We met him in +the old road from Rydale. He drank his tea upon the turf. The setting +sun threw a red purple light upon the rocks, and stone walls of Rydale, +which gave them a most interesting and beautiful appearance. + +_Tuesday._--W. went to Ambleside. John walked out. I made tarts, etc. +Mrs. B. Simpson called and asked us to tea. I went to the view of +Rydale, to meet William. W. and I drank tea at Mr. Simpson's. Brought +down lemon-thyme, greens, etc. The old woman was very happy to see us, +and we were so in the pleasure we gave. She was an affecting picture of +patient disappointment, suffering under no particular affliction. + +_Wednesday._--A very rainy day. I made a shoe. Wm. and John went to +fish in Langdale. In the evening I went above the house, and gathered +flowers, which I planted, foxgloves, etc. On Sunday[23] Mr. and Mrs. +Coleridge and Hartley came. The day was very warm. We sailed to the foot +of Loughrigg. They staid with us three weeks, and till the Thursday +following, from 1st till the 23rd of July.[24] On the Friday preceding +their departure, we drank tea at the island. The weather was delightful, +and on the Sunday we made a great fire, and drank tea in Bainriggs with +the Simpsons. I accompanied Mrs. C. to Wytheburne, and returned with W. +to tea at Mr. Simpson's. It was exceedingly hot, but the day after, +Friday 24th July,[25] still hotter. All the morning I was engaged in +unpacking our Somersetshire goods. The house was a hot oven. I was so +weary, I could not walk: so I went out, and sate with Wm. in the +orchard. We had a delightful half-hour in the warm still evening. + + [Footnote 23: Coleridge arrived at Grasmere on Sunday 29th June.--ED.] + + [Footnote 24: The dates here given are confusing. S. T. C. says he was + ill at Grasmere, and stayed a fortnight. In a letter to Tom Poole he + says he arrived at Keswick on 24th July, which was a Thursday.--ED.] + + [Footnote 25: That Friday was the 25th July. The two next dates were + incorrectly entered by Dorothy.--ED.] + + * * * * * * + +_Saturday, 26th._--Still hotter. I sate with W. in the orchard all the +morning, and made my shoe.... + +_Sunday, 27th._--Very warm.... I wrote out _Ruth_ in the afternoon. In +the morning, I read Mr. Knight's _Landscape_.[26] After tea we rowed +down to Loughrigg Fell, visited the white foxglove, gathered wild +strawberries, and walked up to view Rydale. We lay a long time looking +at the lake; the shores all dim with the scorching sun. The ferns were +turning yellow, that is, here and there one was quite turned. We walked +round by Benson's wood home. The lake was now most still, and reflected +the beautiful yellow and blue and purple and grey colours of the sky. We +heard a strange sound in the Bainriggs wood, as we were floating on the +water; it _seemed_ in the wood, but it must have been above it, for +presently we saw a raven very high above us. It called out, and the dome +of the sky seemed to echo the sound. It called again and again as it +flew onwards, and the mountains gave back the sound, seeming as if from +their centre; a musical bell-like answering to the bird's hoarse voice. +We heard both the call of the bird, and the echo, after we could see him +no longer....[27] + + [Footnote 26: _The Landscape: a Didactic Poem in three Books._ By + Richard Payne Knight. 1794.--ED.] + + [Footnote 27: Compare _The Excursion_, book iv. II. 1185-1195.--ED.] + +_Monday._--Received a letter from Coleridge enclosing one from Mr. Davy +about the _Lyrical Ballads_. Intensely hot.... William went into the +wood, and altered his poems.... + + * * * * * * + +_Thursday._--All the morning I was busy copying poems. Gathered peas, +and in the afternoon Coleridge came. He brought the 2nd volume of +Anthology. The men went to bathe, and we afterwards sailed down to +Loughrigg. Read poems on the water, and let the boat take its own +course. We walked a long time upon Loughrigg. I returned in the grey +twilight. The moon just setting as we reached home. + +_Friday, 1st August._--In the morning I copied _The Brothers_. Coleridge +and Wm. went down to the lake. They returned, and we all went together +to Mary Point, where we sate in the breeze, and the shade, and read +Wm.'s poems. Altered _The Whirlblast_, etc. We drank tea in the orchard. + +_Saturday Morning, 2nd._--Wm. and Coleridge went to Keswick. John went +with them to Wytheburn, and staid all day fishing, and brought home 2 +small pikes at night. I accompanied them to Lewthwaite's cottage, and on +my return papered Wm.'s rooms.... About 8 o'clock it gathered for rain, +and I had the scatterings of a shower, but afterwards the lake became of +a glassy calmness, and all was still. I sate till I could see no longer, +and then continued my work in the house. + +_Sunday Morning, 3rd._-- ... A heavenly warm evening, with scattered +clouds upon the hills. There was a vernal greenness upon the grass, from +the rains of the morning and afternoon. Peas for dinner. + +_Monday 4th._--Rain in the night. I tied up scarlet beans, nailed the +honeysuckles, etc. etc. John was prepared to walk to Keswick all the +morning. He seized a returned chaise and went after dinner. I pulled a +large basket of peas and sent to Keswick by a returned chaise. A very +cold evening. Assisted to spread out linen in the morning. + +_Tuesday 5th._--Dried the linen in the morning. The air still cold. I +pulled a bag full of peas for Mrs. Simpson. Miss Simpson drank tea with +me, and supped, on her return from Ambleside. A very fine evening. I +sate on the wall making my shifts till I could see no longer. Walked +half-way home with Miss Simpson. + +_Wednesday, 6th August._-- ... William came home from Keswick at eleven +o'clock. + +_Thursday Morning, 7th August._-- ... William composing in the wood in +the morning. In the evening we walked to Mary Point. A very fine sunset. + +_Friday Morning._--We intended going to Keswick, but were prevented by +the excessive heat. Nailed up scarlet beans in the morning.... Walked +over the mountains by Wattendlath.... A most enchanting walk. +Wattendlath a heavenly scene. Reached Coleridge's at eleven o'clock. + +_Saturday Morning._--I walked with Coleridge in the Windy Brow woods. + +_Sunday._--Very hot. The C.'s went to church. We sailed upon Derwent in +the evening. + +_Monday Afternoon._--Walked to Windy Brow. + +_Tuesday._-- ... Wm. and I walked along the Cockermouth road. He was +altering his poems. + +_Wednesday._--Made the Windy Brow seat. + +_Thursday Morning._--Called at the Speddings. In the evening walked in +the wood with W. Very very beautiful the moon. + + * * * * * * + +_Sunday, 17th August._-- ... William read us _The Seven Sisters_. + + * * * * * * + +_Saturday, 23rd._--A very fine morning. Wm. was composing all the +morning. I shelled peas, gathered beans, and worked in the garden till +1/2 past 12. Then walked with Wm. in the wood.... The gleams of +sunshine, and the stirring trees, and gleaming boughs, cheerful lake, +most delightful.... Wm. read _Peter Bell_ and the poem of _Joanna_, +beside the Rothay by the roadside. + + * * * * * * + +_Tuesday, 26th._-- ... A very fine solemn evening. The wind blew very +fierce from the island, and at Rydale. We went on the other side of +Rydale, and sate a long time looking at the mountains, which were all +black at Grasmere, and very bright in Rydale; Grasmere exceedingly dark, +and Rydale of a light yellow green. + + * * * * * * + +_Friday Evening_ [29th August].--We walked to Rydale to inquire for +letters. We walked over the hill by the firgrove. I sate upon a rock, +and observed a flight of swallows gathering together high above my head. +They flew towards Rydale. We walked through the wood over the +stepping-stones. The lake of Rydale very beautiful, partly still. John +and I left Wm. to compose an inscription; that about the path. We had a +very fine walk by the gloomy lake. There was a curious yellow reflection +in the water, as of corn fields. There was no light in the clouds from +which it appeared to come. + +_Saturday Morning, 30th August._-- ... William finished his Inscription +of the Pathway,[28] then walked in the wood; and when John returned, he +sought him, and they bathed together. I read a little of Boswell's _Life +of Johnson_. I went to lie down in the orchard. I was roused by a shout +that Anthony Harrison was come. We sate in the orchard till tea time. +Drank tea early, and rowed down the lake which was stirred by breezes. +We looked at Rydale, which was soft, cheerful, and beautiful. We then +went to peep into Langdale. The Pikes were very grand. We walked back to +the view of Rydale, which was now a dark mirror. We rowed home over a +lake still as glass, and then went to George Mackareth's to hire a horse +for John. A fine moonlight night. The beauty of the moon was startling, +as it rose to us over Loughrigg Fell. We returned to supper at 10 +o'clock. Thomas Ashburner brought us our 8th cart of coals since May +17th. + + [Footnote 28: Professor Dowden thinks that this refers to the poem on + John's Grove. But a hitherto unpublished fragment will soon be issued + by the Messrs. Longman, which may cast fresh light on this + "Inscription of the Pathway."--ED.] + +_Sunday, 31st._-- ... A great deal of corn is cut in the vale, and the +whole prospect, though not tinged with a general autumnal yellow, yet +softened down into a mellowness of colouring, which seems to impart +softness to the forms of hills and mountains. At 11 o'clock Coleridge +came, when I was walking in the still clear moonshine in the garden. He +came over Helvellyn. Wm. was gone to bed, and John also, worn out with +his ride round Coniston. We sate and chatted till half-past three, ... +Coleridge reading a part of _Christabel_. Talked much about the +mountains, etc. etc.... + +_Monday Morning, 1st September._--We walked in the wood by the lake. W. +read _Joanna_, and the _Firgrove_, to Coleridge. They bathed. The +morning was delightful, with somewhat of an autumnal freshness. After +dinner, Coleridge discovered a rock-seat in the orchard. Cleared away +brambles. Coleridge went to bed after tea. John and I followed Wm. up +the hill, and then returned to go to Mr. Simpson's. We borrowed some +bottles for bottling rum. The evening somewhat frosty and grey, but very +pleasant. I broiled Coleridge a mutton chop, which he ate in bed. Wm. +was gone to bed. I chatted with John and Coleridge till near 12. + +_Tuesday, 2nd._--In the morning they all went to Stickle Tarn. A very +fine, warm, sunny, beautiful morning.... The fair-day.... There seemed +very few people and very few stalls, yet I believe there were many cakes +and much beer sold. My brothers came home to dinner at 6 o'clock. We +drank tea immediately after by candlelight. It was a lovely moonlight +night. We talked much about a house on Helvellyn. The moonlight shone +only upon the village. It did not eclipse the village lights, and the +sound of dancing and merriment came along the still air. I walked with +Coleridge and Wm. up the lane and by the church, and then lingered with +Coleridge in the garden. John and Wm. were both gone to bed, and all the +lights out. + +_Wednesday, 3rd September._--Coleridge, Wm., and John went from home, +to go upon Helvellyn with Mr. Simpson. They set out after breakfast. I +accompanied them up near the blacksmith's.... I then went to a funeral +at John Dawson's. About 10 men and 4 women. Bread, cheese, and ale. They +talked sensibly and cheerfully about common things. The dead person, 56 +years of age, buried by the parish. The coffin was neatly lettered and +painted black, and covered with a decent cloth. They set the corpse down +at the door; and, while we stood within the threshold, the men, with +their hats off, sang, with decent and solemn countenances, a verse of a +funeral psalm. The corpse was then borne down the hill, and they sang +till they had passed the Town-End. I was affected to tears while we +stood in the house, the coffin lying before me. There were no near +kindred, no children. When we got out of the dark house the sun was +shining, and the prospect looked as divinely beautiful as I ever saw it. +It seemed more sacred than I had ever seen it, and yet more allied to +human life. The green fields, in the neighbourhood of the churchyard, +were as green as possible; and, with the brightness of the sunshine, +looked quite gay. I thought she was going to a quiet spot, and I could +not help weeping very much. When we came to the bridge, they began to +sing again, and stopped during four lines before they entered the +churchyard.... Wm. and John came home at 10 o'clock. + + * * * * * * + +_Friday, 12th September._-- ... The fern of the mountains now spreads +yellow veins among the trees; the coppice wood turns brown. William +observed some affecting little things in Borrowdale. A decayed house +with the tall, silent rocks seen through the broken windows. A sort of +rough column put upon the gable end of a house, with a ball stone, +smooth from the river-island, upon it for ornament. Near it, a stone +like it, upon an old mansion, carefully hewn. + +_Saturday, 13th September._--Morning. William writing his +Preface[29]--did not walk. Jones, and Mr. Palmer came to tea.... + + [Footnote 29: The Preface to the second edition of _Lyrical + Ballads_.--ED.] + +_Sunday morning, 14th._-- ... A lovely day. Read Boswell in the house in +the morning, and after dinner under the bright yellow leaves of the +orchard. The pear trees a bright yellow. The apple trees still green. A +sweet lovely afternoon.... Here I have long neglected my Journal. John +came home in the evening, after Jones left. Jones returned again on the +Friday, the 19th September. Jones stayed with us till Friday, 26th +September. Coleridge came in. + +_Tuesday, 23rd._--I went home with Jones. Charles Lloyd called on +Tuesday, 23rd. + +_Sunday, 28th._--We heard of the Abergavenny's arrival.... + +_Monday, 29th._--John left us. Wm. and I parted with him in sight of +Ullswater. It was a fine day, showery, but with sunshine and fine +clouds. Poor fellow, my heart was right sad. I could not help thinking +we should see him again, because he was only going to Penrith. + +_Tuesday, 30th September._--Charles Lloyd dined with us. We walked +homewards with him after dinner. It rained very hard. Rydale was +extremely wild, and we had a fine walk. We sate quietly and comfortably +by the fire. I wrote the last sheet of Notes and Preface.[30a] Went to bed +at twelve o'clock. + + [Footnote 30a: _i.e._ of the Notes and Preface to the second edition of + _Lyrical Ballads_.--ED.] + +_Wednesday, 1st October._--A fine morning, a showery night. The lake +still in the morning; in the forenoon flashing light from the beams of +the sun, as it was ruffled by the wind. We corrected the last sheet.[30] + + [Footnote 30: _i.e._ of the Notes and Preface to the second edition of + _Lyrical Ballads_.--ED.] + +_Thursday, 2nd October._--A very rainy morning. We walked after dinner +to observe the torrents. I followed Wm. to Rydale. We afterwards went to +Butterlip How. The Black Quarter looked marshy, and the general prospect +was cold, but the _force_ was very grand. The lichens are now coming out +afresh. I carried home a collection in the afternoon. We had a pleasant +conversation about the manners of the rich; avarice, inordinate desires, +and the effeminacy, unnaturalness, and unworthy objects of education. +The moonlight lay upon the hills like snow. + +_Friday, 3rd October._--Very rainy all the morning. Wm. walked to +Ambleside after dinner. I went with him part of the way. He talked much +about the object of his essay for the second volume of "L. B." ... Amos +Cottle's death in the _Morning Post_. + +_N.B._--When William and I returned from accompanying Jones, we met an +old man almost double. He had on a coat, thrown over his shoulders, +above his waistcoat and coat. Under this he carried a bundle, and had an +apron on and a night-cap. His face was interesting. He had dark eyes and +a long nose. John, who afterwards met him at Wytheburn, took him for a +Jew. He was of Scotch parents, but had been born in the army. He had had +a wife, and "she was a good woman, and it pleased God to bless us with +ten children." All these were dead but one, of whom he had not heard for +many years, a sailor. His trade was to gather leeches, but now leeches +were scarce, and he had not strength for it. He lived by begging, and +was making his way to Carlisle, where he should buy a few godly books to +sell. He said leeches were very scarce, partly owing to this dry season, +but many years they have been scarce. He supposed it owing to their +being much sought after, that they did not breed fast, and were of slow +growth. Leeches were formerly 2s. 6d. per 100; they are now 30s. He had +been hurt in driving a cart, his leg broken, his body driven over, his +skull fractured. He felt no pain till he recovered from his first +insensibility. It was then late in the evening, when the light was just +going away.[31] + + [Footnote 31: Compare _Resolution and Independence_, in the "Poetical + Works," vol. ii. p. 312.--ED.] + +_Saturday, 4th October 1800._--A very rainy, or rather showery and +gusty, morning; for often the sun shines. Thomas Ashburner could not go +to Keswick. Read a part of Lamb's Play.[32] The language is often very +beautiful, but too imitative in particular phrases, words, etc. The +characters, except Margaret, unintelligible, and, except Margaret's, do +not show themselves in action. Coleridge came in while we were at +dinner, very wet. We talked till twelve o'clock. He had sate up all the +night before, writing essays for the newspaper.... Exceedingly delighted +with the second part of _Christabel_. + + [Footnote 32: _Pride's Cure._ The title was afterwards changed to + _John Woodvill_.--ED.] + +_Sunday Morning, 5th October._--Coleridge read _Christabel_ a second +time; we had increasing pleasure. A delicious morning. Wm. and I were +employed all the morning in writing an addition to the Preface. Wm. went +to bed, very ill after working after dinner. Coleridge and I walked to +Ambleside after dark with the letter. Returned to tea at 9 o'clock. Wm. +still in bed, and very ill. Silver How in both lakes. + +_Monday._--A rainy day. Coleridge intending to go, but did not go off. +We walked after dinner to Rydale. After tea read _The Pedlar_. +Determined not to print _Christabel_ with the L. B. + +_Tuesday._--Coleridge went off at eleven o'clock. I went as far as Mr. +Simpson's. Returned with Mary. + +_Wednesday._--Frequent threatening of showers. Received a £5 note from +Montagu. Wm. walked to Rydale. I copied a part of _The Beggars_ in the +morning.... A very mild moonlight night. Glow-worms everywhere. + + * * * * * * + +_Friday, 10th October._--In the morning when I arose the mists were +hanging over the opposite hills, and the tops of the highest hills were +covered with snow. There was a most lively combination at the head of +the vale of the yellow autumnal hills wrapped in sunshine, and overhung +with partial mists, the green and yellow trees, and the distant +snow-topped mountains. It was a most heavenly morning. The Cockermouth +traveller came with thread, hardware, mustard, etc. She is very healthy; +has travelled over the mountains these thirty years. She does not mind +the storms, if she can keep her goods dry. Her husband will not travel +with an ass, because it is the tramper's badge; she would have one to +relieve her from the weary load. She was going to Ulverston, and was to +return to Ambleside Fair.... The fern among the rocks exquisitely +beautiful.... Sent off _The Beggars_, etc., by Thomas Ashburner.... +William sat up after me, writing _Point Rash Judgment_. + +_Saturday, 11th._--A fine October morning. Sat in the house working all +the morning. William composing.... After dinner we walked up Greenhead +Gill in search of a sheepfold. We went by Mr. Olliff's, and through his +woods. It was a delightful day, and the views looked excessively +cheerful and beautiful, chiefly that from Mr. Olliff's field, where our +own house is to be built. The colours of the mountains soft, and rich +with orange fern; the cattle pasturing upon the hilltops; kites sailing +in the sky above our heads; sheep bleating, and feeding in the water +courses, scattered over the mountains. They come down and feed, on the +little green islands in the beds of the torrents, and so may be swept +away. The sheepfold is falling away. It is built nearly in the form of a +heart unequally divided. Looked down the brook, and saw the drops rise +upwards and sparkle in the air at the little falls. The higher sparkled +the tallest. We walked along the turf of the mountain till we came to a +track, made by the cattle which come upon the hills.... + +_Sunday, October 12th._--Sate in the house writing in the morning while +Wm. went into the wood to compose. Wrote to John in the morning; copied +poems for the L. B. In the evening wrote to Mrs. Rawson. Mary Jameson +and Sally Ashburner dined. We pulled apples after dinner, a large basket +full. We walked before tea by Bainriggs to observe the many-coloured +foliage. The oaks dark green with yellow leaves, the birches generally +still green, some near the water yellowish, the sycamore crimson and +crimson-tufted, the mountain ash a deep orange, the common ash +lemon-colour, but many ashes still fresh in their peculiar green, those +that were discoloured chiefly near the water. Wm. composing in the +evening. Went to bed at 12 o'clock. + +_Monday, October 13th._--A grey day. Mists on the hills. We did not walk +in the morning. I copied poems on the Naming of Places. A fair at +Ambleside. Walked in the Black Quarter at night. + + * * * * * * + +_Wednesday._--A very fine clear morning. After Wm. had composed a +little, I persuaded him to go into the orchard. We walked backwards and +forwards. The prospect most divinely beautiful from the seat; all +colours, all melting into each other. I went in to put bread in the +oven, and we both walked within view of Rydale. Wm. again composed at +the sheepfold after dinner. I walked with Wm. to Wytheburn, and he went +on to Keswick. I drank tea, and supped at Mr. Simpson's. A very cold +frosty air in returning. Mr. and Miss S. came with me. Wytheburn looked +very wintry, but yet there was a foxglove blossoming by the roadside. + + * * * * * * + +_Friday, 17th._--A very fine grey morning. The swan hunt.... I walked +round the lake between 1/2 past 12, and 1/2 past one.... In my walk in +the morning, I observed Benson's honey-suckles in flower, and great +beauty. I found Wm. at home, where he had been almost ever since my +departure. Coleridge had done nothing for the L. B. Working hard for +Stuart.[33] Glow-worms in abundance. + + [Footnote 33: The editor of _The Morning Post_.--ED.] + +_Saturday._--A very fine October morning. William worked all the morning +at the sheepfold, but in vain. He lay down in the afternoon till 7 +o'clock, but could not sleep.... We did not walk all day.... + +_Sunday Morning._--We rose late, and walked directly after breakfast. +The tops of Grasmere mountains cut off. Rydale very beautiful. The +surface of the water quite still, like a dim mirror. The colours of the +large island exquisitely beautiful, and the trees, still fresh and +green, were magnified by the mists. The prospects on the west side of +the Lake were very beautiful. We sate at the "two points"[34] looking up +to Parks. The lowing of the cattle was echoed by a hollow voice in the +vale. We returned home over the stepping-stones. Wm. got to work.... + + [Footnote 34: Mary Point and Sarah Point.--ED.] + +_Monday, 20th._--William worked in the morning at the sheepfold. After +dinner we walked to Rydale, crossed the stepping-stones, and while we +were walking under the tall oak trees the Lloyds called out to us. They +went with us on the western side of Rydale. The lights were very grand +upon the woody Rydale hills. Those behind dark and tipped with clouds. +The two lakes were divinely beautiful. Grasmere excessively solemn, the +whole lake calm, and dappled with soft grey ripples. The Lloyds staid +with us till 8 o'clock. We then walked to the top of the hill at Rydale. +Very mild and warm. Beheld 6 glow-worms shining faintly. We went up as +far as the Swan. When we came home the fire was out. We ate our supper +in the dark, and went to bed immediately. William was disturbed in the +night by the rain coming into his room, for it was a very rainy night. +The ash leaves lay across the road. + +_Tuesday, 21st._-- ... Wm. had been unsuccessful in the morning at the +sheepfold. The reflection of the ash scattered, and the tree stripped. + +_Wednesday Morning._-- ... Wm. composed without much success at the +sheepfold. Coleridge came in to dinner. He had done nothing. We were +very merry. C. and I went to look at the prospect from his seat.... Wm. +read _Ruth_, etc., after supper. Coleridge read _Christabel_. + +_Thursday, 23rd._--Coleridge and Stoddart went to Keswick. We +accompanied them to Wytheburn. A wintry grey morning from the top of the +Raise. Grasmere looked like winter, and Wytheburn still more so.... Wm. +was not successful in composition in the evening. + +_Friday, 24th._--A very fine morning. We walked, before Wm. began to +work, to the top of the Rydale hill. He was afterwards only partly +successful in composition. After dinner we walked round Rydale lake, +rich, calm, streaked, very beautiful. We went to the top of Loughrigg. +Grasmere sadly inferior.... The ash in our garden green, one close to it +bare, the next nearly so. + +_Saturday._--A very rainy day. Wm. again unsuccessful. We could not +walk, it was so very rainy. We read Rogers, Miss Seward, Cowper, etc. + +_Sunday._--Heavy rain all night, a fine morning after 10 o'clock. Wm. +composed a good deal in the morning.... + +_Monday, 27th October._-- ... Wm. in the firgrove. I had before walked +with him there for some time. It was a fine shelter from the wind. The +coppices now nearly of one brown. An oak tree in a sheltered place near +John Fisher's, not having lost any of its leaves, was quite brown and +dry.... It was a fine wild moonlight night. Wm. could not compose much. +Fatigued himself with altering. + +_Tuesday, 28th._-- ... We walked out before dinner to our favourite +field. The mists sailed along the mountains, and rested upon them, +enclosing the whole vale. In the evening the Lloyds came. We played a +rubber at whist.... + +_Wednesday._--William worked at his poem all the morning. After dinner, +Mr. Clarkson called.... Played at cards.... Mr. Clarkson slept here. + +_Thursday._--A rainy morning. W. C. went over Kirkstone. Wm. talked all +day, and almost all night, with Stoddart. Mrs. and Miss H. called in the +morning. I walked with them to Tail End.[35] + + [Footnote 35: On the western side of Grasmere Lake.--ED.] + +_Friday Night._-- ... W. and I did not rise till 10 o'clock.... A very +fine moonlight night. The moon shone like herrings in the water. + + * * * * * * + +_Tuesday._-- ... Tremendous wind. The snow blew from Helvellyn +horizontally like smoke.... + + * * * * * * + +_Thursday, 6th November._-- ... Read _Point Rash Judgment_.... + +_Friday, 7th November._-- ... I working and reading _Amelia_. The +Michaelmas daisy droops, the pansies are full of flowers, the ashes +still green all but one, but they have lost many of their leaves. The +copses are quite brown. The poor woman and child from Whitehaven drank +tea.... + +_Saturday, 8th November._--A rainy morning. A whirlwind came that tossed +about the leaves, and tore off the still green leaves of the ashes. Wm. +and I walked out at 4 o'clock. Went as far as Rothay Bridge.... The +whole face of the country in a winter covering. + + * * * * * * + +_Monday._-- ... Jupiter over the hilltops, the only star, like a sun, +flashed out at intervals from behind a black cloud. + +_Tuesday Morning._-- ... William had been working at the sheepfold.... +Played at cards. A mild night, partly clouded, partly starlight. The +cottage lights. The mountains not very distinct. + + * * * * * * + +_Thursday._--We sate in the house all the morning. Rainy weather, played +at cards. A poor woman from Hawkshead begged, a widow of Grasmere. A +merry African from Longtown.... + +_Friday._--Much wind, but a sweet mild morning. I nailed up trees.... +Two letters from Coleridge, very ill. One from Sara H.... + +_Saturday Morning._--A terrible rain, so prevented William from going +to Coleridge's. The afternoon fine.... We both set forward at five +o'clock. A fine wild night. I walked with W. over the Raise. It was +starlight. I parted with him very sad, unwilling not to go on. The +hills, and the stars, and the white waters, with their ever varying yet +ceaseless sound, were very impressive. I supped at the Simpsons'. Mr. S. +walked home with me. + +_Sunday, 16th November._--A very fine warm sunny morning. A letter from +Coleridge, and one from Stoddart. Coleridge better.... One beautiful ash +tree sheltered, with yellow leaves, one low one quite green. A noise of +boys in the rocks hunting some animal. Walked a little in the garden +when I came home. Very pleasant now. Rain comes on. Mr. Jackson called +in the evening, brought me a letter from C. and W. + +_Monday Morning._--A fine clear frosty morning with a sharp wind. I +walked to Keswick. Set off at 5 minutes past 10, and arrived at 1/2 past +2. I found them all well. + +On _Tuesday_ morning W. and C. set off towards Penrith. Wm. met Sara +Hutchinson at Threlkeld. They arrived at Keswick at tea time. + +_Wednesday._--We walked by the lake side and then went to Mr. Denton's. +I called upon the Miss Cochyns. + +_Thursday._--We spent the morning in the town. Mr. Jackson and Mr. Peach +dined with us. + +_Friday._--A very fine day. Went to Mrs. Greaves'. Mrs. C. and I called +upon the Speddings. A beautiful crescent moon. + +_Saturday Morning._--After visiting Mr. Peach's Chinese pictures we set +off to Grasmere. A threatening and rather rainy morning. Arrived at G. +Very dirty and a little wet at the closing in of evening. + +_Sunday._--Wm. not well. I baked bread and pie for dinner. + +_Monday._--A fine morning. Sara and I walked to Rydale. After dinner we +went to Lloyd's, and drank tea, and supped. A sharp cold night, with +sleet and snow. + +_Tuesday._--Read _Tom Jones_. + +_Wednesday._-- ... Wm. very well. We had a delightful walk up into +Easedale. The tops of the mountains covered with snow, frosty and sunny, +the roads slippery. A letter from Mary. The Lloyds drank tea. We walked +with them near to Ambleside. A beautiful moonlight night. Sara and I +walked home. William very well, and highly poetical. + +_Thursday, 27th November._--Wrote to Tom Hutchinson to desire him to +bring Mary with him. A thaw, and the ground covered with snow. Sara and +I walked before dinner. + +_Friday._--Coleridge walked over. Miss Simpson drank tea with us. +William walked home with her. Coleridge was very unwell. He went to bed +before Wm.'s return. + + * * * * * * + +_Sunday, 30th November._--A very fine clear morning. Snow upon the +ground everywhere. Sara and I walked towards Rydale by the upper road, +and were obliged to return, because of the snow. Walked by moonlight. + +_Monday._--A thaw in the night, and the snow was entirely gone. +Coleridge unable to go home. We walked by moonlight. + +_Tuesday, 2nd December._--A rainy morning. Coleridge was obliged to set +off. Sara and I met C. Lloyd and S. turned back with him. I walked round +the 2 lakes with Charles, very pleasant. We all walked to Ambleside. A +pleasant moonlight evening, but not clear. It came on a terrible +evening. Hail, and wind, and cold, and rain. + +_Wednesday, 3rd December._--We lay in bed till 11 o'clock. Wrote to +John, and M. H. William and Sara and I walked to Rydale after tea. A +very fine frosty night. Sara and W. walked round the other side. + +_Thursday._--Coleridge came in, just as we finished dinner. We walked +after tea by moonlight to look at Langdale covered with snow, the Pikes +not grand, but the Old Man[36] very expressive. Cold and slippery, but +exceedingly pleasant. Sat up till half-past one. + + [Footnote 36: Coniston 'Old Man.'--ED.] + +_Friday Morning._--Terribly cold and rainy. Coleridge and Wm. set +forward towards Keswick, but the wind in Coleridge's eyes made him turn +back. Sara and I had a grand bread and cake baking. We were very merry +in the evening, but grew sleepy soon, though we did not go to bed till +twelve o'clock. + +_Saturday._--Wm. accompanied Coleridge to the foot of the Raise. A very +pleasant morning. Sara and I accompanied him half-way to Keswick. +Thirlemere was very beautiful, even more so than in summer. William was +not well, had laboured unsuccessfully.... A letter from M. H. + +_Sunday._--A fine morning. I read. Sara wrote to Hartley, Wm. to Mary, I +to Mrs. C. We walked just before dinner to the lakeside, and found out a +seat in a tree. Windy, but very pleasant. Sara and Wm. walked to the +waterfalls at Rydale. + +_Monday, 8th December._--A sweet mild morning. I wrote to Mrs. Cookson, +and Miss Griffith. + +_Tuesday, 9th._--I dined at Lloyd's. Wm. drank tea. Walked home. A +pleasant starlight frosty evening. Reached home at one o'clock. Wm. +finished his poem to-day. + +_Wednesday, 10th._--Walked to Keswick. Snow upon the ground. A very fine +day. Ate bread and ale at John Stanley's. Found Coleridge better. Stayed +at Keswick till Sunday 14th December. + +_Wednesday._--A very fine day. Writing all the morning for William. + +_Thursday._--Mrs. Coleridge and Derwent came. Sweeping chimneys. + +_Friday._--Baking. + +_Saturday._--Coleridge came. Very ill, rheumatic fever. Rain +incessantly. + +_Monday._--S. and Wm. went to Lloyd's. Wm. dined. It rained very hard +when he came home. + + + + + IV + + DOROTHY WORDSWORTH'S JOURNAL + WRITTEN AT GRASMERE + (FROM 10TH OCTOBER 1801 TO 29TH DECEMBER 1801) + +EXTRACTS FROM DOROTHY WORDSWORTH'S JOURNAL, WRITTEN AT GRASMERE, FROM +10TH OCTOBER 1801 TO 29TH DECEMBER 1801 + + +_Saturday, 10th October 1801._--Coleridge went to Keswick, after we had +built Sara's seat. + +_Thursday, 15th._-- ... Coleridge came in to Mr. Luff's while we were at +dinner. William and I walked up Loughrigg Fell, then by the +waterside.... + +_Saturday, 24th._--Attempted Fairfield, but misty, and we went no +further than Green Head Gill to the sheepfold; mild, misty, beautifully +soft. Wm. and Tom put out the boat.... + +_Sunday, 25th._--Rode to Legberthwaite with Tom, expecting Mary.... Went +upon Helvellyn. Glorious sights. The sea at Cartmel. The Scotch +mountains beyond the sea to the right. Whiteside large, and round, and +very soft, and green, behind us. Mists above and below, and close to us, +with the sun amongst them. They shot down to the coves. Left John +Stanley's[37] at 10 minutes past 12. Returned thither 1/4 past 4, drank +tea, ate heartily. Before we went on Helvellyn we got bread and cheese. +Paid 4/ for the whole. Reached home at nine o'clock. A soft grey +evening; the light of the moon, but she did not shine on us. Mary and I +sate in C.'s room a while. + + [Footnote 37: The landlord of Wytheburn Inn.--ED.] + + * * * * * * + +_Tuesday, 10th_ [_November_].--Poor C. left us, and we came home +together. We left Keswick at 2 o'clock and did not arrive at Grasmere +till 9 o'clock. I burnt myself with Coleridge's aquafortis. C. had a +sweet day for his ride. Every sight and every sound reminded me of +him--dear, dear fellow, of his many talks to us, by day and by night, of +all dear things. I was melancholy, and could not talk, but at last I +eased my heart by weeping--nervous blubbering says William. It is not +so. O! how many, many reasons have I to be anxious for him. + +_Wednesday, 11th._-- ... Put aside dearest C.'s letters, and now, at +about 7 o'clock, we are all sitting by a nice fire. Wm. with his book +and a candle, and Mary writing to Sara. + +_November 16th._-- ... Wm. is now, at 7 o'clock, reading Spenser. Mary +is writing beside me. The little syke[38] murmurs.[39a] We are quiet and +happy, but poor Peggy Ashburner coughs, as if she would cough her life +away. I am going to write to Coleridge and Sara. Poor C.! I hope he was +in London yesterday.... + + [Footnote 38: A Cumberland word for a rillet.--ED.] + [Footnote 39a: Probably some of the lines afterwards included in _The + Excursion._--ED.] + +_Tuesday, 17th._--A very rainy morning. We walked into Easedale before +dinner. The coppices a beautiful brown. The oaks many, a very fine leafy +shade. We stood a long time to look at the corner birch tree. The wind +was among the light thin twigs, and they yielded to it, this way and +that. + +_Wednesday, 18th._--We sate in the house in the morning reading +Spenser. Wm. and Mary walked to Rydale. Very pleasant moonlight. The +lakes beautiful. The church an image of peace. Wm. wrote some lines upon +it.[40] Mary and I walked as far as the Wishing Gate before supper. We +stood there a long time, the whole scene impressive. The mountains +indistinct, the Lake calm and partly ruffled. A sweet sound of water +falling into the quiet Lake.[39] A storm was gathering in Easedale, so +we returned; but the moon came out, and opened to us the church and +village. Helm Crag in shade, the larger mountains dappled like a sky. We +stood long upon the bridge. Wished for Wm.... + + [Footnote 39: Compare _To a Highland Girl_, 1. 8-- + + A murmur near the silent lake. ED.] + + [Footnote 40: Probably some of the lines afterwards included in _The + Excursion._--ED.] + + * * * * * * + +_Friday, 20th._--We walked in the morning to Easedale. In the evening we +had cheerful letters from Coleridge and Sara. + +_Saturday, 21st._--We walked in the morning, and paid one pound and 4d. +for letters. William out of spirits. We had a pleasant walk and spent a +pleasant evening. There was a furious wind and cold at night. Mr. +Simpson drank tea with us, and helped William out with the boat. Wm. and +Mary walked to the Swan, homewards, with him. A keen clear frosty night. +I went into the orchard while they were out. + +_Sunday, 22nd._--We wrote to Coleridge. + + * * * * * * + +_Tuesday, 24th._-- ... It was very windy, and we heard the wind +everywhere about us as we went along the lane, but the walls sheltered +us. John Green's house looked pretty under Silver How. As we were going +along we were stopped at once, at the distance perhaps of 50 yards from +our favourite birch tree. It was yielding to the gusty wind with all its +tender twigs. The sun shone upon it, and it glanced in the wind like a +flying sunshiny shower. It was a tree in shape, with stem and branches, +but it was like a spirit of water. The sun went in, and it resumed its +purplish appearance, the twigs still yielding to the wind, but not so +visibly to us. The other birch trees that were near it looked bright and +cheerful, but it was a creature by its own self among them.... We went +through the wood. It became fair. There was a rainbow which spanned the +lake from the island-house to the foot of Bainriggs. The village looked +populous and beautiful. Catkins are coming out; palm trees budding; the +alder, with its plum-coloured buds. We came home over the +stepping-stones. The lake was foamy with white waves. I saw a solitary +butter-flower in the wood.... Reached home at dinner time. Sent Peggy +Ashburner some goose. She sent me some honey, with a thousand thanks. +"Alas! the gratitude of men has," etc.[41] I went in to set her right +about this, and sate a while with her. She talked about Thomas's having +sold his land. "I," says she, "said many a time he's not come fra London +to buy our land, however." Then she told me with what pains and industry +they had made up their taxes, interest, etc. etc., how they all got up +at 5 o'clock in the morning to spin and Thomas carded, and that they had +paid off a hundred pounds of the interest. She said she used to take +much pleasure in the cattle and sheep. "O how pleased I used to be when +they fetched them down, and when I had been a bit poorly I would gang +out upon a hill and look over't fields and see them, and it used to do +me so much good you cannot think." Molly said to me when I came in, +"Poor body! she's very ill, but one does not know how long she may last. +Many a fair face may gang before her." We sate by the fire without work +for some time, then Mary read a poem of Daniel.... Wm. read Spenser, now +and then, a little aloud to us. We were making his waistcoat. We had a +note from Mrs. C., with bad news from poor C.--very ill. William went to +John's Grove. I went to find him. Moonlight, but it rained.... He had +been surprised, and terrified, by a sudden rushing of winds, which +seemed to bring earth, sky, and lake together, as if the whole were +going to enclose him in. He was glad he was in a high road. + + [Footnote 41: See, in the "Poetical Works," _Simon Lee_, II. 95, 96, + vol. i. p. 268.--ED.] + +In speaking of our walk on Sunday evening, the 22nd November, I forgot +to notice one most impressive sight. It was the moon and the moonlight +seen through hurrying driving clouds immediately behind the Stone-Man +upon the top of the hill, on the forest side. Every tooth and every edge +of rock was visible, and the Man stood like a giant watching from the +roof of a lofty castle. The hill seemed perpendicular from the darkness +below it. It was a sight that I could call to mind at any time, it was +so distinct. + +_Wednesday, 25th November._--It was a showery morning and threatened to +be a wettish day, but the sun shone once or twice. We were engaged to +Mr. Lloyd's and Wm. and Mary were determined to go that it might be +over. I accompanied them to the thorn beside Rydale water. I parted from +them first at the top of the hill, and they called me back. It rained a +little, and rained afterwards all the afternoon. I baked bread, and +wrote to Sara Hutchinson and Coleridge. I passed a pleasant evening, but +the wind roared so, and it was such a storm that I was afraid for them. +They came in at nine o'clock, no worse for their walk, and cheerful, +blooming, and happy. + +_Thursday, 26th._--Mr. Olliff called before Wm. was up to say that they +would drink tea with us this afternoon. We walked into Easedale, to +gather mosses, and to fetch cream. I went for the cream, and they sate +under a wall. It was piercing cold. + + * * * * * * + +_Thursday, 3rd December 1801._--Wm. walked into Easedale. Hail and +snow.... I wrote a little bit of my letter to Coleridge.... + +_Friday, 4th._-- ... Wm. translating _The Prioress's Tale_. William and +Mary walked after tea to Rydale. I finished the letter to Coleridge, and +we received a letter from him and Sara. C.'s letter written in good +spirits. A letter of Lamb's about George Dyer with it.[42] + + [Footnote 42: An unprinted letter.--ED.] + +_Saturday, 5th._-- ... Wm. finished _The Prioress's Tale_, and after tea +Mary and he wrote it out.... + +_Sunday, 6th._--A very fine beautiful sunshiny morning. Wm. worked a +while at Chaucer, then we set forward to walk into Easedale.... We +walked backwards and forwards in the flat field, which makes the second +course of Easedale, with that beautiful rock in the field beside us, and +all the rocks and the woods and the mountains enclosing us round. The +sun was shining among them, the snow thinly scattered upon the tops of +the mountains. In the afternoon we sate by the fire: I read Chaucer +aloud, and Mary read the first canto of _The Fairy Queen_. After tea +Mary and I walked to Ambleside for letters.... It was a sober starlight +evening. The stars not shining as it were with all their brightness when +they were visible, and sometimes hiding themselves behind small greying +clouds, that passed soberly along. We opened C.'s letter at Wilcock's +door. We thought we saw that he wrote in good spirits, so we came +happily homewards where we arrived 2 hours after we left home. It was a +sad melancholy letter, and prevented us all from sleeping. + +_Monday Morning, 7th._--We rose by candlelight. A showery unpleasant +morning, after a downright rainy night. We determined, however, to go to +Keswick if possible, and we set off a little after 9 o'clock. When we +were upon the Raise, it snowed very much; and the whole prospect closed +in upon us, like a moorland valley, upon a moor very wild. But when we +were at the top of the Raise we saw the mountains before us. The sun +shone upon them, here and there; and Wytheburn vale, though wild, looked +soft. The day went on cheerfully and pleasantly. Now and then a hail +shower attacked us; but we kept up a good heart, for Mary is a famous +jockey.... We reached Greta Hall at about one o'clock. Met Mrs. C. in +the field. Derwent in the cradle asleep. Hartley at his dinner. Derwent +the image of his father. Hartley well. We wrote to C. Mrs. C. left us at +1/2 past 2. We drank tea by ourselves, the children playing about us. +Mary said to Hartley, "Shall I take Derwent with me?" "No," says H., "I +cannot spare my little brother," in the sweetest tone possible, "and he +can't do without his mamma." "Well," says Mary, "why can't I be his +mamma? Can't he have more mammas than one?" "No," says H. "What for?" +"Because they do not love, and mothers do." "What is the difference +between mothers and mammas?" Looking at his sleeves, "Mothers wear +sleeves like this, pulling his own tight down, and mammas" (pulling them +up, and making a bustle about his shoulders) "so." We parted from them +at 4 o'clock. It was a little of the dusk when we set off. Cotton mills +lighted up. The first star at Nadel Fell, but it was never dark. We rode +very briskly. Snow upon the Raise. Reached home at seven o'clock. +William at work with Chaucer, _The God of Love_. Sate latish. I wrote a +letter to Coleridge. + +_Tuesday, 8th December 1801._--A dullish, rainyish morning. Wm. at work +with Chaucer. I read Bruce's _Lochleven_.... William worked at _The +Cuckoo and the Nightingale_ till he was tired.... + +_Wednesday Morning, 9th December._-- ... I read _Palemon and +Arcite_.... William writing out his alteration of Chaucer's _Cuckoo and +Nightingale_.... When I had finished a letter to C., ... Mary and I +walked into Easedale, and backwards and forwards in that large field +under George Rawson's white cottage. We had intended gathering mosses, +and for that purpose we turned into the green lane, behind the tailor's, +but it was too dark to see the mosses. The river came galloping past the +Church, as fast as it could come; and when we got into Easedale we saw +Churn Milk Force, like a broad stream of snow at the little foot-bridge. +We stopped to look at the company of rivers, which came hurrying down +the vale, this way and that. It was a valley of streams and islands, +with that great waterfall at the head, and lesser falls in different +parts of the mountains, coming down to these rivers. We could hear the +sound of the lesser falls, but we could not see them. We walked +backwards and forwards till all distant objects, except the white shape +of the waterfall and the lines of the mountains, were gone. We had the +crescent moon when we went out, and at our return there were a few stars +that shone dimly, but it was a grey cloudy night. + +_Thursday, 10th December._-- ... We walked into Easedale to gather +mosses, and then we went ... up the Gill, beyond that little waterfall. +It was a wild scene of crag and mountain. One craggy point rose above +the rest irregular and rugged, and very impressive it was. We were very +unsuccessful in our search after mosses. Just when the evening was +closing in, Mr. Clarkson came to the door. It was a fine frosty evening. +We played at cards. + + * * * * * * + +_Saturday, 12th._-- ... Snow upon the ground.... All looked cheerful +and bright. Helm Crag rose very bold and craggy, a Being by itself, and +behind it was the large ridge of mountain, smooth as marble and snow +white. All the mountains looked like solid stone, on our left, going +from Grasmere, _i.e._ White Moss and Nab Scar. The snow hid all the +grass, and all signs of vegetation, and the rocks showed themselves +boldly everywhere, and seemed more stony than rock or stone. The birches +on the crags beautiful, red brown and glittering. The ashes glittering +spears with their upright stems. The hips very beautiful, and so good!! +and, dear Coleridge! I ate twenty for thee, when I was by myself. I came +home first. They walked too slow for me. Wm. went to look at Langdale +Pikes. We had a sweet invigorating walk. Mr. Clarkson came in before +tea. We played at cards. Sate up late. The moon shone upon the waters +below Silver How, and above it hung, combining with Silver How on one +side, a bowl-shaped moon, the curve downwards, the white fields, +glittering roof of Thomas Ashburner's house, the dark yew tree, the +white fields gay and beautiful. Wm. lay with his curtains open that he +might see it. + +_Sunday, 13th._--Mr. Clarkson left us, leading his horse.... The boy +brought letters from Coleridge, and from Sara. Sara in bad spirits about +C. + +_Monday, 14th December._--Wm. and Mary walked to Ambleside in the +morning to buy mouse-traps.... I wrote to Coleridge a very long letter +while they were absent. Sate by the fire in the evening reading. + + * * * * * * + +_Thursday, 17th._--Snow in the night and still snowing.... Ambleside +looked excessively beautiful as we came out--like a village in another +country; and the light cheerful mountains were seen, in the long +distance, as bright and as clear as at mid-day, with the blue sky above +them. We heard waterfowl calling out by the lake side. Jupiter was very +glorious above the Ambleside hills, and one large star hung over the +corner of the hills on the opposite side of Rydale water. + +_Friday, 18th December 1801._--Mary and Wm. walked round the two lakes. +I staid at home to make bread. I afterwards went to meet them, and I met +Wm. Mary had gone to look at Langdale Pikes. It was a cheerful glorious +day. The birches and all trees beautiful, hips bright red, mosses green. +I wrote to Coleridge. + + * * * * * * + +_Sunday, 20th December._--It snowed all day. It was a very deep snow. +The brooms were very beautiful, arched feathers with wiry stalks pointed +to the end, smaller and smaller. They waved gently with the weight of +the snow. + +_Monday 21st_ being the shortest day, Mary walked to Ambleside for +letters. It was a wearisome walk, for the snow lay deep upon the roads +and it was beginning to thaw. I stayed at home. Wm. sate beside me, and +read _The Pedlar_. He was in good spirits, and full of hope of what he +should do with it. He went to meet Mary, and they brought four +letters--two from Coleridge, one from Sara, and one from France. +Coleridge's were melancholy letters. He had been very ill. We were made +very unhappy. Wm. wrote to him, and directed the letter into +Somersetshire. I finished it after tea. In the afternoon Mary and I +ironed. + +_Tuesday, 22nd._-- ... Wm. composed a few lines of _The Pedlar_. We +talked about Lamb's tragedy as we went down the White Moss. We stopped a +long time in going to watch a little bird with a salmon-coloured breast, +a white cross or T upon its wings, and a brownish back with faint +stripes.... It began to pick upon the road at the distance of four yards +from us, and advanced nearer and nearer till it came within the length +of W.'s stick, without any apparent fear of us. As we came up the White +Moss, we met an old man, who I saw was a beggar by his two bags hanging +over his shoulder; but, from half laziness, half indifference, and +wanting to _try_ him, if he would speak, I let him pass. He said +nothing, and my heart smote me. I turned back, and said, "You are +begging?" "Ay," says he. I gave him something. William, judging from his +appearance, joined in, "I suppose you were a sailor?" "Ay," he replied, +"I have been 57 years at sea, 12 of them on board a man-of-war under Sir +Hugh Palmer." "Why have you not a pension?" "I have no pension, but I +could have got into Greenwich hospital, but all my officers are dead." +He was 75 years of age, had a freshish colour in his cheeks, grey hair, +a decent hat with a binding round the edge, the hat worn brown and +glossy, his shoes were small thin shoes low in the quarters, pretty +good. They had belonged to a gentleman. His coat was frock shaped, +coming over his thighs. It had been joined up at the seams behind with +paler blue, to let it out, and there were three bell-shaped patches of +darker blue behind, where the buttons had been. His breeches were either +of fustian, or grey cloth, with strings hanging down, whole and tight. +He had a checked shirt on, and a small coloured handkerchief tied round +his neck. His bags were hung over each shoulder, and lay on each side of +him, below his breast. One was brownish and of coarse stuff, the other +was white with meal on the outside, and his blue waistcoat was whitened +with meal. + + * * * * * * + +We overtook old Fleming at Rydale, leading his little Dutchman-like +grandchild along the slippery road. The same face seemed to be natural +to them both--the old man and the little child--and they went hand in +hand, the grandfather cautious, yet looking proud of his charge. He had +two patches of new cloth at the shoulder-blades of his faded +claret-coloured coat, like eyes at each shoulder, not worn elsewhere. I +found Mary at home in her riding-habit, all her clothes being put up. We +were very sad about Coleridge.... We stopped to look at the stone seat +at the top of the hill. There was a white cushion upon it, round at the +edge like a cushion, and the rock behind looked soft as velvet, of a +vivid green, and so tempting! The snow too looked as soft as a down +cushion. A young foxglove, like a star, in the centre. There were a few +green lichens about it, and a few withered brackens of fern here and +there upon the ground near, all else was a thick snow; no footmark to +it, not the foot of a sheep.... We sate snugly round the fire. I read to +them the Tale of Constance and the Syrian monarch, in the _Man of Lawe's +Tale_, also some of the _Prologue_.... + +_Wednesday, 23rd._-- ... Mary wrote out the Tales from Chaucer for +Coleridge. William worked at _The Ruined Cottage_ and made himself very +ill.... A broken soldier came to beg in the morning. Afterwards a tall +woman, dressed somewhat in a tawdry style, with a long checked muslin +apron, a beaver hat, and throughout what are called good clothes. Her +daughter had gone before, with a soldier and his wife. She had buried +her husband at Whitehaven, and was going back into Cheshire. + +_Thursday, 24th._--Still a thaw. Wm., Mary, and I sate comfortably +round the fire in the evening, and read Chaucer. Thoughts of last year. +I took out my old Journal. + +_Friday, 25th._--_Christmas Day._ We received a letter from Coleridge. +His letter made us uneasy about him. I was glad I was not by myself when +I received it. + +_Saturday, 26th._-- ... We walked to Rydale. Grasmere Lake a beautiful +image of stillness, clear as glass, reflecting all things. The wind was +up, and the waters sounding. The lake of a rich purple, the fields a +soft yellow, the island yellowish-green, the copses red-brown, the +mountains purple, the church and buildings, how quiet they were! Poor +Coleridge, Sara, and dear little Derwent here last year at this time. +After tea we sate by the fire comfortably. I read aloud _The Miller's +Tale_. Wrote to Coleridge.... Wm. wrote part of the poem to +Coleridge.[43] + + [Footnote 43: See _Stanzas, written in my Pocket Copy of Thomson's + Castle of Indolence_, "Poetical Works," vol. ii. p. 305.--ED.] + +_Sunday, 27th._--A fine soft beautiful mild day, with gleams of +sunshine. William went to take in his boat. I sate in John's Grove a +little while. Mary came home. Mary wrote some lines of the third part of +his poem, which he brought to read to us, when we came home.... + +_Monday, 28th of December._--William, Mary, and I set off on foot to +Keswick. We carried some cold mutton in our pockets, and dined at John +Stanley's, where they were making Christmas pies. The sun shone, but it +was coldish. We parted from Wm. upon the Raise. He joined us opposite +Sara's rock. He was busy in composition, and sate down upon the wall. We +did not see him again till we arrived at John Stanley's. There we +roasted apples in the room. After we had left John Stanley's, Wm. +discovered that he had lost his gloves. He turned back, but they were +gone. Wm. rested often. Once he left his Spenser, and Mary turned back +for it, and found it upon the bank, where we had last rested.... We +reached Greta Hall at about 1/2 past 5 o'clock. The children and Mrs. C. +well. After tea, message came from Wilkinson, who had passed us on the +road, inviting Wm. to sup at the Oak. He went. Met a young man (a +predestined Marquis) called Johnston. He spoke to him familiarly of the +L. B. He had seen a copy presented by the Queen to Mrs. Harcourt. Said +he saw them everywhere, and wondered they did not sell. We all went +weary to bed.... + +_Tuesday, 29th._--A fine morning. A thin fog upon the hills which soon +disappeared. The sun shone. Wilkinson went with us to the top of the +hill. We turned out of the road at the second mile stone, and passed a +pretty cluster of houses at the foot of St. John's Vale. The houses were +among tall trees, partly of Scotch fir, and some naked forest trees. We +crossed a bridge just below these houses, and the river winded sweetly +along the meadows. Our road soon led us along the sides of dreary bare +hills, but we had a glorious prospect to the left of Saddleback, +half-way covered with snow, and underneath the comfortable white houses +and the village of Threlkeld. These houses and the village want trees +about them. Skiddaw was behind us, and dear Coleridge's desert home. As +we ascended the hills it grew very cold and slippery. Luckily, the wind +was at our backs, and helped us on. A sharp hail shower gathered at the +head of Martindale, and the view upwards was very grand--wild cottages, +seen through the hurrying hail-shower. The wind drove, and eddied about +and about, and the hills looked large and swelling through the storm. We +thought of Coleridge. O! the bonny nooks, and windings, and curlings of +the beck, down at the bottom of the steep green mossy banks. We dined at +the public-house on porridge, with a second course of Christmas pies. We +were well received by the landlady, and her little Jewish daughter was +glad to see us again. The husband a very handsome man. While we were +eating our dinner a traveller came in. He had walked over Kirkstone, +that morning. We were much amused by the curiosity of the landlord and +landlady to learn who he was, and by his mysterious manner of letting +out a little bit of his errand, and yet telling nothing. He had business +further up in the vale. He left them with this piece of information to +work upon, and I doubt not they discovered who he was and all his +business before the next day at that hour. The woman told us of the +riches of a Mr. Walker, formerly of Grasmere. We said, "What, does he do +nothing for his relations? He has a sickly sister at Grasmere." "Why," +said the man, "I daresay if they had any sons to put forward he would do +it for them, but he has children of his own." + +(_N.B._--His fortune is above £60,000, and he has two children!!) + +The landlord went about a mile and a half with us to put us in the +right way. The road was often very slippery, the wind high, and it was +nearly dark before we got into the right road. I was often obliged to +crawl on all fours, and Mary fell many a time. A stout young man whom we +met on the hills, and who knew Mr. Clarkson, very kindly set us into the +right road, and we inquired again near some houses and were directed, by +a miserable, poverty-struck, looking woman, who had been fetching water, +to go down a miry lane. We soon got into the main road and reached Mr. +Clarkson's at tea time. Mary H. spent the next day with us, and we +walked on Dunmallet before dinner, but it snowed a little. The day +following, being New Year's Eve, we accompanied Mary to Howtown Bridge. + + + + + V + + DOROTHY WORDSWORTH'S JOURNAL + WRITTEN AT GRASMERE + (FROM 1ST JANUARY 1802 TO 8TH JULY 1802) + +EXTRACTS FROM DOROTHY WORDSWORTH'S JOURNAL (FROM 1ST JANUARY 1802 +TO 8TH JULY 1802) + + +_New Year's Day._--We walked, Wm. and I, towards Martindale. + +_January 2nd._--It snowed all day. We walked near to Dalemain in the +snow. + +_January 3rd._--Sunday. Mary brought us letters from Sara and Coleridge +and we went with her homewards to ... Parted at the stile on the Pooley +side. Thomas Wilkinson dined with us and stayed supper. + +I do not recollect how the rest of our time was spent exactly. We had a +very sharp frost which broke on Friday the 15th January, or rather on +the morning of Saturday 16th. + +On Sunday the 17th we went to meet Mary. It was a mild gentle thaw. +She stayed with us till Friday, 22nd January. On Thursday we dined at +Mr. Myers's, and on Friday, 22nd, we parted from Mary. Before our +parting we sate under a wall in the sun near a cottage above Stainton +Bridge. The field in which we sate sloped downwards to a nearly level +meadow, round which the Emont flowed in a small half-circle as at +Lochleven.[44] The opposite bank is woody, steep as a wall, but not +high, and above that bank the fields slope gently, and irregularly down +to it. These fields are surrounded by tall hedges, with trees among +them, and there are clumps or grovelets of tall trees here and there. +Sheep and cattle were in the fields. Dear Mary! there we parted from +her. I daresay as often as she passes that road she will turn in at the +gate to look at this sweet prospect. There was a barn and I think two or +three cottages to be seen among the trees, and slips of lawn and +irregular fields. During our stay at Mr. Clarkson's we walked every day, +except that stormy Thursday. We dined at Thomas Wilkinson's on Friday +the 15th, and walked to Penrith for Mary. The trees were covered with +hoar-frost--grasses, and trees, and hedges beautiful; a glorious sunset; +frost keener than ever. Next day thaw. Mrs. Clarkson amused us with many +stories of her family and of persons whom she had known. I wish I had +set them down as I heard them, when they were fresh in my memory.... +Mrs. Clarkson knew a clergyman and his wife who brought up ten children +upon a curacy, sent two sons to college, and he left £1000 when he died. +The wife was very generous, gave food and drink to all poor people. She +had a passion for feeding animals. She killed a pig with feeding it over +much. When it was dead she said, "To be sure it's a great loss, but I +thank God it did not die _clemmed_" (the Cheshire word for starved). Her +husband was very fond of playing back-gammon, and used to play whenever +he could get anybody to play with him. She had played much in her youth, +and was an excellent player; but her husband knew nothing of this, till +one day she said to him, "You're fond of back-gammon, come play with +me." He was surprised. She told him she had kept it to herself, while +she had a young family to attend to, but that now she would play with +him! So they began to play, and played every night. Mr. C. told us many +pleasant stories. His journey from London to Wisbeck on foot when a +schoolboy, knife and stick, postboy, etc., the white horse sleeping at +the turnpike gate snoring, the turnpike man's clock ticking, the burring +story, the story of the mastiff, bull-baiting by men at Wisbeck. + + [Footnote 44: This refers probably to Loch Leven in Argyll, but its + point is not obvious, and Dorothy Wordsworth had not then been in + Scotland.--ED.] + +On Saturday, January 23rd, we left Eusemere at 10 o'clock in the +morning, I behind Wm. Mr. Clarkson on his Galloway.[45] The morning not +very promising, the wind cold. The mountains large and dark, but only +thinly streaked with snow; a strong wind. We dined in Grisdale on ham, +bread, and milk. We parted from Mr. C. at one o'clock. It rained all the +way home. We struggled with the wind, and often rested as we went along. +A hail shower met us before we reached the Tarn, and the way often was +difficult over the snow; but at the Tarn the view closed in. We saw +nothing but mists and snow: and at first the ice on the Tarn below us +cracked and split, yet without water, a dull grey white. We lost our +path, and could see the Tarn no longer. We made our way out with +difficulty, guided by a heap of stones which we well remembered. We were +afraid of being bewildered in the mists, till the darkness should +overtake us. We were long before we knew that we were in the right +track, but thanks to William's skill we knew it long before we could see +our way before us. There was no footmark upon the snow either of man or +beast. We saw four sheep before we had left the snow region. The vale of +Grasmere, when the mists broke away, looked soft and grave, of a yellow +hue. It was dark before we reached home. O how happy and comfortable we +felt ourselves, sitting by our own fire, when we had got off our wet +clothes. We talked about the Lake of Como, read the description, looked +about us, and felt that we were happy.... + + [Footnote 45: A Galloway pony.--ED.] + +_Sunday, 24th._--We went into the orchard as soon as breakfast was +over. Laid out the situation for our new room, and sauntered a while. +Wm. walked in the morning. I wrote to Coleridge.... + +_Monday, 25th January._-- ... Wm. tired with composition.... + +_Tuesday, 26th._-- ... We are going to walk, and I am ready and waiting +by the kitchen fire for Wm. We set forward intending to go into +Easedale, but the wind being loudish, and blowing down Easedale, we +walked under Silver How for a shelter. We went a little beyond the syke; +then up to John's Grove, where the storm of Thursday has made sad +ravages. Two of the finest trees are uprooted, one lying with the turf +about its root, as if the whole together had been pared by a knife. The +other is a larch. Several others are blown aside, one is snapped in two. +We gathered together a faggot. Wm. had tired himself with working.... We +received a letter from Mary with an account of C.'s arrival in London. I +wrote to Mary before bedtime.... Wm. wrote out part of his poem, and +endeavoured to alter it, and so made himself ill. I copied out the rest +for him. We went late to bed. Wm. wrote to Annette.[46] + + [Footnote 46: See the "Poetical Works," vol. ii. p. 335.--ED.] + +_Wednesday, 27th._--A beautiful mild morning; the sun shone; the lake +was still, and all the shores reflected in it. I finished my letter to +Mary. Wm. wrote to Stuart. I copied sonnets for him. Mr. Olliff called +and asked us to tea to-morrow. We stayed in the house till the sun shone +more dimly and we thought the afternoon was closing in, but though the +calmness of the Lake was gone with the bright sunshine, yet it was +delightfully pleasant. We found no letter from Coleridge. One from Sara +which we sate upon the wall to read; a sweet long letter, with a most +interesting account of Mr. Patrick. We cooked no dinner. Sate a while by +the fire, and then drank tea at Frank Raty's. As we went past the Nab I +was surprised to see the youngest child amongst them running about by +itself, with a canny round fat face, and rosy cheeks. I called in. They +gave me some nuts. Everybody surprised that we should come over +Grisdale. Paid £1: 3: 3 for letters come since December 1st. Paid also +about 8 shillings at Penrith. The bees were humming about the hive. +William raked a few stones off the garden, his first garden labour this +year. I cut the shrubs. When we returned from Frank's, Wm. wasted his +mind in the Magazines. I wrote to Coleridge, and Mrs. C., closed the +letters up to Samson. Then we sate by the fire, and were happy, only our +tender thoughts became painful.[47] Went to bed at 1/2 past 11. + + [Footnote 47: Compare, in _Lines written in Early Spring_, vol. i. + p. 269-- + + In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts + Bring sad thoughts to the mind. ED.] + +_Thursday, 28th._--A downright rain. A wet night. Wm. wrote an epitaph, +and altered one that he wrote when he was a boy. It cleared up after +dinner. We were both in miserable spirits, and very doubtful about +keeping our engagements to the Olliffs. We walked first within view of +Rydale then to Lowthwaite, then we went to Mr. Olliff. We talked a +while. Wm. was tired. We then played at cards. Came home in the rain. +Very dark. Came with a lantern. Wm. out of spirits and tired. He called +at 1/4 past 3 to know the hour. + +_Friday, 29th January._--Wm. was very unwell. Worn out with his bad +night's rest. I read to him, to endeavour to make him sleep. Then I came +into the other room, and I read the first book of _Paradise Lost_. After +dinner we walked to Ambleside.... A heart-rending letter from Coleridge. +We were sad as we could be. Wm. wrote to him. We talked about Wm.'s +going to London. It was a mild afternoon. There was an unusual softness +in the prospects as we went, a rich yellow upon the fields, and a soft +grave purple on the waters. When we returned many stars were out, the +clouds were moveless, and the sky soft purple, the lake of Rydale calm, +Jupiter behind. Jupiter at least _we_ call him, but William says we +always call the largest star Jupiter. When we came home we both wrote to +C. I was stupefied. + +_Saturday, January 30th._--A cold dark morning. William chopped wood. I +brought it in a basket.... He asked me to set down the story of Barbara +Wilkinson's turtle dove. Barbara is an old maid. She had two turtle +doves. One of them died, the first year I think. The other continued to +live alone in its cage for nine years, but for one whole year it had a +companion and daily visitor--a little mouse, that used to come and feed +with it; and the dove would carry it and cover it over with its wings, +and make a loving noise to it. The mouse, though it did not testify +equal delight in the dove's company, was yet at perfect ease. The poor +mouse disappeared, and the dove was left solitary till its death. It +died of a short sickness, and was buried under a tree, with funeral +ceremony by Barbara and her maidens, and one or two others. + +On _Saturday, 30th_, Wm. worked at _The Pedlar_ all the morning. He kept +the dinner waiting till four o'clock. He was much tired.... + +_Sunday, 31st._--Wm. had slept very ill. He was tired. We walked round +the two lakes. Grasmere was very soft, and Rydale was extremely +beautiful from the western side. Nab Scar was just topped by a cloud +which, cutting it off as high as it could be cut off, made the mountain +look uncommonly lofty.[48] We sate down a long time with different +plans. I always love to walk that way, because it is the way I first +came to Rydale and Grasmere, and because our dear Coleridge did also. +When I came with Wm., 6 and 1/2 years ago, it was just at sunset. There +was a rich yellow light on the waters, and the islands were reflected +there. To-day it was grave and soft, but not perfectly calm. William +says it was much such a day as when Coleridge came with _him_. The sun +shone out before we reached Grasmere. We sate by the roadside at the +foot of the Lake, close to Mary's dear name, which she had cut herself +upon the stone. Wm. cut at it with his knife to make it plainer.[49] We +amused ourselves for a long time in watching the breezes, some as if +they came from the bottom of the lake, spread in a circle, brushing +along the surface of the water, and growing more delicate as it were +thinner, and of a _paler_ colour till they died away. Others spread out +like a peacock's tail, and some went right forward this way and that in +all directions. The lake was still where these breezes were not, but +they made it all alive. I found a strawberry blossom in a rock. The +little slender flower had more courage than the green leaves, for _they_ +were but half expanded and half grown, but the blossom was spread full +out. I uprooted it rashly, and I felt as if I had been committing an +outrage, so I planted it again. It will have but a stormy life of it, +but let it live if it can. We found Calvert here. I brought a +handkerchief full of mosses, which I placed on the chimneypiece when +Calvert was gone. He dined with us, and carried away the encyclopædias. +After they were gone, I spent some time in trying to reconcile myself to +the change, and in rummaging out and arranging some other books in their +places. One good thing is this--there is a nice elbow place for Wm., and +he may sit for the picture of John Bunyan any day. Mr. Simpson drank tea +with us. We paid our rent to Benson.... + + [Footnote 48: Compare the poem _To the Clouds_, vol. viii. p. 142, and + the Fenwick note to that poem.--ED.] + + [Footnote 49: This still exists, but is known to few.--ED.] + +_Monday, February 1st._--Wm. slept badly. I baked bread. William worked +hard at _The Pedlar_, and tired himself.... There was a purplish light +upon Mr. Olliff's house, which made me look to the other side of the +vale, when I saw a strange stormy mist coming down the side of Silver +How of a reddish purple colour. It soon came on a heavy rain.... A box +with books came from London. I sate by W.'s bedside, and read in _The +Pleasures of Hope_ to him, which came in the box. He could not fall +asleep. + +_Tuesday, 2nd February._-- ... Wm. went into the orchard after +breakfast, to chop wood. We walked into Easedale.... Walked backwards +and forwards between Goody Bridge and Butterlip How. William wished to +break off composition, but was unable, and so did himself harm. The sun +shone, but it was cold. William worked at _The Pedlar_. After tea I read +aloud the eleventh book of _Paradise Lost_. We were much impressed, and +also melted into tears. The papers came in soon after I had laid aside +the book--a good thing for my Wm.... + +_Wednesday, 3rd._--A rainy morning. We walked to Rydale for letters. +Found one from Mrs. Cookson and Mary H. It snowed upon the hills. We +sate down on the wall at the foot of White Moss. Sate by the fire in the +evening. Wm. tired, and did not compose. He went to bed soon, and could +not sleep. I wrote to Mary H. Sent off the letter by Fletcher. Wrote +also to Coleridge. Read Wm. to sleep after dinner, and read to him in +bed till 1/2 past one. + +_Thursday, 4th._-- ... Wm. thought a little about _The Pedlar_. Read +Smollet's life. + +_Friday, 5th._--A cold snowy morning. Snow and hail showers. We did not +walk. Wm. cut wood a little. Sate up late at _The Pedlar_. + +_Saturday, 6th February._-- ... Two very affecting letters from +Coleridge; resolved to try another climate. I was stopped in my writing, +and made ill by the letters.... Wrote again after tea, and translated +two or three of Lessing's _Fables_. + +_Sunday, 7th._--A fine clear frosty morning. The eaves drop with the +heat of the sun all day long. The ground thinly covered with snow. The +road black, rocks black. Before night the island was quite green. The +sun had melted all the snow. Wm. working at his poem. We sate by the +fire, and did not walk, but read _The Pedlar_, thinking it done; but W. +could find fault with one part of it. It was uninteresting, and must be +altered. Poor Wm.! + +_Monday Morning, 8th February 1802._--It was very windy and rained hard +all the morning. William worked at his poem and I read a little in +Lessing and the grammar. A chaise came past. + +After dinner (_i.e._ we set off at about 1/2 past 4) we went towards +Rydale for letters. It was a "_cauld clash_." The rain had been so cold +that it hardly melted the snow. We stopped at Park's to get some straw +round Wm.'s shoes. The young mother was sitting by a bright wood fire, +with her youngest child upon her lap, and the other two sate on each +side of the chimney. The light of the fire made them a beautiful sight, +with their innocent countenances, their rosy cheeks, and glossy curling +hair. We sate and talked about poor Ellis, and our journey over the +Hawes. Before we had come to the shore of the Lake, we met our patient +bow-bent friend, with his little wooden box at his back. "Where are you +going?" said he. "To Rydale for letters." "I have two for you in my +box." We lifted up the lid, and there they lay. Poor fellow, he +straddled and pushed on with all his might; but we outstripped him far +away when we had turned back with our letters.... I could not help +comparing lots with him. He goes at that slow pace every morning, and +after having wrought a hard day's work returns at night, however weary +he may be, takes it all quietly, and, though perhaps he neither feels +thankfulness nor pleasure, when he eats his supper, and has nothing to +look forward to but falling asleep in bed, yet I daresay he neither +murmurs nor thinks it hard. He seems mechanised to labour. We broke the +seal of Coleridge's letters, and I had light enough just to see that he +was not ill. I put it in my pocket. At the top of the White Moss I took +it to my bosom,--a safer place for it. The sight was wild. There was a +strange mountain lightness, when we were at the top of the White Moss. I +have often observed it there in the evenings, being between the two +valleys. There is more of the sky there than any other place. It has a +strange effect. Sometimes, along with the obscurity of evening, or +night, it seems almost like a peculiar sort of light. There was not much +wind till we came to John's Grove, then it roared right out of the +grove, all the trees were tossing about. Coleridge's letter somewhat +damped us. It spoke with less confidence about France. Wm. wrote to him. +The other letter was from Montagu, with £8. Wm. was very unwell, tired +when he had written. He went to bed and left me to write to M. H., +Montagu, and Calvert, and Mrs. Coleridge. I had written in his letter to +Coleridge. We wrote to Calvert to beg him not to fetch us on Sunday. Wm. +left me with a little peat fire. It grew less. I wrote on, and was +starved. At 2 o'clock I went to put my letters under Fletcher's door. I +never felt such a cold night. There was a strong wind and it froze very +hard. I gathered together all the clothes I could find (for I durst not +go into the pantry for fear of waking Wm.). At first when I went to bed +I seemed to be warm. I suppose because the cold air, which I had just +left, no longer touched my body; but I soon found that I was mistaken. I +could not sleep from sheer cold. I had baked pies and bread in the +morning. Coleridge's letter contained prescriptions. + +_N.B._--The moon came out suddenly when we were at John's Grove, and a +star or two besides. + +_Tuesday._--Wm. had slept better. He fell to work, and made himself +unwell. We did not walk. A funeral came by of a poor woman who had +drowned herself, some say because she was hardly treated by her husband; +others that he was a very decent respectable man, and _she_ but an +indifferent wife. However this was, she had only been married to him +last Whitsuntide and had had very indifferent health ever since. She had +got up in the night, and drowned herself in the pond. She had requested +to be buried beside her mother, and so she was brought in a hearse. She +was followed by some very decent-looking men on horseback, her +sister--Thomas Fleming's wife--in a chaise, and some others with her, +and a cart full of women. Molly says folks thinks o' their mothers. Poor +body, _she_ has been little thought of by any body else. We did a little +of Lessing. I attempted a fable, but my head ached; my bones were sore +with the cold of the day before, and I was downright stupid. We went to +bed, but not till Wm. had tired himself. + +_Wednesday, 10th._--A very snowy morning.... I was writing out the poem, +as we hoped for a final writing.... We read the first part and were +delighted with it, but Wm. afterwards got to some ugly place, and went +to bed tired out. A wild, moonlight night. + +_Thursday, 11th._-- ... Wm. sadly tired and working at _The Pedlar_.... +We made up a good fire after dinner, and Wm. brought his mattress out, +and lay down on the floor. I read to him the life of Ben Jonson, and +some short poems of his, which were too interesting for him, and would +not let him go to sleep. I had begun with Fletcher, but he was too dull +for me. Fuller says, in his _Life of Jonson_ (speaking of his plays), +"If his latter be not so spriteful and vigorous as his first pieces, all +that are old, and all who desire to be old, should excuse him therein." +He says he "beheld" wit-combats between Shakespeare and Jonson, and +compares Shakespeare to an English man-of-war, Jonson to a great Spanish +galleon. There is one affecting line in Jonson's epitaph on his first +daughter-- + + Here lies to each her parents ruth, + Mary the daughter of their youth. + At six months' end she parted hence, + In safety of her innocence. + +Two beggars to-day. I continued to read to Wm. We were much delighted +with the poem of _Penshurst_.[50] Wm. rose better. I was cheerful and +happy. He got to work again. + + [Footnote 50: By Ben Jonson.--ED.] + +_Friday, 12th._--A very fine, bright, clear, hard frost. Wm. working +again. I recopied _The Pedlar_, but poor Wm. all the time at work.... In +the afternoon a poor woman came, she said, to beg, ... but she has been +used to go a-begging, for she has often come here. Her father lived to +the age of 105. She is a woman of strong bones, with a complexion that +has been beautiful, and remained very fresh last year, but now she looks +broken, and her little boy--a pretty little fellow, and whom I have +loved for the sake of Basil--looks thin and pale. I observed this to +her. "Aye," says she, "we have all been ill. Our house was nearly +unroofed in the storm, and we lived in it so for more than a week." The +child wears a ragged drab coat and a fur cap. Poor little fellow, I +think he seems scarcely at all grown since the first time I saw him. +William was with me when we met him in a lane going to Skelwith Bridge. +He looked very pretty. He was walking lazily, in the deep narrow lane, +overshadowed with the hedgerows, his meal poke hung over his shoulder. +He said he "was going a laiting." Poor creature! He now wears the same +coat he had on at that time. When the woman was gone, I could not help +thinking that we are not half thankful enough that we are placed in that +condition of life in which we are. We do not so often bless God for +this, as we wish for this £50, that £100, etc. etc. We have not, +however, to reproach ourselves with ever breathing a murmur. This +woman's was but a common case. The snow still lies upon the ground. Just +at the closing in of the day, I heard a cart pass the door, and at the +same time the dismal sound of a crying infant. I went to the window, and +had light enough to see that a man was driving a cart, which seemed not +to be very full, and that a woman with an infant in her arms was +following close behind and a dog close to her. It was a wild and +melancholy sight. Wm. rubbed his tables after candles were lighted, and +we sate a long time with the windows unclosed, and almost finished +writing _The Pedlar_; but poor Wm. wore himself out, and me out, with +labour. We had an affecting conversation. Went to bed at 12 o'clock. + +_Saturday, 13th._--It snowed a little this morning. Still at work at +_The Pedlar_, altering and refitting. We did not walk, though it was a +very fine day. We received a present of eggs and milk from Janet +Dockeray, and just before she went, the little boy from the Hill brought +us a letter from Sara H., and one from the Frenchman in London. I wrote +to Sara after tea, and Wm. took out his old newspapers, and the new ones +came in soon after. We sate, after I had finished the letter, talking; +and Wm. read parts of his _Recluse_ aloud to me.... + +_Sunday, 14th February._--A fine morning. The sun shines out, but it +has been a hard frost in the night. There are some little snowdrops that +are afraid to put their white heads quite out, and a few blossoms of +hepatica that are half-starved. Wm. left me at work altering some +passages of _The Pedlar_, and went into the orchard. The fine day pushed +him on to resolve, and as soon as I had read a letter to him, which I +had just received from Mrs. Clarkson, he said he would go to Penrith, so +Molly was despatched for the horse. I worked hard, got the writing +finished, and all quite trim. I wrote to Mrs. Clarkson, and put up some +letters for Mary H., and off he went in his blue spencer, and a pair of +new pantaloons fresh from London.... I then sate over the fire, reading +Ben Jonson's _Penshurst_, and other things. Before sunset, I put on my +shawl and walked out. The snow-covered mountains were spotted with rich +sunlight, a palish buffish colour.... I stood at the wishing-gate, and +when I came in view of Rydale, I cast a long look upon the mountains +beyond. They were very white, but I concluded that Wm. would have a very +safe passage over Kirkstone, and I was quite easy about him. After +dinner, a little before sunset, I walked out about 20 yards above +Glow-worm Rock. I met a carman, a Highlander I suppose, with four carts, +the first three belonging to himself, the last evidently to a man and +his family who had joined company with him, and who I guessed to be +potters. The carman was cheering his horses, and talking to a little +lass about ten years of age who seemed to make him her companion. She +ran to the wall, and took up a large stone to support the wheel of one +of his carts, and ran on before with it in her arms to be ready for him. +She was a beautiful creature, and there was something uncommonly +impressive in the lightness and joyousness of her manner. Her business +seemed to be all pleasure--pleasure in her own motions, and the man +looked at her as if he too was pleased, and spoke to her in the same +tone in which he spoke to his horses. There was a wildness in her whole +figure, not the wildness of a Mountain lass, but of the Road lass, a +traveller from her birth, who had wanted neither food nor clothes. Her +mother followed the last cart with a lovely child, perhaps about a year +old, at her back, and a good-looking girl, about fifteen years old, +walked beside her. All the children were like the mother. She had a very +fresh complexion, but she was blown with fagging up the steep hill, and +with what she carried. Her husband was helping the horse to drag the +cart up by pushing it with his shoulder. I reached home, and read German +till about 9 o'clock. I wrote to Coleridge. Went to bed at about 12 +o'clock.... I slept badly, for my thoughts were full of Wm. + +_Monday, 15th February._--It snowed a good deal, and was terribly cold. +After dinner it was fair, but I was obliged to run all the way to the +foot of the White Moss, to get the least bit of warmth into me. I found +a letter from C. He was much better, this was very satisfactory, but his +letter was not an answer to Wm.'s which I expected. A letter from +Annette. I got tea when I reached home, and then set on reading German. +I wrote part of a letter to Coleridge, went to bed and slept badly. + +_Tuesday, 16th._--A fine morning, but I had persuaded myself not to +expect Wm., I believe because I was afraid of being disappointed. I +ironed all day. He came just at tea time, had only seen Mary H. for a +couple of hours between Eamont Bridge and Hartshorn Tree. Mrs. C. +better. He had had a difficult journey over Kirkstone, and came home by +Threlkeld. We spent a sweet evening. He was better, had altered _The +Pedlar_. We went to bed pretty soon. Mr. Graham said he wished Wm. had +been with him the other day--he was riding in a post-chaise and he heard +a strange cry that he could not understand, the sound continued, and he +called to the chaise driver to stop. It was a little girl that was +crying as if her heart would burst. She had got up behind the chaise, +and her cloak had been caught by the wheel, and was jammed in, and it +hung there. She was crying after it, poor thing. Mr. Graham took her +into the chaise, and her cloak was released from the wheel, but the +child's misery did not cease, for her cloak was torn to rags; it had +been a miserable cloak before, but she had no other, and it was the +greatest sorrow that could befall her. Her name was Alice Fell.[51] She +had no parents, and belonged to the next town. At the next town, Mr. G. +left money with some respectable people in the town, to buy her a new +cloak. + + [Footnote 51: See the poem _Alice Fell_, in the "Poetical Works," vol. + ii. p. 273.--ED.] + +_Wednesday, 17th._--A miserable nasty snowy morning. We did not walk, +but the old man from the hill brought us a short letter from Mary H. I +copied the second part of _Peter Bell_.... + +_Thursday, 18th._--A foggy morning. I copied new part of _Peter Bell_ +in W.'s absence, and began a letter to Coleridge. Wm. came in with a +letter from Coleridge.... We talked together till 11 o'clock, when Wm. +got to work, and was no worse for it. Hard frost. + + * * * * * * + +_Saturday, 20th._-- ... I wrote the first part of _Peter Bell_.... + +_Sunday, 21st._--A very wet morning. I wrote the 2nd prologue to _Peter +Bell_.... After dinner I wrote the 1st prologue.... Snowdrops quite out, +but cold and winterly; yet, for all this, a thrush that lives in our +orchard has shouted and sung its merriest all day long ... + +_Monday, 22nd._--Wm. brought me 4 letters to read--from Annette and +Caroline,[52] Mary and Sara, and Coleridge.... In the evening we walked +to the top of the hill, then to the bridge. We hung over the wall, and +looked at the deep stream below. It came with a full, steady, yet a very +rapid flow down to the lake. The sykes made a sweet sound everywhere, +and looked very interesting in the twilight, and that little one above +Mr. Olliff's house was very impressive. A ghostly white serpent line, it +made a sound most distinctly heard of itself. The mountains were black +and steep, the tops of some of them having snow yet visible. + + [Footnote 52: See "Poetical Works," vol. ii. p. 335.--ED.] + +_Tuesday, 23rd._-- ... When we came out of our own doors, that dear +thrush was singing upon the topmost of the smooth branches of the ash +tree at the top of the orchard. How long it had been perched on that +same tree I cannot tell, but we had heard its dear voice in the orchard +the day through, along with a cheerful undersong made by our winter +friends, the robins. As we came home, I picked up a few mosses by the +roadside, which I left at home. We then went to John's Grove. There we +sate a little while looking at the fading landscape. The lake, though +the objects on the shore were fading, seemed brighter than when it is +perfect day, and the island pushed itself upwards, distinct and large. +All the shores marked. There was a sweet, sea-like sound in the trees +above our heads. We walked backwards and forwards some time for dear +John's sake, then walked to look at Rydale. Wm. now reading in Bishop +Hall, I going to read German. We have a nice singing fire, with one +piece of wood.... + +_Wednesday, 24th._--A rainy morning. William returned from Rydale very +wet, with letters. He brought a short one from C., a very long one from +Mary. Wm. wrote to Annette, to Coleridge.... I wrote a little bit to +Coleridge. We sent off these letters by Fletcher. It was a tremendous +night of wind and rain. Poor Coleridge! a sad night for a traveller such +as he. God be praised he was in safe quarters. Wm. went out. He never +felt a colder night. + +_Thursday, 25th._--A fine, mild, gay, beautiful morning. Wm. wrote to +Montagu in the morning.... I reached home just before dark, brought some +mosses and ivy, and then got tea, and fell to work at German. I read a +good deal of Lessing's Essay. Wm. came home between 9 and 10 o'clock. We +sat together by the fire till bedtime. Wm. not very much tired. + +_Friday, 26th._--A grey morning till 10 o'clock, then the sun shone +beautifully. Mrs. Lloyd's children and Mrs. Luff came in a chaise, were +here at 11 o'clock, then went to Mrs. Olliff. Wm. and I accompanied them +to the gate. I prepared dinner, sought out _Peter Bell_, gave Wm. some +cold meat, and then we went to walk. We walked first to Butterlip How, +where we sate and overlooked the dale, no sign of spring but the red +tints of the woods and trees. Sate in the sun. Met Charles Lloyd near +the Bridge.... Mr. and Mrs. Luff walked home, the Lloyds stayed till 8 +o'clock. Wm. always gets on better with conversation at home than +elsewhere. The chaise-driver brought us a letter from Mrs. H., a short +one from C. We were perplexed about Sara's coming. I wrote to Mary. Wm. +closed his letter to Montagu, and wrote to Calvert and Mrs. Coleridge. +Birds sang divinely to-day. Wm. better. + +_Sunday, 28th February._--Wm. employed himself with _The Pedlar_. We got +papers in the morning. + +_Monday._--A fine pleasant day, we walked to Rydale. I went on before +for the letters, brought two from M. and S. H. We climbed over the wall +and read them under the shelter of a mossy rock. We met Mrs. Lloyd in +going. Mrs. Olliff's child ill. The catkins are beautiful in the hedges, +the ivy is very green. Robert Newton's paddock is greenish--that is all +we see of Spring; finished and sent off the letter to Sara, and wrote to +Mary. Wrote again to Sara, and Wm. wrote to Coleridge. Mrs. Lloyd called +when I was in bed. + +_Tuesday._[53]--A fine grey morning.... I read German, and a little +before dinner Wm. also read. We walked on Butterlip How under the wind. +It rained all the while, but we had a pleasant walk. The mountains of +Easedale, black or covered with snow at the tops, gave a peculiar +softness to the valley. The clouds hid the tops of some of them. The +valley was populous and enlivened with streams.... + + [Footnote 53: March 2nd.--ED.] + +_Wednesday._--I was so unlucky as to propose to rewrite _The Pedlar_. +Wm. got to work, and was worn to death. We did not walk. I wrote in the +afternoon. + +_Thursday._--Before we had quite finished breakfast Calvert's man +brought the horses for Wm. We had a deal to do, pens to make, poems to +put in order for writing, to settle for the press, pack up; and the man +came before the pens were made, and he was obliged to leave me with only +two. Since he left me at half-past 11 (it is now 2) I have been putting +the drawers into order, laid by his clothes which he had thrown here and +there and everywhere, filed two months' newspapers and got my dinner, 2 +boiled eggs and 2 apple tarts. I have set Molly on to clean the garden a +little, and I myself have walked. I transplanted some snowdrops--the +Bees are busy. Wm. has a nice bright day. It was hard frost in the +night. The Robins are singing sweetly. Now for my walk. I _will_ be +busy. I _will_ look well, and be well when he comes back to me. O the +Darling! Here is one of his bitter apples. I can hardly find it in my +heart to throw it into the fire.... I walked round the two Lakes, +crossed the stepping-stones at Rydale foot. Sate down where we always +sit. I was full of thought about my darling. Blessings on him. I came +home at the foot of our own hill under Loughrigg. They are making sad +ravages in the woods. Benson's wood is going, and the woods above the +River. The wind has blown down a small fir tree on the Rock, that +terminates John's path. I suppose the wind of Wednesday night. I read +German after tea. I worked and read the L. B., enchanted with the _Idiot +Boy_. Wrote to Wm. and then went to bed. It snowed when I went to bed. + +_Friday._--First walked in the garden and orchard, a frosty sunny +morning. After dinner I gathered mosses in Easedale. I saw before me +sitting in the open field, upon his pack of rags, the old Ragman that I +know. His coat is of scarlet in a thousand patches. When I came home +Molly had shook the carpet and cleaned everything upstairs. When I see +her so happy in her work, and exulting in her own importance, I often +think of that affecting expression which she made use of to me one +evening lately. Talking of her good luck in being in this house, "Aye, +Mistress, them 'at's low laid would have been proud creatures could they +but have seen where I is now, fra what they thought wud be my doom." I +was tired when I reached home. I sent Molly Ashburner to Rydale. No +letters. I was sadly mortified. I expected one fully from Coleridge. +Wrote to William, read the L. B., got into sad thoughts, tried at +German, but could not go on. Read L. B. Blessings on that brother of +mine! Beautiful new moon over Silver How. + +_Friday Morning._--A very cold sunshiny frost. I wrote _The Pedlar_, +and finished it before I went to Mrs. Simpson's to drink tea. Miss S. at +Keswick, but she came home. Mrs. Jameson came in and stayed supper. +Fletcher's carts went past and I let them go with William's letter. Mr. +B. S. came nearly home with me. I found letters from Wm., Mary, and +Coleridge. I wrote to C. Sat up late, and could not fall asleep when I +went to bed. + + * * * * * * + +_Sunday Morning._--A very fine, clear frost. I stitched up _The Pedlar_; +wrote out _Ruth_; read it with the alterations, then wrote Mary H. Read +a little German, ... and in came William, I did not expect him till +to-morrow. How glad I was. After we had talked about an hour, I gave him +his dinner. We sate talking and happy. He brought two new stanzas of +_Ruth_.... + +_Monday Morning._--A soft rain and mist. We walked to Rydale for +letters. The Vale looked very beautiful in excessive simplicity, yet, at +the same time, in uncommon obscurity. The Church stood alone--mountains +behind. The meadows looked calm and rich, bordering on the still lake. +Nothing else to be seen but lake and island.... + +On Friday evening the moon hung over the northern side of the highest +point of Silver How, like a gold ring snapped in two, and shaven off at +the ends. Within this ring lay the circle of the round moon, as +distinctly to be seen as ever the enlightened moon is. William had +observed the same appearance at Keswick, perhaps at the very same +moment, hanging over the Newland Fells. Sent off a letter to Mary H., +also to Coleridge, and Sara, and rewrote in the evening the alterations +of _Ruth_, which we sent off at the same time. + +_Tuesday Morning._--William was reading in Ben Jonson. He read me a +beautiful poem on Love.... We sate by the fire in the evening, and read +_The Pedlar_ over. William worked a little, and altered it in a few +places.... + +_Wednesday._-- ... Wm. read in Ben Jonson in the morning. I read a +little German. We then walked to Rydale. No letters. They are slashing +away in Benson's wood. William has since tea been talking about +publishing the Yorkshire Wolds Poem with _The Pedlar_. + +_Thursday._--A fine morning. William worked at the poem of _The Singing +Bird_.[54] Just as we were sitting down to dinner we heard Mr. +Clarkson's voice. I ran down, William followed. He was so finely mounted +that William was more intent upon the horse than the rider, an offence +easily forgiven, for Mr. Clarkson was as proud of it himself as he well +could be.... + + [Footnote 54: First published in 1807, under the title of _The + Sailor's Mother_.--ED.] + +_Friday._--A very fine morning. We went to see Mr. Clarkson off. The sun +shone while it rained, and the stones of the walls and the pebbles on +the road glittered like silver.... William finished his poem of _The +Singing Bird_. In the meantime I read the remainder of Lessing. In the +evening after tea William wrote _Alice Fell_. He went to bed tired, with +a wakeful mind and a weary body.... + +_Saturday Morning._--It was as cold as ever it has been all winter, very +hard frost.... William finished _Alice Fell_, and then wrote the poem of +_The Beggar Woman_, taken from a woman whom I had seen in May (now +nearly two years ago) when John and he were at Gallow Hill. I sate with +him at intervals all the morning, took down his stanzas, etc.... After +tea I read to William that account of the little boy belonging to the +tall woman, and an unlucky thing it was, for he could not escape from +those very words, and so he could not write the poem. He left it +unfinished, and went tired to bed. In our walk from Rydale he had got +warmed with the subject, and had half cast the poem. + +_Sunday Morning._--William ... got up at nine o'clock, but before he +rose he had finished _The Beggar Boy_, and while we were at breakfast +... he wrote the poem _To a Butterfly_! He ate not a morsel, but sate +with his shirt neck unbuttoned, and his waistcoat open while he did it. +The thought first came upon him as we were talking about the pleasure we +both always felt at the sight of a butterfly. I told him that I used to +chase them a little, but that I was afraid of brushing the dust off +their wings, and did not catch them. He told me how he used to kill all +the white ones when he went to school because they were Frenchmen.... I +wrote it down and the other poems, and I read them all over to him.... +William began to try to alter _The Butterfly_, and tired himself.... + +_Monday Morning._--We sate reading the poems, and I read a little +German.... During W.'s absence a sailor who was travelling from +Liverpool to Whitehaven called, he was faint and pale when he knocked at +the door--a young man very well dressed. We sate by the kitchen fire +talking with him for two hours. He told us interesting stories of his +life. His name was Isaac Chapel. He had been at sea since he was 15 +years old. He was by trade a sail-maker. His last voyage was to the +coast of Guinea. He had been on board a slave ship, the captain's name +Maxwell, where one man had been killed, a boy put to lodge with the pigs +and was half eaten, set to watch in the hot sun till he dropped down +dead. He had been away in North America and had travelled thirty days +among the Indians, where he had been well treated. He had twice swam +from a King's ship in the night and escaped. He said he would rather be +in hell than be pressed. He was now going to wait in England to appear +against Captain Maxwell. "O he's a Rascal, Sir, he ought to be put in +the papers!" The poor man had not been in bed since Friday night. He +left Liverpool at 2 o'clock on Saturday morning; he had called at a farm +house to beg victuals and had been refused. The woman said she would +give him nothing. "Won't you? Then I can't help it." He was excessively +like my brother John. + +_Tuesday._-- ... William went up into the orchard, ... and wrote a part +of _The Emigrant Mother_. After dinner I read him to sleep. I read +Spenser.... We walked to look at Rydale. The moon was a good height +above the mountains. She seemed far distant in the sky. There were two +stars beside her, that twinkled in and out, and seemed almost like +butterflies in motion and lightness. They looked to be far nearer to us +than the moon. + +_Wednesday._--William went up into the orchard and finished the poem. I +went and sate with W. and walked backwards and forwards in the orchard +till dinner time. He read me his poem. I read to him, and my Beloved +slept. A sweet evening as it had been a sweet day, and I walked quietly +along the side of Rydale lake with quiet thoughts--the hills and the +lake were still--the owls had not begun to hoot, and the little birds +had given over singing. I looked before me and saw a red light upon +Silver How as if coming out of the vale below, + + There was a light of most strange birth, + A light that came out of the earth, + And spread along the dark hill-side. + +Thus I was going on when I saw the shape of my Beloved in the road at a +little distance. We turned back to see the light but it was +fading--almost gone. The owls hooted when we sate on the wall at the +foot of White Moss; the sky broke more and more, and we saw the moon now +and then. John Gill passed us with his cart; we sate on. When we came in +sight of our own dear Grasmere, the vale looked fair and quiet in the +moonshine, the Church was there and all the cottages. There were huge +slow-travelling clouds in the sky, that threw large masses of shade upon +some of the mountains. We walked backwards and forwards, between home +and Olliff's, till I was tired. William kindled, and began to write the +poem. We carried cloaks into the orchard, and sate a while there. I left +him, and he nearly finished the poem. I was tired to death, and went to +bed before him. He came down to me, and read the poem to me in bed. A +sailor begged here to-day, going to Glasgow. He spoke cheerfully in a +sweet tone. + +_Thursday._--Rydale vale was full of life and motion. The wind blew +briskly, and the lake was covered all over with bright silver waves, +that were there each the twinkling of an eye, then others rose up and +took their place as fast as they went away. The rocks glittered in the +sunshine. The crows and the ravens were busy, and the thrushes and +little birds sang. I went through the fields, and sate for an hour +afraid to pass a cow. The cow looked at me, and I looked at the cow, and +whenever I stirred the cow gave over eating.... A parcel came in from +Birmingham, with Lamb's play for us, and for C.... As we came along +Ambleside vale in the twilight, it was a grave evening. There was +something in the air that compelled me to various thoughts--the hills +were large, closed in by the sky.... Night was come on, and the moon was +overcast. But, as I climbed the moss, the moon came out from behind a +mountain mass of black clouds. O, the unutterable darkness of the sky, +and the earth below the moon, and the glorious brightness of the moon +itself! There was a vivid sparkling streak of light at this end of +Rydale water, but the rest was very dark, and Loughrigg Fell and Silver +How were white and bright, as if they were covered with hoar frost. The +moon retired again, and appeared and disappeared several times before I +reached home. Once there was no moonlight to be seen but upon the +island-house and the promontory of the island where it stands. "That +needs must be a holy place," etc. etc. I had many very exquisite +feelings, and when I saw this lofty Building in the waters, among the +dark and lofty hills, with that bright, soft light upon it, it made me +more than half a poet. I was tired when I reached home, and could not +sit down to reading. I tried to write verses, but alas! I gave up, +expecting William, and went soon to bed. + +_Friday._--A very rainy morning. I went up into the lane to collect a +few green mosses to make the chimney gay against my darling's return. +Poor C., I did not wish for, or expect him, it rained so.... Coleridge +came in. His eyes were a little swollen with the wind. I was much +affected by the sight of him, he seemed half-stupefied. William came in +soon after. Coleridge went to bed late, and William and I sate up till +four o'clock. A letter from Sara sent by Mary. They disputed about Ben +Jonson. My spirits were agitated very much. + +_Saturday._-- ... When I awoke the whole vale was covered with snow. +William and Coleridge walked.... We had a little talk about going +abroad. After tea William read _The Pedlar_. Talked about various +things--christening the children, etc. etc. Went to bed at 12 o'clock. + +_Sunday._--Coleridge and William lay long in bed. We sent up to George +Mackareth's for the horse to go to Keswick, but we could not have it. +Went with C. to Borwick's where he left us. William very unwell. We had +a sweet and tender conversation. I wrote to Mary and Sara. + +_Monday._--A rainy day. William very poorly. 2 letters from Sara, and +one from poor Annette. Wrote to my brother Richard. We talked a good +deal about C. and other interesting things. We resolved to see Annette, +and that Wm. should go to Mary. Wm. wrote to Coleridge not to expect us +till Thursday or Friday. + +_Tuesday._--A mild morning. William worked at _The Cuckoo_ poem. I +sewed beside him.... I read German, and, at the closing-in of day, went +to sit in the orchard. William came to me, and walked backwards and +forwards. We talked about C. Wm. repeated the poem to me. I left him +there, and in 20 minutes he came in, rather tired with attempting to +write. He is now reading Ben Jonson. I am going to read German. It is +about 10 o'clock, a quiet night. The fire flickers, and the watch ticks. +I hear nothing save the breathing of my Beloved as he now and then +pushes his book forward, and turns over a leaf.... + +_Wednesday._--It was a beautiful spring morning, warm, and quiet with +mists. We found a letter from M. H. I made a vow that we would not leave +this country for G. Hill.[55] ... William altered _The Butterfly_ as we +came from Rydale.... + + [Footnote 55: Gallow Hill, Yorkshire.--ED.] + +_Thursday._-- ... No letter from Coleridge. + +_Friday._-- ... William wrote to Annette, then worked at _The +Cuckoo_.... After dinner I sate 2 hours in the orchard. William and I +walked together after tea, to the top of White Moss. I left Wm. and +while he was absent I wrote out poems. I grew alarmed, and went to seek +him. I met him at Mr. Olliff's. He has been trying, without success, to +alter a passage--his _Silver How_ poem. He had written a conclusion just +before he went out. While I was getting into bed, he wrote _The +Rainbow_. + +_Saturday._--A divine morning. At breakfast William wrote part of an +ode.... We sate all day in the orchard. + +_Sunday._--We went to Keswick. Arrived wet to the skin.... + +_Monday._--Wm. and C. went to Armathwaite. + +_Tuesday, 30th March._--We went to Calvert's. + +_Wednesday, 31st March._-- ... We walked to Portinscale, lay upon the +turf, and looked into the Vale of Newlands; up to Borrowdale, and down +to Keswick--a soft Venetian view. Calvert and Wilkinsons dined with us. +I walked with Mrs. W. to the Quaker's meeting, met Wm., and we walked in +the field together. + +_Thursday, 1st April._--Mrs. C, Wm. and I went to the How. We came home +by Portinscale. + +_Friday, 2nd._--Wm. and I sate all the morning in the field. + +_Saturday, 3rd._--Wm. went on to Skiddaw with C. We dined at +Calvert's.... + +_Sunday, 4th._--We drove by gig to Water End. I walked down to +Coleridge's. Mrs. Calvert came to Greta Bank to tea. William walked down +with Mrs. Calvert, and repeated his verses to them.... + +_Monday, 5th._--We came to Eusemere. Coleridge walked with us to +Threlkeld.... + + * * * * * * + +_Monday, 12th._-- ... The ground covered with snow. Walked to T. +Wilkinson's and sent for letters. The woman brought me one from William +and Mary. It was a sharp, windy night. Thomas Wilkinson came with me to +Barton, and questioned me like a catechiser all the way. Every question +was like the snapping of a little thread about my heart. I was so full +of thought of my half-read letter and other things. I was glad when he +left me. Then I had time to look at the moon while I was thinking my own +thoughts. The moon travelled through the clouds, tinging them yellow as +she passed along, with two stars near her, one larger than the other. +These stars grew and diminished as they passed from, or went into, the +clouds. At this time William, as I found the next day, was riding by +himself between Middleham and Barnard Castle.... + +_Tuesday, 13th April._--Mrs. C. waked me from sleep with a letter from +Coleridge.... I walked along the lake side. The air was become still, +the lake was of a bright slate colour, the hills darkening. The bays +shot into the low fading shores. Sheep resting. All things quiet. When I +returned _William_ was come. The surprise shot through me.... + + * * * * * * + +_Thursday, 15th._--It was a threatening, misty morning, but mild. We +set off after dinner from Eusemere. Mrs. Clarkson went a short way with +us, but turned back. The wind was furious, and we thought we must have +returned. We first rested in the large boathouse, then under a furze +bush opposite Mr. Clarkson's. Saw the plough going in the field. The +wind seized our breath. The lake was rough. There was a boat by itself +floating in the middle of the bay below Water Millock. We rested again +in the Water Millock Lane. The hawthorns are black and green, the +birches here and there greenish, but there is yet more of purple to be +seen on the twigs. We got over into a field to avoid some cows--people +working. A few primroses by the roadside--woodsorrel flower, the +anemone, scentless violets, strawberries, and that starry, yellow flower +which Mrs. C. calls pile wort. When we were in the woods beyond +Gowbarrow Park we saw a few daffodils close to the water-side. We +fancied that the sea had floated the seeds ashore, and that the little +colony had so sprung up. But as we went along there were more and yet +more; and at last, under the boughs of the trees, we saw that there was +a long belt of them along the shore, about the breadth of a country +turnpike road. I never saw daffodils so beautiful. They grew among the +mossy stones about and above them; some rested their heads upon these +stones, as on a pillow, for weariness; and the rest tossed and reeled +and danced, and seemed as if they verily laughed with the wind, that +blew upon them over the lake; they looked so gay, ever glancing, ever +changing. This wind blew directly over the lake to them. There was here +and there a little knot, and a few stragglers higher up; but they were +so few as not to disturb the simplicity, unity, and life of that one +busy highway. We rested again and again. The bays were stormy, and we +heard the waves at different distances, and in the middle of the water, +like the sea.... All was cheerless and gloomy, so we faced the storm. At +Dobson's I was very kindly treated by a young woman. The landlady looked +sour, but it is her way.... William was sitting by a good fire when I +came downstairs. He soon made his way to the library, piled up in a +corner of the window. He brought out a volume of Enfield's _Speaker_, +another miscellany, and an odd volume of Congreve's plays. We had a +glass of warm rum and water. We enjoyed ourselves, and wished for Mary. +It rained and blew, when we went to bed. + +_Friday, 16th April_ (_Good Friday_).--When I undrew curtains in the +morning, I was much affected by the beauty of the prospect, and the +change. The sun shone, the wind had passed away, the hills looked +cheerful, the river was very bright as it flowed into the lake. The +church rises up behind a little knot of rocks, the steeple not so high +as an ordinary three-story house. Trees in a row in the garden under the +wall. The valley is at first broken by little woody knolls that make +retiring places, fairy valleys in the vale, the river winds along under +these hills, travelling, not in a bustle but not slowly, to the lake. We +saw a fisherman in the flat meadow on the other side of the water. He +came towards us, and threw his line over the two-arched bridge. It is a +bridge of a heavy construction, almost bending inwards in the middle, +but it is grey, and there is a look of ancientry in the architecture of +it that pleased me. As we go on the vale opens out more into one vale, +with somewhat of a cradle bed. Cottages, with groups of trees, on the +side of the hills. We passed a pair of twin children, two years old. +Sate on the next bridge which we crossed--a single arch. We rested again +upon the turf, and looked at the same bridge. We observed arches in the +water, occasioned by the large stones sending it down in two streams. A +sheep came plunging through the river, stumbled up the bank, and passed +close to us. It had been frightened by an insignificant little dog on +the other side. Its fleece dropped a glittering shower under its belly. +Primroses by the road-side, pile wort that shone like stars of gold in +the sun, violets, strawberries, retired and half-buried among the grass. +When we came to the foot of Brothers Water, I left William sitting on +the bridge, and went along the path on the right side of the lake +through the wood. I was delighted with what I saw. The water under the +boughs of the bare old trees, the simplicity of the mountains, and the +exquisite beauty of the path. There was one grey cottage. I repeated +_The Glow-worm_, as I walked along. I hung over the gate, and thought I +could have stayed for ever. When I returned, I found William writing a +poem descriptive of the sights and sounds we saw and heard.[56] There +was the gentle flowing of the stream, the glittering, lively lake, green +fields without a living creature to be seen on them; behind us, a flat +pasture with forty-two cattle feeding; to our left, the road leading to +the hamlet. No smoke there, the sun shone on the bare roofs. The people +were at work ploughing, harrowing, and sowing; ... a dog barking now and +then, cocks crowing, birds twittering, the snow in patches at the top of +the highest hills, yellow palms, purple and green twigs on the birches, +ashes with their glittering stems quite bare. The hawthorn a bright +green, with black stems under the oak. The moss of the oak glossy. We +went on. Passed two sisters at work (they first passed us), one with two +pitchforks in her hand, the other had a spade. We had come to talk with +them. They laughed long after we were gone, perhaps half in wantonness, +half boldness. William finished his poem.[56] Before we got to the foot +of Kirkstone, there were hundreds of cattle in the vale. There we ate +our dinner. The walk up Kirkstone was very interesting. The becks among +the rocks were all alive. William showed me the little mossy streamlet +which he had before loved when he saw its bright green track in the +snow. The view above Ambleside very beautiful. There we sate and looked +down on the green vale. We watched the crows at a little distance from +us become white as silver as they flew in the sunshine, and when they +went still further, they looked like shapes of water passing over the +green fields. The whitening of Ambleside church is a great deduction +from the beauty of it, seen from this point. We called at the Luffs, the +Roddingtons there. Did not go in, and went round by the fields. I pulled +off my stockings, intending to wade the beck, but I was obliged to put +them on, and we climbed over the wall at the bridge. The post passed us. +No letters. Rydale Lake was in its own evening brightness: the Island, +and Points distinct. Jane Ashburner came up to us when we were sitting +upon the wall.... The garden looked pretty in the half-moonlight, +half-daylight, as we went up the vale.... + + [Footnote 56: See "The Cock is crowing," etc., vol. ii. p. 293.--ED.] + +_Saturday, 17th._--A mild warm rain. We sate in the garden all the +morning. William dug a little. I transplanted a honey-suckle. The lake +was still. The sheep on the island, reflected in the water, like the +grey-deer we saw in Gowbarrow Park. We walked after tea by moonlight. I +had been in bed in the afternoon, and William had slept in his chair. We +walked towards Rydale backwards and forwards below Mr. Olliff's. The +village was beautiful in the moonlight. Helm Crag we observed very +distinct. The dead hedge round Benson's field bound together at the top +by an interlacing of ash sticks, which made a chain of silver when we +faced the moon. A letter from C. and also one from S. H. I saw a robin +chasing a scarlet butterfly this morning. + +_Sunday, 18th._--Again a mild grey morning, with rising vapours. We sate +in the orchard. William wrote the poem on _The Robin and the +Butterfly_.[57] ... William met me at Rydale ... with the conclusion of +the poem of the Robin. I read it to him in bed. We left out some lines. + + [Footnote 57: See vol. ii. p. 295.--ED.] + + * * * * * * + +_Tuesday, 20th._--A beautiful morning. The sun shone. William wrote a +conclusion to the poem of the Butterfly:-- + + I've watched you now a full half-hour.[58] + + [Footnote 58: Published as a separate poem.--ED.] + +I was quite out of spirits, and went into the orchard. When I came in, +he had finished the poem. It was a beautiful afternoon. The sun shone +upon the level fields, and they grew greener beneath the eye. Houses, +village, all cheerful--people at work. We sate in the orchard and +repeated _The Glow-worm_ and other poems. Just when William came to a +well or trough, which there is in Lord Darlington's park, he began to +write that poem of _The Glow-worm_; ... interrupted in going through the +town of Staindrop, finished it about 2 miles and a half beyond +Staindrop. He did not feel the jogging of the horse while he was +writing; but, when he had done, he felt the effect of it, and his +fingers were cold with his gloves. His horse fell with him on the other +side of St. Helens, Auckland. So much for _The Glow-worm_. It was +written coming from Middleham on Monday, 12th April 1802.... On Tuesday +20th, when we were sitting after tea, Coleridge came to the door. I +startled him with my voice. C. came up fatigued, but I afterwards found +he looked well. William was not well, and I was in low spirits. + +_Wednesday, 21st._--William and I sauntered a little in the garden. +Coleridge came to us, and repeated the verses he wrote to Sara. I was +affected with them, and in miserable spirits.[59] The sunshine, the +green fields, and the fair sky made me sadder; even the little happy, +sporting lambs seemed but sorrowful to me. The pile wort spread out on +the grass a thousand shiny stars. The primroses were there, and the +remains of a few daffodils. The well, which we cleaned out last night, +is still but a little muddy pond, though full of water.... Read +Ferguson's life and a poem or two.... + + [Footnote 59: Can these "Verses" have been the first draft of + _Dejection, an Ode_, in its earliest and afterwards abandoned form? It + is said to have been written on 2nd April 1802.--ED.] + +_Thursday, 22nd._--A fine mild morning. We walked into Easedale. The sun +shone. Coleridge talked of his plan of sowing the laburnum in the woods. +The waters were high, for there had been a great quantity of rain in the +night. I was tired and sate under the shade of a holly tree that grows +upon a rock, and looked down the stream. I then went to the single holly +behind that single rock in the field, and sate upon the grass till they +came from the waterfall. I saw them there, and heard William flinging +stones into the river, whose roaring was loud even where I was. When +they returned, William was repeating the poem:-- + + I have thoughts that are fed by the sun. + +It had been called to his mind by the dying away of the stunning of the +waterfall when he got behind a stone.... + +_Friday, 23rd April 1802._--It being a beautiful morning we set off at +11 o'clock, intending to stay out of doors all the morning. We went +towards Rydale, and before we got to Tom Dawson's we determined to go +under Nab Scar. Thither we went. The sun shone, and we were lazy. +Coleridge pitched upon several places to sit down upon, but we could not +be all of one mind respecting sun and shade, so we pushed on to the foot +of the Scar. It was very grand when we looked up, very stony, here and +there a budding tree. William observed that the umbrella yew tree, that +breasts the wind, had lost its character as a tree, and had become +something like to solid wood. Coleridge and I pushed on before. We left +William sitting on the stones, feasting with silence; and Coleridge and +I sat down upon a rocky seat--a couch it might be under the bower of +William's eglantine, Andrew's Broom. He was below us, and we could see +him. He came to us, and repeated his poems[60] while we sate beside him +upon the ground. He had made himself a seat in the crumbling ground. +Afterwards we lingered long, looking into the vales; Ambleside vale, +with the copses, the village under the hill, and the green fields; +Rydale, with a lake all alive and glittering, yet but little stirred by +breezes; and our dear Grasmere, making a little round lake of nature's +own, with never a house, never a green field, but the copses and the +bare hills enclosing it, and the river flowing out of it. Above rose the +Coniston Fells, in their own shape and colour--not man's hills, but all +for themselves, the sky and the clouds, and a few wild creatures. C. +went to search for something new. We saw him climbing up towards a rock. +He called us, and we found him in a bower--the sweetest that was ever +seen. The rock on one side is very high, and all covered with ivy, which +hung loosely about, and bore bunches of brown berries. On the other side +it was higher than my head. We looked down on the Ambleside vale, that +seemed to wind away from us, the village lying under the hill. The +fir-tree island was reflected beautifully. About this bower there is +mountain-ash, common-ash, yew-tree, ivy, holly, hawthorn, grasses, and +flowers, and a carpet of moss. Above, at the top of the rock, there is +another spot. It is scarce a bower, a little parlour only, not enclosed +by walls, but shaped out for a resting-place by the rocks, and the +ground rising about it. It had a sweet moss carpet. We resolved to go +and plant flowers in both these places to-morrow. We wished for Mary and +Sara. Dined late. After dinner Wm. and I worked in the garden. C. +received a letter from Sara. + + [Footnote 60: See _The Waterfall and the Eglantine_, and _The Oak and + the Broom_, vol. ii. pp. 170, 174.--ED.] + +_Saturday, 24th._--A very wet day. William called me out to see a +waterfall behind the barberry tree. We walked in the evening to Rydale. +Coleridge and I lingered behind. C. stopped up the little runnel by the +road-side to make a lake. We all stood to look at Glow-worm Rock--a +primrose that grew there, and just looked out on the road from its own +sheltered bower.[61] The clouds moved, as William observed, in one +regular body like a multitude in motion--a sky all clouds over, not one +cloud.[62] On our return it broke a little out, and we saw here and +there a star. One appeared but for a moment in a pale blue sky. + + [Footnote 61: See _The Primrose of the Rock_, vol. vii. p. 274.--ED.] + + [Footnote 62: Compare _To the Clouds_, vol. viii. p. 142.--ED.] + +_Sunday, 25th April._--After breakfast we set off with Coleridge towards +Keswick. Wilkinson overtook us near the Potter's, and interrupted our +discourse. C. got into a gig with Mr. Beck, and drove away from us. A +shower came on, but it was soon over. We spent the morning in the +orchard reading the _Epithalamium_ of Spenser; walked backwards and +forwards.... + +_Monday, 26th._--I copied Wm.'s poems for Coleridge.... + +_Tuesday, 27th._--A fine morning. Mrs. Luff called. I walked with her to +the boat-house. William met me at the top of the hill with his +fishing-rod in his hand. I turned with him, and we sate on the hill +looking to Rydale. I left him, intending to join him, but he came home, +and said his loins would not stand the pulling he had had. We sate in +the orchard. In the evening W. began to write _The Tinker_; we had a +letter and verses from Coleridge. + +_Wednesday, 28th April._-- ... I copied _The Prioress's Tale_. William +was in the orchard. I went to him; he worked away at his poem.... I +happened to say that when I was a child I would not have pulled a +strawberry blossom. I left him, and wrote out _The Manciple's Tale_. At +dinner time he came in with the poem of _Children gathering +Flowers_,[63] but it was not quite finished, and it kept him long off +his dinner. It is now done. He is working at _The Tinker_. He promised +me he would get his tea, and do no more, but I have got mine an hour and +a quarter, and he has scarcely begun his. We have let the bright sun go +down without walking. Now a heavy shower comes on, and I guess we shall +not walk at all. I wrote a few lines to Coleridge. Then we walked +backwards and forwards between our house and Olliff's. We called upon T. +Hutchinson, and Bell Addison. William left me sitting on a stone. When +we came in we corrected the Chaucers, but I could not finish them +to-night. + + [Footnote 63: See _Foresight_, vol. ii. p. 298.--ED.] + +_Thursday, 29th._-- ... After I had written down _The Tinker_, which +William finished this morning, Luff called. He was very lame, limped +into the kitchen. He came on a little pony. We then went to John's +Grove, sate a while at first; afterwards William lay, and I lay, in the +trench under the fence--he with his eyes shut, and listening to the +waterfalls and the birds. There was no one waterfall above another--it +was a sound of waters in the air--the voice of the air. William heard me +breathing, and rustling now and then, but we both lay still, and unseen +by one another. He thought that it would be so sweet thus to lie in the +grave, to hear the peaceful sounds of the earth, and just to know that +our dear friends were near. The lake was still; there was a boat out. +Silver How reflected with delicate purple and yellowish hues, as I have +seen spar; lambs on the island, and running races together by the +half-dozen, in the round field near us. The copses greenish, hawthorns +green, ... cottages smoking. As I lay down on the grass, I observed the +glittering silver line on the ridge of the backs of the sheep, owing to +their situation respecting the sun, which made them look beautiful, but +with something of strangeness, like animals of another kind, as if +belonging to a more splendid world.... I got mullins and pansies.... + +_Friday, April 30th._--We came into the orchard directly after +breakfast, and sate there. The lake was calm, the day cloudy.... Two +fishermen by the lake side. William began to write the poem of _The +Celandine_.[64] ... Walked backwards and forwards with William--he +repeated his poem to me, then he got to work again and would not give +over. He had not finished his dinner till 5 o'clock. After dinner we +took up the fur gown into the Hollins above. We found a sweet seat, and +thither we will often go. We spread the gown, put on each a cloak, and +there we lay. William fell asleep, he had a bad headache owing to his +having been disturbed the night before, with reading C.'s letter. I did +not sleep, but lay with half-shut eyes looking at the prospect as on a +vision almost, I was so resigned[65] to it. Loughrigg Fell was the most +distant hill, then came the lake, slipping in between the copses. Above +the copse, the round swelling field; nearer to me, a wild intermixture +of rocks, trees, and patches of grassy ground. When we turned the corner +of our little shelter, we saw the church and the whole vale. It is a +blessed place. The birds were about us on all sides. Skobbies, robins, +bull-finches, and crows, now and then flew over our heads, as we were +warned by the sound of the beating of the air above. We stayed till the +light of day was going, and the little birds had begun to settle their +singing. But there was a thrush not far off, that seemed to sing louder +and clearer than the thrushes had sung when it was quite day. We came in +at 8 o'clock, got tea, wrote to Coleridge, and I wrote to Mrs. Clarkson +part of a letter. We went to bed at 20 minutes past 11, with prayers +that William might sleep well. + + [Footnote 64: See vol. ii. p. 300.--ED.] + + [Footnote 65: "Resigned" is curiously used in the Lake District. A + woman there once told me that Mr. Ruskin was "very much resigned to + his own company."--ED.] + +_Saturday, May 1st._--Rose not till half-past 8, a heavenly morning. As +soon as breakfast was over, we went into the garden, and sowed the +scarlet beans about the house. It was a clear sky. + +I sowed the flowers, William helped me. We then went and sate in the +orchard till dinner time. It was very hot. William wrote _The +Celandine_.[66] We planned a shed, for the sun was too much for us. +After dinner, we went again to our old resting-place in the Hollins +under the rock. We first lay under the Holly, where we saw nothing but +the holly tree, and a budding elm tree mossed, with the sky above our +heads. But that holly tree had a beauty about it more than its own, +knowing as we did when we arose. When the sun had got low enough, we +went to the Rock Shade. Oh, the overwhelming beauty of the vale below, +greener than green! Two ravens flew high, high in the sky, and the sun +shone upon their bellies and their wings, long after there was none of +his light to be seen but a little space on the top of Loughrigg Fell. +Heard the cuckoo to-day, this first of May. We went down to tea at 8 +o'clock, and returned after tea. The landscape was fading: sheep and +lambs quiet among the rocks. We walked towards King's, and backwards and +forwards. The sky was perfectly cloudless. _N.B._ it is often so. Three +solitary stars in the middle of the blue vault, one or two on the points +of the high hills. + + [Footnote 66: Doubtless the second of the two poems, beginning thus-- + + Pleasures newly found are sweet. ED.] + +_Tuesday, 4th May._--Though William went to bed nervous, and jaded in +the extreme, he rose refreshed. I wrote out _The Leech Gatherer_ for +him, which he had begun the night before, and of which he wrote several +stanzas in bed this morning. [They started to walk to Wytheburn.] It was +very hot.... We rested several times by the way,--read, and repeated +_The Leech Gatherer_.... We saw Coleridge on the Wytheburn side of the +water; he crossed the beck to us. Mr. Simpson was fishing there. William +and I ate luncheon, and then went on towards the waterfall. It is a +glorious wild solitude under that lofty purple crag. It stood upright by +itself; its own self, and its shadow below, one mass; all else was +sunshine. We went on further. A bird at the top of the crag was flying +round and round, and looked in thinness and transparency, shape and +motion like a moth.... We climbed the hill, but looked in vain for a +shade, except at the foot of the great waterfall. We came down, and +rested upon a moss-covered rock rising out of the bed of the river. +There we lay, ate our dinner, and stayed there till about four o'clock +or later. William and Coleridge repeated and read verses. I drank a +little brandy and water, and was in heaven. The stag's horn is very +beautiful and fresh, springing upon the fells; mountain ashes, green. We +drank tea at a farm house.... We parted from Coleridge at Sara's crag, +after having looked for the letters which C. carved in the morning. I +missed them all. William deepened the X with C.'s pen-knife. We sate +afterwards on the wall, seeing the sun go down, and the reflections in +the still water. C. looked well, and parted from us cheerfully, hopping +upon the side stones. On the Raise we met a woman with two little girls, +one in her arms, the other, about four years old, walking by her side, a +pretty little thing, but half-starved.... Young as she was, she walked +carefully with them. Alas, too young for such cares and such travels. +The mother, when we accosted her, told us how her husband had left her, +and gone off with another woman, and how she "_pursued_" them. Then her +fury kindled, and her eyes rolled about. She changed again to tears. She +was a Cockermouth woman, thirty years of age--a child at Cockermouth +when I was. I was moved, and gave her a shilling.... We had the crescent +moon with the "auld moon in her arms." We rested often, always upon the +bridges. Reached home at about ten o'clock.... We went soon to bed. I +repeated verses to William while he was in bed; he was soothed, and I +left him. "This is the spot" over and over again. + +_Wednesday, 5th May._--A very fine morning, rather cooler than +yesterday. We planted three-fourths of the bower. I made bread. We sate +in the orchard. The thrush sang all day, as he always sings. I wrote to +the Hutchinsons, and to Coleridge. Packed off _Thalaba_. William had +kept off work till near bed-time, when we returned from our walk. Then +he began again, and went to bed very nervous. We walked in the twilight, +and walked till night came on. The moon had the old moon in her arms, +but not so plain to be seen as the night before. When we went to bed it +was a boat without the circle. I read _The Lover's Complaint_ to William +in bed, and left him composed. + +_Thursday, 6th May._--A sweet morning. We have put the finishing stroke +to our bower, and here we are sitting in the orchard. It is one o'clock. +We are sitting upon a seat under the wall, which I found my brother +building up, when I came to him.... He had intended that it should have +been done before I came. It is a nice, cool, shady spot. The small birds +are singing, lambs bleating, cuckoos calling, the thrush sings by fits, +Thomas Ashburner's axe is going quietly (without passion) in the +orchard, hens are cackling, flies humming, the women talking together at +their doors, plum and pear trees are in blossom--apple trees +greenish--the opposite woods green, the crows are cawing, we have heard +ravens, the ash trees are in blossom, birds flying all about us, the +stitchwort is coming out, there is one budding lychnis, the primroses +are passing their prime, celandine, violets, and wood sorrel for ever +more, little geraniums and pansies on the wall. We walked in the evening +to Tail End, to inquire about hurdles for the orchard shed.... When we +came in we found a magazine, and review, and a letter from Coleridge, +verses to Hartley, and Sara H. We read the review, etc. The moon was a +perfect boat, a silver boat, when we were out in the evening. The birch +tree is all over green in _small_ leaf, more light and elegant than when +it is full out. It bent to the breezes, as if for the love of its own +delightful motions. Sloe-thorns and hawthorns in the hedges. + +_Friday, 7th May._--William had slept uncommonly well, so, feeling +himself strong, he fell to work at _The Leech Gatherer_; he wrote hard +at it till dinner time, then he gave over, tired to death--he had +finished the poem. I was making Derwent's frocks. After dinner we sate +in the orchard. It was a thick, hazy, dull air. The thrush sang almost +continually; the little birds were more than usually busy with their +voices. The sparrows are now full fledged. The nest is so full that they +lie upon one another; they sit quietly in their nest with closed mouths. +I walked to Rydale after tea, which we drank by the kitchen fire. The +evening very dull; a terrible kind of threatening brightness at sunset +above Easedale. The sloe-thorn beautiful in the hedges, and in the wild +spots higher up among the hawthorns. No letters. William met me. He had +been digging in my absence, and cleaning the well. We walked up beyond +Lewthwaites. A very dull sky; coolish; crescent moon now and then. I had +a letter brought me from Mrs. Clarkson while we were walking in the +orchard. I observed the sorrel leaves opening at about nine o'clock. +William went to bed tired with thinking about a poem. + +_Saturday Morning, 8th May._--We sowed the scarlet beans in the orchard, +and read _Henry V._ there. William lay on his back on the seat, and +wept.... After dinner William added one to the orchard steps. + +_Sunday Morning, 9th May._--The air considerably colder to-day, but the +sun shone all day. William worked at _The Leech Gatherer_ almost +incessantly from morning till tea-time. I copied _The Leech Gatherer_ +and other poems for Coleridge. I was oppressed and sick at heart, for he +wearied himself to death. After tea he wrote two stanzas in the manner +of Thomson's _Castle of Indolence_, and was tired out. Bad news of +Coleridge. + +_Monday, 10th May._--A fine clear morning, but coldish. William is +still at work, though it is past ten o'clock; he will be tired out, I am +sure. My heart fails in me. He worked a little at odd things, but after +dinner he gave over. An affecting letter from Mary H. We sate in the +orchard before dinner.... I wrote to Mary H.... I wrote to Coleridge, +sent off reviews and poems. Went to bed at twelve o'clock. William did +not sleep till three o'clock. + +_Tuesday, 11th May._--A cool air. William finished the stanzas about C. +and himself. He did not go out to-day. Miss Simpson came in to tea, +which was lucky enough, for it interrupted his labours. I walked with +her to Rydale. The evening cool; the moon only now and then to be seen; +the lake purple as we went; primroses still in abundance. William did +not meet me. He completely finished his poem, I finished Derwent's +frocks. We went to bed at twelve o'clock.... + +_Wednesday, 12th May._--A sunshiny, but coldish morning. We walked into +Easedale.... We brought home heckberry blossom, crab blossom, the +anemone nemorosa, marsh marigold, speedwell,--that beautiful blue one, +the colour of the blue-stone or glass used in jewellery--with the +beautiful pearl-like chives. Anemones are in abundance, and still the +dear dear primroses, violets in beds, pansies in abundance, and the +little celandine. I pulled a bunch of the taller celandine. Butterflies +of all colours. I often see some small ones of a pale purple lilac, or +emperor's eye colour, something of the colour of that large geranium +which grows by the lake side.... William pulled ivy with beautiful +berries. I put it over the chimney-piece. Sate in the orchard the hour +before dinner, coldish.... In the evening we were sitting at the table +writing, when we were roused by Coleridge's voice below. He had walked; +looked palish, but was not much tired. We sate up till one o'clock, all +together, then William went to bed, and I sate with C. in the +sitting-room (where he slept) till a quarter past two o'clock. Wrote to +M. H. + +_Thursday, 13th May._--The day was very cold, with snow showers. +Coleridge had intended going in the morning to Keswick, but the cold and +showers hindered him. We went with him after tea as far as the +plantations by the roadside descending to Wytheburn. He did not look +well when we parted from him.... + +_Friday, 14th May._--A very cold morning--hail and snow showers all +day. We went to Brothers wood, intending to get plants, and to go along +the shore of the lake to the foot. We did go a part of the way, but +there was no pleasure in stepping along that difficult sauntering road +in this ungenial weather. We turned again, and walked backwards and +forwards in Brothers wood. William tired himself with seeking an epithet +for the cuckoo. I sate a while upon my last summer seat, the mossy +stone. William's, unoccupied, beside me, and the space between, where +Coleridge has so often lain. The oak trees are just putting forth yellow +knots of leaves. The ashes with their flowers passing away, and leaves +coming out; the blue hyacinth is not quite full blown; gowans are coming +out; marsh marigolds in full glory; the little star plant, a star +without a flower. We took home a great load of gowans, and planted them +about the orchard. After dinner, I worked bread, then came and mended +stockings beside William; he fell asleep. After tea I walked to Rydale +for letters. It was a strange night. The hills were covered over with a +slight covering of hail or snow, just so as to give them a hoary winter +look with the black rocks. The woods looked miserable, the coppices +green as grass, which looked quite unnatural, and they seemed half +shrivelled up, as if they shrank from the air. O, thought I! what a +beautiful thing God has made winter to be, by stripping the trees, and +letting us see their shapes and forms. What a freedom does it seem to +give to the storms! There were several new flowers out, but I had no +pleasure in looking at them. I walked as fast as I could back again with +my letter from S. H.... Met William at the top of White Moss.... Near +ten when we came in. William and Molly had dug the ground and planted +potatoes in my absence. We wrote to Coleridge; sent off bread and frocks +to the C.'s. Went to bed at half-past eleven. William very nervous. +After he was in bed, haunted with altering _The Rainbow_. + + * * * * * * + +_Saturday, 15th._--A very cold and cheerless morning. I sate mending +stockings all the morning. I read in Shakespeare. William lay very late +because he slept ill last night. It snowed this morning just like +Christmas. We had a melancholy letter from Coleridge at bedtime. It +distressed me very much, and I resolved upon going to Keswick the next +day. + +(The following is written on the blotting-paper opposite this date:--) + + S. T. Coleridge. + Dorothy Wordsworth. William Wordsworth. + Mary Hutchinson. Sara Hutchinson. + William. Coleridge. Mary. + Dorothy. Sara. + 16th May + 1802. + John Wordsworth. + +_Sunday, 16th._--William was at work all the morning. I did not go to +Keswick. A sunny, cold, frosty day. A snowstorm at night. We were a good +while in the orchard in the morning. + +_Monday, 17th May._--William was not well, he went with me to Wytheburn +water, and left me in a post-chaise. Hail showers, snow, and cold +attacked me. The people were graving peats under Nadel Fell. A lark and +thrush singing near Coleridge's house. Bancrofts there. A letter from M. +H. + +_Tuesday, 18th May._--Terribly cold, Coleridge not well. Froude called, +Wilkinsons called, C. and I walked in the evening in the garden. Warmer +in the evening. Wrote to M. and S. + +_Wednesday, 19th May._--A grey morning--not quite so cold. C. and I set +off at half-past nine o'clock. Met William near the six-mile stone. We +sate down by the road-side, and then went to Wytheburn water. Longed to +be at the island. Sate in the sun. We drank tea at John Stanley's. The +evening cold and clear. A glorious light on Skiddaw. I was tired. +Brought a cloak down from Mr. Simpson's. Packed up books for Coleridge, +then got supper, and went to bed. + +_Thursday, 20th May._--A frosty, clear morning. I lay in bed late. +William got to work. I was somewhat tired. We sate in the orchard +sheltered all the morning. In the evening there was a fine rain. We +received a letter from Coleridge telling us that he wished us not to go +to Keswick. + +_Friday, 21st May._--A very warm gentle morning, a little rain. William +wrote two sonnets on Buonaparte, after I had read Milton's sonnets to +him. In the evening he went with Mr. Simpson with Borwick's boat to +gather ling in Bainrigg's. I plashed about the well, was much heated, +and I think I caught cold. + +_Saturday, 22nd May._--A very hot morning. A hot wind, as if coming +from a sand desert. We met Coleridge. He was sitting under Sara's rock. +When we reached him he turned with us. We sate a long time under the +wall of a sheep-fold. Had some interesting, melancholy talk, about his +private affairs. We drank tea at a farmhouse. The woman was very kind. +There was a woman with three children travelling from Workington to +Manchester. The woman served them liberally. Afterwards she said that +she never suffered any to go away without a trifle "sec as we have." The +woman at whose house we drank tea the last time was rich and +senseless--she said "she never served any but their own poor." C. came +home with us. We sate some time in the orchard.... Letters from S. and +M. H. + +_Sunday._--I sat with C. in the orchard all the morning.... We walked in +Bainrigg's after tea. Saw the juniper--umbrella shaped. C. went to the +Points,[67] joined us on White Moss. + + [Footnote 67: Mary Point and Sara Point; the "two heath-clad rocks" + referred to in one of the "Poems on the Naming of Places."--ED.] + +_Monday, 24th May._--A very hot morning. We were ready to go off with +Coleridge, but foolishly sauntered, and Miss Taylor and Miss Stanley +called. William and Coleridge and I went afterwards to the top of the +Raise. + +I had sent off a letter to Mary by C. I wrote again, and to C. + +_Tuesday, 25th._-- ... Papers and short note from C.; again no sleep for +William. + + * * * * * * + +_Friday, 28th._-- ... William tired himself with hammering at a passage. + +... We sate in the orchard. The sky cloudy, the air sweet and cool. The +young bullfinches, in their party-coloured raiment, bustle about among +the blossoms, and poise themselves like wire-dancers or tumblers, +shaking the twigs and dashing off the blossoms.[68] There is yet one +primrose in the orchard. The stitchwort is fading. The vetches are in +abundance, blossoming and seeding. That pretty little wavy-looking +dial-like yellow flower, the speedwell, and some others, whose names I +do not yet know. The wild columbines are coming into beauty; some of the +gowans fading. In the garden we have lilies, and many other flowers. The +scarlet beans are up in crowds. It is now between eight and nine +o'clock. It has rained sweetly for two hours and a half; the air is very +mild. The heckberry blossoms are dropping off fast, almost gone; +barberries are in beauty; snowballs coming forward; May roses +blossoming. + + [Footnote 68: Compare _The Green Linnett_, vol. ii. p. 367.--ED.] + +_Saturday, 29th._-- ... William finished his poem on going for Mary. I +wrote it out. I wrote to Mary H., having received a letter from her in +the evening. A sweet day. We nailed up the honeysuckles, and hoed the +scarlet beans. + + * * * * * * + +_Monday, 31st._-- ... We sat out all the day.... I wrote out the poem on +"Our Departure," which he seemed to have finished. In the evening Miss +Simpson brought us a letter from M. H., and a complimentary and critical +letter to W. from John Wilson of Glasgow.[69]... + + [Footnote 69: Christopher North.--ED.] + +_Tuesday._--A very sweet day, but a sad want of rain. We went into the +orchard after I had written to M. H. Then on to Mr. Olliff's intake.... +The columbine was growing upon the rocks; here and there a solitary +plant, sheltered and shaded by the tufts and bowers of trees. It is a +graceful slender creature, a female seeking retirement, and growing +freest and most graceful where it is most alone. I observed that the +more shaded plants were always the tallest. A short note and +gooseberries from Coleridge. We walked upon the turf near John's Grove. +It was a lovely night. The clouds of the western sky reflected a saffron +light upon the upper end of the lake. All was still. We went to look at +Rydale. There was an Alpine, fire-like red upon the tops of the +mountains. This was gone when we came in view of the lake. But we saw +the lake from a new and most beautiful point of view, between two little +rocks, and behind a small ridge that had concealed it from us. This +White Moss, a place made for all kinds of beautiful works of art and +nature, woods and valleys, fairy valleys and fairy tarns, miniature +mountains, alps above alps. + +_Wednesday, 2nd June._--In the morning we observed that the scarlet +beans were drooping in the leaves in great numbers, owing, we guess, to +an insect.... Yesterday an old man called, a grey-headed man, above +seventy years of age. He said he had been a soldier, that his wife and +children had died in Jamaica. He had a beggar's wallet over his +shoulders; a coat of shreds and patches, altogether of a drab colour; he +was tall, and though his body was bent, he had the look of one used to +have been upright. I talked a while, and then gave him a piece of cold +bacon and some money. Said he, "You're a fine woman!" I could not help +smiling; I suppose he meant, "You're a kind woman." Afterwards a woman +called, travelling to Glasgow. After dinner we went into Frank's field, +crawled up the little glen, and planned a seat; ... found a beautiful +shell-like purple fungus in Frank's field. After tea we walked to +Butterlip How, and backwards and forwards there. All the young oak tree +leaves are dry as powder. A cold south wind, portending rain.... + +_Thursday, 3rd June 1802._--A very fine rain. I lay in my bed till ten +o'clock. William much better than yesterday. We walked into Easedale.... +The cuckoo sang, and we watched the little birds as we sate at the door +of the cow-house. The oak copses are brown, as in autumn, with the late +frosts.... We have been reading the life and some of the writings of +poor Logan since dinner. There are many affecting lines and passages in +his poem, _e.g._ + + And everlasting longings for the lost. + +... William is now sleeping with the window open, lying on the window +seat. The thrush is singing. There are, I do believe, a thousand buds on +the honeysuckle tree, all small and far from blowing, save one that is +retired behind the twigs close to the wall, and as snug as a bird nest. +John's rose tree is very beautiful, blended with the honeysuckle. + +Yesterday morning William walked as far as the Swan with Aggy Fisher, +who was going to attend upon Goan's dying infant. She said, "There are +many heavier crosses than the death of an infant;" and went on, "There +was a woman in this vale who buried four grown-up children in one year, +and I have heard her say, when many years were gone by, that she had +more pleasure in thinking of those four than of her living children, for +as children get up and have families of their own, their duty to their +parents _wears out and weakens_. She could trip lightly by the graves of +those who died when they were young ... as she went to church on a +Sunday." + +... A very affecting letter came from M. H., while I was sitting in the +window reading Milton's _Penseroso_ to William. I answered this letter +before I went to bed. + + * * * * * * + +_Saturday, 5th._--A fine showery morning. I made both pies and bread; +but we first walked into Easedale, and sate under the oak trees, upon +the mossy stones. There were one or two slight showers. The gowans were +flourishing along the banks of the stream. The strawberry flower hanging +over the brook; all things soft and green. In the afternoon William sate +in the orchard. I went there; was tired, and fell asleep. William began +a letter to John Wilson. + +_Sunday, 6th June._--A showery morning. We were writing the letter to +John Wilson when Ellen came.... After dinner I walked into John Fisher's +intake with Ellen. He brought us letters from Coleridge, Mrs. Clarkson, +and Sara Hutchinson.... + +_Monday, 7th June._--I wrote to Mary H. this morning; sent the C. +"Indolence" poem. Copied the letter to John Wilson, and wrote to my +brother Richard and Mrs. Coleridge. In the evening I walked with Ellen +to Butterlip How.... It was a very sweet evening; there was the cuckoo +and the little birds; the copses still injured, but the trees in general +looked most soft and beautiful in tufts.... I went with Ellen in the +morning to Rydale Falls.... + +_Tuesday, 8th June._--Ellen and I rode to Windermere. We had a fine +sunny day, neither hot nor cold. I mounted the horse at the quarry. We +had no difficulties or delays but at the gates. I was enchanted with +some of the views. From the High Ray the view is very delightful, rich, +and festive, water and wood, houses, groves, hedgerows, green fields, +and mountains; white houses, large and small. We passed two or three +new-looking statesmen's houses. The Curwens' shrubberies looked pitiful +enough under the native trees. We put up our horses, ate our dinner by +the water-side, and walked up to the Station. We went to the Island, +walked round it, and crossed the lake with our horse in the ferry. The +shrubs have been cut away in some parts of the island. I observed to the +boatman that I did not think it improved. He replied: "We think it is, +for one could hardly see the house before." It seems to me to be, +however, no better than it was. They have made no natural glades; it is +merely a lawn with a few miserable young trees, standing as if they were +half-starved. There are no sheep, no cattle upon these lawns. It is +neither one thing nor another--neither natural, nor wholly cultivated +and artificial, which it was before. And that great house! Mercy upon +us! if it _could_ be concealed, it would be well for all who are not +pained to see the pleasantest of earthly spots deformed by man. But it +_cannot_ be covered. Even the tallest of our old oak trees would not +reach to the top of it. When we went into the boat, there were two men +standing at the landing-place. One seemed to be about sixty, a man with +a jolly red face; he looked as if he might have lived many years in Mr. +Curwen's house. He wore a blue jacket and trousers, as the people who +live close by Windermere, particularly at the places of chief resort.... +He looked significantly at our boatman just as we were rowing off, and +said, "Thomas, mind you take the directions off that cask. You know what +I mean. It will serve as a blind for them. _You_ know. It was a blind +business, both for you, and the coachman, ... and all of us. Mind you +take off the directions. 'A wink's as good as a nod with some folks;'" +and then he turned round, looking at his companion with an air of +self-satisfaction, and deep insight into unknown things! I could hardly +help laughing outright at him. The laburnums blossom freely at the +island, and in the shrubberies on the shore; they are blighted +everywhere else. Roses of various sorts now out. The brooms were in full +glory everywhere, "veins of gold" among the copses. The hawthorns in the +valley fading away; beautiful upon the hills. We reached home at three +o'clock. After tea William went out and walked and wrote that poem, + + The sun has long been set, etc. + +He ... walked on our own path and wrote the lines; he called me into the +orchard, and there repeated them to me.... + +_Wednesday, 9th June._-- ... The hawthorns on the mountain sides like +orchards in blossom.... + +_Thursday, 10th June._-- ... Coleridge came in with a sack full of +books, etc., and a branch of mountain ash. He had been attacked by a +cow. He came over by Grisdale. A furious wind.... + + * * * * * * + +_Saturday, 12th June._--A rainy morning. Coleridge set off before +dinner. We went with him to the Raise, but it rained, so we went no +further. Sheltered under a wall. He would be sadly wet, for a furious +shower came on just when we parted.... + +_Sunday, 13th June._--A fine morning. Sunshiny and bright, but with +rainy clouds. William ... has been altering the poem to Mary this +morning.... I wrote out poems for our journey.... Mr. Simpson came when +we were in the orchard in the morning, and brought us a beautiful +drawing which he had done. In the evening we walked, first on our own +path.... It was a silent night. The stars were out by ones and twos, but +no cuckoo, no little birds; the air was not warm, and we have observed +that since Tuesday, 8th, when William wrote, "The sun has long been +set," that we have had no birds singing after the evening is fairly set +in. We walked to our new view of Rydale, but it put on a sullen face. +There was an owl hooting in Bainrigg's. Its first halloo was so like a +human shout that I was surprised, when it gave its second call tremulous +and lengthened out, to find that the shout had come from an owl. The +full moon (not quite full) was among a company of shady island clouds, +and the sky bluer about it than the natural sky blue. William observed +that the full moon, above a dark fir grove, is a fine image of the +descent of a superior being. There was a shower which drove us into +John's Grove before we had quitted our favourite path. We walked upon +John's path before we went to view Rydale.... + +_Monday, 14th._-- ... William wrote to Mary and Sara about _The Leech +Gatherer_, and wrote to both of them in one ... and to Coleridge +also.... I walked with William ... on our own path. We were driven away +by the horses that go on the commons; then we went to look at Rydale; +walked a little in the fir grove; went again to the top of the hill, and +came home. A mild and sweet night. William stayed behind me. I threw him +the cloak out of the window. The moon overcast. He sate a few minutes in +the orchard; came in sleepy, and hurried to bed. I carried him his bread +and butter. + +_Tuesday, 15th._--A sweet grey, mild morning. The birds sing soft and +low. William has not slept all night; it wants only ten minutes of ten, +and he is in bed yet. After William rose we went and sate in the orchard +till dinner time. We walked a long time in the evening upon our +favourite path; the owls hooted, the night hawk sang to itself +incessantly, but there were no little birds, no thrushes. I left William +writing a few lines about the night hawk and other images of the +evening, and went to seek for letters.... + +_Wednesday, 16th._--We walked towards Rydale for letters.... One from +Mary. We went up into Rydale woods and read it there. We sate near the +old wall, which fenced a hazel grove, which William said was exactly +like the filbert grove at Middleham. It is a beautiful spot, a sloping +or rather steep piece of ground, with hazels growing "tall and erect" in +clumps at distances, almost seeming regular, as if they had been +planted.... I wrote to Mary after dinner, while William sate in the +orchard.... I spoke of the little birds keeping us company, and William +told me that that very morning a bird had perched upon his leg. He had +been lying very still, and had watched this little creature. It had come +under the bench where he was sitting.... He thoughtlessly stirred +himself to look further at it, and it flew on to the apple tree above +him. It was a little young creature that had just left its nest, equally +unacquainted with man, and unaccustomed to struggle against the storms +and winds. While it was upon the apple tree the wind blew about the +stiff boughs, and the bird seemed bemazed, and not strong enough to +strive with it. The swallows come to the sitting-room window as if +wishing to build, but I am afraid they will not have courage for it; but +I believe they will build in my room window. They twitter, and make a +bustle, and a little cheerful song, hanging against the panes of glass +with their soft white bellies close to the glass and their forked +fish-like tails. They swim round and round, and again they come.... I do +not now see the brownness that was in the coppices. The bower hawthorn +blossoms passed away. Those on the hills are a faint white. The wild +guelder-rose is coming out, and the wild roses. I have seen no +honey-suckles yet.... Foxgloves are now frequent. + +_Thursday, 17th._-- ... When I came home I found William at work +attempting to alter a stanza in the poem on our going for Mary, which I +convinced him did not need altering. We sate in the house after dinner. +In the evening walked on our favourite path. A short letter from +Coleridge. William added a little to the Ode he is writing.[70] + + [Footnote 70: Doubtless the _Ode, Intimations of Immortality_.--ED.] + +_Friday, 18th June._--When we were sitting after breakfast ... Luff came +in. He had rode over the Fells. He brought news about Lord Lowther's +intention to pay all debts, etc., and a letter from Mr. Clarkson. He saw +our garden, was astonished at the scarlet beans, etc. etc. etc. When he +was gone, we wrote to Coleridge, M. H., and my brother Richard about the +affair. William determined to go to Eusemere on Monday.... + +_Saturday, 19th._--The swallows were very busy under my window this +morning.... Coleridge, when he was last here, told us that for many +years, there being no Quaker meeting at Keswick, a single old Quaker +woman used to go regularly alone every Sunday to attend the +meeting-house, and there used to sit and perform her worship alone, in +that beautiful place among those fir trees, in that spacious vale, under +the great mountain Skiddaw!!!... On Thursday morning Miss Hudson of +Workington called. She said, "... I sow flowers in the parks several +miles from home, and my mother and I visit them, and watch them how they +grow." This may show that botanists may be often deceived when they find +rare flowers growing far from houses. This was a very ordinary young +woman, such as in any town in the North of England one may find a score. +I sate up a while after William. He then called me down to him. (I was +writing to Mary H.) I read Churchill's _Rosciad_. Returned again to my +writing, and did not go to bed till he called to me. The shutters were +closed, but I heard the birds singing. There was our own thrush, +shouting with an impatient shout; so it sounded to me. The morning was +still, the twittering of the little birds was very gloomy. The owls had +hooted a quarter of an hour before, now the cocks were crowing, it was +near daylight, I put out my candle, and went to bed.... + +_Sunday, 20th._-- ... We were in the orchard a great part of the +morning. After tea we walked upon our own path for a long time. We +talked sweetly together about the disposal of our riches. We lay upon +the sloping turf. Earth and sky were so lovely that they melted our very +hearts. The sky to the north was of a chastened yet rich yellow, fading +into pale blue, and streaked and scattered over with steady islands of +purple, melting away into shades of pink. It was like a vision to me.... + + * * * * * * + +_Tuesday morning._-- ... I walked to Rydale. I waited long for the post, +lying in the field, and looking at the distant mountains, looking and +listening to the river. I met the post. Letters from Montagu and +Richard. I hurried back, forwarded these to William, and wrote to +Montagu. When I came home I wrote to my brother Christopher. I could +settle to nothing.... I read the _Midsummer Night's Dream_, and began +_As You Like It_. + +_Wednesday, 23rd June._-- ... A sunshiny morning. I walked to the top +of the hill and sate under a wall near John's Grove, facing the sun. I +read a scene or two in _As You Like It_.... Coleridge and Leslie came +just as I had lain down after dinner. C. brought me William's letter. He +had got well to Eusemere. Coleridge and I accompanied Leslie to the +boat-house. It was a sullen, coldish evening, no sunshine; but after we +had parted from Leslie a light came out suddenly that repaid us for all. +It fell only upon one hill, and the island, but it arrayed the grass and +trees in gem-like brightness. I cooked Coleridge's supper. We sate up +till one o'clock. + +_Thursday, 24th June._--I went with C. half way up the Raise. It was a +cool morning.... William came in just when M. had left me. It was a +mild, rainy evening.... We sate together talking till the first dawning +of day; a happy time. + +_Friday, 25th June._-- ... I went, just before tea, into the garden. I +looked up at my swallow's nest, and it was gone. It had fallen down. +Poor little creatures, they could not themselves be more distressed than +I was. I went upstairs to look at the ruins. They lay in a large heap +upon the window ledge; these swallows had been ten days employed in +building this nest, and it seemed to be almost finished. I had watched +them early in the morning, in the day many and many a time, and in the +evenings when it was almost dark. I had seen them sitting together side +by side in their unfinished nest, both morning and night. When they +first came about the window they used to hang against the panes, with +their white bellies and their forked tails, looking like fish; but then +they fluttered and sang their own little twittering song. As soon as the +nest was broad enough, a sort of ledge for them, they sate both mornings +and evenings, but they did not pass the night there. I watched them one +morning, when William was at Eusemere, for more than an hour. Every now +and then there was a motion in their wings, a sort of tremulousness, and +they sang a low song to one another. + + * * * * * * + +... It is now eight o'clock; I will go and see if my swallows are on +their nest. Yes! there they are, side by side, both looking down into +the garden. I have been out on purpose to see their faces. I knew by +looking at the window that they were there.... Coleridge and William +came in at about half-past eleven. They talked till after twelve. + +_Wednesday, 30th June._-- ... We met an old man between the Raise and +Lewthwaites. He wore a rusty but untorn hat, an excellent blue coat, +waistcoat, and breeches, and good mottled worsted stockings. His beard +was very thick and grey, of a fortnight's growth we guessed; it was a +regular beard, like grey _plush_. His bundle contained Sheffield ware. +William said to him, after we had asked him what his business was, "You +are a very old man?" "Aye, I am eighty-three." I joined in, "Have you +any children?" "Children? Yes, plenty. I have children and +grand-children, and great grand-children. I have a great grand-daughter, +a fine lass, thirteen years old." I then said, "Won't they take care of +you?" He replied, much offended, "Thank God, I can take care of myself." +He said he had been a servant of the Marquis of Granby--"O he was a good +man; he's in heaven; I hope he is." He then told us how he shot himself +at Bath, that he was with him in Germany, and travelled with him +everywhere. "He was a famous boxer, sir." And then he told us a story of +his fighting with his farmer. "He used always to call me bland and +sharp." Then every now and then he broke out, "He was a good man! When +we were travelling he never asked at the public-houses, as it might be +there" (pointing to the "Swan"), "what we were to pay, but he would put +his hand into his pocket and give them what he liked; and when he came +out of the house he would say, Now, they would have charged me a +shilling or tenpence. God help them, poor creatures!" I asked him again +about his children, how many he had. Says he, "I cannot tell you" (I +suppose he confounded children and grand-children together); "I have one +daughter that keeps a boarding-school at Skipton, in Craven. She teaches +flowering and marking. And another that keeps a boarding-school at +Ingleton. I brought up my family under the Marquis." He was familiar +with all parts of Yorkshire. He asked us where we lived. At Grasmere. +"The bonniest dale in all England!" says the old man. I bought a pair of +slippers from him, and we sate together by the road-side. When we parted +I tried to lift his bundle, and it was almost more than I could do.... +After tea I wrote to Coleridge, and closed up my letter to M. H. We went +soon to bed. A weight of children a poor man's blessing!... + + * * * * * * + +_Friday, 2nd July._--A very rainy morning.... I left William, and wrote +a short letter to M. H. and to Coleridge, and transcribed the +alterations in _The Leech Gatherer_. + + * * * * * * + +_Sunday, 4th July._-- ... William finished _The Leech Gatherer_ to-day. + +_Monday, 5th July._--A very sweet morning. William stayed some time in +the orchard.... I copied out _The Leech Gatherer_ for Coleridge, and for +us. Wrote to Mrs. Clarkson, M. H., and Coleridge.... + +_Tuesday, 6th July._-- ... We set off towards Rydale for letters. The +rain met us at the top of the White Moss, and it came on very heavily +afterwards. It drove past Nab Scar in a substantial shape, as if going +to Grasmere was as far as it could go.... The swallows have completed +their beautiful nest.... + +_Wednesday, 7th._-- ... Walked on the White Moss. Glow-worms. Well for +them children are in bed when they shine. + +_Thursday, 8th._-- ... When I was coming home, a post-chaise passed +with a little girl behind in a patched, ragged cloak. In the afternoon, +after we had talked a little, William fell asleep. I read the _Winter's +Tale_; then I went to bed, but did not sleep. The swallows stole in and +out of their nest, and sate there, _whiles_ quite still, _whiles_ they +sung low for two minutes or more, at a time just like a muffled robin. +William was looking at _The Pedlar_ when I got up. He arranged it, and +after tea I wrote it out--280 lines.... The moon was behind. William +hurried me out in hopes that I should see her. We walked first to the +top of the hill to see Rydale. It was dark and dull, but our own vale +was very solemn--the shape of Helm Crag was quite distinct, though +black. We walked backwards and forwards on the White Moss path; there +was a sky-like white brightness on the lake. The Wyke cottage right at +the foot of Silver How. Glow-worms out, but not so numerous as last +night. O, beautiful place! Dear Mary, William. The hour is come ... I +must prepare to go. The swallows, I must leave them, the wall, the +garden, the roses, all. Dear creatures! they sang last night after I was +in bed; seemed to be singing to one another, just before they settled to +rest for the night. Well, I must go. Farewell.[71] + + [Footnote 71: Several of the poems, referred to in this Journal, are + difficult, if not impossible, to identify. _The Inscription of the + Pathway_, finished on the 28th of August 1800; _The Epitaph_, written + on the 28th January 1801; _The Yorkshire Wolds poem_, referred to on + March 10th, 1802; also _The Silver Howe poem_, and that known in the + Wordsworth household as _The Tinker_. It is possible that some of them + were intentionally suppressed. The _Inscription of the Pathway_ and + _The Tinker_ will, however, soon be published.--ED.] + + + + + VI + + DOROTHY WORDSWORTH'S JOURNAL + WRITTEN AT GRASMERE + (9TH JULY 1802 TO 11TH JANUARY 1803) + +EXTRACTS FROM DOROTHY WORDSWORTH'S JOURNAL (9TH JULY 1802 TO 11TH +JANUARY 1803) + + +On Friday morning, July 9th, William and I set forward to Keswick on +our road to Gallow Hill. We had a pleasant ride, though the day was +showery.... Coleridge met us at Sara's Rock.... We had been told by a +handsome man, an inhabitant of Wytheburn, with whom he had been talking +(and who seemed, by the bye, much pleased with his companion), that C. +was waiting for us. We reached Keswick against tea-time. We called at +Calvert's on the Saturday evening.... On Monday, 12th July, we went to +Eusemere. Coleridge walked with us six or seven miles. He was not well, +and we had a melancholy parting after having sate together in silence by +the road-side. We turned aside to explore the country near Hutton-John, +and had a new and delightful walk. The valley, which is subject to the +decaying mansion that stands at its head, seems to join its testimony to +that of the house, to the falling away of the family greatness, and the +hedges are in bad condition. The land wants draining, and is overrun +with brackens; yet there is a something everywhere that tells of its +former possessors. The trees are left scattered about as if intended to +be like a park, and these are very interesting, standing as they do upon +the sides of the steep hills that slope down to the bed of the river, a +little stony-bedded stream that spreads out to a considerable breadth at +the village of Dacre. A little above Dacre we came into the right road +to Mr. Clarkson's, after having walked through woods and fields, never +exactly knowing whether we were right or wrong. We learnt, however, that +we had saved half-a-mile. We sate down by the river-side to rest, and +saw some swallows flying about and under the bridge, and two little +schoolboys were loitering among the scars seeking after their nests. We +reached Mr. Clarkson's at about eight o'clock after a sauntering walk, +having lingered and loitered and sate down together that we might be +alone. Mr. and Mrs. C. were just come from Luff's. We spent Tuesday, the +13th of July, at Eusemere; and on Wednesday morning, the 14th, we walked +to Emont Bridge, and mounted the coach between Bird's Nest and Hartshorn +Tree.... At Greta Bridge the sun shone cheerfully, and a glorious ride +we had over Gaterly Moor. Every building was bathed in golden light. The +trees were more bright than earthly trees, and we saw round us miles +beyond miles--Darlington spire, etc. etc. We reached Leeming Lane at +about nine o'clock: supped comfortably, and enjoyed our fire. + +On Thursday morning, at a little before seven, being the 15th July, we +got into a post-chaise and went to Thirsk to breakfast. We were well +treated, but when the landlady understood that we were going to _walk_ +off, and leave our luggage behind, she threw out some saucy words in our +hearing. The day was very hot, and we rested often and long before we +reached the foot of the Hambledon Hills, and while we were climbing +them, still oftener.... We were almost overpowered with thirst, when I +heard the trickling of a little stream of water. I was before William, +and I stopped till he came up to me. We sate a long time by this water, +and climbed the hill slowly. I was footsore; the sun shone hot; the +little Scotch cattle panted and tossed fretfully about. The view was +hazy, and we could see nothing from the top of the hill but an +undistinct wide-spreading country, full of trees, but the buildings, +towns, and houses were lost. We stopped to examine that curious stone, +then walked along the flat common.... Arrived very hungry at Rivaux. +Nothing to eat at the Millers, as we expected, but at an exquisitely +neat farm-house we got some boiled milk and bread. This strengthened us, +and I went down to look at the ruins. Thrushes were singing; cattle +feeding among green-grown hillocks about the ruins. The hillocks were +scattered over with _grovelets_ of wild roses and other shrubs, and +covered with wild flowers. I could have stayed in this solemn quiet spot +till evening, without a thought of moving, but William was waiting for +me, so in a quarter of an hour I went away. We walked upon Mr. +Duncombe's terrace and looked down upon the Abbey. It stands in a larger +valley among a brotherhood of valleys, of different length and +breadth,--all woody, and running up into the hills in all directions. We +reached Helmsly just at dusk. We had a beautiful view of the castle from +the top of the hill, and slept at a very nice inn, and were well +treated; floors as smooth as ice. On Friday morning, 16th July, we +walked to Kirby. Met people coming to Helmsly fair. Were misdirected, +and walked a mile out of our way.... A beautiful view above +Pickering.... Met Mary and Sara seven miles from G. H. Sheltered from +the rain; beautiful glen, spoiled by the large house; sweet church and +churchyard. Arrived at Gallow Hill at seven o'clock. + +_Friday Evening, 16th July._-- ... Sara, Tom, and I rode up Bedale. +Wm., Mary, Sara, and I went to Scarborough, and we walked in the Abbey +pasture, and to Wykeham; and on Monday, the 26th, we went off with Mary +in a post-chaise. We had an interesting ride over the Wolds, though it +rained all the way. Single thorn bushes were scattered about on the +turf, sheep-sheds here and there, and now and then a little hut. +Swelling grounds, and sometimes a single tree or a clump of trees.... We +passed through one or two little villages, embosomed in tall trees. +After we had parted from Mary, there were gleams of sunshine, but with +showers. We saw Beverley in a heavy rain, and yet were much pleased with +the beauty of the town. Saw the minster--a pretty, clean building, but +injured very much with Grecian architecture. The country between +Beverley and Hull very rich, but miserably flat--brick houses, +windmills, houses again--dull and endless. Hull a frightful, dirty, +brickhousey, tradesmanlike, rich, vulgar place; yet the river--though +the shores are so low that they can hardly be seen--looked beautiful +with the evening lights upon it, and boats moving about. We walked a +long time, and returned to our dull day-room but quiet evening one, to +supper. + +_Tuesday, 20th._--Market day. Streets dirty, very rainy, did not leave +Hull till four o'clock, and left Barton at about six; rained all the way +almost. A beautiful village at the foot of a hill with trees. A +gentleman's house converted into a lady's boarding-school.... We left +Lincoln on Wednesday morning, 27th July, at six o'clock. It rained +heavily, and we could see nothing but the antientry of some of the +buildings as we passed along. The night before, however, we had seen +enough to make us regret this. The minster stands at the edge of a hill +overlooking an immense plain. The country very flat as we went along; +the day mended. We went to see the outside of the minster while the +passengers were dining at Peterborough; the west end very grand.... + +On Thursday morning, 29th, we arrived in London. Wm. left me at the +Sun.... After various troubles and disasters, we left London on Saturday +morning at half-past five or six, the 31st of July. We mounted the Dover +coach at Charing Cross. It was a beautiful morning. The city, St. +Paul's, with the river, and a multitude of little boats, made a most +beautiful sight as we crossed Westminster Bridge. The houses were not +overhung by their cloud of smoke, and they were spread out endlessly, +yet the sun shone so brightly, with such a fierce light, that there was +even something like the purity of one of nature's own grand +spectacles.[72] + + [Footnote 72: Compare the sonnet _Composed upon Westminster Bridge, + September 3, 1802_, in vol. ii. p. 328.--ED.] + +We rode on cheerfully, now with the Paris diligence before us, now +behind. We walked up the steep hills, a beautiful prospect everywhere, +till we even reached Dover. At first the rich, populous, wide-spreading, +woody country about London, then the River Thames, ships sailing, chalk +cliffs, trees, little villages. Afterwards Canterbury, situated on a +plain, rich and woody, but the city and cathedral disappointed me. Hop +grounds on each side of the road some miles from Canterbury; then we +came to a common, the race ground, an elevated plain, villages among +trees in the bed of a valley at our right, and, rising above this +valley, green hills scattered over with wood, neat gentlemen's houses. +One white house, almost hid with green trees, which we longed for, and +the parson's house, as neat a place as could be, which would just have +suited Coleridge. No doubt we may have found one for Tom Hutchinson and +Sara, and a good farm too. We halted at a half-way house--fruit carts +under the shade of trees, seats for guests, a tempting place to the +weary traveller. Still, as we went along, the country was beautiful and +hilly, with cottages lurking under the hills, and their little plots of +hop ground like vineyards. It was a bad hop year. A woman on the top of +the coach said to me, "It is a sad thing for the poor people, for the +hop-gathering is the woman's harvest; there is employment about the hops +for women and children." + +We saw the castle of Dover, and the sea beyond, four or five miles +before we reached it. We looked at it through a long vale, the castle +being upon an eminence, as it seemed, at the end of this vale, which +opened to the sea. The country now became less fertile, but near Dover +it seemed more rich again. Many buildings stand on the flat fields, +sheltered with tall trees. There is one old chapel that might have been +there just in the same state in which it now is when this vale was as +retired, and as little known to travellers as our own Cumberland +mountain wilds thirty years ago. There was also a very old building on +the other side of the road, which had a strange effect among the many +new ones that are springing up everywhere. It seemed odd that it could +have kept itself pure in its ancientry among so many upstarts. It was +near dark when we reached Dover. We were told that a packet was about to +sail, so we went down to the custom-house in half-an-hour--had our +luggage examined, etc. etc., and then we drank tea with the Honourable +Mr. Knox and his tutor. We arrived at Calais at four o'clock on Sunday +morning, the 31st of July. We stayed in the vessel till half-past seven; +then William went for letters at about half-past eight or nine. We found +out Annette and C. chez Madame Avril dans la Rue de la Tête d'or. We +lodged opposite two ladies, in tolerably decent-sized rooms, but badly +furnished.... The weather was very hot. We walked by the sea-shore +almost every evening with Annette and Caroline, or William and I alone. +I had a bad cold, and could not bathe at first, but William did. It was +a pretty sight to see as we walked upon the sands when the tide was low, +perhaps a hundred people bathing about a quarter of a mile distant from +us. And we had delightful walks after the heat of the day was +passed--seeing far off in the west the coast of England like a cloud +crested with Dover castle, which was but like the summit of the +cloud--the evening star and the glory of the sky,[73] the reflections in +the water were more beautiful than the sky itself, purple waves brighter +than precious stones, for ever melting away upon the sands. The fort, a +wooden building, at the entrance of the harbour at Calais, when the +evening twilight was coming on, and we could not see anything of the +building but its shape, which was far more distinct than in perfect +daylight, seemed to be reared upon pillars of ebony, between which +pillars the sea was seen in the most beautiful colours that can be +conceived. Nothing in romance was ever half so beautiful. Now came in +view, as the evening star sunk down, and the colours of the west faded +away, the two lights of England, lighted up by Englishmen in our country +to warn vessels off rocks or sands. These we used to see from the pier, +when we could see no other distant objects but the clouds, the sky, and +the sea itself--all was dark behind. The town of Calais seemed deserted +of the light of heaven, but there was always light, and life, and joy +upon the sea. One night I shall never forget--the day had been very hot, +and William and I walked alone together upon the pier. The sea was +gloomy, for there was a blackness over all the sky, except when it was +overspread with lightning, which often revealed to us a distant vessel +near, as the waves roared and broke against the pier, and they were +interfused with greenish fiery light. The more distant sea always black +and gloomy. It was also beautiful, on the calm hot night, to see the +little boats row out of harbour with wings of fire, and the sail boats +with the fiery track which they cut as they went along, and which closed +up after them with a hundred thousand sparkles, and streams of glow-worm +light. Caroline was delighted. + + [Footnote 73: Compare the sonnet ("Poetical Works," vol. ii. p. 330) + beginning-- + + Fair Star of evening, Splendour of the west. ED.] + +On Sunday, the 29th of August, we left Calais at twelve o'clock in the +morning, and landed at Dover at one on Monday the 30th.... It was very +pleasant to me, when we were in the harbour at Dover, to breathe the +fresh air, and to look up, and see the stars among the ropes of the +vessel. The next day was very hot. We ... bathed, and sate upon the +Dover Cliffs, and looked upon France with many a melancholy and tender +thought. We could see the shores almost as plain as if it were but an +English lake. We mounted the coach, and arrived in London at six, the +30th August. It was misty, and we could see nothing. We stayed in London +till Wednesday the 22nd of September, and arrived at Gallow Hill on +Friday. + +_September 24th._--Mary first met us in the avenue. She looked so fat +and well that we were made very happy by the sight of her; then came +Sara, and last of all Joanna. Tom was forking corn, standing upon the +corn cart. We dressed ourselves immediately and got tea. The garden +looked gay with asters and sweet peas. Jack and George came on Friday +evening, 1st October. On Saturday, 2nd, we rode to Hackness, William, +Jack, George, and Sara single. I behind Tom. On Sunday 3rd, Mary and +Sara were busy packing. + +On Monday, 4th October 1802, my brother William was married to Mary +Hutchinson.[74] I slept a good deal of the night, and rose fresh and +well in the morning. At a little after eight o'clock, I saw them go down +the avenue towards the church. William had parted from me upstairs. When +they were absent, my dear little Sara prepared the breakfast. I kept +myself as quiet as I could, but when I saw the two men running up the +walk, coming to tell us it was over, I could stand it no longer, and +threw myself on the bed, where I lay in stillness, neither hearing nor +seeing anything till Sara came upstairs to me, and said, "They are +coming." This forced me from the bed where I lay, and I moved, I knew +not how, straight forward, faster than my strength could carry me, till +I met my beloved William, and fell upon his bosom. He and John +Hutchinson led me to the house, and there I stayed to welcome my dear +Mary. As soon as we had breakfasted, we departed. It rained when we set +off. Poor Mary was much agitated, when she parted from her brothers and +sisters, and her home. Nothing particular occurred till we reached +Kirby. We had sunshine and showers, pleasant talk, love and +cheerfulness. We were obliged to stay two hours at K. while the horses +were feeding. We wrote a few lines to Sara, and then walked out; the sun +shone, and we went to the churchyard after we had put a letter into the +post-office for the _York Herald_. We sauntered about, and read the +grave-stones. There was one to the memory of five children, who had all +died within five years, and the longest lived had only lived four +years.... + + [Footnote 74: It may not be a too trivial detail to note that + Coleridge's _Dejection, an Ode_, appeared in _The Morning Post_ on + Wordsworth's marriage day.--ED.] + +We left Kirby at about half-past two. There is not much variety of +prospect from K. to Helmsley, but the country is very pleasant, being +rich and woody, and Helmsley itself stands very sweetly at the foot of +the rising grounds of Duncombe Park, which is scattered over with tall +woods; and, lifting itself above the common buildings of the town, +stands Helmsley Castle, now a ruin, formerly inhabited by the gay Duke +of Buckingham. Every foot of the road was of itself interesting to us, +for we had travelled along it on foot, William and I, when we went to +fetch our dear Mary, and had sate upon the turf by the roadside more +than once. Before we reached Helmsley, our driver told us that he could +not take us any further, so we stopped at the same inn where we had +slept before. My heart danced at the sight of its cleanly outside, +bright yellow walls, casements overshadowed with jasmine, and its low, +double gavel-ended front.... Mary and I warmed ourselves at the kitchen +fire. We then walked into the garden, and looked over a gate, up to the +old ruin which stands at the top of the mount, and round about it the +moats are grown up into soft green cradles, hollows surrounded with +green grassy hillocks, and these are overshadowed by old trees, chiefly +ashes. I prevailed upon William to go up with me to the ruins.... The +sun shone, it was warm and very pleasant. One part of the castle seems +to be inhabited. There was a man mowing nettles in the open space which +had most likely once been the castle-court. There is one gateway +exceedingly beautiful. Children were playing upon the sloping ground. We +came home by the street. After about an hour's delay, we set forward +again; had an excellent driver, who opened the gates so dexterously that +the horses never stopped. Mary was very much delighted with the view of +the castle from the point where we had seen it before. I was pleased to +see again the little path which we had walked upon, the gate I had +climbed over, and the road down which we had seen the two little boys +drag a log of wood, and a team of horses struggle under the weight of a +great load of timber. We had felt compassion for the poor horses that +were under the governance of oppression and ill-judging drivers, and for +the poor boys, who seemed of an age to have been able to have dragged +the log of wood merely out of the love of their own activity, but from +poverty and bad food they panted for weakness, and were obliged to fetch +their father from the town to help them. Duncombe house looks well from +the road--a large building, though I believe only two-thirds of the +original design are completed. We rode down a very steep hill to Rivaux +valley, with woods all round us. We stopped upon the bridge to look at +the Abbey, and again when we had crossed it. Dear Mary had never seen a +ruined abbey before except Whitby. We recognised the cottages, houses, +and the little valleys as we went along. We walked up a long hill, the +road carrying us up the cleft or valley with woody hills on each side of +us. When we went to G. H. I had walked down the valley alone. William +followed me. + +Before we had crossed the Hambledon Hill, and reached the point +overlooking Yorkshire, it was quite dark. We had not wanted, however, +fair prospects before us, as we drove along the flat plain of the high +hill. Far far off from us, in the western sky, we saw shapes of castles, +ruins among groves, a great spreading wood, rocks, and single trees, a +minster with its tower unusually distinct, minarets in another quarter, +and a round Grecian Temple also; the colours of the sky of a bright +grey, and the forms of a sober grey, with a dome. As we descended the +hill there was no distinct view, but of a great space; only near us we +saw the wild (and as the people say) bottomless tarn in the hollow at +the side of the hill. It seemed to be made visible to us only by its own +light, for all the hill about us was dark. Before we reached Thirsk we +saw a light before us, which we at first thought was the moon, then +lime-kilns; but when we drove into the market-place it proved a large +bonfire, with lads dancing round it, which is a sight I dearly love. The +inn was like an illuminated house--every room full. We asked the cause, +and were told by the girl that it was "Mr. John Bell's birthday, that he +had heired his estate." The landlady was very civil. She did not +recognise the despised foot-travellers. We rode on in the dark, and +reached Leeming Lane at eleven o'clock.... + +The next morning we set off at about half-past eight o'clock. It was a +cheerful, sunny morning.... We had a few showers, but when we came to +the green fields of Wensley, the sun shone upon them all, and the Ure in +its many windings glittered as it flowed along under the green slopes of +Middleham Castle. Mary looked about for her friend Mr. Place, and +thought she had him sure on the contrary side of the vale from that on +which we afterwards found he lived. We went to a new built house at +Leyburn, the same village where William and I had dined on our road to +Grasmere two years and three-quarters ago, but not the same house. The +landlady was very civil, giving us cake and wine, but the horses being +out we were detained at least two hours, and did not set off till two +o'clock. We paid for thirty-five miles, _i.e._ to Sedbergh, but the +landlady did not encourage us to hope to get beyond Hawes.... When we +passed through the village of Wensley my heart melted away, with dear +recollections--the bridge, the little waterspout, the steep hill, the +church. They are among the most vivid of my own inner visions, for they +were the first objects that I saw after we were left to ourselves, and +had turned our whole hearts to Grasmere as a home in which we were to +rest. The vale looked most beautiful each way. To the left the bright +silver stream inlaid the flat and very green meadows, winding like a +serpent. To the right, we did not see it so far, it was lost among trees +and little hills. I could not help observing, as we went along, how much +more varied the prospects of Wensley Dale are in the summer time than I +could have thought possible in the winter. This seemed to be in great +measure owing to the trees being in leaf, and forming groves and +screens, and thence little openings upon recesses and concealed +retreats, which in winter only made a part of the one great vale. The +beauty of the summer time here as much excels that of the winter, as the +variety (owing to the excessive greenness) of the fields, and the trees +in leaf half concealing, and--where they do not conceal--softening the +hard bareness of the limey white roofs. One of our horses seemed to grow +a little restive as we went through the first village, a long village on +the side of a hill. It grew worse and worse, and at last we durst not go +on any longer. We walked a while, and then the post boy was obliged to +take the horse out, and go back for another. We seated ourselves again +snugly in the post-chaise. The wind struggled about us and rattled the +window, and gave a gentle motion to the chaise, but we were warm and at +our ease within. Our station was at the top of a hill, opposite Bolton +Castle, the Ure flowing beneath. William has since written a sonnet on +this our imprisonment. Hard was thy durance, poor Queen Mary! compared +with ours....[75] + + [Footnote 75: This sonnet was not thought worthy of being + preserved.--ED.] + +We had a sweet ride till we came to a public-house on the side of a +hill, where we alighted and walked down to see the waterfalls. The sun +was not set, and the woods and fields were spread over with the yellow +light of evening, which made their greenness a thousand times more +green. There was too much water in the river for the beauty of the +falls, and even the banks were less interesting than in winter. Nature +had entirely got the better in her struggles against the giants who +first cast the mould of these works; for, indeed, it is a place that did +not in winter remind one of God, but one could not help feeling as if +there had been the agency of some "mortal instruments," which Nature had +been struggling against without making a perfect conquest. There was +something so wild and new in this feeling, knowing, as we did in the +inner man, that God alone had laid his hand upon it, that I could not +help regretting the want of it; besides, it is a pleasure to a real +lover of Nature to give winter all the glory he can, for summer _will_ +make its own way, and speak its own praises. We saw the pathway which +William and I took at the close of evening, the path leading to the +rabbit warren where we lost ourselves. Sloe farm, with its holly hedges, +was lost among the green hills and hedgerows in general, but we found it +out, and were glad to look at it again. William left us to seek the +waterfalls.... + +At our return to the inn, we found new horses and a new driver, and we +went on nicely to Hawes, where we arrived before it was quite dark.... +We rose at six o'clock--a rainy morning.... There was a very fine view +about a mile from Hawes, where we crossed a bridge; bare and very green +fields with cattle, a glittering stream, cottages, a few ill-grown +trees, and high hills. The sun shone now. Before we got upon the bare +hills, there was a hunting lodge on our right, exactly like Greta Hill, +with fir plantations about it. We were very fortunate in the day, gleams +of sunshine, passing clouds, that travelled with their shadows below +them. Mary was much pleased with Garsdale. It was a dear place to +William and me. We noted well the public-house (Garsdale Hall) where we +had baited, ... and afterwards the mountain which had been adorned by +Jupiter in his glory when we were here before. It was midday when we +reached Sedbergh, and market day. We were in the same room where we had +spent the evening together in our road to Grasmere. We had a pleasant +ride to Kendal, where we arrived at two o'clock. The day favoured us. M. +and I went to see the house where dear Sara had lived.... I am always +glad to see Staveley; it is a place I dearly love to think of--the first +mountain village that I came to with William when we first began our +pilgrimage together.... Nothing particular occurred till we reached Ings +chapel. The door was open, and we went in. It is a neat little place, +with a marble floor and marble communion table, with a painting over it +of the last supper, and Moses and Aaron on each side. The woman told us +that "they had painted them as near as they could by the dresses as they +are described in the Bible," and gay enough they are. The marble had +been sent by Richard Bateman from Leghorn. The woman told us that a man +had been at her house a few days before, who told her he had helped to +bring it down the Red Sea, and she believed him gladly!... We ... +arrived at Grasmere at about six o'clock on Wednesday evening, the 6th +of October 1802.... I cannot describe what I felt.... We went by candle +light into the garden, and were astonished at the growth of the brooms, +Portugal laurels, etc. etc. etc. The next day, Thursday, we unpacked the +boxes. On Friday, 8th, ... Mary and I walked first upon the hill-side, +and then in John's Grove, then in view of Rydale, the first walk that I +had taken with my sister. + + * * * * * * + +_Monday, 11th._--A beautiful day. We walked to the Easedale hills to +hunt waterfalls. William and Mary left me sitting on a stone on the +solitary mountains, and went to Easedale tarn.... The approach to the +tarn is very beautiful. We expected to have found Coleridge at home, but +he did not come till after dinner. He was well, but did not look so. + +_Tuesday, 12th October._--We walked with Coleridge to Rydale. + +_Wednesday, 13th._--Set forwards with him towards Keswick, and he +prevailed us to go on. We consented, Mrs. C. not being at home. The day +was delightful.... + +_Thursday, 14th._--We went in the evening to Calvert's. Moonlight. +Stayed supper. + + * * * * * * + +_Saturday, 16th._--Came home, Mary and I. William returned to Coleridge +before we reached Nadel Fell. Mary and I had a pleasant walk. The day +was very bright; the people busy getting in their corn. Reached home at +about five o'clock.... + +_Sunday, 17th._--We had thirteen of our neighbours to tea. William came +in just as we began tea. + + * * * * * * + +_Saturday, 30th October._--William is gone to Keswick. Mary went with +him to the top of the Raise. She is returned, and is now sitting near me +by the fire. It is a breathless, grey day, that leaves the golden woods +of autumn quiet in their own tranquillity, stately and beautiful in +their decaying. The lake is a perfect mirror. + +William met Stoddart at the bridge at the foot of Legberthwaite dale.... +They surprised us by their arrival at four o'clock in the afternoon.... +After tea, S. read Chaucer to us. + +_Monday, 31st October._[76]-- ... William and S. went to Keswick. Mary +and I walked to the top of the hill and looked at Rydale. I was much +affected when I stood upon the second bar of Sara's gate. The lake was +perfectly still, the sun shone on hill and vale, the distant birch trees +looked like large golden flowers. Nothing else in colour was distinct +and separate, but all the beautiful colours seemed to be melted into one +another, and joined together in one mass, so that there were no +differences, though an endless variety, when one tried to find it out. +The fields were of one sober yellow brown.... + + [Footnote 76: This should have been entered 1st November.--ED.] + + * * * * * * + +_Tuesday, 2nd November._--William returned from Keswick. + + * * * * * * + +_Friday, 5th._-- ... I wrote to Montagu, ... and sent off letters to +Miss Lamb and Coleridge.... + + * * * * * * + +_Sunday, 7th._--Fine weather. Letters from Coleridge that he was gone to +London. Sara at Penrith. I wrote to Mrs. Clarkson. William began to +translate Ariosto. + +_Monday, 8th._--A beautiful day. William got to work again at Ariosto, +and so continued all the morning, though the day was so delightful that +it made my very heart long to be out of doors, and see and feel the +beauty of the autumn in freedom. The trees on the opposite side of the +lake are of a yellow brown, but there are one or two trees opposite our +windows (an ash tree, for instance) quite green, as in spring. The +fields are of their winter colour, but the island is as green as ever it +was.... William is writing out his stanzas from Ariosto.... The evening +is quiet. Poor Coleridge! Sara is at Keswick, I hope.... I have read one +canto of Ariosto to-day.... + + * * * * * * + +_24th December._--Christmas Eve. William is now sitting by me, at +half-past ten o'clock. I have been ... repeating some of his sonnets to +him, listening to his own repeating, reading some of Milton's, and the +_Allegro_ and _Penseroso_. It is a quick, keen frost.... Coleridge came +this morning with Wedgwood. We all turned out ... one by one, to meet +him. He looked well. We had to tell him of the birth of his little girl, +born yesterday morning at six o'clock. William went with them to +Wytheburn in the chaise, and M. and I met W. on the Raise. It was not an +unpleasant morning.... The sun shone now and then, and there was no +wind, but all things looked cheerless and distinct; no meltings of sky +into mountains, the mountains like stone work wrought up with huge +hammers. Last Sunday was as mild a day as I ever remember.... Mary and I +went round the lakes. There were flowers of various kinds--the topmost +bell of a foxglove, geraniums, daisies, a buttercup in the water (but +this I saw two or three days before), small yellow flowers (I do not +know their name) in the turf. A large bunch of strawberry blossoms.... +It is Christmas Day, Saturday, 25th December 1802. I am thirty-one years +of age. It is a dull, frosty day. + +... On Thursday, 30th December, I went to Keswick. William rode before +me to the foot of the hill nearest K. There we parted close to a little +watercourse, which was then noisy with water, but on my return a dry +channel.... We stopped our horse close to the ledge, opposite a tuft of +primroses, three flowers in full blossom and a bud. They reared +themselves up among the green moss. We debated long whether we should +pluck them, and at last left them to live out their day, which I was +right glad of at my return the Sunday following; for there they +remained, uninjured either by cold or wet. I stayed at Keswick over New +Year's Day, and returned on Sunday, the 2nd January.... William was +alarmed at my long delay, and came to within three miles of Keswick.... +Coleridge stayed with us till Tuesday, January 4th. W. and I ... walked +with him to Ambleside. We parted with him at the turning of the lane, he +going on horseback to the top of Kirkstone. On Thursday 6th, C. +returned, and on Friday, the 7th, he and Sara went to Keswick. W. +accompanied them to the foot of Wytheburn.... It was a gentle day, and +when William and I returned home just before sunset, it was a heavenly +evening. A soft sky was among the hills, and a summer sunshine above, +and blending with this sky, for it was more like sky than clouds; the +turf looked warm and soft. + + * * * * * * + +_Monday, January 10th 1803._--I lay in bed to have a drench of sleep +till one o'clock. Worked all day.... Ominously cold. + +_Tuesday, January 11th._--A very cold day, ... but the blackness of the +cold made us slow to put forward, and we did not walk at all. Mary read +the Prologue to Chaucer's tales to me in the morning. William was +working at his poem to C. Letter from Keswick and from Taylor on +William's marriage. C. poorly, in bad spirits.... Read part of _The +Knights Tale_ with exquisite delight. Since tea Mary has been down +stairs copying out Italian poems for Stuart. William has been working +beside me, and here ends this imperfect summary.... + + + + + VII + + RECOLLECTIONS + OF + A TOUR MADE IN SCOTLAND + (A.D. 1803) + + +CONTENTS + + +=First Week= + + DAY PAGE + + 1. Left Keswick--Grisdale--Mosedale--Hesket + Newmarket--Caldbeck Falls 163 + + 2. Rose Castle--Carlisle--Hatfield--Longtown 164 + + 3. Solway Moss--Enter Scotland--Springfield-- + Gretna Green--Annan--Dumfries 165 + + 4. Burns's Grave 166 + Ellisland--Vale of Nith 168 + Brownhill 169 + Poem to Burns's Sons 171 + + 5. Thornhill--Drumlanrigg--River Nith 171 + Turnpike house 172 + Sportsman 173 + Vale of Menock 174 + Wanlockhead 175 + Leadhills 178 + Miners 178 + Hopetoun mansion 179 + Hostess 180 + + 6. Road to Crawfordjohn 183 + Douglas Mill 187 + Clyde--Lanerk 189 + Boniton Linn 191 + + +=Second Week= + + 7. Falls of the Clyde 193 + Cartland Crags 197 + Fall of Stonebyres--Trough of the Clyde 200 + Hamilton 201 + + 8. Hamilton House 202 + Baroncleugh--Bothwell Castle 204 + Glasgow 208 + + 9. Bleaching ground (Glasgow Green) 209 + Road to Dumbarton 211 + + 10. Rock and Castle of Dumbarton 213 + Vale of Leven 217 + Smollett's Monument 218 + Loch Lomond 218 + Luss 221 + + 11. Islands of Loch Lomond 225 + Road to Tarbet 230 + The Cobbler 231 + Tarbet 231 + + 12. Left Tarbet for the Trossachs 233 + Rob Roy's Caves 235 + Inversneyde Ferryhouse and Waterfall 235 + Singular building 236 + Loch Ketterine 238 + Glengyle 240 + Mr. Macfarlane's 241 + + 13. Breakfast at Glengyle 243 + Lairds of Glengyle--Rob Roy 244 + Burying-ground 246 + Ferryman's hut 246 + Trossachs 248 + Loch Achray 252 + Return to Ferryman's hut 253 + + +RECOLLECTIONS OF A TOUR MADE IN SCOTLAND. A.D. 1803 + + +_FIRST WEEK_ + +William and I parted from Mary on Sunday afternoon, August 14th 1803; +and William, Coleridge, and I left Keswick on Monday morning, the 15th, +at twenty minutes after eleven o'clock. The day was very hot; we walked +up the hills, and along all the rough road, which made our walking half +the day's journey. Travelled under the foot of Carrock, a mountain +covered with stones on the lower part; above, it is very rocky, but +sheep pasture there; we saw several where there seemed to be no grass to +tempt them. Passed the foot of Grisdale and Mosedale, both pastoral +valleys, narrow, and soon terminating in the mountains--green, with +scattered trees and houses, and each a beautiful stream. At Grisdale our +horse backed upon a steep bank where the road was not fenced, just above +a pretty mill at the foot of the valley; and we had a second threatening +of a disaster in crossing a narrow bridge between the two dales; but +this was not the fault of either man or horse. Slept at Mr. +Younghusband's public-house, Hesket Newmarket. In the evening walked to +Caldbeck Falls, a delicious spot in which to breathe out a summer's +day--limestone rocks, hanging trees, pools, and water-breaks--caves and +caldrons which have been honoured with fairy names, and no doubt +continue in the fancy of the neighbourhood to resound with fairy revels. + +_Tuesday, August 16th._--Passed Rose Castle upon the Caldew, an ancient +building of red stone with sloping gardens, an ivied gateway, velvet +lawns, old garden walls, trim flower-borders with stately and luxuriant +flowers. We walked up to the house and stood some minutes watching the +swallows that flew about restlessly, and flung their shadows upon the +sunbright walls of the old building; the shadows glanced and twinkled, +interchanged and crossed each other, expanded and shrunk up, appeared +and disappeared every instant; as I observed to William and Coleridge, +seeming more like living things than the birds themselves. Dined at +Carlisle; the town in a bustle with the assizes; so many strange faces +known in former times and recognised, that it half seemed as if I ought +to know them all, and, together with the noise, the fine ladies, etc., +they put me into confusion. This day Hatfield was condemned. I stood at +the door of the gaoler's house, where he was; William entered the house, +and Coleridge saw him; I fell into conversation with a debtor, who told +me in a dry way that he was "far over-learned," and another man observed +to William that we might learn from Hatfield's fate "not to meddle with +pen and ink." We gave a shilling to my companion, whom we found out to +be a friend of the family, a fellow-sailor with my brother John "in +Captain Wordsworth's ship." Walked upon the city walls, which are broken +down in places and crumbling away, and most disgusting from filth. The +city and neighbourhood of Carlisle disappointed me; the banks of the +river quite flat, and, though the holms are rich, there is not much +beauty in the vale from the want of trees--at least to the eye of a +person coming from England, and, I scarcely know how, but to me the +holms had not a _natural_ look; there was something townish in their +appearance, a dulness in their strong deep green. To Longtown--not very +interesting, except from the long views over the flat country; the road +rough, chiefly newly mended. Reached Longtown after sunset, a town of +brick houses belonging chiefly to the Graham family. Being in the form +of a cross and not long, it had been better called Crosstown. There are +several shops, and it is not a very small place; but I could not meet +with a silver thimble, and bought a half-penny brass one. Slept at the +Graham's Arms, a large inn. Here, as everywhere else, the people seemed +utterly insensible of the enormity of Hatfield's offences; the ostler +told William that he was quite a gentleman, paid every one genteelly, +etc. etc. He and "Mary" had walked together to Gretna Green; a heavy +rain came on when they were there; a returned chaise happened to pass, +and the driver would have taken them up; but "Mr. Hope's" carriage was +to be sent for; he did not choose to accept the chaise-driver's offer. + +_Wednesday, August 17th._--Left Longtown after breakfast. About half a +mile from the town a guidepost and two roads, to Edinburgh and Glasgow; +we took the left-hand road, to Glasgow. Here saw a specimen of the +luxuriance of the heath-plant, as it grows in Scotland; it was in the +enclosed plantations--perhaps sheltered by them. These plantations +appeared to be not well grown for their age; the trees were stunted. +Afterwards the road, treeless, over a peat-moss common--the Solway Moss; +here and there an earth-built hut with its peat stack, a scanty growing +willow hedge round the kail-garth, perhaps the cow pasturing near,--a +little lass watching it,--the dreary waste cheered by the endless +singing of larks. + +We enter Scotland by crossing the river Sark; on the Scotch side of the +bridge the ground is unenclosed pasturage; it was very green, and +scattered over with that yellow flowered plant which we call grunsel; +the hills heave and swell prettily enough; cattle feeding; a few corn +fields near the river. At the top of the hill opposite is Springfield, a +village built by Sir William Maxwell--a dull uniformity in the houses, +as is usual when all built at one time, or belonging to one individual, +each just big enough for two people to live in, and in which a family, +large or small as it may happen, is crammed. There the marriages are +performed. Further on, though almost contiguous, is Gretna Green, upon a +hill and among trees. This sounds well, but it is a dreary place; the +stone houses dirty and miserable, with broken windows. There is a +pleasant view from the churchyard over Solway Firth to the Cumberland +mountains. Dined at Annan. On our left as we travelled along appeared +the Solway Firth and the mountains beyond, but the near country dreary. +Those houses by the roadside which are built of stone are comfortless +and dirty; but we peeped into a clay "biggin" that was very "canny," and +I daresay will be as warm as a swallow's nest in winter. The town of +Annan made me think of France and Germany; many of the houses large and +gloomy, the size of them outrunning the comforts. One thing which was +like Germany pleased me: the shopkeepers express their calling by some +device or painting; bread-bakers have biscuits, loaves, cakes, painted +on their window-shutters; blacksmiths horses' shoes, iron tools, etc. +etc.; and so on through all trades. + +Reached Dumfries at about nine o'clock--market-day; met crowds of people +on the road, and every one had a smile for us and our car.... The inn +was a large house, and tolerably comfortable; Mr. Rogers and his sister, +whom we had seen at our own cottage at Grasmere a few days before, had +arrived there that same afternoon on their way to the Highlands; but we +did not see them till the next morning, and only for about a quarter of +an hour. + +_Thursday, August 18th._--Went to the churchyard where Burns is buried. +A bookseller accompanied us. He showed us the outside of Burns's house, +where he had lived the last three years of his life, and where he died. +It has a mean appearance, and is in a bye situation, whitewashed; dirty +about the doors, as almost all Scotch houses are; flowering plants in +the windows. + +Went on to visit his grave. He lies at a corner of the churchyard, and +his second son, Francis Wallace, beside him. There is no stone to mark +the spot; but a hundred guineas have been collected, to be expended on +some sort of monument. "There," said the bookseller, pointing to a +pompous monument, "there lies Mr. Such-a-one"--I have forgotten his +name,--"a remarkably clever man; he was an attorney, and hardly ever +lost a cause he undertook. Burns made many a lampoon upon him, and there +they rest, as you see." We looked at the grave with melancholy and +painful reflections, repeating to each other his own verses:-- + + Is there a man whose judgment clear + Can others teach the course to steer, + Yet runs himself life's mad career + Wild as the wave?-- + Here let him pause, and through a tear + Survey this grave. + + The poor Inhabitant below + Was quick to learn, and wise to know + And keenly felt the friendly glow + And softer flame; + But thoughtless follies laid him low, + And stain'd his name. + +The churchyard is full of grave-stones and expensive monuments in all +sorts of fantastic shapes--obelisk-wise, pillar-wise, etc. In speaking +of Gretna Green, I forgot to mention that we visited the churchyard. The +church is like a huge house; indeed, so are all the churches, with a +steeple, not a square tower or spire,--a sort of thing more like a +glass-house chimney than a Church of England steeple; grave-stones in +abundance, few verses, yet there were some--no texts. Over the graves of +married women the maiden name instead of that of the husband, "spouse" +instead of "wife," and the place of abode preceded by "in" instead of +"of." When our guide had left us, we turned again to Burns's house. Mrs. +Burns was gone to spend some time by the sea-shore with her children. We +spoke to the servant-maid at the door, who invited us forward, and we +sate down in the parlour. The walls were coloured with a blue wash; on +one side of the fire was a mahogany desk, opposite to the window a +clock, and over the desk a print from the _Cotter's Saturday Night_, +which Burns mentions in one of his letters having received as a present. +The house was cleanly and neat in the inside, the stairs of stone, +scoured white, the kitchen on the right side of the passage, the parlour +on the left. In the room above the parlour the poet died, and his son +after him in the same room. The servant told us she had lived five years +with Mrs. Burns, who was now in great sorrow for the death of "Wallace." +She said that Mrs. Burns's youngest son was at Christ's Hospital. + +We were glad to leave Dumfries, which is no agreeable place to them who +do not love the bustle of a town that seems to be rising up to wealth. +We could think of little else but poor Burns, and his moving about on +that unpoetic ground. In our road to Brownhill, the next stage, we +passed Ellisland at a little distance on our right, his farmhouse. We +might there have had more pleasure in looking round, if we had been +nearer to the spot; but there is no thought surviving in connexion with +Burns's daily life that is not heart-depressing. Travelled through the +vale of Nith, here little like a vale, it is so broad, with irregular +hills rising up on each side, in outline resembling the old-fashioned +valances of a bed. There is a great deal of arable land; the corn ripe; +trees here and there--plantations, clumps, coppices, and a newness in +everything. So much of the gorse and broom rooted out that you wonder +why it is not all gone, and yet there seems to be almost as much gorse +and broom as corn; and they grow one among another you know not how. +Crossed the Nith; the vale becomes narrow, and very pleasant; corn +fields, green hills, clay cottages; the river's bed rocky, with woody +banks. Left the Nith about a mile and a half, and reached Brownhill, a +lonely inn, where we slept. The view from the windows was pleasing, +though some travellers might have been disposed to quarrel with it for +its general nakedness; yet there was abundance of corn. It is an open +country--open, yet all over hills. At a little distance were many +cottages among trees, that looked very pretty. Brownhill is about seven +or eight miles from Ellisland. I fancied to myself, while I was sitting +in the parlour, that Burns might have caroused there, for most likely +his rounds extended so far, and this thought gave a melancholy interest +to the smoky walls. It was as pretty a room as a thoroughly dirty one +could be--a square parlour painted green, but so covered over with smoke +and dirt that it looked not unlike green seen through black gauze. There +were three windows, looking three ways, a buffet ornamented with +tea-cups, a superfine largeish looking-glass with gilt ornaments +spreading far and wide, the glass spotted with dirt, some ordinary +alehouse pictures, and above the chimney-piece a print in a much better +style--as William guessed, taken from a painting by Sir Joshua +Reynolds--of some lady of quality, in the character of Euphrosyne. "Ay," +said the servant-girl, seeing that we looked at it, "there's many +travellers would give a deal for that, it's more admired than any in the +house." We could not but smile; for the rest were such as may be found +in the basket of any Italian image and picture hawker. + +William and I walked out after dinner; Coleridge was not well, and +slept upon the carriage cushions. We made our way to the cottages among +the little hills and knots of wood, and then saw what a delightful +country this part of Scotland might be made by planting forest trees. +The ground all over heaves and swells like a sea; but for miles there +are neither trees nor hedgerows, only "mound" fences and tracts; or +slips of corn, potatoes, clover--with hay between, and barren land; but +near the cottages many hills and hillocks covered with wood. We passed +some fine trees, and paused under the shade of one close by an old +mansion that seemed from its neglected state to be inhabited by farmers. +But I must say that many of the "gentlemen's" houses which we have +passed in Scotland have an air of neglect, and even of desolation. It +was a beech, in the full glory of complete and perfect growth, very +tall, with one thick stem mounting to a considerable height, which was +split into four "thighs," as Coleridge afterwards called them, each in +size a fine tree. Passed another mansion, now tenanted by a +schoolmaster; many boys playing upon the lawn. I cannot take leave of +the country which we passed through to-day, without mentioning that we +saw the Cumberland mountains within half a mile of Ellisland, Burns's +house, the last view we had of them. Drayton has prettily described the +connexion which this neighbourhood has with ours when he makes Skiddaw +say-- + + Scurfell[77] from the sky, + That Anadale[78] doth crown, with a most amorous eye, + Salutes me every day, or at my pride looks grim, + Oft threat'ning me with clouds, as I oft threat'ning him. + + [Footnote 77: Criffel.--J. C. S.] + + [Footnote 78: Annandale.--J. C. S.] + +These lines recurred to William's memory, and we talked of Burns, and +of the prospect he must have had, perhaps from his own door, of Skiddaw +and his companions, indulging ourselves in the fancy that we _might_ +have been personally known to each other, and he have looked upon those +objects with more pleasure for our sakes. We talked of Coleridge's +children and family, then at the foot of Skiddaw, and our own new-born +John a few miles behind it; while the grave of Burns's son, which we had +just seen by the side of his father, and some stories heard at Dumfries +respecting the dangers his surviving children were exposed to, filled us +with melancholy concern, which had a kind of connexion with ourselves. +In recollection of this, William long afterwards wrote the following +Address to the sons of the ill-fated poet:-- + + Ye now are panting up life's hill, + 'Tis twilight time of good and ill, + And more than common strength and skill + Must ye display, + If ye would give the better will + Its lawful sway. + + Strong-bodied if ye be to bear + Intemperance with less harm, beware, + But if your Father's wit ye share, + Then, then indeed, + Ye Sons of Burns, for watchful care + There will be need. + + For honest men delight will take + To shew you favour for his sake, + Will flatter you, and Fool and Rake + Your steps pursue, + And of your Father's name will make + A snare for you. + + Let no mean hope your souls enslave, + Be independent, generous, brave; + Your Father such example gave, + And such revere, + But be admonished by his grave, + And think and fear. + +_Friday, August 19th._--Open country for a considerable way. Passed +through the village of Thornhill, built by the Duke of Oueensberry; the +"brother-houses" so small that they might have been built to stamp a +character of insolent pride on his own huge mansion of Drumlanrigg, +which is full in view on the opposite side of the Nith. This mansion is +indeed very large; but to us it appeared like a gathering together of +little things. The roof is broken into a hundred pieces, cupolas, etc., +in the shape of casters, conjuror's balls, cups, and the like. The +situation would be noble if the woods had been left standing; but they +have been cut down not long ago, and the hills above and below the house +are quite bare. About a mile and a half from Drumlanrigg is a turnpike +gate at the top of a hill. We left our car with the man, and turned +aside into a field where we looked down upon the Nith, which runs far +below in a deep and rocky channel; the banks woody; the view pleasant +down the river towards Thornhill, an open country--corn fields, +pastures, and scattered trees. Returned to the turnpike house, a cold +spot upon a common, black cattle feeding close to the door. Our road led +us down the hill to the side of the Nith, and we travelled along its +banks for some miles. Here were clay cottages perhaps every half or +quarter of a mile. The bed of the stream rough with rocks; banks +irregular, now woody, now bare; here a patch of broom, there of corn, +then of pasturage; and hills green or heathy above. We were to have +given our horse meal and water at a public-house in one of the hamlets +we passed through, but missed the house, for, as is common in Scotland, +it was without a sign-board. Travelled on, still beside the Nith, till +we came to a turnpike house, which stood rather high on the hill-side, +and from the door we looked a long way up and down the river. The air +coldish, the wind strong. + +We asked the turnpike man to let us have some meal and water. He had no +meal, but luckily we had part of a feed of corn brought from Keswick, +and he procured some hay at a neighbouring house. In the meantime I went +into the house, where was an old man with a grey plaid over his +shoulders, reading a newspaper. On the shelf lay a volume of the Scotch +Encyclopædia, a History of England, and some other books. The old man +was a caller by the way. The man of the house came back, and we began to +talk. He was very intelligent; had travelled all over England, Scotland, +and Ireland as a gentleman's servant, and now lived alone in that +lonesome place. He said he was tired of his bargain, for he feared he +should lose by it. And he had indeed a troublesome office, for +coal-carts without number were passing by, and the drivers seemed to do +their utmost to cheat him. There is always something peculiar in the +house of a man living alone. This was but half-furnished, yet nothing +seemed wanting for _his_ comfort, though a female who had travelled half +as far would have needed fifty other things. He had no other meat or +drink in the house but oat bread and cheese--the cheese was made with +the addition of seeds--and some skimmed milk. He gave us of his bread +and cheese, and milk, which proved to be sour. + +We had yet ten or eleven miles to travel, and no food with us. William +lay under the wind in a corn-field below the house, being not well +enough to partake of the milk and bread. Coleridge gave our host a +pamphlet, "The Crisis of the Sugar Colonies"; he was well acquainted +with Burns's poems. There was a politeness and a manly freedom in this +man's manners which pleased me very much. He told us that he had served +a gentleman, a captain in the army--he did not know who he was, for none +of his relations had ever come to see him, but he used to receive many +letters--that he had lived near Dumfries till they would let him stay no +longer, he made such havoc with the game; his whole delight from morning +till night, and the long year through, was in field sports; he would be +on his feet the worst days in winter, and wade through snow up to the +middle after his game. If he had company he was in tortures till they +were gone; he would then throw off his coat and put on an old jacket not +worth half-a-crown. He drank his bottle of wine every day, and two if he +had better sport than usual. Ladies sometimes came to stay with his +wife, and he often carried them out in an Irish jaunting-car, and if +they vexed him he would choose the dirtiest roads possible, and spoil +their clothes by jumping in and out of the car, and treading upon them. +"But for all that"--and so he ended all--"he was a good fellow, and a +clever fellow, and he liked him well." He would have ten or a dozen +hares in the larder at once, he half maintained his family with game, +and he himself was very fond of eating of the spoil--unusual with true +heart-and-soul sportsmen. + +The man gave us an account of his farm where he had lived, which was so +cheap and pleasant that we thought we should have liked to have had it +ourselves. Soon after leaving the turnpike house we turned up a hill to +the right, the road for a little way very steep, bare hills, with sheep. + +After ascending a little while we heard the murmur of a stream far below +us, and saw it flowing downwards on our left, towards the Nith, and +before us, between steep green hills, coming along a winding valley. The +simplicity of the prospect impressed us very much. There was a single +cottage by the brook side; the dell was not heathy, but it was +impossible not to think of Peter Bell's Highland Girl. + +We now felt indeed that we were in Scotland; there was a natural +peculiarity in this place. In the scenes of the Nith it had not been the +same as England, but yet not simple, naked Scotland. The road led us +down the hill, and now there was no room in the vale but for the river +and the road; we had sometimes the stream to the right, sometimes to the +left. The hills were pastoral, but we did not see many sheep; green +smooth turf on the left, no ferns. On the right the heath-plant grew in +abundance, of the most exquisite colour; it covered a whole hill-side, +or it was in streams and patches. We travelled along the vale without +appearing to ascend for some miles; all the reaches were beautiful, in +exquisite proportion, the hills seeming very high from being so near to +us. It might have seemed a valley which nature had kept to herself for +pensive thoughts and tender feelings, but that we were reminded at every +turning of the road of something beyond by the coal-carts which were +travelling towards us. Though these carts broke in upon the tranquillity +of the glen, they added much to the picturesque effect of the different +views, which indeed wanted nothing, though perfectly bare, houseless, +and treeless. + +After some time our road took us upwards towards the end of the valley. +Now the steeps were heathy all around. Just as we began to climb the +hill we saw three boys who came down the cleft of a brow on our left; +one carried a fishing-rod, and the hats of all were braided with +honeysuckles; they ran after one another as wanton as the wind. I cannot +express what a character of beauty those few honeysuckles in the hats of +the three boys gave to the place: what bower could they have come from? +We walked up the hill, met two well-dressed travellers, the woman +barefoot. Our little lads before they had gone far were joined by some +half-dozen of their companions, all without shoes and stockings. They +told us they lived at Wanlockhead, the village above, pointing to the +top of the hill; they went to school and learned Latin, Virgil, and some +of them Greek, Homer, but when Coleridge began to inquire further, off +they ran, poor things! I suppose afraid of being examined. + +When, after a steep ascent, we had reached the top of the hill, we saw +a village about half a mile before us on the side of another hill, which +rose up above the spot where we were, after a descent, a sort of valley +or hollow. Nothing grew upon this ground, or the hills above or below, +but heather, yet round about the village--which consisted of a great +number of huts, all alike, and all thatched, with a few larger slated +houses among them, and a single modern-built one of a considerable +size--were a hundred patches of cultivated ground, potatoes, oats, hay, +and grass. We were struck with the sight of haycocks fastened down with +aprons, sheets, pieces of sacking--as we supposed, to prevent the wind +from blowing them away. We afterwards found that this practice was very +general in Scotland. Every cottage seemed to have its little plot of +ground, fenced by a ridge of earth; this plot contained two or three +different divisions, kail, potatoes, oats, hay; the houses all standing +in lines, or never far apart; the cultivated ground was all together +also, and made a very strange appearance with its many greens among the +dark brown hills, neither tree nor shrub growing; yet the grass and the +potatoes looked greener than elsewhere, owing to the bareness of the +neighbouring hills; it was indeed a wild and singular spot--to use a +woman's illustration, like a collection of patchwork, made of pieces as +they might have chanced to have been cut by the mantua-maker, only just +smoothed to fit each other, the different sorts of produce being in such +a multitude of plots, and those so small and of such irregular shapes. +Add to the strangeness of the village itself, that we had been climbing +upwards, though gently, for many miles, and for the last mile and a half +up a steep ascent, and did not know of any village till we saw the boys +who had come out to play. The air was very cold, and one could not help +thinking what it must be in winter, when those hills, now "red brown," +should have their three months' covering of snow. + +The village, as we guessed, is inhabited by miners; the mines belong to +the Duke of Queensberry. The road to the village, down which the lads +scampered away, was straight forward. I must mention that we met, just +after we had parted from them, another little fellow, about six years +old, carrying a bundle over his shoulder; he seemed poor and half +starved, and was scratching his fingers, which were covered with the +itch. He was a miner's son, and lived at Wanlockhead; did not go to +school, but this was probably on account of his youth. I mention him +because he seemed to be a proof that there was poverty and wretchedness +among these people, though we saw no other symptom of it; and afterwards +we met scores of the inhabitants of this same village. Our road turned +to the right, and we saw, at the distance of less than a mile, a tall +upright building of grey stone, with several men standing upon the roof, +as if they were looking out over battlements. It stood beyond the +village, upon higher ground, as if presiding over it,--a kind of +enchanter's castle, which it might have been, a place where Don Quixote +would have gloried in. When we drew nearer we saw, coming out of the +side of the building, a large machine or lever, in appearance like a +great forge-hammer, as we supposed for raising water out of the mines. +It heaved upwards once in half a minute with a slow motion, and seemed +to rest to take breath at the bottom, its motion being accompanied with +a sound between a groan and "jike." There would have been something in +this object very striking in any place, as it was impossible not to +invest the machine with some faculty of intellect; it seemed to have +made the first step from brute matter to life and purpose, showing its +progress by great power. William made a remark to this effect, and +Coleridge observed that it was like a giant with one idea. At all +events, the object produced a striking effect in that place, where +everything was in unison with it--particularly the building itself, +which was turret-shaped, and with the figures upon it resembled much one +of the fortresses in the wooden cuts of Bunyan's _Holy War_. + +After ascending a considerable way we began to descend again; and now +we met a team of horses dragging an immense tree to the lead mines, to +repair or add to the building, and presently after we came to a cart, +with another large tree, and one horse left in it, right in the middle +of the highway. We were a little out of humour, thinking we must wait +till the team came back. There were men and boys without number all +staring at us; after a little consultation they set their shoulders to +the cart, and with a good heave all at once they moved it, and we passed +along. These people were decently dressed, and their manners decent; +there was no hooting or impudent laughter. Leadhills, another mining +village, was the place of our destination for the night; and soon after +we had passed the cart we came in sight of it. This village and the +mines belong to Lord Hopetoun; it has more stone houses than +Wanlockhead, one large old mansion, and a considerable number of old +trees--beeches, I believe. The trees told of the coldness of the +climate; they were more brown than green--far browner than the ripe +grass of the little hay-garths. Here, as at Wanlockhead, were haycocks, +hay-stacks, potato-beds, and kail-garths in every possible variety of +shape, but, I suppose from the irregularity of the ground, it looked far +less artificial--indeed, I should think that a painter might make +several beautiful pictures in this village. It straggles down both sides +of a mountain glen. As I have said, there is a large mansion. There is +also a stone building that looks like a school, and the houses are +single, or in clusters, or rows as it may chance. + +We passed a decent-looking inn, the Hopetoun Arms; but the house of +Mrs. Otto, a widow, had been recommended to us with high encomiums. We +did not then understand Scotch inns, and were not quite satisfied at +first with our accommodations, but all things were smoothed over by +degrees; we had a fire lighted in our dirty parlour, tea came after a +reasonable waiting; and the fire with the gentle aid of twilight, +burnished up the room into cheerful comfort. Coleridge was weary; but +William and I walked out after tea. We talked with one of the miners, +who informed us that the building which we had supposed to be a school +was a library belonging to the village. He said they had got a book into +it a few weeks ago, which had cost thirty pounds, and that they had all +sorts of books. "What! have you Shakespeare?" "Yes, we have that," and +we found, on further inquiry, that they had a large library, of long +standing, that Lord Hopetoun had subscribed liberally to it, and that +gentlemen who came with him were in the habit of making larger or +smaller donations. Each man who had the benefit of it paid a small sum +monthly--I think about fourpence. + +The man we talked with spoke much of the comfort and quiet in which they +lived one among another; he made use of a noticeable expression, saying +that they were "very peaceable people considering they lived so much +under-ground";--wages were about thirty pounds a year; they had land for +potatoes, warm houses, plenty of coals, and only six hours' work each +day, so that they had leisure for reading if they chose. He said the +place was healthy, that the inhabitants lived to a great age; and indeed +we saw no appearance of ill-health in their countenances; but it is not +common for people working in lead mines to be healthy; and I have since +heard that it is _not_ a healthy place. However this may be, they are +unwilling to allow it; for the landlady the next morning, when I said to +her "You have a cold climate," replied, "Ay, but it is _varra +halesome_." We inquired of the man respecting the large mansion; he told +us that it was built, as we might see, in the form of an H, and belonged +to the Hopetouns, and they took their title from thence,[79] and that +part of it was used as a chapel. We went close to it, and were a good +deal amused with the building itself, standing forth in bold +contradiction of the story which I daresay every man of Leadhills tells, +and every man believes, that it is in the shape of an H; it is but half +an H, and one must be very accommodating to allow it even _so_ much, for +the legs are far too short. + + [Footnote 79: There is some mistake here. The Hopetoun title was not + taken from any place in the Leadhills, much less from the house shaped + like an H.--J. C. S.] + +We visited the burying-ground, a plot of land not very small, crowded +with graves, and upright grave-stones, over-looking the village and the +dell. It was now the closing in of evening. Women and children were +gathering in the linen for the night, which was bleaching by the +burn-side;--the graves overgrown with grass, such as, by industrious +culture, had been raised up about the houses; but there were bunches of +heather here and there, and with the blue-bells that grew among the +grass the small plot of ground had a beautiful and wild appearance. + +William left me, and I went to a shop to purchase some thread; the woman +had none that suited me; but she would send a "_wee_ lad" to the other +shop. In the meantime I sat with the mother, and was much pleased with +her manner and conversation. She had an excellent fire, and her cottage, +though very small, looked comfortable and cleanly; but remember I saw it +only by firelight. She confirmed what the man had told us of the quiet +manner in which they lived; and indeed her house and fireside seemed to +need nothing to make it a cheerful happy spot, but health and good +humour. There was a bookishness, a certain formality in this woman's +language, which was very remarkable. She had a dark complexion, dark +eyes, and wore a very white cap, much over her face, which gave her the +look of a French woman, and indeed afterwards the women on the roads +frequently reminded us of French women, partly from the extremely white +caps of the elder women, and still more perhaps from a certain gaiety +and party-coloured appearance in their dress in general. White bed-gowns +are very common, and you rarely meet a young girl with either hat or +cap; they buckle up their hair often in a graceful manner. + +I returned to the inn, and went into the kitchen to speak with the +landlady; she had made a hundred hesitations when I told her we wanted +three beds. At last she confessed she _had_ three beds, and showed me +into a parlour which looked damp and cold, but she assured me in a tone +that showed she was unwilling to be questioned further, that all _her_ +beds were well aired. I sat a while by the kitchen fire with the +landlady, and began to talk to her; but, much as I had heard in her +praise--for the shopkeeper had told me she was a varra discreet woman--I +cannot say that her manners pleased me much. But her servant made +amends, for she was as pleasant and cheerful a lass as was ever seen; +and when we asked her to do anything, she answered, "Oh yes," with a +merry smile, and almost ran to get us what we wanted. She was about +sixteen years old: wore shoes and stockings, and had her hair tucked up +with a comb. The servant at Brownhill was a coarse-looking wench, +barefoot and bare-legged. I examined the kitchen round about; it was +crowded with furniture, drawers, cupboards, dish-covers, pictures, pans, +and pots, arranged without order, except that the plates were on +shelves, and the dish-covers hung in rows; these were very clean, but +floors, passages, staircase, everything else dirty. There were two beds +in recesses in the wall; above one of them I noticed a shelf with some +books:--it made me think of Chaucer's Clerke of Oxenforde:-- + + Liever had he at his bed's head + Twenty books clothed in black and red. + +They were baking oat-bread, which they cut into quarters, and half-baked +over the fire, and half-toasted before it. There was a suspiciousness +about Mrs. Otto, almost like ill-nature; she was very jealous of any +inquiries that might appear to be made with the faintest idea of a +comparison between Leadhills and any other place, except the advantage +was evidently on the side of Leadhills. We had nice honey to breakfast. +When ready to depart, we learned that we might have seen the library, +which we had not thought of till it was too late, and we were very sorry +to go away without seeing it. + +_Saturday, August 20th._--Left Leadhills at nine o'clock, regretting +much that we could not stay another day, that we might have made more +minute inquiries respecting the manner of living of the miners, and been +able to form an estimate, from our own observation, of the degree of +knowledge, health, and comfort that there was among them. The air was +keen and cold; we might have supposed it to be three months later in the +season and two hours earlier in the day. The landlady had not lighted us +a fire; so I was obliged to get myself toasted in the kitchen, and when +we set off I put on both grey cloak and spencer. + +Our road carried us down the valley, and we soon lost sight of +Leadhills, for the valley made a turn almost immediately, and we saw two +miles, perhaps, before us; the glen sloped somewhat rapidly--heathy, +bare, no hut or house. Passed by a shepherd, who was sitting upon the +ground, reading, with the book on his knee, screened from the wind by +his plaid, while a flock of sheep were feeding near him among the rushes +and coarse grass--for, as we descended we came among lands where grass +grew with the heather. Travelled through several reaches of the glen, +which somewhat resembled the valley of Menock on the other side of +Wanlockhead; but it was not near so beautiful; the forms of the +mountains did not melt so exquisitely into each other, and there was a +coldness, and, if I may so speak, a want of simplicity in the surface of +the earth; the heather was poor, not covering a whole hill-side; not in +luxuriant streams and beds interveined with rich verdure; but patchy and +stunted, with here and there coarse grass and rushes. But we soon came +in sight of a spot that impressed us very much. At the lower end of this +new reach of the vale was a decayed tree, beside a decayed cottage, the +vale spreading out into a level area which was one large field, without +fence and without division, of a dull yellow colour; the vale seemed to +partake of the desolation of the cottage, and to participate in its +decay. And yet the spot was in its nature so dreary that one would +rather have wondered how it ever came to be tenanted by man, than lament +that it was left to waste and solitude. Yet the encircling hills were so +exquisitely formed that it was impossible to conceive anything more +lovely than this place would have been if the valley and hill-sides had +been interspersed with trees, cottages, green fields, and hedgerows. But +all was desolate; the one large field which filled up the area of the +valley appeared, as I have said, in decay, and seemed to retain the +memory of its connexion with man in some way analogous to the ruined +building; for it was as much of a field as Mr. King's best pasture +scattered over with his fattest cattle. + +We went on, looking before us, the place losing nothing of its hold upon +our minds, when we discovered a woman sitting right in the middle of the +field, alone, wrapped up in a grey cloak or plaid. She sat motionless +all the time we looked at her, which might be nearly half an hour. We +could not conceive why she sat there, for there were neither sheep nor +cattle in the field; her appearance was very melancholy. In the meantime +our road carried us nearer to the cottage, though we were crossing over +the hill to the left, leaving the valley below us, and we perceived that +a part of the building was inhabited, and that what we had supposed to +be _one_ blasted tree was eight trees, four of which were entirely +blasted; the others partly so, and round about the place was a little +potato and cabbage garth, fenced with earth. No doubt, that woman had +been an inhabitant of the cottage. However this might be, there was so +much obscurity and uncertainty about her, and her figure agreed so well +with the desolation of the place, that we were indebted to the chance of +her being there for some of the most interesting feelings that we had +ever had from natural objects connected with man in dreary solitariness. + +We had been advised to go along the _new_ road, which would have +carried us down the vale; but we met some travellers who recommended us +to climb the hill, and go by the village of Crawfordjohn as being much +nearer. We had a long hill, and after having reached the top, steep and +bad roads, so we continued to walk for a considerable way. The air was +cold and clear--the sky blue. We walked cheerfully along in the +sunshine, each of us alone, only William had the charge of the horse and +car, so he sometimes took a ride, which did but poorly recompense him +for the trouble of driving. I never travelled with more cheerful spirits +than this day. Our road was along the side of a high moor. I can always +walk over a moor with a light foot; I seem to be drawn more closely to +nature in such places than anywhere else; or rather I feel more strongly +the power of nature over me, and am better satisfied with myself for +being able to find enjoyment in what unfortunately to many persons is +either dismal or insipid. This moor, however, was more than commonly +interesting; we could see a long way, and on every side of us were +larger or smaller tracts of cultivated land. Some were extensive farms, +yet in so large a waste they did but look small, with farm-houses, +barns, etc., others like little cottages, with enough to feed a cow, and +supply the family with vegetables. In looking at these farms we had +always one feeling. Why did the plough stop there? Why might not they as +well have carried it twice as far? There were no hedgerows near the +farms, and very few trees. As we were passing along, we saw an old man, +the first we had seen in a Highland bonnet, walking with a staff at a +very slow pace by the edge of one of the moorland corn-fields; he wore a +grey plaid, and a dog was by his side. There was a scriptural solemnity +in this man's figure, a sober simplicity which was most impressive. +Scotland is the country above all others that I have seen, in which a +man of imagination may carve out his own pleasures. There are so many +_inhabited_ solitudes, and the employments of the people are so +immediately connected with the places where you find them, and their +dresses so simple, so much alike, yet, from their being folding +garments, admitting of an endless variety, and falling often so +gracefully. + +After some time we descended towards a broad vale, passed one +farm-house, sheltered by fir trees, with a burn close to it; children +playing, linen bleaching. The vale was open pastures and corn-fields +unfenced, the land poor. The village of Crawfordjohn on the slope of a +hill a long way before us to the left. Asked about our road of a man who +was driving a cart; he told us to go through the village, then along +some fields, and we should come to a "herd's house by the burn side." +The highway was right through the vale, unfenced on either side; the +people of the village, who were making hay, all stared at us and our +carriage. We inquired the road of a middle-aged man, dressed in a shabby +black coat, at work in one of the hay fields; he looked like the +minister of the place, and when he spoke we felt assured that he was so, +for he was not sparing of hard words, which, however, he used with great +propriety, and he spoke like one who had been accustomed to dictate. Our +car wanted mending in the wheel, and we asked him if there was a +blacksmith in the village. "Yes," he replied, but when we showed him the +wheel he told William that he might mend it himself without a +blacksmith, and he would put him in the way; so he fetched hammer and +nails and gave his directions, which William obeyed, and repaired the +damage entirely to his own satisfaction and the priest's, who did not +offer to lend any assistance himself; not as if he would not have been +willing in case of need; but as if it were more natural for him to +dictate, and because he thought it more fit that William should do it +himself. He spoke much about the propriety of every man's lending all +the assistance in his power to travellers, and with some ostentation of +self-praise. Here I observed a honeysuckle and some flowers growing in a +garden, the first I had seen in Scotland. It is a pretty +cheerful-looking village, but must be very cold in winter; it stands on +a hillside, and the vale itself is very high ground, unsheltered by +trees. + +Left the village behind us, and our road led through arable ground for +a considerable way, on which were growing very good crops of corn and +potatoes. Our friend accompanied us to show us the way, and Coleridge +and he had a scientific conversation concerning the uses and properties +of lime and other manures. He seemed to be a well-informed man; somewhat +pedantic in his manners; but this might be only the difference between +Scotch and English.[80] + + [Footnote 80: Probably the Rev. John Aird, minister of the parish, + 1801-1815.--J. C. S.] + +Soon after he had parted from us, we came upon a stony, rough road over +a black moor; and presently to the "herd's house by the burn side." We +could hardly cross the burn dry-shod, over which was the only road to +the cottage. In England there would have been stepping-stones or a +bridge; but the Scotch need not be afraid of wetting their bare feet. +The hut had its little kail-garth fenced with earth; there was no other +enclosure--but the common, heathy with coarse grass. Travelled along the +common for some miles, before we joined the great road from Longtown to +Glasgow--saw on the bare hill-sides at a distance, sometimes a solitary +farm, now and then a plantation, and one very large wood, with an +appearance of richer ground above; but it was so very high we could not +think it possible. Having descended considerably, the common was no +longer of a peat-mossy brown heath colour, but grass with rushes was its +chief produce; there was sometimes a solitary hut, no enclosures except +the kail-garth, and sheep pasturing in flocks, with shepherd-boys +tending them. I remember one boy in particular; he had no hat on, and +only had a grey plaid wrapped about him. It is nothing to describe, but +on a bare moor, alone with his sheep, standing, as he did, in utter +quietness and silence, there was something uncommonly impressive in his +appearance, a solemnity which recalled to our minds the old man in the +corn-field. We passed many people who were mowing, or raking the grass +of the common; it was little better than rushes; but they did not mow +straight forward, only here and there, where it was the best; in such a +place hay-cocks had an uncommon appearance to us. + +After a long descent we came to some plantations which were not far from +Douglas Mill. The country for some time had been growing into +cultivation, and now it was a wide vale with large tracts of corn; trees +in clumps, no hedgerows, which always make a country look bare and +unlovely. For my part, I was better pleased with the desert places we +had left behind, though no doubt the inhabitants of this place think it +"a varra bonny spot," for the Scotch are always pleased with their own +abode, be it what it may; and afterwards at Edinburgh, when we were +talking with a bookseller of our travels, he observed that it was "a +fine country near Douglas Mill." Douglas Mill is a single house, a large +inn, being one of the regular stages between Longtown and Glasgow, and +therefore a fair specimen of the best of the country inns of Scotland. +As soon as our car stopped at the door we felt the difference. At an +English inn of this size, a waiter, or the master or mistress, would +have been at the door immediately, but we remained some time before +anybody came; then a barefooted lass made her appearance, but she only +looked at us and went away. The mistress, a remarkably handsome woman, +showed us into a large parlour; we ordered mutton-chops, and I finished +my letter to Mary; writing on the same window-ledge on which William had +written to me two years before. + +After dinner, William and I sat by a little mill-race in the garden. We +had left Leadhills and Wanlockhead far above us, and now were come into +a warmer climate; but there was no richness in the face of the country. +The shrubs looked cold and poor, and yet there were some very fine trees +within a little distance of Douglas Mill, so that the reason, perhaps, +why the few low shrubs and trees which were growing in the gardens +seemed to be so unluxuriant, might be, that there being no hedgerows, +the general appearance of the country was naked, and I could not help +seeing the same coldness where, perhaps, it did not exist in itself to +any great degree, for the corn crops are abundant, and I should think +the soil is not bad. While we were sitting at the door, two of the +landlady's children came out; the elder, a boy about six years old, was +running away from his little brother, in petticoats; the ostler called +out, "Sandy, tak' your wee brither wi' you"; another voice from the +window, "Sawny, dinna leave your wee brither"; the mother then came, +"Alexander, tak' your wee brother by the hand"; Alexander obeyed, and +the two went off in peace together. We were charged eightpence for hay +at this inn, another symptom of our being in Scotland. Left Douglas Mill +at about three o'clock; travelled through an open corn country, the +tracts of corn large and unenclosed. We often passed women or children +who were watching a single cow while it fed upon the slips of grass +between the corn. William asked a strong woman, about thirty years of +age, who looked like the mistress of a family--I suppose moved by some +sentiment of compassion for her being so employed,--if the cow would eat +the corn if it were left to itself: she smiled at his simplicity. It is +indeed a melancholy thing to see a full-grown woman thus waiting, as it +were, body and soul devoted to the poor beast; yet even this is better +than working in a manufactory the day through. + +We came to a moorish tract; saw before us the hills of Loch Lomond, Ben +Lomond and another, distinct each by itself. Not far from the roadside +were some benches placed in rows in the middle of a large field, with a +sort of covered shed like a sentry-box, but much more like those boxes +which the Italian puppet-showmen in London use. We guessed that it was a +pulpit or tent for preaching, and were told that a sect met there +occasionally, who held that toleration was unscriptural, and would have +all religions but their own exterminated. I have forgotten what name the +man gave to this sect; we could not learn that it differed in any other +respect from the Church of Scotland. Travelled for some miles along the +open country, which was all without hedgerows, sometimes arable, +sometimes moorish, and often whole tracts covered with grunsel.[81] +There was one field, which one might have believed had been sown with +grunsel, it was so regularly covered with it--a large square field upon +a slope, its boundary marked to our eyes only by the termination of the +bright yellow; contiguous to it were other fields of the same size and +shape, one of clover, the other of potatoes, all equally regular crops. +The oddness of this appearance, the grunsel being uncommonly luxuriant, +and the field as yellow as gold, made William laugh. Coleridge was +melancholy upon it, observing that there was land enough wasted to rear +a healthy child. + + [Footnote 81: Ragweed.--J. C. S.] + +We left behind us, considerably to the right, a single high +mountain;[82] I have forgotten its name; we had had it long in view. Saw +before us the river Clyde, its course at right angles to our road, which +now made a turn, running parallel with the river; the town of Lanerk in +sight long before we came to it. I was somewhat disappointed with the +first view of the Clyde: the banks, though swelling and varied, had a +poverty in their appearance, chiefly from the want of wood and +hedgerows. Crossed the river and ascended towards Lanerk, which stands +upon a hill. When we were within about a mile of the town, William +parted from Coleridge and me, to go to the celebrated waterfalls. +Coleridge did not attempt to drive the horse; but led him all the way. +We inquired for the best inn, and were told that the New Inn was the +best; but that they had very "genteel apartments" at the Black Bull, and +made less charges, and the Black Bull was at the entrance of the town, +so we thought we would stop there, as the horse was obstinate and weary. +But when we came to the Black Bull we had no wish to enter the +apartments; for it seemed the abode of dirt and poverty, yet it was a +large building. The town showed a sort of French face, and would have +done much more, had it not been for the true British tinge of +coal-smoke; the doors and windows dirty, the shops dull, the women too +seemed to be very dirty in their dress. The town itself is not ugly; the +houses are of grey stone, the streets not very narrow, and the +market-place decent. The New Inn is a handsome old stone building, +formerly a gentleman's house. We were conducted into a parlour, where +people had been drinking; the tables were unwiped, chairs in disorder, +the floor dirty, and the smell of liquors was most offensive. We were +tired, however, and rejoiced in our tea. + + [Footnote 82: Tinto.--J. C. S.] + +The evening sun was now sending a glorious light through the street, +which ran from west to east; the houses were of a fire red, and the +faces of the people as they walked westward were almost like a +blacksmith when he is at work by night. I longed to be out, and meet +with William, that we might see the Falls before the day was gone. Poor +Coleridge was unwell, and could not go. I inquired my road, and a little +girl told me she would go with me to the porter's lodge, where I might +be admitted. I was grieved to hear that the Falls of the Clyde were shut +up in a gentleman's grounds, and to be viewed only by means of lock and +key. Much, however, as the pure feeling with which one would desire to +visit such places is disturbed by useless, impertinent, or even +unnecessary interference with nature, yet when I was there the next +morning I seemed to feel it a less disagreeable thing than in smaller +and more delicate spots, if I may use the phrase. My guide, a sensible +little girl, answered my inquiries very prettily. She was eight years +old, read in the "Collection," a book which all the Scotch children whom +I have questioned read in. I found it was a collection of hymns; she +could repeat several of Dr. Watts'. We passed through a great part of +the town, then turned down a steep hill, and came in view of a long +range of cotton mills,[83] the largest and loftiest I had ever seen; +climbed upwards again, our road leading us along the top of the left +bank of the river; both banks very steep and richly wooded. The girl +left me at the porter's lodge. Having asked after William, I was told +that no person had been there, or could enter but by the gate. The night +was coming on, therefore I did not venture to go in, as I had no hope of +meeting William. I had a delicious walk alone through the wood; the +sound of the water was very solemn, and even the cotton mills in the +fading light of evening had somewhat of the majesty and stillness of the +natural objects. It was nearly dark when I reached the inn. I found +Coleridge sitting by a good fire, which always makes an inn room look +comfortable. In a few minutes William arrived; he had heard of me at the +gate, and followed as quickly as he could, shouting after me. He was +pale and exceedingly tired. + + [Footnote 83: New Lanark, Robert Owen's mills.--J. C. S.] + +After he had left us he had taken a wrong road, and while looking about +to set himself right had met with a barefooted boy, who said he would go +with him. The little fellow carried him by a wild path to the upper of +the Falls, the Boniton Linn, and coming down unexpectedly upon it, he +was exceedingly affected by the solemn grandeur of the place. This fall +is not much admired or spoken of by travellers; you have never a full, +breast view of it; it does not make a complete self-satisfying place, an +abode of its own, as a perfect waterfall seems to me to do; but the +river, down which you look through a long vista of steep and ruin-like +rocks, the roaring of the waterfall, and the solemn evening lights, must +have been most impressive. One of the rocks on the near bank, even in +broad daylight, as we saw it the next morning, is exactly like the +fractured arch of an abbey. With the lights and shadows of evening upon +it, the resemblance must have been much more striking. + +William's guide was a pretty boy, and he was exceedingly pleased with +him. Just as they were quitting the waterfall, William's mind being full +of the majesty of the scene, the little fellow pointed to the top of a +rock, "There's a fine slae-bush there." "Ay," said William, "but there +are no slaes upon it," which was true enough; but I suppose the child +remembered the slaes of another summer, though, as he said, he was but +"half seven years old," namely, six and a half. He conducted William to +the other fall, and as they were going along a narrow path, they came to +a small cavern, where William lost him, and looking about, saw his +pretty figure in a sort of natural niche fitted for a statue, from which +the boy jumped out laughing, delighted with the success of his trick. +William told us a great deal about him, while he sat by the fire, and of +the pleasure of his walk, often repeating, "I wish you had been with +me." Having no change, he gave the boy sixpence, which was certainly, if +he had formed any expectations at all, far beyond them; but he received +it with the utmost indifference, without any remark of surprise or +pleasure; most likely he did not know how many halfpence he could get +for it, and twopence would have pleased him more. My little girl was +delighted with the sixpence I gave her, and said she would buy a book +with it on Monday morning. What a difference between the manner of +living and education of boys and of girls among the lower classes of +people in towns! she had never seen the Falls of the Clyde, nor had ever +been further than the porter's lodge; the boy, I daresay, knew every +hiding-place in every accessible rock, as well as the fine "slae bushes" +and the nut trees. + + +_SECOND WEEK_ + +_Sunday, August 21st._--The morning was very hot, a morning to tempt us +to linger by the water-side. I wished to have had the day before us, +expecting so much from what William had seen; but when we went there, I +did not desire to stay longer than till the hour which we had prescribed +to ourselves; for it was a rule not to be broken in upon, that the +person who conducted us to the Falls was to remain by our side till we +chose to depart. We left our inn immediately after breakfast. The lanes +were full of people going to church; many of the middle-aged women wore +long scarlet cardinals, and were without hats: they brought to my mind +the women of Goslar as they used to go to church in their silver or gold +caps, with their long cloaks, black or coloured. + +The banks of the Clyde from Lanerk to the Falls rise immediately from +the river; they are lofty and steep, and covered with wood. The road to +the Falls is along the top of one of the banks, and to the left you have +a prospect of the open country, corn fields and scattered houses. To the +right, over the river, the country spreads out, as it were, into a plain +covered over with hills, no one hill much higher than another, but hills +all over; there were endless pastures overgrown with broom, and +scattered trees, without hedges or fences of any kind, and no distinct +footpaths. It was delightful to see the lasses in gay dresses running +like cattle among the broom, making their way straight forward towards +the river, here and there as it might chance. They waded across the +stream, and, when they had reached the top of the opposite bank, sat +down by the road-side, about half a mile from the town, to put on their +shoes and cotton stockings, which they brought tied up in +pocket-handkerchiefs. The porter's lodge is about a mile from Lanerk, +and the lady's house--for the whole belongs to a lady, whose name I have +forgotten[84]--is upon a hill at a little distance. We walked, after we +had entered the private grounds, perhaps two hundred yards along a +gravel carriage-road, then came to a little side gate, which opened upon +a narrow gravel path under trees, and in a minute and a half, or less, +were directly opposite to the great waterfall. I was much affected by +the first view of it. The majesty and strength of the water, for I had +never before seen so large a cataract, struck me with astonishment, +which died away, giving place to more delightful feelings; though there +were some buildings that I could have wished had not been there, though +at first unnoticed. The chief of them was a neat, white, lady-like +house,[85] very near to the waterfall. William and Coleridge however +were in a better and perhaps wiser humour, and did not dislike the +house; indeed, it was a very nice-looking place, with a moderate-sized +garden, leaving the green fields free and open. This house is on the +side of the river opposite to the grand house and the pleasure-grounds. +The waterfall Cora Linn is composed of two falls, with a sloping space, +which _appears_ to be about twenty yards between, but is much more. The +basin which receives the fall is enclosed by noble rocks, with trees, +chiefly hazels, birch, and ash growing out of their sides whenever there +is any hold for them; and a magnificent resting-place it is for such a +river; I think more grand than the Falls themselves. + + [Footnote 84: Lady Mary Ross.--J. C. S.] + + [Footnote 85: Corehouse.--J. C. S.] + +After having stayed some time, we returned by the same footpath into +the main carriage-road, and soon came upon what William calls an +ell-wide gravel walk, from which we had different views of the Linn. We +sat upon a bench, placed for the sake of one of these views, whence we +looked down upon the waterfall, and over the open country, and saw a +ruined tower, called Wallace's Tower, which stands at a very little +distance from the fall, and is an interesting object. A lady and +gentleman, more expeditious tourists than ourselves, came to the spot; +they left us at the seat, and we found them again at another station +above the Falls. Coleridge, who is always good-natured enough to enter +into conversation with anybody whom he meets in his way, began to talk +with the gentleman, who observed that it was a _majestic_ waterfall. +Coleridge was delighted with the accuracy of the epithet, particularly +as he had been settling in his own mind the precise meaning of the words +grand, majestic, sublime, etc., and had discussed the subject with +William at some length the day before. "Yes, sir," says Coleridge, "it +_is_ a majestic waterfall." "Sublime and beautiful," replied his friend. +Poor Coleridge could make no answer, and, not very desirous to continue +the conversation, came to us and related the story, laughing heartily. + +The distance from one Linn to the other may be half a mile or more, +along the same ell-wide walk. We came to a pleasure-house, of which the +little girl had the key; she said it was called the Fog-house, because +it was lined with "fog," namely moss. On the outside it resembled some +of the huts in the prints belonging to Captain Cook's Voyages, and +within was like a hay-stack scooped out. It was circular, with a +dome-like roof, a seat all round fixed to the wall, and a table in the +middle,--seat, wall, roof, and table all covered with moss in the +neatest manner possible. It was as snug as a bird's nest; I wish we had +such a one at the top of our orchard, only a great deal smaller. We +afterwards found that huts of the same kind were common in the +pleasure-grounds of Scotland; but we never saw any that were so +beautifully wrought as this. It had, however, little else to recommend +it, the situation being chosen without judgment; there was no prospect +from it, nor was it a place of seclusion and retirement, for it stood +close to the ell-wide gravel walk. We wished we could have shoved it +about a hundred yards further on, when we arrived at a bench which was +also close to the walk, for just below the bench, the walk elbowing out +into a circle, there was a beautiful spring of clear water, which we +could see rise up continually, at the bottom of a round stone basin full +to the brim, the water gushing out at a little outlet and passing away +under the walk. A reason was wanted for placing the hut where it is; +what a good one would this little spring have furnished for bringing it +hither! Along the whole of the path were openings at intervals for views +of the river, but, as almost always happens in gentlemen's grounds, they +were injudiciously managed; you were prepared for a dead stand--by a +parapet, a painted seat, or some other device. + +We stayed some time at the Boniton Fall, which has one great advantage +over the other falls, that it is at the termination of the +pleasure-grounds, and we see no traces of the boundary-line; yet, except +under some accidental circumstances, such as a sunset like that of the +preceding evening, it is greatly inferior to the Cora Linn. We returned +to the inn to dinner. The landlord set the first dish upon the table, as +is common in England, and we were well waited upon. This first dish was +true Scottish--a boiled sheep's head, with the hair singed off; +Coleridge and I ate heartily of it; we had barley broth, in which the +sheep's head had been boiled. A party of tourists whom we had met in the +pleasure-grounds drove from the door while we were waiting for dinner; I +guess they were fresh from England, for they had stuffed the pockets of +their carriage with bundles of heather, roots and all, just as if +Scotland grew no heather but on the banks of the Clyde. They passed away +with their treasure towards Loch Lomond. A party of boys, dressed all +alike in blue, very neat, were standing at the chaise-door; we +conjectured they were charity scholars; but found on inquiry that they +were apprentices to the cotton factory; we were told that they were well +instructed in reading and writing. We had seen in the morning a flock of +girls dressed in grey coming out of the factory, probably apprentices +also. + +After dinner set off towards Hamilton, but on foot, for we had to turn +aside to the Cartland Rocks, and our car was to meet us on the road. A +guide attended us, who might almost in size, and certainly in activity, +have been compared with William's companion who hid himself in the niche +of the cavern. His method of walking and very quick step soon excited +our attention. I could hardly keep up with him; he paddled by our side, +just reaching to my shoulder, like a little dog, with his long snout +pushed before him--for he had an enormous nose, and walked with his head +foremost. I said to him, "How quick you walk!" he replied, "_That_ was +_not_ quick walking," and when I asked him what he called so, he said +"Five miles an hour," and then related in how many hours he had lately +walked from Lanerk to Edinburgh, done some errands, and returned to +Lanerk--I have forgotten the particulars, but it was a very short +time--and added that he had an old father who could walk at the rate of +four miles an hour, for twenty-four miles, any day, and had never had an +hour's sickness in his life. "Then," said I, "he has not drunk much +strong liquor?" "Yes, enough to drown him." From his eager manner of +uttering this, I inferred that he himself was a drinker; and the man who +met us with the car told William that he gained a great deal of money as +an errand-goer, but spent it all in tippling. He had been a shoe-maker, +but could not bear the confinement on account of a weakness in his +chest. + +The neighbourhood of Lanerk is exceedingly pleasant; we came to a sort +of district of glens or little valleys that cleave the hills, leaving a +cheerful, open country above them, with no superior hills, but an +undulating surface. Our guide pointed to the situation of the Cartland +Crags. We were to cross a narrow valley, and walk down on the other +side, and then we should be at the spot; but the little fellow made a +sharp turn down a footpath to the left, saying, "We must have some +conversation here." He paddled on with his small pawing feet till we +came right opposite to a gentleman's house on the other side of the +valley, when he halted, repeating some words, I have forgotten what, +which were taken up by the most distinct echo I ever heard--this is +saying little: it was the most distinct echo that it is possible to +conceive. It shouted the names of our fireside friends in the very tone +in which William and Coleridge spoke; but it seemed to make a joke of +me, and I could not help laughing at my own voice, it was so shrill and +pert, exactly as if some one had been mimicking it very successfully, +with an intention of making me ridiculous. I wished Joanna had been +there to laugh, for the echo is an excellent laugher, and would have +almost made her believe that it was a true story which William has told +of her and the mountains. We turned back, crossed the valley, went +through the orchard and plantations belonging to the gentleman's house. +By the bye, we observed to our guide that the echo must bring many +troublesome visitors to disturb the quiet of the owner of that house, +"Oh no," said he, "he glories in much company." He was a native of that +neighbourhood, had made a moderate fortune abroad, purchased an estate, +built the house, and raised the plantations; and further, had made a +convenient walk through his woods to the Cartland Crags. The house was +modest and neat, and though not adorned in the best taste, and though +the plantations were of fir, we looked at it with great pleasure, there +was such true liberality and kind-heartedness in leaving his orchard +path open, and his walks unobstructed by gates. I hope this goodness is +not often abused by plunderers of the apple-trees, which were hung with +tempting apples close to the path. + +At the termination of the little valley, we descended through a wood +along a very steep path to a muddy stream running over limestone rocks; +turned up to the left along the bed of the stream, and soon we were +closed in by rocks on each side. They were very lofty--of limestone, +trees starting out of them, high and low, overhanging the stream or +shooting up towards the sky. No place of the kind could be more +beautiful if the stream had been clear, but it was of a muddy yellow +colour; had it been a large river, one might have got the better of the +unpleasantness of the muddy water in the grandeur of its roaring, the +boiling up of the foam over the rocks, or the obscurity of its pools. + +We had been told that the Cartland Crags were better worth going to see +than the Falls of the Clyde. I did not think so; but I have seen rocky +dells resembling this before, with clear water instead of that muddy +stream, and never saw anything like the Falls of the Clyde. It would be +a delicious spot to have near one's house; one would linger out many a +day in the cool shade of the caverns, and the stream would soothe one by +its murmuring; still, being an old friend, one would not love it the +less for its homely face. Even we, as we passed along, could not help +stopping for a long while to admire the beauty of the lazy foam, for +ever in motion, and never moved away, in a still place of the water, +covering the whole surface of it with streaks and lines and ever-varying +circles. Wild marjoram grew upon the rocks in great perfection and +beauty; our guide gave me a bunch, and said he should come hither to +collect a store for tea for the winter, and that it was "varra +halesome": he drank none else. We walked perhaps half a mile along the +bed of the river; but it might _seem_ to be much further than it was, +owing to the difficulty of the path, and the sharp and many turnings of +the glen. Passed two of Wallace's Caves. There is scarce a noted glen in +Scotland that has not a cave for Wallace or some other hero. Before we +left the river the rocks became less lofty, turned into a wood through +which was a convenient path upwards, met the owner of the house and the +echo-ground, and thanked him for the pleasure which he had provided for +us and other travellers by making such pretty pathways. + +It was four o'clock when we reached the place where the car was waiting. +We were anxious to be off, as we had fifteen miles to go; but just as we +were seating ourselves we found that the cushions were missing. William +was forced to go back to the town, a mile at least, and Coleridge and I +waited with the car. It rained, and we had some fear that the evening +would be wet, but the rain soon ceased, though the sky continued +gloomy--an unfortunate circumstance, for we had to travel through a +beautiful country, and of that sort which is most set off by sunshine +and pleasant weather. + +Travelled through the Vale or _Trough_ of the Clyde, as it is called, +for ten or eleven miles, having the river on our right. We had fine +views both up and down the river for the first three or four miles, our +road being not close to it, but above its banks, along the open country, +which was here occasionally intersected by hedgerows. + +Left our car in the road, and turned down a field to the Fall of +Stonebyres, another of the falls of the Clyde, which I had not heard +spoken of; therefore it gave me the more pleasure. We saw it from the +top of the bank of the river at a little distance. It has not the +imposing majesty of Cora Linn; but it has the advantage of being left to +itself, a grand solitude in the heart of a populous country. We had a +prospect above and below it, of cultivated grounds, with hay-stacks, +houses, hills; but the river's banks were lonesome, steep, and woody, +with rocks near the fall. + +A little further on, came more into company with the river; sometimes +we were close to it, sometimes above it, but always at no great +distance; and now the vale became more interesting and amusing. It is +very populous, with villages, hamlets, single cottages, or farm-houses +embosomed in orchards, and scattered over with gentlemen's houses, some +of them very ugly, tall and obtrusive, others neat and comfortable. We +seemed now to have got into a country where poverty and riches were +shaking hands together; pears and apples, of which the crop was +abundant, hung over the road, often growing in orchards unfenced; or +there might be bunches of broom along the road-side in an interrupted +line, that looked like a hedge till we came to it and saw the gaps. +Bordering on these fruitful orchards perhaps would be a patch, its chief +produce being gorse or broom. There was nothing like a moor or common +anywhere; but small plots of uncultivated ground were left high and low, +among the potatoes, corn, cabbages, which grew intermingled, now among +trees, now bare. The Trough of the Clyde is, indeed, a singular and very +interesting region; it is somewhat like the upper part of the vale of +Nith, but above the Nith is much less cultivated ground--without +hedgerows or orchards, or anything that looks like a rich country. We +met crowds of people coming from the kirk; the lasses were gaily +dressed, often in white gowns, coloured satin bonnets, and coloured silk +handkerchiefs, and generally with their shoes and stockings in a bundle +hung on their arm. Before we left the river the vale became much less +interesting, resembling a poor English country, the fields being large, +and unluxuriant hedges. + +It had been dark long before we reached Hamilton, and William had some +difficulty in driving the tired horse through the town. At the inn they +hesitated about being able to give us beds, the house being +brim-full--lights at every window. We were rather alarmed for our +accommodations during the rest of the tour, supposing the house to be +filled with _tourists_; but they were in general only regular +travellers; for out of the main road from town to town we saw scarcely a +carriage, and the inns were empty. There was nothing remarkable in the +treatment we met with at this inn, except the lazy impertinence of the +waiter. It was a townish place, with a great larder set out; the house +throughout dirty. + +_Monday, August 22nd._--Immediately after breakfast walked to the Duke +of Hamilton's house to view the picture-gallery, chiefly the famous +picture of Daniel in the Lions' Den, by Rubens. It is a large building, +without grandeur, a heavy, lumpish mass, after the fashion of the +Hopetoun H,[86] only five times the size, and with longer legs, which +makes it gloomy. We entered the gate, passed the porter's lodge, where +we saw nobody, and stopped at the front door, as William had done two +years before with Sir William Rush's family. We were met by a little +mean-looking man, shabbily dressed, out of livery, who, we found, was +the porter. After scanning us over, he told us that we ought not to have +come to that door. We said we were sorry for the mistake, but as one of +our party had been there two years before, and was admitted by the same +entrance, we had supposed it was the regular way. After many +hesitations, and having kept us five minutes waiting in the large hall, +while he went to consult with the housekeeper, he informed us that we +could not be admitted at that time, the housekeeper being unwell; but +that we might return in an hour: he then conducted us through long +gloomy passages to an obscure door at the corner of the house. We asked +if we might be permitted to walk in the park in the meantime; and he +told us that this would not be agreeable to the Duke's family. We +returned to the inn discontented enough, but resolved not to waste an +hour, if there were anything else in the neighbourhood worth seeing. The +waiter told us there was a curious place called Baroncleugh, with +gardens cut out in rocks, and we determined to go thither. We had to +walk through the town, which may be about as large as Penrith, and +perhaps a mile further, along a dusty turnpike road. The morning was +hot, sunny, and windy, and we were half tired before we reached the +place; but were amply repaid for our trouble. + + [Footnote 86: The house belonging to the Earls of Hopetoun at + Leadhills, not that which bears this name about twelve miles from + Edinburgh.--J. C. S.] + +The general face of the country near Hamilton is much in the ordinary +English style; not very hilly, with hedgerows, corn fields, and stone +houses. The Clyde is here an open river with low banks, and the country +spreads out so wide that there is no appearance of a regular vale. +Baroncleugh is in a beautiful deep glen through which runs the river +Avon, a stream that falls into the Clyde. The house stands very sweetly +in complete retirement; it has its gardens and terraces one above +another, with flights of steps between, box-trees and yew-trees cut in +fantastic shapes, flower-borders and summer-houses; and, still below, +apples and pears were hanging in abundance on the branches of large old +trees, which grew intermingled with the natural wood, elms, beeches, +etc., even to the water's edge. The whole place is in perfect harmony +with the taste of our ancestors, and the yews and hollies are shaven as +nicely, and the gravel walks and flower-borders kept in as exact order, +as if the spirit of the first architect of the terraces still presided +over them. The opposite bank of the river is left in its natural +wildness, and nothing was to be seen higher up but the deep dell, its +steep banks being covered with fine trees, a beautiful relief or +contrast to the garden, which is one of the most elaborate old things +ever seen, a little hanging garden of Babylon. + +I was sorry to hear that the owner of this sweet place did not live +there always. He had built a small thatched house to eke out the old +one: it was a neat dwelling, with no false ornaments. We were +exceedingly sorry to quit this spot, which is left to nature and past +times, and should have liked to have pursued the glen further up; we +were told that there was a ruined castle; and the walk itself must be +very delightful; but we wished to reach Glasgow in good time, and had to +go again to Hamilton House. Returned to the town by a much shorter road, +and were very angry with the waiter for not having directed us to it; +but he was too great a man to speak three words more than he could help. + +We stopped at the proper door of the Duke's house, and seated ourselves +humbly upon a bench, waiting the pleasure of the porter, who, after a +little time, informed us that we could not be admitted, giving no reason +whatever. When we got to the inn, we could just gather from the waiter +that it was not usual to refuse admittance to strangers; but that was +all: he could not, or would not, help us, so we were obliged to give it +up, which mortified us, for I had wished much to see the picture. +William vowed that he would write that very night to Lord Archibald +Hamilton, stating the whole matter, which he did from Glasgow. + +I ought to have mentioned the park, though, as we were not allowed to +walk there, we saw but little of it. It looked pleasant, as all parks +with fine trees must be, but, as it seemed to be only a large, nearly +level, plain, it could not be a particularly beautiful park, though it +borders upon the Clyde, and the Avon runs, I believe, through it, after +leaving the solitude of the glen of Baroncleugh. + +Quitted Hamilton at about eleven o'clock. There is nothing interesting +between Hamilton and Glasgow till we came to Bothwell Castle, a few +miles from Hamilton. The country is cultivated, but not rich, the fields +large, a perfect contrast to the huddling together of hills and trees, +corn and pasture grounds, hay-stacks, cottages, orchards, broom and +gorse, but chiefly broom, that had amused us so much the evening before +in passing through the Trough of the Clyde. A native of Scotland would +not probably be satisfied with the account I have given of the Trough of +the Clyde, for it is one of the most celebrated scenes in Scotland. We +certainly received less pleasure from it than we had expected; but it +was plain that this was chiefly owing to the unfavourable circumstances +under which we saw it--a gloomy sky and a cold blighting wind. It is a +very beautiful district, yet there, as in all the other scenes of +Scotland celebrated for their fertility, we found something which gave +us a notion of barrenness, of what was not altogether genial. The new +fir and larch plantations, here as in almost every other part of +Scotland, contributed not a little to this effect. + +Crossed the Clyde not far from Hamilton, and had the river for some +miles at a distance from us, on our left; but after having gone, it +might be, three miles, we came to a porter's lodge on the left side of +the road, where we were to turn to Bothwell Castle, which is in Lord +Douglas's grounds. The woman who keeps the gate brought us a book, in +which we wrote down our names. Went about half a mile before we came to +the pleasure-grounds. Came to a large range of stables, where we were to +leave the car; but there was no one to unyoke the horse, so William was +obliged to do it himself, a task which he performed very awkwardly, +being then new to it. We saw the ruined castle embosomed in trees, +passed the house, and soon found ourselves on the edge of a steep brow +immediately above and overlooking the course of the river Clyde through +a deep hollow between woods and green steeps. We had approached at right +angles from the main road to the place over a flat, and had seen nothing +before us but a nearly level country terminated by distant slopes, the +Clyde hiding himself in his deep bed. It was exceedingly delightful to +come thus unexpectedly upon such a beautiful region. + +The Castle stands nobly, overlooking the Clyde. When we came up to it I +was hurt to see that flower-borders had taken place of the natural +overgrowings of the ruin, the scattered stones and wild plants. It is a +large and grand pile, of red freestone, harmonizing perfectly with the +rocks of the river, from which, no doubt, it has been hewn. When I was a +little accustomed to the unnaturalness of a modern garden, I could not +help admiring the excessive beauty and luxuriance of some of the plants, +particularly the purple-flowered clematis, and a broad-leaved creeping +plant without flowers, which scrambled up the castle wall along with the +ivy, and spread its vine-like branches so lavishly that it seemed to be +in its natural situation, and one could not help thinking that, though +not self-planted among the ruins of this country, it must somewhere have +its natural abode in such places. If Bothwell Castle had not been close +to the Douglas mansion we should have been disgusted with the +possessor's miserable conception of "adorning" such a venerable ruin; +but it is so very near to the house that of necessity the +pleasure-grounds must have extended beyond it, and perhaps the neatness +of a shaven lawn and the complete desolation natural to a ruin might +have made an unpleasing contrast; and besides, being within the +precincts of the pleasure-grounds, and so very near to the modern +mansion of a noble family, it has forfeited in some degree its +independent majesty, and becomes a tributary to the mansion; its +solitude being interrupted, it has no longer the same command over the +mind in sending it back into past times, or excluding the ordinary +feelings which we bear about us in daily life. We had then only to +regret that the castle and house were so near to each other; and it was +impossible _not_ to regret it; for the ruin presides in state over the +river, far from city or town, as if it might have had a peculiar +privilege to preserve its memorials of past ages and maintain its own +character and independence for centuries to come. + +We sat upon a bench under the high trees, and had beautiful views of +the different reaches of the river above and below. On the opposite +bank, which is finely wooded with elms and other trees, are the remains +of an ancient priory, built upon a rock: and rock and ruin are so +blended together that it is impossible to separate the one from the +other. Nothing can be more beautiful than the little remnants of this +holy place; elm trees--for we were near enough to distinguish them by +their branches--grow out of the walls, and overshadow a small but very +elegant window. It can scarcely be conceived what a grace the castle and +priory impart to each other; and the river Clyde flows on smooth and +unruffled below, seeming to my thoughts more in harmony with the sober +and stately images of former times, than if it had roared over a rocky +channel, forcing its sound upon the ear. It blended gently with the +warbling of the smaller birds and chattering of the larger ones that had +made their nests in the ruins. In this fortress the chief of the English +nobility were confined after the battle of Bannockburn. If a man is to +be a prisoner, he scarcely could have a more pleasant place to solace +his captivity; but I thought that for close confinement I should prefer +the banks of a lake or the sea-side. The greatest charm of a brook or +river is in the liberty to pursue it through its windings; you can then +take it in whatever mood you like; silent or noisy, sportive or quiet. +The beauties of a brook or river must be sought, and the pleasure is in +going in search of them; those of a lake or of the sea come to you of +themselves. These rude warriors cared little perhaps about either; and +yet if one may judge from the writings of Chaucer and from the old +romances, more interesting passions were connected with natural objects +in the days of chivalry than now, though going in search of scenery, as +it is called, had not then been thought of. I had heard nothing of +Bothwell Castle, at least nothing that I remembered, therefore, perhaps, +my pleasure was greater, compared with what I received elsewhere, than +others might feel. + +At our return to the stables we found an inferior groom, who helped +William to yoke the horse, and was very civil. We grew hungry before we +had travelled many miles, and seeing a large public-house--it was in a +walled court some yards from the road--Coleridge got off the car to +inquire if we could dine there, and was told we could have nothing but +eggs. It was a miserable place, very like a French house; indeed we +observed, in almost every part of Scotland, except Edinburgh, that we +were reminded ten times of France and Germany for once of England. + +Saw nothing remarkable after leaving Bothwell, except the first view of +Glasgow, at some miles distance, terminated by the mountains of Loch +Lomond. The suburbs of Glasgow extend very far, houses on each side of +the highway,--all ugly, and the inhabitants dirty. The roads are very +wide; and everything seems to tell of the neighbourhood of a large town. +We were annoyed by carts and dirt, and the road was full of people, who +all noticed our car in one way or other; the children often sent a +hooting after us. + +Wearied completely, we at last reached the town, and were glad to walk, +leading the car to the first decent inn, which was luckily not far from +the end of the town. William, who gained most of his road-knowledge from +ostlers, had been informed of this house by the ostler at Hamilton; it +proved quiet and tolerably cheap, a new building--the Saracen's Head. I +shall never forget how glad I was to be landed in a little quiet +back-parlour, for my head was beating with the noise of carts which we +had left, and the wearisomeness of the disagreeable objects near the +highway; but with my first pleasant sensations also came the feeling +that we were not in an English inn--partly from its half-unfurnished +appearance, which is common in Scotland, for in general the deal +wainscots and doors are unpainted, and partly from the dirtiness of the +floors. Having dined, William and I walked to the post-office, and after +much seeking found out a quiet timber-yard wherein to sit down and read +our letter. We then walked a considerable time in the streets, which are +perhaps as handsome as streets can be, which derive no particular effect +from their situation in connexion with natural advantages, such as +rivers, sea, or hills. The Trongate, an old street, is very +picturesque--high houses, with an intermixture of gable fronts towards +the street. The New Town is built of fine stone, in the best style of +the very best London streets at the west end of the town, but, not being +of brick, they are greatly superior. One thing must strike every +stranger in his first walk through Glasgow--an appearance of business +and bustle, but no coaches or gentlemen's carriages; during all the time +we walked in the streets I only saw three carriages, and these were +travelling chaises. I also could not but observe a want of cleanliness +in the appearance of the lower orders of the people, and a dulness in +the dress and outside of the whole mass, as they moved along. We +returned to the inn before it was dark. I had a bad headache, and was +tired, and we all went to bed soon. + + +_Tuesday, August 23rd._--A cold morning. Walked to the +bleaching-ground,[87] a large field bordering on the Clyde, the banks of +which are perfectly flat, and the general face of the country is nearly +so in the neighbourhood of Glasgow. This field, the whole summer +through, is covered with women of all ages, children, and young girls +spreading out their linen, and watching it while it bleaches. The scene +must be very cheerful on a fine day, but it rained when we were there, +and though there was linen spread out in all parts, and great numbers of +women and girls were at work, yet there would have been many more on a +fine day, and they would have appeared happy, instead of stupid and +cheerless. In the middle of the field is a wash-house, whither the +inhabitants of this large town, rich and poor, send or carry their linen +to be washed. There are two very large rooms, with each a cistern in the +middle for hot water; and all round the rooms are benches for the women +to set their tubs upon. Both the rooms were crowded with washers; there +might be a hundred, or two, or even three; for it is not easy to form an +accurate notion of so great a number; however, the rooms were large, and +they were both full. It was amusing to see so many women, arms, head, +and face all in motion, all busy in an ordinary household employment, in +which we are accustomed to see, at the most, only three or four women +employed in one place. The women were very civil. I learnt from them the +regulations of the house; but I have forgotten the particulars. The +substance of them is, that "so much" is to be paid for each tub of +water, "so much" for a tub, and the privilege of washing for a day, and, +"so much" to the general overlookers of the linen, when it is left to be +bleached. An old man and woman have this office, who were walking about, +two melancholy figures. + + [Footnote 87: Glasgow Green.--J. C. S.] + +The shops at Glasgow are large, and like London shops, and we passed by +the largest coffee-room I ever saw. You look across the piazza of the +Exchange, and see to the end of the coffee-room, where there is a +circular window, the width of the room. Perhaps there might be thirty +gentlemen sitting on the circular bench of the window, each reading a +newspaper. They had the appearance of figures in a fantoccine, or men +seen at the extremity of the opera-house, diminished into puppets. + +I am sorry I did not see the High Church: both William and I were tired, +and it rained very hard after we had left the bleaching-ground; besides, +I am less eager to walk in a large town than anywhere else; so we put it +off, and I have since repented of my irresolution. + +Dined, and left Glasgow at about three o'clock, in a heavy rain. We +were obliged to ride through the streets to keep our feet dry, and, in +spite of the rain, every person as we went along stayed his steps to +look at us; indeed, we had the pleasure of spreading smiles from one end +of Glasgow to the other--for we travelled the whole length of the town. +A set of schoolboys, perhaps there might be eight, with satchels over +their shoulders, and, except one or two, without shoes and stockings, +yet very well dressed in jackets and trousers, like gentlemen's +children, followed us in great delight, admiring the car and longing to +jump up. At last, though we were seated, they made several attempts to +get on behind; and they looked so pretty and wild, and at the same time +so modest, that we wished to give them a ride, and there being a little +hill near the end of the town, we got off, and four of them who still +remained, the rest having dropped into their homes by the way, took our +places; and indeed I would have walked two miles willingly, to have had +the pleasure of seeing them so happy. When they were to ride no longer, +they scampered away, laughing and rejoicing. New houses are rising up in +great numbers round Glasgow, citizen-like houses, and new plantations, +chiefly of fir; the fields are frequently enclosed by hedgerows, but +there is no richness, nor any particular beauty for some miles. + +The first object that interested us was a gentleman's house upon a +green plain or holm, almost close to the Clyde, sheltered by tall trees, +a quiet modest mansion, and, though white-washed, being an old building, +and no other house near it, or in connexion with it, and standing upon +the level field, which belonged to it, its own domain, the whole scene +together brought to our minds an image of the retiredness and sober +elegance of a nunnery; but this might be owing to the greyness of the +afternoon, and our having come immediately from Glasgow, and through a +country which, till now, had either had a townish taint, or at best +little of rural beauty. While we were looking at the house we overtook a +foot-traveller, who, like many others, began to talk about our car. We +alighted to walk up a hill, and, continuing the conversation, the man +told us, with something like a national pride, that it belonged to a +Scotch Lord, Lord Semple; he added, that a little further on we should +see a much finer prospect, as fine a one as ever we had seen in our +lives. Accordingly, when we came to the top of the hill, it opened upon +us most magnificently. We saw the Clyde, now a stately sea-river, +winding away mile after mile, spotted with boats and ships, each side of +the river hilly, the right populous with single houses and +villages--Dunglass Castle upon a promontory, the whole view terminated +by the rock of Dumbarton, at five or six miles' distance, which stands +by itself, without any hills near it, like a sea-rock. + +We travelled for some time near the river, passing through clusters of +houses which seemed to owe their existence rather to the wealth of the +river than the land, for the banks were mostly bare, and the soil +appeared poor, even near the water. The left side of the river was +generally uninhabited and moorish, yet there are some beautiful spots: +for instance, a nobleman's house,[88] where the fields and trees were +rich, and, in combination with the river, looked very lovely. As we went +along William and I were reminded of the views upon the Thames in Kent, +which, though greatly superior in richness and softness, are much +inferior in grandeur. Not far from Dumbarton, we passed under some +rocky, copse-covered hills, which were so like some of the hills near +Grasmere that we could have half believed they were the same. Arrived at +Dumbarton before it was dark, having pushed on briskly that we might +have start of a traveller at the inn, who was following us as fast as he +could in a gig. Every front room was full, and we were afraid we should +not have been admitted. They put us into a little parlour, dirty, and +smelling of liquors, the table uncleaned, and not a chair in its place; +we were glad, however, of our sorry accommodations. + + [Footnote 88: No doubt Erskine House, the seat of Lord Blantyre. + --J.C. S.] + +While tea was preparing we lolled at our ease, and though the +room-window overlooked the stable-yard, and at our entrance there +appeared to be nothing but gloom and unloveliness, yet while I lay +stretched upon the carriage cushions on three chairs, I discovered a +little side peep which was enough to set the mind at work. It was no +more than a smoky vessel lying at anchor, with its bare masts, a clay +hut and the shelving bank of the river, with a green pasture above. +Perhaps you will think that there is not much in this, as I describe it: +it is true; but the effect produced by these simple objects, as they +happened to be combined, together with the gloom of the evening, was +exceedingly wild. Our room was parted by a slender partition from a +large dining-room, in which were a number of officers and their wives, +who, after the first hour, never ceased singing, dancing, laughing, or +loud talking. The ladies sang some pretty songs, a great relief to us. +We went early to bed; but poor Coleridge could not sleep for the noise +at the street door; he lay in the parlour below stairs. It is no +uncommon thing in the best inns of Scotland to have shutting-up beds in +the sitting-rooms. + + +_Wednesday, August 24th._--As soon as breakfast was over, William and I +walked towards the Castle, a short mile from the town. We overtook two +young men, who, on our asking the road, offered to conduct us, though it +might seem it was not easy to miss our way, for the rock rises singly by +itself from the plain on which the town stands. The rock of Dumbarton is +very grand when you are close to it, but at a little distance, under an +ordinary sky, and in open day, it is not grand, but curiously wild. The +castle and fortifications add little effect to the general view of the +rock, especially since the building of a modern house, which is +white-washed, and consequently jars, wherever it is seen, with the +natural character of the place. There is a path up to the house, but it +being low water we could walk round the rock, which we resolved to do. +On that side next the town green grass grows to a considerable height up +the rock, but wherever the river borders upon it, it is naked stone. I +never saw rock in nobler masses, or more deeply stained by time and +weather; nor is this to be wondered at, for it is in the very eye of +sea-storms and land-storms, of mountain winds and water winds. It is of +all colours, but a rusty yellow predominates. As we walked along, we +could not but look up continually, and the mass above being on every +side so huge, it appeared more wonderful than when we saw the whole +together. + +We sat down on one of the large stones which lie scattered near the base +of the rock, with sea-weed growing amongst them. Above our heads the +rock was perpendicular for a considerable height, nay, as it seemed, to +the very top, and on the brink of the precipice a few sheep, two of them +rams with twisted horns, stood, as if on the look-out over the wide +country. At the same time we saw a sentinel in his red coat, walking +backwards and forwards between us and the sky, with his firelock over +his shoulder. The sheep, I suppose owing to our being accustomed to see +them in similar situations, appeared to retain their real size, while, +on the contrary, the soldier seemed to be diminished by the distance +till he almost looked like a puppet moved with wires for the pleasure of +children, or an eight years' old drummer in his stiff, manly dress +beside a company of grenadiers. I had never before, perhaps, thought of +sheep and men in soldiers' dresses at the same time, and here they were +brought together in a strange fantastic way. As will be easily +conceived, the fearlessness and stillness of those quiet creatures, on +the brow of the rock, pursuing their natural occupations, contrasted +with the restless and apparently unmeaning motions of the dwarf soldier, +added not a little to the general effect of this place, which is that of +wild singularity, and the whole was aided by a blustering wind and a +gloomy sky. Coleridge joined us, and we went up to the top of the rock. + +The road to a considerable height is through a narrow cleft, in which a +flight of steps is hewn; the steps nearly fill the cleft, and on each +side the rocks form a high and irregular wall; it is almost like a long +sloping cavern, only that it is roofed by the sky. We came to the +barracks; soldiers' wives were hanging out linen upon the rails, while +the wind beat about them furiously--there was nothing which it could set +in motion but the garments of the women and the linen upon the rails; +the grass--for we had now come to green grass--was close and smooth, and +not one pile an inch above another, and neither tree nor shrub. The +standard pole stood erect without a flag. The rock has two summits, one +much broader and higher than the other. When we were near to the top of +the lower eminence we had the pleasure of finding a little garden of +flowers and vegetables belonging to the soldiers. There are three +distinct and very noble prospects--the first up the Clyde towards +Glasgow--Dunglass Castle, seen on its promontory--boats, sloops, hills, +and many buildings; the second, down the river to the sea--Greenock and +Port-Glasgow, and the distant mountains at the entrance of Loch Long; +and the third extensive and distant view is up the Leven, which here +falls into the Clyde, to the mountains of Loch Lomond. The distant +mountains in all these views were obscured by mists and dingy clouds, +but if the grand outline of any one of the views can be seen, it is +sufficient recompense for the trouble of climbing the rock of Dumbarton. + +The soldier who was our guide told us that an old ruin which we came to +at the top of the higher eminence had been a wind-mill--an inconvenient +station, though certainly a glorious place for wind; perhaps if it +really had been a wind-mill it was only for the use of the garrison. We +looked over cannons on the battery-walls, and saw in an open field below +the yeomanry cavalry exercising, while we could hear from the town, +which was full of soldiers, "Dumbarton's drums beat bonny, O!" Yet while +we stood upon this eminence, rising up so far as it does--inland, and +having the habitual old English feeling of our own security as +islanders--we could not help looking upon the fortress, in spite of its +cannon and soldiers, and the rumours of invasion, as set up against the +hostilities of wind and weather rather than for any other warfare. On +our return we were invited into the guard-room, about half-way down the +rock, where we were shown a large rusty sword, which they called +Wallace's Sword, and a trout boxed up in a well close by, where they +said he had been confined for upwards of thirty years. For the pleasure +of the soldiers, who were anxious that we should see him, we took some +pains to spy him out in his black den, and at last succeeded. It was +pleasing to observe how much interest the poor soldiers--though +themselves probably new to the place--seemed to attach to this +antiquated inhabitant of their garrison. + +When we had reached the bottom of the rock along the same road by which +we had ascended, we made our way over the rough stones left bare by the +tide, round the bottom of the rock, to the point where we had set off. +This is a wild and melancholy walk on a blustering cloudy day: the naked +bed of the river, scattered over with sea-weed; grey swampy fields on +the other shore; sea-birds flying overhead; the high rock perpendicular +and bare. We came to two very large fragments, which had fallen from the +main rock; Coleridge thought that one of them was as large as +Bowder-Stone,[89] William and I did not; but it is impossible to judge +accurately; we probably, without knowing it, compared them with the +whole mass from which they had fallen, which, from its situation, we +consider as one rock or stone, and there is no object of the kind for +comparison with the Bowder-Stone. When we leave the shore of the Clyde +grass begins to show itself on the rock; go a considerable way--still +under the rock--along a flat field, and pass immediately below the white +house, which wherever seen looks so ugly. + + [Footnote 89: A rock in Borrowdale, Cumberland.--ED.] + +Left Dumbarton at about eleven o'clock. The sky was cheerless and the +air ungenial, which we regretted, as we were going to Loch Lomond, and +wished to greet the first of the Scottish lakes with our cheerfullest +and best feelings. Crossed the Leven at the end of Dumbarton, and, when +we looked behind, had a pleasing view of the town, bridge, and rock; but +when we took in a reach of the river at the distance of perhaps half a +mile, the swamp ground, being so near a town, and not in its natural +wildness, but seemingly half cultivated, with houses here and there, +gave us an idea of extreme poverty of soil, or that the inhabitants were +either indolent or miserable. We had to travel four miles on the banks +of the "Water of Leven" before we should come to Loch Lomond. Having +expected a grand river from so grand a lake, we were disappointed; for +it appeared to me not to be very much larger than the Emont, and is not +near so beautiful; but we must not forget that the day was cold and +gloomy. Near Dumbarton it is like a river in a flat country, or under +the influence of tides; but a little higher up it resembles one of our +rivers, flowing through a vale of no extreme beauty, though prettily +wooded; the hills on each side not very high, sloping backwards from the +bed of the vale, which is neither very narrow nor very wide; the +prospect terminated by Ben Lomond and other mountains. The vale is +populous, but looks as if it were not inhabited by cultivators of the +earth; the houses are chiefly of stone; often in rows by the river-side; +they stand pleasantly, but have a tradish look, as if they might have +been off-sets from Glasgow. We saw many bleach-yards, but no other +symptom of a manufactory, except something in the houses that was not +rural, and a want of independent comforts. Perhaps if the river had been +glittering in the sun, and the smoke of the cottages rising in distinct +volumes towards the sky, as I have seen in the vale or basin below +Pillsden in Dorsetshire, when every cottage, hidden from the eye, +pointed out its lurking-place by an upright wreath of white smoke, the +whole scene might have excited ideas of perfect cheerfulness. + +Here, as on the Nith, and much more than in the Trough of the Clyde, a +great portion of the ground was uncultivated, but the hills being less +wild, the river more stately, and the ground not heaved up so +irregularly and tossed about, the imperfect cultivation was the more to +be lamented, particularly as there were so many houses near the river. +In a small enclosure by the wayside is a pillar erected to the memory of +Dr. Smollett, who was born in a village at a little distance, which we +could see at the same time, and where, I believe, some of the family +still reside. There is a long Latin inscription, which Coleridge +translated for my benefit. The Latin is miserably bad[90]--as Coleridge +said, such as poor Smollett, who was an excellent scholar, would have +been ashamed of. + + [Footnote 90: The inscription on the pillar was written by Professor + George Stuart of Edinburgh, John Ramsay of Ochtertyre and Dr. Samuel + Johnson; for Dr. Johnson's share in the work see Croker's Boswell, p. + 392.--J. C. S.] + +Before we came to Loch Lomond the vale widened, and became less +populous. We climbed over a wall into a large field to have a better +front view of the lake than from the road. This view is very much like +that from Mr. Clarkson's windows: the mountain in front resembles +Hallan; indeed, is almost the same; but Ben Lomond is not seen standing +in such majestic company as Helvellyn, and the meadows are less +beautiful than Ulswater. The reach of the lake is very magnificent; you +see it, as Ulswater is seen beyond the promontory of Old Church, winding +away behind a large woody island that looks like a promontory. The +outlet of the lake--we had a distinct view of it in the field--is very +insignificant. The bulk of the river is frittered away by small alder +bushes, as I recollect; I do not remember that it was reedy, but the +ground had a swampy appearance; and here the vale spreads out wide and +shapeless, as if the river were born to no inheritance, had no +sheltering cradle, no hills of its own. As we have seen, this does not +continue long; it flows through a distinct, though not a magnificent +vale. But, having lost the pastoral character which it had in the +youthful days of Smollett--if the description in his ode to his native +stream be a faithful one--it is less interesting than it was then. + +The road carried us sometimes close to the lake, sometimes at a +considerable distance from it, over moorish grounds, or through +half-cultivated enclosures; we had the lake on our right, which is here +so wide that the opposite hills, not being high, are cast into +insignificance, and we could not distinguish any buildings near the +water, if any there were. It is however always delightful to travel by a +lake of clear waters, if you see nothing else but a very ordinary +country; but we had some beautiful distant views, one in particular, +down the high road, through a vista of over-arching trees; and the near +shore was frequently very pleasing, with its gravel banks, bendings, and +small bays. In one part it was bordered for a considerable way by +irregular groups of forest trees or single stragglers, which, although +not large, seemed old; their branches were stunted and knotty, as if +they had been striving with storms, and had half yielded to them. Under +these trees we had a variety of pleasing views across the lake, and the +very rolling over the road and looking at its smooth and beautiful +surface was itself a pleasure. It was as smooth as a gravel walk, and of +the bluish colour of some of the roads among the lakes of the north of +England. + +Passed no very remarkable place till we came to Sir James Colquhoun's +house, which stands upon a large, flat, woody peninsula, looking towards +Ben Lomond. There must be many beautiful walks among the copses of the +peninsula, and delicious views over the water; but the general surface +of the country is poor, and looks as if it ought to be rich and well +peopled, for it is not mountainous; nor had we passed any hills which a +Cumbrian would dignify with the name of mountains. There was many a +little plain or gently-sloping hill covered with poor heath or broom +without trees, where one should have liked to see a cottage in a bower +of wood, with its patch of corn and potatoes, and a green field with a +hedge to keep it warm. As we advanced we perceived less of the coldness +of poverty, the hills not having so large a space between them and the +lake. The surface of the hills being in its natural state, is always +beautiful; but where there is only a half cultivated and half peopled +soil near the banks of a lake or river, the idea is forced upon one that +they who do live there have not much of cheerful enjoyment. + +But soon we came to just such a place as we had wanted to see. The road +was close to the water, and a hill, bare, rocky, or with scattered +copses rose above it. A deep shade hung over the road, where some little +boys were at play; we expected a dwelling-house of some sort; and when +we came nearer, saw three or four thatched huts under the trees, and at +the same moment felt that it was a paradise. We had before seen the lake +only as one wide plain of water; but here the portion of it which we saw +was bounded by a high and steep, heathy and woody island opposite, which +did not appear like an island, but the main shore, and framed out a +little oblong lake apparently not so broad as Rydale-water, with one +small island covered with trees, resembling some of the most beautiful +of the holms of Windermere, and only a narrow river's breadth from the +shore. This was a place where we should have liked to have lived, and +the only one we had seen near Loch Lomond. How delightful to have a +little shed concealed under the branches of the fairy island! the +cottages and the island might have been made for the pleasure of each +other. It was but like a natural garden, the distance was so small; nay, +one could not have forgiven any one living there, not compelled to daily +labour, if he did not connect it with his dwelling by some feeling of +domestic attachment, like what he has for the orchard where his children +play. I thought, what a place for William! he might row himself over +with twenty strokes of the oars, escaping from the business of the +house, and as safe from intruders, with his boat anchored beside him, as +if he had locked himself up in the strong tower of a castle. We were +unwilling to leave this sweet spot; but it was so simple, and therefore +so rememberable, that it seemed almost as if we could have carried it +away with us. It was nothing more than a small lake enclosed by trees at +the ends and by the way-side, and opposite by the island, a steep bank +on which the purple heath was seen under low oak coppice-wood, a group +of houses over-shadowed by trees, and a bending road. There was one +remarkable tree, an old larch with hairy branches, which sent out its +main stem horizontally across the road, an object that seemed to have +been singled out for injury where everything else was lovely and +thriving, tortured into that shape by storms, which one might have +thought could not have reached it in that sheltered place. + +We were now entering into the Highlands. I believe Luss is the place +where we were told that country begins; but at these cottages I would +have gladly believed that we were there, for it was like a new region. +The huts were after the Highland fashion, and the boys who were playing +wore the Highland dress and philabeg. On going into a new country I seem +to myself to waken up, and afterwards it surprises me to remember how +much alive I have been to the distinctions of dress, household +arrangements, etc. etc., and what a spirit these little things give to +wild, barren, or ordinary places. The cottages are within about two +miles of Luss. Came in view of several islands; but the lake being so +very wide, we could see little of their peculiar beauties, and they, +being large, hardly looked like islands. + +Passed another gentleman's house, which stands prettily in a bay,[91] +and soon after reached Luss, where we intended to lodge. On seeing the +outside of the inn we were glad that we were to have such pleasant +quarters. It is a nice-looking white house, by the road-side; but there +was not much promise of hospitality when we stopped at the door: no +person came out till we had shouted a considerable time. A barefooted +lass showed me up-stairs, and again my hopes revived; the house was +clean for a Scotch inn, and the view very pleasant to the lake, over the +top of the village--a cluster of thatched houses among trees, with a +large chapel in the midst of them. Like most of the Scotch kirks which +we had seen, this building resembles a big house; but it is a much more +pleasing building than they generally are, and has one of our rustic +belfries, not unlike that at Ambleside, with two bells hanging in the +open air. We chose one of the back rooms to sit in, being more snug, and +they looked upon a very sweet prospect--a stream tumbling down a cleft +or glen on the hill-side, rocky coppice ground, a rural lane, such as we +have from house to house at Grasmere, and a few out-houses. We had a +poor dinner, and sour ale; but as long as the people were civil we were +contented. + + [Footnote 91: Camstraddan House and bay.--J. C. S.] + +Coleridge was not well, so he did not stir out, but William and I +walked through the village to the shore of the lake. When I came close +to the houses, I could not but regret a want of loveliness correspondent +with the beauty of the situation and the appearance of the village at a +little distance; not a single ornamented garden. We saw potatoes and +cabbages, but never a honeysuckle. Yet there were wild gardens, as +beautiful as any that ever man cultivated, overgrowing the roofs of some +of the cottages, flowers and creeping plants. How elegant were the +wreaths of the bramble that had "built its own bower" upon the riggins +in several parts of the village; therefore we had chiefly to regret the +want of gardens, as they are symptoms of leisure and comfort, or at +least of no painful industry. Here we first saw houses without windows, +the smoke coming out of the open window-places; the chimneys were like +stools with four legs a hole being left in the roof for the smoke, and +over that a slate placed upon four sticks--sometimes the whole leaned as +if it were going to fall. The fields close to Luss lie flat to the lake, +and a river, as large as our stream near the church at Grasmere, flows +by the end of the village, being the same which comes down the glen +behind the inn; it is very much like our stream--beds of blue pebbles +upon the shores. + +We walked towards the head of the lake, and from a large pasture field +near Luss, a gentle eminence, had a very interesting view back upon the +village and the lake and islands beyond. We then perceived that Luss +stood in the centre of a spacious bay, and that close to it lay another +small one, within the larger, where the boats of the inhabitants were +lying at anchor, a beautiful natural harbour. The islands, as we look +down the water, are seen in great beauty. Inch-ta-vannach, the same that +framed out the little peaceful lake which we had passed in the morning, +towers above the rest. The lake is very wide here, and the opposite +shores not being lofty the chief part of the permanent beauty of this +view is among the islands, and on the near shore, including the low +promontories of the bay of Luss, and the village; and we saw it under +its dullest aspect--the air cold, the sky gloomy, without a glimpse of +sunshine. + +On a splendid evening, with the light of the sun diffused over the whole +islands, distant hills, and the broad expanse of the lake, with its +creeks, bays, and little slips of water among the islands, it must be a +glorious sight. + +Up the lake there are no islands; Ben Lomond terminates the view, +without any other large mountains; no clouds were upon it, therefore we +saw the whole size and form of the mountain, yet it did not appear to me +so large as Skiddaw does from Derwent-water. Continued our walk a +considerable way towards the head of the lake, and went up a high hill, +but saw no other reach of the water. The hills on the Luss side become +much steeper, and the lake, having narrowed a little above Luss, was no +longer a very wide lake where we lost sight of it. + +Came to a bark hut by the shores, and sate for some time under the +shelter of it. While we were here a poor woman with a little child by +her side begged a penny of me, and asked where she could "find quarters +in the village." She was a travelling beggar, a native of Scotland, had +often "heard of that water," but was never there before. This woman's +appearance, while the wind was rustling about us, and the waves breaking +at our feet, was very melancholy: the waters looked wide, the hills +many, and dark, and far off--no house but at Luss. I thought what a +dreary waste must this lake be to such poor creatures, struggling with +fatigue and poverty and unknown ways! + +We ordered tea when we reached the inn, and desired the girl to light +us a fire; she replied, "I dinna ken whether she'll gie fire," meaning +her mistress. We told her we did not wish her mistress to give fire, we +only desired her to let _her_ make it and we would pay for it. The girl +brought in the tea-things, but no fire, and when I asked if she was +coming to light it, she said "her mistress was not varra willing to gie +fire." At last, however, on our insisting upon it, the fire was lighted: +we got tea by candlelight, and spent a comfortable evening. I had seen +the landlady before we went out, for, as had been usual in all the +country inns, there was a demur respecting beds, notwithstanding the +house was empty, and there were at least half-a-dozen spare beds. Her +countenance corresponded with the unkindness of denying us a fire on a +cold night, for she was the most cruel and hateful-looking woman I ever +saw. She was overgrown with fat, and was sitting with her feet and legs +in a tub of water for the dropsy,--probably brought on by +whisky-drinking. The sympathy which I felt and expressed for her, on +seeing her in this wretched condition--for her legs were swollen as +thick as mill-posts--seemed to produce no effect; and I was obliged, +after five minutes' conversation, to leave the affair of the beds +undecided. Coleridge had some talk with her daughter, a smart lass in a +cotton gown, with a bandeau round her head, without shoes and stockings. +She told Coleridge with some pride that she had not spent all her time +at Luss, but was then fresh from Glasgow. + +It came on a very stormy night; the wind rattled every window in the +house, and it rained heavily. William and Coleridge had bad beds, in a +two-bedded room in the garrets, though there were empty rooms on the +first floor, and they were disturbed by a drunken man, who had come to +the inn when we were gone to sleep. + + +_Thursday, August 25th._--We were glad when we awoke to see that it was +a fine morning--the sky was bright blue, with quick-moving clouds, the +hills cheerful, lights and shadows vivid and distinct. The village +looked exceedingly beautiful this morning from the garret windows--the +stream glittering near it, while it flowed under trees through the level +fields to the lake. After breakfast, William and I went down to the +water-side. The roads were as dry as if no drop of rain had fallen, +which added to the pure cheerfulness of the appearance of the village, +and even of the distant prospect, an effect which I always seem to +perceive from clearly bright roads, for they are always brightened by +rain, after a storm; but when we came among the houses I regretted even +more than last night, because the contrast was greater, the slovenliness +and dirt near the doors; and could not but remember, with pain from the +contrast, the cottages of Somersetshire, covered with roses and myrtle, +and their small gardens of herbs and flowers. While lingering by the +shore we began to talk with a man who offered to row us to +Inch-ta-vannach; but the sky began to darken; and the wind being high, +we doubted whether we should venture, therefore made no engagement; he +offered to sell me some thread, pointing to his cottage, and added that +many English ladies carried thread away from Luss. + +Presently after Coleridge joined us, and we determined to go to the +island. I was sorry that the man who had been talking with us was not +our boatman; William by some chance had engaged another. We had two +rowers and a strong boat; so I felt myself bold, though there was a +great chance of a high wind. The nearest point of Inch-ta-vannach is not +perhaps more than a mile and a quarter from Luss; we did not land there, +but rowed round the end, and landed on that side which looks towards our +favourite cottages, and their own island, which, wherever seen, is still +their own. It rained a little when we landed, and I took my cloak, which +afterwards served us to sit down upon in our road up the hill, when the +day grew much finer, with gleams of sunshine. This island belongs to Sir +James Colquhoun, who has made a convenient road, that winds gently to +the top of it. + +We had not climbed far before we were stopped by a sudden burst of +prospect, so singular and beautiful that it was like a flash of images +from another world. We stood with our backs to the hill of the island, +which we were ascending, and which shut out Ben Lomond entirely, and all +the upper part of the lake, and we looked towards the foot of the lake, +scattered over with islands without beginning and without end. The sun +shone, and the distant hills were visible, some through sunny mists, +others in gloom with patches of sunshine; the lake was lost under the +low and distant hills, and the islands lost in the lake, which was all +in motion with travelling fields of light, or dark shadows under rainy +clouds. There are many hills, but no commanding eminence at a distance +to confine the prospect, so that the land seemed endless as the water. + +What I had heard of Loch Lomond, or any other place in Great Britain, +had given me no idea of anything like what we beheld: it was an +outlandish scene--we might have believed ourselves in North America. The +islands were of every possible variety of shape and surface--hilly and +level, large and small, bare, rocky, pastoral, or covered with wood. +Immediately under my eyes lay one large flat island, bare and green, so +flat and low that it scarcely appeared to rise above the water, with +straggling peat-stacks and a single hut upon one of its out-shooting +promontories--for it was of a very irregular shape, though perfectly +flat. Another, its next neighbour, and still nearer to us, was covered +over with heath and coppice-wood, the surface undulating, with flat or +sloping banks towards the water, and hollow places, cradle-like valleys, +behind. These two islands, with Inch-ta-vannach, where we were standing, +were intermingled with the water, I might say interbedded and +interveined with it, in a manner that was exquisitely pleasing. There +were bays innumerable, straits or passages like calm rivers, landlocked +lakes, and, to the main water, stormy promontories. The solitary hut on +the flat green island seemed unsheltered and desolate, and yet not +wholly so, for it was but a broad river's breadth from the covert of the +wood of the other island. Near to these is a miniature, an islet covered +with trees, on which stands a small ruin that looks like the remains of +a religious house; it is overgrown with ivy, and were it not that the +arch of a window or gateway may be distinctly seen, it would be +difficult to believe that it was not a tuft of trees growing in the +shape of a ruin, rather than a ruin overshadowed by trees. When we had +walked a little further we saw below us, on the nearest large island, +where some of the wood had been cut down, a hut, which we conjectured to +be a bark hut. It appeared to be on the shore of a little forest lake, +enclosed by Inch-ta-vannach, where we were, and the woody island on +which the hut stands. + +Beyond we had the same intricate view as before, and could discover +Dumbarton rock with its double head. There being a mist over it, it had +a ghost-like appearance--as I observed to William and Coleridge, +something like the Tor of Glastonbury from the Dorsetshire hills. Right +before us, on the flat island mentioned before, were several small +single trees or shrubs, growing at different distances from each other, +close to the shore, but some optical delusion had detached them from the +land on which they stood, and they had the appearance of so many little +vessels sailing along the coast of it. I mention the circumstance, +because, with the ghostly image of Dumbarton Castle, and the ambiguous +ruin on the small island, it was much in the character of the scene, +which was throughout magical and enchanting--a new world in its great +permanent outline and composition, and changing at every moment in every +part of it by the effect of sun and wind, and mist and shower and cloud, +and the blending lights and deep shades which took the place of each +other, traversing the lake in every direction. The whole was indeed a +strange mixture of soothing and restless images, of images inviting to +rest, and others hurrying the fancy away into an activity still more +pleasing than repose. Yet, intricate and homeless, that is, without +lasting abiding-place for the mind, as the prospect was, there was no +perplexity; we had still a guide to lead us forward. + +Wherever we looked, it was a delightful feeling that there was +something beyond. Meanwhile, the sense of quiet was never lost sight of; +the little peaceful lakes among the islands might make you forget that +the great water, Loch Lomond, was so near; and yet are more beautiful, +because you know that it is so: they have their own bays and creeks +sheltered within a shelter. When we had ascended to the top of the +island we had a view up to Ben Lomond, over the long, broad water +without spot or rock; and, looking backwards, saw the islands below us +as on a map. This view, as may be supposed, was not nearly so +interesting as those we had seen before. We hunted out all the houses on +the shore, which were very few: there was the village of Luss, the two +gentlemen's houses, our favourite cottages, and here and there a hut; +but I do not recollect any comfortable-looking farm-houses, and on the +opposite shore not a single dwelling. The whole scene was a combination +of natural wildness, loveliness, beauty, and barrenness, or rather +bareness, yet not comfortless or cold; but the whole was beautiful. We +were too far off the more distant shore to distinguish any particular +spots which we might have regretted were not better cultivated, and near +Luss there was no want of houses. + +After we had left the island, having been so much taken with the beauty +of the bark hut and the little lake by which it appeared to stand, we +desired the boatman to row us through it, and we landed at the hut. +Walked upon the island for some time, and found out sheltered places for +cottages. There were several woodmen's huts, which, with some scattered +fir-trees, and others in irregular knots, that made a delicious +murmuring in the wind, added greatly to the romantic effect of the +scene. They were built in the form of a cone from the ground, like +savages' huts, the door being just large enough for a man to enter with +stooping. Straw beds were raised on logs of wood, tools lying about, and +a forked bough of a tree was generally suspended from the roof in the +middle to hang a kettle upon. It was a place that might have been just +visited by new settlers. I thought of Ruth and her dreams of romantic +love: + + And then he said how sweet it were, + A fisher or a hunter there, + A gardener in the shade, + Still wandering with an easy mind, + To build a household fire, and find + A home in every glade.[92] + + [Footnote 92: See _Ruth_, stanza xiii.--ED.] + +We found the main lake very stormy when we had left the shelter of the +islands, and there was again a threatening of rain, but it did not come +on. I wanted much to go to the old ruin, but the boatmen were in a hurry +to be at home. They told us it had been a stronghold built by a man who +lived there alone, and was used to swim over and make depredations on +the shore,--that nobody could ever lay hands on him, he was such a good +swimmer, but at last they caught him in a net. The men pointed out to us +an island belonging to Sir James Colquhoun, on which were a great +quantity of deer. + +Arrived at the inn at about twelve o'clock, and prepared to depart +immediately: we should have gone with great regret if the weather had +been warmer and the inn more comfortable. When we were leaving the door, +a party with smart carriage and servants drove up, and I observed that +the people of the house were just as slow in their attendance upon them +as on us, with one single horse and outlandish Hibernian vehicle. + +When we had travelled about two miles the lake became considerably +narrower, the hills rocky, covered with copses, or bare, rising more +immediately from the bed of the water, and therefore we had not so often +to regret the want of inhabitants. Passed by, or saw at a distance, +sometimes a single cottage, or two or three together, but the whole +space between Luss and Tarbet is a solitude to the eye. We were reminded +of Ulswater, but missed the pleasant farms, and the mountains were not +so interesting: we had not seen them in companies or brotherhoods rising +one above another at a long distance. Ben Lomond stood alone, opposite +to us, majestically overlooking the lake; yet there was something in +this mountain which disappointed me,--a want of massiveness and +simplicity, perhaps from the top being broken into three distinct +stages. The road carried us over a bold promontory by a steep and high +ascent, and we had a long view of the lake pushing itself up in a narrow +line through an avenue of mountains, terminated by the mountains at the +head of the lake, of which Ben Lui, if I do not mistake, is the most +considerable. The afternoon was showery and misty, therefore we did not +see this prospect so distinctly as we could have wished, but there was a +grand obscurity over it which might make the mountains appear more +numerous. + +I have said so much of this lake that I am tired myself, and I fear I +must have tired my friends. We had a pleasant journey to Tarbet; more +than half of it on foot, for the road was hilly, and after we had +climbed one small hill we were not desirous to get into the car again, +seeing another before us, and our path was always delightful, near the +lake, and frequently through woods. When we were within about half a +mile of Tarbet, at a sudden turning looking to the left, we saw a very +craggy-topped mountain amongst other smooth ones; the rocks on the +summit distinct in shape as if they were buildings raised up by man, or +uncouth images of some strange creature. We called out with one voice, +'That's what we wanted!' alluding to the frame-like uniformity of the +side-screens of the lake for the last five or six miles. As we +conjectured, this singular mountain was the famous Cobbler, near +Arrochar. Tarbet was before us in the recess of a deep, large bay, under +the shelter of a hill. When we came up to the village we had to inquire +for the inn, there being no signboard. It was a well-sized white house, +the best in the place. We were conducted up-stairs into a sitting-room +that might make any good-humoured travellers happy--a square room, with +windows on each side, looking, one way, towards the mountains, and +across the lake to Ben Lomond, the other. + +There was a pretty stone house before (_i.e._ towards the lake) some +huts, scattered trees, two or three green fields with hedgerows, and a +little brook making its way towards the lake; the fields are almost +flat, and screened on that side nearest the head of the lake by a hill, +which, pushing itself out, forms the bay of Tarbet, and, towards the +foot, by a gentle slope and trees. The lake is narrow, and Ben Lomond +shuts up the prospect, rising directly from the water. We could have +believed ourselves to be by the side of Ulswater, at Glenridden, or in +some other of the inhabited retirements of that lake. We were in a +sheltered place among mountains; it was not an open joyous bay, with a +cheerful populous village, like Luss; but a pastoral and retired spot, +with a few single dwellings. The people of the inn stared at us when we +spoke, without giving us an answer immediately, which we were at first +disposed to attribute to coarseness of manners, but found afterwards +that they did not understand us at once, Erse being the language spoken +in the family. Nothing but salt meat and eggs for dinner--no potatoes; +the house smelt strongly of herrings, which were hung to dry over the +kitchen fire. + +Walked in the evening towards the head of the lake; the road was steep +over the hill, and when we had reached the top of it we had long views +up and down the water. Passed a troop of women who were resting +themselves by the roadside, as if returning from their day's labour. +Amongst them was a man, who had walked with us a considerable way in the +morning, and told us he was just come from America, where he had been +for some years,--was going to his own home, and should return to +America. He spoke of emigration as a glorious thing for them who had +money. Poor fellow! I do not think that he had brought much back with +him, for he had worked his passage over: I much suspected that a bundle, +which he carried upon a stick, tied in a pocket-handkerchief, contained +his all. He was almost blind, he said, as were many of the crew. He +intended crossing the lake at the ferry; but it was stormy, and he +thought he should not be able to get over that day. I could not help +smiling when I saw him lying by the roadside with such a company about +him, not like a wayfaring man, but seeming as much at home and at his +ease as if he had just stepped out of his hut among them, and they had +been neighbours all their lives. Passed one pretty house, a large +thatched dwelling with out-houses, but the prospect above and below was +solitary. + +The sun had long been set before we returned to the inn. As travellers, +we were glad to see the moon over the top of one of the hills, but it +was a cloudy night, without any peculiar beauty or solemnity. After tea +we made inquiries respecting the best way to go to Loch Ketterine; the +landlord could give but little information, and nobody seemed to know +anything distinctly of the place, though it was but ten miles off. We +applied to the maid-servant who waited on us: she was a fine-looking +young woman, dressed in a white bed-gown, her hair fastened up by a +comb, and without shoes and stockings. When we asked her about the +Trossachs she could give us no information, but on our saying, "Do you +know Loch Ketterine?" she answered with a smile, "I _should_ know that +loch, for I was bred and born there." After much difficulty we learned +from her that the Trossachs were at the foot of the lake, and that by +the way we were to go we should come upon them at the head, should have +to travel ten miles to the foot[93] of the water, and that there was no +inn by the way. The girl spoke English very distinctly; but she had few +words, and found it difficult to understand us. She did not much +encourage us to go, because the roads were bad, and it was a long way, +"and there was no putting-up for the like of us." We determined, +however, to venture, and throw ourselves upon the hospitality of some +cottager or gentleman. We desired the landlady to roast us a couple of +fowls to carry with us. There are always plenty of fowls at the doors of +a Scotch inn, and eggs are as regularly brought to table at breakfast as +bread and butter. + + [Footnote 93: This distinction between the foot and head is not very + clear. What is meant is this: They would have to travel the whole + length of the lake, from the west to the east end of it, before they + came to the Trossachs, the pass leading away from the east end of the + lake.--J. C. S.] + + +_Friday, August 26th._--We did not set off till between ten and eleven +o'clock, much too late for a long day's journey. Our boatman lived at +the pretty white house which we saw from the windows: we called at his +door by the way, and, even when we were near the house, the outside +looked comfortable; but within I never saw anything so miserable from +dirt, and dirt alone: it reminded one of the house of a decayed weaver +in the suburbs of a large town, with a sickly wife and a large family; +but William says it was far worse, that it was quite Hottentotish. + +After long waiting, and many clumsy preparations, we got ourselves +seated in the boat; but we had not floated five yards before we +perceived that if any of the party--and there was a little Highland +woman who was going over the water with us, the boatman, his helper, and +ourselves--should stir but a few inches, leaning to one side or the +other, the boat would be full in an instant, and we at the bottom; +besides, it was very leaky, and the woman was employed to lade out the +water continually. It appeared that this crazy vessel was not the man's +own, and that _his_ was lying in a bay at a little distance. He said he +would take us to it as fast as possible, but I was so much frightened I +would gladly have given up the whole day's journey; indeed not one of us +would have attempted to cross the lake in that boat for a thousand +pounds. We reached the larger boat in safety after coasting a +considerable way near the shore, but just as we were landing, William +dropped the bundle which contained our food into the water. The fowls +were no worse, but some sugar, ground coffee, and pepper-cake seemed to +be entirely spoiled. We gathered together as much of the coffee and +sugar as we could and tied it up, and again trusted ourselves to the +lake. The sun shone, and the air was calm--luckily it had been so while +we were in the crazy boat--we had rocks and woods on each side of us, or +bare hills; seldom a single cottage, and there was no rememberable place +till we came opposite to a waterfall of no inconsiderable size, that +appeared to drop directly into the lake: close to it was a hut, which we +were told was the ferry-house. On the other side of the lake was a +pretty farm under the mountains, beside a river, the cultivated grounds +lying all together, and sloping towards the lake from the mountain +hollow down which the river came. It is not easy to conceive how +beautiful these spots appeared after moving on so long between the +solitary steeps. + +We went a considerable way further, and landed at Rob Roy's Caves, which +are in fact no caves, but some fine rocks on the brink of the lake, in +the crevices of which a man might hide himself cunningly enough; the +water is very deep below them, and the hills above steep and covered +with wood. The little Highland woman, who was in size about a match for +our guide at Lanerk, accompanied us hither. There was something very +gracious in the manners of this woman; she could scarcely speak five +English words, yet she gave me, whenever I spoke to her, as many +intelligible smiles as I had needed English words to answer me, and +helped me over the rocks in the most obliging manner. She had left the +boat out of good-will to us, or for her own amusement. She had never +seen these caves before; but no doubt had heard of them, the tales of +Rob Roy's exploits being told familiarly round the "ingles" hereabouts, +for this neighbourhood was his home. We landed at Inversneyde, the +ferry-house by the waterfall, and were not sorry to part with our +boatman, who was a coarse hard-featured man, and, speaking of the +French, uttered the basest and most cowardly sentiments. His helper, a +youth fresh from the Isle of Skye, was innocent of this fault, and +though but a bad rower, was a far better companion; he could not speak a +word of English, and sang a plaintive Gaelic air in a low tone while he +plied his oar. + +The ferry-house stood on the bank a few yards above the landing-place +where the boat lies. It is a small hut under a steep wood, and a few +yards to the right, looking towards the hut, is the waterfall. The fall +is not very high, but the stream is considerable, as we could see by the +large black stones that were lying bare, but the rains, if they had +reached this place, had had little effect upon the waterfall; its noise +was not so great as to form a contrast with the stillness of the bay +into which it falls, where the boat, and house, and waterfall itself +seemed all sheltered and protected. The Highland woman was to go with us +the two first miles of our journey. She led us along a bye foot-path a +shorter way up the hill from the ferry-house. There is a considerable +settling in the hills that border Loch Lomond, at the passage by which +we were to cross to Loch Ketterine; Ben Lomond, terminating near the +ferry-house, is on the same side of the water with it, and about three +miles above Tarbet. + +We had to climb right up the hill, which is very steep, and, when close +under it, seemed to be high, but we soon reached the top, and when we +were there had lost sight of the lake; and now our road was over a moor, +or rather through a wide moorland hollow. Having gone a little way, we +saw before us, at the distance of about half a mile, a very large stone +building, a singular structure, with a high wall round it, naked hill +above, and neither field nor tree near; but the moor was not overgrown +with heath merely, but grey grass, such as cattle might pasture upon. We +could not conjecture what this building was; it appeared as if it had +been built strong to defend it from storms; but for what purpose? +William called out to us that we should observe that place well, for it +was exactly like one of the spittals of the Alps, built for the +reception of travellers, and indeed I had thought it must be so before +he spoke. This building, from its singular structure and appearance, +made the place, which is itself in a country like Scotland nowise +remarkable, take a character of unusual wildness and desolation--this +when we first came in view of it; and afterwards, when we had passed it +and looked back, three pyramidal mountains on the opposite side of Loch +Lomond terminated the view, which under certain accidents of weather +must be very grand. Our Highland companion had not English enough to +give us any information concerning this strange building; we could only +get from her that it was a "large house," which was plain enough. + +We walked about a mile and a half over the moor without seeing any other +dwelling but one hut by the burn-side, with a peat-stack and a +ten-yards-square enclosure for potatoes; then we came to several +clusters of houses, even hamlets they might be called, but where there +is any land belonging to the Highland huts there are so many +out-buildings near, which differ in no respect from the dwelling-houses +except that they send out no smoke, that one house looks like two or +three. Near these houses was a considerable quantity of cultivated +ground, potatoes and corn, and the people were busy making hay in the +hollow places of the open vale, and all along the sides of the becks. It +was a pretty sight altogether--men and women, dogs, the little running +streams, with linen bleaching near them, and cheerful sunny hills and +rocks on every side. We passed by one patch of potatoes that a florist +might have been proud of; no carnation-bed ever looked more gay than +this square plot of ground on the waste common. The flowers were in very +large bunches, and of an extraordinary size, and of every conceivable +shade of colouring from snow-white to deep purple. It was pleasing in +that place, where perhaps was never yet a flower cultivated by man for +his own pleasure, to see these blossoms grow more gladly than elsewhere, +making a summer garden near the mountain dwellings. + +At one of the clusters of houses we parted with our companion, who had +insisted on bearing my bundle while she stayed with us. I often tried to +enter into conversation with her, and seeing a small tarn before us, was +reminded of the pleasure of fishing and the manner of living there, and +asked her what sort of food was eaten in that place, if they lived much +upon fish, or had mutton from the hills; she looked earnestly at me, and +shaking her head, replied, "Oh yes! eat fish--no papists, eat +everything." The tarn had one small island covered with wood; the stream +that runs from it falls into Loch Ketterine, which, after we had gone a +little beyond the tarn, we saw at some distance before us. + +Pursued the road, a mountain horse-track, till we came to a corner of +what seemed the head of the lake, and there sate down completely tired, +and hopeless as to the rest of our journey. The road ended at the shore, +and no houses were to be seen on the opposite side except a few widely +parted huts, and on the near side was a trackless heath. The land at the +head of the lake was but a continuation of the common we had come along, +and was covered with heather, intersected by a few straggling +foot-paths. + +Coleridge and I were faint with hunger, and could go no further till we +had refreshed ourselves, so we ate up one of our fowls, and drank of the +water of Loch Ketterine; but William could not be easy till he had +examined the coast, so he left us, and made his way along the moor +across the head of the lake. Coleridge and I, as we sate, had what +seemed to us but a dreary prospect--a waste of unknown ground which we +guessed we must travel over before it was possible for us to find a +shelter. We saw a long way down the lake; it was all moor on the near +side; on the other the hills were steep from the water, and there were +large coppice-woods, but no cheerful green fields, and no road that we +could see; we knew, however, that there must be a road from house to +house; but the whole lake appeared a solitude--neither boats, islands, +nor houses, no grandeur in the hills, nor any loveliness in the shores. +When we first came in view of it we had said it was like a barren +Ulswater--Ulswater dismantled of its grandeur, and cropped of its lesser +beauties. When I had swallowed my dinner I hastened after William, and +Coleridge followed me. Walked through the heather with some labour for +perhaps half a mile, and found William sitting on the top of a small +eminence, whence we saw the real head of the lake, which was pushed up +into the vale a considerable way beyond the promontory where we now +sate. The view up the lake was very pleasing, resembling Thirlemere +below Armath. There were rocky promontories and woody islands, and, what +was most cheering to us, a neat white house on the opposite shore; but +we could see no boats, so, in order to get to it we should be obliged to +go round the head of the lake, a long and weary way. + +After Coleridge came up to us, while we were debating whether we should +turn back or go forward, we espied a man on horseback at a little +distance, with a boy following him on foot, no doubt a welcome sight, +and we hailed him. We should have been glad to have seen either man, +woman, or child at this time, but there was something uncommon and +interesting in this man's appearance, which would have fixed our +attention wherever we had met him. He was a complete Highlander in +dress, figure, and face, and a very fine-looking man, hardy and +vigorous, though past his prime. While he stood waiting for us in his +bonnet and plaid, which never look more graceful than on horseback, I +forgot our errand, and only felt glad that we were in the Highlands. +William accosted him with, "Sir, do you speak English?" He replied, "A +little." He spoke however, sufficiently well for our purpose, and very +distinctly, as all the Highlanders do who learn English as a foreign +language; but in a long conversation they want words; he informed us +that he himself was going beyond the Trossachs, to Callander, that no +boats were kept to "let"; but there were two gentlemen's houses at this +end of the lake, one of which we could not yet see, it being hidden from +us by a part of the hill on which we stood. The other house was that +which we saw opposite to us; both the gentlemen kept boats, and probably +might be able to spare one of their servants to go with us. After we had +asked many questions, which the Highlander answered with patience and +courtesy, he parted from us, going along a sort of horse-track, which a +foot-passenger, if he once get into it, need not lose if he be careful. + +When he was gone we again debated whether we should go back to Tarbet, +or throw ourselves upon the mercy of one of the two gentlemen for a +night's lodging. What we had seen of the main body of the lake made us +little desire to see more of it; the Highlander upon the naked heath, in +his Highland dress, upon his careful-going horse, with the boy following +him, was worth it all; but after a little while we resolved to go on, +ashamed to shrink from an adventure. Pursued the horse-track, and soon +came in sight of the other gentleman's house, which stood on the +opposite side of the vale, a little above the lake. It was a white +house; no trees near it except a new plantation of firs; but the fields +were green, sprinkled over with hay-cocks, and the brook which comes +down the valley and falls into the lake ran through them. It was like a +new-made farm in a mountain vale, and yet very pleasing after the +depressing prospect which had been before us. + +Our road was rough, and not easy to be kept. It was between five and +six o'clock when we reached the brook side, where Coleridge and I +stopped, and William went up towards the house, which was in a field, +where about half a dozen people were at work. He addressed himself to +one who appeared like the master, and all drew near him, staring at +William as nobody could have stared but out of sheer rudeness, except in +such a lonely place. He told his tale, and inquired about boats; there +were no boats, and no lodging nearer than Callander, ten miles beyond +the foot of the lake. A laugh was on every face when William said we +were come to see the Trossachs; no doubt they thought we had better have +stayed at our own homes. William endeavoured to make it appear not so +very foolish, by informing them that it was a place much celebrated in +England, though perhaps little thought of by them, and that we only +differed from many of our countrymen in having come the wrong way in +consequence of an erroneous direction. + +After a little time the gentleman said we should be accommodated with +such beds as they had, and should be welcome to rest in their house if +we pleased. William came back for Coleridge and me; the men all stood at +the door to receive us, and now their behaviour was perfectly courteous. +We were conducted into the house by the same man who had directed us +hither on the other side of the lake, and afterwards we learned that he +was the father of our hostess. He showed us into a room up-stairs, +begged we would sit at our ease, walk out, or do just as we pleased. It +was a large square deal wainscoted room, the wainscot black with age, +yet had never been painted: it did not look like an English room, and +yet I do not know in what it differed, except that in England it is not +common to see so large and well-built a room so ill-furnished: there +were two or three large tables, and a few old chairs of different sorts, +as if they had been picked up one did not know how, at sales, or had +belonged to different rooms of the house ever since it was built. We sat +perhaps three-quarters of an hour, and I was about to carry down our wet +coffee and sugar and ask leave to boil it, when the mistress of the +house entered, a tall fine-looking woman, neatly dressed in a +dark-coloured gown, with a white handkerchief tied round her head; she +spoke to us in a very pleasing manner, begging permission to make tea +for us, an offer which we thankfully accepted. Encouraged by the +sweetness of her manners, I went down-stairs to dry my feet by the +kitchen fire; she lent me a pair of stockings, and behaved to me with +the utmost attention and kindness. She carried the tea-things into the +room herself, leaving me to make tea, and set before us cheese and +butter and barley cakes. These cakes are as thin as our oat-bread, but, +instead of being crisp, are soft and leathery, yet we, being hungry, and +the butter delicious, ate them with great pleasure, but when the same +bread was set before us afterwards we did not like it. + +After tea William and I walked out; we amused ourselves with watching +the Highlanders at work: they went leisurely about everything, and +whatever was to be done, all followed, old men, and young, and little +children. We were driven into the house by a shower, which came on with +the evening darkness, and the people leaving their work paused at the +same time. I was pleased to see them a while after sitting round a +blazing fire in the kitchen, father and son-in-law, master and man, and +the mother with her little child on her knee. When I had been there +before tea I had observed what a contrast there was between the mistress +and her kitchen; she did not differ in appearance from an English +country lady; but her kitchen, roof, walls, and floor of mud, was all +black alike; yet now, with the light of a bright fire upon so many happy +countenances, the whole room made a pretty sight. + +We heard the company laughing and talking long after we were in bed; +indeed I believe they never work till they are tired.[94] The children +could not speak a word of English: they were very shy at first; but +after I had caressed the eldest, and given her a red leather purse, with +which she was delighted, she took hold of my hand and hung about me, +changing her side-long looks for pretty smiles. Her mother lamented they +were so far from school, they should be obliged to send the children +down into the Lowlands to be taught reading and English. Callander, the +nearest town, was twenty miles from them, and it was only a small place: +they had their groceries from Glasgow. She said that at Callander was +their nearest church, but sometimes "got a preaching at the Garrison." +In explaining herself she informed us that the large building which had +puzzled us in the morning had been built by Government, at the request +of one of the Dukes of Montrose, for the defence of his domains against +the attacks of Rob Roy. I will not answer for the truth of this; perhaps +it might have been built for this purpose, and as a check on the +Highlands in general; certain it is, however, that it was a garrison; +soldiers used to be constantly stationed there, and have only been +withdrawn within the last thirteen or fourteen years. Mrs. Macfarlane +attended me to my room; she said she hoped I should be able to sleep +upon blankets, and said they were "fresh from the fauld." + + [Footnote 94: She means that they stop work before they are + tired.--ED.] + + +_Saturday, August 27th._--Before I rose, Mrs. Macfarlane came into my +room to see if I wanted anything, and told me she should send the +servant up with a basin of whey, saying, "We make very good whey in this +country"; indeed, I thought it the best I had ever tasted; but I cannot +tell how this should be, for they only make skimmed-milk cheeses. I +asked her for a little bread and milk for our breakfast, but she said it +would be no trouble to make tea, as she must make it for the family; so +we all breakfasted together. The cheese was set out, as before, with +plenty of butter and barley-cakes, and fresh baked oaten cakes, which, +no doubt, were made for us: they had been kneaded with cream, and were +excellent. All the party pressed us to eat, and were very jocose about +the necessity of helping out their coarse bread with butter, and they +themselves ate almost as much butter as bread. In talking of the French +and the present times, their language was what most people would call +Jacobinical. They spoke much of the oppressions endured by the +Highlanders further up, of the absolute impossibility of their living in +any comfort, and of the cruelty of laying so many restraints on +emigration. Then they spoke with animation of the attachment of the +clans to their lairds: "The laird of this place, Glengyle, where we +live, could have commanded so many men who would have followed him to +the death; and now there are none left." It appeared that Mr. +Macfarlane, and his wife's brother, Mr. Macalpine, farmed the place, +inclusive of the whole vale upwards to the mountains, and the mountains +themselves, under the lady of Glengyle, the mother of the young laird, a +minor. It was a sheep-farm. + +Speaking of another neighbouring laird, they said he had gone, like the +rest of them, to Edinburgh, left his lands and his own people, spending +his money where it brought him not any esteem, so that he was of no +value either at home or abroad. We mentioned Rob Roy, and the eyes of +all glistened; even the lady of the house, who was very diffident, and +no great talker, exclaimed, "He was a good man, Rob Roy! he had been +dead only about eighty years, had lived in the next farm, which belonged +to him, and there his bones were laid."[95] He was a famous swordsman. +Having an arm much longer than other men, he had a greater command with +his sword. As a proof of the length of his arm, they told us that he +could garter his tartan stockings below the knee without stooping, and +added a dozen different stories of single combats, which he had fought, +all in perfect good-humour, merely to prove his prowess. I daresay they +had stories of this kind which would hardly have been exhausted in the +long evenings of a whole December week, Rob Roy being as famous here as +ever Robin Hood was in the Forest of Sherwood; _he_ also robbed from the +rich, giving to the poor, and defending them from oppression. They tell +of his confining the factor of the Duke of Montrose in one of the +islands of Loch Ketterine, after having taken his money from him--the +Duke's rents--in open day, while they were sitting at table. He was a +formidable enemy of the Duke, but being a small laird against a greater, +was overcome at last, and forced to resign all his lands on the Braes of +Loch Lomond, including the caves which we visited, on account of the +money he had taken from the Duke and could not repay. + + [Footnote 95: There is a mistake here. His bones were laid about + fifteen or twenty miles from thence, in Balquhidder kirkyard. But it + was under the belief that his "grave is near the head of Loch + Ketterine, in one of those pinfold-like burial grounds, of neglected + and desolate appearance, which the traveller meets with in the + Highlands of Scotland," that the well-known poem on _Rob Roy's Grave_ + was composed.--J. C. S.] + +When breakfast was ended the mistress desired the person whom we took +to be her husband to "return thanks." He said a short grace, and in a +few minutes they all went off to their work. We saw them about the door +following one another like a flock of sheep, with the children after, +whatever job they were engaged in. Mrs. Macfarlane told me she would +show me the burying-place of the lairds of Glengyle, and took me to a +square enclosure like a pinfold, with a stone ball at every corner; we +had noticed it the evening before, and wondered what it could be. It was +in the middle of a "planting," as they call plantations, which was +enclosed for the preservation of the trees, therefore we had to climb +over a high wall: it was a dismal spot, containing four or five graves +overgrown with long grass, nettles, and brambles. Against the wall was a +marble monument to the memory of one of the lairds, of whom they spoke +with veneration: some English verses were inscribed upon the marble, +purporting that he had been the father of his clan, a brave and good +man. When we returned to the house she said she would show me what +curious feathers they had in their country, and brought out a bunch +carefully wrapped up in paper. On my asking her what bird they came +from, "Oh!" she replied, "it is a great beast." We conjectured it was an +eagle, and from her description of its ways, and the manner of +destroying it, we knew it was so. She begged me to accept of some of the +feathers, telling me that some ladies wore them in their heads. I was +much pleased with the gift, which I shall preserve in memory of her +kindness and simplicity of manners, and the Highland solitude where she +lived. + +We took leave of the family with regret: they were handsome, healthy, +and happy-looking people. It was ten o'clock when we departed. We had +learned that there was a ferry-boat kept at three miles' distance, and +if the man was at home he would row us down the lake to the Trossachs. +Our walk was mostly through coppice-woods, along a horse-road, upon +which narrow carts might travel. Passed that white house which had +looked at us with such a friendly face when we were on the other side; +it stood on the slope of a hill, with green pastures below it, plots of +corn and coppice-wood, and behind, a rocky steep covered with wood. It +was a very pretty place, but the morning being cold and dull the +opposite shore appeared dreary. Near to the white house we passed by +another of those little pinfold squares, which we knew to be a +burying-place; it was in a sloping green field among woods, and within +sound of the beating of the water against the shore, if there were but a +gentle breeze to stir it: I thought if I lived in that house, and my +ancestors and kindred were buried there, I should sit many an hour under +the walls of this plot of earth, where all the household would be +gathered together. + +We found the ferryman at work in the field above his hut, and he was at +liberty to go with us, but, being wet and hungry, we begged that he +would let us sit by his fire till we had refreshed ourselves. This was +the first genuine Highland hut we had been in. We entered by the +cow-house, the house-door being within, at right angles to the outer +door. The woman was distressed that she had a bad fire, but she heaped +up some dry peats and heather, and, blowing it with her breath, in a +short time raised a blaze that scorched us into comfortable feelings. A +small part of the smoke found its way out of the hole of the chimney, +the rest through the open window-places, one of which was within the +recess of the fireplace, and made a frame to a little picture of the +restless lake and the opposite shore, seen when the outer door was open. +The woman of the house was very kind: whenever we asked her for anything +it seemed a fresh pleasure to her that she had it for us; she always +answered with a sort of softening down of the Scotch exclamation, +"Hoot!" "Ho! yes, ye'll get that," and hied to her cupboard in the +spence. We were amused with the phrase "Ye'll get that" in the +Highlands, which appeared to us as if it came from a perpetual feeling +of the difficulty with which most things are procured. We got oatmeal, +butter, bread and milk, made some porridge, and then departed. It was +rainy and cold, with a strong wind. + +Coleridge was afraid of the cold in the boat, so he determined to walk +down the lake, pursuing the same road we had come along. There was +nothing very interesting for the first three or four miles on either +side of the water: to the right, uncultivated heath or poor +coppice-wood, and to the left, a scattering of meadow ground, patches of +corn, coppice-woods, and here and there a cottage. The wind fell, and it +began to rain heavily. On this William wrapped himself in the boatman's +plaid, and lay at the bottom of the boat till we came to a place where I +could not help rousing him. + +We were rowing down that side of the lake which had hitherto been +little else than a moorish ridge. After turning a rocky point we came to +a bay closed in by rocks and steep woods, chiefly of full-grown birch. +The lake was elsewhere ruffled, but at the entrance of this bay the +breezes sunk, and it was calm: a small island was near, and the opposite +shore, covered with wood, looked soft through the misty rain. William, +rubbing his eyes, for he had been asleep, called out that he hoped I had +not let him pass by anything that was so beautiful as this; and I was +glad to tell him that it was but the beginning of a new land. After we +had left this bay we saw before us a long reach of woods and rocks and +rocky points, that promised other bays more beautiful than what we had +passed. The ferryman was a good-natured fellow, and rowed very +industriously, following the ins and outs of the shore; he was delighted +with the pleasure we expressed, continually repeating how pleasant it +would have been on a fine day. I believe he was attached to the lake by +some sentiment of pride, as his own domain--his being almost the only +boat upon it--which made him, seeing we were willing gazers, take far +more pains than an ordinary boatman; he would often say, after he had +compassed the turning of a point, "This is a bonny part," and he always +chose the bonniest, with greater skill than our prospect-hunters and +"picturesque travellers"; places screened from the winds--that was the +first point; the rest followed of course,--richer growing trees, rocks +and banks, and curves which the eye delights in. + +The second bay we came to differed from the rest; the hills retired a +short space from the lake, leaving a few level fields between, on which +was a cottage embosomed in trees: the bay was defended by rocks at each +end, and the hills behind made a shelter for the cottage, the only +dwelling, I believe, except one, on this side of Loch Ketterine. We now +came to steeps that rose directly from the lake, and passed by a place +called in the Gaelic the Den of the Ghosts,[96] which reminded us of +Lodore; it is a rock, or mass of rock, with a stream of large black +stones like the naked or dried-up bed of a torrent down the side of it; +birch-trees start out of the rock in every direction, and cover the hill +above, further than we could see. The water of the lake below was very +deep, black, and calm. Our delight increased as we advanced, till we +came in view of the termination of the lake, seeing where the river +issues out of it through a narrow chasm between the hills. + + [Footnote 96: Goblins' Cave.--J. C. S.] + +Here I ought to rest, as we rested, and attempt to give utterance to our +pleasure: but indeed I can impart but little of what we felt. We were +still on the same side of the water, and, being immediately under the +hill, within a considerable bending of the shore, we were enclosed by +hills all round, as if we had been upon a smaller lake of which the +whole was visible. It was an entire solitude; and all that we beheld was +the perfection of loveliness and beauty. + +We had been through many solitary places since we came into Scotland, +but this place differed as much from any we had seen before, as if there +had been nothing in common between them; no thought of dreariness or +desolation found entrance here; yet nothing was to be seen but water, +wood, rocks, and heather, and bare mountains above. We saw the mountains +by glimpses as the clouds passed by them, and were not disposed to +regret, with our boatman, that it was not a fine day, for the near +objects were not concealed from us, but softened by being seen through +the mists. The lake is not very wide here, but appeared to be much +narrower than it really is, owing to the many promontories, which are +pushed so far into it that they are much more like islands than +promontories. We had a longing desire to row to the outlet and look up +into the narrow passage through which the river went; but the point +where we were to land was on the other side, so we bent our course right +across, and just as we came in sight of two huts, which have been built +by Lady Perth as a shelter for those who visit the Trossachs, Coleridge +hailed us with a shout of triumph from the door of one of them, exulting +in the glory of Scotland. The huts stand at a small distance from each +other, on a high and perpendicular rock, that rises from the bed of the +lake. A road, which has a very wild appearance, has been cut through the +rock; yet even here, among these bold precipices, the feeling of +excessive beautifulness overcomes every other. While we were upon the +lake, on every side of us were bays within bays, often more like tiny +lakes or pools than bays, and these not in long succession only, but all +round, some almost on the broad breast of the water, the promontories +shot out so far. + +After we had landed we walked along the road to the uppermost of the +huts, where Coleridge was standing. From the door of this hut we saw +Benvenue opposite to us--a high mountain, but clouds concealed its top; +its side, rising directly from the lake, is covered with birch-trees to +a great height, and seamed with innumerable channels of torrents; but +now there was no water in them, nothing to break in upon the stillness +and repose of the scene; nor do I recollect hearing the sound of water +from any side, the wind being fallen and the lake perfectly still; the +place was all eye, and completely satisfied the sense and the heart. +Above and below us, to the right and to the left, were rocks, knolls, +and hills, which, wherever anything could grow--and that was everywhere +between the rocks--were covered with trees and heather; the trees did +not in any place grow so thick as an ordinary wood; yet I think there +was never a bare space of twenty yards: it was more like a natural +forest where the trees grow in groups or singly, not hiding the surface +of the ground, which, instead of being green and mossy, was of the +richest purple. The heather was indeed the most luxuriant I ever saw; it +was so tall that a child of ten years old struggling through it would +often have been buried head and shoulders, and the exquisite beauty of +the colour, near or at a distance, seen under the trees, is not to be +conceived. But if I were to go on describing for evermore, I should give +but a faint, and very often a false, idea of the different objects and +the various combinations of them in this most intricate and delicious +place; besides, I tired myself out with describing at Loch Lomond, so I +will hasten to the end of my tale. This reminds me of a sentence in a +little pamphlet written by the minister of Callander, descriptive of the +environs of that place. After having taken up at least six +closely-printed pages with the Trossachs, he concludes thus, "In a word, +the Trossachs beggar all description,"--a conclusion in which everybody +who has been there will agree with him. I believe the word Trossachs +signifies "many hills": it is a name given to all the eminences at the +foot of Loch Ketterine, and about half a mile beyond. + +We left the hut, retracing the few yards of road which we had climbed; +our boat lay at anchor under the rock in the last of all the +compartments of the lake, a small oblong pool, almost shut up within +itself, as several others had appeared to be, by jutting points of rock; +the termination of a long out-shooting of the water, pushed up between +the steps of the main shore where the huts stand, and a broad promontory +which, with its hillocks and points and lesser promontories, occupies +the centre of the foot of the lake. A person sailing through the lake up +the middle of it, would just as naturally suppose that the outlet was +here as on the other side; and so it might have been, with the most +trifling change in the disposition of the ground, for at the end of this +slip of water the lake is confined only by a gentle rising of a few +yards towards an opening between the hills, a narrow pass or valley +through which the river might have flowed. The road is carried through +this valley, which only differs from the lower part of the vale of the +lake in being excessively narrow, and without water; it is enclosed by +mountains, rocky mounds, hills and hillocks scattered over with +birch-trees, and covered with Dutch myrtle and heather, even surpassing +what we had seen before. Our mother Eve had no fairer, though a more +diversified garden, to tend, than we found within this little close +valley. It rained all the time, but the mists and calm air made us ample +amends for a wetting. + +At the opening of the pass we climbed up a low eminence, and had an +unexpected prospect suddenly before us--another lake, small compared +with Loch Ketterine, though perhaps four miles long, but the misty air +concealed the end of it. The transition from the solitary wildness of +Loch Ketterine and the narrow valley or pass to this scene was very +delightful: it was a gentle place, with lovely open bays, one small +island, corn fields, woods, and a group of cottages. This vale seemed to +have been made to be tributary to the comforts of man, Loch Ketterine +for the lonely delight of Nature, and kind spirits delighting in beauty. +The sky was grey and heavy,--floating mists on the hill-sides, which +softened the objects, and where we lost sight of the lake it appeared so +near to the sky that they almost touched one another, giving a visionary +beauty to the prospect. While we overlooked this quiet scene we could +hear the stream rumbling among the rocks between the lakes, but the +mists concealed any glimpse of it which we might have had. This small +lake is called Loch Achray. + +We returned, of course, by the same road. Our guide repeated over and +over again his lamentations that the day was so bad, though we had often +told him--not indeed with much hope that he would believe us--that we +were glad of it. As we walked along he pulled a leafy twig from a +birch-tree, and, after smelling it, gave it to me, saying, how "sweet +and halesome" it was, and that it was pleasant and very halesome on a +fine summer's morning to sail under the banks where the birks are +growing. This reminded me of the old Scotch songs, in which you +continually hear of the "pu'ing the birks." Common as birches are in the +north of England, I believe their sweet smell is a thing unnoticed among +the peasants. We returned again to the huts to take a farewell look. We +had shared our food with the ferryman and a traveller whom we had met +here, who was going up the lake, and wished to lodge at the ferry-house, +so we offered him a place in the boat. Coleridge chose to walk. We took +the same side of the lake as before, and had much delight in visiting +the bays over again; but the evening began to darken, and it rained so +heavily before we had gone two miles that we were completely wet. It was +dark when we landed, and on entering the house I was sick with cold. + +The good woman had provided, according to her promise, a better fire +than we had found in the morning; and indeed when I sate down in the +chimney-corner of her smoky biggin, I thought I had never been more +comfortable in my life. Coleridge had been there long enough to have a +pan of coffee boiling for us, and having put our clothes in the way of +drying, we all sate down, thankful for a shelter. We could not prevail +upon the man of the house to draw near the fire, though he was cold and +wet, or to suffer his wife to get him dry clothes till she had served +us, which she did, though most willingly, not very expeditiously. A +Cumberland man of the same rank would not have had such a notion of what +was fit and right in his own house, or if he had, one would have accused +him of servility; but in the Highlander it only seemed like politeness, +however erroneous and painful to us, naturally growing out of the +dependence of the inferiors of the clan upon their laird; he did not, +however, refuse to let his wife bring out the whisky-bottle at our +request: "She keeps a dram," as the phrase is; indeed, I believe there +is scarcely a lonely house by the wayside in Scotland where travellers +may not be accommodated with a dram. We asked for sugar, butter, +barley-bread, and milk, and with a smile and a stare more of kindness +than wonder, she replied, "Ye'll get that," bringing each article +separately. + +We caroused our cups of coffee, laughing like children at the strange +atmosphere in which we were: the smoke came in gusts, and spread along +the walls and above our heads in the chimney, where the hens were +roosting like light clouds in the sky. We laughed and laughed again, in +spite of the smarting of our eyes, yet had a quieter pleasure in +observing the beauty of the beams and rafters gleaming between the +clouds of smoke. They had been crusted over and varnished by many +winters, till, where the firelight fell upon them, they were as glossy +as black rocks on a sunny day cased in ice. When we had eaten our supper +we sate about half an hour, and I think I had never felt so deeply the +blessing of a hospitable welcome and a warm fire. The man of the house +repeated from time to time that we should often tell of this night when +we got to our homes, and interposed praises of this, his own lake, which +he had more than once, when we were returning in the boat, ventured to +say was "bonnier than Loch Lomond." + +Our companion from the Trossachs, who it appeared was an Edinburgh +drawing-master going during the vacation on a pedestrian tour to John o' +Groat's House, was to sleep in the barn with William and Coleridge, +where the man said he had plenty of dry hay. I do not believe that the +hay of the Highlands is often very dry, but this year it had a better +chance than usual: wet or dry, however, the next morning they said they +had slept comfortably. When I went to bed, the mistress, desiring me to +"go ben," attended me with a candle, and assured me that the bed was +dry, though not "sic as I had been used to." It was of chaff; there were +two others in the room, a cupboard and two chests, on one of which stood +the milk in wooden vessels covered over; I should have thought that milk +so kept could not have been sweet, but the cheese and butter were good. +The walls of the whole house were of stone unplastered. It consisted of +three apartments,--the cow-house at one end, the kitchen or house in the +middle, and the spence at the other end. The rooms were divided, not up +to the rigging, but only to the beginning of the roof, so that there was +a free passage for light and smoke from one end of the house to the +other. + +I went to bed some time before the family. The door was shut between +us, and they had a bright fire, which I could not see; but the light it +sent up among the varnished rafters and beams, which crossed each other +in almost as intricate and fantastic a manner as I have seen the +under-boughs of a large beech-tree withered by the depth of the shade +above, produced the most beautiful effect that can be conceived. It was +like what I should suppose an underground cave or temple to be, with a +dripping or moist roof, and the moonlight entering in upon it by some +means or other, and yet the colours were more like melted gems. I lay +looking up till the light of the fire faded away, and the man and his +wife and child had crept into their bed at the other end of the room. I +did not sleep much, but passed a comfortable night, for my bed, though +hard, was warm and clean: the unusualness of my situation prevented me +from sleeping. I could hear the waves beat against the shore of the +lake; a little "syke" close to the door made a much louder noise; and +when I sate up in my bed I could see the lake through an open +window-place at the bed's head. Add to this, it rained all night. I was +less occupied by remembrance of the Trossachs, beautiful as they were, +than the vision of the Highland hut, which I could not get out of my +head. I thought of the Fairyland of Spenser, and what I had read in +romance at other times, and then, what a feast would it be for a London +pantomime-maker, could he but transplant it to Drury Lane, with all its +beautiful colours! + + +END OF VOL. I + + +_Printed by_ R. & R. CLARK, LIMITED, _Edinburgh_. + + + + +Transcriber's Note + +Footnotes have been moved below the paragraph to which they relate. +Both Footnote 30 on Page 50 and Footnote 39 on Page 65 refer to two +items rather than one. I have repeated these footnotes below their +respective paragraphs in order to accommodate the repetition. + +"=" is used in the text to indicate that a fancy font was used. + +Inconsistencies have been retained in spelling, hyphenation, formatting, +punctuation, and grammar, except where indicated in the list below: + + - Comma added after "wife" on Page viii + - Period removed after "III" on Page ix + - Comma removed after "Mrs." on Page xiv + - Comma changed to a period after "Ed" on Page 21 + - Period added after "us" on Page 23 + - Period added after "morning" on Page 27 + - "pen-knive" changed to "pen-knife" on Page 117 + - "w th" changed to "with" on Page 134 + - Footnote number was missing and has been added for Footnote 77 + - Footnote anchor added to "glade" on Page 229 + - "he" changed to "the" on Page 251 + - Apostrophe changed to a comma after "biggin" on Page 253 + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Journals of Dorothy Wordsworth, Vol. I +(of 2), by Dorothy Wordsworth + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42856 *** |