There is a lovely view from this hill, stretching right over Carlisle to the Solway, and to Scotland, and the Lake-mountains.
At Hayton-gate Farm we left the Wall and turned down southwards, crossing the Vallum, and soon coming into the lane which leads to Lanercost Priory.
The Vicar of Lanercost was standing outside the ancient gateway of the Priory; the evening service was just over, and he was apparently taking leave of the last departing member of his congregation. My guide performed a rough-and-ready introduction as we drew near, shouting: "Mr. —— here's a pilgrim to see you who has walked from Wallsend." The Vicar came forward and shook hands, and then kindly promised, at my request, to let me have the keys of the Priory at nine o'clock next morning, instead of the usual hour of ten. The beauty of the ruins in their warm red stone struck me very forcibly as I saw them now for the first time in the evening light.
I continued my way to the Lanercost Hotel, over the picturesque stone bridge (dated 1723) which here crosses our now familiar friend, the Irthing. "The last departing member of the congregation" was just mounting his bicycle, but he kindly stopped to point out to me the remains of an ancient bridge on the north side of the river, possibly a Roman bridge, the position of which indicates that the river has changed its course. He then asked if I wanted to see Naworth Castle the next day. It was not really in my plan, for I had been told it was not open to visitors till two o'clock, and that would have delayed me too long, and I said so. I did not know I was speaking to Lord Carlisle's agent, but now he gave me his name, and courteously offered to show me the castle in the morning, after my visit to the Priory. Such an opportunity was not to be missed, so I thankfully accepted.
It was a blow for the moment when I reached the Hotel to find that they could not take me in. Week-end visitors occupied all their bedrooms, and the "all" was probably not many. However, the proprietress told me there were houses along the road to Brampton where I might get taken in. I was sorry not to stop at Lanercost, for the Inn is in a beautiful spot, with the woods of Naworth Park just opposite, and the Irthing flowing past almost at its doors. Besides, every step I took now would be one step farther from the Wall, and would add to my journey on the following day. But there was no help for it, so I pushed on up the steep hill towards Brampton, with Naworth Park on my left, and passing on the right Boothby, where the old Dowager Lady Carlisle had made her home.
I called at several cottages, but no one could give me a bed. It was now beginning to get dark, and I was thinking it would soon be too late to call at another house, when I came to one which looked more promising. In answer to my knock, an old man appeared with a long white beard, and a face which would have done credit to an apostle. When I told him what I wanted, he looked doubtful, but asked me to come in. I followed him along the passage, through the kitchen, where a cheerful log-fire was burning, and through the garden to a cow-byre at the back of the house. There, in spite of my desire to find a haven, I forgot everything else in looking at the picture before me. A young woman was milking the cow, and a picturesque white-haired woman held the lantern for her. The face of the younger woman, seen in the lantern-light, looked really beautiful. A small boy and a collie dog made up the picture. There was something in the lighting and the grouping—in the whole scene—which enthralled me. I said to myself: "It is worth anything to have seen that," and it seemed hardly necessary to ask if they could take me in. I knew quite well that I had come to the right house. And so I had! They made no difficulty about the lateness of the hour, about the bed not being made up, nor any details of that kind. They said I looked tired, and that was enough for them. And indeed I was hungry, for I had had nothing since lunch at Gilsland, and had been walking all the time. So I did full justice, first to the new-laid eggs and "berry-cake," and then to the roomy feather-bed, where I slept till daybreak.
Next morning my kind hostesses filled the crannies of my haversack with lunch, and I set out to visit Lanercost Priory.