and looked on all their changing phases with a superstitious eye of love; after he had become acquainted with the mountain scenery of Wales, Scotland, Switzerland, and Italy, gave his judgment that, as a whole, the English Lake District within its narrow limits is preeminent above them all. He thus speaks: "A happy proportion of component parts is indeed noticeable among the landscapes of the North of England; and, in this characteristic essential to a perfect picture, they surpass the scenes of Scotland, and, in a still greater degree, those of Switzerland.... On the score even of sublimity, the superiority of the Alps is by no means so great as might hastily be inferred; and, as to the beauty of the lower regions of the Swiss mountains, their surface has nothing of the mellow tone and variety of hues by which our mountain turf is distinguished.... The Lakes are much more interesting than those of the Alps; first, as is implied above by being more happily proportioned to the other features of the landscape; and next, as being infinitely more pellucid, and less subject to agitation from the winds." And again, "The water of the English Lakes being of a crystalline clearness, the reflections of the surrounding hills are frequently so lively, that it is scarcely possible to distinguish the point where the real object terminates, and its unsubstantial duplicate begins."
It is therefore not to be wondered at, that during the greater part of a century, where the old Border raids of violence have ceased, excursions of a very different character should have taken their place. Every summer brings down upon the valleys clouds of visitors from every corner of our island, and from many countries of Europe and America, eager to enjoy their freshness and beauty, and breathe a new life in the companionship of the lakes and hills. And if in a spirit somewhat more akin to the moss-trooping Borderer of an earlier time, an occasional intruder has scoured the vales in search of their traditions; and in the pursuit of these has ransacked their annals, plundered their guides, and levied a sort of black-mail upon even casual and anonymous contributors to their history; it may in some degree extenuate the offence to remember that such literary free-booting makes no one poorer for what it takes away; and that the opima spolia of the adventurer are only so much gathered to be distributed again. More especially to the Notes which constitute so large a portion of the present Volume may this remark be applied. Scenery long outlasts all traditional and historical associations. To revive these among their ancient haunts, and to awaken yet another interest in this land of beauty, has been the aim and end of this modern Raid into the valleys of the North, and the regions that own the sovereignty of the "mighty Helvellyn."
CONTENTS
| PAGE | |
| The Past | [1] |
| The Banner of Broughton Tower | [3] |
| Giltstone Rock | [15] |
| Crier of Claife | [19] |
| Cuckoo of Borrodale | [29] |
| King Eveling | [38] |
| Sir Lancelot Threlkeld | [44] |
| Pan on Kirkstone | [66] |
| Saint Bega | [73] |
| Harts-Horn Tree | [81] |
| Bekan's Ghyll | [88] |
| The Chimes of Kirk-Sunken | [102] |
| The Raven on Kernal Crag | [106] |
| Lord Derwentwater's Lights | [110] |
| Laurels on Lingmoor | [124] |
| Vale of St. John | [136] |
| The Luck of Edenhall | [143] |
| Hob-Thross | [153] |
| The Abbot of Calder | [162] |
| The Armboth Banquet | [170] |
| Britta in the Temple of Druids | [179] |
| The Lady of Workington Hall | [191] |
| Altar upon Cross Fell | [199] |
| Willie o' Scales | [209] |
| Ermengarde | [217] |
| Gunilda | [227] |
| The Shield of Flandrensis | [234] |
| The Rooks of Furness | [242] |
| King Dunmail | [255] |
| The Bridals of Dacre | [266] |
| Threlkeld Tarn | [279] |
| Robin the Devil | [284] |
| The Lay of Lord Lucy of Egremond | [295] |
| Sölvar How | [312] |
| The Church among the Mountains | [323] |