WORDSWORTH
Wednesday.—Sent an invitation to Wordsworth, one of the Lake poets, to come and dine, or visit us in the evening. He came. He is much superior to his writings, and his conversation is even beyond his abilities. I should almost fear he is disposed to apply his talents more towards making himself a vigorous conversationist in the style of our friend Sharp,[303] than to improve his style of composition. He is preparing a manual to guide travellers in their tour amongst the Lakes. He holds some opinions on picturesque subjects with which I completely differ, especially as to the effects produced by white houses on the sides of the hills; to my taste they produce a cheerful effect. He, on the contrary, would brown, or even black-work them; he maintained his opinion with a considerable degree of ingenuity. His objection was chiefly grounded upon the distances being confounded by the glare of white. He seems well read in his provincial history.
On Thursday, after stopping to see a very feeble cascade at Sr. Daniel Le Fleming’s, we reached Keswick to dinner. We found Southey, who had accepted our invitation. He is full of genius and poetical enthusiasm. His History of Portugal is suspended in order that he may publish, by way of prefatory discourse, a Life of the Cid, which he is translating from an old Chronicle, and unfortunately into the style and language of the Bible. He has already made that experiment in his translation of Amadis de Gaul, and of his History of Portugal; to suit the curiosity of the day, he is going to publish the colonial part first.[304] This may be profitable, and the spirit of it obtained him from Whishaw the name of ‘Voulgar Tradesman.’ In the evening we visited his family; I was curious to see his interior. His house is excellent and beautifully situated. He seems much beloved by a numerous domestic circle of connections and friends; he is surrounded by heaps of old and valuable Spanish books.
On Friday we set off to profit by the hospitality of Ld. Thanet, who offered us the comfort and repose of Appleby. We passed by Ullswater, but only saw the upper part of the Lake, which, from all accounts, is very inferior in beauty to the view a few miles lower. From Pooley Bridge we drove through a very fine country to Appleby. On our road we got out to see Brougham Hall, a very beautiful place belonging to Mr. Brougham’s father. The view from the terrace is quite magnificent; the family have not inhabited the house for many years, and it is falling fast into decay.
APPLEBY CASTLE
Appleby is placed in a commanding situation above the town; a pretty torrent rushes beneath the walls. The old Keep or Citadel was, till within these few years, used as the prison. Ld. Thanet is Hereditary Sheriff of the County. The present mansion is built out of the old Castle, or rather made within its walls. This was done by the celebrated Ann Clifford, the heiress and representative of the Earls of Cumberland; her daughter married a Tufton, and thus brought these immense northern estates into the present family. She wrote the famous letter, in reply to the solicitation of a Minister of Charles II. or James, to allow a Court member to stand for Appleby, ‘I have been threatened by a usurper, neglected by a Court, but will not be bullied by a subject; your man shall not stand.’
Mr. Wyburgh, a lawyer of eminence, was in the Castle; he was employed on an election arbitration between Ld. Lowther and Thanet, upon the number of votes in Appleby.
Visiting Naworth Castle, where ‘Lord Carlisle occasionally comes for a fortnight in the shooting season,’ the party entered Scotland, and passing Longtown, Moffat, and Lanark, reached Hamilton. ‘The Palace is reckoned gloomy. The present Duke has augmented the collection of pictures, but the Rubens and Vandyke still maintain their posts as the first....’
8th.—Got to Dumbarton. Slept at Aroquhar; a good inn, well situated upon a salt loch; it was very beautiful, but we could not admire it after having spent the day by the side of Loch Lomond, so in a storm of hail, rain, wind, and sleet, and snow falling upon the mountains, we reached Inverary. The Duke[305] is in perfect health; the inmates there, the Bedfords, Ld. John[306] and Mr. Hunt, the T. Sheridans, E. Bligh, Lewis, Chester, Cornewall, H. Scott. At difft. times, Ld. Ely, Downshire, Messrs. Reid, Ld. John Campbell, Mr. Campbell, Col. Callander, McDonald, and Clanronald, and others whom I have forgotten. The house has undergone great alterations; the upper floor is entirely new furnished. To enliven the scene the high road is brought close to the windows. Upon the whole it is a most princely domain, and the Duke is a noble Chieftain. The only objection to the mode of life is the extraordinary lateness of the hours, and the consequent inability of doing anything; some wags have called it the Castle of Indolence. As late as half past seven in the morning, I have heard the billiards at work by T. Sheridan and Mr. Chester.[307]
After a tour along Loch Tay to Blair Atholl, they turned south to Perth, visited Brechin Castle and Dundee, and reached Edinburgh on October 6.