LAKES PEOVINCE. 341 



just 3 feet long. I have lived in the district of Ulver- 

 ston since 1875, and have heard many wonderful 

 yarns as to vipers, or hag- worms as they are called 

 locally. In my own experience I have seen about a 

 dozen, all of which I have killed except the first I 

 saw, which was lying curled up with the head in the 

 middle. I came across him on a foot-road through a 

 wood, where he was enjoying a snooze, probably after 

 a meal. I happened to have a bit of dead wood in 

 my hand, and, in my anxiety to kill the ' beastie,' 

 aimed a blow at once instead of choosing a more 

 reliable weapon. The wood was so rotten that it 

 snapped in my hand and only the end fell harmlessly 

 on the head of the adder, who hissed angrily and 

 made ofif. They are most often seen in the early 

 warm spring days near old walls and places in which 

 they have been hibernating. ^ I once saw the effect 

 of a bite on a sheep-dog, w'hich had been bitten near 

 the nose, w^iich quickly swelled up and looked very 

 painful. As far as I can recollect, the shepherd ap- 

 plied carbolic oil, and in a couple of days the canine 

 patient was well. One informant tells me that he 

 once saw an adder swimming across Windermere 

 Lake with his head just above the water and mak- 

 ing a hissing noise.^ Another friend rode over one 

 on his bicycle as the adder was crossing the main 

 road from Ulverston to Lakeside." — Eev. P. Hartley, 

 M.A., Colton Vicarage, Ulverston. 



^ This was probably a ring snake. 



