whenever they met him at the public-house. At last he became 

 so frightened that he durst not sleep in his own house for fear of 

 being taken, but passed his nights out on the fell above, at place 

 which has been called Sim's Cave, from the man's christian name. 

 Finally the place became so hot for him that he left the neighbour- 

 hood, and was never heard of afterwards. 



About a quarter of a mile from the head of Thirlmere is a large 

 rock, which stands out prominently on the margin of the lake, 

 which is known by the name of " Clark's Lowp." The water is 

 deepest between this point and the opposite side, and in stormy 

 weather the lake here looks very black and frowning. The tradition 

 in connection with this is, that a man named Clark had a wife 

 who was a virago, and who made him miserable in life ; that he 

 ascended to the top of the rock, which slightly overhangs the lake, 

 jumped into the water below, and put an end to his sorrows by 

 drowning himself His wife was not brokenhearted in conse- 

 quence, as the story goes that when she was told of the sad 

 occurrence, she coolly remarked that he had often threatened to 

 make away with himself, but she never thought the fool had the 

 courage to do such a thing. 



A few hundred yards from Clark's Lowp, to the right, may be 

 seen a dark coloured rock, known as Black Crag among the dales- 

 folk. On its smooth face, fronting to the road, are inscribed the 

 initials of a few names which stand illustrious in the ranks of 

 English literature. There is "W.W.," for William Wordsworth; 

 "M.H.," Mary Hutchinson; "D.W.," Dora Wordsworth; "S.T.C.," 

 Samuel Taylor Coleridge; "I.W.," John Wordsworth; "S.H.," 

 Sarah Hutchinson. The initials "I.W.," above, have been under- 

 stood to stand for John Wilson, also known as Christopher North, 

 but there is evidence to prove they stand for John Wordsworth, 

 one of the Wordsworth family. These characters are said to have 

 been carved on the rock at a time when a pic-nic was held on the 

 banks of Lake Thirlmere, in which these great men and their 

 friends joined. They are still quite legible, and they serve to 

 commemorate an incident in the lives of some of our greatest 

 poets. 



