5 3^tfalfts at "yM"intietmer0, 17 



'^ stretching away behind the hill,* dotted here and there with 

 clumps of trees, — plane or fir, — in which nestle the isolated 

 homesteads so characteristic of our northern scenery. These 

 are the picturesque dwellings, not of the ^farmer' as the 

 proprietor would be called in southern parlance, but, of the 

 * statesman ' of Westmorland, — the owner of lands which 

 have been inherited from a long line of ancestors, — the rep- 

 resentative, perhaps, of the Thane of other days. 



Keeping to the path (scarcely visible) which tends to the 

 right-hand side of the hill, another step-stile will be found 

 which drops you on a plot of ground, half-heath, half bog, 

 H called JgLppUtljhjattc Common* This stile, in the broken- 

 down boundar}^-wall, indicates the beginning of a track, the 

 length of a field or two, 'which crosses the common and 

 opens upon the high road. Then turning to the left,* com- 

 mences a straight and shady road, leading to the trim white 



ii^ hamlet of Crosses. Here, a sharp deflection to the left, 

 and a rapid descent, completes the most toilsome, but, at the 

 same time, by far the finest part of the walk. At the foot of 



iK this hill we join the Troutbeck road, and on the left is a gate 

 which admits to the public foot-path through the Elleray and 

 St. Catherine's grounds. 



I Once at this gate, the homeward line is a very direct one. 



The copse is shortly entered by a small wicket, and Winlass 

 Beck is crossed by a rustic bridge. Emerging, and passing 



* If, instead of turning to the left, the right-hand road is taken, a few- 

 minutes' walk will bring the lover of antiquities face to face with JVear 

 ^^ Orrest farm, a fine specimen of the dalesman's house. * Warriner's ' — as 

 the place is often called — still boasts its court-yard and quaintly-cut box 

 and yew trees, its fine grove of planes, well-peopled with rooks, those 

 indispensable adjuncts of * auld warld ' scenes. Another picturesque 

 example of this form of dwelling, called Tow7tend, is at the western ex- 

 tremity of Troutbeck village. The taste of the proprietor, Mr. Browne, 

 is displayed by the retention, in the most complete form, not only of the 

 external, but also of the internal features of his ancestral abode, which, 

 it is said, *if not haunted, ought to be so.' 



