36 -^acTalft from "^ESirmtrermere* 



Josiah Brown, who lived at Orrest Head, found nearly his 

 match in oddity in this vale. A strange fellow in Troutbeck 

 had a prodigious bull ; and so had Josiah : and what must 

 they do but meet half-way and have a fight ; the terms being 

 that the winner should have the fallen animal. Josiah actu- 

 ally came riding on his bull. The battle was tremendous ; 

 but the Troutbeck animal fell down before Josiah's, and was 

 given by him to the poor of Troutbeck. These anecdotes 

 appear very strange to people who have lived in towns, or 

 among the more level manners of the south; and this is 

 why we relate them. They are among the curiosities of the 

 district. To find any others so antique and characteristic, it 

 is necessary to leave the high-road, and explore the secluded 

 dales of which the summer tourist sees and hears nothing. 



We shortly reach Townend, with its sombre yew trees and 

 ivied chimneys. At the junction here ^ right wheel ' towards 

 Lowwood ; ^ the other road being to Troutbeck Bridge, and 

 not so interesting. In a mile and a half from this the whole 

 southern portion of Winandermere is spread out before us ;t 

 and, after a bend or two in the road, the upper end of the 

 lake, with its majestic surroundings are grandly and gloriously 



* There is, however, fine beck-scenery on the road between here and 

 Troutbeck Bridge. ' Ben Slop ' is one of the finest ghylls in the district. 



t * Who said that Windermere was too narrow ? The same critic who 

 thinks the full harvest moon too round — and despises the twinkling of 

 the evening star. It is all the way down — fi-om head to foot — from the 

 Brathay to the Leven — of the proper breadth precisely — to a quarter 

 of an inch. Were the reeds in Pull Wyke Bay — on which the birds love 

 to balance themselves — at low or high water, to be visible longer or 

 shorter than what they have always been in the habit of being on such 

 occasions since first we brushed them with an oar, when landing in our 

 skiff from the Endeavour, the beauty of the whole of Windermere would 

 be impaired — so exquisitely adapted is that pellucid gleam to the lips 

 of its sylvan shores. True, there are flaws in the diamond — but only 

 when the squalls come ; and as the blackness sweeps by, the diamond of 

 the first water is again sky-bright and sky-blue as an angel's eyes. ' — 

 Professor Wilsoft 



