M^vMz^itit. 121 



the cliff, no easy matter, must now be climbed, and the head 

 of the ravine arrived at by the left bank ; there is a water- 

 fall both above and beneath the tourist, and a view of King 

 Helvellyn and the nobles of his court at Thirlmere, which 

 will well repay him for his trouble. Upon his return, he 

 should visit the Rocking Stone upon the right, from whence 

 is a still more splendid prospect/ 



Arriving again at the bottom of the Gill, we find a clear 

 pool in the midst of the grass, where, if the approaching 

 tread be light, the heron may be seen fishing, or faithfully 

 reflected in the mirror. The track leads by the margin of 

 the lake, and through a shady lane and a farm-yard, to the 

 bridge by which the lake is crossed. The water is shallow 

 there, between two promontories; so that piers are easily 

 built, with two wooden bridges at intervals ; and thus is 

 solved what is to novices a great mystery, — how there can 

 be a bridge over a lake. There is another mystery just be- 

 hind, under Armboth Fells, — a haunted house. Lights are 

 seen there at night, the people say ; and the bells ring ; 

 and just as the bells are set off ringing, a large dog is seen 

 swimming across the lake. The plates and dishes clatter ; 

 and the table is spread by unseen hands. That is the pre- 

 paration for the ghostly wedding feast of a murdered bride, 

 who comes up to keep her terrible nuptials. There is really 

 something remarkable, and like witchery about the house. 

 On a bright moonlight night, the spectator who looks towards 

 it from a distance of two or three miles, sees the light re- 

 flected from its windows into the lake ; and, when a slight 

 fog gives a reddish hue to the light, the whole might be 

 easily taken for an illumination of a great mansion. And 

 this mansion seems to vanish as you approach, — being no 

 mansion, but a small house lying in a nook, and overshadow- 

 ed by a hill. The bridge being crossed, another bit of lane 



