

"^ZE^alftg* 227 



help of our maps, or that of the boatman, the information 

 is most easily and correctly acquired. Opinions differ on 

 this point : — Mr. Payn says, — ^ Give us a cigar by all means, 

 if the ladies do not object; and let the boatman (and not 

 ourselves on any account) pull slowly, just where he will ; 

 and let us hold our tongues unless we have anything par- 

 ticularly worth hearing ; and that is the way to enjoy Der- 

 wentwater, we assure you.' 



The islands of Derwentwater are full of historic interest. 

 The Ratcliffes possessed ^[^ottl'g ^Eslanti, the largest on the 

 lake, which was once a part of the mainland, and traces of 

 the family residence which stood there are still to be found. 

 In the feudal times, they cut a fosse, and set up a draw- 

 bridge. Everywhere there are traces of the unhappy family ; 

 even in the sky, the aurora boreaUs being sometimes called 

 to this day. Lord Derwentwater's lights, because it was par- 

 ticularly brilliant the night after his execution. Ramps 

 Holme, another of the islands, was theirs also, and the her- 

 mit, the dear friend of St. Cuthbert, who lived on St. 

 ^jj^jerberf 3 3EsIe in the seventh century, is somehow mixed 

 up in legends, or in local imaginations (which are careless 

 of dates), with the same family. All that is known of St. 

 Herbert is, that he really had an hermitage in the island* 

 and that Cuthbert and he used to meet, either at Lindis- 

 farn or Derwentwater, once a-year. The legend of their 

 deaths is well known : namely, that, according to their prayer, 

 they died on the same day. There is beauty in the tradition 

 that the man of action and the man of meditation, the pro- 

 pagandist and the recluse, were so dear to each other, and 

 so congenial. Vicar's, or BetbJEttt Esle, is the other of the 

 four large islands, and a cool and fragrant bower it is. The 



* There are some remains of walls on the island, which are believed 

 to have been the walls of his cell. 



Q 2 



