CUMBERLAND. 



CUMBERLAND. 



cobalt bu been got at Newlands, and antimony near Bassenthwaite- 

 Lapis caUiniuari*, small quantities of manganese, galena, iron pyriten, 

 and spar of various kinds and of different colours and form* are found 

 in *everal places. Slate of a pale-blue colour and of the fined quality 

 fa plentiful in Cumberland, particularly in the neighbourhood of 

 Ke*wick and UUswater. 



Climate, Soil, Ayriculturt. In consequence of the great extent of 

 coast and the numerous high mountain*, the climate is various. The 

 mountains and high grounds are cold and piercing ; the lower parts 

 are mild and temperate : the whole county it exposed to wet and 

 Tariable weather, particularly in the autumn, yet it is healthy, and 

 many instance* of longevity occur. The annual mean quantity of 

 rain at Carlisle is about 30 inches ; at Wigton, 34 inches ; at White- 

 haven, 50 inches ; and at Keswick 68 inches. April on an average is 

 the driest month of the year. July, August, September, and October 

 are wet months : about twice as much rain falls in each of these 

 m"" tj " as in the month of April ; and about one-third less rain falls 

 in the first six months of the year than in the last six months. The 

 oil of this county varies much ; it often differs in the same parish, 

 and sometimes even in the same field. The mountainous districts are 

 bleak and barren ; the most prevalent soil being mossy or dry gravel 

 covered with heath. They are chiefly used as sheep pastures and 

 preserves for moor-game. Some good land of dry brown loam is 

 found in the valleys and on the sides of some of the smaller moun- 

 tains. On the margins of the rivers is much valuable ground, 

 consisting of rich brown loam. On the coast the soil is light, sand or 

 gravel. The lowland country, extending from Carlisle in every 

 direction for many miles, is fertile, though a considerable portion of 

 it is cold wet loam and black peat earth ; this land has been much 

 improved by draining, which is now carried to a very great extent. 

 There is a good deal of fertile clayey loam in the neighbourhood of 

 Wigton. Band and light loam prevail near Brampton, and likewise 

 near Penrith. In the west of the county there is some wet soil on a 

 clay bottom, and also some hazel mould. The subsoil in many places 

 is a wet sterile clay. The agriculture of the county has improved 

 considerably of late yean, and great quantities of com and produce 

 of various kinds are now exported. The chief exports are from Port 

 Carlisle, Whitehaven, Workington, and Maryport, and consist of 

 catllf, sheep, poultry, grain, potatoes, butter, bacon, Ac. The land 

 bMng divided into small farms, the dairies are necessarily on a small 

 scale, though their produce is excellent, and bears a high price in the 

 market. Many of the farms do not exceed 100 acres, and some are 

 not more than 30 or 50 acres. They are possessed on verbal or written 

 contracts, or on very short leases. There are few farms let on leases 

 of 14 or 21 years. Many persons, provincially called ' lairds,' or 

 ' statesmen,' occupy their own lands, which in some instances have 

 passed for several centuries in a regular line of descent in the same 

 families. Some of these persons have an air of independence which 

 forms a peculiar trait in their character. A small part of the land, in 

 some places, lies in open town fields, which cannot have the benefit 

 of the common improvement in husbandry. This land usually lies in 

 ridges of variable width, upon which the grazing cattle that are herded 

 do frequent injuries to tho crops. In other places there are certain 

 common lauds that are annually stocked with cattle and horses, on a 

 fixed day, by the owners or occupiers. These lands are always in 

 grass. In high and mountainous districts the chief object of attention 

 on the part of the fanners is their sheep stock, though of late years 

 a considerable quantity of high-lying land baa been brought into 

 cultivation, which, on account of the steep declivities, is very laborious. 

 In some of these places the climate is cold, the corn backward, and 

 the harvest late. The valleys and low ground are cultivated chiefly 

 for grain, and produce excellent crops of wheat, barley, and oats ; 

 these are alternated with turnips and potatoes or fallow. Some of the 

 lands that are well supplied with water are kept as meadows or 

 pastures for dairies, and for rearing and fattening cattle. 



Candlemas is the usual time for entering upon farms, and the renU 

 an paid half-yearly, in equal portions, at Lammas and Candlemas. 

 The modern farm-house, have a handsome appearance, being generally 

 built of stone, and roofed with blue slate. The old farm buildings 

 ad cottages have clay or mud walls, and are thatched with straw. 

 TWe in a great variety of cattle and sheep. A peculiar breed of 

 sheep, called Herd wick*,' from their being farmed out to herds at a 

 yearly sum, is met with on the mountain*, at the head of the Duddon 

 and K*k rivers. The ewes and wethers and many of the tups are 

 polled ; their faces and legs speckled, and the wool short and coarse. 

 They an lively and hardy little animals. The tups are in great 

 request to improve the hardiness of other flocks. There are several 

 agricultural societies and cattle shows in the county, which give a 

 stimulus to agriculture, and encourag* improvements in the breed of 

 live stock, by distributing rewards anil premiums. At Carlisle, White- 

 haven, and Penrith are horticultural and floral societies, which are 

 well supported, and are of service in exciting attention to the 

 cultivation of fruit* and flowers. 



Cumberland farmers are in general temperate, social, and intelligent 

 people. They are strong and robust, and in their usual modes of life 

 frugal and industrious. They rise early and labour hard. They wear 

 logs and coarse plain dresses, take oatmeal porridge to breakfast, and 

 often bacon and salt meat to dinner. Their bread is commonly made 



of barley, or of barley and rye. In some placet, oaten bread formed 

 into thin cakes, and ' scons,' or unleavened cakes, are chiefly used. 

 Milk, potatoes, and skimmed milk cheese are universally consumed. 

 Tea, wheat bread, and animal food are now fast superseding these 

 simple articles of diet. About 60 years ago the farmers wore kelt 

 cloth, which was of a gray colour and home spun, and hence the name 

 of ' gray-coats,' which the Cumbrians received. Home-spun clothes 

 are now only worn by a few persons in the mountain districts. The 

 peasants pay great attention to the education .f their i-Ml.lren. In 

 some rural districts, where the quarter pay is not adequate to support 

 the master, he is allowed a ' whittle-gate,' or the privilege of dining 

 hi rotation with the parents of his pupils a custom which formerly 

 prevailed also in some places with the poorer clergy. Farm-servants 

 are hired at Whitsuntide and Martinmas, at the fairs held in the large 

 market-towns. They stand in the market-places, and are distinguished 

 by having a piece of straw or green branch in their months. After 

 the hiring is over, the remainder of the day is dedicated to mil I 

 festivity. Cumbrian peasantry have various festive meetings, called 

 the ' kirn,' or harvest-home, sheep-ehearing, merry nights, and upshots. 

 Bridewains and bidden-weddiugs are still held in some part* of the 

 county. Wrestling, running, and leaping are the favourite amusements 

 and athletic exercises of the peasantry. 



Dirinooi, Town*, fre. This county is divided into five wards, or 

 hundreds, known by the names of Allerdale above Dcrwent, All' 

 below Derwent, in the northern extremity of the county, Cumberland, 

 Leatb, and Eakdale wards. It contains one city. r.un.isi.K ; the 

 parliamentary boroughs of COCKERMOUTH, ami WHITKIIAVKN, and 

 15 market-towns, namely, ALSTON, BOOTLE, BRAMITON, EOBEMOXT, 

 Harrington, Hesket-Newmarket, Ireby, KESWICK, Kirk. 

 LOKQTOWK, MAUYPORT, PENRITH, Ravenglaes, WIOTOX, and V 

 INOTON. Harrington, Hesket-Newmarket, Ireby, Kirkoswald, and 

 KavcnglasH we notice here; the other towns will be found under 

 their respective names. 



Harrington, population of the pariah 2169 in 1851, is a small 

 flourishing sea-port about 3 miles S. from Workington. The houses 

 are mostly modern and well built. The harbour is well constructed, 

 and the trade steadily increasing. Coal and lime arc exported. In 

 the coal trade, which is carried on chiefly with Irish ports, in 

 of 40 vessels are employed ; and in the lime trade, which is chiefly 

 carried on with the opposite coast of Scotland, there ore I 

 hundred sloops. Here are a yard for ship-building, a rope-walk, and 

 a vitriol and copperas manufactory. The parish church is a plain 

 structure without a tower. There are chapels for Wesleyan and 

 Primitive Methodists, a British school, and a clothing society, 

 is here a station of the Whitehaven Junction railway. Iron-stone 

 and fire-clay are found in the vicinity. 



Httket-Neinmarkel is a small but neat town, situated on the banks of 

 the Caldew, 13 miles 8.W. from Carlisle: population of Ca.1 

 parish, in which Hesket is situated, 1667. The Wesleyan Methodists 

 anrl Quakers have places of worship. It has a small weekly market 

 on Friday ; and there are several fairs which are well attended. 



Ireby, population of the parish 505 in 1851, is 16 miles S.S.W. 

 from Carlisle, on the left bank of the little river Ellen, which issues 

 from Over-water and falls into the sea at Maryport Ireby is a very 

 old town, having had a market granted to it 600 years ago. The 

 church is small. There is a school with a trifling endowment. Clea 

 Hall, Whitehall House, and Snittlegarth are in this neighbourhood. 



Kirkoncald, population of the parish 925, is situated in a beautiful 

 vale on the small river Raven about half a mile above its ju 

 with the Eden, 15 miles S.E. from Carlisle. The church was dedi- 

 cated to St. Oswald, the celebrated martyr and king of Northumber- 

 land. The tower, in which are three bells, stands about a furlong 

 eastward from the church on an elevated site. Near the town are the 

 remains of an ancient castle and a mansion called the College. The 

 town is amply supplied with water. There are a paper-mill, a saw- 

 mill, a mill for canting and spinning wool, corn-mills, a brewery, and 

 coal- and lime-works. The weekly market is on Thursday, and there 

 are great market* on Thursday before Whitsuntide and August 5th. 



Ravatglatt, population of the parish of Muucastvr in which it is 

 situated 623, \ a small market-town and sea-port, situated along the 

 coast at the confluence of the Esk, Mite, and Irt. There is a fair 

 held here with very singular customs and ceremonies on August 5th. 

 It ha* a market on Friday, a large workhouse, and an endowed school. 

 Near this place are Muncaster House and the ruins of Walls Castle. 

 Oysters abound on the coast between this town and Bootle. Uaven- 

 glass possesses a small coasting trade, chiefly in corn, timliei , anil coal. 



The following are some of the more important villagcn, with their 

 population in 1851 and a few other particulars : 



Abbey Holmr, or Holme Cultram, about 6 miles W. by N. from 

 Wigton, near the mouth of the river Waver : population of the | 

 3212. The parish church was formerly the chapel of a Cistercian 

 monastery, which was founded liy King Henry I. At tin- west end ia 

 an elaborate Norman doorway. The Wesloyan Methodists and 

 Quakers have places of worship. Fairs are held on October 29th and 

 on the Tuesday before Whitsuntide. Allonby is on the tea-coast, 

 5 miles N.E. from Maryport: population of the chapelry 749. 

 Allonby is a favourite resort for sea-bathing during the season. The 

 village contains some good houses and has a neat appearance. The 



