E.YDAL PA11K. 89 



the abbots of the surrounding- Norman monasteries 

 encouraged their tenants to approach nearer and 

 nearer to the Saxon fastnesses, the shepherds were 

 allowed to enclose crofts about their upland huts, 

 for the sake of browsing- their flocks on the sprouts 

 of the ash and the holly, with which the uplands 

 were then wooded, and of protecting the sheep 

 from the wolves which haunted the thickets. The 

 inclosures certainly spread up the mountain-sides, 

 at this day, to a height where they would not be 

 seen if ancient custom had not drawn the lines 

 which are thus preserved; and it appears, from 

 historical testimony, that these fences existed be- 

 fore the fertile valleys wei'e portioned out among 

 many holders. Higher and higher ran these stone 

 inclosures, — threading the woods, and joining on 

 upon the rocks. Now, the woods are for the 

 most part gone ; and the walls offend and perplex 

 the stranger's eye and mind, by their unsight- 

 liness and apparent uselessness ; but it is a ques- 

 tion whether, their origin once known, they would 

 be willingly parted with, — reminding us as they 

 do of the times when the tenants of the abbots or 

 of the military nobles, formed a link between the 

 new race of inhabitants and the Saxon remnant of 

 the old. One of these walls it is which runs along 

 the ridge and bounds Rydal Park. There may be 

 a gate in it'; or one which enables the stranger to 

 get round it. If not, he must get over it ; and if 

 he does so, high enough up, it may save another 

 climb. The nearer the ridge, the fewer the remain- 

 ing walls between him and liberty. Once in the 

 forest, Christopher North's advice comes into his 

 mind, — unspoiled by the fear — only too reason- 



