MARCH 53 



the blackthorn has veiled itself with a chilly haze of 

 bloom ; already there are patches of timid verdure on 

 the hawthorn hedges; beneath them the cuckoo-pint 

 has shot up groves of glistening blades, 



' And along the tracks, like troubled sprites, 

 The dead leaves whirl along.' 



But the brightest gleam in memories of early spring- 

 tide in Westmoreland comes from the daffodils. Copse- 

 wood glade and roadside bank, mill meadow and village 

 orchard, upland lawn under limestone crag, all are 

 decked in the fairy livery of green and gold. One 

 may drive for miles through this fair champaign and 

 never lose sight of Lenten lilies in wreaths or scattered 

 clusters, in links or shining sheets. 



Even in this county, rich as it is beyond most in 

 examples of old English halls, Levens stands by itself 

 in the unaltered character of both house and sur- 

 roundings. One is even disposed to complain of the 

 lofty larches, towering over the entrance, as out of 

 place, for there were no larches in England in the 

 days of the Cavaliers. The deer park has not varied 

 from the limits set out in the royal licence to enclose 

 it, granted in 1360. It is true that the original build- 

 ing, a pele tower of the ordinary border type, dating, 

 as its arched doorways bear witness, from the thirteenth 

 or early fourteenth century, has been largely added 

 to. The Bellinghames, lords of this manor during 

 the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, were a wealthy 

 family ; one Sir James, knighted by James I. on his first 



