288 



ESKDALE. 



TART VII I. 



land. 



In many places only a narrow strip of haugh 



land by the river's side is 

 left available for cultiva- 

 tion ; until at length the 

 dale contracts so much 

 that the hills descend to 

 the very road, and there are 

 only to be seen their steep 

 heathery sides sloping up 

 towards the sky on either 

 hand, and a narrow stream 

 plashing and winding 

 along the bottom of the 

 valley among the rocks at 

 their feet. 



From this brief descrip- 

 tion of the character of 

 Eskdale scenery, it may 

 readily be supposed that 

 the district is very thinly 

 peopled, and that it never 

 could have been capable of 

 supporting a large num- 

 ber of inhabitants. In- 

 deed, previous to the union 

 of the crowns of England 

 and Scotland, the prin- 

 cipal branch of industry 

 that existed in the Dale 

 was of a lawless kind. The 

 people living on the two 

 sides of the border looked 

 upon each other's cattle as 

 their own, provided only 

 they had the strength to 

 "lift" them. They were, 

 in truth, even during the 



TELFORD'S NATIVE DISTRICT 



