His Birthplace and its Influences . 3 



went forth into life, no work and no privations 

 proved to be greater than they were able to 

 bear. In like manner Mr. Henry Hall 

 Dixon, a sketch of whose "Life" I have 

 undertaken to write, owed no slight debt of 

 gratitude to the county in which he first saw 

 the light. 



The true history of the " Border " can best 

 be found in the writings and poems of Sir 

 Walter Scott, whose famous lines : 



" St. George ! a stirring life they lead 

 Who have such neighbours near," 



tell of the stormy times passed by the dwel- 

 lers in Cumberland and Westmoreland when 

 the Solway Firth was their sole protection 

 against the Scottish moss-troopers, of whom 

 for all time William of Deloraine will stand as 

 the typical representative. But the Solway, 

 although in many places about twelve miles 

 broad, was no adequate protection against an 

 enterprising, aggressive, and warlike people. 

 It could be crossed at low tide by horse- 

 men well acquainted with its sands and 

 eddies, and for this reason the northern half 

 of Cumberland was constantly exposed to the 



