"the mortal man." 47 



asked him what lie lived upon, and that his reply- 

 was " Thick pottage and milk, that a mouse might 

 walk upon dryshod, to his breakfast ; and the sunny- 

 side of a wedder to his dinner, when he could get 

 it." This was the estate afterwards given by- 

 Charles I. to Huddleston Phillipson, for his ser- 

 vices in the civil wars. The valley now contains a 

 string of hamlets, — Town End, Town Head, High 

 Green, Crag, and High Fold ; and its farmsteads 

 and outbuildings show some of the most curious 

 specimens of ancient edifices that are to be seen in 

 the district. Among the curiosities of the village 

 is a little inn bearing the extraordinary sign of 

 "The Mortal Man." It owes its name to an old 

 signboard of which it formerly boasted. This board 

 bore the portraits of two well-known inhabitants 

 of the valley with this verse between them : — 



" O ! Mortal Man that liv'st on bread, 



How comes thy nose to be so red ? " 

 " Thou silly ass, that looks so pale. 



It comes of drinking Birkett's ale ! " 



This board was afterwards removed to Cartmel and 

 is now defaced by the weather. But the author of 

 this rhyme was not the only poet who was a native 

 of Troutbeck. The uncle of the painter Hogarth 

 lived here, and was famous for his songs. They 

 were mostly of a satirical nature, the subjects being 

 furnished by the peculiarities of his neighbours. 

 The father of the painter also lived here. Josiah 

 Brown, whom we mentioned in connexion with 

 Orrest Head, found nearly his match in oddity in 

 this vale. A "rum fellow" in Troutbeck had a 

 prodigious bull ; and so had Josiah : and what must 

 they do but meet half-way, and have a bulUfight ; 



