WESTMORELAND. 



one rural deanry. The whole county contains only thirty- 

 two parifhes. According to the cenfus of i8 1 1, thefe con- 

 tained 9064 houfes, and 45,922 inhabitants. 



The general appearance of Weftmoreland is marked with 

 fome of the ftrongeft. features in nature ; immenfe trafts of 

 mountains, beautiful but contrafted valleys, extenfive lakes, 

 and large rocky diftrifts, which contain many high, fteep, 

 and bulging crags. The county is not only encircled with 

 mountains, but the greateft part of its interior furface is 

 fwelled into hills. A long range of heavy-looking hills 

 bounds the eaftern fide of the county ; in front of which is 

 an extenfive traft of tolerably level ground. The reft of 

 Weftmoreland is almoft wholly hill and dale. The farm- 

 houfes and thofe of the fmall villages, covered with blue 

 flate and whitened with hme, are feated about the bafes of 

 the hills, with their fmall irregular fields fpreading up the 

 fides of the mountains, and almoft univerfally divided with 

 ftone-walls. This laft circumftance gives the country a 

 naked appearance ; but the numerous trafts of woodland 

 interfperfed tend to enliven the fcene. Every dell or hol- 

 low has its little brook, and the fmalleft of thefe are plenti- 

 fully fupphed with fifh. Several low heathy commons are 

 feen towards the eaftern fide of Weftmoreland ; and the 

 weftern part is charafterifed by high rugged prominences, 

 and even fome rocky plains, fmall coppices, and a large ex- 

 tent of low rtat peat-mofs ; on the north, the fine woods 

 about Lowther add a ftriking feature to the landfcape. 

 Such are the brief but general outlines of the pifture : we 

 proceed to particularife fome of its peculiar charafteriftics, 

 the moft prominent of which are its Mountains. Thefe are 

 provincially called fells, of which the following are the moft 

 noted. 



Farlton-knot, near the borders of Lancaftiire, is a very 

 protuberant lime-ftone rock ; from the Kendal road, -near 

 Burton, it is faid to have very much the appearance of the 

 rock of Gibraltar. 



Whitbarrow-fcar is alfo a very high rock, and in fome 

 parts prefents a perpendicular face of folid lime-ftone. It 

 rifes its grizzly front between Milnthorp and Cartmel. 

 The high road leads along its bafe, whence it prefents a 

 grand, and in fome places a tremendous afpeft. 



Langdale-pikes, in the weftern corner of the county, are 

 conical hills of great height, with pyramidal rocky tops, and 

 are fituated in the interior parts of a very mountainous dif- 

 tridl ; their fides and bafes are verdant, and have formerly 

 been covered with wood. 



Hill-bell is alfo a high conical-topped mountain, about 

 four miles eaft from Amblefide. 



Harter-fell, High-ftreet, and Kidfey-pike, are ftupendous 

 heights, within a few miles of the fouthern end of Haws- 

 water. From the top of High-ftreet, thirteen lakes, and 

 the fea in feveral direftions, may be feen. 



The chain of hills on the eaft, which is continued north 

 and fouth through other counties, prefents a heavy and regu- 

 lar appearance ; and they have moftly mofly and heathy tops, 

 except two or three conical green hills oppofite Appleby. 

 They are in general pifturefque ; fome with abrupt decli- 

 vities, or rocky fronts, form high precipices, or in bulging 

 (hattered crags projeft over the vales in a frighttul manner ; 

 while others (hew fmooth, verdant, and fwelling furfaces, 

 beautifully fpotted with flocks of fheep and herds of cattle. 

 There are few Caves in Weftmoreland ; one, however, 

 is to be found at Dun-fell, bordering on Cumberland, and 

 is of confiderable extent. So intricate are the different 

 paflages and chambers of this capacious cave, that the Rev. 

 William Richardfon is faid to have been feven hours in 

 examining its varied parts. He defcribes the roof in fome 



parts to referable pointed arches, in others flat furfaces : he 

 found m fome places the Jlalaaites, and pieces of rhomboldal 

 /par. He travelled nearly two miles in a right line, and 

 difcovered evident marks of fome of the chambers having 

 been filled with water. The higheft part of the vault is 

 rather more than 25 yards ; the breadth in fome places 

 about 150 yards; in other parts there was fcarcely height 

 fufficient to creep through the hollow. Some other vifitors 

 have mentioned the aftonilhing luftre of the fpar with 

 which thefe vaults are encrufted. Nicholfon and Burn, in 

 their " Hiftory of Weftmoreland," mention three pits, one 

 of which is generally confidered unfathomable. In the fea- 

 fon of falmon fmelts, thefe pits abound with thofe fmelts, when 

 they are to be feen alfo in the river Kent, which induces a be- 

 lief that they arrive from thence in fubterraneous paffages. 



Rivers — Although the rivers or ftreams, (provincially 

 called becks,) are numerous, they are but fmall, and 

 moftly rife within this diftrift. Only three of thefe 

 are fufficiently important to retain their original names 

 from their fources to the fea. Thefe are, the Eden, 

 the Lune, and the Kent, or Ken, The firlt fprings in 

 Mallerftang, and runs north, and having received in its 

 courfe, befides many leffer ftreams, the conjoined rivers of 

 Lowther and Eamont, enters Cumberland, which county 

 it traverfes in its courfe to the fea, at Rowcliff. The Lune, 

 or Lun, hath its fource in Ravenftonedale, and pafling to the 

 fouth, through a fine vale, to which it gives name, enters 

 the county of Lancafter, formerly called Loncafter. The 

 Ken, or Kent, has its origin in Kent-mere, and runs 

 through a valley, called Kendale ; paffes the town of Ken- 

 dal, and empties itfelf in the fea at Cartmel bay. The 

 different rivulets from the eaftern diftrift empty themfelves 

 uito the Eden, which, during its courfe through this county, 

 receives its principal fupplies. An irregular line, drawn 

 eaft and weft through the centre of Weftmoreland, divides 

 the direftion of its feveral rivers : thofe on the north falling 

 into the Eden, either before or at its entrance into Cumber- 

 land, except two or three fmall branches of the Tees, which 

 rife on the eaftern ridge of hills on the borders of the county 

 of Durham. The rivers on the fouthern parts take a con- 

 trary direftion, and enter the fea at different places. 



The Lowther has its fource in the Moors, above Wetf- 

 laddale, and pafiing Rofgill-hall, there unites with Swindale- 

 beck, which rifes near the flate-quarries ; with the augment- 

 ation of a few other ftreams, it joins the Eamont. 



The Eamont emerges from Ulls-water, and forms a 

 boundary to parts of this county and Cumberland ; and 

 after being augmented by the waters of the Lowther river, 

 which defcends from the centre of the county, it joins the 

 Eden as it enters Cumberland. 



The Loyne, or Lune, has been defcribed in a previous 

 volume of this work, under Lancashire. 



The Crake, a brook or rivulet, defcending in feveral 

 heads from a variety of dells on the fide of Brackenthwaite- 

 fell, paffes through a very extenfive peat-mofs to the Ken, 

 juft before its influx to the fea. 



The Winter, or Winlter-beck, forms the boundary be- 

 tween the lower part of Weftmoreland and Lancafhire. It 

 rifes on the hills about two miles eaft from Windermere lake, 

 and direfts its courfe fouthwards, when it difcharges itfelf 

 in an eftuary of the fea. 



The Trout-beck is a brook iffuing from the mountain 

 High-ftreet, and unites itfelf with Windermere lake. 



Rothay fprings on the borders of Cumberland, ampng a 

 number of high mountains ; it runs feveral miles weftward, 

 and receives various ftreams in its progrefs to Grafmere- 



Lakes. — Weftmoreland is defervedly celebrated for its 



fine 



