$64 
hills, which lie at a little diftance, ex- 
cept to the north, where the mountain 
rifes from the centre of the town. ‘The 
-ftuation is drv and open, and the air 
falubrious. The Kent, which winds 
about one fide of the town, has over it 
2 fine ftone bridge, lately widened and 
improved ; and forms a pleafant vale to 
the eaft and weft, which fpreads to a 
confiderab:e extent in the eaftern direc- 
tien. An old caftle, in ruins, forms a 
prominent feature on an eminence a little 
to the fouth of KENDAL ; as does a py- 
Famidical monument on the oppofite fide. 
The liberal and charitable difpofition of 
the principal inhabitants appears in the 
numerous charitable inftitutions for the 
education and clothing of poor chil- 
dren, and by public and private buildings, 
for the reception and maintenance of the 
neceffitous poor, &c. &e. 
Took an. excurfion to UNDERBAR- 
Row, 2 {mall village at three mles and 
a half diftance, and returned to Ken- 
Dat the fame day. The road exceed- 
ingly fine, but direéts its courfe. over 
mountaimous deferts, where the furface 
is, for miles, entirely compofed of lime- 
fione rock, and loofe ftones; and it is 
¥ery rare that a particle of foil can be 
met with. Vegetation is, confequently, 
im a great meafure, precluded. A little 
Furze, or whins, appear here and there, 
but the juniper-pufh is the moft preva- 
ent. The roots of that fhrub penetrate 
the crevices of the rocks; from which 
they extract plenty of nutriment, and 
feem to‘flourifa in the fituation. It is, 
perhaps, not univerfally known, that the 
Juniper piant produces a very pleafant 
berry, the liquor of which forms ge- 
meva cr gin. ‘Ft is three years in ripen- 
ing ; the firft year it is green, the fecond 
yellow, and the third black, when it is 
ft for ufe. About UNDER BARROW, the 
foilis a dry gravel, the farms fmall, the 
Buildings good; the furtzce fo full of 
fwells, that it is almoft impoifible to find 
a yard of level ground. Blue rocks of 
great magnitude appear every where, 
fome of which feem entirely above the 
furface, and others confiderably project- 
Brg out of it. ‘ Several of the furround- 
ing mountains have the appearance of 
_- being almoft wholly compofed of that {pe- 
‘cies of ftone ; not evena fhrub is feen on 
fome of their grizzled fronts. In fome 
ef the inclofed grounds are pieces of 
wocdland, chiefly oak. 
The fuel ufed here, and at KENDAL, 
is chiefly peat, dug from the moffes, or 
moraifes, in the neighbourhood. The 
Topography, bow far ufeful to Poetry 
[ Dee. 
bread of the common people is oat cake, 
which is baked very thin upon a plate 
of iron put over the fire. The fuel with 
which this bread is baked is, for the moft 
part, fern, provincially called Srackens, 
collected in the neighbouring commons, 
or waftes. 
[To be continued} , 

To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, | 
At a time when, if we may judge 
rom numerous publications, local 
hiftory obtains more than ordinary re- 
fpect, to offer a few refle@tions on the 
fubjeét, will be deemed neither imper- 
tinent or ufelefs : a fubjeét of confiderable 
extent, and, when properly purfued, net 
more interefting to individuals, than be- 
neficial to the community. Of its ex~ 
tent, indeed, I am fo well aware, as te - 
feel compelled to circumferibe my en- 
quiries : to the antiquarian, and invefti- 
' gator of pedigrees; to the fabulift, the 
ecclefiaftic, and hiftorian, I leave un- 
touched their favourite provinces. My 
department, at prefent, is poetry, and 
poetry, in reference to rural {cenery. 

———Flumina amem, fylvafque inglorius. 
Poetry is “ an imitative art.” This 
general definition thall be readtly admit- 
ted. To enquire, in what refpeéts poetry 
differs from the other imitative arts, 
painting, fculpture, or mufic, or into the 
various {pecies of poetic compofition, is 
here unnecefflary ; it being obvious, that 
defcriptive poetry muit be the fubjeét of 
the prefent eflay.: and, antecedently to 
the defign of it, which is to fhow how far 
the topograpker may affift the poet, a 
queftion arifes—‘ Jn what does the true 
genius of deferiptive pcetry confift ?” 
The adjunét defripuve, im the pre- 
fent connection, is not to be confined, ex- 
clufively, to a particular fpecies of poetic 
compofition, called defcriptive poetry ; 
fuch, for inftance, as Thomfon’s Sea- 
fons, The Splendid Shilling, or Grongar 
Hill; it applies rather to fubje& than to 
mode, referring to defcription or fcenery 
in general, which. may increafe the ele- 
gance of the ode, improve even the dig- 
nity of tragedy, and heighten the majefty 
of the epic: in fhort, it may affift any 
{pecies of poetry. as well as form the cha- 
racteriftic excellence of what is properly 
called a defcriptive poem; defcription 
being that ornament and embellifhment 
of poetry, the more permanent as the 
more true, the more agreeable as the 
more natural. . 
ce 
