Show Ufakema9s Uapderip s I ODD INCIDENTS OK hOltIi ION TRAVEL AND OBSERVATION KHUICK Triland July 10 1893 The trot lime 1 ever MW a peasant of the Fnglish lake Jlitrktthat splendid portion of England strewn with moun lain scow > fell and hills and gemmed with countlcj lake comprising the hires of Cumberland Westmoreland and the northern put Lancashire was In company with a personal friend of John Kuskln Mr A M I rascr of Scott street Annan Scotland who lives among his friends and books not a atone throw from where Jane Welih Carlyle youthful Ideal lover tho gentlest gent-lest soul thai Scotland I ever knew noble saintly Edward Irving was born It was a gray grisly grewsomo day when tho mountain mills like gigantic bellying sails were pounding back And forth between the mountains of Scotland Scot-land and Cumberland now and then in their flipping concussions flinging sheets slanting rain from their heavy folds which the wind Instantly caught up and swept stlnglngly against the bareheaded and l barelegged fishers of the leaden colored Firth My friend had to do with the railway service took me to the Annan station yard 1 secured a huge shunting engine with stoker and driver for our use we were lOon reeling and crashing across the greal Annan bridge connecting Scotland Scot-land l with England and l our strange conveyance for sightseeing I among peasantry peas-antry at last halted l with hoarse challenges challen-ges beneath the gray and l echoing crags where on the ngllsh 1 side of Ills Sol only tiny slonr built Downcis looks out upon Scotland l and the limo I just here nearly auu years ago the great wall of Komany bcrvlus came lo an end because of the unconquerable Gaelic hordes ol the wild barbaric North vcrylhlng 1 In and about this gray little nest upon the heights above the bolway seems of everlasting Hone The rough half stairs half street leading up to and l through the hamlet was of stone The few huddled structures were of stone rude stone wlnduwle < lge eaves gargoyle gutterspouts and all lire little chapel was like a huge unshapcn mossy mass of tone protruding rom a shapeless mass of stones The choked yard l surrounding It was enclosed by a stone wall huge enough to have been left by Hadrian himself and l tho huddled l grave stones seemed like lagged hall decayed teeth of stone which for cen turles had gnashed at and l been gnashed by elements as hard ns stone The sparse toll showing between the stone roadway and the stone houses and here and thcie cropping I up between house and byre or piduock and wall was thick and 1 flinty with tone And l even the hard faces of the few old old dames now and then seen peering at us tram the tiny Ingle neuk windows of stone were as set and l fixed l and l vacuous as uncarved l stone At one window we saw the lace 01 a hardy man past middle age and we straightway knocked at his wide law I door and l were bidden enter Among these humble folk the coming of strangers stran-gers at any time ur hour Is not rickonei an intrusion but rather pleasure and l there are no bolts nor locks upon the doors of any peasant habitation all this English Alpine country hey are trustful and simple and good In the fact of nil friendly approaches but hard and I I Irp d dreadful as their own mountain sows and foil when wrong Is I found l beneath friendly addresses CrIW We had come simply to sec and talk but It mattered not what our cOOling was for and the old l man cave welcome as statelily as a lord As my friend l I engaged him In conversation In dialect and topic common to the region I sat and l studied this old 1 man and l iris plctur esiiic environment eager to more fully know an lime and many wandering among the lake district Ipeasantry have since given ample opportunity of the af cirl which ro irnposing stuff and stock of which such imposing human frimes are made and the Influences In-fluences the centuries thai have give lo Ignorant men and 1 women moot remote from the activities of other men and things such a wondrous lofty and almost Indefinite calm The man was a universal type of the lake district peasantry lie was much more than sin feet In helcht and as he moved l about the large low room his head I just escaped the huge oaken beams of tho ceiling Ills i hair was soft silken Jht 1mi A It and bountiful flaxen where the silver i D has not yet come and with his full fine I hard suggested a strain of the old None blood lib forehead was high with white Ills eyebrows we bushy 1 ml fine and floss above largo eyes of lustrous light blur deep set steady sJrI eleT and almost I I mournful In 1 their gize The now woo ntron lycut truly clmlc and he mouth was large but charicterfiil and firm This sort of a head set upon a huge and perfect frame stout as the I rll timbers 1 of hU centuries old hibllatlon I I gave a man II ho looked straight 01 you amt made you slespita yourself look oral 1 1t at tin ln return I have found other such frimesand onOII 1If j ices amoung the fishers of the English west coast at Coldinglum below time Firth of forth among the I III bland I5 rafters among the petty lairs I of the Shetland Islands I and l not a few among the mountain jheisiitry of Inlsli lrSn wen round about r SUetc bnaghl In the north of Ireland and l 1 have won ered If their endless communion with attire In her dreadful moods as well m heir lives of danger and deprivation ud not 10 do with tempering the light of their kindly eyes with the changeless r lle look ot mournful resignation I which Is set there as If 1 with a graven seal upon them slut I have ever bound humble men like these sturdy lender grave and 1 Irue Tho Interior of this Cumbrhn peasants peas-ants home was ni characteristic and tine a s tho appearance of Its sturdy old possessor The large room where we sat was tho fire house or living I room ill f the i habitation It ls was fully eighteen I feet wide and twenty five feet long All the door and window casements cite celling bums and the timbers about the fireplace had I been hewn out of solid kr line floor was of I the same huge slate slabs AI the roof and l these were 10 clean from scrubbing thai they shone like dusky mirrors beneath our feet here were many windows no two In range nil little and splayed Inwardlythe Ides of each of their stone npcrlurea us white as snow and the Mill of cacti was half hidden br milkwhite muslin luge settles of oak with fleece or hlntt encased covers were ranged l long the low while walls In ono corner Its face yellow with age solemn Iy ticked an eight day clock Its clumsy rame built Into the abutting walls In he center of thin room was a long stun K able with t l huge legs cress trees and braces worn and polished I rom use and Its great age was plainly old In one hill its length being provided provid-ed 1 as 1 hive found entire tallies In Ihe peasant homes of llrltlany with squire oval and circular de tress boo In which I time food of the children a rI hinds I I was served perhaps n hundred years ago glh I Ii when I even pottery was i luxury I anti I only the peasant master his wile and the elder sons and daughters knew the use of the rudest delft More curious thin nil else was the entire side of Ihe fire coin containing the fireplace In which though our visit was In midsummer there was a cheery contorting blaze A huge arch sustained sustain-ed I bite I bowed ll coital wall This stone arch was really the base of the chimney f In Its center was the open fireplace hung about with chain hooks and cranes and at each tide was n narrow splayed window like those of castle turret tiny outlooks from this peasant fortalice of snuggery and l the dark mouth ol the chimney above must Invc been nearly six feet across 1 have found l the same odd arrangement Ihe collages of old rtjiAins In the Ichrldes I In tho Scottish lllchlmds l and In the I ancient half I deserted weavers village of Gittonslde near Mclrose beside the Tweed rite slates ol the floor In front of this fireplace were decorated l will grotesque figures and t designs one of hoahs dove mid scrollwork l nu ochre ami ermilion clulk n linkers homesido custom among the lake dls blot peasantry I The chairs were huge and high and af oak The bureaus mid dreiscrs > > quaintly decorated with hhlning pewter and strange old 1 bits of chinaware were tilth narrow and eprawlmg Itggtd and Ifl all t mahogany fine beds for one for the luitisu mailer occupied a conic of the room were high huge and I trong enough for the repose ol Lhnt and were of strangely carved oak On I from this ample livingroom extended inviting litu through low cclllnget l lean 103 each one Doubtless hull III a different luitury and l each provided with many tiny windows with deep casement l through which could be caught a glint of blossom aC spray of foliage or the llchened gray 01 nome ancient structure Hit whole n dream of sweet old nee centuries ok drc1e rooting I lo the very rocks ol the hills endless content and unbroken repose No wonder Is it that Ihe heart of the wanderer when coming upon scenes like this for the moment thrills will longing to end his nllgriinings and Llde I II cI1f for aye hern the bitter struggle of life may no more come within such winsome win-some storm defying wills Tnis r picture of i a single peasant home at ancient Ilowncss on bolway Is I one ol even tone with thousands of others from the I Scottish border down through the mountiln I dales and 1 passes to the grind lake district across Cumberland l and UcstmorcUnd past Morecambe Hay almost Ihe three Iune In lan cashlre Its peisint owner was n statesman That one word Is the key to his splendid self poise his simple strong nature and to the ample comlott and fixedness r his l t ironfon1 It Is true of them all These statesmen are peasants absolutely possessing the soil which they 1111 There is no tuft pulling held ducking or knee cringing among such as these m England I or any other country In the ancient feudal roln times I the barons were often In sore tress to repel the Scottish border Incursions In-cursions or lo make equally barbarous forays of their I own lu I provide retainers f tainers who would fight to the death for these barons as well as for Ihelr own mountiln side rock hewn cabins It was found l n II Iso thing lo parcel out the lands In tiny bits l to Hirelings and these rlllt fnl villein retainers were In lime enfranchised enfran-chised They were only bound lo I heir liege lands for military service I In defense When cud iltim passed away ho villein landowners remimeil freemen free-men and possessors l In fee uf the little estates hence statesmen the noblest peasantry of all Europe I and n wondrous Ihougli singularly unheeded xamplo to the remainder of llnliln in hi endlessly perplexing agrarun prub ems In 1 no other portion I of 1n land unless I olIIW lol fl It be In Die quaint old stone bullt villages among the Milvcrn and Colt weld Hills I his there II been BO little change as In this ngllsh Alpine region Hut two faint arteries of travel thread through It One Is I a railway from ancient Icnrlth to Wellington on the Irish Sea The other Is I the most Picturesque coach road In Ilrluln It eids from Keswick where the shrine uf Soutliey li lound lordly Helvellyn the mountain monarch ol I the region md mystic Uunmall liaise through irasmerc where DeQnlucy lived and Harttc Coleridge I and Wordsworth steep nude by side on put Ujdil Mount and imiinl old Ambtolde with its cherished memories ol Haryict Mir tineau Christopher North nnd Ur Arnold to mdcrniere and the little llonncss ol Westmoreland where the kindly face of Mrs hoot ta seems pressed against I every rose embowered windowpane So but a little walk through any mountain pass awe from 70 1 lIa Nlli these IIIU IOU g hfirna and you will come to the ancKiit stone built statesmen homes 1 and Inlllall same manner ol peasant mountain life as existed ixmndreds hundreds of years ago Wordsworth was born among this loll He engage Inglyspeiks hi this wise rl their moun lain tide habitations Hence build l ings which In Ihelr very form call lo mind the processes ol nature do thus clothed in part with a vegetable l garb appear to 11 be received into III the bosom of t the living principle of thtut1 as it acts and l exists among the woods mid fields You will seldom toil l n detached l and 1 Isolated habitation I rum a hill dozen to a score will croodle together Income In-come pockety dell huddle beneath the frowning height ol a dreary sciw nestle FJ rL 7 Jfe situ y rygh along the Mo ol loaming ghyll crouch closely together In the tingled verdure cf tome narrow pass or stand l luc a clump of mossy rocks beside tome shidowv upland lure Wherever found iiiiny of Hair peculiarities are common to all You will always find them he heath I the I shade 1 uf lofty sycamore trees and when the leaves 71 these 1 ate gone there It I nlw ivs near the cottage the green of the fir tree to gladden the eyes fit winter I do not believe there Is I n peisanta home in the entire lake district dis-trict where the rthnpling I t sound l oft near running water Is nut endlessly hoar l The ordhirds are luge and l bountiful The stout willed gardens ira splendidly kept and 1 fruitful There are always comfortable stone outbuildings for cattle walled l and covered l hop folds to withstand l the most Pitiless mountain tempests I Invariably a tidy I stone shed for the many hives of I bee which distil from the mount tin heath the sweetest hlnny In nglind and l In summer time every collage wall 1st I u mass ol lining rose liver > onu of those habitations l is a museum of nnclcn I f house utensils The oldest one known lo man the queen Is here all Implc siftlthe J I cr tI of meets the hand weaver and spume are here Ihe antique fulling boards were here and I have ns often found lln these habitations the intlhcr that moot ancient t of Gaelic and Celtic f drinking I ehiels as I have I come upon them 1 In i eeI id f 11 lel cabins the of the Hebrides or the went of Ireland l When folk have stood still so long and have so steadily fended all change studies they usually In their furnish I dally liven most customs Inlcrostiri oiu folklore and yet these people are singularly licking In any strongly mir ked plciuretqueness I I rldrr Ilia i hound In their unyielding tenacity to thee the-e amd actual ownership of Ihn soil their I rhWr and Integrity I and I their almost soddenness l of calm and repose They were never a bolsleroui royslermg folk and to this day Ike daiesutcn t f dalesmen of one valley may have no acQualntinrci with or knowledge of those toO tI o f another valley unless the huddled homes of Ihe liner hap ten lo Ho along llt II on1 1 en jI j Ieadtthg the mountain road leading to the nearest market town Partly accounting for this Is the unbroken custom of never hiving off People of the soma blood and funnily name occupy entire districts and 1 are sufficient unto themselves This occasions grotesque nomenclature of lenlificallon + One Is known as lock o I1 Rigg i another I Mylc of lleclc 1 nolher Harrow hack quarrelsome luab another Mtchln I quarrelsome Ned and still 1 another YlnIU mis I hlcvous Hilly These l am all likely lo hu heads of families and grave old l menThe men-The names came along with them from boyhood and every ono accepts lilt neighborhood designation as he does Is Increase of children or flocks and herd In dignified though prideful con entborne borne other distinctive ancient cus toms are still found In the remoter ills trlct The watching of the dead I almost Identical in manner with the Irish wake Is universal Courting Is I acihtiled by the household retlimg after putting out the I lights and leivmt the 1 font rol lovesick couple upon the lung settle of the lire room to their hearts content at which modern delicacy may stand aghast but this manner of matings proves sturdy and true honer I llrRt al Is furnish li heroic I feasts At n few of doe mountain towns nnln still stir iveswhen the maiden who wish to engage at service stand In I groups at the iirkct place but they will no longer lldkel V J rov gl f hold In their hands the wisp of straw which was the olden badge of servitude Un Shrove Tuesday the boys still erocloujly play Ikggirly Scot a gallle based on the foriij of the old 1 line boritocri Shaking bottle con alnlng a decoction licorice and water is I common with all children on May slay Kum winning or the Harvest lome festivity continue general Youthful pace eggers appear a fortnight fort-night before Hatter sometimes In rotcsque costumes nnd carol demands for colored I eg o which I are never reused re-used The smiths of the districts rl will not heat iron or strike nail on Good Friday In memory of the nails used In he Crucifixion and that beautiful old custom of rushbcaring or strewing he church with flowers on Its patron saintmliy survive only In this Idyllic 1 r ro and wholly I pastoral re Ion The lake ilUulct maidens are huge of ramc and fair of form and face splendid splen-did Joel Ucnces all brave almost to inwardness In their free fine spirit and l earless unconscious ways I think they are the most outspoken molds of l tI f mill undoubted virtue I ever knew Return ng one evening wlih astitesman and l several his family from a days labor at charcoal burning on Wesdale Fell I at which I hid assisted the statesman fuller noticing that his daughter and l Ill bell were chatting gayly together Jocularly leased II her hiletly Look not o Ihykscl Hetty or tliool ga sony vvl th I gradlcy wrltln 1 maul HoMt noise on tire ladder oil elfhe answered him quickly Then she stepped 1 squarely l In the mountain thI If ru rlnnWI path betide mo and looking me through and through with her honest ayes of JgmJ1 Jg SIf1teslau gray said almost solemnly rd tak > i on one him os t stuns ladder If t ha ni ither1 1 told her quickly as I could and rothltl fy 1IUI Yn nldl rather bluntly I am afraid I that 1 I was tot In a position lo carry so much of value out of the lake country The fadder thought all a great go and urgllngly rallied l her with He I ga Ih a lair sneck posted Hettyl literally I the nefkr IIr rllto i lIt Moor drink I ol one turned from ones door Ihe cold shoul ler Hut the girl just I trudged along mrisuredly and unabashed un-abashed the meonwhlle say rnt quietly I and more lo herself than to 119 Awecl IIWCCI I lair anrcr he sell Hut nnY s ml clean Ned 1 o Kcslck 1 Perhaps niter I all t11J I Is not what lkhJI seems 1 Wbal GOIIs heft out wu cannot v put in tcn t gradley wrltln mini An Slit Igrndlor to allvwc tills comforting reflection to all ue came Into the pleasant dale below and l to Ihe welcomeivenlng meal the Lest of Mends together UXJAK U I WAkrmV |