bee or a beautiful waterfall; in each and all of these is enough to wake our wonder and call forth our praise. In one of my visits to Stock Gill Force, when the shadows of evening prevailed, as I walked slowly through the wood, a figure glided behind me, and soon after it came up to me pronouncing my name. This much astonished me, but the figure proved to be friend from a distance who had seen me enter the wood, and therefore knew me in the gloom."

a

"That was enough to astonish you."

"I did not fail to visit Bowness, a very pleasant village about midway between Kendal and Ambleside, for, to say nothing of its own attractions, it lies in a convenient situation for any one wishing to make excursions either on the water or the land. In the church at Bowness is a finely painted chancel window, once belonging to Furness Abbey.

'All garlanded with carven imageries,

And diamonded with panes of quaint device.'

And at a short distance from the village is Storr's Hall, at which mansion Canning, the celebrated statesman, used to visit. One of his visits, when Wordsworth, Southey, Scott, and professor Wilson were present, has been thus described by Lockhart :

666

"A large company had been assembled at Mr. Bolton's seat in honour of the minister: it included Mr. Wordsworth and Mr. Southey. It has not, I suppose, often happened to a plain English merchant, wholly the architect of his own fortunes, to entertain at one time

a party embracing so many illustrious names. He was proud of his guests: they respected him, and honoured and loved each other; and it would have been difficult to say which star in the constellation shone with the brightest or the softest light. There was 'high discourse,' intermingled with as gay flashings of courtly wit as ever Canning displayed, and a plentiful allowance on all sides of those airy transient pleasantries in which the fancy of poets, however wise and grave, delights to run riot, when they are sure not to be misunderstood. There were beautiful and accomplished women to adorn and enjoy this circle. The weather was as Elysian as the scenery. There were brilliant cavalcades through the woods in the mornings, and delicious boatings on the lake by moonlight; and the last day, professor Wilson, the Admiral of the Lake,' as Canning called him, presided over one of the most splendid regattas that ever enlivened Windermere. Perhaps there were not fewer than fifty barges following in the professor's radiant procession, when it paused at the point of Storrs to admit into the place of honour the vessel that carried kind and happy Mr. Bolton and his guests. The three bards of the lakes led the cheers that hailed Scott and Canning; and music, and sunshine, flags, streamers, and gay dresses, the merry hum of voices, and the rapid splashing of innumerable oars, made up a dazzling mixture of sensations as the flotilla wound its way among the richly-foliaged islands, and along bays and promontories peopled with enthusiastic spectators.""

"That is a very spirited description. I can fancy that I see the barges and the company on the lake now. Where is Furness Abbey? You said that the painted window in the church came from Furness Abbey ?"

"I did. The ruins of Furness Abbey stand in a narrow dell, watered by a crystal stream, at a distance of about six or seven miles from Ulverston.

'I do love these ancient ruins ;

We never tread upon them, but we set
Our foot upon some reverend history.'

"The monks of this abbey came originally from the monastery of Savigny, in Normandy, which belonged to the order of the Benedictines; but they changed the grey robes of the Benedictines for the white dress of the Cistercian order. The wealth of the abbey was enormous, and the abbot had great power, his tenants taking an oath of fealty and homage to bear true allegiance to him against all men except the king.' He had power in his criminal courts over life and death. He had control over the military, and lords were bound at his summons to send him a supply of armed men.

"The ruins of Gleaston Castle, consisting of three towers and strong walls, are about two miles from the ruins of Furness Abbey; and at about ten miles, as the crow flies, in an opposite direction from the abbey, is the solitary mountain Black Comb, the top of which, according to the opinion of colonel Mudge, a surveyor of great experience, commands the most extensive view

in Britain. The Welsh mountains, the Isle of Man, and some say Ireland, may be seen from Black Comb.

'Close by the sea, lone sentinel,

Black Comb his forward station keeps ;
He breaks the sea's tumultuous swell,
And ponders o'er the level deeps.

'He listens to the bugle-horn,

Where Eskdale's lovely valley bends;
Eyes Walney's early fields of corn;

Sea-birds to Holker's woods he sends." "

"What is the meaning of Black Comb? A cock's comb is his crest. Does it mean that the mountain is black at the top?"

"That is no bad attempt to explain it, Paul, though the guess is not quite right. You may, perhaps, remember that the honeycomb of the bee is full of cavities or holes; now a comb when applied to a mountainous country, means a hollow in the side of a hill, though sometimes the word refers to small valleys.

"While I was at Ambleside and Bowness I went to the Station, which is a pleasure-house behind the Ferry Inn. From this place you have a noble view of Windermere, and many of the heights around. A sad accident once happened at the ferry."

"What was it? Please to tell me."

"Many years ago, a marriage took place between a lady of the family of Sawrey of Sawrey, and a rich yeoman who then lived near Bowness. According to the Westmoreland custom, a number of friends attended the new-married couple on their way from Hawkshead

to Bowness. In crossing the ferry, the boat, containing the whole party, was swamped, and not fewer than fifty persons lost their lives. How suddenly was their mirth turned into mourning!

'No strong and friendly arm at hand to save :

Both bride and bridegroom found a watery grave.'”

"That was a sad thing! Fifty people, and the bride and bridegroom !"

"Yes; in the midst of life we are, indeed, in death! Among the islands on Windermere are two on which lilies of the valley grow abundantly. The names of the others are Rough Holm, (holm is an island,) Lady Holm, Hen Holm, House Holm, Thompson's Holm, Curwens, or Belle Isle, Berkshire Island, Ling Holm, Grass Holm, and Silver Holm. There is a very curious anecdote that I must relate to you about Belle Isle."

"That is right. I shall like to hear it very much." "This island was formerly the property and residence of the Philipsons, an ancient Westmoreland family, who were also owners of Calgarth. During the civil war between Charles I. and the parliament, there were two brothers, both of whom had espoused the royal cause. The elder, to whom the island belonged, was a colonel, and the younger a major in the royal army. The latter was a man of high and adventurous courage; and from some of his desperate exploits had acquired amongst the parliamentarians the appellation of Robin the Devil. It happened when the king's death had extinguished for a time the ardour of the cavaliers, that a certain colonel