From the summit of WANSFELL PIKE, (1590 feet in height,) which stands on the east, the mountains have a highly imposing appearance, and thence may be seen the whole expanse of Windermere, with its islands; but on account of the altitude of the spectator, the view is not so fine as that from another part of the Pike, called Troutbeck Hundreds, a little to the south.

The village of RYDAL, supposed to be a contraction of Rothay-Dale, is placed in a narrow gorge, formed by the advance of Loughrigg fell and Rydal Knab, at the lower extremity of Rydal Mere, one mile and a quarter from Ambleside. Here, in the midst of a park containing great numbers of noble forest trees,* stands Rydal Hall, the seat of Lady le Fleming. The celebrated falls are within the park, and strangers desirous to view them, must take a conductor from one of the cottages near the Hall gates. The fall below the house is beheld from the window of an old summer house. Amongst the juvenile poems of Words

worth there is a sketch of this cascade.

"While thick above the rill the branches close,

In rocky basin its wild waves repose,
Inverted shrubs, and moss of gloomy green,

Cling from the rocks with pale wood-weeds between ;
Save that aloft the subtle sunbeams shine

On wither'd briars, that o'er the crags recline,

Sole light admitted there, a small cascade

Illumes with sparkling foam the impervious shade;
Beyond, along the vista of the brook,

Where antique roots its bristling course o'erlook,
The eye reposes on a secret bridge,

Half grey, half shagg'd with ivy to its ridge."

The chapel, from its prominent position, arrests the stranger's notice the moment he arrives at the village. It was erected by Lady le Fleming in 1824, at

her own expense.

Rydal Mount, the dwelling of the great philosophic poet of the age, stands on a projection of the hill called Knab Scar, and is approached by the road leading to the Hall. It is, as Mrs Hemans in one of her letters describes it," a lovely cottage-like building, almost hidden by a profusion of roses and ivy." The grounds, laid out in a great measure by the hands of the poet himself, though but of circumscribed dimensions, are so artfully, whilst seeming to be so artlessly planned, as to appear of considerable extent. From a grassy mound in front, “ commanding a view always so rich, and sometimes so brightly solemn, that one can well imagine its influence traceable in many of the poet's writings, you catch a gleam of Windermere over the grove tops,-close at hand

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"The sylvan, or say rather the forest scenery of Rydal Park, was, in the memory of living men, magnificent, and it still contains a treasure of old trees. By all means wander away into those old woods, and lose yourselves for an hour or two among the cooing of cushats, and the shrill shriek of startled blackbirds, and the rustle of the harmless glow-worm among the last year's red beech leaves. No very great harm should you even fall asleep under the shadow of an oak, while the magpie chatters at safe distance, and the more innocent squirrel peeps down upon you from a bough of the canopy, and then hoisting his tail, glides into the obscurity of the loftiest umbrage." "PROFESSOR WILSON.

are Rydal Hall, and its ancient woods,-right opposite the Loughrigg Fells, ferny, rocky, and sylvan, and to the right Rydal Mere, scarcely seen through embowering trees, whilst just below, the chapel lifts up its little tower."

The walk to Rydal, on the banks of the Rothay, under Loughrigg Fell, is extremely delightful. Though more circuitous than the highway, it presents finer combinations of scenery. The tourist, intending to take this round, should pursue the road to Clappersgate for half a mile to Rothay Bridge, and having crossed the bridge, enter the first gate on the right. The road leads alongside the river, passing many handsome villas, to Pelter Bridge, 24 miles. Rydal Hall, with its park, and Rydal Mount, will be frequently in sight. Behind, Ambleside, backed by Wansfell, has a picturesque appearance. On the right are the heights of Fairfield and Kirkstone. By crossing the bridge, the Keswick road will be gained, and the tourist can then either return to Ambleside, or proceed to Rydal, which is 300 or 400 yards further. Those who are fond of long walks ought to abstain from crossing the bridge, but, keeping to the left, pursue the road behind the farm house, called Coat How, which leads along the south-west shore of Rydal Mere. This mere being passed, the road ascends the hill side steeply for some time, until it reaches a splendid terrace, overlooking Grasmere Lake, with it single islet, and then, climbing again, joins on Red Bank the Grasmere, and Langdale road.* Here the tourist has the choice of returning to Ambleside by Loughrigg Tarn and Clappersgate, or proceeding to Grasmere village, in doing which he will pass in succession Tail End, the Wyke, and the Cottage. The village is a sweet little place, at the head of the lake, 4 miles from Pelter Bridge, and 3 by the nearest road from Ambleside. The church is a neat structure, dedicated to St Oswald. The Red Lion is the only inn in the village, for "the famous Swan" of Wordsworth is a mile distant, on the Keswick road. Allan Bank, the residence of Thomas Dawson, Esq., stands on a platform of ground behind the village. This house was, for some time, the abode of Wordsworth. The house, however, in which he lived for many years,

* This is by far the best station for viewing the Lake and Vale of Grasmere. Probably it was this very view that called from Mrs Hemans her sonnet entitled

A REMEMBRANCE OF GRASMERE.

"O vale and lake, within your mountain urn,
Smiling so tranquilly, and set so deep!
Oft doth your dreamy loveliness return,
Colouring the tender shadows of my sleep
With light Elysian ;--for the hues that steep
Your shores in melting lustre, seem to float
On golden clouds from spirit-lands remote
Isles of the blest ;-and in our memory keep
Their place with holiest harmonies. Fair scene
Most loved by evening and her dewy star!
Oh! ne'er may man, with touch unhallow'd, jar
The perfect music of the charm serene!

Still, still unchanged, may one sweet region wear

Smiles that subdue the soul to love, and tears, and prayer!"

and in which he composed many of his most beautiful pieces, is at Grasmere Town End. The singularly shaped hill, called Helm Crag, is conspicuously visible from Grasmere. Its apex exhibits so irregular an outline, as to have given rise to numberless whimsical comparisons. Gray compares it to a gigantic building demolished, and the stones which composed it flung across in wild confusion. And Wordsworth speaks of

"The ancient Woman seated on Helm Crag."

The narrow valley of Fasedale, a dependency of Grasmere, lying in a recess between Helm Crag and Silver How, deserves a visit for its picturesque and secluded beauty.

"The spot was made by nature for herself."

It contains a large tarn, and a small cascade, called Sour Milk Gill. The melancholy fate of John and Sarah Green, who lived in this vale, is now pretty generally known through Mr De Quincey, who published an account of it in Tait's Magazine for September 1839.

About a mile from Grasmere, on an eminence, over which the old road to Ambleside passes, and exactly opposite to the middle of the lake, is the Wishing Gate. It has been so called, time out of mind, from a belief that wishes formed or indulged there have a favourable issue. Apart from any adventitious interest, the gate is an excellent station for viewing the lake.

A pleasing excursion, of ten miles, into the retired side-valley of TROUTBECK, may be conveniently taken from Ambleside. As the latter part of the route is practicable for horsemen and pedestrians only, those who take conveyances will be compelled to return by the road they went, as soon as they arrive at the head of Troutbeck, unless they proceed by way of Kirkstone to Patterdale. The tourist must pursue the Kendal road for two miles, and take the first road on the left when he has passed Low Wood Inn. From the eminences of this road, many exquisite views of Windermere are obtained; and, perhaps, the finest view of the lake that can be had from any station, is that from the highest part of it. The mountains in the west present an admirable outline, and the whole length of the lake stretches out before the spectator,

There is

* The whole valley of Grasmere, in fact, teems with memorials of Wordsworth. scarcely a crag, a knoll, or a rill, which he has not embalmed in verse. To this cottage at Town End, which is now partially hidden from those on the highway, by the intervention of some later built cottages, Wordsworth brought his bride in 1802. Previous to his departure to fetch her, he composed his Farewell, in which these lines occur,—

"Farewell, thou little nook of mountain ground,
Thou rocky corner in the lowest stair

Of that magnificent Temple, which doth bound

One side of our whole vale with grandeur rare;
Sweet garden-orchard, eminently fair,

The loveliest spot that man hath ever found!"