broken off by some of the army, and ten years afterwards the remainder was secretly taken down by some mischievous people in the night. "So now," says Lady Anne Clifford, in her Diary, "there is no part thereof remaining, the tree itself being so decayed, and the bark of it so peeled off, that it cannot last long; whereby we may see time brings to forgetfulness many memorable things in this world, be they ever so carefully preserved-for this tree, with the hart's horn in it, was a thing of much note in these parts." In another part of the same forest (which, like many other forests in this country, as Skiddaw Forest, Inglewood Forest, &c., has no other trace of what it has been but the name) there stood a few years ago three enormous Oak-trees, known by the name of the Three Brothers. One of them measured thirteen yards in girth. Two miles below Brougham Castle, on the precipitous banks of the Eamont, are two excavations in the rock, called Giant's Caves, or Isis Parlis. One is very large, and contains marks of having been inhabited. There are traces of a door and window; and a strong column has marks of iron grating upon it. The approach to these caves is difficult. They are said to have been the abode of a giant called Isis. A short distance on the Westmorland side of Eamont Bridge, in a field on the west of the road, about a mile and a half from Penrith, is another curious relic of antiquity, King Arthur's Round Table,* a circular area above twenty yards in diameter, surrounded by a fosse and mound; with two approaches opposite each other conducting to the area. Formerly there was another circle of earth, exactly 400 feet distant from that now in ex *"He pass'd red Penrith's Table Round, Left Mayborough's mound, and stones of power, And traced the Eamont's winding way, Till Ulfo's Lake beneath him lay." Bridal of Triermain. istence. It is difficult to surmise the use to which these plots of ground were applied. They were evidently much too small for tilting, but possibly they might be the arena upon which contests of corporeal strength were exhibited. Higher up the Eamont, on a gentle eminence, is a place called MAYBOROUGH, about which a hundred differing conjectures have been formed. It is an area of nearly a hundred yards in diameter, surrounded by a substantial mound, composed of pebble-stones, elevated several feet, and thinly clothed with trees and shrubs. The entrance, which is about twelve yards in width, is placed on the east. Near the centre of the area is a large block of unhewn stone, eleven feet high, and twenty-five feet in girth. Formerly there were three similar columns with the one remaining, which formed a square, and four stood at the entrance, namely, one at each exterior, and one at each interior corner of the barrier. Six miles north-east of Penrith, on the summit of an eminence near Little Salkeld, are the finest relics of antiquity in this vicinity, called, Long Meg and her Daughters. They consist of a circle, 350 yards in circumference, formed of sixty-seven stones, some of them ten feet high. Seventeen paces from the southern side of the circle stands Long Meg—a square unhewn column of red freestone, fifteen feet in circumference, and eighteen feet high. The poet Wordsworth has described in a sonnet the feelings excited by coming unexpectedly upon these remains, which, in his opinion, exceeded in singularity and dignity of appearance, any other relic of the dark ages he had seen except Stone Henge "A weight of awe, not easy to be borne, - From the dread bosom of the unknown past, When first I saw that family forlorn. Speak Thou, whose massy strength and stature scorn The power of years-pre-eminent, and placed Apart, to overlook the circle vast Speak, Giant-mother! tell it to the Morn While she dispels the cumbrous shades of Night; Let the Moon hear, emerging from a cloud; At whose behest uprose on British ground In former days similar remains were in much greater abundance. In 1725, when Dr. Stukeley made his "Iter Boreale," there were many cairns, remnants of circles, and lines of stones scattered about the country, which have since disappeared. These, the peasantry imagined, had been brought together by the famous wizard, Michael Scott. They had a tradition that a giant, named Tarquin lived at Brougham Castle until slain by Sir Lancelot de Lake, one of King Arthur's Knights. "But now the whole Round Table is dissolved It is extremely probable that this district was part of, or closely adjoined that enormous wood, which in bygone ages bore the name of the Caledonian Forest. Ariosto (Orl. Fur. c. IV.) sends the Paladin Rinaldo to wander in search of adventure among its antique shady oaks, where the sound of sword against sword was often heard; he tells his reader of the renowned Knights errant who roamed there; and of the great exploits that had been achieved in it by Arthur, Lancelot, Tristram, and other famous Knights of the Round Table, of whose numerous feats there were monuments and pompous trophies still remaining. Restano ancor di piu d'una lor prova Li monumenti e li trofei pomposi. Five miles west-south-west of Penrith, near the village of Dacre, are the remains of DACRE CASTLE, which, by a slight detour, may be visited on the way to Ulleswater. This fortress, where the fierce barons of former years lived with their retainers in feudal magnificence, is now occupied as a farm-house. Sic transit gloria mundi. The moat has been drained, and filled up, the outworks demolished, and little left standing to tell of former grandeur, except four square embattled towers with intermediate buildings. The illustrious barons who resided here, are said to have derived their name from the exploits of one of the family at the siege of Acre (d'Acre) in the Holy Land, under Richard Cœur de Lion. The scallop shell on their shield may seem to countenance this tradition. Sir Walter Scott, in the "Lay of the Last Minstrel," speaks of the crest "That swept the shores of Judah's sea And waved in gales of Galilee." And describes Lord Dacre's bill-men "With kirtles white, and crosses red, Array'd beneath the banner tall, That stream'd o'er Acre's conquer'd wall." On the family becoming divided, the elder branch, styled Lord Dacres of the South, remained here, and are ancestors to the present Lord Dacre; the younger settling at Naworth, were termed Dacres of the North, and were barons of Gilsland and Greystock, and ancestors of the Earl of Carlisle. Their name was once terrible on the Marches, where several of the clan held offices of high trust under the English sovereigns. Malmesbury states, that at a congress held at Dacre, King Athelstane received homage from the kings of Scotland and Cumberland, after a bloody conflict, in which the Scottish king's son was slain. That engage It is ment is celebrated in a Saxon ode still extant. remarkable that there is a room in the Castle called to this day "the room of the three kings." An account of the edifice, written in 1688, is thus quaintly worded :— "Dacker Castle stands alone, and no more house about it, and I protest looks very sorrowful for the loss of its founders in that huge battle of Towton field; and that total eclipse of the great Lord Dacres in that grand rebellion with Lords Northumberland and Westmorland, in Queen Elizabeth's time, and in the North called Dacre's Raide." Bede mentions a monastery that stood I at this place, the stones of which afterwards served to build the church. In this edifice there is a recumbent figure of stone, in the habiliments of a knight, supposed to represent one of the early Lord Dacres. The churchyard contains four curious monumental stones, five feet in height. They are cut into the rude figures of bears sitting on their haunches, and grasping an upright pillar or ragged staff. Five miles north-west of Penrith are the remains of a Roman station, respecting the name of which antiquarians have an irreconcilable quarrel;-one declaring in favour of Petreia, another asserting that Brementenracum is its name; whilst a third removes that station some miles distant, and places Voreda here. A military road, twenty-one feet broad, led from the Roman Wall to this station, the vestiges of which are yet very distinct. The fort was a parallelogram, being one hundred and thirtytwo yards by one hundred and twenty, enclosing an area of three acres. Its situation was about two hundred yards to the east of the river Peterill, and was such as to command the whole vale. A considerable number of urns and stones, bearing inscriptions, have been dug up at this place, and amongst the "Reliquiæ Trottcosienses, or Gabions of Jonathan Oldbuck," to be seen at that 66 romance in stone and lime," Abbotsford, are some Roman or Colonial heads, which were found at Old Penrith. Let us now leave these wrecks of time for such of the modern habitations of the nobility and gentry as deserve particular notice. BROUGHAM HALL, an old and picturesque building, is the seat of Henry, Lord Brougham and Vaux. It will be visited with interest, as the patrimonial inheritance and occasional residence of one who, at least, ranks amongst the greatest of English orators. It stands upon an eminence near the river Lowther, not far from the ruins of Brougham Castle, commanding extensive views of the surrounding country, the mountains beyond Ulleswater closing the distance. From its situation and |