tracking the stream from Floutern Tarn, which comes down behind Melbreak. From Scale Hill the tourist may proceed to the town of Cockermouth, the birthplace of the poet Wordsworth, which is seven miles distant-visit Ennerdale Water by way of Lamplugh-or return to Keswick by the vale of Lorton, a distance of twelve miles. This vale, watered by the Cocker, a stream which, issuing from Crummock Lake, joins the Derwent at Cockermouth, affords many charming views. Four miles from Scale Hill the Keswick and Cockermouth road is entered, near the Yewtree which Wordsworth has celebrated. "There is a Yew-tree, pride of Lorton Vale. To Scotland's heaths; or those that crossed the sea, Perhaps at earlier Cressy or Poictiers. Of vast circumference and gloom profound, * There are some fine remains of the yew extant in the lake country, witness the Lorton, Borrowdale, and Patterdale Trees, noticed in this volume. Some of the limestone escarpments have numbers climbing up their sides; but, in consequence of their exposed situation, they are but poor specimens of a tree which, when enormous bulk is joined, as sometimes happens, to the venerableness of antiquity, presents one of the most striking objects in the vegetable creation. At Ankerwyke House, near Staines, is a yew, older than the meeting of the English Barons at Runnymede, with branches overshadowing a circle of 207 feet in circumference. The yews at Fountain Abbey are more than 1200 years old. Gilpin refers to a tree near Taymouth, Perthshire, fifty-six feet and a-half in circumference; and Oldys, in his Diary, mentions a tree in Tankersley Park, called Talbot's Yew, within the trunk of which a man on horseback might turn about. Since the introduction of fire-arms, the cultivation of the yew has been altogether neglected: but when we consider that it furnished our ancestors with their most valued weapons, and that its connexion in this way with Agincourt, with Cressy, and other well-fought fields, is a noticeable and brilliant fact in our history, some little attention should, we think, be directed to its encouragement, although it has long ceased to be a useful tree. It com The traveller now begins the long and steep ascent of Whinlater, from the summit of which the spectator has a noble combination of objects before him, prehending Derwentwater, Bassenthwaite Water, Skiddaw, and Keswick Vale. The distance between Scale Hill and Keswick may be shortened by almost two miles, if the road under Whiteside and Swinside be taken. The first part of this road forms a terrace, from which views of Lorton Vale, of the neighbouring hills, and extending even to the Scotch mountains, may be obtained. In descending into the vale of Keswick, Skiddaw is seen in front, and Lord's Seat on the left. After a while, Bassenthwaite Water in one direction, and Helvellyn in another, come into view. If the tourist choose, he may pay a visit to WAST WATER, from Keswick, instead of from Whitehaven. The road lying through Borrowdale, and over the splendid pass of Sty Head, is described in No. VIII. of the ITINERARY, and the lake itself at page 97. WHITEHAVEN. [Inns:-Black Lion; Golden Lion.] WHITEHAVEN is a market town and seaport, seated at the upper end of a small creek on the west coast, in the county of Cumberland, near the fine cliffs called Scilly Bank, in the parish of St. Bees, and contains about 15,000 inhabitants. This town has advanced rapidly from insignificance to its present state of prosperity, for in the year 1566 six fisherman's huts were all that bore is to be feared that its extinction, except as a garden curiosity, will otherwise soon be complete. "The warlike Yew, with which, more than the lance, the name of Whitehaven. This sudden progress in the scale of importance is to be attributed in a great measure to the munificence of the Lowther family, who, having large estates around the town, and valuable possessions in coal underneath it, have liberally come forward on all occasions, when opportunities have occurred, to promote its prosperity. The chief manufactures are coarse linens, and articles connected with the fitting up of vessels; shipbuilding is also carried on to a considerable extent. The port is the second in the county, there being upwards of 200 vessels belonging to it trading with the seaports of Great Britain, and with America, the West Indies, and the Baltic, as well as almost an equal number engaged in the coal trade; large quantities of iron and lead ore, grain, and lime, are exported. The harbour is spacious and commodious, having seven piers extending into the sea in different directions, and affording ample security for vessels lying within. At the entrance of the har bour there are two light-houses, and a third is situate on the promontory of St. Bees Head, three miles to the south-west. A machine, called the patent slip, erected by Lord Lonsdale, into which vessels are drawn with ease and expedition when repairs are required, deserves a visit. The bay and harbour are defended by batteries, formerly consisting of upwards of a hundred guns, but lately suffered to fall into decay. These batteries received extensive additions after the alarm caused by the descent of the notorious Paul Jones in 1778. This desperado, who was a native of Galloway, and had served his apprenticeship in Whitehaven, landed here with thirty armed men, the crew of an American privateer which had been equipped at Nantes for this expedition. The success of the enterprise was, however, frustrated by one of the company, through whom the inhabitants were placed on the alert. The only damage they succeeded in doing was the setting fire to three ships, one of which was burnt. They were obliged to make a precipitate retreat. and having spiked the guns of the battery, they escaped unhurt to the coast of Scotland, where they plundered the house of the Earl of Selkirk. Since 1803 a life-boat has been stationed here, and it has been the means of saving many lives. The streets of the town have a neat appearance, being straight as well as wide, and intersecting each other at right angles. A rivulet called the Poe runs underneath the town into the harbour. There are three churches of the Establishment-St. Nicholas, erected in 1693, Trinity, in 1715, and St. James, in 1752; there are also many dissenting places of worship. The schools are numerous, educating more than 1700 children, nearly 500 of whom are taught at the National School. The Theatre in Roper Street, erected in 1769, has a handsome appearance. The Workhouse is a large building in Scotch Street. The Harbour Office, in which the affairs of the harbour, docks, and customs, are transacted, is a large structure on the West Strand. The Public Office, containing a police office, newsroom, &c., stands in Lowther Street. Two newspapers are published weekly, the Cumberland Pacquet, and the Whitehaven Herald, both of which are largely circulated through the county. The town now enjoys the privilege of returning a member to Parliament. The coal mines are the principal source of wealth at Whitehaven. They, are, perhaps, the most extraordinary in the world, lying underneath the town, and extending a considerable distance under the bed of the sea. They are 320 yards in depth, and such vast quantities of coal have been excavated from them as to have given them the appearance of a subterranean city. In times of pressing demand, 1500 tons are frequently taken to the shore for exportation each day. In the early part of 1791, the ground underneath a portion of the town gave way, and eighteen houses were in consequence injured, but the occupiers fortunately escaped unhurt. The sea has sometimes burst into the mines, causing an immense destruction of life and property; the miners are also much annoyed with fire-damp and choke-damp. There are many short railways to convey the coal to the shore, and steam-engines of great power are in continual operation for the purpose of carrying off the superfluous water. The mines have five principal entrances, called Bearmouths, three on the south side and two on the north, by all of which horses can descend. Whitehaven is in direct communication with Liverpool, Belfast, Dublin, and Douglas, in the Isle of Man, by the packets of the Steam Navigation Company. A packet sails and returns three times a-week to and from Liverpool; and as this mode of reaching Whitehaven is much more economical than the inland one, some persons avail themselves of it for the purpose of arriving at the lake country. Information relative to the fares and times of sailing will be best ascertained by referring to Bradshaw's Guide. Railway trains leave Whitehaven several times daily for Maryport in connexion with the Maryport and Carlisle Railway, and for St. Bees and Ravenglass by the Furness Junction Railway. The principal residences in the neighbourhood of Whitehaven are, Whitehaven Castle, the seat of the Earl of Lonsdale, surrounded by fine grounds, on the south-east of the town; Hensingham House (Henry Jefferson, Esq.), one mile south; Summer Grove (Major Spedding), two miles south; Keekle Grove (Mrs. Perry), three miles south; Linethwaite (George Harrison, Esq), three miles south; Spring Field (Mrs. Jefferson), four miles south; Gill Foot (Thomas Hartley, Esq.), five miles south; Moresby Hall (Miss Tate), two miles north, built after the design of Inigo Jones. EXCURSIONS FROM WHITEHAVEN may be made to St. Bees, to Ennerdale Lake, and to Wast Water. ST. BEES. The village which gives its name to the parish of St. Bees, in which parish Whitehaven is situate, lies in a narrow valley near the shore, four miles to the south of Whitehaven. Its appellation is said to be derived from St. Bega, an Irish virgin and saint, who lived here in |