Literary Associations of the English Lakes (Volume 1); Cumberland, Keswick and Southey's Country

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1901. Excerpt: ... Hall went down in pitiable grief with the funeral procession, refused to leave the grave, and died of a broken heart upon it, three days after. Professor Wilson of Elleray had his friend, Billy Balmer by surname; Southey had his friend Billy also, for general serving-man. A character was this Willy, who made up for domestic infelicities by such affection as the children of Greta Hall could bestow; for Willy had a wife of whom he always spoke with awe as being 'moonstruck, ' because he noticed that her temper grew worse at the full of the moon, and he used to give Southey a terrible account of a battle royal he had had with this queer spouse, which lasted three whole days and three whole nights. Then there was James Lawson, the carpenter, whose white painted tombstone is the first one sees as one enters the Crosthwaite Churchyard; handy James, replaced afterwards by Glover, the factotum and joiner. Memorable man that Lawson for his power of creation, and of making something out of nothing, at least in little Derwent Coleridge's eyes; for Derwent once asked by his father, Who made you? replied, James Lawson, the carpenter, father; and to the question, And what did he make you of? he answered, The stuff he makes wood of, he sawed me off, and I did not like it. Then down street was Dan the Clogger, who clogged the whole tribe at Greta Hall, and probably made that pair of clogs for Southey still preserved in the Keswick Museum. But the most remarkable member of the household was Moses or Job, the little David Hartley: O! blessed vision, happy child, Thou art so exquisitely wild!1 He was then seven years old, for he was born on Sept. 19, 1796, and his delight was to get his father to talk metaphysics to him. Few men said Southey, understand him so p...