r of sand thrown up by the winds on this
tempestuous coast, enters the Irish Sea. The vale of Buttermere, with
the lake and village of that name, and Crummock-water, beyond, next
present themselves. We will follow the main stream, the Coker, through
the fertile and beautiful vale of Lorton, till it is lost in the
Derwent, below the noble ruins of Cockermouth Castle. Lastly,
Borrowdale, of which the vale of Keswick is only a continuation,
stretching due north, brings us to a point nearly opposite to the vale
of Winandermere with which we began. From this it will appear, that the
image of a wheel, thus far exact, is little more than one half complete;
but the deficiency on the eastern side may be supplied by the vales of
Wytheburn, Ulswater, Hawswater, and the vale of Grasmere and Rydal; none
of these, however, run up to the central point between Great Gavel and
Scawfell. From this, hitherto our central point, take a flight of not
more than four or five miles eastward to the ridge of Helvellyn, and you
will look down upon Wytheburn and St. John's Vale, which are a branch of
the vale of Keswick; upon Ulswater, stretching due east:--and not far
beyond to the south-east (though from this point not visible) lie the
vale and lake of Hawswater; and lastly, the vale of Grasmere, Rydal, and
Ambleside, brings you back to Winandermere, thus completing, though on
the eastern side in a somewhat irregular manner, the representative
figure of the wheel.

[50] Anciently spelt Langden, and so called by the old inhabitants to
this day--_dean_, from which the latter part of the word is derived,
being in many parts of England a name for a valley.

Such, concisely given, is the general topographical view of the country
of the Lakes in the north of England; and it may be observed, that, from
the circumference to the centre, that is, from the sea or plain country
to the mountain stations specified, there is--in the several ridges that
enclose these vales, and divide them from each other, I mean in the
forms and surfaces, first of the swelling grounds, next of the hills and
rocks, and lastly of the mountains--an ascent of almost regular
gradation, from elegance and richness, to their highest point of
grandeur and sublimity. It follows therefore from this, first, that
these rocks, hills, and mountains, must present themselves to view in
stages rising above each other, the mountains clustering together
towards the central point; and next, that a