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COUNTY OF WESTMORELAND. Journey from Brougham to Rear Cross; through Appleby.

THE village of BROUGHAM is situated at the nor thern extremity of the county, on the military way to Carlisle, where that way crosses the river Eimot, it is generally believed to be the Roman station Brocovum, in which the company of the Defensores were quartered. Though time has reduced this ancient city to an inconsiderable village, yet it has preserved the Roman name almost entire; and here' have been found several coins, altars, and other testimonies of its splendour and antiquity.

To the north of the village are the venerable ruins of Brougham Castle, which appears from its ancient remains to have been of Norman architecture, but history has not recorded its builder, nor handed down to us the time when it was erected. It is situated on the banks of the river Eimot, and its remains shew that it was once a strong, extensive, and beautiful edifice; but we shall extract the following agreeable description of this castle as given by a late writer.

"We quitted (says our author) the high-road in order to pass by Brougham Castle, a spacious ruin, on the banks of the river Yeoman. That we might enjoy the prospect to advantage we crossed over the river, and made a sweep round the mill, which stands almost opposite to Brougham, from whence a view opened upon us delightfully.

"The mill, with its streams, lay on the foreground to the left;-a beautiful and shining canal, formed by the river Yeoman, margined with shrubs, laid spreading to the right;-in front, the streams which fell over the weir made a foaming cascade ;-immediately on the opposite brinks of the channel arises Brougham Castle;-three square towers projecting,

B 3

but

but yet connected with the building, form the front; -from thence, on either side, a little wing falls back some paces; to the north-east a thick grove of planes and ashes block up the passage, and the gateway ;to the south-west the walls stretch out to a considerable distance along a fine grassy plain of pastureground, terminated by a tower, one of the out-posts of the castle. In the centre of the building arises a lofty square tower, frowning in Gothic strength and gloomy pomp. The shattered turrets which had formed the angles, and the hanging gallery which had communicated with each, were grown with shrubs and waving brambles. The sunbeams, which struck each gasping loup, and bending window, discovered the inward devastation and ruin; and touched the whole with admirable colouring and beauty. To grace the landscape, fine groups of cattle were dispersed on the pasture; and through the tufts of ash-trees, which were irregularly dispersed on the back ground, distant mountains were seen skirting the horizon.

"The lower apartment in the principal tower is still remaining entire; being covered with a vaulted roof of stone, consisting of eight arches, which, as they spring from the side walls, are supported and terminate on a pillar in the centre. The apartments mentioned to have been in Bowes Castle was assuredly of the same architecture; appears from the remains of the groins, stili projecting from the walls there, together with part of the elevation of the centre pillar.'

Brougham was the lordship and castle of the Viponts, included in the barony of Appleby and Burgh, given to Robert de Vipont by King John, in the fourth year of his reign; from whose family, after a few descents, it passed by the heir-general to that of the Cliffords; and they enjoyed it for several generations. For through Brougham, and divers of their estates, (says Mr. Gough) occur as in the pos

session

session of Guy Beauchamp, earl of Warwick, and others, about the 7th of Edward the Second, yet they held them not in their own right, but as guardians to Roger de Clifford, then in his minority, who had them restored to him when he became of age. To him succeeded his brother Robert, who entertained Robert de Baliol, king of Scotland, at this castle, who came hither to enjoy the pleasure of hunting. How this manor became alienated does not appear; but that it was, seems evident from the following circumstance :-When the Lady Anne Clifford endowed her almshouse at Appleby, she (it is said) purchased this manor to settle upon it.

A little to the south of the village, on a small but beautiful eminence, stands Bird's Nest, or Brougham Hall, the seat of H. Brougham, Esq. a handsome building, which, not only from its elevated situation, but also from its extensive and various prospects, has, not improperly, been styled the Windsor of the North. The house has a long front to the west, with a terrace of considerable breadth running from north to south. The views from this terrace, both for variety and extent, are seldom to be equalled, and the scenery around exceeds all description. It is observed of this place that there is one uncommon advantage, which it enjoys from these varied landscapes at each point of view, viz. that the whole is taken in (the view to the north only excepted) from every room in the house. The shrubberies and pleasure grounds, which are very extensive, are perhaps the first of their kind in the north of England. Within the former, in a recess adapted to the purpose, and near a fine spring, is a hermet's cell, a small circular building, covered with thatch, and lined with mosses of various kinds: the seats around are matted, and the windows are of painted glass, with the usual characteristics of a hermit in his retirement, viz. the hour-glass, cross and beads, and a skull. On the table some appropriate lines are

painted

painted from Milton's Il Penseroso; and in another part of the building is a scroll, with these lines: "Beneath this moss-grown roof, this rustic cell, Truth, Liberty, Content, sequestered dwell: Say, you who dare our hermitage disdain, What drawing-room can boast so fair a train?"

An adjoining wood of several acres contributes greatly to the beauty of the scene, and is so much in character, as to be considered a necessary member of the whole.

On the brink of the Louther stands a thatched building, consisting of two rooms, one of which contains a collection of curious prints, and specimens of natural history, with a gallery for the convenience of angling in the river beneath; the other is the residence of the person, who feeds the poultry, and takes care of the pleasure grounds, &c.

A short distance to the east of Brougham stands the Countess's Pillar, erected by Anne, Countess Dowager of Pembroke. The pillar is adorned with coats of arms, dials, and other embellishments, and is terminated by a small obelisk. In the front of it is an inscription, importing, that this was the place where she parted with her mother; and that she left 41. a year to be distributed to the poor of the village, every second of April, for ever.

On leaving Brougham our road lies in a south-easterly direction, across the northern part of Whinfell Forest, and, at the distance of four miles, we pass, on our left, Hart's-Horn-Tree, where the heads of a stag and dog were formerly nailed against a hawthorn-tree, in Whinfield Park, in memory of a famous chace; it seems the dog (not a greyhound, but a staunch buck-hound), singly chaced a stag from this park as far as the Red Kirk, in Scotland, (about 60 miles) and back again to the same place; where, being both spent, the stag, exerting his last force, leaped the park pales, and died on the inside; the hound,

hound, attempting to leap after him, had not strength enough to get over, but fell back, and died on the outside just opposite.

About one mile beyond Harts-Horn-Tree, we pass through the village of Temple Sowerby, which once belonged to the Knights' Templars, a little to the left of which is Acorn Bank, the seat of R. H. Edmenson, Esq.

At the distance of two miles from Temple Sowerby, we pass the village of KIRKBY THORE, or Kirby Thor, supposed by some to have been the ancient Brovonacæ; the manor-house and most of the town being built out of ruins, called Whelp Castle, of which there are now scarce any remains. The main body of it stood in a place called the Burwens, on the bank of the rivulet called Troutbeck, not far from the river Eden. The square enclosure, called the High Burwens, seems to have been the area of it, containing eight score yards in diameter, now ploughed and cultivated, and the outer buildings to have run along the said rivulet, at least as far as to the fulling mill, or farther beyond the Roman way, and so up the west side of the High Street, about 160 yards, and thence again in a strait line to the west angle of the said area. In all these places have been found conduits under ground, vaults, pavements, tiles, and slates, with iron nails in them, foundations of walls, both of brick and stone, coins, altars, urns, and other earthen vessels; and, in the year 1687, among the foundations, was found a wall made up of four others of hewn-stone, each two feet four inches thick; and in another part an altar, inscribed FORTVNÆ SERVATRICI: also some leaden pipes, and a drain through the wall above-mentioned, and divers arched vaults under ground, flagged with stone or paved bricks, about ten inches square, and two thick. At the lower end of the town, an ancient well was likewise discovered by the side of the Roman road, in which were several urns and