. A complete guide to the English lakes,. -thwaite, — each of these farms being the last dw ellingat the head of the dale. Antiquarians tell us that Borrowdale was ancientlycalled Boredale, having its name probably from thewild boars which used, in former times, to haunt thewoody part of Wastdale Forest; the hill above itbeing called Sty Head, where the swine were wont tofeed in the summer, and fall down in autumn into thisdale, where they fed upon nuts and acorns. Here arelarge flocks of sheep ; and anciently were mines of leadand copper. Here also, in a very high and perpendi-dular rock call
. A complete guide to the English lakes,. -thwaite, — each of these farms being the last dw ellingat the head of the dale. Antiquarians tell us that Borrowdale was ancientlycalled Boredale, having its name probably from thewild boars which used, in former times, to haunt thewoody part of Wastdale Forest; the hill above itbeing called Sty Head, where the swine were wont tofeed in the summer, and fall down in autumn into thisdale, where they fed upon nuts and acorns. Here arelarge flocks of sheep ; and anciently were mines of leadand copper. Here also, in a very high and perpendi-dular rock called Eagle Crag, is every year an eyrie ornest of eagles. So says the old history.# But thetraveller will find no swine near Sty Head now, sum-mer or winter. No creature comes to drink at thetarn, — the little clear rippling lake, where the moun-taineer throws himself down to rest on the bank, whenheated by the ascent from the vales. He has found # History and Antiquities of Westmorland and Cumberland, 69. — Nicholson and Lq h^ -> < co O pa X o 1Pl nq STY HEAD TAKN. 153 everything sunny and dry, perhaps; but here he sees,by the minute diamond drops resting thick on thegrass, that a cloud has lately stooped from its course,and refreshed the verdure in this retreat. It looksvery tempting — this bright sheet of water; but nocreature now comes to drink, unless a sheep may havestrayed far from the flock, and in its terror may yetventure to stoop to the water, with many a start andinterval of listening, till, at the faint sound of thedistant sheep dog, it bounds away. The solitude isalmost equally impressive whether the traveller comesup from the one dale or the other ; but perhaps themost striking to him who comes from Wastdale,because he has rather more lately left the dwellings ofmen. He ascends from Wastdale Head, by the steeppath clearly visible from below, up the side of GreatGrable. At the top of the pass, the view behind isextremely fine, — the dale
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