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Mr. Pennant says, 'Pass along the vale of Keswick, and keep above
Bassenthwaite-water, at a small cultivated distance from it: this
lake is a fine expanse of 4 miles in length, bounded on one side
by high hills, wooded in many places to their bottoms; on the
other side, by fields, and the skirts of Skiddaw.
'From Mr. Spedding's, of Armathwaite, at the low extremity of the
lake, you have a fine view of the whole.'
Mr. Gray allowed himself more time for particulars. 'October 6,'
he says, 'went in a chaise, eight miles, along the east side of
Bassenthwaite water, to Ouse-bridge; it runs directly along the
foot of Skiddaw. Opposite to Wythop-brows, clothed to the top
with wood, a very beautiful view opens down to the lake, which is
narrower and longer than that of Keswick, less broken into bays,
and without islands; at the foot of it, a few paces from the
brink, gently sloping upwards, stands Armathwaite, in a thick
grove of Scotch firs, commanding a noble view directly up the
lake. At a small distance behind this, a ridge of cultivated
hills, on which, according to the Keswick proverb, the sun always
shines; the inhabitants here, on the contrary, call the vale of
Derwent-water, the devil's chamberpot, and pronounce the name of
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