Gray's Journal Entry: ‘This plate exhibits a view of the mountain of Skiddaw, and the Lake of Derwentwater, as seen from Brandelow-Woods on its western shore. The town of Keswick appears on the opposite side, a little to the right. Skiddaw may be ranked amongst the highest hills in the island: Its greatest elevation is 3270 feet above the level of the sea, and not much less above that of the lake. The surface of the mounstain is smooth and verdant. It may not be improper here to observe, that the hills amongst which these lakes are situated, assume a very different character, according to the nature of the rock they are composed of; this is either rag [a local word for course stone] or limestone. Where the former prevails the mountain has a foreboding and somewhat savage aspect; its surface is deformed with swampy patches, or pits of Turbury, and the pasturage for the most part is mossy, heathy and wet. Those temporary cataracts, which in rainy weather perpetually attract the notice of the stranger, are peculiar to this species of mountains. Those which consist of limestone, though generally of inferior height, present an appearance more chearful and aggreable to the eye.’ |