On Friday morning, July gth William & I set forward to Keswick on our Road to Gallow Hill — we had a pleasant ride though the day was showery. It rained heavily when Nelly Mackareth took the horse from us, at the Blacksmiths. Coleridge met us at Sara’s Rock. He had inquired about us before of Nelly Mackareth, & we had been told by a handsome man, an inhabitant of Wytheburne with whom he had been talking (& who seemed by the Bye much pleased with his companion) that C was waiting for us. We reached Keswick against tea time. We called at Calverts on the Saturday Evening. On Sunday I was poorly & the day was wet, so we could not move from Keswick, but on Monday 11th (12th) July 1802 we went to Eusemere. Coleridge walked with us 6 or 7 miles. He was not well & we had a melancholy parting after having sate together in silence by the Road-side. We turned aside to explore the country near Hutton John, & had a new & delightful walk. The valley which is subject to the decaying Mansion that stands at its head seems to join its testimony to that of the house to the falling away of the family greatness. The hedges are in bad condition, the Land wants draining & is over-run with Brackens, yet there is a something everywhere that tells of its former possessors — the trees are left scattered about as if intended to be like a park, & these are very interesting, standing as they do upon the sides of the steep hills, that slope down to the Bed of the River, a stony bedded stream that spreads out to a considerable breadth at the village of Dacre — a little above Dacre we came into the right road to Mr Clarksons after having walked through woods & fields never exactly knowing whether we were right or wrong. We learnt, however, that we had saved half a mile. We sate down by the River side to rest & saw some swallows flying about & about under the Bridge, & two little Schoolboys were loitering among the Scars seeking after their nests. We reached Mr Clarksons at about 8 o clock after a sauntering walk, having lingered & loitered & sate down together that we might be alone. Mr & Mrs C were just come from Luff’s.
We spent Tuesday the 13th of July at Eusemere, & on Wednesday morning, the 13th (14th), we walked to Emont Bridge & mounted the Coach between Bird’s Nest & Hartshorn tree. Mr Clarkson’s Bitch followed us so far. A soldier & his young wife wanted to be taken up by the Coachman but there was no Room. We had a chearful ride though cold, till we got on to Stanemoor, & then a heavy shower came on, but we buttoned ourselves up, both together in the Guard’s coat & we liked the hills & the Rain the better for bringing (us) so close to one another — I never rode more snugly. At last, however, it grew so very rainy that I was obliged to go into the Coach at Bowes. Lough of Penrith was there, & very impertinent — I was right glad to get out again to my own dear Brother at Greta Bridge, the sun shone chearfully & a glorious ride we had over Gaterly Moor. Every Building was bathed in golden light — The trees were more bright than earthly trees, & we saw round us miles beyond miles — Darlington Spire, &c &c — We reached Leming Lane at about 9 o clock, supped comfortably & enjoyed our fire. On Thursday morning, at a little before 7, being the 14th (15th) July we got into a post Chaise & went to Thirsk to Breakfast. We were well treated but when the Landlady understood that we were going to walk off & leave our luggage behind she threw out some saucy words in our hearing. The day was very hot & we rested often & long before we reached the foot of the Ham(b)leton Hills, & while we were climbing them still oftener. We had a Sandwich in our pockets which we finished when we had climbed part of the hill, & we were almost overpowered with thirst when I heard the trickling of a little stream of water. I was before William & I stopped till he came up to me — We sate a long time by this water, & climbed the hill slowly — I was foot-sore, the Sun shone hot, the little Scotch cattle panted & tossed fretfully about. The view was hazy and we could see nothing from the top of the hill but an indistinct wide-spreading country, full of trees, but the Buildings, towns & houses were lost. We stopped to examine their curious stone, then walked along the flat common, it was now cooler, but I was still foot-sore, & could not walk quick so I left Wm sitting 2 or three times, and when he followed me he took a Sheep for me, & then me for a Sheep. I rested opposite the sign of the Sportsman & was questioned by the Landlady. Arrived very hungry at Ryvaux. Nothing to eat at the Millers, as we expected but, at an exquisitely neat farmhouse we got some boiled milk & bread — this strengthened us, & I went down to look at the Ruins — thrushes were singing, Cattle feeding among green grown hillocks about the Ruins. These hillocks were scattered over with grovelets of wild roses & other shrubs, & covered with wild flowers — I could have stayed in this solemn quiet spot till Evening without a thought of moving but William was waiting for me, so in a quarter of an hour I went away. We walked upon Mr Duncombe’s terrace & looked down upon the abbey. It stands in a larger valley among a Brotherhood of valleys of different lengths & breadths all woody, & running up into the hills in all directions. We reached Helmsly just at Dusk — we had a beautiful view of the Castle from the top of the hill. Slept at a very nice Inn & were well treated — bright bellows, & floors as smooth as ice. On Friday morning the 16th July we walked to Kirby. Met people coming to Helmsly fair — were misdirected & walked a mile out of our way — met a double horse at Kirby. A beautiful view above Pickering — Sinnington village very beautiful. Met Mary & Sara 7 miles from GH — Sheltered from the Rain beautiful glen, spoiled by the large house — sweet Church & Churchyard arrived at Gallow Hill at 7 o’clock.
Friday Evening 15th July (16th). The weather bad, almost all the time. Sara Tom & I rode up Bedale. Wm Mary Sara & I went to Scarborough, & we walked in the Abbey pasture, & to Wykeham & on Monday the 26th we went off with Mary in a post Chaise. We had an interesting Ride over the Wolds, though it rained all the way. Single thorn bushes were scattered about on the Turf, Sheep Sheds here & there, & now & then a little hut — swelling grounds, & sometimes a single tree or a Clump of trees. Mary was very sick, & every time we stopped to open a gate, she felt the motion in her whole body, indeed I was sick too, & perhaps the smooth gliding of the Chaise over the Turf made us worse. We passed through one or two little villages, embosomed in tall trees. After we had parted from Mary there were gleams of sunshine, but with showers. We saw Beverly in a heavy rain & yet were much pleased with the beauty of the town. Saw the Minster a pretty clean Building but injured very much with Grecian Architecture. The country between Beverly & Hull very rich but miserably flat — brick houses, windmills, houses again — dull & endless — Hull a frightful, Dirty, brick housey tradesmanlike, rich, vulgar place — yet the River though the shores are so low that they can hardly be seen looked beautiful with the evening lights upon it & Boats moving about — we walked a long time & returned to our dull day Room, but quiet evening one, quiet & our own, to supper.
Tuesday 26th (27th). Market day streets dirty, very rainy, did not leave Hull till 4 o clock, & left Barton at about 6 — rained all the way — almost — a beautiful village at the foot of a hill with trees — a gentleman’s house converted into a Lady’s Boarding school. We had a woman in bad health in the Coach, & took in a Lady & her Daughter — supped at Lincoln. Duck & peas, & cream cheese — paid 2/-. We left Lincoln on Wednesday morning 27th July (28th) at six o’clock it rained heavily & we could see nothing but the antientry of some of the Buildings as we passed along. The night before, however, we had seen enough to make us regret this. The minster stands at the Edge of a hill, overlooking an immense plain. The country very flat as we went along — the Day mended — We went to see the outside of the Minster while the passengers were dining at Peterborough — the West End very grand. The little girl who was a great scholar, & plainly her mothers favorite tho’ she had a large family at home had bought The Farmer’s Boy. She said it was written by a man without education & was very wonderful.
On Thursday morning, 29th, we arrived in London. Wm left me at the Inn — I went to bed &c &c &c — After various troubles & disasters we left London on Saturday morning at lA past 5 or 6, the 31st of July (I have forgot which) we mounted the Dover Coach at Charing Cross. It was a beautiful morning. The City, St pauls, with
the River & a multitude of little Boats, made a most beautiful sight as we crossed Westminster Bridge. The houses were not overhung by their cloud of smoke & they were spread out endlessly, yet the sun shone so brightly with such a pure light that there was even something like the purity of one of nature’s own grand Spectacles. We rode on chearfully now with the Paris Diligence before us, now behind — we walked up the steep hills, beautiful prospects everywhere, till we even reached Dover. At first the rich populous wide spreading woody country about London, then the River Thames, ships sailing, chalk cliffs, trees, little villages. Afterwards Canterbury, situated on a plain, rich & woody, but the City & Cathedral disappointed me. Hop grounds on each side of the road some miles from Canterbury, then we came to a common, the race ground, an elevated plain, villages among trees in the bed of a valley at our right, & rising above this valley, green hills scattered over with wood — neat gentlemen’s houses — one white house almost hid with green trees which we longed for & the parsons house as neat a place as could be which would just have suited Coleridge. No doubt we might have found one for Tom Hutchinson & Sara & a good farm too. We halted at a halfway house — fruit carts under the shade of trees, seats for guests, a tempting place to the weary traveller. Still as we went along the country was beautiful, hilly, with cottages lurking under the hills & their little plots of hop ground like vineyards. It was a bad hop-year — a woman on the top of the coach said to me ‘it is a sad thing for the poor people for the hop-gathering is the women’s harvest, there is employment about the hops both for women & children’. We saw the Castle of Dover & the sea beyond 4 or 5 miles before we reached D. We looked at it through a long vale, the castle being upon an eminence, as it seemed at the end of this vale which opened to the Sea. The country now became less fertile but near Dover it seemed more rich again. Many buildings stand on the flat fields, sheltered with tall trees. There is one old chapel that might have been there just in the same state in which it now is, when this vale was as retired and as little known to travellers, as our own Cumberland mountain wilds 30 years ago. There was also a very old Building on the other side of the road which had a strange effect among the many new ones that are springing up everywhere. It seemed odd that it could have kept itself pure in its ancientry among so many upstarts. It was near dark when we reached Dover. We were told that the packet was about to sail, so we went down to the Customhouse in half an hour, had our luggage examined &c &c & then we drank tea, with the honorable Mr Knox & his Tutor. We arrived at Calais at 4 o’clock on Sunday morning the 31st of July (1 Aug). We stayed in the vessel till ½ past 7. Then Wm went for Letters, at about ½ past 8 or 9. We found out Annette & C chez Madame Avril dans la Rue de la Tête d’or. We lodged opposite two Ladies in tolerably decent-sized rooms but badly furnished, & with large store of bad smells & dirt in the yard, & all about. The weather was very hot. We walked by the sea-shore almost every Evening with Annette & Caroline or Wm & I alone. I had a bad cold & could not bathe at first but William did. It was a pretty sight to see as we walked upon the Sands when the tide was low, perhaps a hundred people bathing about ¼ of a mile distant from us, and we had delightful walks after the heat of the day was passed away — seeing far off in the west the Coast of England like a cloud crested with Dover Castle, which was but like the summit of the cloud — the Evening star & the glory of the sky. The Reflections in the water were more beautiful than the sky itself, purple waves brighter than precious stones for ever melting away upon the sands. The fort, a wooden Building, at the Entrance of the harbour at Calais, when the Evening twilight was coming on, & we could not see anything of the building but its shape which was far more distinct than in perfect daylight, seemed to be reared upon pillars of Ebony, between which pillars the sea was seen in the most beautiful colours that can be conceived. Nothing in Romance was ever half so beautiful. Now came in view as the Evening star sank down & the colours of the west faded away the two lights of England, lighted up by Englishmen in our Country, to warn vessels of rocks or sands. These we used to see from the Pier when we could see no other distant objects but the Clouds the Sky & the Sea itself. All was dark behind. The town of Calais seemed deserted of the light of heaven, but there was always light, & life, & joy upon the Sea. — One night, though, I shall never forget, the day had been very hot, & William & I walked alone together upon the pier — the sea was gloomy for there was a blackness over all the sky except when it was overspread with lightning which often revealed to us a distant vessel. Near us the waves roared & broke against the pier, & as they broke & as they travelled towards us, they were interfused with greenish fiery light. The more distant sea always black & gloomy. It was, also beautiful on the calm hot nights to see the little Boats row out of harbour with wings of fire & the sail boats with the fiery track which they cut as they went along & which closed up after them with a hundred thousand sparkles balls shootings, & streams of glowworm light. Caroline was delighted.
On Sunday the 29th of August we left Calais at 12 o’clock in the morning & landed at Dover at 1 on Monday the 30th. I was sick all the way. It was very pleasant to me when we were in harbour at Dover to breathe the fresh air, & to look up and see the stars among the Ropes of the vessel. The next day was very hot. We both bathed & sate upon the Dover Cliffs & looked upon France with many a melancholy & tender thought. We could see the shores almost as plain as if it were but an English Lake. — We mounted the coach at ½ past 4 & arrived in London at 6 the 30th August (31st). It was misty & we could see nothing. We stayed in London till Wednesday the 22nd of September, & arrived at Gallow Hill on Friday 24th September. Mary first met us in the avenue. She looked so fat & well that we were made very happy by the sight of her — then came Sara, & last of all Joanna. Tom was forking corn standing upon the corn cart. We dressed ourselves immediately & got tea — the garden looked gay with asters & sweet peas — I looked at everything with tranquillity & happiness but I was ill both on Saturday & Sunday & continued to be poorly most of the time of our stay. Jack & George came on Friday Evening 1st October. On Saturday 2nd we rode to Hackness, William Jack George & Sara single, I behind Tom. On Sunday 3rd Mary & Sara were busy packing. On Monday 4th October 1802, my Brother William was married to Mary Hutchinson. I slept a good deal of the night & rose fresh & well in the morning — at a little after 8 o clock I saw them go down the avenue towards the Church. William had parted from me up stairs. I gave him the wedding ring — with how deep a blessing! I took it from my forefinger where I had worn it the whole of the night before — he slipped it again onto my finger and blessed me fervently. When they were absent my dear little Sara prepared the breakfast. I kept myself as quiet as I could, but when I saw the two men running up the walk, coming to tell us it was over, I could stand it no longer & threw myself on the bed where I lay in stillness, neither hearing or seeing any thing, till Sara came upstairs to me & said ‘They are coming’. This forced me from the bed where I lay & I moved I knew not how straight forward, faster than my strength could carry me till I met my beloved William & fell upon his bosom. He & John Hutchinson led me to the house & there I stayed to welcome my dear Mary. As soon as we had breakfasted we departed. It rained when we set off. Poor Mary was much agitated when she parted from her Brothers & Sisters & her home. Nothing particular occurred till we reached Kirby. We had sunshine & showers, pleasant talk, love & chearfulness. We were obliged to stay two hours at K. while the horses were feeding. We wrote a few lines to Sara & then walked out, the sun shone & we went to the Church-yard, after we had put a Letter into the Post office for the York Herald. We sauntered about & read the Grave-stones. There was one to the memory of 5 Children, who had all died within 5 years, & the longest lived had only lived 4 years. There was another Stone erected to the memory of an unfortunate woman (as we supposed, by a stranger). The verses engraved upon it expressed that she had been neglected by her Relations & counselled the Readers of those words to look within & recollect their own frailties. We left Kirby at about ½ past 2. There is not much var
iety of prospect from K. to Helmsely but the country is very pleasant, being rich & woody, & Helmsely itself stands very sweetly at the foot of the rising grounds of Duncombe Park which is scattered over with tall woods & lifting itself above the common buildings of the Town stands Helmsely Castle, now a Ruin, formerly inhabited by the gay Duke of Buckingham. Every foot of the Road was, of itself interesting to us, for we had travelled along it on foot Wm & I when we went to fetch our dear Mary, & had sate upon the Turf by the roadside more than once. Before we reached Helmsely our Driver told us that he could not take us any further, so we stopped at the same Inn where we had slept before. My heart danced at the sight of its cleanly outside, bright yellow walls, casements overshadowed with jasmine & its low, double gavel-ended front. We were not shewn into the same parlour where Wm & I were, it was a small room with a drawing over the chimney piece which the woman told us had been bought at a sale. Mary & I warmed ourselves at the kitchen fire we then walked into the garden, & looked over a gate up to the old ruin which stands at the top of a mount, & round about it the moats are grown up into soft green cradles, hollows surrounded with green grassy hillocks & these are overshadowed by old trees, chiefly ashes. I prevailed upon William to go up with me to the ruins we left Mary sitting by the kitchen fire. The sun shone, it was warm & very pleasant. One part of the castle seems to be inhabited. There was a man mowing nettles in the open space which had most likely once been the Castle Court. There is one gateway exceedingly beautiful — Children were playing upon the sloping ground. We came home by the Street. After about an hour’s delay we set forward again, had an excellent Driver who opened the gates so dexterously that the horses never stopped. Mary was very much delighted with the view of the Castle from the point where we had seen it before. I was pleased to see again the little path which we had walked upon, the gate I had climbed over, & the Road down which we had seen the two little Boys drag a log of wood, & a team of horses struggle under the weight of a great load of timber. We had felt compassion for the poor horses that were under the governance of oppressive & ill-judging drivers, & for the poor Boys who seemed of an age to have been able to have dragged the log of wood merely out of the love of their own activity, but from poverty & bad food they panted for weakness & were obliged to fetch their father from the town to help them. Duncombe House looks well from the Road — a large Building, though I believe only 2 thirds of the original design are completed. We rode down a very steep hill to Ryvaux valley, with woods all round us. We stopped upon the Bridge to look at the Abbey & again when we had crossed it. Dear Mary had never seen a ruined Abbey before except Whitby. We recognized the Cottages, houses, & the little valleys as we went along. We walked up a long hill, the Road carrying us up the cleft or valley with woody hills on each side of us. When we went to GH I had walked down this valley alone. Wm followed me. It was not dark evening when we passed the little publick house, but before we had crossed the Hambledon hills & reached the point overlooking Yorkshire it was quite dark. We had not wanted, however, fair prospects before us, as we drove along the flat plain of the high hill, far far off us, in the western sky, we saw shapes of Castles, Ruins among groves, a great, spreading wood, rocks, &single trees, a minster with its tower unusually distinct, minarets in another quarter, & a round Grecian Temple also — the colours of the sky of a bright grey & the forms of a sober grey, with a dome. As we descended the hill there was no distinct view, but of a great space, only near us, we saw the wild & (as the people say) bottomless Tarn in the hollow at the side of the hill. It seemed to be made visible to us only by its own light, for all the hill about us was dark. Before we reached Thirsk we saw a light before us which we at first thought was the moon, then Lime kilns, but when we drove into the market place it proved a large Bonfire with Lads dancing round it, which is a sight I dearly love. The Inn was like an illuminated house — every Room full. We asked the cause, & were told by the Girl that it was ‘Mr John Bell’s Birthday, that he had heired his Estate.’ The Landlady was very civil. She did not recognise the despised foot-travellers. We rode nicely in the dark, & reached Leming Lane at 11 o’clock. I am always sorry to get out of a Chaise when it is night. The people of the house were going to bed & we were not very well treated though we got a hot supper. We breakfasted the next morning & set off at about ½ past 8 o clock. It was a chearful sunny morning. We soon turned out of Leming Lane & passed a nice village with a beautiful church. We had a few showers, but when we came to the green fields of Wensley, the sun shone upon them all, & the Eure in its many windings glittered as it flowed along under the green slopes of Middleham & Middleham Castle. Mary looked about for her friend Mr Place, & thought she had him sure on the contrary side of the vale from that on which we afterwards found that he lived. We went to a new built house at Leyburn, the same village where Wm & I had dined with George Hutchinson on our Road to Grasmere 2 years & ¾ ago, but not the same house. The Landlady was very civil, giving us cake and wine but the horses being out we were detained at least 2 hours & did not set off till 2 o’clock. We paid for 35 miles, ie to Sedbergh, but the Landlady did not encourage us to hope to get beyond Hawes. A shower came on just after we left the Inn while the Rain beat against the Windows we ate our dinners which M & W heartily enjoyed — I was not quite well. When we passed thro’ the village of Wensly my heart was melted away with dear recollections, the Bridge, the little waterspout the steep hill the Church — They are among the most vivid of my own inner visions, for they were the first objects that I saw after we were left to ourselves, & had turned our whole hearts to Grasmere as a home in which we were to rest. The Vale looked most beautiful each way. To the left the bright silver Stream inlaid the flat & very green meadows, winding like a serpent. To the Right we did not see it so far, it was lost among trees & little hills. I could not help observing as we went along how much more varied the prospects of Wensly Dale are in the summer time than I could have thought possible in the winter. This seemed to be in great measure owing to the trees being in leaf, & forming groves, & screens, & thence little openings upon recesses & concealed retreats which in winter only made a part of the one great Vale. The beauty of the Summer time here as much excels that of the winter as the variety, owing to the excessive greenness of the fields, & the trees in leaf half concealing, & where they do not conceal, softening the hard bareness of the limey white Roofs. One of our horses seemed to grow a little restive as we went through the first village, a long village on the side of a hill. It grew worse & worse, & at last we durst not go on any longer. We walked a while, & then the Post-Boy was obliged to take the horse out & go back for another. We seated ourselves again snugly in the Post Chaise. The wind struggled about us & rattled the window & gave a gentle motion to the chaise, but we were warm & at our ease within. Our station was at the Top of a hill, opposite Bolton Castle, the Eure flowing beneath. William has since wrote a sonnet on this our imprisonment — Hard was thy Durance Queen compared with ours. Poor Mary! Wm fell asleep, lying upon my breast & I upon Mary. I lay motionless for a long time, but I was at last obliged to move. I became very sick & continued so for some time after the Boy brought the horse to us. Mary had been a little sick but it soon went off. — We had a sweet ride till we came to a public house on the side of a hill where we alighted & walked down to see the waterfalls. The sun was not set, & the woods & fields were spread over with the yellow light of Evening, which made their greenness a thousand times more green. There was too much water in the River for the beauty of the falls, & even the Banks were less interesting than in Winter. Nature had entirely got the better in her struggles against the giants who first cast the mould of these works; for indeed it is a place that did not in winter remind one of God, but one could not help feeling as if there had been the agency of some ‘Mortal Instruments’ which Nature had been struggling against without making a perfect conquest. There was something so wild & new in this feeling, knowing as we did in the inner man that God alone had laid his hand upon it that I could not help regretting the
want of it, besides it is a pleasure to a real lover of Nature to give winter all the glory he can, for summer will make its own way, & speak its own praises. We saw the pathway which Wm & I took at the close of Evening, the path leading to the Rabbit Warren where we lost ourselves. The farm with its holly hedges was lost among the green hills & hedgerows in general, but we found it out & were glad to look at it again. When William had left us to seek the waterfalls Mary & I were frightened by a Cow. At our return to the Inn we found new horses & a new Driver, & we went on nicely to Hawes where we arrived before it was quite dark. Mary & I got tea, & William had a partridge & mutton chops & tarts for his supper. Mary sate down with him. We had also a shilling’s worth of negus & Mary made me some Broth for all which supper we were only charged 2/-. I could not sit up long. I vomited, & took the Broth & then slept sweetly. We rose at 6 o clock — a rainy morning. We had a good Breakfast & then departed. There was a very pretty view about a mile from Hawes, where we crossed a Bridge, bare, & very green fields with cattle, a glittering stream cottages, a few ill-grown trees, & high hills. The sun shone now. Before we got upon the bare hills there was a hunting lodge on our right exactly like Greta Hill, with fir plantations about it. We were very fortunate in the day, gleams of sunshine passing clouds, that travelled with their shadows below them. Mary was much pleased with Garsdale. It was a dear place to William & me. We noted well the publick-house (Garsdale Hall) where we had baited & drunk our pint of ale, & afterwards the mountain which had been adorned by Jupiter in his glory when we were here before. It was mid-day when we reached Sedbergh, & market day. We were in the same Room where we had spent the Evening together in our road to Grasmere. We had a pleasant Ride to Kendal, where we arrived at about 2 o’clock — the day favored us — M & I went to see the house where dear Sara had lived, then went to seek Mr Bousfield’s shop but we found him not — he had sold all his goods the Day before. We then went to the Pot woman’s & bought 2 jugs & a Dish, & some paper at Pennington’s. When we came to the Inn William was almost ready for us. The afternoon was not chearful but it did not rain till we came near Windermere. I am always glad to see Stavely it is a place I dearly love to think of — the first mountain village that I came to with Wm when we first began our pilgrimage together. Here we drank a Bason of milk at a publick house, & here I washed my feet in the Brook & put on a pair of silk stockings by Wm’s advice. — Nothing particular occurred till we reached Ing’s chapel — the door was open & we went in. It is a neat little place, with a marble floor & marble communion Table with a painting over it of the last supper, & Moses & Aaron on each side. The woman told us that ‘they had painted them as near as they could by the dresses as they are described in the Bible’, & gay enough they are. The Marble had been sent by Richard Bateman from Leghorn. The woman told us that a Man had been at her house a few days before who told her he had helped to bring it down the Red Sea & she had believed him gladly. It rained very hard when we reached Windermere. We sate in the rain at Wilcocks to change horses, & arrived at Grasmere at about 6 o clock on Wednesday Evening, the 6th of October 1802. Molly was overjoyed to see us, — for my part I cannot describe what I felt, & our dear Mary’s feelings would I dare say not be easy to speak of. We went by candle light into the garden & were astonished at the growth of the Brooms, Portugal Laurels, &c &c & — The next day, Thursday, we unpacked the Boxes. On Friday 8th we baked Bread, & Mary & I walked, first upon the Hill side, & then in John’s Grove, then in view of Rydale, the first walk that I had taken with my Sister.
Delphi Complete Works of William Wordsworth Page 485