 De Quincey moved into Dove Cottage in 1809 after having met his hero Wordsworth a couple of times before at Rydal Mount and then Allan Bank ("Recollections of the Lake Poets", edited essays, 1834–1840).His worship of Wordsworth turned sour after De Quincey married a local girl and the Wordsworths refused to meet her.Instead, according to Nicholson, he turned more to the local dalesfolk and "he got to know the dalesmen "as people, as persons", better than ever Wordsworth did."