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  CLIMBING IN THE BRITISH ISLES

  _ENGLAND_




  CLIMBING
  IN THE BRITISH ISLES

  _3 vols. 16mo. Sold separately._

  I. ENGLAND.
  II. WALES.     _In preparation._
  III. SCOTLAND. _In preparation._

  LONDON AND NEW YORK:
  LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.




  CLIMBING
  IN
  THE BRITISH ISLES

  _I.--ENGLAND_

  BY
  W.P. HASKETT SMITH, M.A.
  MEMBER OF THE ALPINE CLUB

  WITH TWENTY-THREE ILLUSTRATIONS
  BY
  ELLIS CARR
  MEMBER OF THE ALPINE CLUB

  AND FIVE PLANS

  LONDON
  LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
  AND NEW YORK: 15 EAST 16th STREET
  1894

  _All rights reserved_




CONTENTS


Introduction

The headings, for convenience of reference, are arranged in
one continuous alphabetical series, comprising the following
classes of subject:

  I. COUNTIES AND DISTRICTS WHICH ARE OF INTEREST TO THE
    MOUNTAINEER
      (_e.g._ Cumberland, Cornwall, Derbyshire, Ennerdale)

  II. PLACES WHICH ARE CONVENIENT AS CLIMBING CENTRES
      (_e.g._ Keswick, Patterdale, Wastdale Head)

  III. MOUNTAINS AND ROCKS WHICH AFFORD CLIMBS
      (_e.g._ Dow Crag, Pillar, Scafell)

  IV. CLIMBS OF REPUTATION, WITH DIRECTIONS FOR FINDING AND
    ACCOMPLISHING THEM
      (_e.g._ Deep Gill, Mickledoor, Napes Needle)

  V. TECHNICAL TERMS AND EXPRESSIONS
      (_e.g._ back-and-knee, chimney, toe-scrape)

  VI. LOCAL NAMES FOUND AMONG THE HILLS, WITH OCCASIONAL
    NOTES ON THEIR ORIGIN AND MEANING
      (_e.g._ bink, clough, gill, hause, hope)




INTRODUCTION


For some years past there has been a remarkably rapid increase in the
number of men who climb for climbing's sake within the bounds of the
British Isles.

When any young and active Englishman sees a rock and is told that the
ascent of it is regarded as a kind of feat, there is no doubt what he
will want to do. He will obey what has been the instinct of the race at
any time this forty years. But lately there has been a change. What was
formerly done casually and instinctively has for the last dozen years or
so been done systematically and of set purpose, for it is now recognised
that hill-climbing in these islands may form part of a real
mountaineering education. Many might-be mountaineers have missed their
vocation because they were in the position of the prudent individual who
would not go into the water until after he should have learned to swim:
they did not become Alpine because they were afraid that they should
make fools of themselves if they went on the Alps. Yet, had they only
known it, they might have found without crossing the sea many a place
which might have been to their undeveloped instincts what the little
pond at the end of the garden has been to many a would-be skater--a
quiet spot where early flounderings would be safe from the contemptuous
glances of unsympathetic experts.

Icemanship can only be acquired through a long apprenticeship, by
tramping many a weary mile helplessly tied to the tail of a guide. But
one principal charm of hill-climbing lies in the fact that it may be
picked up by self-directed practice and does not demand the same
preliminary subjection. The course of Alpine instruction can only be
considered complete when Mr. Girdlestone's ideal of 'The High Alps
without Guides' is realised (an ideal, be it clearly understood, which
for fully ninety-nine out of every hundred climbers it would be
downright madness to attempt to carry into practice); whereas, while
rock-climbing may be enjoyed by amateurs without incurring the reproach
of recklessness, they at the same time experience the exquisite pleasure
of forming their own plans of attack, of varying the execution of them
according to their own judgment, and finally of meeting obstacles, as
they arise, with their own skill and with their own strength, and
overcoming them without the assistance of a hired professional.

Nowhere can the mere manual dexterity of climbing be better acquired
than among the fells of Cumberland; excellent practising-ground presents
itself on nearly every hill. Compared with real mountains the crags of
Cumberland are but toys, but small as they are, they have made many and
many a fine climber; and the man who has gone through a course of
training among them, who has learnt to know the exact length of his own
stride and reach, and to wriggle up a 'chimney' in approved style with
shoulder, hip and knee, may boldly fly at higher game, and when he
proceeds to tackle the giants of the Alps or Caucasus has no cause to be
afraid of the result.

As if with the express object of increasing their educational value to
the mountaineer, the hilly parts of Great Britain are peculiarly subject
to atmospheric changes. No one who has not experienced their effects
would believe the extent to which mist, snow, and even rain can change
the appearance of landmarks among the mountains; and, where landmarks
are less abundant or less striking, even the buffeting of violent wind
may cause an inexperienced man to change his direction unconsciously.
Valuable experience in things of this kind may be gained even in summer,
but in winter the conditions become more Alpine, and splendid practice
may be had in the use of the axe and rope.

Not that the latter should be neglected on difficult rocks at any time
of the year. Even in places where it gives the leader no security and to
some extent actually impedes him, the moral effect of it is good. It
wonderfully increases those feelings of united and ordered effort, of
mutual dependence and mutual confidence, and finally of cheery
subordination of self, which are not the least of the virtues or the
joys of mountaineering. How these opportunities may be used the novice
will readily learn from Mr. Charles Pilkington's admirable chapters in
the Badminton 'Mountaineering,' and from Dr. Claude Wilson's excellent
little handbook on the same subject. It is the aim of the present work
to enable him to find suitable places where the principles so admirably
laid down by those authorities may be tested and applied, and to
understand the descriptions--often involving difficult technical and
local terms--which have been published of them. When anyone with
climbing instincts finds himself in a strange place his first desire is
to discover a climb, his second to learn what its associations are; what
is it called, and why? has anyone climbed it, and what did he think of
it? To such questions as these this book endeavours to provide an
answer. It offers, in short, to the would-be climber a link, with the
guidebook on the one hand and the local specialist on the other.

It must always be remembered that a very fine rock may be a very poor
climb. It may be impossible or it may be too easy, or, again, the
material maybe dangerously rotten; and thus, though there are many
places where men can and do obtain useful climbing practice, there is
only one part of England to which resort is made simply for the sake of
its climbing. In consequence of this fact the greater part of the book
is devoted to the English Lakes, and especially to the south-west
portion of them, where the best climbs of all are to be found. But in
that district the art has been highly elaborated, and the standard of
difficulty and dexterity is even dangerously high. If men would be
content to serve an apprenticeship and to feel their way gradually from
the easier climbs onward, they would excite less apprehension in the
minds of those who know what these climbs are. If, on the other hand,
they rush, as too many do, straight from the desk in a crowded city,
with unseasoned lungs and muscles, in the cold and the wet, to attack
alone or with chance companions whatever climb enjoys for the moment
the greatest notoriety, frightful accidents are certain to occur.

The books, too, which are kept specially for climbing records at some
places in the Lakes, such as Dungeon Gill, Buttermere, and, notably,
Wastdale Head, are misleading, owing to the widely different standards
of difficulty among the various writers. Printed accounts are so few
that this objection hardly applies to them. The most noteworthy beyond
all doubt are the two articles written for _All the Year Round_, in
November 1884, by Mr. C.N. Williamson, the late editor of _Black and
White_. It would be hard to exaggerate the effect which these articles
had in making the Lake climbs known. The same writer had previously
contributed articles of less permanent value to the _Graphic_ and the
_Daily News_. In 1837 two articles had appeared in the _Penny Magazine_
(see _Lord's Rake_); in 1859 the late Professor Tyndall had written of
_Mickledoor_ in the _Saturday Review_, and more recently articles have
appeared in the _Pall Mall Gazette_, by Mr. W. Brunskill and by Mr. H.
A. Gwynne. The present writer contributed an article to the _Alpine
Journal_ of August 1892, and one containing very clear illustrations of
'back-and-knee' work and of an episode in the long climb on the Pillar
Rock to the pages of _Black and White_, in June 1892, while numerous
articles have appeared from time to time in such local papers as the
_Whitehaven News_ and the _West Cumberland Times_, and in the
Manchester, Leeds, and Bradford press. Of guidebooks the only one of any
value to climbers is Mr. Herman Prior's 'Pedestrian Guide.'

Any value which the present book may have is largely due to the
excellent drawings of Mr. Ellis Carr, who most kindly came forward to
fill the place left by the lamented death of Professor A.M. Marshall.
Much assistance has been derived from sketches and photographs kindly
lent, those of Mr. Abraham, of Keswick, being especially useful. For the
valuable article on 'Chalk' I am indebted to Mr. A.F. Mummery, whose
knowledge of the subject is unrivalled; while Mr. J.W. Robinson, of
Lorton, has zealously assisted in all matters connected with Cumberland;
and I must gratefully acknowledge help given in other ways by Mr. J.E.
Morris and the Rev. C.J. Buckmaster.




CLIMBING
IN
THE BRITISH ISLES

ENGLAND


=Alum Pot=, the name of which is also found in such forms as _Allen_ and
_Hellan_, lies just west of the Midland Railway, about halfway between
Horton and Ribblehead stations, and on the north-east side of
Ingleborough. It is one of the most striking and most famous of the
Yorkshire potholes, being an elliptical opening in the limestone, 120
ft. long and 40 ft. wide, with a perpendicular depth of 200 ft. The
exploration of it was begun by Mr. Birkbeck of Anley in 1847, who,
assisted by Prof. Boyd Dawkins and a large party including three ladies,
made a complete examination in 1870.


=Angler's Crag=, on the south side of Ennerdale Water. The steep portion
is about 300 ft. There are also some similar crags on _Grike_ and
_Revelin_, close by; but none of them are worth a long walk, and the
only resting-place near is the Angler's Inn, at the foot of Ennerdale
Water.


=Apron-strings.=--Throughout Scotland and the North of England the
traditional explanation of large heaps of stones is that while some one
(generally the Devil or Samson) was carrying the stones in his apron the
strings broke and the stones fell in a heap. Many such heaps are to be
found, bearing the name of 'apronful' or 'bratful,' which means the same
thing. A good instance of the latter form is _Samson's Bratful_, in
Cumberland, between the rivers Bleng and Calder. For another good
instance see what is said about Wade's Causeway in _Murray's Handbook
for Yorkshire_, at p. 206.


=Aron.=--So Wilkinson (in his 'Select Views') calls _Great End_. It may
be that he misunderstood his guide, who was, perhaps, speaking at the
time of _Aaron Crags_, which are on _Sprinkling Fell_, and would be in
the line of sight to any one coming up from _Borrowdale_. In fact, the
path to _Sty Head_ passes not only _Aaron Crags_ on the left, but also
_Aaron Slack_ on the right. It is, of course, tempting to suggest that
Aron was the original Keltic name of Great End; but in Wales the name
Aran is generally applied to mountains of very different appearance to
_Great End_.


=Arrowhead=, a prominent rock in the _Napes_ of _Great Gable_, being
part of the ridge immediately west of _Eagle's Nest_. It was climbed on
April 17, 1892, by a large party, including Messrs. Horace Walker,
Baker, Slingsby, and others. In the following year, on the last day of
March, this climb was repeated by Messrs. Solly, Schintz, Brant, and
Bowen, who continued it right on to the top of the ridge. They kept
rather more on the ridge itself than the former party had done on the
way to the _Arrowhead_, and from that point the climb is along the
crest of the ridge. It is not a difficult climb for an experienced
party. The ridge has been called the _Arrowhead Ridge_.

[Illustration: THE ARROWHEAD
(South side of Great Gable)]


=Ash Crag=, a rock in _Ennerdale_, near the _Black Sail_ end of the
_Pillar Fell_. It is the writer's belief that this is the rock which the
poet Wordsworth, in 'The Brothers,' has confused with the _Pillar Rock_.
At least a lad belonging to an old Ennerdale family, the Bowmans of
Mireside, was killed by falling from this rock at a date closely
corresponding to that indicated in the poem.


=Attermire=, one of the most picturesque limestone scars in Yorkshire.
It is reached from Settle on the Midland Railway, and may be seen on the
way to Malham Cove.


=Back-and-knee=: the process of supporting or raising the body in a
'chimney' by pressure against opposite sides with back and knees, or,
more usually, back and feet.


=Band.=--This word forms part of many hill names in the North of
England, and is also found in Scotland. Dr. Murray deals with it in the
'New English Dictionary,' but not in a satisfactory manner. He defines
it as 'a long ridge-like hill of minor height or a long narrow sloping
offshoot from a hill or mountain,' but it would be easy to adduce
instances where this could have no application. The word is used by
Douglas in his translation of Virgil to represent the Latin word
'jugum':

     Himself ascendis the hie _band_ of the hill;

and from this Jamieson concluded that the word meant simply 'top of a
hill'--a definition almost as unsuitable as the last. The late Mr.
Dickinson, the leading authority on the Cumberland dialect, gave to the
word the meaning of 'a boundary on high uninclosed land,' and indeed the
frequent association of the word with personal names (often of clearly
Scandinavian character) seems to indicate some territorial significance.


=Bannerdale Crag= (C. sh. 57) may be taken on the way up _Saddleback_
from Troutbeck station on the line between Keswick and Penrith. About
three miles up the stream is _Mungrisdale_, and still farther up along
the course of the stream one fork leads to _Scales Tarn_ and another to
_Bannerdale_, where there is a lead mine just north of the crags. There
is a rocky face some 600 ft. to 800 ft. high, offering climbing, which
is steep, but by no means first-rate.


=Barf.=--From the southern shore of Bassenthwaite Water there is a fine
steep scramble up this hill. On a bright winter's day it is rather
inspiriting, and the views are good.

The name is more frequent in Yorkshire, where, according to Phillips, it
has the meaning of 'a detached low ridge or hill.'


=Beachy Head=, close to Eastbourne, in Sussex, is a very fine bold chalk
cliff, the first ascent of which is made about once in every two years,
if we may believe all that we see in the papers. The truth is that there
is a treacherous incline of some 600 ft., formed of chalk and grass,
both very steep and often dangerously slippery; and during the
Eastbourne season the coastguards at the top find their principal
occupation in supplying mechanical assistance to exhausted clamberers;
but for difficulty these cliffs will not for a moment compare with those
of half the height which carry on the line westward to _Birling Gap_.
The tops of these in many places literally overhang the sea, and there
are few points where a climber could make the slightest impression upon
them. On Beachy Head there is a dangerous-looking pinnacle, which was
climbed (by dint of cutting a step or two) in April 1894, by Mr. E.A.
Crowley.


=Bear Rock=, a queerly-shaped rock on _Great Napes_, which in the middle
of March 1889 was gravely attacked by a large party comprising some five
or six of the strongest climbers in England. It is a little difficult to
find, especially in seasons when the grass is at all long.


=Beck.=--In the North of England (except in Northumberland and Durham,
where 'burn' prevails) this is the usual word for a brook. It differs
from a 'gill' in being more open, and having banks less rocky and a
stream somewhat more copious. A gill may contain only a few drops of
water, or none at all, and still preserve its self-respect, but not so a
beck. Camden speaks of 'Beakes and Brookes.'


=Bell= enters into many North Country hill-names. It is commonly said to
indicate spots which were specially devoted to the worship of Baal, and
many arguments have been based upon its occurrence and distribution. If
there is anything in this assertion, the 'high places' for the worship
of Baal must have been most capriciously selected. My own belief is that
the term is purely descriptive and is applied to a convexity in the
<DW72> of a hill. In Lowland Scotch the phrase 'bell of the brae' is not
uncommon and has the same significance.


=Bell Rib End=, a short drop on the narrow south ridge of _Yewbarrow_.
Though on a very small scale, it is not without interest, and was a
favourite with Mr. Maitland, one of the early explorers of Wastdale.


=Bield.=--This word not only occurs frequently in place names, but is
still part of living speech in North England and South Scotland. It
means shelter of any kind for man or beast, and in the latter case
especially a fox or a sheep. It is also used as a verb; in fox hunting,
for instance, the animal when run to earth is said to be 'bielded.'


=Bink=: a long narrow grassy ledge. (N. of Eng.)


=Black Sail.=--It has been suggested that this name, now borne by the
pass from Wastdale to Ennerdale between Pillarfell and Kirkfell, may
have originally been named from the mountain it crossed, and so may
possibly now preserve an older name of one of those two mountains. Dr.
Murray, writing to a local paper some years ago, did not hesitate to
affirm positively that Pillar Fell is entirely due to the Ordnance
surveyors, and that the original name was Black Sail, a fact which he
said could be proved by historical evidence. It would be extremely
interesting to see this evidence, but the name 'Pillar' certainly
appears in maps published long before that of the Ordnance. (See
_Sail_.) The pass (1,750 ft.) is very familiar to all climbing folk,
being the ordinary way of reaching the Pillar Rock from Wastdale Head.
It is generally preferred to _Wind Gap_ on account of greater variety
of view and better 'going,' and some make use of it even for the purpose
of reaching the Ennerdale side of _Great Gable_.

The route, however, has one disadvantage. It is hot. It is no uncommon
thing to hear enthusiastic frequenters of the Lakes complaining of the
popular misapprehension that the sun never shines there, and urging that
people are so unreasonable as to notice the wet but to disregard the
warmth. Among these traducers of the Cumberland climate the frequenters
of the Black Sail route are not found. Argue not with such; but some
fair morning, when the reviler is most rampant, lead him gently into
Mosedale and watch with calm delight while he pants painfully up the
pass, trying his utmost to look cool, with the sun, which he has
maligned, beating down squarely upon his back and exacting a merciless
revenge. Many a time will he turn about and feign rapture at the taper
cone of Yewbarrow and the bold outline of Scafell; often will his
bootlace strangely come untied before his reverted glance catches the
welcome gleam of Burnmoor Tarn; but long before that time his heart
within him will have melted even as wax, and he will have registered a
vow that, when next the Cumberland sunshine is discussed, the seat of
the scornful shall know him no more. Mr. James Payn, having occasion to
allude to 'dry weather' in the Lakes, adds demurely, 'which is said to
have occurred about the year 1824'; but, from his own description of
Black Sail, it is clear that he deeply rued the sarcasm: 'You will begin
to find your pass quite sufficiently steep. Indeed, this is the severest
pull of any of the cols in the District, and has proved the friend of
many a gallant with his ladylove. To offer a young woman your hand when
you are going up Black Sail is in my mind one of the greatest proofs of
attachment that can be given, and, if she accepts it, it is tantamount
to the everlasting "Yes!"' We may be sure that, before he reached the
top, the witty novelist experienced remarkably 'dry weather,' and also
some of those symptoms which elsewhere he has himself described with
such scientific accuracy: 'Inordinate perspiration and a desperate
desire for liquids; if the ascent be persisted in, the speech becomes
affected to the extent of a total suspension of conversation. The temper
then breaks down; an unseemly craving to leave our companion behind, and
a fiendish resolution not to wait for him if his bootlace comes undone,
distinguish the next stage of the climbing fever; all admiration of the
picturesque has long since vanished, exuded, I fancy, through the pores
of the skin: nothing remains but Selfishness, Fatigue, and the hideous
reflection that the higher we go the longer will be our journey down
again. The notion of malignant spirits occupying elevated
regions--Fiends of the Fell--doubtless arose from the immoral
experiences of the Early Climbers.'

Green's _Guide_ (1819) records a touching instance of a husband's
attentions surviving a test which we saw above, that even lovers find
severe: 'This is a steep and craggy ascent, and so laborious to man that
it might be imagined horses could not travel it; yet Mr. Thomas Tyson,
of Wasdale Head, has conducted Mrs. Tyson over this stony ground while
sitting on the back of her horse.'

In Switzerland one might look back after a day's work, and fairly
forget ups and downs so slight as Black Sail; but many of the guide
books speak of it in terms which might apply to the Adler or the Felik
Joch. For instance, _Black's Picturesque Guide_ (ed. 1872) says: 'The
_hardy_ pedestrian with _very minute_ instructions _might_ succeed in
finding his way over the mountains, yet every one who has crossed them
will beware of the danger of the attempt and of the _occasional fatal
consequences_ attending a diversion from the proper path.' This is
highly encouraging; and the enterprising traveller who only breaks his
neck two or three times in the course of the journey will be of good
cheer, for he is making rather a prosperous expedition than otherwise.


=Blea Crag=, an isolated square stone on the left of the path to the
_Stake_, a long mile up _Longstrath_. It is climbed on the side which
looks down the valley. Messrs. Jones and Robinson recorded their ascent
of it in September 1893, but it seems that four or five years ago there
were traces on it of a previous ascent.

'Crag' is not very commonly used of a single stone, as it is here and in
the case of _Carl Crag_.


=Borrowdale.=--'Divers Springes,' says old Leland in his 'Itinerary,'
'cummeth owt of Borodale, and so make a great _Lowgh that we cawle a
Poole_.'

The 'Lowgh' is, of course, Derwentwater, and Borrowdale is the heart of
the finest scenery and the best climbing in England. It may be said to
stretch from _Scafell_ to _Skiddaw_, and excellent headquarters for
climbers may be found in it at _Lowdore_, _Grange_, _Rosthwaite_, and
_Seatoller_. With the aid of its wad mines and its _Bowder Stone_, it
probably did more during last century than anything else to arouse
public interest in the Lake country. The natives were not famed for
their intelligence, and many stories are told in support of their
nickname of 'Borrowdale gowks.'

There is another _Borrowdale_ in Westmorland, and _Boredale_ is perhaps
the same name.


=Bowder Stone= in _Borrowdale_ was already a curiosity about a century
and a half ago, when it was visited by Mr. George Smith, the
correspondent of the _Gentleman's Magazine_. Clarke, writing some years
later, says it bore the alternative names of _Powderstone_ and
_Bounderstone_; and being 'thirty-one yards long by eight yards high,
must therefore weigh over 600 tons, and is said to be the largest
self-stone in England.' It is not really a 'boulder' at all, but the
word is rather loosely used in Cumberland.


=Bow Fell= (2,960 ft.).--The name is probably the same as that of _Baugh
Fell_, also called _Bow Fell_, in Yorkshire. This graceful peak,
standing as it does at the head of several important valleys--_Eskdale_,
_Langdale_, _Dunnerdale_, and _Borrowdale_--is a great feature in Lake
scenery. There is not much rock-work on it, but a good deal of rough
walking and scrambling. From _Borrowdale_ or _Wastdale_ it is approached
by way of _Esk Hause_. On this side there is no climbing, except that
_Hanging Knot_, as the N. end of Bow Fell is called, descends to _Angle
Tarn_ in a long, steep, rocky <DW72> which offers a pleasant scramble.

On the _Eskdale_ side there is a gully or two which might be worth
exploring.

By inclining to the right hand on emerging at the top of _Hell Gill_, or
to the left hand from the pony-track at the foot of _Rossett Gill_ we
reach _Flat Crags_, huge glacier-planed <DW72>s of rock, overlooked by
what in winter is a fine _couloir_ of most alpine appearance. When
Messrs. J. & A.R. Stogdon ascended it (_Alpine Journal_, v. p. 35) the
inclination of the snow increased from 30 deg. at the foot to 63 deg. after 350
ft. or more, and there was a large cornice at the top. In the account
which the same party inserted at the time in the Wastdale Head Book
steeper angles are given.

In summer it is merely an open scree-gully; but the
insignificant-looking chimney just N. of it, and only separated from it
by a narrow ridge, is quite worthy of attention, though it has but one
pitch in it after the one at the foot. The descent is harder than the
ascent, and takes about twenty minutes.

There is a fine rocky walk along the S. ridge, called _Shelter Crags_
and _Crinkle Crags_, which descends towards the head of Dunnerdale, but
it is extremely unfrequented.


=Bram Crag= and _Wanthwaite Crag_ flank the coach road between
_Threlkeld_ and _Grasmere_ on the east. The best part is rather more
than two miles south of Threlkeld station. The climbing is somewhat
similar to that about _Swarthbeck_ on Ullswater, but on better and
sounder rock, and there is more of it. A good day's work will be found
among these crags, and a fine specimen of a'sledgate' is deserving of
notice.


=Brandreth= is between _Borrowdale_ and the head of _Ennerdale_. The
name, which occurs elsewhere in the neighbourhood, denotes a tripod
(literally a 'grate,' usually made with three legs). The meeting-point
of three boundaries of counties, parishes, &c. is often so named.
Brandreth has only one short bit of bold rock--one of the many _Raven
Crags_. It is hardly worth a special journey, but may very easily be
taken by any one who attacks _Great Gable_ from _Borrowdale_.


=Brimham Rocks=, in Yorkshire, are very easily visited from Harrogate or
from Pateley Bridge. From the latter they are only four miles to the
eastward. The station for those who come from Harrogate is Dacre Banks,
from which the Rocks may be reached in an hour's walking. They are of
millstone grit and well deserve a visit, for nowhere are the grotesque
forms which that material delights to assume more remarkable. Some
resemble the sandstone forms common about Tunbridge Wells, and many
might very well stand for Dartmoor Tors; but others at first sight seem
so evidently and unmistakably to suggest human handiwork that one can
feel no surprise at the common notion that they were fashioned by the
ingenuity of the Druids. Several of them, though very small, can only be
climbed with considerable difficulty.


=Broad Stand=--a term commonly but, in my opinion, incorrectly used to
denote a particular route by which the crags of _Scafell_ may be
ascended direct from _Mickledoor_. There are numerous other places
within a few miles of this into the names of which this word'stand'
enters, and a consideration of them leads me to the belief that it
signifies 'a large grassy plot of ground awkward of access.' This is
exactly what we find here. A break in the cliffs produces a large open
space which is the key to the ascent by the _Mickledoor Chimney_, to
that by the _North Climb_, and to that which, being the oldest, easiest,
and most frequented, has arrogated to itself as distinctive the name of
a feature which it should only share with the other two. Really all
three routes are merely different ways of reaching the Broad Stand.

One of the earliest recorded ascents is that of Mr. C.A.O. Baumgartner
in September 1850, an account of which was sent by one of the people of
the dale to the local paper in these terms: 'The Broad Stand, _a rocky
and dangerous precipice_, situated between _Scaw Fell_ and the _Pikes_,
an ascent which is perhaps more difficult than even that of the _Pillar
Stone_.' The late Professor Tyndall climbed it in 1859, and described it
in the _Saturday Review_ of that year. It evidently had a great
reputation then, which was not, in his opinion, entirely deserved. It
seems