Westmorland

“ The earl of Westmorland finally made his escape to Flanders, where he dragged out a tedious existence in poverty and obscurity, barely supplied with the necessaries of life by a slender pension from the king of Spain. Northumberland, being betrayed for a reward by a Scottish borderer to whom, as to a friend, he had fled for refuge, was at length delivered up by the regent Morton to the English government, and was beheaded at York. ”

“ In many matters the two counties are indeed what they are often termed—sisters. The words have largely been collected in North Westmorland, but it must be borne in mind that Penrith, to many, is to all intents as much as if it were in Westmorland, and to have given one county only in the title would have been misleading and far from accurate. This observation will apply to “Kendal side” of Westmorland too. ”

“ Whatever may be the secret faults of the Germans they are a decent and orderly people. The weather is very warm, the thermometer eighty-four in the shade. I dined with Westmorland and drove out with him in the evening, to-day I go to Sans Souci. I must be two days in London before I go to Wimpole. ”

“ Middleham Castle, in Wensleydale, became his chief residence. Westmorland's grandson by his first wife, Margaret, daughter of Hugh, earl of Stafford, and successor in the earldom, had for some years been vainly endeavouring to prevent the diversion of these lands to the younger branch. The two families had made open war upon each other in the north, Westmorland being supported by his brothers Sir John, afterwards Lord Neville, and Sir Thomas Neville, and the Dowager Countess by Salisbury and his younger brother, George Neville, lord Latimer of Danby, in Cleveland ”

“ In 1589 the county suffered severely from the ravages of the plague, 2500 deaths being recorded in the deanery of Kendal alone. Speed, writing in the 17th century, says of Westmorland that “it is not commended either for plenty of corn or cattle, being neither stored with arable grounds to bring forth the one, nor pasturage to lead up the other; the principal profit that the people of this province raise unto themselves is by clothing.” ”

“ CHAMBERS, EPHRAIM (d. 1740) , English encyclopaedist, was born at Kendal, Westmorland, in the latter part of the 17th century. He was apprenticed to a globe-maker in London, but having conceived the plan of his Cyclopaedia, or Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences, he devoted himself entirely to it. ”

“ Callander would try to cap them sometimes with tales of his own, but his Shropshire experiences had no atmosphere in the heart of Westmorland, and he was content to steep himself in the glamour of the new life with which he felt so mysteriously satisfied.
He said less even to Deb than to her father. It is difficult to keep up a society conversation along with a discussion upon swedes and the merits of ground limestone, or the vexed question of Small Holdings. ”

“ Population and Administration.—The area of the ancient county is 503,160 acres, with a population in 1891 of 66,098 and in 1901 of 64,303. The natives are prevalently tall, wiry, long-armed, big-handed, dark-grey-eyed and fresh-coloured. In disposition they are cautious, reserved and unemotional and thrifty beyond measure. The general character of the dialects of Westmorland is that of a basis of Anglian speech, influenced to a certain extent by the speech current amongst the non-Anglian peoples of Strathclyde. ”

“ She could be constable, either of a castle or a vill, but not sheriff, unless in the one case of Westmorland, an hereditary office, exercised in person in the 17th century by the famous Anne, countess of Dorset, Pembroke and Montgomery. In certain cases a woman could transmit rights which she could not enjoy. ”

“ It is the stern grandeur of the scarred hillsides and the wide mountainous views from the heights that give this part of Yorkshire such a fascination. If you climb to the top of Rogan's Seat, you have a huge panorama of desolate country spread out before you. The confused jumble of blue-grey mountains to the north-west is beyond the limits of Yorkshire at last, and in their strong embrace those stern Westmorland hills hold the charms of Lakeland.
If one stays in this mountainous region, there are new and exciting walks available for every day. ”

“ If Westmorland betrayed them he at least had no share in their execution. Thenceforward he was busily engaged in negotiating with the Scots and keeping the peace on the borders. He did not play the part assigned to him by Shakespeare in Henry V., for during Henry's absence he remained in charge of the north, and was a member of Bedford's council. He consolidated the strength of his family by marriage alliances. His daughter Catherine married in 1412 John Mowbray, second duke of Norfolk, brother and heir of the earl marshal, who had been executed after Shipton Moor ”

“ Meanwhile he wrote demanding arrears of pay, with the threat of resignation if the money were not forthcoming, but the king intimated that the loss of Conway had been due to his negligence, and only sent part of the money. He had the same difficulty in obtaining money for his northern charge that he had experienced in Wales. [1] Anglesey was taken from him, and he was deprived of Roxburgh Castle in favour of his rival, the earl of Westmorland. ”

“ But while the spirit has been willing on the part of Westlanders, in regard both to the discovery and development of its hidden resources, the wherewithal to carry out their desires has been of an exceedingly limited character. More particularly does this apply to the southern portion of Westland. There can be no question that, from Hokitika southwards to the boundary line between Westland and Otago, there is a vast estate, the value of which is mainly dependent upon the development of its mineral deposits. ”

“ The common people retired to their houses: the leaders fled into Scotland. Northumberland was found skulking in that country, and was confined by Murray in the Castle of Lochlevin. Westmoreland received shelter from the chieftains of the Kers and Scots, partisans of Mary; and persuaded them to make an inroad into England, with a view of exciting a quarrel between the two kingdoms. ”

“ Beside them the Alps are inhuman; the Apennines mere forest-grown heaps—mountains in the making; while all that Scotland gains from the easy enveloping glory of its heather, Westmoreland, which is almost heatherless, must owe to an infinitude of fine strokes, tints, curves, and groupings, to touches of magic and to lines of grace, yet never losing the wild energy of precipice and rock that belongs of right to a mountain world. ”

“ Westland is a land of contrasts. Wild rocky mountains lie reflected in placid lakes nestled in dense forest. The forests themselves, profuse in growth suggestive of tropical jungle, reach up and give welcome embrace to encroaching glaciers. As with its natural features so with its people. To-day they are a quiet industrious community—only yesterday they were a turbulent race of milling, struggling adventurers risking everything, even life itself, in the mad rushes of its goldfields. ”

“ In these circumstances, Westmoreland began so visibly to despond, that many of his men slunk away, though Northumberland still kept up his resolution, and was master of the field till December 13, when the Earl of Sussex, accompanied with Lord Hunsden and others, having marched out of York at the head of a large body of forces, and being followed by a still larger army under the command of Ambrose Dudley, Earl of Warwick, the insurgents retreated north-ward towards the borders, and there dismissing their followers, made their escape into Scotland. ”

“ It is probable that Westland, with its mining population, shows an exceptional record of scarcity of crime; nor is there much drunkenness, except in holiday time, when hard work is in abeyance; the community consists chiefly of men in the prime of life, few greybeards among them, full of the spirit of adventure, naturally strong in the elemental passions of youth, often reckless, but capable of much good, and remarkable for a generous spirit of comradeship, ever ready to help each other. ”

“ History tells us that Abel Janszoon Tasman, the famous Dutch navigator, discovered New Zealand, sighting the coast of Westland on December 13th, 1642, and it is this Province, therefore, that first stands sharply silhouetted on the horizon of Dominion history. Tasman quaintly described Westland as “a great land uplifted high, not unlike the island of Formosa with its piles of rugged mountains.” ”

“ Known as West Canterbury, prior to attaining the dignity of being made a separate Province, Westland is bounded on the north by the Province of Nelson, on the south by the Province of Otago, on the east by the mighty Southern Alps, and on the west by the tempestuous Tasman Sea. It has an area of about 4,500 square miles, the greater part of which is high mountainous country, and bush clad to the snow line. In consequence of this the rainfall is profuse, heavy at times, but by no means continuous, periods of fine calm weather with bright sunshine being frequently experienced. ”

“ Visiting here is different work to that in Westland, open country, scattered population, but excellent roads, which would do credit to a much older place, the result of a system by which the Board of Works receives a proportion of all money acquired by Government by sale of Crown lands. The Board's affairs have been well cared for by its chairman, Philip Luxmoore, whom you may recollect at Eton, nephew of Dr. Pusey. I do a great deal of walking, with some riding and driving; there is no river trouble to be faced, and the difference between the rainfall here and Westland is immense. ”

“ The forces of Westmoreland, Cumberland, Durham, and Northumberland, if together, might hope to make a stout resistance, even against so large a force as Douglas is collecting; but we cannot so gather. The Earl of Westmoreland, who commands the forces of his own county and Cumberland, must needs hold them together; lest the Scots pour down, besiege Carlisle, and carry fire and sword through those counties. ”

“ Murray, by bribes and menaces, induced Hector Armstrong of Harlow, with whom Northumberland had sought refuge, to give him up; but Murray did not dare to send his captive to England, but shut him up in Mary's old prison, the castle of Lochleven, where he continued till 1572, when Morton, having become regent, surrendered him to Lord Hunsdon, at Berwick, when he was sent to York and executed. Westmoreland escaped to Flanders. ”

“ Their neighbors accept these families of historic name in a simple, matter-of-fact fashion, and with no humiliating sense of inferiority. “They’re all smart people,” said the young fisherman that sailed us across Monroe Creek to the wharf at Wakefield, and that is what Westmoreland expects of the Washingtons. ”

“ My people, in common with their fellow Pioneers, suffered many hardships and privations, of which they often told me, and in so doing inspired the writing of this work, wherein it has been my constant endeavour, to place upon permanent record, at least some of the wonderful achievements of the sterling men and women who pioneered Old Westland. ”

“ Westmoreland, to use one of his own choice idioms—not exactly rudely, because she has such pretty manners, but with the most superb impertinence, all the same—and practising coquetry as if she had been beset with abject lovers all her life. She sits upon him and teases him and aggravates him till he doesn't know how to contain himself. ”

“ It will be your own fault if you don’t. Westmoreland is sweet and beautiful, but if I had no ties and plenty of money like you, I would never be content to settle here for the rest of my life, while the great, wide world lay beyond. If Rex goes to India, why should you not all pack up some year and pay him a visit? ”

“ Lord Westmoreland.—When I was presented at the Court of Louis XVIII., Lord Westmoreland, the grandfather of the present lord, accompanied Sir Charles Stewart to the Tuileries. On our arrival in the room where the King was, we formed ourselves into a circle, when the King good-naturedly inquired after Lady Westmoreland, from whom his lordship was divorced, and whether she was in Paris. ”

“ It is not too much to hope that we may still have another book upon Old Westland wherein will be collected more intimate and detailed stories of these explorers, administrators and miners. Nor of these alone. Among those who remained and became its local governors, its pioneer cattle men, its coach drivers, among all those who helped to establish the West Coast, including the great Seddon himself, were men, big and adventurous, whose personalities and the incidents of whose lives are as worthy and as necessary of permanent recording as those described by Mr. ”

“ King Easter and King Wester were probably the petty princes of Northumberland and Westmoreland. In the Complaynt of Scotland, an ancient romance is mentioned, under the title, "How the king of Estmureland married the king's daughter of Westmureland," which may possibly be the original of the beautiful legend of King Estmere, in the Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, Vol. ”

“ Wesen, on the west shore of Lake Wallensee; Westeraas, in Sweden, anc. Vestra-aros (western dwelling) , so called to distinguish it from Ostra-aros (the eastern dwelling) ; Westman’s Isles, Scand. Vestmanna-eyar, on the coast of Iceland, so called because peopled by men from the west—Irish pirates; Westbury, Westbourn, Weston, Westbrook, from the same root.
WICH, WIC, WYK (Teut.) ,
WICK, VIG (Scand.) ,
WAS, WIES (Sclav.) ,
a dwelling, a village, a town—a word in general use in the topography of Great Britain, as well as on the continent, but with various meanings. According to Leo, the Teut. ”