Past and Present at the English Lakes (Glasgow, 1916)

Published in 1916, this was the last of Hardwicke’s numerous books on his beloved Lake District.  Some of the chapters are tinged with the background sadness of WW1.  As with some of his earlier books, there is a mixture of new material and re-published information.

The reviewer for the Liverpool Daily Post noted:

To think of the English Lakes is to think of certain names in literature whose history is bound up with that of the wonderland in which they dwelt.  Wordsworth, Southey, Coleridge, De Quincy, Arnold, these are a few, and to them we must add that of Canon Rawnsley, for he has done for the Lake district in prose what Wordsworth did in poetry.  No holiday should be taken there without a full sense of the wonderful literary associations of every spot with men who found inspiration in the lakes, mountains, and meres for works as enduring as the scenes they celebrate.  And there is no better guide than Canon Rawnsley, for he has spent his life covering the footprints of the masters so that we may undertake a pilgrimage with accuracy and comfort.  And although the canon’s books demand a great space upon one’s bookshelves, there must be room made for yet another, for it is worthy of a place…. Canon Rawnsley has written a book full of interesting facts and observation; with accuracy he combines a literary grace which makes his writing a pleasure to the ear as well as the sense.  The book, as were its companions, is well illustrated.  

Contents

Sunrise on Helvellyn (pp. 1-9)

Reminiscences of Hartley Coleridge (pp. 10-36)

From Gowbarrow to Mardale and Back (pp. 37-63)

The German Miners at Keswick (pp. 64-84)

The Home of the German Miners in Tyrol (pp. 85-101)

The Bluebells of the Duddon (pp. 102-108)

The Consecration Crosses, St. Kentigern’s Church, Crosthwaite (pp. 109-118)

A Hundred Miles of Beauty at the Lakes (pp. 119-152)

*The Story of Gough and His Dog (pp. 153-208)

At the Sign of the Nag’s Head (pp. 209-229)

Crossing the Sands (pp. 230-269)

A Crack with Mrs. Dixon of Dove Cottage (pp. 270-283)

(* Published previously)