_To the Editor._
Sir,--The Tenth Part of your interesting publication, the _Table Book_,
has been lent to me by one of your constant readers; who, aware of the
interest which I take in every thing connected with Westmoreland,
pointed out the Notes of T. Q. M. on a Pedestrian Tour from Skipton to
Keswick.[368]
It is not my intention to review those notes, or to point out the whole
of his inaccuracies; but I shall select one, which, in my humble
judgment, is quite inexcusable. After stating that the Rev. Mr. Hunt was
once the curate of Kir_k_by (not K_ir_by, as your correspondent spells
it) Lonsdale, he adds, “I believe the well-known Carus Wilson is the
officiating minister at present.” What your narrator means by the
appellation “well known,” he alone can determine--and to which of the
family he would affix the term, I cannot possibly imagine. The eldest
son is rector of Whittington, an adjoining parish; the second son of the
same family is vicar of Preston, in Lancashire; the third is the curate
of Tunstal, in the same county. These are all the gentlemen of that
family who are, or ever were, “officiating ministers:” and I can safely
assure your correspondent, that not one of them _ever was_ the
officiating minister of Kirkby Lonsdale. The vicar is the Rev. Mr.
Sharp; who the curate is I forget, but an inquirer could have easily
ascertained it; and an inquiry would have furnished him with some very
curious details respecting the actual incumbent.
By the way, let me mention the curious fact of this town retaining its
ancient name, while Kendal, a neighbouring town, has lost, in common
parlance, a moiety of its name. In all legal documents Kendal is
described as _Kirkby_ Kendal, as the former is _Kirkby_ Lons-dale; and
the orthography is important, as it shows at once the derivation of
these names. _Kirk-by-Lon’s-dale_, and _Kirk-by-Ken_ or _Kent-dale_,
evidently show, that the prominent object, the churches of those towns
on the banks of their respective river, the _Lune_, _Loyne_, or _Lon_,
as it is variously written, and the _Kent_ or _Ken_, and their _dales_,
or vallies, furnished the cognomen.
I should be much obliged to T. Q. M. if he would point out the house
where my friend Barnabee
---------------------- viewed
An hall, which like a taverne shewed
Neate gates, white walls, nought was sparing,
Pots brimful, no thought of caring.
If a very curious tradition respecting the very fine and remarkable
bridge over the river Lune, together with a painting of it done for me
by a cobbler at Lancaster, would be at all interesting to you, I shall
be happy to send them to your publishers. The picture is very creditable
to the artist; and after seeing it, I am sure you will say, that however
(if ever) just, in former days, the moderns furnish exceptions to the
well-known maxim--
Ne sutor ultra crepidam.