Black Dub, at the head of Crosby Gill, is the source of the Lyvennet,
where, according to Dr. Burn, King Charles II., when he came in with
the Scots in 1651, rested, dined, and drank of the water. This is
authenticated by the Countess of Pembroke in her memoirs. The entry is
that
"On August 8th, 1651, His Most Gracious Majesty King Charles II. with
his army on his way from Scotland--passed Appleby about 7 miles to the
West."
Tradition says that as they were passing over Crosby Fell a shepherd
was met with. He was brought to the King, and questioned respecting
the locality, and even acted as guide to the army over the moors. His
name was Thwaytes, a family then numerous in Crosby. A rustic obelisk
has been erected to commemorate the event, and a more vivid description
of the place cannot be given than the following, extracted from a
provincial paper published at the time.
"This place is one of the most solitary and dreary that can well be
imagined, surrounded on all sides by an unenclosed heath; and, since
the formation of the road over Shap Fells, seldom seen except by the
shepherd or the sportsman. However, it must be recollected, that,
though now so still and silent, it was once the great thoroughfare
from Scotland through Lancashire, to the metropolis of England. To
the solitary passer-by, who now can only hear the sighing of the
breeze among the heather, or the bleating of a sheep, it may not be
uninteresting to reflect on the noise and clamour that must have
prevailed here on the day in question when the neighing of horses, the
clang of arms and the shouting of men on a hasty march, (for Cromwell
and his victorious army were not far behind), must have made a medley
of sounds that can be better imagined than described."