The church of Barnard Castle, occupying an elevated ground, is a spacious building, in the form of a cross, with a detached tower. The interior has a very neat appearance; and an elegant organ of fine tone was erected near the south window in 1823, by voluntary subscription. The living is a curacy in the patronage of the vicar of Gainford. The Wesleyan Methodists, and the Independents, have each a place of worship; to which is attached Sunday schools for the education of nearly 600 children. A national school also exists here for boys and girls, who receive gratuitous education.

Barnard Castle has long been famous for the manufacture of imitative Brussels and Kidderminster carpets; and for the fabrication of plain and fancy worsted stuffs. The water of the Tees is supposed to be the best in England for the process of dyeing, and in consequence the goods manufactured here are much esteemed. The market day is on Wednesday; besides which there are four annual fairs, and a fortnightly fair for the sale of cattle held every alternate Wednesday.

The bridge, crossing the Tees at Barnard Castle, and dividing the counties of Durham and Yorkshire, obtains celebrity from the following incident, taken from Sir C. Sharp's History of Hartlepool. "Alexander Hilton, curate of Denton, left a son named Cuthbert, of great notoriety, who, having taken orders in no church, but having been trained as bible clerk under his father, came to Barnard Castle, and celebrated illicit marriages upon the centre of the bridge. The old rhyme made use of by him on these occasions, after having made the parties leap over a broomstick, is still remembered—

"My blessing on your pates,

And your groats in my purse:
You are never the better,
And I am never the worse."

Barnard Castle has given birth to several eminent characters; amongst whom we may particularize William Hutchinson, Esq., F.A.S., author of the "History and Antiquities of Durham,"-George Edwards, Esq., M.D., writer of several works on political economy, -and Mr. G. Layton, who in 1823, conferred distinction on his native place by the publication of "Castle Barnard, a poem."

MARDALE HEAD,-WESTMORLAND.

Mardale is a chapelry in the parish of Bampton, and forms part of the Earl of Lonsdale's forest of Thornwaite. The chapel of ease stands on an eminence, one mile south of the head of Haweswater, in a beautifully picturesque and fertile situation, surrounded by lofty mountains and fells.

Among the mountains which form the southern boundary of Haweswater is Mardale Head, a wild and solitary region, wherein nature, working with a master hand, seems to have produced the very beau ideal of romantic grandeur and sublimity. The beautiful representation which the artist has given, renders description almost needless, and almost

impossible. The reader may look on the bold delineation before him, and realize the very scene itself; but language is cold and feeble when attempted as the medium for conveying to the mind's eye perfect ideas of objects so vast and overwhelming. The view is taken from the side of the river flowing into Haweswater. This stream issues from a tarn in the distant central mountains, across which is the pass of Nan-bield leading to Kentmere. Salset-brow appears on the left. The mists gather suddenly and with great density on the mountains in this neighbourhood; and woe to the traveller, who, relying on his knowledge of the road, suffers them to overtake him in his journey.

The clouds gather round the mountains, and hang poised and motionless upon their heights. The gushing streams descend from the hills,

"Still gathering, as they pour along,

A voice more loud, a tide more strong."

To the master spirits of poësy we are indebted for those glowing descriptions, which almost nullify the remark lately made, that language is inadequate to portray the beauties of nature. Apposite to our present subject are these splendid lines of "Caledonia's much lamented son :"

"The western waves of ebbing day
Roll'd o'er the glen their level way;
Each purple peak, each flinty spire,
Was bathed in floods of living fire,
But not a setting beam could glow
Within the dark ravines below,

Where twined the path in shadow hid,

Round many a rocky pyramid;
Shooting abruptly from the dell
Its thunder-splintered pinnacle;
Round many an insulated mass,
The native bulwarks of the pass,
Huge as the tower which builders vain
Presumptuous piled on Shinar's plain."

GRASMERE LAKE AND VILLAGE,-WESTMORLAND.

The parish of Grasmere, anciently written Gresmere and Grismere, a name derived from the grise, or wild swine, that formerly abounded in these parts, was once a chapelry attached to Kendal, but is now a rectory. In the reign of Henry VIII., the right of advowson was sold by the crown to Alan Bellingham, who afterwards disposed of it for £100 to the Flemings of Rydal. The church is a burial place of the last-named family.

The lake of Grasmere, situated at the lower end of a valley, whence it obtains its name, is about four miles in circumference. From whatever point it is viewed, nearly the whole of this lake can be seen at once. A small green island partially covered with wood adorns the centre, and the head is decorated with the church and village of Grasmere, behind which rises the lofty pyramidal hill called Helm Crag.

Helm Crag is a solitary conical mountain, which, at its highest point, is said to bear a striking resemblance to an "ancient woman ;" and Mr. Wordsworth alludes to the circumstance, whilst noticing the effects of an echo in the neighbouring hills :

"When I had gazed perhaps two minutes' space,

Joanna, looking in my eyes, beheld

That ravishment of mine, and laughed aloud.
The rock, like something starting from a sleep,
Took up the lady's voice, and laughed again:
That ancient woman, seated on Helm Crag,
Was ready with her cavern: Hammar Scar,
And the tall steep of Silver How, sent forth
A noise of laughter: southern Loughrigg heard,
And Fairfield answered with a mountain tone:
Helvellyn far into the clear blue sky
Carried the lady's voice;-old Skiddaw blew
His speaking-trumpet;-back out of the clouds
Of Glaramara southward came the voice;

And Kirkstone toss'd it from his misty head."

The highest part of this mountain is covered with fragments of rock, which give it the appearance of a grand ruin occasioned by an earthquake. The summit is very difficult of access; yet, when attained, the prospect thence discovered amply repays the tourist for all the toils of his ascent. The scene comprises "the whole of Windermere, Esthwaite Water, and Grasmere, with the intervening valley, divided into rich and highly cultivated enclosures, and seeming to contain almost every thing that can be beautiful in rural miniature."

"From an eminence, a little distance from the church," says Mr. Hutchinson, "we viewed the whole circle, delighted with the scene. All the fields were clothed in fresh verdure; the vale was graced with some humble cottages, dispersed on the borders of the lake, among which the sacred fane, with its white tower, stood solemnly superior. The hills were here and there patched with a few trees, and their slope enlivened by flocks of sheep that broused on each declivity. This seemed to us to be the vale of peace." The matin hour is beautiful upon the hills-when "the gray mist leaves the mountain side," and over rock and vale the morning splendour breaks :

"The rocks, and shores,

The forest, and the everlasting hills,

Smile in that joyful sunshine, and partake
The universal blessing."

The accompanying Engraving discovers the head of Grasmere lake, with the village and its peaceful residences, behind which rises the Helm Crag mountain. The time selected by the artist for taking the view is shortly after sunrise, when

"Morn, her rosy steps in the eastern clime
Advancing, sows the earth with orient pearl."

Q