From  this  point  the  conversation  leads  to  the  mention  of  two  in-
dividuals, who  by  their  several  fortunes  were,  at  different  times,
driven  to  take  refuge  at  the  small  and  obscure  town  of  Hawks-
head  on  the  skirt  of  these  mountains.  Their  stories  I  had  from
the  dear  old  dame  with  whom,  as  a  school-boy,  and  afterwards,
I  lodged  for  the  space  of  nearly  ten  years.  The  elder,  the  Jaco-
bite, was  named  Drummond,  and  was  of  a  high  family  in  Scot-
land ;  the  Hanoverian  Whig  bore  the  name  ofVandeput,*  and
might,  perhaps,  be  a  descendant  of  some  Dutchman  who  had
come  over  in  the  train  of  King  William.  At  all  events,  his  zeal
was  such,  that  he  ruined  himself  by  a  contest  for  the  representa-
tion of  London  or  Westminster,  undertaken  to  support  his  Party,
and  retired  to  this  corner  of  the  world,  selected  as  it  had  been
by  Drummond  for  that  obscurity  which,  since  visiting  the  Lakes
became  fashionable,  it  has  no  longer  retained.  So  much  was
this  region  considered  out  of  the  way  till  a  late  period,  that  per-
sons who  had  fled  from  justice  used  often  to  resort  hither  for
concealment,  and  some  were  so  bold  as  to  not  unfrequently  make
excursions  from  the  place  of  their  retreat  for  the  purpose  of  com-
mitting fresh  offences.  Such  was  particularly  the  case  with
two  brothers  of  the  name  of  Weston,  who  took  up  their  abode  at
Old  Brathay,  I  think  about  seventy  years  ago.  They  were  high-
waymen, and  lived  there  some  time  without  being  discovered,
though  it  was  known  that  they  often  disappeared,  in  a  way,  and
upon  errands,  which  could  not  be  accounted  for.  Their  horses
were  noticed  as  being  of  a  choice  breed,  and  I  have  heard  from
the  Eelph  family,  one  of  whom  was  a  saddler  in  the  town  of
Kendal,  that  they  were  curious  in  their  saddles,  and  housings,
and  accoutrements  of  their  horses.  They,  as  I  have  heard,  and
as  was  universally  believed,  were,  in  the  end,  both  taken  and
hanged.
