A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE
which taken together furnish a good deal of information. These are the floras of Manchester, Liverpool, and Ashton districts, each and all covering an area beyond the county border, so that unusual care has been necessary in writing this article to avoid errors, because the county is not mentioned in a great number of cases. This vice-county is remarkable amongst other things for the number and excellence of its artisan botanists who lived during the past century.
V.C. 60. Lancashire West.—The Ribble divides this from V.C. 59. It is all on the east side of Morecambe Bay, has Yorkshire on its eastern boundary, and Westmorland on its northern. Excepting the greater height of its fells and moorland it is not different to South Lancashire to any great extent. Its flora is more montane. Greygarth Fell, in the extreme northeast corner, is the highest ground (2050 feet). Just outside this county this same fell rises some 200 feet more. Several uncommon montane plants grow here, but it is not quite so rich in upland forms as some of the neighbouring fells outside the county.
A number of uncommon plants grow in the cloughs and on the moorland fells to the south of Greygarth. This vice-county was one of the least known, botanically, until the last decade, when Messrs. Wheldon and Wilson determined to make it their special study. Thanks to their enthusiasm and zeal it is now quite as well known as any county. It must be remembered, too, that many of the localities lie far away from a railway. The two botanists named above have in progress a flora of West Lancashire. There is a great deal yet to be done as regards the algæ, fungi, and mycetozoa.
The chief river is the Lune. It rises in Ravenstonedale, in Westmorland, running northwards, then westwards it receives numerous becks, full of trout. Turning to the south, past Tebay, it separates Westmorland from Yorkshire; and just below Sedbergh (1 m.) it receives a considerable trout stream, the Rawthey, which rises on West Baugh Fell, and is mainly a Yorkshire river. The Lune runs to Middleton, with Rigmaden on the other bank, where is the well-known trout fishery. Three miles down, Barbon Beck joins the Lune on the right bank. After passing through the beautiful park and grounds of Underley, the Lune passes Kirkby Lonsdale, entering Lancashire a quarter of a mile below the bridge. Two miles down it receives Leck Beck, and between Thurland Castle and Arkholme it is joined by the Greta. The Lune then runs to Melling and Hornby, where the Wenning meets it on the left bank after its junction with the Hindburn river, which is formed of three considerable becks. Passing Caton and Halton, receiving three small becks, the Lune runs to Lancaster. Up to this point the river is remarkable for the purity of its water, but below Lancaster the state of the river is most unsatisfactory.
This vice-county may be divided into three main divisions, as suggested by Messrs. Wheldon and Wilson:—
1. North Division.—Separated from remainder of vice-county by the Lune as far as its junction with the Wenning, beyond which this tributary forms the line of demarcation to the Yorkshire boundary. Carboniferous limestone, Yoredale series, Millstone grit, with small tracts of Upper Silurian, Coal measures, and Permian sandstone are represented here. The coast line consists of alternations of sandy shore, muddy salt-marshes, and rocky cliffs.
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