Bob’s Sabbatical
October 9, 10 & 11, 2009
Friday,
October 9. It is raining this morning. Today we leave Scotland - quite a visit! Another
very nice breakfast, until another guest ordered kippers. Within minutes the whole house smelled. We headed south, over the Erskine Bridge,
which crosses the Clyde River near Glasgow.
Very interesting – the supports rise through the middle of the bridge,
I am already feeling vulnerable driving on the wrong side of the road,
and having nothing (it seemed) between us and the water did not help.
As we
drive south, the scenery changes dramatically. Still lots of sheep, but also
cows as we get into dairy country. We
ate lunch in Carlisle (Greer, are you from these parts?). As we get into the lake district, the stone
fences are striking. Even as they go up
and down hills, they are straight. The
roads seem narrow, so “white-knuckle” Bob cannot appreciate the views. We arrive at White Moss House, 
Grasmere and Ambleside. William
Wordsworth lived in Rydal, and once bought White Moss house for his son. Susan can still smell kippers on our clothes.
Saturday,
October 10. I had a full breakfast, egg,
bacon, sausage, tomato, black (blood) pudding, fried bread, toast, home-made
marmalade, juice and coffee. Susan
raised the cholesterol alert.
Stop to
get guide book and paper in Ambleside.
Information person said we should go to the library in Kendal for
genealogical information. We are here
trying to find out more about Hugh Cowperthwaite, b. 1648, who came to America
in 1664. Kendal, as all other towns
around here is packed on Saturday. Finally
make it to the Library, and get onto their computer. I find some things (Robert Cowperthwaite
married in 1669, and another Cowperthwaite with the same middle name as my
father’s), but not much on Hugh.
As we
head back toward Rydal, we decide to head to Kentmere, a tiny village about 10
miles off the main road. Hugh was
supposedly born in Kentmore, but there is no such town. After a bite to eat, we head up a single lane
road, even narrower than the one on Mull, with far fewer “turn-outs.” Susan tells me that we are heading through a
beautiful valley. Couldn’t prove it by
me, I was too busy trying not to hit the rock walls on either side of this joke
of a road.
We
arrive at St. Cuthbert’s Parish Church. 
adding color and charm. Parts of the
Church are probably 1000 years old. The
baptismal font near the door has a sheaf of wheat on top.
Back at
White Moss I get on the computer. Google
may be good, but I had some new leads from the Kendal library. Found someone else who had figured out that
Kentmere was where Hugh Cowperthwaite was born.
Now we need to know about his relationship to the Gilpin family (lots of
Gilpins in the graveyard). Hugh was a
Quaker. He may have come to America
because of the persecution they faced in England. One of the Gilpins was a well-known Church of
England minister.
Sunday,
October 11. Rainy morning (weather
report yesterday said it was going to be sunny today. Perhaps this is as sunny as it gets around
here? It did clear up later.). Susan is
happy, the Gators beat LSU while we were asleep.
The list
of local church services gave 10:00 am as time for Holy Communion at St. Mary’s
Rydal, so we head that way. When we
arrive at 9:50 am, we see a few cars, and a sign that says the service time is
9:30 am. Back we go to White Moss, and
check service time for St. Oswald’s, Grasmere.
It is at 10:30 am, perfect, so off we go (even though listing is vague
as to Eucharist/Matins schedule). When
we arrive at 10:20, the sign proclaims that their service is at 11:00 am. We decide to hang around, go look at
Wordsworth family gravesites, daffodil field in his memory, and watch ducks
swimming in the river. Inside the
church, the people are welcoming.
Oswald, King of Northumbria in the 7th Century was Baptized
on Iona, and is said to have preached on this spot circa 640. The current building dates from the 13th
Century. Roof beams are very
interesting. 
our Rite II, and we felt right at home.
This is the first Eucharist we have had, since Susan left Franklin, and
since I left Turkey.
We ate
lunch near the Church, and came back to White Moss to work on blog (two days
behind), relax, and make some phone calls to local Cowperthwaites from the
phone book. There are lots of names and
places that end in “thwaite” around here.
A thwaite is a clearing, of sorts, so many places got named by adding
thwaite to a person’s name, or their trade.
I believe Cowper is the same as Cooper, or “barrel maker.” Cowper is also a fairly common English name.
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