YORKSHIRE.

DENT, IN THE WEST RIDING.

DENT is situated on the banks of the Dee, a river which, after being fed by numberless mountain streams in its course through the valley, escapes by a narrow gorge, and mingles its waters with the Rother and the Lune, between Sedbergh and Kirby Lonsdale. It is not a century since this valley was occupied by a race of yeomanry, provincially called statesmen, each of whom resided on his freehold; their houses, substantial, but somewhat rude structures, exhibited a style of architecture, of which hardly any other examples are to be found, at least in the north of England. They were built of sufficient magnitude to contain two, or sometimes three families, inhabiting different floors; between the upper and the lower stories, a communication was obtained by rude stone steps, usually on the exterior, which conducted to long wooden galleries in front of the houses, an example of which is represented in our view, taken from the principal street of the town, where the irregularity of the groups, although exceedingly picturesque, seem almost to defy the pencil.

Many are the traditions of ancient customs, and rural festivities, formerly prevalent here; the resident statesmen have now almost disappeared, from causes which may be readily explained. Wool, the staple produce of the district, was exported, not as it now is, in a raw state, but manufactured into various articles of common use, by the hands of the natives; not longer since than the seven years' war, contractors for government, and the English army on the continent were supplied with stockings, knit at Dent, and the neighbouring villages. The profits of mere manual labour have now declined, the freeholds have passed into the hands of strangers, and the moral aspect of the country has gradually changed. The memorial here preserved is even rapidly falling to decay, and a few years will probably obliterate every vestige of these remarkable edifices.