Dunmail Raise

A view down Raise Beck to Dunmail Raise.

After a summer of warm, sultry weather, its easy to become complacent and forget that conditions can change rapidly in the hills.

Shortly after taking this I climbed into the cloud blanket covering Helvellyn. The wind freshened, the rain began.

Dunmail Raise, the pass between the Thirlemere and Grasmere valleys, between the former counties of Westmoreland and Cumberland, and, once upon a time, between England and Scotland.

In the central reservation of the A591 is a large cairn, said to be the resting place of Dunmail, overlord of Strathclyde and Cumbria. In a great battle here in 945 AD, Dunmail was defeated by Edmund, the Saxon King of England aided by Malcolm, King of Scotland. Edmund confirmed Malcolm as King of Scotland who agreed to defend northern England against the Vikings¹Harrison, Philippa. “Mountain Republic — A Lake District Parish: Eighteen Men, The Lake Poets and the National Trust”. Page 20. Head of Zeus. 2021..

Dunmail actually survived the battle and lived for several more years before dying in Rome but the myth is a good one²Lindop, Grevel. “A Literary Guide to the Lake District”. Page 115. Chatto & Windus. 1993..

Wordsworth was probably one of those guilty of perpetuating the legend³Harrison, Philippa. “Mountain Republic — A Lake District Parish: Eighteen Men, The Lake Poets and the National Trust”. Page 21. Head of Zeus. 2021.:

… that pile of stones
Heaped over brave King Dunmail’s bones;
He who once had supreme command,
Last king of rocky Cumberland;
His bones, and those of all his Power
Slain here in a disastrous hour!

• 1
  Harrison, Philippa. “Mountain Republic — A Lake District Parish: Eighteen Men, The Lake Poets and the National Trust”. Page 20. Head of Zeus. 2021.
• 2
  Lindop, Grevel. “A Literary Guide to the Lake District”. Page 115. Chatto & Windus. 1993.
• 3
  Harrison, Philippa. “Mountain Republic — A Lake District Parish: Eighteen Men, The Lake Poets and the National Trust”. Page 21. Head of Zeus. 2021.