Esthwaite Water
Esthwaite Water is one of the smaller and lesser known lakes in the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. It is situated between the much larger lakes of Windermere and Coniston Water in the Furness area, historically part of Lancashire. To the north is the village of Hawkshead and to the west is Grizedale Forest.
The lake covers around and is known for its excellent fishing, particularly trout and pike. It has been designated as a site of special scientific interest.
Toponymy
Esthwaite may mean either "the eastern clearing", with Middle English est, probably replacing Old Norse austr 'east', and Norse þveit "clearing", or 'the clearing where ash trees grow', from Norse eski "ash trees, ash copse" and again þveit. Derivation from Brittonic *ïstwïth, "bent, curved, flexible, supple" has also been suggested.'Water' is Old English wæter, "water" the dominant term for "lake".
Wordsworth poems
The lake was mentioned as the location where William Wordsworth conversed with a friend in Wordsworth's poem, "Expostulation and Reply," part of Wordsworth's Lyrical Ballads and, in the same collection, it is the location for "Lines Left Upon A Seat In A Yew-Tree." Wordsworth also mentions it in his Prelude in line 267: "Make green peninsulas on Esthwaite's Lake", and also at line 570: "From Esthwaite's neighbouring lake the splitting ice".The poem "The vale of Esthwaite" was Wordsworth's first effort at sustained composition.