On this date in hiking history: The first recorded use of the word “mountaineering"

The following is an excerpt from Ramble On: A History of Hiking.

The joint publication of Lyrical Ballads by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1798 is widely recognized as the birth of Romanticism in English literature. In addition to being close friends, both poets held nature in the highest regard, and both enjoyed exploring the Lake District on long walking excursions.

In the 1805 version of The Prelude, Wordsworth described himself as a “mountaineer,” a term he didn’t use in the original 1799 version of this unpublished poem. It’s very possible that he may have adopted this expression during the intervening years from his friend and writing partner, Samuel Taylor Coleridge. On August 9, 1802, Coleridge sent a letter to Robert Southey, another one of the so-called “Lake Poets,” which described an extended rambling excursion he took in the Lake District. During the outing, Coleridge made the first known ascent of 3163-foot Scafell, the second-highest peak in England. In the letter, he casually remarked that he had "spent the greater part of the next day mountaineering." The Oxford English Dictionary now recognizes this as the first recorded use of the word “mountaineering" to describe this relatively new and emerging sport. Other Romantic poets, such as John Keats and Lord Byron, would also describe themselves as “mountaineers.”



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Virtually no one went hiking before the 19th century. What occurred that inspired ordinary people to take a walk through the woods for pleasure? Ramble On: A History of Hiking explores the rich history of hiking, and how it evolved into one of the most popular pastimes in the world.

The world’s first written call for a national park

The joint publication of Lyrical Ballads by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1798 is widely recognized as the birth of Romanticism in English literature. Both writers are among the first documented ramblers. In 1839, Thomas De Quincey, a contemporary writer and biographer of Wordsworth, famously calculated that William must have walked at least 175,000 miles up to that point in his life. Meanwhile, the Oxford English Dictionary recognizes Samuel Taylor Coleridge as being the first person to use the word “mountaineering" while describing an outing in a letter in 1802.

Wordsworth is also recognized as being an early pioneer in the conservation movement. In 1810, he published A Guide through the District of the Lakes, which likely contains the world’s first written support for the concept of a national park. In the conclusion of the book, Wordsworth argued that the Lake District should be considered “a sort of national property, in which every man has a right and interest who has an eye to perceive and a heart to enjoy.” Although his wish was never realized during his lifetime, the Lake District would eventually be established as a national park in 1951, less than a month after the Peak District became Britain’s first national park.

Learn more about the pioneers of hiking in Ramble On: A History of Hiking.


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Virtually no one went hiking before the 19th century. What occurred that inspired ordinary people to take a walk through the woods for pleasure? Ramble On: A History of Hiking explores the rich history of hiking, and how it evolved into one of the most popular pastimes in the world.