Northumberland Yesterday And To Day - Jean F. Terry (i want to read a book TXT) 📗

Introductory

The Following Book Makes No Pretensions To Be A Mine Of Deep Historical

Research Or Antiquarian Lore; Its Object Will Have Been Achieved, And

Its Existence To Some Extent Justified, If Haply By Its Aid Some Of The

Dwellers In This Northern County Of Ours, With Its Past So Full Of

Action, And Its Present So Rich In The Memorials Of Those Actions, May

Pass A Pleasant Hour In Becoming Acquainted Through Its Pages With The

Happenings Which Have Taken Place In Their Own Particular Fields, Their

Own Streets, Or By Their Own Riverside.

 

I Am Aware That Many Learned Volumes On This Subject, Representing An

Enormous Amount Of Patient Labour And Careful Research In Their

Compilation, Are Already In Existence. To Such This Little Book Can In

No Sense Be A Rival; But There Must Be Many People Who Have Not A

Superabundance Of Time, To Enable Them To Dig Out The Information For

Which They Wish, From These Various Sources; Nor Can They Always Make

These Volumes Their Own, To Be Consulted At Leisure.

 

Northumbrians Have Always Been Interested In The Records Of Their Own

County, And Are Now-A-Days Not Less So Than When, Some Three-And-A-Half

Centuries Ago, Roger North Found Them "Great Antiquarians Within Their

Own Bounds." If To Such As These This Little Book May Perhaps Bring In A

More Convenient Form The Information They Seek, And Help Them To Become

Better Acquainted With The County Which Inspired Swinburne To Write In

Stirring Phrases Of "Northumberland," And To Address The Home Of His

People As

 

  "Land Beloved, Where Nought Of Legend's Dream

  Outshines The Truth"--

 

I Shall Be More Than Satisfied. I Would Take This Opportunity Of

Expressing My Grateful Thanks To The Rev. Canon Savage, Of Hexham, For

Information Relating To The Tomb Of Alfwald The Just, In The Abbey,

Given With Courteous Readiness; To The Rev. Canon Jeffery, Of Bywell,

For Similar Kindness Regarding Bywell St. Peter's; To R.O. Heslop, Esq.,

Whose Profound Store Of Learning On The Subject Of "Northumberland

Words" Was In Cases Of Uncertainty My Final Court Of Appeal; To E.T.

Nisbet, Esq., And J. Treble, Esq., To Whom I Am Greatly Indebted For

Their Goodness In Reading My Manuscript, And For Their Generous

Encouragement Following Thereupon; To C.H. Abbey, Esq., For His Kindness

In Executing The Map Which Accompanies These Pages; And To Mr. G.P.

Dunn, Of Corbridge, For Much Helpful Criticism, And Many Suggestions

Which Only Want Of Space Has Prevented My Adopting In Their Entirety.

Chapter 1 (The Coast Of Northumberland)

Wild And Bleak It May Be, Hard And Cruel At Times It Undoubtedly Is,

But, Nevertheless, This North-East Coast Of Ours Is At All Times

Inspiring, Whether Half-Hidden By Storm-Clouds, Its Cliffs And Hollows

Lashed By The "Wild North-Easter," Or Seen Calmly Brooding In The Warm

Haze Of A Summer's Day, Its Grey-Blue Water Smiling Beneath The

Grey-Blue Sky, And Its Stretches Of Sand And Bents Edging The Sea With A

Border Of Gold And Silver.

 

In Keeping With Either Mood Of Nature, The Ancient Priory Of Tynemouth,

Standing On The Sandstone Cliffs On The Northern Bank Of The Tyne,

Rearing Its Grey And Roofless Walls Above The Harbour Mouth, Strikes A

Note That Is Symbolic Of The Northumbria Of Old And The Northumberland

Of To-Day--The Note, That Is, Of The Intimate Commingling Of The Romance

Of The Warlike Past And The Romance Of The Industrial Present. Here,

Above The Mouth Of The River On Which So Many Of The Most Noteworthy

Advances In Industrial Science Have Been Made, And Out Of Which Sail The

Vessels Which Are Often The Last Word Of The Moment In Marine

Engineering And Construction, Stand Calmly Looking Down Upon Them All

The Fragments Of A Building Which Was A Century Old When John Signed

Magna Charta, And Which Stands Upon The Site Of Another That Had Already

Braved The Storms Of Nearly Five Hundred Years.

 

Looking Upon The Priory Of St. Mary And St. Oswin We Are Carried Back To

The Days When Edwin, The First King Of Northumbria To Embrace

Christianity, Built A Little Church Here, In Which His Daughter Took The

Veil. King Oswald Had The First Wooden Structure Replaced By A Stone

One; And Here, In 651, The Body Of Another Good King--Oswyn--Was Brought

For Burial From Gilling, Near Richmond In Yorkshire, Where, Disbanding

His Army, He Sacrificed His Cause And His Life To Oswy Of Bernicia, With

Whom He Had Been About To Fight.

 

[Illustration: The Priory, Tynemouth.]

 

When The Pirate Ships Of The Danes Swept Down Upon Our Coasts, The

Priory Of St. Oswin, Conspicuous On Its Bold Headland, Could Not Hope To

Escape Their Ravages. It Was Destroyed By The Fierce Invaders; But King

Ecgfrith[1] Of Northumbria Restored The Shattered Shrine. Again, In The

Year 865, It Was Sacked And Burnt, And The Poor Nuns Of St. Hilda, Who

Had Already Fled From Hartlepool To Tynemouth Hoping To Find Safety,

Were Ruthlessly Slain And Earned The Crown Of Martyrdom. It Was Again

Restored; But, Five Years Later, The Destroying Hands Of The Invaders

Fell On The Place Once More, And For Two Hundred Years The Priory Stood

Roofless And Tenantless. After The Norman Conquest, Waltheof, Earl Of

Northumberland Bestowed It Upon The Monks Of Jarrow. The Rediscovery Of

The Tomb Of St. Oswyn In 1065, Had Gladdened The Hearts Of The Monks,

And Forthwith The Monastery Was Reared Anew Over The Ashes Of Its Former

Self.

 

[Footnote 1: Pronounced "Edge-Frith."]

 

Mowbray, The Next Earl Of Northumberland, Re-Endowed The Building. He

Had Quarrelled With The Bishop Of Durham, So In Order To Do Him A

Displeasure, He Made Tynemouth Priory Subordinate To St. Albans Instead

Of To Durham And Brought Monks From St. Albans To Dwell There. The New

Buildings Were Finished In 1110, And The Bones Of St. Oswyn Enshrined

Within Them, The Right Of Sanctuary Being Extended For A Mile Around His

Resting-Place. This Right, However, Was Already In Existence, And Had

Been Appealed To In 1095 By Mowbray Himself, Who Fled Here Pursued By

The Followers Of William Rufus, Against Whom He Had Rebelled. The King's

Men Disregarded The Sanctuary Right, Captured Mowbray, And Sent Him

Prisoner To Durham[2]. [Footnote 2: See Account Of Bamburgh Castle.]

 

In Later Days The Queens Of Edward I. And Edward Ii. Visited Tynemouth

Priory; And It Was From Tynemouth That The Foolish King Edward Ii. And

His Worthless Favourite Piers Gaveston Fled From The Angry Barons To

Scarborough. In The Reign Of Edward Iii., After The Battle Of Neville's

Cross, David Of Scotland Was Brought Here By His Captors On His Way To

Bamburgh, From Whence He Was Sent To The Tower.

 

At The Dissolution Of The Monasteries By Henry Viii. The Priory Was

Inhabited By Eighteen Monks With Their Prior. They Bowed To The King's

Decree And Left The Monastery; But The Church Continued To Be Used As

The Parish Church Until The Days Of Charles Ii., When Christ Church Was

Built.

 

The Priory Has Many Times Formed The Subject Of Pictures By Famous

Artists, The Best Known Being That Of No Less A Genius Than J. M. W.

Turner; And Its Picturesque Ruins Are A Well-Known Landmark To The

Hundreds Of Voyagers Who Pass It On Their Journeys, Outward Or Homeward

Bound. Within The Last Few Years The Priory Has Been In Some Measure

Repaired And Restored.

 

There Is But Little Left Of Tynemouth Castle, Which Was Built As A

Protection For The Monastery Against The Attacks Of The Danes. It Stands

In A Commanding Position On A Neighbouring Cliff, And Is Now Used As

Barracks For Garrison Artillery Corps. During The Days When Scotland

Harried The English Borders, The Priors Of Tynemouth Maintained A

Garrison Here; And Later, In Stuart Days, Charles I. Visited The North,

And The Fortress Was Strengthened Just Before The Outbreak Of The Civil

War. It Was Captured, Notwithstanding, By Leslie, Earl Of Leven, After

He Had Left Newcastle. Colonel Lilburn, Left In Charge As Governor,

Shortly Afterwards Avowed Himself On The Side Of King Charles; But He

Speedily Paid For His Change Of Allegiance, For The Castle Was Re-Taken

By A Force From Newcastle Under Sir Arthur Hazelrigg, And Lilburn Lost

His Life In The Fight. The Castle Has Long Been Used As A Depôt For The

Storage Of Arms And Ammunition. Behind The Spanish Battery Which

Commands The Entrance To The Tyne Stands A Statue Of The Famous

North-Countryman, Admiral Collingwood.

 

Connected With Tynemouth, By The Fact That A Small Chantry Belonging To

The Priory Once Stood There, Is St. Mary's Island. One May Walk

Unhindered At Low Tide Across The Rocks To This Favourite Place, But

Where The Chantry Stood There Is Now A Lighthouse With A Powerful

Lantern, Flashing Its Welcome Light To The Seafarers Nearing The Mouth

Of The Tyne, And Extending

 

  "To Each And All Our Equal Lamp, At Peril Of The Sea,

  The White Wall-Sided War-Ships, Or The Whalers Of Dundee."

 

 

Between Tynemouth And St. Mary's Island Lie Cullercoats, Whitley Bay,

And Monkseaton, And Together These Places Make Practically One Extended

Seaside Town, Stretching For Three Or Four Miles Along The Sea-Front,

And Joined By A Fine Parade Which Leads To Open Links At Monkseaton. Of

These Places Cullercoats Is Most Noteworthy. This Picturesque Fishing

Village, With Quaint Old Houses Perched In Every Conceivable Position On

The Curve Of Its Rocky Bay, Is, Needless To Say, A Favourite Camping

Ground For Artists. The Cullercoats Fishwife, With Her Cheerful

Weather-Bronzed Face, Her Short Jacket And Ample Skirts Of Blue Flannel,

And Her Heavily Laden "Creel" Of Fish Is Not Only Appreciated By The

Brotherhood Of Brush And Pencil, But Is One Of The Notable Sights Of The

District. At Cullercoats Is Struck A Note Of The Most Modern Of Modern

Achievements--The Wireless Telegraphy Station (225 Feet); And Here, Too,

Is Situated The Dove Marine Laboratory, Looked After By Scientists On

The Staff Of The Armstrong College At Newcastle.

 

In Fine Weather The Crowds Which Pass And Repass Along The Top Of The

Bold Cliffs Which Overlook The Fine Stretch Of Sands Between Cullercoats

And Monkseaton Show How Many Hundreds Of Northumbria's Busy Workers

Enjoy The Fresh Breezes From The Sea On This Pleasant And Bracing Coast.

Out At Sea, Opposite The Parade, Vessels Built In The Busy Shipyards On

The Tyne May Be Seen Doing Their Speed Trials Over The Measured Mile.

The Peace Of St. Oswyn May, In Fact, Be Said To Brood Over Tynemouth,

Even In These Days, For It Is An Increasing Custom For Those Who Can Do

So To Remain In Newcastle And Other Busy Centres Of Toil Only During

Business Hours, And To Leave Workshop And Office Every Evening For Their

Home By The Sea: While The Tide Of Noisy, Happy, Boisterous

Excursionists Has Rolled On To Whitley Bay, Leaving Tynemouth To Its

Old-Time Sleepy Content. Northward To Hartley And Seaton Sluice The

Cliffs Are Very Fine. Hartley, With Its Bright-Looking Red-Tiled Houses,

Once Belonged To Adam Of Gesemuth (Jesmond) Who Lived In The Reign Of

King John. Coming Down To Modern Times, About Thirty Years Ago A Gallant

Hartley Man, Thomas Langley, Rescued Two Successive Shipwrecked Crews On

The Same Day, In One Case Allowing Himself To Be Lowered Over The Cliffs

At A Terrible Risk In The Furious Storm.

 

Seaton Sluice Belongs To The Ancient Family Of The Delavals, Whose

House, Delaval Hall, May Be Seen Not Far Away, Peeping From Amongst The

Trees Which Surround It. Seaton Sluice Owes Its Name To The Delaval Who

Placed The Large Sluice Gates Upon The Burn, In Order To Have A Strong

Current Which, In Rushing Down To The Sea, Would Be Able To Wash The

Mouth Of The Stream Clear From The Silt And Mud Brought In By The

Incoming Tide. A Later Baronet, Sir John Hussey Delaval, Made The

Cutting Through The Solid Rock Which Is So Striking A Feature Of The

Harbour. It Was Ready For The Entrance Of Vessels In March, 1763.

 

Delaval Hall Is Now Owned By Lord Hastings, The Present