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

Feeling Against It That It Was Incontinently

Abandoned.

 

All Saints' Church Was Built In 1789, On The Site Of An Older Building

Which Was In Existence In 1296, And Which Became Very Unsafe. Here Is

Kept One Of The Most Interesting Monuments In The City--The Monumental

Brass Which Once Covered The Tomb Of Roger Thornton, A Wealthy Merchant

Of Newcastle, And A Great Benefactor To All The Churches. He Died In

1429. He Gave To St. Nicholas' Church Its Great East Window; But, On Its

Needing Repair In 1860, It Was Removed Entirely, And The Present One,

In Memory Of Dr. Ions, Inserted; And The Only Fragment Left Of

Thornton's Window Is A Small Circular Piece Inset In A Plain Glass

Window In The Cathedral. He Gave Much Money To Hexham Abbey Also.

 

Besides The Famous Men Already Mentioned In Connection With The Town,

Newcastle Possesses Other Well-Known Names Not A Few. In The Middle

Ages, Duns Scotus, The Man Whose Skill In Argument Earned For Him The

Title Of "Doctor Subtilis," Owned Northumberland As His Home, And

Received His Education In The Monastery Of The Grey Friars, Which Stood

Near The Head Of The Present Grey Street. He Returned To This Monastery

After Some Years Of Study At Oxford; In 1304 He Was Teaching Divinity In

Paris.

 

Nicholas Ridley, Bishop Of London In The Reign Of Edward Vi., Whose

Northumbrian Birthplace At Willimoteswick Has Already Been Noted,

Received His Early Education At The Grammar School In Newcastle, And On

Going To Cambridge Was A Student At Pembroke. We Are Told He Was The

Ablest Man Among The Reformers For Piety, Learning And Judgment. As Is

Well Known, He Died At The Stake In 1555.

 

William And Elizabeth Elstob, Who Lived In Newcastle At The End Of The

Seventeenth Century, Were Learned Saxon Scholars, But Were So Greatly In

Advance Of The Education Of Their Times That They Met With Little

Encouragement Or Sympathy In Their Labours.

 

Charles Avison, The Musician And Composer, Was Organist Of St. John's In

1736, And Afterwards Of St. Nicholas'.

 

It Was He To Whom Browning Referred In The Lines--

 

                               "On The List

  Of Worthies, Who By Help Of Pipe Or Wire,

  Expressed In Sound Rough Rage Or Soft Desire,

  Thou, Whilom Of Newcastle, Organist."

 

These Lines Have Been Carved On His Tombstone In St. Andrew's

Churchyard. He Is Best Known As The Composer Of The Anthem "Sound The

Loud Timbrel."

 

Mark Akenside, The Poet, Was Born In Butcher Bank, Now Called After Him

Akenside Hill. His Chief Work "The Pleasures Of Imagination," Is Not

Often Read Now, But It Enjoyed A Considerable Reputation In An Age When

A Stilted And Formal Style Was Looked Upon As A True Excellence In

Poetry.

 

Charles Hutton, The Mathematician, Was Born In Newcastle In 1737. He

Began Life As A Pitman; But, Receiving An Injury To His Arm, He Turned

His Attention To Books, And Taught In His Native Town For Some Years,

Becoming Later Professor Of Mathematics In The Royal Military Academy At

Woolwich.

 

John Brand, The Antiquary And Historian Of Newcastle, Was Born At

Washington, County Durham, But Came To Newcastle As A Child. After

Attending The Grammar School, He Went To Oxford, By The Aid Of His

Master, The Rev. Hugh Moises. He Was Afterwards Curate At The Church Of

St. Andrew.

 

Robert Morrison, The Celebrated Chinese Scholar, Was Born Near Morpeth,

But His Parents Came To Newcastle When The Boy Was Three Years Of Age.

He Died In China In 1834.

 

Thomas Miles Richardson, The Well-Known Artist, Was Born In Newcastle In

1784, And Was At First A Cabinetmaker, Then Master Of St. Andrew's Free

School, But Finally Gave Up All Other Work To Devote Himself To His Art.

 

Robert Stephenson Went To School At Percy Street Academy, Which For Long

Has Ceased To Exist. There He Was Taught By Mr. Bruce, And Had For One

Of His Fellow-Pupils The Master's Son, John Collingwood Bruce, Who

Afterwards Became So Famous A Teacher And Antiquary.

 

Newcastle Is Not, As Most Southerners Imagine, A Dark And Gloomy Town Of

Unrelieved Bricks And Mortar, For, Besides Possessing Many Wide And

Handsome Streets, It Has Also Several Pretty Parks, The Most Noteworthy

Being The Beautiful Jesmond Dene, One Of The Late Lord Armstrong's

Magnificent Gifts To His Native Town. The Dene, Together With The

Armstrong Park Near It, Lies On The Course Of The Ouseburn, Which Is

Here A Bright And Sparkling Stream, Very Different From The Appearance

It Presents By The Time It Empties Its Murky Waters Into The Tyne.

Besides These There Are Heaton Park, The Leazes Park, With Its Lakes And

Boats, Brandling Park, And Others Smaller Than These; And Last, But Most

Important Of All, The Town Moor, A Fine Breezy Space To The North Of The

Town, Of More Than 900 Acres In Extent.

 

Of Statues And Monuments Newcastle Possesses Some Half-Dozen, The Finest

Being "Grey's Monument"--A Household Word In The Town And Familiarly

Known As "The Monument." It Was Erected At The Junction Of Grey Street

And Grainger Street In Memory Of Earl Grey Of Howick, Who Was Prime

Minister At The Passing Of The Reform Bill. The Figure Of The Earl, By

Bailey, Stands At The Top Of A Lofty Column, The Height Being 135 Feet

To The Top Of The Figure. There Is A Stairway Within The Column, By

Which It Can Be Ascended, And A Magnificent View Enjoyed From The Top.

 

In An Open Space Near The Central Station, Between The _Chronicle_

Office And The Lit. And Phil., There Is A Fine Statue Of George

Stephenson, By The Northumbrian Sculptor, Lough. It Is A Full Length

Representation Of The Great Engineer, In Bronze, With The Figures Of

Four Workmen, Representing The Chief Industries Of Tyneside, Around The

Pedestal--A Miner, A Smith, A Navvy, And An Engineer. At The Head Of

Northumberland Street, On The Open Space Of The Haymarket, Stands A

Beautiful Winged Victory On A Tall Column, Crowning "Northumbria"

Typified As A Female Figure At The Foot Of The Column. This Graceful And

Striking Memorial Is The Work Of T. Eyre Macklin, And Is In Memory Of

The Officers And Men Of The North Who Fell In The Boer War Of 1899-1902.

Two Other Noteworthy Statues In The Town Are Those Of Lord Armstrong,

Near The Entrance To The Natural History Museum At Barras Bridge, And Of

Joseph Cowen, In Westgate Road.

 

 

The Keel Row

 

  As I Came Thro' Sandgate,

  Thro' Sandgate, Thro' Sandgate,

  As I Came Thro' Sandgate,

  I Heard A Lassie Sing

      "O Weel May The Keel Row,

      The Keel Row, The Keel Row,

      Weel May The Keel Row

      That My Laddie's In

 

  "O Who Is Like My Johnnie,

  Sae Leish,[5] Sae Blithe, Sae Bonnie;

  He's Foremost 'Mang The Mony

  Keel Lads O' Coaly Tyne

      He'll Set And Row Sae Tightly,

      And In The Dance Sae Sprightly

      He'll Cut And Shuffle Lightly,

      'Tis True, Were He Not Mine!

  [Footnote 5: Leish = Lithe, Nimble.]

 

  "He Has Nae Mair O' Learnin'

  Than Tells His Weekly Earnin',

  Yet, Right Frae Wrang Discernin',

  Tho' Brave, Nae Bruiser He!

      Tho' He No Worth A Plack[6] Is,

      His Ain Coat On His Back Is;

      And Nane Can Say That Black Is

      The White O' Johnnie's E'e

  [Footnote 6: Plack = A Small Copper Coin, Worth About One-Third Of A

  Penny.]

 

  He Wears A Blue Bonnet,

  Blue Bonnet, Blue Bonnet,

  He Wears A Blue Bonnet,

  And A Dimple In His Chin

         O Weel May The Keel Row,

         The Keel Row, The Keel Row,

         Weel May The Keel Row

         That My Laddie's In."

 

Chapter 5 (Elswick And Its Founder)

For A Mile And A Quarter, Along The North Bank Of The Tyne, Stretch The

World-Famed Elswick Works, Which Have Grown To Their Present Gigantic

Proportions From The Small Beginnings Of Five And A Half Acres In 1847.

In That Year Two Fields Were Purchased As A Site For The New Works About

To Be Started To Make The Hydraulic Machinery Which Had Been Invented By

Mr. Armstrong.

 

In This Undertaking He Was Backed By The Wealth Of Several Prominent

Newcastle Citizens, Who Believed In The Future Of The New

Inventions--Messrs. Addison Potter, George Cruddas, Armourer Donkin, And

Richard Lambert. At That Time Elswick Was A Pretty Country Village Some

Distance Outside Of Newcastle, And The Walk Along The Riverside Between

The Two Places Was A Favourite One With The People Of The Town. In

Midstream There Was An Island, Where Stood A Little Inn Called The

"Countess Of Coventry"; And On The Island Various Sports Were Often

Held, Including Horse-Racing.

 

The Price Of The Land For The New Shops, Which Were Soon Built On The

Green Slopes Above The Tyne, Was Paid To Mr. Hodgson Hind And Mr.

Richard Grainger; The Latter Of Whom Had Intended, Could He Have Carried

Out His Plans For The Rebuilding Of Newcastle, Not To Stop Until He Made

Elswick Hall The Centre Of The Town.

 

Until The New Shops Were Ready To Begin Work, Some Of Mr. Armstrong's

Hydraulic Cranes Were Made By Mr. Watson At His Works In The High

Bridge.

 

All The Summer Of 1847, The Building Went Briskly On; And In The Autumn

Work Was Started. At First Mr. Armstrong Had An Office In Hood Street,

As He Was Superintending His Machinery Construction In High Bridge, As

Well As The Building Operations At Elswick. On Some Of The Early

Notepaper Of The Firm There Is, As The Heading, A Picture Of Elswick As

It Was Then, Showing The First Shops, The Little Square Building In

Which Were The Offices, The Green Banks Sloping Down To The Waterside,

And The Island In The Middle Of The Shallow Stream, While The Chimneys

And Smoke Of Newcastle Are Indicated In The Remote Background. Along The

Riverside Was The Public Footpath.

 

The First Work Done In The New Shops Was The Making Of Crane No. 6; And

Amongst Other Early Orders Was One From The _Newcastle Chronicle_, For

Hydraulic Machinery To Drive The Printing Press. The New Machinery

Rapidly Grew In Favour; And Orders From Mines, Docks And Railways Poured

In To The Elswick Firm, Which Soon Extended Its Works.

 

In 1854, When The Crimean War Broke Out, Mr. Armstrong Was Requested To

Devise Some Submarine Mines Which Would Clear The Harbour Of Sebastopol

Of The Russian War-Ships Which Had Been Sent There. He Did So, But The

Machinery Was Never Used.

 

At The Same Time, In His Leisure Moments, He Turned His Attention To The

Question Of Artillery. The Guns In Use At That Time Were Very Little

Better Than Those Which Had Been Used During The Napoleonic Wars; And

Mr. Armstrong Devised A New One, Which Was Made At His Workshops. It Was

A 3-Pounder, Complete With Gun-Carriage And Mountings, And Is Still To

Be Seen At Elswick.

 

With The Usual Reluctance Of Government Departments To Consider Anything

New, The War Office Of The Day Was Slow To Believe In The Superiority Of

The New Field-Piece; But When Every Fresh Trial Proved That Superiority

To Be Beyond Doubt, The Gun Was Adopted. And Then Mr. Armstrong Showed

The Large-Minded Generosity Which Was So Marked A Feature Of His

Character. Holding In His Hand--As Every Man Must, Who Possesses The

Secret Of A New And Superior Engine Of Destruction--The Fate Of Nations,

To Be Decided At His Will, And With The Knowledge That Other Powers Were

Willing And Eager To Buy With Any Sum The Skill Of Such An Inventor, Mr.

Armstrong Presented To The British Government, As A Free Gift, The

Patents Of His Artillery; And He Entered The Government Service For A

Time, As Engineer To The War Department, In Order To Give Them The

Benefit Of His Skill And Special Knowledge.

 

A Knighthood Was Bestowed Upon Him, And He Took Up His New Duties As Sir

William Armstrong. An Ordnance Department Was Opened At Elswick, And The

Government Promised A Continuance Of Orders Above Those That The Arsenal

At Woolwich Was Able To Fulfil. All Went Well For A Time, But After Some

Years The Connection Between The Government And Elswick Ceased; The

Ordnance And Engineering Works Were Then Amalgamated Into One