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

The Early Danish Invasions A Certain Widow In Whittingham,

In The Reign Of King Alfred, Had No Less A Person Than A Danish Prince

Among Her Slaves; He Was Ransomed, However, And Made King Of The Danes

In The North, In Consequence Of A Vision In Which St. Cuthbert Had

Directed The Abbot Of Carlisle To See This Done. Young Prince Guthred's

Gratitude Showed Itself In A Substantial Grant Of Land To St. Cuthbert

At Durham. Whittingham Church Is Supposed To Have Been Founded By The

Saxon King Ceolwulf, Whose Acquaintance We Have Already Made At Holy

Island, And He Bestowed The Lands Of Whittingham On The Church At

Lindisfarne. It Still Shows Some Of The Original Saxon Work At The Base

Of The Tower, And Much More Was To Be Seen Before The So-Called

"Restoration" Of The Church In 1840. The Pele-Tower On The South Side Of

The River, After Its Days Of Storm And Stress Are Over, Still Serves As

A Shelter In Time Of Need, For It Is Now Used As An Almshouse For The

Poor Of The Village, A Former Lady Ravensworth Having Originated The

Quaint Idea And Seen It Carried Out.

 

Whittingham Fair, Now Whittingham Sports, A Well-Known Rendezvous Of The

Whole Countryside, Has Lost Some Of Its Former Splendour, But Is Still

Looked Forward To With Great Enjoyment In The Surrounding District. The

Old Coaching Road From Newcastle To Edinburgh Passed Through The

Village, Crossing The Aln By The Stone Bridge, From Whence It Went On

Through Glanton And Wooler To Cornhill.

 

In The Vale Of Whittingham, The Little Aln Flows Placidly Along, Its

Waters Murmuring A Soothing Refrain, A Peaceful Interlude Between Its

Busy Bustling Beginning And Its Ending. Before Reaching Alnwick It Flows

Past The Ancient Walls Of Hulne Abbey, The Monastery Of Carmelite Friars

So Romantically Founded By The Northumbrian Knight And Monk After His

Visit To The Monastery On Mount Carmel. A Considerable Portion Of The

Ancient Building Is Still Standing, And Few Sites Chosen By The Old

Monks, Who Had An Unerring Eye For Beauty As Well As Safety And

Convenience In Their Choice Of Abode, Can Surpass This One, Surrounded

By Fair Meadows, And Standing On The Green Hill-Side, With The Rippling

Aln Flowing Through The Levels Below. In Hulne Park Is Also The

Brislee Tower, Erected By The First Duke Of Northumberland In 1781, On

The Top Of Brislee Hill.

 

 

Alnwick Itself, With Its Quaint, Uneven, Narrow Streets, And Grey Stone

Houses, Looks The Part Of A Border Town Even In These Days; And The Grim

Old Hotspur Tower, Bestriding The Main Street Like An Ancient Warrior

Still On Guard, Helps To Give The Illusion An Air Of Reality. The Tower,

However, Was Not Built By Hotspur, But By His Son. The Names Of The

Streets, Too, Are Redolent Of The Days When The Only Safety For The

Inhabitants Of A Town Worth Plundering Lay In The Strength Of Its Walls

And Gateways. Bondgate, Bailiffgate, And Narrowgate, Still Speak Of The

Days Of Siege And Sortie, Of Fierce Attack And Stout Defence.

 

The Magnificent Castle Which Dominates The Town Stands Majestically At

The Top Of A Green Slope Above The Aln, Its Vast Array Of Walls And

Towers Far Along The Ridge, Fronting The North As Though Still Looking,

Albeit With A Seemingly Languid Interest, For The Coming Of The Scots

Who Were Such Inveterate Foes Of Its Successive Lords. The Principal

Entrance, However, The Barbican, Faces Southwards To The Town, And Here

The Massive Gateway, With Portcullis Complete, And Crowned By Quaint

Life-Size Figures Of Warriors In Various Attitudes Of Defence, Conveys

The Impression That The Huge Giant Is Still Alert And On Guard. The

History Of Alnwick Is The History Of The Castle And Its Lords, From The

Days Of Gilbert Tyson, Variously Known As Tison, Tisson, And De Tesson,

One Of The Conqueror's Standardbearers, Upon Whom This Northern Estate

Was Bestowed, Until The Present Time. After Being Held By The Family Of

De Vesci (Of Which The Modern Rendering Is Vasey--A Name Found All Over

South-East Northumberland) For Over Two Hundred Years, It Passed Into

The Hands Of The House Of Percy. The Percies, Who Hailed From The

Village Of Perce In Normandy, Had Large Estates In Yorkshire, Bestowed

By The Conqueror On The First Of The Name To Arrive In England In His

Train. The Family, However, Was Represented By An Heiress Only In The

Reign Of Henry Ii., Whose Second Wife, A Daughter Of The Duke Of

Brabant, Thought This Heiress, With Her Wide Possessions, A Suitable

Match For Her Own Young Half-Brother Joceline Of Louvain. The Marriage

Took Place; And Thereafter Followed The Long Line Of Henry Percies

(Henry Being A Favourite Name Of The Counts Of Louvain) Who Played Such

A Large Part In The History Of Both England And Scotland; For, As Nearly

Every Percy Was A Warden Of The Marches, Scottish Doings Concerned Them

More Or Less Intimately--Indeed, Often More So Than English Affairs.

 

It Was The Third Henry Percy Who Purchased Alnwick In 1309 From Antony

Bec, Bishop Of Durham And Guardian Of The Last De Vesci, And From That

Time The Fortunes Of The Percies, Though They Still Held Their Yorkshire

Estates, Were Linked Permanently With The Little Town On The Aln, And

The Fortress Which Alike Commanded And Defended It. The Fourth Henry

Percy Began To Build The Castle As We See It Now; But To Call Him "The

Fourth" Is A Little Confusing, As He Was The Second Henry Percy, Lord Of

Alnwick. On The Whole, It Will Be Clearer To Begin The Enumerations Of

The Various Henry Percies From The Time They Became Lords Of Alnwick. It

Was, Then, Henry Percy The Second, Lord Of Alnwick, Who Began The

Re-Building Of The Castle; He Also Was Jointly Responsible For The

Safety Of The Realm During The Absence Of Edward Iii. In The French

Wars, And In This Official Capacity, No Less Than In That Of A Border

Baron Whose Delight It Was To Exchange Lusty Blows With An Ever-Ready

Foe, He Helped To Win The Battle Of Neville's Cross. His Son, Henry,

Married A Sister Of John Of Gaunt, And Their Son, The Next Henry Percy,

Was That Friend Who Stood John Wycliffe In Such Good Stead, When He Was

Cited To Appear Before The Bishop Of London. Henry Percy, Who Had Been

Made Earl Marshal Of England, And The Duke Of Lancaster Took Their

Places One On Each Side Of Wycliffe, And Accompanied Him To St. Paul's,

Clearing A Way For Him Through The Crowd. It Does Not Belong To This

Story To Tell How Their Private Quarrels With The Bishop Prevented

Wycliffe's Interrogation, And How He Left The Cathedral Without Having

Uttered A Word; We Are Concerned At The Moment With His North-Country

Friend, Who, The Same Year, Was Created Earl Of Northumberland, Which

Title He Was Given After The Coronation Of Richard Ii. Nor Was This All,

For He Was That Northumberland Whose Doings In The Next Reign Fill So

Large A Part Of Shakespeare's Henry Iv., And He Was The Father Of The

Most Famous Percy Of All, The Gallant Henry Percy The Fifth, Better

Known As "Harry Hotspur." Hotspur Never Became Earl Of Northumberland,

Being Slain At Shrewsbury In The Lifetime Of His Father, Whose Estates

Were Forfeited Under Attainder On Account Of The Rebellion Of Himself

And His Son Against King Henry Iv.

 

King Henry V. Restored Hotspur's Son, The Second Earl, To His Family

Honours, And The Percies Were Staunch Lancastrians During The Wars Of

The Roses Which Followed, The Third Earl And Three Of His Brothers

Losing Their Lives In The Cause. The Fifth Earl Was A Gorgeous Person

Whose Magnificence Equalled, Almost, That Of Royalty. Henry Percy, The

Sixth Earl Of Northumberland, Loved Ann Boleyn, And Was Her Accepted

Suitor Before King Henry Viii. Unfortunately Discovered The Lady's

Charm, And Interfered In A Highhanded "Bluff King Hal" Fashion, And

Young Percy Lost His Prospective Bride. He Had No Son, Although Married

Later To The Daughter Of The Earl Of Shrewsbury, And His Nephew, Thomas

Percy, Became The Seventh Earl.

 

Thereafter, A Succession Of Plots And Counterplots--The Rising Of The

North, The Plots To Liberate Mary Queen Of Scots, And The Gunpowder

Plot--Each Claimed A Percy Among Their Adherents. On This Account The

Eighth And Ninth Earls Spent Many Years In The Tower, But The Tenth

Earl, Algernon, Fought For King Charles In The Civil War, The Male Line

Of The Percy-Louvain House Ending With Josceline, The Eleventh Earl. The

Heiress To The Vast Percy Estates Married The Duke Of Somerset; And Her

Grand-Daughter Married A Yorkshire Knight, Sir Hugh Smithson, Who In

1766 Was Created The First Duke Of Northumberland And Earl Percy, And It

Is Their Descendants Who Now Represent The Famous Old House.

 

At Various Points In The Town Are Memorials Of The Constant Wars Between

Percies And Scots In Which So Many Percies Spent The Greater Part Of

Their Lives. At The Side Of The Broad Shady Road Called Rotten Row,

Leading From The West Lodge To Bailiffgate, A Tablet Of Stone Marks The

Spot Where William The Lion Of Scotland Was Captured As We Have Already

Seen, In 1174, By Odinel De Umfraville And His Friends; And There Are

Many Others Of Similar Interest.

 

Within The Park, Approached By The Gate At The Foot Of Canongate, Is The

Fine Gateway Which Is All That Is Left Of Alnwick Abbey. No More

Peaceful Spot Could Have Been Found Than This, On The Level Greensward,

Surrounded By Fine Trees Which Shelter It On All Sides Save One, And

Near The Brink Of The Little Aln, Whose Banks Are Thickly Covered With

Wild Flowers, While The Steep Slope On The Opposite Side Of The River Is

Overhung With Shady Woods. The Extent Of The Parks May Be Judged From

The Fact That The Enclosing Wall Is About Five Miles Long. At The Foot

Of Bailiffgate, On The Edge Of A Steep Ridge Above The Descent To

Canongate And The Banks Of The River, The Ancient Parish Church,

Dedicated To St. Mary And St. Michael Stands In A Commanding Position.

The Present Building Dates From The Fourteenth Century, And Occupies The

Site Of An Earlier One, Whose Few Remaining Stones Have Been Built Into

The Present Structure. Two Other Reminders Of Long-Past Days Are To Be

Found In Alnwick; One Is The Large Stone In The Market Place To Which

The Bull Ring Used To Be Fixed In The Days When Bull-Baiting And

Bear-Baiting Took Place; And The Other, A Relic Of Days Still Further

Back In The Distant Years, Is The Sounding Of The Curfew Bell, Which Is

Still Rung Here Every Evening At Eight O'clock. Altogether There Is The

Quaintest And Most Unexpected Mingling Of The Ancient And Modern In The

Little Feudal Town.

 

Between Alnwick And The Sea, The Aln Winds Its Way Past Alnmouth

Station, Formerly Known As Bilton Junction, And Past Lesbury, A Pretty

Little Tree-Shaded Village, To The Sandy Flats By Alnmouth Where It Ends

Its Journey In The North Sea.

 

The Till, By Whose Side We Shall Next Wander, Flows In The Opposite

Direction, For That Historic Stream Is A Tributary Of "Tweed's Fair

River, Broad And Deep," And Curves From The Cheviots Round To The

North-West, Where It Enters The Larger Stream At Tillmouth. It Begins

Life As The Breamish, Tumbling Down The Slopes Of Cushat Law Within

Sight Of All The Giants Of The Cheviot Range. The Linhope Burn, A Fellow

Traveller Down These Steep Hillsides, Forms In Its Course The Linhope

Spout, One Of The Largest Waterfalls To Be Found Amongst The Cheviots,

Before It Joins The Breamish, Which Then Flows Through A Country Of

Green Slopes And Grassy Levels To Ingram. This Village Possesses An Old

Church With Massive Square Tower And Windows Which Suggest The Fortress

Rather Than The Church. The Heights Which Stretch Eastward From The

Cheviots And Bound The Valley Of The Till Add Not A Little To The Beauty

And Variety Of The Scenery In This District.

 

The Little Stream, Which Turns Northward Near Glanton Railway Station,

Moves On In Loops And Windings Past Beanley, Which Earl Gospatric Held

In Former Days By Virtue Of The Curious Office Of Being A Kind Of

Official Mediator Between The Monarchs Of England And Scotland When They

Came To Blows; And Past Bewick, With Its Little Norman Church Buried

From Sight Amongst Leafy Trees. The Effigy Of A Lady In The Chancel Of

This Church Is Said To Be That Of Matilda, Wife Of Henry I. This Is The

More Likely In That The Lands Of Bewick Formed Part Of Her Dowry, And

Were Given By Her To The Monks Of Tynemouth Priory. At Bewick Bridge The

Little Stream Ceases To Be The Breamish, And Becomes The Till; As An Old

Rhyme Has It--

 

  "The Foot Of Breamish, And Head Of Till,

  Meet Together At Bewick Mill"

 

Some Miles To The Northward, The Till