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

Reaches The Little Village Of

Chatton, Having, On The Way, Passed A Little To The Westward Of

Chillingham Castle And Park, Where Is The Famous Herd Of Wild Cattle.

Roscastle, A Craggy Height Covered With Heather, Stands At The Edge Of

The Chase, And Looks Over A Wild And Romantic Scene Of Moorland And

Pastureland, Deep Glens And Heathery Hills. The Vicarage At Chatton Is

Another Of Those North-Country Vicarages In Which An Old Pele-Tower

Forms Part Of The Modern Residence. On The Top Of Chatton Law Is An

Ancient British Encampment, With Inscribed Circles Similar To Those On

Bewick Hill.

 

From Chatton, The Loops And Windings Of The Till Grow More Insistent,

And The Little Stream Adds Miles To Its Length By Reason Of Its

Frequent Doubling On Its Tracks; This, However, But Gives An Added Charm

To The Landscape, As The Silvery Gleams Of The Winding River Come

Unexpectedly Into View Again And Again. It Flows On Through Glendale,

With Which Attractive Region We Have Already Made Acquaintance; And On

Its Banks Are The Two Prettiest Villages In Northumberland--Ford And

Etal.

 

Ford Castle, As Seen At The Present Day, Is Chiefly Modern, But The

Northwest Tower Is Part Of The Old Fortress Of Odenel De Forde, Which

Experienced So Many Vicissitudes In Its Time. One Of The Most Famous

Owners Of Ford Castle Was Sir William Heron, Who Married Odenel's

Daughter, And Who Held The Responsible And Troublesome Office Of High

Sheriff Of Northumberland For Eleven Years, Besides Being Captain Of

Bamburgh And Warden Of The Northern Forests. The Castle Was Burnt Down

By James Iv. Of Scotland Just Before The Battle Of Flodden, Which Was

Not By Any Means The Only Time In Its Career That It Was Demolished,

Entirely Or In Part, And Restored Again.

 

In The Village Of Ford, The Walls Of The Schoolroom Are Decorated By A

Series Of Pictures Of The Children Of Scripture Story, For Whose

Portrayal It Is Said The Marchioness Of Waterford, The Artist, Took The

Village Children As Models. The Late Vicar Of Ford, The Rev. Hastings

Neville, Has Laid All Who Are Interested In The Rural Life Of

Northumberland, And The Quaint And Traditional Manners And Customs Of

The North-Country Which Are So Fast Disappearing, Under The Greatest

Obligation To Him For His Interesting And Entirely Delightful Little

Book, "A Corner In The North." Historical Records, And Matters Of

Business, Ownerships, Etc., Connected With Any Special Area Can Always

Be Turned Up For Reference When Required; But The Manner Of Speech, The

Customs Of Daily Life, The Quaint Survivals Of Former Usages And

Half-Forgotten Lore, Being Entirely Dependent On Individual Memory And

Oral Tradition, Only Too Often Disappear Before Any Adequate Record Can

Be Made. Hence It Is A Matter For Congratulation That Such A Book Should

Have Been Written.

 

Etal, Ford's Pretty Neighbour, Also Boasts A Castle, Built Only Two

Years After That Of Ford And By The Same Masons. A Considerable Portion

Of The Ruins Remains, But, Unlike Ford Castle, It Was Never Restored

After James The Fourth's Drastic Handling Of It, But Was Left To Decay.

Opposite Ford And Etal, On The Left Bank Of The Till, Is Pallinsburn

House, Referred To In Another Chapter, And The Village Of Crookham; And

Beyond The Woods Of Pallinsburn, Flodden Ridge, With Its Memories Of The

Disastrous Field On Which James Was Slain.

 

The Mansion House Of Tillmouth Park, Owned By Sir Francis Blake, Is

Built Of Stones From The Ruins Of Twizell Castle, On The Northern Bank

Of The Till; The Castle Was Begun By A Former Sir Francis Blake But

Never Finished. Between The Two Buildings The Berwick Road Crosses The

Till By Twizell Bridge, Over Which Surrey Marched His Men Southward On

The Morning Of Flodden. Not Far From This Bridge, To The Westward, Is

St. Helen's Well, Alluded To By Scott In His Account Of The Battle, In

"Marmion"--

 

  "Many A Chief Of Birth And Rank,

  St. Helen, At Thy Fountain Drank."

 

Sibyl's Well, From Which Lady Clare Brought Water To Moisten The Lips Of

The Dying Marmion, Is Beside The Little Church At Branxton. Tillmouth,

However, Has Older Memories Still; For It Was To The Little Chapel There

That St. Cuthbert's Body Floated In Its Stone Coffin From Melrose,

Dating The Course Of Its Seven Years' Wandering, Ere It Found A Final

Rest At Durham.

 

 

  "From Sea To Sea, From Shore To Shore,

  Seven Years Saint Cuthbert's Corpse They Bore

  They Rested Them In Fair Melrose,

  But Though Alive He Loved It Well

  Not There His Relics Might Repose,

      For, Wondrous Tale To Tell,

  In His Stone Coffin Forth He Glides,

  A Ponderous Bark For River Tides,

  Yet Light As Gossamer It Glides

      Downward To Tillmouth Cell.

 

         *       *       *       *       *

 

  Chester-Le-Street And Ripon Saw

  His Holy Corpse, Ere Wardilaw

      Hailed It With Joy And Fear;

  Till, After Many Wanderings Past,

  He Chose His Lordly Seat At Last

  Where His Cathedral, Huge And Vast,

      Looks Down Upon The Wear."

 

  _Sir W. Scott_--Marmion.

 

 

The "Stone Coffin" Was Boat-Shaped, "Ten Feet Long, Three Feet And A

Half In Diameter, And Only Four Inches Thick, So That, With Very Little

Assistance, It Might Certainly Have Swum; It Still Lies, Or At Least Did

So A Few Years Ago, In Two Pieces, Beside The Ruined Chapel At

Tilmouth."--_Sir W. Scott's Notes To "Marmion."_

 

Three Or Four Miles From Tillmouth, South-Westward Up The Valley Of The

Tweed, And Just Beyond Cornhill, Lies The Village Of Wark, Near Which

The Remains Of The Famous Border Castle Are Still Standing. The Castle

Was Built On A Stony Ridge Of Detritus Called The _Kaim_, Which

Stretches From Wark Village Towards Carham. In The Reign Of Henry I. All

Those Who Owned Land In The North Were Seemingly Animated Simultaneously

By A Lively Desire To Secure Their Borders; Bishop Flambard Began To

Build Norham Castle, Eustace Fitz-John, Husband Of Beatrice De Vesci,

Built The Greater Part Of Alnwick Castle, And Walter Espic Raised The

Mighty Fortress, The Great "Wark" Or Work (A.S. _Were_ Or _Weare_) On

The Steep Ridge Above Tweed, In "His Honour (Seignieury) Of Carham."

 

From That Time The Castle Of Wark Went Through A Greater Succession Of

Sieges, Assaults, Burnings, Surrenders, Demolitions, And Restorations

Than Any Other Place In England, Except, Perhaps, Norham Castle Or

Berwick-Upon-Tweed. In An Age And Situation Where Hard Blows Given And

Returned, Desperate Adventures And Equal Chances Of Life Or Death Were

The Common-Places Of Everyday Existence, Wark Was Probably The Place

Where These Excitements Were To Be Had Oftener Than Anywhere Else.

 

The Romantic Episode Which Gave Rise To The Establishment Of The Order

Of The Garter Is Generally Allowed To Have Taken Place At Wark Castle.

The Young King Of Scotland, David Bruce, Had "Ridden A Raid" Into

England, And Ravaged And Plundered On His Way As Far As Auckland, After

Having Burnt The Town Of Alnwick, Amongst Others, But Having Been

Repulsed Before The Castle. King Edward Iii. Was At Stamford When He

Heard Of The Invasion; But Hurrying Northward He Reached Newcastle In

Four Days. The Scots, Retreating Before Him, Passed Wark Castle, Which

Was Held By The Countess Of Salisbury And Her Nephew, In The Absence Of

Her Husband. The Young Man Was Loth To Let So Much English Booty Be

Carried Off Under His Very Eyes, So He Fell Upon The Rearguard, And

Succeeded In Bringing A Number Of Packhorses To The Castle. On This The

Whole Scottish Array Turned Back, And A Siege Of The Castle Began; But

The Countess Spiritedly Held Out, And Edward Meanwhile Drew Nearer. Some

Of The Scotsmen Were Captured, And From Them The Countess's Nephew

Heard That Edward Had Reached Alnwick. He Stole Out Of The Castle Before

Dawning In Heavy Rain, To Let The King Know Where His Help Was Urgently

Needed; And By Noon Of The Same Day Edward Was At Wark, Only To Find His

Quarry Flown, The Scots Having Retreated A Few Hours Earlier. The King

Was Joyfully Received And Thanked By The Grateful Countess; And He In

His Turn Was Much Struck By The Beauty And Grace Of The High-Spirited

Lady, And Showed His Admiration Plainly. In The Evening, According To

Tradition, A Ball Was Held, At Which The Incident Occurred, So Often

Related, Of The Accidental Losing Of Her Garter By The Fair Chatelaine,

And The Restoration Of It By The King, With The Remark, As A Rebuke To

The Smiling Bystanders,--"_Honi Soit Qui Mal Y Pense._" This He

Afterwards Adopted As The Motto Of The Order He Established In Honour Of

The Beautiful Countess.

 

The Garter Is The Most Exclusive Of Orders, And Consists Of The Reigning

Sovereign And Twenty-Five Companions, Of Whom The Prince Of Wales Is

Always One; And It Takes Precedence Of All Other Titles, Ranking Next To

Royalty. It Is A Matter Of Great Pride To All Northumbrians That Perhaps

The Only Instance Of Its Having Been Bestowed On Any Except A Peer Of

The Realm Or A Foreign Sovereign, Has Occurred Recently In The Bestowal

Of The Coveted Decoration On Sir Edward Grey, A Member Of The Ancient

And Important Northumbrian House Of That Name.

 

Every King Of England From Henry I. To Henry Iv., Seems To Have Been At

Wark At Some Time During His Reign, With The Exception Of Richard

Coeur-De-Lion And Richard Ii. After The Union Of The Crowns, Wark, Like

Most Other Fortresses In The North That Were Not In Use As The Dwellings

Of Their Owners, Was Allowed To Fall Into Decay. From Wark To Carham Is

A Walk Of Only Two Miles Along The Road Which Follows The Course Of The

River, And Ultimately Leads To Kelso. Carham Has The Remains Of An

Ancient Monastery; And Here The Danes, After Having Plundered

Lindisfarne, Fought A Battle In Which The Saxons, Led By Several

Bishops, Were Defeated With Great Slaughter. From Carham, Having Reached

The Last Point Of Interest On The Tweed Within The Northumbrian Border,

We Must Retrace Our Steps To Tillmouth, And Follow The Tweed Through

Pasture Land And Level Haughs, Until We Come In Sight Of The Steep

Cliffs And Overhanging Woods By Norham Castle.

 

Naturally Here, The Words Of The Opening Canto Of "Marmion" Are Recalled

To Our Memory--

 

  "Day Set On Norham's Castled Steep,

  On Tweed's Fair River, Broad And Deep,

  And Cheviot's Mountains Lone

  The Battled Towers, The Donjon Keep,

  The Loophole Grates, Where Captives Weep,

  The Flanking Walls That Round It Sweep,

      In Yellow Lustre Shone."

 

 

The "Castled Steep" Is Still Crowned By A Massive Fragment Of The Old

Fortress That Has Braved, In Its Time, So Many Days Of Storm And Stress.

A Good Deal Of The Curtain Wall, Too, Is Standing, And The Natural

Defences Of The Castle Are Admirable, For A Deep Ravine On The East And

The River With Its Steep Banks On The South Made It Practically

Unassailable At These Points. It Was Built In 1121, As We Have Seen, By

Bishop Flambard Of Durham, As A Defence For The Northern Portions Of His

Diocese. The Necessity For Its Presence There Was Soon Made Apparent,

For It Was Attacked By The Scots Again And Again; And By The Time Thirty

Years Had Passed. Bishop Pudsey Found It Necessary To Strengthen It

Greatly. When Edward I. Was Called To Arbitrate Between The Claimants

To The Scottish Throne, He Came To Norham And Met The Rival Nobles, Who,

With Their Followers, Were Quartered At Ladykirk, On The Opposite Side

Of The Tweed. It Was Known As Upsettlington Then, However; The Name Of

Ladykirk Was Bestowed Upon It Long Afterwards, When James Iv. Built The

Little Chapel There, In Gratitude For An Escape From Drowning In The

Tweed. Edward Held His Interview With The Scottish Nobles In Norham

Church, And Announced That He Had Come There In The Character Of Lord

Paramount, And As Such Was Prepared To Make Choice Of One Among Them.

Edward Did Not By Any Means Make Up His Mind Quickly, And The Various

Places In Which The Successive Acts In The Affair Took Place Are Widely

Scattered, For He Met The Nobles At Norham, Some Time Afterwards

Delivered His Decision At Berwick, And Finally Received The Homage Of

John Balliol At Newcastle.

 

Norham, Like Wark, Has Also Its Romantic Episode--Or Rather, An Episode

More Conspicuously So In A Series Of Them To Which The Name Might With

Justice Be Applied. It Occurred During The Time That Sir Thomas Gray Was

Holding The Castle Against A Determined Blockade Of It By The Scots In

1318. A Certain Fair Lady Of Lincolnshire Sent One Of Her Maidens To A

Knight Whom She Loved, Sir William Marmion (Whose Name Probably

Suggested To Sir Walter Scott The Name For The Hero Of His Tale Of

Norham And Flodden). Sir William Was At A Banquet When The Maiden Came

Before Him Bearing A Helmet With A Golden Crest, Together With A Letter

From His Lady Bidding Him Go "Into