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

The Daungerust Place In England, And

There To Let The Heaulme Be Seene And Knowen As Famose." Evidently It

Was Well Known Where "The Daungerust Place In England" Was To Be Found,

For The Story Laconically Says "So He Went To Norham." He Had Not Been

There More Than A Day Or Two When A Band Of Nearly Two Hundred Scots,

Bold And Expert Horsemen, Led By Philip De Mowbray, Made An Attack On

The Castle, Rousing Sir Thomas And His Garrison From Their Dinner. They

Quickly Mounted, And Were About To Sally Forth When Sir Thomas Caught

Sight Of Marmion, In Rich Armour, And On His Head The Helmet With The

Golden Crest; And Halting His Men, He Cried Out, "Sir Knight, Ye Be Come

Hither As A Knight-Errant To Fame Your Helm; And Since Deeds Of Chivalry

Should Rather Be Done On Horseback Than On Foot, Mount Up On Your Horse,

And Spur Him Like A Valiant Knight Into The Midst Of Your Enemies Here

At Hand, And I Forsake God If I Rescue Not Thy Body Dead Or Alive, Or I

Myself Will Die For It." At This Marmion Mounted And Spurred Towards The

Scots, By Whom He Was Instantly Set Upon, Wounded, And Dragged From The

Saddle. But Before They Had Time To Give Him The Final Blow They Were

Scattered By The Rapid Charge Of Sir Thomas And His Men, Who Quickly

Rescued Marmion And Set Him On His Horse Again; And Using Their Lances

Against The Horses Of The Scots, Caused Many Of Them To Throw Their

Riders, While The Rest Galloped Away. The Women Of The Castle Caught

Fifty Of The Riderless Horses, On Which More Of The Garrison Mounted And

Joined In The Pursuit Of The Flying Scots, Whom They Chased Nearly To

Berwick.

 

The Tables Were Sometimes Turned, However; And On One Of These Occasions

The Valiant Sir Thomas Gray And His Son Were Enticed Out Of The Castle

Into An Ambush Laid For Them By Their Foes, And Both Captured.

 

In 1513, Just Before The Battle Of Flodden, Its Walls Were At Length

Laid Low By James Iv., But Not Until The Famous Cannon "Mons

Meg"--Still, I Believe, To Be Seen At Edinburgh Castle--Had Been Brought

Against It. One Of The Cannon-Balls Fired From "Mons Meg" Was Found,

And Is Still Kept With Others At The Castle. It Is Said That The Scots

Were Told Of The Weakest Spot In The Fortifications By A Treacherous

Inmate Of The Castle, Who Doubtless Expected A Rich Reward For His

Information. Indeed, The Ballad Of "Flodden" Says He Came For It; But

The Valiant And Chivalrous King Would Give Him No Reward But That Which

He Said Every Traitor Deserved--A Rope.

 

Afterwards The Castle Was Restored Once More, But Its More Stirring Days

Were Over; And, To-Day, It Stands A Shattered But Dignified Ruin,

Overlooking The Tranquil River And Peaceful Woodlands Which Once Echoed

So Continuously To The Clash Of Arms And The Shouts Of Besiegers And

Besieged.

 

The Village Of Norham Was In Saxon Days Known As Ubbanford--The Upper

Ford Of Two That Were Available In Those Days On The Tweed. There Was A

Church Here, Too, In Saxon Times, For Bishop Ecfrid Built One About The

Year 830, And In It Was Buried The Saxon King Ceolwulf Who Became A

Monk: The Present Church Has A Good Deal Remaining Of The One Built On

The Same Site By Bishop Flambard, About The Same Time As The Castle.

Earl Gospatric, Whom William The Conqueror Made Earl Of Northumberland

In Return For A Considerable Sum Of Money--Doubtless Thinking That To

Give A Northumbrian The Earldom Would Reconcile The North To His

Rule--Is Buried In The Church Porch. Gospatric Joined In The Resistance

Of The North To William, But Returned To His Allegiance Later. The

Market Cross Of Norham Stands On The Original Base.

 

From Norham To Tweedmouth The River Sweeps Forward Between Picturesque

Ever-Widening Banks, And Often Hidden By A Leafy Screen, Past The

Village Of Horncliffe, Beneath The Union Suspension Bridge, One Of The

First Erected Of Its Kind, Until At Length Its Bright Waters Lave The

Historic Walls Of Berwick-Upon-Tweed, And In The Quiet Harbour There

Meet The Inrushing Tide From The North Sea.

Chapter 9 (Drum And Trumpet)

This Sentence Of The Historian Of Northumberland Sums Up The Story Of

Our Northern County No Less Admirably Than Tersely, And It Would Be

Difficult To Find One Which Should More Clearly Bring Before Us The

Whole Atmosphere Of North-Country History And North-Country Doings For

Many Centuries.

 

Within The Limits Of This Chapter It Is Impossible To Go Into The

Details Of Every "Foughten Field" Within The County; The Most That Can

Be Done Is To Indicate The Many And Treat In Detail Only The Few. A

Goodly Number Have Already Been Alluded To In Connection With The Place

Where Each Occurred.

 

After The Roman Campaigns, From Those Of Agricola To Those Of Theodosius

The Elder And Maximus, And The Legion Sent By Stilicho, The Earliest

Battle Story Is That Of The One In Glendale Fought By King Arthur. Then

The Forming Of The Kingdom Of Bernicia With The Advent Of Ida At

Bamburgh Was The Beginning Of A Long-Protracted Struggle Between The

Various Little States, Each Fighting For Its Life, And Surrounded By

Others Equally Determined To Take Every Advantage That Offered Against

It. The Sons Of Ida Fought Against The Celebrated Urien, A Keltic

Chief, Who Almost Succeeded In Dispossessing Them Of Their Kingdom Of

Bernicia. Hussa, One Of Ida's Sons, Ultimately Vanquished Urien's Son

Owen, "Chief Of The Glittering West"; And After Hussa's Death Ethelric

Of Bernicia, As We Have Seen, Overcame The Neighbouring Chieftain Of

Deira, Thus Forming The Kingdom Of Northumbria. His Successor,

Ethelfrith, In The Year 603 Gained A Great Victory Over A Large Force Of

Northern Britons Under A Leader Named Aedan At A Place Called

Daegsanstan, Which Is Thought To Be Dissington, Near Newcastle. His

Further Victories Were Gained Outside The Limits Of Our Present Survey.

 

After The Long And Glorious Reign Of Edwin, His Successor, Ethelfrith's

Sons Came Back To Bamburgh; The Eldest, Eanfrid, Was Slain Within A

Year, And His Brother Oswald Carried On The Struggle Against Penda Of

Mercia. We Have Seen How He Fought Against Penda And Cadwallon On The

Heavenfield Near Chollerford, And Gained A Victory Which Obtained For

Him Many Years Of Peace. Penda Was Finally Slain By Oswald's Successor

Oswy In A Great Battle Which Is Supposed To Have Taken Place On The

Banks Of The Tweed.

 

Many Years Afterwards, Sitric, Grandson Of That Prince Guthred Who Was

Once A Slave At Whittingham, Married A Sister Of King Athelstan,

Grandson Of Alfred The Great. When Sitric Died, Athelstan Came Northward

To Claim Northumbria For Himself. He Captured Bamburgh--The First Time

That Stronghold Of The Bernician Kings Had Ever Been Taken--And Arranged

For Two Earls To Govern Northumbria For Him. They Attempted

Unsuccessfully To Oppose A Force Of Scots Under Anlaf The Red, Who Was

Joined By Two Earls Of Bretland (Cumbria); And The Whole Force Encamped

Near A Place Called Weondune, Supposed To Be Wandon Near Chatton.

Athelstan Advanced Against Them And Challenged Them To A Pitched Battle

On This Ground. They Agreed, And With Much Deliberation The Course Was

Staked Out With Hazel Wands Between A Wood And A River (Chillingham

Woods And The Till). The Scots Greatly Outnumbered Athelstan's Men, Who

Set Up Their Tents At The Narrowest Part Of The Plain, Giving Their King

Time To Reach A Little "Burg" (Old Bewick) In The Neighbourhood. A

Running Fight Followed, Which Was Carried On The Next Day, And With The

Help Of Two Brothers, Egil And Thorold, Who Were Norsemen, It Ended In A

Complete Victory For Athelstan. While In The North, King Athelstan Gave

The Well-Known Rhyming Charter To A Certain Paulan Of Roddam;

 

  "I Kyng Adelstan

  Giffs Hier To Paulan

  Oddam And Roddam

  Als Gud And Als Fair

  Als Evyr Thai Myne War,

  And Thar To Wytness

  Mald My Wiffe."

 

Shortly After This, At The Battle Of Brunanburh, Athelstan Vanquished

Anlaf Sitricsson And Constantine, King Of The Scots. The Site Of This

Battle Would Seem To Have Been In Northumbria, As It Was Into The Humber

That Anlaf And Constantine Sailed With Their Large Fleet; But The

Precise Spot Has Never Been Determined.

 

In The Reign Of Knut The Dane, The Scots Obtained The Whole Of Lothian

From The Saxon Earl Of Northumberland, And The Vast Possessions Of St.

Cuthbert Beyond The Tweed Seemed About To Be Lost To The Church Of

Durham. Accordingly, The Clergy Called Upon All The People Of St.

Cuthbert From The Tees To The Tweed--All Those, That Is, Who Dwelt On

Lands Granted By Various Donors To The Church Of St. Cuthbert--To Rise

And March Northward To Fight For Their Lands. This Great Company Set

Out, In The Autumn Of 1018, And Reached Carham On The Tweed, Where They

Were Met By Malcolm King Of The Scots. A Comet Had Been Seen In The Sky

For Some Weeks And The Fears Inspired By This Dread Visitant Seem To

Have Had More Effect Upon The Northumbrians Than Upon The Scots. From

Whatever Cause It Arose, When The Two Forces Joined In Battle A Panic

Spread Among The Followers Of St. Cuthbert. They Were Utterly Routed,

And Most Of The Leading Northumbrians As Well As Eighteen Priests Were

Slain--Thus Curiously Repeating The Experience Of The Earlier Battle Of

Carham.

 

For The Next Three Hundred Years Northumberland Was Swept By Successive

Waves Of Raid And Reprisal, In The Course Of Which Occurred The Two

Well-Known Events, The Attack Of William The Lion Of Scotland On Alnwick

Castle, And The More Famous Affair Still, The Struggle Between Percy And

Douglas Known As The Battle Of Otterburn, Which Was Fought In "Chevy

Chase" (Cheviot Forest). More Important Poetically Than Politically, It

Stands Out More Vividly In The Records Of The Time Than Many Other

Conflicts Of Larger Import. The Personal Element In The Fight, The Deeds

Of Gallantry Recorded, The Sounding Roll Of The Chief Knights' Names,

And The High Renown Of The Two Leaders, Throw A Glamour Around This

Particular Contest Which Is Kept Alive By The Ballads That Chant The

Praises Of Percy Or Douglas According As The Singer Was Scot Or Saxon.

Sir Philip Sidney, That "Verray Parfit Gentil Knight" And Discriminating

_Litterateur_, Said "I Never Heard The Old Song Of Percie And Douglas

That I Found Not My Hart Mooved More Than With A Trumpet: And Yet It Is

Sung But By Some Blynd Crowder,[11] With No Rougher Voyce Than Rude

Stile! Which Beeing So Evill Apparelled In The Dust And Cobweb Of That

Uncivill Age, What Wolde It Work Trimmed In The Gorgeous Eloquence Of

Pindare!" [Footnote 11: Crowder = Fiddler.]

 

In The Endless Warfare Of The Borders The Second Of Two Short-Lived

Periods Of Truce Had Just Expired, And An Organised Raid On A Large

Scale Was Arranged By The Scots. The Main Body Was To Ravage Cumberland;

And A Smaller, But Picked Force Led By Earls Douglas, Moray, And March

Came Southward By Way Of Northumberland. But Northumbrian Towers And

Towns Knew Nothing Of Their Passing; They Marched Rapidly And By Stealth

Into Durham, Having Crossed The Tyne Between Corbridge And Bywell, And

Began To Harry And Lay Waste The Greener Pastures And Richer Villages Of

The Southern County, The Smoke Of Whose Burning Homesteads Was The First

Intimation To The Unlucky English Of The Fact That A Scottish Host Was

In Their Midst.

 

The Earl Of Northumberland Remained At Alnwick In The Hope That He Might

Be Able To Attack The Scots On Their Homeward Journey; But He Despatched

His Sons Henry Hotspur And Ralph In All Haste To Defend Newcastle. The

Scots In Due Time Appeared Before The Walls.

 

  And He Marched Up To Newcastel

  And Rode It Round About;

  "O Wha's The Lord O' This Castel?

  Or Wha's The Lady O't?"

 

  But Up Spake Proud Lord Percy Then,

  And O But He Spake Hie!

  "I Am The Lord O' This Castel,

  My Wife's The Lady Gay."

 

Douglas Challenged Percy To Meet Him In Single Combat, And Percy

Promptly Accepted.