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

Played A Notable Part In The History Of England. They Saw

Henry Percy, Entrusted With A Share In The Safe Keeping Of The Country,

Set Out From Warkworth For Durham, To Help In Winning The Victory Of

Neville's Cross.

 

They Saw Hotspur's Force Set Out For The Cheviots To Intercept Douglas

And His Followers, Which They Did At Homildon Hill, Near Wooler; And It

Was The Quarrel In Connection With The Prisoners Taken On That Day Which

Led Hotspur And His Father Openly To Throw Off Their Allegiance To

Henry Iv., So That A Few Months Later The Peasants Of Warkworth Saw

Their Idolised Young Lord Set Out For What Was To Prove The Fatal Field

Of Shrewsbury. They Saw Hotspur's Father, The First Henry Percy To

Receive The Title Of Earl, (A Title Which Had Been Given Him At The

Coronation Of Richard Ii.) Set Out With A Brave Force After Hotspur's

Departure; And They Saw His Return, Almost Alone, Dejected And Broken In

Spirit, Having Learnt That The Help So Tardily Given Had Come Too Late,

And The Life Of His Gallant Son Was Ended.

 

They Saw The Siege Train Of Henry Bolingbroke Laid Against The Castle,

Directed By Henry In Person, Provoked Into These Active Measures By The

Open Rebellion Of Father And Son, Though Northumberland Had Tried To

Make It Appear That He Was Innocent Of Any Treasonable Act. After

Capturing The Castle, Bolingbroke Bestowed It On His Third Son, John Of

Lancaster, And The Villagers Saw The Young Prince Riding In And Out

Among Them Daily So Long As He Made The Castle His Home.

 

Then, In The Next Reign, They Welcomed The Return Of Hotspur's Son,

Henry, To The Home Of His Fathers, Restored To Him By Henry V.; And,

Within A Short Time, Saw Him Bring Home His Bride, Eleanor Neville,

Daughter Of His Friend And Neighbour, The Earl Of Westmoreland.

 

In The Wars Of The Roses, Warkworth Castle Saw Many Changes Of Fortune,

As The Tide Of Victory Flowed This Way And That. The Percies Were All

Lancastrians, Though Sir Ralph Percy Changed Sides Twice. The Castle

Fell Into The Hands Of The Yorkists, And The Great Earl Of Warwick, The

"King-Maker" Himself, Made It His Headquarters For A Time, While He

Superintended The Sieges Of Alnwick, Dunstanborough, And Bamburgh, Which

Were All Invested At The Same Time. Eventually, After The Wars Of The

Roses Concluded, Warkworth Was Restored, Along With The Other Percy

Estates, To Its Original Owners.

 

Finally, The Inhabitants Of The Little Village Saw The Church Entered By

The Jacobites In 1715, When Mr. Buxton, Chaplain Of The Little Force,

Prayed For James Iii. And Mary The Queen-Mother; And General Forster,

Dressed As A Trumpeter, Proclaimed King James Iii. At The Village Cross.

 

A Few Miles North From The Mouth Of The Coquet, The Little Aln Spreads

Over The Sandy Flats Near Alnmouth, And Reaches The Sea. It Has Changed

Its Course, For At One Time It Flowed To The South Of Church Hill,

Instead Of To The North As At Present. The Town Of Alnmouth, Viewed From

The Train Just Before Entering Alnmouth Station, Looks Very Picturesque,

Especially If The Rare Sunshine Of An English Summer Should Be Lighting

Up The Bay, Bringing Out The Vivid Red Of The Tiled Roofs Against The

Grassy Hills Fringing The Links Which Lie On Their Seaward Side, And

Lighting Up, Also, The Yellow Sands And Long Lines Of Sparkling Wavelets

Edged With White.

 

Alnmouth Depends For Its Living On A Fleet Of Fishing Boats, And On The

Numbers Of Visitors Who Seek Its Fresh Breezes And Inviting Shores Each

Summer. Golfers, Indeed, Find It Pleasant All The Year Round, As There

Is Only A Scarcely Appreciable Interval In The Winter Months When Their

Favourite Pastime Cannot Be Followed On The Breezy Links. On Church

Hill, Now Crowned By A Few Old Stones, Once Stood A Norman Church,

Dedicated To St. Valery, Which, In Its Turn, Occupied The Site Of An

Older Saxon Building, Supposed To Have Been The Church Which Bede Refers

To As Being At Twyford, Where A Great Synod Of Clergy Was Held In The

Year 684, And Cuthbert Appointed Bishop Of Lindisfarne. It Is A Matter

Of Dispute Whether This Twyford Was Alnmouth Or Whittingham, But The

Two Fords At Alnmouth Seem To Point To A Decision In Favour Of That

Place. The Old Norman Church, Which Fell Into Ruin At The Beginning Of

Last Century, Was Fired At By The Famous Pirate Paul Jones; The Cannon

Shot, Weighing 68 Pounds, Missed The Church, But Struck A Neighbouring

Farm House, Doing Great Damage.

 

The Coast North Of Alnmouth Becomes Rocky And Wild, And Very

Picturesque, And The Villages Along The Coast Are Being Sought Out By

Holiday Makers In Increasing Numbers, Year By Year. Boulmer, One Of

These Villages, Was A Famous Place For Smuggling In The Old Days, And

Many An Exciting Scene And Sharp Encounter Took Place Between The

Smugglers And The King's Men. Not Far Away Is Howick Dene, A Lovely

Little Glen Leading Down To The Sea From Howick Hall, The Home Of Earl

Grey.

 

Cullernose Point, A Striking Crag, Is Formed By The Outcrop Of A Portion

Of The Great Whin Sill, Which From Here Can Be Traced To The South-West,

And Thence Right Across The County.

 

At Craster, Another Fishing Village And A Favourite Holiday Haunt, Is

Craster Tower, Which Has Been The Home Of The Family Of Craster Since

Before The Conquest. Not Far To The North Is The Famous Rumble Churn In

The Rocks Below Dunstanborough Castle, Where The Waves Roll In And Out

Of The Caves And Chasms With Weird And Hollow Rumblings. There Is

Another Rumbling Churn In The Cliffs Near Howick.

 

The Famous Divine Of The Middle Ages, John Duns Scotus, Was Born In This

Parish--That Of Embleton; The Group Of Buildings Known As Dunston Hall,

Or Proctor's Steads, Is Supposed To Have Been His Birthplace, And A

Portrait Of The Learned Doctor Is To Be Seen There.

 

Dunstanborough Castle Stands In Lonely Grandeur On Great Whinstone

Crags, Close To The Very Edge Of The Sea, And On The First Sight Of It,

Keats' Wonderful Lines Spring Involuntarily To The Lips:--

 

  "Magic Casements, Opening On The Foam

  Of Perilous Seas, In Faery Lands Forlorn."

 

Forlorn, Indeed, Though Not In Exactly The Sense Conveyed By The Poem,

Is This Huge Fortress Now; It Abides, Says Freeman, "As A Castle Should

Abide, In All The Majesty Of A Shattered Ruin." The Primitive Cannon Of

The Days Of The Wars Of The Roses Began To Shatter Those Mighty Walls,

And, Unlike Bamborough, It Has Never Been Strengthened Since. Simon De

Montford Once Owned This Estate, And The Next Lord Of Dunstanborough Was

A Son Of Henry Iii., To Whom Earl Simon's Forfeited Estate Was Given.

His Eldest Son, Thomas Of Lancaster, Took Part With The Barons In

Bringing The Unworthy Favourite Of Edward Ii., Piers Gaveston, To His

Death. Under The King's Anger, Lancaster Went Away To His Northumbrian

Estate, And Began To Build This Mighty Fortress, Though He Already Owned

The Castles Of Kenilworth And Pontefract. In The Wars Of The Roses,

Dunstanborough Castle Was Taken And Retaken No Less Than Five Times, And

Queen Margaret Found Refuge Here, As Well As At Bamburgh; But Apart From

These Occasions, Dunstanborough Has Not Taken Nearly So Great A Part In

Either Local Or National History As The Other Northumbrian Castles Of

Bamburgh, Warkworth, And Alnwick, Though Greater In Extent Than Any Of

Them. In 1538 An Official Report Describes "Dunstunburht" As "A Very

Reuynous Howse"; And The Process Of Dilapidation Was Soon Aided By

Enterprising Dwellers In The Neighbourhood Using The Stones Of The

Forsaken Castle To Build Their Own Homesteads.

 

From The Castle Northward Curves Embleton Bay, In Which, After Having

Been Buried In The Sand For Ages, A Sandstone Rock Was Uncovered By The

Tide, Having On Its Surface, Chiselled In Rough But Distinct Lettering,

The Name "Andra Barton." Sir Andrew Barton, Daring Scottish Sea-Captain

And Fearless Freebooter, Was Slain In A Sea-Fight Off This Part Of The

Coast, In The Days Of Henry Viii., By The Sons Of Surrey, One Of Whom,

Sir Thomas Howard, Was Lord Admiral At The Time, And So, In A Measure,

Responsible For The Defence Of The English Coast. The Loss Of His Brave

Sea-Captain And His "Goodly Ships" Was One Of The Grievances In The Long

List Which Led King James Iv. To Declare War Against England, And Led To

The Fatal Field Of Flodden, In Which Admiral Sir Thomas Howard And His

Brother Took Part Under The Command Of Their Father, The Earl Of Surrey.

 

The Wide Sweep Of Grassy Common Beyond The Sands In Embleton Bay Is, In

Summer Time, Covered With A Profusion Of Wild Flowers, Chief Amongst

Them Being The Wild Geranium, Or Meadow Cranes-Bill, Whose

Reddish-Purple Blossoms Grow In Such Abundance As To Arrest The

Attention Of Every Visitor. A Little Way Back From The Sea-Shore, In The

Middle Of This Wide Space, Lies The Village Of Embleton, Which Possesses

An Ancient And Interesting Church, And A Vicarage, Part Of Which Is

Formed By An Old Pele-Tower. Embleton Would Seem To Have A Reputation To

Keep Up In The Way Of Famous Churchmen. Duns Scotus Has Been Already

Mentioned; And One Of The Vicars Here Was A Cousin Of Richard Steele,

The Essayist And Friend Of Addison; And He Described The Country Squires

Of His Day In A Paper Which He Contributed To The "Spectator" Of That

Date, 1712.

 

Another Vicar Of Embleton, Who Lived Here From 1874 To 1884, Was Dr.

Mandell Creighton, The Learned Historian, Who Became Bishop Of London.

 

The Well-Known Journalist, W.T. Stead, Was Born In The Parish Of

Embleton, Though His Childhood Was Passed In Very Different

Surroundings, In The Narrow Streets And Grimy Atmosphere Of

Howdon-On-Tyne. His Recent Death On The Ill-Fated _Titanic_ Will Be

Fresh In The Minds Of All.

 

Newton-By-The-Sea Is Reached By A Pleasant Walk Along The Sea-Shore. (It

Is To Be Understood That In This Journey Along The Coast We Are Moving

Northward Always). There Is Here A Cheery-Looking White-Washed

Coastguard Station Standing On The Bold Headland Of Newton Point.

 

Past This Point Is Beadnell Bay, With Green And Grassy Beadnell Just

Beyond Little Rock. The Small Fishing Harbour At Beadnell Has The Unique

Distinction Of Being The Only Harbour On The East Coast Whose Mouth

Faces West, And The Short Pier, Running _Inland_ From Rocks To Shore,

Acts As A Breakwater Against The Heavy Easterly Or Southeasterly Seas

And Makes The Harbour A Safe Anchorage For Fishing Craft Or Small

Yachts. The Rocks Around This Bay Are Very Interesting, Showing The

Various Strata Very Plainly, And Containing Many Fossils. The Striking

Cliff Called Ebbe's Nook Is Supposed To Have Been Named After The Saxon

Princess Ebba, Sister To King Oswald, And The Ruins Which Were

Discovered On The Headland, To Be All That Is Left Of A Chapel Erected

To Her Memory.

 

At Seahouses Is An Extensive Fish-Curing Establishment, A Fact Which

Proclaims Itself Unmistakably As You Near The Village, Especially If The

Day Chance To Be At All Warm. A Little Distance From The Shore Is

Another Fishing Village, North Sunderland, And Northward From Seahouses

Is The Inn Called The Monkshouse, From The Fact That It Once Belonged To

The Community On Lindisfarne.

 

Bamburgh Castle, Magnificently Placed On A Lofty Crag Rising

Perpendicularly From The Greensward On The West Or Landward Side, And

Almost As Steeply From The Sea Which Washes The North And East Sides,

Lies Like A Majestic Lion On Its Mighty Rock "Brooding On Ancient

Fame." The Voices Of Children At Play On The Sands Below Sound Faint And

Far In The Still Air; The Sea Birds, With The Summer Sunshine Flashing

On Their Outspread Wings, Sweep Round And Round; In The Far Distance A

Trail Of Smoke Low Down On The Horizon Marks The Track Of A Passing

Steamer; And Near At Hand, Southward A Little Way From The Castle Cliff,

The Rocky Islets Of The Farne Group Lie Drowsily Asleep On The

Gently-Heaving Swell Of The Grey-Blue Waters. Behind The Castle Lies The

Pretty Old-Fashioned Village With Its Quaint Hostelries And Grove Of

Trees; And From The Higher Parts Of The New Golf-Links The Player May

Look Round On A View Which Would Be Difficult To Match, Comprising As It

Does, The Farne Islands And Dunstanborough To The South, And Northward,

Holy Island, With Its Castle And Abbey And The Bluish Haze Of Smoke

Lying Over Berwick; While, On The Western Skyline, On A Clear Day, May

Be Seen The Rounded Caps Of The Cheviots.

 

The Beginnings Of Bamburgh Take Us Back More Than A Thousand Years, To

That Long-Ago Summer Of 547, When The _Cyuls_ (Keels) Of The Marauding

Bernician Chieftain Ida And His Followers Grounded On The Shore Of Our

Northland, And The Work Of Conquest Began. Ida Was Not Slow To Grasp The

Importance Of Such A Commanding Site As This Isolated Mass