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

Of Basaltic

Crag, And The Rude Stronghold Which Crowned It. It Became In Time A

Formidable Fortress, And Remained For Centuries The Headquarters Of The

Kings Of The North.

 

Here Reigned Ida And His Sons--Six Of Them--For More Or Less Short And

Stormy Periods, And Ethelric Of Bernicia, Who Vanquished The

Neighbouring Prince Of Deira, And Thus Reigned As The First King Of

Northumbria As Northumbria. The Celtic Name Of The Fortress Was

Dinguardi, Or Dinguvardy; And Tradition Has It That This Was Sir

Lancelot's Castle Of Joyeuse Garde, Where He Had Often Feasted The

Knights Of The Round Table, And Where He, At Last, Came Home To Die. The

Fact That Bamburgh Is The Only Pre-Conquest Castle In Northumberland

Disposes Of The Claim Of Alnwick.

 

"My Fair Lords," Said Sir Launcelot, "Wit Ye Well, My Careful Body Will

Into The Earth; I Have Warning More Than I Will Now Say; Therefore, I

Pray You, Give Me My Rights." So When He Was Houseled And Eneled, And

Had All That A Christian Man Ought To Have, He Prayed The Bishop That

His Fellows Might Bear His Body Unto Joyous Gard.

 

Some Men Say Anwick, And Some Men Say To Bamborow; "How-Beit," Said Sir

Launcelot, "Me Repenteth Sore; But I Made Mine Avow Aforetime, That In

Joyous Gard I Would Be Buried; And Because Of Breaking Of Mine Vow, I

Pray You All Lead Me Thither." Then Was There Weeping And Wringing Of

Hands Among All His Fellows.

 

And So, Within Fifteen Days, They Came To Joyous Gard, And There They

Laid His Corpse In The Body Of The Quire, And Read Many Psalters And

Prayers Over Him And About Him.... And Right Thus, As They Were At Their

Service, There Came Sir Ector De Maris, That Had Sought Seven Years All

England, Scotland And Wales, Seeking His Brother Sir Launcelot.... Then

Went Sir Bors Unto Sir Ector, And Told Him How There Lay His Brother Sir

Launcelot Dead.

 

And Then Sir Ector Threw His Shield, His Sword, And His Helm From Him;

And When He Beheld Sir Launcelot's Visage, He Fell Down In A Swoon; And

When He Awoke, It Were Hard For Any Tongue To Tell The Doleful

Complaints That He Made For His Brother. "Ah! Sir Launcelot," Said He,

"Thou Wert Head Of All Christian Knights!" "And Now, I Dare Say," Said

Sir Bors, "That Sir Launcelot, There Thou Liest, Thou Wert Never Matched

Of None Earthly Knight's Hands; And Thou Wert The Courtliest Knight That

Ever Bare A Shield; And Thou Wert The Truest Friend To Thy Lover That

Ever Bestrod Horse; And Thou Wert The Truest Lover Of A Sinful Man That

Ever Loved Woman; And Thou Wert The Kindest Man That Ever Stroke With

Sword; And Thou Wert The Goodliest Person That Ever Came Among Press Of

Knights; And Thou Wert The Meekest Man, And The Gentlest, That Ever Eat

In Hall Among Ladies; And Thou Wert The Sternest Knight To Thy Mortal

Foe, That Ever Put Spear In The Rest."

 

Then There Was Weeping And Dolor Out Of Measure.

 

  --_Malory's Morte D'arthur_.

 

Ethelfrith, Who Succeeded Ethelric, Gave The Fort To His Second Wife,

Bebba, After Whom It Was Named Bebbanburgh, Which Soon Became Bamburgh.

 

In The Days Of King Edwin, Who Succeeded Ethelfrith, Bamburgh Was The

Centre Of A Kingdom Which Extended From The Humber To The Forth, And As

Northumbria Was At That Time The Most Important Division Of England, The

Royal City Of Bernicia Was Practically The Capital Of The Country. The

Reign Of King Oswald, Though Shorter Than That Of Edwin, Was Equally

Noteworthy From The Fact That In His Days The Gentle Aidan Settled In

Northumbria, And King And Monk Worked Together For The Good Of Their

People, And Bamburgh Became Not Only The Seat Of Temporal Power But The

Safeguard And Bulwark Of The Spiritual Movement Centred On The Little

Isle Of Lindisfarne. On The Accession Of Edwin, Oswald, Son Of

Ethelfrith, Had Fled From Bernicia And Taken Refuge With The Monks Of

Iona, Living With Them Till The Time Came For Him To Rule Northumbria In

His Turn. As Soon As Possible After The Inevitable Fighting For His

Political Existence Was Over, He Sent To Iona For A Teacher To Come And

Instruct His People In The Truths He Had Learned; And A Monk Named

Corman Was Sent. He, However, Was Unable To Make Any Impression On The

Wild And Warlike Saxons Of The Northern Kingdom, And He Soon Returned To

Iona With The Report That It Was Useless To Try To Teach Such Obstinate

And Barbarous People. One Of The Brethren, Listening To His Account,

Ventured To Ask Him If He Were Sure That All The Fault Lay With The

People. "Did You Remember," Said He, "That We Are Commanded To Give Them

The Milk First? Did You Not Rather Try Them With The Strong Meat?" With

One Accord The Brethren Declared That He Who Had Spoken Such Wise Words

Was The Man Best Fitted For The Task, And The Gentle Aidan Was Sent To

Oswald's Help. In Such A Fashion Came The Gospel To Northumbria, And

Aidan Became The First Of The Long Roll Of Saints Whose Deeds And Lives

Had Such Incalculable Influence On Northumbrian History. From Aidan's

Arrival In 635 Until The Death Of Oswald The Relations Between The King

And The Monk Who Had Settled On Medcaud Or Medcaut, Soon To Be Known As

Lindisfarne, And Later As Holy Island, Were Those Of Friend To Friend

And Fellow-Worker, Rather Than Those Of King And Subject.

 

After The Death Of Oswald, His Conqueror Penda, The Fierce King Of The

Mercians, Harried Northumbria, And Appearing Before The Walls Of

Bamburgh Prepared To Burn It Down. Piles Of Logs And Brushwood Were Laid

Against The City And The Fire Was Applied. Aidan, In His Little Cell On

Farne Island, To Which He Had Retired, Saw The Clouds Of Flame And Smoke

Rolling Over The Home Of His Beloved Patron. Raising His Hands To

Heaven, He Exclaimed, "See, Lord, What Ill Penda Is Doing!" Scarcely Had

He Uttered The Words, When The Wind Changed, And Drove The Flames Away

From Bamburgh, Blowing Them Against Penda's Host, Who Thereupon Ceased

All Further Attempts Against The City.

 

Not Long After This, Aidan Was At Bamburgh, When He Was Seized With

Sudden Illness, And Died With His Head Resting Against One Of The Wooden

Stays Of The Little Church. Penda Came Again The Next Year, And This

Time Both Village And Church Were Burnt, All Except, Says Tradition, The

Beam Of Wood Against Which Aidan Had Rested In His Last Moments.

 

When The Danish Ships Appeared Off Our Shores, In The Two Centuries

Following, Bamburgh Was Attacked And Plundered Several Times. In The

Days Of William Rufus, As We Have Seen, Robert De Mowbray, Earl Of

Northumberland, Rebelled Against The Red King, In Company With His

Uncle The Bishop Of Coutances, Robert Of Normandy, And William Of St.

Carileph, Bishop Of Durham. Rufus Marched Into Northumberland, But The

Quarrel Was Adjusted For The Time; Though Private Strife Between The Two

Bishops Led To Mowbray's Driving The Monks Of Durham From The Priory At

Tynemouth And Replacing Them By Monks From St. Albans.

 

Later, However, Mowbray Disobeyed A Summons From The Red King, Who Once

More Marched Into Northumberland. He Reached Bamburgh, And Invested It,

But Failed To Make Any Impression On That Impregnable Stronghold, Within

Whose Walls Were Mowbray And His Young Wife, The Countess Matilda, And

His Nephew, Who Was Sheriff Of Northumberland. Rufus, Finding All

Attempts To Carry The Fortress Useless, Began To Build A Wooden Fort,

Called A _Malvoisin_, Or "Bad Neighbour"; And So Anxious Was He To Have

It Speedily Erected That He Made Knights And Nobles As Well As His

Men-At-Arms Take Part In The Work.

 

Mowbray, From The Battlements, Called Out To Many Of These By Name,

Openly Taunting Those Who Had Secretly Promised To Join Him, Or Had

Expressed Themselves As In Sympathy With His Disobedience. His Words

Gave Great Amusement To Rufus And The Nobles Who Were Truly Loyal, And

Much Mortification And Vexation To Those Whom He So Ruthlessly Exposed.

Rufus Left The "Bad Neighbour" To Continue The Siege And Went Southward.

 

Mowbray, Led To Believe That Newcastle Would Receive Him, And Take His

Part, Stole Away From Bamburgh By Sea, And Reached Tynemouth. On

Proceeding To Newcastle, However, He Found He Had Been Mistaken, And

Hurriedly Fled Hack To Tynemouth, Pursued By His Enemies. He Held Out

Against Them For A Day Or Two, But Was Then Captured And Taken To

Durham. Meanwhile The High-Spirited Countess Held Bamburgh Against All

Assailants; But Mowbray's Capture Gave Rufus An Advantage He Was Not

Slow To Use. Returning To The North, He Ordered Mowbray To Be Brought

Before The Walls Of Bamburgh, And Threatened To Put His Eyes Out If The

Countess Did Not Immediately Surrender. Needless To Say, She Preferred

To Give Up The Castle, And Mowbray's Reign As Earl Of Northumberland Was

Over.

 

Thereafter Bamburgh Was Visited By Various Sovereigns In Turn, When

Their Affairs Brought Them To The Northerly Parts Of Their Kingdom. When

Balliol, Tired Of Long Years Of Conflict, Surrendered Most Of His Rights

To Edward Iii., It Was At Bamburgh That The Convention Was Concluded. In

This Reign The Castle Was Greatly Strengthened.

 

In The Wars Of The Roses, Bamburgh Was Held For The Queen By The

Lancastrian Nobles Of The North Country--Percy And Ros--With The Earl Of

Pembroke And Duke Of Somerset; But Was Obliged On Christmas Eve, 1462,

To Capitulate To A Superior Force. The Next Year The Scots And The

Queen's French Allies Surprised It, And Re-Captured It For Henry Vi. And

His Courageous Queen; But Warwick, "The King-Maker," Came Upon The

Scene, And After A Stout Resistance The Garrison Surrendered.

 

When The Union Of The Crowns Took Place In 1603, Bamburgh Was No Longer

Necessary As A Defence Against The Scots, And Its Defences Were

Neglected. The Forsters, Into Whose Hands It Passed In The Days Of James

I., Were A Spendthrift Family, And Gradually Wasted Their Rich Estate,

Until In 1704 It Had To Be Sold, And Was Bought By Lord Crewe. He Was

Bishop Of Durham At The Time, Having Been Promoted To That Position By

Charles Ii., Who Liked His Handsome Figure And Pleasing Manners. When At

The Age Of Fifty-Eight, He Wished To Marry Dorothea Forster, Daughter Of

Sir William Forster, Of Bamburgh, The Lady, Who Was Many Years Younger,

Refused Him At First; But Some Years Later He Renewed His Suit, And This

Time Was Accepted. When The Forster Estates Were Sold And Their Debts

Paid, There Was Scarcely Anything Left For The Heirs--Lady Crewe And Her

Nephew, Thomas Forster, Who Afterwards Became The General Of The

Ill-Fated Jacobite Rising In 1715, And Whose Escape After His Capture

Was Contrived By His High-Spirited Sister, Dorothy Forster The Second.

 

Lord Crewe, In His Will, Left A Great Part Of His Fortune To Found The

Bamburgh Trust, For Which His Name Will Ever Be Remembered. The Most

Notable Of The Trustees, Archdeacon Sharp, Administered The Moneys In So

Wise And Beneficent A Manner That To Him Most Of The Credit Is Due For

The Real Usefulness Of The Crewe Charities. These Include A Surgery And

Dispensary; Schools; The Relief Of Persons In Distress; The Clothing And

Educating Of A Certain Number Of Girls; The Maintenance Of A Lifeboat,

Life-Saving Apparatus, And Everything Necessary For The Relief Of

Ship-Wrecked Persons. A Lifeboat, Kept In The Harbour At Holy Island, Is

Always Ready To Go Out On A Signal From Bamburgh Castle.

 

The Castle Was Extensively Restored And Repaired By The Late Lord

Armstrong; But, Sad To Say, Since His Death It Has Been Stripped Of Many

Of Its Treasures. The Church, Dedicated To St. Aidan, Stands At The West

End Of The Village; But There Is No Vestige Remaining Of The One Built

In Saxon Times, The Present Building Having Been Erected When Henry Ii.

Was King. In The Churchyard Is The Grave Of Grace Darling, And Many

Hundreds Come To Look On The Last Resting Place Of The Gentle Girl Who

Was Yet So Heroic, When Her Compassionate Heart Nerved Her Girlish Frame

To The Gallant Effort On Behalf Of Her Fellow-Creatures In Dire Peril,

When She

 

  ".... Rode The Waves None Else Durst Ride,

                 None Save Her Sire."

 

The Beautiful Monument Over Her Grave Is By Raymond Smith, And Is An

Exact Duplicate Of The Original One, Also By Him, Which Was Being

Injured So Much By The Weather That It Was Removed To A Position Inside

The Church. The Duplicate Was Commissioned By Lord (Then Sir William)

Armstrong.

 

The Island On Which Yet Stands The Lighthouse Which Was Grace's Home Is

The Longstone, Almost The Farthest Seaward Of The Rocky Group Of The

Farnes, Lying Almost Opposite Bamburgh. The Longstone Is Only About Four

Feet Above High-Water Mark, So That In Stormy Weather The Lighthouse Is

Fiercely Assailed By The Heavy Seas, And