Northumberland Yesterday And To Day, Jean F. Terry [learn to read activity book .txt] 📗
- Author: Jean F. Terry
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Abandoned.
All Saints' Church Was Built In 1789, On The Site Of An Older Building
Which Was In Existence In 1296, And Which Became Very Unsafe. Here Is
Kept One Of The Most Interesting Monuments In The City--The Monumental
Brass Which Once Covered The Tomb Of Roger Thornton, A Wealthy Merchant
Of Newcastle, And A Great Benefactor To All The Churches. He Died In
1429. He Gave To St. Nicholas' Church Its Great East Window; But, On Its
Needing Repair In 1860, It Was Removed Entirely, And The Present One,
In Memory Of Dr. Ions, Inserted; And The Only Fragment Left Of
Thornton's Window Is A Small Circular Piece Inset In A Plain Glass
Window In The Cathedral. He Gave Much Money To Hexham Abbey Also.
Besides The Famous Men Already Mentioned In Connection With The Town,
Newcastle Possesses Other Well-Known Names Not A Few. In The Middle
Ages, Duns Scotus, The Man Whose Skill In Argument Earned For Him The
Title Of "Doctor Subtilis," Owned Northumberland As His Home, And
Received His Education In The Monastery Of The Grey Friars, Which Stood
Near The Head Of The Present Grey Street. He Returned To This Monastery
After Some Years Of Study At Oxford; In 1304 He Was Teaching Divinity In
Paris.
Nicholas Ridley, Bishop Of London In The Reign Of Edward Vi., Whose
Northumbrian Birthplace At Willimoteswick Has Already Been Noted,
Received His Early Education At The Grammar School In Newcastle, And On
Going To Cambridge Was A Student At Pembroke. We Are Told He Was The
Ablest Man Among The Reformers For Piety, Learning And Judgment. As Is
Well Known, He Died At The Stake In 1555.
William And Elizabeth Elstob, Who Lived In Newcastle At The End Of The
Seventeenth Century, Were Learned Saxon Scholars, But Were So Greatly In
Advance Of The Education Of Their Times That They Met With Little
Encouragement Or Sympathy In Their Labours.
Charles Avison, The Musician And Composer, Was Organist Of St. John's In
1736, And Afterwards Of St. Nicholas'.
It Was He To Whom Browning Referred In The Lines--
"On The List
Of Worthies, Who By Help Of Pipe Or Wire,
Expressed In Sound Rough Rage Or Soft Desire,
Thou, Whilom Of Newcastle, Organist."
These Lines Have Been Carved On His Tombstone In St. Andrew's
Churchyard. He Is Best Known As The Composer Of The Anthem "Sound The
Loud Timbrel."
Mark Akenside, The Poet, Was Born In Butcher Bank, Now Called After Him
Akenside Hill. His Chief Work "The Pleasures Of Imagination," Is Not
Often Read Now, But It Enjoyed A Considerable Reputation In An Age When
A Stilted And Formal Style Was Looked Upon As A True Excellence In
Poetry.
Charles Hutton, The Mathematician, Was Born In Newcastle In 1737. He
Began Life As A Pitman; But, Receiving An Injury To His Arm, He Turned
His Attention To Books, And Taught In His Native Town For Some Years,
Becoming Later Professor Of Mathematics In The Royal Military Academy At
Woolwich.
John Brand, The Antiquary And Historian Of Newcastle, Was Born At
Washington, County Durham, But Came To Newcastle As A Child. After
Attending The Grammar School, He Went To Oxford, By The Aid Of His
Master, The Rev. Hugh Moises. He Was Afterwards Curate At The Church Of
St. Andrew.
Robert Morrison, The Celebrated Chinese Scholar, Was Born Near Morpeth,
But His Parents Came To Newcastle When The Boy Was Three Years Of Age.
He Died In China In 1834.
Thomas Miles Richardson, The Well-Known Artist, Was Born In Newcastle In
1784, And Was At First A Cabinetmaker, Then Master Of St. Andrew's Free
School, But Finally Gave Up All Other Work To Devote Himself To His Art.
Robert Stephenson Went To School At Percy Street Academy, Which For Long
Has Ceased To Exist. There He Was Taught By Mr. Bruce, And Had For One
Of His Fellow-Pupils The Master's Son, John Collingwood Bruce, Who
Afterwards Became So Famous A Teacher And Antiquary.
Newcastle Is Not, As Most Southerners Imagine, A Dark And Gloomy Town Of
Unrelieved Bricks And Mortar, For, Besides Possessing Many Wide And
Handsome Streets, It Has Also Several Pretty Parks, The Most Noteworthy
Being The Beautiful Jesmond Dene, One Of The Late Lord Armstrong's
Magnificent Gifts To His Native Town. The Dene, Together With The
Armstrong Park Near It, Lies On The Course Of The Ouseburn, Which Is
Here A Bright And Sparkling Stream, Very Different From The Appearance
It Presents By The Time It Empties Its Murky Waters Into The Tyne.
Besides These There Are Heaton Park, The Leazes Park, With Its Lakes And
Boats, Brandling Park, And Others Smaller Than These; And Last, But Most
Important Of All, The Town Moor, A Fine Breezy Space To The North Of The
Town, Of More Than 900 Acres In Extent.
Of Statues And Monuments Newcastle Possesses Some Half-Dozen, The Finest
Being "Grey's Monument"--A Household Word In The Town And Familiarly
Known As "The Monument." It Was Erected At The Junction Of Grey Street
And Grainger Street In Memory Of Earl Grey Of Howick, Who Was Prime
Minister At The Passing Of The Reform Bill. The Figure Of The Earl, By
Bailey, Stands At The Top Of A Lofty Column, The Height Being 135 Feet
To The Top Of The Figure. There Is A Stairway Within The Column, By
Which It Can Be Ascended, And A Magnificent View Enjoyed From The Top.
In An Open Space Near The Central Station, Between The _Chronicle_
Office And The Lit. And Phil., There Is A Fine Statue Of George
Stephenson, By The Northumbrian Sculptor, Lough. It Is A Full Length
Representation Of The Great Engineer, In Bronze, With The Figures Of
Four Workmen, Representing The Chief Industries Of Tyneside, Around The
Pedestal--A Miner, A Smith, A Navvy, And An Engineer. At The Head Of
Northumberland Street, On The Open Space Of The Haymarket, Stands A
Beautiful Winged Victory On A Tall Column, Crowning "Northumbria"
Typified As A Female Figure At The Foot Of The Column. This Graceful And
Striking Memorial Is The Work Of T. Eyre Macklin, And Is In Memory Of
The Officers And Men Of The North Who Fell In The Boer War Of 1899-1902.
Two Other Noteworthy Statues In The Town Are Those Of Lord Armstrong,
Near The Entrance To The Natural History Museum At Barras Bridge, And Of
Joseph Cowen, In Westgate Road.
The Keel Row
As I Came Thro' Sandgate,
Thro' Sandgate, Thro' Sandgate,
As I Came Thro' Sandgate,
I Heard A Lassie Sing
"O Weel May The Keel Row,
The Keel Row, The Keel Row,
Weel May The Keel Row
That My Laddie's In
"O Who Is Like My Johnnie,
Sae Leish,[5] Sae Blithe, Sae Bonnie;
He's Foremost 'Mang The Mony
Keel Lads O' Coaly Tyne
He'll Set And Row Sae Tightly,
And In The Dance Sae Sprightly
He'll Cut And Shuffle Lightly,
'Tis True, Were He Not Mine!
[Footnote 5: Leish = Lithe, Nimble.]
"He Has Nae Mair O' Learnin'
Than Tells His Weekly Earnin',
Yet, Right Frae Wrang Discernin',
Tho' Brave, Nae Bruiser He!
Tho' He No Worth A Plack[6] Is,
His Ain Coat On His Back Is;
And Nane Can Say That Black Is
The White O' Johnnie's E'e
[Footnote 6: Plack = A Small Copper Coin, Worth About One-Third Of A
Penny.]
He Wears A Blue Bonnet,
Blue Bonnet, Blue Bonnet,
He Wears A Blue Bonnet,
And A Dimple In His Chin
O Weel May The Keel Row,
The Keel Row, The Keel Row,
Weel May The Keel Row
That My Laddie's In."
Chapter 5 (Elswick And Its Founder)
For A Mile And A Quarter, Along The North Bank Of The Tyne, Stretch The
World-Famed Elswick Works, Which Have Grown To Their Present Gigantic
Proportions From The Small Beginnings Of Five And A Half Acres In 1847.
In That Year Two Fields Were Purchased As A Site For The New Works About
To Be Started To Make The Hydraulic Machinery Which Had Been Invented By
Mr. Armstrong.
In This Undertaking He Was Backed By The Wealth Of Several Prominent
Newcastle Citizens, Who Believed In The Future Of The New
Inventions--Messrs. Addison Potter, George Cruddas, Armourer Donkin, And
Richard Lambert. At That Time Elswick Was A Pretty Country Village Some
Distance Outside Of Newcastle, And The Walk Along The Riverside Between
The Two Places Was A Favourite One With The People Of The Town. In
Midstream There Was An Island, Where Stood A Little Inn Called The
"Countess Of Coventry"; And On The Island Various Sports Were Often
Held, Including Horse-Racing.
The Price Of The Land For The New Shops, Which Were Soon Built On The
Green Slopes Above The Tyne, Was Paid To Mr. Hodgson Hind And Mr.
Richard Grainger; The Latter Of Whom Had Intended, Could He Have Carried
Out His Plans For The Rebuilding Of Newcastle, Not To Stop Until He Made
Elswick Hall The Centre Of The Town.
Until The New Shops Were Ready To Begin Work, Some Of Mr. Armstrong's
Hydraulic Cranes Were Made By Mr. Watson At His Works In The High
Bridge.
All The Summer Of 1847, The Building Went Briskly On; And In The Autumn
Work Was Started. At First Mr. Armstrong Had An Office In Hood Street,
As He Was Superintending His Machinery Construction In High Bridge, As
Well As The Building Operations At Elswick. On Some Of The Early
Notepaper Of The Firm There Is, As The Heading, A Picture Of Elswick As
It Was Then, Showing The First Shops, The Little Square Building In
Which Were The Offices, The Green Banks Sloping Down To The Waterside,
And The Island In The Middle Of The Shallow Stream, While The Chimneys
And Smoke Of Newcastle Are Indicated In The Remote Background. Along The
Riverside Was The Public Footpath.
The First Work Done In The New Shops Was The Making Of Crane No. 6; And
Amongst Other Early Orders Was One From The _Newcastle Chronicle_, For
Hydraulic Machinery To Drive The Printing Press. The New Machinery
Rapidly Grew In Favour; And Orders From Mines, Docks And Railways Poured
In To The Elswick Firm, Which Soon Extended Its Works.
In 1854, When The Crimean War Broke Out, Mr. Armstrong Was Requested To
Devise Some Submarine Mines Which Would Clear The Harbour Of Sebastopol
Of The Russian War-Ships Which Had Been Sent There. He Did So, But The
Machinery Was Never Used.
At The Same Time, In His Leisure Moments, He Turned His Attention To The
Question Of Artillery. The Guns In Use At That Time Were Very Little
Better Than Those Which Had Been Used During The Napoleonic Wars; And
Mr. Armstrong Devised A New One, Which Was Made At His Workshops. It Was
A 3-Pounder, Complete With Gun-Carriage And Mountings, And Is Still To
Be Seen At Elswick.
With The Usual Reluctance Of Government Departments To Consider Anything
New, The War Office Of The Day Was Slow To Believe In The Superiority Of
The New Field-Piece; But When Every Fresh Trial Proved That Superiority
To Be Beyond Doubt, The Gun Was Adopted. And Then Mr. Armstrong Showed
The Large-Minded Generosity Which Was So Marked A Feature Of His
Character. Holding In His Hand--As Every Man Must, Who Possesses The
Secret Of A New And Superior Engine Of Destruction--The Fate Of Nations,
To Be Decided At His Will, And With The Knowledge That Other Powers Were
Willing And Eager To Buy With Any Sum The Skill Of Such An Inventor, Mr.
Armstrong Presented To The British Government, As A Free Gift, The
Patents Of His Artillery; And He Entered The Government Service For A
Time, As Engineer To The War Department, In Order To Give Them The
Benefit Of His Skill And Special Knowledge.
A Knighthood Was Bestowed Upon Him, And He Took Up His New Duties As Sir
William Armstrong. An Ordnance Department Was Opened At Elswick, And The
Government Promised A Continuance Of Orders Above Those That The Arsenal
At Woolwich Was Able To Fulfil. All Went Well For A Time, But After Some
Years The Connection Between The Government And Elswick Ceased; The
Ordnance And Engineering Works Were Then Amalgamated Into One
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