Northumberland Yesterday And To Day, Jean F. Terry [learn to read activity book .txt] 📗
- Author: Jean F. Terry
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For Refuge To The Upper Chambers. To The Longstone Might With Truth Be
Attributed The Opening Lines Of Kipling's Poem, "The Coastwise
Lights":--
"Our Brows Are Bound With Spindrift, And The Weed Is On Our Knees,
Our Loins Are Battered 'Neath Us By The Swinging, Smoking Seas;
From Reef, And Rock, And Skerry, Over Headland, Ness, And Voe,
The Coastwise Lights Of England Watch The Ships Of England Go."
There Are About Twenty Of These Little Islets To Be Seen At Low Tide,
And Very Curious Are Some Of Their Names--The Megstone, The Crumstone,
The Navestone, The Harcars, The Wedums, The Noxes (Knokys), And The
Wawmses. The Largest, Farne Island, Is The Nearest To The Coast, And Is
The One To Which St. Aidan Retired, And On Which St. Cuthbert Made
Himself A Cell, And Where He Lived For Some Years, Leaving Lindisfarne
(Holy Island) Very Often For Months Together, To Dwell Alone On This
Almost Bare Rock And Devote Himself To Holy Meditation And Prayer.
To This Island Came King Ecgfrith Of Northumbria With Archbishop
Trumwine And Other Representatives Of The Synod To Beg The Hermit To
Accept The Bishopric Of Hexham; And It Was On This Island That St.
Cuthbert Died, The Monks Who Had Gone To Look After Him Signalling The
News Of His Death To His Brethren At Lindisfarne By Means Of Torches.
The Island Is Rocky And Precipitous, With Deep Chasms Between The High
Cliffs; And When A North Wind Blows, The Columns Of Foam And Spray, From
The Waters Dashing Into The Chasms And Over The Tops Of The Cliffs, May
Be Seen From The Mainland Rising High Into The Air.
Before The First Lighthouse Was Built On Farne Island, In 1766, A Coal
Fire Was Kindled Every Night On The Top Of The Tower-Like Building Used
As A Fort. This Method Of Warning Passing Vessels Had Been Used
Continuously Since The Days Of Charles Ii. In Great Contrast To This Is
The Modern Lighthouse, With Its Acetylene Gas Lights And Its Automatic
Flash Apparatus.
Close To Stapel Island Are The Three High Basaltic Pillars, Of Rock
Called The Pinnacles. On All These Islands Sea-Birds Breed, But
Especially On The Pinnacles, The Big And Little Harcar, And The Islet
Called The Brownsman.
Thousands And Thousands Of Them Perch And Chatter On The Rocks And Fly
Screaming In The Air, Amongst Them Being Guillemots, Kittiwakes, Gulls,
Terns, Cormorants, Puffins, And Eider-Ducks, For Which Latter St.
Cuthbert Is Said To Have Had Great Affection; Certainly They Are The
Gentlest Of These Wild Sea-Fowl.
Bidding Farewell To The Rocky Farnes, We Sail Past Budle Bay, Into Which
Runs The Warenburn And The Elwick Burn, And Underneath Whose Sandy Flats
Is The Buried Town Of Warnmouth, Once A Busy Seaport, To Which Henry
Iii. Granted A Charter. Approaching Lindisfarne, "Our Isle Of Saints,
Low-Lying On The Blue Breast Of The Curling Waters, Is Hushed And Silent
In The Lightly-Purple Mists Of Morning, Like The Wide Aisles Of A Great
Cathedral At Daybreak, Before The Feet And Tongues Of Sightseers Disturb
The Solemn Stillness. The Tideway Is Covered With Water, And The
Footprints Of The Pilgrims Who Came Yesterday To The Shrine Of St.
Cuthbert Have Passed Into Oblivion Like Footmarks On The Sands Of Time."
(_Galloway Kyle_.) The Modern Pilgrim To Holy Island Generally Takes
Train To Beal Station, And From There Walks To The Seashore, And Crosses
The Long Stretch Of Sand Between Holy Island And The Mainland. The
Governing Factor In The Possibility Or Otherwise Of Making The Journey
Is The State Of The Tide, For These Sands Are Entirely Covered By The
Sea Twice A Day, So That Holy Island Can Only Be Said To Be An Island At
High Tide.
"For With The Flow And Ebb, Its Style
Varies From Continent To Isle;
Dry-Shod, O'er Sands, Twice Every Day
The Pilgrims To The Shrine Find Way;
Twice Every Day The Waves Efface
Of Staves And Sandall'd Feet The Trace."
There Are Dangerous Quicksands On The Way, Too, And A Row Of Stakes
Points Out The Proper Course To Be Taken.
We Have Already Seen That St. Aidan Settled On Lindisfarne And Have
Treated Of Him In Connection With Bamburgh. After His Death Another Monk
Of Iona, Finan, Succeeded Him And Carried On His Work; And After Finan
Came Colman, Who Resigned After The Synod Of Whitby Had Decided To Keep
Easter According To Southern Instead Of Northern Usage. St. Cuthbert Was
Prior Of Lindisfarne At This Time. Later, The Seat Of The Bishopric Was
Removed From Lindisfarne To York, When It Was Held By That Restless And
Able Prelate, Wilfrid, For A Time. Then The Bishopric Was Divided And A
See Of Hexham Formed, As Well As That Of Lindisfarne, Which Included
Carlisle, Out Of The Northern Portion Of The Diocese Of York.
St. Cuthbert Was Bishop Of Lindisfarne For Two Years, Having Exchanged
Sees With Bishop Eata, Who Went To Hexham. The Stone Coffin In Which St.
Cuthbert's Body Was Pieced, After His Death On Farne Island, Was Buried
On The Right Side Of The Altar In The Abbey Of Lindisfarne, Which By
This Time Had Arisen On The Little Island. A Later Bishop, Edfrid,
Executed A Wonderful Copy Of The Gospels, Which Was Illuminated By His
Successor, Ethelwald. Another Bishop Enclosed It In A Cover Of Gold And
Silver, Adorning It With Jewels; And, Later, A Priest Of Lindisfarne,
Aldred, Wrote Between The Lines A Translation Into The Vernacular, And
Added Marginal Notes. This Precious Manuscript, A Wonderful Example Of
The Beautiful Work Done In Monastic Houses In The North So Many
Centuries Ago, Is Now In The British Museum, Where It Is Known As The
"Durham Manuscript."
When The Pirate Keels Of The Danes Appeared Off Our Coasts About The End
Of The Eighth Century, Lindisfarne Abbey Was One Of The First Points Of
Attack; And In 793 It Was Plundered Of Most Of Its Wealth, And Many Of
The Monks Were Slain. For Nearly A Century Afterwards It Was Left In
Peace, But In 875 The Danish Ships Appeared Again Approaching From The
South, Where They Had Just Sacked Tynemouth Priory. The Bishop,
Eardulph, Last Of The Lindisfarne Prelates, And The Brethren Hastily
Collected Their Most Treasured Possessions, And With The Body Of St.
Cuthbert, The Bones Of St. Aidan, And Other Precious Relics, They Fled
From Their Island Home, And Journeyed North, West, And South For Many
Years Before They Found A Resting Place At Chester-Le-Street Near
Durham. For Seven Years They Carried With Them The Body Of St. Cuthbert;
And It Is Said That The Final Choice Of A Resting Place For The Body Of
Their Beloved Saint Was Indicated To Them By Supernatural Means As They
Approached Durham.
In 1069 William The Conqueror Marched Northward To Visit With Sternest
Punishment The Hardy North-Men, Who Were So Long In Submitting To His
Authority; And The Monks Of Durham Fled Before The Advance Of The
Relentless Norman, Carrying With Them, As Before, The Body Of St.
Cuthbert. They Reached Lindisfarne In Safety To Find The Abbey In The
Ruinous State In Which It Had Been Left By The Danes Two Centuries
Earlier. Thus, Once Again, The Body Of St. Cuthbert Rested On The Little
Island Where So Many Years Of His Life Had Been Spent.
In 1070 The Brethren Returned To Durham And In 1093 The Building Was
Begun, Almost Simultaneously, Of The Present Glorious Cathedral Of
Durham And A New Priory And Church On Lindisfarne, And A Strong
Resemblance May Be Traced Between The Two Buildings The Abbey Was
Deserted On The Dissolution Of The Monasteries By Henry Viii., And
Gradually Fell Into Ruins.
The Castle, Which Stands On A Lofty Whinstone Rock At The South-East
Corner Of The Island, Is A Conspicuous Object For Many Miles, Whether
Viewed By Land Or Sea. It Is Supposed To Have Been Built In The Reign Of
Henry Viii., At A Time When Defences Were Commanded To Be Made To All
Harbours. If The Castle Has Had Any Appreciable Share Of Romantic
Incidents In Its History, The Records Thereof Seem To Be Unknown; But
One Which Has Come Down To Us Is The Account Of Its Daring Capture By An
Ardent North-Country Jacobite, Lancelot Errington, In 1715. The
Garrison Consisted Of Seven Men, Five Of Whom Were Absent. Errington,
Who Was Master Of A Small Vessel Lying In The Harbour, Discovered This,
And Immediately Made His Way To The Castle Accompanied By His Nephew,
And Overpowered The Two Men Who Were Left In Charge, Turning Them Out Of
The Castle. He Then Signalled To The Mainland For Reinforcements, But
None Were Forthcoming. A Company Of King's Men Came Instead And
Re-Occupied The Place, Errington And His Nephew Escaping, To Wander
About In The Neighbourhood For Several Days, Hiding From Pursuit, Before
They Got Clear Away. The Castle Was For Many Years The Home Of The
Coastguardsmen, Who Must Have Found It A Most Advantageous Position For
Their Purpose, As They Had An Uninterrupted View Of Miles Of Coast Line.
Northward From Holy Island, But On The Mainland, Lies Goswick, From
Whose Red Sandstone Quarries Came The Material For Building The Abbey Of
Lindisfarne. Further North We Come In Sight Of The Coal Pits And Smoke
Of Scremerston, While Beyond It, Spittal And Tweedmouth Bring Us Right
Up To Berwick-On-Tweed Itself, That Grey Old Border Town Which Has Seen
So Many Turns Of Fortune, And Been Harried Again And Again, Only To Draw
Breath After Each Wild And Cruel Interlude, And Go Calmly On Its Quiet
Way Until It Was Once More Called Upon To Fight For Its Very Existence.
Though Definitely Forming Part Of English Soil Since 1482, It Is Not
Included In Any English County, But, With About Eight Square Miles
Around It, Forms A County By Itself. Hence The Addition, To Any Royal
Proclamation, Of The Well-Known Words "And In Our Town Of
Berwick-Upon-Tweed."
Sir Walter Scott's Description Of The Northumbrian Coast, In His Poem Of
Marmion May Well Be Recalled Here. It Will Be Remembered That The
Abbess Of Whitby, With Some Of Her Nuns, Was Voyaging To Holy Island,
And We Take Up The Description When
".... The Vessel Skirts The Strand
Of Mountainous Northumberland;
Towns, Towers, And Halls Successive Rise,
And Catch The Nuns' Delighted Eyes.
Monkwearmouth Soon Behind Them Lay,
And Tynemouth's Priory And Bay. They
Marked, Amid Her Trees, The Hall Of Lofty Seaton Delaval;
They Saw The Blyth And Wansbeck Floods
Rush To The Sea Through Sounding Woods;
They Passed The Tower Of Widdrington,
Mother Of Many A Valiant Son;
At Coquet-Isle Their Beads They Tell
To The Good Saint Who Owned The Cell.
Then Did The Alne Attention Claim,
And Warkworth, Proud Of Percy's Name;
And Next They Crossed Themselves, To Hear
The Whitening Breakers Sound So Near,
Where, Boiling Through The Rocks, They Roar
On Dunstanborough's Caverned Shore.
Thy Tower, Proud Bamburgh, Marked They There,
King Ida's Castle, Huge And Square,
From Its Tall Rock Look Grimly Down
And On The Swelling Ocean Frown.
Then From The Coast They Bore Away
And Reached The Holy Island's Bay.
* * * * *
As To The Port The Galley Flew,
Higher And Higher Rose To View
The Castle With Its Battled Walls,
The Ancient Monastery's Halls,
A Solemn, Huge, And Dark-Red Pile
Placed On The Margin Of The Isle.
In Saxon Strength That Abbey Frowned,
With Massive Arches, Broad And Round.
* * * * *
On The Deep Walls, The Heathen Dane
Had Poured His Impious Rage In Vain;
And Needful Was Such Strength To These,
Exposed To The Tempestuous Seas,
Scourged By The Winds' Eternal Sway,
Open To Rovers Fierce As They.
Which Could Twelve Hundred Years Withstand
Winds, Waves, And Northern Pirates' Hand."
Chapter 2 (North And South Tyne)
Between Peel Fell And Mid Fell, Almost The Farthest Western Heights Of
The Cheviot Hills, A Little Mountain Stream Takes Its Rise, And Flows To
The South And East. This Little Burn Is The North Tyne,
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