Northumberland Yesterday And To Day by Jean F. Terry (read aloud books .txt) 📖

And Begins To Ascend Once More. The Local Names Of

Gaps And Heights In This Neighbourhood Are Highly Descriptive, And

Sometimes Weirdly Suggestive; We Have Had Cat's Stairs, And Now We Come

To Bogle Hole, Bloody Gap, And Thorny Doors. A Little Further West From

Here The Very Considerable Remains Of A Mile-Castle May Be Seen, In

Which A Tombstone Was Found Doing Duty As A Hearth-Stone. The

Inscription Recorded That It Had Been Erected By Pusinna To The Memory

Of Her Husband Dagvaldus, A Soldier Of Pannonia.

 

Westward From This Mile-Castle The Wall Climbs Burnhead Crag, On Which

The Foundations Of A Building, Similar To The Turrets, Were Exposed A

Few Years Ago; Then It Dips Down Again To Haltwhistle Burn, Which Comes

From Greenlee Lough, And Is Called, Until It Reaches The Wall, The Caw

Burn. From The Burn A Winding Watercourse Supplied The Roman Station Of

Aesica (Great Chesters) With Water. Just Here The Wall Is In A Very

Ruinous Condition; And Of The Station Of Aesica But Little Masonry

Remains, Though The Outlines Of It Can He Clearly Traced. Beyond Aesica,

However, Is A Splendid Portion Of The Wall, Standing Some Seven Or Eight

Courses High. Here It Climbs Again To The Top Of The Crags Which Once

More Appear, Bold And Rugged, To Culminate In The "Nine Nicks Of

Thirlwall," So Called From The Number Of Separate Heights Into Which The

Crags Divide, And Over Which The Wall Takes Its Way.

 

At Walltown, On This Part Of Its Course, Is To Be Seen An Old Well, In

Which Paulinus Is Said To Have Baptised King Edwin; But The Local Name

For It Is King Arthur's Well. Now The Wall Descends To A Level And

Pastoral Country, Leaving Behind It The Wild Moorland And Craggy Heights

Across Which It Has Travelled So Long; But Unfortunately Much Of It Has

Been Destroyed By The Quarrying Operations At Greenhead. Of The Station

Of Magna (Caervoran) Little Can Be Seen At The Present Day. This Station

And Aesica Are Nearer To Each Other Than Are Any Other Two Stations On

The Wall, And A Line Of Camps, Five In Number, Stand South Of The Wall

And Vallum, From Magna To Amboglanna, Showing That A Third Line Of

Defence Was Deemed Necessary Where The Natural Defences Of Moorland

Ridge, Lough Or Crag Were Absent.

 

The Roman Way Called The Stanegate Comes From The Eastward Almost Up To

The Station Of Magna, Which Stands A Little To The South Of Both Wall

And Vallum, Between Them And Wade's Road, Which Here Approaches Nearer

To The Wall Than It Has Done For Many Miles.

 

Another Roman Road, The Maiden Way, Comes From The South Closely Up To

The Vallum, Quite Near To Thirlwall Castle. The Name "Thirlwall" Was

Supposed To Commemorate The "Thirling" (Drilling Or Piercing) Of The

Wall At This Point By The Barbarians, But This Is Extremely Doubtful;

Though The Difficulty Of Defending The Wall On This Level Tract Lends An

Air Of Likelihood To This Supposition. Near Here The Little River Tipalt

Flows Across The Line Of The Wall On Its Way Southward To Join The North

Tyne.

 

Passing Wallend, Gap, And Rose Hill, Where Gilsland Railway Station Now

Stands, We Follow The Wall To The Deep Dene Of The Poltross Burn, Which

Forms The Boundary Between Northumberland And Cumberland. The Railway

Just Beyond The Burn Crosses The Line Of The Wall; And, Further On, An

Interesting Portion, Several Courses High, Takes Its Way Through The

Vicarage Garden. Here We Will Leave It To Continue Its Way Through

Cumberland, And Turn Our Attention To The Chief Roman Ways Which Cross

Northumberland, With Other Stations Standing Upon Them.

 

The Watling Street Or Dere Street, We Have Already Noticed; And The

Chief Station On It, Which Has Also Proved To Be The Largest In

Northumberland, Is Corstopitum, Near Corbridge. The Recent Excavations

Since 1906 Have Resulted In The Finding Of Many Interesting Relics,

Including Some Hundreds Of Coins, Amongst Which Were Forty-Eight Gold

Pieces, Of Later Roman Date, Ranging From Those Of Valentinian I. To

Those Of Magnus Maximus. Pottery In Large Quantities Has Also Been

Found, Most Of It, Of Course, In A Fragmentary Condition, But Some

Pieces, Notably Bowls Of Samian Ware, Almost Perfect, And Dating From

The First Century. Several Interesting Pieces Of Sculpture Have Been

Unearthed; One A Finely Sculptured Lion Standing Over An Animal Which It

Has Evidently Just Killed; This Was, No Doubt, Used As An Outlet For

Water At The Fountain, Judging By The Projection Of The Lion's Lower

Lip. Another Piece Of Sculpture Represents A Sun-God, The Rays

Surrounding His Face; And Several Altars And Many Inscribed Stones Are

Also Amongst The Treasures Lately Revealed. A Clay Mould Of A Human

Figure Was Also Found, Which Is Supposed To Represent Some Keltic Deity;

But As The Figure Wears A Short Tunic Not Unlike A Kilt, And Carries A

Crooked Club, The Workmen Promptly Christened It Harry Lauder! The

Buildings In This Town, For It Is Much More Than A Military Station,

Have Been Large And Imposing, As Is Shown By Each Successive Revelation

Made By The Excavators' Spades. The Portion Of The Watling Street

Leading From Corstopitum To The River Has Also Been Laid Bare.

 

The Roman Road Called The Stanegate Runs Westward From The North Tyne At

Cilurnum, A Little To The North Of Fourstones Railway Station, Through

Newbrough, On Past Grindon Hill, Grindon Lough, Which It Passes On The

South, And Grindon Dykes, To Vindolana (Chesterholm) Another Roman Town,

Which Lies A Mile Due South From Hot Bank Farmhouse On The Wall.

Vindolana Stood On A Most Favourable Site, A High Platform Protected On

Three Sides, And It Covered Three And A Half Acres Of Ground. Here No

Excavations Have Yet Been Made, And The Site Is Grass Grown And Desolate

Although The Outlines Of The Station May Be Distinctly Traced. A Ruinous

Building To The West Of This Station Was Popularly Called The Fairies'

Kitchen, A Name Given To It On Account Of The Marks Of Fire And Soot On

The Pillars. From The Station Several Inscribed Stones And Altars Have

Been Taken To The Museum At Chesters. One Of Them Is Dedicated To The

Genius Of The Camp By Pituanius Secundus, The Prefect Of The Fourth

Cohort Of The Gauls, Which Cohort, As We Have Already Seen By The

_Votitia_, Was Stationed Here. In The Valley Below Vindolana A Little

Cottage Is Standing. It Is Built Entirely Of Roman Stones, And Was

Erected By An Enthusiastic Antiquary, Mr. Anthony Hedley, For Himself.

Many Of The Stones Used In Its Construction Have Inscriptions On Them;

And In The Covered Passage, Leading From The Cottage Down To The Burn,

We Come Upon One Of Them Inscribed With The Name Of Our Old Friend The

Xxth Legion, And Its Crest, The Running Boar. The Most Interesting Relic

Of All In The Neighbourhood Is A Roman Mile-Stone, Standing In Its

Original Position On The Stanegate.

 

Leaving Vindolana, This Road Goes On Westward To Magna, Where It Joins

The Maiden Way, Another Important Roman Road, Which Runs From North To

South. Coming From The Neighbourhood Of Bewcastle Fells, It Enters

Northumberland At Gilsland, And Leading Eastward As Far As Magna, Then

Turns Directly Southward Past Greenhead.

 

In Concluding This Chapter On The Roman Remains In Our County, _Apropos_

Of The Wholesale Destruction Of The Wall And Larger Stations Which Has

Taken Place In The Last Century Or Two, I Will Quote The Words Of Two

Historians On That Subject. Dr. Thomas Hodgkin Says: "In The Reign Of

Queen Elizabeth, Camden, The Enthusiastic Antiquary, Dared Not Traverse

The Line Of The Wall By Reason Of The Gangs Of Brigands By Whom It Was

Infested. The Union Of The Two Countries Brought Peace, And Peace

Brought Prosperity; Prosperity, Alas! More Fatal To The Wall Than

Centuries Of Border Warfare. For Now The Prosperous Farmers Of

Northumberland And Cumberland Awoke To The Building Facilities Which

Lurked In These Square Green Enclosures On Their Farms, Treated Them As

Their Best Quarries, And Robbed Them Unmercifully Of Their Fine

Well-Hewn Stones. Happily That Work Of Demolition Is Now In Great

Measure Stayed, And At This Day We Visit The Camps For A Nobler Purpose,

To Learn All They Can Teach Us As To The Past History Of Our Country."

 

None, I Think, Will Disagree With These Words Of The Learned Doctor,

Whether Or Not They May Go As Far As Cadwallader J. Bates, Who, In

Concluding His Chapter On The Roman Wall, Gave It As His Opinion That

"Unless The Island Is Conquered By Some Civilized Nation, There Will

Soon Be No Traces Of The Wall Left. Nay, Even The Splendid Whinstone

Crags On Which It Stands Will Be All Quarried Away To Mend The Roads Of

Our Urban And Rural Authorities."

 

Chapter 8 (Some Northumbrian Streams)

 

Northumberland Is Fortunate In The Number Of Rivers Which, Owing To The

Position Of The Cheviot Hills, Flow Right Across The County From West To

East. These Northumbrian Streams Have A Distinct Character Of Their Own,

And Are Of A Different Breed From Those Of The Southern; Counties. They

Are Neither Mountain Torrents Nor Placid Leisurely Rivers, Such As Are

Met Elsewhere In Britain, But Busy, Bright, Joyous, And Sparkling,

Never Sluggish, Never Silent, Even When Deep And Full, As Is The Tyne In

Its Lower Reaches. With The Tyne And Its Tributary Streams We Have

Already Travelled; But There Are Others Yet Awaiting Us, Claiming Our

Attention Sometimes For The Romantic Scenery Through Which They Run

Their Bright Course, Sometimes For The Historic Sites They Pass On Their

Way, Sometimes For Both Reasons. Wansbeck, Coquet, Aln, Or Till--Each

Has Its Own Interest, As Has Also The Tweed In That Score Or So Of Miles

Along Which It Can He Spoken Of In Connection With Northumberland.

 

The Source Of The Wansbeck, The Only "Beck" The County Possesses, Is

Amongst The "Wild Hills O' Wannys" (Wanny's Beck) A Group Of Picturesque

Sandstone Crags Which Surround Sweethope Lough, A Sheet Of Water Which

Covers 180 Acres. The Scenery Of This Upper Course Of The Wansbeck Is

Very Striking, From The Lough To Kirkwhelpington, Flowing Between Bleak

Moorland And Rich Pasture, And On To Littleharle Tower, Which Stands

Secluded In Deep Woods.

 

Another Mansion Near At Hand, And Most Picturesquely Situated, Is

Wallington Hall, Lying A Short Distance Away On The North Bank Of The

Wansbeck. It Is One Of The Most Notable Country Houses In

Northumberland, And Especially So On Account Of Its Unique

Picture-Gallery, Roofed With Dull Glass, And Containing Several Series

Of Pictures Connected With Northumbrian History. One Of These Is A

Series Of Frescoes By William Bell Scott, Whose Name Was For So Many

Years Associated With All That Was Best In Art In Newcastle, And Whose

Picture Of The "Building Of The Castle" May Be Seen At The Head Of The

Staircase In The Lit. And Phil. Building. His Pictures At Wallington

Are:--1. The Building Of The Roman Wall. 2. The Visit Of King Egfrid

And Bishop Trumwine To St. Cuthbert On Fame. 3. A Descent Of The Danes.

4. Death Of The Venerable Bede. 5. The Charlton Spur. 6. Bernard Gilpin

Taking Down A Challenge Glove In Rothbury Church. 7. Grace Darling And

Her Father On The Way To The Wreck. 8. The Nineteenth Century--Showing

The High Level Bridge, The Quayside, An Armstrong Gun, Etc., Etc.

Another Series Consists Of Medallions And Portraits Of Famous Men

Connected With Northumbrian Events, From Hadrian And Severus Down To

George Stephenson And Others Of Modern Times; While Yet Another Depicts

All The Incidents Of "Chevy Chase."

 

Some Miles Further Eastward, The Wansbeck Receives The Hart Burn--Which,

By The Way, Is Larger Than The Parent Stream At This Point--And, A

Little Later, The Font. The Lovely Little Village Of Mitford, Once

Important Enough To Overshadow The Morpeth Of That Day, Lies At The

Junction Of Font And Wansbeck. The Mitfords Of Mitford Can Boast, If

Ever Family Could, Of Being Northumbrian Of The Northumbrians, As They

Were Seated Here Before The Days Of The Conqueror, Who Made Such A

General Upsetting Amongst The Saxon Landowners.

 

The Beauty Of The Two Miles Walk Along The Banks