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diff --git a/34866-8.txt b/34866-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7f82335 --- /dev/null +++ b/34866-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5894 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Ports, Harbours, Watering-places and +Picturesque Scenery of Great Britain Vol. 1, by William Finden + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Ports, Harbours, Watering-places and Picturesque Scenery of Great Britain Vol. 1 + +Author: William Finden + +Illustrator: W. H. Bartlett + J. D. Harding + T. Creswick + +Release Date: January 6, 2011 [EBook #34866] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PORTS, HARBOURS *** + + + + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Susan Skinner and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive) + + + + + + +FINDEN'S VIEWS + +_OF THE_ + +PORTS, HARBOURS & WATERING PLACES + +_OF_ + +GREAT BRITAIN, + +Continued by + +W. H. BARTLETT. + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: TYNEMOUTH PRIORY AND LIGHT-HOUSE. + +_THE LIFE-BOAT_] + + + * * * * * + + +THE + +PORTS, HARBOURS, WATERING-PLACES, + +And Picturesque Scenery + +OF + +GREAT BRITAIN. + +ILLUSTRATED BY VIEWS TAKEN ON THE SPOT, + +BY + +W. H. BARTLETT, J. D. HARDING, T. CRESWICK, + +AND OTHERS. + + * * * * * + +WITH DESCRIPTIONS, HISTORICAL AND TOPOGRAPHICAL. + + * * * * * + +VOL. I. + +VIRTUE AND CO., LIMITED, CITY ROAD AND IVY LANE, LONDON. + + + + +LIST OF PLATES. + + The arrangement adopted in this List is that of starting from + the metropolis, and following the line of the Eastern coast of + Great Britain as far northward as Banff, and then returning + westward to the River Thames. But as the description of each + plate is complete in a single leaf, and there is not any series + of folios, the order can be varied at the taste of the + purchaser, if directions to that effect be given to the binder. + + +VOLUME I. + + +FRONTISPIECE--LONDON, SOUTHWARK, AND BLACKFRIARS BRIDGES. + +VIGNETTE--TYNEMOUTH PRIORY AND LIGHTHOUSE, WITH LIFE-BOAT. + +HARWICH. + +YARMOUTH, NORFOLK. + +--------- WITH THE QUAY AND SHIPPING. + +--------- WITH NELSON'S PILLAR. + +CROMER, NORFOLK. + +HULL--KINGSTON-ON-HULL. + +BURLINGTON QUAY. + +FLAMBOROUGH-HEAD, WITH THE LIGHTHOUSE. + +SCARBOROUGH, WITH THE HARBOUR, CASTLE, &c. + +WHITBY, WITH MONASTIC RUINS. + +------- FROM THE NORTH-WEST. + +ROBIN HOOD'S BAY, YORKSHIRE. + +HARTLEPOOL. + +SUNDERLAND, WITH THE LIGHTHOUSE, SOUTH PIER. + +----------- THE BRIDGE FROM THE WEST. + +SHIELDS, ENTRANCE TO THE HARBOUR. + +NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE, TOWN AND HARBOUR. + +BLYTH, NEAR THE HARBOUR. + +TYNEMOUTH CASTLE, WITH VESSEL ON THE ROCKS. + +CULLERCOATS. + +DUNSTANBOROUGH CASTLE, FROM THE EAST. + +---------------------- BY MOONLIGHT. + +BAMBOROUGH CASTLE, FROM THE SOUTH-EAST. + +------------------ FROM THE NORTH-WEST. + +CASTLE OF HOLY ISLAND AND ABBEY OF LINDISFARN. + +--------------------- FROM THE WESTWARD. + +BERWICK FROM THE SOUTH-EAST. + +LEITH, WITH THE DOCKS, AND EDINBURGH IN THE DISTANCE. + +NEWHAVEN, WITH THE PIERS, EDINBURGH. + +DUNDEE, ENTRANCE TO THE PORT. + +------- FROM THE FIFE SIDE OF THE TAY. + +ABBEY OF ARBROATH. + +MONTROSE, WITH THE HARBOUR AND CHAIN-BRIDGE. + +DUNNOTTAR CASTLE, NEAR STONEHAVEN. + +STONEHAVEN, WITH THE TOWN AND HARBOUR. + +ABERDEEN, ENTRANCE TO THE HARBOUR. + +--------- FROM ABOVE THE CHAIN-BRIDGE. + +--------- THE LIGHTHOUSE. + +SLAINES CASTLE, SEAT OF THE EARL OF ERROLL. + +BULLERS OF BUCHAN. + +PETERHEAD, TOWN, HARBOUR, AND LIGHTHOUSE. + +MACDUFF, TOWN AND HARBOUR. + +BANFF. + +PORT-GLASGOW, WITH THE PIER AND DOCKS. + +GREENOCK, WITH THE CUSTOM-HOUSE. + +BROOMIELAW, WITH THE NEW BRIDGE, GLASGOW. + +THE SOLWAY, VIEW ACROSS THE FRITH. + +ALLONBY, WATERING-PLACE, WITH FISHING-BOATS. + +MARYPORT, TOWN AND HARBOUR, ENGLISH COAST. + +MARYPORT-PIER, IN A STORM. + +WORKINGTON, CUMBERLAND. + +WHITEHAVEN, CUMBERLAND. + +----------- THE HARBOUR. + +ST. BEES' COLLEGE, WITH THE VILLAGE. + +ST. BEES' HEAD AND LIGHTHOUSE. + +FLEETWOOD-ON-WYRE. + +BLACKPOOL, WATERING-PLACE. + +BLACKPOOL SANDS. + +LYTHAM, LANCASHIRE. + +SOUTHPORT SANDS, LANCASHIRE. + + + + +THE + +PORTS AND HARBOURS + +OF + +GREAT BRITAIN. + + + + +TYNEMOUTH LIGHTHOUSE AND PRIORY. + + +Our present engraving is a view of Tynemouth Lighthouse and Priory, with +the life-boat in the act of saving the crew of a vessel, which has +struck upon the rocks at the foot of the cliff on which the lighthouse +is built. This incident, so effectively and appropriately introduced by +the artist, Balmer, who has frequently witnessed the scene which he has +depicted, is peculiarly characteristic of the neighbourhood of +Tynemouth; for, in consequence of the danger of the entrance to Shields +Harbour in stormy weather, with the wind from the eastward, more vessels +are there lost than at the entrance of any other harbour in Great +Britain; and in no part of the kingdom has the value of the life-boat +been more frequently experienced. + +The view is taken from the entrance to Shields Harbour, about half a +mile to the south-west of the lighthouse, which is seen rising from +behind the extremity of the cliff which overlooks the entrance to +Prior's Haven. Towards the centre of the land view are the ruins of +Tynemouth Priory; while farther to the left, in the same distance, is +seen the castle, now modernised and occupied as a garrison. The +fore-ground to the left is the bank which forms the south-western +boundary of Prior's Haven; and the rocks which are seen at its foot are +a portion of the formidable _Black Middens_, which lie on the north side +of the entrance to the harbour. + +The principal feature of the engraving under observation is the view of +the life-boat, which is introduced with a thorough knowledge of the +subject, and with a feeling and a character of truth which mere +imagination can never inspire. The downward plunge of a boat's bows +among broken water, while her stern is at the same time elevated by a +slanting wave, was never more happily represented. A person who has been +at sea, may almost fancy that he hears the resounding dash of the water +against the curved bow, and the seething of the angry wave as it rises +on each side. The idea of motion is admirably conveyed in the +representation of the wave lashing over the floating mast, which is +tossed about like a light spar by the violence of the sea; and the +continued inward roll of the water, from the side and bow of the boat +towards the shore, is no less naturally expressed. + +Part of the life-boat's crew, with most of the oars double-manned, are +seen "giving way," with strenuous efforts, through the breakers, while +others are endeavouring to save the shipwrecked seamen; and one of the +men at the steer-oar appears to be encouraging the sailor who clings to +the floating mast. The position of the boat, with her stem towards the +harbour, and the shipwrecked men seated towards her stern, indicate that +she is returning from the vessel, the top of whose masts are seen, and +that she is now endeavouring to save such men as were washed overboard +when the vessel sunk. The flying of the spray declares the loudness of +the wind; and though a cheering glimpse of sunshine appears to illumine +the land, yet the dark cloud, which seems to rest upon the waters to the +right, sufficiently informs us of the gloominess of the prospect when +looking towards the sea. + +In consequence of a bar of sand, which stretches across the mouth of the +Tyne, where the outward current of the river at ebb tide is met by the +inward roll of the sea; and from the Herd Sand on the south, and the +Black Middens on the north, the entrance to Shields Harbour is attended +with great danger when the wind is blowing hard from the eastward and a +heavy sea running. In crossing the bar, at such a time, a loaden ship, +with rather a heavy draught of water, will sometimes strike, and unship +her rudder; and a light one, in consequence of being struck by a heavy +sea will sometimes broach to. A vessel thus rendered unmanageable, is +almost certain, with the wind from the north-east and a flood tide, to +be driven on the Herd Sand; and, should the wind be blowing strong from +the south-east, she is extremely liable to be thrown either on the Black +Middens or on the rocks at the foot of Tynemouth Castle; more especially +in attempting to gain the harbour after the tide has begun to ebb. In +the latter case, when vessels have been too late to save tide and are +land-locked, and when it may seem less hazardous to attempt to pass the +bar than to bring up, with evening approaching, on a lee shore, the +danger of being wrecked on the rocks to the northward is more especially +imminent. + + + + +LONDON: + +THE BRIDGES OF LONDON, SOUTHWARK, AND BLACKFRIARS, FROM THE SURREY SIDE. + + + "O could I flow like thee, and make thy stream + My great example as it is my theme; + Though deep, yet buoyant,--gentle, yet not dull,-- + Strong, without rage,--without o'erflowing, full." + + DENHAM. + + +The New London Bridge, which forms so striking a feature in this View, +is justly considered the finest specimen of bridge-building in Europe. +It is alike the admiration of strangers and natives, and unites in the +highest degree the useful and ornamental--elegance of design with +solidity of structure. The first pile of this superb structure was +driven on the 15th of March, 1824; and on the 27th of April, the +following year, the first stone was laid by his Royal Highness the Duke +of York, attended by the Lord Mayor, a distinguished party of noblemen, +gentlemen, and citizens, and a great concourse of strangers, who had +assembled to witness the imposing ceremony. The contracts amounted to +five hundred and six thousand pounds, but the total expenditure more +than trebled that sum. The clear water-way is six hundred and ninety +feet out of seven hundred and eighty-two--the actual width. The +carriage-way is thirty-five feet wide, and the foot-paths nine feet +each. The central arch, of the five of which it consists, is one hundred +and fifty-two feet in span--one of the largest ever known--it is +twenty-nine feet and a half in height; and there is no _weir_, or fall, +as in the Old London Bridge. We are thus particular in the measurements +that the reader may more readily comprehend the magnificent scale upon +which this great national structure has been finished; and it may be an +additional facility to this purpose to state, that of granite alone one +hundred and twenty thousand tons were consumed in the building. + +After six years of incessant labour, it was happily brought to a +successful termination under the direction of the late John Rennie, +Esq., of whose genius as an architect it is a splendid monument. The +opening of the bridge took place on the 1st of August, 1831, and gave +occasion to a magnificent festival, which was honoured with the presence +of his late Majesty William the Fourth and Queen Adelaide, the Lord +Mayor, and all most remarkable for rank and station who were at that +time in London. The ceremony was of the most gorgeous and gratifying +description; and the water-pageant which accompanied it was the finest +ever remembered on the Thames. The bridge was lined with tents and +marquees, from which proudly floated the national standard, with +numerous flags of societies and corporations, which gave the whole a +strikingly gala-like effect. Under these a superb _déjeûner_, consisting +of all the luxuries of the season, was served to the numerous assembly; +and, to give additional novelty to the scene, Mr. C. Green, the +celebrated aëronaut, ascended from the bridge in his balloon, much to +the gratification of the spectators. + +Immediately adjoining the Bridge, on the right, is the Steam-packet +Wharf, which, from the constant landing and embarkation of passengers to +and from all parts of the river, is a scene of uninterrupted stir and +animation. On the left are the Bridges of Southwark and Blackfriars, +with the magnificent Cathedral of St. Paul's in the centre of the +picture. + +The Monument (a conspicuous object on the right hand of the engraving) +is a magnificent pillar, erected to commemorate the great fire of the +city of London, in 1666, on the spot where it first began. It is of the +fluted Doric order, and the material employed in its erection is +Portland-stone of the best quality. It is one of the boldest specimens +of the kind ever attempted, being two hundred and two feet in height, +and fifteen in diameter, and stands on a pedestal forty feet high and +twenty-one feet square; and within the shaft is a spiral staircase, +consisting of three hundred and forty-five steps, formed of black +marble. It was begun in 1671, but not completed till seven years after, +as the great demand for stone in the restoration of London and the +Cathedral of St. Paul's absorbed nearly all that the Portland quarries +could furnish. Mr. Elmes, in his _Life of Sir Christopher Wren_, informs +us that the Monument was at first used by the members of the Royal +Society for astronomical experiments; but was abandoned on account of +its vibrations being too great for the nicety required in their +observations. This occasioned a report--extensively circulated at one +time--that it was unsafe; but its sound foundation and scientific +construction may bid defiance to all attacks, but those of earthquakes, +for centuries to come. + +This View of the Metropolis, from Southwark, is exceedingly grand and +impressive, and presents a faithful picture of the every-day scenes +which are here passing before the eyes of the spectator--dazzling his +eye, and filling his mind with those images of unbounded wealth, power, +and magnificence, of which there is no precedent in ancient or modern +history. + + + + +[Illustration: HARWICH. + +_ESSEX._] + + + + +HARWICH. + + +Harwich is in the county of Essex, and lies on the south side of the +estuary formed by the confluence of the Stour and the Orwell, about +sixty-two miles to the north-eastward of London. The view in the +engraving is taken from the southward, and comprises three of the most +conspicuous objects in the town--the church, which is of modern +erection, and the upper and the lower light-houses. In the distance, to +the right, is perceived Landguard Fort, which lies on the Suffolk shore, +on the opposite side of the channel. + +In 1318, Harwich was incorporated by Edward II., at the request of his +brother, Thomas de Brotherton, Earl of Norfolk. In 1347, the town +supplied 14 ships and 183 mariners to the grand fleet of Edward III.; +and in the 17th and 18th years of that king's reign, Harwich returned +two members to Parliament; but the exercise of this privilege was +discontinued till 1616, when it was restored by James I. + +The trade of Harwich never appears to have been extensive; and its +prosperity seems to have greatly depended on the Post-office packets, +which formerly used to sail from the place with passengers and letters +for the northern parts of Europe. The introduction of steam-packets has, +however, rendered Harwich a place of no further importance as a +packet-station, and for several years past the town has been in a +declining state. The fishery, which formerly contributed to the +prosperity of the place, has greatly diminished since the commencement +of the present century. Harwich is the only harbour between Yarmouth +Roads and the mouth of the Thames that is capable of affording refuge, +in gales of wind from the eastward, to vessels navigating the eastern +coast. During the prevalence of strong north-east winds, sometimes from +200 to 300 light colliers, and other vessels proceeding northward, are +to be seen anchored in the harbour. + +On the south of the town a cliff divides Orwell Haven from the bay, that +extends to Walton-on-Naze. This cliff is observed to be constantly +giving way to the action of the sea, which, it is expected, will at some +future period force a passage to the opposite shore, and insulate +Harwich and its vicinity. The cliff contains many acres of land, and its +greatest height is about fifty feet. At the bottom, a bed of clay, of a +bluish colour, about one foot thick, is succeeded by a bed of stone of +nearly the same colour and thickness. Within the latter, shells and +petrifactions, of various descriptions, have been found embedded. Above +the stone are several beds of clay similar to that under the stone, +rising to more than twenty feet. This clay, on exposure to the air, +hardens into stone, and the streets of Harwich are paved with it. The +town walls were formed of this material, as were also the castles of +Orford and Framlingham. + +During the fashionable season the town is visited for sea-bathing, and +excellent accommodations are now provided, bathing-machines having been +introduced, and the private baths rendered most convenient. They stand +in a large reservoir of sea water, which is changed at every tide, and +supplied with fresh water every hour, by a contrivance on the principle +of a natural syphon. In some of these baths, the water is made hot for +invalids, who, if they have neither strength nor courage to plunge +themselves into the water, are assisted with a chair. There are also +vapour baths, and machinery to throw the sea water, either hot or cold, +on any part of the body. + +There is a delightful walk, called "the Lawn," much frequented in fine +weather as a promenade; and not far distant from it is the Beacon Cliff, +on which were formerly the signal-house and telegraph, which were, some +time ago, destroyed by the encroachments of the sea. This eminence +commands a grand, interesting, and extensive prospect. Parties are also +frequently made by the visitors for sailing or steaming up the Orwell +and Stour, and making excursions on the bosom of the ocean. The scenery +of the Orwell possesses peculiar interest, the banks being studded with +elegant villas and pleasure grounds. + + + + +[Illustration: YARMOUTH. + +_NORFOLK._] + + + + +YARMOUTH. + + +Yarmouth, in the county of Norfolk, sometimes called Great Yarmouth, to +distinguish it from Yarmouth in the Isle of Wight, lies about 123 miles +north-east of London, and about twenty-four to the eastward of Norwich. +In the Vignette Engraving, from a beautiful painting by E. W. Cooke, the +view is taken from the shore a little to the northward of the Jetty, +which is seen extending into the sea. Nearly in the centre of the +engraving is seen the column erected by the county of Norfolk to the +memory of Nelson; and to the right are perceived several _look-outs_, +like so many elevated scaffolds, from which, as the shore is very low, +the pilots are enabled to take a wider survey when looking out for ships +which may require their assistance. + +The name of Yarmouth obviously alludes to the situation of the town near +the mouth of the river Yare; the word Yare, according to Druery, in his +_Historical Notices of Great Yarmouth_, is derived from the Celtic +_Iar_, dark, supposed to have been given to this river from the dark +colour of its waters. According to Sir Henry Spelman, the ground on +which Yarmouth stands became firm and habitable in the year 1008, from +the recession of the sea, and the accumulation of the sands. If this +account be correct, it would appear that the town began to be built +almost immediately afterwards; for in the _Domesday-book_, which was +compiled between 1080 and 1086, the place is mentioned, with the usual +carelessness of the Norman scribes, by the name of Cernemude; and the +entry further records that the place had been held by King Edward [the +Confessor], and that it "always had seventy burgesses." + +In 1208, Yarmouth received a charter of incorporation from King John; +and the privileges of the town were confirmed and enlarged by several +succeeding kings. In 1228, in the reign of Henry III., Yarmouth had +become a considerable port, both for the importation and exportation of +merchandize; and in a charter of Edward I., granted in 1306, it is +especially mentioned as a place where fishing-vessels, from an early +period, had been accustomed to land the herrings which they caught +during the season of the fishery. In 1347, Yarmouth supplied 43 ships +and 1,095 mariners to the grand fleet of Edward III. and in 1349, the +town was visited by a dreadful plague, which carried off seven thousand +of the inhabitants. In the 31st of Edward III., an act was passed +regulating the annual herring fair at Yarmouth, and appointing it to be +governed by the barons of the Cinque Ports, according to the composition +made between them and the inhabitants of the town in the reign of Edward +I., the king's grandfather. One William Beukelem, of Biervliet, in +Flanders, who died in 1397, according to Anderson, in his _History of +Commerce_, is said to have been the inventor of the method of pickling +herrings: but this cannot be correct; for though he may have introduced +some improvements in the mode of cleaning and barrelling the fish, the +inhabitants of Yarmouth and other places on the eastern coast were +accustomed both to pickle and smoke herrings long previous to the time +when the practice is said to have been introduced by Beukelem. Yarmouth +is still the principal place of resort on the eastern coast of England +for vessels engaged in the herring fishery, which there commences about +the 21st September, and concludes about the 14th December. Most of the +Yorkshire five-man boats come to Yarmouth in the herring season, and +make their fishery from that place, disposing of all the herrings which +they catch to curers who live in the town. + +The quay at Yarmouth is one of the longest and most spacious of any in +the kingdom; but from the shallowness of the entrance of the harbour, +there being only fourteen feet of water on the bar at spring tides, the +trade of the place is chiefly carried on in small vessels. It is high +water in Yarmouth Roads at forty minutes past eight, and at Yarmouth +Sands at thirty minutes past ten, on the full and change of the moon. + +The column erected to the memory of Nelson stands on the low sandy flat, +called the Denes, to the south of the town. Its total height, including +the basement and the figure of Britannia at the top, is 144 feet, and it +is ascended by a staircase consisting of 217 steps. It forms a +conspicuous object when seen from the sea; and to the crews of vessels +passing through Yarmouth Roads it is a proud memento of Nelson's fame +and the naval glory of their country. + + "O England!--dearer far than life is dear, + If I forget thy prowess, never more + Be thy ungrateful son allowed to hear + Thy green leaves rustle, or thy torrents roar!" + + + + +[Illustration: THE QUAY, YARMOUTH.] + + + + +YARMOUTH QUAY. + + + 'Twas from the "craft of sail and oar" + That states and kingdoms sprang of yore; + When Commerce ceased to woo the wind, + Their wealth decreased--their power declin'd-- + Then, thou who lov'st thy native shore, + Pray Heaven to bless "the sail and oar!" + +The subject of the annexed View, representing the Quay at Yarmouth, +conveys a faithful idea of that interesting and important locality. It +is considered by competent judges as the finest quay in England, and in +point of length exceeds every other in the United Kingdom. It is one +hundred and fifty yards in breadth, contains in its centre a delightful +promenade--planted on each side with trees, protected from the east wind +by a row of handsome and well-built houses--and presents in all its +aspects a striking combination of commercial activity and ornamental +beauty. To the elegant Town Hall, which occupies the centre of this +space, and to other public buildings, we have briefly alluded elsewhere. +As a grand panorama of commercial life, it would be difficult to point +out a finer scene than what is every day presented on the Quay at +Yarmouth. Its principal foreign connexion is with the Baltic; and its +trade in coal, corn, and other merchandise, coastwise, is very +extensive. By means of the navigable rivers Yare, Waveny, and Bure, it +possesses great facilities of intercourse with the interior of the +county. + +In Yarmouth Roads--so renowned for the safe riding they afford to +shipping--the anchorage is extensive, and there is room for any number +of ships. The Roadstead, however, is better calculated for summer than +winter, for to large vessels it is only accessible in the daytime with +safety. + +The trade for which Yarmouth is peculiarly noted is its fisheries, which +are an unfailing source of wealth and employment to the inhabitants, and +have proved an invaluable nursery for those hardy and gallant seamen who +have so often fought and conquered in the battles of their country. The +mackarel[1] fishery begins in the end of April, and ends in the +beginning of July. The herring[2] fishery commences at Michaelmas, and +continues till the end of November; during that interval, it affords +constant employment to sixteen hundred fishermen, besides six or seven +hundred men and women who are engaged in the curing-houses.[3] In +addition to all these, many others are occupied in the various +manufactures connected with the fishery--in the preparation of nets, +rope, twine, baskets, coopering, &c. + +The number of registered vessels belonging to the Port of Yarmouth is +about six hundred, exclusive of fishing-smacks and other small craft. +Ship-building is carried on to a great extent; and the artificers in the +various departments of the building-yards are considered eminently +skilful. There are several private bonding-warehouses, besides that on +the South Denes belonging to the Custom-house. On the North Denes are +the silk-mills of Messrs. Grout and Co.; and on Cobham Island are +considerable salt-works for the use of the town and fisheries. At South +Town, or Little Yarmouth, the banks of the Yare--besides the handsome +houses by which they are lined on the south--are occupied by docks, +timber-wharfs, and shipbuilding-yards, in which a large proportion of +the vessels belonging to Yarmouth are constructed and fitted out for +sea. + +[1] Mackarel is found in large shoals, especially on the French and +English coasts. This fish enters the English Channel in April, and, as +the summer advances, is found on the coasts of Cornwall, Sussex, +Normandy, Picardy, &c., where the fishing is most considerable. + +[2] Herrings are also remarkable as appearing in immense shoals--many +miles in extent, and several fathoms in depth. Their presence is easily +discovered by the flights of sea-fowl which accompany them, by the +unctuous matter with which the water is covered, and in the night by the +brilliant phosphoric light which they emit. They are very plentiful +about the Orkney Isles in June and July, in the German Ocean in +September and October, and in the English Channel in November and +December. + +[3] The London fishmongers are said to prefer the Lowestoff herrings to +those cured at Yarmouth, although they are generally retailed under the +name of "Yarmouth Herrings." + + + + +[Illustration: YARMOUTH, WITH NELSON'S MONUMENT. + +(from the Lowestoft Road.)] + + + + +YARMOUTH, WITH NELSON'S PILLAR, + +(FROM THE LOWESTOFT ROAD). + + + "A fertile soil, a fruitful sea, + And wealth amassed by Industry; + And patriot virtues that sustain + Their 'Meteor-flag' on land and main; + A scene where Nelson's gallant name + Is 'watch-word' to immortal fame: + And here,--with grateful triumph crown'd,-- + Imparts a charm to all around." + + YARMOUTH PILLAR. + +Yarmouth, as a market-town and sea-port, enjoys many natural advantages; +and, aided by the public spirit of its inhabitants and a train of +successful enterprise, has long enjoyed a well-merited distinction in +the chart of the British Empire. It is a borough, both corporate and +parliamentary, situated at the eastern extremity of the county, near the +mouth of the river Yare, from which it derives its name, and which is +navigable as far as Norwich. Joined by its tributaries, the Waveney and +Bure, a short distance to the west of the town, in a fine sheet of water +called the Breydon, it proceeds in a copious stream to the sea. The +Waveney and the Bure are both navigable rivers--the former as far as +Bungay, and the latter to Aylsham. + +The town, extending upwards of a mile along the river, from north to +south, occupies an area of at least a hundred and thirty acres. On the +western side it is bounded by the river, over which there is a handsome +drawbridge, communicating with South Town or Little Yarmouth, one of its +populous suburbs, where extensive business is carried on. The principal +streets, running north and south--Regent-street and South-street +excepted--are all indicative of the stir and animation which pervade +every place of trade, and evince in their construction both taste and +comfort, with an occasional air of the picturesque. The market-place of +Yarmouth is extensive, covering an area of nearly three acres, and +inclosed on the west side with a range of handsome and well-furnished +shops. + +Among the public edifices of Yarmouth, which merit especial notice, is +the Town Hall, which stands near the centre of the quay. It is an +elegant modern structure, with a portico admirably proportioned, and +supported by pillars of the Tuscan order. The interior consists of a +noble room, finely designed and ornamented, with a richly embossed +ceiling in stucco, from which are suspended three massive and superbly +cut lustres, containing seventy-six lights, which are used on festive +nights, when, with permission from the mayor, public assemblies are held +within its walls. Over the chimney-piece is a full-length portrait of +George III., in which is preserved a faithful resemblance of that +sovereign. The theatre, erected about sixty years ago, and the +bathing-establishment, with a spacious public room adjoining, where the +company are supplied with refreshments, are among the other places of +public resort. A jetty, twenty-four feet wide, secured by a strong +railing, and extending four hundred and fifty-six feet into the sea, on +piles of wood, forms a delightful promenade, where health of body and +exhilaration of mind may be greatly promoted by the salubrious sea +breezes by which it is constantly visited. Near this, and commanding a +magnificent view over the German Ocean, the stranger is particularly +struck with the appearance of a marine villa, which harmonises admirably +with the scene. + +At a short distance from the pier is a noble pile of buildings, +belonging to the barrack department and erected on a portion of the +South Denes. In the centre of the latter rises the triumphal Pillar, +which forms so striking a feature in the landscape, and awakens so many +proud and heroic associations in the heart of the spectator. This +monument, raised to commemorate in his native county the services of the +immortal NELSON, is worthy of the virtue and valour it was designed to +celebrate. It was erected in 1817, by W. Wilkins, Esq. Both in the +design and execution great solicitude was evinced by the public that a +monument, bearing the name of the greatest of our Naval Heroes, should +present everything that classical taste and national gratitude could +suggest--and in this respect his countrymen have been fully gratified. +It is of the Doric order, fluted and ornamented with appropriate +decorations and title-inscriptions--illustrating the Hero's most +celebrated battles--and surmounted with a ball and an exquisitely cast +figure of Britannia, supporting her trident and laurel wreath. The +ascent is by an easy flight of two hundred and seventeen steps, and the +whole is built of white Scottish marble. Its height from the ground is +one hundred and forty-four feet; the diameter of the column or shaft is +twelve feet six inches; and the pedestal is twenty-three feet square by +twenty-seven feet in height. + + + + +[Illustration: CROMER.] + + + + +CROMER. + + +Cromer is a fishing village, situated near the north-eastern extremity +of the county of Norfolk. It lies about 129 miles north-north-east of +London, and about 22 miles nearly due north of Norwich. The view in the +engraving is taken from the sands, looking to the westward. Some years +ago, part of the cliff, with two or three houses beyond those which are +now seen standing on its extremity, fell down in consequence of the +encroachments of the sea. At that time a subscription was entered into +by the inhabitants of the place, and by several of the neighbouring +gentry, for the purpose of forming a breakwater; for without some such +protection it was apprehended that at no very distant period many more +houses, with the fine old church, would fall a prey to the violence of +the sea. + +It is supposed that Cromer was formerly a place of much greater +importance than it is at present; and that at the time of the Domesday +survey it was included in the town of Shipden, which, with its church, +is supposed to have been destroyed by the sea in the reign of Henry IV. +At low water many large portions of wall are to be seen, which have +evidently formed part of the houses of the old town of Shipden. "The set +of the great tidal current of the German Ocean," says Mr. R. C. Taylor, +in his _Geology of East Norfolk_, "is from the north-west, along the +eastern shores of this island. In their progress southward, the tides +meet with an extensive obstruction in the projecting county of Norfolk. +About twenty miles of its coast has been subjected, from time +immemorial, to the abrasive action of ocean currents. The ancient +villages of Shipden, Wimpwell, and Eccles, have disappeared; several +manors, and large portions of neighbouring parishes, have, piece after +piece, been swallowed up by the encroaching waves; and their site, some +fathoms deep, now forms a part of the bed of the German Ocean." + +The sea in this neighbourhood, and on the whole of the Norfolk coast, is +particularly dangerous. Between Flamborough and Spurn Heads, and +Winterton Ness, the most easterly points of land on this side of the +island (excepting the North Foreland), the land retreats inward, forming +a large bay. If vessels leaving Flamborough Head proceed southward and +meet with a hard gale from any point between north-east and south-east, +or of leaving Yarmouth Roads, proceeding northwards, they are retarded +by the wind blowing hard from the north-east; so that as they cannot +weather Winterton Ness, they become embayed, and the only chance of +safety is to run for Lynn Deeps, in attempting which they are in danger +of foundering on the rocks near this town or stranding upon the flat +shores between Cromer and Wells. + +Cromer is much frequented in summer by visitors for the sake of +sea-bathing, for which the fine sandy beach to the eastward affords +great convenience. It is a place of very little trade, and is chiefly +dependent on the fishery. Cromer light-house stands on an eminence, +about three-quarters of a mile to the eastward of the village. It is a +revolving light, and is visible, in clear weather, at a distance of five +or six leagues. It appears in its brightest state once in every minute, +and then gradually becomes eclipsed. + + + + +[Illustration: HULL.] + + + + +KINGSTON-ON-HULL. + + +Hull, though one of the most considerable ports of the kingdom, is also +one of the least picturesque. From its low situation, little more of the +town can be seen than the modern houses near the banks of the Humber; +and though jetties, dock-gates, and pier-heads, are sometimes useful as +accessories in a picture, yet where such occupy almost the entire line +of the foreground, with a row of brick buildings behind them, the +painter must manage his subject as he best can, and be content with +giving correctly that which his art cannot improve:--"Res ipsa negat +ornari." The view of Hull, from a painting by Balmer, is taken from the +Humber, looking towards the north. Beyond the river-craft, which are +seen in front, is the entrance to the Humber dock; and the jetty to the +right, which appears crowded with people, is a favourite promenade with +the inhabitants of Hull, who sometimes assemble there in crowds to watch +the sailing and arrival of the steam-packets. The most distant building +to the right is the citadel, at the entrance of the river Hull, which +then discharges itself into the Humber. Towards the middle of the +engraving is seen the tower of Trinity Church, the only object which, at +the distance of a mile, commands the attention of the stranger, and +gives an individual character to the river. + +The town of Hull, or, as it is sometimes called, Kingston-upon-Hull, is +in the East Riding of Yorkshire, and lies about one hundred and seventy +miles northward of London, and about thirty-nine to the south-east of +York. On the south it is bounded by the Humber, and on the eastward by +the small river Hull. The old town, which was formerly protected on the +north and west by a wall running from the Hull to the Humber, is now +wholly insular, as a line of wet-docks occupies the site of the old +fortifications. The suburbs, of Sculcoates on the north, and Drypool on +the east, may be considered as forming, with the old borough of Hull, +but one large town. + +The Hull, which is but a small river, has its source near the village of +Lissett, about five miles from Burlington, and after running about +twenty-six miles, in a southern direction, discharges itself into the +Humber, on the east side of the town to which it gives name. It is +navigable for small craft as far as Elmotlands about sixteen miles from +its mouth. It contains many fish, such as roach, perch gudgeon, eels, +and pike; and Driffield Beck, one of its tributaries, is famed for the +size and excellence of its trout. + +The Humber, which opposite to Hull, is nearly three miles broad, and +about six fathoms deep in mid-channel, is formed by the junction of the +Trent and the Ouse, about sixteen miles above Hull, and it discharges +itself into the sea about twenty-four miles below that town. From the +rapidity of the current, which at spring tides runs at the rate of five +miles an hour, and from the numerous sand-banks which are in the river, +the navigation of the Humber is both intricate and dangerous; for should +a vessel get aground on one of the sands, she is extremely liable to be +overset by the force of the tide. Such accidents are, indeed, by no +means uncommon, for almost every year affords instances of vessels, both +ships and river-craft, being lost in the Humber in this manner. In the +upper part of the Humber, in the Trent, and in the Ouse between +Trent-falls and Selby, the flood tide, more especially in a strong +easterly wind, frequently rushes up the river like a wave, considerably +raised above the water which it meets. This tidal wave is called by the +people of Hull and its vicinity the "_Ager_,"--the _g_ being pronounced +hard; and from the murmuring sound which it makes, as it rolls onward +and dashes against the shore, it has been supposed that the river was +called the "_Humber_." Drayton, in his Poly-Olbion, thus notices the +"_Ager_," or as he spells it, the "Higre," in his description of the +Humber:-- + + "For when my Higre comes, I make my either shore + Ever tremble with the sound that I afarre doe send." + +Taylor, the water-poet, observed this tidal wave in the estuary of the +Wash below Boston:-- + + "It hath lesse mercy than beare, wolfe, or tyger, + And, in those countries it is called the Hyger." + +Dryden, who had noticed it in the river Trent, calls it the "_Eagre_." + + "But like an Eagre rode in triumph o'er the tide." + + + + +[Illustration: BURLINGTON QUAY.] + + + + +BURLINGTON QUAY. + + +The Engraving of Burlington Quay, from a painting by Balmer, presents a +view of the entrance to the Harbour from the eastward. To the right is +seen the inner part of the Old Pier, as it appeared after the great +storm of 17th and 18th February, 1836. In front are the houses at the +end of Quay Street, and to the left is the South Pier; between this and +the shore two ships are perceived aground at the entrance of the inner +harbour, which is nearly dry at low water. In the storm above alluded +to, great injury was done to the old North Pier, and part of one of the +houses to the right was washed down by the violence of the sea. + +Burlington Quay lies about a mile to the north-east of the market-town +of Burlington, and at the bottom of a bay of the same name. It is in the +East Riding of Yorkshire, and is about two hundred and eight miles from +London, forty from York, and twenty from Scarborough. The earliest +mention of it as a harbour occurs in a mandate of King Stephen, +addressed to the Sheriff of Yorkshire, commanding him to allow the Prior +of Burlington to hold it on the same terms as Walter de Gaunt, and +Gilbert, his ancestor, had held the same. During the time that it was in +the possession of the Priors of Burlington, it seems to have been an +inconsiderable place; but subsequently, as the coal trade between London +and the northern parts of the kingdom increased, it began to be of +greater importance as a harbour, in consequence of its affording shelter +in stormy weather to vessels engaged in that trade. In 1546, an act was +passed imposing a duty for erecting the piers and keeping them in +repair; and, in 1614, a second act was passed, upon a petition from the +merchants and ship-owners of the eastern coast, imposing a duty, for the +same purposes, on all coals shipped at Newcastle. Since 1614, several +other acts have been obtained, authorising the levy of duties and tolls +for the purpose of improving the harbour and repairing the piers; and +since 1816, the sum thus collected has averaged about £1,750 per annum. + +The harbour at Burlington Quay is almost entirely the work of art, as +the small stream which there runs into the sea is scarcely sufficient to +turn a mill. Its locality seems to render it one of the most appropriate +stations for a harbour of refuge between the Frith of Forth and Yarmouth +Roads, more especially in gales of wind from the north-eastward; but +unfortunately it can only be entered by comparatively small vessels, as +the depth of water at the entrance is only from ten to twelve feet at +neap-tides, and from fourteen to sixteen feet at springs. The harbour is +also so small, that fifty sail of colliers taking shelter there would +render it extremely crowded. + +The history of Burlington Quay, considering it as a separate place from +the town of Burlington, is extremely meagre. The most remarkable event +which its annals record is the landing there of Henrietta Maria, Queen +of Charles I., on her return, in 1643, from Holland, whither she had +been to conduct her newly-married daughter to her husband, the Prince of +Orange, and where she pledged part of the crown jewels in order to +obtain money to purchase arms for the Royalists. The Queen, who was +attended by a convoy of Dutch men-of-war, under the command of Admiral +Van Tromp, landed at Burlington Quay, on the 22nd of February. The +Parliamentary admiral, Batten, who had been cruising, with four ships, +for the purpose of intercepting her, having received intelligence of her +arrival, sailed into the bay and began to cannonade the town. Several of +the shot struck the house in which the Queen was lodged, so that she was +obliged to leave it, and take shelter in a ditch in a neighbouring +field. A serjeant was killed near her, and the Parliamentary admiral +continued his fire until the reflux of the tide and the threats of Van +Tromp compelled him to desist. + +Burlington Quay is much frequented in summer as a bathing-place; and +many persons prefer its quiet and retirement to the greater gaiety of +Scarborough. The beach, to the northward of the quay, affords excellent +opportunities for bathing, and the walks and rides in the vicinity are +extremely pleasant. A visit to Flamborough Head, which is only about +five miles distant, forms a highly interesting excursion either by land +or water. + +The market-town of Burlington, or, as it is frequently spelled, +Bridlington, is situated about a mile to the north-westward of the +quay. + + + + +[Illustration: FLAMBOROUGH HEAD.] + + + + +FLAMBOROUGH HEAD. + + +The view of Flamborough Head, drawn by Balmer, is taken from the cliffs +to the north-west. To the left is the promontory properly called "The +Head," at a short distance from which stands the lighthouse. Between the +Head and the nearer cliffs is a small haven, which is used as a landing +place by the fishermen of the village of Flamborough, which lies about a +mile to the south-west of the lighthouse. + +Flamborough Head, which lies about eighteen miles southward of +Scarborough, and four and a half miles northward of Burlington, is one +of the most remarkable promontories on the eastern coast. It projects +about five miles into the sea, from a line drawn between Burlington Quay +and Filey; and its southern side forms the northern boundary of +Burlington Bay. The cliffs, which are of limestone rock, are from three +hundred to four hundred feet high, and their crumbling sides form the +haunt and the breeding place of innumerable flocks of sea-birds: among +which are cormorants, puffins, razor-bills, and guillemots, with gulls +and terns of several species. Guillemots, which are here extremely +numerous, are known to the seamen of Shields and Newcastle by the name +of "Flamborough-head pilots," as their presence in considerable numbers +is almost a certain indication of the ship being "off the Head." Great +numbers of those feathered denizens of the cliff are killed every year +by "parties of pleasure," from Burlington, Scarborough, and other +places, who visit the "Head" for the sake of indulging in the heartless +sport, which requires neither skill nor courage, of killing birds by +wholesale. At the foot of the cliff, which to the north-west is much +indented, there are several caverns and large insulated masses of rock. +The largest of those caverns, called Robert Lyth's Hole, has two +openings, the one communicating with the land and the other exposed to +the sea. The roof, though low at the landward entrance, is in some +places fifty feet high; and the view, looking through the rocky vault +towards the sea, is extremely grand. + +Flamborough Head, which is a most important land-mark for vessels +navigating the eastern coast, lies in 54° 8' north latitude; longitude +2' 30" west. A revolving light is displayed from the lighthouse from +sunset to sunrise, and presents, first the appearance of two lights on +the same tower, and next a brilliant red light. Each of those lights +appears at intervals of two minutes; and after gradually attaining their +greatest lustre, they in the same manner decline and become eclipsed. + +Between Flamborough Head and Burlington Quay, is situated Burlington +Bay, a secure roadstead in north-east gales; and, during the prevalence +of such winds, it is not unusual for three hundred ships to be riding +there at the same time, sheltered from the violence of the wind and sea +by the lofty promontory. On the south-east, the Bay is partially +sheltered from the violence of the sea by the Smithwick Sands, which run +nearly in a line with the coast, from Burlington Quay to Flamborough +Head. At each extremity of those sands there is a channel leading into +the Bay; that towards the Head is called the North Sea; and the other, +towards Burlington, the South Sea. Though the Smithwick Sands +effectually break the violence of the sea at low water, yet at high +water, when they are covered to a considerable depth, the protection +which they afford, in gales of wind from the south-eastward, is not to +be depended on. Vessels, therefore, leave the Bay as soon as the wind +changes to east or south-east, as it no longer affords them sufficient +security; the protection of the Smithwick Sands not being equivalent to +the risk of the lee-shore, to which they would be exposed in a gale from +the south-east. Were the harbour of Burlington, which is situated to the +westward of the Bay, enlarged and deepened, its importance, as a place +of refuge for vessels compelled to leave the Bay from the wind changing +to the eastward, would be very greatly increased. Could it be so +enlarged as to admit one hundred vessels, of from 200 to 300 tons each, +it would, with the Bay, afford a place of refuge in all storms from +north-east to south-east, which are generally the most destructive on +the eastern coast. + + + + +[Illustration: SCARBOROUGH.] + + + + +SCARBOROUGH. + + +In this view of Scarborough, by Harding, which is taken from the +southward, the most conspicuous object is the Lighthouse on the Old +Pier, or, as it is sometimes called, Vincent's Pier, from the name of +the engineer, by whom the outer portion was erected about the year 1750. +Beyond the pier are seen the masts of vessels lying in the harbour; to +the left are the houses, which are built near the shore between West +Sand-gate and Bland's Cliff; and on the height are the barracks, with +the ruins of the old castle, a little further distant, to the left. + +Though the name of Scarborough appears to be of Saxon origin, yet as the +place is not mentioned in any author who wrote before the Conquest, nor +in the Domesday-book, we cannot reasonably suppose it to have been of +much importance, either during the Saxon period, or at the time when the +Conqueror's survey was made. The castle of Scarborough was built about +1163, by William le Gros, Earl of Albemarle and Holderness; and from +that period the authentic history of the town commences. The castle is +situated to the north-eastward of the town, and is built on the isthmus +of a peninsula, which comprises an area of about sixteen acres, and is +bounded on the north, east, and south by inaccessible cliffs, whose +summits are about 300 feet above the level of the sea. The western +boundary, overlooking the town, is also formed by an elevated rock; and +the only means of approach to the castle is by a steep path near the +edge of the cliff forming the north side of the isthmus. On passing +through a gateway, and over a draw-bridge, we arrive at the castle, +which, previous to the introduction of cannon, must have been almost +impregnable. The keep or principal tower is ninety-seven feet high, and +though greatly dilapidated, is yet a striking object, more especially +when viewed from the sea, at about two miles' distance from the north +cliff. + +There is no river at Scarborough; and the harbour, which is formed by +the piers, is only accessible towards high water. It is high water at +Scarborough at forty-five minutes past three o'clock at the full and +change of the moon; and at spring tides there is about twenty-two feet +water at the end of the pier. At night a light is shown from the +lighthouse as long as there is twelve feet water at the entrance to the +harbour; and during the same period a flag is hoisted by day. + +About 1620 the sanative virtues of the Spa-well were discovered by Mrs. +Anne Farrow, who "sometimes walked along the shore, and observing the +stones over which the water passed to have received a russet colour, and +finding it to have an acid taste different from the common springs, and +to receive a purple tincture from galls, thought it probably might have +a medical property." The lady having tried the water herself, and +persuaded others to do the same, it was in a short time pronounced an +all-heal, and the people of the place took it as their usual physic. +Before 1670 these waters had become celebrated, and many persons +resorted to Scarborough for the sake of drinking them. Medical men, +however, disagreed both as to their composition and effects; and the +opinions of Dr. Witty, a resident physician, who recommended them in +every case, were controverted by Mr. Simpson and Dr. George Tonstall. +The latter says of the Spa-water, "The essence is fit for the cup of a +prince; the _caput mortuum_, which is sand and clay, is fit for nothing +but the bricklayer's trowel. Hence it doth follow that those who are +weak in their digestive faculties, and strong in their distributive, may +find good by drinking this water; but those who are weak in both will +experience the contrary." From the following anecdote related by the +doctor, we may infer that the spa-drinkers of that period were +accustomed to indulge in rather copious draughts. "Mr. Westro came to us +at Scarborough only to visit his friends, and the two or three days he +drank the waters (_not above two quarts at a time_), did so far put him +out of tune, that he made his complaint to me he could neither eat nor +sleep; and it took me a week's time before I could reduce him to the +state of health which he had before he meddled with the waters." He +would have been a person of strong constitution indeed not to have been +"put out of tune" by such drenching; and it is no small proof of Dr. +Tonstall's skill that he should have been able to restore Mr. Westro the +blessings of sound sleep and a good appetite in so short a time as a +week. From the double advantage which Scarborough presents to visitors, +of drinking the waters and enjoying the benefit of sea bathing, it is +much frequented during the summer season; and a more agreeable place is +not to be found on the coast betwixt the Humber and the Tyne. + + + + +[Illustration: WHITBY.] + + + + +WHITBY. + + +This engraving of Whitby, from a drawing by Harding, presents a view of +the entrance to the harbour, as seen from the northward. Towards the +middle of the plate is seen the end of the east pier; on the top of the +cliff are the ruins of the abbey and the parish church; while, farther +to the right, part of the town is perceived. + +Whitby is in the North Riding of Yorkshire, and lies about 246 miles +north of London, 22 north-north-west of Scarborough, and 47 north-east +of York. It is chiefly built on the sloping banks of the river Esk, by +which it is divided into two parts; that on the west side being the most +populous. The opposite parts of the town are connected by means of a +bridge, the middle of which is moveable for the purpose of allowing +ships to pass through. In the old bridge, which has been pulled down, +the opening in the middle was upon the principle of a drawbridge, in +which the roadway is raised and lowered by means of beams and chains. At +high-water the river above the bridge expands into a spacious harbour, +where ships can lie in perfect security; but at ebb tide, except in the +mid-channel, the harbour is nearly dry. In the outer harbour, as it is +called, below the bridge, vessels cannot ride with safety in gales of +wind upon the land. + +The piers at the entrance to Whitby harbour are not built and maintained +at the sole expense of the place, but by a duty on coals shipped at +Newcastle, Sunderland, Blyth, and their dependencies--Yarmouth vessels +only being exempt--and the sum thus raised amounts to upwards of £2,000 +per annum. It is doubtless a great advantage to the people of Whitby to +have their piers built and kept in repair at the expense of other ports; +but it is equally certain that the same sum might be employed more to +the advantage of those by whom it is paid in improving other +places--Scarborough and Burlington, for instance--as harbours of refuge +on the eastern coast. In a gale of wind from the eastward, Whitby is +perhaps one of the most dangerous harbours that a vessel can attempt to +take between Yarmouth roads and the Frith of Forth, and captains of +coasting vessels cannot be too frequently warned to avoid it. As the +flood tide sets strong to the southward across the entrance to the +harbour, vessels in attempting to enter with a gale of wind from the +north-east are extremely liable to be driven on the rocks and wrecked at +the foot of the cliff beyond the east pier. + +A singular customary duty, called "making the penny-stake hedge," is +annually performed at Whitby, by certain tenants of the Lord of the +Manor. It consists in driving a certain number of stakes, which, +according to the ancient prescribed form, were to be cut with a knife of +the value of one penny, on the shore of the south side of the Esk, at +low-water mark, at nine o'clock on the morning of the day before +Ascension-day, while a man with a horn blows, "Out on you! Out on you!" +to the shame of the persons whose duty it is to drive the stakes. When +it shall be full sea or high-water at nine o'clock on the day of +performing this service, it was to cease; but as Ascension-day is +regulated by the change of the moon this can never happen. This custom +is of great antiquity, as the _horngarth_, the enclosure formed by the +stakes, is mentioned about 1315 in the registers of the Abbey, in an +account of certain disputes between the abbot, Thomas de Malton, and +Alexander de Percy, of Sneaton. Tradition reports that this custom was +imposed as a penance on three persons of the families of Percy, Bruce, +and Allatson, who held lands of the Abbey, for having killed a hermit in +the chapel of Eskdale-side, when hunting a wild boar which had there +taken refuge. The penance imposed was the tenure by which they and their +successors were to hold the Abbey lands. + +Leland, who visited Whitby a few years before the suppression of the +monastery, describes it as a "great fisher town;" and he mentions that +when he was there a new quay and pier were in course of erection. Until +the establishment of the alum works in its neighbourhood, towards the +latter end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, Whitby appears to have been +a place of little trade. As this new branch of commerce extended, the +trade and population of Whitby steadily increased until it has attained +its present importance. + + + + +[Illustration: WHITBY. + +_FROM THE NORTH WEST_] + + + + +WHITBY, + +FROM THE NORTH-WEST. + + +The view of Whitby from the north-west, by Balmer, is taken from the +sands near Upgang, between Whitby and the village of Sandsend. From this +point nearly the whole of the west pier is seen, extending directly from +the shore, and having a light-house near its outer extremity. Beyond the +pier, and on the other side of the river, are seen the houses built on +the sloping side of the cliff, and on its top the ruins of Whitby abbey, +which + + "In solemn grandeur, calm and still, + O'erlook the restless flood." + +The first authentic notice that we have of Whitby, is contained in +Bede's Ecclesiastical History. In the time of the venerable historian it +was called in the Anglo-Saxon language _Streoneshalh_, a name which he +interprets in Latin by the words _Sinus Fari_; that is, in English, +"Light-house bay." Subsequently it received from the Danes its present +name of Whitby, a word which is probably derived from _hvit_ or _whit_, +white; and _by_, a dwelling, or in its more extended sense, a village or +town. It has been supposed that this name might be given to the village +in consequence of its being built chiefly with stone taken from the +ruins of the monastic buildings; but the supposition is untenable, +unless we at the same time presume that the stones, which were taken +from buildings which had been destroyed by fire, were rendered white by +being burnt. In Domesday Book the place appears to be called +_Prestebi_--Priestby--as well as _Witeby_--Whitby. The name Priestby, +which soon became obsolete, probably denoted that part of the village +which lay on the east side of the Esk, and was more immediately +dependent on the monastery. + +The abbey of Whitby, founded by St. Hilda in 658, acquired considerable +importance as the residence of this saint, of whose miracles certain +marvellous traditions are still current in this vicinity. At the +dissolution, under Henry VIII., Richard Cholmley, Esq., obtained a lease +for twenty-one years of the site of the abbey and several parcels of its +lands. In 1550 those lands were sold by the crown to John, earl of +Warwick, who again sold them to Sir John Yorke, of whom they were +purchased by the original lessee, then Sir Richard Cholmley, in 1555. +Since that time the property has continued in the family of Cholmley, +who enjoy many valuable rights and privileges as lords of the manor of +Whitby. On the dissolution of the monastery, the abbey was stripped of +every thing that was valuable. The bells were taken down, and the church +was unroofed for the sake of the timber and lead. The walls only were +spared, as the cost of taking them down would probably have been greater +than the value of the stones. Though time has destroyed much of Whitby +Abbey, yet the ruins still form a conspicuous and interesting object +when viewed from the sea. The tower, which for several preceding years +had been in a tottering state, fell down 25th June, 1830. The parish +church, a plain structure, probably founded about the beginning of the +twelfth century, stands at a short distance to the north-westward of the +abbey. The direct foot-way to the church-yard from the town is by a +steep ascent of one hundred and ninety steps. + +It is worthy of remark that the number of ships registered at Whitby by +no means affords a criterion of the trade of the place, for the greatest +part of them are freighted to and from other ports. Perhaps no port in +the kingdom presents so great a difference as Whitby between the number +of ships registered at the port, and the number annually entered and +cleared. This discrepancy between the trade and the tonnage of the port +arises from the circumstance of many wealthy persons who live there +having their ships built and registered at Whitby, but chiefly employed, +on freight, in the trade of other places. When speaking of the shipping +of Whitby, it would be unpardonable not to mention that Captain James +Cook one of the most distinguished of British circumnavigators, served +an apprenticeship in a vessel belonging to that port. + +The principal trades carried on at Whitby are ship-building, and the +manufacture of sail-cloth. Its chief imports are coals from Newcastle +and Sunderland, and timber, hemp, flax, tar, iron, and tallow, from the +Baltic. Alum manufactured in the neighbourhood is shipped at Whitby, but +the principal article of export is at present stones for building, of +which great quantities are sent to London. + +From the light-house, on the western pier, a tide-light is displayed at +night time, as long as there is eight feet water on the bar. The light +is stationary, and is visible at the distance of two leagues in clear +weather. During the same period of tide, in the day, a flag is hoisted +on the west cliff. It is high water at Whitby pier at forty minutes past +three o'clock at the full and change of the moon. + + + + +[Illustration: ROBIN HOOD'S BAY.] + + + + +ROBIN HOOD'S BAY. + + +The above is the name of a fine bay on the Yorkshire coast, between +Whitby and Scarborough, and also of the fishing village, situated +towards its northern extremity. In the view, which is taken from the +north, several of the houses are seen standing upon the very edge of the +cliff. The promontory to the left is called Ravenhill, and forms the +south-eastern extremity of the bay. From an inscription dug up at +Ravenhill in 1774, it appears that there had formerly been a Roman camp +there. + +The ancient name of the bay was Fyling, and from what reason or at what +period it first received the name of Robin Hood's Bay is uncertain. That +it ever was the resort of the famed outlaw of that name is extremely +questionable; although two or three tumuli on the moor, about two miles +to the southward of the village, are said to be the butts, in shooting +at which he exercised his men in archery. Near Whitby Lathes, about five +miles to the north-west of Robin Hood's Bay, are two upright stones, +which are said to mark the spots where the arrows of the bold robber of +Sherwood Forest, and his man Little John, fell, when, in a trial of +strength, they discharged them from the top of Whitby Abbey in the +presence of the abbot. As the distance from these stones to the abbey is +rather more than a mile and a half, it is evident that a _long_ bow must +have been drawn by some one, if not by Robin Hood. It has been supposed +that the place was originally called Robin Wood's Bay, from a fisherman +of that name, who formerly resided there; but this conjecture rests on +no better ground than the fact of two or three fishermen of the name of +Wood having lived there in modern times. A family of fishermen of the +name of Wood, with whom "Zebedee" appears to have been a favourite +"fore-name," have resided at Runswick, a fishing village, about seven +miles northward of Whitby, for several generations. + +Leland, in his Itinerary, written about three hundred years ago, calls +the village by its present name, Robin Hood's Bay, and describes it as +"a fisher townlet of twenty boats." It is still, as in his time, almost +entirely inhabited by fishermen. The houses forming the principal street +are built on each side of a steep road, leading down to the shore; while +others, as may be seen in the view, are built upon the very extremity of +the cliff. The approach to the village is by a steep descent, which is +extremely inconvenient for carriages. It is about fourteen miles +north-west of Scarborough, and seven south-east of Whitby; and the +population is about a thousand. + +Robin Hood's Bay, Filey, Runswick, and Staithes, are the principal +fishing villages on the Yorkshire coast. Filey is about eight miles +south of Scarborough; Runswick, as has been previously observed, is +about seven miles northward of Whitby; and Staithes is about three miles +northward of Runswick. At each of those places the fishery is carried on +both by cobles and by five-man boats. At most of the other fishing +stations on the Yorkshire coast cobles only are employed. A description +of the last named species will be found in our notice of Bambrough from +the South-east; and of the five-man boats, we propose to say a few words +on the present occasion. + +The vessels now called five-man boats are about forty-six feet long, +sixteen feet eight inches broad, and six feet three inches deep. They +are clinker-built, sharp at the bows, and have a deck with a large +hatchway in midships, and a cabin towards the stern for the men. They +have three masts, on each of which they carry a lug sail. Their other +sails are a jib, and, in fine weather, a top-sail set on a shifting +topmast, above the main-mast. As the sails are all tanned, a five-man +boat forms a picturesque object at sea, more especially when viewed in +contrast with a square-rigged vessel with white sails. The crew of each +five-man boat consists of seven persons, five of whom, called +_shares-men_ have equal shares of the proceeds of the voyage, or the +season, after the boat's share is paid. The sixth person is often a +young man who receives half a share, and is a kind of apprentice to the +captain or owner of the boat. The seventh is generally hired at a +certain sum per week, and not sharing in the profits of the fishery. + +To each five-man boat there are two cobles, which in proceeding to the +fishing ground are generally hauled up on the deck. On arriving at the +place where it is intended to fish, the boat is anchored, and the cobles +being launched, three men proceed in each to shoot their lines, while +one remains on board. The lines used for this more distant fishery are +called _haavres_. They are about the same length as those used in the +coble fishery nearer the shore, though thicker, and having the hooks +placed at greater intervals. As the six men who fish have each two sets +of lines, they are thus enabled to shoot one set immediately after they +have hauled the other. In the five-man-boat fishery the hooks are always +baited at sea. + + + + +[Illustration: HARTLEPOOL.] + + + + +HARTLEPOOL. + + +The view of Hartlepool, painted by T. Creswick, from a drawing by G. +Balmer, is taken from the northward. To the right, between the +foreground and the town, are seen the sands of what is called the +"Slake;" to the left are the cliffs, at the foot of which are the +excavations called "Fairy Coves;" and beyond the town part of the +southern coast of Durham is perceived, which extends from Hartlepool +southward to the mouth of the Tees. The figures in the foreground are +characteristic of the place; for there is no obtaining a view of +Hartlepool from the land-side without seeing a group of fishwomen. + +The town of Hartlepool stands on a small peninsula on the southern coast +of Durham, and is about nine miles north-east of Stockton-upon-Tees. +From the "Slake," or Pool, which is between the town and the mainland to +the west, it probably received the appellation of "_Le Poole_," to +distinguish it from the village of Hart, which is about four miles and a +half to the north-west. The word Hart, according to Ducange, signified, +in Teutonic, a forest; and, if the name of the parish of Hart be of the +same origin, the reason why the place should have been so called is +obvious. The old town-seal of Hartlepool contains a rebus of the name--a +hart up to his knees in a pool--which assigns to the first part of it a +different etymology. Previous to receiving the name of Hartlepool the +place was called Heortu, and sometimes Heortness; the terminating _u_ is +perhaps an abbreviation of _eau_, water; and the name Heortu synonymous +with Hart-le-pool. The termination _ness_ is expressive of the place +being built on a point of land which projects into the sea. "At or near +this place," says Bishop Tanner, in the _Notitia Monastica_, "was the +ancient monastery called Heorthu, founded upon the first conversion of +the Northumbrians to Christianity, about A.D. 640, by a religious woman +named Hieu, or, as some have it, St. Bega, whereof St. Hilda was some +time abbess." This ancient convent was destroyed by the Danes about 800, +and its site is now unknown, though it is supposed to have stood on the +spot which was subsequently occupied by a Franciscan monastery, founded +by one of the Bruce family about 1250, and suppressed by Henry VIII. Of +this monastery or its church there is at present no part remaining, +though some old houses, called the Friary, probably built out of the +ruins, still indicate its situation. The church of Hartlepool, which is +dedicated to St. Hilda, is a large building, and, from the various +styles of its architecture, has evidently been built at different +periods. + +About the time of the Conquest, the manors of Hart and Hartness belonged +to Fulk de Panell; and, upon the marriage of his daughter Agnes with +Robert de Brus, one of the Norman followers of William I., they came, +with other rich manors in Yorkshire and in Durham, into the possession +of that family. Upon Robert Bruce, a descendant of the above-named +Robert de Brus, succeeding to the crown of Scotland in 1306, all his +English estates were confiscated by Edward I., who granted the manor of +Hart and the borough of Hartlepool to Robert de Clifford, "saving the +rights of the Bishops of Durham," under whom, since 1189, the property +had been held. + +In 1201, King John granted a charter to Hartlepool, conferring upon the +burgesses the same privileges as those of Newcastle-upon-Tyne; and in +1230, Richard le Poor, Bishop of Durham, granted another charter, +appointing a mayor and other officers for the government of the town. In +1593, Queen Elizabeth granted a new charter, under which the affairs of +the borough have been since regulated. + +From the reign of King John to that of James I., Hartlepool was the most +considerable port in the county of Durham; but from the latter period +till about seven years ago, its importance as a place of trade appears +to have greatly declined: and from 1730 to 1832, its condition was that +of a small fishing town, scarcely visited by any ships, except colliers +belonging to Sunderland and Newcastle, which occasionally sought refuge +in its harbour during a storm. In 1832, a bill was obtained for the +purpose of improving the harbour and forming a dock at Hartlepool; and +since that period a considerable portion of the projected works have +been finished. A railway has since been formed, by which coals are +brought to the town; and a considerable quantity are now shipped there +for the London and other markets; and from the advantageous situation of +the harbour, and the facility with which vessels can be loaded, there +seems great probability of Hartlepool becoming, in a few years, one of +the principal ports for the shipment of coals in the county of Durham. + + + + +[Illustration: SUNDERLAND. + +_THE LIGHT HOUSE ON THE SOUTH PIER._] + + + + +SUNDERLAND, + +THE LIGHTHOUSE ON THE SOUTH PIER. + + +The view of the Lighthouse on Sunderland South Pier is taken from the +south-east. The entrance to the harbour lies beyond the pier-head, to +the right, on which a crane, and a capstan used in warping out ships, +are perceived. The large D on the fore-topsail of the collier lying +within the pier is a distinguishing mark adopted by the owner that his +vessels may be more readily known. To the left is seen the higher +lighthouse, of stone, which stands on the north pier, on the opposite +side of the river. + +The erection of a pier on each side of the entrance to Sunderland +harbour has been rendered necessary in consequence of the constant +tendency of the bar of sand at its mouth to accumulate. The piers, by +contracting the channel of the river, have deepened the water, and +increased the velocity of the current at ebb tide, which thus scours the +entrance to the harbour, and prevents the accumulation of sand upon the +bar. + +In 1669, Charles II. granted letters patent to Edward Andrew, Esq., +empowering him to build a pier, erect lighthouses, and cleanse the +harbour at Sunderland, and also to raise funds for these purposes by a +tonnage-duty on ships. At a subsequent period, commissioners were +appointed for the same purposes by an act of parliament; and under their +authority three hundred and thirty-three yards of the north pier were +built, between 1716 and 1746. From a report of the commissioners made in +1765, it appears that £50,000 had been expended on the south pier up to +that time, and it was estimated that to finish it would cost as much +more. It is now extended to the length of six hundred and twenty-five +yards. The north pier, which is entirely of stone, was commenced about +1785, but additions have been recently made to its eastern extremity. + +The lighthouse on the north pier was erected in 1803. The light, which +is stationary, is exhibited from sunset to sunrise, and is visible in +clear weather at the distance of twelve miles. The light on the south +pier is a tide light, and is only shown when there is sufficient depth +of water on the bar for ships to enter. This light is of a red colour. +By day a flag is hoisted during tide-time. + +Since the year 1200--and probably from a much earlier period--the +harbour at the mouth of the Wear appears to have been generally known as +that of Sunderland, the present name of the port and of the +parliamentary borough. "Various conjectures," says Mr. Surtees, "have +been formed as to the derivation of this name; the simplest and most +obvious seems to be, that it marked the original situation of the place +on a point of land almost insulated by the Wear and by the sea, which +has probably flowed much higher than at present up some of the deep +gullies on the coast, particularly Hendon-Dene, which, it seems, +contained, as late as 1350, water sufficient for vessels to ride at +anchor in the bay." + +In 1719 an express distinction was made by an act of parliament, which +constituted Sunderland a separate parish from that of Bishop-Wearmouth, +in which it had formerly been included. This act was passed on the +petition of the inhabitants of Sunderland, who, between 1712 and 1719, +had built a new church. The old church of Bishop-Wearmouth--which was +pulled down and rebuilt in 1808--was probably founded shortly after the +date of Athelstan's grant. The rectory of Sunderland is but slenderly +endowed; that of Bishop-Wearmouth is one of the richest in the kingdom, +and was at one period held by the Rev. Dr. Wellesley, a brother of the +Duke of Wellington. Dr. Paley--whose "pigeon illustration," in his +_Moral Philosophy_, of the basis of political authority, is said to have +kept him out of a bishopric--was rewarded by Dr. Barrington, bishop of +Durham, with the rectory of Bishop-Wearmouth, where he died in 1805. + + + + +[Illustration: SUNDERLAND. + +(_THE BRIDGE FROM THE WESTWARD._)] + + + + +SUNDERLAND. + +THE BRIDGE FROM THE WESTWARD. + + +Under the general name of Sunderland, the three townships of +Monk-Wearmouth, Bishop-Wearmouth, and Sunderland are usually comprised. +Monk-Wearmouth is situated on the north side of the river Wear, at a +short distance from its mouth. Sunderland and Bishop-Wearmouth, which +form one continuous town, lie on the south side of the river; +Sunderland, properly so called, extending from the line of junction of +the two parishes, eastward to the sea; and Bishop-Wearmouth extending +towards the west. Sunderland--which has given its name to the port and +to the borough--is 269 miles distant from London; fourteen from Durham; +and thirteen from Newcastle-on-Tyne. + +The great boast of Sunderland is the beautiful iron bridge, of a single +arch, which connects it with Monk-Wearmouth. This noble structure, which +is at once highly ornamental and useful, was projected by Rowland +Burdon, Esq., of Castle Eden, who in 1792, he being then M.P. for the +county of Durham, obtained an act of parliament empowering him to raise +money for its erection; the sums advanced to be secured on the tolls, +with five per cent. interest, and all further accumulation to go in +discharge of the capital. The abutments, from which the arch springs, +are nearly solid masses of masonry, twenty-four feet thick, forty-two +feet broad at bottom, and thirty-seven feet broad at top. That on the +south side is founded on a solid rock, which rises above the level of +the Wear; the foundation of that on the north side, owing to the +unfavourable nature of the ground, was obliged to be laid ten feet below +the level of the river. The arch, which is a segment of a large circle, +is of 236 feet span, and its centre is ninety-four feet above the level +of the river at low water. From the height of the arch and its +comparative flatness--its versed sine, or perpendicular height from its +centre to a line joining its extremities, being only thirty-four +feet--ships of 300 tons burden can pass underneath not only directly +below the centre, but also to the extent of fifty feet on each side. The +navigation of the river thus remains unobstructed--for many vessels +proceed to the staiths above the bridge for the purpose of taking in +their coals--while the inhabitants on each side enjoy all the advantages +of facilitated intercourse. The breadth of the bridge at the top is +thirty-two feet including the footpaths on each side; and the +carriage-way is formed of lime, marl, and gravel, above a flooring of +timber, which is laid across the iron ribs of the arch. The iron ribs +and blocks were cast and prepared at the foundry of Messrs. Walker, at +Rotherham, near Sheffield. The whole weight of the iron is 260 tons; of +which 46 tons are malleable, and 214 cast. The foundation-stone[4] was +laid on the 24th September, 1793, and the bridge opened to the public on +the 9th August, 1796, having been completed under the superintendence of +Mr. Thomas Wilson, of Bishop-Wearmouth, in less than three years. The +total expense was £26,000, of which sum £22,000 was subscribed by Mr. +Burdon.[5] + +Although many ships are loaded direct from such staiths as are at a +short distance above the bridge, yet the greater part of the coals are +brought down in keels from staiths situated higher up the river. The +keels of the Wear, though of the same tonnage as those of the Tyne, are +somewhat differently built, being flatter in the bottom, and of a +lighter draught of water. The Sunderland keels are managed by only one +man, who usually has a boy to assist him. In the Wear the coals when in +bulk are cast from the keel into the ship by men called coal-casters; +while on the Tyne, where the crew of each keel consists of three men and +a boy, the coals are always cast by the keelmen. Within the last few +years, a considerable quantity of coals, in order to prevent the +breakage occasioned by discharging them into the keels from the spout, +and then casting them into the ship, have been put on board the keels in +_tubs_, which are afterwards raised by machinery to the vessel's deck, +and then discharged into the hold. These tubs are exactly like coal +waggons without their wheels, and contain the same quantity--one +Newcastle chalder, or fifty-three cwt.[6] Each keel carries eight of +these tubs. The number of keels employed on the Wear is above 500. + +[4] The inscription on the foundation-stone contains a bad pun: "Quo +tempore civium Gallicorum ardor vesanus prava jubentium gentes turbavit +Europeas _ferreo_ bello, Rolandus Burdon armiger, meliora colens, Vedræ +ripas, scopulis præruptis, ponte conjungere _ferreo_ statuit." + +[5] Surtees's Hist. of Durham, vol. 1, p. 226. + +[6] Evidence of Sir Cuthbert Sharp before the Lords' Committee on the +Coal Trade, 1829, p. 23. + + + + +[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO SHIELDS HARBOUR.] + + + + +SHIELDS. + +ENTRANCE TO THE HARBOUR. + + +The view of the entrance to Shields Harbour is taken from the bank a +little below the Spanish Battery, on the north side of the Tyne, and +about a quarter of a mile to the south-westward of Tynemouth lighthouse. +To the left, a part of South Shields is seen, with a vessel "dropping +up" the Narrows, just before entering the harbour. Towards the middle of +the Engraving are the two lighthouses at North Shields--distinguished by +their flag-staffs--which, when taken in a line, are a guide for vessels +in passing the bar. To the right of the low lighthouse is Clifford's +Fort, enclosed by the line of embrasures, and commanding the entrance to +the harbour. To the right are the banks, of clay, which extend from the +Spanish Battery to the Low Lights, and upon which the sea is every year +gradually making encroachments. The present Engraving, independent of +its beauty as a work of art, possesses the merit of containing the only +correct view of the entrance to Shields Harbour which has hitherto +appeared. + +That portion of the river Tyne which may be considered as Shields +Harbour is about a mile and a half in length, supposing it to commence +at the Low Lights, on the north side, and to terminate at the lower end +of Jarrow Slake, at the head of South Shields; its direction is from +east by north to west by south; and the towns of North and South Shields +are built on the banks and by the shore on each side of it. As the Low +Lights are about a mile within the bar, the swell of the sea is not felt +within the harbour. + +The river is of unequal width, being in some places not more than 400 +yards broad, while in others, when the sands are covered with the tide, +its width is upwards of 600. From the shoals and varying width of the +river, the velocity of the current differs with the breadth of the +harbour. Opposite to the New Quay at North Shields, the average velocity +in the middle of the tide-way is, at half flood, about three miles an +hour; and, at half ebb, about three miles and three quarters an hour. As +the easterly wind blows directly into the harbour, vessels formerly were +often hindered from getting out to sea, even in fine weather, when the +wind was in that quarter, more especially if they were of considerable +draught of water; for frequently before such a vessel could drop down +with the ebbing tide as far as the bar, there was not sufficient depth +of water on it to allow her to proceed to sea. The general introduction, +however, of steam-boats for the purpose of towing vessels, when the wind +is shy or contrary, has, in a great measure, remedied this +inconvenience, and vessels now proceed to sea at any time, in favourable +weather, when there is a sufficient depth of water on the bar. + +The town of South Shields is very irregularly built; and the principal +street for business extends from the market-place to the lower end of +the town. The market-place, in the centre of which stands the town hall, +is spacious, but the market is very indifferently supplied with every +thing except fish. Westoe, anciently Wivestoe, is a pleasant village +about a mile southward of South Shields, where several ship-owners and +persons of property reside. Jarrow, so famous in days of yore for its +monastery, is about a mile and a half to the westward of Westoe; and in +the vestry an old chair is still preserved, which is said to have been +the seat of the venerable Bede. + +The town of North Shields lies on the north side of the river Tyne, and +is in the county of Northumberland. The principal street for business, +and which may be considered as forming the greater part of the old town, +is the Low-street, running nearly parallel with, and at a short distance +from, the river, and extending from the New Quay to the Low Lights. The +greater part of the town, which is built on the bank top, extending in +regular streets towards the north, has been erected within the last +fifty years. + +At the New Quay there is a commodious wharf, with warehouses at each +end, where trading vessels load and unload, and where steam-boats leave +for Newcastle. A little above the New Quay is the landing for the steam +ferry-boat, which plies between North and South Shields, and leaves each +place four times an hour, from seven in the morning till dusk, carrying +passengers across the river at the charge of a penny each. This ferry, +which was only established in 1829, is a great accommodation to both the +towns. Previous to its establishment, the conveyance of sheep, cattle, +and horses across the Tyne, in an awkward flat-bottomed boat, managed by +a single man, was attended with great inconvenience. The barge steam +ferry-boats now employed are surrounded with a strong railing; and +sheep, cattle, and horses can be driven on board with little trouble, +and conveyed across the river without risk. + + + + +[Illustration: NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE.] + + + + +NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE. + + +The view of Newcastle is taken from the Gateshead shore, on the south +side of the river Tyne, about a quarter of a mile below the bridge. From +the point chosen by the artist, a better and more _characteristic_ view +of the town is obtained than from any other station. The line of +vessels, extending from the right of the engraving to the bridge, +indicates the quay--the longest in England, except that of Yarmouth--and +which, on a Saturday, when the country people come in to market, is one +of the most crowded thoroughfares in the kingdom. The steeple that rises +above the houses to the right is that of All Saints. Between All Saints +and the Castle--which is distinguished by its modern turrets and +battlements--is the famed steeple of St. Nicholas; this the Rev. Dr. +Carlyle, vicar of Newcastle, in 1804, declared to be, in his opinion, +"the most beautiful fabric existing in the world: surpassing the +Cathedral of St. Sophia, at Constantinople; the Mosque of Sultan +Saladin, at Jerusalem; the Church of St. Peter, at Rome; and even the +Temple of Minerva, at Athens." The modern building, with a Grecian +portico, in front of the Castle, is the County Court, where the assizes +for the county of Northumberland are held. The Exchange is hidden by the +sails of the large vessel, towards the middle of the engraving; and the +bridge excludes a view of the Mansion House, which stands in friendly +neighbourhood with a glass-house and a soapery, in a narrow street, with +a most expressive name--the "Close." + +The town of Newcastle, though its present name is not older than the +reign of William the Conqueror, claims to be a place of great antiquity. +The Roman Wall--which extended from Wallsend, about four miles eastward +of Newcastle, to Bowness on the Sands, in Cumberland--crossed the site +of the present town; and it is certain that there was a Roman station +here, the southern wall of which probably ran along the high ground +overlooking the river in front of the old castle. In the list of +stations, with their garrisons, on the line of the wall, as given in the +_Notitia_, _Pons Ælii_ occurs as the next station to _Segedunum_; and +our best informed antiquaries appear to agree in assigning the latter +name to the station at Wallsend, and the former to the station at +Newcastle. The name _Pons Ælii_, however, occurs in no other ancient +work as the name of a station on the line of the wall, and no +inscription has been discovered which might confirm the opinion of its +being the name of the station at Newcastle. Different writers also have +interpreted the list of stations in the _Notitia_ from different ends, +and at the present time the situation of several places remains +undecided. + +The Tyne is navigable as high up as Newcastle, about ten miles from its +mouth, for vessels of 250 tons burden, though in some places between +Newcastle and Shields, even in the middle of the stream, its depth does +not exceed four feet at low water. A little below Hebburn quay, about +half-way between Newcastle and Shields, it is not unusual to see three +or four small steam-boats, which do not draw more than three feet water, +lying aground in the very mid-channel at the last quarter ebb, and +waiting for the flood tide to set them afloat. A few years ago, the +corporation of Newcastle, as conservators of the river Tyne, employed a +steam-boat to _scratch_ away the sand in shallow places, by means of a +kind of harrow, which she towed after her. Since the accession of the +present corporation to office, a dredging machine has been employed, and +if they proceed in their plans for the improvement of the river as they +have begun, they will merit the thanks of every person interested in the +trade of the town. + +But, however praiseworthy may be their efforts for the deepening and +cleansing the bed of the Tyne, the present year (1853) has exhibited +melancholy testimony that the streets, lanes, and alleys of Newcastle +call aloud for the expenditure of the municipal funds--if the lives of +the inhabitants are not of less value than the commerce of the port. The +ill-drained and badly-ventilated dwellings of some of the more +densely-peopled portions of the town have suffered more from the attacks +of cholera than any other place in the kingdom. + +The chief exports from Newcastle, besides coals, are pig and sheet lead; +anchors, and chain cables, with other articles of wrought iron; bottles, +plate and crown glass; brown and white paper; common leather gloves, +manufactured at Hexham; leather; hams and butter; grindstones, obtained +on Gateshead Fell; fire-bricks; alkalies; soap; and Epsom salts. This +list comprises the principal articles which constitute the cargo of a +Newcastle trading vessel proceeding to London. + + + + +[Illustration: BLYTH.] + + + + +BLYTH. + + +The view of Blyth, or more properly of the entrance to the harbour, is +taken from the north side of the river, and looking towards the +south-east. The cottages seen in the foreground are in North Blyth, +which consists only of a few houses, chiefly occupied by fishermen and +pilots. On the opposite side of the river are seen the lighthouse of +stone, and the "basket light" to the left of it, in which lights are +exhibited at night when there is eight feet water on the bar. + +Blyth, which is a small seaport town on the coast of Northumberland, and +about thirteen miles north-east of Newcastle, derives its name from the +river Blyth, on the south side of which it is built. The principal trade +of Blyth is in coals, of which more than 120,000 tons are now annually +exported. The earliest notice of Blyth as a harbour occurs in _Bishop +Hatfield's Survey_ in 1346, from which it appears that the Bishop of +Durham claimed fourpence for every ship which anchored there, and that +the sum received for that year was 3_s._ 4_d._ At what time the +coal-trade was first established there is uncertain, but so early as +1610 a complaint appears to have been made to Parliament on account of a +late imposition of a shilling a chalder levied on coals shipped at Blyth +and Sunderland, "not by virtue of any contract or grant, as in the coals +of Newcastle, but under the mere pretext of his majesty's royal +prerogative." In 1624, Blyth is again mentioned in a proclamation, as a +place exporting sea-coals; and in 1643 an order of Parliament prohibits +ships from bringing coals or salt from Newcastle or Blyth, as those +places were then in the hands of the Royalists. + +Within the last forty years the trade of Blyth has much increased in +consequence of the opening of new collieries in the neighbourhood. A +commodious dry dock was formed in 1811; and there are several slips for +the building and repairing of ships. A considerable quantity of articles +of cast and malleable iron, manufactured at Bedlington, about three +miles up the river, are shipped at Blyth. + +Blyth is a member of the port of Newcastle; and a number of vessels +belonging to persons residing there are registered at the latter port. +Nearly the whole of Blyth is the property of Sir M. Ridley, Bart. At +spring tides there is about fourteen feet water on the bar, and about +twelve at neaps; but at low water the bar is nearly dry. + +It may be interesting to contemplate a few facts and figures in +connexion with that trade which forms the principal occupation of Blyth +and its neighbouring ports. From the evidence of an experienced +coal-engineer,[7] given a few years since before a Parliamentary +Committee, we learn, "that the number of persons employed under-ground +on the Tyne are--men, 4,937; boys, 3,554; together, 8,491: +above-ground--men, 2,745; boys, 718; making 3,463: making the total +employed in the mines above and below ground, 11,954, which in round +numbers I call 12,000, because I am pretty sure there were some +omissions in the returns. On the river Wear, I conceive there are 9,000 +employed; making 21,000 employed in digging the coal, and delivering it +to the ships on the two rivers. From the best calculations I have been +able to make, it would appear that, averaging the coasting-vessels that +carry coals at the size of 220 London chaldrons each vessel, there would +be 1,400 vessels employed, which would require 15,000 seamen and boys. I +have made a summary. There are, seamen, 15,000; pitmen and above-ground +people employed at the collieries, 21,000; keel-men, coal-boatmen, +casters, and trimmers, 2,000: making the total number employed in what I +call the Northern Coal Trade, 38,000. In London, whippers, lightermen, +and so forth, 5,000; factors, agents, &c., on the Coal Exchange, +2,500;-7,500 in all, in London. Making the grand total in the North +country and London departments of the trade, 45,500. This does not, of +course, include the persons employed at the outports in discharging the +ships there." + +[7] Mr. Buddle, of Wallsend, whose statistics of the coal-trade have +been quoted by McCulloch and other writers on the subject. + + + + +[Illustration: TYNEMOUTH CASTLE. + +_VESSEL WRECKED ON THE ROCKS._] + + + + +TYNEMOUTH. + +VESSEL ON THE ROCKS. + + +The engraving presents a view of a vessel on the rocks, at the foot of +the cliff, to the north-east of Tynemouth castle, as seen from the +Ox-fall, in coming from Cullercoat Sands. On the top of the cliff is the +lighthouse; in the foreground are various indications of a wreck; +towards the middle of the engraving is the vessel "high and dry" upon +the rocks; and in the distance, on the left hand, is seen Souter Point, +in the county of Durham, about four miles distant from Tynemouth. + +The village of Tynemouth, which gives name to an extensive and populous +parish, is situated near the mouth of the river Tyne, at the southern +extremity of the county of Northumberland. It is a short mile distant +from North Shields, about nine miles to the eastward of Newcastle, and +two hundred and seventy-six from London. It consists chiefly of one wide +street, which runs nearly east and west, with one or two smaller streets +to the northward, nearly in the same direction. + +The ruins of Tynemouth priory, which, with the adjacent lighthouse, form +one of the most conspicuous landmarks on the eastern coast of England, +lie to the eastward of the village. The priory is built on a small rocky +peninsula, which is bound, from south-west to north-east, by a steep and +lofty cliff; and the entrance to this enclosure, which is of about six +acres area, is through the gateway underneath the castle. The whole of +the enclosed space is fortified according to the rules of modern +defensive warfare, and a party of artillery are always stationed at the +castle. There is a public walk round the whole of the castle-yard; and +the view of the coast, looking either to the north or south, is +extremely interesting. From the top of the lighthouse, which stands at a +short distance to the north-east of the priory, the Cheviot Hills, on +the borders of Scotland, can be plainly seen; and, looking southward, +the view extends across the Durham coast as far as Huntcliffe Fort, in +Yorkshire; and, in very clear weather, Flamborough Head, which is about +seventy-two miles distant, may be perceived. + +Although the present castle of Tynemouth, the appearance of which has +been considerably altered within the last thirty years, may not be of +very great antiquity, yet it is certain that Robert de Mowbray, in +1095, when he entered into a conspiracy to dethrone William Rufus, had a +castle at Tynemouth, and that he converted the peninsular area on which +it was built into a place of great strength. After a siege of two +months, the castle was taken by the king, and the earl escaped to +Bamborough. Mowbray, subsequently, being pursued by the king's party, +when endeavouring to gain admission into the castle of Newcastle, took +sanctuary in Tynemouth church, from which, however, he was dragged by +his enemies, and made prisoner. + +In 1090, Malcolm III., King of Scotland, and his son Edward, having been +slain when besieging Alnwick, were interred at Tynemouth. In 1298, +Edward I. visited Tynemouth, and offered a clasp of gold at the shrine +of St. Oswald; and, in 1303, his queen resided there while he proceeded +into Scotland. In 1381, some monks of St. Albans, who had been engaged +in Wat Tyler's insurrection, fled to Tynemouth for refuge on the death +of their leader. On the suppression of Tynemouth priory, by Henry VIII., +in 1539, the monks were possessed of twenty-seven manors in the county +of Northumberland, with various advowsons, impropriations, and other +property, both in that county and in Durham. Their annual revenue was +valued by Speed at £511 4s. 1½d.; and by Dugdale at £397 10s. 5½d. + +The church of Tynemouth priory continued to be used for divine service +till about 1659, when, in consequence of its dilapidated state, the +foundation of a new church was laid, near to North Shields, on the +Newcastle-road. In the reign of Charles II., the lead was stripped off +the roof of the old church, by Colonel Edward Villiers, then governor of +Tynemouth castle, who also pulled down part of the priory, in order to +obtain stones for the erection of a lighthouse and other buildings. + +By a grant from Charles II., dated 30th June, 1677, Colonel Villiers, in +consideration of building the lighthouse and providing a light, was +authorised to demand one shilling from each British, and sixpence from +each foreign, vessel entering the Tyne. Since the time of Colonel +Villiers, the lighthouse has undergone considerable alterations, and it +has also been greatly elevated. Its correct geographical situation +is--north latitude, 55° 0' 55"; west longitude, 1° 24' 31". The light, +which is a revolving one, is displayed from sunset to sunrise, and may +be seen, in clear weather, at the distance of five or six leagues. The +light appears in its greatest lustre, like a star of the first +magnitude, once a minute; its brilliancy then begins to decline, and at +length it becomes totally obscured. + + + + +[Illustration: CULLERCOATS.] + + + + +CULLERCOATS. + + +In the Engraving is given a view of Cullercoats, as seen from the +southward. On the sand, in the foreground, is a coble, a light kind of +boat, generally employed by the fishermen on the coast of +Northumberland; near the coble, to the right, is a _dand_ or buoy, used +by the fishermen to mark the place where they have cast their lines or +nets. It is formed of an inflated bag of tanned skin, through which a +light pole passes, and to which pole the ends forming the openings of +the bag are tightly tied with cord. The lower end of the pole is +sometimes rendered heavy by lead, so that the _dand_ may float upright, +and it has also a loop, or a ring, to which the rope connecting it with +the nets or lines is fastened; and a piece of _bunting_, or coloured +cloth, is attached, as a small flag, to the upper end, in order that it +may be more perceptible at a distance. + +The village of Cullercoats, which lies about a mile to the northward of +Tynemouth, is mostly inhabited by fishermen. The duties performed by the +wives and daughters of the Cullercoats fishermen are very laborious. +They search for the bait--sometimes digging sand-worms in the muddy sand +at the mouth of the Coble-dean, at the head of North Shields; gathering +muscles on the Scalp, near Clifford's Fort; or seeking limpets and +dog-crabs among the rocks near Tynemouth;--and they also assist in +baiting the hooks. They carry the fish which are caught in North Shields +in large wicker baskets, called _creels_, and they also sit in the +market there to sell them. When fish are scarce, they not unfrequently +carry a load on their shoulders, weighing between three or four stone, +to Newcastle, which is about ten miles distant from Cullercoats, in the +hope of meeting with a better market. The fish principally caught by the +fishermen of Cullercoats are codlings, cod, ling, (_Gadus molva_), +halibut, usually called turbot in Northumberland, haddocks, and +whitings. Herrings are also taken in the season; and the colesay (_Gadus +carbonarius_), is occasionally caught, but it is a fish which is hardly +worth the bait, as it is scarcely saleable at any price. The most +valuable sea-fish caught by the fishermen of Cullercoats, is the _bret_, +or turbot of the London market. But this fish, when caught by them, is +mostly sold to the bret smacks, by which it is conveyed to London. +Gentlemen residing at Cullercoats or Tynemouth during the bathing +season, may often obtain excellent sport in fishing for whitings, in +fine weather, off the north-eastern end of the Herd Sand. The best time +is in the evening, towards high-water; and the best bait is sprats cut +into small pieces; it is no extraordinary feat for a party of three, +with half a dozen lines, to take twelve or fifteen dozen of whitings in +three hours, on a summer's evening. + +For the amateur sea-fisher, in the neighbourhood of Tynemouth, there is +no bait generally so good when fishing within six or eight miles of the +shore, as the small dog-crab, called in the neighbourhood of Shields a +_pillan_. It is known from the common dog-crab by the facility with +which its shell may be stripped off; for instance, in breaking the shell +round one of its claws, the broken portion may be withdrawn from the +member as a glove from the hand; and the shell of the back may also be +stripped off in the same manner. From this facility of _peeling_, it is +probable that the crab derives its local name of _pillan_. Pillan, +however, are not plentiful; and when such are not to be got, then +sand-worms, muscles, and common dog-crabs are the most likely bait. +Codlings and rock-codlings are plentiful a little to the eastward of +Tynemouth; but, haddocks and cod, the staple of the Cullercoats +fishermen, are not often caught in any great quantity within seven miles +of the shore. The young of the colesay, called a _hallan_, a beautiful +little fish, is frequently caught with a rod, from the rocks in the +neighbourhood of Tynemouth. The weaver, (_Trachinus draco_,) or +stinging-fish as it is called at Shields, is often caught when fishing +off Tynemouth Bar; and strangers, who are unacquainted with the +formidable character of this little fish, are sometimes pricked by it +when taking it off the hook. The men who are employed in the salmon +fishery, at the end of the Herd Sand, have sometimes their bare feet +stung by it when hauling their nets. The average length of this fish, as +caught at the mouth of the Tyne, is about five inches; though some are +occasionally caught there three or four inches longer. The dangerous +spines are those of the first dorsal fin; and the best remedy for the +wound is to rub it well with sweet oil. + +Cullercoats is a kind of land-mark for vessels leaving Shields Harbour; +for as soon as the man at the helm can see the village opening behind +Tynemouth Cliff, the ship is over the bar. + + + + +[Illustration: DUNSTANBOROUGH CASTLE. + +_FROM THE EASTWARD._] + + + + +DUNSTANBROUGH CASTLE, + +FROM THE EASTWARD. + + +Dunstanbrough Castle, in the county of Northumberland, is situated about +seven miles north-east of Alnwick, and about two miles north by east of +Howick, the seat of Earl Grey. Of the keep there are no vestiges +remaining; and it is even questionable if it was ever completed. Thomas, +Earl of Lancaster, who is generally considered to have been the founder +of the present castle, only obtained the king's licence to crenelate, or +fortify, his house at Dunstanbrough in 1316: and as he was beheaded at +Pontefract in 1321, and in the intermediate years had been much engaged, +in the south, in rebellion against Edward II., it is not unlikely that +the keep might be unfinished at his decease, and never afterwards +finished. Of Dunstanbrough Castle history records little that is +interesting. In 1464 it was held, after the battle of Hexham, for Henry +VI., by Sir Peter de Bressy, and a party of Frenchmen; but was taken, +after a vigorous defence, by Ralph Lord Ogle, Edmund and Richard de +Craster, John Manners, and Gilbert de Errington, all Northumbrians, and +partisans of Edward IV. From this period the castle, which was +dismantled by the victors, is never mentioned in the history of the +county as the scene of any memorable event. It was in the possession of +the crown in the 10th of Elizabeth, but was granted by James I. to Sir +William Grey, afterwards Lord Grey of Wark. It is now the property of +the Earl of Tankerville, whose ancestor, Charles Lord Ossulston, became +possessed of it in 1701, through his marriage with the daughter and +heiress of Lord Grey, Earl of Tankerville, son of Lord Grey of Wark. + +In the present engraving a view is presented of the principal remaining +tower of Dunstanbrough Castle, as seen from the sea at the distance of +about a mile; and whoever has seen it at that distance in a blustering +day, towards the latter end of October, will immediately acknowledge the +fidelity of the artist's delineation. Though the Abbess of Whitby and +her nuns, in their fabled voyage to Holy Island, passed the place in +summer, and in fine weather, yet they seem to have been near enough to +be sensible of the danger of too close an approach to its "wave-worn +steep;" for Sir Walter Scott, in _Marmion_, Canto II., relates that,-- + + "They crossed themselves, to hear + The whitening breakers sound so near, + Where, boiling through the rocks, they roar + On Dunstanborough's caverned shore." + +The contemplation of Dunstanbrough Castle, like that of many similar +edifices, the ruins of which still frown upon the promontories and +headlands of our coast, cannot but awaken feelings little favourable to +what are frequently called the "good old times." If we may compare what +our ancestors have left with what the present generation is exerting +itself to accomplish, antiquity has little to boast of. Our forefathers +crowned the cliffs of the land with strongholds, bristling with lofty +towers and warlike battlements, nominally for their own defence from the +incursions of foreign foes, but too often diverted into engines of +tyranny and oppression to their fellow-citizens. The shipwrecked mariner +of those days had often more to dread than to hope for in the approach +to such beacons as Dunstanbrough; and if unhappily thrown upon the mercy +of its owners, they were only too ready to seize upon what the waves had +spared, and deem that in permitting him to depart unharmed, they had +done all that could be expected from them. In our days, we no longer +erect castles on our coasts; we rather stud them with lighthouses, and +thus mark out the track of safety, not only for the ships of our own +nation, but confer equal benefits upon those of every other maritime +power. We no longer pour down upon the distressed seamen with armed +bands, whose only aim is plunder; but we rush to the beach, and with +life-boats constructed in the best manner, and manned by the bravest and +most skilful of our countrymen, we hasten to succour and to save those +whom the elements are threatening to destroy. Of a truth, the ruins of +these fortresses of old might instil a spirit of thankfulness in the +minds of many of those who profess to admire the days which are gone, +and render them grateful that their lot has been cast in happier +times. + + + + +[Illustration: DUNSTANBOROUGH CASTLE.] + + + + +DUNSTANBROUGH CASTLE. + +MOONLIGHT. + + +In the vignette engraving of Dunstanbrough by moonlight, the incident of +a wreck coming ashore among the rocks at the foot of the castle is +introduced with striking effect. The masts of the vessel are seen +dashing against the rocks. To the left are fishermen assisting such of +the crew as have escaped to ascend the cliff; while to the right are +seen people with torches from the adjacent country hastening towards the +scene of destruction. The moon appears as if "wading"[8] through the +clouds, and the old tower--itself the wreck of time--appropriately +occupies the centre of the view. + +"On the brink of the cliff, to the sea," says a writer, describing +Dunstanbrough Castle, "appear the remains of a very strong wall; indeed +it is probable the whole area was originally so enclosed. The heavy seas +which break upon the rocks of the north-west point have torn them much, +and it appears as if the area had been originally of greater extent than +at present, many separate columns of rock standing near the cliffs, +which, some ages ago, may have been joined to the mainland.... +Immediately below this tower" [that which is seen in the engraving] "is +a gully or passage, of perpendicular sides, formed in the rocks, about +sixty yards in length, and forty feet deep, where the sea makes a +dreadful inset, breaking into foam with a tremendous noise: the spray +occasioned thereby is driven within the Castle walls. This place is +called by the country people the _Rumble Churn_[9]." It is to this chasm +that Sir Walter Scott alludes when he speaks of "Dunstanbrough's +caverned shore," in the popular poem of _Marmion_. + +In the neighbourhood of Dunstanbrough there is a legendary tale yet +current, though no longer at its ancient value, of a knight who, many +centuries ago, discovered a place of enchantment in the vaults of the +castle, but who, failing to break the spell, through inattention to +certain mysterious instructions given to him, was doomed to seek for +ever amid the ruins for the entrance to the enchanted apartment. Mr. G. +Lewis, in the _Tales of Wonder_, has versified this story under the +title of "Sir Guy, the Seeker," adding to it certain embellishments of +his own, and among other matters, introducing a description of the +Rumble Churn. + +The principal parts of Dunstanbrough Castle at present standing are the +outer walls to the south and west, with the tower overlooking the sea, +and a gateway towards the south, defended by two circular towers. The +area inclosed by the walls and the cliff is about nine acres. It is +under cultivation; and in the additions to _Camden_, it is said to have +produced in one year two hundred and forty bushels of corn, besides +several loads of hay. + +Howick House, the seat of Earl Grey, is situated in the vicinity of +Dunstanbrough. It is a noble mansion, built in 1787 from designs by +Paine; and is surrounded by a beautiful park, watered by two streams +which unite in the grounds. Near the eastern side of the park are the +remains of a Roman encampment, where numerous coins and antiquities have +been found. The family of Grey is ancient in Northumberland; and first +obtained the peerage in the reign of Edward IV. It is observable that +the Greys of this district bear the same heraldic distinction as the +Grey family in Scotland, and are both probably descended from the same +stock,--one of the martial followers of the Norman conqueror. + +Alnwick Castle, about seven miles from Dunstanbrough, is the residence +of the Duke of Northumberland: it is an immense pile covering nearly +five acres of ground; and built upon an elevated spot on the southern +side of the river Aln. + +[8] The moon is said to "wade" when she seems as if toilfully making her +way through a succession of clouds, which flit rapidly past her. + +[9] _History of Northumberland_, vol. i. _p._ 594. Edit. 1810. + + + + +[Illustration: BAMBOROUGH. + +_FROM THE SOUTH-EAST._] + + + + +BAMBROUGH CASTLE. + +FROM THE SOUTH-EAST. + + +Sir Walter Scott, in his description of the voyage of the abbess of +Whitby and her nuns to Holy Island, in the second canto of Marmion, thus +speaks of them as noticing Bambrough Castle: + + "Thy tower, proud Bambrough, marked they there, + King Ida's castle, huge and square, + From its tall rock look grimly down, + And on the swelling ocean frown." + +The view which Balmer, with his usual effect, has given of Bambrough +Castle from the south-east, is that which the reverend mother and her +five fair nuns might be supposed to contemplate on entering the channel +between the Great Farn Island and the mainland, and when about half a +mile from the shore. The stranded vessel, however, must not be supposed +to be of the age of Henry VIII., when the abbess made her voyage; for she +is evidently a light collier of the present day, whose captain, +probably, in running for Skate Roads in a strong south-east gale, had +stood too close in shore in passing through the Fareway, and laid her +snugly up on Bambrough Sands. The Holy Island fishing-boats that are +seen--for no fishermen dwell at the village of Bambrough--would seem to +indicate that their owners expect a job in assisting to get her off. + +These hardy and industrious men follow an occupation in which the +hazards and dangers are but poorly recompensed by their gains; and the +sums they occasionally obtain from the owners of colliers and other +coasting vessels, form rich prizes in the humble lottery of their life. +Having in our remarks on "Bambrough, from the north-west," described the +principal features of this sea-girt fortress, we cannot better employ +the present page than in a notice of the fishery which is carried on in +its vicinity. The boats principally used for this purpose are called +cobles, and their fishing ground is from eight to sixteen miles from the +shore. In winter, however, they do not venture so far out as in summer, +but usually shoot their lines between six and ten miles from the shore. +There are usually three men to a coble. When the wind is not favourable +and they cannot set their sail, they use their oars; the two men seated +nearest the head of the boat row each a single large oar, while the man +on the thwart nearest the stern rows a pair of smaller size. The fish +are not caught, as on some parts of the south-western coast of England, +by hand-lines, which are suspended over the side of the boat, and pulled +up when the fisherman feels that he has a bite. The mode of proceeding +is to make fast a number of lines together, and shoot them across the +tide; and after they have lain extended at the bottom of the sea for +several hours--usually during the time of a tide's ebbing or flowing, +that is about six hours--they are hauled in. While the lines are shot, +one man keeps a look-out, and the other two usually wrap themselves in +the sail, and go to sleep in the bottom of the coble. Each man has three +lines, and each line is from 200 to 240 fathoms long. The hooks, of +which there are from 240 to 300 to each line, are tied, or _whipped_, as +the fishermen term it, to lengths of twisted horse-hair called _snoods_; +each snood is about two feet and a half long, and they are fastened to +the line at about five feet apart. Each man's lines, when baited, are +regularly coiled upon an oval piece of wicker work, something like the +bottom of a clothes-basket, called by the Yorkshire fishermen a _skep_, +at Hartlepool, in the county of Durham, the same thing is called a +_rip_. In this mode of fishing the hooks are all baited, generally by +the fishermen's wives and children, before the coble proceeds to sea. +The lines when shot are all fastened together; and when each is 240 +fathoms long, the length of the whole is nearly two miles and a half. +There is an anchor and a buoy at the first end of the line, and the same +at the end of each man's set of lines. There are thus four anchors and +four buoys to each coble's entire line. The buoys at the extremities of +the line are usually formed of tanned dog-skin, inflated in the manner +of a bladder, and having a slight pole, like the handle of a mop, +passing through them, to the top of which a small flag is attached to +render them more conspicuous. The intermediate buoys are generally made +of cork. The anchors for sinking and holding the lines are mostly large +stones; as an iron anchor, with arms like a ship's, is liable to get +fast among the rocks at the bottom of the sea, and be lost in +consequence of the buoy rope being too weak to force it loose. + + + + +[Illustration: BAMBOROUGH. + +_FROM THE NORTH WEST._] + + + + +BAMBROUGH CASTLE. + + +Bambrough, which is now a small village, was a place of considerable +importance during the Saxon period. King Ida, who ascended the throne of +Bernicia in 559, first built a castle there, which he is said to have +named Bebban-burgh in honour of his queen Bebba. It has been conjectured +by Wallis in his History of Northumberland, that the Keep or great +tower, is of Roman origin; but Grose, with greater probability, +considers it to have been built by the Normans. In 1095 Robert Mowbray, +Earl of Northumberland, having rebelled against William Rufus, retired +to Bambrough Castle, whither he was followed by Henry, the King's +brother, and closely besieged. After the siege had continued some time, +Mowbray left the castle in the charge of his kinsman Morel, who +continued to defend it with great bravery. The Earl being afterwards +seized at Tynemouth, where he had taken sanctuary, Henry caused him to +be brought to Bambrough, and there showing him before the walls of the +castle, he threatened to put out his eyes if it were not immediately +delivered up--a proceeding which caused Morel to surrender the place +forthwith. + +From the reign of William Rufus till about the middle of the fifteenth +century, Bambrough Castle, as if it were a place too important to be in +the hands of a subject, appears to have continued in the possession of +the crown, by whom a governor was appointed. In the frequent contests +between the houses of York and Lancaster, it sustained great damage; and +as it was not repaired either by Henry VII. or his successor, it ceased +about the beginning of the sixteenth century to be a fortress of +importance. In 1575 Sir John Foster, warden of the Middle Marches was +governor of Bambrough Castle; and one of his descendants received a +grant of the old building from James I. It continued in the possession +of this family till the commencement of the reign of George I., when it +was forfeited through the treason of Thomas Foster, Esq., M.P. for +Northumberland, better known as General Foster, who in 1715 took up arms +in favour of the Pretender. + +The Manor and Castle of Bambrough were afterwards purchased of the +crown, by Nathaniel, Lord Crewe, Bishop of Durham, who was married to +Foster's aunt. Lord Crewe, at his decease in 1720, left the above +property, with other valuable estates, to trustees to be applied to +charitable uses. In compliance with the intentions of the testator, a +noble charity is established at Bambrough for the succour of shipwrecked +seamen, the education of children, and the relief of indigent persons. +In 1757 part of the Keep being ready to fall down, the Rev. Thomas +Sharp, Archdeacon of Northumberland, and one of Lord Crewe's trustees, +caused it to be repaired, "merely because it had been a sea-mark for +ages, and as such beneficial to the public." The Rev. Thomas Sharp being +succeeded in the trusteeship, as well as in the archdeaconry, by his +son, the Rev. John Sharp, D.D., the latter, who was also perpetual +curate of Bambrough, continued to make further repairs; and he also +caused an immense quantity of sand, which he had accumulated in the +castle-yard, to be cleared away. To this gentleman, who was a brother of +the amiable Granville Sharp, the present arrangements of the charity are +chiefly owing. At the castle, blocks and tackles, anchors, cables, +warps, and other articles are kept for the use of stranded vessels. In +stormy weather, two men patrol the coast for eight miles, day and night, +in order to look out for vessels in distress, and during a fog a bell is +rung at intervals from the castle, and a gun fired every quarter of an +hour, as a warning to such ships as may be near the coast. Flour and +groceries are sold to poor families at a reduced rate, and twenty poor +girls are boarded and educated within the castle. + + + + +[Illustration: HOLY ISLAND CASTLE. + +St. Cuthberts.] + + + + +CASTLE OF HOLY ISLAND, AND LINDISFARN ABBEY + + +In the present engraving the view is taken from the eastward on entering +the harbour. To the right is the castle; beyond which, towards the +centre of the view, are seen the ruins of the abbey. The setting sun +sheds a warm, yet mellow light, over land and sea; and as evening is +approaching, and the breeze freshening with the flood tide--for it is +evident from the inward swell that the tide is flowing--the fishermen +are seen making for the shore. The boats bound merrily before the wind, +and + + "----the waves, that murmur in their glee, + All hurrying in a joyful band, + Come dancing from the sea." + +The painter when he made his sketch must have thoroughly felt the beauty +of the scene, and been touched with the influence of the hour:-- + + "O Hesperus, thou bringest all good things!" + +and inspirest poets to sing, and artists to paint the charms of eve's +sweet hour in words and colours that never die--for once felt and +communicated, they become impressed on the heart and soul of man, and +live and bloom there for ever. + +Holy Island, which is about two miles and a half long, and about two +miles broad, lies off the Northumberland coast. On the south it is +separated from the mainland by a deep channel about a mile broad. To the +north-west it is connected with the mainland by a sand, which is dry at +low water, and by which carts and passengers can pass to and from the +island. Speed says that the Britons named it "Inis Medicante, for that, +in manner of an island, it twice every day suffreth an extraordinarie +inundation and overflowing of the ocean, which, returning unto her +watery habitation, twice likewise makes it continent to the land, and +laies the shoare bare againe, as before." It was called Lindisfarn by +the Saxons; and in after times, from the celebrity of its monastery, and +the holy men who had lived there, it acquired the name of Holy Island. + +About 635, a church, of wood and thatched with reeds, was first built in +Lindisfarn, by Aidan, a Scottish monk from the Isle of Iona, who +exercised the office of bishop in Northumberland. It was afterwards +built of stone, and gave title to a bishop, until the see was removed to +Durham in 995. The monastery continued as a cell, dependent on Durham, +till it was suppressed by Henry VIII. A considerable part of the old +church, with circular arches in what is termed the Saxon style, is yet +standing, and forms, with the adjacent ruins, a most picturesque object. +The village, or as it is usually called "the town," lies at a short +distance to the northward of the ruins of the monastery, and is chiefly +inhabited by fishermen, about two-thirds of whom are also licensed by +the Trinity-house at Newcastle to act as pilots for their own harbour +and the adjacent coast. + +The fishery for cod, ling, and haddock is usually carried on in cobles. +These boats are very generally employed in the coast fishery from the +Tweed to the Humber. They are sharp and wedge-shaped at the bow, but +flat-bottomed towards the stern. They have only one mast, stepped close +forward, on which a lug sail is set. They are excellent sea boats, and, +for their size, carry a large sail. The usual length of a Holy Island +coble is from twenty-five to twenty-seven feet, of which there are about +sixty belonging to the island. A great quantity of the fish thus caught +is sent to London in smacks, employed by fishmongers or salesmen there, +who annually contract with the fishermen to pay them so much per score +for all the fish sent during the season. From December to April many +lobsters are caught off Holy Island, nearly the whole of which are sent +to London. + +For the herring-fishery, boats of a larger size are employed. They are +from thirty to thirty-six feet long, about eleven feet broad, and from +four and a half to five feet deep. They carry two lug sails, and have no +deck. The herring-fishery commences off Holy Island about the 20th of +July, and usually terminates early in September. Many herrings are +caught in the Fare-way, between the Farn islands and the main-land; but +the principal fishery for them is generally a little to the southward of +the Staples, a cluster of small islands which lie from two to three +miles to the eastward of the Farns. Most of the herrings caught by the +Holy Island fishermen are taken to Berwick to be cured, and are thence +chiefly exported to London, Hull, and Newcastle. + +On the beach to the westward of the island, the fossils called St. +Cuthbert's beads--the _entrochi_ of naturalists--are found. They are +also to be observed in the cliff to the north-east. A rock which lies at +a short distance from the south-west point of the island is called St. +Cuthbert's rock, where in former times superstition feigned that the +saint was wont to sit and + + "----frame + The sea-born beads that bear his name." + +This article of popular credulity has, however, been long exploded, and +the fisherman when he hears the stones rattle on the beach from the +force of the waves, no longer imagines that the sound proceeds from the +saint's hammer. + + + + +[Illustration: CASTLE ON HOLY ISLAND. + +_FROM THE WEST._] + + + + +CASTLE OF HOLY ISLAND. + + +FROM THE WESTWARD. + + +The Castle of Holy Island stands on a steep rock, about half a mile to +the eastward of the Abbey. It is wholly inaccessible, except by a +winding pass cut through the rock on the south side. The date of its +foundation is unknown; but it is supposed to have been first built by +the monks, as a place of refuge against the piratical attacks of the +Danes, who frequently annoyed them, and twice burnt their abbey. The +most memorable event in the meagre history of this castle is its capture +for the Pretender, by two men, Launcelot Errington, and his nephew Mark, +in 1715. The garrison at that time consisted of a sergeant, a corporal, +and ten or twelve men. Errington, who was master of a little vessel then +lying in the harbour, invited the sergeant, and such of his men as were +not on duty, to drink with him on board of his ship. The invitation +being accepted, he plied them so well with brandy as to render them +incapable of opposition. Framing an excuse for going ashore, he +proceeded to the castle with his nephew, and succeeded in turning out +the old gunner, the corporal, and two soldiers, being all that were on +duty. He then shut the gates, and hoisted the Pretender's colours, but +being disappointed in the succour which he expected, and a party of the +king's troops arriving from Berwick, he and his nephew made their escape +over the castle walls, and endeavoured to conceal themselves among the +rocks and sea-weed, to the south-eastward of the castle till it was +dark, when they intended to swim to the mainland. In consequence of the +rising of the tide, they were obliged to swim while it was yet light, +and, being perceived by the soldiers, they were taken, and conveyed to +Berwick gaol, from which, however, they broke out before they were +brought to trial, and escaped to France. On the suppression of the +rebellion they took the benefit of the general pardon, and returned to +England. + +Holy Island is of an irregular form. Its greatest length, including a +low sandy point, which stretches out towards the west-north-west, is +about two and a half miles. Its mean breadth does not exceed a mile and a +half. + +Holy Island harbour is a small bay or haven on the south side of the +island, between the castle and the ruins of the monastery. On the bar, +which is about a mile distant from the town, there is about nine feet at +low water at spring-tides. The flood then sets with a strong current in +the channel between the island and the mainland; and at high-water there +is twenty-four feet on the bar. There is no lighthouse on Holy Island, +but there is a beacon on the "Heugh"--a hill between the town and the +harbour--on which, in bad weather, when pilots cannot get off, a flag is +hoisted during the time of tide that ships may safely enter. In gales of +wind from the eastward, coasting vessels sometimes seek shelter in Holy +Island harbour, and find good anchorage before the town in three fathoms +at low-water. + +The Staples and Farn islands, with the rocks and shoals between them and +Holy Island, render the in-shore navigation of the coast of +Northumberland, from North Sunderland point to the mouth of the Tweed, +extremely intricate and hazardous; and the corporation of the Trinity +House, London, caution all masters of ships, and especially strangers to +the coast, not to attempt sailing within those islands and shoals; more +particularly on account of the various settings of the rapid tide which +runs in the different sounds between the islands. + +A visit to the Farn and Staple islands, from Bambrough or Holy Island, +forms a pleasant excursion in fine weather, more especially when the +eider ducks are sitting, which is from about the middle of May to the +latter end of July. These birds, which are seldom seen, and do not breed +to the southward of the Farn islands, are also known in the +neighbourhood by the name of St. Cuthbert's ducks. Their eggs, and the +fine down with which they line their nests, are collected and sold by +the person who rents the islands, which are also the haunt of several +other species of water-fowl, such as the sheldrake, the cormorant, and +the shag, with auks, guillemots, terns, and gulls. Solan geese also +visit the Farn islands, but do not breed there, commonly making their +appearance early in spring, and departing before May. + + + + +[Illustration: BERWICK. + +_FROM THE SOUTH-EAST_] + + + + +BERWICK. + +FROM THE SOUTH-EAST. + + +The view of Berwick from the south-east is taken from the Tweedmouth +shore, at low-water, about a quarter of a mile below the bridge. In the +foreground is a group of salmon-fishers on the shore examining the +produce of their last haul, while two others in a coble are shooting the +net. To the left are seen the chapel and some of the houses of +Tweedmouth; to the right a few ships are perceived lying on the shore +near Berwick quay, where the smacks usually take in, and discharge, +their cargoes. The spire which towers above the houses, like the steeple +of a church, is that of the town-hall. As Berwick church, which stands +towards the north side of the town, is without a steeple, it would seem +that the inhabitants had determined to make amends for the deficiency by +giving their town-hall a steeple like a church. + +The town of Berwick stands on the north side of the Tweed, by which it +is separated from the county of Northumberland, and about half a mile +from the mouth of that river. It is 336 miles north by west from London, +and 54 south by east from Edinburgh. As a great part of the town is +built on a declivity, which slopes down towards the river, and as most +of the houses are covered with red tiles, the view that is first +obtained of it, in approaching from the south, on a clear bright day, is +very striking, though not very grand. It is almost the only town on the +Scottish side of the Tweed in which the houses are so covered; in all +the others the houses being, for the most part, roofed with slate. + +Chalmers, in his _Caledonia_, vol. ii, p. 217, speaking of Berwick, +says, "this place, lying at the mouth of the Tweed, on a dubious +frontier, has an origin obscure, undignified, and recent." That its +origin, like the origin of most other towns in Great Britain, is +obscure, may be admitted; but the term "recent" can scarcely be applied +with propriety to a town which was of such consequence in the reign of +David I. as to be appointed one of the "_Four Boroughs_,"[10] which, by +their Commissioners, met annually at Haddington, where, under the +presidency of the King's Chamberlain, they formed a Court of Appeal from +the jurisdiction of other boroughs, and exercised an authority in +commercial affairs. As nothing is positively known respecting the origin +of Berwick, it is impossible that an uninspired antiquary should be able +to decide whether it was "undignified" or not. Its first "kirk and +mill"--the primary conditions of a town--were more likely to be founded +by a noble than by a serf. + +In 1174, Berwick, with the castles of Jedburgh, Roxburgh, Stirling, and +Edinburgh, was delivered up to Henry II. as security for payment of the +ransom of William the Lion, King of Scotland, who had been taken +prisoner when besieging Alnwick; and it remained in the possession of +England until 1189, when Richard I. restored it with the other castles +to William for the sum of 10,000 marks. In 1216, Berwick was plundered +and burnt by King John, but in a short time was rebuilt by the Scots, in +whose uninterrupted possession it continued until 1296, when it was +taken by Edward I. at the commencement of the Scottish war of +independence, which was first waged by Wallace, and afterwards by Bruce, +against Edward and his successor; who, laying claim to the sovereignty +of Scotland, endeavoured to reduce that country to a state of vassalage, +and to compel her kings to do homage to England for their crown. From +this war may be dated that jealous and hostile feeling with which the +two countries continued to regard each other for nearly three centuries +afterwards, and was only modified in the reign of Elizabeth--when there +was a prospect of a Scottish king succeeding to the English throne, and +when open warfare was succeeded by political intrigue--but which was not +wholly extinct at the Union of the two kingdoms in 1707. + +In 1484, it was agreed on, by commissioners appointed by the two +kingdoms, that the debatable ground in the neighbourhood of Berwick +should remain without culture, buildings, or inhabitants; and by a +treaty, concluded at Norham, 10th June, 1551, between Edward VI. and +Mary Queen of Scots, Berwick was declared to be a free town, independent +of both kingdoms. Notwithstanding this declaration, Berwick continued +subject to English authority, and, during the reigns of Mary and +Elizabeth, was garrisoned with English soldiers. At the Union of the two +kingdoms in 1707, Berwick, as a salvo to national pride, was considered +as a separate and independent territory; and it is to this cause that, +in Public Acts and Forms of Prayer, the "Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed" is +especially mentioned. + +[10] The other three were Roxburgh, Stirling, and Edinburgh. + + + + +[Illustration: LEITH PIER AND HARBOUR.] + + + + +LEITH. + + + This view is taken from the pier, with Edinburgh, the Castle, + the Calton-hill, Salisbury-crags, and Arthur's-seat in the + background. + +Leith, which performs nearly the same important services to the "Modern +Athens" as the "Piræus" did to the Ancient, has long served as the port +and harbour of Edinburgh, to the prosperity of which, as well as to that +of the whole country, it has greatly contributed. As early as the +beginning of the fourteenth century the citizens of Edinburgh received +from King Robert I. a grant of the harbour of Leith; but, owing to the +resistance of a powerful family, to whose interests it was prejudicial, +the royal grant was of little or no value to the city. As soon, however, +as the difference was adjusted, and the corporation of Edinburgh had +obtained undisturbed possession of the harbour, symptoms of mercantile +prosperity became visible. But as this prosperity was confined to the +corporation, the inhabitants of Leith were naturally incensed at the +monopoly; they felt themselves debarred from the natural advantages, +profits, and employments of their maritime position, and daily beheld +the wealth which flowed into their port transferred to the hands of +those who were neither resident nor proprietors in the place. In 1555 a +strong effort was made by the inhabitants of Leith to throw off their +humiliating dependence. With this object in view they petitioned the +Queen Regent of Scotland, Mary of Lorraine, for the royal sanction and +assistance; and succeeded as far as to get Leith erected into a burgh of +barony, a preparatory step to its being raised to the independence of a +burgh royal. From this epoch, however, having obtained letters patent, +empowering the inhabitants to elect magistrates, and charters for +erecting divers of their trades and arts into corporations, Leith +acquired the name and distinction of a town. By these charters the +people were divided into four classes, each of which became an +incorporated body, known as the shipmasters, the traffickers or +merchants, the maltmen, and the trades' companions; the last of which +possesses exclusive privileges. + +The port and harbour of Leith have always been an object of paramount +interest to the country at large, and, from time to time, various plans +for their improvement and extension have been carried into effect. There +are now two dry-docks for building and repairing vessels--a branch of +the craft which is here brought into extensive operation--and two +wet-docks, each three hundred feet wide by upwards of seven hundred feet +long, and occupying, with their appurtenances, a space of about three +hundred acres. On these important works upwards of two hundred and fifty +thousand pounds have been expended. The basins are enclosed by +well-constructed quays and capacious warehouses for the reception of +merchandise. The Custom-house, the Exchange, the Trinity-house, the +Bank, the Court-house, the Baths, the Grammar-school, &c., are all +elegant buildings, designed with classic taste, and of modern erection. + +Leith enjoys an extensive commerce with the Baltic, the northern parts +of Europe, Holland, France, Spain, Portugal, the Mediterranean, North +America, and the West Indies; besides a widely ramified coasting-trade, +and a share in the whale and herring-fisheries. The Leith smacks have +been famous for their safety and swift-sailing properties; and the +powerful steam-ships, which now maintain an almost daily intercourse +with London, are proverbial for their speed and accommodation. + +The growing prosperity of Leith is fully evinced by the number of +trading vessels in its port, the mercantile business carried on in every +street, the crowded warehouses and ships, its rope-works, canvas +manufactories, sugar-refining-houses, breweries, distilleries, +soap-works, iron-foundries, glass-works, and other establishments of +local industry. But the tide of prosperity, it is said, is prevented +from reaching its height by the corporation of Edinburgh, who, by +increasing the rate and number of the port-dues of Leith, have caused +various branches of commerce to seek encouragement in Kirkcaldy, Dundee, +Aberdeen, and other places. + +The depth of water in the harbour of Leith is stated at only sixteen +feet at spring-tides, and ten feet at neap-tides; so that very large +vessels cannot enter the port; but at a mile from the mouth of the +harbour there is excellent anchorage in what is called Leith Roads. The +fort, garrisoned by the royal artillery, is a place of great strength. + +The municipal government of Leith is vested in a provost, four baillies, +a treasurer, and ten common-councillors, and, in connexion with +Portobello and Musselburgh, returns one member to Parliament. + + + + +[Illustration: NEWHAVEN PIER. + +(Frith of Forth.)] + + + + +NEWHAVEN. + + +Newhaven derives its name and origin from James the Fourth, the most +accomplished monarch of his day: here he created a yard for +shipbuilding, a harbour for the reception of vessels, and a chapel +dedicated to the Virgin Mary and Saint James. The superior advantages +which the new harbour possessed in depth of water was sufficient to give +it a decided superiority over Leith, from which it is only a mile +distant; but, as this result was easily foreseen, measures were promptly +adopted for its prevention, and the people of Edinburgh--to whom the +prosperity of Leith was of vital importance--succeeded in purchasing the +town and harbour, with all rights and privileges thereto belonging. Thus +the rising importance of Newhaven was completely checked, and its rival +trade restored to Leith. + +The great natural advantages of Newhaven as a harbour, however, were not +lost sight of; and in recent times the subject was once more revived by +the city of Edinburgh, and arrangements for its improvement unanimously +agreed to. A pier and harbour have been erected, beautiful in design and +substantial in execution, affording abundant accommodation and shelter +for the large steam-vessels and other craft frequenting this part of the +coast, and to which the depth of water affords for the most part, an +easy entrance or exit, at all states of the tide. + +To the westward of Newhaven is the elegant chain-pier, erected for the +special accommodation of steam-vessels; and along the coast, and the +intervening space between that and the city, numerous villas, cottages, +and gardens, contribute great beauty and animation to the scenery, which +is here peculiarly rich and variegated. On the opposite shore of Fife is +seen the picturesque village of Aberdour, with its feudal keep and +richly-wooded declivities. Half-way across the frith stands the +venerable ruins of Inchcomb, the ancient Æmonia, one of the earliest +monastic establishments in the kingdom, and the subject of many a pious +and monastic legend. On the south the bulwarks of Edinburgh Castle, the +blending structures of the "new city and the old," the Calton-hill, with +its Acropolis-like finish of monumental splendour, Salisbury Crags and +Arthur's Seat, refresh the eye and fill the mind with such striking +combinations of nature and art, as are nowhere to be met with but in the +precincts of the Scottish "Athens." + +Although the establishment of a harbour has operated greatly to the +advantage of Newhaven, by giving additional value to every rood of +ground in its vicinity, it has not materially interfered with the +internal economy of the village, which retains most of those ancient +characteristics which for ages has given its inhabitants an isolated +position in the community. A stranger cannot enter it without being +struck by the singularity of everything around him--men, women, +children, the fish-"creel" and the fishy cabin make their appeal to his +senses in a manner not to be misunderstood. The remotest village in the +Alps has not been left by the "march of improvement" more decidedly in +the back-ground than that of the fish-dealing denizens of Newhaven. + +These fish-wives of Newhaven dress themselves in a manner which, however +coarse or homely in appearance, is not uncostly. They are unable to wear +any head-dress except a napkin, on account of the necessity of +supporting their burden by a broad belt which crosses the forehead, and +must be slipt over the head every time they take off their merchandise. +They usually wear, however, a voluminous and truly Flemish quantity of +petticoats, and several fine napkins enclosing the neck and bosom. Their +numerous petticoats are of different qualities and colours, as in the +Netherlands; and it is customary, while two or three of these are +allowed to hang down to the ancles, to have as many more bundled up over +the haunches, so as to give a singularly bulky and sturdy appearance to +the wearer. Thirty years ago, the _poissardes_ of Newhaven wore neither +shoes nor stockings; but in this particular they have at last yielded to +the force of example, and clothed their nethermost extremities in +comfortable worsted stockings and neat's-hide. Along with the fishermen +occupying the village of Fisherrow, those of Newhaven supply the fresh +fish consumed in Edinburgh and Leith; while their wives, sisters, and +daughters carry them to market, or hawk them about the streets in +baskets. They generally ask, like their sisters in the Courgain of +Calais, three times the value, but their customers, aware of this +propensity, have little difficulty in reducing the "upset price" to the +estimate of the buyer. + + + + +[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO THE PORT OF DUNDEE.] + + + + +DUNDEE. + +ENTRANCE TO THE PORT. + + + "Here busy commerce spreads her sail; + The Tay flows broad and free; + And sea and river, hill and dale. + Pay tribute to DUNDEE." + +Highly favoured by nature in point of situation, Dundee has enjoyed, +from the remotest period of our national history, many facilities for +the encouragement of trade. But it is only in more recent times that she +has risen to that eminence which now places her among the first-rate +commercial towns of the empire. That laudable spirit of enterprise which +has encircled the whole island with new or improved ports and harbours, +has operated most beneficially for those of Dundee; where, within the +last twenty or thirty years, almost every improvement which either +science could suggest or wealth accomplish has been carried into effect. + +On the return of peace in 1815, the first great impulse was given to the +manufactures and commerce of Dundee, by the renovation and extension of +the harbour. Prior to that epoch, the accommodation provided for +shipping was adapted to the most limited commerce only. One small pier +and two or three clumsy erections in a state of dilapidation, and which +it required a boat to reach, constituted the sole protection afforded to +the shipping, and the only convenience for discharging or loading. +Although the spirit of enlightened enterprise had been at work for +several years, it was only at this late period that application was made +to Parliament, and a bill obtained for separating the harbour from the +other branches of the common good, and for investing the management of +it for a term of years in district commissioners, who were selected +partly from the magistrates, and partly from the public bodies of the +town. Great pains were taken to procure the best plans; and after all +preliminaries had been settled, the work was begun and carried on with +such extraordinary activity, that, although everything was finished in +the most substantial manner, all was accomplished within the time +specified. The plan comprised the new harbour, consisting of a wet-dock +of about six acres; a tide-harbour of much greater extent; a +graving-dock, capable of containing three of the largest +merchant-vessels frequenting the Tay; extensive carpenters' and other +yards for ship-building; wide and capacious quays, affording berthage +for about thirty vessels to load or discharge at the same time. From the +first moment that measures were taken to ensure this superior +accommodation, the number and tonnage of the ships were increased by +their owners, and the trade and commerce of the port most materially +improved. The expenditure incurred by these great public works, though +amounting, from 1815 to 1833, to £242,000, or upwards, was judiciously +(says our Statistical authority) applied, and with great advantage both +to the private trust and to the public at large. + +When the plan for the new harbour was adopted in 1815, it was considered +to be so extensive, especially when compared with what preceded it, that +it was generally believed that the accommodation it promised would +exceed the necessities of the trade of Dundee for many years; but this +was so far from the fact, that some years ago the want of sufficient +berthage became so much a subject of complaint, that measures were taken +as soon as possible to remedy the evil. A new harbour-bill was applied +for, and obtained, vesting the shore-dues permanently in a board of +trustees. A plan was adopted for extending the tide-harbour, and for +converting the greater part of it into a wet-dock, and for other +improvements, rendered necessary by the rapidly increasing trade and +commerce of the town, all of which have been completed. + +In population, trade, and manufactures, as above stated, Dundee has +advanced faster perhaps than any town so situated in the United Kingdom. +There are men now living who remember when its population was less than +one-fifth of what it now is; and when its harbour was a crooked wall, +affording shelter to only a few fishing or smuggling-craft; when its +spinning-mills were things unknown and unthought of; and when its trade +was hardly deserving of the name.[11] + +[11] For many of the preceding facts we are indebted to the New +Statistics of the Town and Port of Dundee, a work indispensable to all +who desire correct information on the subject. + + + + +[Illustration: DUNDEE, FROM THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE TAY.] + + + + +DUNDEE. + +FROM THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE TAY. + + +Our present engraving depicts a scene of great natural beauty, and a +faithful picture of one of the most thriving of the Scottish seaports. +Few towns in the United Kingdom have advanced so rapidly in commercial +importance. The manufactures of Dundee have become of great interest not +only to the town, but to the nation at large. The proportion which they +bear to the general produce of the industry of the state is very high; +and their rapid and continued progress holds out the most encouraging +prospect of still greater accessions in every department of trade. Of +these manufactures, the linen trade holds the first place; it employs +the greatest number of hands and the greatest capital, and gives a +stimulus to all other branches of trade and commerce. The materials for +this branch of manufacture are imported from Russia, Prussia, Holland, +and Brabant, and thus employ a great number of ships and seamen. Up to +the beginning of the present century, all the linen yarns manufactured +here were hand-spun; and in 1811 there were only four spinning-mills +driven by steam: at the present time there are upwards of 100 flax +spinning-mills, employing more than 8,000 hands, of whom nearly one half +are females. The following figures exhibit the progressive increase of +this trade:--The importation of flax in 1790 was 2,700 tons; in 1850, +55,000 tons. The export of linen in 1790 was 8 millions of yards; in +1850, 85 millions of yards. The yarns thus manufactured are generally +sent from the mills direct to the bleach-fields, or to the wash-mill, +where they are scoured or whitened, and prepared for the loom. In +weaving sail-cloth, and other heavy goods, men only are employed; but, +in the lighter fabrics, women perform the work as well as the men. +Formerly, the women were employed in spinning only; but here, as +everywhere else, where steam is employed, the introduction of machinery +has wholly superseded the use of the domestic wheel and distaff, and +compelled the females to earn a scanty subsistence in a much less +appropriate labour. + +Within the last thirty years the population of Dundee has been more than +doubled; its charitable contributions have risen from under £2,000 to +nearly £12,000 per annum; its shipping has increased fourfold; while its +linen trade has been called almost entirely into existence. But the +reverse of the picture must not be concealed--the assessment of the +poor has advanced tenfold; in 1791, it was £400, it is now upwards of +£10,000. This is an evil, it has been said, inseparable from prosperous +communities, for the poor generally flock to, or are increased in them; +and where multitudes are gathered together at various employments, +example does not always favour economy, industry, and virtue. Nor is it +easy, amidst the spirit of enterprise which is now abroad, to suggest +any improvement for the town which the resident authorities have not +already in contemplation. + +Full tide in the estuary of the Tay is generally said to occur, on the +days of the new and full moon, at a quarter past two o'clock, but in the +harbour of Dundee it flows till about half-past two. The average height +of the spring-tides, as measured by an index at the entrance to King +William's Dock, is about seventeen feet, while that of the neap-tides is +about eleven feet. The water opposite the town, though saline, is not +wholly marine, but considerably diluted by the fresh water flowing down +the river; and this is the reason, probably, why sea-water insects never +attack the piles, buoys, or beacons about the harbour. Opposite the +town, the river Tay is very nearly two miles broad. The channel across +is much interrupted by a sand-bank, which, though formed within the last +forty years, has now at full spring-tides only about ten feet water over +its surface, and at neap-tides scarcely more than four. Its position is +not far from midway across; its form is spindle-shaped; its length, as +seen at low water, upwards of a mile; and its course parallel with that +of the river. At present, its lower or eastern extremity is stretching +down in the form of a curve, concave towards the harbour of Dundee; but +it is so constantly altering its features, that no further remark need +be made upon it than this, that it is always accumulating, and slowly +moving down the river. This sand-bank, in reference to the navigation of +the Tay, is naturally an object of no small interest and solicitude. + + + + +[Illustration: ABBEY OF ARBROATH.] + + + + +THE ABBEY OF ARBROATH. + + +The Harbour, which was originally at the end of the East Causeway, was +formed about the remote period of 1194; but being ill-constructed for +the craft and increasing traffic of more modern times, a brief or bill +was obtained for building a new pier in 1725, and which is situated a +little to the westward of the old one. It is strongly built of stone, +and, though not capacious, is sufficiently commodious to admit of +vessels lying close to any part of it, either to receive or discharge +their cargoes. During spring-tides there is a depth of from fifteen to +sixteen feet of water at the entrance, and at neap-tides of from nine to +ten feet; but it is dry at low water. Here, as in most of the other +ports of this coast, there is a considerable foreign trade carried on +with Russia, Norway, and Sweden, as well as a home-trade in lime, coals, +and agricultural produce. The trade at this port is now so rapidly +increasing, that great improvements in the harbour are contemplated. It +counts seventy-seven vessels of its own, registering 6700 tons. + +Near the south side of the harbour of Arbroath is a handsome +signal-tower fifty feet high, which is used for communicating with the +keepers of the Bell Rock Lighthouse. On a clear day this gigantic column +may be seen rising from the sea at the distance of about twelve miles. +The Bell Rock, so long known and celebrated in history, tradition, and +poetry as the "Inchcape," is thus described by an ancient chronicler: +"By east the Castle of May twelve miles from all land, in the German +Sea, lies a great hidden rock called Inchcape, very dangerous for +navigators, because it is overflowed every tide. It is reported that in +old times, upon the said rock, there was a bell fixed upon a tree or +timber, which rang continually, being moved by the sea, and thus gave +notice to sailors of their danger. This bell, or _cloche_, was put thus, +and maintained by the pious Abbot of Arbroath, and being taken down by a +sea-pirate a year thereafter, he perished upon the same rock, with ship +and cargo, in the righteous judgment of God."[12] + +But the glory of Arbroath, as every reader knows, is its ABBEY, which, +as seen in the accompanying view, presents one of the most imposing +monastic ruins in existence. It was founded in 1178, by King William +the Lion, who was buried here, and dedicated to St. Thomas à Becket, of +Canterbury. The monks, to whose ministry this sumptuous temple was +consigned, were of the Benedictine or Tyronensian order, and brought +from the Abbey of Kelso, the abbot of which declared them, on their +first instalment, free from his jurisdiction. The monastery, thus +tenanted, soon obtained those great and peculiar privileges which it +long continued to enjoy. Its abbots were frequently the first churchmen +of the kingdom; and a charter from King John of England, under the great +seal, is still extant, by which the monastery and the citizens of +Aberbrothock are exempted _a teloniis et consuetudine_, in every part of +England, except London and Oxford. + +It was inferior, perhaps, in architectural elegance to Melrose, Elgin, +and some others; but, with the exception of Holyrood, it was probably +the most wealthy monastic establishment in Scotland. The monks did not +exceed twenty-five in number; and some idea may be formed of the abbot's +charity and hospitality from this fact, that one of the orders issued +for the yearly provision of the abbey is thus particularized:--eight +hundred wedder sheep, one hundred and eighty oxen, eleven barrels of +salmon, twelve hundred and five dried cod-fish, eighty-two chalders of +malt, thirty chalders of wheat, and forty chalders of meal; these +supplies, it is to be observed, were in addition to the rents paid in +kind by the abbot's tenants. + +The Abbey of Arbroath appears to have been demolished some time +previously to the general destruction of the religious houses at the +Reformation. Tradition ascribes its early fate to a quarrel between the +monks and Ochterlony, Laird of Kelly, at whose instigation a lawless mob +attacked and set fire to the abbey, till the neighbouring streets, it is +said, "were deluged with the melted lead that streamed from its roof." + +After the destruction and spoliation of the abbey, Arbroath lost all its +importance as a royal burgh, and continued in a very depressed state +till the building of the new pier, when commerce began to repair the +loss and recover some portion of its ancient prosperity. The population +is about 7000, or upwards. + +[12] Monipennie's _Scots Chronicles_. London, 1612. + + + + +[Illustration: MONTROSE.] + + + + +MONTROSE. + + + "Mare ditat: Rosa decorat." + + "Montrose--a beauty that lies concealed, as it were, in the + bosom of Scotland; most delicately dressed up, and adorned with + excellent buildings, whose foundations are laid with polished + stone, and her ports all washed with silver streams that + trickle down from the famous Ask."--RICHARD FRANK, A.D. 1658. + +Montrose, a royal burgh and sea-port town of Forfarshire, is agreeably +situated on a level plain, or peninsula, bounded on the north-east by +the German Ocean, on the south by the river South Esk, and on the west +by a large expanse of this river, called the Basin of Montrose. The +erection of this town into a royal burgh has generally been referred to +the year 1352, being the twenty-third of the reign of David II.; but it +appears to have been a place of some note long before it acquired this +dignity, and is connected with many important events in the history of +Scotland. It is mentioned by Froissart, as the port from which the +gallant Sir James Douglas embarked in 1330, for the Holy Land, attended +by a numerous and splendid retinue, and carrying with him the heart of +King Robert Bruce. This, as the reader knows, was in execution of the +last charge committed to him by his royal master, namely, to carry the +heart of the deceased monarch to Jerusalem, and there deposit it in the +holy sepulchre. The disastrous failure of this pious enterprise is too +well known to require further notice in this place. + +The principal manufactures carried on in Montrose are the spinning and +weaving of flax. For this purpose there are several steam-mills for +spinning, and one on the North Esk driven by water. These steam-mills +produce annually upwards of 800,000 spindles. There are also in the town +soap, starch, rope, and sail manufactories; and others for making +steam-machinery. Ship-building is carried on to a considerable extent, +and there is a patent slip, introduced for repairing ships. There are +also in addition various breweries, tan-works, candle-works, a foundry, +and a steam-mill for grinding meal and flour. + +Montrose is the port of the Custom-house, and, as such, comprehends +within its bounds all that district between the lights of Tay on the +south, and the Todhead on the north, thereby including Arbroath, and +other places of less importance. + +The principal foreign imports into Montrose consist of flax, hemp, +tallow, whale-fins and oil, fir-timber, oak and oak-planks, deal and +deal-ends. But as the goods manufactured here are sent coastwise to +London, Glasgow, Dundee, and other towns, there are few or no _exports_ +to foreign places from Montrose. Owing, however, to the bonded system +having been extended to this port, nearly all the foreign wines and +spirits consumed in the district, are brought coastwise to the bonded +warehouses, and pay duty at the Custom-house when taken out for +consumption. + +The _exports_ from this district by the coasting-trade consist of wheat, +oats, barley, rye, peas, beans, and potatoes; salmon, codfish, and pork, +the latter chiefly for the London market: great coal, culm, parret, +lime, blue slate, iron, tallow, rosin, barilla, kelp, salt, and herrings +from the Moray Frith, chiefly smoked and sent to the Hull and London +markets. The principal import from the English coast is coal; but +various other articles are imported and exported by regular traders to +London, Glasgow, and Leith. + +Montrose contains several public edifices, all designed with +considerable taste and substantially executed. Among these are the +church, with a fine gothic tower, St. John's church, St. Peter's +episcopal chapel, the Town-hall, the Academy, the Lunatic Asylum, and +the Jail. The finest object, however, and which combines ornament with +utility, is the new Chain-bridge, erected, like many others in the +United Kingdom, after a plan by Captain James Brown, of the Royal Navy. +The foundation-stone of this admirable structure was laid on the 18th of +September, 1828, and the whole was completed before the close of the +following year. The distance between the towers at the two extremities +of the bridge, measured from the centre, is four hundred and thirty-two +feet. The height of each tower is seventy-one feet, namely, twenty-three +and a half from the foundation to the roadway; forty-four from the +roadway to the top of the cornice; and three feet and a half forming the +cornice. It spans the river, South Esk, and is justly considered the +finest specimen of the kind in Scotland. The whole cost is stated at +twenty thousand pounds. + +The population of Montrose continues rapidly to increase. The society is +very superior to that of most country towns, and includes amongst its +members men who have distinguished themselves in every department of the +state. It was formerly represented in Parliament by Joseph Hume, Esq., a +native of the place, and so well known as a leading member in the House +of Commons. + + + + +[Illustration: DUNOTTAR CASTLE, NEAR STONEHAVEN.] + + + + +DUNNOTTAR CASTLE. + + + "High on a rock, half sea-girt, half on land, + The castle stood, and still its ruins stand. + Wide o'er the German main the prospect bent, + Steep is the path and rugged the ascent: + There hung the huge portcullis--there the bar + Drawn on the iron gate defied the war." + +_"Dunnottar Castle," by Mrs. Carnegie, 1796._ + +The view of Dunnottar Castle, which so happily illustrates this portion +of the work, represents one of the most remarkable features that are +anywhere to be met with on the coasts of the British empire. The drawing +was taken on the spot, and shows with admirable effect and precision +those striking combinations of nature and art which, during a long +series of ages, rendered the fortress of Dunnottar impregnable. But +those rocky foundations from which it once rose in all the strength and +grandeur of feudal architecture are fast yielding to the encroachments +of the sea; its crested summits, once brilliant with arms and bristling +with cannon, seem ready to drop from their precipice. Unroofed, +unlatticed, untenanted, with not an ember left on its once capacious +hearth, desolation and ruin are vividly pictured in its dreary solitude. +The floors are covered with crumbling fragments of varied and costly +decorations in sculpture, painting, and fretwork. Once a +palace--commanding all that could minister to the security and luxury of +its almost royal possessors, its battlements gay with standards, crowded +with retainers, mailed guests in the hall, and minstrels in the +court--it is now dark as a sepulchre;--banners, retainers, guests, +minstrels, and the master of the feast himself--all are gone! The hoarse +dash of the waves, the shrill scream of the stormy petrel, the crash of +some disjointed and falling rock, or the whistling of the coming +tempest, are almost the only sounds that now alternate among these +embattled heights, where the curious stranger retraces with melancholy +interest the days and deeds of antiquity. To him who is familiar with +its history, Dunnottar speaks with an audible voice; every cave has a +record--every turret a tongue; his ear is struck with "wandering +voices," and words that never die seem at every step to arrest his +attention. + +The Castle of Dunnottar--now the stately and magnificent ruin thus +feebly sketched--stands on an isolated rock two hundred feet +perpendicular, washed on three sides by the sea, and on the other +separated from the adjacent land by a wide and deep chasm, from which by +a gate in the wall, nearly forty feet high, there is an entrance to the +fortress. Leading upwards from this gate there is a long steep passage, +partly arched over, and formerly secured by two drawbridges, the grooves +for which are still visible. At the inner end of this passage is another +gate, opening into the castle area, which is enclosed by a wall, and +occupied by buildings of various epochs. But of all the buildings on +this rock the chapel is the most ancient, and there is reason to believe +that it originally served as the parish church of Dunnottar. The Castle, +or the peninsular rock on which it stands, makes its first appearance in +Scottish history during the wars of Bruce and Baliol, when, it is +alleged by some modern authorities, the castle was erected by Sir +William Keith as a place of safety for himself and friends. According to +Blind Harry and Hector Boece, Dunnottar was surprised and taken by Sir +William Wallace in 1297, and the Blind Historian relates that Dunnottar +was occupied by four thousand English troops, who had fled before the +victorious arms of the Liberator; and that when Wallace made the +onslaught, as many of them as the church would contain took shelter +there, in the hope that consecrated ground would not be violated by +their slaughter; but, says the bard,-- + + "Wallace on fyre gart set all haistely, + Brynt up the kyrk and all that was thairin." + +In the year 1336 Dunnottar was fortified and garrisoned by Edward III.; +but immediately after his departure for England it was attacked and +carried by the gallant Sir Andrew Moray, who destroyed the +fortifications of the Castle, so that it might not again afford ready +protection to an enemy. + + + + +[Illustration: STONEHAVEN.] + + + + +STONEHAVEN. + + + "The flocks are white upon the moor, + The forest's filled with deer; + There's industry at every door, + And shipping at the pier." + +Stonehaven, like Aberdeen, has its old town and its new; but "with this +distinction, that of the latter, the new town is the older of the two." +The old town of Stonehaven, or Steenhive as it was formerly written, was +built on _feus_ granted by the "Earls Marischal," by one of whom it was +erected into a burg of barony. The new town, or "Links of Arduthie," is +separated from the old town by a brook, called the water of Carron, and +is built upon the estate of the patriotic Mr. Barclay Allardyce, of Ury. +It is the county-town; and hither, in 1660, the sheriff-court was +removed from Kincardine by Act of Parliament. + +On the south-west of a bare rocky promontory, called Garron-point, at +the entrance of Stonehaven Bay, are seen the ruins of Cowie Chapel, +which is said to have been dedicated to the Blessed Virgin. From this +point on the north, called Garron, to that of Downie on the south, is +what is termed the Bay of Stonehaven. The town stretches from the bridge +over the Cowie river, on the north, to the above-mentioned headland, +Downie Point, on the south; but it is divided, as already stated, into +two parts by the "Carron;" the north part being the new, and the south +the _old_, or sea-town; close to which last, and to Downie Point, which +is a protection to it from south-east gales, stands the Harbour, +erected, like most others on the east coast, _sea_-ward. It is a +capacious basin, and would contain a great number of vessels, but until +lately, when two cross-jetties were built, it was very insecure, or +afforded little protection to vessels during north-east and east gales, +to which it is much exposed, the entrance being to the east. It is now, +however, comparatively secure; and gas-lights being erected, the one +bearing on the other, vessels bound southward in winter find it a very +agreeable retreat, and about thirty so situated have been seen in it at +one time. + +The exports consist of grain, timber, herrings, and other fish; the +imports are principally coals and lime, of which a great quantity is +required for agricultural purposes. + +The Harbour, in spring-tides, will admit vessels drawing fourteen feet +water, sometimes upwards; but in ordinary tides the depth can hardly be +reckoned at more than from ten to eleven feet. + +The trade of curing fish by smoke-drying, in imitation of the _Finnan +haddies_, is carried on with much spirit: several large houses have been +fitted up for this purpose and for red-herrings; and a stranger would +scarcely believe the extent done in this business, the haddocks thus +cured being sent to London, Edinburgh, and other markets in the south, +by all conveyances. + +The other trade of the place is principally in manufacturing woollen, +linen, and cotton cloths, a branch of native industry in which great +numbers of people are employed. The Glenury distillery is a large +concern, and close to the town, from which a great quantity of whiskey +is constantly shipped off. + +Among the disasters which, in its day, Stonehaven has had to deplore, we +may cite the following, as characteristic of those unhappy times when +the country was torn by the violence of faction, and fire and sword laid +waste this ill-fated district. On the 20th of March, 1645, the Marquis +of Montrose, then quartered at Stonehaven, addressed a letter to Earl +Marischal, at his castle of Dunnottar, about two miles from this, +exhorting him to espouse the royal cause; but receiving no answer, he +proceeded to wreak his vengeance on the earl's lands and dependants. +"Thereafter," says the historian Spalding, "he fires the Tolbooth, a +prison of Stonehaven, wherein there was store of grain, and the whole +town, with all the barnyards, houses, and other buildings, except those +of James Clark, wherein Montrose himself was quartered. They plundered a +ship lying in the harbour, then set fire to her, as well as to all the +fishing-boats then in the harbour. They burnt up the whole town of +Cowie, houses, buildings, corn, and corn-yards; and in like manner +plundered the whole goods, gear, horses, oxen, sheep, which they could +get; plundered the parson of Dunnottar's house and set it on fire. The +people of Stonehaven and Cowie, it is said, came out, men, women, and +children at their feet and children in their arms, crying, howling, and +weeping, praying the earl, for God's sake, to save them from this fire +as soon as it was kindled; but these poor people got no answer, nor knew +they where to go with their children. How lamentable to behold!" + + + + +[Illustration: ABERDEEN.] + + + + +ABERDEEN. + +GENERAL VIEW. + + +The city of Aberdeen, the seat of two celebrated universities, is +divided into the old and the new towns, at an interval of about a mile. +Of these, the former--now reduced almost to a village--appears to have +been a town of some note as early as the ninth century, but gradually +fell into decay after the great epoch of the Reformation. The Cathedral +of St. Machar was founded at the remote era of 1164, and repaired in the +beginning of the fourteenth century. But a new building of more elegant +design was founded by Bishop Kinnimond, the second prelate of that +family, and finished by Bishop Leighton. The Reformation, however, +suspended all further operations, and left the pile a monument of +premature decay. Of King's College, founded at the close of the +fifteenth century, the learned Hector Boethius was the first principal. + +New Aberdeen, though irregularly built, is a handsome city, and +beautifully situated on three gentle eminences at the mouth of the Dee. +The streets are spacious, and many of the public buildings of elegant +design. In ancient times, several religious establishments flourished +here, belonging to the different orders of Dominicans, Carmelites, and +Grey Friars, with an hospital, or _maison-Dieu_. Marischal College, so +named from its liberal founder, George, Earl Marischal of Scotland, has, +like its predecessor, been long celebrated as a seat of the muses. Its +professors and lecturers--twenty-seven in number--have shone conspicuous +in every department of human learning, and are continually sending forth +in their pupils the living proofs of that zeal and assiduity with which +their important functions are discharged. With the fame of this +university, the names of Campbell and Beattie are more especially +associated, as the champions of religion and the ornaments of our native +literature. + +The environs of this ancient city exhibit many pleasing indications of +commercial improvements, which are daily acquiring fresh impulse, adding +new embellishments to the landscape, and evincing an increase of comfort +and independence among the inhabitants, who amount to about fifty +thousand. + +There are few springs of any consequence in Aberdeen or the +neighbourhood, and although a supply of water can be had in most places, +by digging to a depth of from ten to thirty feet, it is generally so +hard as to be of comparatively little value. Close by the boundary of +the parish, on the west side, are two springs, quite contiguous, which +have been long known as the "Well of Spa." Both these springs, but +especially the least copious one, are impregnated with carbonate of +iron, and on that account have been long noticed as medicinal. Early in +the seventeenth century an account of the properties and powers of these +springs was published by Dr. Barclay, under the title of _Callirhöe, +commonly called the Well of Spa, or the Nymph of Aberdene_. A building, +which at that time protected the spring, having fallen into decay, was +repaired by the celebrated painter George Jamieson, but was not long +afterwards demolished by a flood of the Den-burn, which runs close +beside it. In 1670, another building was erected over the spring, which +still remains, consisting of a stone enclosure, with steps or benches, +and an entablature bearing these inscriptions:-- + + "As Heaven gives me, + So give I thee." + + "Hoc fonte derivata salus in Patriam populumque fluat, + Spada Rediviva 1670." + +Within the last two centuries both these springs have repeatedly +disappeared and been recovered, and always retaining their chalybeate +qualities till of late. Within the last few years, however, while +digging upon the adjacent eminence for the foundations of the west wing +of the new infirmary, it would seem as if the course of the water had +been disturbed, or some other change produced, the consequence of which +is, that now the larger spring appears to possess hardly any chalybeate +impregnation, whilst the smaller one is much weaker than formerly. + + + + +[Illustration: ABERDEEN, FROM ABOVE THE CHAIN BRIDGE.] + + + + +ABERDEEN, + +FROM ABOVE THE CHAIN BRIDGE. + + + "Blyth Aberdein! thou beriall of all tounis, + The lamp of bewtie, bountie, and blythnes; + Unto the heaven ascendit thy renown is + Off vertew, wisdom, and of worthines; + Benottit is thy name of nobilnes;-- + Be blyth and blissful, burgh of Aberdein!"--DUNBAR. + +The Port of Aberdeen is now universally known among seafaring men as one +of the safest and most commodious in Scotland. The skill and practical +efforts of both Smeaton and Telford were successively employed upon it; +and after an arduous and extensive enterprise, the grand object has been +fully obtained. To those who are only acquainted with the harbour under +its present aspect it will be difficult to convey a correct notion of +its appearance in ancient times. There is reason to suppose that at a +period beyond the reach of history, the river Dee must have discharged +its waters into the sea at the Craiglug--where the Chain Bridge is seen +in the engraving--and that by their alluvial deposits, and the effects +of the north-east winds, in accumulating the sands in the neighbourhood, +the ground now occupied by the village of Footdee, the shorelands and +Sandilands, the Links and the islands in the estuary were gradually +raised above the level of the sea. At a less remote period it is +believed that the river Don poured its floods into the frith of the Dee: +and the conjecture derives strength from the notices of Roman +geographers. The occurrence of great changes is attested by various +remains which have been disinterred at different periods. Thirteen feet +under low-water mark in spring-tides, and twenty-eight feet below the +general surface of the Inches, were discovered two human skulls, a large +piece of flint, and great quantities of shells and other marine +deposits; and in excavating the canal, at a considerable distance from +the shore, anchors and other articles of shipwreck were found deeply +imbedded in the earth. + +The entrance to the harbour of Aberdeen is naturally bad, owing to a bar +at the mouth of the river, where, at ebb-tide, the depth of water was +often not more than two feet. To remedy this evil was, from a very early +period, the ardent desire of the citizens, and to some of their first +efforts in this direction we have alluded in our notice of Aberdeen +Light-house. But it is since the commencement of the seventeenth century +that the most effective improvements have been made, amongst which we +may name the erection of a bulwark on the south side of the entrance, +and the removal of a great stone, called "Knock-Maitland," which lay +nearly in the middle of the river, both of which were accomplished in +succession; the first in 1608, and the latter in 1618. Between 1623 and +1658, the quay was extended eastward, towards Futtie; by which means a +considerable portion of ground was redeemed below the Castle-hill, and +is now covered with buildings. In 1755 an additional quay was built a +good way further down, opposite the village of Torrie. In 1770, further +improvements were projected; and, on a report from Mr. Smeaton, +recommending the erection of a pier on the north side of the entrance, +so that the influx of sand from the north might be prevented, and the +removal of the _bar_ effected, by confining the waters of the river Dee +within narrower bounds, the work was commenced in 1775, and finished in +less than six years. The length of this pier was twelve hundred feet, +and it terminated in a round head of sixty feet in diameter. Owing, +however, to a departure from Mr. Smeaton's plan, by which the pier was +founded too far to the north, it was found that a heavy swell entered +the harbour; and to obviate this formidable inconvenience, a bulwark was +projected from the pier, to about one-third across the channel. + +By these means considerable improvements were effected; but as the trade +of the city increased, inconvenience was still felt from a deficiency of +water on the bar; and Mr. Telford, having been consulted in 1810, on the +means of remedying this evil, recommended that the pier should be +extended, and that wet-docks should be formed in the harbour. These +works were commenced forthwith, and the pier, carried on to the extent +of nine hundred feet beyond the head of Smeaton's pier, and again +finished with a round head, was completed in 1816. In the course of the +following winter, however, this head was destroyed by the storms; but +being rebuilt with a slope towards the sea, it has since stood without +very material damage. A breakwater, extending to the length of eight +hundred feet, was also built on the south side, by which the mouth of +the channel was narrowed, and the entrance protected from the storms of +the south-east. Wharfs were built along the south-west side of Futtie; +the pier opposite Torrie was enlarged; and, latterly, the quay has been +extended westward from the old quay-head; and by raising embankments on +the Inches, a considerable range of quay-room has been gained there, +which is connected with the town by a swivel-bridge, opposite +Marischal-street. By all these combined measures, quay-room has been +provided to the extent of about four thousand feet; a tide-harbour has +been formed, in which, at spring-tides, the depth of water is about +_eleven feet_ at the west-end, gradually increasing to _fifteen feet_, +where it joins the course of the river; while the depth of the water on +the bar has been increased to about nineteen feet. + + + + +[Illustration: THE LIGHT HOUSE, ABERDEEN.] + + + + +ABERDEEN LIGHTHOUSE. + + +Immediately to the south of the small bay of Greyhope stands the +Girdleness Lighthouse; an erection by which the trade of Aberdeen has +been greatly benefitted. The Girdleness, from which it takes its name, +is a conspicuous promontory of which the Commissioners of the Northern +Lights took advantage to erect this monitory beacon: it was lighted up +for the first time on the night of the 15th of October, 1833, and is a +lofty, circular tower, built of granite, and crowned with two copper +domes, one within the other, in order to prevent the effects which would +follow from the condensation of vapour from the heated air of the lamps. +The dwelling-houses of the keepers are at the bottom of the tower; and a +field of considerable extent has been walled in and cultivated for their +accommodation. It is on the larboard, or left-hand side, as we enter the +port, and is known to mariners as a _double-light_, a distinction +produced by placing two lights in the same tower, the one above the +other. Of these, the lower light is visible in clear weather at the +distance of thirteen, and the higher at that of sixteen miles. They are +under the charge of two keepers, one of whom mounts guard at sunset, and +in case of emergency can summon assistance by means of an alarm-bell, +placed in the sleeping apartments, which may be rung from the +light-room, by means of an air-blast, through tubes laid for that +purpose. This edifice, of incalculable benefit to the cause of humanity, +was erected after the design of Robert Stevenson, Esq., and does great +honour to his talents. The bay of Greyhope, above-named, is memorable as +the scene of many a disastrous shipwreck, particularly that of the +Oscar, in which, out of a crew of forty men, only two were saved. This +occurred on the 1st of April 1813. + +For many centuries after the foundation of Aberdeen, the harbour was +nothing more than an open expanse of water, washing the base of the +Castle-hill on the north, the rising grounds of Torrie on the south, and +communicating with the sea by the narrow and shallow mouth of the river. +Of this basin the greater part was left dry at ebb of tide; while +several large, but low islands, were never wholly overflowed. The most +ancient, and during many years the only erection within the port, was a +bulwark extending from the Ship-row southwards, and now known as the +Shore-area. Its extremity was called the Quay-head, a name afterwards +applied to the wharfs extending from the vicinity of the Trinity Kirk +eastward, beyond the present weigh-house. At what time it was built is +altogether unknown; but it was in existence in the fourteenth century, +and was probably constructed in the preceding age. In 1484, having +become ruinous, it was either repaired or rebuilt; and about the same +time, beacons for the guidance of ships were erected, and the wreck of a +Spanish galley on the southern shore, which had long obstructed the +channel, was removed. In 1512, the quay was again repaired; and in 1526, +still further operations became necessary, and a great portion of the +wharfs was reconstructed. In 1549, repairs being once more required, a +stair was added; and in 1582 a crane was erected. In 1621, two +corn-mills were built within flood-mark; and about thirteen years later, +a weigh-house, which served also for a custom-house, was erected. In the +course of the same century, various other additions were made to the +wharf, and several municipal statutes introduced for the better +regulation of the port. In 1566, a lighthouse, containing "three great +flaming lights, to burn from daylight to daylight, between the first day +of September and the last day of March," was erected on St Ninian's +Chapel, on the Castle-hill. + + + + +[Illustration: SLAINES CASTLE,--NEAR PETERHEAD.] + + + + +SLAINES CASTLE. + + +Slaines Castle, the feudal residence of the Hays of Erroll, covers a +peninsular rock, boldly projecting into the German Ocean and forming an +abrupt and imposing landmark on this iron-bound coast. Its position is +remarkable: the huge precipice over which it projects on one side, and +of which it seems an integral part, descends perpendicularly to the sea, +where the water is so deep that vessels of large burden may float within +a yard of the rock. It is said, indeed, that a tankard of wine may be +lowered down from the Castle window to the yard-arm of a man-of-war +under sail. Whether this experiment has been tried we know not; but this +we can readily admit, that much good wine has taken the opposite +direction. + +The situation of this family fortress is rather bleak and cheerless, +presenting no leafy bowers, no clumps of trees, few masses of verdure or +vegetation, to refresh the eye or flatter the imagination. + + "La nature marâtre, en cet affreux climat, + Ne produit, au lieu d'or, que du fer des soldats." + +The prospect, however, which is bounded only by the horizon seaward, is +grand and imposing, and fills the mind with corresponding ideas. For a +Trappist convent, with Baron Geramb at its head, nothing finer could be +imagined; for their nearest neighbour in one direction is the "King of +the Norse;" and the hills, on the other hand, are wild and solitary +enough to shut out the world and its vanities. + +The following is the traditional origin of the Hays of Erroll:--In the +year 980, and reign of Kenneth III., the Danes having invaded the +country, gave battle to the Scots at Loncarty, near Perth. The latter, +being worsted in the fight, gave way; but, while passing a defile in +their flight, were stopped by a countryman and his two sons, who +encouraged the fugitives to rally and renew the struggle. The example, +resistance, and reproaches of these three brave men, armed only with the +implements snatched hastily from their ploughs, inspired the routed +Scots with new life. They rushed back upon their pursuers, encountered +the Danes afresh, defeated them at every point, and delivered their +country from servitude. The victory being complete, the father, +afterwards known by the name of Hay, was ennobled by the king, and +rewarded with the best part of the enemy's baggage, and a grant of land +in the rich Carse of Gowry, containing as much as "a falcon flew over +without alighting." The march stones, being about seven miles apart, are +to this day called the "Falcon Stones." + +The first of this ancient family who did honour to the Scottish peerage +was created Earl of Erroll by James II., in 1452, in recompense of his +faithful services, and died at this castle in 1470. + +The baronial fortress of Slaines was afterwards demolished by order of +James VI., on the rebellion of the Earl of Huntly, and long continued in +ruins. + +Dr. Johnson thus records his visit and reception within these +walls:--"We came in the afternoon to Slaines Castle, built upon the +margin of the sea, so that the walls of one of the towers seem only a +continuation of a perpendicular rock, the foot of which is beaten by the +waves. To walk round the house seemed impracticable; from the windows, +the eye wanders over the sea that separates Scotland from Norway, and +when the winds beat with violence, it must enjoy all the terrific +grandeur of the tempestuous ocean. I would not for my amusement wish for +a storm, but as storms, whether wished for or not, will sometimes +happen, I may say, without violation of humanity, that I should +willingly look out upon them from Slaines Castle." + +The caves and grottoes along this coast are numerous and interesting. +The Dropping, or White Cave of Slaines, extends about 200 feet +underground; and through a natural vault the water oozes forth, and +forms fantastic pyramids of incrustations or stalactites. The cave, by +this natural process, would soon be filled up, were not the petrified +substance frequently cut away and burnt for lime. In this, as in many +other caves along the shore, the ancient inhabitants of the district are +supposed to have taken refuge when repeatedly harassed by the sudden +descent of Danish marauders; and in later times it may have often served +as a secure retreat for smugglers, who formerly abounded in this +neighbourhood, and carried on their illegal traffic in comparative +safety. + + + + +[Illustration: THE BULLER OF BUCHAN. + +(near Peterhead)] + + + + +THE BULLER OF BUCHAN. + + + "If I had any malice against a walking spirit, instead of + laying him in the Red Sea, I would condemn him to reside in the + _Buller of Buchan_."--SAMUEL JOHNSON. + +The Buller of Buchan, one of the most remarkable natural curiosities in +Scotland, is about six miles south from Peterhead. It is a vast hollow +in a rock projecting into the sea, open at the top, and communicating +with the water by means of a natural arched passage, about fifty yards +high. The basin within is nearly circular, about thirty yards in +diameter; and around the extreme edge of the chasm is a narrow footpath, +from which to the water in the abyss below, measures about thirty +fathoms,[13] more or less, according to the state of the tide. It is a +scene upon which all travellers dwell with feelings of mixed awe and +admiration. Even Dr. Johnson, the learned philologist from whom we take +our motto, visited and retired from the spot with amazement. "We soon +turned our eyes," he observes, "to the Buller, or _Bouilloir_, of +Buchan, which no man can see with indifference, who has either sense of +danger or delight in rarity. It is a rock perpendicularly tubulated, +united on one side with a high shore, and on the other rising steep to a +great height above the main sea. The top is open, from which may be seen +a dark gulf of water, which flows into the cavity through a breach made +in the lower part of the enclosing rock. It has the appearance of a vast +well, bordered with a wall. The edge of the Buller is not wide, and to +those who walk round appears very narrow. He that ventures to look +downward sees that, if his foot should slip, he must fall from his +dreadful elevation upon stones on one side, or into water on the other. +We, however, went round, and were glad when the circuit was completed. +When we came down to the sea, we saw some boats and rowers, and resolved +to explore the Buller at the bottom. We entered the arch which the water +had made, and found ourselves in a place which, although we could not +think ourselves in danger, we could scarcely survey without some recoil +of the mind. The basin in which we floated was nearly circular, perhaps +thirty yards in diameter. We were enclosed by a natural wall, rising +steep on every side, to a height which produced the idea of +insurmountable confinement. The interception of all lateral light +caused a dismal gloom. Round us was a perpendicular rock; above us, the +distant sky, and below, an unknown profundity of water."[14] + +To the above description, written in the autumn of 1773, little needs to +be added: the wild features of the scene, and the effect produced upon +the minds of travellers, continue to present nearly the same aspect and +to awaken the same impressions as in the days of the great +lexicographer. The scene of horror, however, is often enlivened by +pic-nic parties from Peterhead, during the fine season, and is +deservedly considered as one of the great "lions" on this coast, a title +to which its continual "roar" gives it a more especial title. + +The geological features of this locality are very interesting. The rocks +are of primitive granite, and appear to have been upheaved to the +surface by some internal expansive force, and have an inclination from +east to west of 25 degrees. Reposing upon the granite, is a bed of +diluvial clay, of from ten to fifteen feet deep, containing numerous +small water-worn stones, of different species of the secondary +formation; besides large quantities of flint, originally imbedded in +limestone, which must have been rolled from a great distance, as there +are no beds of limestone on this coast, or in any of the neighbouring +districts. From atmospheric action and other causes the rocks are +rapidly disintegrating; and great quantities of _débris_ are annually +accumulating at the bottom of the precipices, where wild grasses and +lichens springing up produce, by their decomposition, a vegetable mould +which is gradually increasing. + +[13] Two hundred and fifty feet, according to more recent admeasurement. + +[14] The accompanying view has been justly pronounced as by far the best +that has ever appeared of this remarkable scene, and is taken at the +same point from which it was contemplated by Dr. Johnson, after his walk +from Slaines Castle, about two miles distant. Sir Walter Scott, when on +his excursion to the Shetland Isles, and while becalmed off this coast, +paid a visit to the Buller; and we are of opinion (says Mr. Mackie), +that in his description of the Cavern of Staffa, we can discover some of +the general features of the scene described, shadowed forth in the _Lord +of the Isles_. It is proper to mention, that although now generally +written Buller, it is uniformly known in the district as the +_Bullers_--_Les Bouilloirs_, or boiling caldrons. + + + + +[Illustration: PETERHEAD.] + + + + +PETERHEAD. + + + "No scene for me like the bounding sea; + No couch like my cabin pillow! + No fair domain like yon ocean's plain-- + And my coursers, the breeze and billow!" + + _The Heliotrope._ + +Peterhead, like the neighbouring ports already noticed, has rapidly +increased, within the last twenty years, in all those means which +facilitate and secure the advantages of trade and commerce. Though long +and deservedly resorted to as a delightful watering-place, remarkable +for the salubrity of its air, and the beauty of its situation, the +activity of trade was still unknown to its inhabitants. Its only +harbour, a small basin dug out of the rock, was rarely enlivened by +anything that could aspire to the title of shipping; for in Cromwell's +time, about twenty tons of boat-freight was all that its diminutive port +could lay claim to. The spirit of its inhabitants, however, with an +accurate perception of the natural advantages of the Port, and aided by +government in the preparation for a new era in commercial enterprise, +has achieved wonders. An air of prosperity animates the whole town: the +harbour is filled with goodly traders; imports and exports cover the +quays: industry has received a stimulus which communicates its happy +influence to everything around; and Peterhead now holds an enviable +station among the Ports and Harbours of Great Britain. + +The point of land on which the town is built, is the most easterly of +the mainland of Scotland. It forms the north-east side of a bay, and is +connected with the country, on the north-west, by an isthmus eight +hundred yards in breadth. On Keith-Inch, so called from the Earl +Marischal, are many elegant and substantially-built houses; and on its +south-side is an old Castle, erected in the sixteenth century, by +George, Earl Marischal, after the model of one which he had seen in +Denmark. Down to the close of the sixteenth century, Peterhead was only +a small fishing-village, and the stranger who now passes through its +populous streets, and busy harbours, will readily perceive how much has +been accomplished in the interval. + +The Harbours are both handsome and commodious; and, having two entrances +from the south and north, and being equidistant from the Forth and +Moray Friths, are much resorted to by vessels frequenting the east coast +of Scotland. The annual revenue is under the management of commissioners +incorporated by Act of Parliament. The South Harbour has a depth of +between twelve and fourteen feet water at medium springs, and from eight +to ten at neap-tides; but the North Harbour, during spring-tides, has +full eighteen feet water, and at no tide less than fourteen. The Quay +extends to 3350 feet in length; and connected with the harbour is an +excellent graving dock. The shipping belonging to the port amounts to +about 12,000 tons; and the number of vessels that annually take shelter +in these harbours, may be estimated at two hundred and forty. The +leading articles of export are grain, meal, eggs, butter, cattle, fish, +and the produce of the fisheries: the imports are groceries, clothing, +flour, salt, iron, timber, coal, lime, and bone-manure. Shipbuilding has +long been carried on to a considerable extent; and in the present day no +port of the kingdom sends out vessels more remarkable for fine +proportion and elegant combination of strength and beauty. During the +last half century, Peterhead has carried on an extensive trade with +Greenland, and Davis' Straits; and takes rank next to Hull in the whale +fishery. + +The lighthouse, which stands on the Buchan Ness, at the extremity of the +south bay, is of the utmost importance, both as regards the interest of +the general trade of the port, and the prosecution of the herring +fishery, which is carried on with great success. + +The neighbourhood of Peterhead is renowned for its granite, which is of +a reddish colour and closely resembles that on the west bank of the Lago +Maggiore in Italy. The beautiful pillars in the British Museum, and the +Duke of York's column in Waterloo-Place, are specimens of it; and +materials for many of our public buildings, such as the docks at +Sheerness, have also been furnished from the quarries of Peterhead. + + + + +[Illustration: MACDUFF, NEAR BANFF.] + + + + +MACDUFF. + + + "... A place, where industry and health + Their sure abode have found; + Where want has ripened into wealth, + And gladdened all around. + How sweet on that romantic bay + To spend the live-long summer-day!" + +Macduff, which in the course of a century has emerged from its humble +origin of a few fishermen's huts into a town and harbour of no little +importance on this coast, is now an object of increasing interest to all +who delight in tracing the gradual rise and progress of national +prosperity, in the ramifications of our trade and commerce. The town is +situated about a mile and a half to the east of Banff; and in the +grouping of its buildings presents an aspect sufficiently romantic to +arrest the attention of every stranger who has a taste for the +picturesque. The Earl of Fife, on whose property it is built, has +greatly contributed to its advancement in all that regards the comfort +of the inhabitants, and the improvement of its harbour, which is now +considered one of the best in the Moray Frith. At the instance of this +patriotic nobleman, Macduff was created a burgh of barony by his Majesty +George III.; and from that time large sums of money have been annually +expended in improving the town, encouraging industry, and extending the +harbour. The import and export traffic of this port continues on the +increase, and employs numerous vessels that carry on a regular trade +with London and the ports of the Baltic. The exports consist chiefly of +corn, salmon, cod-fish, and granite, for which the quarries of this +coast have been so long known and appreciated. It is also a favourite +fishing-station, and possesses a numerous fleet of boats engaged in the +herring-fishery, which is here prosecuted during the season with great +activity and success; an occupation that has been the means of training +up a larger number of hardy seamen, and thus contributing to the naval +supremacy of our country in a greater degree than any other branch of +the coasting-trade. It has at the same time been instrumental in +providing an important portion of the subsistence of the peasantry in +the district, as well as furnishing a supply for transmission to the +metropolis and the southern part of the Kingdom, and successfully vieing +with the far-famed staple of Yarmouth. The herring-fishery on the coast +of Scotland was long confined, almost exclusively, to the coasts of +Caithness and Sutherland; but owing to the encouragement afforded by +government at the termination of the war, the fishing of herrings was +commenced on the Aberdeen, Banff, Moray, and Rossshire coasts; and it +was soon discovered that the herrings were both as good in quality and +as abundant on the south side of the Moray Frith as on the north. This +trade, from a small beginning, has now become flourishing and extensive; +and although the government bounties have been withdrawn, it is still +carried on with great spirit and activity. The quantity cured within the +district amounts in favourable years to about thirty thousand barrels. + +The town contains a thriving and industrious population of nearly two +thousand: it has a grammar-school, a town-hall, and a jail. The church, +which forms so prominent a feature in the picture, occupies a +conspicuous situation on the eminence, and owes much to the taste and +munificence of Lord Fife, who has erected a fine massy cross in its +immediate precincts, and thereby contributed an ornament which, by its +peculiar elevation, gives additional interest and effect to the whole +scene. + +The bridge across the Devon, by which Macduff communicates with Banff +and the surrounding scenery, is described in our notice of the latter +town and harbour. Owing to the acknowledged excellence of its +accommodation for shipping, Macduff is gradually acquiring fresh +testimony in its favour as a seaport, and promises to insure to its +inhabitants, at no remote period, their full proportion of maritime +prosperity. So be it; and in this wish and prospect every one, who is +acquainted with the place or the people, will cordially sympathize; and +from their known energy and perseverance, there is no reason to doubt of +their securing that commercial success which they labour so strenuously +to obtain, and to which their natural position so much entitles them. + + + + +[Illustration: BANFF.] + + + + +BANFF. + + +The ancient town of Banff consists of two distinct parts, the first of +which, called the body of the town, lies partly on the lower extremity +of the plain, skirting the river, and partly on the declivity. The +second portion, called the sea-town, stands on an elevated level which +terminates abruptly within a short distance of the sea, by which it is +bounded. When viewed from the low ground beyond the river, the sea-town +appears to stand on a long elevated ridge, as seen in the engraving, and +having the battery on its northern extremity. On a piece of table-land, +projecting midway between the town proper, and sea-town, and nearly +opposite the mouth of the river, stands the Castle, a plain, modern +edifice, but commanding an extensive and varied prospect of the sea, the +town, the hill of Macduff, the sweep of the river, and the beautiful +slope opposite, surmounted by the woods of Mount Coffer. + +The streets of Banff, though composed of houses varying much in size, +are generally straight and of a convenient width. The High-street, +Castle-road, and a street in the sea-town, terminating in the battery, +form a continuous line from south to north, of about half a mile in +length. In the progress of recent improvements, many of the old houses +have been pulled down and replaced by others, so that now scarcely a +feature of primitive architecture is left to remind the spectator of the +olden time--the characteristic dwellings of our forefathers-- + + "When walls of oak and hearts of steel + Stood surety for the public weal." + +About twenty years ago the comfort and convenience of the inhabitants +were greatly promoted by the addition of an excellent market-place, laid +out in a central part of the town and furnished with every necessary +accommodation. Public baths have also been erected by a joint-stock +company, and the town is lighted with gas. + +In the southern approach to Banff, the road is carried over the Doveran +by means of an elegant and substantial stone bridge, consisting of seven +semicircular arches, with a clear water-way of one hundred and forty-two +yards. This handsome structure was finished at the expense of government +in 1779, and is highly ornamental to the town and neighbourhood. From +this point the view of Duff House, in the centre of a beautiful park, is +seen to great advantage. In proof of this, the reader has only to cast +his eye over the engraving, which, to those who have not seen the +original, conveys a faithful and striking resemblance to Banff and its +vicinity. Seen so near as to render its elaborately carved ornaments +visible, the appearance of Duff House is particularly rich, graceful, +and majestic. It contains a fine gallery of paintings, many of them by +the first masters of the art. This baronial mansion, was built nearly a +century ago, after a design by Adams, in the Roman style, but has never +been finished in its original detail. The body of the house is an +oblong, consisting of four lofty stories; the first of which is a rustic +basement, over which rise two stories, adorned with fluted pilasters, +and an entablature in imitation of that on the temple of Jupiter Stator, +in the Campo Vaccino at Rome. Over this entablature, which surrounds the +whole structure, is an attic story, surmounted by a balustrade. The four +corners of the building have projections resembling towers, which break +and vary the outline, overtop the attic story, and are adorned at the +angles by an upper range of pilasters with an entablature of the +Composite order, and crowned by dome-like roofs, on which are placed +octagonal pedestal-chimneys. + +The town of Banff has much to recommend it as a residence. It possesses +both coast and inland scenery of a superior description, and is +particularly healthy. It has excellent schools, classical and +commercial; various places of public worship, as observed by the +established Presbyterian, the Episcopalian, the Seceder, and others. It +has abundant markets, frequent and regular mails, public baths, +literary, scientific, and benevolent institutions; boarding-schools, and +society equal at least to what is generally met with in a remote +provincial town. + + + + +[Illustration: PORT GLASGOW.] + + + + +PORT GLASGOW. + + + Here, safely moored, our vessels ride, + Here plies the busy oar; + And every ship that stems the tide + Brings treasures to our shore: + Here trade and industry command + The trusty heart and steady hand. + +The ground on which this town has been erected belonged originally to +the estate of Newark, and was purchased by the magistrates of Glasgow, +in 1668, in order to provide a convenient harbour for the +merchant-vessels belonging to that city--hence the name of Port Glasgow. +In 1775, a charter was obtained from parliament, conferring on the town +the privilege of a burgh of barony, and granting a constitution, which +vested the management of its municipal affairs in a council of thirteen, +including two baillies. By the Burgh-Reform Act, the number was reduced +to nine, consisting of a provost, two baillies, and six councillors. The +Reform Bill elevated it to the rank of a parliamentary burgh; and, in +connexion with Kilmarnock, Rutherglen, Dumbarton, and Renfrew, it sends +one member to parliament. + +In its general appearance, Port Glasgow presents an air of much neatness +and regularity. The streets are straight, and for the most part cross +each other at right angles; while the houses, nearly uniform in size, +and generally whitewashed, give to the whole a light and regular +appearance. Among the modern buildings the town-house, and parish-church +are chiefly deserving of notice. The town-hall, of plain but substantial +workmanship, is ornamented in front with a portico, resting on four +massy fluted pillars, and surmounted with a handsome spire, which rises +from the centre. Of this edifice, the ground-floor has been laid out +chiefly in shops; but the upper story, in addition to the chambers of +the council and town-clerk, contains a large and commodious +reading-room, with several apartments occupied as mercantile +counting-rooms. The church was finished seventeen years ago, and affords +accommodation for about twelve hundred persons. It is square in form, +and plain in its exterior; but is much and deservedly admired for the +simplicity and elegance of its internal arrangement. The wealthy +inhabitants of the place did themselves great honor, and at the same +time set a valuable example to others, by gratuitously contributing a +sum of fifteen hundred pounds to assist in the expenses of its +erection. + +Attached to this Port are two capacious harbours, substantially built, +and so completely sheltered from storms, that the vessels moored within +them have rarely been found to suffer injury even in the severest +weather. These harbours are furnished with ample quay and shed-room, and +also with a commodious graving-dock--the oldest in Scotland. The largest +vessels that trade to the Clyde are found at this port; such is the +facility of access to this harbour, that vessels which draw twenty-one +feet of water are towed up and down the channel with the greatest ease +and safety. + +A very important addition to the harbour accommodations of Port Glasgow +was obtained a few years back in the erection of wet-docks. The then +existing harbours having been found much too small for the increasing +number of ships belonging to the port, the inhabitants of the town +resolved to avail themselves of their local advantages, by converting +the Bay of Newark, naturally adapted to the purpose, into a spacious +dock, where vessels of the largest class might lie securely afloat in +every state of the tide. The trustees of the harbours obtained an act of +parliament, investing them with the necessary powers for carrying this +desirable object into effect; and funds having been secured, they were +enabled to commence the work, which was soon in rapid progress, and +completed about twelve years ago. This dock, having spacious quays, with +a twenty-five feet depth of water alongside, holds out special +advantages to the trade, both in point of safety and convenience. + +The charges levied at this port are on the most moderate scale, and +considerably below the rates imposed at the neighbouring ports. To +merchants engaged in trade with the Clyde, Port Glasgow thus presents +the double advantage of low charges and very superior accommodation; +while, at the same time, the privileges of the warehousing system are on +a footing equal to those of any other port in the kingdom. +Warehouse-room is provided on a very extensive scale, and is open for +the general accommodation of the trade, on very moderate terms. In +addition to the regular bonded warehouses, there is a large area for +receiving wood into bond, and an excellent warehouse for crushing +refined sugars, in which large quantities of that article are prepared +for exportation to the Mediterranean markets. + +Shipbuilding is also carried on at this port to a considerable extent: +of late years the builders have been chiefly employed in the +construction of steamboats, of which they have produced a great number, +some of them of the largest class, and all of very superior workmanship. +From the nature of the trade, the rope-work and canvas factory are here +in a state of constant activity, and give employment to a great number +of hands. The vast improvements effected within the last few years, by +deepening the river, and extending the harbours and docks as already +mentioned, give Port Glasgow just cause to anticipate all the advantages +arising from a prosperous and extending commerce. + + + + +[Illustration: GREENOCK.] + + + + +GREENOCK. + + + "The Clyde, always spacious, and always covered with its + shipping, offers a scene of life and brilliancy unparalleled on + any of our sea-shores; and enhanced by a majestic screen of + mountains to the north, for ever varying under the change of a + restless atmosphere, but under all these changes, for ever + magnificent!" + +Among the principal sea-ports of the United Empire, Greenock is justly +entitled to a distinguished place. Although of comparatively modern +date, it has left many of its ancient predecessors and modern rivals in +the background, and at this moment continues to advance rapidly in +commercial enterprise and prosperity. + +The recent formation of quays and docks of corresponding dimensions, +affords to this harbour every facility for vessels of heavy burthen. The +town possesses several handsome buildings, the principal of which are +the church, the Tontine, or great hotel, and the CUSTOM-HOUSE. Of the +latter, with the immediate scene of commercial activity and forest of +masts by which it is surrounded, the engraving opposite presents a vivid +and faithful representation. It is a structure of great elegance, and, +as an illustration of the chastest style of Grecian architecture, it +would be difficult to point out a finer specimen either at home or +abroad. The quality of the materials too is every way worthy of so fine +a monument of national prosperity; and a fair estimate may be formed of +the superiority of the workmanship, when we state that a sum of not less +than twenty thousand pounds was expended in its erection; a fact which +evinces at the same time the high importance attached to Greenock as a +depot of the national revenue. The river Clyde is here about three miles +broad; but, as also at Port-Glasgow, the navigable channel is little +more than three hundred yards across. The bay is formed by an expansion +of the Clyde, into which several bold points of land project from the +northern bank, over which the mountains of Argyll, gradually receding +till their summits are lost in the sky, present a landscape of almost +Alpine beauty and magnificence. + +In conjunction with the native grandeur of the scenery, the spirit of +commercial enterprise, which is everywhere visible on the banks, as well +as on the bosom of the water--transforming the one into a garden, and +the other into a "high road" to prosperity,--impresses every spectator +with the strongest evidence of its magical influence. Industry and +activity pervade and animate everything around, and extend their +influence into the remotest parts of the country. For several years +past, Greenock has been the principal port in immediate connexion with +America, to which the annual tide of emigration from the Highlands still +flows, though with abated force, and a divided stream, since the golden +hills of Australia have offered to thousands the vision of wealth to be +acquired in a few months, and an independence to be realized in a single +year. Here, grouped on the quay, sauntering along the streets, or +viewing the distant mountains to which they are soon to bid adieu, the +voice and features of the Gaël awaken a lively interest and attention on +the part of every stranger. They have left their humble dwellings in +those mountains, which still look invitingly in the distance, and which +through innumerable generations had afforded shelter and sustenance to +their ancestors, but whence they are driven at last, not by choice, but +imperious necessity. + +When tired or satisfied with the tumultuous scene on the quays, the +traveller may ascend in half an hour the heights above the port, and +there behold one of the finest views in Scotland. The gigantic screen of +Argyllshire mountains, rising peak over peak till they vanish in the +sky, forms a magnificent distance to the picture; while the middle +ground is occupied by the broad expanse of the Clyde, gay and studded +with shipping in every direction. Still nearer, the port of Greenock +itself, crowded with masts and sails, and steam chimneys and buildings, +forms an appropriate foreground to a panorama as variegated as it is +picturesque. + +That generous spirit of enterprise which characterises the merchants of +Greenock has given birth to one of the most remarkable efforts of +science and art which have been accomplished in modern times. This is +the admiration of every stranger, and well known to the public under the +name of Shaw's Water-works. By a singular combination of ingenuity and +skill, a small stream of water is made to travel along the faces of +mountains, and across ravines, for the space of six miles and a half, +till it reaches the brow of a hill about a mile above Greenock, at an +elevation of more than five hundred feet above the level of the sea. +Here it is received into a small reservoir, and managed in such a manner +as to produce, by this stupendous fall, a two-thousand-horse power, +greater, says Mr. Brown, than that produced by all the united +steam-engines in Glasgow. This splendid scheme was designed and +completed under the personal superintendence of Mr. Thom, of Rothesay, +to whose scientific and inventive genius it is a noble and lasting +monument. The immense power thus provided is rendered more secure and +certain than that of steam, because there exists no doubt whatever that +a full supply of water commensurate with the power, can be had at all +times and seasons. + + + + +[Illustration: NEW BRIDGE AND BROOMIELAW GLASGOW.] + + + + +THE BROOMIELAW, GLASGOW. + + +The river Clyde, in a commercial point of view, is of the greatest +importance, not only to the city of Glasgow, but to the whole western +district of Scotland. Till the beginning of the sixteenth century, +however, the channel of this noble river was so incommoded by fords and +shoals, as to be hardly navigable even for the small craft of that day. +Sensible of this great evil, and aware that it admitted of a remedy, the +inhabitants of Glasgow, Renfrew, and Dumbarton entered into an agreement +to excavate the channel of the river, and, by working six weeks +alternately, succeeded in their enterprise. The principal ford and +several others of less importance were removed, so that by the middle of +the sixteenth century, flat-bottomed lighters could be floated with ease +and safety to the landing-shore at the Broomielaw, which, in the process +of time and events, has become the great commercial port of Glasgow. + +A few years ago, the harbour of Broomielaw was only seven hundred and +thirty feet long on one side; it is now 3340 feet long on the north side +of the river, and 1260 on the south. Till of late years there were only +a few _punts_ and ploughs for dredging the river; there are now four +dredging-machines, with powerful steam-apparatus and two diving-bells. +The shed accommodation on both sides of the river is most ample; and one +of the cranes made by Messrs. Claud, Girdwood, and Co., for shipping +steam-boat boilers, is capable of sustaining a weight of _thirty tons_, +and may, for the union of power with elegance of construction, challenge +all the ports in the kingdom. For the space of seven miles below the +city the river is confined within narrow bounds, and the sloping banks, +formed of whinstone, in imitation of ashlar, are unequalled as a work of +beauty and utility. + +From the Broomielaw, till it begins to expand into an estuary, the Clyde +is everywhere overlooked, at short intervals, by the rising hulls and +finished decks of steam-boats and other craft preparing for the launch. +Compared with the bulk of its waters, and the breadth of its stream, +this river is unequalled for the amount and stir of its navigation. Here +it is seen bearing along ships of heavy burden and deep draught of +water; there plentifully dotted with yawls and wherries, and kept in a +constant state of foaming agitation by large steam-ships, freighted with +heavy cargoes from the shores of England and Ireland--by numerous +coasting steam-vessels, careering over its surface with thousands of +human beings, and by steam tug-boats, dragging behind them trains of +sailing craft, too unwieldy to pilot their own way within its narrow +channel. First in the practical working of steam-ship architecture, the +Clyde may be safely said to maintain its pre-eminence over every other +river in the world. + +THE BROOMIELAW BRIDGE, which forms so prominent a feature in the +engraving, was begun after a design by Mr. Telford, the late celebrated +engineer, and built by Messrs. Gibb and Son. It is faced with Aberdeen +granite, and has a very gentle acclivity. It is 560 feet in length over +the _newals_, and sixty feet in width over the parapets: it has seven +arches, and is wider than any river-bridge in the kingdom. + +_Tides._--The tide at Greenock is two hours earlier than at Glasgow. At +places situated near the ocean, the tide flows nearly as long as it +ebbs. At Greenock it flows generally about six hours, but at Glasgow it +flows only for five hours and ebbs in about seven; this, however, is +modified by the winds. High winds in the Clyde affect the time and +elevation of high-water; and by considering the form and course of the +Frith of Clyde, it is obvious that a gale from a northerly quarter, by +opposing the flow of the tide, will cause the _time_ of high-water to be +earlier, and the _height_ of the water to be less, than would otherwise +be the case; while a gale from an opposite direction, acting in concert +with the flowing tide, will produce a contrary effect. + +The merchants and citizens of Glasgow have ever been characterised as a +loyal, patriotic, and generous people. When the country was suffering +under civil war, they raised an armed force in defence of their civil +and religious liberties, and when menaced by the enemies of their +country they stood nobly forward in its defence. In times of local +distress their liberality knows no bounds; and their support of +religious and benevolent institutions has never been surpassed in any +community. That the citizens of Glasgow have done honour to departed +worth is abundantly proved by the monuments and statues erected in the +city; and that their gratitude is not confined to the dead is daily +evinced by their respect and admiration of living merit. Such is the +testimony borne to them by one of their fellow-citizens. Such they are +known to be in their intercourse with strangers; and none, we will +venture to say, have ever spent a week in the precincts of the +Broomielaw, and shared in its hospitalities, without a cordial assent to +the city motto--_Let Glasgow flourish!_ + + + + +[Illustration: THE SOLWAY. + +(from Harrington Harbour)] + + + + +THE SOLWAY FRITH, + +FROM HARRINGTON PIER. + + + "The sun sets with a rosy smile + On Criffel's peak and Mona's isle; + The wave assumes a deeper blue, + The mountain wears a brighter hue, + And many a seaman on the mast + Unfurls his canvas to the blast." + +Harrington is a small maritime village, about two miles from Workington, +with a commodious harbour opening on St. George's Channel, which is a +prolific source of industry to this portion of the coast. The outward +trade consists chiefly of coal and lime, in both of which the immediate +district abounds. The limekilns of Dissington, and the coal-mines of +Workington are the sources from which these exports are obtained in +excellent quality, and which employ a great number of hands in the +several departments of mining, burning, carting, and exportation to the +opposite coasts of Scotland, Ireland, and the Isle of Man, where the +cargoes are readily disposed of, and such articles selected for +importation as the season, or the peculiar state of the markets at home, +appear to recommend. In this manner a degree of local prosperity is +insured, and another efficient nursery of seamen kept up by the spirited +ship-owners in their regular intercourse with the neighbouring coasts. +It is by the combined influence of such nurseries that the maritime +power of England first acquired, and still maintains, her supremacy at +sea; and to the thousand harbours by which she is encircled she is +indebted for those naval victories which, under Providence, have +preserved her integrity and independence amidst the shock of surrounding +nations. The humblest fisherman on the waters of the Solway, if +thoroughly skilled in the management of his trim-built craft, is not +without his importance in the scale of national utility; for the same +qualifications which give him superiority among the comrades of his +hardy calling, would procure him distinction on the deck of a +seventy-four. No effort should be spared to encourage nautical science +wherever men and ships are to be found on our coasts. "Britannia rules +the waves" only by those "hearts of oak" which have been so long and +devotedly at her command, and her real strength and security consist, +not in the number of her ships or their weight of metal, but in the +education and discipline of her native seamen, whose uncompromising +gallantry has long passed into a proverb. But from this digression we +return to the subject more particularly under notice. + +Harrington, it appears, was the hereditary domain of the ancient and +baronial family of that name, the title of which became extinct in 1457. +It was proposed to carry the railway, alluded to in our notice of +Maryport, across the upper part of Harrington, by means of a bridge or +viaduct; but the objections to such a measure, so far as it would affect +the maritime interests of this place are insurmountable. The report of +the committee appointed by the Lords of the Treasury to examine this +subject on the spot is as follows: "The whole extent of this harbour is +only seven hundred and sixty-two feet in length, and two hundred and +twenty in breadth, and as it is used as well for a port of refuge as for +lading, and there is an insufficiency of space for vessels to anchor and +swing in, an artificial beach has been formed at the eastern or upper +end, on which they are enabled to bring up. The proposed viaduct would +cut off about a third of the harbour. This would not only be +objectionable on account of its diminishing the capacity of the port, +but also by its depriving the shipping of the artificial beach to which +we have just alluded. The objection to curtailing the size of the +harbour will be apparent, when we state that the harbour-master supplied +us with a return, verified by the Custom-house officer, by which we find +that in the course of the year, 1839, no fewer than _five hundred and +ten_ vessels used this port; and that during the gales of wind it was +frequently so full that they were in actual contact from side to side. +After well considering this part of the subject, we are of opinion that, +whatever expense or other inconvenience it might cause, it would be +necessary to adopt some other mode of carrying the railway past +Harrington than that proposed." + +The population of this port is gradually increasing. The number of +shipping is also increased; and altogether Harrington may be pronounced +as in a flourishing condition. The light now at the pier-head was first +used in 1797, and is always exhibited when there is a depth of eight +feet water in the harbour. It is a fixed light, hoisted upon a mast +forty-four feet above high water, and in clear weather may be seen at +the distance of ten miles at sea. + + + + +[Illustration: ALLONBY.] + + + + +ALLONBY. + +CUMBERLAND. + + + "Why droops my Flower of Allerdale! + So sad, so pensive, and so pale; + Whence the tear that dims thine eye-- + That downcast look and frequent sigh! + The breeze of ALLONBY shall bring + Back to thy cheek the rose of Spring." + +The banks of the Solway are much frequented during the summer months by +families from the interior, who resort thither for the benefit of +sea-bathing, to which great importance is attached as a preventive, no +less than a curative, process in the economy of health. Among the +various localities selected for this enjoyment, Allonby bears a +long-established reputation, and is annually resorted to by many +families of distinction and respectability, from both sides of the +Channel, who seek, in the invigorating air of the sea, the pleasures of +social intercourse, and in the delicious walks and drives with which the +coast abounds, the restoration of health or temporary relaxation from +business. Several of the distinguished public characters of the day have +here spent the recesses of Parliament, and found in the tranquillising +atmosphere of Allonby a safe remedy for the enervating influence of the +capital, and the cares and irritations of public life. It was long a +favourite resort of the Scottish gentry, and still maintains a degree of +pre-eminence as an attractive watering-place. The accommodation at the +hotels is excellent, and they are furnished with every convenience for +hot-baths. + +Allonby is only five miles from Maryport, and ten from Wigton, and is +flanked by a fine undulating country, celebrated as a field for rural +sports, and industriously cultivated by a numerous and thriving +population. The village itself is small, its permanent inhabitants being +considerably under a thousand, most of whom depend upon the annual +visitors, and a share in the herring-fishery, for the means of life. The +latter, however, has become much less productive than formerly; the +herrings are very capricious in their visits, and, according to +Hutchinson, after continuing the same annual track for ten years, change +their route, and only resume their visit after an interval of ten years. +In this respect, says our authority, they are as regular as the tides +or the vicissitudes of the seasons: but, as annual "customers" for the +net, these savoury visitors are not to be depended upon; and although, +like Owen Glendower, the anxious fisherman may call up "spirits from the +vasty deep," the question is, will they come? + +Allonby has the benefit of good assembly-rooms, a reading-room, a free +school, and two other daily schools; and here too that exemplary body of +men--the Quakers--who are numerous and influential in this county, have +a meeting-house. The character of these dissenters from the Established +Church is generally praiseworthy; and in this part of Cumberland, where +they have long been established, their reputation as a moral, peaceable, +and industrious community, is established by the daily evidence of facts +and the testimony of all who have enjoyed their intimate and personal +intercourse. The Society of Friends--such as they are in this +district--bear a closer resemblance to those primitive Christians +secluded among the Alps of Piedmont than to any other religious body +with which we are acquainted. + +Allonby enjoys the honour of having given birth, in 1741, to Captain +Joseph Huddart, of the Royal Society, a man of great scientific +acquirements, and eminent as a naval engineer and hydrographer. The +patronage of the chapel founded here by the Rev. Dr. Thomlinson, and +consecrated in the eventful year 1745, is vested in the representatives +of that distinguished churchman. The Gill, a seat of the Reay family; +West Newton, the ancient residence of the Musgraves; Langrigg Hall, the +fortalice of the Barwis family, are among the domestic relics of the +"olden time," which give an interesting character to this district. But, +with the fall of that despotism from which they rose, these feudal +mansions have been left to decay, except in a few instances where the +progress of dilapidation has been arrested by the taste of the +proprietor, and the Border tower of his ancestors preserved as a +landmark to indicate the vast progress which has been effected since +then in all the departments of civilised life. Crookdake Hall, +celebrated as the residence of "the worthy warrior, Adam of Crookdake," +is now a farm-house; and in the very court, probably, where the knight +and his retainers once donned their mail for the onslaught, or displayed +their booty after a successful raid across the "marches," the spectator +sees only the homely instruments of domestic husbandry, where the sword +is literally "converted to a ploughshare, and the spear to a +pruning-hook." + + + + +[Illustration: MARYPORT.] + + + + +MARYPORT, + +CUMBERLAND. + + + "Here Solway's silver wave expands; + There Scotia's mountains gleam; + While Skiddaw's giant crest commands + Hill, valley, lake, and stream." + +Maryport derives its name from that of a patriotic lady in the +neighbourhood, the wife of Mr. Humphry Senhouse, of Netherhall,[15] who, +in 1750, took a lively interest in the place, and, with the assistance +of her family connexion and the spirited inhabitants of the place, +succeeded in raising it to the distinction of a port town; a title to +which it has added many additional claims within the last ten years. The +original name was Ellenfoot, so called from its situation at the +embouchure of the river Elne with the Solway. It is a chapelry of Cross +Canonby, or Crosby--a parochial village about three miles distant; in +the church, dedicated to St. John, are several ancient monuments of the +Senhouse family, already mentioned, one of whom, Richard Senhouse, was +bishop of Carlisle in 1624. + +The commerce of Maryport, according to the last report, is decidedly on +the increase; and the many advantages it possesses for ship-building and +refitting are more and more appreciated by all trading-vessels +frequenting this coast. The exports consist principally of coal for +Scotland and Ireland, which is furnished in great abundance by +collieries in this district, and affords the means of comfortable +subsistence to a hardy race of seamen, who, in the hour of danger, have +often "done the state some service." The importations consist of timber, +flax, and iron, from the Baltic, and various articles of domestic +utility from the opposite coasts. The herring-fishery has hitherto been +prosecuted with great success; upwards of twenty boats were lately +engaged in this enterprise. In winter, the boat-crews are employed in +the taking of cod-fish, which is here caught in great abundance, and +finds a ready sale on the market-days of Tuesday and Friday. The river +Ellen, or Elne, affords no inconsiderable supply of salmon-trout during +the season; and as the daily steam-vessels running between Carlisle, +the Scottish coast, and Liverpool, generally touch at Maryport for the +convenience of passengers, there is a constant air of bustle and +activity about the pier that renders the place very agreeable as a +sojourn in the summer months. The view across the Frith is one of the +finest on the coast, and the inland scenery is proverbially beautiful. +It is only six miles from Cockermouth; and is further enlivened by the +continual traffic along the great coast-road which connects it with +Carlisle on the east, and with Workington and Whitehaven on the west. + +The county of Cumberland abounds in vestiges of Roman domination, and to +the eye of the antiquary presents a fertile field of investigation. Of +all these, however, the Roman wall is the most remarkable. It was built +by the Emperor Adrian early in the second century, as a barrier against +the Caledonians, and extended across the whole island from sea to sea. +Its length was one hundred miles, and its breadth six feet, by twelve in +height. In its course it had twenty-five strong castles, planted at +regular distances; the foundations of which, as well as of the wall +itself, can still be traced, and in some places present a solid mass of +several feet above the ground. Besides these there are also Roman, +Danish, or Saxon encampments, in various parts of the county, as well as +ancient Roman and British causeways, and several remains of Druidical +circles. + +The great store of antiquarian treasure lies, however, at a short walk +from Maryport, where the Romans have left abundant proofs of their long +sojourn on the banks of the Solway. The character of the present work, +however, does not permit our enlarging on this subject; but to all those +who visit Allonby or Maryport during the summer, and have a taste for +antiquarian lore, the scene thus briefly adverted to will furnish a +source of many classical reminiscences. + +[15] Netherhall, the seat of Humphry Senhouse, Esq., contains a fine +collection of Roman antiquities, found at Ellenborough. It was visited, +so far back as 1599, by Sir Robert Cotton and his friend Camden. + + + + +[Illustration: MARY-PORT PIER. + +Dedicated to the Rev. Humphrey Archer Hervey, Vicar of Bridekirk.] + + + + +MARYPORT PIER. + + +The subject of our engraving is a scene but too often visible on our +coasts, and by no means peculiar to Maryport. The storm is evidently +exhausting its fury upon the Pier and Lighthouse in vain, they are +destined to sustain the shock of many such rude assaults, and to afford +that shelter and warning to mariners so requisite in the hour of Ocean's +rage. The coast of Cumberland is at all times of the year rough and +inhospitable to the sailor; but at the equinoxes, especially the +autumnal one, its dangers are more imminent; and the trading vessels in +the Solway Frith and Irish Channel, are exposed to serious risk. Owing +to the numerous shoals and sand-banks lying at various points, the +navigation is at all times intricate; and even to those best acquainted +with its peculiarities, the passage from Ireland is frequently attended +with greater hazard than many longer voyages. + +The Town of Maryport is the subject of another view, and in the notice +accompanying it will be found such particulars as we could glean in +connection with this small but bustling port. The Pier itself, though +well adapted for the purposes of illustration, is not a subject upon +which we can profitably occupy the reader's attention; we shall, +therefore, avail ourselves of the opportunity thus afforded us to say a +few words upon one of the finest of the English lakes, situated within a +few miles of Maryport, and a visit to which is a favourite excursion +with its inhabitants and visitors. It is to the far-famed Derwent Water +that we allude. It occupies a beautiful valley, surrounded by romantic +mountains; its shores and islands, covered with luxurious wood, and +towards Keswick its northern extremity opening to a spacious and fertile +plain. The mountains on the eastern side of the lake are finely broken, +in some places presenting precipices mingled with copse-wood and +verdure; the chasms of the rocks discharging a great many streams in +beautiful falls. The mountains on the western side of Derwent Water are +more regular in their forms, generally verdant, and adorned with a +profusion of wood near the water's edge. At the southern extremity of +the lake, three miles from the town, is Lowdore waterfall, the height of +which is said to be not less than 200 feet. It is a very considerable +stream, rushing through an immense chasm, and bounding over huge blocks +of stone, with which the channel is filled. Near the fall is Gowdar +Crag and Shepherd's Crag, constituting one of the finest scenes amongst +the lakes. + +The manor of Derwentwater belonged to a family which derived their name +from it. In the reign of Henry VI., the heiress of Sir John de +Derwentwater married Sir Nicholas Radcliffe, of Dilston, in +Northumberland, whose descendant, Sir Francis Radcliffe, was created by +King James II. Earl of Derwentwater, &c. James, the second earl, having +been engaged in the rebellion of 1715, was beheaded on Tower-hill; and +the Derwentwater estates, becoming forfeited to the Crown, were granted +to Greenwich Hospital, by Act of Parliament. Lords' Island, in the lake, +was the residence of the earls. + +The beautiful scenery of Derwent Water, said to be about ten miles in +circumference, has often been described. St. Herbert's Island is named +from a hermitage dedicated to that saint. Vicar's Island formerly +belonged to Fountain's Abbey. Rampsholm, a small island, is covered with +wood. The fish in greatest estimation in the lake is a sort of salmon +trout. The celebrated mountain Skiddaw, in this vicinity, said to be +about 3036 feet in height, extends to several townships; that part which +is in Crossthwaite parish is within the townships of Under Skiddaw and +Crossthwaite, and comprises the manor of Brundholm. The mountain is easy +of access; and, standing in some measure detached, the view from the +summit, particularly to the north and west, is not intercepted by other +mountains: it comprehends the principal part of the county, including +the coast from St. Bees Head to the head of Solway Frith, with its +several bays and promontories, the Isle of Man, and a considerable +portion of the southern part of Scotland. The summit of +Ingleborough-hill, in Yorkshire, may be seen over the range of hills +bounding the head of Ullswater; and a glimpse of the sea near Lancaster +is obtained through the gap of Dunmel Raise. Derwent Water and +Bassenthwaite lake are the only lakes seen, and but one of these from +the summit. The views from the neighbouring mountains may exceed in +grandeur the view from the summit of this, but in no other ascent are +the prospects equalled, which unfold themselves when overlooking the +lake and vale of Keswick, with Borrowdale and Newlands mountains. + + + + +[Illustration: WORKINGTON. + +(Cumberland.)] + + + + +WORKINGTON, + +CUMBERLAND. + + + When MARY lost the Scottish throne + And saw the Stuarts' sceptre fall, + She fled--but found in Workington + A friend and hospitable hall. + +The town and harbour of Workington is situated on the south bank of the +Derwent, near its entrance to the Irish sea; it is about seven miles +north of Whitehaven, and thirty-four south of Carlisle. It is divided +into the upper and lower towns. Leland, in his venerable _Itinerary_, +describes "Wyrkenton" as "a lytle prety fyssher-town;" and in his day, +indeed, most of the maritime stations on this coast, which have +subsequently risen into importance, were nothing more than "pretty +little fisher-towns." It is also noticed by Camden as distinguished for +its salmon-fishery, owing to its favourable position at the mouth of the +river Derwent, whose scenery holds so distinguished a place in the +poetry of the Lakes. + +The public buildings of Workington are chiefly of modern date, and the +houses disposed into two clusters in that called the Upper town. In the +area of the new square is the corn-market, and at a short distance are +the assembly rooms and theatre, both of which, though small, are by no +means destitute of taste and elegance. It has a weekly market on +Wednesday for corn, and on Wednesday and Saturday for butchers' meat. +The church of St. Michael, forming a prominent object in the centre of +the Engraving, is a rectory in the patronage of the Curwen family, and +contains a monument of Sir Patrick Curwen, Bart., who died in 1661. The +chief source of industry here, as at Whitehaven and other towns of the +coast, is the coal-mines, which, in the vicinity of Workington, amount +to sixteen or upwards, with a depth of from forty to ninety fathoms. The +coal lies in bands or seams, divided from each other by intermediate +strata. Of these the uppermost is generally three feet thick, the second +four, and the third, or lowest, from ten to twelve feet. The extraneous +matter that separates the former varies considerably; but the covering +of the main coal is of the finest white freestone, about twenty yards +thick. When the "new seam," as it was then called, was first discovered +at Chapel-bank, the event was celebrated by the late proprietor, Mr. +Curwen, by a splendid festival, and a vast concourse of the inhabitants +and neighbours assembled to drink success to the "black diamond." + +The quantity of coal shipped from this port, per week, amounted latterly +to two thousand tons or upwards, and the raising of which, with the aid +of several steam-engines, afford employment to between six and seven +hundred workmen. The agricultural society of Workington has contributed +much to the improvement of the county, and owes its origin to the +spirited and indefatigable example of the late proprietor of these +mines. A staith or loading stage for collier vessels is seen on the +right hand of the illustration. It is an object more valuable for its +utility than for any beauty in an artistic point of view; but it is a +distinguishing characteristic of all the ports engaged in the +coal-trade, and, wherever it can be rendered available, reduces the +expenses of the coal-owner, by obviating the necessity for keels or +lighters. + +The mansion of the Curwen family--or hall, as it is more generally +designated--was formerly a castle of great strength; and, +notwithstanding the numerous alterations it has undergone since the +feudal epoch, still presents a noble and imposing feature in the +landscape. In this hospitable fortalice Queen Mary was received and +entertained by its generous owner, the ancestor of the present Mr. +Curwen, till the royal pleasure of Elizabeth could be ascertained as to +her future disposal. The chamber in which she slept is still a recording +testimony of the fact, and retains the name of the "Queen's chamber," +where we may well believe-- + + "Uneasy lay the head that wore a crown." + +The mountains of Cumberland--some of which form the background in the +present view--are exceedingly numerous, lofty, and of striking +conformation. Around the lakes they are often finely grouped, generally +clothed with copse-wood: here pastoral, and dotted with flocks; and +there rugged, precipitous, and hewn into deep ravines by those +thundering torrents which convey their foaming tribute to the lakes. +Every mountain in Cumberland has its name celebrated in poetry--every +lake has been the subject of some inspired lyric; and such was the +favour in which the charming scenery of this county was held by several +of the master-spirits of the age, that the lakes of Cumberland and the +adjoining county were adopted as their residence, and from their banks +the strains of Wordsworth and Southey were welcomed as the genuine +emanations of inspired minds. + + + + +[Illustration: WHITEHAVEN, + +(with St. Bees-head.)] + + + + +WHITEHAVEN, + +CUMBERLAND. + + + "The town beneath, the sea before thee; + Fruitful groves and flow'ry dells; + Rocks and headlands tow'ring o'er thee, + All behind thee--lakes and fells! + + "Look around thee, gentle stranger, + On harvest fields and pastures green;-- + In lands where thou hast been a ranger, + Fairer hast thou ever seen!" + +The town of Whitehaven may be considered as a national monument to the +creative influence of trade. Favoured by the geological character of its +soil, and fostered by native industry, it has risen in the comparatively +brief interval of a hundred and eighty years, to a position of eminence +among the minor ports and harbours of Great Britain. What in the middle +of the seventeenth century consisted, according to written testimony, of +only six fishermen's huts and one small bark, is now a flourishing town, +enlivened by trade and commerce, with a commodious harbour, extensive +shipping, and enterprising merchants. + +The bay on which the town of Whitehaven is erected is so deeply seated, +that the adjacent shore, rising like the grades of a magnificent +amphitheatre, appears to enclose it on every side. In approaching it +from the north, the stranger is uniformly struck with its sheltered +position, and from the heights looks down upon it as on a map spread at +his feet. From the south the view is particularly beautiful. The town is +well built, the streets wide and enlivened with well-furnished shops, +and inhabited by a cheerful and thriving population. Like Longtown, on +the Border, Whitehaven is built after a correct plan; the streets cross +each other at right angles, presenting much architectural regularity, +and combining with the air of internal comfort the outward signs of +taste and elegance. The public improvements continue to advance in +proportion to the extent of commercial intercourse, and to this, +apparently, every succeeding year throws open some new channel. The +introduction of steam-navigation between all the adjacent as well as +opposite coasts, has powerfully contributed to stimulate the native +industry of the place, by increasing the demand for coal--its staple +produce--to which we shall more particularly advert in our notice of the +harbour. + +The situation of Whitehaven in a narrow valley, extending to the village +of St. Bees--a distance of several miles--unites with the appearance of +seclusion much of that picturesque beauty for which the inland districts +of the county are so justly celebrated. St. Bees'-head is a bold and +striking feature, and contrasts admirably with the softer scenes from +which it projects, as the most imposing landmark on this part of the +Channel. + +The population of Whitehaven has greatly increased within the last ten +years. The neighbouring villages, farms, and pastures, all indicate +progressive advancement in the several branches of domestic industry. +The land is highly cultivated, and in many instances fertile and +productive; while the orchards and gardens, by the nature and abundance +of their produce, bear friendly testimony to the mildness of the +climate. + +To the Lowther family, who have a handsome castle here, Whitehaven owes +its foundation as a borough, and much of its prosperity as a trading +port. To the munificence of its patrons--and especially to the Earl of +Lonsdale, who has spared neither personal expense nor political +influence to facilitate every object which held out the promise of +permanent advantage to the inhabitants, it is eminently indebted. And in +return, it may be justly observed, that whatever the patron has expended +in improving the town and harbour, the people have repaid by increased +attachment to the interests of their benefactor. The inhabitants of +Whitehaven are noted for their public spirit, honourable conduct in +trade, and for that indefatigable attention to business which has so +happily distinguished them through a long series of years. It has +several schools, two weekly papers, and the study of literature and +science is much cultivated and encouraged by the families of affluence +and respectability who reside in the town and vicinity. Social and +hospitable intercourse, with balls, assemblies, and public fetes, render +the stranger's residence at Whitehaven extremely agreeable. It offers, +in general, all the luxuries of a country town, with few or none of its +disadvantages; and presents at all times the means of prompt intercourse +with the great commercial emporium of Liverpool, the coasts of Scotland, +Ireland, Wales, and the Isle of Man. Independently of its immediate +vicinity to the Lakes, it would be difficult to point out any situation +in the northern counties which enjoys so many attractions in regard to +situation, scenery, and society, as the picturesque and prosperous town +of Whitehaven. + + + + +[Illustration: WHITEHAVEN HARBOUR.] + + + + +WHITEHAVEN HARBOUR. + + +In another article we have given some descriptive particulars of the +town of Whitehaven and its vicinity, and have therefore in the present +instance to confine our attention to the harbour, an excellent view of +which forms the subject of our engraving. + +We have previously stated that Whitehaven is mainly indebted to the +Lowther family for its rise and progress as a trading port. By Sir John +Lowther, an ancestor of this house, the lands of the dissolved monastery +of St. Bees were purchased for his second son, Sir Christopher, early in +the reign of Charles the First; and, as the use of coals first became +general at this period, the new proprietor determined on improving his +estate by opening a colliery. In this, however, little progress was made +till after the Restoration, when Sir John Lowther, his successor, formed +a plan for working the mines on a very extensive scale, and with this +view obtained considerable grants of unappropriated land in the +district, which was secured to him in 1666. Two years later he obtained +a further accession of property, including a parliamentary gift of the +whole sea-coast for two miles northward, between high and low +water-mark. He next turned his attention to the port, which was neither +large nor convenient, and by his judicious schemes laid the foundation +of the present haven. Since that important epoch it has been greatly and +gradually improved, particularly since an act of parliament was obtained +to finish the original plan, and to keep it in repair, by a moderate +tonnage on shipping. In its present form it is protected and +strengthened by several piers, or moles, of compact stonework, three of +which project in parallel lines from the land; a fourth, bending in the +form of a crescent, has a watchhouse and battery, with a handsome +lighthouse at its extremity. At low water, the port is nearly dry, so +that the shipping within the moles lie as if in dry docks. + +Adjoining the harbour, on the west side of the town, is the +coal-_staith_, or magazine, where coal for exportation is deposited to +the amount of several thousand waggon-loads. Eight or ten, and +occasionally twelve, vessels, each carrying a hundred tons and upwards, +are commonly loaded at one tide, at an expense of only ten shillings +each, so great are the facilities contrived for this purpose. The method +is this: the greatest part of the road from the pit runs along an +inclined plain, on which are railways communicating with covered +galleries, which terminate in large flues, or _hurries_, placed sloping +over the quay. When loaded, the waggons run by their own weight from the +pit to the magazine, where, their bottoms being struck out, the coals +are dropped into the _hurries_, and thence with a noise like thunder +descend into the holds of the vessels. + +Whitehaven forms one of a chain of ports on the north-western coast of +England, which owe their commercial importance to the demand for coals. +This branch of trade has long been famous as a nursery of hardy and +intelligent seamen, and the naval service of the country has, in times +of war, been chiefly indebted to the numerous body of men who have, +either voluntarily or by compulsion, exchanged their services from the +humble collier to a more distinguished, though less lucrative, position +on the deck of a line-of-battle ship. Years have now passed since there +has been any occasion to disturb the arrangements of our commercial +marine for this purpose; and it is to be fervently hoped that the +advancing civilisation of the age will preclude the re-enactment of such +scenes of misery and crime as must ever accompany the system of +impressment and forced service. + +Most of the coal exported from this haven is conveyed to Ireland; and +the annual quantity raised, on an average of twenty years, was formerly +under 100,000 chaldrons; but of late years the export trade in this +department is understood to have greatly increased. In the Whitehaven +coal-mines there have happened from time to time lamentable catastrophes +by the explosion of foul air, attended by great sacrifice of life. It is +painful to reflect, that, with all the means which, in this scientific +and inventive age, have been recommended and adopted, no effectual plan +has hitherto been devised for the prevention of these sad and appalling +accidents. + + + + +[Illustration: ST. BEES COLLEGE.] + + + + +ST. BEES' COLLEGE. + + + "C'est-là qu'amante du désert, + La méditation avec plaisir se perd + Sous ces portiques saints." + + DELILLE. + +The village of St. Bees is a place of great antiquity, and holds a +distinguished place among the theological seminaries of the kingdom, +owing to the high reputation of the late Dr. Ainger, and his able and +distinguished successor, the Rev. W. Buddicom, principal of the college. +The chapel, which is built of freestone, is part of an ancient church +belonging to a monastery, founded here by St. Bega, a holy woman of the +seventh century. The form of the building is that of a cross. The +western portion, or nave, is now fitted up as the parish church, the +great door of which is ornamented with grotesque heads, chevron +mouldings, and other ornamental work in the ancient ecclesiastical +style. It formerly contained a large wooden statue of Anthony, the last +Lord Lucy of Egremont. + +The original building having been destroyed by the Danes, William, son +of Ralph de Meschines, Earl of Cumberland, undertook its restoration in +the reign of Henry the First, and made it a cell for the prior and six +Benedictine monks to the Abbey of St. Mary, at York. It was endowed, at +the dissolution of monasteries and religious houses, with a hundred and +fifty pounds, and granted by Edward the Sixth, along with the manor, +rectory, and other estates, to Sir Thomas Challoner; but afterwards +revoked, and given by Queen Mary to the Bishop of Chester and his +successors. + +The eastern part of the abbey, built in the thirteenth century, was +fitted up about twenty-four years ago as a college, containing a public +hall and lecture-room for the students, the end of the ancient +cross-aisle being converted into a library, with an excellent collection +of approved works on divinity. This valuable institution was commenced +under the auspices of the late Bishop of Chester, Dr. Law. Its object is +to afford such young men of the northern provinces as have not the +opportunity of prosecuting their studies at Oxford or Cambridge, the +means of fitting themselves for entering into holy orders; and the +success which has already attended this pious and patriotic measure has +been highly gratifying. Previous to admission, it is expected that every +candidate shall furnish evidence of his having received a classical +school-education, with testimonials of moral character; and, after two +years' study, he is entitled to be received on trial for ordination. A +gentleman who lately studied here, and who is now a most efficient and +zealous minister of the Church, speaks in very favourable terms of the +judicious arrangement which has latterly marked the theological course +at St. Bees; and improvements still more decided, it appears, are in +contemplation under its present administration. + +Edmund Grindall, Archbishop of Canterbury, was a native of Hensingham, +in this parish; and, in 1583, obtained letters-patent for the foundation +of a free grammar-school at St. Bees, in which gratuitous instruction in +the classics was provided for a hundred boys. This institution is under +the management of a corporation of seven governors, two of whom are the +provost of Queen's College, Oxford, and the rector of Egremont. + +It has produced several learned characters, among whom was the pious Dr. +Hall,[16] bishop of Norwich, whose eventful life is familiar to every +reader of ecclesiastical history. Much of the prosperity of the village +of St. Bees depends on the lodgings which it supplies to the students +during term. + +The parish of St. Bees is of great extent; and, judging from the ruins +still observable, must have been fortified by the Romans at all the +convenient landing-places along the shore, which here, and particularly +to the northward, presents many vestiges of their military occupation. +The village stands on the margin of the bay formed by the southern +promontory of St. Bees'-head. + +[16] Dr. Hall was born in 1574, and, in 1624, refused the see of +Gloucester; but three years afterwards accepted that of Exeter, from +which he was translated, in 1641, to that of Norwich. A few years +subsequent to this event he was sent to the tower, with twelve other +prelates, for protesting against any laws passed in Parliament during +their forced absence from the House. In June of the following year he +obtained his release; but shortly after suffered much persecution from +the Puritans, who plundered his house and despoiled the cathedral. His +private estate was also sequestered; and thus in his old age he was +reduced to poverty, which he bore with great fortitude, and continued to +preach as long as his health permitted. He was author of the well-known +_Meditations_, was a poet of considerable genius, and with great wit and +learning united a spirit of true meekness and piety. His works have +gained for him the appellation of "the Christian Seneca." He died in +1656. + + + + +[Illustration: ST. BEES HEAD.] + + + + +ST. BEES'-HEAD. + + + "When tempests rage, and nights are long and dark, + The 'Light of Barath' guides the wilder'd bark." + +This lofty headland, anciently known as the "Cliff of Barath," is a +conspicuous object to vessels in the north-east part of the Irish +channel--bold, abrupt, and precipitous towards the sea; but presenting, +as it slopes inland, a fine undulating and pastoral mass of verdure, +through which, at intervals, projecting fragments of rock discover its +geological character. The succession of deeply indented and rugged +precipices which it presents seaward, is singularly wild and +picturesque; and during gales from the southward the scene is one of the +most sublime that can be conceived. + +The lighthouse which occupies the summit, was first erected in 1718, +with a fixed light at an elevation of three hundred and thirty-three +feet above high water, which in clear weather is visible at a distance +of twenty miles. But in January, 1823, a new light, consisting of nine +reflectors, was first exhibited, which has doubtless been the means of +rescuing from destruction many lives and much valuable property. + +The view from the summit of this cliff is particularly +striking--embracing all the bolder features of the Scottish shore--the +Isle of Man, and an expanse of sea which, however the wind may blow, is +always enlivened with shipping. Besides the exportation of coal, which +is immense, there are several vessels employed in the exportation of +lime, freestone, alabaster, and grain, and in the importation of West +Indian, American, and Baltic produce, flax and linen from Ireland, and +pig-iron from Wales. + +The parish of St. Bees, is very extensive, and includes some picturesque +mountain scenery, among which may be enumerated the views from those +peculiarly named hills Hard-knot, Wry-nose, and Scafell. The highest +point of this range, Scafell, is three thousand one hundred and sixty +feet above the level of the sea, at this height very little vegetation +is met with; huge masses of stone piled one upon the other, in +alternations of different strata, give to the whole a ridged or furrowed +appearance of a singular character. The visitors to "the Lakes" may here +gratify their taste for the romantic by visiting the beautiful valley of +Buttermere, situated about midway between St. Bees and Keswick. This +lake or mere, so widely known and so highly praised, is about a mile and +a quarter in length, and nearly half a mile in breadth; it is connected +by a little stream with Crummock lake, which has three or four small +islands, but these are placed too near the shore to add much to its +beauty. The best general views of the lake are from the Hause, a rocky +point on the eastern side, and from the road between Scale-hill and +Lowes-water. Both lakes are well stocked with trout and char. Scale +Force, near Buttermere, has a fall of more than one hundred and fifty +feet, and is very nearly perpendicular, besides uniting its waters with +a small fall below: it is said to be the deepest in the lake district. +The water is precipitated into a tremendous chasm between two mural +rocks of sienite, beautifully overhung with trees, which have their +roots in the crevices, and the sides are clad with a profusion of plants +which glitter in the spray of the fall. At Buttermere is situated the +Sour Milk Gill, a waterfall so termed from the frothy whiteness of its +surface, which has been supposed to resemble butter-milk fresh from the +churn. The temptation to indulge in reminiscences of the innumerable +views of interest with which this vicinity abounds, has led us to ramble +far from the description of the promontory which forms our subject; but +this is less to be regretted as it has afforded us an opportunity of +calling the reader's attention to a country that yields to none in the +United Kingdom in point of natural beauties, and which is every +succeeding year becoming a more fashionable resort. + + + + +[Illustration: SCENE AT FLEETWOOD, ON WYRE] + + + + +FLEETWOOD-ON-WYRE, + +LANCASHIRE. + + + "The day shall come when FLEETWOOD's port shall be + The favour'd Harbour of the great and free; + Hither, when vex'd with boist'rous wave and wind, + The struggling mast a safe retreat shall find; + Here, from the sunny land of conch and pearl, + The stately bark her weary sail shall furl." + + _Fleetwood: A Poem._ + +The name of Fleetwood is associated, prospectively, with the first +commercial ports of the kingdom. The illustration prefixed sufficiently +indicates the use to which it is applied; but the rapidly increasing +importance of this new maritime station is entitled to a more particular +notice than the detached "scene" would appear to demand. Situated at the +entrance to Morecombe Bay, on the river Wyre, the great natural +advantages which it presents are hardly to be surpassed; and from the +liberal spirit with which the operations are carried on, Fleetwood must +shortly become one of the most frequented sea-ports on the British +coast; combining, at the same time, all the recommendations of a +commercial town, and a delightful watering-place. With Preston, from +which it is distant only eighteen miles, it is connected by means of the +railway through Poulton and Kirkham. + +The limits of the Port of Fleetwood, as determined by the Commissioners +from the Court of Exchequer, are to "commence at a run of water called +the Hundred-End, about two miles to the west of Hesketh-Bank, continuing +up to Preston; thence along the coast, on the north side of the river, +to Lytham; round the coast to Blackpool, and on to Fleetwood; thence to +the river Broadfleet, four miles from Sea-Dyke, including both sides of +the Wyre, and the river Broadfleet." + +The Commissioners appointed by Government to investigate the most +eligible routes by railway, to facilitate communication between London, +Ireland, and Scotland, reported that the harbour at Fleetwood--which by +the Preston and Wyre Railway is put in communication with +London--appears to them likely to form a good point of departure for the +north of Ireland and the west of Scotland. Since this report was +published, experiment has fully justified the opinion thus expressed. +The capabilities of Fleetwood as a commercial port are of the first +order; and the plans to render it such can be executed at a +comparatively small expense. Its fine spacious harbour, extensive dock, +cheap port-dues and dock-charges, cannot fail to attract a large share +of the American cotton, timber, and other foreign trade; while the great +recommendation of low charges induce the regular Belfast and Glasgow +steam-vessels to frequent the port. There is a custom-house, with bonded +warehouses for all ordinary merchandise, except East India goods and +tobacco--unless removed coastwise for home use and ship's stores. In a +very advantageous situation seaward, a very elegant and finely contrived +light-house has been erected; and, in pursuance of the comprehensive +schemes of Sir Hesketh Fleetwood, Bart., M.P., proprietor of the +harbour, numerous buildings have sprung up in all directions, and upon +ground which recently consisted of only a warren for rabbits. Among +these buildings are a handsome church, and a large and beautiful hotel, +the centre of which has seventy feet of frontage, besides two spacious +wings of ninety feet each; the whole forming one splendid edifice of two +hundred and ninety feet in length, and commanding an extent of marine +scenery not to be surpassed in any part of the kingdom. + + + + +[Illustration: BLACKPOOL.] + + + + +BLACKPOOL. + + +In referring to this watering-place for a second time we feel some +difficulty; not that we have said all that can be put forth in connexion +with its claims to the patronage of the health-seeking and +pleasure-loving population of Lancashire and the surrounding counties, +but because our desire has been to introduce, wherever possible, some +historical notice of the places which form the subject of our artist's +pencil, especially where, as in the present instance, more than one +illustration has been given of the same town or port. We must, however, +confess, that of Blackpool, historically considered, we have nothing to +record. Its chronicles, if ever it possessed any, have been swallowed up +by the encroaching waves, which have taken a large portion of what was +once dry land to augment their liquid domains. + +About half-a-mile from the beach, the stranger's attention is directed +to a small rock in the sea, called the "Pennystone," which, according to +local tradition, marks the place where a public-house once stood on dry +land. In this stone, it is added, were fixed iron hooks, to which +travellers usually fastened their horses' bridles while they alighted to +refresh themselves with "penny pots of beer,"--a circumstance +perpetuated in the name which it still retains. + +At the south end of the town is the now dilapidated building called +Vauxhall, where, in 1715, the Chevalier St. George lay for some time +concealed, while the secret measures were concocting by his adherents +for a general insurrection. This house belonged to the family of the +Tyldesleys, who at that time, and long previously, had considerable +possessions in this country; but being faithful adherents of the House +of Stuart, they embraced the desperate cause of the royal exile with +undissembled zeal. Sir Thomas Tyldesley, the head of the family at that +moment, prepared this house for the reception of the royal adventurer; +but this open declaration of his attachment proved ruinous to himself +and his descendants. The last male heir joined the standard of the +Chevalier in 1745. One of his ancestors was slain at the battle of Wigan +Lane, in that county, while marching to the assistance of Charles II.; a +monument to his memory was erected by one of his officers in 1679. It is +still in tolerable preservation, and bears an appropriate inscription. + +East of Blackpool are situated the townships of Great and Little Marton, +where a subterraneous forest has been discovered, by digging out the +timber from which many of the peasantry obtain considerable sums. Some +of the trees are sound enough to make agricultural instruments, barn +roofs and fences, and even articles of ornamental furniture. Much of the +land in this neighbourhood has been reclaimed from a state of marsh; and +there are still remaining, within a few miles, a Moss comprising several +thousand acres--so extensive, indeed, as to have passed into a local +aphorism, "As inexhaustible as Pilling Moss," being an ordinary mode of +expressing anything that is supposed to be without limit. This moss is +reported to have, as lately as 1745, altered considerably in its level, +and, by a movement to the south, to have destroyed one hundred acres of +improved land. It affords a large supply of fuel for the district, and +seems likely to continue to do so for generations to come. + +The little watering-place, from which we have thus wandered away, owes +its name to a pool of water of more than ordinary darkness of colour, +caused by the decaying vegetation of the marshes. It has now, however, +disappeared under the hand of modern improvement, and given place to a +supply of water more than usually pure, and which is not to be often +found in such close proximity to the coast. + + + + +[Illustration: BLACKPOOL SANDS.] + + + + +BLACKPOOL. + +THE SANDS. + + + "Southward--old Cambria's Alpine charm + Cast their broad shadows o'er the plain; + Northward--the Cambrian summits swell + In many a glittering pinnacle; + In front--the waves, so darkly blue, + Refresh the heart and cheer the view; + While further--Mona's mountains swim + Like clouds upon the horizon's rim." + +Blackpool is a favourable instance of that spirit of enterprise which is +at work on almost every point of the British coast, and under the +creative influence of which so many obscure or little-frequented +localities have suddenly risen into provincial, and even national +importance. Wherever nature had thrown out any encouraging hint, it has +been eagerly taken advantage of by the hand of art, and, under the +guidance of taste and liberality, been turned into a source of public +emolument. It is, comparatively, only a few years ago since Blackpool +exhibited in its appearance nothing superior to that of an +inconsiderable hamlet, with few visitors, less trade, and little +opportunity of extending the sources of native industry. It is now a +fashionable and well-frequented watering-place, deriving a certain +annual revenue from its visitors, and enjoying a considerable share of +trade, with every reasonable prospect of a progressive increase. These +are gratifying facts which abundantly prove the healthful vigour with +which the country is animated, and the boundless resources which are +everywhere thrown open to native industry and talent. + +The line of coast at Blackpool runs in a nearly straight direction for +several miles; and the cliffs which form the sea boundary, mostly clay, +rise to various heights--the greatest elevation above high-water mark +being about twenty yards. The sea-bank is lined with houses at +considerable intervals to the extent of a mile or more; not grouped +together as in villages, but each occupying a position independent of +its neighbour. Most of those houses intended for the accommodation of +visitors have an aspect due west, so as to command an uninterrupted +marine view, which at this point presents a field of interest of which +the mind and the eye are never weary. The land, gradually rising as it +recedes from the beach, acquires a degree of elevation which excludes +the eastern landscape; but for this defect the other points of the +compass make ample amends, and present landscapes so varied and +extensive as can be rarely met with on the coast of Great Britain. To +the southward, at the distance of fifty miles or more, and gradually +stretching forward till lost in the horizon, the "Cambrian Alps" present +a grand and imposing feature, connected with glimpses of Cheshire, +Flint, Caernarvon, and the Isle of Anglesea. On the north, the +promontory of Furness, the mountainous features of Westmoreland, +Cumberland, and the craggy summits of Lancashire, give a bold transition +to the picture; while in front the dimly-visioned Mona finishes the +panorama, and conjures up many a slumbering image and recollection of +the past. + +The sea on this point of the coast retreats nearly half a mile at +ebb-tide, so that an ample space of nearly twenty miles, on a bed of +hard sand, is left for the enjoyment of pedestrian, horse, and carriage +exercise. These, indeed, are the principal out-door resources during the +fine season, and, with the additional luxury of a salubrious and bracing +atmosphere, produce a highly invigorating effect upon the constitution +of invalids,--particularly dyspeptics, who derive great and almost +uniform benefit from this new and salutary mode of life. The air of +Blackpool is proverbial for its salubrious quality; the best evidence of +which is afforded by the patriarchal age of many of its inhabitants. + + + + +[Illustration: LYTHAM] + + + + +LYTHAM. + + + "All places that the eye of Heaven visits + Are to the wise man ports and happy havens." + + SHAKESPEARE. + +Lytham is another of those delightful watering-places to which, in our +brief survey of the Lancashire coast, we have so often had occasion to +refer. There is not a bay, indeed, along the whole line of sand which +forms our ocean frontier on the west, but offers some pleasing summer +retreat, where the invalid may repair his constitution, and return with +renovated strength to the active duties of life. + +Lytham is about twelve miles west from Preston, and offers every +accommodation to visitors which is either usual or desirable in +sea-bathing quarters. The town is cheerful, well-built, containing about +fifteen hundred inhabitants, and is a place of considerable antiquity. +It was here, that in the reign of Richard the First, Baron Fitz-Roger +founded, in honour of the Virgin Mary and St. Cuthbert, a cell of +Benedictine monks; the annual revenues of which, at the dissolution of +religious houses, amounted to fifty-four pounds--equal in the present +day to at least three hundred and twenty pounds. The site of this +ancient cell was shortly after granted by Parliament to Sir Thomas +Holcroft. Lytham Hall, the seat of John Clifton, Esq., is an object of +considerable interest in the neighbourhood, and familiar to all who have +ever listened to the "Lass of Lytham Hall."[17] + +The country around Lytham abounds in fine drives; and, independently of +the minor points, which cannot fail to engage the attention of visitors, +the ancient town of Preston will offer a full day's entertainment to all +who are curious in historical sites. The lordship of Preston was granted +by Richard the First to Theobald Walter, seneschal of Ireland, ancestor +of the dukes of Ormond, and sheriff of Lancashire; and by Edward the +Third it was constituted the chief seat of the duchy and palatinate +courts. King James the First honoured it with a visit in his progress to +Scotland, in 1617; and on Ribbleton Moor, on the east side of the town, +the Scottish forces, under the Duke of Hamilton, sustained a serious +defeat in 1648--the last operation of the civil war in this country. In +1715 the Chevalier de St. George was proclaimed at the Market-cross, by +the title of James the Third; and in 1745 the troops, under Prince +Charles Edward, marched through the town to the Jacobin air of "The king +shall have his sin again." This lively tune, however, as the reader +knows, was changed into a melancholy dirge on his return through +Preston--only a fortnight afterwards. The celebrated Preston Guild, +which is held once in twenty years, is considered to be one of the most +splendid provincial festivals in England. The institution of this +ancient and unique pageant is five centuries old, the first having taken +place in the reign of Edward III. It commences on the Monday after the +day set apart by the Church in commemoration of the beheading of St. +John the Baptist (the 29th August), and continues about a fortnight. By +the charter which renders the celebration necessary twenty-eight days +are allowed to all who are disposed to renew their freedom. On the first +day the different trades muster in number, form processions, and attend +the mayor and corporation to church; the following day the ladies of +Preston, with the mayoress, are escorted in the like manner, and various +festivities are encouraged during the time. On Wednesday the races +commence; the race ground is about two miles distant, on Falwood Moor, +anciently a part of the royal forest of the same name. Preston Guild was +celebrated three times during the reign of George III., an event that +never occurred in the reign of any other king of England. + +[17] + + "I've climb'd the Alps,--I've cross'd the seas, + And travers'd many a land, + Where summer smiles on spicy isles, + And coral decks the strand: + But the fairest spot that Earth can boast, + Is here, by the blue sea-wall, + And the fairest maid on her native coast + Is the Lass of Lytham Hall," &c. &c. + + + + + + +[Illustration: THE SANDS AT SOUTHPORT.] + + + + +SOUTHPORT SANDS. + +LANCASHIRE. + + + There's Buxton bath for gout and spleen; + There's Cheltenham for wealth; + There's Matlock vale for Beauty's queen; + And SOUTHPORT SANDS for health. + +Southport--formerly South Hawes--is about two miles to the southward of +North Meols, near the estuary of the Ribble, and opens upon a +magnificent bay. Its situation among the dry sand-hills, or _meols_, +contributes much to the salubrity of the place, and it appears to gain +in popularity as it becomes more generally known. + +This popular watering-place is of modern erection, as in the year 1809 +it contained only eighty-eight houses, but it no sooner obtained the +patronage of the wealthy and active merchants of Lancashire, than it +sprung up with rapid strides, and those numerous appliances of luxury +which its patrons know so well how to appreciate were produced in +abundance, while the low, barren sand-hills of this part of the coast +were soon covered with spacious hotels, boarding-houses, baths, and all +the essentials of a fashionable sea-bathing town. There is no doubt but +that at some period the sea must have covered much of what is now dry +land, as in the churchyard of North Meols, sea shells, in considerable +numbers, are frequently found when the ground is opened for graves, to +the depth of five or six feet. + +In the vicinity of Southport, and forming part of the same parish, is +Martin (or more properly Merton) Meer, once an extensive morass. In +Leland's time, it was four miles long and two broad, and emptied itself +into the sea. About 1692, Mr. Fleetwood, of Bank Hall, commenced +draining this meer by a sluice, shutting and opening with the tide, and +died with the idea that he had completed the work. When the water was +drained off, eight canoes were found, scooped out of the trunks of +trees, in the same mode as they are made among the Indians of the +Pacific at this day; one of them had plates of iron fixed upon it, and +all were constructed probably before the Roman possession of Britain. In +1755, the Meer was again inundated by a very high tide, owing to the +insufficiency of the sluice-gates, and Mr. Eccleston, of Scarisbrick, +made a second attempt to drain it, and succeeded until 1789, when a +partial inundation from the river Douglas did some mischief, but more +extensive injury was prevented by the action of some floodgates, which +had been erected to guard against such accidents. In 1813, the sea-gates +were again swept away, but the land was protected by the stop-gates as +before. Since that time a great improvement has taken place in the Meer, +and much of it is now good land. + +The practice of sea-bathing--if we may judge by the much improved +accommodations at Southport and along the coast--appears to be on the +increase. There are many, indeed, who a few years ago would hardly have +been persuaded to dip their fingers in salt-water; but, having once +become converts to that salutary habit, they would now suffer many +privations rather than forego their annual visits to the cheerful +"sands" and sea-breezes of their native coast. After an indulgence of +this nature, the man of business returns fresh-braced to his +counting-house, the student to his books, each with renewed strength and +resolution to perform their several duties in the great drama of active +life. We are in hopes that those of our compatriots who have really the +means of such enjoyment at their command, will at length do justice to +the beauty of their own shores. The millions that are squandered in +perambulating foreign lands, under the specious pretext of recovering +health, or in pursuit of amusement, if spent in England would secure for +their owners at least something like an equivalent for their money, and +testify in their own persons and in everything around them, not only +proofs of good judgment, but praise for their patriotism. This mania, +which for so many years has deprived our native watering-places of their +legitimate revenue, is certainly on the decline; and we speak from much +experience in foreign travel, when we state that, to a well regulated +mind, England alone presents, in the greatest proportion, the true +requisites for health and rational enjoyment. In no other country of the +world is the word "comfort" so well understood; and in no other +climate--"damp and dripping" as it has been pronounced by certain morbid +peripatetics--can we promise ourselves so much out-door luxury and +enjoyment as at "home." But to him who still entertains a doubt on this +point, and prefers, with Lucullus, to change his quarters, we recommend +Southport by way of experiment, and have no doubt that he will soon make +a voluntary surrender of his prejudices. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Ports, Harbours, Watering-places +and Picturesque Scenery of Great Britain Vol. 1, by William Finden + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PORTS, HARBOURS *** + +***** This file should be named 34866-8.txt or 34866-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/8/6/34866/ + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Susan Skinner and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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