A tour through the northern counties of England, and the borders of Scotland/Volume 1, Letter 4
 LETTER IV. TO THE SAME. DEAR SIR, Newcastle, June 22d. WITH the scenery of Hackfall we bade along farewell to picturesque beauty; for in proportion as we approached the eastern coast of the kingdom, the features of Nature became more tame and insipid. Our attention, however, was called at Catterick to an artificial curiosity the mound near the church-yard; supposed to be part of the Roman works connected with the station Caturactonium, which was situated in the neighbourhood of Catterick-Bridge, thrown across the river Swayle, a mile beyond the village. Upon the military way made about sixteen hundred years ago, and still hard as adamant, we continued for some miles, and at length passed into the county of Durham at Croft-Bridge, an handsome modern structure over the Dar, with seven elliptical arches, whose ribbed roofs offer a singularity in pontic architecture. On our entrance into this palatinate we were presented with a natural phenomenon, called Hell-Kettles, three pits or holes in the ground filled with water, and said to be bottomless. Tradition informs us, they had their origin in a dreadful volcanic eruption which happened here A.D.1179, when, after a vast swelling in the ground, and a discharge of fire and smoke, on the dissipation of the darkness, the earth was found to have fallen to its former level, and the only alteration in its surface was the three abysses we have just mentioned. The error with respect to their depth was, however, detected two or three years ago, in consequence of a search made for the body of a gentleman, who had drowned himself in one of these cauldrons. The Dar, occasionally shewing itself to the right, accompanied us to the town, which receives its name from this stream; a place irregular in plan, and only remarkable for its beautiful and elegantly simple church. The population of the town is calculated to be between six and seven thousand, who are chiefly supported by fading manufactures, of diapers, huckabacks, and stuffs; not employing at present a tenth part of the hands which worked at them previously to the war. The magnificent inn, a solitary house at Rushford, built by Sir John Haydon, in the neighbourhood, of his noble seat at Windleston, afforded us such excellent accommodation and kindness of attention as deserve recollection and remark; indeed it was almost the only pleasing spot we saw for a dozen miles, in a country rather flat and uniform. But this character alters as we approach Durham, six miles from which, on the summit of Fairy-hill, a fine view of that city and a vast tract, of circumjacent country, bounded on each side by hills, are at once unfolded. But the detail of the scenery in the neighbourhood of Durham is not made out till we get near its walls, when the singularity and beauty of it at once surprise and delight. A lofty circular hill, rising abruptly from the river Wear, which leads his waters round its rocky banks, has been chosen for the proud and secure situation of the castle and cathedral. Under the protection of these a city of considerable extent grew up, and scattered itself down the steep of the hill, and along the other bank of the river. But all the beauty of Durham is confined to its outside; like all other old cities built in times, when men were content to sacrifice comfort to safety, or before they had attained to adequate ideas of refinement or convenience; the streets are narrow, dark, and dirty—the houses old, gloomy, and ugly. Carpet and cotton manufactories formerly gave some little life to the sombrè of the place; but the same complaint existed here as in other towns; war had paralyzed their operations, and the melancholy skeletons of what they had hitherto been, now only remained. The cathedral and castle afforded us an agreeable employment for the morning; in both we had the the perfection of early architecture. Of the former the western end is a fine specimen of the Anglo-Norman, plain and massive. Its few ornaments are of the zig-zag kind; a favourite stile of decoration at the æra of its erection, the latter end of the eleventh century and beginning of the twelfth ; when Carilepho began, and Ralf Flambard executed, the work. Its length is four hundred and eleven feet, and its breadth eighty. The length of the transept is one hundred and seventy; of the Gallilee, one hundred; of the sanctum sanctorum, one hundred and thirty; and the height of its great tower two hundred and twelve feet. The baptisterium, built of oak, and finished with the richest tabernacle-work, is the finest in the kingdom. A little to the east of these is a cross in the pavement, thelimits to which females might be admitted; beyond this they were prohibited from proceeding, as some events which had occurred to St. Cuthbert, (the tutelary saint of the place) whose bones lay reposed by the great altar, had rendered that holy man rather afraid of the sex during life, and desirous of keeping himself uncontaminated by their approach to his remains after death. But they were recompensed for this exclusion by the gallantry or kindness of Bishop Pudsey, who, in the twelfth century, added to the western end of the cathedral the Gallilee, or Lady's-Chapel, a beautiful building, consisting of five ailes, separated from each other by airy Norman arches, fretted with zig-zag decorations. This is connected with the cathedral by a grand arch-way of the same architecture, and was dedicated to the sole use of devout females. Here, amongst many other monuments, is that of the venerable Bede, (who died in 734) the most learned man in Europe of his time, a meteor in an age of darkness; a plain flat stone, without any inscription. Proceeding up the great nave, venerable from the awful vista of "long-drawn ailes and fretted vaults," we leave on the south side the monument of Ralph Lord Neville, the gallant and the rich, who took David Bruce prisoner; and whose influence, when alive, procured him honours after death which laymen had not hitherto attained to sepulture within the walls of the cathedral of Durham. The magnificent ceremonies of his interment realized the fanciful picture of the poet's description of Arthur's burial, brought to the church-yard in a chariot drawn by seven horses: "There, with chaunted orison, In the southern transept we see the curious clock of elaborate work, built in the year 1632, and in the pillars, windows, and skreens, a thousand varieties of architectural ornament. From the great nave two marble steps conduct into the choir, an august edifice one hundred and twenty feet long; heavy, but solemn. The throne, built when the pride of the palatinate bishops equalled their power, is exalted far above the prebendaries and canons below; the centre has a chair of state, canopied with a tabernacle roof richly embossed with golden ornaments. A skreen of most beautiful pattern and the lightest workmanship divides the choir from the sanctuary, made of alabaster in the year 1380. In the latter member of the fabric (by far the most sacred of the whole) formerly stood the shrine of St. Cuthbert, on an elevated piece of stone masonry thirty-sevenfeet in length, and twenty-six in breadth. In the centre of this, a black marble slab marked the spot where the dust of the saint is deposited. No vestige now remains of the splendour which surrounded the shrine, and the riches offered at its sanctuary; but the number of its votaries whilst the reign of superstition continued, may be calculated from the hollow impressions made in the hard stones surrounding the monument by the feet of the pilgrims who performed here their prostrations, genuflexions, and obeisances. From hence we descend by several steps to the last member of the church, the eastern transept, or nine altars, as it is called, from the circumstance of its having formerly been adorned with that number, dedicated to as many saints; the pilasters, mouldings, columns, and roof, all of the same beautiful architecture which guishes the great tower, and marks it of later times than the body of the church. The buildings adjoining the cathedral, the cloisters, chapel-house, and library, are all constructed in a heavy gloomy style, and rather impress the mind with horror than solemnity on entering them. Vestiges of the splendid superstition of ancient cathedral service are seen in five rich copes, still preserved in the vestry, the dresses worn by the dignitaries of the church four hundred years ago. The castle of Durham, intended for the bishop's winter palace, (although he be seldom here, except to meet the judges) stands close to the cathedral, on the same inaccessible rocky eminence, and is connected with it by Turnstall-gate, an ancient portal built by the bishop of that name. It is of Norman architecture; the keep probably as ancient as the time of William the Conqueror; originally extremely strong and calculated to keep a jealous eye over, and afford immediate assistance to, the subjacent town, perpetually in danger of incursion from the borderers, during the wars that subsisted between the English and Scotch. In conformity to this intention of strength and security in the edifice, which precluded elegance and lightness, all within is gloomy and sombrous. A monstrous hall first receives the visitor, one hundred and eighty feet long, thirty-six feet high, and fifty feet wide, formerly appropriated to the princely feasts which the bishops were accustomed to afford to the neighbourhood on certain days of the week ; but now only echoing to the clatter of dishes and the ringing of knives and forks in assize time, when the judges and their suite are entertained here during their stay at Durham. It contains a few busts, casts from the antique, two of which (Cæasar and Antinöus) were confidently pronounced by our ancient matronly ciceroni to be Adam and Eve, and the following full length portraits: John Overall Bishop of Norwich; by Camden reported "a prodigious learned man." He was educated in Trinity-College, Cambridge; thence elected to the mastership of Catherine-Hall; and, from his learning and piety, selected by Queen Elizabeth as a proper successor to Dr. Nowell in the deanery of St. Paul's. In the following reign he was promoted to the bishopric of Lichfield, and in 1618 translated to the diocese of Norwich, where he died the following year. John Cosin Bishop of Durham; who was (whilst prebendary of this diocese, and dean of Peterborough) accused of favouring superstitious innovations in the church, and amongst the first whose benefices were sequestered by the parliament; upon which he retired to Paris, and officiated as chaplain to the protestant part of Henrietta Maria's family, and was afterwards appointed to the see of Durham. Obiit. 1671. Æt. 72. Thomas Cranmer Archbishop of Canterbury. His rise and fall may be ascribed to the same cause—his zeal in furthering the divorce of Henry VIII. from Catherine of Arragon; whilst it gained him the favour of the sated husband, it entailed on him the resentment of his daughter Mary, who could not forget the injury sustained by her queen-mother. The conduct of this learned prelate has been equally the subject of exaggerated praise and undeserved censure; but truly heroic was the fortitude with which he closed a well-spent life of sixty-seven years. Thirlesby Bonnor, with two of the Queen's proctors, went to Oxford to degrade him; and having dressed him in all the ornaments of an archbishop made of canvas, he was stripped of them piece by piece, but refused to surrender his crosier; they then put him on a yeoman-beadle's gown, and a townsman's cap, and remanded him to prison. He was persuaded to sign a recantation; and was afterwards burnt before Baliol-College in 1556, when he thrust his hand into the fire, for being the instrument which produced his recantation. Matthew Parker; the second protestant arch-bishop of Canterbury. He was not only a great patron of learning, but a liberal encourager of the arts; he formed large collections relative to the History of England, which he bequeathed to Christ's-college, Cambridge, of which he had been master. He published the Bishop's Bible, and several of the old English historians; translated the Psalms into English verse; and was the founder of the Antiquarian Society. Obiit 1575, Æt. 72. John Whitgift Archbishop of Canterbury; frequently stiled the English Pope, from the zeal and eagerness with which he carried into execution the penal statutes against all who dissented from the established church, during the reign of Elizabeth, Obiit 1603, and was succeeded by Richard Bancroft; who was translated from the see of London. He proved himself a no less rigid disciplinarian than his predecessor. Chelsea college was originally designed for the reception of students, who should answer all Popish and controversial writings against the Church of England; and the institution, if not projected, was certainly warmly patronized by Bancroft, who bequeathed to it his very valuable library, in case it was built within six years after his decease. But the plan never having been compleated, his books were by another clause devised to his successors for ever at Lambeth; where they now are deposited, and have been considerably augmented by subsequent bequests. Obiit 1610, Æt. 67. Launcelot Andrews Bishop of Winchester; who successively filled the sees of Chichester, Ely, and Winchester, and materially bettered all the places where he had preferment; one of the most pious, learned, and amiable prelates that ever were advanced to the episcopal chair. Well skilled in fifteen languages, his discourses are infinitely better than the usual stile of writers of those times, but so overloaded with Latin quotations and quaint phrases as no longer to be held in very high estimation, in consequence of the improvement which has taken place in that species of composition. Obiit 1626, Æt. 71.——Archbishop Laud. The black parlour, so called from its being fitted up with wainscoating of that tremendous hue, is a good specimen of all the other apartments, which seem to be well calculated for producing that hypochondriacal affection known by the name of the "Blue Devils." We were gratified, however, in the gallery, by the most beautiful piece of Saxon masonry we had ever seen; it is an arch-way, formerly connecting this passage with an apartment, but for many centuries, perhaps, stopped up and unknown. The present bishop, whose munificence fully equals his ability, to make improvements and alterations in this venerable pile, accidentally discovered the arch-way, and directed it to be cleaned and repaired. The number of mouldings, the variety of ornaments, the beauty of the pattern, and the nicety of the workmanship, render it unquestionably the most interesting monument extant of the Anglo-Norman architecture. In the common dining-room, from the circumstance of its late alterations, a man might make a comfortable meal. Here we found half-lengths of George II. and his Queen Caroline Wilhelmina of Brandenburg; and on looking from its windows, had an extremely singular view of the town which crouched below us, and the river nearly encirling it, its bridges, and wooded banks. To these we descended by a path from the church-yard, and here entered upon the celebrated walks opened and kept in repair by the dean and chapter, which accompany the bending of the stream, and command several singular and interesting peeps at the city and its august ornaments, the castle and cathedral. The banks, rocky and abrupt, on one hand, and sloping gently to the river on the other, darkened by a solemn depth of shade, sequestered and retired, in the immediate neighbourhood of a busy scene of society, afford a retreat of the most beautiful and agreeable nature imaginable. The variety of the scenes which they open also is remarkable; deep glades and solemn dells; scarred rock and verdant lawn ; sylvan glades and proud castellated edifices. From the elegant new bridge, the last-mentioned feature is seen to great effect; the castle and cathedral blending their battlements and turrets together, rise with inconceivable majesty from the sacred groves which clothe their rocky foundations. The combination here of trees and buildings, water and rock, home sylvan scenery and fine distance, is at once beautiful and grand. Quitting Durham by the Newcastle turnpike, we bent our course towards Cocken-Hall, the property of Mr. Carr Ibbetson; and for this purpose turned out of the great road at the three-mile stone, and stretched across a country hardly passable in the finest weather for wheel-carriages; a nearer way than by Chester-le-street, but accompanied with difficulties that more than equal the advantage of lessened distance. On reaching the mansion, which stands upon a hill, and overlooks a pleasing country, we were unspeakably disappointed to find that the small but select: collection of pictures which rendered Cocken-Hall one of the shew places of Durham, had been removed on the preceding year; that the groves had been cut down, the walks neglected, and all the elegancies of the place destroyed. Its natural beauties, however, still remained; and to these, and the neighbouring ruin of Finchale-Abbey, we proceeded in silent sadness, accompanied by an hind, who promised to point out what features the place had lost since the desolating angel had commenced his career there. The grand object of Cocken, and from which almost all its beauties arise, is the river Wear, which leads its serpentine course over a rocky bed, through banks of uncommon picturesque beauty, immediately under the grounds belonging to the house. Beneath the lofty perpendicular face of rock which rises most sublimely over the water, was the principal walk, varied by infinitely diversified combinations of wood and rocks to the left; and opposed, on the other side of the river, by a soft pastoral scene of gentle slope and wooded meads. Amid this pleasing tranquil rural picture, on a little plot pushing into a sweep of the river formed by the receding rocks on the other side, are seen the venerable ruins of Finchale-Abbey, the retreat of pious Godric in the twelfth century, who spent sixty-six years within its walls, in a series of mortifications and penances that astonish the lukewarmness of present religionists. It was given by Bishop Flambard to the monastery of Durham, subject to the life of Godric; and continued part of its possessions till the Reformation, when its revenues amounted to 147l. per annum. Its ruins are considerable, many of them intelligible; and being sprinkled with ivy, and accompanied with surrounding wood, rock, and water, the whole would form a scene strictly picturesque, were it not spoiled by a modern-built farm-house attached to them, which throws out a contemptible little bow-window towards the furious stream that rushes impetuously over its rocky bed, immediately at the foot of the building. Perched up amid the venerable remains, this combination presented a good sample of modern coxcombry and affectation, contrasted with old-fashioned simplicity and sincerity; and with all that self-importance which generally accompanies intrinsic littleness, appeared to consider the attention and regard paid to its solemn associates, as a tribute due at least equally to itself; reminding us of the conceited cock in your favourite epigram: " A cock, within a stable pent, Another cross road, difficult to find, but sufficiently good, led us to Lumley-Castle, three miles and a half from Cocken; a noble mansion belonging to the Earl of Scarborough, seen before it is approached, proudly lifting its battlements above the woods around it. The road, dipping into this shade, follows the brow of a deep ravine, through whose bottom is heard the roaring of the river Wear; the waters of which are hidden from the sight by intervening trees. On the summit of this elevation stands the castle, commanding the vale of Wear, a picture surprisingly rich and extensive; a square edifice, with a projecting tower at each corner, crowned with lesser towers, that rise out of every angle of them, and an area in the centre. The battlements of the larger towers are machiolated, or so constructed as to admit the passage of stones, fire, melted lead, or scalding-water, between the face of the tower and the stone-work of the turrets; the formidable manner of driving enemies from the gates and walls, before the invention of gunpowder had enabled assailants to attack from a distance. The chief entrance is at the west front, up a wide double flight of steps. The east front, however, is most august. It has a projecting gateway in the centre, commanded by turrets, and a machicolated gallery. Several armorial bearings are executed above the gate in very good masonry. This front of the building is untouched, and affords us a good example of the stile of castellated architecture in the reign of Richard II. when it was erected by Sir Ralph Lumley. It almost approaches the brink of the steep descent which hurries down to the foaming Wear, admitting only a path or terrace between its walls and the brink. The hall is a striking apartment, and instantly brings back the times of old to the mind, the feudal practices, and ancient English manners. It measures ninety feet in length, has its gallery for minstrelsy ; exhibits a figure on horseback, clad in armour; and has its walls cloathed with imaginary portraits of the Lumley family . They are as follow: 1. Leulphus. 2. Uchtred. 3. Gulielmus, who married Hesleden. 4. Sir William Lumley. 5. William de Lumley, who married Dandre. 6. Sir Robert de Lumley, who married Lucy Thevenge. 7. Sir Marmaduke Lumley, who married Margaret Holland. 8. Sir Ralph de Lumley, the first baron, in his parliament robes, who built the mansion. 9. Sir John de Lumley, who married Felicia Redman. 10. Richard II. in his royal chair, Lord Lumley in his robes kneeling; above the figure, " R. R. II. A.D. 1385, A. Reg. 8." 11. Sir Thomas Lumley, who married Margaret daughter of Sir James Harrington. 12. George Lord Lumley, who married Elizabeth Thornton. 13. Sir Thomas Lumley, who married Elizabeth natural daughter to Edward IV. 14. John de Lumley, who married Joan daughter of Henry Lord Scrope. 15. Richard de Lumley, who married Ann daughter of Sir John Conyers. 16. George Lumley, who married Jane daughter of Sir Richard Knightly. 17. Elizabeth, daughter of Lord Dareye, of Chiche, and second wife of Sir John Lumley, who was restored in blood the first year of Edward VI. There are also several marble busts in niches. The dining-room is a magnificent room, coved ceiling, and stuccoed; but unfinished. Its views, both home and distant, are beautiful; we there find Ralph Lumley, a small whole length. Marked 1567. Ætat. 78. John Lord Lumley was son of George Lumley, who was executed for high-treason temp. Henry VIII. but this peer, on the death of his grandfather, petitioned against the attainder of his father, and was relieved from its penalties, by receiving from Edward VI. the title and estate of Baron Lumley. Previous to the coronation, he was made knight of the Bath by Queen Mary, and held considerable employments under Elizabeth; but was imprisoned on suspicion of encouraging the designed marriage of Mary Queen of Scots with the Duke of Norfolk. His name afterwards appears in the commission for the trial of that unfortunate princess; and in the following year for that of Secretary Davison, accused of sending the warrant for Mary's execution, without the knowledge of Elizabeth; for which he was sentenced to imprisonment, and a fine of 10,000l. He was not less in the estimation of James I. who purchased his valuable collection of books, (after his decease) which formed the ground-work of the royal library. Ob.1609. Ferdinand de Toledo Duke of Alba, whose life displays as many and as great military exploits as were ever atchieved by an individual commander; but the glory of which was totally eclipsed by. the rigour and cruelty which he practised upon those who were conquered by the Spanish forces. Of his savage temper some calculation may be formed, from his boast of having, during his command in the Low Countries, caused eighteen thousand persons to perish by the executioner. Ob.1582, æt. 74. Jane Fitzallan, eldest daughter and co-heiress of Henry Earl of Arundel, wife of John Lord Lumley. She is deservedly celebrated as a learned lady by Ballard and Lord Orford, having translated many Latin and Greek authors. James Duke of Monmouth. In the music-room, we find Ambrose Dudley Earl of Warwick, son of John the great Duke of Northumberland; he was regarded as one of the brightest ornaments in the court of Elizabeth, by whom he was created Earl of Warwick. He signalized himself by his valour at the battle of St. Quintin, and his passive fortitude in defending Havre de Grace, of which he was governor, and wherein he received a wound in his leg, of which he died 1589. John Lord Lumley, 1583, in splendid steel armour, studded with gold. Thomas Ratcliff Earl of Sussex, a grand full length. He was equally a favourite with Elizabeth and Mary, and lord-deputy of Ireland in both reigns. Obiit 1583. He is represented in elegant white armour, with gold embroidered breeches; and this motto — Amando et fidendo troppo son ruinato. Duke of Suffolk, 1598. Either the title or date on this picture must be erroneous, as the last Duke of Suffolk died 1553.— Judge Lumley, 1583. —Richard Bertie married Catherine widow of Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolk. Ob. 1582. - Villiers Duke of Buckingham. -Killegrew and his dog. Sir Thomas More, in a furred robe and Capuchin cap. This bright ornament of the 16th century was the first lay chancellor on record. His found erudition, mild worth, and deep penetration have endeared his name to posterity; though they were not sufficient recommendations to the tyrant Henry, who acknowledged no laws above his own will and pleasure; and who having, without ceremony, placed himself at the head of the church, expected as ready sacrifices to convenience from all his subjects ; but More, who could not so soon "quiet saucy conscience," resigned his situation; and still continuing to deny the king's supremacy, was doomed to experience the weight of his power, and was executed on Tower-hill, 1535. Æt. 62. In the drawing-room, Sir Anthony Browne was master of the horse to Henry VIII. and one of the executors to his will. This is a most curious half-length.—Lord Townshend.—A singular groupe of four half-lengths, portraits of high antiquity; purporting to be Zebedee, his wife, and two sons.— Lady Sydney, daughter to Secretary Walsingham, wife to Robert Earl of Essex; by Holbein.—John Duke of Argyle;whole length. Sir Thomas Saunderson Lumley, third Earl of Scarborough; whole length.—Thomas Windham, M.D.L. drowned on the coast of Guinea, 1550.— Sir George Saville, connected with the Lumleys by the marriage of his sister Barbara to Richard late Lord Scarborough, whose second" son inherits the estate, and bears the name of Saville—Sir John Petre; half-length. A very fine picture, but wilfully defaced by a scoundrelly broker, because it was not to be purchased. Andrew Doria, a very fine half-length on wood; inscribed pater patriae, and never was title more deservedly bestowed on any man. He was of an ancient Genoese family, and appears literally to have been a warrior by profession, having been equally engaged for and against Francis I. and Charles V. to both of whom he successively proved of service and injury. He nobly refused the sovereignty of his own country; and preferred to have his name recorded as its deliverer, by repressing the conspiracy of Lewis de Fiesco. He died at Genoa 1560, æt. 94; when his countrymen did honour to themselves, in erecting a monument to the memory of this great patriot and naval commander. Henry Howard Earl of Surrey; half-length. He was amongst the numerous victims who yielded to the relentless temper of Henry VIII. who never spared woman in his lust, nor man in his wrath. This proud ornament of the age in which he lived fell a sacrifice to the jealousy of that monarch, who suspected that he aspired to the crown, because he had quartered the arms of Edward the Confessor on his scutcheon; he was, therefore, condemned and beheaded, after the formality of a trial, 1546. Pope, in his ' Windsor-Forest,' has paid this tribute to one of the first refiners of English poetry: " Here noble Surrey felt the sacred rage, Henry Earl of Arundel, (half-length) the last of the name of Fitzallan. He was greatly instrumental in fixing Mary on the throne, by whom he was appointed steward of the houshold, and retained his employment under Elizabeth; during whose reign he first introduced the use of coaches into England, having imported one of these vehicles from France, where he had retired, on finding that Leicester had supplanted him in the queen's favour. But, on his return home, he joined his rival and others in a plot against Cecil. Ob. 1579. Robert Dudley Earl of Leicester; half-length; in a very fashionable dress of Elizabeth's time, crouded with point. He is reported to have introduced into England a fashion which has fortunately not continued in such high estimation or constant use as the invention of his rival, namely, "the Art of Poisoning;" having, according to ' Howel's Letters,' vol. iv. p. 451, endeavoured to persuade Walsingham that it would be lawful to poison Mary Queen of Scots. Ob. 1588. In the dressing-room, Sir William Petre, secretary of state to Henry VIII. Mary, Elizabeth, and Edward VI. It is probable that he owed his good fortune, in retaining his post in reigns of such different tempers, to the politic maxim of a contemporary statesman, namely, "by being supple as the willow, not stubborn as the oak."—Sir Anthony Browne Viscount Montacute. We had now reached the coal country, marks of which appeared at Lumley, where are pits and engines in the very neighbourhood of the castle. All beauty of scenery vanished from this point, and nothing occurred to make amends for the loss but two or three little villages, entirely inhabited by colliers, who are employed in the mines to supply the immense fleets of Sunderland with their freights of coal. That of Warden-Row presented a very agreeable picture, as we passed through it on the Sunday evening, peopled entirely by these sons of the earth and their families; we here saw a decency in persons and habitations, and a decorum and civility in manners and behaviour, that one seldom meets with in more refined societies of men; which told so much in their favour, when placed in comparison with most of the towns through which we had passed, as drew from V— a similar observation with the stranger at the Athenian theatre, that though the inhabitants of other places may know what courtesy is, yet those of Warden-Row practice it. Sunderland, situated on a tongue of land, descending steeply to the river, is not seen till it be nearly approached, and offers an handsome entrance through a street of modern houses, a new creation grown out of the improving trade of the place. It consists chiefly of one good street of great length, another of less consideration in a parallel direction, and several lateral ones diverging from the principal one at right angles. An immense increase of population had arisen from the successful prosecution of the coal trade, which was rapidly increasing till the war checked the spirit of speculation. It numbers, however, at present, under every disadvantage, including the adjacent hamlets of Bishop-Wearmouth, Monk-Wearmouth, and the north side, are estimated at forty-two thousand inhabitants. Four different bodies of people extract a profit from the Sunderland coals, before they appear in a foreign market:— The colliers, who dig them; the proprietors of the mines, who sell them to the third description of people, the fitters, a sort of middlemen, who bring the article from the mines, and deliver them to the fourth description of persons concerned—the merchants. The largest profit is derived to the fitters, whose risque is nothing, and payment prompt. They receive about a shilling a chaldron for coal sold, and for the trouble of providing keels and keelmen, who, however, are paid for by the ship-owners; and the fortunes acquired in this place are generally by them. Indeed, of late the trade altogether was rather a losing concern ; and during the Northern disagreement, when the ports of the Baltic were shut, many of those concerned in it were compelled to live upon their capitals. The truth is, a very large proportion of the coals are taken off by the Northern ports; but, by being excluded from a sale there, the merchants were under the necessity of sending them to London. Here the market was over-stocked, and the article consequently remained unsold, or at least was disposed of to disadvantage. The merchants, therefore, as the lesser evil, relinquished their speculation, and laid up their ships; but still continued subject to a considerable loss in the maintenance of the crews, who, being chiefly apprentices, were to be kept in food and cloathing, notwithstanding they could make no return by their labours. On the opening of the Northern ports, however, trade found its level again, and is now carried on as briskly as before. The Sunderland coals are very good, but so slow in their combustion, that they are proverbially said to make three fires. The greatest object of curiosity in Sunderland is its iron bridge thrown across the river Wear, forming an arch so lofty as to allow large ships to pass under it with only their top-gallant masts lowered. Tom Paine (as I have before observed) was the original inventor of these extraordinary structures, the grandest specimens, perhaps, of the powers of modern art; Mr. Burdon afterwards improved upon his ideas; but Mr. Wilson, who now lives upon Sunderland bridge, put the finishing hand to the invention, by suggesting the perfect plan on which this vast fabric is constructed. It is formed of cast-iron, and cost 30,000l. The span of the arch is two hundred and thirty-six feet; height one hundred; and the spring of the arch thirty-three feet. The foundation-stone was laid on the 24th of April 1793, and the bridge opened for service on the 9th of August 1796. A man who attends at the toll-house for that purpose, introduced us to a platform which commands a view of the interior of the bridge; where our astonishment was still more excited by tracing the detail of this magnificent erection. We here observed that it was formed by six longitudinal ribs, each consisting of one hundred and five joints nearly two feet in length, bound together by huge cylindrical tubes of cast iron, forming horizontal and perpendicular cross-pieces. Large circular rings of solid iron, gradually diminishing from the abutments to the centre of the bridge, connect the ribs with the platform. The largest of these measures in diameter forty-two feet, and weighs upwards of two tons. The obvious advantages of these structures over stone bridges—a lessened expence, a speedier erection, and a greater durability—have rendered them very common since this at Sunderland was put up. Mr. Wilson very properly enjoys nearly the exclusive advantage of designing and superintending them; and has lately shipped for Jamaica one upon an immense scale, to be erected at Kingston in that island. Passing over this noble bridge, we changed our eastern direction, and taking a north-western route, advanced through a country deformed by collieries, curious but unpicturesque, towards Gateshead, built upon the southern steep bank of the Tyne, and separated from Newcastle only by the interjection of that river. This is a large place, containing 714 houses, 1467 families, 2806 males, and 3238 females; and enjoying the same trade, though not so large a portion of it as its important neighbour. On passing the bridge connecting this place with Newcastle, we could not but recollect the fatal catastrophe which had happened at the same spot in the year 1771, when a heavy fall of rain occasioned such a prodigious inundation in the river, as swept away the old stone bridge, which had braved the tempests of heaven and the rage of the waters for five hundred years, and carried off at the same time ten houses, in which were six living human creatures. Nothing could heighten the terrors of the scene so much as the "loud "laments" which issued from the unfortunate sufferers, who for a long time had the horrible prospect of inevitable destruction before their eyes, by the lingering fall of the house in which they were, nodding over the abyss of waters before it fell; and no human exertions availing to prevent the crash, or save the inmates. The vast trade of Newcastle is visible on first entering it, from the bustle of its quays, and the animation of its streets. This chiefly consists of the coal-trade, which it has enjoyed for several centuries past. As early as the thirteenth century, the inhabitants of Newcastle exported this useful fossil to the continent, and in the ensuing one found a market for it in the metropolis. Singular to say, the backwardness in the articles of convenience, or the ignorance of our ancestors, was such, that even in the reign of Edward I. coals were considered in London as a nuisance, and on a petition of the inhabitants of the metropolis in 1307, a proclamation was issued by the king, forbidding the burning of coals to the trades which were supported by their use. This absurd prohibition continued in force for above half a century, when good sense at last triumphed; it was permitted to bring the article to London under the small duty of six-pence per ton for every ship that came from Newcastle. Increasing very rapidly from this time, the coal trade became an important object of attention to government, which issued, in 1421, several regulations respecting the length of the keels, in order to ascertain the quantity of coals shipped at the port, and the duty to be paid there. Improving with the gradual extension of commerce, Newcastle is now the first place in the world for the coal-trade; its exports are calculated at 589,600, and its home consumption at 100,000, Newcastle chaldrons. This immense produce is supplied from collieries in the neighbourhood of the place; the principal of which, their names, and depths, are as follow:
The stratification of these works is for the most part more horizontal than that of other great fields of coal, particularly below the bridge to the east of the town, where the general declination to the north-east may be about one foot in seven yards. Brown and white freestone, here called post, and argillaceous schistus of various thickness such hardness, called blue, grey, or black metal, or metal-stone, (according to their hardness, and proportion of gritty and micacious particles) are the accompanying strata, their orders and thickness, as well as of the beds of coal varying in the different works. The coal produced from these mines is, for the most part light, friable, full of bitumen, caking in burning, and leaving a cinder after repeated burnings with little ashes, and these of a reddish brown colour. This is the better sort; the inferior burns more quickly, makes less cinder, and leaves white ashes, but is not much esteemed. The whole of this is brought down from the works in waggons along rail-roads, and poured, by covered wooden channels called staiths, (run up at the edge of the river near the works) into boats, or keels as they are here denominated, a clumsy oval vessel, carrying about twenty tons each. These convey the freight to the vessels. The coal-mines are chiefly, though not all, worked by companies of undertakers, who receive leases from the landed proprietors for that purpose. From these people the fitter receive the article, and deliver it to the ship-owner, who pays them in notes of six weeks date, and runs the risque of the sale in London. The number of people employed on the river in this vast trade are as follows ; Colliers, 6700; Keelmen, 1547; Trimmers, 1000; Seamen, 9000.—The population of Newcastle, exclusive of Gateshead, is 28,294; of which 15,945 are females, and only 12,349 males. The houses amount to 3276, and the families to 6845; a calculation that gives 8⅔ to a house, and 4½ to a family. The number of shipping cleared out from this port last year will at once give you an idea of the extent of its trade. There were 7840 vessels employed in exporting coal, coal-tar, and cinders; grind-stones, lead in all its forms; iron, wrought and cast; glass, pottery, bricks and tiles, particularly fire-bricks; colours, copperas, soda, butter, bacon, &c. and in importing timber, bar-iron, hemp and flax, seeds, corn, tallow, smelts, port-wine in vast quantities, and brandy; and West-India produce, brought by three or four ships yearly direct from Jamaica. The manufactures of Newcastle, also, (including some other places on the river) are very numerous; they may be divided into two classes.—First; such as depend chiefly on the cheapness of fuel:
1. Many Ship-yards and Docks. 2. Several Roperies; particularly a very extensive patent work belonging to Messrs. Chapman. 3. Several Sail-Cloth factories. To the above list may be added Mr. William Parker's patent Shot-Manufactory, rearing its lofty head above the other buildings of the town. This structure is built in the form of a circular tower one hundred and seventy-three feet high, mounted on the inside by a spiral stair-case. At the summit within the roof is a gallery from whence the workmen pour the liquid lead, to make the shot; which passing through a sieve, falls like a shower of rain into tubs of water placed at the bottom of the building; acquiring by these means that exact spherical figure which gives it the superiority over every other sort of shot. The manufactory employs about 8o people. From the balcony on the outside of the tower, a grand view is taken of the town, the river "studded thick with many a sail," and the adjoining dingy but well-peopled country. Your's, &c. R. W. |
ITINERARY.
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