_Alnwick._--The magnificent Castle of Alnwick is an excellent example of a Shell Keep fortress; it stands upon elevated ground on the south bank of the Aln river and about 5 miles from the sea. At the Conquest the site, which probably had an earlier defence upon it, was granted to Ivo de Vescy, whose daughter married Eustace Fitz-John. The constant inroads of the Scots necessitated a stronger fortress at this point, and, about 1140, Fitz-John began the building of which some splendid remains are still visible, chiefly in the innermost gateway and the outer curtain wall. His son, who took his mother's name of de Vescy, placed the Castle in the custody of the Empress Maud's uncle, King David of Scotland. In 1174, William the Lion invaded England and besieged the Castle, but a coalition of the northern barons captured the king and took him to Richmond, thus raising the siege. The de Vescy family died out in 1297, and after a temporary occupation by Anthony Bek, Bishop of Durham, was purchased by Sir Henry de Percy, a name which is associated with everything that is brave, chivalrous, and martial in the county of Northumberland. The Percy who fought through the wars of Edward III. and was present at Halidon Hill and Neville's Cross was considered as second only to the king in importance, while the marriage of his son to Mary Plantagenet, daughter of Henry, Earl of Lancaster, proved that it was worthy of alliance with the blood-royal. In 1405 Alnwick was besieged, and yielded to Henry IV., following upon the battle of Shrewsbury and the defection and death of Hotspur; Henry V., however, restored the heir to his possessions, and created him Earl of Northumberland. He was killed at the first Battle of St. Albans, 1455, while his son fell at Towton in 1461. The Castle saw much fighting in the latter part of the fifteenth century. The long line of the Percies came to an end in 1670; it was probably the most historic of our great English families, and eight bearers of the title met with violent deaths, chiefly on the battlefield. The daughter of the last Earl married Charles Seymour, Duke of Somerset, and their daughter married Sir William Wyndham, thus conveying to him the estates of Petworth, Egremont, and Leconfield. In the next century a Duke of Somerset left a daughter who inherited Alnwick and married Sir Hugh Smithson, who was created Earl Percy and became the ancestor of the present owner.