The ancient walls incorporated with the later residence prove that there must have been very considerable buildings upon the ground now occupied by it, but there is some reason to suppose that both hall and chapel stood near the site of the later gatehouse, and, therefore, to the right or west of the original entry. If this be so, the extent of buildings in the lower ward must have been very considerable indeed, as in the other direction they certainly extended, as does the present house, to the foot of the tor, and were flanked by it. Nevertheless, considerable as the alterations have been, and handsome and convenient as are the rooms of the present mansion, it represents very fairly the original fortress, and, like it, is sheltered by the tor, and predominates over the park, the town, and the sea-coast, commanding a very extensive view, and, as becomes the representative of so important a military post, is itself visible from the tract of country of which it was sometimes the terror, but more frequently the protection. THE KEEP OF DURHAM. The Castle of Durham is now given over to the use of the Northern University, and is in great part occupied by the students. Parts of it only are open to visitors, and any description of its details, under the present restrictions, would be of little value. In a recent volume of the publications of the Surtees Society, Mr. James Raine, the worthy son of a distinguished sire, has given to the archæological world a very curious poem, now first printed, entitled “Dialogi Laurentii Dunelmensis Monachi ac Prioris,” a work of the time, and which records the intrusion of William Cumin into the see of Durham. This was a period of extreme interest in that important see, once including the city of Carlisle and the territory of Teviotdale, and at the date of the poem still holding the Castles of Durham and Norham, fortresses of the first rank, even in a district which contained Bamborough. The strife between Stephen and Maud, severe all over England, was nowhere conducted with greater severity than upon the Tyne, the Tees, and the Wear. David of Scotland, Maud’s uncle and active supporter, unsubdued by his defeat at Northallerton, claimed the earldom of Cumberland in his own right, and that of Northumberland in right of his wife. Durham alone stood in his path, and its bishop, Geoffrey Rufus, strong in his impregnable castle, steadfastly adhered to Stephen. His death in 1140–41 enabled a certain William Cumin, an adherent of David, to obtain by force and fraud possession of the castle and the temporalities of the see, although he failed to secure his election to the bishopric. The result was a severe contest between Cumin and the lawful bishop, William de St. Barbe, in the course of which the cathedral was occupied by soldiery, and its monks were ill-treated and slain. It was not till 1144 that Cumin was put down, and peace restored to the house and patrimony of St. Cuthbert.