Northumberland Yesterday and To-dayTerry, Jean F. (Jean Finlay)
History
Northumberland Yesterday and To-day
Terry, Jean F. (Jean Finlay)
Northumberland (England) -- Guidebooks; Northumberland (England) -- History
The Castle, which stands on a lofty whinstone rock at the
south-east corner of the island, is a conspicuous object for many
miles, whether viewed by land or sea. It is supposed to have been
built in the reign of Henry VIII., at a time when defences were
commanded to be made to all harbours. If the Castle has had any
appreciable share of romantic incidents in its history, the records
thereof seem to be unknown; but one which has come down to us is
the account of its daring capture by an ardent North-country
Jacobite, Lancelot Errington, in 1715. The garrison consisted of
seven men, five of whom were absent. Errington, who was master of a
small vessel lying in the harbour, discovered this, and immediately
made his way to the Castle accompanied by his nephew, and
overpowered the two men who were left in charge, turning them out
of the Castle. He then signalled to the mainland for
reinforcements, but none were forthcoming. A company of King’s men
came instead and re-occupied the place, Errington and his nephew
escaping, to wander about in the neighbourhood for several days,
hiding from pursuit, before they got clear away. The Castle was for
many years the home of the coastguardsmen, who must have found it a
most advantageous position for their purpose, as they had an
uninterrupted view of miles of coast line.
Northward from Holy Island, but on the mainland, lies Goswick, from
whose red sandstone quarries came the material for building the
Abbey of Lindisfarne. Further north we come in sight of the coal
pits and smoke of Scremerston, while beyond it, Spittal and
Tweedmouth bring us right up to Berwick-on-Tweed itself, that grey
old Border town which has seen so many turns of fortune, and been
harried again and again, only to draw breath after each wild and
cruel interlude, and go calmly on its quiet way until it was once
more called upon to fight for its very existence.
Though definitely forming part of English soil since 1482, it is
not included in any English county, but, with about eight square
miles around it, forms a county by itself. Hence the addition, to
any Royal proclamation, of the well-known words “And in our Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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