Chapter III: Part 3

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.

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.

_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.

_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.

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.

_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.

_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.

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 "Piraeus" 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.

(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 AEmonia, 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.

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 L242,000, 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.

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 L2,000 to nearly L12,000 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 L400, it is now upwards of L10,000. 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.

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 a 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.

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.