2. An earth-work to the south of this, consisting of either two or
three ramparts about seventy feet apart, with a ditch between.
8. Stations, Castles and Watch-towers. Sometimes these were to the
north of the wall, sometimes in the middle, sometimes south, according
to the nature of the country.
The height of the main wall was from sixteen to twenty feet, including
battlements. It was six to nine feet thick. Fancy a powerful military
wall of about eighteen feet high stretching nearly eighty miles right
across England! It hardly seems possible that the Romans could
undertake such a work. The square strong stones were carefully selected
and often brought from quarries at a distance. These stones flanked the
outsides of the wall, and in between was strong concrete which was
poured in while in liquid.
The second wall was of earth and stones, and, of course, lower than the
first. Then there was a castle every mile, some of which can still be
clearly traced, and a "station," about every four miles, of which
several interesting ruins remain. There was a road eighteen feet wide
between the two walls.
Those who have the energy to toil on for a full dozen miles of rough
walking, along the wall, eastward from Thirlwall, will be rewarded by
some of the most romantic scenes in Britain. They will see the wall at
its best. They will pass Whinshields, the highest point in the wall,
1230 feet above sea level. The wild Northumbrian lakes will lie at
their feet; if the day is fine, the Solway will be seen glistening,
thirty miles to the west; and on the east the eye follows the Tyne
almost to the sea. The Pennine Ridge bars the view twenty miles to the
south, while on the North the High Cheviot is clear and strong, thirty
miles away.
Passing Whinshields, it is not far to Borcovicus (often called
Housteads) where lie the remains of a large Roman Station, wonderful
remains, showing the whole outline with startling clearness. This
station covered five acres, and here was quartered a cohort of the
Tungrian infantry, consisting of a thousand brave soldiers, servants of
Imperial Rome.
But, after all, nothing is so impressive as the remains of the wall
itself. Stand at the top either of Whinshields or of the Nine Nicks,
and try to imagine what it looked like in Roman days. Eastward along
the Tyne valley and westward along the Irthing valley ran this wonderful
work, this powerful girdle of stone. The very spot was chosen with
great judgment, for these valleys gave the Romans a district protected
by the bleak hills, where they could live and where they could keep
cattle and grow grain. But the hilly nature of the ground must have
added to the difficulty of the builders. The wall had to run up steep
hill sides and cling to the edge of cliffs, and precipices; it had to be
carried by bridges over roaring torrents, and when it reached low-lying
ground it had to avoid the treacherous swamps and morasses. And yet,
despite every obstacle, the great wall ran on its direct way, as strong
and persistent as the great people who built it.
It withstood the shock of war, it was not flung down by soldiers
marching against it. But to the people who wanted to build castles or
houses or farms, or even to mend roads, the wall offered a mass of
material ready to hand, and it suffered not from man's energy so much as
from his laziness. Century after century it was robbed of its stones;
to-day a series of long grass-grown mounds, a few feet high, running
across the meadows, are nearly all that remain of one of the most
wonderful pieces of building that was ever erected in Great Britain.
Even today, in its decay, it is one of the most romantic features of a
highly romantic district.
*Chapter XLIX*
*In Wild Northumberland To-day*
These tales of the Borders would hardly be complete without a few
concluding words about the great romantic charm which still invests the
Borderline. Let us, for example, make a brief survey of some of the
haunting spots in wild Northumberland. We will pass over such towns as
Warkworth, Alnwick, Alnmouth; beautiful as they are, they have moved
with the times and are too modern to be more than mentioned here. But
in a place like Holy Island we feel the call of the old days, and the
charm that was theirs. This Island was the scene of the first efforts
of Christianity to curb the wild and warlike Northumbrians; St Aidan,
and St Cuthbert, both men of remarkable genius and great influence,
taught there lessons of peace and justice without which every warlike
state would descend into mere savagery. The island is about two miles
square, and at low tide it is easy to walk across the sands to or from
the mainland of Northumberland. The distance is two and a half miles,
and it is necessary to take off shoes and stockings, for the water on
the sands will often be six inches deep. A row of posts marks the way,
and some of them have ladders, reaching up to a barrel on the top, so
that any caught by the tide can find a safe harbour wherein they will
suffer nothing more serious than a long wait! The island is inhabited
by fishing folk, living simple healthy lives. There are fine rocks and
splendid sands; beautiful flowers and lovely shells. The seabirds are
wonderful. The ruins of the old Cathedral and castle are very
interesting, it is a delightful old-world place, out of the rush and
hurry of modern life.
Retracing our steps to the mainland, and proceeding westward for a dozen
or so miles as the crow flies, we reach the River Till, and the field of
Flodden. Here we are near to the big wild wall of the Cheviot hills,
and to keep on the English side of the border we need to turn due south.
It is then about thirty miles of rough walking through these grandly
rugged hills before we come to the field of Otterburn.
But we realise in that walk how it was that the district produced and
still produces a hardy race of hunters and sheep-farmers, and why it is
that the towns and farms nestle in the valleys, so that the Borderers,
when they meant to say, "Rouse the neighbourhood," used the phrase,
"Raise the _water_" (meaning, of course, the houses along the
waterside). Further south, still going among splendid shaggy hills, we
reach the North Tyne River, and soon afterwards some highly interesting
Roman remains, including the arches of a fine bridge over the river at
the Roman Station of Cilurnum, near Chollerford. This is on the Roman
Wall, which has already been described under the heading of Thirlwall.
A few miles to the west would bring us to the picturesque but
little-known Northumberland Lakes, where the wild swans nest. If we
continue south and south-west we can follow the beautiful valleys of the
Allan or the South Tyne. This is a district of hills, roads, and
castles; the domain of the fated Lord Derwentwater was near here. For
beauty the whole of this neighbourhood would be hard to beat; yet it is
too little known.
If we still go south, the scenery grows wilder and wilder as we approach
the huge mountain of Cross Fell. We may cross into south-east Cumberland
and visit the quaint old town of Alston, one of the highest towns in
England. Here were once the royal silver mines, when English coins were
made from Alston silver. Lead is chiefly mined there now, and the mines
are worth a visit. Near Cross Fell also is a rough road called the
"Maiden Way," and an old legend says it was made by women, who carried
the stones in their aprons! The western slope of the Fell is famous for
a specially violent wind called the "Helm wind," which rages there at
certain seasons. It is just as if it were rushing fiercely down the
hill, with a roaring noise and strength enough to overturn a horse and
cart, and to beat the grass and grain till it is black! But though it
does a deal of damage it is very exhilarating, making people feel merry
in spite of themselves. And on Cross Fell slopes can be seen the
beautiful River Tees, which can be followed to its grand waterfalls of
the the Cauldron and the High Force. In the first the water dashes on
to huge rocks, and is thrown back on itself, roaring, foaming, and
fighting; in the second, it tumbles sheer down a dark and noble cliff.
And everywhere on the heights there are splendid views.
In making any such excursions as the ones here outlined, into the
out-of-the-way parts of Northumberland and the Borders, we find an added
pleasure in the character of the people. The Borderers are still a
grand race; big men, vigorous, honest, courteous, hospitable, free from
all that is mean and small. In some districts you can hear "thou" and
"thee" still used, and meet old men who have never seen a railway. One
dear old farmer, a real picture of a simple honest man, hearing I had
come from London, asked me if the London men had got their hay-crop in
yet! One typical Northumbrian, of great natural intelligence, bearing a
name famous on the Borders, is station-master at a local station that
stands in a wood, and between trains, studies bird and wild-flower till
he has made himself a most interesting naturalist. A stranger who has
lost his way will find these courteous folk ready to walk a mile or two
with him, out of their own way, just to set him right; and he who is
tired and hungry will be invited to step in and eat, and perhaps find
himself introduced to all the family and treated like an honoured guest;
then, not a penny of payment taken, they will set him on his way with a
bunch of the best flowers from the garden! For hearts on the Border are
very human and warm. So that in due time he who knows the Borderers
will delight to hear the unmistakeable Northumbrian or the pronounced
Border accent. And he will say to himself: Splendid is the Border
scenery, and stirring are the Border ballads, but best of all are the
Border men.
* * * * * * * *