North of Flodden Field, and not far distant, is the Scottish Border,
which in this part is made by the river Tweed, with Berwick at its
mouth. The two kingdoms, so long in hot quarrel, are now united by a
magnificent railway-bridge, elevated one hundred and twenty-five feet
above the river and costing $600,000. For miles along the coast the
railway runs almost upon the edge of the ocean, elevated on the cliffs
high above the sea, while off the coast are Holy Isle and Lindisfarne.
Here St. Cuthbert was the bishop, and its abbey is a splendid ruin,
while on the rocky islet of Farne he lived a hermit, encompassing his
cell with a mound so high that he could see nothing but the heavens. Two
miles from Farne, on the mainland, was the royal city of Bebban Burgh,
now Bamborough, the castle standing upon an almost perpendicular rock
rising one hundred and fifty feet and overlooking the sea. This was King
Ida's castle, a Border stronghold in ancient times whose massive keep
yet stands. It is now a charity-school, a lighthouse, and a life-saving
station. Thirty beds are kept in the restored castle for shipwrecked
sailors, and Bamborough is to the mariner on that perilous coast what
the convent of St. Bernard is to the traveller in the Alps. Here, at
this Border haven, we will close this descriptive tour by recalling
Bamborough's most pleasant memory--that of Grace Darling. She was a
native of the place, and was lodged, clothed, and educated at the school
in Bamborough Castle. Her remains lie in Bamborough churchyard under an
altar-tomb bearing her recumbent figure and surmounted by a Gothic
canopy. She is represented lying on a plaited straw mattrass and holding
an oar. All this coast is beset with perils and wrecks have been
frequent. The islet of Farne and a cluster of other rocks off shore add
to the dangers, and on some of them there are lighthouses. One of these
rocks--Longstone Island--Grace Darling rendered memorable by her
intrepidity in perilling her life during the storm of September, 1838.
Her father was the keeper of Longstone Light, and on the night of
September 6 the Forfarshire steamer, proceeding from Hull to Dundee, was
wrecked there. Of fifty-three persons on board, thirty-eight perished,
and on the morning of the 7th, Grace, then about twenty-three years of
age, discovered the survivors clinging to the rocks and remnants of the
steamer, in imminent danger of being washed off by the returning tide.
With her parents' assistance, but against their remonstrance, Grace
launched a boat, and with her father succeeded in rescuing nine of them,
while six escaped by other means. Presents and demonstrations of
admiration were showered upon her from all parts of the kingdom, and a
public subscription of $3500 was raised for her benefit. Poor Grace died
four years later of consumption. A monument to her has been placed in
St. Cuthbert's Chapel on Longstone Island, and upon it is this
inscription, from Wordsworth:
"Pious and pure, modest, and yet so brave,
Though young, so wise--though meek, so resolute.
"Oh that winds and waves could speak
Of things which their united power called forth
From the pure depths of her humanity!
A maiden gentle, yet at duty's call
Firm and unflinching as the lighthouse reared
On the island-rock, her lonely dwelling-place;
Or, like the invincible rock itself, that braves,
Age after age, the hostile elements,
As when it guarded holy Cuthbert's cell.
"All night the storm had raged, nor ceased, nor paused,
When, as day broke, the maid, through misty air,
Espies far off a wreck amid the surf,
Beating on one of those disastrous isles--
Half of a vessel, half--no more; the rest
Had vanished!"
[Illustration: GRACE DARLING'S MONUMENT.]