place is not mentioned in any author who wrote before the Conquest, nor
in the Domesday-book, we cannot reasonably suppose it to have been of
much importance, either during the Saxon period, or at the time when the
Conqueror's survey was made. The castle of Scarborough was built about
1163, by William le Gros, Earl of Albemarle and Holderness; and from
that period the authentic history of the town commences. The castle is
situated to the north-eastward of the town, and is built on the isthmus
of a peninsula, which comprises an area of about sixteen acres, and is
bounded on the north, east, and south by inaccessible cliffs, whose
summits are about 300 feet above the level of the sea. The western
boundary, overlooking the town, is also formed by an elevated rock; and
the only means of approach to the castle is by a steep path near the
edge of the cliff forming the north side of the isthmus. On passing
through a gateway, and over a draw-bridge, we arrive at the castle,
which, previous to the introduction of cannon, must have been almost
impregnable. The keep or principal tower is ninety-seven feet high, and
though greatly dilapidated, is yet a striking object, more especially
when viewed from the sea, at about two miles' distance from the north
cliff.
There is no river at Scarborough; and the harbour, which is formed by
the piers, is only accessible towards high water. It is high water at
Scarborough at forty-five minutes past three o'clock at the full and
change of the moon; and at spring tides there is about twenty-two feet
water at the end of the pier. At night a light is shown from the
lighthouse as long as there is twelve feet water at the entrance to the
harbour; and during the same period a flag is hoisted by day.
About 1620 the sanative virtues of the Spa-well were discovered by Mrs.
Anne Farrow, who "sometimes walked along the shore, and observing the
stones over which the water passed to have received a russet colour, and
finding it to have an acid taste different from the common springs, and
to receive a purple tincture from galls, thought it probably might have
a medical property." The lady having tried the water herself, and
persuaded others to do the same, it was in a short time pronounced an
all-heal, and the people of the place took it as their usual physic.
Before 1670 these waters had become celebrated, and many persons
resorted to Scarborough for the sake of drinking them. Medical men,
however, disagreed both as to their composition and effects; and the
opinions of Dr. Witty, a resident physician, who recommended them in
every case, were controverted by Mr. Simpson and Dr. George Tonstall.
The latter says of the Spa-water, "The essence is fit for the cup of a
prince; the _caput mortuum_, which is sand and clay, is fit for nothing
but the bricklayer's trowel. Hence it doth follow that those who are
weak in their digestive faculties, and strong in their distributive, may
find good by drinking this water; but those who are weak in both will
experience the contrary." From the following anecdote related by the
doctor, we may infer that the spa-drinkers of that period were
accustomed to indulge in rather copious draughts. "Mr. Westro came to us
at Scarborough only to visit his friends, and the two or three days he
drank the waters (_not above two quarts at a time_), did so far put him
out of tune, that he made his complaint to me he could neither eat nor
sleep; and it took me a week's time before I could reduce him to the
state of health which he had before he meddled with the waters." He
would have been a person of strong constitution indeed not to have been
"put out of tune" by such drenching; and it is no small proof of Dr.
Tonstall's skill that he should have been able to restore Mr. Westro the
blessings of sound sleep and a good appetite in so short a time as a
week. From the double advantage which Scarborough presents to visitors,
of drinking the waters and enjoying the benefit of sea bathing, it is
much frequented during the summer season; and a more agreeable place is
not to be found on the coast betwixt the Humber and the Tyne.
[Illustration: WHITBY.]
WHITBY.
This engraving of Whitby, from a drawing by Harding, presents a view of
the entrance to the harbour, as seen from the northward. Towards the
middle of the plate is seen the end of the east pier; on the top of the
cliff are the ruins of the abbey and the parish church; while, farther
to the right, part of the town is perceived.
Whitby is in the North Riding of Yorkshire, and lies about 246 miles
north of London, 22 north-north-west of Scarborough, and 47 north-east
of York. It is chiefly built on the sloping banks of the river Esk, by
which it is divided into two parts; that on the west side being the most
populous. The opposite parts of the town are connected by means of a
bridge, the middle of which is moveable for the purpose of allowing
ships to pass through. In the old bridge, which has been pulled down,
the opening in the middle was upon the principle of a drawbridge, in
which the roadway is raised and lowered by means of beams and chains. At
high-water the river above the bridge expands into a spacious harbour,
where ships can lie in perfect security; but at ebb tide, except in the
mid-channel, the harbour is nearly dry. In the outer harbour, as it is
called, below the bridge, vessels cannot ride with safety in gales of
wind upon the land.
The piers at the entrance to Whitby harbour are not built and maintained
at the sole expense of the place, but by a duty on coals shipped at
Newcastle, Sunderland, Blyth, and their dependencies--Yarmouth vessels
only being exempt--and the sum thus raised amounts to upwards of L2,000
per annum. It is doubtless a great advantage to the people of Whitby to
have their piers built and kept in repair at the expense of other ports;
but it is equally certain that the same sum might be employed more to
the advantage of those by whom it is paid in improving other
places--Scarborough and Burlington, for instance--as harbours of refuge
on the eastern coast. In a gale of wind from the eastward, Whitby is
perhaps one of the most dangerous harbours that a vessel can attempt to
take between Yarmouth roads and the Frith of Forth, and captains of
coasting vessels cannot be too frequently warned to avoid it. As the
flood tide sets strong to the southward across the entrance to the
harbour, vessels in attempting to enter with a gale of wind from the
north-east are extremely liable to be driven on the rocks and wrecked at
the foot of the cliff beyond the east pier.
A singular customary duty, called "making the penny-stake hedge," is
annually performed at Whitby, by certain tenants of the Lord of the
Manor. It consists in driving a certain number of stakes, which,
according to the ancient prescribed form, were to be cut with a knife of
the value of one penny, on the shore of the south side of the Esk, at
low-water mark, at nine o'clock on the morning of the day before
Ascension-day, while a man with a horn blows, "Out on you! Out on you!"
to the shame of the persons whose duty it is to drive the stakes. When
it shall be full sea or high-water at nine o'clock on the day of
performing this service, it was to cease; but as Ascension-day is
regulated by the change of the moon this can never happen. This custom
is of great antiquity, as the _horngarth_, the enclosure formed by the
stakes, is mentioned about 1315 in the registers of the Abbey, in an
account of certain disputes between the abbot, Thomas de Malton, and
Alexander de Percy, of Sneaton. Tradition reports that this custom was
imposed as a penance on three persons of the families of Percy, Bruce,
and Allatson, who held lands of the Abbey, for having killed a hermit in
the chapel of Eskdale-side, when hunting a wild boar which had there
taken refuge. The penance imposed was the tenure by which they and their
successors were to hold the Abbey lands.
Leland, who visited Whitby a few years before the suppression of the
monastery, describes it as a "great fisher town;" and he mentions that
when he was there a new quay and pier were in course of erection. Until
the establishment of the alum works in its neighbourhood, towards the
latter end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, Whitby appears to have been
a place of little trade. As this new branch of commerce extended, the
trade and population of Whitby steadily increased until it has attained
its present importance.
[Illustration: WHITBY.
_FROM THE NORTH WEST_]
WHITBY,
FROM THE NORTH-WEST.
The view of Whitby from the north-west, by Balmer, is taken from the
sands near Upgang, between Whitby and the village of Sandsend. From this
point nearly the whole of the west pier is seen, extending directly from
the shore, and having a light-house near its outer extremity. Beyond the
pier, and on the other side of the river, are seen the houses built on
the sloping side of the cliff, and on its top the ruins of Whitby abbey,
which
"In solemn grandeur, calm and still,
O'erlook the restless flood."
The first authentic notice that we have of Whitby, is contained in
Bede's Ecclesiastical History. In the time of the venerable historian it
was called in the Anglo-Saxon language _Streoneshalh_, a name which he
interprets in Latin by the words _Sinus Fari_; that is, in English,
"Light-house bay." Subsequently it received from the Danes its present
name of Whitby, a word which is probably derived from _hvit_ or _whit_,
white; and _by_, a dwelling, or in its more extended sense, a village or
town. It has been supposed that this name might be given to the village
in consequence of its being built chiefly with stone taken from the
ruins of the monastic buildings; but the supposition is untenable,
unless we at the same time presume that the stones, which were taken
from buildings which had been destroyed by fire, were rendered white by
being burnt. In Domesday Book the place appears to be called
_Prestebi_--Priestby--as well as _Witeby_--Whitby. The name Priestby,
which soon became obsolete, probably denoted that part of the village
which lay on the east side of the Esk, and was more immediately
dependent on the monastery.
The abbey of Whitby, founded by St. Hilda in 658, acquired considerable
importance as the residence of this saint, of whose miracles certain
marvellous traditions are still current in this vicinity. At the
dissolution, under Henry VIII., Richard Cholmley, Esq., obtained a lease
for twenty-one years of the site of the abbey and several parcels of its
lands. In 1550 those lands were sold by the crown to John, earl of
Warwick, who again sold them to Sir John Yorke, of whom they were
purchased by the original lessee, then Sir Richard Cholmley, in 1555.
Since that time the property has continued in the family of Cholmley,
who enjoy many valuable rights and privileges as lords of the manor of
Whitby. On the dissolution of the monastery, the abbey was stripped of
every thing that was valuable. The bells were taken down, and the church
was unroofed for the sake of the timber and lead. The walls only were
spared, as the cost of taking them down would probably have been greater
than the value of the stones. Though time has destroyed much of Whitby
Abbey, yet the ruins still form a conspicuous and interesting object
when viewed from the sea. The tower, which for several preceding years
had been in a tottering state, fell down 25th June, 1830. The parish
church, a plain structure, probably founded about the beginning of the
twelfth century, stands at a short distance to the north-westward of the
abbey. The direct foot-way to the church-yard from the town is by a
steep ascent of one hundred and ninety steps.
It is worthy of remark that the number of ships registered at Whitby by
no means affords a criterion of the trade of the place, for the greatest
part of them are freighted to and from other ports. Perhaps no port in
the kingdom presents so great a difference as Whitby between the number
of ships registered at the port, and the number annually entered and
cleared. This discrepancy between the trade and the tonnage of the port
arises from the circumstance of many wealthy persons who live there
having their ships built and registered at Whitby, but chiefly employed,
on freight, in the trade of other places. When speaking of the shipping
of Whitby, it would be unpardonable not to mention that Captain James
Cook one of the most distinguished of British circumnavigators, served
an apprenticeship in a vessel belonging to that port.
The principal trades carried on at Whitby are ship-building, and the
manufacture of sail-cloth. Its chief imports are coals from Newcastle
and Sunderland, and timber, hemp, flax, tar, iron, and tallow, from the
Baltic. Alum manufactured in the neighbourhood is shipped at Whitby, but
the principal article of export is at present stones for building, of
which great quantities are sent to London.
From the light-house, on the western pier, a tide-light is displayed at
night time, as long as there is eight feet water on the bar. The light
is stationary, and is visible at the distance of two leagues in clear
weather. During the same period of tide, in the day, a flag is hoisted
on the west cliff. It is high water at Whitby pier at forty minutes past
three o'clock at the full and change of the moon.
[Illustration: ROBIN HOOD'S BAY.]
ROBIN HOOD'S BAY.
The above is the name of a fine bay on the Yorkshire coast, between
Whitby and Scarborough, and also of the fishing village, situated
towards its northern extremity. In the view, which is taken from the
north, several of the houses are seen standing upon the very edge of the
cliff. The promontory to the left is called Ravenhill, and forms the
south-eastern extremity of the bay. From an inscription dug up at
Ravenhill in 1774, it appears that there had formerly been a Roman camp
there.
The ancient name of the bay was Fyling, and from what reason or at what
period it first received the name of Robin Hood's Bay is uncertain. That
it ever was the resort of the famed outlaw of that name is extremely
questionable; although two or three tumuli on the moor, about two miles
to the southward of the village, are said to be the butts, in shooting
at which he exercised his men in archery. Near Whitby Lathes, about five
miles to the north-west of Robin Hood's Bay, are two upright stones,
which are said to mark the spots where the arrows of the bold robber of
Sherwood Forest, and his man Little John, fell, when, in a trial of
strength, they discharged them from the top of Whitby Abbey in the
presence of the abbot. As the distance from these stones to the abbey is
rather more than a mile and a half, it is evident that a _long_ bow must
have been drawn by some one, if not by Robin Hood. It has been supposed
that the place was originally called Robin Wood's Bay, from a fisherman
of that name, who formerly resided there; but this conjecture rests on
no better ground than the fact of two or three fishermen of the name of
Wood having lived there in modern times. A family of fishermen of the
name of Wood, with whom "Zebedee" appears to have been a favourite
"fore-name," have resided at Runswick, a fishing village, about seven
miles northward of Whitby, for several generations.
Leland, in his Itinerary, written about three hundred years ago, calls
the village by its present name, Robin Hood's Bay, and describes it as
"a fisher townlet of twenty boats." It is still, as in his time, almost
entirely inhabited by fishermen. The houses forming the principal street
are built on each side of a steep road, leading down to the shore; while
others, as may be seen in the view, are built upon the very extremity of
the cliff. The approach to the village is by a steep descent, which is
extremely inconvenient for carriages. It is about fourteen miles
north-west of Scarborough, and seven south-east of Whitby; and the
population is about a thousand.
Robin Hood's Bay, Filey, Runswick, and Staithes, are the principal
fishing villages on the Yorkshire coast. Filey is about eight miles
south of Scarborough; Runswick, as has been previously observed, is
about seven miles northward of Whitby; and Staithes is about three miles
northward of Runswick. At each of those places the fishery is carried on
both by cobles and by five-man boats. At most of the other fishing
stations on the Yorkshire coast cobles only are employed. A description
of the last named species will be found in our notice of Bambrough from
the South-east; and of the five-man boats, we propose to say a few words
on the present occasion.
The vessels now called five-man boats are about forty-six feet long,
sixteen feet eight inches broad, and six feet three inches deep. They
are clinker-built, sharp at the bows, and have a deck with a large
hatchway in midships, and a cabin towards the stern for the men. They
have three masts, on each of which they carry a lug sail. Their other
sails are a jib, and, in fine weather, a top-sail set on a shifting
topmast, above the main-mast. As the sails are all tanned, a five-man
boat forms a picturesque object at sea, more especially when viewed in
contrast with a square-rigged vessel with white sails. The crew of each
five-man boat consists of seven persons, five of whom, called
_shares-men_ have equal shares of the proceeds of the voyage, or the
season, after the boat's share is paid. The sixth person is often a
young man who receives half a share, and is a kind of apprentice to the
captain or owner of the boat. The seventh is generally hired at a
certain sum per week, and not sharing in the profits of the fishery.
To each five-man boat there are two cobles, which in proceeding to the
fishing ground are generally hauled up on the deck. On arriving at the
place where it is intended to fish, the boat is anchored, and the cobles
being launched, three men proceed in each to shoot their lines, while
one remains on board. The lines used for this more distant fishery are
called _haavres_. They are about the same length as those used in the
coble fishery nearer the shore, though thicker, and having the hooks
placed at greater intervals. As the six men who fish have each two sets
of lines, they are thus enabled to shoot one set immediately after they
have hauled the other. In the five-man-boat fishery the hooks are always
baited at sea.
[Illustration: HARTLEPOOL.]
HARTLEPOOL.
The view of Hartlepool, painted by T. Creswick, from a drawing by G.
Balmer, is taken from the northward. To the right, between the
foreground and the town, are seen the sands of what is called the
"Slake;" to the left are the cliffs, at the foot of which are the
excavations called "Fairy Coves;" and beyond the town part of the
southern coast of Durham is perceived, which extends from Hartlepool
southward to the mouth of the Tees. The figures in the foreground are
characteristic of the place; for there is no obtaining a view of
Hartlepool from the land-side without seeing a group of fishwomen.
The town of Hartlepool stands on a small peninsula on the southern coast
of Durham, and is about nine miles north-east of Stockton-upon-Tees.
From the "Slake," or Pool, which is between the town and the mainland to
the west, it probably received the appellation of "_Le Poole_," to
distinguish it from the village of Hart, which is about four miles and a
half to the north-west. The word Hart, according to Ducange, signified,
in Teutonic, a forest; and, if the name of the parish of Hart be of the
same origin, the reason why the place should have been so called is
obvious. The old town-seal of Hartlepool contains a rebus of the name--a
hart up to his knees in a pool--which assigns to the first part of it a
different etymology. Previous to receiving the name of Hartlepool the
place was called Heortu, and sometimes Heortness; the terminating _u_ is
perhaps an abbreviation of _eau_, water; and the name Heortu synonymous
with Hart-le-pool. The termination _ness_ is expressive of the place
being built on a point of land which projects into the sea. "At or near
this place," says Bishop Tanner, in the _Notitia Monastica_, "was the
ancient monastery called Heorthu, founded upon the first conversion of
the Northumbrians to Christianity, about A.D. 640, by a religious woman
named Hieu, or, as some have it, St. Bega, whereof St. Hilda was some
time abbess." This ancient convent was destroyed by the Danes about 800,
and its site is now unknown, though it is supposed to have stood on the
spot which was subsequently occupied by a Franciscan monastery, founded
by one of the Bruce family about 1250, and suppressed by Henry VIII. Of
this monastery or its church there is at present no part remaining,
though some old houses, called the Friary, probably built out of the
ruins, still indicate its situation. The church of Hartlepool, which is
dedicated to St. Hilda, is a large building, and, from the various
styles of its architecture, has evidently been built at different
periods.
About the time of the Conquest, the manors of Hart and Hartness belonged
to Fulk de Panell; and, upon the marriage of his daughter Agnes with
Robert de Brus, one of the Norman followers of William I., they came,
with other rich manors in Yorkshire and in Durham, into the possession
of that family. Upon Robert Bruce, a descendant of the above-named
Robert de Brus, succeeding to the crown of Scotland in 1306, all his
English estates were confiscated by Edward I., who granted the manor of
Hart and the borough of Hartlepool to Robert de Clifford, "saving the
rights of the Bishops of Durham," under whom, since 1189, the property
had been held.
In 1201, King John granted a charter to Hartlepool, conferring upon the
burgesses the same privileges as those of Newcastle-upon-Tyne; and in
1230, Richard le Poor, Bishop of Durham, granted another charter,
appointing a mayor and other officers for the government of the town. In
1593, Queen Elizabeth granted a new charter, under which the affairs of
the borough have been since regulated.
From the reign of King John to that of James I., Hartlepool was the most
considerable port in the county of Durham; but from the latter period
till about seven years ago, its importance as a place of trade appears
to have greatly declined: and from 1730 to 1832, its condition was that
of a small fishing town, scarcely visited by any ships, except colliers
belonging to Sunderland and Newcastle, which occasionally sought refuge
in its harbour during a storm. In 1832, a bill was obtained for the
purpose of improving the harbour and forming a dock at Hartlepool; and
since that period a considerable portion of the projected works have
been finished. A railway has since been formed, by which coals are
brought to the town; and a considerable quantity are now shipped there
for the London and other markets; and from the advantageous situation of
the harbour, and the facility with which vessels can be loaded, there
seems great probability of Hartlepool becoming, in a few years, one of
the principal ports for the shipment of coals in the county of Durham.
[Illustration: SUNDERLAND.
_THE LIGHT HOUSE ON THE SOUTH PIER._]
SUNDERLAND,
THE LIGHTHOUSE ON THE SOUTH PIER.
The view of the Lighthouse on Sunderland South Pier is taken from the
south-east. The entrance to the harbour lies beyond the pier-head, to
the right, on which a crane, and a capstan used in warping out ships,
are perceived. The large D on the fore-topsail of the collier lying
within the pier is a distinguishing mark adopted by the owner that his
vessels may be more readily known. To the left is seen the higher
lighthouse, of stone, which stands on the north pier, on the opposite
side of the river.
The erection of a pier on each side of the entrance to Sunderland
harbour has been rendered necessary in consequence of the constant
tendency of the bar of sand at its mouth to accumulate. The piers, by
contracting the channel of the river, have deepened the water, and
increased the velocity of the current at ebb tide, which thus scours the
entrance to the harbour, and prevents the accumulation of sand upon the
bar.
In 1669, Charles II. granted letters patent to Edward Andrew, Esq.,
empowering him to build a pier, erect lighthouses, and cleanse the
harbour at Sunderland, and also to raise funds for these purposes by a
tonnage-duty on ships. At a subsequent period, commissioners were
appointed for the same purposes by an act of parliament; and under their
authority three hundred and thirty-three yards of the north pier were
built, between 1716 and 1746. From a report of the commissioners made in
1765, it appears that L50,000 had been expended on the south pier up to
that time, and it was estimated that to finish it would cost as much
more. It is now extended to the length of six hundred and twenty-five
yards. The north pier, which is entirely of stone, was commenced about
1785, but additions have been recently made to its eastern extremity.