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.
[Illustration: CASTLE ON HOLY ISLAND.
_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.
[Illustration: BERWICK.
_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.
[Illustration: LEITH PIER AND HARBOUR.]
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.
[Illustration: NEWHAVEN PIER.
(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.
[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO THE PORT OF DUNDEE.]
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.