Plate 13 View of Lanercost Priory From a Water-Colour Sketch Painted by James Orrock, R.I.
(See pp. 36 and 74)
The Irthing valley is replete with historical remains and literary associations. Over there, to the north of Bewcastle (Beuth’s Castle), there is a celebrated Runic Cross nearly fifteen feet high, of the Caedmon order, similar to that at Ruthwell. The Irthing flows through the wide moorish wilderness known as Spade-Adam, or the Waste, crosses the Roman Wall at Gilsland, thence courses amongst some of the richest scenery in Cumberland until it meets the Eden. Gilsland Spa has long been noted for the excellence of its waters and the remarkable salubrity of the district. Scott stayed at the old Shaw’s Hotel in July, 1797, not the present palatial Convalescent Home (as it now is) which was rebuilt after a fire about fifty years since. Charlotte Carpenter was a guest at Wardrew House, directly opposite. They met often, and the result was love and marriage. On a huge boulder by the banks of the Irthing, where the glen comes to its steepest and wears its most enchanting aspect, Scott is said to have “popped the question,” and the “Kissing Bush” where the compact was sealed is also pointed out close by. At Gilsland it is interesting to recall that one is to some extent in “Guy Mannering Land.” A small private dwelling adjoining the Methodist Chapel claims to stand on the site of the notorious Mumps Ha’, “a hedge ale-house, where the Border farmers of either country often stopped to refresh themselves and their nags on their way to and from the fairs and trysts in Cumberland.” It was there that young Harry Bertram first met Dandie Dinmont and the weird figure of Meg Merrilies, who, by the way, was not buried at Upper Denton, as the guide-books say. It was the treacherous landlady, Meg Mumps or Margaret Carrick, who is there interred. The more important Meg—the real heroine of the story—was drowned in the Eden at Carlisle. Gilsland is a centre for some delightful excursions. Much of the Roman Wall may be visited from this centre, its two chief stations Borcovicus (Housesteads) and Burdoswald being within easy distances. The little Northumberland lakes, and the prettiest of them all, Crag Loch, the Nine Nicks of Thirlwall, seen from the Shaws with fine effect, Thirlwall and Blenkinsop Castles, Haltwhistle Church, all to the east, are objects of deep and abiding interest. Westward are Burdoswald—the Roman Amboglanna—covering an area of 5½ acres, and overlooking a singularly graceful bend of the Irthing (not unlike that on the Tweed at Bemersyde); Lanercost PrioryA, founded by Robert de Vaux about 1166, frequently plundered by the Scots, and used now partly as the parish church and burial-place of the Carlisle family; Naworth,B the historic seat of the Earl of Carlisle, whose ancestor, Lord William Howard, was the famous “Belted Will” of Border story, who died in 1640:—
“His Bilboa blade, by marchmen felt,
Hung in a broad and studded belt;
Hence, in rude phrase, the Borderers still
Call noble Howard, ‘Belted Will,’”—
and Triermain Castle, all but vanished, whence Scott’s “Bridal of Triermain”—
“Where is the Maiden of mortal strain,
That may match with the Baron of Triermain?
She must be lovely, and constant and kind,
Holy and pure, and humble of mind,
Blithe of cheer, and gentle of mood,
Courteous, and generous, and noble of blood—
Lovely as the sun’s first ray,
When it breaks the clouds of an April day,
Constant and true as the widow’d dove,
Kind as a minstrel that sings of love.”
Notes
A Lanercost is a fine example of Early English. The church consists of a nave with north aisle, a transept with aisles on the east side used as monumental chapels and choir, a chancel, and a low square tower. The nave is used as the Parish Church. The crypt contains several Roman altars from Burdoswald, etc. Some of the inscriptions are of great interest.
B Naworth is said to be one of the oldest and best specimens existing of a baronial residence. It is associated largely with the turbulent times of Border warfare. “Belted Will,” a terror to all marauders, is its best-known name, “a singular lover of venerable antiquities, and learned withal,” as Camden describes him. The British Museum contains some of his letters, and his library is still preserved at Naworth. “Belted Will’s” Tower, to the north-east of the Castle, is the most notable feature at Naworth.