North Berwick

“ An unlovely waterside road, it is true, a maze of railway arches spanning it, and shabby houses hiding all but the merest glimpses of Tweedmouth church and its gilded salmon vane, referring to the salmon-fishery of the Tweed, but leading to a point of view whence the outlook to the north-west is really grand. There, across the broad estuary of the Tweed, lies Berwick, behind its quays and its enclosing defences. Across the river, in the middle distance, goes Berwick Bridge, its massive piers and arches looking as though carved out of the rock, rather than built up of single stones. ”

“ Northward from Holy Island, but on the mainland, lies Goswick, from whose red sandstone quarries came the material for building the Abbey of Lindisfarne. Further north we come in sight of the coal pits and smoke of Scremerston, while beyond it, Spittal and Tweedmouth bring us right up to Berwick-on-Tweed itself, that grey old Border town which has seen so many turns of fortune, and been harried again and again, only to draw breath after each wild and cruel interlude, and go calmly on its quiet way until it was once more called upon to fight for its very existence. ”

“ To the north, scarcely broken as yet by the scattered buildings of the infant New Town,{53} the outlook commanded that “incomparable prospect” which delighted Colonel Mannering, as he gazed from the window of Counsellor Pleydell’s library on “the Frith of Forth with its islands; the embayment which is terminated by the Law of North Berwick, and the varied shores of Fife, indenting with a hilly outline the clear blue horizon.” [302]
Every Sunday during the hours of service the streets were silent and solitary, as if a plague had laid waste the city. ”

“ For the greater part of its length it divides Berwickshire from East Lothian; but at its seaward end there is one Berwickshire parish lying to the north of it—the parish of Cockburnspath. The land in this parish slopes down to the Firth of Forth; it is rich and well cultivated, and is divided into large farms, each of which has its group of red-roofed buildings, its substantial farmhouse, and its long tail of hinds' cottages. The seaward views are very fine, and include the whole of the rugged line of coast from Fast Castle on the east to Tantallon and North Berwick Law on the west. ”

“ He was one of the inmates of Tantallon Castle when it was besieged by Colonel Lambert, and during the progress of the siege was selected to escort the Countess of Ormonde and her sister-in-law, Lady Alexander Douglas, to North Berwick, whence it was arranged that they should cross to Fife to place themselves under the protection of the royalist army. ”

“ Grant me fifteen hundred chosen strong men to ride there with me."
"Certainly thou shalt have them, and more, and I myself, though old and grey, will see thy host arrayed for battle."
King Edward sent hither and thither, and assembled fifteen hundred men on Tyne side, and three times as many at North Berwick, all bound for battle. They marched up the banks of Tweed, burning the Merse and Teviotdale, and up and down the Lammermoor Hills, until they came to the darksome house called, by some, "Leader-Town." ”

“ Engineering works and coal-shoots are responsible for the rest. Little or nothing of antiquity enlivens its mean street that leads down to the old bridge and so across the Tweed into Scotland. The roofs of Berwick, clustered close together and sealing one over the other as the town ascends the opposite shore of the river, are seen, with the spired Town Hall dominating all at the further end of the long, narrow, hump-backed old structure, and away to the left that fine viaduct of the North Eastern Railway, the Royal Border Bridge. ”

“ A mile to the north is another little hamlet called "Simson," and spelt Selmeston. The curious wooden pillars in the church were fortunately untouched when the building was restored. The old altar slab has five crosses, and there are one or two interesting brasses.
Berwick is a scattered village on the western slopes of the Cuckmere valley; the Early English church is embowered in trees on a spur of the Downs; there is a fine canopied tomb in the chancel, an old screen and an uncommon type of font built in the wall. Note the eloquent epitaph to a former rector. ”

“ The other manufactures are all connected with agriculture, such as distilleries, breweries, tanneries, &c. The trade is also mainly agricultural. Fairs are held at Duns, Lauder, Coldstream and Greenlaw; but the sales of cattle and sheep mostly take place at the auction marts at Reston, Duns and Earlston. There are grain markets at Duns and Earlston. Berwick, from which the county derives its name, is still its chief market. There is, however, no legal or fiscal connexion between the county and the borough.
The North British railway monopolizes the communications of the county. ”

“ On the southern it mostly consists of lofty, bleak moorland, affording subsistence for sheep and cattle, and rugged glens and ravines, while on the northern there are many stretches of fertile soil, especially in the valleys and dales, and the landscape is often romantic and beautiful. Railway communication is supplied by the east coast route to Berwick, the Waverley route through Liddesdale, the London & North-Western by Carlisle, the North British branch from Berwick to St Boswells, and the North Eastern lines from Berwick to Kelso, Alnwick to Coldstream, and Newcastle to Carlisle. ”

“ In Berwick church, by the way, is a memorial to George Hall, a former rector, of whom it is said that his name "speaks all learning humane and divine," and that his memory is "precious both to the Muses and the Graces." The Reverend George Hall's works seem, however, to have vanished.
Wilmington, north-east of Alfriston, occupies a corresponding position to that of Alciston in the north-west; but having a "lion" in the shape of the Long Man it has lost its virginal bloom. ”

“ Titlington Pike, the highest point of this range above Eglingham, is 765 feet in elevation; Ross Castle, the highest peak of the whole range, a heather-clad height above the pleasant park of Chillingham, which stands out conspicuously in all the Cheviot views, is 1036 feet. Black Heddon, a few miles further north, is 646 feet; but the stream from the west side of this runs down into the sea direct, not into the Till. The village of Lowick, which is just upon the watershed midway between Wooler and Berwick, is not more than 400 feet in elevation. ”

“ On moist banks, not rare, N. and D. Near Berwick, and in Twizell Dene, N Dr. G. Johnston. Near Crowhall, N — Mr. J. Thompson, Sp.
33. TRICHOSTOMUM. 1. T. lanuginosum. Hook. and Tay. Musc. 105; Eng. Bot. 1348; Gr. Fl. Eds. 242; Berwick Flora, ii. 51.
On rocks at Shewing Shields, Simonside, Hedgehope, and Cheviot, N. On moors near Urpeth, Waskerley, in Teesdale, and similar situations in the north-west of the county of Durham, abundant.
2. T. canescens. Hook. and Tay. Musc. 106; Eng. Bot. 2434; Gr. Fl. Eds. 242; Berwick Flora, ii. 51; T. ericoides, Eng. Bot. 1991; Turner, Musc. 38. ”

“ G. Johnston.
The only locality in the north.
3. S. Sophia. Flix-weed. Sm. Eng. Fl. iii. 197; Eng. Bot. 963; Gr. Fl. Eds. 145; With. iii. 772; Berwick Flora, 145.
Near Scotswood and Ovingham, and on Holy Island, also about Belford and Alnwick, N. On rubbish at West Boldon and Cleadon, D. About East Ord, Etal, and Bamborough, N. — Thompson's Berwick Plants.
272. BARBAREA. 1. B. vulgaris. Yellow Rocket, Bitter Winter-cress. Sm. Eng. Fl. iii. 198; Hook. Fl. Scot. 200; Berwick Flora, 145; Erysimum Barbarea, Eng. Bot. 443.
On the banks of rivulets and in marshy meadows. ”

“ 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 ”

“ Berwick Flora, 132.
In corn, potatoe, and turnip fields, common.
3. G. versicolor. Large-flowered, Hemp-nettle, Bee-nettle. Sm. Eng. Fl. iii. 95; Eng. Bot. 667; Berwick Flora, 132; Curt. Lond. Fasc. vi. t. 38; Gr. Fl. Eds. 131; G. cannabina, With. iii. 703.
γ Dill. Ray Syn. 240.
α On the banks of North Tyne at Low Park-end near Nunwick, in corn fields between Newcastle and Jesmond, also near the Minories, N. About Tynemouth and Elsdon. — Miss Emma Trevelyan. In a field at the high end of Pandon Dene. — Wilson, Syn. 95. ”

“ All the country-side in this region is rich. At Long Houghton a grand church uprears its vast square tower, lonely and solemn in its place of graves. Royal Berwick comes next, stately and serene upon its ocean crag, with the white-crested waves curling on its beach and the glad waters of the Tweed kissing the fringes of its sovereign mantle, as they rush into the sea. The sun is sinking now, and over the many-coloured meadows, red and brown and golden and green, the long, thin shadows of the trees slope eastward and softly hint the death of day. ”

“ Richard Warner—afterwards the author of a work on the Waverley Novels—describes the lower half of the river between Berwick and Kelso: 'The country around Berwick, though swelling into hills and sinking into vales, has neither beauty nor variety, the one being uniform and lumpish, the other wide and unwooded. A naked surface everywhere presents itself, unadorned with those indispensable features in agreeable landscape, lofty trees and spreading shrubs. ”

“ And over all, and calmly and coldly speaking the survival of nature when the grandest works of man are dust, sounded the rustle of many branches in the heedless wind.
The day was setting over Norham as I drove away,—the red sun slowly obscured in a great bank of slate-coloured cloud,—but to the last I bent my gaze upon it, and that picture of ruined magnificence can never fade out of my mind. The road eastward toward Berwick is a green lane, running between harvest-fields, which now were thickly piled with golden sheaves, while over them swept great flocks of sable rooks. ”

“ But always, in such a case, there are to be found one or two bold spirits, or one or two so heedless of what is passing around them that they rush into danger unawares. Such there were at Berwick-on-Tweed, and to them the hunted soul spoke as he fled past, the hell-hounds slavering at his heels. "Until my body is burnt," he cried, "you folk of Berwick shall have no peace!" ”

“ When the wind is from the eastward, there is always a swell on the bar; and the ebb-tide—more especially when there is a fresh in the river, in consequence of rain—runs out with such velocity that it is impossible for a vessel to make head against it. Vessels bound for Berwick, which cannot take the harbour in bad weather, usually seek shelter in Leith Roads.
The salmon fishery forms a most important branch of the trade of Berwick. ”

“ This double epoch ought for ever to furnish a device for the Regiment de Berwick! It will henceforth be seen upon your colours; every faithful subject will there read his duty, and behold the model he ought to imitate."
"The colours of Berwick," added Charles Philippe the Comte d'Artois, "are, and always will be, in the path to honour, and we will march at their head!" [21]
The king perished, and then followed the campaign of 1793, a period most disastrous to the emigrants ”

“ I cannot follow the brilliant career of those two captains. Brilliant as it was however, it came to nought, and chiefly by the soldiership which the duke of Berwick displayed in Spain itself. The English had landed an army there to which was added a contingent of Portuguese. Louis sent Berwick to oppose them with what few troops he could spare. It was now that{29} Berwick showed himself to be a past master of defensive warfare—a true Fabius. The English, superior in numbers, could advance nowhere against this adroit and sleepless adversary. ”

“ So leaving Cockburnspath, we rode to Berwick, where the worthy old Soldier and ancient Knight, Sir William Bowyer, made me welcome, but contrary to his will, we lodged at an Inn, where Master James Acmootye paid all charges: but at Berwick there was a grievous chance happened, which I think not fit the relation to be omitted.
In the river of Tweed, which runs by Berwick, are taken by fishermen that dwell there, infinite numbers of fresh salmons, so that many households and families are relieved by the profit of that fishing ”

“ In the list of prisoners to be exchanged on both sides, Luxembourg observed that the name of Berwick was wanting. He learned for what fate he was reserved; he seized the duke of Ormond one of his own prisoners, and sent William word that whatever measure was meted out to Berwick, should be measured again to Ormond. Ormond was a favorite of William, and Berwick was exchanged for him. [2]
{25}
In all this dreadful fighting the best soldier in Europe remains nearly inactive ”

“ Think of the exercise we have had since leaving the restaurant to join our friend on the sidewalk."
"A man who would put you to all that trouble to speak to him is no gentleman," declared John Berwick whimsically.
"He deserves to be hung," said Jim savagely; "anyone who would impose on a trustful nature like yours and make you run over twenty miles of landscape! But cheer up, John, I have a hunch that we will strike a pay streak of grub yet. Let's take one more scout around that mysterious castle yonder and then we will make a bee line for the nearest lunch counter." ”

“ How we came gradually to establish, at the office of Household Words, that we knew all about Miss Berwick, I have never discovered. But we settled somehow, to our complete satisfaction, that she was governess in a family; that she went to Italy in that capacity, and returned; and that she had long been in the same family. We really knew nothing whatever of her, except that she was remarkably business-like, punctual, self-reliant, and reliable: so I suppose we insensibly invented the rest. For myself, my mother was not a more real personage to me, than Miss Berwick the governess became. ”