River Tyne

“ Coquet holds the affections of Northumbrians, I think, above all their rivers. There is an obvious feeling in the county that it is their typical representative stream, partly perhaps because it flows right through the centre of it, and is more generally familiar than the remoter dales of Tyne. The North Tyne, as a river, has a greater volume of water, and is more imposing. Both have a stormy and dramatic past, but that of Tyne and Rede, since they were notable passes into Scotland, is on a more imposing scale, though the raider was in no way bound to beaten routes. ”

“ The houses facing the Tyne, more particularly on the north side, seem less to have been built than to have been cobbled together. They are made indifferently of brick and wood and stone; they have platforms standing on wooden piles; they are kept out of the river by stout timbers that the tide washes, and that are green with salt-water moss or white with clustering limpets. ”

“ Returning down the Cor burn to the Tyne, our way lies eastward by the side of the river, which here, after splashing and sparkling over the shallows below Corbridge, narrows again to a deeper stream of swifter current, and flows between green meadows and leafy woods, fern-clad steeps and level haughs, all the way down to Ryton, where the picturesque aspect of the river ceases, and it becomes an industrial waterway. ”

“ Tyne, river of North England, formed by the confluence near Hexham of the N. Tyne from the Cheviots, and the S. Tyne, which rises on Cross Fell, in E. Cumberland; forms the boundary between Durham and Northumberland, and after a course of 32 m. enters the sea between Tynemouth and South Shields.
Tynemouth (28 township, 46 borough) , a popular watering-place of Northumberland, at the mouth of the Tyne, 9 m. E. of Newcastle; has a fine sweep of promenaded shore, an aquarium, pier, lighthouse, baths, &c.; North Shields and several villages lie within the borough boundaries. ”

“ TYNE, a river in the north-east of England, fiowing eastward to the North Sea, formed of two main branches, the North Tyne and South Tyne. The North Tyne rises in the Cheviot Hills, at their south-western extremity, near the Scottish border. ”

“ Here, indeed, the great bulwark against northern barbarism approached the Tyne on either of its banks. The river is now crossed by a bridge which was built in 1775, but there still exist substantial remains of that by which the Roman legions crossed over to the great stations of Procolitia and Cilurnum. Procolitia was one [Pg 142] of a trio of important stations near to this portion of the North Tyne, and is some three or four miles away. Not many years ago no less than 16,000 coins, besides some rings, and twenty Roman altars, were discovered on this site. ”

“ The coal trade of the Tyne is the most important in England, and for its general shipping trade the river ranks next in importance to the Thames and the Mersey. The principal ports are Newcastle and North and South Shields, but below Newcastle the river is everywhere studded with piers and jetties. About a seventh of the whole tonnage of vessels built in England is built on the Tyne, the most important works being those of Jarrow. For boat-racing the Tyne vies in celebrity with the Thames. ”

“ With Anna of the Tyne!” THE TYNE. By Henry Robson.—1807.
Henry Robson, the author of this, as also of the Collier’s Pay Week, see page 38, was born at Benwell, near Newcastle; and is now residing at the latter place, where, besides the above, he has written several pieces of poetry, possessing a considerable degree of merit.
In Britain’s blest island there runs a fine river,
Far fam’d for the ore it conveys from the mine:
Northumbria’s pride, and that district doth sever
From Durham’s rising hills, and ’tis called—The Tyne. ”

“ Flowing now between well ordered gardens, green meadows, and ferny banks, brawling musically over shingly shallows, or crooning gently between fringing woods, the Tyne rolls onward to Corbridge, receiving on its way the Devil’s Water, a sparkling stream which flows through scenes of enchanting beauty, whether between rugged cliffs and heather clad hills as in its upper course, through the graceful overhanging trees and cool green recesses of Dipton woods or between rich meadows and green pasture-land where it loses itself in the bosom of the Tyne. ”

“ The Tyne is like a bending shaft of sunlight, making darkness not only visible but sublime. There is a quaint variety and picturesqueness about [Pg 163] the wharves and “staithes” and factories which line its banks. The chemical works are like belated castles, about which hives of Cyclopean industry have grown up, for they thrust tall wooden towers into the air, round which there goes a platform that seems to be intended for sentries on the watch. From Newcastle Quay downwards, ships of all sizes and varieties are anchored at either side of the stream. ”

“ A streak of brighter and fresher green than any that is visible on the hillsides indicates where a hidden thread of water percolates the moss. Then there is a glint of silver here and there. Finally, the eye lights upon a sedgy pool, in the centre of which there is perceptible that throbbing movement which tells of the presence of a spring. This, then, is the source of the South Tyne. Before its waters have travelled far from here they will be crossed by a rude, ancient bridge, and swollen by many a little tributary from the hills. ”

“ If the modern dwelling by the Tyne, scattered enough in any case, is deplorable from the artist’s point of view, the nearer hills to the southward trend upwards gradually in mile-long sweeps to wild and lonely moors, from which come, winding down to the main valley, beautiful glens like those of the two Allens or the Devil’s Water, even still{109} more exquisite. ”

“ The North Tyne rises in a broad hollow on the western edge of the county, being formed by the union of several streams which flow from a crescent of heathery gritstone hills extending from Carter Fell, Carlingtooth Fell, Peel Fell, and Deadwater Fell, southward to the head of the Cairncleugh Burn, the first-mentioned peak 1600 feet, but the others only from 1000 feet to 1300 feet in altitude. In the 15 miles which it flows eastward before the Reedwater joins it, the ridge on the north has sunk to 800 feet. ”

“ The descendants of the men who formed the greynes or clans of Tyne, soldiers, moss-troopers, cattle-lifters, the terror of the low countries, are all here in absolute possession—Charltons, Robsons, Hedleys, Dodds, Halls and Milburnes—great sheep-farmers many, landowners still some of them. But tempting as it is to pursue this wild and beautiful valley to the springs of Tyne on the Scottish watershed, with its still surviving peel-towers, its wealth of tradition and legend, it is necessary to forbear, for I have already somewhat exceeded the limits of my space. ”

“ To reach it from Alston one must trudge wearily afoot, or hire such vehicle as may be obtainable where travellers seldom come. The road winds about over windy uplands, ever rising nearer to the drifting clouds. A lead-miner’s bothie stands beside it here and there, and one is constantly passing places where the miners have “prospected” for ore. All the roadside, indeed, has [Pg 144] been explored and broken. The South Tyne is making music all the way, for it flows downward to one’s right, and is constantly tumbling over rocks and forming cascades over little precipices. ”

“ The Deadwater is a curving silvery thread in a black setting of peat-moss. It belongs wholly to the English side of the Border, and after its leisurely circuit of an almost level plain it ripples into a wider channel and fuller light through a mask of weaving reeds. But between the stations of Saughtree in Scotland and Keilder in England there is a wet ditch within a railway enclosure, and here, say some of the people of the district, and here the Ordnance Survey also asseverates, we must look for the actual origin of the North Tyne. ”

“ To bring daft gowks from far and near, to plague us with their gob and gazing.
The Middle-street's to come down next, and give us better air,
And room to make to hold at once the market and the fair;
Well may Newcastle grieve for this, because in hot or rainy weather,
It look'd so well to see the folks all swelter'd in a hole together.
The Tyne's to run out east and west ”

“ But from another point of view it is well worth the voyage down by one of the little steamers that ply continually to Tweedmouth, in which brief hour or two the very heart and vitals of the industrial North reveal themselves at close quarters; for the Tyne, though full of the largest ships, is comparatively narrow to its mouth both on the Durham and Northumbrian shores, each resounding with human energy in its noisiest and most strenuous forms. ”

“ Bernard, with deep eyes of affection, followed Sir Robin as a well-remembered friend.
"Out in the woods," Sir Robin said, "there is a pond which later will be covered with water-lilies. The nightingales will have begun now. The wood is a grove of them. The landlord owned up handsomely when I came here first that 'they dratted things kept one awake at night.' I was only sorry they did not keep me. But after the first I slept too soundly."
"What did you find to do?" Mrs. Morres asked.
"Fish. There are plenty of trout in the upper reaches of the river." ”

“ Numerous branch railways serve the populous south-eastern district, and there are connexions westward to Hexham and Carlisle, up the Tweed valley into Scotland and (by the North British line) up the North Tyne valley from Hexham. The principal ports besides the Tyne ports are Blyth, Amble (Warkworth Harbour) , Alnmouth and Berwick. The Tyne is one of the most important centres of the coal-shipping trade in the world.
Population and Administration.—The area of the ancient county is 1,291,530 acres with a population in 1891 of 506,442, and in 1901 of 603,498. ”

“ The ways are sair fra' the Till to the Tyne.
Two lovers sat where the rowan blows
And all the grass is heavy and fine,
By the gathering place of the sea-swallows
When the wind brings them over Tyne.
Blossom of broom will never make bread,
Red rose leaves will never make winej
Between her brows she is grown red,
That was full white in the fields by Tyne. ”

“ Tyne is responsible for its cleanliness—or rather, that particular portion of Tyne which she bares above her elbows. Nobody ever saw such a pair of sledge-hammer arms as Tyne's on any girl outside of Holland. She is eighteen; short, square-built, solid as a Dutch cheese, fresh and rosy as an English milkmaid; moon-faced, mild-eyed as an Alderney heifer, and as strong as a three-year-old. Her back and sides are as straight as a plank; the front side is straight too. The main joint in her body is at the hips. ”

“ Our greatness shall appall,
And their topsails straight they'll lower to the lords of the Tyne.
'Twas thus with idle rumours poor gentlemen delighted,
The honest men of North Shields to fancy gave the rein;
Sad proof that when ambition with folly is united,
Astonishing chimeras oft occupy the brain.
But soon their joy was banish'd,
Soon each illusion vanish'd,
For news arriv'd the Butcher the Branch could not obtain.
Deep, deep in the dumps,
(After playing all his trumps)
Just as branchless as he went he was 'toddling hyem' again,
Newcastle, thou dear canny town! ”

“ Her sturdy little legs are covered by gray yarn stockings which she knits herself, the feet thrust into wooden sabots. These clatter over the cobbles as she scurries about with a crab-like movement, sousing, dousing, and scrubbing as she goes; for Tyne attacks the sidewalk outside with as much gusto as she does the hall and floors.
Johan the porter moves the chairs out of Tyne's way when she begins work, and, lately, I have caught him lifting her bucket up the front steps—a wholly unnecessary proceeding when Tyne's muscular developments are considered. ”

“ The parks and halls of Chopwell, Gibside, and Axwell pleasantly diversify the last 5 miles of the Derwent, which joins the Tyne a short distance above Newcastle. The undulated coal-country south of Newcastle is drained by a small stream called the Team, with a wooded dene at Tanfield, and a castle and park upon its banks at Ravensworth. A narrow tract of Magnesian Limestone belongs to this drainage district, the highest point of which is at West Boldon (307 feet) , whence a rivulet runs down to the Tyne at Jarrow. The area of the district is about 200 square miles. ”

“ Here the Allen flows into the South Tyne, and nowhere in the whole of the county is there a more beautiful and romantic scene. By the side of the stream the Ridley woods stretch for a mile or two, and the delightful mingling of graceful ferns, overhanging trees, tall, rugged cliffs, flowering plants, and sparkling waters forms a succession of lovely scenes throughout their length, which, with the play of lights and shadows on the dimpled surface of the stream, and frequent glimpses of grassy glades and cool green alleys, make a walk through these enchanting woods an unforgettable delight. ”

“ The Black House, the White House, the Hole-in-the-Wall,
And the Seven Stars, Pandon, if you dare call.
There's the Turk's Head, Nag's Head, and Old Barley Mow,
The Bay Horse, the Pack Horse, and Teasdale's Dun Cow,
The Ship, and the Keel, the Half Moon, and the Sun—
But I think, my good friends, it is time to be done.
Then each landlord and landlady, wish them success,
Town and trade of the Tyne, too—we cannot do less;
And let this be the toast, when we meet to regale—
"May we ne'er want a bumper of Newcastle ale."
W. Watson. ”

“ It is a formidable thing for any one on tolerably intimate terms not merely with their banks but with their traditions and literature, to be confronted by the Tynes and but a few pages at disposal. It is the Severn and the Wye over again—the Border atmosphere surcharged with memories and traditions and many things beguiling to a discursiveness that must be at all costs resisted.
But here we have all the physical sternness of the north, above all of the north-east. The bed of a salmon river or a rocky trout stream whether in Breconshire or Northumberland differs nowise. ”