The Ports, Harbours, Watering-places and Picturesque Scenery of Great Britain (Vol. 1&2). W. Finden
presented of the principal remaining tower of Dunstanbrough Castle, as seen from the sea at the distance of about a mile; and whoever has seen it at that distance in a blustering day, towards the latter end of October, will immediately acknowledge the fidelity of the artist's delineation. Though the Abbess of Whitby and her nuns, in their fabled voyage to Holy Island, passed the place in summer, and in fine weather, yet they seem to have been near enough to be sensible of the danger of too close an approach to its "wave-worn steep;" for Sir Walter Scott, in Marmion, Canto II., relates that—
"They crossed themselves, to hear
The whitening breakers sound so near,
Where, boiling through the rocks, they roar
On Dunstanborough's caverned shore."
The contemplation of Dunstanbrough Castle, like that of many similar edifices, the ruins of which still frown upon the promontories and headlands of our coast, cannot but awaken feelings little favourable to what are frequently called the "good old times." If we may compare what our ancestors have left with what the present generation is exerting itself to accomplish, antiquity has little to boast of. Our forefathers crowned the cliffs of the land with strongholds, bristling with lofty towers and warlike battlements, nominally for their own defence from the incursions of foreign foes, but too often diverted into engines of tyranny and oppression to their fellow-citizens. The shipwrecked mariner of those days had often more to dread than to hope for in the approach to such beacons as Dunstanbrough; and if unhappily thrown upon the mercy of its owners, they were only too ready to seize upon what the waves had spared, and deem that in permitting him to depart unharmed, they had done all that could be expected from them. In our days, we no longer erect castles on our coasts; we rather stud them with lighthouses, and thus mark out the track of safety, not only for the ships of our own nation, but confer equal benefits upon those of every other maritime power. We no longer pour down upon the distressed seamen with armed bands, whose only aim is plunder; but we rush to the beach, and with life-boats constructed in the best manner, and manned by the bravest and most skilful of our countrymen, we hasten to succour and to save those whom the elements are threatening to destroy. Of a truth, the ruins of these fortresses of old might instil a spirit of thankfulness in the minds of many of those who profess to admire the days which are gone, and render them grateful that their lot has been cast in happier times.
DUNSTANBROUGH CASTLE.
MOONLIGHT.
In the vignette engraving of Dunstanbrough by moonlight, the incident of a wreck coming ashore among the rocks at the foot of the castle is introduced with striking effect. The masts of the vessel are seen dashing against the rocks. To the left are fishermen assisting such of the crew as have escaped to ascend the cliff; while to the right are seen people with torches from the adjacent country hastening towards the scene of destruction. The moon appears as if "wading"[8] through the clouds, and the old tower—itself the wreck of time—appropriately occupies the centre of the view.
"On the brink of the cliff, to the sea," says a writer, describing Dunstanbrough Castle, "appear the remains of a very strong wall; indeed it is probable the whole area was originally so enclosed. The heavy seas which break upon the rocks of the north-west point have torn them much, and it appears as if the area had been originally of greater extent than at present, many separate columns of rock standing near the cliffs, which, some ages ago, may have been joined to the mainland. … Immediately below this tower" [that which is seen in the engraving] "is a gully or passage, of perpendicular sides, formed in the rocks, about sixty yards in length, and forty feet deep, where the sea makes a dreadful inset, breaking into foam with a tremendous noise: the spray occasioned thereby is driven within the Castle walls. This place is called by the country people the Rumble Churn[9]." It is to this chasm that Sir Walter Scott alludes when he speaks of "Dunstanbrough's caverned shore," in the popular poem of Marmion.
In the neighbourhood of Dunstanbrough there is a legendary tale yet current, though no longer at its ancient value, of a knight who, many centuries ago, discovered a place of enchantment in the vaults of the castle, but who, failing to break the spell, through inattention to certain mysterious instructions given to him, was doomed to seek for ever amid the ruins for the entrance to the enchanted apartment. Mr. G. Lewis, in the Tales of Wonder, has versified this story under the title of "Sir Guy, the Seeker," adding to it certain embellishments of his own, and among other matters, introducing a description of the Rumble Churn.
The principal parts of Dunstanbrough Castle at present standing are the outer walls to the south and west, with the tower overlooking the sea, and a gateway towards the south, defended by two circular towers. The area inclosed by the walls and the cliff is about nine acres. It is under cultivation; and in the additions to Camden, it is said to have produced in one year two hundred and forty bushels of corn, besides several loads of hay.
Howick House, the seat of Earl Grey, is situated in the vicinity of Dunstanbrough. It is a noble mansion, built in 1787 from designs by Paine; and is surrounded by a beautiful park, watered by two streams which unite in the grounds. Near the eastern side of the park are the remains of a Roman encampment, where numerous coins and antiquities have been found. The family of Grey is ancient in Northumberland; and first obtained the peerage in the reign of Edward IV. It is observable that the Greys of this district bear the same heraldic distinction as the Grey family in Scotland, and are both probably descended from the same stock—one of the martial followers of the Norman conqueror.
Alnwick Castle, about seven miles from Dunstanbrough, is the residence of the Duke of Northumberland: it is an immense pile covering nearly five acres of ground; and built upon an elevated spot on the southern side of the river Aln.
BAMBROUGH CASTLE.
FROM THE SOUTH-EAST.
Sir Walter Scott, in his description of the voyage of the abbess of Whitby and her nuns to Holy Island, in the second canto of Marmion, thus speaks of them as noticing Bambrough Castle:
"Thy tower, proud Bambrough, marked they there,
King Ida's castle, huge and square,
From its tall rock look grimly down,
And on the swelling ocean frown."
The view which Balmer, with his usual effect, has given of Bambrough Castle from the south-east, is that which the reverend mother and her five fair nuns might be supposed to contemplate on entering the channel between the Great Farn Island and the mainland, and when about half a mile from the shore. The stranded vessel, however, must not be supposed to be of the age of Henry VIII., when the abbess made her voyage; for she is evidently a light collier of the present day, whose captain, probably, in running for Skate Roads in a strong south-east gale, had stood too close in shore in passing through the Fareway, and laid her snugly up on Bambrough Sands. The Holy Island fishing-boats that are seen—for no fishermen dwell at the village of Bambrough—would seem to indicate that their owners expect a job in assisting to get her off.
These hardy and industrious men follow an occupation in which the hazards and dangers are but poorly recompensed by their gains; and the sums they occasionally obtain from the owners of colliers and other coasting vessels, form rich prizes in the humble lottery of their life. Having in our remarks on "Bambrough, from the north-west," described the principal features of this sea-girt fortress, we cannot better employ the present page than in a notice of the fishery which is carried