Hearne History - Page 13

[Continued from page 12]
 
 

BAMBOROUGH CASTLE.

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 Bamborough Castle:

"Thy tower, proud Bamborough, marked they there,
King Ida’s castle, huge and square,
From its tall rock look grimly down,
And on the swelling ocean frown."
The following facts concerning the history of this famous castle were obtained from the writings of Francis Grose, Esq.. FAS., whose works, "The Antiquities of England and Wales," were published A. D. ----.

Bamborough Castle[1] is situated upon an almost perpendicular rock, close to the sea, in Northumberland County. England, on a spot where, according to the monkish historians, there stood the castle or palace of the kings of Northumberland, built, as it is said, by King Ida, who began his reign about the year 559. Part of the present ruins are by some supposed to be the remains of King Ida’s work and others carry their antiquity still higher, and assert the keep to have been a Roman structure.

According to Florilegus, it was built by King Ida, who at first fenced it only with a wooden structure, but afterwards surrounded it with a wall, It is thus (lescribed by Rober Hoveden, who wrote in the year 1192: "Bebba is a very strong City, but not exceeding large; containing not more than two or three acres of ground. It has but one hollow entrance into it, which is admirably raised bv steps. On the top of the bill stands a fair church, and in the western point is a well curiously adorned, and of sweet clean water." The church here mentioned was dedicated by King Oswald, to St. Adrian.

This castle was besieged anno 642, by Penda, the pagan king of the Mercians, who, as the story goes. attempted to burn it; for which purpose he laid out vast quantities of wood under the walls, and set fire to it as soon as the wind was favorable; but no sooner was it kindled than, by the prayer of St. Adrian, the wind changed

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Notes:

[1] Rose Blood says the English spell the name of the castle as "Bamburgh".


Copyright (c) 1999, 2007 Brian Cragun.