Under a Border Tower: sketches and memories of Ford Castle, Northumberland, and its surroundings, with a memoir of its ... châtelaine, Louisa Marchioness of Waterford, with illustrations including the cartoons at Ford

Front matter

UNDER A BORDER TOWER. " For she — so lowly-lovely and so loving, Queenly responsive when the loyal hand Rose from the clay it work'd in as she past, Not sowing hedgerow texts and passing -by, Nor dealing goodly counsel from a height That makes the lowest hate it, but a voice Of comfort and an open hand of help, A splendid presence flattering the poor roofs Revered as theirs, but kindlier than themselves To ailing wife or wailing infancy Or old bedridden palsy, — was adored." Tennyson LOUISA MARCHIONESS OF WATERFORD UNDER A BORDER TOWER: SKETCHES AND MEMORIES OF FORD CASTLE, NORTHUMBERLAND, AND ITS SURROUNDINGS WITH A MEMOIR OF ITS LATE NOBLE CHATELAINE, LOUISA MARCHIONESS OF WATERFORD, WITH ILLUSTRATIONS INCLUDING THE CARTOONS AT FORD BY HASTINGS M. NEVILLE, RECTOR OF FORD, NORTHUMBERLAND JUtocastlt-on-ljmr ; MAWSON, SWAN, & MORGAN, 1896. Zo tbe memoes of nts wife.

Preface

. One day in the Autumn of 1894, I had the pleasure of walking over the battle ground of Flodden with a military man of eminence, and I do not think this book would have been written but for a remark of his. It was to this effect : — " Situated as you are in this quiet place with all its interesting associa tions, you should write something." I asked what could I write, and said if I attempted to do so, I should be so troubled about being exact, that it would be too difficult. He replied : " Well, record what you see and know : and as to being exact, you can at any rate give your own view of things." This remark impressed me, and I at once began to follow out the advice. Certainly there were matters of great interest one might say something of; especially the beautiful and remarkable life of Louisa Lady Waterford, as I had known her in her northern home, for more than twenty years ; and it was at Ford during that time that most of her best work PRE FA CE as an artist was done.

And although others could best write her life who knew it intimately in connection with the great world, one could at least try to give a picture of her in the midst of those quaint and charming surroundings which she so much loved, and by which so impressionable and great an artist must without doubt have been influenced. I wish to express "my sincere thanks to those friends who have so kindly assisted me by their reminiscences, and their permission to make use of drawings and photographs. H.M.N. CONTENTS. Page. Chapter I— Village of Ford -Lady Waterford and her husband — Building of Ford School. 1 Chapter II. — Highcliffe— Restoration of Ford Castle — Lady Waterford's home life and occupations 15 Chapter III— Hospitalit} — Method of painting— Visit of the Queen of the Netherlands . 29 Chapter IV, — Decoration of Ford School with Cartoons 4:.

Chapter V. —Letter on Lady Waterford's Art from Mr Holman Hunt — Mr. Walter Severn's reminiscences — Dante Rosetti — Appreciation of Lady Waterford's art by Mr. Nigel Severn 81 Chapter VI —Fondness for painting children . Ill Chapter VII — Devotion to the poor— Old handicrafts 99 Chapter VIII.— The Church of England and Presbyterians on the Border — Lady Waterford's Church work . 121 Chapter IX. — Personal reminiscences — Close of life — Obituary notice by Lady Constance Leslie . 139 Chapter X. — The Hamlet of Heatherslaw — The story of Peggy . . . .147 Chapter XI. — The Parson's Tower —The Priests of Ford 163 Chapter XII. — The supernatural— Old Dick the keeper . 173 Chapter XIII. — The Churchyard— The wraith of Dr. Marsh 191 Chapter XIV. — Fox hunting in Glendale . 201 Chapter XV. — Letter from the Rev. Francis Harcourt Gooch, with reminiscences and fishing notes, &c 213 Chapter XVI— The Battle of Flodden 233 Chapter XVII. — Character of the Border people .

"261 Chapter XVIII — Farming— The Bondage system 281 Chapter XIX.— Etal Castle and its traditions 299 Chapter XX. — Etal Manor House — Lady Augusta Fitz- Clarence .... . 313 Chapter XXI. — Cottage interiors at Etal — Cottage libraries LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. l'il__V Louisa Marchioness of Waterford. from Miniature by Miss A. Dixon . Frontispiece Village of Ford and Fountain, from photo by J Williams 9 Ford Castle, from photo, by J. Williams 17 Louisa Marchioness of Waterford, from photo, by W. J. Reed (Bournemouth) .31 King James's Tower, drawn by H. W. Neville 33 The Cheviot Hills from Ford, drawn by H W. Neville 311 The Cartoons in Ford School, from photos, by J. Williams 47—78 Child Angels in Ford School, from photos, by W. Green (Berwick-on-Tweed) . 44 & 79 The "Two Shining Ones," from drawing by Lady Waterford 92 (reproduced by permission of Messrs Longman) Cottage Interior, drawn by H. W. Neville . 103 Choristers, from painting by Lady Waterford 131 The Good Shepherd, from drawing by Lady Waterford 136 (reproduced by permission of Messrs Longman.)

The Parsons' Tower, drawn by H. W. Neville . 165 The Belfry of Ford Church ,, ,, 195 The Till above Ford ,, ,, . 217 Flodden Hill from Ford ,, ,, . 241 Ford Bridge ,, ,, 247 Clarencedale — The Till below Etal ,, . 311 Etal Manor and Church, from photo, by W. Green, Berwick-on-Tweed ...... 321 Map of Flodden Field .

Chapter I. And

who was it," asks many a stranger visiting our village, "who was it that made this place so beautiful — tell us something of the person who showed such exquisite taste in all that we see here ? " Ah ! you may well ask the question, for village and castle and grounds all speak eloquently of someone who knew the value of beauty and strove to make others feel it too. Some of the inhabitants remember Ford when it had a very different aspect, and there was little to commend it besides its lovely situation on the hill side overlooking Glendale, and the whole graceful outline of the Cheviots, which, from this point of view, have more the look of mountains than of hills. It was in itself at one time a somewhat squalid and miserable place, the street being so badly paved and drained as to need stepping stones to gain access to the cottages.

But when the Lady came she changed B all this, and in the words of the people, "she raised the village." And here at the end of the wide open space, which the visitor will hardly believe is the village street, is the fountain which she erected on her first coming to Ford, to the memory of her husband the third Marquis of Waterford. He was the well known nobleman who was so fond of sport and practical jokes and strange feats of daring. All that the people of Ford remember of him seems to be to his credit. He was a most liberal land lord and was in the habit of telling the people that "they had the income of the estate all among them," for it appears that he spent it all on improvements, the farm houses he built being large and costly. It was at the Eglington Tournament that he first became acquainted with his future wife, Louisa Ann, second daughter of Lord and Lady Stuart de Rothesay.

Their marriage took place in the Chapel Royal, Whitehall, in 1841, when she was twenty three, and they then went to live at Curraghmore, in Ireland. There they lived in great seclusion, which seemed to suit them both, for although she had been, on account of her great beauty and accomplishments, one of the ornaments of society, " she was as humble and modest, both in mind and demeanour, as she was remarkable in all outward excellence," and now that she was married to the man she loved, it entirely suited her inclination to settle down to a life apart from the world. During the eighteen years of their married life, which was one of great happiness notwithstanding their great diversity of tastes, Lady Waterford and her husband did an immense deal of good on their estate, and for the Irish poor, and for the Church and education in that country, and at the time of the Irish famine in 1846 her personal efforts for the relief of distress were publicly acknowledged in Parliament.

Lady Waterford, therefore, during her life in Ireland, was already full of good deeds, and practised in charit able work. The memory of their first coming to Ford is still fresh in the minds of man)* with whom one talks. They are spoken of as having been a very handsome couple — both tall : he, a noble-looking man, light of limb, square-shouldered, and with light hair; she, "a pleasant-looking lady, a sympathizing nice woman, just a particular nice body." This is the homely but appreciative way in which the working people describe the first impression of their new mistress, who it is clear had won their hearts when she first came among them during the lifetime of her husband. It was during her first visit to Ford that an incident occurred that fully proved Lady Waterford's determination to become acquainted with the poor on the estate, and to understand their actual condition.

There is on the estate a colliery, which is still worked, but at that time was in a much more prosperous condition and supplied coal to a very wide district. Even to descend the shaft of one of the large and well-appointed collieries in South Northumberland would to many ladies appear a feat needing some considerable resolution, but to go down the shaft of a country colliery like Ford Moss, with its rough and simple appliances, must have required in Lady Waterford great courage and determination, for she was naturally of a nervous disposition; but she afterwards explained her feeling to a poor woman who asked her how it was that she was not afraid, by replying, " Oh, I am not afraid to go where Lord Waterford goes." And so the descent of the shaft was made in a wooden cage constructed for the purpose, in which she and her husband stood until they reached the bottom in safety.

She was then placed on a seat on one of the little rolleys used for carrying the tubs of coal, and the miners came and pulled the rolley along through the galleries of the mine, while Lord Waterford walked behind with his hands on his wife's shoulders to support her, calling her " his bonnie Lou." This colliery village at Ford Moss, was, in after years, an object of constant interest to Lady Waterford. She loved the rough outspoken miners, their simple way of life, and their reflective religious disposition. To paint their stalwart forms in their picturesque working dress, was her delight. The lovely painting of the Infant Saviour, on the south wall of the schoolroom over the master's desk, is an excellent portrait of the little child of one of these miners — he is now grown to be a man, and a miner like his father.

Lady Waterford did not usually take the portraits of her models in painting from them, but in this case the likeness was wonderful, and showed that her power as a portrait painter would have been considerable had she chosen to cultivate it. Few villages in England, or indeed anywhere, can boast of so beautiful an ornament as the fountain, which, on coming to the home which he had so thoughtfully bequeathed to her, Lady Waterford set up to her husband's memory. It recalls to the people the pleasant autumn visits which the)' made together to the place, how they visited every cottage and drove together to see the tenant farmers. She was ver)' fond of Ford even then, and used to tell the people she would willingly have stayed longer but must go with her husband, for " they must always be together."

The)* were once calling to see an old woman in the village, called Mary Hewitt, who said to Lady Waterford, " Eh ! honey, but that's a nice gown ye ha' on, ye ha' gett'n a good downset (dowry), see you be gude to Mr. Marquis, and he'll be gude to you." Lord Waterford was much amused and replied, "That's right Mrs. Hewitt, give her good advice." Lord Waterford's sudden death in the hunting field took place, singularly enough, on the last day of the hunting seas'on of 1859, at Curraghmore. His wife had induced him to give up hunting, and he had resolved to do so at the end of that season. So fearless was he as a rider that he was in constant danger of accident, and she was always very anxious on his account: but he met his death in the simplest possible way — his horse, walking over a low fence, came down in a small ditch on the other side, and pitching him on his head, his neck was broken.

Lady Waterford bore her terrible sorrow very nobly. It must often have comforted her somewhat to think of those readings of Scripture which she used to have with her husband daily : for it was her invariable custom, after reading prayers for her household, to take her books to her husband's dressing room and read to him there. The monu ment which she put up to his memory at Ford is a fountain with a pillar of red granite in the centre, rising to a considerable height, and surmounted by the figure of an Angel. There seems to have been in her mind the idea of Absalom's pillar, for that was the subject of her Scripture reading with Lord Waterford on the morning of the day he met with so sudden a death. And the passage of Scripture alluding to Absalom, 2 Sam. xviii. 18, is indicated on the North side of the base of the pillar, " Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and reared up for himself a pillar, which is in the king's dale : for he said, I have no son to keep my name in remembrance : and he called the pillar after his own name : and it is called unto this day, Absalom's place."

The other texts are inscribed in full : S. John iv. 13, 14, " Who soever drinketh of this water shall thirst again, but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst " ; and on the South side of the base we read those lovely words from Isaiah xii. — one of the shortest and most beautiful chapters in the bible, "With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation "; and " Drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved," from the Song of Solomon, chapter v., verse 1., inscriptions suited to their position close to the abundant supply of good water, always flowing in four jets from the central plinth into the large and beautifully formed basin below and around it, and again overflowing into smaller semicircular basins lower down, through bronze gurgoyles. The inscription on the pillar to Lord Waterford's memory is as follows : " This Fountain is placed by Louisa Marchioness of Waterford, in gratitude and affectionate remembrance of her husband, Henry, 3rd Marquis of Waterford : born April 26th, 181 1 ; died March 29th, 1859.

The Angel surmounting the pillar in the centre looks westward, towards the Castle, and holds a sword with point downwards, and on the left of the Angel is a shield bearing the Waterford coat of arms. There can be little doubt that the idea is of the Archangel Michael, who is the Patron Saint of the Parish, and to whom the Church is dedicated. Looked at from the upper end of the broad straight roadway which forms the village street, and leads up a gentle incline, with trees and flowering shrubs on either side, embowering the thatched cottages, this Angel Fountain adorns a vista of unusual beauty. Many a time does the stranger exclaim, to those who live in so favoured a spot, '* Truly the lines have fallen to you in pleasant places." Once we heard a lady remark, " What a perfect paradise ; it looks as if there could be no such things as sin and sorrow in it."

On the 6th of October, 1886, the little place was honoured by a visit from the Duke and Duchess of Teck and the Princess May, now Duchess of York, who came over from Chillingham as guests of Lord and Lady Tankerville : and a pleasant memory of their visit remains. The Duke seemed much pleased with the village, and said it reminded him of a scene in a theatre. The Princess had a great desire to see Flodden Field, and carried out her wish in spite of pouring rain. In 1868, on the 5th of February, there was a great hurricane, and the Central Shaft of the Fountain was blown down and shattered. It occurred fortunately a quarter of an hour before the children came out of school, or some of them might have been killed or injured. A small boy ran in to VILLAGE OF FORD WITH FOUNTAIN. his mother and said " Mother, Fountain's down, I didn't pull it down."

It need not be said that the pillar was at once restored, and made stronger than before and a new Angel made. I know not whether it was said in jest or earnest, but a tourist was once heard to say to his friends : " The figure on the top is a portrait of the late Lord Waterford, and very like." The most imposing building in the village is of course the School, which is so well known on account of the paintings with which Lady Waterford decorated its walls. She built it in 1860, a year after she came to make Ford her home, and in 1861 it came into use. It was formally opened by the late Rector, the Rev. Thomas Knight, who in his opening prayer asked God's blessing on " her to whom, under God, we are indebted for this Christian undertaking. Reward her and all such, O Lord, and make them a plentiful recompense for all the good which, by Thv merciful providence, the)* have done or may yet be enabled to do."

The Rector's address to the children on the occasion is ver)* interesting because it shows how education was regarded at that time, and how essential religion was then considered in the training of the young. He begins by reminding the children of Lady Waterford's goodness in giving them so beautiful a school-room — that she is indeed their true friend taking an interest in them, and their families in the village and in ever)* part of the estate. It is the will of God," he says, "that the rich should look to the comfort and welfare of those who live on their property, and the duty of those who labour for their daily bread to give in return gratitude and respect to those who employ them." This is old fashioned advice, but it is wholesome and good. It is curious and interesting to read the following : — " Great stress, I perceive, is laid in the new rules of the Committee of Council on Education on reading, writing, and arithmetic, in the instruction of our schools.

They think that these are the branches of education most necessary for those who have to work for their living. They are indeed very necessary for making our way in the world, but they are not all nor the chief thing. These requirements would be of little use unless religious instruction and godly training be added to them, nay, I should say, these should occupy the first place in our schools. I said you were to be good children, but that you never can be unless vou are taught what goodness is, you must be shown your Saviour's example, and taught to keep it before your eyes." The old Rector goes on to give some examples of Ford boys who had been very successful in after life. " I remember," he says, " four boys leaving school about the same time ; one went out as a schoolmaster, two into merchants' offices, the other was a mason.

It so happened that they all attended the same Church, and a few years after the clergyman wrote to tell me his master was leaving him, having got a better school elsewhere, and begged to know if I could recommend him another youth from Ford School, for that the four youths I have mentioned were amongst the best behaved young men in his parish, were regular at Church and at the Holy Communion. There was another Ford boy, the son of a shepherd in this parish, who began as a schoolmaster after he left, who is now in Holy Orders and the Rector of a parish in the South of England. Joseph Hume, well known in his day as a reformer and economist and a Member of the House of Commons, to serve some object he had in view, wanted certain information concerning the population of the country, and applied to the Census Office for it.

A young man was sent to him who gave him all the information he required in a very intelligent manner — a manner which pleased Mr. Hume very much. The interview lasted for three or four hours ; at the end of it he said, " And now Mr. Smith may I ask where you were educated ? " He replied in the village school of Ford, in Northumberland." Speaking of physical exercise he goes on to say, " Cricket is an excellent game. It is innocent and healthy, and will serve as a preparation for your service of God throughout your lives. For, in the station in which He has placed you, strength and activity of body, and quickness of hand and eye, are quite as much required as education of mind for the proper doing of your duty, and cricket will give you these : and by it you will gain coolness and self possession which may be of great use to you in the trying circumstances of your lives."

Thirty years have passed since these remarks were made, in a village school, and one cannot help feeling that they were full of wisdom, and in spite of the advance of the standard of education, are as well adapted to the present day as to the time thev were first spoken. At the Eastern end of the village street stands an ornamental cottage, built by Lady Waterford, to commemorate the Queen's Jubilee, and to serve the charitable purpose of a House of Rest. The gable in front is decorated with a Terra-cotta Medallion of the Queen, designed by Messrs. Doulton, at Lady Waterford's suggestion. The foundation stone of this cottage was laid on Jubilee Day by the fine old bailiff, the late Mr. William Thomas, who had just completed his fiftieth year of service on the Ford Estate. There was an incident in his early life that he was always very proud of relating: — In his younger days he used to live in London, and had some post connected with the law as a clerk, and went on circuit with the Judges.

Happening to be near Kensington Palace one day, and knowing some of the attendants, he had the privilege of taking the little Princess Victoria in his arms, when she was very young, and lifting her out of her carriage. He was very proud of saying " I have carried the Queen in my arms." There is under the hill beyond the head of the street the blacksmith's forge, built, as the date in the wall shows, in 1863. Lady Waterford evidently thought that such an institution as the village smithy must not be hidden from view, and yet that she must secure a picturesque effect. This she attained entirely by. the shape of the entrance, which she designed with great ingenuity. It consists of a massive arch of stone, built in the exact shape of a horse-shoe, having four nails carved on each side. The blacksmith says that it represents the shoe of a riding horse and not of a cart horse, because it has no heels.

The idea is most suitable as the blacksmith's trade mark, and the sign of his calling, and it is most curious to see horses going through this doorway to be shoed. Whether the harmless and popular superstition of good luck connected with the horse-shoe had to do with the design is not known, but if it be that the horse-shoe hung near a doorway brings good luck and has the effect of keeping out witches and fairies, how much good fortune and benefit ought to come to the man whose very doorway is itself a horse-shoe.

Chapter II. Lady

Waterford, it would seem, inherited from her father, Lord Stuart de Rothesay, that fondness for building, of which Highcliffe, on the Hampshire coast, is a remarkable evidence. That house, so beautifully situated to overlook the sea and the Isle of Wight, was built by him quite regardless of cost. It is interesting from the circumstance that much of its fine stone carved work was brought from La Grande Maison des Andelys, near Rouen. There is a lovely Oriel window over the front porch which is so rich and deeply cut that the birds build their nests in it. Above the front of the house, towards the sea, is a wonderful parapet of open stone-work, con sisting of a double line of fine ornamental letters, with the appropriate legend : •"Suave mari magno turbantibus aequora ventis, E terra magnum alterius spectare laborem."

Lucretius ii. 1 *" 'Tis sweet, when winds are tossing about the expanse of waters in the vast sea From land to gaze at another's mighty toil." With the same love of building as her father showed in this splendid sea-side residence, Lady Waterford, when she came to Ford as a widow, undertook the restoration of the Northern home, in which she was to pass the greater part of the re mainder of her life. But the taste which she showed in this difficult work was far greater than that which is observable in the rather thin flamboyant style of Highcliffe. To restore the old Border Castle of Ford was most interesting, but it was no easy task. Many of its ancient features had been destroyed or disfigured by former owners, especially by Sir John Hussey Delaval, who had the credit in his day of doing a great work of improvement.

Before his day it still had a good deal of the appearance it must have had in ancient times. There were four towers connected together by walls, but the courtyard was not so large as it is at present, and the entrance was on the western side between the large tower and the smaller turreted tower. This was the way up to the Castle from the old village, and here no doubt was a gate house with portcullis as we see at Etal. *" A good house with Elizabethan windows and two stair turrets stretched along the north curtain ; and there was a building with a corbie-stepped gable on the east side of the courtyard." But there was not in Sir John Hussey Delaval's time as there is in our •Mr. Kates' Proceedings ot Newcastle-on-Tyne Soe. Ant. Vol. iii. 1888, N. 32, P. 319. FORD CASTLE c own day, so much regard for the historical features of a building; these he disregarded, and to a great extent destroyed, and with the fancy that then prevailed for a debased Gothic style, he filled the front with badly proportioned lancet windows, which gave the whole a cold and gloomy appearance.

It took Lady Waterford long to ascertain and bring into view the ancient work, and to make a comfortable and beautiful house out of the dreary structure which she found ; indeed it involved the re-building of the greater part of what was not really old. But no one knew better how such a work should be done, and no one had a stronger will to overcome a difficulty and carry out any undertaking upon which she had set her heart. And so it was that Ford Castle gradually assumed an aspect worthy of its name and its traditions. For there are few houses in our land that can have a more interesting history. It has never been bought or sold, but it has passed into several different families by marriage. Originally a manor house, and the possession of the Muschamps, who held the great Barony of Wooler under the King, it was held by Odinel de Ford of the Muschamps by the service of one Knight's fee, in the time of Henry I. It came to the Heron family by the marriage of Mary de Ford and William Heron, in the time of Henry III.

In the 14th year of Edward III., 1340, William Heron was allowed to Castellate the house for defence against the Scots. It was after this no longer a mansion but a castle. One of the Herons named John, while still a minor, was killed fighting on the Lancastrian side at the battle of Towton in 1461. The Parliament declared his lands forfeited. His son and heir, Roger Heron, induced Edward IV. to reverse the attainder. Roger was succeeded by his son John who died in 149S without issue. This brings us to Sir William Heron his brother, who being in some way implicated with his illegiti mate brother John in the slaying of Sir Robert Kerr, warden of the Middle Marches of Scotland, was given by Henry VII. as a hostage to James IV. of Scotland, by whom he was imprisoned for some years in Fast Castle, until after the battle of Flodden.