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A History of
Northumberland, issued under the direction of the Northumberland County
History Committee. Vo!. VIII. The Parish of Tynemouth. By H. H. E.
Craster, M.A., Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. Pp. xiv, 457, demy
4to. Newcastle-upon-Tyne : Andrew Reid & Company, Limited, 1907. £2 2s.
nett,
The members of the
Northumberland County History Committee have added to their laurels by
the production of the eighth volume of the great series which will
ultimately embrace every district of the county of Northumberland. It is
no disparagement to the work expended on previous volumes to say that
the history of the parish of Tynemouth has established a record for a
well-digested and exhaustive review of the historical materials at their
disposal.
One of the causes which
have contributed to make this volume a notable member of the series must
be ascribed, without a doubt, to the accomplishments of the editor, who
has brought to his task a trained scholarship for the tackling of
historical problems, and a literary skill for their exposition and
presentation. The subject, too, must be reckoned as contributory in some
measure to this excellent result, for the volume is confined to a single
franchise which has occupied a conspicuous place in northern history.
Mr. Craster has been fortunate in succeeding to the editorial chair at
the very juncture, when a stage in the enterprise was reached which
afforded him such a fine opportunity for the display of his critical
abilities and historical knowledge. Northumberland has produced several
topographical writers of the first rank who have placed their gifts at
the disposal of their native county, and there is no sign that the
genius of the race has been exhausted. It should be mentioned, also,
that the editor is assisted by a county committee, with the Duke of
Northumberland at its head, all the members of which are well-known
antiquaries distinguished in some department of Northumbrian history. In
any case, to whomsoever special credit may be due, the sum of their
united labours is making the history of their county a model for the
rest of the English shires.
The history of the priory
is marked at every period by careful research. There is no need to keep
in mind the caution of Dugdale’s editors that, ‘as far as the Saxon
period goes the reader must form his own judgment from the testimonies
adduced.’ No such uncertainty accompanies us in the perusal of these
pages. There's no attempt to write history where history does not exist.
Nor is there a dogmatic repetition of venerable legends: a sound
critical judgment points us to the most trustworthy sources. The same
remark may be made about such difficult matters as castleward and
cornage, and other institutional and economic problems, about which
there is room for divergence of opinion. Intelligent reasons have been
given for the conclusions favoured by the author, and the reader is left
to accept or reject them as he thinks fit.
There is one epoch,
however, and that not the least important of the history of
Northumberland, which does not appear to have been so fully emphasized
as its undoubted obscurity required. No clear distinction has been made
in dealing with institutions in their relation to native as
distinguished from feudal law, and the gradual absorption of one by the
other. Northumbria had characteristics of early law and custom which
differentiated it from the rest of the kingdom, and tenaciously resisted
the inroads of Norman ideas. The danger is that these archaic survivals
should be interpreted in the light of feudal prepossessions. For
instance, Mr. Craster says (p. 214) that, ‘as the lands of the monastery
were held in frankalmoin, they were free from the feudal obligations of
military service.’ But he did not tell us that freedom from military
service was not originally inherent in tenure by frankalmoin. Feudalism
made it so, or rather it grew to be reckoned as such under that
influence. Nothing is clearer than that all the land of Northumbria was
obliged to contribute to its own defence. If religious men held their
lands free from that obligation, it was because the original donor had
burdened the rest of his land with the quota due from that which he had
alienated. There is a classical illustration of the usage among the
Coldingham charters (No. 21) when King David I. broke through the
crystallizing process by transferring the military burden of some of the
lands of the monastery, held in free alms, from the shoulders of the
donor to those of the beneficiaries. Then, too, what is the meaning of
the next sentence, where it is stated that, ‘on the other hand the prior
maintained the castle of Tynemouth at his own cost and so contributed to
the work of national defence. His men were not required to go out with
the fyrd, except in cases of actual invasion of the earldom.’ Now, if
the prior’s lands were held in frankalmoin, which meant freedom from
military service, why was he obliged to maintain a castle, and why did
he enjoy immunity of the fyrd, except in a certain specified
contingency? Is there not confusion here? Is not the author mixing up
cornage with knight’s service? It is becoming more and more evident that
the traditional view, to which some scholars cling with superstitious
idolatry, is not sufficient to explain the problems of early
Northumbrian institutions.
The chapter on the manor
is of great interest and value. Few single manors could be discussed
with such fulness. There is, of course, a sameness about manorial
customs everywhere, but especially within the ancient kingdom of
Northumbria, but we do not fail to meet with fuller explanation of
obscure points in individual manors, not to be expected in all of them.
Where can we look for this guidance if not in a great ecclesiastical
franchise where agricultural economy had reached a high standard? The
student will not be disappointed in his perusal of this section of the
work. Seldom has it been one’s good fortune to meet with such a
comprehensive survey, thanks to the clearness of the scholarly
narrative, no less than to the abundance of the material.
English county volumes
hare, as a rule, little attraction for students of Scottish history, but
tne history of Northumberland is an exception to this rule, and no
English county can compete with it for close connexion with the national
history north of the Tweed. In order to prove what a mere platitude this
statement is, the Scottish antiquary has only to consult this volume. So
long as the great repository of Durham continues to pour out its
unrivalled store of early evidences, no worker in Scottish history can
afford to shut his eyes to what the English side of the Borderland can
teach him. In addition to these, the Register of St. Alban’s (Cott. MS.
T ib. E. vi.), the mother house of the priory of Tynemouth, has been
ransacked for charters bearing on the franchise with the most happy
results for Scottish history. It would be tedious to enumerate
particularly the scope of the editor’s diligence in this respect. The
abstracts of early Scottish charters, embodied in the notes, are a
sufficient indication of what has been accomplished.
The eighth volume, like
its fellows in the series, is enriched with many illustrations of seals,
charters, ground plans, elevations, views, maps, old prints, drawings,
and other miscellaneous antiquities, all of which are conceived and
executed in the best style. In this connexion it should be noticed that
the descriptive narrative on the architectural features of the monastic
buildings is due to Mr. W. H. Knowles, who superintended excavations in
1904-5 for the purpose of ascertaining the Norman plan of the conventual
church. Technical articles on such subjects as geology, coal-trade, and
sea-fisheries have been supplied by competent contributors, while the
pre-Conquest stones at Tynemouth have been described by the veteran
expert, Dr. Greenwell, and the pedigrees have been prepared by Mr. J. C.
Hodgson, the editor of previous volumes of this history. Not the least
valuable and welcome service to the reader has been performed by Miss B.
M. Craster, who has furnished a full and trustworthy index. The
typography of the volume is a credit to the Newcastle press.
Jakes Wilson.
As Northumberland is on
the Border of Scotland and had a lot to do with Scottish affairs we
thought we'd make this 11 volume series available for you to read in pdf
format.
Volume 1
The Parish of Bamburgh
Volume 2
The Parishes of Embleton, Ellingham, Howick, Long Houghton and Lesbury
Volume 3
Hexamshire Part 1
Volume 4
Hexamshire Part 2 (Hexham, Whitley Chapel, Allendale and St. John Lee)
and The Parish of Chollerton, The Chaperly of Kirkheaton and The Parish
of Thockrington
Volume 5
The Parish of Walkworth with the Chapelry of Chevington, The Parish of
Shilbottle, The Chapelry or Extra-Parochial Place of Brainshaugh
Volume 6
The Parish of Bywell St Peter, The Parish of Bywell St Andrew, The
Chaperly or Parish of Slaley
Volume 7
The Parish of Edlingham, The Parish of Felton, The Chaperly or Parish of
Brinkburn
Volume 8
The Parish of Tynemouth
Volume 9
The Parochial Chapelries of Earsdon and Horton
Volume 10
The Parish of Corbridge
Volume 11
The Parishes of Carham, Branxton, Kirknewton, Wooler, and Ford |
