226 Mr. George Tate on the Fame Islands. 



along the north and south walls. Within this sacred edifice 

 is appropriately placed a monument to the memory of Grace 

 Horsley Darling, the heroine of the Islands, who died October 

 20th, l&i2, aged twenty-six years, with a noble tribute from 

 the pen of Wordsworth, to 



"The maiden gentle, yet at duty's call 

 Firm and unflinching as the lighthouse rear'd 

 On the island rock, her lonely dwelling-place. 

 Or like the invincible rock itself, that braves 

 Age after age the hostile elements, 

 As when it guarded holy Cuthbert's cell." 



Some other building had been connected with the chapel on 

 the north, for, according to Grose^s drawing in a.d. 1783, a 

 wall was then there nearly as high as the chapel, through which 

 was a gateway with a circular arch. A portion of this arch still 

 remains. At the west end of the chapel are the ruins of a small 

 chamber, which, forty years ago, was vaulted over, and was 

 8 feet high, and which con^municated with the chapel by means 

 of a small window-like opening : this chamber was probably the 

 dead-house. One large and two small stone coffins, which had 

 been dug out of the ground adjoining, are lying in front of the 

 chapel ; the former, by popular tradition, is regarded as that of 

 St. Cuthbert ; but this is an error, for his remains were taken 

 to Lindisfarne, whence they were removed, on an incursion of 

 the Danes into Northumberland, and, after many years' wan- 

 dering, at length found repose at Durham. This coffin may 

 with more certainty be referred to one of the masters of the 

 monastery. Recently a monumental slab has been dug up, 

 having upon it a portion of an incised cross. 



A curtain wall, now broken down, formerly separated the 

 sacred edifices from the tower, which stands at a little distance 

 from them towards the north, on the brink of St. Cuthbert's 

 Gut, another deep fissure in the basalt. It is usually called 

 Prior Castle's Tower, as it was built " out of the grownde by 

 him about the year 1500 as a place of security and defence." 

 It is a plain but strong structure, having much of the character 

 of a Border Peel, with thick walls, a vaulted under- story, stone 

 stairs, and small and narrow door and windows ; it may have 

 been secure, but it was gloomy, admitting but little of heaven's 

 cheerful light and air. In Queen Elizabeth's reign, and subse- 

 quently, it was used as a fort ; but in Charles the Second's time 

 it was devoted to a better purpose, for from that period, a fire 

 was nightly kindled on the summit as a warning beacon to 

 mariners, till new lighthouses were erected on a more command- 

 ing situation. Recently, Archdeacon Thorp has repaired it, 

 enlarged the windows, and fitted up some rooms for occasional 



