Dec. 31. 1853.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



647 



remove all doubts, it was adjudged necessary to remove 

 the arms, which were amputated with a penknife (!). 

 The socket of the left (sic) arm was perfectly white 

 and healthy, and the clavicle firmly united to the 

 scapula, nor was there the least appearance of con- 

 tusion or wound. The socket of the right (sic) 

 shoulder, on the contrary, was of a hrownish cast, and 

 the clavicle being found quite loose and disunited from 

 the scapula, proved ttiat dislocation had taken place. 

 The bones, however, were quite perfect.' These ap- 

 pearances indicated that injuries had been received 

 both in the hand and shoulder, the former justifying 

 the belief in Sir Robert Pye^s statement to the Harleys, 

 that the pistol which had been presented to him by Sir 

 Robert, his son-in-law, had burst and shattered his 

 hand in a terrible manner at the action of Chalgrave 

 Field ; the latter indicating that he liad either been 

 wounded in the shoulder by a spent ball, or had re- 

 ceived an injury there by falling from his horse after 

 his hand was shattered. Of these wounds he died 

 three or four days after, according to Sir Philip War- 

 wick. According to Clarendon, ' three weeks after 

 being shot into the shoulder with a brace of bullets, 

 which broke the bone.' The bone, however, was not 

 found broken, and the ' brace of bullets ' is equally 

 imaginary." 



This account is from a newspaper cuttinnf of 

 The News, August 3, 1828. W. S. 



Northiam. 



PETER ALLAH. 



(Vol. viii., pp. 539. 630.) 



Peter Allan deserves more than a brief notice. 

 His history is so full of romance, the relics of his 

 name and fame are so many, and he is withal so 

 little known, that I presume I may on this occasion 

 trespass on more than the ordinary space allotced 

 to a " minor," but which should be a " major " 

 Query. 



Peter Allan was born at Selkirk (?) in the year 

 1798. His parents were peasants, and Peter in 

 early life became valet to Mr. Williamson, brother 

 of Sir Hedworth Williamson. He afterwards be- 

 came gamekeeper to the Marquis of Londonderry, 

 and in that capacity acquired a reputation as an 

 unerring shot, and a man of unusual physical 

 strength and courage. He afterwards married, 

 and became a publican at Whitburn, and in the 

 course of a few years purchased a little property, 

 and occupied himself in the superintendence of 

 dock works and stone quarries. In this latter 

 capacity he acquired the skill in quarrying, on 

 which his fame chiefly rests. Having a turn for 

 a romantic life, he conceived the strange project 

 of founding a colony at Marsden, a wild, rocky 

 bay below the mouth of the Tyne, five miles from 

 Sunderland, and three from South Shields. The 

 spot chosen by Peter as his future home had been 

 colonised some years before by one " Jack the 

 Blaster," who had performed a series of exca- 



vations, and amongst them a huge round per- 

 foration from the high land above to the beach 

 below, through which it is said many a cargo has 

 passed ashore without being entered in the books 

 of the excise. Here the cliff is formed of hard 

 magnesian limestone, and rises perpendicularly 

 from the beach more than a hundred feet. Whea 

 Peter set to work, the only habitable portions 

 were two wild caves opening to the sea, into 

 which at high tide the breakers tumbled, and. 

 where during rough weather it was impossible to. 

 continue with safety. On the face of the rock 

 Peter built a homestead of timber, and set up a 

 farm and tavern. In the rock itself he excavated 

 fifteen rooms, to each of which he gave an appro- 

 priate name ; the most interesting are the " Gaol 

 Room," the " Devil's Chamber," the " Circular 

 Room," the " Dining Room," and the " BaJI 

 Room." The height of the entire excavation is- 

 twenty feet, its breadth thirty, and its length, 

 from the ball room to the cottage, one hundred 

 and twenty. Several parts of the cave are lighted, 

 by windows hewn in the face of the rock, and 

 these give the cave a picturesque appearance as 

 viewed from the beach below. In addition to 

 these labours, Peter took possession of a huge 

 table-rock, which stands some distance from the 

 cliffs opposite to the grotto. By dint of extraor- 

 dinary exertions he excavated a passage from the 

 land side of this rock through its substance to the 

 surface, and by placing scaling ladders against its 

 face, made provision for ascent and descent at 

 high water. The three-quarters of an acre of 

 surface he colonised with rabbits, and built a shanty 

 for himself and companions, where they dwelt for 

 some time thinning the wild fowl with their deadly 

 shots, and raising many an echo with their shouts 

 of revelry. 



To describe the strange scene presented by the 

 grotto itself, the farm-buildings on the face of the 

 cliff, the huge table-rock and flagstaff, the many 

 quaint blocks, pillars, and wild escarpments, and 

 the numerous domestic animals, such as mastiffs, 

 pigs, ravens, and goats, all congregated together 

 in a small bay, and literally separated from the 

 world by the barren waste land above, and the 

 huge cliffs and restless sea below, would be be- 

 yond the scope of " N. & Q.," though it is worth 

 a note in passing, that for the tourist a visit to 

 Marsden would be highly remunerative. 



Peter Allan endured many hardships in his cave 

 at Marsden. He was accused of smuggling, and 

 annoyed by the excise. He and his family were 

 once shut in for six weeks by the snow, during 

 the whole of which time it was impossible for any 

 human being to approach them. Yet in spite of 

 many hardships, Peter reared in the grotto a 

 family of eight children, three daughters and five 

 sons, all of whom are living and prospering in the 

 world. The grotto is still kept by his widow, his 



