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JOURNAL OF HOBTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GABDENER. 



[ January 8, 1874. 



minus, and the village of Botlibury is not more than a couple 

 of stonethrowa from us, but on the other side of the river 

 Coquet, a stream which at this point seems to contain as great 

 a volume of water as the Thames at Richmond. The river, the 

 village, and the mansion are all seen to the best advantage from 

 the railway station. 



Perhaps there is nothing which marks the difference of ideas 

 between the denizens of the north and their brethren of the 

 favoured south than the manner in which they speak of the 

 respective features of the country. In the north every river 

 has its praises recorded in the popular songs of the neighbour- 

 hood, the Tweed and Clyde being especially rendered the 

 burden of many a song ; while Tynedale, or the tract of country 

 drained by the river Tyne in its upper reaches, was noted all 

 over the kingdom for the hardy and skilful class of bowmen it 

 sent forth to foreign as well as border warfare. The efforts 

 of the poet have not been wanting to sound its praises as a 

 river, but I believe in the latter respect it would have to give 

 place to the Coquet, the most important river in central North- 

 umberland, as the Tyne is in the south of it. This noted river 

 has its origin in the ridge of hills which forms the boundary 

 between England and Scotland. The course of the stream 

 before reaching Eothbury is through a valley of great width, 

 and of proverbial good quality as farming land, the corn crops 

 at the time of my visit (towards the end of August), being 

 more advanced than at many places two hundred miles 

 farther south, and excellent. The river, as may be imagined, 

 takes a serpentine course through this flat district, but on 

 Bearing Eothbury the valley diminishes, and indeed the river 

 is hemmed-iu by high precipitous banks with but little land 

 on either side that is available for cultivation ; the village, it 

 may be stated, is on the left bank, and the wild moor rises 

 to a great elevation almost from the backs of the dwelhngs. 

 In fact, it is in consequence of this place forming a sort of 

 resemblance to the more distant highland scenery that Roth- 

 bury at the present time derives its importance ; for at the 

 back of the village is the moor in its full garb of hundreds of 

 acres of Heather, which at that time was in full flower, and 

 intermixed now and then with stunted Birches in some places 

 and Willows in others, while more important than all were the 

 huge masses of fixed and detached rock. Some of the latter 

 were of large size, approaching that of a moderate-sized hay- 

 stack, others such as the traveller could throw as easily as a 

 cricketball, the whole, I believe, being a freestone of excellent 

 buUding qualities, and which if placed near a large town would 

 make a fortune to the owner. As it is, the buildings in 

 Bothbury, old and new alike, are constructed of it ; and 

 although the weather-beaten surface of these huge masses 

 presents the usual grey tint given by the Lichen, the stone 

 ■when broken much resembles Bath stone, and appears to be 

 more durable. The older houses in Eothbury present an 

 agreeable pale-grey tint, while the newly-erected ones are of a 

 bright stone colour. Some of the oldest dwellings have the 

 familiar heather thatch once common in moorland districts, 

 whUe their newer neighbours are roofed with blue slate ; the 

 timber-framed house of the south and west of England has 

 no place here. Trees seem to be confined to the district im- 

 mediately bordering the river. 



The immediate cause which called an obscure country 

 village into celebrity was the great salubrity of the place, and • 

 the advantages it presented of providing the densely populated 

 district of the lower Tyne with a sort of highland outlet, and 

 both the working classes and their employers have taken ad- 

 vantage of that. Excursion trains run from the great towns on 

 the Tyne and Wear, carrying their thousands of pleasure or 

 health-seekers for a day's "outing" on the moors, and who 

 return with bunches of Heather as tokens of having been to 

 such a distance ; while for the more wealthy, ample accom- 

 modation has been provided in the shape of monster hotels. 

 The ascent of the hill is an exhilirating pastime to the sedeu- 

 taiy townsmen, and the pure air and other advantages add to 

 their enjoyment. 



Nor is the district without its charms, the river after it 

 passes the village is still further hemmed-in by high rocks, 

 and at one place its whole bed seems a solid impenetrable rock, 

 ■with not a particle of moveable matter upon it, and at one 

 particular place while the ordinary bed may be 100 feet wide, 

 or more, the whole stream is confined in a narrow chasm 

 of not more than 7 feet wide, through which it rushes with 

 great impetuosity. A foot-bridge has been fixed over this 

 natural curiosity to prevent the accidents that were said to 

 have now and then occurred by reckless persons attempting 



to jump over. Lower down the river the banks are densely 

 wooded for some distance, the old Priory of Brinkburn being 

 emboweled in wood, and tradition says, a body of foraging 

 borderers were unable to find it, when its inmates, unfor- 

 tunately for themselves, attracted them to it by ringing their 

 bells in thanksgiving, as they expected, of having escaped the 

 pillaging visit, which, as it was, ended otherwise. 



Other places of note border the river, but the great attraction 

 to visitors is the bracing atmosphere, and the ascent to the top 

 of the hills reveals other distant tracts of a like kind. Simon- 

 sides, a somewhat higher mountain lies to the west of it, and 

 on the opposite side of the Coquet, while several miles away 

 are the renowned Cheviots, which form the north-western 

 boundary of the county, and which occupy so prominent a. 

 position in the history of the two countries, as being the scene 

 of many a bloody battle, the most remarkable being that of 

 Flodden, where James IV., of Scotland, and the flower of hie 

 nobility perished. The vestiges of a camp of much earlier date 

 than that of the famed battle are at one end of the village. 



Like most other places of recent growth, which owe their 

 progress to some presiding genius, Eothbury is indebted to 

 one whose name is known all over the civilised world. Sir 

 William Armstrong, the great engineer, whose guns and their 

 projectiles seem destined to alter in a great measure the 

 character of future warfare, has here erected a mansion, which 

 is very appropriately named Craigside, a spacious-looking, 

 dwelling snugly ensconsed in one of those recesses often met 

 with in a mountainous country, the site being at the base of 

 two hills meeting at right angles, one facing the south the 

 other the west. A considerable tract of fine land tolerably 

 level lies between the mansion and the river. Part of this has 

 been formed into a kitchen garden with forcing houses, and 

 other parts running-up to the waste behind the mansion are 

 kept as dressed ground , and the whole, including a large portion 

 of the former moor, has been enclosed by a formidable wall, 

 which I found was sealed against intrusion. Doubtless, there 

 are good reasons for this, but being the first case of the kind I 

 have met with, I simply mention it, and can give no details of 

 the garden beyond that. I believe most things were found to 

 thrive remarkably well, as, in fact, most plants do in fresh soil> 

 more especially when that soil happens to be at the base of an 

 elevated range of freestone mountains. Not only will Ehodo- 

 dendrons and other American plants do remarlsably well in 

 such a i)osition, but most other kinds of trees and shrubs — 

 Vines especially. I think the place had only been established 

 a few years, and from what I could see of it from the railway 

 station, it had all the appearance which great wealth usually 

 commands. Though the right bank of the Coquet on which 

 the mansion looked-out presented the wild character of 

 highland scenery of moderate elevation — naked rock and 

 detached stones grey with age contrasting well with the purple 

 Heath — there was in another direction ample breadths of 

 well-cultivated valley, with excellent crops of corn, &a. The 

 hill against which Craigside is built is one of those detached 

 hills of, perhaps, only a mile or two across, and separated by 

 a like extent of valley from others, and it is a greater distance 

 from the Cheviots, in some secluded glens of which the snow 

 is said to lie all the year round. There is enough of moor at 

 Eothbury to tu-e most ordinary pedestrians for one day's travel, 

 and Heather enough to allow a good many excursionists a 

 handful each to carry back with them to their densely popu- 

 lated towns. — J. EoESON. 



PTEEIS TRICOLOR. 



In reply to Mr. Pocook's note, I have to say that I do not 

 grow Pteris tricolor. My Fern-growing conveniences are 

 limited, and my object is to cultivate only, or mainly, Ferna 

 from which I can " cut and come again" for decorative pur- 

 poses — as mixing with flowers in rooms. I am, however, well 

 acquainted with this beautiful Fern, and have tried my hand 

 at it with fair success, at a time when I had a pride in at- 

 tempting to conquer aU stubborn and "miffy " subjects. 



My treatment was very similar to that detailed for Adiantum 

 farleyense, with the exception of somewhat firmer, more loamy 

 soil. The best-coloured specimen I ever saw was grown by & 

 farmer's " odd man" in pure silky loam and silver sand. On 

 the Continent I observed it luxuriating in simple leaf mould, 

 but this medium is, as Mr. Pearson says, very capricious. Most 

 kinds of leaf mould are vastly improved by a scorch, and this, 

 furthermore, is the best preservative against worms in pots. 



Mr. Pocock has given some capital landmarks on the oul- 



