NORTH DURHAM : CHEVIOTS. 9 



way. Of the plain we can obtain the most extensive views from 

 any part of the high ground overlooking it from Ford to Dod- 

 dington. Beyond the plain the Cheviots rise up to limit and 

 enhance the charming prospect. They consist of a series, some- 

 times double, sometimes tripled, of rounded hills of every size 

 and varied elevation, spotted with green and brown herbage 

 and darker plantations, and up whose sloping sides cultured art 

 has made many forward and irregular strides. The hills have 

 each their name and story, and stand out generally well-defined 

 by bays and vales, which run in about their bases, and up those 

 passes through which the living waters force their passage to the 

 valley beneath. 



The principal of the Cheviot Hills are Cheviot itself, " great 

 in her superfluous waste,^^ and of the height of about 2680 feet* ; 

 Hedgehope, 2347 feet; East and West Homelheughf; Percy- 

 law ; Mow-law ; Cock-law ; Wood Hill ; The Curr ; Shill ; Trow- 

 burn Hill ; the Black-hag ; White-law ; the three Tors ; Yever- 

 ing-Bell ; Flodden J ; Thirlestane ; Yetholm-law ; Vensheon ; 

 Steroch ; Coutsnouth, " a large and noble hill with a magnificent 

 view therefrom ; " and the Eildons, which are about 1364 feet 

 high. 



The waters of North Durham are inconsiderable. There is no 

 lake, and only a few small lochs or ponds ; and none of its drains 

 rise beyond the class of a burn which seeks a silent and slow 

 course to the sea in a channel cut deep in the rich soil. Such 

 are the North and the South Lows or the Linden. These spread, 

 however, a wide sheet of water and of mud at their mouths, and 

 produce a fit locality for certain plants and animals that love a 

 soft saline soil and brackish water. 



In our limited portion of Northumberland, the Warn, the 

 course of which has been already indicated, is the only burn on 

 the east side. The Till runs from the south northwards, dividing 

 this portion into an eastern and western half. When it enters 

 upon us at Bewick §, the Till has become a river, and it holds 

 on its way through the entire length of Millfield Plain, without, 

 however, imparting an additional beauty. Its track is hidden 



* Colonel Mudge makes the height of Cheviot 2658 feet. Objections 

 have been taken to his measurement, and, fi-om various authorities, it ap- 

 pears to be between 2684 and 2695 feet. See a paper on the subject by 

 Sir Thomas Brisbane and Mr. Galbraith in the Edin. New Phil. Journ. xiv. 

 p. 72. 



t Or Holmedon, Homildon, Humbledon or Humbledowii-hill, for thus 

 variously is the name spelled. It is famous as overlooking the field of 

 battle between Douglas and Hotspur in 1402. See Tytler's Hist. Scot. 

 iii. p. 129 J Borderer's Table Book, vii. p. 334 ; Pennant's Tour, 1772, ii. 

 p. 283; Ridpath's Bord. Hist. p. 371. % Ridpath's Bord. Hist. p. 488. 



§ Until it reaches Bewick, the Till is called the Breamish or Beamish. 



