Churches. 309 



side deliciously sloping down towards the Wooler 

 Water, which flows at its feet. This street is the only 

 long and straight thoroughfare in it, and at the upper 

 end it opens out into a kind of triangle, in the centre 

 of which stands the picturesque and beautifully orna- 

 mented fountain erected by public subscription to the 

 memory of William Wightman, Esq., who was a banker 

 in the town, and much loved and respected. Just round 

 from the corner of this triangle stands the parish church 

 a slightly irregular and not very imposing structure. 

 Towards the other end is the handsome Roman Catholic 

 Church erected in 1855. 



I was a little surprised at the presence of so many 

 churches and chapels in so small a town, which led me 

 to remark to a residenter, with whom I talked, that 

 the good folks of Wooler must either be very good or 

 very bad people, which caused him to put on a ques- 

 tioning look. By way of reply, I quoted, in a laughing 

 way, the lines of Defoe 



" Wherever God erects a house of prayer 

 The devil is sure to build a chapel there," 



and added, " the nearer the church the further from 

 grace." 



" Well, yes," he said, " we have enow o' them ; and, 

 as you say, we should be good people if stone and lime 

 and the preachin' of the word could do it." 



" Why," I said, " you must have a church or chapel 

 for every score of people in the place. How many 

 churches and chapels are there in this small town ?" 



" Well," he said, " let one see : there mun be six at 

 least. There's the Parish Church there and the Roman 

 Catholic Church here. There's a Presbyterian (point- 

 ing with his finger), and down that entry is mother 



