170 COMMITTEE’S ADDRESS.’ 
of Alnwick were discussed while breakfast was preparing, for 
Alnwick yet retains many of ‘‘the customs that prevailed in 
remote times. Thus, the Curfew bell still rings out into the 
night, its warning tones, (awakening with its echoes, thoughts 
of the fierce Borderers who kept up the terrors, this Norman 
institution sought to allay.) Again, the ancient custom of watch 
and ward, is still observed at the great annual fair held in July. 
On the Sabbath evening preceeding the fair-day, the adjacent 
townships, which owe suit and service to the Lord of the Manor, 
send their representatives to assist in keeping watch at the 
different entrances into the town, lest the Scots, (or may be the 
Tyneside men, bent on less peaceful errand than that for which 
Alnwick was indebted for their company on the present occasion, ) 
should make their appearance. Chatton and Chillingham 
send four men; Cold-Marten and Fowbery four men; Hetton 
and Hazzlerigge, four; Fawdon and Clinch, four; Alnham and 
Alnham Moor, two; Tughall and Swinhoe, two; Longhoughton 
and Denwick, four; Lesbury and Bilton, two; and Lyham and 
Lyham Hall, oneman. This goodly company with the constables 
and some of the tradesmen of the town, proceed to the castle, 
where they are received by his Grace the Duke of Northumber- 
land’s steward and bailiff, and are hospitably refreshed.” Among 
the antiquities of the-town, most of which were visited, may be 
mentioned some ancient houses, the most important of which 
stands on the north side of the Narrowgate, and is easily dis- 
tinguished by a bas-relief, displaying the crescent and fetlocks of 
the Percies, as illustrated by Mr. H. W. D. Longstaffe, in his 
Heraldry of the Ancient Percies, (Arch. Ailiana). It is a two 
storied quadrangular building, having, in the front facing the 
street, an archway, which leads into the open court yard in the 
centre. The street front has been converted into two shops, 
so that its ancient appearance has suffered much. The massive 
walls, with their small window openings, the stone staircase, 
the huge oak beams protruding from: the ceilings, fragments of 
stone-carving, and traces of a chapel, however, remain to invite 
further investigation. A second ancient house at the head of 
Cannongate, is said to have been a meeting-house in the reign 
of James II. It has been converted into dwelling-houses, losing 
