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On the History a?icl Natural History of Old Bewick. 

 By John Charles Langlands, read at the meeting held 

 at Old Bewick, on May 30th, 1866. 



In times antecedent to any historical records that we 

 possess. Old Bewick must have been the centre of a very 

 considerable population, if we may form an estimate from 

 the extensive remains of camps and dwellings of the race by 

 whom it was occupied prior to the Roman dominion. The 

 foundations of buildings of a late period which are continu- 

 ally turning up in the surrounding iields, indicate that its 

 inhabitants continued to be numerous in after times — drawn 

 together probably for protection, to the fortified tower which, 

 as usual, had taken the place of the ancient camp. 



The manor of Bewick, anciently called Archi Morel or 

 Archil Mot ell, was in Saxon and Norman times holden under 

 the king's castle of Bamburgh, to whose court leet, together 

 with many other possessions in these parts, it continues to 

 be summoned to this day. 



There is an ancient road across the moors from Bewick, 

 which is called the Bamburgh Court Road, by which the 

 tenants of the drengage manors to the westward went to 

 Bamburgh to do suit and service for their lands. The 

 drenches or drenges, drenchi — were free tenants of a manor. 

 This tenure was very ancient, existing before Norman times. 

 Mr. Tate in his '^History of Alnwick" says it "was confined 

 to the limits of the old Saxon kingdom of Northumberland ; 

 teinage and drengage being essentially the same and differ- 

 ing only in degree, the latter term being applied to the hold- 

 ing of one property, and the former to more than one ; under 

 it the person was free, but the conditions were servile; the 

 services were of the same kind as those of bondagium though 

 less in amount, and not necessarily performed by the drengh 

 or one of his family. The word is of Danish origin, from 

 dreogen, to do, to work."* Spelman says they were those 

 who were put out of their estates at the coming of William 

 the Conqueror and afterwards restored thereto, at their 

 making it appear that they were the owners thereof, and 

 neither in Auxilio or Consilio against him ; so that drengage 

 was not a mean servitude, but an honourable tenure — owing 

 suit and service to the crown or the grantee of the crown. 



* History of Alnwick, Vol. I., p. 93, 



