5^60 Mr. J. C. Langlands on Old Beioich. 



In the Great Rebellion, these chapels, together with the 

 parish church, were more or less destroyed during the occupa- 

 tion of the Scottish army under General Leslie. The Bewick 

 chapel was repaired in 1695, by Ralph Williamson, Esq., then 

 the proprietor of the manor; and services continued to be cele- 

 brated in it until it was unroofed by a high gale of wind, and 

 allowed to fall into decay. At the visitation of Archdeacon 

 Randall in 1768, it is stated to be again in ruins. A second 

 restoration has now been commenced, and will be conducted 

 under the directions of Mr. P. C. Hardwick, after a care- 

 ful study of the original; and every stone replaced that still 

 remains on the ground. The pure archseologist may, perhaps, 

 be disposed to sigh over the loss of a picturesque ruin; but 

 those who have witnessed the ravages which time and wanton 

 destruction have recently made, v/ill rejoice that this choice 

 relic of Norman Christianity is to be rescued from becoming 

 an unsightly heap of stones — and once more dedicated to 

 God's service. 



A few words on the natural history will suffice. At Corbie 

 Crag, the peregrine falcon— as I have been informed by Mr. 

 Selby of Twizell House— had her nest within the last 50 

 years. A pair of ravens built their annual nest at the Doo, 

 or at Corbie Crags, until very recently. They also have been 

 expelled from their long cherished homes, like the Prior, by 

 another Henry VIII., in the form of a persecuting game- 

 keeper ; and we have been deprived of this charm amidst 

 our wild moorland scenery. We still, fortunately, possess a 

 few choice specimens of the little blue hawk and the kestrel, 

 and also of the harrier. How long these little active police may 

 be allowed to keep in check the small bird depredators may 

 be doubtful. Like the weazels they may be doomed to 

 destruction ; and our crops abandoned as a prey to hordes of 

 rats and flocks of sparrows. The king fisher visits us ; and 

 the blackheaded gull, the wild duck, teal, curlew, golden 

 plover, red and black grouse breed on the moors. The badger 

 formerly kept his burrow with us — he has disappeared. A 

 catalogue of the plants would be very long. The following 

 rarer plants, several of which you have seen to-day, may be 

 noted : — Trientalis Eurojiea, the favourite flower of Linnseus, 

 Genista Anglica, Myrica Gale, Vaccinium Oxycoccus, Cory- 

 dalis clamcidata , Habenaria viridis and chlorantha, Ana- 

 gallis tenella, Botrychium lunaria, Lycopodium selaginoides, 

 Parnassia pahistris, Menyanthes trifoliata ; this last with 

 several of the Orchis family is becoming rare. The Htjmen- 



