186 Anniversary Address. 



and married Major Babington, the possessor of Harnham. 

 She was said to have been so remarkably distinguished for 

 personal beauty, that when she went to Durham the magis- 

 trates were obliged to require her to eat her luncheon in a 

 back room of the confectioner's, which she visited for the pur- 

 pose, in order to prevent the crowds who assembled to look 

 at her from blocking up the street. The reason of her burial 

 in this extraordinary sepulchre, was her excommunication on 

 account of her Presbyterian opinions, which were so strong 

 that she instigated a son of the blacksmith at Bolam, to pull 

 the vicar out of his pulpit, when he was ousted from his 

 living at the beginning of the Long Parliament in 1643. 



After another pleasant drive the party arrived at Bolam 

 church. Seated on the low wall of the churchyard, and sur- 

 veying the massive tower before us, the mind is carried back 

 a thousand years, when some Saxon lord to record his piety 

 and defend his people here founded a church, and built that 

 sturdy tower. The structure became ruinous, and the Nor- 

 man victor repaired the handy-work of his vanquished foe. 

 Centuries elapse — ecclesiastical art has developed — strength 

 and simplicity have given way to elegance and decoration. 

 The church at this period is again repaired, so that this in- 

 teresting relic is an embodiment, of the handy-work of masons 

 who lived centuries distant from each other. The eccle- 

 siastical antiquary may well linger on the spot, for as Mr F. 

 It. Wilson has accurately and feelingly written, " the place is 

 so hoary, so earthy, so venerable and crumbling, so veritably 

 a priceless relic of high antiquity, that as we look upon it 

 there comes to us a sense that we should put off our shoes 

 from our feet." As we entered our conveyance, the Rev. 

 Septimus Meggison, the worthy vicar, came to his garden 

 gate, and while bowing our parting acknowledgments, we 

 heartily wished health and happiness to the venerable 

 gentleman, who was inducted to this living fifty-four years 

 ago. A few minutes after four o'clock the party arrived at 

 Morpeth, and sat down to an excellent dinner at the Queen's 

 Head. 



