Anniversary Address. 179 



clothed with fruit trees of various kinds trained against 

 them. The Castle is surrounded by productive gardens and 

 orchards. The party, after this, proceeded to inspect the 

 Church, under the superintendence of the Rev. M. Roberts. 

 To chronicle decay is always a melancholy undertaking, but 

 the wretched aspect of this ancient and venerable edifice is 

 quite sufficient to produce a feeling of sadness in the be- 

 holder, such is its state of ruin and disrepair. Within the 

 Church may be observed two recumbent marble statues of 

 the fourteenth century, a male and female. The female 

 figure represents the heiress of the Bertrams, who married 

 an Ogle of Cawsey Park, and conveyed the manor of Bothal 

 into that family. The male figure is that of Sir Cuthbert 

 Ogle, who married the heiress. The present parish of 

 Bothal — the Saxon Bottel, signifying a village, a mansion — 

 consists of the parishes of Sheepwash and Bothal. The 

 former place derives its name from small vessels having been 

 in the habit of ascending the river as far as the ford or 

 " Wash," hence the name " Ship wash " corrupted into 

 Sheepwash. The first authentic mention of Bothal is in 

 the year 1166, when it was in the possession of Richard 

 Bertram. A church was in existence in 1261, when Roger 

 Bertram made a grant to John Sylvester, rector of Bothal, 

 of a piece of land on both sides of Bothal burn. The 

 members then visited the residence of the Rev. Mr. Roberts, 

 and partook of his hospitality — a welcome refreshment after 

 a hot walk. Mr. Roberts shewed, amongst other curiosities, 

 a bronze spear-head and a bronze axe-head, in excellent 

 preservation, which had been found in a field in Somerset- 

 shire ; also, some interesting old books. A volume bearing 

 the honoured name of Benjamin Franklin, printed by him at 

 Philadelphia in 1744, was beheld with peculiar interest. 



The party then began their return march to Morpeth, and 

 varied the route by taking a path leading along the flat 

 high ground lying above the deep valley of the Wansbeck. 

 Although the aspect of the landscape generally is somewhat 



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