Anniversary Address. 123 



and built a strong tower. He made additions to tlie western 

 part of the Kee^s, and raised the height of the tower ; this 

 masonry is readily distinguishable from that of his predeces- 

 sor. To obtain the means of accomplishing this great work, 

 appeal was made to the superstitious feelings of the period; 

 for a fragment of the winding sheet of St. Cuthbert, the popu.lar 

 Northumbrian saint, was exhibited to those who contributed 

 money to carry on the building. Early in the 13th century, con- 

 conferences were held in the castle between King John of England, 

 and William the Lion of Scotland, to establish peace between the 

 two nations ; but kingly treaties were of little avail, for in A.D. 

 1215, Alexander, King of Scotland, besieged the castle for forty 

 days, but without success. Norham in A.D. 1291 witnessed the 

 submission of the candidates for the Scottish throne to Edward I. 

 of England, who here sat in judgment on their rival pretensions. 

 The gallant defence of Sir Thomas Grrey, the governor, and the 

 timely aid of Lords Percy and Neville, saved the castle from the 

 Scots in A.D. 1318 ; such, however, was the changing fortune of 

 Border warfare, that it feU into the hands of the Scots in A.D. 

 1322, but was soon retaken by Edward II., after an assault of ten 

 days. In the course of this century it was repeatedly besieged, 

 taken, and recovered. It was extensively repaii*ed and strength- 

 ened in the early part of the 15th century; but towards the close 

 of that century it had again faUen into a ruinous condition ; it was 

 however put into a good state of repair and weU garrisoned by 

 Bishop Eox, and in A.D. 1498, it withstood successfully a siege 

 by the Scots led by their gallant King James IV ; the Bishop him- 

 self hastened to succour the castle, and after a heroic defence of 

 sixteen days, it was ultimately relieved by the Earl of Surrey, It 

 was however taken by James in A.D. 1513 after a siege of six days ; 

 but the disastrous battle of Flodden Eield, fought soon after, when 

 so many flowers of Scotland's ' forest were a' wede away' caused it 

 to be restored to the English. From this period the castle loses his- 

 torical interest. The accession of James I. to the English throne 

 brought peace to the Borders, and strong castles and Peel towers, 

 adapted for defence and not for comfort, lost their importance, and 

 were for the most part abandoned, and suffered to fall into decay. 

 Neglect, the silent aggressions of time, and the more serious 

 dilapidations occasioned by the inhabitants of the district using 

 the castle as a quarry, to supply stones ready prepared to build 

 houses, boundary walls, and even common dykes and drains, have 



