176 Anniversary Address. 



cient and modern works of architectural interest. They are 

 moreover remarkable for the fate they shared before the mem- 

 orable battle of Flodden, when King James IV. of Scotland 

 laid siege to their castles and reduced them to ruins. Ford 

 Castle, of which but three strong towers were left standing, 

 was subsequently rebuilt and re-inhabited ; but the Castle at 

 Etal was then deserted and has remained so ever since. 



Odinel de Ford, held Ford with other estates, as one knight's 

 fee under the barony of Muschamp, in the reign of Hen. III. 

 His daughter Mary married William Heron, Baron of Hades- 

 don, whose grandson. Sir William Heron obtained a license 

 to crenelate Ford in 1339. The castle was still in the posses- 

 sion of the Heron Family when besieged and burnt by the 

 Scottish King. Repairs must have been set on foot imme- 

 diately after this catastrophe, for in a survey made in 154^, 

 Ford is described as being partially restored. A century 

 since, the present structure was erected, with all the faults of 

 style the artists of that period perpetrated. Some of these, 

 as for instance, the portcullis midway down the picture gallery, 

 have been removed; but enough remains to show that the 

 decorations were of an identical character to those lately dis- 

 placed at Alnwick Castle. Two of the ancient towers men- 

 tioned as having survived the conflagration have been incor- 

 porated with the modern building. At the summit of one of 

 them is a chamber traditionally supposed to have been occu- 

 pied by King James on the eve preceding the fatal fight. 



When we arrive at Ford, first we come upon the church, 

 then the castle, and then the village. The whole scene is so 

 pleasant to behold and so suggestive to think about, that we 

 do not know which to admire most. The village so neatly 

 trimmed, so green with its turf banks, so cheerful with its 

 red pantiled cottages, might be in the centre of a gentleman's 

 park instead of on the highway, all is in such careful order. 

 The pretty post-office almost hid with climbing roses and 

 evergreens, is at the end of the village ; and on the day of the 

 club meeting a most commodious school-house was in progress 

 of erection to complete the picturesqueness of the place. 

 Time has dealt tenderly Avith Ford Church, and modern 



