296 In Coquetdale. 



a fish ; ' here I left him, as I did not care to be mixed 

 up in a poaching expedition." 



Mr. Dixon also tells that the gangs for leistering 

 were fond of adopting disguises to aid them against 

 the water-watchers, and he gives this little bit of char- 

 acter and humour in illustration : — 



" Some had their faces blacked and their eyes white, 

 others these colours reversed, a third, with a yellow 

 face, had, perhaps, red eyes and a red chin, and so on. 

 All wore the oldest and the duddiest of clothes they 

 could procure : their head-dress was often a battered 

 long hat or a woman's straw-bonnet — the latter was 

 the favourite head-gear, as the protecting front of the 

 old-fashioned coal-scuttle bonnet shaded the eyes from 

 the flare of the tarry-rope lights. An amusing story 

 is told of an old weaver, who, from all accounts, did 

 not spend much time in the performance of his daily 

 toilet. There were going to be some fishers on the 

 water, and he was to be one of the party, so, on asking 

 his wife — 'Nanny, how shud aa' 'guise meesel the 

 night ? ' she replied, ' Aa'l tell ye what, John, just 

 wesh yor fyce, an' a'm sure nebody'll ken ye.'" 



As we pass on, we look up on the left, and find that 

 the scene has changed, not that the mountains are less 

 lofty or less stern in their native character, but that 

 skill and culture have been applied. We are looking 

 on the rocks which the wise and liberal expenditure of 

 Lord Armstrong have converted into hanging gardens, 

 not perhaps so magnificent as those of ancient Babylon, 

 but certainly very beautiful and striking. He chose 

 in this region to fix his abode— has built a splendid 

 mansion, Cragside he has named it, and made the bare 

 hills all about it to blossom like the rose. He has 

 prudently planted only the kind of growths that would 



