298 In Coquetdale. 



We pass by the quaint little village of Pauperhaugh 

 or Pepperhaugh, as it is locally called, with its unique 

 post-office, and see on our right the remains of Brink- 

 burn Ironworks, where many thousand pounds were 

 sunk years ago (for coal and iron are to be found in the 

 valley) ; but it was a failure, and the works abandoned 

 — another proof that no such enterprise can prosper 

 unconnected with a railway, and this was before the 

 railway was brought so near as it is now-a-days. 



As we proceed onward, the valley gradually opens 

 out, throwing its wooded heights further from the 

 stream; the river widens and winds, forming fine 

 sweeps and greeny reaches in the loops it makes. We 

 see, from the depth and colour of the water just after it 

 has passed over brawling shallows and forms pools, 

 that there the fisher will love, in a sweet west wind that 

 gently stirs it, to ply his " triple floating flies," or cast 

 his minnow in the early morning sun, or the mellower 

 afternoon light. So it flows on, murmuring and singing 

 to itself, till we reach the famous Brinkburn, with its 

 Priory set sweetly on one of the greeny loops we have 

 referred to, as though it had been prepared precisely 

 for just such a structure. Very beautiful is the whole 

 picture here presented — the Priory, with its gardens 

 and woods gathered round it, as though nestling there ; 

 and looking on the water where its outlines are faintly 

 reflected in the stream that here flows calm and clear. 

 Those who wish to know all the details about this 

 historical priory must go to the guide-books — to Mr. 

 W. W. Tomlinson's very admirable " Comprehensive 

 Guide to Northumberland," published by Mr. Walter 

 Scott, or to the everyway excellent little guides by Mr. 

 D. D. Dixon and Mr. James Ferguson of Morpeth. 



Another very famous point on the river is Weldon 

 Bridge, where there is a quiet and homely inn much 



