Page:A tour through the northern counties of England, and the borders of Scotland - Volume II.djvu/23

 inhabitants, and at length spreading itself over the land, in "darkness that may be felt;" and producing in every living creature which it infolds within its noxious embrace, an irritability that discovers itself in general peevishness and ill-humour for four or five days, the term of its customary duration. Not that the sea-fret is followed by the like effects in Northumberland, since the general character of its inhabitants is kindness of manners, benevolence of heart, and unbounded hospitality in their mode of living. Of a piece with the climate is the face of the country, naked and unpicturesque; nor did we meet with a single pleasing spot from Morpeth to Warkworth, after we had passed the first milestone from the former, to which distance the road, pursuing the course of the river Wanspeck, afforded us a beautiful view in the murmuring stream and lofty-wooded banks.

As we approached Warkworth, the sea opened to the right, and spread before us its flat coast and faithless sand-banks, the scene of many a midnight wreck. At this point, where we first caught a view of the world of waters, a little to the right-hand of our road stands the newly-built mansion called Withrington-Castle, belonging to Sir George Warren, on the spot where stood the ancient mansion of that gallant family; a family celebrated in