Page:A tour through the northern counties of England, and the borders of Scotland - Volume II.djvu/24

 the Borderers' conflicts, whose feme is immortalized by one of the oldest heroical ballads in our language, in which the gallantry of the lord of this domain at that time is commemorated in the following lines:

The whole country, indeed, the further we proceeded northwards, manifested the burning jealousies and perpetual alarms that had subsisted anciently between its inhabitants and those of the southern Scotch counties, in the many fortified dwellings scattered over the face of it. Warkworth, amongst other places, had its castle, the august remains of which are one of its proudest boasts.

The ancient principal seat of the puissant Earls of Northumberland, Warkworth-Castle, unites in itself dignity, strength, and beauty; and presents, in its remaining keep, a very compleat specimen of of Gothic military architecture. Of this fortress old John Harding, the rhyming chronicler of England, was once appointed the constable, when Roger Umfraville enjoyed it for a short time in the reigns of Richard II. and Henry IV. during the temporary eclipse of the Percy family. Seated