Grace Darling | Page 7

noble
deeds.
No one can read and reflect on the history of any county without seeing
that places are almost entirely made famous by the people who have
lived upon them, and Northumberland has been enriched by some of
the best blood that ever flowed through mortal veins. That part with
which we have most to do is the group of islands lying off its coast, but
Lindisfarne and the Farne Islands are interesting, not so much because
of the wild and desolate grandeur of their rocks, as because two persons
have lived and wrought there. St. Cuthbert and Grace Darling--two
widely different persons indeed--the man, the dreamer and the saint,
and the simple strong-hearted maiden, living at long distances from
each other, but both doing the work possible to them faithfully, will
arise in all minds at the mention of the place. But the Farne Isles belong
to Northumbria, and its history is theirs also. It will not therefore be out
of place to make some reference, not only to the rocky home in which
the Darlings lived, but to the historic scenes among which they worked.
First, the ancient Britons, with the Druidical temples, lived their lives in
Northumbria, making altars of rocks, and leaving their barrows, or
burial-mounds, to tell the story of how they too died and passed away.
Some ancient graves have been discovered, at little Barrington, near
Angerton, Kirkheaton, and other places. At this time, the only teachers
of the people were the Druids; and though students of our day would
not care to go to school to them, some of their lessons at least would do
no dishonour to these later times, for they taught their scholars to
worship the only gods they knew, to be brave and courageous, and to
do no evil. They offered human sacrifices, however; and if they were
brave, it cannot possibly be said that they were also merciful. The
women of the ancient Britons seem to have been better treated than
those of many uncivilised nations. Caesar misrepresented them; but
they were married; some of them officiated in the temples as priestesses,
and some led the people to victories. Widowed queens ruled in place of
their husbands; women were consulted about all matters requiring

wisdom, insight, and forethought; and, indeed, they seem to have been
placed on an equality with men.
Northumberland suffered, with other portions of the land, from the
invasions of the Romans, and succumbed with the rest; and, indeed,
when Agricola passed through, on his way to Scotland, they offered
little opposition. He proved himself their friend; for he built them a
wall, which stretched a distance of seventy-four miles, from beyond
Newcastle to twelve miles west of Carlisle, to protect them from the
warlike Picts and Scots.
When the Romans had left, and the Saxons taken possession, the first
king of Northumbria was Ida, who, it is said, landed at Flamborough,
and who first built the grand Castle of Bamborough, part of the original
of which remains to this day. The first Christian king of Northumbria
was Edwin. His life is a striking illustration of the assertion, "It is good
for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth," for he was but three years
old when his parent died, and all his early years were passed in exile,
having been kept from the throne of which he was the lawful heir. After
the battle, however, fought on the banks of the Idle, in Nottinghamshire,
he was placed on the throne of Northumbria, a courageous and noble
king. He, having heard that there had come to the land a missionary
from Rome, who taught the people the principles of religion, sent for
him to come to Northumberland, that he might judge for himself. The
king loved Edilburga, the daughter of Ethelbert of Kent, who was a
devoted Christian; but she declined to marry him, unless he became a
Christian also. He replied that he was willing to embrace the religion, if,
on examination, he found it worthy of his fealty. Paulinus, therefore,
accompanied the queen. But the king could not hastily decide; and it
was not until he had been saved from assassination, by a faithful
servant rushing in between him and the knife that was to slay him, that
he was brought to a decision. Even then, however, he would not forsake
the old ways, nor lightly take upon himself new vows, until he had
called a council of priests and nobles, to examine the merits of
Paganism and Christianity. Coifi, the high-priest, declared that he was
tired of serving the gods, since they had never done him any good, and
if the new religion was likely to be any more beneficial, he would be

glad to know something about it. The