latter body was established in conjunction with the Company of Merchant-Adventurers in the time of Henry IV. These hostmen were incorporated by Queen Elizabeth, who, having tried in vain to get her due of two shillings per chaldron for all coals shipped in the Tyne, gave the hostinen a charter, on condition that they would ensure to the crown one shilling for every chaldron so shipped. The ostmen, or hostmen, were a kind of coal-brokers, midway between buyers and sellers; and the name is supposed to have implied and walk along the vessel from head to stern-thus making the puy serve as a lever to propel the boat: such a method is often to be seen in practice in shallow rivers. When the wind is favourable, the keel is navigated with a square sail; but more usually there are employed two long oars: one worked at the side in the usual way, by two or three men; and the other (the swape) at the stern. The keels themselves are oval in shape, clumsy, but very strong. The wives and daughters of the keelmen have the office of sweeping the keels, from which they derive the titles of keel-'eastmen,' as if they had come originally from Gerdeeters (deet' being a north country term for cleaning): they receive the sweepings for their pains. There are certain points of difference between the keels of the Tyne and those of the Wear. Sir George Head, after speaking of the noble bridge over the Wear at Sunderland, says, "From a height commanding a bird's-eye view of the river below, the neat trim Sunderland keel, compared with the heavy lighter on the Tyne-wherein a mountain of coal is confined by a fortification of moveable boards-appears to considerable advantage. The Sunderland keel resembles in shape the horizontal section of a walnut, divided into eight compartments, each containing a square iron tub, fitting like a canister in a tea-chest. Instead, therefore, of the laborious practice, on the Tyne, of shovelling the cargo by hand from the keel into the vessel, each of these tubs is lifted up bodily by machines, and the contents-fifty-three hundred-weight, or a Newcastle chaldron- tilted at once into the hold of the receiving vessel a modern improvement, whereby, though the public profit generally, the loss and hardship press partially on a particular class of men. The hardy laborious race of keelmen are more and more, every day, deprived of their ancient occupation; as, by means of new appliances, vessels are laden at the wharfs and staiths which formerly received their loads shovelled on board, in the stream, by their hands." This change in the mode of shipping the coal is extending still more rapidly, both on the Tyne and the Wear; and it is on this ground that we may regard the keelmen as a race belonging to past days. The same writer continues, "I saw one of these keels unladen at a wharf close to the bridge. A score, or more, lay moored together-each of the shape described, similar in size and figure, and displaying an outline of geometrical precision. The one to be unladen being alongside the sloop destined to receive her load, and both close to the wharf, the process was as easily effected as described. A huge crane let go its grappling-chain within the keel; this was in a moment fixed to one of the tubs; the tub was lifted, swung over the sloop, tilted, swung back again, disengaged from the tackle, and a fresh one hooked on. By the assistance of one man, the machine on shore continued its office with the same apparent ease that an elephant swings his proboscis out of his cage, and in again to pick up an apple." There has always been an intimate connexion in the Tyne between the keelmen and the hostmen. This many, or the eastern parts of Europe. Their brokerage There is a record in existence which shows that, in 1602, there were twenty-eight hostmen, or coal-fitters, at Newcastle, who employed eighty-five keels. The numbers of both these classes gradually increased for many generations; the fitters are now, perhaps, more numerous than ever, but the keelmen have for some years past been declining in number. The old bridge at Newcastle has had much to do with perpetuating the keelman-system. If the colliery vessels were wished ever so urgently to ascend the Tyne, the bridge effectually stops them; so that keels, or some similar contrivance, are essential. In the improved mode of shipping coal, where no impediment exists to the approach of the coal-ship, it is brought to the shore, underneath a large and lofty timber-structure, called a staith, which overhangs the river, and which is connected by railway with the pit's mouth. The laden wagons are brought to this staith, and the coals are at once deposited from them into the hold of the vessel, without the intervention of any keelmen's assistance. It is said that ninepence per chaldron is saved by this using of the staith; if so, the keelmen have indeed a powerful antagonist to compete with. The father of the two great lawyers whose names have before occupied our notice-Lords Eldon and Stowell-was a hostman of Newcastle: he was William Scott, descended from one of the numerous branches of the Scotts of Scotland. Mr. Twiss gives a conversation between Lord Eldon and his niece, Mrs. Forster, in which the keelmen of his early days are mentioned. Mrs. Forster remarked-"I remember, uncle, hearing of Master Jacky being celebrated for the hornpipes he danced at Christmas: there was an old keelman in the hospital at Newcastle, who talked of your hornpipes." To this Lord Eldon replied, “Oh yes, I danced hornpipes at Christmas, when my father gave a supper : and a dance at Love Lane to all the keelmen in his | made encroachments on their respective sides of the employ, Harry and I always danced hornpipes." Mrs. Forster adds:"The supper which, about Christmas, Mr. Scott used to give to his keelmen, was what was called a binding supper,-that was, a supper when the terms on which they were to serve for the ensuing year were agreed upon. Patterson, the last surviving keelman in Mr. Scott's employment, dined in our kitchen every Christmas-day until his death, about ten years ago. He expatiated with great delight upon the splendid hornpipe that Master Jacky regularly danced for their amusement after these suppers." The keelmen live about Sandgate and Quay-side, and many of them reside at Dunston, two or three miles from Newcastle. In their blue jackets, flannel breeches, and blue stockings, they form an unmistakeable body; and they, like the pitmen, have their songs, their odd stories, and their oddities of many other kinds. In the following song the allusion to the Sandgate fixes the locality to Newcastle. "As I went up Sandgate, up Sandgate, up Sandgate, He wears a blue bonnet, blue bonnet, blue bonnet, And here is another, in which the lady celebrates the "My bonnie keel-laddie, my canny keel-laddie, My bonnie keel-laddie for me, oh! He sits in his keel, as black as the de'il, And he brings the white money to me, oh!" The custom was, a few years ago, (we do not know whether it is still kept up) for the keelmen to meet once a year, to celebrate the establishment of their hospital: perambulating the town with bands of music playing Weel may the keel row.' THE TYNE; JARROW; SHIELDS; TYNEMOUTH. We must find a little corner wherein to notice the course of the Tyne from Newcastle to the sea; and we may here refer to the busy scene taken near the bridge, represented at page 105. Whatever may have been the origin of the name Tyne (concerning which the etymologists are by no means agreed), the river has been known by that name since the time of Bede, 685. Soon after the Conquest, records and charters were agreed upon, by which the width of the Tyne, near and below Newcastle, was divided into three parts: one belonging to the county of Northumberland, one to the bishopric of Durham, and the middle of the channel to be free to all. In subsequent ages, the Prior of Tynemouth on the north, and the Bishop of Durham on the south, frequently river, and the sovereign frequently interfered to secure the rights of the townsmen and the traders. It is curious, indeed, to trace through successive centuries the struggle of the various parties for precedence in the ownership and government of this important river. At one time there was a judgment passed, that "the port within the water of Tyne, from the sea to Hedwin Streams, is the free port of the king and his heirs." At another time a Council order was issued, "That the Prior of Tynemouth, who had built a shore at North Shields, within the flood-mark of the river, should remove it at his own cost." In another instance, Edward III. issued a writ, in which he "forbade the mayor and bailiffs of Newcastle-upon-Tyne to hinder the mooring of ships on the south side of this river." A few years later, the Bishop of Durham obtained a verdict against the king's commissioners, "for trespasses done by them in intermeddling in the conservatorship of the south side of the river Tyne." About the end of the fourteenth century, the bishop obtained powers "to unload and load coals, merchandise, &c., without hindrance or molestation from the men of Newcastle-upon-Tyne." Soon afterwards the corporation and the bishop had another dispute "concerning the right of wrecks and fishery in the Tyne." Throughout these contests the bishops showed themselves no less desirous of maintaining their privileges or supposed rights than the laymen. The general course of modern legislation has been to give increased power to the Corporation of Newcastle over the navigation of the Tyne. The jurisdiction now extends to high-water mark on both sides of the river, from the sea to some distance above Newcastle; the distance is annually surveyed, on Ascension-day, by the mayor and riverjury, in their barges. The reader will, we trust, not look out for notices of anything very picturesque on the banks of the river, between Newcastle and Shields: he must throw his thoughts into another channel, in such a district as this. As we have before said, the whole line of shore from Newcastle to North Shields is speckled with collieries, iron-works, glass-works, pottery-works, chemical-works, &c. And the same may be said of the south shore, from Gateshead to South Shields. Gateshead possesses a hospital, whose history is traceable up to monastic times; and we may seek for matters of interest in such antiquarian details as these; or we may think affectionately of Gateshead as the town wherein Daniel Defoe lived, and wrote his never-dying 'Robinson Crusoe'-but it is of no avail; Gateshead is and will be a centre of work, bustle, noise, smoke, and dirt; and all other associations are speedily dissipated. Iron-works, brass-works, chain cable-works, glass-works, bottle-works, and chemical-works, lie on all sides of us. At Gateshead Fell are situated the great grindstone quarries, whence Newcastle derives her fame for Newcastle grindstones,' which are despatched to all corners of the globe. At one part of the southern banks of the Tyne lie K, VOL. III. Jarrow Colliery, Jarrow Village and Church, and Jarrow Slake. This Jarrow is remarkable both for its past and for its probable future. Jarrow is both a parish and a village the parish was anciently a place of considerable importance. Here Benedict founded a monastery, which was completed in 685, and dedicated to St. Paul. It was some years afterwards consolidated with the monastery of Monkwearmouth, which was of rather earlier foundation than itself. The venerable Bede was born in Jarrow parish, and received the rudiments of his education in the monastery; he subsequently became an ecclesiastic, and spent his useful literary life within the monastery, where he died in 735. He was buried in a porch on the north side of the church; but nothing of the church now remains; and nothing of the monastery except a few short Saxon columns and tombs. The parishioners, however, still retain an ancient oaken chair which once belonged to Bede, and which now occupies a place of honour in the vestry of Jarrow church. Various remains have been found in and around Jarrow, which show that the Romans had buildings at this spot long before the time of Venerable Bede and his brother Saxons. At the present day Jarrow is very little more than a pitman's village, inhabited by the persons employed at an extensive colliery in the neighbourhood. Jarrow is, however, remarkable for the bend or enlargement of the river at that spot; which enlargement, called Jarrow Slake, bids fair to be an important shipping-place in days not far distant. This Slake covers an area of four hundred and sixty acres of ground; it seems to have been a haven which has gradually choked up with sand and mud; and it is said that it once accommodated the navy of Egfrid, king of Northumberland, whose ships anchored in the Slake. Its form is nearly an oblong square, jutting out of the southern bank of the Tyne. In 1847 the York and Newcastle Railway Company-which had gradually formed itself into a vast undertaking, by absorbing under one head about a dozen different railways, and several docks and quays-obtained an Act for making docks on the side of Jarrow Slake. According to the terms of this Act, a sum of a hundred and fifty thousand pounds will be spent on the docks. The company are empowered to make "docks, locks, quays, cuts, piers, warehouses, and storehouses." As it is at present, the Slake is of very little use to any one; but there can be no question that the formation of docks in such a spot will be highly advantageous to the commercial proceedings of the neighbourhood. At the very mouth of the Tyne stand the three towns which look like sentinels, guarding the interests of the important river. These towns are South Shields, North Shields, and Tynemouth; the former on the south bank, and the two latter on the north. The two Shields face each other at the mouth of the river; while Tynemouth advances further east, hanging over the estuary of the river like a protruding upper lip, and shielding it from the northern blasts. If the shipping could possibly admit of such a thing, the two Shields certainly deserve a bridge of connection as much as any two similarly situated towns in England; for both of them are places of great trade, and much intercourse is maintained between them. But a bridge is out of the question where so many top-masts rear their heads, especially as the lowness of the banks do not admit of such a 'high-level' bridge as the one now constructing at Newcastle. In 1830 a 'North and South Shields Ferry Company' was established, to maintain communication across the river; but the monopoly of this one company has been found to restrict the amount of accommodation within too narrow limits; a new company was therefore established, in 1848, under the title of the Tyne Direct Ferry Company.' This new company is empowered to build steam ferry-boats, to establish various piers and stations on both sides of the river, and to sell the undertaking to the old company if terms can be agreed on. South Shields is not a whit less than two miles in length. It has crept along the bank of the river year after year, and age after age, until it stretches nearly the whole distance from the sea to Jarrow Slake. Ship-building is carried on largely; and there are manufactories of glass and soap, breweries, roperies, &c.; but the main commerce of the town has relation to the coal trade: immense portions of the sea-borne coal being shipped off South Shields, either from the keels, or from the railways and staiths. The town has had a very rapid growth; for, at no very remote date, it consisted mainly of a few fishermen's huts, provincially termed Shiels, from which, with a slight alteration, the present name has been derived. Crossing the Tyne to the northern shore, we find ourselves at North Shields, stretching itself, like its opposite neighbour, along the banks of the Tyne. Like South Shields, too, it has risen from a very humble beginning; for it is said to have been, a century ago, "a poor miserable place, containing scarcely a single house roofed even with tiles." There are manufactures of chemicals, tobacco, hats, gloves, &c; but the chief industry and commerce of the place of course relate to shipping and coals. The reason why North and South Shields have risen into importance is mainly because the Tyne is too shallow to admit the large vessels which now crowd the harbour. It is near the mouth of the Tyne, therefore, that the real harbour exists; and the shoals and rocks near the opening of the river render two or three lighthouses necessary for the safety of this harbour. It is pleasant, however, to feel that, when we escape from North Shields and approach to the shores of the German Ocean at Tynemouth, we fairly reach open country: we leave smoke and factories behind, and meet with a spot where sea-bathers, pleasure-seekers, and antiquarian ramblers congregate. Its distance from Newcastle-about eight miles-renders it almost a suburb to the great town; and the easy, rapid, and frequent communication from the one to the other, gives to Newcastle almost the advantages of a sea-side town. in the beginning of the eighth century. The priory was plundered by the Danes three several times, before and during the time of Ethelstan. Shortly after the Norman conquest, the priory was restored by one of the earls of Northumberland. In subsequent ages the priory enjoyed considerable wealth: no fewer than twenty-seven manors in Northumberland, with their royalties, and other valuable lands and tenements, having belonged to it, Tynemouth has a far more ancient history to boast | tion in connection with the name of King Egfrid. It of than either of the two Shields: it is the natural is known, however, that St. Herebald was abbot here mouth of the Tyne-the others are commercial mouths. It occupies a sort of promontory, jutting out into the sea on the east, and forming the overhanging northern boundary to the mouth of the river. As a town, it consists mainly of one street, leading east and west, crossed by two smaller streets at right angles, The chief source of its present importance is the Prior's Haven, which, being sheltered by an amphitheatre of rocks, forms one of the best bathing-places on the eastern coast. Hence we have all the usual finery, and pleasantry, and liveliness of a watering-place-at least in the summer season; for we presume that Tynemouth is not especially lively in the seasons of snow and storms. There are many elevated spots from which views can be obtained of the surrounding country. In Cut, page 131, we have a view of Shields as seen from Tynemouth; in Cut, page 130, a view of the haven or bathing-bay, with the honorary column erected to the memory of Lord Collingwood; while, from all sides of the town, may be seen the venerable Priory (Engraving), whose history carries us back through many centuries. Tradition attributes the founding of this priory to St. Oswald, the first Christian King of Northumber land-although some authorities mention its founda The lofty position which the priory occupies, renders its ruins visible far out at sea. The fine old windows of the Priory Church present graceful examples of the early English style of pointed architecture; and the crumbling ruins around it show that the priory must have been a place of vast extent. Indeed there are few relics of ancient times combining so much beauty of architectural detail with picturesque grandeur of position, as this far-famed ruin. Viewed from the sea, it forms a striking and well-known land-mark; and few, we think, can view it from near points of the adjoining coast, or examine it more closely in detail, without being struck with its peculiar aspect. scene is familiar to the thousands of mariners and others, whose employment causes them to pass this spot. |