, as at Hexham Abbey, traces of fire may be seen
on some of the stones.

King David of Scotland, on his invasion of England in 1138, which was to
end at the "Battle of the Standard," at Northallerton, encamped at
Corbridge for a time, and terrible cruelties were committed in the
district by his followers. In the next century, King John turned the
little town upside down in his efforts to find treasure which he was
convinced must be concealed somewhere in the houses; but his search was
fruitless. In the days of the three Edwards, during the long wars with
Scotland, Corbridge suffered terribly, being fired again and again; on
one occasion, in 1296, the destruction included the burning of the
school with some two hundred hapless boys within its walls.[4] [Footnote
4: _See_ Bates, p. 149.]

Those heroes of our childhood's days, William Wallace and Robert Bruce,
were far from guiltless in these cruelties, though in justice to them
personally, the wild and lawless character of the men who formed their
undisciplined hosts must be remembered; and we know that Wallace tried
to save the holy vessels in Hexham Abbey, but, as soon as his back was
turned, they were swept away in the very presence of the officiating
priest.

During these terrible years most of Northumberland was a desolate waste;
and divine service had almost ceased to be performed between Newcastle
and Carlisle, even Hexham being deserted for a time. After the battle of
Bannockburn, matters were worse, if possible, and all the north lay in
fear of the Scots, but from time to time spasmodic efforts at
retaliation were made by the boldest of the Northumbrian landowners. In
the reign of Edward III., however, many of these great landowners
thwarted the King's designs by making a traitorous peace with their
turbulent neighbours.

David II. of Scotland encamped at Corbridge for a time during his second
attempt to invade England but this expedition ended in his defeat and
capture at Neville's Cross. Thereafter the north had rest for some
years, and Corbridge seems to have been left in peace. The Wars of the
Roses passed it by; and the Civil Wars in Stuart days also, except for
an unimportant skirmish; and the only part Corbridge saw of the Jacobite
rising of "The Fifteen" was the little cavalcade from Dilston which
clattered over the old bridge on its way to Beaufront. That bridge is
the same which we cross to-day; the date of its erection, 1674, may be
seen on one of