ng situation on its southern
bank is the renowned stronghold of the Percies and guardian of the
Border, Alnwick Castle. The great fortress, as we now see it, was built
as a defence against the Scots, and was protected on the northward by
the river-valley and a deep ravine, which formerly cut it off from the
village, which is as ancient as the fortress, as its quaint old
Pottergate Tower attests. Roman remains have been found on the site,
and it was also inhabited by the Saxons, the castle at the time of the
Norman Conquest being held by Gilbert Tysen, a powerful Northumbrian
chief. It was then a primitive timber fortress in a wild region, for the
earliest masonry works are Norman, and are attributed to Tysen's
descendants. Alnwick Castle is a cluster of semicircular and angular
bastions, surrounded by lofty walls, defended at intervals by towers,
and enclosing a space of about five acres. It has three courts or wards,
each defended formerly by massive gates, with portcullis, porters lodge,
and a strong guardhouse, beneath which was a dungeon. Trap-doors are the
only entrances to the latter, into which the prisoners were lowered by
ropes. From the village the entrance to the castle is through the
barbican, or outer gate, a work of gigantic strength and massive
grandeur, which has been the scene of many a brave encounter. Near by is
the Postern Tower, a sally-port adjacent to the "Bloody Gap" and
"Hotspur's Chair." The history of this famous stronghold is practically
the history of this portion of the realm, for in all the Border warfare
that continued for centuries it was conspicuous. In the reign of William
Rufus it was gallantly defended by Mowbray, Earl of Northumberland, in
the memorable siege by the Scots under King Malcolm III. The garrison
were about surrendering, being almost starved, when a private soldier
undertook their deliverance. He rode out to the besiegers' camp,
carrying the keys of the castle dangling from his lance, and presented
himself a suppliant before the Scottish king, as if to deliver up the
keys. Malcolm advanced to receive them, and the soldier pierced him
through the heart. Malcolm fell dead, and in the confusion the bold
trooper sprang upon his horse, dashed across the river, and was safe.
Malcolm's eldest son, Prince Edward, advanced rashly to avenge the
king's death, and fell mortally wounded from the castle. Hammond's Ford,
named for the bold trooper, marks the spot where he and his horse s