he expanse of blue
waters. To the westward beyond the moors rises the sharp outline of the
Scottish Border, the Cheviot Hills, running off towards the north-east,
and containing in their depressions the passes through which the Scots
used to pour when they harried Northern England and roused the Alnwick
warriors to defend their firesides.

[Illustration: LECTERN, ST. MICHAEL'S CHURCH.]

[Illustration: PORTER'S LODGE, HULNE PRIORY.]

FORD CASTLE AND FLODDEN FIELD.

Northward, past the extremity of the Cheviots, flows the Tweed, and one
of its tributaries on the English side is the Till, which drains the
bases of those sharp hills, that rise nearly twenty-seven hundred feet.
Here was Ford Castle, and here was fought the terrible Border battle of
Flodden in 1513. Ford Castle dated from the time of Edward I., and its
proximity to the Border made it the object of many assaults. In the
fifteenth century it was held by Sir William Heron, and a few days
before the battle of Flodden the Scots, under James IV., during Sir
William's captivity in Scotland, stormed and destroyed Ford, taking
captive Lady Heron, who had endeavored to defend it. In the last century
Ford was restored by the Marquis of Waterford, to whom it had descended,
so that it now appears as a fine baronial mansion, surmounted by towers
and battlements, and standing in a commanding situation overlooking the
valley of the Till, with the lofty Cheviots closing the view a few miles
to the south-west, their peaks affording ever-varying scenes as the
season changes.

[Illustration: FORD TOWER, OVERLOOKING FLODDEN.]

[Illustration: THE CHEVIOTS, FROM FORD CASTLE.]

[Illustration: FLODDEN, FROM THE KING'S BEDCHAMBER, FORD CASTLE.]

The great attraction of the view, however, is the famous hill of
Flodden, about a mile to the westward, crowned by a plantation of dark
fir trees, and presenting, with the different aspects of the weather,
ever-changeful scenery, recalling now the "dark Flodden" and anon the
"red Flodden" of the balladists. Across the valley from Ford Castle, and
at the foot of this fir-crowned hill, was fought one of the bitterest
contests of the Border. Now, the famous battlefield is a
highly-cultivated farm and sheep-pasture. James IV. of Scotland had
unjustly determined to make war upon England, and he set out upon it in
opposition to the real desire of his countrymen, and even against the
omens of Heaven, as the people believed. A few days befo