and from Henry I. to Henry IV., seems to have been at
Wark at some time during his reign, with the exception of Richard
Coeur-de-Lion and Richard II. After the Union of the Crowns, Wark, like
most other fortresses in the north that were not in use as the dwellings
of their owners, was allowed to fall into decay. From Wark to Carham is
a walk of only two miles along the road which follows the course of the
river, and ultimately leads to Kelso. Carham has the remains of an
ancient monastery; and here the Danes, after having plundered
Lindisfarne, fought a battle in which the Saxons, led by several
Bishops, were defeated with great slaughter. From Carham, having reached
the last point of interest on the Tweed within the Northumbrian border,
we must retrace our steps to Tillmouth, and follow the Tweed through
pasture land and level haughs, until we come in sight of the steep
cliffs and overhanging woods by Norham Castle.

Naturally here, the words of the opening canto of "Marmion" are recalled
to our memory--

"Day set on Norham's castled steep,
On Tweed's fair river, broad and deep,
And Cheviot's mountains lone
The battled towers, the donjon keep,
The loophole grates, where captives weep,
The flanking walls that round it sweep,
In yellow lustre shone."

The "castled steep" is still crowned by a massive fragment of the old
fortress that has braved, in its time, so many days of storm and stress.
A good deal of the curtain wall, too, is standing, and the natural
defences of the castle are admirable, for a deep ravine on the east and
the river with its steep banks on the south made it practically
unassailable at these points. It was built in 1121, as we have seen, by
Bishop Flambard of Durham, as a defence for the northern portions of his
diocese. The necessity for its presence there was soon made apparent,
for it was attacked by the Scots again and again; and by the time thirty
years had passed. Bishop Pudsey found it necessary to strengthen it
greatly. When Edward I. was called to arbitrate between the claimants
to the Scottish throne, he came to Norham and met the rival nobles, who,
with their followers, were quartered at Ladykirk, on the opposite side
of the Tweed. It was known as Upsettlington then, however; the name of
Ladykirk was bestowed upon it long afterwards, when James IV. built the
little chapel there, in gratitude for an escape from drowning in the
Tweed. Edward held his interview with t