CHAPTER XL Aldborough and Boroughbridge CHARACTER AND COURSE OF THE URE-ALDBOROUGH THE ISEUR OF THE BRIGANTES, THE ISURIUM OF THE ROMANS-CARTISMANDUA AND THE BRIGANTES-TRACES AND REMAINS OF THE ROMAN OCCUPATION -ALDBOROUGH IN MODERN TIMES-BOROUGHBRIDGE-BATTLE OF BOROUGHBRIDGE, 1322-THE RIVER TRADE OF BOROUGHBRIDGE IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY-THE GREAT NORTH ROAD AND ITS TRAFFIC THE BOROUGHBRIDGE FAIRS-MODERN BOROUGHBRIDGETHE DEVIL'S ARROWS-NEWBY HALL. HE river Ure rises from a spring near the summit of Abbotside Common, in the wild country of the Westmorland border, and flows through some of the most remarkable scenery in Yorkshire to its junction with the Ouse at Swale Nab. Its first rising is at an elevation of over 2000 feet above sea-level, but in the first three miles of its course it falls quite 1000 feet. At first a mere rivulet, it speedily gains in bulk and force by its reception of numerous mountain rills and torrents, and by the time it flows into the beautiful valley of Wensleydale it has assumed all the characteristics of an important river. Between Hawes and Wensley it passes through a succession of charming and picturesque scenes. Into Wensleydale itself a number of smaller dales open, and on the becks or gills which run through them the lover of torrents and cascades will find some of the most strikingly situated scenes in England, varying from the magnificence of Hardraw Force, 99 feet in height, to Bow Force, 12 feet. On the Ure itself, at Aysgarth, there are some magnificent rapids over which the river pours its waters with astonishing strength. The peaceful aspect of Wensleydale adds to the effect of the river's tumultuous rushings at this point; no other Yorkshire valley is more suggestive of the quietude of pastoral life than this. The presence of the ruined castles of Bolton and Middleham, once the formidable strongholds of great mediæval families, serves to accentuate rather than to lessen this pastoral effect. Even more peaceful and secluded regions may be reached by turning aside from Wensleydale into the smaller valleys of Bishopdale and Coverdale, which seem to lie quite out of the world, and are far removed from any vestige of modern life. The small towns situate along these stretches of the Ure are full of interest and picturesqueness. At Leyburn, or Masham, or Tanfield the lover of the beautiful might linger for days finding in his immediate surroundings a good and substantial reason for his tardiness. As the Ure draws nearer to its junction with the Ouse its surroundings increase in interest. It flows through the ancient cathedral city of Ripon, southward of which lies Fountains Abbey and its picturesque environment, and thus intersects a corner of the county particularly rich in historical association. These associations deepen as the river finishes its course of sixty-two miles. Its last stretches are through a country full of memorials of a long-dead age, for Aldborough, the last of its towns or villages, was a Brigantian city long before the Romans came into the north of England. From its source to its confluence the Ure, then, is one of the most interesting and remarkable of Yorkshire rivers. In exploring its surroundings, the traveller will never lack an incentive to further journeyings. The picturesqueness of its character begins at the point where it and the Swale pour themselves into the Ouse, and increases with every step which is taken towards its source. I There is no place of its size in Yorkshire one-half so remarkable or interesting as Aldborough. At first impressions the traveller might well be excused for declaring that he saw little more in it or about it than a man may see in many another Yorkshire village-a certain number of more or less picturesque houses and cottages clustering about a church, with some evidences of a respectable antiquity and some advantages of situation, but nothing further to show that it was a place of importance when the great towns and cities of the county were unheard-of and not even existent. But in point of age as a centre of population, Aldborough may justly lay claim to rank with any place in the county-even if York can make out her title to rank as the foundation of a great-grandson of Æneas. While much of its history is involved in the mists which encircle the doings of bygone ages, there is no doubt that it was the Isure or Iseur of the Brigantes, and the Isurium of the Romans. Here, long before the Romans came into this country, the Brigantian kings seem to have kept such state as suited them. There is nothing to show of what form or aspect the Brigantian town or city of Iseur was, but there seems every reason to believe that during the ages in which the Brigantes were the dominant power in Yorkshire, Lancashire, Westmorland, Cumberland, and Durham, it was the capital of their kings and the seat of administration and justice. According to Tacitus, Iseur about the beginning of the first century was the seat of Venutius, a Brigantian king, who was usurped from power by his wife, Cartismandua, and her paramour, Volucatus, and for some time the two usurpers held the city and indulged in a series of riots and debauches. Being in their turn driven out by Venutius and his allies, they sought help from the Romans, then rapidly extending their operations in this country, and finding it readily afforded, reassumed possession of Iseur, from whence Venutius retreated, with those faithful to him, in the hope of obtaining help from other native tribes. It was about this time that Caractacus, or Caradoc, king of the Silures, who had resisted the Roman advance for a period of several years, was obliged to flee northward in the hope of finding succour or protection. He fell into the hands of Cartismandua, and was immediately delivered to the Romans, probably at Iseur itself. Soon after this Venutius gathered together the faithful Brigantes and the remnants of the Silures, and made a last stand against the Romans under Petilius Cerealis, by whom he was defeated. It would appear from the account which Tacitus supplies of these events that the final subjugation of the Brigantes was brought about by Julius Agricola in the year 79, and that he immediately set about the construction of a new city on the site of the old one, the name Iseur (which is supposed by most authorities to have been derived from Isis, the worship of whom had been introduced into VOL. II. 2 M Britain at an early period, and Ure, the river made sacred to her), being changed into Isurium. Although historical evidences on the subject are fragmentary and doubtful, there seems strong reason for believing that Isurium and Eboracum were built about the same time, and that while the latter was regarded as a strong military city, the former was occupied as something of a pleasure resort, though, in accordance with the arrangements of all Roman settlements, it was properly fortified and defended. Some writers are of the opinion that Agricola made his headquarters at Isurium for a period anterior to the building of Eboracum, and that after the Romans had firmly settled themselves in the latter city, the former was devoted to purposes of a less exacting nature than those which would dominate the social life of a great military port. So far as has been proved by the numerous excavations carried out at Aldborough during the past century, Isurium corresponded to Roman York in the fact that it was in the form of a parallelogram, enclosing an area of at least sixty acres. Mr. Smith, who published an interesting account of the Roman remains here in 1852, was of opinion that the angles of the parallelogram were cut off, and there does not seem to be any evidence that the walls had corner towers, as was the case at York. According to generally recognised opinions on the subject, the present church of Aldborough is on the exact centre of the site of Isurium, while the Hall occupies that of the east, and the Manor that of the west. gate. The walls, which extended about 2000 feet by 1300 feet, were four yards in thickness, and were founded on large pebbles laid on a bed of blue clay. About a hundred years ago the foundation of the wall on the side nearest Boroughbridge was opened for the purpose of procuring stone. At this point it was discovered to be quite five yards in thickness, and its depth was of a similar measurement. On opening it there were first revealed layers of red gritstone in broken and irregular pieces, mixed with sand and lime, to the depth of seven feet, after which came layers of pebbles bedded in blue clay to a depth of eight feet, this last course resting on a bed of sand. During this excavation there were discovered several interesting remains, amongst them being a small effigy of the head of a cow, in brass, which was taken to be symbolical of the goddess Isis, some horns of deer, evidently dissevered by a fine-edged instrument, several querns or stone hand-mills, and various broken pieces of pottery. Further discoveries were made in 1808, when some workmen engaged in widening the road between Aldborough and York came upon eighteen human skeletons, a lachrymatory, and several urns containing ashes and calcined bones, together with a numerous collection of Roman coins. Indeed, there are few ancient towns in the county which have yielded so many relics of interest as Aldborough has during the last hundred years. Roman coins of gold, silver, and brass have been found in large numbers. Those struck during the reign of Constantine have ALDBOROUGH 275 been most abundant, but there are also specimens of the coinage of the reigns of Augustus Cæsar, Claudius, Vespasian, Domitian, Nerva, Trajan, Pertinax, Severus, Maximian, Valerian, Aurelian, Carausius, Alectus, Diocletian, and Constantius. There have also been discovered fragments of earthen vessels ornamented with the figures of birds, beasts, and flowers, and several bearing effigies, with gold chains, polished signets, urns, decorated lamps, fragments of tiles and pottery, and many other matters indisputably connected with the Roman period. While a good deal of the remarkable collection of antiquities yielded by numerous excavations at Aldborough has been dispersed, the village has fortunately been enabled to retain a large number of these precious objects for the delight and edification of the stranger. Close to the church and village cross the traveller will find a quaint old cottage with a thatched roof, over the doorway of which is a primitive signboard bearing the following very remarkable inscription : "This is the Ancient Manor House, The Roman Works In a room at the rear of this cottage the traveller will be shown a singularly fine and well-preserved tesselated pavement of genuine Roman work, the colour of which is almost as fresh and vivid as when it was first burnt in. Its pattern is very elaborate, and thousands of pieces must have been used in laying it down. In the museum close by-erected by Mr. A. S. Lawson, lord of the manor of Aldborough, in 1864, for the purpose of providing a fitting receptacle for the relics and curiosities of the placethere are numerous objects of great interest. There are several urns, presumably containing ashes; some portraits of great age, said to be those of certain of the Roman emperors; some specimens of Roman imitation of marble; cases of coins, rings, chains, and pins, of silver and gold; a stone axe and some flint arrow-heads; and certain ancient British remains, including the statuette of a British deity. In the grounds of Aldborough Manor there is a Roman altar, and nearer the museum are the only visible portions of the wall which enclosed Isurium. There is a figure of the god Mercury built into the wall of the church, and this is the only remnant of Roman sculpture left here, saving the small house-ornaments in the museum. In Mr. Smith's Reliquia Isuriana he describes a very beautiful sarcophagus which was found here. It was in the form of a shoe, and measured 7 feet 2 inches long and 2 feet 6 inches broad as regards its outward proportions, and 6 feet by 1 feet as regards its interior. It was made of fine, bright, red clay, and contained the ashes of oak, some fragments of bones, and a few teeth in an excellent state of preservation. When Borough Hill, an eminence near the church, was levelled about the |