their progress, another miracle happened: the holy relics would not move forward: this was at a place then called Wrdelau. At last, after much fasting and prayer, and the assistance of an old woman and her cow, Dunholme, a place strong by nature, but not easily rendered habitable, as it was overgrown by a thick forest, in the midst of which was a small plain, which had been used in tillage," was the place fixed on for the lasting abode of St. Cuthbert's relics, and the further establishment of his holy fraternity. The first work in which the pious laborers engaged, was to erect a wicker tabernacle, as a reliquary for their sacred deposit; this was denominated the Bough Church; but such a situation not suiting the wishes of the devout, another temple, called White Church, was constructed in the year 995, also of wicker, Symeon Dunelmensis says, facta citissime de Virgis ecclesiola. But it.. does not appear that the poor wanderers erected for themselves any habitations on the Mount for a considerable time after their. coming to Dunholme; "for we are told, in the course of three years from the date of the first tabernacle, that a church of stonework was begun, and dedicated by Bishop Aldun, wherein the Saint's remains were deposited. According to the course of events exhibited by the ancient writers, it was not till after the foundation of Aldun's Church was laid, that the forest by which it was surrounded was cut down, and the skirts of the hill rendered fit for habitation. Much labour was expended; and all the inhabitants between the rivers Coquet and Tees, to the extent of fifty miles, are said to have been employed at the command of Uthred, Earl of Northumberland. From the above circumstances, we are led to date the rise of the town of Durham in the opening of the eleventh century." Durham seems to have been sufficiently fortified when Duncan, King of Scotland, attacked it in 1040; for the townsmen sustained the enemy's assaults for a considerable time; and at length, by means of a vigorous sally, totally routed the assailants, and B 3 Hutchinson's Durham, Vol II. p 5. beheaded beheaded the leaders, which were their prisoners, in the marketplace. William I. in the year 1069, sent Robert Cumin, whom he had created Earl of Northumberland, and 700 veteran Norman soldiers, to Durham, to enforce his authority; but these warriors degrading themselves into freebooters, committed many enormities, and reduced the inhabitants to the extrémest despair. In this temper, they formed associations, which coming to the Bishop's knowledge, he acquainted Earl Cumin of his apprehensions of an insurrection. The Earl treated the Bishop's caution with contempt; and, agreeably to the Monarch's writ, Cumin proscribed and murdered several of the landholders. The death of the peasants acted as a summon to unsheath the sword; and though this was in the severe season of February, at the decline of day, the town was girt round with multitudes of armed men. "The Earl's guards had taken forcible possession of the houses, as their wantonness incited; and being dispersed through the town, in contempt of danger, gave themselves up to ease and enjoyment. Just at the dawn of day, the assailants broke open all the gates of the town, and flying in parties through every street, made a dreadful slaughter of the Normans; insomuch, that, Symeon says, the streets were filled with blood and carcases. Many were shut up in the house where the Earl lodged, and defending it bravely, the enraged populace could not force an entrance; therefore throwing in firebrands, they set the edifice in flames. When those within saw the imminent peril to which they were reduced, they forced open the doors, and attempted to escape the fury of the fire, but were slain as they came out. At length the building was reduced to ashes, with every thing within its walls. The fire was so vehement, that the flames were seen to take hold of the western tower of the Church. This afflicting circumstance alarmed the multitude: the religious inhabitants of the city, and even those in arms, ceasing from slaughter, fell upon their knees, with eyes filled with tears, and elevated hands, petitioning heaven, that, by the assistance of their holy Saint, and through his interposition, the sacred edifice might be spared from destruction. Quickly the wind shifted, Thus the Earl, shifted, and bore the flames from the Church. on the second of the Cal. of February, A. D. 1069, with his 700 guards, (one man excepted, who escaped with his wounds,) were put to death.*" William, determined on revenge for Cumin's death, detached a party of his troops to scour the country; but they had not proceeded farther than Alverton, when a thick fog surrounded them; so that, instead of pursuing their journey, they could scarcely see each other: this operating upon supersitious minds, and adding to the reports of St. Cuthbert's miracles, so alarmed them, that they returned with precipitation, lest they should incur the Saint's execration. But William was not to be so intimidated: he marched forward, and indulged the malignity of his heart in the spoil and blood of his subjects, and desolated the country in such a manner, that, "for sixty miles, between York and Durham, he did not leave a house standing; reducing the whole district, by fire and sword, to a horrible desart, smoking with blood, and in ashes."+ Churches and monasteries were not spared; and it is impossible to describe the miseries in consequence of this wanton act of cruelty. A dreadful famine ensued; and a mortality, unequalled in the annals of this country. The people were reduced to eat the flesh of horses, dogs, and cats, and at last human carcases. The lands lay untilled for nine years, infested by robbers and beasts of prey; and the poor remnant of the inhabitants spared from the sword, died, overwhelmed with want and misery, in the fields. "Hoveden relates, that, on the tyrant's approach to Durham, he found the town evacuated, the ecclesiastics fled, and the Chuch left without a minister to perform any sacred office. The King's army being dispersed in destructive parties over the country between the Tyne and the Weare, beheld the villages deserted, the whole country a dismal waste; and the inhabitants, with their flocks and other property, fled into the most secret recesses of the forests and mountains. But, not moved to compassion by a scene so truly wretched, the barbarians set fire to the monastery of Jarrow, and made rejoicings over its ashes." These B 4 * Hutchinson's Durham, Vol. II. 103. Symeon Dun,-Lel. Col. V. II. p. 380. These calamities induced another disturbance of St. Cuthbert's bones, which had now reposed for seventy-five years. The Bishop, with the concurrence of the principal inhabitants, removed them to Lindisfarne; where another miracle is reported to have occurred. "On the fourth day, in the evening, the Bishop, with a vast concourse of people, arrived on the shore opposite to the Holy Island, when they found the sea at high-water. The severity of the winter rendered the night air intolerable to the aged as well as the tender, and caused great lamentation; when, by a particular interposition, the sea retired, and left a dry passage for the poor wanderers, who, with loud thanksgiving, and holy joy, passed over to the Island. But what completed the miracle, was, as Symeon asserts, those who carried the Saint's remains, gave evidence, that, as soon as the multitude had passed, the sea returned, and closed up the vacancy, which a few moments before had divided the water."" On Symeon Dunelmensis, p. 194, relates, "that the King, whilst he abode in Durham, entertaining a doubt of the incorruptible state of St. Cuthbert's body, enquired diligently concerning it; and, notwithstanding the asseverations of several of the most pious and venerable men there, he still pretended to disbelieve it, and insisted on having an inspection of the sepulchre himself. Several Bishops and Abbots then present assented to his will, and thought it proper the King's pleasure should be complied with. Whether provoked by the delay, or his suspicion of fraud was increased by the reluctance of the ecclesiastics to comply with his desire, is not pointed out; but the King solemnly vowed, if he was deceived in the relations he had heard, if the incorruptibility of the Saint's remains was merely a tale to work upon the superstition of the vulgar, and the body was not found in the state represented to him, he would put to death all those of superior rank throughout the city, who had presumed to impose on him. A terror fell on such as heard his menaces, and they devoutly implored the mercy of God, through the merits of the blessed St. Cuthbert, whilst the Bishop, whom, the King had appointed, performed the service of high mass. The King, determined to satisfy his curiosity immediately after the ceremony, commanded the officers of the Church to open the sepulchre; and whilst he stood by, he found himself smitten on a sudden with a burning fever, which distracted him in an intolerable manner. Seized with such anguish and disease, he rushed out of the Church, leaving untasted a sumptuous banquet, which the ecclesiastics had prepared for him; and instantly mounting On the restoration of tranquillity, and the King's departure, the Bishop, and his companions in affliction, returned to their desolated country, after an absence of four months, and replaced the sacred remains of St. Cuthbert in his shrine. In their flight they had left a rich and massy crucifix, formerly given by Earl Tosti and his wife, in the hope that common veneration might preserve it inviolable; but the crucifix was thrown down by the Normans, and stripped of all its ornaments of gold, silver, and jewellery. On the partition of lands by the Conqueror, the Church of Durham suffered its share of peculation; but the Bishop having secured the most valuable articles of the treasury, retired to Ely, and joined the English who were there in arms against the King. Soon afterwards, by the treachery of the Abbot, whom he thought his friend, he was delivered to the Sovereign, who confined him in prison, where he died miserably; and the See continued vacant about a year, when Walcher, a person of noble birth, from Lorrain, was appointed Bishop. On William's return from his expedition againt Malcolm, King of Scotland, he considered that Durham was a proper barrier against the Scottish incursions; and resolved to erect a Castle here, which might serve also to awe the neighbourhood; or, as he explained it," to secure his Earl of that province from tumults and insurrections, as also to protect the Bishop of the See and his Church." After the defection of Waltheof, Earl of Northumberland, and his consequent execution at Winchester, Bishop Walcher purchased of the King, the earldom of Northumberland. This being the first instance of the ecclesiastical and temporal power of the See being vested in one person, excited the utmost malevolence in the people. They looked with abhorrence on a prelate, who, unlike their mounting his horse, he fled from the city with the utmost haste, never abating the speed of his courser, till he arrived on the banks of the Tees. An indication of preternatural interference, at such a time, overawed the people, and greatly contributed to the veneration paid to the Saint's shrine." Tradition says, that the King, in his hurry, took his way down the narrow street called King's Gate, leading to the Bailey, and now called Dun-Cow-Lane, |