employ, Harry and I always danced hornpipes." Mrs. Forster adds:-"The supper which, about Christmas, Mr. Scott used to give to his keelmen, was what was called a binding supper,-that was, a supper when the terms on which they were to serve for the ensuing year were agreed upon. Patterson, the last surviving keelman in Mr. Scott's employment, dined in our kitchen every Christmas-day until his death, about ten years ago. He expatiated with great delight upon the splendid hornpipe that Master Jacky regularly danced for their amusement after these suppers."

The keelmen live about Sandgate and Quay-side, and many of them reside at Dunston, two or three miles from Newcastle. In their blue jackets, flannel breeches, and blue stockings, they form an unmistake able body; and they, like the pitmen, have their songs, their odd stories, and their oddities of many other kinds. In the following song the allusion to the Sandgate fixes the locality to Newcastle.

"As I went up Sandgate, up Sandgate, up Sandgate,
As I went up Sandgate, I heard a lassie say,
Weel may the keel row, the keel row, the keel row,
Weel may the keel row, that my laddie 's in.

He wears a blue bonnet, blue bonnet, blue bonnet,
He wears a blue bonnet, a dimple on his chin;
And weel may the keel row, the keel row, the keel row,
And weel may the keel row, that my laddie's in."

And here is another, in which the lady celebrates the blackness of her lover in a way that tells very much indeed of coals:

"My bonnie keel-laddie, my canny keel-laddie, My bonnie keel-laddie for me, oh!

He sits in his keel, as black as the de'il,

And he brings the white money to me, oh!"

THE TYNE; JARROW; SHIELDS; TYNEMOUTH. We must find a little corner wherein to notice the course of the Tyne from Newcastle to the sea; and we may here refer to the busy scene taken near the bridge. (Cut, No. 7)

Whatever may have been the origin of the name Tyne (concerning which the etymologists are by no means agreed), the river has been known by that name since the time of Bede, 685. Soon after the Conquest, records and charters were agreed upon, by which the width of the Tyne, near and below Newcastle, was divided into three parts: one belonging to the county of Northumberland, one to the bishopric of Durham, and the middle of the channel to be free to all. In subsequent ages, the Prior of Tynemouth on the north, and the Bishop of Durham on the south, frequently

river, and the sovereign frequently interfered to secure the rights of the townsmen and the traders. It is curious, indeed, to trace through successive centuries the struggle of the various parties for precedence in the ownership and government of this important river. At one time there was a judgment passed, that "the port within the water of Tyne, from the sea to Hedwin Streams, is the free port of the king and his heirs." At another time a Council order was issued, "That the Prior of Tynemouth, who had built a shore at North Shields, within the flood-mark of the river, should remove it at his own cost." In another instance, Edward III. issued a writ, in which he "forbade the mayor and bailiffs of Newcastle-upon-Tyne to hinder the mooring of ships on the south side of this river." A few years later, the Bishop of Durham obtained a verdict against the king's commissioners, "for trespasses done by them in intermeddling in the conservatorship of the south side of the river Tyne." About the end of the fourteenth century, the bishop obtained powers "to unload and load coals, merchandise, &c., without hindrance or molestation from the men of Newcastle-upon-Tyne." Soon afterwards the corporation and the bishop had another dispute "concerning the right of wrecks and fishery in the Tyne." Throughout these contests the bishops showed themselves no less desirous of maintaining their privileges or supposed rights than the laymen. The general course of modern legislation has been to give increased power to the Corporation of Newcastle over the navigation of the Tyne. The jurisdiction now extends to high-water mark on both sides of the river, from the sea to some distance above Newcastle; the distance is annually surveyed, on Ascension-day, by the mayor and riverjury, in their barges.

The reader will, we trust, not look out for notices of anything very picturesque on the banks of the river, between Newcastle and Shields: he must throw his thoughts into another channel, in such a district as this. As we have before said, the whole line of shore from Newcastle to North Shields is speckled with collieries, iron-works, glass-works, pottery-works, chemical-works, &c. And the same may be said of the south shore, from Gateshead to South Shields. Gateshead possesses a hospital, whose history is traceable up to monastic times; and we may seek for matters of interest in such antiquarian details as these; or we may think affectionately of Gateshead as the town wherein Daniel Defoe lived, and wrote his never-dying 'Robinson Crusoe'-but it is of no avail; Gateshead is and will be a centre of work, bustle, noise, smoke, and dirt; and all other associations are speedily dissipated. Iron-works, brass-works, chain cable-works, glass-works, bottle-works, and chemical-works, lie on all sides of us. At Gateshead Fell are situated the great grindstone quarries, whence Newcastle derives her fame for 'Newcastle grindstones,' which are despatched to all corners of the globe.

At one part of the southern banks of the Tyne lie

Tynemouth has a far more ancient history to boast of than either of the two Shields: it is the natural mouth of the Tyne--the others are commercial mouths. It occupies a sort of promontory, jutting out into the sea on the east, and forming the overhanging northern boundary to the mouth of the river. As a town, it consists mainly of one street, leading east and west, crossed by two smaller streets at right angles. The chief source of its present importance is the Prior's Haven, which, being sheltered by an amphitheatre of rocks, forms one of the best bathing-places on the eastern coast. Hence we have all the usual finery, and pleasantry, and liveliness of a watering-place-at least in the summer season; for we presume that Tynemouth is not especially lively in the seasons of snow and storms. There are many elevated spots from which views can be obtained of the surrounding country. In cut No. 8, we have a view of Shields as seen from Tynemouth; in cut No. 9, a view of the haven or bathing-bay, with the honorary column erected to the memory of Lord Collingwood; while, from all sides of the town, may be seen the venerable Priory (Cut No. 10), whose history carries us back through many centuries.

Tradition attributes the founding of this priory to St. Oswald, the first Christian king of Northumberland

although some authorities mention its foundation in connection with the name of King Egfrid. It is known, however, that St. Herebald was abbot here in the beginning of the eighth century. The priory was plundered by the Danes three several times, before and during the time of Ethelstan. Shortly after the Norman conquest, the priory was restored by one of the earls of Northumberland. In subsequent ages the priory enjoyed considerable wealth: no fewer than twenty-seven manors in Northumberland, with their royalties, and other valuable lands and tenements, having belonged to it.

The lofty position which the priory occupies, renders its ruins visible far out at sea. The fine old windows of the Priory Church present graceful examples of the early English style of pointed architecture; and the crumbling ruins around it show that the priory must have been a place of vast extent. It must be confessed, however, that the appropriation of a portion of the partially-restored ruin as a magazine for military stores, and of the old tower as a barrack-(for the site of the priory belongs to the crown, although the duke of Northumberland is lord of the manor of Tynemouth) somewhat diminishes the antiquarian and picturesque interest attached to the ruins.