Gents Mag 1851 part 2 p.388

---

	introduction
	list, 3rd qtr 19th century
	previous page
	Gentleman's Magazine 1851 part 2 p.388 entombed their remains, and solitude again resumed her dominion. A river god, the genius probably of the North Tyne, which rolls among rocks and woods by the side of the station, is now enshrined in the mansion at Chesters with numberless other vestiges of ancient Cilurnum and of Borcovicus, the great station next but on towards the west. "The Astures," says Hodgson, "in exchanging the sunny valleys of Spain for the banks of the tawny Tyne, might find the climate in their new situation worse, but a lovelier spot than Cilurnum all the Asturias could not give them." list, Procolita, now Carraburgh, is the next halting place of the traveller. When the Notitia was compiled the first cohort of the Batavians was in garrison here. In 1838 an inscribed slab was found which shews that this cohort occupied the same qtrs in the time of the Emperor Maximinus, A.D. 237. The outline of the station can be traced, but the walls and the foundations of the buildings both within and without remain to be excavated. The irregularities in the ground indicate the ruins to be very extensive. The scenery now increases in breadth and wildness, and the pedestrian, if the weather should should be stormy, and he be not throughly imbued with the true sentiment of antiquarianism, may at times feel lonely and apprehensive of his destiny at night. But the difficulties of the tour, and some there will be under the most favourable circumstances, contribute towards a proper and complete conception of the Roman wall in all its stages, such as can only be attained by walking. The most timid adventurer, however, need not fear such dangers as in times past made this district almost impassable, and deterred Camden and Sir Robert Cotton from advancing eastward beyond Carvoran. Camden only speaks of the castra from hearsay; he durst not venture to inspect them for fear of "the rank robbers thereabouts." Busy-gap, near Sewing-shields, was a noted place of resort for thieves and marauders. Mr. Bruce tells us that "the offence of calling a fellow-freeman 'a Busy-gap rogue,' was sufficiently serious to attract the attention of a guild; a case of this kind being recorded in the books of the Bakers and brewers Company of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1645." The Newcastle Merchants' Company, in 1564, enacted that no apprentice should be taken from these parts, on pain of a fine of 20l. becaue "the parties there brought up are known, either by education or nature, not to be of honest conversation; they commit frequent thefts and other felonies, proceeding from such lewde and wicked progenitors." I must now suspend my rambling notes on an inxhausted subject, fearing I have exceeded all reasonable bounds; but convinced of the importance of our national monuments and feeling how little they are regarded in comparison with those of remote countries, I could not refrain from seeking, through the medium of your pages, to draw public attention to the researches of Mr. Bruce and simultaneously to the Great Wall itself, certainly the most stupendous and interesting of our historical antiquities.
	continued
	gazetteer links
	-- Hadrian's Wall
	-- Brocolitia
	-- Cilurnum

Lakes Guides menu.

---