M a y 2.6;
This caftle was founded by Waldof, firft lord o f Allerddle, and'
fon of Gofpatrick, earl of Northumberland, cotemporary with William
the conqueror ; Waldof refided firft at Papcaftle, which he afterwards
demolilhed, and with the materials huilt that at Cockermoutb, j
where he and his pofterity long refided; but feveral arms over the I
gateway, which Camden fays are thofe o f the Multons, Humfranvilles,
Lucies and Percies, evince it to have been in later times ia thofe fa-;
milies. It appears that it was firft granted by Edw. II. to Antbom
de Lucie, fon of Thomas de Multon, who had affumed that name by!
reafon that his mother was daughter and coheirefs to Richard k
Lucie -, and afterwards,, by marriages, this caftle and its honors de-
fcended to. the Humfranvilles, and finally to thz Percies*. In 1648 it
was garrifoned for the King; and being befieged and taken by the
rebels, was burnt, and never afterwards repaired..
Purfue my journey for about four or five miles along a tolerably
fertile country; and then arrive amidft the collieries.: crofs fome
barren heaths, with inclofed land on each fide, deftitute both of
hedges and woods. Pafs through Diffinton, a long and dirty town,
and foon after, from a great height,, at once come in. fight of
W h i t e h a v e n ,
and fee the whole at a fingle glaunce, feated in a hollow, open to the
fea on the north. It lies in the parilh of St. Bees, whofe vaft promontory,
noted for the great refort of birds, appears four miles to
the fouth ; and in days of old, ftill more noted for its patronefs St
Bega, who tamed fierce bulls, and brought down deep fnows at mid-
fummer.
* Dugt!ale's Baronage, I. 564, Sec,
The
I The t o w n i s in a manner a new creation, for the old editions of
Camden make no mention of i t ; yet the name is in Saxton’s maps, its
white cliffs being known to feamen. The. rife of the place is owing,
to the collieries, improved- and encouraged by the family of the
Lowthers, to their great emolument. About a hundred- years ago.
there was not one houfe- here,, except Sir John Lowther s, and two
Others,, and only three fmall veffels: and for the next, forty years,,
the number of houfes encreafed to about twenty. A t this time the
town may boaft of being one--of the-handfomeft in the north o f
England, built of ftone, and the ftreets pointing ftrait to the harbour»,
with others eroding them at right angles. It is as populous as it is
elegant containing, twelve thoufand inhabitants, and has a hundred
and ninety great fhips belonging to it,, moftly. employed in. the coal
trade.
1 The tobacco trade is much declined: formerly about twenty,
thoufand hogfheads were annually imported from Virginia-, now
fcarce a fourth of that number; Glafgow having ftolen that branch :
but to make amends, another is carried, on.to the Weft-Indies, where
hats, printed linens, hams, &c. are fent. The laft week was a melancholy
and pernicious exportation of a hundred and fifty natives-
of Great Britain, forced from their natal foil, the low lands o f Scotland,
by the raife of rents,, to feek. an afylum on the other fide o f the
Atlantic,
\ The improvements in the adjacent lands keep pace with thofe in-
the town : the Brainfty eftate forty years ago was fet for as many
pounds ; atprefent, by dint of good huibandry, efpecially liming,
is encreafed to five hundred and feventy-one.
- In the town are three churches or chapels: St, James’s inelegantly
fitted
G b d r c h e s >-