408
RIDLEY FAMILY OF ENGLAND, - EARLY ANCESTRY.
turned upon him, ran a spear through his body, and left him dead, with
the shaft still in the wound.
This act so exasperated the Armstrongs that they vowed cruel revenge,
swearing that before winter was ended they would lay the whole border
waste. This destructive work was commenced by an attack on Halt-
whistle, where they put fire to many houses. As a chief of the Arm-
strongs was running up a street with a torch in his hand, one of the Rid-
leys, who was in a strong stone house, made a shot and killed him; thus
two chiefs of the clan of Armstrong were killed by the Ridleys that
year. This deadly feud was perpetuated from father to son, and from
generation to generation between the two old border families, each seek-
ing every opportunity to work destruction of property and life.
UNTHANK HALL, near Haltwhistle, Northumberland, now the residence
of the Rev. Dixon Brown, was long a residence of a scion of the Ridley
family of Willimoteswick, and here the martyr Ridley was born. How long
the family were seated here I have not been able to learn. The mean-
ing of Unthank is plain enough, but no tradition remains to explain why
so ungracious an appellation should have been given a beautiful place.
In the year 1191 this manor belonged to Robert Rose, of Hamlake, who
probably derived it from William the Lion, upon marrying his daughter
Isabella. The estates have passed through many hands, but of all the
family names associated with it, that of Ridley has conferred upon the
place the greatest celebrity. The house is very old, and bears marks of
having been built and remodeled at different periods; it is beautifully
embosomed in groves, and the gardens and ornamental grounds are re-
markably attractive. The broad moor of Plenmeller stretches away to-
ward the south, while between the mansion and the River Tyne lies a
tract of corn-fields and green meadows. One of the ancient chambers in
the house is still known as "the bishop's room," supposed to have been
occupied by that holy man during the time that Christopher Ridley,
his father, resided there. In 1763, when John Tweddell, the owner of
Unthank at that time, was hunting on the rocky moor of Ramshaw, and
while looking for a lost hare in a cavity of rock, found a large quantity of
silver coins; it was thought they were left there in 1327 by some soldiers
when in pursuit of the Scottish army. I have a drawing of the house as
it appeared in 1745, when the form and style were very unlike those of
the present building. This view of the more ancient mansion, with sev-
eral photographs of his present residence, were kindly furnished me by
the proprietor, and the colored plate in this book was made from what
seemed to be the most picturesque of these.
HARDRIDING. This ancient seat of the Ridleys of Northumberland
was pleasantly situated, about two and a half miles from Haltwhistle,
before mentioned, in the forest of Lowes, so called for the Northumbrian
lakes which are included within its circuit, and on the brink of the Roman
earthway, south of the Roman Wall, and not far from Hamsteads. The
residence, which was sold to a Mr. Lowe, is very beautiful. It stands in
an open situation, and the pleasant walks around it, especially along the
banks of the Allan, among the woods and rocks, are very romantic and
abundant in excellent specimens of landscape. It is said that above one
of the old doors there is a date earlier than the Norman Conquest, with
the initials of the builder, "N. R." There may be such a stone in the
house at Hardriding, but I cannot think it was placed there as early as
the Conquest, for there is no proof that the family was then settled in
