RIDLEY FAMILY OF ENGLAND, — EARLY ANCESTRY.
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the County. Is it not a little singular that the date on this curious stone
was not given as well as the letters, if the numbers can be made out?
WALLTOWN, so named in consequence of being situated on the Roman
Wall, was long a castellated residence of a branch of the Ridley family
of Tynedale, Northumberland, England. The place was romantic in its
surroundings, and many interesting traditions are associated with its early
history. I believe the house formerly occupied by the Ridleys has been
dismantled, and at present only a farm-house marks the place. There is a
fine fountain here, in which Paulinus baptized one of the Saxon kings,
perhaps Edwin, in whose reign the wells along the wayside were pro-
vided with iron dishes for the convenience of travelers; this fountain is
sometimes called "King Arthur's well," but Brand says, "At Walltown I
saw the well wherein Paulinus baptized King Ecfrid." Some wrought
stones lie near the well. The water is cool and limpid. Murray says,
"In a farmhouse at Walltown Craigs lived Bishop Ridley's brother";
this is a mistake: it was his brother-in-law, as will appear in the pedigree
of the "Ridleys of Walltown." Behind the house rise the highest of the
"Walltown Craigs" known as "the nine nicks of Thirwall"; these are
highly picturesque, being partly overgrown with the remains of the ancient
forest which "Belted Will Howard' destroyed, because it afforded a
shelter to the "Mosstroopers." Sir Walter Scott visited Walltown when
young, and gathered some wild flowers near, which he presented to a
young lady with the following lines:
"Take these flowers, which, purple waving,
On the ruined rampart grew;
Where, the sons of freedom braving,
Rome's imperial standard flew.
Warriors from the breach of danger,
Pluck no longer laurels there;
They but yield the passing_stranger
Wild-flower wreaths for Beauty's hair."
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PARKEND, another residence of the Ridleys of Northumberland, is sit-
uated in the parish of Simonburn, and has been believed by its possessors
to have been "tithe-free," and to have had other tithes in the parish, from
the influence of the rectors of Simonburn. This was once the largest
and wildest parish in the country, occupying an area of one hundred and
three miles, from Scotland to the Roman Wall, but now divided. Here
the inhabitants of Tynedale lived in the most lawless independence till
1701, when "County-keepers' were appointed, to whom a kind of pro-
tection-tribute was paid. The ancient Church of St. Simon was pulled
down and restored in 1862; it contains a mutilated tomb of the Rev.
Cuthbert Ridley and three of his family (1625). "Old Parkend" was
inhabited for several generations by the descendants of the elder branch
of the Ridleys through a younger brother of the last of the "Lords of
Willimoteswick." The view from Parkend commands a fine prospect,
especially of the woods and beautiful castle called Chipchase in the same
parish.
TECKET was an ancient residence of the Ridleys of Northumberland.
It is an "upland hamlet," where the stream called "Simonburn" tumbles
in a most picturesque cascade over a chaos of fern-fringed rocks. This
spot is a charming subject for the artist. The burn falls into the River
Tyne near Ulmwick. There is now a stone at Tecket Farm which bears
the Ridley arms. This property seems to have come into the family by a
