RIDDELLS OF NEWCASTLE AND GATESHEAD.
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Dudhoe and Old Grindon, and two parts of the manor of Upsettlington,
on the north bank of the river Tweed, about a mile south-west of Nor-
ham. These estates, held of the Bishop of Durham by an annual rent and
suit at court of Norham, were inherited by his three granddaughters, of
whom hereafter, and other heirs.
FOURTH GENERATION.
William de Ridel' (2),* eldest son of William³ (1), acquired his
father's estates and holdings, served in capacities of trust, and died dur-
ing the reign of King Edward III, leaving his three daughters co-heirs.
Wife's name unknown.
Hugh de Ridel (1), second son of William³ (1), was living in the
fourth year of King Edward III (1329), and became the representative
head of this family.
FIFTH GENERATION.
Isabell de Ridel (1), eldest daughter of William (2), was one of
her father's co-heiresses, and became the wife of Allan Claveringe.
Constantine de Ridel' (1), second daughter of William (2), was
co-heir with her sisters to her father's estate. She was married to Sir
John Kynges (or Kingston), a knight, and member of one of the oldest
and most respectable families.
Beneath the caverned cliff they fall,
Beneath the castle's airy wall.
By rock, by oak, by hawthorn tree,
Troop after troop are disappearing;
Troop after troop their banners rearing,
Upon the eastern bank you see
Still pouring down the rocky den
Where flows the sullen Till,
And rising from the dim-wood glen,
Standards on standards, men on men,
In slow succession still,
And, sweeping o'er the Gothic arch,
And, pressing on, in ceaseless march,
To gain the opposing hill.
That morn, to many a trumpet clang,
Twizell, thy rock's deep echo rang;
And many a chief of birth and rank,
Saint Helen, at thy fountain drank.
The hawthorn-glade, which now we see
In spring-time bloom so lavishly,
Had then from many an axe its doom,
To give the marching columns room.'
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*This Sir William Riddell was Constable of Norham Castle, being constituted
such by Richard Kellow, Bishop of Durham, as well as bailiff of all his lands be-
longing to it; but the year is not given. In 1312, the first year of his being bishop,
that prelate, as appears by a charter in the College of Arms, granted him several
indulgencies with respect to Norham. He freed him from paying suit at court, and
all castle-rent that should be due to him during his life. At the same time he agreed
to render him the sum of ten pounds yearly, as one of his knights. When Bishop
Kellow surrendered Norham Castle to Edward II, for the term of three years, in
order that it might be the means of better defending the Marches, that prince en-
trusted the important charge of it to Sir William Riddell, as the bishop had done.
In the year 1315, Sir William was appointed High Sheriff of Northumberland. To
this office was also annexed the governorship of Newcastle. In the year 1321,
King Edward II, who seems to have held him in high esteem, addresses him as
constable of this castle, and at the same time Andrew de Harcla, and some others,
as sheriffs and commanders in the northern parts, to be ready to co-operate with all
