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RIDLEY FAMILY OF ENGLAND, - EARLY ANCESTRY.
"Willy willy waishale, Keep of my Castle,"
used in the north of England, in the game of "Limbo," contains the true
etymon of the adjective "willey."
WILLIMOTESWICK CASTLE is situated on a wooded knoll, at the meet-
ing of the South Tyne and Blackleugh Burn. The farm offices and foun-
dation walls show that, in former times, it had been an extensive fortress.
Of the early history of the place little is known. The name does not
occur in the list of castles and towers of Northumberland, made out about
1460, although the family of Ridley was permanently settled there, as
previously shown, long before that time, and their names are not unfre-
quent in private documents respecting lands in Tynedale very early.
In 1542 the "good to wre" of Willimoteswick was said to be in a good
state of "reparations," and so it long continued. The tower forming the
entrance to a farm-yard is massive and picturesquely covered with yellow
lichens; the situation is very romantic, and the prospect from the eleva-
tion on which the castle stood, embracing a wide and diversified land-
scape, is very pleasing. The "silver Tyne" winds among the fields and
woodlands, glistening here and there like a burnished shield; beyond, the
pastoral hills are covered with flocks. A rustic stone bridge crosses the
burn [brook] that flows around the elevation, which is almost covered
with foliage and luxuriant grasses. The tower itself is oblong, built in
substantial masonry with heavy overhanging battlements. Roger North
says, "The County of Northumberland was exceedingly infested with cat-
tle thieves (in feudal times), so that all considerable farm-houses were
built of stone in the manner of a strong tower, in which the cattle were
lodged every night; in the upper rooms the family lodged, and when an
alarm came, they went up to the top and with hot water and stones from
the battlements faught in defence of their cattle."
The cattle and estate of Willimoteswick were held by the Ridley family
through a long succession of strong knights until 1652,† when, in conse-
quence of their steady adherence to the cause of King Charles, all their
lands and seats in Tynedale were confiscated and wrested from their
hands; the property was then sold by the parliament to Richard Musgrave,
whose daughter was the wife of William Ridley, Musgrave Ridley being
the last proprietor of his name.
"Then fell the Ridley's martial line,
Lord William's ancient towers;
Fair Ridley on the silver Tyne,
And sweet Thorngrafton's bowers.
"All felt the plunderer's cruel hand,
When Legal rapine through the land
Stalked forth with giant stride;
When Loyalty successless bled,
And Truth and Honor vainly sped
Against misfortune's tide."
* WILLIMOTESWICK CASTLE is a very fine example of a fortified domestic build-
ing it forms one side of a square, the other three sides of which are offices, a large
gate-way, etc.; all stone, to be fire-proof, even to the mangers of the stables.
+ Willimoteswick and the Manors of Chatesworth (?), Henshaw (?), Ridley,
Walltown, Hardriding, and others, chiefly in the valley of the South Tyne, are on
the right side: i. e., on the English side of the Roman Wall, while Parkend is on
the north side. The estates of the Ridleys, on the south side of the Roman Wall,
were all confiscated, in consequence of the loyalty of the family in 1652, while their
lands on the north side were retained, and are still held by them.
