DURHAM AND NORTHUMBERLAND. 3

Tyne;* to hold in as full and ample manneras the king himself held the same, which wasafterwards confirmed by king Henry I. to thethen bishop of Durham, and ultimately bythe parliament of Edward VI. The extensiveprivileges, however, secured by these differentacts of confirmation have since that time beenmuch abridged, and necessarily yielded to thedifferent policy of the nation,though manyexclusive privileges are still retained, nor canany abrogation of their limits be traced asinjurious to the general welfare and import-ance of the county.

Hills and mountains form the general aspectof the country, and in many places give a verynoble and romantic effect to the scenery. Thewestern angle is bleak, naked, and barren,being intersected by a ridge of mountainscalled the English Appennines> though they donot particularly deviate from the more bold

* It is called by the monkish writers, with other bor-dering counties, “ the land of St. Cuthbert,” or “ hispatrimony.” Camden’s Britt.

t Time insensibly produces mighty changes in allearthly things, and under the best modifications of socialpolity accidental circumstances will, arise to exact aberra-tion from the declared principles of its primitive settle-ment. Sedgwick on Blackstone, p. 73.