" ON BATTLED TOWER AND PORTAL GREY" - MORTHAM TOWER

  • Description

    Sir Walter Scott was so impressed with the visual impact of Mortham Tower that he insisted that the publisher's commissioned landscape artist J.M.W. Turner include it in the illustrations for Rokeby in his Poetical Works. Philip of Mortham plays a central role in Scott's Rokeby. "And when he issued from the wood, Before the gate of Mortham stood. 'Twas a fair scene! the sunbeam lay On battled tower and portal grey, And from the grassy slope he sees The Greta flow to meet the Tees, Where issuing from her darksome bed, She caught the morning eastern red, And through the softening vale below, Rolled her bright waves in rosy glow, All blushing to her bridal bed". From Rokeby by Sir Walter Scott 1771-1832. Today the property is in private ownership but a public footpath runs past it and provides part of the route of the Teesdale Way, which I recall walking in the summer of 2007 shortly after arriving to live in Teesdale.
  • Owner

    summonedbyfells
  • Source

    Flickr (Flickr)
  • License

    What does this mean? Attribution License
  • Further information

    Link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/8521690@N02/8677780915/
    Resource type: Image
    Added by: Simon Cotterill
    Last modified: 7 years, 10 months ago
    Viewed: 1074 times
    Picture Taken: Unknown
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