Page fifty-five

Preface
Contents
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
Chapter VI
Chapter VII
Chapter VIII
Chapter IX
Chapter X
Chapter XI
Chapter XII
Chapter XIII
Appendix

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After leaving Ayton he was apprenticed to a shopkeeper at Staithes. Here a circumstance occurred which led him to quarrel with his master. Finding a shilling in the till with a hole in it, and having heard of the luck which was proverbially said to attach to a coin with a hole in it, Cook suspended it to his watch guard, replacing it by one from his own purse. His master having missed it from the till naturally accused his apprentice of stealing it, and would not believe he had replaced it by another, this so grieved him that he ran away to sea. After serving for seven years, he joined the Navy. In 1759 we find him master of the “Mercury” and present at the Siege of Quebec. He was killed by the natives of the Sandwich Islands, in revenge for injuries they had received from other Europeans. Thus perished in the 51st year of his age this eminent man, equally distinguished for his ability as a mathematician and navigator, as for his constancy and unremitting perseverance in the pursuit of his object under the most trying dangers and difficulties.

How many pleasant associations are connected with the hills and moors to an old Ayton scholar. Were these removed the district would be deprived of half its charms. Rising immediately to the north and north-east of the village, is a dyke of whinstone rock which has been worked for generations for stone to cover the roads. The same basaltic dyke extends to near Whitby, and into the county of Durham, being quarried at several different places in its course. The hill overlooking the village is familiarly called “Liverick” by the village people, which is evidently a corruption of the word Cliffridge, first to Cliffrigg, then to Liffrigg, and finally to Liverick. Since the opening of the Ayton branch railway, large quantities of stone have been sent to the large towns in Yorkshire and Durham. It is used both for making roads and paving, and from the closeness of its texture is very durable. At one time the Corporation of Leeds worked the largest quarry, and a train load found its way to that town every day.

A favourite morning’s walk is to Kildale. Passing the station. the road leads in a direct line to Gribdale gate at the entrance of the moor, thence through Lonesdale and over the end of Easby wood to Kildale. We here come in contact with the river Leven, which at one place has an abrupt descent, forming the only natural waterfall the district can boast of. The trees surrounding it, particularly the large spruce firs, add much to the beauty of the place. The oak fern was formerly found here in abundance, but is now nearly exterminated.

There were at one time two large reservoirs of water in Kildale, one of them almost deserving the name of a lake, they were locally named the high and low “fish ponds.” In 1840, after a time of continuous rain they burst their banks and swelled the river Leven to such dimensions as it has never assumed before or since. In many places the river rose some yards, flooding the farm houses and villages in its course; it is said that so rapid was the rise of the water that the pigs were only saved from a watery grave by sharing with the occupants of the houses the bedrooms for the time being. This catastrophe was spoken of for many years afterwards as “the flood.”

One of the marked features of the woods about Ayton was the stately oaks. This wood was formerly very valuable for shipbuilding and, however crooked and bent it grew, it was said some place could always be found for it in the construction of the old wooden ships. The bark too was valuable for tanning:- in those days leather was leather, and a pair of cowhide boots would last for years. There were several large tan-yards in Ayton and the vicinity: the Richardsons of Langbaurgh, from whom so many Friends are descended, were formerly tanners. Some of them are still engaged in leather works in the North of England. The Martins too had a large tan-yard; the present swimming bath was made out of tanpits formerly belonging to them. When the school was established the business was carried on by an old lady named, Betsy Martin, who took an active part in the work and could often be seen cutting her leather into the required pieces. In order to extend her business she opened a retail shop in Manchester.

The hills now are principally covered with larch plantations, though some oaks remain; there is a fine collection of Scotch firs in Lonesdale, known at the school by the name of the “Black Forest,” which has yielded many hawks’, owls’, and other eggs, highly prized by young collectors; squirrels may occasionally be met with, and though not unfrequently chased, are seldom captured. Some of the scholars will have .a lively recollection of the two young squirrels they brought from Arncliffe Woods near Mount Grace Priory, which were reared by the housekeeper; one lived for some time as an inmate of the establishment.

On the hill sides the viper is frequently seen; it is the only venomous reptile belonging to the British Isles; when they attain to a length of about 3 feet they look somewhat formidable. Many times the young heroes of the school have returned from their walks with a viper or two as trophies of their prowess. One of the teachers, who was passionately fond of animals, ventured to catch one alive and received a severe bite for his rashness; his arm swelled considerably, though he did not feel any other inconvenience.

To every lover of conchology Airyholme wood was a charming name; here, by dint of much grubbing in the peaty soil, might be found some of the most delicate land shells, most of them very minute and certainly worth more than their weight in gold. Among them were Pupa Anglica and Substriata, Acme lineata, &c., on the nettles, after a shower of rain, might be secured a small shell, found in very few other localities, Helix fusca; and on the old oak trees, Balea fragilis.

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