This celebrated castle is built on a lofty peninsular rock of considerable extent, accessible only by a narrow isthmus, which has been strongly fortified. This fortress, which was built in the reign of King Stephen, by William le Gros, earl of Albemarle and Holderness, about the year 1136, has been the scene of various memorable transactions, which the limits of this journal will not allow us to particularize. During the civil wars, it was gallantly defended by Sir Hugh Cholmly against the forces of the Parliament, for upwards of a year, and afterwards sustained another siege of five months under the command of Colonel Boynton; since that period, its principal buildings and fortifications have lain in ruins.
The lofty promontory at Scarborough, on which the ruins of the ancient castle are situated, is bounded on three sides by the German occean, and elevated nearly 300 feet above the level of the sea, presenting to the north, the east, and the south, a vast sweep of craggy perpendicular rocks, totally inaccessible. The tremendous appearance from its aspiring summit perfectly assimilates to the description of Dover cliff, by the inimitable pen of Shakspere:—
——— How fearful,
And dizzy ’tis to cast one’s eye so low!
The crows and choughs, that wing the mid-way air,
Show scarce so gross as beetles.—
The fishermen, who walk upon the beach,
Appear like mice; and yon tall anchoring bark
Diminished to her skiff, her skiff a buoy
Almost too small for sight.-The murmuring surge,
That on the unnumber’d pebbles idly chafes,
Can scarce be heard so high.
In turning from these mouldering remains of antiquity, the eye is relieved and the mind exhilarated by the charms of the surrounding prospect. The diversified scenes of the adjacent country; the romantic appearance of the town; the sands enlivened by various objects, and the unbounded view of the ocean, form an assemblage beautiful beyond conception.
The Illustrated London News, London, England, Week Ending October 1, 1842
