Note 666 — Chapter VI · (continued 2)

The biographer (u. s.) says, “Condidit castellum in excelso præruptæ rupis super Twedam flumen, ut inde latronum incursus inhiberet et Scotorum irruptiones. Ibi enim, utpote in confinio regni Anglorum et Scotorum, creber prædantibus ante patebat incursus, nullo ibidem quo hujusmodi impetus repelleretur præsidio locato.” From Simeon’s Gesta Regum we find that the place was Norham and the date 1121. The words in Italics should be noticed. By the time of this writer the older position of Lothian was beginning to be forgotten; it had passed to Northumberland. The building of the castle suggests to the biographer a remark on Flambard’s character; “Taliter impulsu quodam impatiente otii de opere transibat ad opus, nil reputans factum, nisi factis nova jam facienda succederent.”