Bede 2

CUTHBERT BEDE (1827 - 1889)

Edward Bradley's popular book The Adventures of Mr Verdant Green, originally published in three parts in the 1850s is the best-known of his 26 works, and chronicles the life of a freshman at Oxford. Bradley himself had attended University College, Durham (hence his pseudonym) graduating BA in 1848, but then went to Oxford for a year or so, studying to enter the church.

Though Bradley's Verdant Green has become something of a cult book about Oxford, he had originally produced a series of pen and ink drawings entitled Ye freshmonne his adventures at University College, Durham. The book is therefore actually about Durham. He altered the setting on the advice of Mark Lemon at Punch. Drawings of Durham Student Life survive in College Life published in Oxford, Cambridge and Durham in 1850.

These drawings were much admired by masters like Cruikshank and Leech. Hippolyte Taine in his Notes sur l'Angleterre (1872) drew on Bradley's 'Oxford' book for his description of English university life.

It seems not to be widely known that no fewer than nine chapters of Part III are devoted to Verdant Green's visit to Northumberland. On the way he passes through Darlington, where the porters pronounce the stations 'Faweyill' and 'Fenshoosen' and the alarming: 'Change here for Doom!' After mentioning Durham Cathedral and Lord Durham's monument on Penshaw Hill, Verdant Green and his party then pass

'... with a scream and a rattle, over the wonderful High Level (then barely completed), looking down with a sort of self-satisfied shudder upon the bridge, and the Tyne, and the fleet of colliers, and the busy quays, and the quaint timber-built houses with their overlapping storeys, and picturesque black and white gables.'

The location of 'Honeywood Hall' is not traced. It is certainly north of Alnwick on the old Rothbury line, and The Cheviot lies behind it. The guests visit Warkworth, Alnwick, Ros castle and Chillingham Castle to see the wild cattle. There is also a trip to Bamburgh and the Longstones light to talk to Grace Darling's father. Verdant eventually gets married in the ruinous 'Lasthope Church' whose description would fit Ingram church in the Breamish valley. Bradley clearly knew the area well and paints an attractive picture of the wild landscape and the pleasures of riding, al fresco meals and neighbourly contact, the warmer for being more difficult than in crowded Midland counties. Much amusement is had with local dialect and customs, but it is not condescending and the laugh is usually on Verdant Green.

Myers Literary Guide:	The North-East
CUTHBERT BEDE (1827 - 1889) Edward Bradley's popular book The Adventures of Mr Verdant Green, originally published in three parts in the 1850s is the best-known of his 26 works, and chronicles the life of a freshman at Oxford. Bradley himself had attended University College, Durham (hence his pseudonym) graduating BA in 1848, but then went to Oxford for a year or so, studying to enter the church. Though Bradley's Verdant Green has become something of a cult book about Oxford, he had originally produced a series of pen and ink drawings entitled Ye freshmonne his adventures at University College, Durham. The book is therefore actually about Durham. He altered the setting on the advice of Mark Lemon at Punch. Drawings of Durham Student Life survive in College Life published in Oxford, Cambridge and Durham in 1850. These drawings were much admired by masters like Cruikshank and Leech. Hippolyte Taine in his Notes sur l'Angleterre (1872) drew on Bradley's 'Oxford' book for his description of English university life. It seems not to be widely known that no fewer than nine chapters of Part III are devoted to Verdant Green's visit to Northumberland. On the way he passes through Darlington, where the porters pronounce the stations 'Faweyill' and 'Fenshoosen' and the alarming: 'Change here for Doom!' After mentioning Durham Cathedral and Lord Durham's monument on Penshaw Hill, Verdant Green and his party then pass '... with a scream and a rattle, over the wonderful High Level (then barely completed), looking down with a sort of self-satisfied shudder upon the bridge, and the Tyne, and the fleet of colliers, and the busy quays, and the quaint timber-built houses with their overlapping storeys, and picturesque black and white gables.' The location of 'Honeywood Hall' is not traced. It is certainly north of Alnwick on the old Rothbury line, and The Cheviot lies behind it. The guests visit Warkworth, Alnwick, Ros castle and Chillingham Castle to see the wild cattle. There is also a trip to Bamburgh and the Longstones light to talk to Grace Darling's father. Verdant eventually gets married in the ruinous 'Lasthope Church' whose description would fit Ingram church in the Breamish valley. Bradley clearly knew the area well and paints an attractive picture of the wild landscape and the pleasures of riding, al fresco meals and neighbourly contact, the warmer for being more difficult than in crowded Midland counties. Much amusement is had with local dialect and customs, but it is not condescending and the laugh is usually on Verdant Green.
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