the Danes, the castle in all probability being greatly injured, for the whole place, it is said, lay in desolation for the space of two centuries, till in 1072 the Conqueror returning from Scotland, ordered the city to be restored and fortified. But it was not till 1092, when Rufus also returning from Scotland, observing the beautiful situation of the city, ordered it at once to be rebuilt; and this included the restoration of the castle, which forthwith proceeded without delay. Ranulph de Meschines, who before this time had received Cumberland as a grant from the Conqueror, was the restorer of Carlisle. He was a very noted man of those times, and one whose name is deeply inwoven into the past annals of this city and county.
Previous to this a few poor Irish alone tenanted the forlorn and devastated city; but about this time a colony of Flemings had settled here, it is said, for a while, being at length "replaced by a colony of south Britons, who cultivated the wild Forest of Inglewood, and taught the natives the art of profiting by the natural fertility of the soil." These in all probability–i.e. the Flemings and Britons–were the principal "hands" in raising once more the solid bastions of our ponderous castle. Let us pause a moment, and looking through the silent centuries, try to get a sight of those quaint, strange tongued men working in the same holy sun which shines to-day. How modern they are–they shout and joke and laugh as though they wore corduroy and ankle-jacks, and anon they praise the Red Roysterer for his sagacity in appreciating the fertile country and the precious worth of the old city, and also for his energy in action respecting it,
