Notes from a small island
Sir Walter Scott's historical romance Ivanhoe, published in 1819 and set in the 12th Century, begins:
In that pleasant district of merry England which is watered by the river Don, there extended in ancient times a large forest, covering the greater part of the beautiful hills and valleys which lie between Sheffield and the pleasant town of Doncaster. The remains of this extensive wood are still to be seen at the noble seats of Wentworth, of Warncliffe Park, and around Rotherham. Here haunted of yore the fabulous Dragon of Wantley; here were fought many of the most desperate battles during the Civil Wars of the Roses; and here also flourished in ancient times those bands of gallant outlaws, whose deeds have been rendered so popular in English song. |
It's common in fiction, but Scott slightly adjusted real place names: "Warncliffe" is Wharncliffe, "Wantley" is Wortley (though this form is borrowed from an earlier source that does, indeed, concern a dragon—see below) and Locksley is Loxley (another village to the west of Sheffield). His "Robin of Locksley" is Robin of Loxley, otherwise known as Robin Hood, and it's Scott's novel that is credited with first re-awakening Victorian interest in all things Medieval, especially that period's romances and legends, and most particularly that of the famous outlaw. Incidentally, the grave of his merrie associate, Little John, is said to be in the Derbyshire village of Hathersage, just south of Sheffield.
Scott also sets part of his narrative at "Coningsburgh" (Conisbrough), itself situated en route to Doncaster (though the thought of Doncaster being referred to as a "pleasant town" could now be considered rather ironic). Conisbrough castle is one of a number of historical sites within easy reach of my home village, and my enthusiasm for such things was inspired and encouraged by visits with my parents to these monuments, then administrated by the Ministry of Public Buildings and Works but since taken over by the charity English Heritage.
One of the benefits of living in a small country is that such charming cultural artifacts are never far away, and, within twenty miles of home, I could visit Monk Bretton Priory, Roche Abbey, Conisbrough, Peveril and Bolsover castles and prehistoric sites like Arbor Low and Nine Ladies stone circles. Slightly further afield, the north of Yorkshire bristles with the evocative remains of the former abbeys of Kirkstall, Rievaulx, Jervaulx, Byland, Easby, Egglestone, Fountains and Whitby, Mount Grace and Kirkham priories, and castles at Richmond, Pickering, Middleham, Helmsley and York (though, to be fair, they are not so majestic as the fortifications in Wales, built later in the Middle Ages).
This is the cobbled lane (off the A634 main road south of Maltby) running past a local farm to the ruins of Roche Abbey.
Between the main abbey buildings and its gatehouse, looking west to the gatehouse itself and a Victorian lodge (built in the Gothic style from abbey stone) now housing the visitor centre and ticket office run by English Heritage.
And this is the view in the opposite direction, east, toward the abbey itself. Other abbey ruins may be more impressive (eg Rievaulx or Fountains in North Yorkshire), but Roche remains a peaceful and picturesque corner of the world despite its proximity to the somewhat run-down former mining town of Maltby. Roche Abbey was always a good standby destination for an afternoon run in the car with my brother when my son and I stayed with my parents during school holidays.
The eastern transept walls of Roche Abbey's church seen from the cloister.
Roche Abbey's gatehouse.
Conisbrough Castle, showing its tower (a Norman "shell" keep) and curtain wall.
Bolsover Castle keep, known as the "Little Castle". As at many other locations, English Heritage often stage appropriate events at Bolsover, including displays of toxophily (that's archery to you and me), falconry, and even jousting in armour on horseback.
Kirkham Priory gatehouse, near York.
Clifford's Tower: York castle's keep. Frankly, it's not so interesting as many another castle (though works completed last year have made previously inaccessible parts of the tower explorable and include various informative displays), but there's a fine view of York and its cathedral from the tower's ramparts:
The statue of Britannia is tucked away in an alley near the cathedral. Constantine's statue is outside the Cathedral and the Printer's devil is attached to a shop front nearby.
York can boast a profusion of Medieval buildings, including a guild hall and streets of half-timbered houses with jettied upper floors (The Shambles, a famous street, dates from the 14th Century), its city wall (the most complete in England, including a Roman tower and the wall's fortified gatehouses or "bars": Bootham Bar, Micklegate Bar, Walmgate Bar and Monk Bar), the castle's keep, and more Medieval churches than anywhere else in England apart from Norwich (down from 40+ in the 14th Century, to about twenty now). The ruin of St Mary's Abbey is also situated in York Museum Gardens.
The Treasurer's House, York.
York's gem, of course, is the Cathedral, seat of the most important See after Canterbury and a beautiful building combining the principal architectural styles of the Medieval Gothic period: Early English, Decorated and Perpendicular.
York has a number of very good-to-splendid museums, including York Castle Museum which is housed in the former women's and debtors' prisons. Authentic Victorian rooms, shop interiors and a whole street are laid out within, amongst other extensive displays. There is also an exhibit of prison life that includes highwayman Dick Turpin's cell (why he might have been incarcerated in a debtor's prison prior to his hanging, I cannot say, but apparently he was). A 19th Century flour mill now sits adjacent to the museum, rebuilt from its original location in the North Yorkshire Moors.
After archaeological investigation turned up significant finds of Viking life and trade in York, The Jorvik Centre was built at the site, a museum dedicated to the period that, while containing much of interest, comes a little close to theme-parkery for me.
York's second gem is The National Railway Museum and, as with the Cathedral, I can barely restrain my enthusiasm for it. It's just wonderful. Amongst many treasures, the NRM boasts the display of famous engines The Flying Scotsman (LNER Class A3 4472), Mallard (LNER Class A4 4468) and two facsimiles of (Robert) Stephenson's Rocket (one cut away to reveal its inner workings).
Amongst famous sons of the city were Alcuin of York (advisor to the court of Emperor Charlemagne in continental Europe and the scholar who formalised the Latin lower-case alphabet, circa 800AD), and Guido—or Guy—Fawkes (the mercenary arrested while planting explosives under the Houses of Parliament to blow up King James I in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605). I have previously mentioned in passing the Quaker philanthropists, Benjamin Rowntree, Joseph Rowntree and Sir Joseph Terry, who founded their famous confectionery businesses in York. Unfortunately, time has brought their enterprises into the hands of multinational misanthropists Nestlé. Other notable citizens, or former citizens, include actress Dame Judi Dench, poet WH Auden, radio astronomer (and discoverer of pulsars) Jocelyn Bell and the splendidly named Viking ruler Ivar the Boneless, a nickname that might derive from the weakness of his legs, impotence, or the misinterpretation of the Latin for "Hated One".
To come back to the Dragon of Wantley, whether an earlier legend of any kind exists, the reference usually applies to a ribald parody of an epic poem, published in the late 17th Century, which is thought to be a satire on a late 16th Century legal dispute between Sir Francis Wortley and a George More, though the precise details of the poem's origin and significance are disputed.
The poem's a long one but here are a few verses for flavour, and to present the denouement. The dragon's ferocity is first described, and its wanton nuisance to the local people, destroying property and eating children, etc (the usual dragon stuff). Then the location is stated:
In Yorkshire, near fair Rotherham, |
I should say that modern Rotherham is no more "fair" than modern Doncaster is "pleasant"!
The hero, More of More Hall, is introduced as a riotous and loutish adventurer. The locals petition him to rid them of the dragon's menace and offer him all they have of value. Instead, More requests the attention of a girl for the night before battle. After that, he pops off to Sheffield to have a suit of armour made, replete with a full external array of 5-inch spikes, so that:
You would have thought him for to be |
More surprises the dragon at the well where it drinks, they exchange insults and begin their terrible fight, which is long and offers neither any advantage until More kicks the dragon up its bum with his spiked shoe.
"Oh," quoth the dragon, with a deep sigh, "Murder, murder," the dragon cry'd, |
A bowdlerised version of the poem appeared in Relics of Ancient Poetry—published in 1767—so further spreading its fame, though it was also the inspiration for an earlier (1737) burlesque opera by John Frederick Lampe and Henry Carey (Lampe was a member of Handel's orchestra at the time, playing bassoon). The opera satirised both extravagant Italian musical conventions in its style and the Whig government's policy on taxation in its content. It was very popular with contemporary audiences, and also, apparently, with maestro George Frideric.
I've always assumed that The Green Dragon Inn, at the nearby village of Thurgoland, was named in honour of the local legend. Perhaps, perhaps not. The story still entertains, performed at Christmastime (particularly locally) in the seasonal tradition of pantomime, appropriately sanitised. Perhaps most unexpectedly, a comic novel, The Dragon of Wantley, was based on the story. It was written in 1892 by American Owen Wister, biographer of Ulysses S Grant and author of proto-Western fiction, including (most famously) The Virginian.