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Ebook has 1708 lines and 112926 words, and 35 pages

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THE ENCHANTED CAVE 1

THE DOOMED CITY 15

THE "WORM" OF NUNNINGTON 34

THE DEVIL'S ARROWS 51

THE GIANT ROAD-MAKER OF MULGRAVE 70

THE VIRGIN'S HEAD OF HALIFAX 80

THE DEAD ARM OF ST. OSWALD THE KING 100

THE TRANSLATION OF ST. HILDA 117

A MIRACLE OF ST. JOHN 131

THE BEATIFIED SISTERS OF BEVERLEY 147

THE DRAGON OF WANTLEY 168

THE MIRACLES AND GHOST OF WATTON 176

THE MURDERED HERMIT OF ESKDALE 195

THE CALVERLEY GHOST 214

THE BEWITCHED HOUSE OF WAKEFIELD 231

LEGENDARY YORKSHIRE.

The Enchanted Cave.

Who is there that has not heard of the famous and redoubtable hero of history and romance, Arthur, King of the British, who so valiantly defended his country against the pagan Anglo-Saxon invaders of the island? Who has not heard of the lovely but frail Guenevera, his Queen, and the galaxy of female beauty that constituted her Court at Caerleon? Who has not heard of his companions-in-arms--the brave and chivalrous Knights of the Round Table, who went forth as knights-errant to succour the weaker sex, deliver the oppressed, liberate those who had fallen into the clutches of enchanters, giants, or malicious dwarfs, and especially in quest of the Holy Graal, that mystic chalice, in which were caught the last drops of blood of the expiring Saviour, and which, in consequence, became possessed of wondrous properties and marvellous virtue of a miraculous character?

This is what is told us by old chroniclers of Western England, the Welsh bards, and some romance writers; but in Yorkshire we have a different version of the story. It is true, say our legends, that Arthur was a mighty warrior, the greatest and most valiant that the island of Britain has produced either before or since; a man, moreover, of the most devout chivalry and gentle courtesy, and withal so pure in his life and sincere in his piety as a Christian, that he alone is worthy to find the Holy Graal, if not in his former life, in that which is forthcoming--for he is not dead, but reposes in a spell-bound sleep, along with his knights, Sir Launcelot, Sir Gawaine, Sir Perceval, etc., and that the time is coming when the needs of England will be such as only his victorious arm, wielding his magically wrought Excaliber, can rescue from irretrievable ruin. He sleeps--it is asserted--along with his knights, in a now undiscoverable cavern beneath the Castle of Richmond, whence he will issue in the fulness of time, scatter the enemies of England like chaff before the wind, as he so frequently dispersed the hordes of Teuton pagans, and place England on a higher eminence among the nations of the earth than it has ever previously attained. This enchanted cave has been seen but once, and by one man only. It happened in this wise:--

Once on a time there dwelt in Richmond one Peter Thompson. At what period he flourished is not recorded, but it matters not, although a little trouble in searching the parish registers and lists of burgesses of the town might reveal the fact. He gained a living by the fabrication of earthenware, and hence was popularly known amongst his comrades and townspeople as Potter Thompson. He was a simple and meek-minded man, small in stature and slender in limb, never troubling himself with either general or local politics. His voice was never heard at the noisy meetings of the vestry, nor did he join in the squabbles attendant on the meetings of the electors for the choice of their municipal governors or representatives in Parliament; he merely recorded his vote for the candidate who came forward as the representative of the colour he supported, leaving the shouting and quarreling and cudgel-playing to those of his fellow-townsmen who had a liking for such rough work. As for himself, he was only too glad when he had discharged his duty as a citizen to get back to his clay and his wheel, for he was an industrious little fellow, had plenty of work, and was thus enabled, by living a frugal life, to lay by a little money, and would have lived a comfortable and happy life but for one circumstance.

Unfortunately, Peter Thompson was a married man; not that matrimony, in the abstract, is a misfortune, but he was unfortunate inasmuch as his wife was a termagant, and made his life miserable. Her tongue went clack, clack, clacking all day long; nothing that he did was right. She declared herself to be the greatest fool in Richmond to have united herself to an insignificant little wretch like him; and even when the bed curtains were drawn around them at night, the poor fellow was kept awake for an hour or more while she dinned into his ears a lecture on his manifold faults and his failures of duty as a husband. Peter seldom replied, but bore it all with meekness, and allowed her to go on with her monologue until she was tired, or ceased for want of breath. At times, when she was more exasperating than usual, he would start up from his wheel, clap his hat on his head, and rush out of the house to escape her pertinacious scolding. At such times he would go wandering about the hills and picturesque scenery by which Richmond is environed, and especially about the hill on which stands the Castle, and amongst the castle ruins, remaining away for three or four hours, moodily meditating on the mischance or infatuation which had led him to ally himself with so untoward a helpmate.

It chanced one day that Peter, unable to endure the persecution of his wife's tongue, rushed out of his house with the full intention of throwing himself into the Swale, so as to end his misery there and then. It was a brilliant summer's day, and there was a glorious sheen cast over hill and vale, rock and ravine, the silvery river winding between its emerald-hued banks and the clumps of foliaged woodland--over the Castle keep standing pre-eminently above all other buildings, church tower, ruined friary, antique bridge, and the quaint houses of the burghers, with the tower of Easby gleaming in the distance, imparting to the whole scene, which is one of the most picturesque in Yorkshire--which is saying a great deal, and which for natural beauty can scarcely be surpassed in England--a charm which had a wonderful effect on Peter's perturbed mind. He was a lover of nature in all her aspects, and an ardent admirer of the landscape beauties which surrounded his native town; and he began to reflect, as he ran down the slope, that if he carried out his purpose, he would never more be able to delight his eyes with the lovely prospects of nature so lavishly displayed before him at that moment; and by the time he reached the river's bank he had almost determined to live on and find compensation for his domestic discomforts in his communings with nature--or at least, continued he to himself--"I will take another turn among the hills and rocks and old ivy-mantled ruins, before I bid good-bye to it all." He wandered along round the base of the Castle hill, his spirits becoming more elevated the farther he went, as he gazed on the glorious landscape which gradually became revealed to his view. Anon he fell into a contemplative mood, and reasoned calmly and philosophically on the wisdom of disregarding the minor ills of life, when it was possible for him as a compensating alternative to revel in the delights he was now enjoying, and he soon forgot altogether his purpose of terminating his woes and his life together from the parapet of Swale bridge. Onward he wandered; when suddenly turning a corner he came upon a spot altogether unknown to him--a ravine which seemed to wind away under the Castle hill, walled in with rugged rocks, from whose crevices sprang upward trees and shrubs, whilst underfoot was a flooring of rough scattered stones and fragments of fallen rocks, which appeared not to have been trodden for centuries. Astonished at the sight, for he imagined that he knew every nook in the neighbourhood, he rubbed his eyes to ascertain whether he was dreaming; but he found himself to be fully awake, and the unknown ravine to be a palpable reality. It just flashed across his mind that sorcery had been at work, and that what he beheld was the result of necromancy, for in his time enchanters, warlocks, wizards, and witches were rife in the land; but Peter had a bold heart, and he resolved upon solving the mystery by an exploration of the recesses of the ravine, let what would come of it.

Summoning up all his courage, Peter entered the ravine, stumbling now and then over the stones bestrewn along his pathway. The road wound about, now to one side then to another, and the trees overhead to stretch out towards each other so as to overshadow the ravine and impart a twilight effect, which, as Peter proceeded onward, deepened into gloom, and eventually almost to darkness. At this period, when he was compelled to move along with caution, he encountered what at first seemed to be a wall of rock forming the end of the ravine. On feeling it carefully he found it to be a huge boulder which obstructed his path, but, his courage failing him not, he found means to clamber over it and land safely on the further side. On looking about him, as well as he could by the dim light, he found that he had alighted on the entrance to a cavern, the boulder seeming as if it had been placed there to prevent the intrusion of unauthorised persons, and then he imagined that it might be the cave of a gang of banditti, and was at once their treasure house and their refuge in times of peril; and this idea seemed to be confirmed by the circumstance that he could perceive, in the extreme distance, a glimmer of light. He felt that it would be extremely dangerous to be discovered in the purlieus of their haunt, but curiosity got the better of his fears, and he resolved upon going forward, mentally adding "After all it may be nothing more than the daylight streaming in at the other end, and by going on I may come out into the open air without having to return by the rough, shinbreaking road by which I have come;" and onward he went, feeling his way by the rocky walls cautiously and slowly, and, it must be added, with some degree of trepidation.

"Potter, Potter Thompson, If thou had'st either drawn The sword or blown the horn, Thoud'st been the luckiest man That ever yet was born."

With teeth chattering, hair on end, and a cold perspiration suffusing his forehead, he made a desperate effort, scrambled somehow or other over the stone, and running with fleet footstep, regardless of the rough roadway, gained the open air without any other damage than a few bruises and a terrible fright. He went home, and had to encounter a fearful scolding for remaining out so long and neglecting his work. He told his wife the tale of his adventures, but she only laughed it to scorn, saying, "You old fool! and so you have fallen asleep on the hillside and want to persuade me that your dream was a reality. It's a pretty thing that you should leave your wheel and go mooning about in this way, leaving your faithful wife to suffer the effects of your idleness."

Many a time since then did Peter seek for the ravine but could never find it; but it is confidently assumed that Arthur and his knights are still slumbering under the Castle hill.

The Doomed City.

Through the valley of Wensleydale, in the North Riding of Yorkshire, flows the river Yore or Ure, passing onward to Boroughbridge, below which town it receives an insignificant affluent--the Ouse--when it assumes that name, under which appellation it washes the walls of York, and proceeds hence to unite with the Trent in forming the estuary of the Humber; but although it loses its name of Yore before reaching York, the capital city of the county is indebted to it for the name it bears. The river in passing through Wensleydale reflects on its surface some of the most romantic and charming landscape scenery of Yorkshire, and that is saying a great deal, for no other county can equal it in the variety, loveliness, and wild grandeur of its natural features.

"In this district, Wensleydale, otherwise Yorevale or Yorevalle," says Barker, "a variety of scenery exists, unsurpassed in beauty by any in England. Mountains clothed at their summits with purple heather, interspersed with huge crags, and at their bases with luxuriant herbage, bound the view on either hand. Down the valley's centre flows the winding Yore, one of the most serpentine rivers our island boasts--now boiling and foaming, in a narrow channel, over sheets of limestone--now forming cascades only equalled by the cataracts of the Nile--and anon spreading out into a broad, smooth stream, as calm and placid as a lowland lake. On the banks lie rich pastures, occasionally relieved, at the eastern extremity of the valley, by cornfields. There are several smaller dales branching out of Wensleydale--of which they may, indeed, be accounted part. Of these the principal are Bishopdale and Raydale, or Roedale--the valley of the Roe--which last contains Lake Semerwater, a sheet of water covering a hundred and five acres, and about forty-five feet deep. Besides this lake, the natural objects of interest in the district best known are Aysgarth Force, Hardraw-scaur, Mill Gill, and Leyburn Shall--the last a lofty natural terrace from which the eye may range from the Cleveland Hills at the mouth of the Tees to those bordering upon Westmoreland."

In former times the dale was covered by a dense forest, the home of countless herds of deer, wild boars, wolves, and other wild animals. There were no roads, but glades and trackways, intricate and winding, very difficult and puzzling to traverse, so that travellers often became benighted, without being able to find other shelter than that afforded by trees and bushes. At the village of Bainbridge there is still preserved the "forest horn," which was blown every night at ten o'clock from Holyrood to Shrovetide, to guide wanderers who had lost their way to shelter and safety from the prowling beasts of prey. A bell also was rung at Chantry, and a gun fired at Camhouse with the same object. In the first century of the Christian era there existed in the valley of Roedale a large and for that time splendid city, inhabited by the Brigantian Celts. It nestled in a deep hollow, surrounded by picturesque hills and uplands, and was environed by the majestic trees of the forest, where the Druids performed the mystical rites and ceremonials of their religion. The houses were built of mud and wattles, and thatched with straw or reeds, and the city was a mere assemblage of such private residences, without any of the public buildings, such as churches, chapels, town houses, assembly rooms, baths, or literary institutions, such as now-a-days appertain to every small market town; yet it was spoken of as a "magnificent city," and such it perhaps might be as compared with other and smaller towns and villages.

It was about the time when Flavius Vespasian annexed Britain to the Roman Empire, and the Brigantes had been partially subdued by Octavius Scapula, the Roman Governor of Britain, but before York had become Eboracum--the Altera Roma of Britain--and the influence of the conquerors of the world had not penetrated to this remote and secluded spot in the forest of Wensleydale, so that the people of the city still retained their old religion, customs, and habits of life; still stained their bodies with woad, clothed themselves with the skins of animals, and still fabricated their weapons and implements of bronze. Joseph of Arimathea had planted the cross on Glastonbury Hill, but the people of this city had never even heard of the new religion that had sprung up in Judea, and went on sacrificing human beings to their bloodthirsty god, cutting the sacred mistletoe from the oaks of their forest, and drawing the beaver from the water, emblematic of the salvation of Noah and his family at the deluge, of which they had a dim tradition.

The angels of heaven took great interest in the efforts of the apostles who, in obedience to their Master's command, went forth from Judea to preach the gospel of glad tidings and the doctrine of the cross to all mankind, and had especially noted the erection of the Christian standard on Glastonbury Hill, in the barbarous and benighted island of the Atlantic. One of the heavenly host, indeed, became so much interested in the conversion of the natives of this isle--which he foresaw would, in the distant centuries, become a great centre of evangelical truth, and, by means of missionaries, the foremost promulgator of religious light to other benighted peoples of the earth--that he determined to descend thither, and, under the guise of a human form, go about amongst the people, and in some measure prepare them for the reception of the teachings of the companions of St. Joseph.

Midwinter had come, the period when the sun seemed to the Britons to be farthest away from the earth, and when, according to the experience of the past, he would commence his return with his vivifying rays; and the Druids were holding joyous ceremonial in celebration of this annually recurring event. The sun was viewed as a superhuman beneficent being who journeyed across the heavens daily to dispense heat and life, and to cause the fruits and flowers and cereals to bloom and fructify, and give forth food for men and animals, who in summer approached near to the earth, and in winter retired to a distance from it--for what end or purpose they knew not. Nevertheless they deemed it wise to propitiate him by two great ceremonials of worship--the one at midsummer, attended by blazing "Baal-fires" on the hills , a festival of rejoicing and thanksgiving for the ripening crops and fruits; the other at midwinter, which partook more of the character of a supplicating worship, imploring him, now that he was far distant, not to withdraw himself entirely from the earth, but return as he had been wont to do, and again cheer the world with his beams of brightness and warmth. On the occasion of this particular festival, the weather was stormy and cold; the pools were frozen over, and the ground covered with snow, whilst a chilling sleet, driven by a biting north-eastern wind, beat upon those who were exposed to its influence in the open air. The festival was proceeding in a cleared space of the forest circled round by lofty trees, which was the open-air natural temple of the Druids; its walls built by the hand of their god, and its dome-like roof the floor of the habitation where he dwelt. Whilst the Druids were engaged in offering up prayers, the bards in singing anthems of praise, and the vates investigating the entrails of slain animals, to read therein forecasts of the future and the will of the gods, especially of the Sun God, in whose honour the festival was held, the venerable figure of an aged man might be seen descending the hill and approaching the city. He seemed to be bowed down with the infirmities of age, and to breast with difficulty the forcible rushing of the wind. His white flowing beard, which reached almost to his waist, was glittering with incrustations of ice; and his legs trembled as he came along, leaning on his staff, with feeble and uncertain footsteps. He was clad in a long gabardine, which he wrapped tightly round him, to protect his frame as much as possible from the inclemency of the weather; his head was covered by a hat with broad flapping brim; and his feet were sandalled, to shield them from the roughness of the road.

He came amongst the cottages and passed from door to door, asking for shelter and food, but everywhere was repulsed, and at times with contumely and opprobrious epithets. No one would take him in beneath their roof; no one had charity enough to give him a crust or a cup of metheglin, and onward he went until he came to the spot where the festival was progressing under the direction of the Arch-Druid, a man of extreme age, but of commanding stature and majestic port.

The appearance of the angel caused some sensation, chiefly in consequence of his peculiar and outlandish dress, and all eyes were directed upon him as he walked boldly and unhesitatingly, but with halting step, to the centre of the circle where the hierarchs were grouped.

The angel, addressing himself to the Arch-Druid, inquired, "Whom is it that you worship in this fashion?"

"Who are you," replied the Druid, "that you know not that our midwinter festival is in honour of the great and gloriously shining God, who reveals himself to us in his daily march across the sky?"

"Then you worship the creature instead of the creator?"

"How the creature? He whom we worship was never created, but has existed from all eternity."

"Alas! blind mortals, you labour under a Satanic delusion. Know that what you, in your ignorance, worship is but an atom in the great and resplendent universe of worlds and suns, called into existence by the fiat of Him whom I serve, who alone is self-existent, immortal, and the Creator of all men and all things."

"You speak in parables, stranger, and in an impious strain. Mean you to say that the god-sun is not great and powerful, he who causes the herbage to grow and the trees to give forth fruit? Can he do this if he be not a god?"

"He is merely the instrument of the one Almighty God, whose Son, on the anniversary of this day, became incarnate on earth, and died on the cross in a land far distant from this, that man might not be subjected to the penalty for disobedience to His laws, thus dying in his stead, to satisfy the ends of justice."

"And you say that he, a mere man, who died in the distant land you speak of, was the son of one who created the sun?"

"Most certainly."

"Then I must say that you speak rank blasphemy."

And the priests and other officials re-echoed the shout, "Blasphemy! blasphemy!" and the people around took it up, and the cry of "Blasphemy!" rose up from a thousand tongues.

"Slay him! stone him!" was then cried by the excited people, and they began to take up stones and hurl them at the old man, who, shaking the snow of the city from his sandals, and saying "Woe be unto you," passed through the surrounding crowd, and disappeared amongst the forest trees.

The dusky shades of evening, or rather afternoon, were drawing in as the angel passed through the wood; and as, in his incarnate form, he was subject to all the sufferings and discomforts humanity is liable to, he feared that he would have to pass the night, with all its inclemency of weather, with no other shelter than that afforded by a tree trunk or the branches of a bramble bush, but after wandering some time he came upon a cleared space, where he found some sheep huddling together on the lee side of a rising ground, and judging that where sheep were men would not be far distant, he passed up the hillside and gladly hailed a gleam of light issuing from a cottage window. He approached and knocked at the door, which was opened by a comely, middle-aged dame, whilst, by the fire of peat, sat a man whom he presumed to be her husband, occupied in eating his evening meal, with a shepherd dog by his side, eagerly looking out for the bones and chance pieces of meat which his master might think proper to throw him.

"Good dame," said he to the woman, "have you charity enough to give me shelter from the storm, a crust of bread to allay the cravings of hunger, and permission to imbibe warmth from your fire into my aged and frozen limbs?"

"Yes, that indeed we have, venerable father," replied she. "Come in and seat you by the fire, and we will see what the cottage can supply in the way of victuals."

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