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DRAGON
LEGENDS
Doubtless
to the prevalence of serpent worship in very early times we owe
the existence of the numerous stories, all of which bear some resemblance
to the classical myth of Andromeda and Perseus or the early Christian
myth of St. George and the Dragon. Several instances of such legends
are given in Mr. Parkinson's "Yorkshire Legends and Traditions",
and others are given below, as it is desirable that such stories
should not be lost sight of. It will be seen that whether occurring
in Gloucestershire in England, or in Forfarshire in Scotland, they
bear a strong resemblance to each other.
(1)
The Dragon of Deerhurst, Gloucestershire
"The
story is that a serpent of prodigious bigness was a great grievance
to all the country about Deerhurst, by poisoning the inhabitants
and killing their cattle. The inhabitants petitioned the king, and
a proclamation was issued out, that whosoever should kill the serpent
should enjoy an estate on Walton-Hill in this parish, which then
belonged to the crown. One John Smith, a labourer, engaged in the
enterprise and succeeded : For having put a quantity of milk in
a place to which the serpent resorted, he gorged the whole, agreeable
to expectation, and lay down to sleep in the sun, with his scales
ruffled up. Seeing him in that position, Smith advanced, and striking
him between the scales with his axe, took off his head. The family
of the Smiths enjoyed the estate, when Sir Robert Atkins compiled
this account, and Mr. Lane, who married a widow of their family,
had then the axe in his possession.'-Rudder's
History
of Gloucestershire, pp. 402, 403.
(2)
The "Worm" of Linton, Peeblesshire.-
"A
piece of rude sculpture still visible on one of the walls of the
church, above the principal door, represents a horseman in complete
armour, with a falcon on his arm, in the act of driving his lance
down the throat of a nondescript fierce animal. An inscription is
affirmed to have run thus:
"
The wode Laird of Lariston
Slew the worm of Wormes glen,
And wan all Lintoun parochine,"
in
allusion to a traditionary exploit of Somerville of Linton, the
founder of the Scottish branch of that family in 1174." - See Memories
of the Somervills, p. 45 ; Origines Parochiales, vol.
i. pp. 431-432, vide Pennecuik's Description of Tweeddale,
p. 158, etc.
(3)
Arbuthnot, Perthshire
"
In the church is a stone effigy said to be a memorial of a certain
"Sir Hugh the Blond," who killed a dragon which infested
the district. There is a carved monster at the feet of the knight,
such as is often met with in mediaeval tombs. This may have given
rise to the tradition."
(4)
The Dragon of Strike Martin, Forfarshire.
About
three miles north from Dundee, in the hollow of Strath Dighty, and
close to the little stream bearing the latter name, are a few houses
called Strath Martine, locally denominated Strike-Martine. It appears
that, long long ago, a wealthy farmer occupied an adjoining farm
called Pittempan, who was blessed with a family of nine bonny daughters.
Coming from the labours of the field one sultry summer evening,
he desired his eldest daughter, as he was fatigued, to bring him
a draught of cool water from the well. . . . As she did not return
. . . the second was sent on the same errand, and so on until the
whole nine sisters were sent. There being no appearance of any returning,
. . . he went himself to learn the cause. . . . On coming to the
spring he beheld the nine girls lying weltering in their blood within
the folds of an enormous dragon. He alarmed the neighbourhood, and
a large concourse of people gave chase to the monster, among them
a young man named Martin, a lover of one of the maidens. Coming
up with the monster as it was crossing the Dighty, making for the
hills, he attacked it with a club - the crowd exclaiming "Strike,
Martin !" About two miles north from this the monster was killed
; the spot is in one of the fields of the farm of Balbeuchly, and
is marked with an ancient-looking stone covered with a representation
of the reptile. In the eastern gable of one of the buildings in
a row of old ruinous farm-buildings on the north of Strathmartine
Church, an old monument is built bearing the figure of a man with
a head having some resemblance to a swain, and on his shoulder he
is carrying some kind of implement or weapon. A short distance from
this, at the gate of the school-master's garden, there is another
monument upon which two serpents are sculptured. These two monuments,
in connection with the one on the farm of Balbeuchly, are traditionally
believed to have reference to the tragical event. The fountain is
still known as "the Nine Maidens' Well," and the following
doggerel has been handed down from time immemorial :
"
It was tempit at Pittempan,
Draggelt at Ba-Dragon
Stricken at Strike-Martine,
And killed at Martin Stane" (p. 158).
-Abridged
from Rambles in Forfarshire, by James Myles. Dundee, James
Myles, 1850.
The
above tales (1)-(4) were published in "Northern Notes and Queries
or The Scottish Antiquary, Vol 3 p. 85-87., 1888."
Visitors
can see Glasgow Zoopark's own collection of dragons,
or lizards, though we'd rather you didn't charge them with lances,
or clubs.
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