The record-union., 1898-02-24
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The Lambton Worm.

The park and manor house of Lamb
ton, belonging to the family OF that
name, the head of which is the Earl of
Durham, lie on the bank of the River
Wear to the north of Lumley. Early
in the fourteenth century the heir.
young John Lambton, was leading
dissolute life Among his delinquent
cies was the custom of fishing on sum
day, and on one of these occasions,
finding that his usual good fortuhe had
deserted him he gave way to temper.
and invoked curses upon the river, the
land, the fish, himself, his luck, and all
that concerned him. Then he invoked
the power of evil TO give him aid and
success in one last cast of the rod. a
great strain came upon the line, and,
after a tremendous effort, he landed an
immense and hideous- looking worm, re-
sembling an eft This in disgust, he
threw into a we'll close by, where it
grew with such marvellous rapidity
as soon 20 fill it up with it's body and
limbs, and consequently it was able to
scramble out Then ii made for a
large rock in the center of the river,
and, coiling its tail around it, made it
it's headquarters by day, while at night
it encircled a hill at a little distance
from the river on the opposite bank.
These are called respectively Wormwell
and Wormhill to this day, and the lat
ter is about a mile from Lambton Hall.
From these, it's coignS of vantage, it
would raid the country round, making
forays among the farnsteads, sucking
the cows, worrying the cattle, eating
the lambs and smaller fry, frightening
men, women and children, and causing
them to flee in terror for their lives.
| Thus it laid waste all the country
side, and soon reached the castle itself,
where dwelt the old lord in solitary and
gloomy grandeur the hopeful heir hav-
ing joined the Crusaders and set out for
Palestine.
Advised by his steward, the Lord of
Lambton placed troughs of milk in the
way by which the worm must approach,
to propitiate it. But in time the milk
of the region gave out, and the worm,
to signify it's anger rooted up trees,
and took to destroying every living
thing. The knight errant of the period
sought to make away with this terri
BILE monster, but one and all periShed
who made the attempt; the worm would
envelop them in it's tremendous folds
and crush them to DEATH or should the
knight succeed in dealing what would
be thought a fatal blow or thrust the
worm had the power of reuniting the
severed parts and becoming whole
again.
AT length. after seven years absence,
John Lambton returned home, now
knight of Rhodes. Acting on the ad-
vice of venerable sibyl whom he con-
suited, he caused his armor to be
studded with lance points, engaged to
go to the river at early morning, armed
only with his sword, and, taking. his
stand upon the summit of the worm
rock, await the coming of the monster;
further, he made a vow that, if sue
cessful in his enterprise, he would slay
| the first living being that he might
| chance to meet on his return from the
encounter, and that, should he fail to
perform his oath precisely as pre-
scribed, it was decreed that no Lord of
Lambton for nine successive genera
tions should die a natural death or in
his bed. The result of the combat be-
tween the knight and the dragon was
decisive in favor Of the former who
slew his enemy by embraining it and
piercing it with the spearheads in many
places, and then, having cut the body
in twain, let fall the lower portion into
the stream first, the upper portion being
held upon the spear points until the
possibility of reuniting had passed. But
when, in answer to the blast on his
horn announcing his victory the old
lord came out to greet him, the oath
had TO be broken. since filial piety would
not allow of it's fulfillment During the
period of the curse no Lord of Lamb
ton did die a natural death; the last
Of the nine generations, Henry Lamb
ton, M. P. for Durham in 1861, died
while crossing the new bridge over the
Wear in his carriage; his predecessors
had all undergone the ban.-Genealog-
ical Magazine.