The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-03-22
 THE LAMBTON WORM.

We suppose 1t is a question of liter ary morality whether one is justified in including pure fiction ill such a magazine as ours, which, at any rate, is supposed to be devoted to facts. But we have writ fiction big in our head ing, and having, for the sake of our reputation, so labelled the story we openly confess that the legend of the Lambton worm which we have recently come across has fascinated us. Can any of our readers supply the earliest reference to such legend? and is it a fact that of the nine previous genera tions to the Henry Lambton mentioned none died by a natural death? The legend is as follows.
 The park and manor house of Lambton, belonging to the family of that name, the head of which is the Earl of Durham, lie on the banks of the. River Wear, to the north of Lum- ley. Early in the fourteenth century, the heir, young John Lambton, was leading a dissolute life. Among his delinquencies was the custom of fish ing on Sunday, and on one of these occasions, finding that his usual good fortune 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 powers 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-look- ing worm. resembling an eft. This, in disgust, he threw into well close by, where 1t grew with such marvellous rapidity as soon to fill 1t up with its body and limbs, and consequently 1t was able to scramble out Then it made for a large rock in the centre of the river, and. coiling it's tail around it. | made it it's headquarters by day, while at night it encircled hill at a little | distance from the river on the op- posite bank These are called respec | lively Wormwell and Wormhill to thi. day, and the latter Is about mile from Lambton Hall. From these, it's coigns of vantage, 1t would raid the country round, making forays among the farm. | steads, sucking the cows, worrying the | cattle, eating the lambs and smaller i fry, frightening men, women, ane children, and causing them to flee 1T terror for their lives. Thus it lait
 waste all the countryside, and soor reached the castle itself, where dwell
 the old lord in solitary and gloom, l grandeur, the hopeful heir having joined the Crusaders and set out fo | Palestine.
 Advised by his steward the Lord 0 | Lambton placed troughs of milk in tn
 way by which the worm must approac
 to propitiate it. But in time the mill
 of the region gave out, and the worm
 to signify it's anger rooted up trees
 and took to destroying every livinl
 thing. The knights errant of tn
 period sought to make away witt
 this terrible monster, but one and al perished who made the attempt; tn | WOTIn Woulu eHVel0p tHeHl III US Ire
 mendous folds and crush them to death
 or should the knight succeed in deal
 ing what would be thought a fata
 blow or thrust, the worm had tn
 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 advic