Sometimes you just stumble into a piece of research that totally expands your story world and takes your tale in directions you would not have foreseen. The Dragon of Loschy Hill is one of those cases.
Here There be Dragons
I was minding my own business, researching Nunnington Estate to use as a possible Dragon Keeping Estate in the latest book when I discovered, low and behold, there was actually a dragon there already! I still get chill bumps thinking about it.
The legend of the Dragon of Loschy Hill was described in the 1888 book ‘Yorkshire Legends and Traditions’ by Rev. Thomas Parkinson. While this is slightly outside the timeframe of my books, the legend dates back far before my stories begin, so, fair game, right?
The Legend of the Dragon of Loschy Hill
Parkinson writes:
In the church of Nunnington, in the North Riding of Yorkshire, is an ancient tomb, surmounted by the figure of a knight in armour, in a recumbent posture, the legs crossed, the feet resting against a dog, the hands apparently clasping a heart, but no inscription to determine to whom the monument belongs. The traditional account current in the neighbourhood is that it is the tomb of Peter Loschy, a famous warrior, whose last exploit was killing a huge serpent, or dragon, which infested the country, and had its den on a wooded eminence called Loschy Hill, near East Newton, in the parish of Stonegrave.
The details of the combat, as related by tradition, are as follows:
Having determined to free the country from the pest, the redoubted Peter Loschy had a suit of armour prepared, every part of it being covered with razor-blades set with the edges outwards; and thus defended, armed only with his sword, and accompanied by a faithful dog, he went forth to seek the destroyer, which he quickly found in a thicket on Loschy Hill.
The dragon, glad of another victim, darted upon the armed man, notwithstanding a wound from his sword, and folded itself around his body, intending, no doubt, as it had often done before, to squeeze its victim to death, and afterwards to devour it at leisure; but in this it was disappointed. The razor-blades were keen, and pierced it in every part, and it quickly uncoiled itself again, when, to the great surprise of the knight, as soon as it rolled on the ground its wounds instantly healed, and it was strong and vigorous as ever; and a long and desperate fight ensued between the knight and the serpent, without much advantage to either. At length the sword of the knight severed a large portion of the serpent, which the dog quickly snatched up in his mouth, and ran across the valley with it nearly a mile, and there left it on a hill near Nunnington Church, and immediately returned to the scene of combat, and, snatching up another fragment, cut off in the same manner, conveyed it to the same place, and returned again and again for other fragments until they were all removed, the last portion conveyed being the poisonous head. The knight, now rejoicing at his victory, stooped to pat and praise his faithful dog; the latter, overjoyed, looked up and licked the knight’s face, when, sad to relate, the poison of the serpent imbibed by the dog was inhaled by the knight, and he fell down dead in the moment of victory, and the dog also died by the side of his master.
The villagers buried the body of the knight in Nunnington Church, and placed a monument over the grave, on which were carved the figures of the knight and his faithful dog, to witness to the truth of the story.
There are different accounts about the fine details of exactly what sort of dragon it was (though many retellings call it a wyrm), whether or not it liked to binge drink milk, whether it damaged crops or ate villagers (or both), and how exactly Peter and his dog were poisoned, all the legends end the same way. The dragon, knight, and dog all were dead at the end of the encounter.
A Most Interesting Grave
Here’s where it gets especially interesting. There is actually a grave in the Church of All Saints and St. James in Nunnington with the effigy of a knight and animals which are probably most properly identified as lions, but some might see dogs there. The grave dates to the 1300’s and is said to be Sir Walter de Teyes, Lord of Stonegrave Manor, joint Governor of York with Robert de Hastings in 1309.
What makes that so interesting? For me, in crafting the Blue Order world, I see the ideal opportunity for the Blue Order to have crafted a myth to cover up a very real dragon which could have suddenly disappeared from the countryside after officially allying itself with the order and establishing a Keeper relationship with the master of Nunnington estate. A bit of a stretch, maybe, but, that’s all it takes to get a writer thinking. And when you get a writer thinking…
References
Britainexpress.com
Find a Grave, database and images (www.findagrave.com/memorial/124668074/walter-de_teyes : accessed 22 April 2021), memorial page for Sir Walter de Teyes (unknown–1325), Find a Grave Memorial ID 124668074, citing All Saints and St James Church, Nunnington, Ryedale District, North Yorkshire, England ; Maintained by Kat (contributor 47496397) .
Parkinson, Thomas. Yorkshire legends and traditions. United Kingdom: E. Stock, 1889.
Topham, Ian. All Saints church, Nunnington and the Dragon of Loschy Wood. Mysterious Britain. August 1, 2011. Accessed April 22, 2021. https://www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk/legends/all-saints-church-nunnington-and-the-dragon-of-loschy-wood/
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