As a self styled
gangril or wanderer, this leg of the Way was taking me to the realm
of the most well known of the nomads, the gypsies.
Yetholm, for
centuries the home of the gypsy kings and annual meeting place for
the travelling people.
Setting out, I soon
wandered off the track to Linton Kirk with its story of the Linton
Worm.
The frieze above the kirk door is Norman as is the font, dating
from the 12th century when the kirk stood on a sandy knoll above a loch, long since drained, that was the lair of the Linton Worm. The serpent was killed by John Somerville.
There are lots of
stories of giant worms in the ballads of north-east England and
southern Scotland.
The Lambton Worm,
the Lailly worm. The Laidly worm. Are they all versions of the same
story? Are they a memory of the overcoming of the Anglo-Saxon
mythology with its dragons and serpents like Grendel, slain by
Beowulf, by the coming of Christianity.
The frieze or
tympanum shows a horseman with a falcon on his shoulder thrusting his
lance into one of two wolves or bears and, to my eyes, seems a
hunting scene rather than the depiction of the killing of the worm
but that's what the legend says it is
A family history was
written by James Somerville, 11th Lord Somerville in 1679. He related
that William the Lion made John Somerville, his falconer, baron of
Linton in Roxburghshire for killing a monstrous worm in 1174. The
Worm of Linton was three Scots yards long and coloured like an adder.
After stalking the beast for several days, Sir John killed it with a
long iron-clad lance with a Catherine wheel fitted near its point.
From this exploit, the Somervilles used a wyvern in their heraldry.
The sundial, dated
1699, on the corner of the kirk, reminded me that I should be making
tracks for Yetholm.
A bridge across the Kale Water to me to the
start of a long steep climb up to the summit of Grubbit Law with
great views right up to the Lammermuirs. As I get older, I find that
I stop to admire the view a lot more often.
Another ascent to me
up to the top of the aptly named Wideopen Hill, at 1207 feet, both
the highest point and the halfway mark of the Way.
It was here that my
path crossed that of Barney going north on his long distance walk
from Lands End to John o' Groats, A black retriever with an engaging
personality, he was taking his two owners on a long trek for the
Blind Dogs charity
https://www.justgiving.com/BarneysLongWalk/
Down in the Bowmont
valley, the twin villages of Town Yetholm and Kirk Yetholm came into
sight..
Descending from
Wideopen, to follow the Bowmont Water into Kirk Yetholm meant a fair
bit of road walking but, eventually, I got on to the Back Dykes path
beside Yetholm Loch and then into Kirk Yetholm.
The Pennine Way,
another path for wanderers, ends at Kirk Yetholm.
Kirk Yetholm has been the traditional meeting place for the gypsies since 1506
 |
| The stone commemorating the gypsy people of Yetholm |
Ten thousand people are said to have descended on Kirk Yetholm for the coronation of the Gypsy King in 1898!
 |
| The cottage of the Gypsy King |
The cottage of the
Gypsy King is now available for holiday lets.
Tempora mutantur
et nos mutamur in illis
Town
Yetholm is equally attractive with its shady green, wild flower verges and
thatched houses.
This gangril had had enough for the day. The next leg to Wooler across the Cheviots looks fairly challenging.
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