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The
dragon of Wantley deserves a passing word, since he supplies a good
illustration of how the mythical and the material are often mixed up.
Wantley is merely a corruption of Wharncliffe, a delightful spot near
Sheffield, and here, of all places in the world, this very objection-able
dragon took up his abode. One ordinarily expects to hear of such creatures
uncoiling their monstrous forms in some dense morass or lurking in the
dark recesses of some wide-stretching and gloomy forest ; possibly he may
have found the choice of such an attractive locality may have helped him
to an occasional tourist. On the opposite side of the Don to the crag that
held the cave of the dragon stood the desirable residence of More Hall;
and its owner, doubtless feeling that the presence of such an
objectionable neighbour was a great depreciation of his property,
determined one day to bring matters to a crisis ; so he walked up to the
mouth of the cave clad in a suit of armour thickly covered with spikes,
and administered such a vigorous kick in the dragon's mouth, the only
place where he was vulnerable, that the whole transaction was over almost at once, and he was back again in ample time for lunch.
Dr. Percy, the editor of " Reliques of Antient English Poetry," holds
that we must not accept this story too seriously ; that, in fact, the old
ballad in which it is set forth is a burlesque, and that the real facts
are as follows :-that the dragon was an overbearing and rascally lawyer
who had long availed himself of his position and influence to oppress his
poorer neighbours, but he capped a long series of dishonest and
disreputable actions by depriving three orphan children of an estate to
which they were entitled. A Mr. More generously took up their cause,
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu lived here for some ,time. Writing afterwards
from Avignon, and dwelling on the exquisite landscape there spread out
before her hen standing on the Castle height, she exclaims that "it is the
most beautiful land prospect I ever saw, except Wharncliffe." brought all
the armoury of the law to bear upon the spoiler, and completely defeated
him, and the thievish attorney shortly afterwards died of chagrin and
vexation.
" Old stories tell how Hercules:
A dragon slew at Lerna.
With seven heads and fourteen eyes, To see and well discern-a ;
But he had a club this dragon to drub,
Or he had ne'er done it, I *arrant ye ; But More of More Hall, with nothing at all,
He slew the dragon of Wantley.
This dragon had two furious wings,
Each one upon each shoulder;
With a sting in his tayl, as long as a
flayl,
Which made him bolder and bolder.
He had long claws, and in his jaws
Four-and-forty teeth of iron ;
With a hide as tough as any buff,
Which did him round environ.
Have you not heard how the Trojan horse
Held seventy men in his bel'y?
This dragon was not quite as big,
But very near, I tell ye.
Devoured he poor
children three,
That could not with him grapple ;
And at one sup, he eat them up,
As one would eat an apple.
All sorts of cattle this dragon did eat,
Some say he did eat up trees,
And that the forests sure he could
Devour up by degrees :
For
houses and churches were to him geese and turkeys :
He eat all, and left none behind,
But some
stones, dear Jack, that he could not crack,
Which on the hills you will find.
In Yorkshire, near fair Rotherham,
The place I know it well ;
Some two or three
miles, or thereabouts,
I vow I cannot tell ;
But there is a hedge, just on the hill edge,
And Matthew's house hard by it ;
0 there and then was this dragon's den,
You could not chuse but spy it.
Hard by a furious knight
there dwelt,
Of whom all towns did ring;
For he could
wrestle, play quarterstaff, kick and cuff,
And any such kind of a thing ;
By the tail and the main with his hands twain
He swung a horse till he was dead,
And that which is stranger, he in his anger
Eat him all up but his head.
These children, as I told, being eat ;
Men, women, girls and boys,
Sighing and sobbing, came to his lodging,
And made a hideous noise :
' O save us all, More of More Hall,
Thou peerless knight of these woods ;
Do but
slay this dragon, who won't leave us a rag on,
We'll give thee all our goods.'
' Tut, tut,' quoth he, ' no goods I want ;
But I want, I want, in sooth,
A fair maid of sixteen that's brisk and keen,
And smiles about the mouth :
Hair black as sloe, skin white as snow,
With blushes her cheeks adorning ;
To anoynt me o'er night, ere I go out to fight,
And to gird me in'the morning.'
This
being done, he did engage
To hew the dragoh down ;
But first he went, n$w armour to
Bespeak at Sheffield town ;
With spikes all about, not within but without,
Of steel so sharp knd strong;
Both behind and before, arms, legs,
and all o'er,
Some five or six inches long.
Had you but seen him in this dress,
How fierce he looked and how big,
You would
have thought him for to be
Some Egyptian porcupig :
He flighted all, cats, dogs, and all,
Each cow, each horse, and each hog ; -
For fear they did flee,
for they tslok him to be
Some strange outlandish hedge-hog.
It is not strength that always wins,
For wit doth strength excell ;
Which made our cunning champion
Creep down into a well,
Where he did think this dragon would drink,
And so he did in truth ;
And as he stooped low he rose up and cried ' boh !'
And hit him in the mouth.
Our politick knight, on the other side
Crept out upon the brink,
And gave the dragon such a crack,
He knew not what to think.
'Aha,' quoth he, 'say you so, do you see?'
And then at him he let fly
With hand and with foot, and so they both went to't,
And the word it was, hey, boys, hey !
' Oh,' quoth the dragon with a deep sigh,
And turned six times together,
Sobbing and tearing, cursing and swearing,
Out of his throat of leather ;
More of More Hall ! 0 thou rascal !
Would I had seen thee never
With that thing at thy foot thou hast pricked me
sore,
And I'm quite undone for ever.'
' Murder, murder,' the dragon cried,
' Alack, alack, for grief ;
Had you but missed that place, you could
Have done me no mischief.'
Then his head he shaked, he trembled and quaked,
And down he laid and cried ;
First on one knee,
then on back tumbled he,
And groaned, and kicked, and died."
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