The legend of a dragon stalking the countryside of Northumberland is first recorded by William Hutchinson in 1778. Hutchinson was given the ballad by the Reverend Robert Lambe of Norham who was almost certainly involved in its composition. Despite Lambe’s claims of transcribing an ancient manuscript it seems he took inspiration from local songs and stories which themselves may have been localised version of ballads found in Scotland and Iceland.
A lengthier prose version was published in The Monthly Chronicle of North Country Lore and Legend in May 1890, further removed from the original source but adding plenty of narrative detail to the ballad.
The story tells of the old king of Bamburgh whose much-loved wife passes away, leaving the kingdom in mourning. With the king’s son, Childe Wynd, unheard from since his departure in search of fame and fortune the duty of comforting the old king falls upon his daughter, the kind Princess Margaret.
Many women attempt to attract the king’s attention but his sorrow blinds him until the appearance of a beautiful but evil witch at the castle who uses her power to beguile the king and marry him, becoming the new queen.
When the lords and chieftains visit to give the new couple their blessing the knights are enraptured by Princess Margaret and the jealous queen whispers a curse which can only be undone by the return of Childe Wynd, presumed dead.
Princess Margaret awakes the next day to find herself transformed into a dragon, only able to crawl and shriek. The princess flees from her terrified courtiers and finds a nearby cave, emerging only when she becomes so hungry she cannot stand it. The dragon feeds on the livestock of farmers for miles around until the kingdom decide to appease the beast with daily offerings.
Childe Wynd, fighting with the Franks, hears of the misfortune at home and builds a ship of rowan wood for his return voyage. Approaching the castle at night he sees the evil queen’s eyes shining from a tower, bright but cold. The queen dispatches imps to attack the ship and raise a storm but they return unsuccessful, having been unable to break the protection of the sacred rowan wood. Wynd is able to navigate into Budle bay where the dragon waits for him on the beach.
Rushing toward the dragon, sword in hand, Childe Wynd hears a gentle voice from within his adversary and is compelled to act with love. He bows and kisses the dragon who retreats to its cave and emerges as Princess Margaret in her original form.
The evil queen escapes, her spell undone, the heir returned, and the princess’s true beauty eclipsing her own. When the evil queen is captured Childe Wynd has her transformed into a toad-like-creature, her outer state now reflecting her true nature and only her bright, shining eyes remaining the same. The creature roamed the land and hissed and spat at any passing beautiful ladies.
While we lack an accurate history of our local variant of the tale, many wild and fantastic beasts are depicted in Anglo Saxon and early medieval artwork from the area. The most famous of these is the “Bamburgh beast” depicted on a small gold plaque which can be seen in Bamburgh Castle’s archaeology museum. The location of the “laidley” (most likely a corruption of “loathly or loathsome”) worm’s hole is marked on early OS maps and, although the cave itself was destroyed by quarrying by the nineteenth century, it is fascinating to see the landscape influencing the story and the details incorporated into maps.
