Duergar

Now there is a name with which to conjure. But what does it mean?

Duergar are malevolent elves that haunt the Simonside Hills. They typically live underground and have  a dark complexion.  They have many skills but seem to have majored in thieving at which they are adept.

Many stories are told of their pranks; if luring honest folk to their death in bogs or over cliffs can be considered pranks. Mind you, being described as 'a hideously disfigured troglodyte dwarf with chronic halitosis' could well have a detrimental effect on their social interaction with humans.
 
According to experts on Northumberland and Coquetdale lore they started up the huge Tosson water wheel (long since gone) in the middle of the night. No mean feat for little people! 

In common with other mischievous fairy folk they had a penchant for misleading weary travellers. On one occasion they lured a traveller to the edge of a peat bog. Having survived this ordeal the traveller was pursued by the evil creatures across the hills.

Frightened out of his wits he laid into them with his stick and encountering only thin air dropped to the ground where he lay till the morning. (It says in all the best books.) 

The other story, (of the great many)  tells of yet another traveller  who passed the night in a cosy well warmed hut with one of the creatures and as day dawned found himself perched on a stone at the top of a steep precipice, with hut and creature vanished.

All of this may not have been too surprising in a bygone age, as the hills around Rothbury abounded in illicit stills. Was the traveller a customer who had imbibed too deeply or did the malevolent elves really exist? 

In a cavern at the foot of the Tosson hills, Excise officers discovered an illicit still in 1840, capable of making 100 gallons of spirits a week.  

In fact if you visit the John Barleycorn Festival in Rothbury you will learn a great deal concerning illicit brewing in the area. There are at least four well known stills to be found among the high hills.

Today duergar seem to be more likely to be spotted in Dungeons and Dragons where they continue their existence of a different plane.

Whatever the truth, on wild and windy nights the hills around Tosson are alive with lights. Are they the Duergar or farmers working? But why so late?

And high up on the Carriageway past the Pilgrims' Way can be heard the plaintive cry "Beeeeeee..............nnnnnnnnn......suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun". 

Or maybe it's just the wind!!!!!!!!

Sharpe's Folly

Thomas Sharpe was made rector of Rothbury in 1720 where he remained till 1758. It is worth a passing comment that he was given this post by  his father the Archbishop of York.

Strictly speaking the word 'folly' means a building used for ornament rather that actual use. But does it really matter?

This is probably the earliest folly in the county, although Dr Sharpe claimed that it was built primarily to relieve unemployment amongst the local stonemasons.

However as he dabbled in astrology the tower may also have served as an observatory to enable him to continue his studies.

At least that is the story.

It is a round tower some 30ft in height with a cantilevered internal stone staircase  which is normally inaccessible.

In earlier years the sea could be seen from the tower but the tall beeches and sycamores have now obscured the view.

The folly is but a short stroll up the lane from Whitton Tower which was the regular residence of Rothbury rectors and is also part of one of the circular walks published by the Northumberland Countryside Service.

Leaflets describing these walks are available at the Information Centre in Rothbury.

Wreigh Burn

The Wreigh Burn is just one of the thousands of pretty streams that abound in North Northumberland. It tumbles down from the hills around Snitter, mingles with one or two others and fights its way to the Coquet through meandering pastures.

'Wreigh' is Anglo Saxon for 'criminal' so it is no surprise to learn that just past Caistron lies Wreigh Hill where criminals were executed and, as an alternative to hanging, occasionally drowned in the Wreigh Burn.

Although records indicate that this latter method of disposal was at another Wreigh Burn near Throckley it is thought that the practice also applied here.

At its journey's end lies Wreighburn House which stands on the site of a Hospice of the Knight's Hospitallers of St John. No trace of the original hospital or hospice exists today other than a cross engraved on a slab of stone which used to stand in the rockery.

Just past the Cross Keys public house is 'Physick Lonnen' leading to the wild hills above Rothbury and Thropton. The name is said to be derived from the fact that the monks gathered  their herbs there.  One source at least believes the name came from the cures left along the track by a local doctor ready for collection by his patients.

Half way up the lane there is a water trough with the inscription 'Rest, drink and be thankful'. What a pleasant thought!