296 CURIOUS CREATURES. 



of his Victory, by whom he begat many hopeful Chil- 

 dren : and he had her true love to him the more, and 

 the rather enjoyed his company, by how much she knew 

 the great dangers he underwent to win her by, and the 

 ingenious practises he used." 



We were favoured in England with several " Wormes." 

 Nor only in England, but in Scotland and Wales. Of 

 course, Ireland can boast of none, as St. Patrick banished 

 all the serpents from that island. 



Of the Dragon of Wantley I say nothing ; he has 

 been reslain in modern times, and all the romance has 

 gone out of him. Nobody wishes to know that the 

 Dragon was Sir Francis Wortley, who was at logger- 

 heads with his neighbours, notably one Lionel Rowle- 

 stone, whose advocate was More of More Hall. We 

 had rather have had our dear old Dragon, and have let 

 the champion More slay him in the orthodox manner. 



But the "laidley Worme" of Lambton is still all 

 our own, and its story is thus told by Surtees in his 

 "History, &c., of Durham," 1820: 



" The heir of Lambton, fishing, as was his profane 

 custom, in the Wear, on a Sunday, hooked a small worm 

 or eft, which he carelessly threw into a well, and thought 

 no more of the adventure. The worm (at first neglected) 

 grew till it was too large for its first habitation, and, 

 issuing forth from the Worm Well, betook itself to the 

 Wear, where it usually lay a part of the day coiled 

 round a crag in the middle of the water ; it also fre- 

 quented a green mound near the well (the Worm Hill), 

 where it lapped itself nine times round, leaving vermicu- 

 lar traces, of which, grave living witnesses depose that 

 they have seen the vestiges. It now became the terror 

 of the country, and, amongst other enormities, levied a 



