28 Dr. Wilson on Linton and its Legends. 



tween the body of the horse and that of his rider ; and as the 

 girth of the animals attacked equals that of the former, we may- 

 infer the magnitude of which it was designed to represent them. 

 The attitude and character of the heads, and the shortness of the 

 legs as contrasted with the bulk of the carcase, are not unlike 

 the ancient representations of the dragon*, though the want of 

 the hinder parts renders it impossible to decide as to the precise 

 description of monster intended. Beneath are the faint vestiges 

 of what may have been the letters of an inscription, raised also 

 in relief, but now utterly illegible. The stone is traditionally 

 reported to have been removed from above the former door of 

 the church, and from its size, and semicircular form, this is ex- 

 ceedingly probable, as in the early Norman churches a square- 

 headed door was often placed beneath a circular arch, and the 

 intervening space occupied by sculpture. Whoever will compare 

 the figure of the rider with that on the reverse of the seals of 

 David, Earl Henry, or Malcolm f, will perceive an additional 

 reason for fixing the date of the sculpture, and, by implica- 

 tion, that of the church also, at the period to which we have 

 assigned it. 



Of the purport of this monument, which is, at least, evidently 

 not sepulchral, the local traditions offer a ready explanation. If 

 we ask any of the peasantry of the neighbourhood, they will tell 

 us, that at some ancient time, they know not when, the district 

 surrounding Linton was infested by a monstrous worm or dragon, 

 whose fierceness and voracity spread terror and devastation on 

 all sides. Its den, which a resident rural poet, whose attain- 

 ments are far beyond his station, has described as — 



" On a smooth sloping upland, which rose near a fen, 

 In a torrent-scooped basin J," 



lay in a hollow, still named the " Worm's Hole," to the eastward 

 of the hill of Linton ; and from this retreat the monster scarcely 

 required to stir itself, as, with its sweeping and venomous breath, 

 it was able to draw the flocks and herds, and other living objects 

 around it, within reach of its fangs. Such was its size, that it 

 used to coil itself in huge folds round an eminence of consider- 

 able height which adjoined its den, and which retains now the 

 name of Wormington. Liberal rewards were offered for the de- 

 struction of so terrible a pest ; and at length the feat was ac- 

 complished by the " wode laird of Larristone," who, after being 



* That there should be two dragons is by no means without a parallel. 

 In the Danish ballad of " Kong Didriks og Lovens Kamp med Lindormen," 

 the dragon has eleven young ones. The ballad is vigorously worded, and con- 

 tains many curious details. Oehlenschlager, Gamle danske Folkeviser, p. 15. 



t Anderson's Diplomata Scotise, pi. 12, 20, 22. 



% Poems by Robert Davidson, p. 208. 



