The Arts In Berwick -- Legends
The Laidley Worm

Unfortunately the best known legend associated with Bamburgh, The Laidley Worm of Spindelston-Heugh, telling how a jealous step-mother turns her beautiful step-daughter into a dragon, is not ancient at all.

It was written by Rev. Robert Lambe (1712-95) of Norham who pretended it was a Medieval composition to get it published. A harmless eccentric, he once proposed marriage, by letter, to a woman he had seen only once in the street several years previously. He asked her to meet him on Berwick Pier carrying a large tea-caddy. He forgot the appointment. Later they were married, for almost 20 years.

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