coffin supposedly belonging to Scaw was once shown in the ruins of Handale Priory and such alleged memorials are another common feature of dragon legends in Yorkshire. A similar stone coffin lid can be seen in the Church of St Edmund at Kellington, near Pontefract; it is said to commemorate Armroyd, the shepherd who with the help of his dog dispatched a sheep-killing dragon in that region. The stone appears to feature representations of a serpent and a dog, whilst a weathered carving of a cross was once thought to represent his shepherd’s crook. Supposed effigies of dragon-slayers can also be seen in the churches at Slingsby and Nunnington. In both cases, the legend attached to the effigy is the same and given the geographical proximity of the two villages, it is agreed that the legends probably stem from a single source.
Effigy of Sir William Wyvill in Slingsby Church. (Kai Roberts)
The Nunnington version of the legend is given in more detail and relates that a dragon made its home on a nearby hill until it was opposed by a local knight named Sir Peter Loschy. As with Moore of Moore-Hall, Loschy was forced to rely on his cunning to defeat the beast and so he wore a suit of armour studded with razor blades so that it could not wrap itself around him and squeeze him to death like a boa constrictor. He found, however, that every time he injured the dragon, its wound immediately healed and so the battle dragged on. At length, he managed to sever part of the creature’s body, whereupon his faithful dog took the piece in its jaws and carried it off to the church over a mile away. This process was repeated until the dragon was completely hacked to pieces and drew its last breath.
Although he defeated the dragon, the legend has an unhappy ending. When Sir Peter bent down to congratulate his hound, the animal licked his face and so transferred some of the dragon’s poison, from which both soon expired. A tombstone in All Saints’ Church at Nunnington shows the effigy of a knight resting his feet on a dog and locals have long held that this was Loschy’s resting place. However, there is no record of anybody called Sir Peter Loschy being buried in the church and antiquarians have identified it as the grave of Sir Walter Leye who died in the early fourteenth century. The same story is told about a similar effigy in All Saints’ Church at Slingsby, the only difference being that the identification of the tomb with Sir William Wyvill is correct. In both cases, the so-called hound at the knight’s feet is more likely to be a lion – another common heraldic motif.
Such memorials are clearly a significant aspect of dragon lore in Yorkshire and nearly all examples are connected with some relic. After the milk-drinking serpent of Sexhow was slain by an anonymous knight who rode away without seeking any reward, the villagers skinned the beast and carried its pelt to the church at Stokesley, where it hung for many years. Although no such item can be seen there today, it is thought an artefact supposed to be a dragon’s skin could indeed once been seen in the church. The most likely explanation, however, is that it was actually the hide of a crocodile. As the Jenny Haniver phenomenon attests, such misattributions were not uncommon amongst the uneducated in earlier centuries.
Sometimes the memorials are seen on a much larger scale in the landscape itself. This was especially true of Wharncliffe Crags: Bishop Percy recorded the testimony of a man who around 1720 had been shown the cave in which the dragon had once made its den and the well from which it drank – sites which are still marked on Ordnance Survey maps today. Meanwhile, Loschy Hill near Nunnington and Scaw Wood near Handale were supposedly named to commemorate the eponymous heroes’ victories over dragons in those places. Similarly, legend maintains that a tract of land called Armroyd’s Close near Kellington was given to the titular shepherd and his heirs to reward
Effigy of Sir William Wyvill in Slingsby Church. (Kai Roberts)
The Nunnington version of the legend is given in more detail and relates that a dragon made its home on a nearby hill until it was opposed by a local knight named Sir Peter Loschy. As with Moore of Moore-Hall, Loschy was forced to rely on his cunning to defeat the beast and so he wore a suit of armour studded with razor blades so that it could not wrap itself around him and squeeze him to death like a boa constrictor. He found, however, that every time he injured the dragon, its wound immediately healed and so the battle dragged on. At length, he managed to sever part of the creature’s body, whereupon his faithful dog took the piece in its jaws and carried it off to the church over a mile away. This process was repeated until the dragon was completely hacked to pieces and drew its last breath.
Although he defeated the dragon, the legend has an unhappy ending. When Sir Peter bent down to congratulate his hound, the animal licked his face and so transferred some of the dragon’s poison, from which both soon expired. A tombstone in All Saints’ Church at Nunnington shows the effigy of a knight resting his feet on a dog and locals have long held that this was Loschy’s resting place. However, there is no record of anybody called Sir Peter Loschy being buried in the church and antiquarians have identified it as the grave of Sir Walter Leye who died in the early fourteenth century. The same story is told about a similar effigy in All Saints’ Church at Slingsby, the only difference being that the identification of the tomb with Sir William Wyvill is correct. In both cases, the so-called hound at the knight’s feet is more likely to be a lion – another common heraldic motif.
Such memorials are clearly a significant aspect of dragon lore in Yorkshire and nearly all examples are connected with some relic. After the milk-drinking serpent of Sexhow was slain by an anonymous knight who rode away without seeking any reward, the villagers skinned the beast and carried its pelt to the church at Stokesley, where it hung for many years. Although no such item can be seen there today, it is thought an artefact supposed to be a dragon’s skin could indeed once been seen in the church. The most likely explanation, however, is that it was actually the hide of a crocodile. As the Jenny Haniver phenomenon attests, such misattributions were not uncommon amongst the uneducated in earlier centuries.
Sometimes the memorials are seen on a much larger scale in the landscape itself. This was especially true of Wharncliffe Crags: Bishop Percy recorded the testimony of a man who around 1720 had been shown the cave in which the dragon had once made its den and the well from which it drank – sites which are still marked on Ordnance Survey maps today. Meanwhile, Loschy Hill near Nunnington and Scaw Wood near Handale were supposedly named to commemorate the eponymous heroes’ victories over dragons in those places. Similarly, legend maintains that a tract of land called Armroyd’s Close near Kellington was given to the titular shepherd and his heirs to reward
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