George Markham Tweddell 1823 – 1903

The Bards And Authors of North Yorkshire – From 500 AD to 1960 is a new blog in progress. There is a lot to add yet.

Julian Atterton

 “Julian Atterton was one of the local children’s writers who set his novels in pre-industrial Cleveland.” Andy Croft The Fire and the Horror 1989

Julian Atterton is a more contemporary writer who lived in our area,. Born in 1956, he grew up in Saltburn by the Sea and lived in Castleton on the North York Moors. This piece from the Yorkshire post on his death in 2005 gives a good profile of  Julian and his work.

Julian Atterton  “was an Author, lyricist, singer and climber who sadly passed away at 48, in 2005. He was author of historical novels for teenagers set between the sixth and 12th centuries in the North of England.

His books include The Last Harper, The Tournament of Fortune, Knights of the Lost Domain, and a collection of short stories under the title Robin Hood Tales. He was brought up in Saltburn where his mother, Alice, was a headteacher and councillor.

His father, Robert, was a headteacher at Grangetown, near Middlesbrough, and died when Julian was 11, and his mother took the family to the South of England, sending Julian to a boarding school in Surrey, where he pined for the moors.

He won a scholarship for a year at the Sorbonne, and while in France he climbed in the Alps – the start of a life-long passion – and he wrote lyrics for, and sang, with Phil Selliez-Vandernotte, Philippe Busson and Luc Robert.

He recently recorded a CD, Love and Run, with Selliez-Vandernotte in collaboration with Paul Whittaker and Charles O’Connor of Irish folk/rock band Horslips.

He met his first wife, Madeleine Gair, at the University of East Anglia, and after graduating returned with her to Yorkshire, living for a time in York where he wrote his first book, The Last Harper. They moved to Castleton, on the North York Moors, into a house which had been given to his mother, and in an attic room with a view of the moors Julian wrote his books, essays and song lyrics

In 1987 he started story- telling to children in libraries and schools across the North of England. A natural entertainer with a talent for mimicry and making people laugh, Julian won the children’s attention with his mischievous sense of fun.

He mesmerised them with his imagination and inspired them to make up their own stories, which the schools would often compile into books. He took local teenagers out climbing crags in the Lake District and Scotland. He climbed regularly, the last time being the weekend before he was taken suddenly and fatally ill.

He enjoyed photography, and he kept a journal of his climbs and walks, some of which are published in the climbers’ journal, Loose Scree. His friends all knew him as a well-read, knowledgeable, witty, and charismatic man, capable of outrageous honesty while at the same time very sensitive to other people’s feelings.

After his first marriage ended, he met and married Jane Robinson, a dancer and theatre designer. Last summer they collaborated with musician Bob Pegg in Strathpeffer, Scotland, where they worked with children during the school holiday, devising an outdoor promenade play with music, costumes and puppets.

At the time of his death he was working on the second draft of an adult novel, The Art of Rapture, and a biography of the climber Percy Farrow.”

The lyrics of one of his songs included these poignant words:
“Step with open heart
into a new beginning
Let your love flow clear and strong
Reaching open arms
We’re gonna greet the morning
Lovers in a land beyond.”

Source –  http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/community/julian-atterton-author-lyricist-singer-and-climber-1-2555151#ixzz3psO15N17

Link to Julian’s books on Amazon Here 

ROBIN HOOD – As with King Arthur, the existence and legends of Robin Hood are widely discussed.

There are claims both in Nottingham and Yorkshire – Doncaster etc. But what of North Yorkshire…?

The Noble Fisherman, or, Robin Hood’s Preferment
(Child Ballad No. 148) by: Anonymous (Author), Francis James Child (Editor)from: The English and Scottish Popular Ballads 1882-1889 Source 
http://d.lib.rochester.edu/robin-hood/text/child-ballad-148-the-noble-fisherman-or-robins-preferment

In summer time, when leaves grow green,
When they doe grow both green and long,
Of a bould outlaw, calld Robin Hood,
It is of him I sing this song.

When the lilly leafe and the elephant
Doth bud and spring with a merry good cheere,
This outlaw was weary of the wood-side,
And chasing of the fallow deere.

‘The fishermen brave more mony have
Then any merchant, two or three;
Therefore I will to Scarborough goe,
That I a fisherman brave may be.’

This outlaw calld his merry men all,
As they sate under the green-wood tree:
‘If any of you have gold to spend,
I pray you heartily spend it with me.

‘Now,’ quoth Robin, ‘I ‘le to Scarborough goe,
It seemes to be a very faire day;’
Who tooke up his inne at a widdow-womans house,
Hard by upon the water gray.

Who asked of him, Where wert thou borne?
Or tell to me, where dost thou fare?
‘I am a poore fisherman,’ saith he then,
‘This day intrapped all in care.’

‘What is thy name, thou fine fellow?
I pray thee heartily tell to me;’
‘In mine own country where I was borne,
Men called me Simon over the Lee.’

‘Simon, Simon,’ said the good wife,
‘I wish thou maist well brooke thy name;’
The outlaw was ware of her courtesie,
And rejoycd he had got such a dame.

‘Simon, wilt thou be my man?
And good round wages I ‘le give thee;
I have as good a ship of mine owne
As any sayle upon the sea.

‘Anchors and planks thou shalt want none,
Masts and ropes that are so long;’
‘And if that you thus furnish me,’
Said Simon, ‘nothing shall goe wrong.’

They pluckt up anchor, and did away did sayle,
More of a day then two or three;
When others cast in their baited hooks,
The bare lines into the sea cast he.

‘It will be long,’ said the master then,
‘Ere this great lubber do thrive on the sea;
I ‘le assure you he shall have no part of our fish,
For in truth he is of no part worthy.’

‘O woe is me,’ said Simon then,
‘This day that ever I came here!
I wish I were in Plomton Parke,
In chasing of the fallow deere.

‘For every clowne laughs me to scorne,
And they by me set nought at all;
If I had them in Plomton Park,
I would set as little by them all.’

They pluckt up anchor, and away did sayle,
More of a day then two or three;
But Simon spied a ship of warre,
That sayld towards them most valourously.

‘O woe is me,’ said the master then,
‘This day that ever I was borne!
For all our fish we have got to-day
Is every bit lost and forlorne.

‘For your French robbers on the sea,
They will not spare of us one man,
But carry us to the coast of France,
And ligge us in the prison strong.’

But Simon said, Doe not feare them,
Neither, master, take you no care;
Give me my bent bow in my hand,
And never a Frenchman will I spare.

‘Hold thy peace, thou long lubber,
For thou art nought but braggs and boast;
If I should cast the over-board,
There were nothing but a lubber lost.’

Simon grew angry at these words,
And so angry then was he
That he took his bent bow in his hand,
And to the ship-hatch goe doth he.

‘Master, tye me to the mast,’ saith he,
‘That at my mark I may stand fair,
And give me my bended bow in my hand,
And never a Frenchman will I spare.’

He drew his arrow to the very head,
And drew it with all might and maine,
And straightway, in the twingling of an eye,
Doth the Frenchmans heart the arow gain.

The Frenchman fell downe on the ship-hatch,
And under the hatches down below;
Another Frenchman that him espy’d
The dead corps into the sea doth throw.

‘O master, loose me from the mast,’ he said,
‘And for them all take you no care,
And give me my bent bow in my hand,
And never a Frenchman will I spare.’

Then streight [they] did board the Frenchmans ship,
They lying all dead in their sight;
They found within the ship of warre
Twelve thousand pound of money bright.

‘The one halfe of the ship,’ said Simon then,
‘I ‘le give to my dame and children small;
The other halfe of the shlp I ‘le bestow
On you that are my fellowes all.’

But now bespake the master then,
For so, Simon, it shall not be;
For you have won her with your own hand,
And the owner of it you shall bee.

‘It shall be so, as I have said;
And, with this gold, for the opprest
An habitation I will build,
Where they shall live in peace and rest.’

Later in this area, in regard to Robin Hood –

Joseph Ritson born in Stockton on Tees (1752- 1803 (Lawyer, Writer and Antiquarian). His collection

of the Robin Hood ballads is perhaps his greatest single achievement, called  Robin Hood: A Collection of All the Ancient Poems, Songs, and Ballads, Now Extant, Relative to That Celebrated English Outlaw: To Which Are Prefixed Historical Anecdotes of  His Life. In Two Volumes.

More on Joseph Ritson in a separate post on this site.

(Read online or download Joseph Ritson’s Robin Hood as a free ebook –  here). 

More recently,  Julian Atterton, (Storyteller, Author, Lyricist, Singer and Climber) and brought up in Saltburn, lived in Castleton on the N. York moors when he wrote and researched The Outlaw Robin Hood, published by Walker Books in 1987.

Julian Atterton

His writing output has been quite diverse, and we will include a post about him on this site. Meanwhile, in relation to Robin Hood associations in the area, Peter has a handle on that. In his book  Folk Tales from the North York Moors he identifies a number of associations and in fact talks about them in this article for the Gazette and Herald, here 

Peter Walker says
“As a child in Glaisdale in the North York Moors, one of my regular playgrounds was our local greenwood, ie Arncliffe Wood, where I would go to search for Robin Hood’s Cave. I never found it even though local folklore said it was definitely somewhere in that wood along with an underground tunnel that reached all the way to Robin Hood’s Bay. I never found that tunnel either. To add to the strength of the tales, there were locations on the North York Moors where he was said to have practised archery.

Robin Hood’s butts appear above Robin Hood’s Bay from where he fired an arrow that landed in the bay, a

Peter Walker

sign that he should make good use of that seaside village. There are also some Robin Hood’s butts near Danby-in-Cleveland and a local pub that used to trade in nearby Castleton was named The Robin Hood and Little John with Robin Hood’s Howl not far away near Kirkbymoorside .

Robin Hood’s Howl is sometimes suggested as evidence that Robin had some association with Hartoft near Rosedale. It was Bernard Miles, the actor (later Lord Miles) who said that having married Marian, Robin came to live at Hartoft where he was once accused of poaching.

It was to Robin Hood’s Bay that the outlaw is said to have constantly fled on those many occasions he was being hotly pursued by the law. He was given shelter by local people and the legend suggests he went to sea with the fishing fleet to avoid capture, on one occasion defending a fishing boat against raiders through the skilful use of his famous bow and arrows.

Also in this locality are stories of him practising his archery on local beaches along with an account of him and Little John firing arrows from the top of the tower at Whitby Abbey. This arose due to a challenge as they were shooting cliff foxes that plagued the local farms; Robin and John were well known in and around Hawsker but never wore their famous Lincoln green costumes. Even though the local people were aware of their identity, Government officials and constables never knew.

One day when they were dinner guests of the Abbot of Whitby Abbey, someone challenged Robin and John to see who could shoot furthest from the highest point of the abbey, each firing 10 arrows.

To cut short a long story, it was actually Little John who shot the furthest. The fields in which their arrows landed were named Robin Hood’s Close and Little John’s Close.

The landing sites were marked with standing stones but in 1890 they were dumped in a ditch because they obstructed horse-drawn mowing machines.

Whitby photographer Frank Meadow Sutcliffe later found them and photographed them, and persuaded another farmer to re-erect them but in 1937 one was seen in use as a field roller near Hawsker church.

Today a pair of replacement stones bearing the names of Robin Hood and Little John stand beside a public footpath about 100 yards from Stainsacre Lane with wonderful views of Whitby Abbey. There is no guarantee they occupy the positions of the original stones.

Robin Hood has many associations with other parts Yorkshire, including Wakefield, Barnsdale Forest, Knaresborough, Boroughbridge, York and Foston near Malton . The location of his grave is widely accepted as being on private land within the grounds of Kirklees Priory near Huddersfield.

Perhaps the most intriguing suggestion is that Robin Hood and his Merry Men were members of the Knights Templar, a popular organisation established about 1129 and endorsed by the Catholic Church due to its charitable work, financial skills, military discipline and devout faith. In support of this, the Templars were present in many parts of Yorkshire, some sites still being recognisable because Temple forms part of their name.

KING ARTHUR c537AD 

Whether Arthur existed or not is hotly debated but in terms of literature his legend does impinge on our area.
First of all there is the tale –
“The Sleeping Knights of Freeborough” which involves the legend of  Edward Trotter who lived in the reign of  Edward 11, in a small holding in Dimmingdale near Freebrough Hill (tumili).

The Sleeping Knights of Freeborough

One legend suggests there is a deep pit shaft running directly from the summit into the depths of the earth, and that this was used to bury hundreds of dead soldiers and horses after bygone battles.
Some say it contains the bodies of those who died during the black death: indeed a grave was found on the side of the hill during the last century. This was made of whinstone blocks, which had been carried three or four miles to this site, thus indicating a grave of some importance.
The is the legend of Edward Trotter who lived in a small holding in Dimmington.
When chasing a lost lamb he found a large hole the size of a badger sett. On crawling inside the hole he found a tunnel running deep into the hill. The tunnel grew larger as he passed through it. He then came across a huge chamber with a heavy oak door studded with iron with a large iron handle.
On entering the door, Edward encountered a man in chain mail with a long spear in one hand and a sword in the other.
The man awoke and stopped Edward from running away.
The man commanded Edward to be quiet. Edward notice that there were more men in similar dress all asleep and seated at a round table.
The guard informed Edward that “we are King Arthur and his Knights of the round table, we are sleeping until our services are again required.
He then swore Edward to secrecy and told him to leave.

Aneurin (Aneirin)