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Cairn(s)
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"At the extreme edge of the Plains on the brow of a cliff overlooking Sale Bottom is another mound composed solely of stones; it is twenty-six yards in diameter, and has originally been about seven or eight feet high. It is known as Hollinstump, a corruption, as some think, of Llewellen's Tomb. Llewellen was the last of the Welsh Kings, and was beheaded about 1280 in the reign of Edward I., but it is improbable the King would trouble to send his mangled remains for interment to such a distant part. It was opened by some gainseeking hill-breakers, who say they found a large slab of sandstone, under which was a full length skeleton and a small implement – in the words of the finder: - "He seemed t'eve been buried in his cleayse wid a jack-a-legs knife in his waistcwoat pocket." Of the sandstone slab: - "They brak it up an' gat three carfull o't finest sand et iver was carried to Appleby Low Brewery." Bone dust was not then come into fashion, or else we may be certain his bones would have been sold to the crushing mill. This place is said to be haunted, the apparition being a headless horseman who dashes along at a furious yet noiseless speed. Those who have seen him describe him as having in place of a head something like a blaze of fire, and others like a backboard laid upon his shoulders – perhaps the distinguished spirit of the wronged and headless Welsh King, whose sole revenge is to dash on the midnight wind around his tomb, to the terror and dismay of each benighted wanderer."
From The Vale of Lyvennet
by J.S. Bland
Published 1910
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Posted by fitzcoraldo
9th June 2007ce
Edited 28th August 2007ce
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