OSMOTHERLEY IN YORKSHIRE.

(Vol. viii., p. 617.)

R. W. Carter gives an account of folk lore in reference to Osmotherley, and expresses a desire to know if his statement is authentic. I have endeavoured to make myself acquainted with Yorkshire folk lore, and beg to inform Mr. Carter that his statement approaches as near the truth as possible. In my early days I frequently had recited to me, by a respectable farmer who had been educated on the borders of Roseberry (and who obtained it from the rustics of the neighbourhood), a poetical legend, in which all the particulars of this curious tradition are embodied. It is as follows:

"In Cleveland's vale a village stands,

Though no great prospect it commands;

As pleasantly for situation

As any village in the nation.

Great Ayton it is call'd by name;

But though I am no man of fame,

Yet do not take me for a fool,

Because I live near to this town;

But let us take a walk and see

This noted hill call'd Roseberry,

Compos'd of many a cragged stone,

Resembling all one solid cone,

Which, monumental-like, have stood

Ever since the days of Noah's flood.

Here cockles ... petrified,

As by the curious have been tried,

Have oft been found upon its top,

'Tis thought the Deluge had cast up.

'Tis mountains high (you may see that),

Though not compar'd with Ararat.

Yet oft at sea it doth appear,
To ships that northern climates steer,
A land-mark, when the weather's clear.

If many ships at sea there be,

A charming prospect then you'll see;

Don't think I fib, when this you're reading,

They look like sheep on mountains feeding.

Then turn your eyes on the other hand,

As pleasing views you may command.

For thirty miles or more, they say,
The country round you may survey,
When the air's serene and clear the day.

There is a cave near to its top,

Vulgarly call'd the Cobbler's Shop,

By Nature form'd out of the rock,

And able to withstand a shock.

On the north side there is a well,

Relating which this Fame doth tell:

Prince Oswy had his nativity
Computed by astrology,
That he unnatural death should die.
His mother to this well did fly
To save him from sad destiny;

But one day sleeping in the shade,

Supposing all secure was made,

Lo! sorrow soon gave place to joy;

This well sprung up and drown'd the boy."

It is confidently stated, in the neighbourhood of Osmotherley and Roseberry, that Prince Oswy and his mother were both interred at Osmotherley, from whence comes the name of the place, Os-by-his-mother-lay, or Osmotherley.

Thomas Gill.

Easingwold.