England has several instances of big bones preserved in churches, and one story seems to be told regarding almost all. A most interesting example is to be found over one of the altar tombs in the Foljambe Chapel, Chesterfield Church. This bone, supposed to be the jawbone of a small whale, is seven feet four inches in length, and about thirteen inches, on an average, in circumference. Near one end is engraved, in old English characters, the name “Thomas Fletcher.” The Foljambes disposed of their manor in 1633 to the Ingrams, who in turn sold it to the Fletchers, and thus the name on the bone is accounted for. A generally-accepted explanation about this bone—not even disbelieved entirely at the present day—was that it formed a rib of the celebrated Dun Cow of Dunsmore Heath, killed by the doughty Guy of Warwick, with whom local tradition identified the warrior whose marble effigy lies beneath the bone, sent to Chesterfield to celebrate the much-appreciated victory.
THE DUN COW, DURHAM CATHEDRAL.
It is interesting to remember here the legendary story of the foundation of Durham Cathedral, [p 237] which explains certain carving on the north front of that majestic pile. While the final resting-place of St. Cuthbert was still undetermined, “it was revealed to Eadmer, a virtuous man, that he should be carried to Dunholme, where he should find a place of rest. His followers were in distress, not knowing where Dunholme lay; but as they proceeded, a woman, wanting her cow, called aloud to her companion to know if she had seen her, when the other answered that she was in Dunholme. This was happy news to the distressed monks, who thereby knew that their journey’s end was at hand, and the saint’s body near its resting-place.” It has been said that the after riches of the See of Durham gave rise to the proverb, “The dun cow’s milk makes the prebend’s wives go in silk.”
But to return to the dun cow slain by Guy. That the champion was credited of old with having overcome some such animal is evident from the matter-of-fact fashion in which it is recorded by ancient chroniclers. In Percy’s “Reliques of Antient Poetry,” occur the following verses in a black-letter ballad which sings the exploits of Guy:—
[p 238]
“On Dunsmore heath I alsoe slewe
A monstrous wyld and cruell beast,
Called the Dun-Cow of Dunsmore heath,
Which manye people had opprest.