Folklore of Lincolnshire by Susanna O'Neill Read Free Book Online Page A

Westwood quotes Abraham de la Pryme, describing the story in the 1600s:
    …Hengist begg’d so much ground of King Vortigern as he was able to encompass with an ox-hide, who, not well understanding his meaning, granted him his request, thinking that he meant no more than he could cover with an ox-hide.But Hengist cut it all into small thongs, and by that means encompast in round about a great compass of land, and built an exceeding strong castle upon part thereof, part of whose ruins I took notice of, it being a wall five or six yards thick. But, when Christianity came, they pull’d the castle down, and built the church in the place where it stood, of the stone that it was built off. 6
    McLeish explains how the thong was put to such good use:
    At once Hengist slaughtered the largest bull in Lincolnshire, and set his butchers the task of slicing the hide into a continuous thong as thin as a woollen thread and over a kilometre long. He used it to measure out the land for a castle, and when the castle was built he brought from Germany eighteen long-ships filled with warriors, and with them his daughter, the witch, Renwein.
    Renwein was very attractive and her hand in marriage was offered to Vortigern, in exchange for the county of Kent, including Vortigern’s own castle. Vortigern fell under her spell and agreed not only to this but also to allow more warriors from Germany to inhabit the countryside around the Humber. The British people, however, were beginning to panic about the number of Saxons in the country and their loyalties switched to Vortigern’s son, Vortimer. They gathered an army and attacked the Saxons, defeating them in four bloody battles. Hengist fled back to Germany and Vortimer went to visit his father and stepmother to discuss the future of Britain. The witch, Renwein, however, put poison in his goblet and he died a slow and painful death. Once Vortigern regained his power and was back on the throne, Renwein sent word to Hengist to return. This he did with many warriors and this time he won the battles and the Saxons ruled Britain, pillaging and destroying anything British, so the work of draining the Fens was never completed.
    Thus, as Stewart Bennett tells us, travel through medieval Lincolnshire was very difficult because of the amount of water, making its relative isolation even more pronounced:
    The only reasonable roads were those left by the Romans although, as they had been neglected for over 700 years, they had fallen into disrepair. Rivers were mostly navigable all year round, but roads were liable to floods in the winter only to dry out, causing deep ruts, in the summer. As much of the county was low-lying, travel in the Fens and marsh during winter months was at best difficult, and often impossible. 7
    The Lincolnshire wetlands were finally drained by Cornelius Vermuyden and his followers in the seventeenth century. The indigenous Carr people hated these Dutch intruders as they were taking away the livelihood of fowling and fishing, which they had been doing for so many generations. There were many murders during the draining days and the Carr people used the legend of the Tiddy Mun as an ‘explanation’ for the deaths.
    Polly Howat relates the story of the ‘Tiddy Mun Without a Name’. He was a creature who lived in waterholes in the Fens, only coming out at night. He had the appearance of an old man, with long white hair and a beard, but he was only the size of a small child. He wore grey so that he was difficult to see at dusk, his laugh sounded more like a screech and no one ever knew his name. He had a strange relationship with the people of the Fens, for although they were wary of him he would help them when the flood waters came. The people would call to him, ‘Tiddy Mun, without a name, the water’s rough!’ 8
    In the morning the flood water would have gone, as the Tiddy Mun had taken it away, and they knew he would always be good to them as long as the Fens remained. However,