The Lambton Worm

[@Goku_Black66]

One of my favorite legends!

[@mythgreatbritain5634]

This is actually the legend that got me into this. I read the Usborne book of monsters at school and this story has stuck with me since. I even remembered the illustration, very bloody !!

[@jared1870]

Thank you for your company. I cannot believe I caught this freshly uploaded.

[@mythgreatbritain5634]

Hope you enjoyed it!

[@craigord]

Great to hear the full story 👍🏻 I live around the area so I used to hear bits of the legend when I was young.

[@mythgreatbritain5634]

Glad you enjoyed it.

[@h.calvert3165]

I thought it was a jaw-droppingly, gobsmackingly godawful book. Even if I read the abbreviated version, I haven't much hope for it. He wasn't much of a writer. Only the epistolary style of Dracula, & the intervention of a judicious editor saved that book from disaster! ⚰

[@thefurrybstard1964]

@@h.calvert3165 You're on about the Lair of the White Worm. Stoker took the legend of the Lambton Worm and did a disservice to it, even changing the name of the family to Dambton. You think the book was bad? The movie was worse.

[@DaisyOh]

I've never heard that legend before, very cool! Thanks for the video!

[@mythgreatbritain5634]

Glad you enjoyed it.

[@thefanone]

Awesome story thank you

[@mythgreatbritain5634]

Thanks for the great feedback.

[@thefurrybstard1964]

This is a well known story in my part of the country. Thank you for covering it! Penshaw Monument is part of the horizon where I live.

[@mythgreatbritain5634]

Glad you enjoyed it.

[@The-Gnome-King]

Love this tale. I think I'll make it one of my next illustrations. Thanks for sharing

[@mythgreatbritain5634]

Glad you enjoyed it. Please let me know if you do an illustration, I will have to take a look at your other work.

[@johnroy2567]

My mum comes from a town called Consett in Co.Durham, as a young family in the 1970's we'd head down to Consett on summer holidays, she'd always tell us the story of the Lambton worm & I'm sure the county of Northumbria's coat of arms is the worm coiled around the hill that John Lambton's castle stood

[@mythgreatbritain5634]

I think you are right.

[@LittleBlueBear216]

Thank you for telling this story. I had forgotten many of the details. We sang the song at school and I always loved it

[@mythgreatbritain5634]

You are welcome. I knew there was a song, not sure if I ever heard it though.

[@jadecarter2328]

Great video I live here and have heard the legend many times over the years, 8 think this one is the best

[@mythgreatbritain5634]

Thank you, that means a lot.

[@jezzeronthecoast]

If my memory serves me well Bram Stokers the lair of the White Worm is based on this legend.

[@mythgreatbritain5634]

You are probably correct, it's been a long time since I read it. I'll have to take another look.

[@jezzeronthecoast]

@@mythgreatbritain5634 it's been a while too. While my memory is hazy I thought I heard something about it on an Australian radio show (this was a while ago and will I'll see if I can find it again to see if I'm right). I tried to find a reference to confirm this but sadly can't find the Radio National program in question

[@mythgreatbritain5634]

@@jezzeronthecoast I did find this, which seems to suggest we have probably read a bad version of the book. "The Lair of the White Worm was the last published novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, best known for his earlier novel and stage play, Dracula. Published in 1911, Stoker died just a year later, after a series of strokes that many suspect were the result of untreated syphilis. Some have speculated that the muddled nature of the plot in The Lair of the White Worm and the low quality of some of the writing can be attributed to Stoker’s declining health. Despite these flaws, the book features both startling imagery and frightening sequences. Regrettably, however, the most commonly available version of the book is a 1925 edition which was inexplicably abbreviated by the publisher, who cut twelve chapters and rendered the story nearly incomprehensible. This cut-down version was later reissued in the United States under the title In the Garden of Evil and is still the most common version found online. This and the fact that the structure of the plot and several characters echo those found in Dracula has caused The Lair of the White Worm to be regarded as one of Stoker’s lesser works. The White Worm is, in part, based on the legend of the Lambton Worm, which is in turn based on other, older legends of giant worms that herald the end of the world or other terrible fates."

[@jezzeronthecoast]

@@mythgreatbritain5634 thank you. I didn't know that he died not long after

[@johnmurray5573]

​@@mythgreatbritain5634also the Ken Russell film starring a young Hugh Grant.

I really enjoyed your video.

[@mythgreatbritain5634]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@Aurochhunter]

8:02 I recognise that picture, it's from _The World of the Unknown: Monsters_ where I first learnt of this legend.

[@Jules-fx2sc]

We live very near Penshaw and were told it was Penshaw hill which it wrapped itself around

[@mythgreatbritain5634]

Have you been up there to look?

[@Jules-fx2sc]

@mythgreatbritain5634 been up a few times

[@jeanglendinning1860]

i read this story a few years ago in a book called "dragons, a natural history"

[@mythgreatbritain5634]

I am sure I read that book once. Be nice to track it down again.

[@jaderosequartz6330]

Imma use this in DND.

[@mythgreatbritain5634]

What a great idea. Let me know how it goes.

[@stevendunkley8284]

I have a theory about the Lambton wyrm- that it is based on fact and I think I may be able to identify it's genus. There is a type of primitive amphibian known a s a 'caecilian which looks like a cross between a newt and a slow worm. This creature ranges in size from a bout 6 inches to 5 - 6 ft in length, and some specimens may have grown to be even larger - possibly 10-15 ft in length easily big enough to consume a person. Some Caecelians have primitive limbs and may account for several of the more credible Nessie sightings. They also secrete a poisonous ooze as part of their self defence mechanisms. As previously stated elsewhere on this site, I believe I encountered an 'Afanc' in Wales. These creatures are generally believed to be active during or after storms (they are amphibians so risk drying out otherwise) and are also alleged to create floods as they burrow into the sides of lakes causing them to subside. They, like Wyrms, were also considered to be an agricultural pest. Some scholars think wyrms may have been misindentified Eels or lampreys, but this is unlikely as these creatures were seen as delicacies in the medieval period and so were sought out. I am putting together a collection of writings tentatively to be called 'encyclopedia cryptanica' in which I will aim to give scientific explainations to various mythical creatures and events. I will keep you posted on this project if you are interested.

[@mythgreatbritain5634]

I would be very interested in hearing more about your project.

[@stevendunkley8284]

@@mythgreatbritain5634 will deffo keep you updated! watch this space!

[@VESPVESP]

or perhaps these legends are based in fact and dragons actually existed...here in Suffolk we have the Bures dragon

[@AlanStevenson-Graham]

I 1st head the story in a song, I just HAD to look up the mythology

[@mythgreatbritain5634]

There are a few versions of the song on KZbin if you look.

[@craigmcvay1]

Its a kanny tail

[@mythgreatbritain5634]

That it is...

[@stephenharris7982]

Canny

[@blue_belt_blues9554]

Every Geordie kid back in the day grew up to this legend

[@mythgreatbritain5634]

The good old days....do they teach it these days?

[@peterreid]

@@mythgreatbritain5634 its a sunderland folk song.