An enormous serpent used to live in Hawes Tarn, near Yealand Conyers and Silverdale. When it was hungry, it would leave the Tarn and slither to a large rock known as the Buck Stone, conveniently situated in a field which was often full of sheep. It concealed itself by coiling around the stone and lying still, until a sheep came too close, when it would strike and swallow the sheep whole. When the serpent was eventually killed, the proof of its diet was a wad of wool, lodged inside a hollow tooth.

The Buck Stone, also known as the Rocking Stone, is ten feet high and thirty-three feet around, so the serpent must have been terrifying indeed…

Where did the serpent come from, you may ask? A clue might be found in the name Yealand Conyers, for the area was the dowry of a daughter of William de Lancaster, who married Roger, known as Roger de Conyers. Roger was known and revered in several Durham towns as a dragon-slayer or worm-slayer. This is a strange coincidence. Perhaps a serpent pursued him to the area with the intention of clearing up some unfinished business?

Text © Melanie Warren 2014

© Copyright David Medcalf and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.