The Drustone

Chapter Thirteen. Uncle Steve's History Lesson

"In to the tunnels?" 

Uncle Steve laughed. "No, Henry, I meant they didn't practice their religion publicly." 

"You mean they became like a secret society?" 

"I suppose so, and they were determined to gain revenge on the Black Monks who had taken over from them and ravaged their lands." 

"Did they ever gain revenge?" asked Henry. 

"Oh, did they ever, but they had to wait until the time of Henry the Eighth. The monks became very rich and powerful and built a magnificent abbey in a deep narrow vale about a mile to the west of Dalton." 

"I know it. I've been there. It's a weird, spooky place with old ruins of red stone and gravestones everywhere. I wouldn't want to be there at night." 

"Do you remember what they called the valley, P.C.?" 

"Yes I do. Even that was weird - the vale of the deadly nightshade." 

"Do you know why it's called that...anybody?" 

No answer. 

"The nightshade is a poisonous plant and it grows in abundance in the valley. I tend to believe that Henry's secret sect introduced the plant to prevent the monks from using the pastures. It's also rumoured that they poisoned a spring, the only source of water in the vale, in a futile attempt to dislodge the Black Monks."

"Success only came when King Henry decided to take over the monasteries. Soldiers were sent in to Furness with orders to destroy the Abbey, which by then was one of the wealthiest in England. Even at that time, the geography of Furness was largely unknown to outsiders and the Tudor soldiers spent several exasperating days searching for it. They became convinced that the rumoured Abbey didn't exist and decided to return to their camp at Lancaster. As the troops started to pull out of the market place at Dalton they heard the booming sound of a bell coming from a nearby valley. That sound heralded the end of the Black Monks. I often wonder who was tolling that bell." 

"Uncle Steve, could it have been the Druids?" 

"Oh, Henry, do you never give up?" said an increasingly exasperated Rev. "This Druid nonsense is driving me crazy. I went to the library to read about them and found out that the last Druids were killed by the Romans in a final battle against the Celts on Anglesey." 

"How can they possibly know that?" Henry responded petulantly. 

"Now you two stop arguing. I've something else that'll have you thinking."  

Rev looked at his watch. Uncle Steve noticed. 

"Henry's grandmother has made us some rhubarb and custard for afters. It should be ready soon. Do you still want to stay, Rev?" 

He nodded. He could tolerate a few more minutes of Druidic nonsense if that was the penalty he must pay for lashings of his favourite dessert.  

Uncle Steve continued. "Did you know that sometime in the Middle Ages, there was a great flood in the Furness area?" 

"Like in the Bible?" said Henry. 

"Not quite as bad, but it certainly changed the geography of the bay." 

Rev's customary, "How do you know?" followed.  

"Let me ask our local geography expert here. Can you tell me the names of any villages near the coast with the name "High" in them?" 

P.C. answered almost immediately. "High Newton, High Carley, High Scales." 

"Good. Now I'm right in saying there is a Low Newton aren't I? "P.C. nodded. 

"So where are Low Carley and Low Scales? Have they disappeared?" 

"That's a bit weak isn't it?"  

"Well, how about this, Rev? In Barrow library there is an ancient map of Aldingham showing the church in the centre of quite a large parish. Now the church is right next to the shore."  

"I like that better, but what's the explanation?" 

"Apparently the greater part of the Estuaries was once fertile land with some woodland. At some time the sand banks in St.George's channel moved and blocked the deep channels of the Kent and Leven causing the low lying coastal plain to flood. There is plenty of evidence for this. For example the remains of large trees have been found deep under the sands on Walney Island. Huge trees of the same type have been found lying in the bed of the Leven, as far up as the tide can take them. There is every indication that sands were deposited over a flat rich meadow." 

"And you're suggesting that the Druids caused this. Pull the other one, Mr. Dover. It has bells on it." 

"Now hear me out, Rev. Do you believe that Bardsea was important to the Druids?" 

"Maybe..." 

"It seems that the Black Monks gained control of Bardsea. A local knight, Sir Michael le Fleming, upset by this, made an offer of a land exchange with the monks - the villages of Crimleton and Rosse for Bardsea. It must have looked like a good deal to the monks because they jumped at it. Do you know these places, P.C.?" 

"No, never heard of them." 

"I'm not surprised. They no longer exist. Sir Michael had read the signs, somehow knew the flood was coming, and pulled a fast one on the monks." 

"He could have been a Druid, couldn't he?" 

"Puddings ready," yelled Gran from the kitchen door. 

"Thank goodness," said Rev.