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Scarborough Life
Scarborough Review
November- Issue 39
The Flixton werewolf
Scarborough writer and artist Dav White explores the folklore and mythology around a local legend
Words and artwork by Dav White THE area around Flixton has an ancient history and its particular landscape makes that history a fertile place for stories and legends to grow. Werewolf legends in Britain are rare enough but Flixton has one. Mesolithic sites are rare in Britain, but Flixton has one. Mesolithic sites that contain shamanic antler headdresses are extremely rare anywhere in the world, but Flixton has 27. Accounts of the Flixton werewolf date back 1,000 years and sightings have appeared every few hundred years. A Ghost Hunter's Road Book, published by John Harries in 1974, states: “A fearsome beast, equipped with abnormally large eyes and exuding a terrible stench, the animal is supposed to fell nocturnal wayfarers with its tail, which is almost as long as its body. The eyes are crimson and dart fire” … “historical records mention that in the year 940, a hostel was built in the village of Flixton to shelter wayfarers in wintertime from attacks by these kind of wolves”. The book also tells us that, “a wizard with dark powers to shape-shift roams the area of Flixton”. The marks we leave on the landscape are like the marks on a palimpsest. As the generations pass can the places we live in store memories as we leave little pieces of our memories behind for others to find?
Flixton Lane
A recent sighting of the Flixton werewolf came in 1985, by local lad Richard Perkins. He describes how “me and me mates were out raking about with matches and space raiders when we saw what we thought was a dog in the field above. We couldn't go any further cos Brian had just spread liquid pigswill all over the field and Tim never had his wellies on (we all did). So Chris went to his nan’s to get some binoculars. He took ages but we kept watching the beast until he got back. We saw a big dog-like thing but it didn't look like a dog, it looked like a cat, a 'dog cat' we thought. I asked me dad about this and he said that when keeping weird exotic pets became illegal, people chucked them out into the wild. We thought this is what it could be, a 'chucked-out big cat'! I was really scared”. Flixton, Folkton and Staxton all sit in the peat bogs of the Vale of Pickering. Once the great proglacial Lake Pickering, the waters are now sunk and drained, creating the low-lying carr lands that are farmed today. Peat is formed from the layering up of semi-decayed organic matter. It is these peat bogs that have preserved Star Carr, the most famous Mesolithic site in Britain, named after the farm land under which it was found. These and the finds at Flixton Island, a raised area of land that was The Pendant once a Star smallCarr island on Lake Flixton, gave a precious insight into life in Britain 11,000 years ago. Twenty-seven antler head-dresses have been excavated from the peat at Star Carr. In his new book, eminent archaeologist Francis Prior states: “Most archaeologists, myself included, see them as some sort of strange head-dresses worn by shamans during pre- or post-hunting rituals and dances”. ‘Shaman’ is an academic word for a witch doctor or wizard. Later excavations found post holes and a sunken floor, which established itself as the remains of the earliest permanent house in Britain. Did a wizard or shaman with
his or her collection of head-dresses live in the house by the lake at Star Carr? Is it the memory of this eminent individual, stored in the peat, that has given rise to the wandering, shape-shifting werewolf described in the accounts at Flixton? Flixton, Folkton and Staxton are AngloSaxon / Old Norse place-names, the result of Scandinavian settlers making their homes here. In his book Crossing the Borderlines: Guising, Masks and Ritual Animal Disguises in the European Tradition, Nigel Pennick explains: “At the start of each month, certain Norse (north) men underwent a form of madness that made them into wolfs and dogs, who spent the night roving around. Perhaps the legend of the werewolf also originates in such ceremonial madness?” Norse warrior tradition describes the cult of the Berserkers associated with using wolf or bear skin as armour, transforming soldiers into powerful beasts in battle. Going berserk is a term used when someone flies into a rage. In Old Norse it means to go into battle wearing a bear-skin shirt. Take care that the royal guard at Buckingham Palace wear bearskin hats. Harold Hardrada, the king of Norway who burnt Scarborough to the ground on his way to Riccall for the great battle at Stamford Bridge in 1066, had the Berserkers as his personal bodyguard. The legend of the Battle of Stamford Bridge tells us that a huge berserker warrior stood alone on the bridge taking on the opposing army himself until his prospects were ruined from beneath the bridge by a group of men with pikes. In his book about guising, Nigel Pennick continues: “The old Norse stories of shapeshifting individuals give an insight into the beliefs people held when in disguise. A person had 'hamr' - a shape which could mean an animal skin. One who never changed shape was a 'hamrammr', 'shape strong' and one
who did change shape was called 'hamhleypa', meaning the 'leaper out of skin’.” A hammer (hamr), the blacksmith’s tool used for changing an object’s shape, now takes on different connotations. A blacksmith is an ancient profession. The ability to transform objects with hammer and furnace is a valuable skill closely linked to animals and especially horses. Over the years, the people on the Carrs have reported cattle and horses that were lost in the peat bogs. A Spitfire that crash-landed in a field during the war was soon swallowed up by the bogs. A Flixton resident recalls her mum telling her of the ghost of a horse at the end of Flixton Lane around Flixton Island area. The Flixton Island excavations unearthed remains of a horse butchery site, used in the Mesolithic era. Peat bogs can give rise to the combustion of rotting organic matter that ignites when oxidised to make fox-fire or boglights. Apparently cold to the touch, it gave rise to tales of will o’ the wisps. Bog lands have always been places of mystery, neither water nor land, neither here nor there, difficult to farm and often classed as waste land. Does peat store the memory of a place? Houses aren't just bricks and mortar. German artist Joseph Beuys stated that: “Bogs are the liveliest elements in the European landscape, not just from the point of view of flora and fauna, birds and animals, but as storing places of life, and of mystery and chemical change, as well as preservers of ancient history”. Incidentally just a little way up the river, where the Derwent passes Brompton Bridge, runs Howling Dyke. Save our wetlands. Website: davwhiteart.com
Mormon church marks its half-century Words and photos by Dave Barry SCARBOROUGH’S Mormon church is celebrating its 50th anniversary. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as it is also known, is on the corner of Stepney Road and Stepney Drive. Local MP Robert Goodwill planted a beautiful red maple tree at a celebration service. The church was constructed in 1966 by local church members, with the help of others from elsewhere. It was built to the specifications of the first president of the church in Salt Lake City in the USA. “In those days, members were expected to do whatever they could to help build a local church,” says Joy Tomlinson of the church. “Those who The tree is planted
had a bona-fide trade such as an electrician or plumber, bricklayer or joiner, were sent to the site and, with the help of local members and a building supervisor, the building took shape. “No one was exempt from contributing in some way,” says Joy. “Indeed it was considered a privilege by all. Men, women and children toiled away every spare moment they had. From carrying bricks to clocking in the hours, all were able to find a job to do”. Young men over the age of 19 were called to serve building missions and travelled around, helping to build the many churches that sprang up all over the British Isles at the time. Members had to raise 20% of the cost with imaginative schemes like ‘buy a brick’. The other 80% came from central church funds. “Today, the worldwide building programme is funded almost entirely from central funds as Latter-day Saints donate a tithe of 10% of their income to the church,” Joy says. The church doesn’t have collections during services. Before the church was built, members initially met in the Roscoe Rooms and later in a room at what is now Bernards undertakers in Prospect Road.
Latter-day Saint churches are unique as they always have a car-park, Joy says. When Scarborough’s was built, only one member had a car and a local builder wanted to buy the barely used car-park. The size of the worship chapel is flexible and can be adjusted to accommodate congregations of varying numbers. Because Latter-day Saints believe in baptism by total immersion, there is a big font, which is filled with warm water when needed. Classrooms are used to teach lessons using scriptures which, in Latter-day Saint tradition, includes both the King James version of the Bible and the Book of Mormon. The church hall is used for many activities such as sports, plays, musical evenings, dances and other social events like wedding receptions. The church has a family history resource centre, open to the public with access to the vast Mormon archives. Recent additions include a lift to provide easier access for disabled people and central heating.
MP Robert Goodwill prepares to plant the tree with, L-R, church officials Kent Mayall and Alan Tomlinson, gardener Ron Baxter, deputy mayor Martin Smith and assistant chief constable Lisa Winward
Robert Goodwill shovels earth into the hole (To order photos ring 353597)