Legend of Upsall Castle
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The Legend of Upsall Castle survives in many forms. Some can be found in historical documents, others have survived via word of mouth and one version has been converted into a children's story written by Eliza Gutch.
The most reliable version can be found in Arthur Mees Yorkshire North Riding of 1941.
The story begins with a member of the Scrope family who found the original 14th Century Upsall castle in ruins, and dreamt that if he stood on London Bridge he would find enough money to build it again.
He made his way to London Bridge, he stood there for three days dressed as a beggar, until a Quaker approached him and said, “I see you are as poor as I am, but if only I could get to Yorkshire, I would soon be rich.”
“What would you do?” Scrope asked.
“I would find gold under an elder tree near Upsall Castle,” replied the tinker.
The tale goes on to say that Scrope hurried back to Yorkshire and found the gold. He used his new found wealth to rebuild the castle in which his family continued to live for several centuries.
This Legend shows remarkable similarity to the novel The Alchemist published in 1988 in by Brazilian author Paulo Coelho.
