Upsall Castle
Upsall Castle is a fourteenth-century ruin, park and manor house in Upsall, in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England.
The earliest extant building on the site is the ruin of a quadrangular castle, probably begun in 1327 by Geoffrey Scrope, which was reputedly demolished in the Civil War.[1] This castle was replaced by a manor house, which was rebuilt in the 19th century[2] and then rebuilt again following destruction by fire in 1918.[3] Upsall castle is part of the Upsall and Roxby estates owned by the Turton family. The present owner of the castle is Gerald Turton, who works to promote the Beef Shorthorn breed of cattle. He is the third generation of his family to run the Upsall herd, which is the oldest in the country having been established in 1909 by Gerald Turton’s great uncle Sir Edmund Turton.[4]
Legends
Crocks of Gold
The following story is related in English folklore:
Many years ago there resided in the village of Upsall a man who dreamed three nights successively that if he went to London Bridge he would hear of something greatly to his advantage. He went traveling the whole distance from Upsall to London on foot arrived there he took his station on the bridge where he waited until his patience was nearly exhausted and the idea that he had acted a very foolish part began to rise in his mind. At length he was accosted by a Quaker who kindly enquired what he was waiting there so long for. After some hesitation he told his dreams. The Quaker laughed at his simplicity, and told him that he had had that night a very curious dream himself, which was, that if he went and dug under a certain bush in Upsall Castle in Yorkshire, he would find a pot of gold; but he did not know where Upsall was, and enquired of the countryman if he knew, who seeing some advantage in secrecy pleaded ignorance of the locality; and then thinking his business in London was completed, returned immediately home dug beneath the bush, and there he found a pot filled with gold and on the cover an inscription in a language he did not understand. The pot and cover were however preserved at the village inn where one day a bearded stranger like a Jew made his appearance saw the pot and read the inscription the plain English of which was
Look lower where this stood
Is another twice as goodThe man of Upsall hearing this resumed his spade returned to the bush dug deeper and found another pot filled with gold far more valuable than the first encouraged by this he dug deeper still and found another yet more valuable.[5]
the "Crocks of Gold" origins
Similar legends can be found throughout Europe and the Middle-East.[6] The earliest version is one of the poems of the Mathanawi titled "In Baghdad, Dreaming of Cairo: In Cairo, Dreaming of Baghdad", by 13th century Persian poet Jalal al-Din Rumi.[7] This poem was turned into a story in the tale from The One Thousand and One Nights: The man who became rich through a dream;[8] and spread through various countries folklore, children's tales and literature. More recently the story was adapted into the plot of the novel The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.
the Upsall curse
John Constable, who resided at the castle in 1610, was a supporter of the Royal cause during the Civil War. He is said to have left a curse on any owner of Upsall who should prove disloyal to his king and country.[9]
References
- ↑ Davis, Philip (2007-01-20). "Upsall Castle". Gatehouse: The comprehensive gazetteer of the medieval fortifications and castles of England and Wales. Retrieved 2007-02-02.
- ↑ "GENUKI: South Kilvington Parish information from Bulmers' 1890.". www.genuki.org.uk. Retrieved 2008-08-04.
- ↑ "Upsall, North Yorkshire". Retrieved 2007-02-02.
- ↑ "Beef Shorthorn - a cattle breed for the future". www.stackyard.com. Retrieved 2008-08-04.
- ↑ The Vale of Mowbray: A Historical and Topographical Account of Thirsk and Its Neighbourhood; p. 277-278; By William Grainge, John Gilbert Baker; Published by Simpkin, Marshall, and co., 1859
- ↑ www.pitt.edu
- ↑ The Essential Rumi, transl. Coleman Barks, New York: HarperCollins, 1995
- ↑ The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, (The Man Who Became Rich through a Dream) translated by Richard F. Burton (London: The Burton Club, 1885), vol. 4, pp. 289-90. Translation revised by D. L. Ashliman
- ↑ The Vale of Mowbray: A Historical and Topographical Account of Thirsk and Its Neighbourhood; p. 271-272; By William Grainge, John Gilbert Baker; Published by Simpkin, Marshall, and co., 1859
Eliza Gutch, County Folk-Lore, vol. 2: Examples of Printed Folk-Lore Concerning the North Riding of Yorkshire, York, and the Ainsty (London: Published for the Folk-Lore Society by David Nutt, 1901), pp. 408–409.
External links
- Map sources for Upsall Castle
Coordinates: 54°16′31″N 1°18′03″W / 54.27536°N 1.30092°W
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