'Have ye ever been to Elsdonthe world's unfinished neuk
it lies amang the hungry hills
and wears a frozen look'
These are the hills of my ancestors with rig and furrow showing clearly in the frost. We saw lots of sheep who looked just like us.
A pretty little ewe was grazing near the road. We learned she was my third cousin several times removed.
Lance the Piper, my namesake, a very fine Northumbrian piper, taught many people to play the Northumbrian pipes in Northumberland, Canada and the USA.
He showed us the house where he was born. The Bacchus, a former inn, with the god of wine above the front door.
It is supposed to be the oldest inn sign in Britain. It was frequented by drovers taking cattle and sheep from Scotland to the English markets.
This is the church in Elsdon where Lance Robson the Piper told us he was Christened.
Rob of Risingham and I were keen to see Elsdon Pele Tower.
When the Scots or Reivers came raiding, the villagers drove their sheep and cattle and pigs inside for protection within its great thick walls.
Then the villagers climbed out onto the roof and poured boiling oil and pitch through stone drains onto their attackers below.
Read the story below.
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