(FROM A BOOK BY CYRIL T OXLEY)

PAGE THREE OF TEN

"BELIEVE IT OR NOT"

Who used a potter's crate as a bed in the company of ducks, geese, a fox and other animals?

A citizen of York named Lumley Kettlewell, the son of a Mr. Richard Kettlewell, a prosperous farmer of Bolton Percy.

He was born at Clementhorpe in 1741, and although given education, culture and the material means to provide a life of ease and tastes of a gentleman, chose an existence which was not only eccentric but squalid, sordid and degrading.

Kettlewell was a man of delicate build and was gentle and refined in manner, yet although in possession of the qualities and means which might have given him admission to the drawing-room and fashionable salon, Kettlewell sought a way of life which was, to say the least, extraordinary.

He eschewed the costume of the conventional and respectable, appearing on the streets of York in a tattered ballroom coat, a fur cap and hussar boots, or wearing a high-crowned hat and old oilskin coat.

Throughout his life Kettlewell kept fine bloodstock horses and game-dogs, the poor creatures usually starving to death as a result of neglect.

His house, the front door of which he kept strongly barred, was entered by means of a ladder which gave entrance to the first floor.
His living quarters consisted of one room in which he passed the hours of slumber in a potter's crate stuffed with hay.
The chamber was shared with dogs, a fox, muscovy ducks and a Maltese ass, which poor creatures usually terminated their existence as a result of neglect and starvation.

Kettlewell in spite of his very meagre existence, was careless of his money, leaving it in any odd corner and littered over the window seats, much of it, being in the form of banknotes, being devoured by the rats which overran the place.

In spite of a seeming difference in the way of fellows, Kettlewell had a strong sense of humour and was regarded as a man whose word was his bond.
He never indulged in a quarrel or calumny and never broke a promise.

Nothing delighted him more than an intellectual discussion, particularly concerning natural history and chemistry.
He never received visitors, which is hardly surprising, but would spend hours in the houses of educated and thoughtful persons, discussing scientific and philosophical subjects for hours on end.

In warm weather, Kettlewell would carry a large sponge on his person, dipping it occasionally in water and placing it on the top of his head, remarking that such a method of cooling oneself was the equal of food and drink.

His diet was a curious one and he regarded the heads of cocks as a particular delicacy.
Unfortunately for the creatures in his care, his dietetic theories did not prove beneficial to them and he wrote of his favourite horse, "As soon as the beast grew accustomed to living without food, it died."

Kettlewell died in 1819 in conditions of poverty and degredation, and having left his mark as one of the oddest characters Yorkshire has ever known.

Who presented a king with a tankard of gold?

A wealthy Leeds citizen, John Harrison, a benefactor who founded and built St. Johns church. Harrison was an ardent royalist and devoted to that cause during the civil war.

When Charles I was brought to Leeds in the hands of the Scots and detained as a prisoner in Red Hall, Harrison pleaded that he might offer the monarch a tankard of ale.
His wish being granted, Harrison carried to the King's chamber a tankard which, falling upon one knee, he begged Charles to accept.
The king, thanked his well-wisher, drank the ale with relish and retained the tankard, most of which was filled with gold pieces.

Who hired five poor men to act as his mourners on the day of his death?

Richard Turpin, the notorious robber and highwayman who was hanged in 1739.

The day before his execution on York Knavesmire, Turpin engaged five men in indigent circumstances to follow the cart to the gallows.

The mourners received a payment of ten shillings each.

What and where are the Dalton Parlours?

The site of a Roman villa at Collingham, discovered in 1854.

What village, though situated in central Yorkshire, was once part of Durham?

Crayke, near Easingwold, once part of the see of Durham, but became part of the North Riding a century ago.

Dean Inge was born there.

Which Yorkshire city has been known by three different names during the past 650 years?

Hull.

It was first called Wyke-upon-Hull, then under Edward I became Kingston- upon-Hull, and is at present simply Hull.

Which famous Yorkshire school stands upon land which was once the property of Guy Fawkes?

St. Peters School, York, where five members of the famous Gunpowder Plot were educated.

A school has occupied the site for 1,300 years.

What is the individual length of Yorkshires chief rivers?

The following list gives an approximate length in miles and includes the diversions and irregularities.

Which and where are Yorkshire's steepest roads and thoroughfares? (The location is given in brackets.)

Rosedale Chimney (North Riding) 1 in 3;
Staithes Hill (North Riding) 1 in 3.5;
Sutton Bank (Hambledon Hills) 1 in 3.8;
Park Rath (Kettlewell, Wharfedale) 1 in 4;
Wass Bank (Hambledon Hills)1 in 4.2;
Greenhow Hill (Pateley Bridge to Grassington) 1 in 4.5;
Blue Bank (Sleights) 1 in 5; Leathley Bank (Sleights) 1 in 5;
Lythe Bank (Saltburn to Whitby) 1 in 5.5;
Kidstone Pass (Buckden to Aysgarth) 1 in 6;
Jolly Sailor (Whitby to Guisborough) 1 in 6;
Ampleforth Beacon (Whitby to Guisborough) 1 in 6;
Cowley Hill (Rotherham to Penistone) 1 in 6;
Hopper Hill (Skipton to Harrogate) 1 in 6;
Ruswarp Bank (Whitby to Pickering) 1 in 6;
Garrowby Hill (York to Bridilington) 1 in 6.

Where in Yorkshire, according to legend, is a raven said to stand guard over a treasure chest?

Beneath the ruins of Guisborough Priory.

Here in a secret passage a raven is said to watch over a chest of gold.

It is related that on one occasion a daring character of the neighbourhood entered the passage and approached the chest and its guardian.
The bird instantly changed into the Devil, to the terror of the would-be-looter who fled in panic.

What and where is the dropping well?

The dropping well is constantly flowing sheet of water, which running down the face of a cliff flows into the Nidd at Knaresborough.

For a small fee objects may be hung under the stream of water in order, so it is believed, to turn them into stone.

In actual fact they are not petrified but receive a coating of calcium. Mother Shipton's cave is close by.

Where was tobacco grown on a large scale in Yorkshire?

During the 18th century tobacco was cultivated with success in the Vale of Pickering.

It came to an end as a result of government prohibition due to a loss of revenue.
The growers, for a time, ignored the government ban but at a length they were imprisoned and the crops were burned.
In addition heavy fines were imposed, totalling over £30,000.

Where is the Merrie city?

Wakefield, due to its citizens' love of sport and amusement.

Where can we find a lighthouse in the middle of the street?

At Withernsea, where the houses were built round the tower.

Where in Yorkshire stands a church erected in memory of someone murdered by brigands?

In the village of Skelton, four miles from Ripon.

The man was Fredrick Grantham Vyner of Newby Hall, who was captured by a party of brigands in Greece in April, 1870.
Other captives were set at liberty but Vyner was held on a ransom of £50,000, his capturers having learned something of his status.

The government, having refused a free pardon and sent a strong force of police to apprehend the free-booters, the prisoner was murdered before the arrival of the ransom money.

The church of Christ the Consoler was built by the murdered man's family in memory of their unfortunate son.

Where and what is the street of tombs?

It is part of the highway between York and Tadcaster and was once a Roman burial ground.

What and where is the Devil's punchbowl?

The valley on Saltersgate moor.

Legend has it that the Devil in removing earth and boulders for the construction of Blakely topping left the depression in the ground.

The real cause is due to underground springs.

Who rose from the humble office of stable-boy to that of Prime Minister?

Thomas Ward, who was born at Howley in 1809 and the son of a stud-groom.

In 1823 Ward was sent to Vienna to deliver some horses to the stables of Aloys Von Lichenstein and whose service the Yorkshire lad entered.

Being noticed by the Duke of Lucca he became valet de chambre to that gentleman in 1830 and quickly won his master's confidence as an astute and reliable servant.

So ably did Ward execute the missions entrusted to him that he was eventually offered a portfolio in the ducal service.
This honour Ward declined out of modesty, but later accepted an appointment as Minister of Finance, which office he filled with outstanding success.

Ward was finally made Prime Minister but in 1854, on the death of the Duke, Ward was banished by the nobleman's widow and returned to his native Yorkshire.

In spite of his rise in fortune, Ward remained simple, modest and direct. He died in 1858, aged 49.

Which Yorkshire village is associated with Indian love-songs?

Hampsthwaite, near Harrogate, where Amy Woodforde Finden, the well-known composer of the Indian love lyrics, was buried.

The church contains a beautifully-executed effigy of the composer in marble.

What famous naval engagement was fought near Flamborough?

An encounter in 1778 between Paul Jones, a Scot by birth and known as the founder of the American Navy, and two armed British vessels, the Serapis and the Countess of Scarborough.

The battle lasted three hours until Jones' ship, the Bonhomme Richard, came off the victor, seized the Serapis and took it to France.

The Americans lost 300 men in the engagement.

Who advertised for a wife and as a result was made the vicim of a matrimonial hoax?

A Mr. Winter, a Leeds gentleman, who in 1852 was made the victim of a clever hoax.

The gentleman received a perfumed billet-doux, supposedly penned by a coy maiden, a certain Miss Bailey, but actually contrived by a couple of jokers.

A correspondence resulted and a meeting was arranged to take place at the Bull and Mouth where an amazing scene was staged.

Mr. Winter was entirely deceived by the male impersonator in female attire, who was accompanied by a number of supposed relatives, brothers, uncles, cousins and a host of others.

The hoax having gone far enough, Mr. Winter was acquainted with the cold and brutal truth, after which, as a good-humoured ex-lover and sportsman, he entertained the entire party of hoaxers at his own expense.

Who pleaded poverty yet lived surrounded by stolen wealth?

Jonathon Clayton of Wistow, Selby, who died in 1850.

When a boy, Clayton had the misfortune to lose an arm in a gun accident and which, no doubt, due to some feeling of inferiority among his fellows, produced extreme eccentricity in his make-up.

Having inherited a little money on the death of a relative, Clayton opened a small school at Hambleton, four miles from Wistow, to which he walked each morning and returned by the same means at night.

He developed an extraordinary mania for collecting practically anything, and filled his home with such an odd miscellaneous collection as to have scarce room enough to find his bed.

After his death a vast amount of collected material was found in his house, most of which had been purloined during his nocturnal and predatory rambles.
The following list contains some of the articles stored in Clayton's home and which amounted to two large wagon loads :
A large quantity of hay, two tons of coal, two wagon loads of wood, 20 boys' whips, 50 brooms, a large number of mop sticks, six hatchets, 12 hammers, 60 pocket knives, a quantity of iron hoops and stables, a sackful of cow ties and halters, some gate posts, a pair of harrows, ploughshares, a cart wheel, posts, rails, a guide post, children's apparel, a bushel and a half of candles, fifty brooms, several spades, a quantity of linen, tops, balls, marbles, 18 farmers' whips, 18 plough harness, rakes and forks, 1 roll of silk, 5 rolls of cotton thread, a loaded pistol, dozens of old shoes, hundreds of scissors and thimbles, a set of china, soap, bottles of wine, rum, gin and brandy.

In addition Clayton had hoarded a considerable sum of cash in the form of sovereigns, spade sovereigns and seven shilling pieces.
The entire hoard of money amounted to £650.

Clayton had always posed as the poorest of men and told his neighbours that he feared the workhouse.
He left a letter, most of which was an expression of his sorrow at being rejected by a local maiden.

Who was the Yorkshire divine who readily forgave the thief who had stolen his plate?

Dr. Bentley, who was a native of Oulton, Leeds.

He possessed a stern but at the same time gentle character and was called familiarly "Slashing Bentley with his desperate hook."

A thief, having stolen Dr. Bentley's plate, was hauled before the council of the college and commissary Greaves expatiated at great length on the evil of the culprit's character.
He was interrupted by Dr. Bentley who remarked, "why tell the man he is a thief?" and addressing the offender said, " Hark ye, fellow. Thou seest the trade thou hast taken up is an unprofitable trade, say aside an occupation by which thou canst gain nothing but a halter, and follow that by which thou may'st earn an honest livelihood."

Dr. Bentley, against the wishes of all present, ordered the thief to be set at liberty, saying, "Go in piece and sin no more."

Who was the old lady who at 92, as an accomplishment, walked from Greenock to Truro, Cornwall?

A Mrs. Auston of Sheffield, who successfully walked at the age of 92 from Greenock, Scotland, to Truro in Cornwall.

She undertook a number of walks, some of which rivalled those of Foster Powell of Horsforth.