The Lambton Worm was a terrible dragon that haunted Lambton Hill and the surrounding area. Dark colored, fat and serpentine, it was slain by lord John Lambton.
The Legend[]
Once there was a lazy knight named John Lambton that spent most of his time sleeping and fishing. He was the heir to Lambton Hill. One Sunday, he went down to the river to fish instead of going to Church, but all he caught that day was a strange worm-like creature; a baby dragon. Disgusted, the knight threw his catch into the well and forgot about it, but the creature did not die; it only grew and grew until it became a dangerous adult dragon.
Soon, the dragon crawled out of its former prison looking for a new home and found one near Lambton Hill. It soon grew so large it could curl around the hill nine times. It then began to terrorize the neighborhood and in a short time it had eaten most of the sheep and cattle, as well as attacking the townsfolk, who were forced to placate it with gallons of milk. The lord of Lambton was appalled at his situation.
The young knight thought he should kill the beast and bring an end to his people's suffering, so he went to ask a witch for advice. The woman told him what to do, but warned him that he would have to kill the first living thing he saw after slaying the beast; otherwise, the lords of Lambton would be cursed for nine generations. Accordingly, Sir John made a plan; he would blow a horn upon his victory. When his father heard the sound, he would release a hound for his son to slay.
With that, the young heir of Lambton Hill had the local blacksmith make him a suit of armor covered in long, razor-sharp spikes. Thus armored, he set out to battle the dragon; as the witch predicted, the beast tried to crush him in its coils, but it only cut itself to pieces and fell into the river. With the dragon slain, Sir John blew the horn that signaled his victory; alas, his father was so excited that he forgot to release the hound. Instead, he ran to his son himself; unable to kill his father, Sir John turned away and slew the hound in his place. However, the curse was already upon them, and so the lords of Lambton suffered and died horribly, far from home for nine generations.