Once upon a time, a King and a Queen lived happily at Bamborough Castle with their son, Childe Wynd, and daughter, Margaret. Childe Wynd went to seek his fortune in the world. Sometime later, the Queen died. The King was sad but he met a beautiful lady while out hunting and married her. When he brought the new Queen home, Margaret was not too happy, but she welcomed her stepmother courteously. At that moment, one of the courtiers remarked how beautiful Margaret was. The new Queen was consumed by envy and anger. Unknown to the King, she was a witch and she determined to destroy Princess Margaret and her beauty. That night, she went secretly into one of the dungeons and, using her dark arts, she cursed Margaret that she might turn into a horrible dragon! In the morning, when Margaret’s maids came to wake her up, they ran out shrieking, for they found a terrible dragon!
The Sorcerer’s Advice
The dragon that was Margaret crept out of the palace and went to a rock known as the Spindleston Heugh and coiled itself around it. The dragon was hungry and began to eat whatever it could find in the countryside. It came to be known as the Ugly Worm of Spindleston Heugh. People were so frightened and disturbed that they went to a sorcerer and asked him about the dragon. He found out through his wizardry that it was actually Princess Margaret who had been transformed into a dragon by her wicked stepmother. If she were fed regularly, the dragon would not trouble anyone. So, seven cows were milked every day and the milk placed in a trough for the dragon. It stopped harassing the people of the kingdom. The sorcerer told them that she could return to her real self if they brought her brother home, for then the witch’s spell would break.
Childe Wynd Comes Home
The citizens sent word to Childe Wynd about his sister and he swore to rescue her and destroy his evil stepmother. He built a ship made of a rowan tree that breaks magical spells. With thirty-three knights he set sail to return to his kingdom, where his father, the King had died. The Queen knew that Childe Wynd was returning and she sent her wicked imps and goblins to stop his ship. But they failed because the rowan wood kept them away! Then she sent soldiers to prevent Childe Wynd from landing. She also bewitched the Ugly Worm to sit at the harbour, to frighten away the Prince. The dragon was forced to attack and drive away the ship each time it tried to enter the harbour. Finally, Childe Wynd sailed to the next bay and landing there, he and his knights fought a grim battle with the Queen’s soldiers.
The Revenge
As soon as Childe Wynd had touched the shores of his own kingdom, the witch’s magic had stopped working. She ran into the castle with her evil companions to hide. The Ugly Worm sat waiting on the shore, and when Childe Wynd would have killed it, he heard the dragon speak in Margaret’s voice! At first the Prince was puzzled wondering if this was one of the witch’s tricks. But when Margaret spoke again, he went up to the dragon and kissed it three times. The spell broke and Margaret was transformed into her real self! Wrapping his cloak around her, the Prince led his sister back to the castle. He found the Queen cowering in her chamber and touched her with a rowan twig. She was changed into a hideous toad and hopped out of the castle! Childe Wynd was crowned the King and Margaret was safe and happy again.
