Folklore - The Simonside Dwarves.
A Duergar, he is not happy…
In Northumberland, in England’s North East, not far from the market town of Rothbury can be found the Simonside Hills, an area of highland that stands about 300 to 400 meters (980–1,310 feet) above sea level. Tossun Hill is the highest point in the area at nearly 440 meters (1,444 ft).
The origin of the name ‘Simonside’ is much speculated on, one 13th Century document refers to the hills as Simundessete. The name may be a corruption of Sigemund's seat, Sigemeund being an old Germanic hero from ‘The Song of the Nibelungs’ an epic poem written around 1200 AD in Middle High German. An alternative explanation for the name is a corruption of "seaman's sight", as it is alleged that they are visible from the North Sea.
Whatever the truth of the names origins it is undoubtedly a dangerous area, with precipices and bogs ready to claim the life of any traveller and, as if this were not bad enough, the unwary rambler must also contend with a supernatural threat, that of the Simonside Dwarves.
The Simonside Dwarves, also referred to as the Duergar are a mythical race from English folklore, said to dwell in the hills. Malevolent beings, it is thought they emerge at dusk, using lighted torches to led solitary wanderers off the path and into dangerous locations.
Accounts
One account tells of a traveller who, seeking refuge from the bitter night wind, found a small hut with a fire within. He was joined by a grumpy, diminutive figure, who sat with him in silence, although nervous, the exhausted man was eventually able to find sleep, but when he awoke at dawn he discovered both the hut and the figure had vanished, leaving him alone and perilously close to a cliff's edge.
Another tale describes a man who went searching for the little fellows. As he wandered the moors it became dark and he called out for a light, much to his surprise one appeared on a distant rise, he moved towards it, but then remembering how dangerous it was to follow such enchanted globes. He tossed a clod of earth into a bog, causing a splash. The light went out.
Happy to have deceived the dwarves he called out, mocking them (very unwise) in a moment he found himself surround by a group of mean looking Duergar, all carrying clubs, he fainted in shock. When he woke the dwarves had gone, and badly shaken, he made his way home.
In a third story two men had been out hunting in the hills, they stopped to eat by the shelter of a rock. They recounted being approached by a short man dressed in clothes the colour of bracken. He asked them if they knew who he was, to which they replied “the Lord of the Manor”, and offered to hand over the birds they’d shot that morning. The dwarf declined, claiming to be a vegetarian, and invited the two men to join him at his home for a meal. Wisely, and politely, they refused, and quickly headed back to Rothbury where they recounted their tale at a local tavern, The Landlord praised their decision not to accompany the little man. After all, the Simonside dwarves enjoyed.luring humans into their lairs, where they would murder and then devoured them.
One local man from Thropton recalled that as a boy in the late 1950s, and early 1960s he was often told not to cross to the Simonside of the river after dark because the little people might come down by Little Tosson and get him. He always put this down to stopping him wandering too far, but as he grew older he started to wonder… He was also told of people dancing in the dark in strange ceremonies.
Finally another witness from the area stated "I have been told they are most active in April, so you missed high season by a month! A friend told me of something that happened to a man he knows, several years ago - he swears it's true...
‘There were accounts of a witches' coven that used to go up to Simonside in the seventies, and the rumours were they danced naked round a fire - all very scandalous. So after a night of boozing in the pub, this local man decided to go up there and spy on them. He saw lights in the distance and snuck up on the small group, but as he got closer he was terrified to see their faces were ugly and mangled and far from being young, nubile women, they were in fact, dwarves. They saw him and gave chase, he ran for all he was worth and made it back to his car. As he struggled to get his key into the ignition in the dark, all he could hear was the scraping of long fingernails on the car windows...he lived to tell the tale, however.’
Thank you for taking the time to read this blog my friend. A big thanks to Deborah Hatswell of Being Believed Research for the witness reports, please take the time to visit her excellent website, link below.
Until next time, stay spooky.
