A D Day

One of those dark, dank, dismal, drizzly days that we specialise in - in the north. So a sombre picture to match.

This is the Giant’s Grave in Penrith Churchyard. Legend has it that beneath these stones is buried a giant of a man - Ewan Caesarius, King of all Cumbria in the fifth century, at the time of the Saxons. Said to be fifteen feet tall, the same length as the grave, he had a reputation for slaying robbers and wild boars. There are many stories around this giant and obviously some confusion may have arisen along the way. Some say he was a benevolent and pleasant man; others that he was very rude and inhospitable.

Giant Ewan is also part of the Arthurian legend. When King Arthur came to stay in Carlisle, he heard about the notorious giant who was terrorising the countryside. There are several stories centred around their encounters, including one where Arthur was given the task of answering the riddle: ‘What is it woman loves best?’ Of course we could all have told him the answer: ‘Woman loveth her own will best!’

Legend has it that Giant Ewan met his fate in a great battle with another giant at King Arthur’s Round Table, Eamont Bridge, just outside Penrith. He was buried in the churchyard and his grave has four Norse hog-back tomb covers said to represent four wild boars killed by Ewan in Inglewood Forest. At either end of the grave are two crosses, which are round at the base and square at the top. These are ten and eleven feet high and are carved with patterns and serpents.

What truth there is in all this, I cannot say!