Linton Worm

What it is

A worm in this old sense means a serpent or dragon, not the earthworm of a garden. The Linton Worm is a beast of Borders legend, said to have made its home at Linton in Roxburghshire. One writer of the 12th century put its length at three Scots yards, said it was thicker than a man's leg, and compared its shape and colour to the adders found on the moors. It was said to be too tough for any weapon, and people told of it ruining the countryside around its den.

The legend

According to the story, the creature stayed in its den and came out at dusk and dawn. It ate crops, farm animals and people, and the land around it was left in ruin. Nothing thrown or swung at it did any good. The place where it was said to lie is still called the Worm's Den, a dip in the ground on Linton Hill in Roxburghshire, in the Scottish Borders. The tale has been told since the 12th century, and in shape it is close to the Lambton Worm of north-east England.

Killing the worm

John de Somerville, laird of Lariston, was in the south when news of the beast reached him. He rode to Jedburgh, heard what local people said, and watched the worm for himself. He noticed that it opened its mouth wide to swallow whatever came near, but when something was too big to swallow it simply stayed still with its jaws apart. A blacksmith made him a spear sheathed in iron, with a wheel at the tip to carry a lump of peat soaked in tar and brimstone. He practised on horseback so his horse would not shy at the smoke, then attacked at dawn.

Signs and memory

Riding a horse made him too large for the worm to swallow, so he charged as if in a joust and drove the burning lance down its open throat. The creature's death throes were said to shape the hills around, in an area that took the name Wormington, before it crawled back into its den to die, the ground falling in and covering it. A carved stone at Linton Kirk is said to remember him. He was made Royal Falconer, knighted, and named First Baron of Linton; the Somerville crest shows a wyvern on a wheel.

Similar stories

Other places in Britain tell of worms and dragons killed in much the same way. The Lambton Worm of north-east England is the closest parallel in the sources, and the Orkney folklorist Ernest Marwick noted that the Stoor worm of Orkney was also destroyed with burning peat, as the Linton Worm was. Two further tales, the Laidly Worm of Spindleston Heugh and the Sockburn Worm, are listed with it. Taken together they show a shared way of telling such stories across the north.

When and where

The story belongs to the Scottish Borders and above all to Linton in Roxburghshire, where the Worm's Den and the stone at Linton Kirk are pointed out. Jedburgh appears in the tale as the village where de Somerville heard the news of the beast.

What Linton Worm means

For the people of the Borders the tale ties a hero to the shape of their own hills: the Worm's Den and the stone at Linton Kirk are places a person can still visit. John de Somerville is said to have been made Royal Falconer, knighted, and named First Baron of Linton, and the family crest, a wyvern on a wheel, keeps the burning spear in mind.

Questions people ask about Linton Worm

See also

The BurrymanA man clad in burdock burrs walks a Scottish town for a day, bringing luck as he goesShoe throwingThe act of hurling footwear for sport, wedding luck, protest or overhead display.Need-fireA ritual fire kindled by friction to ward off cattle plague, disease and harmFairy-locksA folk belief that fairies and spirits tangle the hair of sleeping children and animals.

Good reading and sources

• Worm of Linton on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-09.