Uncle Tatters' story:
Branscombe's Loaf and Cheese --- Dartmoor
There is a small granite capped hill, high on Sourton Common and close to don
Reservoir, called Branscombe's Loaf. By chance, or a 'slice' of good luck, it
has a lovely little story to explain its origin.
In the late thirteenth century Walter Bronescombe or Branscombe was Bishop of
Exeter. His diocese stretched across the length and breadth of Devon and
Cornwall and, from time to time, he had to travel around the area.
Now, on one particular occasion, whilst accompanied by his chaplain, he strayed
from the King Way, the road from Okehampton to Tavistock, and became lost in the
mist. As the time passed by and the mist persisted, the Bishop and his chaplain
developed hunger pangs and, as one is wont to say in these circumstances,
declared they "would give anything for a bite to eat". Miraculously, to their
profound relief, a stranger materialized out of the mist and approached them.
The old man, with a skeletal face and frame, produced some bread and cheese. The
Bishop was just about to accept this kind offering when the chaplain let out a
warning yell. He had spotted that the moorman's foot was cloven, absolute proof
that it was the Evil One Himself confronting them. The uneaten bread and cheese
dropped to the ground and immediately turned into the rocks of that name today.
The mist duly lifted and the Bishop and his chaplain went on their way none the
worse for wear, still with rumbling tummies, but infinitely grateful that they
hadn't been obliged to pay the ultimate price for the devilish waiter service.
Shan <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/alien.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
