Q WHAT is the connection between Raby Castle and King Canute? - Bill Hutchinson, Chester-le-Street.

A KING Canute came to England in 1013 with the invading force of his father, King Swein Forkbeard of Denmark. Forkbeard declared himself King of England but died at York during the invasion and was succeeded by Canute in 1014.

There is no proven connection between Raby Castle and King Canute, (994-1035) except that Canute is known to have owned a mansion in the Staindrop area. Staindrop is so close to Raby Castle and was historically the estate village for the castle, so it is reasonable to assume that Canute's residence could have been located at Raby itself.

The oldest part of Raby castle is the lower part of the Bulmer tower, which is thought to date from the late Viking period, the period associated with Canute. Interestingly, Raby has a Viking name, meaning village or farm with roe deer. Another suggestion is that the name Raby derives from an old Viking name meaning boundary village.

King Canute owned Staindrop and some of the neighbouring, Viking- seized land in what is now south Durham. Canute returned the lands around Staindrop, known as Staindropshire to the Bishops of Durham in 1031 when he invaded the North-East to put down a rebellion, but it wasn't his first visit to the region. In 1027 he had visited the shrine of St Cuthbert in Durham city. The shrine was at that time located in an Anglo-Saxon Cathedral or 'minster' at Durham. this minster had been built around 1000AD, almost a century before the present cathedral had been built.

A LAST week a number of readers responded to Mrs Harrison's question regarding Tiger Nuts. Mr Donald Ferguson, whose mother came from Middleton-in-Teesdale, also asked about Pig Nuts, but again we drew a blank. Mary Dawson of Whitby suggests that there may be some connection between pig nuts and what she called Yennets as a child. These grew from what Mary describes as a 'smart plant with a slender stem and carrot-like leaves sporting a white flower'. More than 80 years ago, Mary and her brother used to dig from them the ground to eat.

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Published 09/09/2002