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The Drummer Boy

Select here for some photos of the May 2001 Drummer Boy Walk.

The Legend

The Drummer Boy   According to legend, an underground passage connects Richmond Castle with Easby Abbey. The Abbey is about a mile away from the Castle, along the banks of the River Swale.

The legend maintains that many years ago, possibly at the end of the eighteenth century, some soldiers discovered an opening to a tunnel under the Keep of the Castle.   As they were too large to crawl into it themselves, they selected one of the small Regimental drummer boys to be lowered through a narrow crevice into a vault.   He was told to continue along the passage beating his drum as he went.   Guided by the sound of the drumming, the soldiers were to follow his course above the ground, and so plot the route.

The sound of the drum was heard clearly as he proceeded down the tunnel.   It led the soldiers away from the Castle, across the Market Place in the direction of Frenchgate, and along the River Swale towards Easby.

When the soldiers reached Easby Wood, half a mile from the Abbey, the drumming ceased.   A carved stone stands today to mark the spot, and is called the "Drummer Boy Stone" by the local people.   The drummer boy was never seen again.   Perhaps the roof had fallen in?   The mystery has never been solved.

(Right) two walkers inspect the Drummer Boy Stone on the walk leading to Easby Abbey.   "The Drummer Boy Stone"
 
(Right) The inscription at the base of the Drummer Boy Stone.   The Drummer Boy Stone Inscription

It is believed that the legendary tunnel was constructed in medieval times as an escape route to the castle for the Abbot and Canons of the Abbey in case of an attack from the Scots, who were continually making raids into the northern counties of England.

Nowadays, the visitor to Richmond can follow the supposed route of the tunnel along the Drummer Boy Walk.   This is a 3 mile (5 km) circuit starting at the Market Place in Richmond. The walk goes via Frenchgate, St. Mary's Church, and the banks of the River Swale (passing the Drummer Boy Stone) to easby Abbey.   The walk returns back along the old railway track to Richmond Castle.

If you visit the Green Howards Museum you make pick up a leaflet there which provides a map and description of this walk. Following the walk is an excellent way of seeing, at a leisurely pace, the delights of the market town of Richmond, Yorkshire.

The legend of the Drummer Boy is commemorated every year by the people of Richmond, who organise a walk led by a local school child dressed in the uniform of the Drummer Boy, loaned from the Green Howards Museum.
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