Money.
Cash: it has been burning a hole in my nine-year old son’s pocket, ever since several generous benefactors donated to the worthy cuse that was his birthday.
Felix likes to count money; I think it helps him dream about money. Phil collected his cash and put it in the bank, to prevent him sleeping on it and turning inadvertently into some small variety of dragon overnight.
The thought of the money, however, has been a constant pleasure to Felix. He loves Things; they attract him; and spending the princely birthday coffers was effortless.
He has a brand new computer consul, and I felt sure he would want to spend all his money on games to fuel its voracious appetite.
Not so. Felix examined every square inch of the toy shop and in a distant corner he unearthed something I never thought to see.
It was the most perfect stuffed dragon: longer than a little boy’s arm and covered in silver and red and gold scales. Its beady eyes have a reptilian detachment to them, and one feels that at any moment its wings might spread and it might make itself airborne.
A dragon has come to stay, the dog is certain. He is unhappy about this: it is the second major change in a week, what with the cat disappearing. A dog simply can’t relax with ancient mythical creatures making overtures at one. The cat would have seen him off, the dog is sure.
The domestic dragon is no stranger to English households. There were times, our lore insists, when small dragons made themselves known to housewives. But like rats, the housewives and the dragons were not on the best of terms.
They were far too happy to camp out in your well and makes a nuisance of themselves at water-drawing time.
Like the dragon at Hughenden.
The Hughenden dragon was part of the wallpaper in the village outside HIgh Wycombe in Buckinghamshire. My tale comes from an old gentleman’s magazine from the eighteenth century., after research by historian Alan Cleaver.
So there was this farmstead, back in 1578: facts point to it being the property of the Knight’s Templar until Henry VIII redistributed the wealth of the religious.
The lady of the place was accustomed to getting her water from a farm pond. But one day she went as usual to collect her water for the day: and a serpent of uncommon size was there to greet her. Far from eating her up for breakfast – which would be a short term measure for a creature of such wily strategy – it is said the creature ‘made advances towards her.’
Who knows what this might mean? Sure, it alarmed the lady; but advances could have been anything from brandishing a knife and fork to making overtures of friendship. Or more.
He was a bit unsightly for her tastes: she chatted it over with her friends.
Never mind, they said. Go and stand at the side of the pond and we’ll jump out when it comes to make overtures.
She did just that, and they rushed out and shot the poor scaly creature. And then, what is more ignominious, they stuffed it with straw and hung it outside the farmhouse for gawpers to stare at.
Not the way to treat a bona fide dragon.
Decades later, when the hide disintegrated, someone drew a picture of the creature on the wall inside. The drawing had wings and legs, which made even locals pooh-pooh the tale. But such was the power of a well-told story that the painting was preserved and refurbished for centuries, until a gentleman called Edgar Bochart heard of it, in 1758, investigated, and wrote a letter on the subject to his favoured publication, The Gentlman’s Magazine.
Let us hope or dragon’s stay is immeasurably more illustrious.
Kate Shrewsday 
Well.. that’s just fascinating, isn’t it?? So, if I’m reading correctly.. there may have been dragons at one time? I’d sure like to believe so.. and lucky Felix.. he’s got one of his own now:)
The ‘may’ is a very loose one indeed, Smidge: it’s amazing what a few glasses of mead will do for the imagination. There are other similar legends about the same pond where a woman and her children are killed by a serpent…it’s too long ago to be able to investigate any of the tales with any effectiveness….
Felix made a good choice. The look on Macaulay’s face is priceless.
He strongly disapproves, Kathy 🙂
Yours is certainly a handsome dragon, one any lady would regard as an attractive addition to her circle (unlike the shabby ugly beastie from Hughenden). Your son has taste in these matters
He does, Sidey. Only the handsomest dragons for him 🙂
Interesting choice made by Felix. As a mom, it must be wonderful to be fooled by these young people you’ve guided through life! Love the dog’s expression…”I’m sharing the spotlight with this?”
I know. He is not amused, Amy 😀
What a face on that poor dog! 🙂
He is less than enchanted, IE 🙂
I am a sucker for myths and legends and thoroughly enjoyed your dragon story! Can imagine what dog is thinking 🙂
Glad you enjoyed the story, Madhu. It’s a strange one.
I’m quite glad I don’t know what the dog is thinking right now…
Oh I want that dragon!!!
Cool, isn’t he, Julia!
Ah, yes, dragons! A comforting addition to any household. And does this dragon have a name? Here’s a suggestion
http://chittlechattle.com/2011/01/16/pongo/
Alas, his name has already been chosen and Pongo will have to wait for the next dragon, Myfanwy 😀 He is called Stoorworm.
Spud was mad about dragons at the same age. Megablocks happened to bring out a great range of affordable dragons around that time and he had them all over his room. He would play for hours.
They catch the imagination of little boys, don’t they, Tilly?
Good looking dragon for young Master Felix and poor Macaulay looks like he just wants it all to go away.
He would feel much happier of the dragon moved out, Lou!
I’m fascinated by dragons as well Kate… and wyverns. Images and statues of them appear all over the place, so something (or something similar) must have existed to get the tales going. I like to think that they still do exist, only they are very careful and keep themselves very well hidden…
I always wondered if they were some collective ancient memory of dinosaurs, sparked by all the bones around, Tom. I suppose we will never know…
“One map from 1430 has this text written above a ferocious creature: ‘Here also are huge men having horns four feet long, and there are serpents also of such magnitude that they can eat an ox whole’.
Medieval mapmakers, with their limited knowledge of distant lands and uncharted seas, sometimes depicted dragons on the far edges of their maps.”
“The Lenox Globe (in the collection of the New York Public Library) bears the phrase ‘HC SVNT DRACONES’ (i.e. ‘ hic sunt dracones ‘) on the eastern coast of Asia,
Above text (and much, MUCH more about all things Dragon) can be found here: http://www.draconian.com/home/frameset.htm
Who knew?
P.S. Poor, pitiful pup!!
‘Here Be Dragons!’, they warned “.
Wonderful site, Karen! I’too’ used to love those old dragon illustrations on maps and old manuscripts. Just beautiful things.
Well, that got garbled at the end…..the last line belongs before the line “Above text….” Tsk, tsk, Karen!
I’m presently reading “His Majesty’s Dragon,” so like Felix, I am fascinated with the mythic creatures at present. In the book, they talk and read and fight Napoleon in aerial assaults. I heartily approve of his choice. 🙂
a beautiful dragon (no matter what the dog says), & much easier on the eyes than any computer game I’ve ever seen or heard of 😉
Dear Kate, is Felix a Harry Potter fan? Dragons play a significant role in Book 4–“The Goblet of Fire”–and in Book 7–“The Deathly Hallows.”
Peace.
Oh, it’s a beautiful dragon. Gold. Silver. Red. And quite intimidating.
And a belated birthday wish for Felix. Good choice of birthday gift.
What a priceless photo! I love the dragon, too, and think Mac has some serious thinking going on! It is fascinating to think of the lore attached to dragons, and you have me wondering what I really know of the dragon’s presence through history and into literature and art. I don’t think I know much, quite frankly. I’ve taken the dragon somewhat for granted…the poor specimen has just always been with us and I haven’t paid him is due! Did you ever see the old Disney movie Pete’s Dragon (Helen Reddy)? I used to love that one with my children. It’s probably very dated, but Felix might like it! Debra
It is an amazing dragon! So nice to see a child choosing something other than a computer game as a gift 🙂
If you could hold the dragon you would know exactly why, Tandy 🙂
Ah, there be dragons here as well, Kate, in a little blue covered book I have had for forty or more years. You remind me of it here. It is called “The Dragon in the Clock Box” and is about a young boy who takes a box that recently held a new clock, tapes it up, and then tends to it like a bird to her nest, for, you see, inside the box is a baby dragon egg and all the hopes and dreams of a young boy. I love Felix’s dragon and sense of fun and imagination – and maybe Mac knows something we don’t know.