Spottee was a character from the eighteenth century, thought to be a stranded French sailor, who after living rough and begging, found a
Sea cave, north of the
River Wear
The River Wear (, ) in North East England rises in the Pennines and flows eastwards, mostly through County Durham to the North Sea in the City of Sunderland. At long, it is one of the region's longest rivers, wends in a steep valley through th ...
estuary, to the north of
Sunderland
Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...
, and which he made his home.
Legend
Some rumours say that he was thought to be a stranded foreign sailor (some say French) who could not speak English. Other tales tell of his ship being wrecked on the rocks along the
Roker coast and as he couldn't afford to rebuild it he became, in effect, shipwrecked. As he could not speak the language he could not converse with the locals, Spottee was thought by some to be a poor lunatic, and is so referred to in
The Bishoprick Garland by (Sir)
Cuthbert Sharp.
He earned his name from the spotted shirt he wore.
He set up his home in a cave, which eventually bore his name, becoming
Spottee’s Cave Spottee’s Cave is a cave formed in a limestone-magnesium ravine on the seafront of Roker, North East England, between Sunderland (to the south), and Whitburn (to the north).
Geology
The geology of this area of the Sunderland seafront dates ba ...
. He earned his living by begging and doing odd jobs for local farmers.
Rumour has it that he eventually died in the cave and his ghost has been spotted on stormy nights warning ships to stay away from the rocks, or alternatively that he (and now his ghost) lured ships onto the rocks and that his cave was a place of evil. The cave still retains the name of
Spottee’s Cave Spottee’s Cave is a cave formed in a limestone-magnesium ravine on the seafront of Roker, North East England, between Sunderland (to the south), and Whitburn (to the north).
Geology
The geology of this area of the Sunderland seafront dates ba ...
over two hundred years after he was considered by locals as the “boggle bo” of the children of
Sunderland
Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...
and
Whitburn.
The story of Spottee appears in
The Bishoprick Garland by (Sir)
Cuthbert Sharp.
Recording
A recording of the song is available on YouTub
here
See also
*
Geordie dialect words
Geordie () is a nickname for a person from the Tyneside area of North East England, and the dialect used by its inhabitants, also known in linguistics as Tyneside English or Newcastle English. There are different definitions of what constitute ...
*
Cuthbert Sharp
*
The Bishoprick Garland 1834 by Sharp
*
Spottee’s Cave Spottee’s Cave is a cave formed in a limestone-magnesium ravine on the seafront of Roker, North East England, between Sunderland (to the south), and Whitburn (to the north).
Geology
The geology of this area of the Sunderland seafront dates ba ...
References
External links
The Bishoprick Garland 1834 by SharpSpottee and his cave
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spottee
People from the City of Sunderland
Geordie songwriters
Northumbrian folklore