Jingling Geordie's Hole is a

cave Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...

that has inspired a

legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess certain qualities that give the ...

Tynemouth Tynemouth () is a coastal town in the metropolitan borough of North Tyneside, in Tyne and Wear, England. It is located on the north side of the mouth of the River Tyne, England, River Tyne, hence its name. It is east-northeast of Newcastle up ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. The cave is between King Edward's Bay and

Tynemouth Castle Tynemouth Priory and Castle is a historic site located on a promontory at the mouth of the Tyne at Tynemouth. The medieval Benedictine priory was protected by walls, towers, and a gatehouse. The heraldry of the metropolitan borough of North Tyn ...

. It was originally known as "Jingling Man's Hole", the "Geordie" being a later addition. Jingling Geordie is reputed to have been a 17th-century pirate and smuggler who used the cave as a lookout for incoming ships. This gave him advance opportunity to lie in wait at the nearby Black Middens where he would lure the ships onto the rocks with lanterns placed to look like boats waiting safely at anchor. He would then plunder the strewn cargoes and hide his booty away in a labyrinth of tunnels running beneath the Castle. Legend has it that Jingling Geordie still had fetters fixed around his legs and the chains rattled everywhere he went. Supposedly the jingle can still be heard on some evenings around the castle walls as his ghost stalks the cliffs keeping a watch over the headland.

Location

Jingling Geordie’s Cave can be described as follows: Tynemouth Castle lies perched on a promontory surrounded on three sides by cliffs which drop for about to the sea below. The cliffs on the south side mark the uppermost point of the mouth of the River Tyne and slope at the bottom into a little beach called the Priors' Haven. The north cliffs overlook a small sandy bay which stretches for about . Carved into these cliffs, about halfway up, is a perfectly rectangular window that looks out across the bay and gives a wide view of the North Sea. The window is about high by wide. Getting down to this lookout point requires crawling down a steep zigzag path about a foot wide. At the entrance of the cave is a narrow gap between the cliff on the left and part of the castle wall which stretches upwards for about to the walkway above. It is in this wall that the window is cut, while on the other side there is a very small hole which was formerly the tunnel entrance but was blocked off some years ago to stop people venturing down there. All that is left is a slit about a foot long and a couple of inches wide. A torch can be shone down this hole but nothing can be made out.

Legends

Local legend says that the cave conceals a fabulous amount of

treasure Treasure (from from Greek ''thēsauros'', "treasure store") is a concentration of wealth — often originating from ancient history — that is considered lost and/or forgotten until rediscovered. Some jurisdictions legally define what constit ...

. This inspired a further legend that a boy named Walter went to look for the treasure when his mother told him the story. He resolved to make the finding of the treasure his "quest" as part of his knighthood. He began the quest on the Eve of St John (24 June, traditionally the day before

Midsummer Midsummer is a celebration of the season of summer, taking place on or near the date of the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere; the longest Daytime, day of the year. The name "midsummer" mainly refers to summer solstice festivals of Eu ...

). Sir Walter is said to have entered the cave and ignored the

spectre Spectre, specter or the spectre may refer to: Religion and spirituality * Vision (spirituality) * Apparitional experience * Ghost Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Spectre'' (1977 film), a made-for-television film produced and writt ...

and

dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...

that attempted to distract him. He discovered a gateway with a

bugle The bugle is a simple signaling brass instrument with a wide conical bore. It normally has no valves or other pitch-altering devices, and is thus limited to its natural harmonic notes, and pitch is controlled entirely by varying the air a ...

hanging from a golden cord. He blew the bugle three times, which caused the doors of the gateway to open to reveal a large and brightly lit hall. The hall was supported by pillars of

jasper Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/or cryptocrystalline chalcedony and other mineral phases, is an opaque, impure variety of silica, usually red, yellow, brown or green in color; and rarely blue. The common red color is due to ...

and

crystal A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macros ...

, with gold lamps illuminating piles of gold and gems. The treasures were removed by Sir Walter and he became a wealthy landowner, called "the Lord of a Hundred Castles". The legend is mentioned in a folk song, which ends with the lines :Gold heaped upon gold, and emeralds green :And diamonds and rubies, and sapphires untold :Rewarded the courage of Walter the Bold.

References

FullTextArchive.com
accessed 26 June 2019.

accessed 11 January 2006.
Google Books - The Gentleman's Magazine
accessed 11 January 2006.

Location

Legends

References

Further reading