It fell on a dark and stormy night, as the sparks rose in the fire,
Two travellers came to the Fountaine Inn all stained with muck and mire,
They asked for bread, they asked for meat, as the storm outside did thunder,
And though their tongues spoke mild and sweet,
Their thoughts were bent on plunder....
Old Platts, the landlord of the inn, brought forth a jug of ale,
And with fine words and pleasantries, these men did him regale.
"We seek a farmer, hereabouts, he is a friend of mine,
Who has made himself a wealthy man growing flax for linens fine."
"He bade us come and visit him when we saw him at the fair,
But I's sure I do forget his name, or whither we should repair,"
"Perhaps Giles Daykin's who you seek,He dwells at Linton Hall,
Hard by the road for Skipton Town, Just knock and give a call!"
"Aye that we will!" the big man cried, A winking at his friend,
"But methinks we'll bide with you this night, until the storm does mend."
So there they lay till it was late and folks were all abed,
Till only old Platts by the dull peat fire in slumber dipped his head.
As the storm outside it ranted on, these men did a plan unfold,
To take Giles Daykin in his bed, and relieve him of his gold!
"We'll hide ourselves inside the flax that lies in Daykin's barn,
Then we can rob him as he sleeps ere he can do us harm!"
"But what if someone warns him there's a danger to his life?"
"They're all abed," the big man cried,"If not, I have my knife!"
They shook on their greatcoats, off they crept, into the dismal night,
But they did not see old Boniface Platts
Awake in the firelight..........
Now Daykin had always stood his friend, in hard times and in good,
And Platts resolved to warn him now as he rode home through the wood.
He ran out through the rocks and briars, and fields of sodden hay,
And when he saw Giles Daykin come,
These words to him did say!
STRYKE! STRYKE! THE DEVIL'S IN THE HEMP!
GILES DAYKIN STRYKE! Said he,
STRIKE FOR YOUR LIFE AND YOUR PRETTY LITTLE WIFE,
AND YOUR MONEY AND YOUR PROPERTY!!!
"Why tis you old Boniface, why stir you at this hour?
What mean you with these words so strange,
And your looks so grim and dour!"
"I may not tell!" The landlord cried, "Lest my life I do betray,
But as you are a friend of mine please heed these words I say!"
Well Daykin's tethered up his horse, and he's tiptoed down the road,
Til he heard two voices whispering in the barn by his abode.
Now Daykin's away to Linton Green as fast as he can fly,
To rouse the village from its sleep and take them where they lie.
"Oh robbery! O knavery! Rise up good folks and see,
Two footpads are hiding in my flax, they are lying in wait for me!"
Soon a mighty host was marching, in anger and alarm,
And they caught the rogues in Daykin's flax,
And they dragged them from the barn.
They tore the clothes from these two men,
And they kicked and they knocked them down,
Then they tarred and feathered them,
And they whipped them from the town.
So now my story it is told, and that's the reason why,
Where ere the arms of Daykin hang,
This motto you'll espy:-
STRYKE! STRYKE! THE DEVIL'S IN THE HEMP!
GILES DAYKIN STRYKE! Said he,
STRIKE FOR YOUR LIFE AND YOUR PRETTY LITTLE WIFE,
AND YOUR MONEY AND YOUR PROPERTY!!!
This song is derived from a story in Sutcliffe’s ‘Striding Dales’ and explains how the Daykin Family of Linton came by its unusual family motto.
Jim Jarratt. Mytholmroyd. 2006
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Copyright Jim Jarratt. 2006