Commentary # 1

"...Basically Robert Lambe was born in 1712

In the fall of 1747 he is listed in the subscription book of the Bishop of Durham
as being appointed the vicar of Norham upon Tweed and the curate of the
chappel of st hilds

In 1764 he wrote the first english book on chessplaying,and a reprint was
done in 1765

According to some,the massive upheaval and relocation of the rural population
caused by the Industrial Revolution left people lost,without a anchor,and
there was a need for people to reconnect to their heritage and culture.

Hence when a young scottish man published a set of gaellic poems by a
bard named Oisin in 176,people rushed to snap up the book.Apparently
Oisin's poetry had been preserved in oral folklore over a 1000 years,and
offered people the cultural family tree they needed during the Industrial
Revolution.

Despite hints the young scots had fabricated Oisin and his anciet gaellic heritage,the demand remained.Apparently 18th century man would not
let a minor thing such as lack of archaaeology,documents,etc stand in
the way of providing a cultural history for the people.

It appears Robert Lambe took a leaf from Oisin and his scots
discoveror and discovered "Duncan Frasier",a local Berwick bard from about
1270AD .Robert Lambe was plugged into 18th intelligentsia society and
knew Thomas Percy,a deacon born a decade after Robert .

The archives of Thomas Percy are a collection of ballads and other cultural
scraps people from around the country sent him.About 6-10 documents
list as the source Robert Lambe,and are the supposed Duncan Frasier
ballad "The Laidly Worm of Spindleston Haughs"

Apparently the local Berwick dialect is called "geordie' and even in
the 2oth century there is a music industry that produces Geordie tunes.

Back in the 1770's R Lambe appeared to have discovered the rich geordie
heritage of the locals,thanks to Duncan Frasier.

Robert Lambes other major cultural discovery is
"The Battle of Flodden Field",a lost manuscript connected to some
Elizabethan era battle.

Robert Lambe's books suggest he knew his arabian and classical greek and
roman history,at least as it related to chess.

The Flodden Field book also contains his comments on
Pope,as well as the need to children to upgrade their literary
skills.

Berwick society remembered him as a eccentric,who forgot to show
up for his own wedding.However he and the jilted bride did marry in
the end.

He died in 1795

It took a few decades after his death before the notion that Duncan Frasier
was another Oisin to gain general acceptance.Even in 1835
when John William MacKay penned his version of the laidly worm ( a
anglo saxon) tale for issue 46 of Tales of the Border,it appeared MacKay
was not aware that laidly Worm was probably not a genuine anglo saxon era
folktale.

( very probably,the source is the events of Edward I,his wife Isabella
and the issues thay had with Robert the Bruce around 1312AD but with names
and times changed to a centuries earlier conflict)
(Probably Robert Lambe 's discovery is a major rewrite of Kempion and
Kempe Owyne)

According to the source on John William MacKay,the area he
grew up in ,Berwick<was a intensely religious culture.Since
Robert Lambe moved about in Berwick's social circles,one can
reasonavly suppose Lambe and the Laidly Worm readers of
1770-1811 had very little in common with todays
furry/fetish tf community.

Being a chess player,I suspect Robert Lambe would be
most likely be found frequenting todays tf-RPG boards

The modern laidly worm appears to have surfaced in the character
of the dragon princess ghost in Butch Hartmann's animated series
"Danny Phantom"

The scottish lady appears in episodes "Parental Bonding"
"Prisoners of Love" the episode involving the ghosts battling it
out with the ultimate evil in the ghost zone and most recently in
"Beauty Marked"

Parental Bonding-the whole parental conflict theme relates to the
parental conflict of the laidly worm tailtype

Prisoners of Love-the dragons appearance seems more economical use of
cels than any great message,however the theme of this episode does
have some connection to the laidly worm taletype

The Ultimate Evil episode-apparently the dragon is paired up with a browner/
nerd/geek 1950's ghost boy.also chess is mentioned.All themes connected
in some way to the Laidly Worm tale type.(R Lambes connection to
chess?)

Beauty Marked this episode deals with womens rights.The laidly worm these days is most often found in University level research papers by women on
women.So no big surprise why Butch Hartmann aimed "Beauty Marked"
at the women of today.

So very probably Butch Hartmann and his research and writing team are
aware of Robert lambe,or at least of the literary tradition he spawned back in
1770."

Commentary #2
"A update thanks to the library's 1975 Dictionary of National Biography

Robert Lambe was born in 1711/12 in Durham.His dad was John Lambe,mercer

He was admitted a sizer to St Johns College,Cambridge in 1728 and got his
BA in 1733-34

He was a ninor canon at Durham Cathedral,perpetual curate of South Shiels and vicar of Norham in 1747

He took it upon himself to marry Philadelphia Nelson,daughter of a Durham carrier.He'd only seen her once before,and that many years earlier

He sent her a letter telling her to meet him on Berwicl pier,and to carry a tea caddy under her arm so'd he'd know who she was

On the appointed day,he forgot his scheduled meeting with her cuz he was a
eccentric absent minded fellow

However the marriage took place April 11 1755.

They had a daughter,Philadelphia,who married a Berwickshire man named
Alexander Robertson,2 grandons,but died young

R's wife Philadelphia died in 1772 and R. died in Edinvburgh in 1795.He was
buried at the churchyard of Eyemouth,a former smugglers haven.

In the mid 19th century 6 feet of soil was laid over the old Eyemouth
graveyard for extended use.Hence Robert and Philadelphia Lambe probably lie 12 feet under,and their tombstones are probably covered up,lost or used in the
construction of a nearby watch-house"
Commentary # 3
"Apparently R Lambe was the vicar of St Cuthbert Church in Norham

The church was built by the same arcgitect who built the nearby castle

In the 1290's Edward ! would settle the disputes between the warring
Scots kingdoms of Robert Bruce and his rival either in the castle or at
St Cuthbert

St Cuthbert is sited on/near near anglo-saxon churches and burials dating
from about 800-1000AD

Most of the church windows and relics date from the 19th century,however the parish chest contains a marriage register from 1754 with the following
material

"The Parish Chest
EP 4/4 Marriages 1754-1812

A note on the cost of the register is on the title page:

I paid Rob. Taylor Stationer of Berwick £1 5s. 6d. for this Marriage-Register Jan. 10. 1754. Rob. Lambe.

On the reverse of the title page is a curious observation concerning two girls - not locals so far as we are aware:

Two very lovely, but shamefaced Girls hada cause of some consequence depending at Westminster, wch idispensibly erquired their personal appearance. They were relatives of Sir Joseph Jekyll, & on this tremendous occasion requested his company, & countenance at the Court. Sir Joseph attended accordingly; & the cause being opened, ye Judge demanded whether he was to entitle those Ladys by the denomination of Spinsters? No my Lord, said Sir Joseph, they are Lilies of the Valley, they toil not, neither do they spin, yet you see that no Monarch in all his glory, was ever arrayed like one of these.

"

On a guess,I'd say Rob. Lambe also wrote the item on the two girls who are
lilies of the valley.

from webpage

http://ndfhs.org.uk/OI/misc/NBL/NHM/NHM-NHM.htm
"
Commentary # 4
"I went flipping through the familysearch.org site,sifting through the
family tree of R Lambe

He was named for his grandad,who was born in 1640,which is a common enough European practise.

His daughter Philadelphia seems to have been the only one of
3 children to survive to leave a family branch.basically the Lambe name
passed on into the Robertson clan.

R Lambe died on May 7 1795 in Mid Lothian.

His daughter bore 2 sons at Eymouth(Eyemouth)
around 1777-1781.

So it would appear R Lambe and his grandkids have some fun in
the old smugglers village for a few years.It would also explain why R Lambe
got himself buried in Eyemouth.

One grandson was named Robert Robertson was born in 1775 and died in 1845.

Philadelphia Robertson(Lambe ) had 3 sons and 3 daughters,one of
whom was named after her mother who had died in 1772.(Philadelphia Nelson)

The familysearch records often have multiple records for the
same individual,with contradictory birth dates and family records.

However with titles like

Sealings of the Dead-Baptismal Records 1943-1970
I'm wondering if the Mormons might have decided to baptise R Lambe as a
Mormon a century or so after he died."
Commentary # 5
"Excerpt from F J Childs 1860 English and Scottish Ballads

"THE LAIDLEY WORM OF SFTNDLESTON-HEUGH. See p. 137.
"A song above 500 years old, made by the old mountain-bard, Duncan Frasier, living on Cheviot, A. D. 1270."
This ballad, first published in Hutchinson's History of Northumberland,y?as the composition of Mr. Robert Lambe, vicar of Norham. Several stanzas are, how*ever, adopted from some ancient tale. It has been often printed, and is now taken from Ritson's North*umberland Garland'.
The similar story of The Worme of Lambton, versified by the Rev. J. Watson (compare Ormekampen and the cognate legends, Grundtvig, i. 343, also voK viii. p. 128, of this collection), may be seen in Richardson's Borderers- Table-Book, viii. 129, or in Moore's Pic*torial Book of Ancient Ballad Poetry, page 784: With the tale of the Lambton Worm of Durham agrees in many particulars that of the Worm of Linton in Rox*burghshire. (See Scott's introduction to Kempion, and Sir C. Sharpe's Bishopric Garland, p. 21.) It' is high*ly probable that the mere coincidence of sound with Linden-Worm caused this last place to be selected as the scene of such a story.
"

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