IN times past our local leaders were unable to explain outstanding features of the countryside, so they claimed that several were the work of giants or the Devil.

These include Blakey Topping, near the Hole of Horcum (itself the focus of a legend), as well as Roseberry Topping between Great Ayton and Guisborough, and Freeborough Hill that stands beside the Whitby-Guisborough road.

Blakey Topping was said to be the work of the Devil when he scooped out earth to create the Hole of Horcum between Pickering and Whitby. He tossed it across the moors to become Blakey Topping.

He must have been a mighty giant because it was said that some earth and rocks were thrown even further into the moors to become Roseberry Topping and Freeborough Hill. Those massive earth-moving actions led to the Hole of Horcum being known as The Devil’s Punchbowl.

In truth, the Hole of Horcum is probably the result of moorland streams carrying away loose earth. A contrary tale tells us the giant Wade scooped away the earth away to create the Hole of Horcum because he needed the earth to smother his enemies.

Yet another tale says that Wade used the earth and rocks from the Hole of Horcum to construct the Giant’s Causeway he built across the moors above Goathland. We know it as The Roman Road but many of our ancestors had no knowledge of early history, so they created their own. Amazing works by giants seemed to offer an explanation for apparently impossible feats.

Some of those features have developed their own legends or folk lore. For example, although Roseberry Topping is little more than a thousand feet high (320 metres) it has long been regarded as the highest peak in Yorkshire. This is not the case - it appears to be the highest due to its prominent location.

It was purchased by the National Trust in 1985 and stands on the borders of two counties – North Yorkshire and Cleveland. The boundary runs across the summit which offers splendid views and a simple climb.

So what does the word topping signify? It appears in Roseberry Topping and Blakey Topping and may come from an old English word top meaning summit or hilltop. And that may have originated in a Danish word toppen – a peak or summit.

Of greater interest is the prefix Roseberry. Why is this famous hill called Roseberry Topping?

In the 12th century, it was known as Othenesburg., Ohtenburg or Othenburg. Later, this became Ouesberg and then, in the 16th century, Ouesbery.

In Viking times, it may have been called Odinsberg in honour of the god Odin, the Scandinavian equivalent of Woden.

One theory is that “Roseberry” may derive from an Old English word, now obsolete – it was rosland that indicated a heathery area or open moorland. There is an equivalent in Welsh – rhos – which also refers to heather or moorland.

The topping has links with the explorer Captain James Cook whose father’s Airyholme Farm stood on the southern slope; James Cook worked that farm and was educated in nearby Great Ayton. On the summit was the Odinsberg Spring or Roseberry Well whose waters were said to cure rheumatism and eye disorders.

There is a sad legend where a baby prince, son of the royal family of Northumberland, died in that well. King Osmund and his Queen had longed for a child without success but eventually, their baby, Prince Oswy, was born. Royal advisers said the child would die by drowning before he was two years old.

As the mountain Odinsberg was within their kingdom, the King and Queen decided to take baby Oswy to a place where no water would flow. They could sleep in an old hermitage and take their own food, then remain until the child was safe on his second birthday.

But as the heat of the day and their general weariness overtook them; they fell asleep and baby Prince Oswy toddled out and fell into a pool of water at the Odinsberg Spring near the summit. He drowned and no amount of resuscitation could revive him. King Osmund buried his Queen and his son in a monastery at Tivotdale.

At that point, the village changed its name to Oswy-by-his-mother- lay – we now call it Osmotherley. Hardly true, but a good story.

I could not find any further legend linked to Blakey Topping but Freeborough Hill has its own stories. It is said to be the grave of hundreds of soldiers and war horses from past conflicts. It is also one of several places where King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table are said to lie asleep in a cavern hidden within the hill. They are waiting until England needs them to protect us from tyranny.