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Your Story: The Arms of Dunstable and The Legend of Dunne The Robber |
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However, it was as early as 1290 that one of the Augustinian canons, at the Priory, recorded a far more exciting reason for the name. Putting together a series of Tracts concerning the management of the Priory’s estates, he explained that King Henry I had founded the town of Dunstable ‘to prevent the mischiefs of one Dunn’, a famous robber and his gang; ‘and that from this Dunn, the place was called Dunstable’. As the years went by and the story passed from father to son it took on many variations. By the time of the next published version, it had become an extremely detailed story.
Dunstable’s first Parish Register was started in the mid 16th century and around 1600, the clerk decided to record in the register the current version. This took the form of a long narrative poem called ‘The Legend of Dunne’. It starts by setting the scene on the rural, woodland crossroads, describes the robberies carried out by ‘onne Dunne of courage stoute’ and how King Henry I ordered the clearing of all the trees and shrubs:
That all true men, which that way rode or wente,
of sodaine sallyes might be less affrayde
This donne he rear’d a poull both houge and longe
In that roade-highway, where so manie passe;
And in that poull let drive a staple stronge
Whereto the kinge’s own ringe appendante was;
And caus’d it to be publish’d that this thinge
Was donne to see what thiefe durst steale the ringe.
Yet for all that the ring was stolen and King Henry set up an enquiry across South Bedfordshire. Eventually they narrowed the search down to the village of Houghton Regis where they searched door-to-door. Sure enough, in the house of Widowe Dunne they found both her son and the ring, and Dunne was hanged 'for the facts which he had donne'.
The poem ends by telling us that it was because of the 'staple and the ring' that the town was called Dunstaple and that this was the reason for its coat of arms.
This long poem was published by R W Mooring, along with his own version, in 1898 but there were two more versions before this.
Words: Vivienne Evans
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