Lost chambers beneath a castle, treasures protected by magical guardians and a choice which reveals the hero’s purity of character. The story of Sir Guy the Seeker’s supernatural experiences at
Dunstanburgh Castle occupies similar thematic territory to the tale of Walter and the wizard in the
caves beneath Tynemouth Castle and variations exist from all around the United Kingdom. The
Dunstanburgh story, however, has a very different ending suggesting a moral and literary influence.
Sir Guy the Seeker was first published in verse as part of Matthew Lewis’ Romantic Tales (1808).
Lewis was famous for his pioneering gothic horror novel The Monk and so was no stranger to
complex themes.
The castle at Dunstanburgh makes impressive use of its topography, clinging to a dramatic cliff edge
along two sides and once protected by a system of lakes around the inland curtain walls. The
remains of the original gatehouse are especially imposing given the structure’s age, comparative
short occupation and abandonment since at least the 1520s.
In the story Sir Guy is travelling in the area when he finds himself caught in a storm and urgently
seeks shelter, riding towards the only visible structure, the castle ruins. Every entrance was blocked
so Guy shelters in an entranceway by a single yew tree and waits for the storm to end.
At midnight lightning strikes and the door behind him opens revealing a mysterious vault and
ancient wizard who leads Guy inside, promising reward for the right, true-hearted hero or ruin for
any who fails. The pair walk the twisting passages and staircases beneath the castle encountering
unearthly sounds and visions until they finally reach an opulent vault containing a crystal tomb at its
centre and sleeping warriors all around. Inside the tomb was a beautiful enchanted lady, suspended
in sleep. To either side were the giant skeletons of ancient kings, one holding a sword and the other
a shield. Both would be required to awaken the lady and free her from her crystal encasement but
which to use first? Guy lays his hand upon the hilt of the sword but second-guesses himself and lifts the horn and sounds a note. Immediately the light disappears from the room and the voices of the awakening
warriors mock Guy for his choice from all around, advancing upon him with swords and spears. The
wizard becomes frightening, saying:
“Now shame on the coward who sounded a horn,
When he might have unsheathed a sword!”
As a poisonous vapour permeates the air Guy passes out and wakes up stiff with cold back at the
closed doorway by the yew. He experiences visions of the sleeping beauty and the vault’s treasures,
compelling him to try again. Guy spends the rest of his life exploring the castle, trying to find a way back to the vault and after his death his spirit continues the search.
But still he seeks, and aye he seeks,
And seeks, and seeks in vain;
And still he repeats to all he meets,
—”Could I find the sword again!—”
Which words he follows with a groan,
As if his heart would break;
And oh! that groan, has so strange a tone,
It makes all hearers quake!
Both Sir Guy and Walter of Tynemouth act with pure hearts and make the decision to sound an
ancient horn at the climax of their quests but the circumstances and outcomes are very different.
Walter is forced to act on impulse and triumphs while Guy’s indecision is the implied cause of his
failure.
A version of Sir Guy the Seeker’s exploits was written by Robert Owen of North Shields who also
collected the Tynemouth story although it is unclear whether this unpublished work predates Lewis’
version. Owen was a Northumberland folklore enthusiast but abandoned work on his table-book
when his health deteriorated. He was said to have moved to “distant climes” later in life.
