File:Obtrusch - geograph.org.uk - 941961.jpg

English: Obtrusch A bronze age round cairn overlooking Farndale. The name is derived from hob (as in hobgoblin) and thurs which is an old english word for a devil. The Modern Antiquarian has an interesting eighteenth century quote which I repeat here:

" In May 1836, I was one of a numerous party who proceeded with the late Mr. Jonathan Gray from the house of the Vicar of Kirkby Moorside, to inspect and open some of the tumuli and cairns which are scattered over the dreary hills north of the Vale of Pickering..

   ..a conspicuous object for many miles round, was the large conical heap of stones called Obtrush Roque. In the dales of this part of Yorkshire we might expect to find, if anywhere, traces of the old superstitions of the Northmen, as well as their independence and hospitality, and we do find that Obtrush Roque was haunted by the goblin.

   But 'Hob' was also a familiar and troublesome visitor of one of the farmers, and caused him so much vexation and petty loss, that he resolved to quit his house in Farndale and seek some other home. Very early in the morning, as he was trudging on his way, with all his household goods and gods in a cart, he was accosted in good Yorkshire by a restless neighbour, with "I see you're flitting." The reply came from Hob out of the churn - "Ay, we're flutting." Upon which the farmer, concluding that change of air would not rid him of the daemon, turned his horse's head homeward.

   This story is in substance the same as that narrated on the Scottish Border, and in Scandinavia; and may serve to show for how long a period and with what conformity, even to the play on the vowel, some traditions may be preserved in secluded districts..

   .. [They investigated the 'goblin-haunted mound'] but within the kist were no urns, no bones, no treasures of any kind, except a tail-feather from some farmyard chanticleer. The countrymen said this place of ancient burial had been opened many years ago, and that then gold was found in it. It seemed to us that it must have been recently visited by a fox."

p212 of 'The rivers, mountains and sea-coast of Yorkshire' by John Phillips (1853).

Rhiannon. Obtrusch. URL:http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/5867/obtrusch.html. Accessed: 2008-08-30. (Archived by WebCite® at https://www.webcitation.org/5aSJOy2Tp )