Hey diddle diddle

The mist was still hanging over the hills by the time I arrived at Bolton Abbey, a very popular beauty spot in Wharfedale, on an estate owned by the Duke of Devonshire. The river meanders around the partially ruined Augustinian Priory, stripped of its assets during the dissolution of the monasteries in 1539, by order of Henry VIII. The nave survives as a church to this day, because it was successfully argued by Prior Moone, the last Prior, that it was a place of worship for the local community. Interestingly, the nursery rhyme "Hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle" is reputed to be about a dispute Prior Moone had with a local farmer over a cow. For that story, see here (and scroll down the page).