St. Robert's Cave...

Near the River Nidd in North Yorkshire is a small cave.  When I say "small", it is too small for a grown man to lie straight, yet it has a stone bed.  It was the home of Robert of Knaresborough (1160-1218), otherwise known as St. Robert, although never officially canonised.

Robert was born in York, but lived in many locations in the Knaresborough area, including the said cave, where he spent the last years of his life.  Despite not being canonised,  St. Robert does have an official feast day, the 24th of September (the date of his death).

In 1745, Eugene Aram murdered Daniel Clarke, and buried the body in St. Robert's Cave.  Aram was executed for the crime.  Here is the poem that recounts the tale, by Henry Alford (1810-1871).

We gazed intent upon the murderous cave;

Too fair a place, methinks, for deeds of blood.

Above, the rocks, dappled with pendant wood,

Rose sheltering; and below with rippling wave

The crystal Nidd flowed by.  The wondrous tale

That from of old had turned our young cheeks pale,

Came crowding on the present; yonder stood

The guilt-worn student, skilled without avail

In ancient lore; and yonder seemed to lie

The melancholy corse, year after year

Sending to Heaven its silent vengeance-cry,

Till Aram's hour was come, and He, whose ear

Was opened, tracked the murderer where he fled,

And wrath's right-aiming stroke descended on his head.