About 1km north west of Ebberston is Dargo Plantation in which can be found a memorial to Dargo, one of the dogs of the estate gamekeeper (Matthew Pateman).
The memorial is dated 1812 and so is in the time of Squire Osbaldeston’s predecessors – the Hothams. The engraving is barely visible now but thanks to some villagers in the early 1990s, who attended a course on village history (organised by the Workers’ Education Association), a booklet about the village was compiled and they has been able to obtain a copy of what the engraving said. And now it can be shared again.
Enclosed beneath this peaceful shade
Dargo my faithful dog is laid
Who in his day performed a part
And gained applause from every heart
He was steady to scent and always true
For well his business Dargo knew
But now he’s gone, his work is o’er
My faithful Dargo is no more
Here snug he rests beneath these sods
And leaves the sport to other dogs
Taken from: A History of Ebberston 1994 published by Centre for Continuing Education, Development and Training, University of Hull.
