The Farnworth Griffin Legend.
Taken from"A History of Farnworth Church, its Village and Parish" by Alan Foster; published locally in 1981 to celebrate 800 years since the church's founding.
"Like many ancestral families in the land, the Bold family name has been associated with a legend, and it was of a blacksmith who slew a Griffin and received the surname of "Bold" as well as the grant of a large tract of land. The Griffin was a mythical beast with the hind quarters of a lion and the head,wings and legs of an eagle. The legend tells how the Griffin was killing and eating the cattle of the district of Farnworth and frightening the people of the village until they were too afraid to venture out of their houses. However, they finally persuaded the village blacksmith to come to their aid and as the legend goes he covered himself with the skin of an ox and, armed with a sword and dagger, laid in wait, with the village cattle, for the beast to appear. Presently, the Griffin with its chilling screams could be heard approaching the field, and the cattle dispersed in fear, leaving the brave blacksmith on his own in the middle of the field to face the ferocious beast. The Griffin, on seeing the skin-covered smithy, immediately went into the attack, grabbing hold of the disguised assailant and picking him up with its claws and carrying him over the River Mersey towards the hills of Rocksavage. While on the way the smithy continued to stab the beast with his dagger, until weak with loss of blood it alighted on Frodsham Hill, where the smithy quickly drew his sword and cut off its head and returned with it to the village as proof of his deed. The villagers on his return, acclaimed him their hero and named him "The Bold" (which is suposed to be the origin of the surname). The legend also says the villagers granted him as much land as he could cover, on horseback, from sunrise to sunset."
Family records show the Bold family living in the area from the 12th Century; a local pub, "The Griffin Inn" (an old haunt of mine!) dates from 1801 and was built by the Bold family. It used to boast a magnificent griffin, etched into its main window, until the late 1980's when a disgruntled customer put a brick through it.
