30. THE HERMIT OF ROMBOLD’S MOOR
Job Senior was born in 1780 or thereabouts, the illegitimate son of Ann Senior, of Beckfoot, near Ilkley in Yorkshire.
His father, whose name was Hawksworth, left some money to Job and his brother John, but they soon spent it. A strong, muscular young man, Job became an agricultural labourer at various farms near Ilkley. He fell in love with a young woman who resided near Whitkirk, but she jilted him after giving birth to what was presumed to be his child, and pursuing him through the parish authorities to pay her an allowance.
Poor Job kept on doing odd jobs at the farms, but since he was much addicted to strong drink, work became hard to come by. Although still very strong, some kind of rheumatism was slowing him down and rendering him unfit for hard work.
In middle age, Job Senior made the acquaintance of an elderly widow named Mary Barret, who lived in a cottage near Coldstone Beck, on the edge of Rombold’s Moor. Her husband had provided well for her, and Job presumed she was quite wealthy. To get a roof over his head, and hopefully a handsome inheritance as well, he married her and they lived together in peace and harmony for some years, before the old woman died. Job hoped to become a wealthy man, but his dreams of a comfortable life were thwarted when the relatives of Mary’s first husband came calling, armed with crowbars and sledgehammers; they completely demolished the cottage, and any money hidden away by the widow was lost in the rubble.
The dismayed Job Senior constructed a small shelter, the size of a dog-kennel, from the ruins of the cottage. He planted potatoes in what remained of the garden and lived on this unpromising food all the year round. Since he never washed or had a bath, and since he never changed his clothes, he soon became a proper hermit. His dark hair had not been cut for many years, and he sported a long grizzled beard. He used to wear a large hat, from which his tobacco-pipe was suspended with a piece of string.
People came to see Job in his humble and rustic abode, paying him a few pennies for singing a song. At other times, he went begging from the needy locals, supporting himself on his two strong crutches. This money he soon spent in the local pub, hobbling there on his crutches to get his fill of strong Yorkshire beer. He was exposed to many a cruel practical joke during these drunken expeditions. In 1857, when Job was 77 years old, he went drinking at a pub in Silsden. Some young men were suspected of having adulterated his drink, as he suffered from a severe bout of diarrhoea. He was taken to the workhouse at Carlton, where he expired a few days later. He was buried in the churchyard of Burley-in-Wharfedale, in a grand ceremony with many mourners.
In 1860, a pamphlet was printed about ‘Old Job Senior, the Rombold’s Moor Hermit, with an Account of his Eccentricities and Remarkable Life.’ In Edwardian times, when there was a strong interest in various provincial hermits, at least two postcards featuring Job Senior were printed locally. His post-mortem fame is perpetuated by the Hermit Inn at Ghylmoor Road, Burley Woodhead, named after the celebrated hermit and exhibiting one of his stout ash crutches for many years. The Sun Inn at Shipley exhibited the hermit’s portrait, which was said in 1872 to have been a most unprepossessing sight.
Both pubs were still still operational until the Coronavirus lockdown saw them unable to continue as viable business concerns. Happily, the Hermit is now up and running once more after being bought by a company of locals and the Ship has been revived by a new start-up company.