The king of Congleton needed a bear, to fight for the audience of his upcoming fair.

So, one fine morning over a strong cup of tea, he sent out an order by royal decree.

“If you can capture the Congleton bear, with its razor sharp teeth and most grizzly of stares,

then I shall reward you with treasures of gold, a wealth that will last till you're bitter and old”.

All was quiet and a few days slipped by, that's until the king received a hasty reply.

“Your Highness, holiness, my lord your grace, i'm sorry to disturb, but you must hear me post haste.

There's a Knight out here willing to hunt down the bear, for you to use at your most royal of affairs”.

“Well what are you waiting for, oh do let him in”, the king struggled to suppress his fiendishly large grin.

He rubbed his hands together and adjusted his crown, this was bound to attract the fair maidens to town.

He decked out the Knight in all his best armour, and gave him a sword belonging to his right honourable father.

He told him to catch it, by sword or by snare, the fact it was cruel well he didn't much care.

This conversation was relayed at the pub, by a loose lipped handmaiden ordering some grub.

The townsfolk agreed that this simply wasn't fair, so they assembled a team to go rescue the bear.

The Knight had an advantage, quite a lengthy head start. The people of Congleton were going to have to be smart.

They put their heads together and came up with a plan, involving some treacle, a certain bear would scran.

The sweet sticky substance was spread upon trees, it’s scent filled the air on the back of a breeze.

The aroma found the nose of our large grizzly friend, Guiding him to safety, if only that was the end.

From behind a bush the Knight did appear, trapping the bear with a rather long spear.

“Oh please let him go”! the townsfolk did cry, “for at the hands of the king this bears sure to die”.

“Well lucky for you, my incentive is money, match the kings offer and if done in a hurry,

then I would consider releasing this beast, but if longer than a day my price will increase”.

Not knowing what to do the town went to pray, how would they get all the money in a day.

Just when they thought that all hope had been lost, the priest approached them and he offered the lot.

“You can borrow the money set aside for new bibles, the old ones still teach us of Jesus and his disciples”.

“Now get out of here I have a sermon to preach, and love thy neighbour is what I shall teach”.

So off they went, to pay off the Knight. Who was true to his word and didn't put up a fight.

The bear was released and the townsfolk all cheered, and came up with a plan to make the bear Feared!

They told the king his Knight had been eaten, that with one swift bite his plans had been beaten.

It didn't take long for this rumour to spread, they erected a sign the words of which read:

Beware, beware the Congleton bear,

With its razor sharp teeth and most grizzly of stares.

It lives in the woods do not enter don't you dare

For you may be faced with the Congleton bear!