Aristocrat and friend of the Queen, 65, is saved from death by a can of CIDER after being trampled by a herd of cows while walking with his wife and dog near his country estate
- Francis Dymoke, 65, was walking in Louth near estate in Horncastle, Lincolnshire
- He, his wife and dog were charged by cows but his wife clambered over fence
- Dymoke fell face-first into the ground and cow ‘stamped’ on his back
- Was wearing rucksack containing cider can which cushioned blow
- Dymoke holds the title of Queen’s Champion, inherited from his father
- Role traditionally involved challenging anyone who denied sovereign’s right to reign
An aristocrat friend of the Queen has revealed a can of cider in his rucksack likely saved him from death after he was trampled by cows.
Francis Dymoke, 65, who holds the title of the Queen’s Champion, was walking in Louth, near his estate in Horncastle, Lincolnshire, with his wife and dog when they were charged by the herd of cows.
Despite helping his wife Gail to safety, he was unable to escape and one of the cows ‘stamped’ on his back, causing the can of cider in his rucksack to explode but also likely save his life.
Francis Dymoke (pictured above with his wife Gail), an aristocrat friend of the Queen, has revealed a can of cider in his rucksack saved him from death after he was trampled by cows
Dymoke, 65, who holds the title Queen’s Champion, was walking in Louth, near his estate in Horncastle, Lincolnshire, with his wife and dogs when they were charged by the herd of cows
Mr Dymoke, who owns the Scrivelsby Estate in Horncastle, told local media outlet the Louth Leader about his ordeal.
He said that when the aggressive cows charged at him, he dropped his dog’s lead in the hope that his pet would run off and be chased instead of him and his wife.
Instead, the ‘petrified’ dog stood still and the cows ‘kept coming’.
The aristocrat, whose ancestors fought William the Conqueror in the Battle of Hastings in 1066, said he ‘fortunately’ ended up being forced to the ground ‘face first’.
‘I had a backpack on which contained our lunch – and a can of rather special cider. I was really looking forward to it,’ he said.
‘This one cow tried to stamp on my back but it appears the can took the full weight of the impact.
‘It (the can) exploded but if it hadn’t take the impact I don’t like to think what may have happened.
‘I could have been seriously injured – or even worse.’
Mr Dymoke, who owns the Manor of Scrivelsby in Lincolnshire, took up the role of the Queen’s Champion after his father John had occupied it. The role traditionally involved riding into Westminster Hall in full armour during the king or queen’s coronation and challenging anyone denying the sovereign’s right to the throne
Mr Dymoke added that he ‘must have’ picked himself up and clambered over a nearby fence.
Speaking two weeks after the ordeal, the landowner said his legs are still ‘black and blue’.
He said that the cows probably weigh ‘close to a tonne’ and that he and his wife ‘did nothing to aggravate them.’
Mr Dymoke, who owns the Manor of Scrivelsby in Lincolnshire, took up the role of the Queen’s Champion after his father John had occupied it.
The role traditionally involved riding into Westminster Hall in full armour during the king or queen’s coronation and challenging anyone denying the sovereign’s right to the throne.
The Dymoke family have held the office since the reign of Richard II in the fourteenth-century.
However, since the coronation of Queen Victoria in 1838, the champion has not needed to ride into Westminster Hall in full armour.