Category: 17th century
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The Mowing Devil
The Mowing-Devil, also known as ‘Strange News out of Hartford-shire’ is an English woodcut pamphlet from 1678, telling the moralistic tale of a farmer and…
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Margaret ‘Molly’ Leigh, the Staffordshire Witch
The real problem with tales of local witches and evil graves is that you can never truly enjoy them.
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The Deid Bell of Ratho Kirk
Used across Scotland and northern England, A ‘Deid Bell’ (Scots) went by many names, including a death, mort, skillet, passing or mort bell and was…
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St Peter at Markby – The Only Thatched Church in Lincolnshire
Thatch the way, a-ha a-ha, I like it… There are very few thatched churches remaining in England, and only one remaining in the whole of…
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The Roadside Grave of Betsy Smith, Kenilworth
The dead are everywhere. You can’t avoid them. Under city buildings and railway lines, gardens and churches. As centuries pass, memorials are removed, with the…
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What’s in the Box? Oliver Plunkett’s Head
It’s about time we revisited some famous severed heads, as I’m sure you’ll agree, its been far too long.
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The Tiny Grave of Tom Thumb
According to local legend, the Tom Thumb of Tattershall measured just over 18 inches tall and had reached the grand old age of 101 upon…
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Avast! Here be a Pirate Cemetery
Sainte-Marie was was a haven for pirates in the 17th and 18th centuries. Swashbucklers had to be buried somewhere…
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Andrew Hyslop; Covenanter, Martyr.
One postcard lead to a story of a murdered covenanter who ended his days in a field in Dumfriesshire
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The Drummer of Tedworth: Britain’s First Poltergeist
The Drummer of Tedworth was the first recorded poltergeist report in British history. The 17th century account tells the story of a magistrate, a drummer…
Burials & Beyond 