The darker side of folklore witnesses witches, devils and death in the cultural landscape. Murder, plague and body snatchers abound!
A midnight funeral
In the middle of the night a local man meets, to his horror, a funeral party coming down the road towards him.
Guarding a body
Body snatchers and grave robbers were at large in the 1700 and 1800s. Hear how a young boy took guard of his grandfather’s coffin.
Murder of Lady Billy
A stone at old Bunkle Kirk once read ‘Mrs Margaret Home, Lady Billy, murdered August 1751’. The incident is also remembered in this old and quite gruesome rhyme.
The devil and the blacksmith
An old story tells of how a blacksmith from Longformacus met the devil at the ‘Foul Ford’. For many years this place was thought to be haunted.
Omen of death
Peter Darling saw a ghost and was sure it was an omen of his own death. He drowned a few days later in the Whiteadder Water.
Preston plague onions
During a time of plague of the 1600s, Preston villagers are said to have tried out an unusual cure.
Witch of the Whiteadder?
Lady Helen Manderston of Manderston House was one of many local people accused of witchcraft in the 1600s.
The Cousins
This fascinating but tragic poem was discovered during our project research. It retells an actual event which happened at Hell’s Cradle.