HYPNOGORIA SUMMER SPECIAL 04 - Dying for a Drink

In this episode from the Patreon vaults, Mr Jim invites you all to come and cool off with a refreshing drink or two on a virtual pub crawl, in which we will take a tour of assorted ghostly tales and weird legends from notable bars across the UK... 

DIRECT DOWNLOAD - HYPNOGORIA SUMMER SPECIAL 04 - Dying for a Drink

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FOLKLORE ON FRIDAY - Dying for a Sit Down

Last week we learnt the strange tale of the cursed bottles in a pub in Alnwick, however they are not the only seemingly innocent but actually very sinister items to be found lurking in a British bar-room. Take for example the Busby Stoop Inn  in North Yorkshire, a pub whose very name is steeped in death!

In 1702, Thomas Busby murdered his father-in-law Daniel Auty. However this was no ordinary family squabble, for Busby and Auty ran a small criminal empire between them, whose main operation was coining - that is the forging of currency. They were based in the small North Yorkshire village of Kirby Wiske, and it said they had disagreed over Busby's relationship with Auty's daughter. He was arrested, tried and condemned to death by hanging. After his execution his corpse was suspended in chains from a gibbet erected at the lonely crossroads at the Sandhutton crossroads. This notorious criminal and his execution were long remembered. In 1859, the English antiquarian and poet, Yorkshire historian, William Grainge wrote:

The bones of the poor wretch who had committed murder were hung to fester in the sunshine and blow in the tempest until they fell piecemeal to earth and tradition yet tells tales of night wanderers being terrified when passing this dreaded spot.

Now by the crossroads, which now forms a junction of the A61 and A167, was an inn. According to one version of the legend, it was here that Busby was arrested, while another variant proposed that he was taken into the inn for a final drink before his execution. It has long been said that Busby's ghost haunts the place. However there is a more famous, and more sinister, legend. For it is said that Busby had sat in a particular chair in that inn and consequently a terrible curse was laid upon it. In the version where Busby was allowed a final tipple, legend claims he proclaimed "May sudden death come to anyone who dare sit in my chair". And indeed it is said that anyone who sits in this particular chair will suffer the same fate as Busby i.e. a sudden and untimely death shortly afterwards. The legend of the death chair became so famous that the pub eventually took the name The Busby Stoop Inn - a stoop being the post the gibbet hung from.

And indeed the chair appears to have been rather lethal. For there are many tales told about those who have dared to sit in the chair and paid a terrible price. In 1894, a chimney sweep who sat in the chair was said to have been found the following morning hanging beside Busby's gibbet post. During the Second World War, it was claimed that Canadian men from the nearby Skipton-on-Swale dared each other to sit on the chair, and those that did never returned from the missions they were sent on. 

In 1967, two Royal Air Force pilots sat in the chair, and then when driving home from the pub, crashed into a tree and were killed. A handful of years later, a builder was dared to to sit in the infamous chair, and just hours later, he fell to his death from a roof. Around the same time it is claimed that a cleaner had accidentally sat down upon the cursed chair after stumbling into it while mopping the floor. This time death came in the form of a brain tumour.

Eventually in 1978, the current landlord Tony Earnshaw decided enough was enough and moved the chair out of the public's way and placed it in the cellar. However a delivery man was curious as to why a chair was among the beer barrels and sat in it. He was killed minutes later in a crash a few miles down the road. And so the chair was donated to the Thirsk Museum where it remains to this very day. But the chair is now suspended from the ceiling to prevent any more incautious folks from trying to sit in it. 

However experts have cast doubt on the legend of the chair, for when it was examined by historian Dr Adam Bowett, he found something peculiar about it. Apparently its spindles were machine-turned, whereas in the 17th century, chair spindles were made usually with a pole lathe. Therefore he concluded the chair was probably made after 1840, at least 138 years after Busby's death. However as the stories related above all come from after 1840, while we could discount a link to Thomas Busby, we perhaps should not be so quick to discount the curse. Certainly no one has proposed taking the chair gone again so folks can sit in it again. Perhaps it is best to err on the side of caution...

FOLKLORE ON FRIDAY - Dying for a Drink

For centuries the local pub has played an important part in British society. Much like churches, pubs have long been important social hubs in communities, and so it is not surprising that the traditional British boozer frequently serves up a generous helping of local folklore alongside the usual fine ales and good food. Most old pubs worth their salt can boast of having served some famous (or infamous) patron at some point, have at least one ghost, and even their names may tie into local legend and history. Obviously much of this lore is the kind of tale that can be enjoyed over a pint and a packet for crisps, but there are some very dark and curious tales lurking behind the bar room banter. 

Take for example an ancient watering hole in the North of England. The Northumbrian market town of Alnwick is steeped in history, and its castle has appeared in many films and TV shows. However on Narrowgate, not far from Alnwick Castle, there is an old pub which is believed to date back to the 1600s at least. For most of its life this bar was known as Ye Olde Cross Pub. Historians believe its name comes from an actual cross on the front wall of this old inn, thought to be a cross of the de Vescis, the former Norman Lords of Alnwick, and was probably looted from the castle at some point. 

However what the pub is famous for is the weird display in one of its windows - a quartet of ancient and filthy bottles. Ye Olde Cross actually closed down in the 2000s but when it reopened in late 2014, the pub was renamed after its long-standing local nickname - The Dirty Bottles. And naturally there is a strange tale behind this most odd window dressing. Over 200 years ago, in 1725, the  innkeeper dropped dead of a heart attack after moving the bottles. According to the old tale, his wife proclaimed that anyone else doing so would likewise die. And so the bottles lay touched for years, gathering dust and cobwebs. 

At some point, the bottles were safely sealed away behind another interior window, but whether this was for historical purposes or to just to keep patrons with wandering hands safe from the curse I do not know. However it should come as no surprise that this old pub also boasts of having a ghost as well as a death curse. For allegedly the ghost of  the unlucky landlord is reputed to still haunt the pub, reportedly rattling glasses and swearing at patrons. Whether this is true or not I cannot say, but comedy tradition demands I point out that while you might not see a ghost there, there is a fine selection of spirits... 

And if you fancy popping in for a pint or a bite, their website is here The Dirty Bottles 

FOLKLORE ON FRIDAY - Species of Spectres VII

Welcome once again dear readers to yet another exploration of all things ghostly and folkloric. This week we are still considering the possible classifications we can make under the heading of Animal Apparitions. We already discovered the spectral equivalents of man's best friends, the hound and horse, and last week investigated the strange fluttering of avian apparitions. So then it's only right and proper that we first sketch in a subcategory for Feline Phantoms, for as cats have enjoyed our company for many centuries it is unsurprising there are a fair few folk tales relating to metaphysical moggies.

Now to keep us on track and focussed on ghostly folklore, I'm not going to be making such mention of the reports of panthers and pumas roaming the British Isles. For these Alien Big Cats (or ABCs for short) are a relatively recent phenomena, and are perhaps more properly considered as belonging in the field of cryptozoology rather than folklore. Now that is not to say that folklore cannot be modern or recent, and while some writers and researchers have mooted the theory that ABCs are possibly a modern mutation of traditional tales of phantom black dogs, I tend to consider them to me more likely real creatures than phantom animals. Aside from tricks of perspective causing misidentification of regular felines, I think it is telling the ABC phenomena begins after a law was passed in the early 1970s that regulated the ownership of exotic animals, and several reports have been uncovered of big cat owners releasing their former pets into the wild as a result.

However even leaving ABCs aside, there is still a strong enough tradition of ghostly cats to justify a Feline Phantoms category. However while spectral hounds tend follow the same pattern, and tales feathered phantoms can be classified into distinct sub-groups, accounts of ghostly moggies seem to prove that even when they are ethereal or ectoplasmic, cats will still be cats i.e. independent to the last, always doing their own thing, and generally defying any rules we try and impose on them!

Naturally several tales of ghost cats would appear to be accounts of deceased pets returning. For example, at a house in Birtley, County Durham, a phantom Persian cat has been spotted on several occasions, and research has revealed that such a cat was the pet of a former owner. While at the Market Cross pub in Swaffham, Norfolk, a phantom cat is frequently mistaken for a real moggy. It is speculated that possibly this feline phantom was the pet of one of the pub’s other ghosts, one of the spectral old fellows who are sometimes seen sat drinking and smoking by the fire.

Actually it would appear that pubs are something of a favourite haunt of spectral cats. In Bedford, London, the Square Inn (formerly known as The Bull-nosed Bat) there have been many sightings of a phantom cat. While at The Beehive in Great Waltham, a ghostly grey cat is often seen disappearing through walls. This would appear to be something of a favourite trick with feline phantoms, as in the Gatehouse Restaurant, in Battle, Sussex, the ghost of a former house cat floats about and allegedly is often seen disappearing through a wall. At the Old Talbot public house in Worcester, a ghostly cat has been known to brush up against people, only to disappear as soon as it  has gained their attention. And at Sower Carr Lane, in Hambleton, another spectral cat does much the same trick, rubbing against the legs of walkers yet remaining invisible.

At Ye Olde Starre Inne in York two phantom black cats are often seen, and seem to delight in spooking the dogs of any patrons. It is said they are the spectres of two cats that were bricked up in a pillar between the front door and the bar. While this may sound terribly macabre and cruel, it is a historical fact that many dead cats have been found walled up in old buildings. The theory is that these animals were a kind of sacrifice or protective charm carried out when these places were built, and this practice is suspected to be the origin of several ghostly moggies. For example, the black cat that haunts the bridge over the River Coquet, in Rothbury, Northumberland may well have been such a sacrifice made when the bridge was built.

In a tale of a haunting in the late 19th century which took place at Lower Seedly Road, Manchester, part of the ghostly manifestations was the sound of a cat crying, and later the spectre of a headless cat appeared. Quite how it cried without a head remains a mystery. However being missing bodily appendages does not appear to overly trouble feline phantoms, for in 1675 the house of a Mr Edward Pitts in Puddledock, London suffered a poltergeist infestation, and one of the phantoms reported was a legless cat floating through the house. Of course cats famously never abide with convention, as demonstrated by the phantom puss that haunts Balbriggan, County Dublin who appears sporting a striking shade of green.

Surprisingly given that traditional association with witches, there don't seem to be very many ghostly cats linked with witchcraft. However there are a couple who appear to belong distinctly to the dark side. Firstly there's tales of a seemingly evil black cat that manifested in a room at Powerham Castle and attacked a guest. But perhaps the most famous ghostly moggy of all also enjoys a highly sinister reputation. Montpelier Hill in County Dublin, Ireland was the home of the Irish Hellfire Club where much whiskey was drunk and allegedly orgies, debauchery and evocations of Satan took place. The club's mascot was a large black cat who allegedly took the place of Satan in their gatherings. It was also said they had burnt a cat alive and committed several murders at their gatherings.

At first they met in a ruined hunting lodge atop the hill, and later in a nearby Victorian mansion, the Killakee house. In 1968 when renovations were being done on the now crumbling house, workmen began reporting ghostly manifestations, and soon several folks had seen an evil looking black cat. One of these was the painter Tom Massey who was left badly shaken after an encounter with the snarling brute, which he described as having burning eyes - and he would later paint the beast as seen below. In 1970, further work at the house uncovered a shock secret, a small skeleton was buried beneath the kitchen floor, and what's more with the bones was a brass statue of  a demon. This macabre discovery seemingly proved the old tales that the Hellfire Club had once beaten a deformed boy to death. However there's still tales of ghostly activity in the area, and the malevolent spectral cat is still allegedly seen at the house and prowling Monpelier Hill...

Well folks, that brings us to the end of Species of Spectres for this year - over the next few weeks we'll be shifting gear into a more festive mode and looking at some Yuletide folklore...