Folklore of Lincolnshire Read Online Free
Author: Susanna O'Neill
accidentally, a pinch of it should be thrown over the left shoulder to blind the Devil.
Also, outside near the Chapter House there once stood a well and the myth ran that on Halloween, if you circled around it three times anticlockwise and then peered into its depths through holes in the walls, you would see the Devil.
A close-up carving depicting the Lincoln Imp. Found in the top Humber Bridge car park area, on the Hull side.
Another popular visitation from the Devil appears in the form of wind. The Lincolnshire Life magazine explains that the residents of Boston have a special name for the footpath which runs between the river and the tower of Boston Stump. 8 They call it ‘Windy Corner’ and it seems that in this particular spot there is a constant wind. Even on a calm day there is a ‘stiff breeze which seems to blow from all directions at once’. The legend states that St Botolph, to whom the church is dedicated, had an encounter with Old Nick here. They were engaged in an epic battlebut Botolph came out victorious, giving the Devil such a beating that he is there, panting from exhaustion, or anger, to this very day.
St Hugh’s shrine is situated at the east end of the Angel Choir of Lincoln Cathedral, to the north side of the area below the great east window. A shallow depression a little to the left and behind the shrine is where the salt could have been kept.
They say that the buffeting gusts of wind that howl round the south-west side of Lincoln Cathedral are remnants of the great wind that threw back the Devil! This is an alternative version to the Lincoln Imp story – the Devil with a horde of demons came to cause havoc to the beautiful building in 1092. They swirled round the cathedral, intending to lay waste to it but the bishop, Remigius, prayed to the Virgin Mary for aid in defeating these foul beasts. His prayer was answered by a tremendous gust of wind, and the strength of it blew back the devilish crowd, defeating the Old ‘Un and his cronies. However, legend tells that one imp was actually blown inside the cathedral but the stone angels protected their domain by petrifying the imp – hence the stone figure we see today.
These stories and the figure of the imp are so well known that today Lincoln City football team are nicknamed The Imps and the little Devil appears on their crest!
Adrian Grey has a variation on why this corner of the cathedral is so windy. 9 He says it was in the days when Lincoln fell into bad ways, with drunks and adulterers roaming the city. The Dean was apparently no better and was actually on good terms with the Devil. One day the Devil was visiting Lincolnshire with his friend, the wind, causing a bit of a stir and blowing up trouble, when he looked uponLincoln and decided to pop in and see the Dean. They made their way to the cathedral but the Devil told the wind to wait outside for him. The wind waited and waited, blustering around but the Devil never returned and so the wind waits there still.
The Lincolnshire Life magazine tells us of an incident when an angel disrupted another of the Devil’s plans. 10 A rich squire named Simon Greenleaf, who owned Nut Hall, Quadring, refused to give alms to the village church, as expected from a man of his standing. His loyalties lay elsewhere and it is said he practised black magic in the tower of his residence. The local priest was irritating him and they had had a few arguments, one of which left Greenleaf with the desire for revenge. Using his black magic he brewed up a potion ‘which would destroy the souls of the infants which it touched’. He broke into the church and swapped the font water for his devilish creation, knowing there was to be a christening the next day. Little did he realise, however, that he was being observed – an angel appeared and commanded him to leave. In his irreverence, he taunted and laughed at the angel who then took up the font and poured the evil mixture all over Greenleaf. He ran from the
Also, outside near the Chapter House there once stood a well and the myth ran that on Halloween, if you circled around it three times anticlockwise and then peered into its depths through holes in the walls, you would see the Devil.
A close-up carving depicting the Lincoln Imp. Found in the top Humber Bridge car park area, on the Hull side.
Another popular visitation from the Devil appears in the form of wind. The Lincolnshire Life magazine explains that the residents of Boston have a special name for the footpath which runs between the river and the tower of Boston Stump. 8 They call it ‘Windy Corner’ and it seems that in this particular spot there is a constant wind. Even on a calm day there is a ‘stiff breeze which seems to blow from all directions at once’. The legend states that St Botolph, to whom the church is dedicated, had an encounter with Old Nick here. They were engaged in an epic battlebut Botolph came out victorious, giving the Devil such a beating that he is there, panting from exhaustion, or anger, to this very day.
St Hugh’s shrine is situated at the east end of the Angel Choir of Lincoln Cathedral, to the north side of the area below the great east window. A shallow depression a little to the left and behind the shrine is where the salt could have been kept.
They say that the buffeting gusts of wind that howl round the south-west side of Lincoln Cathedral are remnants of the great wind that threw back the Devil! This is an alternative version to the Lincoln Imp story – the Devil with a horde of demons came to cause havoc to the beautiful building in 1092. They swirled round the cathedral, intending to lay waste to it but the bishop, Remigius, prayed to the Virgin Mary for aid in defeating these foul beasts. His prayer was answered by a tremendous gust of wind, and the strength of it blew back the devilish crowd, defeating the Old ‘Un and his cronies. However, legend tells that one imp was actually blown inside the cathedral but the stone angels protected their domain by petrifying the imp – hence the stone figure we see today.
These stories and the figure of the imp are so well known that today Lincoln City football team are nicknamed The Imps and the little Devil appears on their crest!
Adrian Grey has a variation on why this corner of the cathedral is so windy. 9 He says it was in the days when Lincoln fell into bad ways, with drunks and adulterers roaming the city. The Dean was apparently no better and was actually on good terms with the Devil. One day the Devil was visiting Lincolnshire with his friend, the wind, causing a bit of a stir and blowing up trouble, when he looked uponLincoln and decided to pop in and see the Dean. They made their way to the cathedral but the Devil told the wind to wait outside for him. The wind waited and waited, blustering around but the Devil never returned and so the wind waits there still.
The Lincolnshire Life magazine tells us of an incident when an angel disrupted another of the Devil’s plans. 10 A rich squire named Simon Greenleaf, who owned Nut Hall, Quadring, refused to give alms to the village church, as expected from a man of his standing. His loyalties lay elsewhere and it is said he practised black magic in the tower of his residence. The local priest was irritating him and they had had a few arguments, one of which left Greenleaf with the desire for revenge. Using his black magic he brewed up a potion ‘which would destroy the souls of the infants which it touched’. He broke into the church and swapped the font water for his devilish creation, knowing there was to be a christening the next day. Little did he realise, however, that he was being observed – an angel appeared and commanded him to leave. In his irreverence, he taunted and laughed at the angel who then took up the font and poured the evil mixture all over Greenleaf. He ran from the
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