Folklore of Lincolnshire Read Online Free Page B

with a noose around his neck for as long as possible, then his friends would lift him up and let him breathe again. One of the boys had just started hanging when an injured, three-legged hare was said to have limped past. This caught the attention of the other three who thought they could catch the poor thing. When they went to grab it, however, the hare suddenly ran off into the woods with the boys in hot pursuit, completely forgetting their friend. When they eventually returned after losing the hare in the undergrowth, their friend was dead. Belief was that the hare was in fact the Devil in disguise that fateful day. After all, it was surmised, the Devil is the epitome of evil and desires to destroy anything that is good and pure.
    He was also said to have been seen frolicking round Church Hill at Dorrington one night as a white rabbit, before changing back into the figure of the Devil. Hares and rabbits seem to be a popular form of disguise for witches too, who are said to be the Devil’s handmaidens.

    Manwar Rings, an overgrown grass-topped plateau surrounded by a deep moat, can be found across a farmer’s field over the road in a westerly direction from the old Swineshead Abbey House. Thought to be an old Danish encampment and the resting place of Hubba the Dane, it was also used in the Second World War as an ammunitions depository. Traces of this can still be found in the undergrowth.
    Ghost story writer Polly Howat describes one incident where the Devil rescues a witch from an angry mob of locals intent on killing her. The witch was called Crazy Kate and apparently used to visit the Manwar Rings at Swineshead to communewith her master. There were many unfortunate happenings in the village at that time and the locals began to suspect Kate, especially as she had three cats, which are well known witch familiars. They gave her an ultimatum, to leave town or have her house burnt down, but Kate allegedly cursed them and promised misfortune to any who tried to harm her. More misfortune befell the village and when a baby died there was uproar, even the priest blamed Kate and said more children would die if something was not done. The mob needed no further encouragement and went to Kate’s house to kill her, but she was not there. Eventually they tracked her to Manwar Rings, where she was standing on top of the bank. Just as they were closing in on her, ‘A black cloaked stranger rode up the mound on a powerful black foam-lathered horse, whose hooves thundered and echoed around the encampment.’ 14 This devilish figure swept her away and she was never seen again.

    The ruins of Crowland Abbey, Peterborough, with the parish church fully intact behind.
    Thoughout history, the Devil seems to know when there are any actions being performed that display human weakness. His evil radar is alerted and he swoops in to help continue the chaos and corruption. One example of this in Lincolnshire was around 869 at the Benedictine abbey at Crowland. The legend goes that the monks had fallen into sinful ways, drinking heavily and behaving in a manner unbefitting their order. It was rumoured that one monk had even sold his soul to Satan, for the secret of everlasting life. One day, after months of dreadful behaviour, there was a terrible rumbling of thunder which shook the very walls of the monastery.A terrifying black cloud grew around the building from which a great figure could be seen to emerge. ‘It was Satan himself … so fearful in countenance, so diabolical in its malignity that all fell cowering before the vision.’ 15

    Trinity Bridge, Crowland, is another ancient monument worth a look whilst in the town. The wooden version of the structure was first mentioned in a charter of King Edred in 943, and the present stone bridge dates from the fourteenth century. It is an amazing structure, reminding us of the great changes to the surrounding landscape, as there is no water to be seen now. An interesting statue resides there,