Hello, again. Today I will be unable to present my selection of strange animal stories from the U.S. because for some reason my printer isn`t working (lack of paper? D`oh!!)
Also I will be offering an appropriately wintry selection from the Sisters of Mercy. I hope to resume the American cryptozoological info next time with a strange mermaid story and a winged cat from Madagascar.
My extracts are taken from Believe It or Not It - Happened In Yorkshire by Cyril T. Oxley (no publication date but before 1970) None of the stories are radically new but they are a bit of fun. The extracts are in the form of a series of questions and answers as they appear in the book:
'In the porch of which church did a man struggle to death with a cat? At Barnborough, near Barnsley. Sir Percival Cresacre five hundred years ago was attacked by a huge wild cat when returning home. According to legend man and animal struggled for several hours, Sir Percival retreating towards the shelter of the church where the contestants collapsed and died of wounds and exhaustion. The church contains an old wooden effigy of Sir Percival and on the tower may be seen the carving of a cat. The flagstones in the porch bear a certain stain which, it is claimed,no amount of scrubbing will efface' (1)
'Where in Yorkshire, according to legend, is a raven said to stand guard over a treasure chest? Beneath the ruins of Guisborough Priory. Here in a secret passage a raven is said to watch over a chest of gold. It is related that on one occasion a daring character of the neighbourhood entered the passage and approached the chest and its guardian. The bird instantly changed into the Devil, to the terror of the would-be looter who fled in panic.' (2)
'In what Yorkshire city did the Plague infect the locality so severely as to cause birds to fal from the air? In Leeds in 1644. Dr Whitaker wrote: "The air in June when the greatest number died, was very warm, and so infectious that dogs and cats, mice and rats, died, also several birds in their flight over the town dropped down dead”. In that year 1,335 persons died of plague.' (3)
'Where did an ass drive a preacher from his pulpit? At Luddenden Dean Weslyan Chapel one Sunday in August 1830. As the minister announced the text “And the Lord opened the mouth of the ass and she said unto Balaam….” He suddenly dropped his Bible and in horror fled from the building by a side door. To the astonishment of the congreagation an ass quietly walked up the aisle towards the empty pulpit, evidently driven by a swarm of bees which covered the animal, to seek refuge in the building at a most inappropriate moment.' (4)
'Where was a lizard found inside a solid block of coal 150 feet below the surface of the earth? At William Fenton`s mine at Outwood, Wakefield, in 1818. The reptile was discovered in a solid block of coal and was five inches long. Upon being exposed to the air the creature died immediately.' (5)
1, C.T.Oxley Believe it Or Not. P.6
2.Ibid p.10
3.Ibid p.18
4.Ibid p.31
5.Ibid p.32
That`s all folks.
The Sisters of Mercy – Driven Like The Snow
Still night,nothing for miles,
White curtain come down
Kill the lights in the middle of the road
And take a look around….
It don`t help to be one of the chosen
One of the few to be shore
When the wheels are spinning around
And the ground is frozen through,and you`re
Driven,like the snow..
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