GLEN VAUDREY: River Ribble Monster

There are many exotic places in the world where rivers are associated with monsters, but would you ever have put Lancashire's River Ribble amongst that lot? Okay, rumour has it certain parts of Preston can be very exotic of a weekend, but what’s all this talk of mystery water monsters, I hear you ask?

It was during a fine day in 1994 that a brother and sister out walking their dogs along the banks of the Ribble spotted something odd in the water. Rather than observing the usual discarded shopping trolley they spotted some way up ahead a tall thin object sticking up out of the water. They estimated that it stood some four feet above the water. On seeing the object, one of them commented "look, the Loch Ness monster." It's fair to say it was far too far south for a start (that’s just a light-hearted comment before you point out the many, many reasons it isn’t).

Initially thinking that the object was nothing more than a branch stuck in the river bed and partly protruding above the water, you can imagine their surprise when, as they got closer, the object then submerged into the river; and that it appears was the last time that anyone caught sight of the mystery monster of the River Ribble.

Of course, if anyone knows of more sightings I am sure that many of us would like to hear about them.

GLEN VAUDREY: The phantom rabbit of Crank

Glen is one of the newer additions to the bloggo family. He wrote to me out of the blue last year to ask wherther we wanted a Western Isles volume in our Mystery Animals of Britain series. We argeed that we did indeed want one, and commissioned him. What we were not expecting was such a bloody good writer and all round nice guy, who - by the way - is writing several other volumes for us...

While searching around for reports for the Mystery Animals of Lancashire book I came across a tale of a most terrible apparition that is said to haunt the lanes of the delightfully named hamlet of Crank. While some areas are subject to the prowling of mystery big cats and others suffer the paw prints of phantom hounds Crank on the other hand gets a white rabbit. Not a giant talking rabbit but a vengeful doom-foretelling bunny.

Like many a phantom dog this zooform has its own legendary foundation. The story goes that way back in the 17th century there was a nameless old woman who occupied a hovel within the hamlet of Crank which she shared with her daughter Jenny and Jenny’s pet rabbit. Fitting for the time the old woman was soon branded a witch by a neighbouring farmer by the name of Pullen who was convinced that he had been bewitched by her. Local belief had it that by drawing blood from the witch the spell would be broken and it was to this end that Pullen and his accomplice Dick Piers broke into the old woman’s cottage. Rather clumsily they awoke Jenny with the racket as they attempted to cut the old woman’s arm, not wanting to hang around Jenny ran off into the night taking her rabbit with her. She was pursued by Piers and while she managed to evade capture she succumbed to exhaustion and was found dead in the chapel. Her white rabbit didn’t fare much better as it was beaten to death. Of course just because you’ve beaten the bunny to pulp it doesn’t mean that it won’t come after you.

It was only a month later when the white rabbit appeared and started to follow Piers around the hamlet eventually being held responsible for driving him to commit suicide in Billinge Hill quarry. But the vengeful bunny wasn’t finished there as it now set about hounding Pullen who was to be seen being pursued across the fields until he died frightened and exhausted by the chase.

While the white rabbit may not be a headless hell hound it is still rumoured to haunt the area foretelling doom upon its sighting, but I wonder if this particular zooform has really anything to do with the little old lady or if she was just an invention to explain the presence of the ghostly white rabbit.

STRANGE STORIES FROM BLACKBURN

Hello Jon,

I enjoy your blog immensely and check it every day for weird and wonderful titbits. Rather like Richard Muirhead, I am gradually working my way through bound volumes of a late 18th/early 19th century newspaper, the Blackburn Mail, in my case for local historical information (I am the town's museum curator). However, I have so far come across three interesting cryptozoological stories from the 1790s, which I attach for your interest. The first is the most fascinating to me, as it took place in a local mill lodge. The other two are not local, but no less interesting - while the creatures in the farmer's field at Hooton Roberts (near Rotherham) seem inexplicable, our old friend the entombed toad makes yet another appearance.

Anyway, I hope that you find these cuttings of some use - keep the blog rolling and take no heed of the miserablists.

Best wishes,

Nick Harling

Blackburn Mail June 28th 1797
Blackburn Mail November 6th 1793
Blackburn Mail August 13th 1797