Would Drake, or his ghost, vote UKIP ?

Buckland Abbey, Devon

In 1581 Sir Francis Drake bought Buckland Abbey in Devon. Local legend has it that his ambitious re-building programme was accomplished  in a matter of a few days, thus he must have made a pact with the devil!

Indeed, if you are travelling over the far reaches of Dartmoor during particularly bleak and windy winter nights, you might well see a shadowy black coach being driven by horses at breakneck speed. And if this isn’t bad enough, if you can get close you will see that the horses have no heads and there is a pack of wild, ghostly hounds howling alongside. The whole entourage is rumoured to be pursuing the business of the Devil, and is driven by Drake as retribution for his sins. And the sounds of the hounds can be heard several miles away, although some say it is just the keening of the wind, moaning over the desolate wilderness.

Drake's Drum, Buckland Abbey 

But, inside the peace and tranquillity of the Abbey is Drake’s Drum which was returned to England in 1596, this being one of his last wishes as he lay dying in Central America. He promised that if ever England was in peril he would hear the Drum being beaten and his spirit would return to help. Sir Henry Newbolt summed it up very succinctly in his poem Drake’s Drum ...

                             

Take my drum to England, hang it by the shore,
Strike it when your powder’s runnin’ low;
 If the Dons sight Devon, I’ll quit the port o’ Heaven,
An’ drum them up the Channel as we drumm’d them long ago.

In recent history this drum has been heard several times, especially before the battle of Trafalgar, and in 1939 before the start of hostilities.

Finally, one wonders if Drake has become a thoroughly modern ghost and his spirit is inspiring UKIP by more subtle means as the drum has not been heard recently!!

In Association with the Western Gazette 

You can also read this article, and many others, at the Western Gazette website. Click here to follow me and be the first to know when I publish my next short story, article or book review.

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Can a ghost be in two places at once? ... perhaps

Lady Lisle 

In 1685 a certain Lady Lisle lived at Moyles Court in the New Forest in Hampshire. This was of course the same year that the Monmouth rebellion was crushed (see my blog The Sedgemoor Ghosts) and the whole of the south-west of England was seething with desperate escapees fleeing the retribution of Judge Jeffreys. In those days to be on the losing side was no small matter.

Lady Lisle was soon contacted to provide safe haven for two rebels who were in sore need of sanctuary. Because of her anti-royalist views she took them in. The house was raided the next day and the two fugitives and Lady Lisle were arrested. She was 70 years old and by all accounts a formidable personality.

Lady Lisle was one of the first to be tried at Winchester Castle and was found not guilty of harbouring traitors. However, the power and personality of Judge Jeffreys was such that he over-ruled the decision and she was sentenced to death. There then followed much discussion about the merits of burning at the stake, hang drawing and quartering, and beheading. On one side was Jeffreys who wanted maximum impact through burning, and those sympathisers who wanted a less harsh punishment of beheading due to her age.

The Eclipse Inn, Winchester

Eventually it was decided that she should be beheaded in Winchester Market Place. She spent her last night in the upper rooms of a building which fronted onto the Market Place, and is now the Eclipse Inn. She had a sleepless night while awaiting her fate because the sounds of the scaffold being constructed were impossible to muffle. The next morning she stepped out of a window straight onto the scaffold where, after the normal speeches, sentence was carried out.

So, 350 years later, what of today?

In the Eclipse Inn a Grey Lady has often been seen drifting along the upstairs passage. She is accompanied by surreal sounds of a wooden construction being nailed together ... presumably the scaffold. And at the same time sounds of footsteps with the swish of an expensive, voluminous dress is heard along the corridors of Moyles Court. It is said that both are Lady Lisle.

In Association with the Western Gazette 

You can also read this article, and many others, at the Western Gazette website. Click here to follow me and be the first to know when I publish my next short story, article or book review.

Buy P J Cadavori's Catacombs of the Damned at Winstone’s of Sherborne, Waterstones or Amazon, in paperback and e-book formats. Click on the book covers below to view Catacombs of the Damned at Amazon.

 

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English treachery and Spanish Ghosts in Ireland

Imagine ... it is mid November and you are walking over some of the most beautiful coastal countryside in Southern Ireland. The gentle sea breezes are caressing you from the far reaches of the Atlantic; there lingers a softness and a warmth from the summer months as they live out their last few days while hinting at the storms and harshness of the winter which is to come.

Dingle Peninsular,  County Kerry

You are on the Dingle Peninsular in County Kerry.

But wait ... all is not what it seems. In spite of the tranquil breeze your body suddenly stiffens as you get a contact with a dreadful event from over 400 years ago. There is a ghastly stench of rotting bodies which, although you’ve never met such a smell before, you identify instantly. And writhing within the breeze there are distinct sounds of calling, pleading ... the yells and screams of people condemned to a violent death.

So what happened?  The records are varied but what is known involves a Papal conspiracy, Catholic soldiers from Spain and Italy and fierce battles with the English who were running rampant over Ireland during those troubled times.

It all came to a head at Fort del Oro on the Dingle headland in November 1580. A party of about 600 Spanish and Italian soldiers had been financed by the Pope to carry the battle of religious reform to the heretics of Elizabeth’s England. But soon, after some initial success they became trapped on the headland with an English army before them and English Ships behind them. They had no choice but to surrender.

They were unfortunate in that terms were negotiated with General Grey who was not known for honourable behaviour. He gave guarantees that all lives would be spared but then brutally executed all 600 of the captives. Indeed some even had their heads buried while their bodies were thrown into the sea.

Now, centuries later local stories are abundant. Many visitors who speak Spanish have identified the agonies on the wind as pleas for mercy. And local fishermen have often sighted heads and bodies floating close to the shore which mysteriously disappear when approached.

Finally, it is a strange twist in fate that such horror can be visited upon such a beautiful and tranquil place; perhaps “Perfidious Albion” should be blamed. But to those who’ve seen, heard and smelled them, the history and ghosts are very real.

In Association with the Western Gazette 

You can also read this article, and many others, at the Western Gazette website. Click here to follow me and be the first to know when I publish my next short story, article or book review.

Buy P J Cadavori's Catacombs of the Damned at Winstone’s of Sherborne, Waterstones or Amazon, in paperback and e-book formats. Click on the book covers below to view Catacombs of the Damned at Amazon.

 

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