This bend in the River Trent, south of Owston Ferry and once locally known as Jenny Hurn (and still named thus on OS maps), was said to be frequented by what folklorist Ethel H. Rudkin (in Folklore 44.2 (1933)) described as ‘a pygmy being, man-like, with long hair and the face of a seal’, that occasionally crossed the river east to west, ‘in a small craft resembling a large pie-dish’, propelling himself with oars the size of teaspoons. He would then cross the road and start browsing crops. A variation is that a being with long hair and walrus-like tusks would climb out of the water, then enter the field. According to Rudkin, people used to avoid walking (or mooring boats on) the bend.

In Margaret Connor’s short play ‘Superstition’ (2011), a baggard who stinks of ‘fish and sludge’, with a face like a seal’s, meets a contemporary woman ‘under the willows, hanging on to the branches for dear life’, and tries to convince her to ‘have his boggard babies’. Spoiler alert: he doesn’t succeed. This was performed by Kismet Theatre Company at Lea Village Hall in 2011. We are grateful to the playwright and novelist Anthony Cropper for drawing our attention to this.

No other folk tale or fiction related to this legendary being is extant, as far as we are aware. If you know differently, please do get in touch!

Words by RORY WATERMAN