The is the story a young woman who lived near the ruins of Monks Abbey, and of the knight she was courting. According to legend, an island in the River Witham, just south of here but now obscured by a railway line and the site of former industrial works, was covered in beautiful flowers. The young woman begged the knight to go out to it and pick some for her – so he waded through muddy currents in his armour, picked a posy, and then set off back to shore. However, he got stuck in the mud, and drowned, holding the flowers above his head and calling out ‘Forget me not, forget me not’.

This is told and discussed by Susanna O’Neill in Folklore of Lincolnshire (2012), who relies on a version discussed in the magazine Lincolnshire Life in 1998. There is no prior written source that we have been able to locate, which raises obvious suspicions about its origins. Monks Abbey used to stand well outside the city. The ruins of the chancel are visible in a small park, and quite impressive, though they are behind fencing.

Words by RORY WATERMAN