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Old Mother Nightshade
Old Mother Nightshade was a witch, feared by all apart from the young and foolish John Culpepper, who sought her counsel after being rejected by a potential lover. She gives him a box of sweetmeats to present to the girl, and tells him to return in three days’ time…
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The Strangers’ Share
This tale has something in common with ‘Tiddy mun’, which is also discussed on this map. It concerns the strangers, or ‘tiddy people’ – baby-sized beings with long arms, legs, and tongues, who wore green clothes and yellow bonnets…
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The Lad who Went Looking for Fools
This story tells of a young man called Jack, due to marry a young woman called Polly. One day, he finds mother, father and daughter in tears: there is a well in the garden, and the three are terrified that, should Jack and Polly have a child, it will fall in and drown…
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The Markby Church Ghost(s)
According to legend, anyone who runs three times round the church anticlockwise and then bangs a nail into the door will see a ghost. We obviously do not endorse this act…
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The Flyin’ Childer
A lad sees a girl washing herself, and offers to marry her if she follows him. She agrees, but says that if he rescinds his promise she will put a spell on him, and he says that if he lets her down the worms should eat him and their children should develop wings and fly…
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The Faithful Servant
A fairly widely reported story tells of a servant at Girsby Manor in 1784 who is threatened with being flayed alive by a band of robbers if he doesn’t help them to rob the home. Instead, he tells his master, and the robbers are captured and later executed and gibbeted. The story doesn’t end there,…
Lincolnshire Folk Tales Project 