Bridget Cleary, Fairy Changeling

Bridget Cleary was an Irish woman who, in 1895, was killed by her husband who believed she was a fairy changeling. In folklore a changeling is a fairy which is switched with a human infant. In many cases a changeling seemed like the only rational explanation for the unknown diseases etc., which might afflict a child.

Although her age, for she was 26 at the time, perhaps makes Bridget’s case unique, it was with such illness that her troubles began. She lay in bed with a fever for over a week, going undiagnosed by her physician and believed sufficiently ill enough to have a priest administer the last rites, before her husband and father declared her to be a changeling. In a curious ritual, aimed at expelling the fairy from her body, they doused her in urine and sat her before the fireplace.

A few days later she went missing. Her husband reiterated his belief that she had been taken by fairies, however, Bridget’s burnt remains were soon found nearby in a shallow grave. Evidence suggested that, as the Cleary family gathered at Bridget’s sick bed, an argument, tinged with fairy mythology, had erupted, and Bridget had offended her husband by telling him the only person who had gone off with the fairies had been his mother. This escalated into him menacing his wife with a flaming stick, which ignited her chemise. He then threw an oil lamp on her, all the while claiming that she was a changeling and that he would, by these means, get his wife back.

He was convicted of manslaughter, though some believe he concocted a ‘fairy defence’ after Bridget’s murder so he might get a lesser sentence. Nine other people were also charged for their involvement in the murder, demonstrating how widely believed fairy folklore was amongst these rural Irish communities at the time.

[Sources: Changeling | Bridget Cleary | Galway Advertiser | See Also]

Who put Bella in the Wych Elm?

On 18 April, 1943, four boys (Robert Hart, Thomas Willetts, Bob Farmer and Fred Payne) from Stourbridge were poaching in Hagley Woods near to Wychbury Hill when they came across a large witch-hazel - a tree often confused by local residents with a Wych elm. 

Believing this a good place to hunt birds’ nests, Farmer attempted to climb the tree to investigate. As he was climbing, he glanced down into the hollow trunk and discovered a skull, believing it to be that of an animal. However, after seeing human hair and teeth, he realised that it was a human skull.

As they were on the land illegally, Farmer put the skull back and all four boys returned home without mentioning their discovery to anybody. However, on returning home the youngest of the boys, Tommy Willetts, felt uneasy about what he had witnessed and decided to report the find to his parents, who in turn, informed the police.

When police checked the trunk of the tree they found an almost complete human skeleton, a shoe, a gold wedding ring, and some fragments of clothing. After further investigation, a severed hand was found buried in the ground near to the tree. The body was sent for forensic examination and it was quickly established that the skeleton was female and had been dead for at least 18 months, placing her time of death around October 1941. He found taffeta in her mouth, suggesting that she had died from asphyxiation. From the measurement of the trunk he also deduced that she must have been placed there “still warm” after the killing as she could not have fit once rigor mortis had taken hold.

Since the woman’s killing was in the midst of World War II, identification was seriously hampered. Police could tell from items found with the body what the woman had looked like but with so many people being reported missing during the war, and people regularly moving, the records were too vast for a proper identification to take place. The current location of her skeleton is unknown.

‘Who put Bella in the Wych Elm?’ is a graffito that started appearing soon after the murder. In 1944 the first graffiti message appeared on a wall in Birmingham, reading ‘Who put Bella down the Wych Elm - Hagley Wood’, whilst the most recent graffiti was sprayed onto the side of a 200 year-old obelisk on 18 August 1999, in white paint.

(Source: Wikipedia)

Jolly Old Saint Nicholas

Jolly old Saint Nicholas is not only the patron saint of children, but, according to legend, he brought back to life three children after they were murdered and pickled in brine. Supposedly the three children spent the night at the house of an innkeeper or a butcher, who then killed, gutted, dismembered and pickled the youngsters, and was planning to pass off their remains as pork. Saint Nicholas happened along and miraculously resuscitated, reassembled, and reanimated the youths. In art of Saint Nicholas one will sometimes see children standing in vats or tubs; that would be why! 

Advent Calendar of Oddments 2012: December 1st

(Source: listverse.com)

Ferdinand I’s Museum of Mummies

Ferdinand I of Naples was the illegitimate son of Alfonso V of Aragon and King of Naples from 1458 to 1494. 

According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, “Ferdinand was gifted with great courage and real political ability, but his method of government was vicious and disastrous. His financial administration was based on oppressive and dishonest monopolies, and he was mercilessly severe and utterly treacherous towards his enemies.” For example, his oppressive government led, in 1485, to a revolt amongst the nobility and, after managing to crush the uprising and promising many of the nobles general amnesty he had many of them treacherously murdered.

With regards to this, Jacob Burckhardt described Ferdinand’s recreational activities as follows: “his pleasures were of two kinds: he liked to have his opponents near him, either alive in well-guarded prisons, or dead and embalmed, dressed in the costume which they wore in their lifetime.” Fearing no one, he would take great pleasure in conducting his guests on a tour of his prized “museum of mummies” [Source]. Indeed, Ferdinand had a novel way of dealing with his enemies. After having them murdered, he had their bodies mummified. He kept them in a private ‘black museum’, dressed in the clothes that they had worn in life. If he suspected one of his subjects of plotting against him, he took him to visit the ‘museum’ as a deterrent! [Source]

Sir Arthur Aston: Death by Wooden Leg

Sir Arthur Aston (1590–1649) was a lifelong professional soldier, most noted for his support for King Charles I in the English Civil War, and in folklore for the gruesome manner of his death.

In 1648, whilst the war raged, Aston was made governor of Drogheda, a vital strategic port. The, in 1649, Oliver Cromwell’s forces attacked the town in the Siege of Drogheda, one of the most vicious episodes of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. When the town was stormed, the garrison and many civilians were massacred by the victorious Parliamentarian soldiers.

Aston agreed to surrender after a parley on the bridge but Cromwell’s officers were ordered to put the entire town to the sword. It is widely believed that the Parliamentarian soldiers killed Aston by dashing his brains out with his own wooden leg, which they believed to conceal gold coins.

Image: The offending prosthetic.

(Source: Wikipedia)

The White Witch of Rose Hall

The story of The White Witch of Rose Hall is a Jamaican legend concerning English plantation owner Annie Palmer. Born in England in the late 18^thcentury, to an English mother and Irish father, Annie spent her formative years in Haiti. When her parents died of yellow fever her Haitian nanny, a well-versed practitioner of voodoo ritual, brought her up, teaching her witchcraft in the process. 

Annie later moved to Jamaica where she married John Palmer, the owner of Rose Hall plantation, east of Montego Bay, in 1820. John Palmer, and Annie’s two subsequent husbands, all died suspiciously, and it is speculated that Annie herself brought about their demise. She reportedly stood at 4’8”.

Annie ruled the plantation with an iron fist, punishing the mere whiff of defiance from her slaves with public floggings, tortures and even murder. She also took a number of male slaves as lovers, but when Annie began to lavish her attentions on an individual, his days were numbered. She would murder her lovers when she became bored with them and bury them in unmarked graves on her land. She also became known as a mistress of voodoo, using it to terrorise the plantation.

According to the legend Annie was murdered in her bed by Takoo, one of her lovers who was also practiced in the art of voodoo, during a slave uprising in the 1830s. Supposedly, Annie was in love with the husband of Takoo’s granddaughter, and when Annie conceded that she could not have him as her own she placed a voodoo curse on the granddaughter, who died a week later. Takoo murdered Annie as revenge.

She was buried in a special grave, prepared with voodoo charms and markings, to prevent her ghost roaming the earth, however, it is said to have been unsuccessful and Annie’s spirit haunts the corridors of Rose Hall to this day. It is said that a family who owned the property after the Palmers had a housekeeper who was “pushed” by Annie off of Annie’s favourite balcony, subsequently breaking her neck and dying. 

[Written with help from here and here. If anyone’s interested Herbert G. de Lisser’s The White Witch of Rose Hall is petty good account of the legend, and is available on Amazon. I wrote about it in my dissertation and anyone’s who is a fan of Gothic and/or post/colonial literature will enjoy it.]

Carlo Gesualdo: The Musical Murderer

Carlo Gesualdo, Prince of Venosa and Count of Conza, was an Italian nobleman, lutenist and composer … oh, and murderer. Probably born in Venosa in 1566, little is known about is early life despite that he had a single-minded devotion to music from an early age, showing little interest in anything else. In addition to the lute, he also played the harpsichord and guitar.

In 1586 he married his first cousin, Maria, however, within two years she had begun an affair with the Duke of Andria. This remained secret from her husband, even though the existence of the affair was well-known elsewhere. Unfortunately, in October 1590, the lovers took insufficient precautions to prevent their discovery. Alleging to have gone away on a hunting trip Gesualdo instead snuck back to the palace to find his wife and her lover in flagrante delicto. He murdered them both in their bed and left their mutilated bodies in front of the palace for all to see. Being a nobleman he was immune to prosecution, though not to revenge.

Details of the murders are not lacking. It is apparent that Gesualdo had help from his servants; however, Gesualdo certainly stabbed Maria multiple times, shouting as he did, “she’s not dead yet!” The Duke of Andria was found slaughtered by numerous deep sword wounds, as well as a shot to the head. When he was found, he was dressed in Maria’s night dress. The murders were widely publicised but nothing was done to apprehend Gesualdo.

According to some, Gesualdo also murdered his infant son. After looking into his eyes and doubting his paternity he “swung the infant around in his cradle until the breath left his body”. Another source indicates that he murdered his father-in-law after he sought revenge, however, contemporary documentation for either of these alleged murders is lacking. 

Late in life Gesualdo suffered from depression, perhaps induced by guilt. He had himself beaten daily by servants, keeping a special servant whose duty it was to beat him “at stool”, and he engaged in a relentless, and fruitless, correspondence with a Cardinal to obtain relics of his uncle Carlo, with which he hoped would heal his mental disorder. 

Gesualdo died in isolation. One 20th-century biographer has suggested Gesualdo may have been murdered by his second wife. He was extremely successful as a musician, carving a distinctive style, and if that should interest you, you can read more here.

[Fabulous recommendation by tierradentro]

The Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Lancashire

A somewhat Hallowe’en themed oddment. It’s a bit of a long read but it’s pretty interesting:

The 1612 Pendle Witch trials are perhaps the most famous in English history, involving twelve individuals accused of murdering ten people by witchcraft. Two families were primarily concerned, each with octogenarian matriarchs: Demdike, her daughter, and grandchildren, then Chattox and her daughter.

The Justice of the Peace for Pendle Hill in Lancashire, a county “fabled for its theft, violence and sexual laxity,” was tasked by James I to seek out religious nonconformists, and it was with this attitude that he heard allegations made by a John Law, who claimed to be the victim of witchcraft.

Walking along a quiet path Law encountered Alizon, the infamous Demdike’s granddaughter, who asked him for some metal pins. Such pins were often used for magical purposes – healing, treating warts, divination, and for love magic, which may be why Law refused. A moment later he slumped to the ground. Initially he made no accusations against Alizon, but she appears to have been convinced of her own powers, later confessing to Law, who convalesced at a nearby inn.

At court Alizon confessed she had sold her soul to the Devil and she told him to lame Law after he had called her a thief. Her mother said Demdike had a mark on her body, which many would have regarded as having been left by the Devil after he had sucked her blood.

Alizon was also questioned about Chattox, another suspicious figure, and, seeing an opportunity for revenge, as there was much bad blood between their families, she accused Chattox of murdering five men by witchcraft, including her father. She claimed her father had been so frightened of Chattox that he gave her oatmeal each year so she wouldn’t hurt his family. On his deathbed he claimed that his sickness had been caused by Chattox because he missed a payment. 

Demdike, Chattox and her daughter Anne, were summoned to court. Both elderly and blind Demdike and Chattox provided damaging confessions. Demdike claimed that she had given her soul to the Devil 20 years ago, and Chattox that she had given her soul to “a Thing like a Christian man”, who promised “she would not lack anything and would get any revenge she desired”. A witness claimed her brother had fallen sick and died after having had a disagreement with Anne, and that he had frequently blamed her for his illness. All three were committed to gaol to be tried for maleficium.

Then Demdike’s daughter organised at meeting at their home, Malkin Tower. Those sympathetic to the family attended, but when officials heard they investigated to determine the purpose of it. As a result, eight more people were accused of witchcraft, including Demdike’s daughter.

All but two were tried in Lancaster in August 1612, along with the Samlesbury witches and others, in a series of trials that have become known as the Lancashire witch trials. One was tried in York, and another died in prison. Of the eleven who went to trial ten were found guilty and executed by hanging; one was found not guilty.

[Written with (a lot of) help from Wikipedia]

Madam LaLaurie

Marie Delphine LaLaurie was a Louisiana-born socialite, and serial killer known for her involvement in the torture and murder of black slaves. 

The LaLauries, in the style of their social class at the time, maintained several black slaves in slave quarters attached to their mansion. Their slaves were observed to be “singularly haggard and wretched”; however, in public appearances LaLaurie was seen to be generally polite to black people and solicitous of her slaves’ health. On one occasion, however, a neighbour saw a slave named Lia fall to her death from the roof of the mansion while trying to avoid a whip-wielding Delphine. Lia had been brushing Delphine’s hair when she hit a snag, causing Delphine to grab a whip and chase her. 

In April 1834, a fire broke out in the LaLaurie residence. When the fire marshals got there, they found an old woman, the cook, chained to the stove by her ankle. She later confessed to them that she had set the fire as a suicide attempt for fear of her punishment, being taken to the uppermost room, because she said “Anyone who had been taken there, never came back.” After the LaLauries refused bystanders the keys to the slave quarters they broke down the doors to find “seven slaves, more or less horribly mutilated … suspended by the neck, with their limbs apparently stretched and torn from one extremity to the other”, who claimed to have been imprisoned there for some months. The bodies of a number of slaves, including a child, were found in the garden.

LaLaurie’s tale is oft embellished, with various folklorists citing findings of ”slaves, stark naked, chained to the wall, their eyes gouged out, their fingernails pulled off by the roots; others had their joints skinned and festering, great holes in their buttocks where the flesh had been sliced away, their ears hanging by shreds, their lips sewn together … Intestines were pulled out and knotted around naked waists. There were holes in skulls, where a rough stick had been inserted to stir the brains.” 

When the discovery of the tortured slaves became widely known, a mob of local citizens attacked the LaLaurie residence and “demolished and destroyed everything upon which they could lay their hands”. It is thought that LaLaurie fled to Paris, where she died in a boar attack whilst hunting.

[Thanks to justapatsy for reminding me of this psycho bitch’s existence]

(Source: Wikipedia)