The New Murrey and Blue blog

Oh dear, the shivers are running down my back because I just found this article which relates some of the watery horrors of East Anglia.

I came upon the article while searching for something about John Howard, 1^st Duke of Norfolk, who would die at Bosworth alongside the king whose good friend and supporter he was. Naturally enough I thought I was going to find some folklore about the duke, but no, there’s no mention of him whatsoever! Why the article turned up in my search for him I have no idea. The only connection seems to be East Anglia.

But I was lured into reading the article all the same. Among other things there are “….River hags, sunken villages, shrieking pits, sea serpents, stones that run to the sea, hearts that burst from women burnt at the stake and bounced to the river….” Some are undated, others are modern. The medieval period is represented by a naked wild man dragged from the sea in 12th century, and the drowned port of Dunwich in the 13th century. 16th-century goings-on happened around the remains of a Tudor beacon of 1550, a witch-hanging of 1583, and the bouncing heart of a woman burned at the stake in 1590.

So, all in all, while beautiful East Anglia is very well worth a prolonged visit during daylight, after dark it’s probably best to  give it a wide berth. Especially if you’re alone on a quiet country road with water nearby…. 😱

PS: My attention has been drawn to a mystery/thriller by Elly Griffiths called The Lantern Men. It’s apparently the twelfth in the Dr Ruth Galloway Mysteries. I haven’t read it, but it looks suitably eerie, with creepy lights out on the fens after dark and so on.