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There is a very old tradition that ghost stories be told on Christmas Eve - which does seem rather strange. But we must remember that there is little real justification for the choice of 25th December as the date on which to celebrate the birth of Christ. The date was probably chosen by early Christians because it was very close to a day on which pagans celebrated and many - well, some, anyway - of the old pagan traditions were usurped and brought into the celebration of Christmas. Maybe that's how the telling of ghost stories became part of it?
Brighton has several really old pubs - and I suspect that I have drunk in most of them! One of the oldest is the Druid's Head, which is said to date from 1510. It is named after a circle of standing stones which at one time stood nearby and formed a place of worship for the druids. Like so many old pubs, the Druid's Head is said to be haunted. Could the poltergeist activity be connected with the troubled souls of human sacrifices made on those old stones? The apparition of a woman in a long, red gown once made a sudden appearance in the bar - and just as suddenly disappeared. But the disturbed spirit of a smuggler is blamed for much of the activity. It is said that he met a brutal death in one of the tunnels that used to lead from the cellars, having been caught by customs men and beaten to death. Glasses and bottles have been seen moving on the shelves of their own volition and glasses have moved unaided along the top of the bar.
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Both those pubs are in the Lanes but the best ghost story from "the Lanes - in fact, from the whole of Brighton - is that of the medieval Grey Nun, who fell in love with a soldier who happened to be billeted nearby. The couple eloped but were captured and whilst the soldier was executed immediately, the nun received a worse fate (a fate worse than death?); she was bricked-up behind a wall in Meeting House Lane and left to die. The sealed cell can still be seen to this day and the nun has been seen walking hurriedly around the narrow lanes. She was last spotted in a narrow alleyway between Ship Street and Middle Street by a fire warden during the Blitz, who reported that beneath her dark veil, there was .. no face! One presumes, though, that he wasn't using a torch."
(Although I knew that last story, I stole the words from here.)
2 comments:
Interesting tradition...thx for the fun.
MOST interesting, and The Druids Head looks magnificent decked out in summer finery. I sure do miss the pubs.
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