(Mr. Pressdee) was with the hounds, Mr. Spooner, before they entered the field in question, sent his huntsman, James Bayliss*, to watch by the cottage, and see whether he could unravel the mystery; when lo! he had not long been there before the hounds came full cry over hedge and ditch, as straight as an arrow, towards the cottage; and, upon their leaping into the garden, he saw, just before them, either a black cat or a witch in that shape, which bounded from the hounds, first upon a shed, and then through a hole in the window of the old woman's bed

room.

There is something very strange in this account; for although it possibly might have been a real cat that from time to time led the hounds such a chase, yet, taking the narrative as it is, the difficulties in the way of such a supposition are great. First, because Mr. Pressdee says that the persons who accompanied the hounds never saw what was pursued; neither did the huntsman, except in the instance above stated; and, secondly, it was not natural for a timorous animal like a cat to venture so often to a certain spot, so far from home, and thereby expose herself to such repeated dangers. There may have been some facts in the case which were never discovered; and we cannot but believe that the cause was a natural one, although at that time it was so generally attributed to witchcraft; for Mr. Pressdee says it was a common saying in the neighbourhood, that the hounds had only to go into the Oak and Crab Tree Ground, and they would be sure to have a run after old Dame Cofield †.

It is said, if a red herring, or a piece of bacon, or certain dead animals, are drawn along the ground, the hounds will go full cry

* When a boy, the author used frequently to see Mr. Spooner and his abovementioned huntsman ride by his native place, the Upper House, in Alfrick, after the hounds; and yet, strange to say, he was quite blind during the latter part of the time that he followed that diversion. His servant used to take the lead over slight fences, and he used to follow.

+ It was formerly a common idea, in many districts, that the hounds did sometimes hunt witches in the shape of foxes and hares. This fancy,

doubtless, often arose when an animal was so fleet and wary, that, although repeatedly run, it could not be caught.

along the "trail;" and I inquired of Mr. Pressdee whether such a trick might not have been practised in the above-mentioned cases; but he thought this was impossible, as the instances were so numerous, and the hounds frequently came to the spot in question quite casually *.

WITCHERY HOLE.

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There is a place called Witchery Hole (alias Witcherly Hole), in Shelsley Walsh, otherwise Little Shelsley; and I recollect, when a boy, hearing the peasantry of Alfrick say, whenever a violent storm blew from the north, The wind comes from Witcherly Hole;" meaning, thereby, that the broomstick hags, mounted on their aerial steeds, were then rushing southward from their mysterious hole, and were followed in their course by an atmospheric hurly-burly f.

OLD COLES.

I well remember, in my juvenile days, hearing old people speak of a spectre that formerly appeared in the parish of Leigh, in this county, which they called "Old Coles." They said that he frequently used, at dead of night, to ride as swift as the wind down that part of the public road between Bransford and Brocamin, called Leigh Walk, in a coach drawn by four horses, with fire flying out of their nostrils; and that they invariably dashed right over the great barn at Leigh Court, and then on into the river Teme. It was likewise said, that this perturbed spirit was at length laid in a neighbouring pool by twelve parsons, at dead of night, by the light of an inch of candle; and, as he was not to rise again until the candle was quite burnt out, it was, therefore, thrown into the

The old dame was also charged with having frequently upset waggons as they passed by her cottage, and then, having looked very innocently out of her window, asked what was the matter.

In this we appear to have a kind of medieval version of the cave of Eolus. The hole is a dingle of coppice wood, having Hell Hole, and the Devil's Den, in Stanford, as its neighbours.

pool, and to make all sure the pool was filled up,

And peaceful after slept Old Coles's shade.

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The

Upon considering the tenor of this legend, I was led to think. that" Old Coles" must have been a person of some quality; and it induced me to look into Nash's History of Worcestershire," hoping it might throw some light upon the subject. I find that in his account of Leigh, he says, "This ancient lordship of the abbots of Pershore falling by the dissolution of monasteries into the king's hands, remained there till Elizabeth's time. tenants of the house and demesne, both under the abbot and under the king and queen, were the Colles, of which family was Mr. Edward [Edmund] Collest, a grave and learned justice of this shire, who purchased the inheritance of this manor;' whose son, William Colles, succeeded him; whose son and heir, Mr. Edmund Colles, lived in the time of Mr. Habingdons, and, being loaded with debts (which like a snow-ball from Malvern Hill gathered increase), thought fit to sell it to Sir Walter Devereux, Bart."

The Colles's were also possessed of the manor of Suckley ||, which shared the same fate. "The manor of Suckley remained in the name of Hungerford till it passed by purchase from them to Mr. Edmund Colles, of Leigh, in the reign of Elizabeth. He left it to his son, Mr. William Colles; whose heir, Mr. Edmund Colles, sold it to Sir Walter Devereux, Knight and Bart. ¶" It is not improbable that the legend may have referred to the

* Vol. ii., p. 73.

+ He died 19th December, 1606, aged 76.

Died 20th September, 1615.-(See Nash's account of the family monuments in Leigh Church.)

§ Thomas Habington, or Habingdon, of Hinlip, the historian, died 8th October, 1647. His son William died November 30th, 1659.-(See p. 170; and Nash, Vol. i., Introduction.)

This manor includes the hamlets of Alfrick and Lulsley. There is a farm called Colles Place (vulgo Coles Place, or Cold Place) in Lulsley, "which is mentioned in a ledger of the Priory of Malvern, in the reign of Henry III., as belonging to the family of Colles."-(See Nash, Vol. ii., p. 400.) There is also "Coles Green," near Sandlin, in Leigh.

¶ Nash, Vol. ii., p. 397.

unfortunate Edmund Colles, the second, who, having lost his patrimony, and, perhaps, died in distress, his spirit may have been supposed to have haunted Leigh Court, the seat of his joys in prosperity, and the object of his regrets in adversity.

The following story, something similar, is told in the "Rambler in Worcestershire*," respecting the Court-house in Little Shelsley "The people say the house is haunted, and that a Lady Lightfoot, who was imprisoned and murdered in the house, comes at night and drives a carriage and four fiery horses round some old rooms that are unoccupied, and that her ladyship's screams are heard at times over the Old Court. There she has been seen to drive her team into the moat, and carriage, horses, and all, have disappeared, the water smoking like a furnace."

It used to be supposed that the neighbourhood of Haddon, or of Hardwicke, Co. Derby, or both, were visited by a coach drawn by headless steeds, and driven by a coachman as headless as themselves; and that a similar equipage used to haunt the Mansion of Parsloes, in Essex t.

The following is a similar legend:

In the south of Devon, some eighteen or twenty years ago, a reverend gentleman, of large landed property, held a small benefice in his immediate neighbourhood, for the purpose of evading residence in another quarter. He was accustomed to perform the duty every Sunday, and was conveyed to the church in his chariot through one of those narrow, shady lanes, for which that county was then so justly famed. He died, and his remains were consigned to the vault in the church of the above-mentioned benefice, with much pomp and ceremony, and followed by a long procession of friends, tenants, and the surrounding neighbourhood. But his spirit was not supposed to rest in peace. Villagers returning from their labours had been terrified by the sound of carriage wheels in the shady lane; and one had even seen the chariot itself drawn by headless horses. The rumour spread, till

See the "Athenæum" for 29th August, 1846, p. 886.

Ibid., for November 7, 1846, p. 1142.

it was confidently asserted in the cider shops that twelve parsons' had been convened to lay the spirit in the Red Sea. Still, the lane was believed to be haunted; and, on investigating the reason why the spell had not taken effect, it was conjectured that, as one of the twelve parsons had been the intimate friend of the deceased-as he knawed the trick-he would communicate it to him, and so render it abortive. That parson was, therefore, struck out of the list; and the vicar of an adjoining parish, lately come into residence, from Lunnun town,' did it all hisself; and neither chariot nor horses was ever knawed to walk again. This superstition was current under the immediate knowledge of the writer of this anecdote."

Another story of the kind is told in " Notes and Queries *."

"Sir Thomas Boleyn's Spectre.-Sir Thomas Boleyn, the father of the unfortunate Queen of Henry VIII., resided at Blickling, distant about fourteen miles from Norwich, and now the residence of the dowager Lady Suffield. The spectre of this gentleman is believed by the vulgar to be doomed, annually, on a certain night in the year, to drive, for a period of 1000 years, a coach drawn by four headless horses, over a circuit of twelve bridges in that vicinity. These are Aylsham, Burgh, Oxnead, Buxton, Coltishall, the two Meyton bridges, Wroxham, and four others, whose names I do not recollect. Sir Thomas carries his head under his arm, and flames issue from his mouth. Few rustics are hardy enough to be found loitering on or near those bridges on that night; and my informant averred that he was himself hailed by this fiendish apparition, and asked to open a gate, but he warn't sich a fool as to turn his head; and well a' didn't, for Sir Thomas passed him full gallop like:' and he heard a voice which told him that he (Sir Thomas) had no power to hurt such as turned a deaf ear to his requests; but that, had he stopped he would have carried him off.

This tradition I have repeatedly heard in this neighbourhood, from aged persons, when I was a child, but I never found but one person who had ever actually seen the phantom. Perhaps some of

Vol. i., No. 29, May 18, 1850, p. 468.