Haunting History of: Byland Abbey ,Ryedale , North Yorkshire, England, Byland Abbey is a ruined abbey and a small village in the Ryedale in the North York Moors National Park. William of Newburghs Chronicle of 1290AD is said to mention the sighting of a round silvery object flying over the Byland Abbey in Yorkshire. Several interesting books that belonged to Byland are the Opus Agriculture,a treatise on agriculture (Trinity College Cambridge MS 0 3 42) and a late-fourteenth century compilation of ghost stories [BL Add 3180]. This was actually recorded by a monk of Byland, who wrote down a collection of eerie occurrences relating to the neighbourhood. They include tales of phantom beasts, a howling ghost and restless spirits whose misdemeanours in life prevented their peace in death. There is also an interesting story about a former rector of Kereby who was buried by the chapter-house at Byland, but whose body was later dug up and thrown in the water.(19) The old people tell the story of a certain James Tankerlay, one-time rector of Kereby, who was buried by the chapter-house at Byland. His spirit began to wander at night as far as Kereby, and one evening he gouged out the eye of his concubine who still lived there. It is said that the abbot and chapter had his body in its coffin dug out of the grave and that they ordered Roger Wayneman to convey it to Gormyre. When he was about to throw the coffin into the water, the oxen drawing his wagon panicked and were almost drowned with fear. [Medieval Ghost Stories: an Anthology of Miracles, Marvels and Prodigies, ed. A. Joynes (Woodbridge, 2001), p. 123] According to most historical sources William of Newburgh lived from 1136-1201, out of the time scale for him to have recorded it. He did write a book called Historia Rerum Anglicarum, which contained many tales of the varied beliefs of the time. This may have been the original source of the story, which has been repeated several times in literature. Video Here > https://youtube/watch?v=-qZyXVPgBh4 When M.R. James published Twelve Medieval Ghost Stories (in their original Latin) in the English Historical Review 37 (1922), pp.413-22, he explained that a monk of Byland Abbey (Yorkshire), around 1400, had written them on some blank pages in a much older manuscript on unconnected subjects. He remarks on the difficult handwriting, and on the refreshing quality of the Latin (a crack at its homely, non-classical style), but the only thing he says about the content of the stories is that they remind him strongly of Danish legends in E.T. Kristensens collections, and that he is fairly confident that the Scandinavian element is really prominent in these tales - a plausible suggestion, as Yorkshire was an area of Viking settlement. One striking feature is that several of the Byland Abbey ghosts are shape-changers, taking grotesque forms. In Story I, a man carrying a sack of beans meets something like a horse rearing up on its hind legs with its forelegs in the air, which turns into a whirling heap of hay with a light in the middle of it. The man exclaims, God forbid you should harm me!, at which the apparition takes human shape, and explains who he is and why he haunts the spot. The man arranges for the spirit to be posthumously absolved and Masses sung, which frees him from his ghostly state. In Story II, a tailor, late at night, is attacked by a crow with sparks of fire streaming from its side, but when he draws his sword it seemed to him that he was striking at a peat-stack. Then it reappears as a dog with a chain round its neck, which, when addressed, replies at length (presumably now in human form), but seems to be internally on fire, and the tailor can see right down to its guts through its open mouth. A few days later the tailor returns to tell the ghost the necessary absolution has been laid on its tomb. This time it comes first as a bleating goat, then turns into a huge man, horrible-looking, and as thin as one of the Dead Kings in a painting. The tailor hears of other ghosts too - one who looks like a thorn-bush or a bonfire; one like a bullock without mouth, eyes or ears; one, a priest, who appears as a huntsman with a horn. In Story VIII, a ghost is first heard yelling in the distance, then closer, then appears as a pale horse, and finally rolls away in the form of a revolving vat. English country legends as recorded in the nineteenth century include spectres quite as odd as these, alongside the more normal white ladies and headless horsemen. In Story VI, a man crossing a field is attacked by the ghost of a canon from Newbury, who wrestles with him and tears his clothes. The living man overcomes the dead one, and urges him to explain why he cannot rest; he admits he had been excommunicated for stealing some silver spoons, and says where they are hidden. The living man agrees to fetch them, return them to the Prior, and get the excommunication cancelled. He does so, and all is well - except that he falls ill and remains so for many days. The Scandinavian parallels are strong here; wrestling against the undead is common in Icelandic medieval sagas, while there is a strong Danish folk belief that those who see ghosts fall ill. That stolen goods must be returned is a universal element in ghost-lore. Story VII is another penitent spectre, who begs his former master to forgive him for thefts and skimped work. Story VIII tells of a ghost which shouted Hoo, hoo, hoo! in a terrible voice, first a long way away and then much nearer; it then does some shape-shifting (first as horse, then as wine-vat). MRJs note points out that there are many tales, Danish and other, of persons who answer the shrieking ghost with impertinent words, and the next moment they hear it close to their ear. I have discussed the links between this motif, Danish legends about the ghosts of those who have shifted boundary stones, and MRJs A Neighbours Landmark in G&S 25. The story also involves two common folk motifs: that spectres appear at cross-roads, and that dogs fear them. Story IX tells the tale of a ghost who pursued a man for 80 miles to force the man to conjure him. Once conjured the ghost confessed his sin: a certain matter of 6 pennies. The ghost is absolved and having made amends gains eternal rest. This story serves as an exemplum for the justice of God. An epilogue adds that in a previous encounter the ghost had tossed this man over a fence. In his confession, the ghost impudently tells the man that if he had conjured him in the first place, the man would not have been harmed and that wherever he had been terrified, the ghost had done that too. (LR) Story X does not involve ghosts, only scrying by a wizard. Story XI, however, is a fine example of a folktale known from several countries (including England and Scandinavia), which teaches that the soul of an unbaptised baby cannot rest. A certain Richard Rowntree from Cleveland went on pilgrimage to the shrine of St James at Compostella, leaving his pregnant wife at home. In the course of the journey, one night he saw a procession of dead riders, at the tail end of which came a baby rolling along the ground in a boot. Who are you, and why do you roll? he asked. You are my father, it answered. I am your son, miscarried at birth and buried without baptism and without a name. At this, the pilgrim took off his tunic and put it on the baby, and baptised it, and it stood up and rejoiced. But the man kept the old boot. When he got home he told his wife to bring his boots, but she could only find one; then, to her amazement, he produced the other and told his tale. The midwife confessed she had buried the dead baby in the boot. Variants of this story are found in later folklore, e.g. on the Isle of Man and in Scotland, where the baby is laid by being given a name rather than by the specific religious sacrament of baptism: the underlying principle is that someone who has not been properly integrated into the community when alive cannot find peace in death. The tale is found in Scandinavia too, both in the baptismal and in the name-giving form. The final story, number XII, concerns a woman who cannot rest in her grave because she wrongly gave title-deeds to some land to her brother, thereby doing injustice to her husband and sons. She is captured after death by a certain William, and taken to confront her brother, who refuses to hand back the deeds. She then warns him that though she will be forced to walk for as long as he lives, once he is dead she will be free and he will have to walk instead of her. The word captured (comprehensa) probably implies that she was subdued by physical force, like the revenants in Stories III and VI. by Syruss users.globalnet.co.uk/ Byland Abbey History It was founded as a Savigniac abbey in January 1135 and was absorbed by the Cistercian order in 1147. It wasnt an easy start for the community who had had to move five times before settling at New Byland, near Coxwold in 1177. Its early history was marked by disputes with no fewer than four other religious establishments: (Furness Abbey, Calder Abbey, Rievaulx Abbey and Newburgh Priory). However, once it had overcome this bad start, it was described in the late 14th century as one of the three shining lights of the north. Its financial success was not as great as that of places like Rievaulx, but it was famed for its sheep rearing and wool exports. Its church was said to be among the finest 12th-century churches in Europe. It was dissolved on 30 November 1538. In 1539, its site was granted to Sir William Pickering. Impressive remains can still be seen, in the care of English Heritage, including the lower half of a huge rose window. An interesting feature is the preservation of some of the brightly coloured medieval floor tiles. An altar table was also recovered, although that is now in Ampleforth, and a stone lectern base from the chapter house is the only example its kind in Briton cistercians.shef.ac.uk/ mysteriousbritain.co.uk en.wikipedia.org Photo 1 by photoanswers.co.uk- Photo 2 by Willj geograph.org.uk Photo 3 by coolplaces.co.uk- Photo 4 by Dirk Ingo Franke Photo 5 by velorichard.wordpress- Photo 6 by coolplaces.co.uk- Photo 7 by walkingwiththetaxidriver.co.uk- Photo 8 by mygola-
Posted on: Sat, 27 Dec 2014 19:05:28 +0000
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