The Dream Precognition And The Double Hanging In Bodmin That 25,000 People Came To Watch

Bodmin Jail or Gaol

Captain Edmund Norway, the master of the merchant ship Orient, was situated seven miles off the volcanic island of St Helena in the south Atlantic.

On the 8th of February 1840 the Captain awoke with a start. He had been dreaming and told his second officer, Mr Wren, what he had dreamt:

"I had a dreadful dream. I dreamt that my brother Nevill was murdered by two men on the road from Bodmin to Wadebridge. One fired a pistol twice, but I heard no report. He then knocked my brother from his horse, struck him several blows about the head, then ran away and left him."

Seeing his Captain was unsettled by this Mr Wren told him, "Don’t worry about it. You west country people are too superstitious." Captain Norway was from Cornwall, England.

But it must have concerned the Captain as on February 9th, 1840 he took the trouble to record his dream, and the conversation with Wren, in the ship's log.

Nevill Norway, a highly respectable timber and general merchant, was killed exactly as his brother had recorded and the murder caused considerable interest and discussion in Bodmin, Cornwall and the surrounding area. So much so that a police officer from London was sent to help with the enquiries.

Nevill had been seen on the day of the murder at Bodmin market and was carrying a considerable amount of money. It is thought he was seen by brothers, William and James Lightfoot, who were later arrested for Neville Norway's murder. They each initially blamed the other brother.

William Lightfoot finally gave his version of what had happened:

"He and his brother had met by appointment, and were determined to have some money; that when Mr Norway came up, James snapped his pistol at him twice; that he (William) then gave him a blow with a stick; that he fell off his horse, and that James struck him with his pistol."

William and James Lighfoot were found guilty at the court and Monday, the 13th of April, 1840 was fixed for their execution by hanging at Bodmin Jail.

The hanging became cause for almost a party atmosphere and 20-25,000 people went to watch the double hanging. This is how the local newspaper, The West Briton, reported the execution:

"The execution of these wretched men (William and James Lighfoot) who murdered Nevill Norway, took place on Monday last, in front of the County Gaol.

The town of Bodmin on the Sunday evening presented the appearance of a fair, every Public House and as many private houses were filled to overflowing.

On Monday morning the road up to the prison was barricaded off from the public leaving a large open space below the drop which was occupied by the Sheriff's Javelin men and the local and special Constables.

People began to assemble very early in the morning and by twelve o'clock, the hour of execution, there could have been no less than from twenty to twenty-five thousand persons.

The prisoners were launched into eternity. They died almost immediately. The shoe of William, through the jerk, fell off.

After hanging for an hour, the bodies were cut down and put into a couple of black coffins. They were buried in a hole about three feet in the coal yard just in front of the prison.

~ West Briton Newspaper 17th April 1840.

Is it any wonder the ghosts of William and James Lightfoot still haunt Bodmin Jail?

Other Bodmin, Cornwall Posts:
The Ghosts Who Haunt Bodmin Jail, Cornwall: 13 Exclusive Photos
A Jackalope - A Rabbit With Antlers - Seen In Bodmin Jail
The Mystery Of The Three Hurlers Stone Circles On Bodmin Moor

Cornwall Photos on Mike's Cornwall

The Mystery Of The Three Hurlers Stone Circles

As I said in yesterday's post my wife, Karin, and I have been walking on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall with the prime aim of visiting the ancient Hurlers stone circles. Unfortunately it was an overcast day so the photos aren't too special but the sun did break through on occasions, as in the above picture.

The Hurlers are three stone circles in a line and are said to be dated from around 1500-2100 BC, which makes them 3500 to 4000 years old. Some experts date them from the late Neolithic period and others to the early Bronze Age. There are also two other monoliths, The Pipers, which are situated about 100m south-west of the center circle.

The Hurlers stone circles bring forth many questions such as : Why three of them, when one was enough for the likes of Stonehenge? What were they used for? Why would people want to create them? And so on, and so on.

The oldest answer comes from the late 1500s when a historian, William Camden, wrote in olde English: "The neighbouring inhabitants terme them Hurlers, as being by devout and godly error perswaded that they had been men sometime transformed into stones, for profaning the Lord's Day with hurling the ball."

There were always simplistic religious answers back in the 1500s and 1600s: The Hurlers are men turned into stone because they dared to play the Cornish game of Hurlers on a Sunday! The two other stones were the Pipers who played music at the same time. I guess not many people will accept this as being true nowadays! Oh, and there is one other legend about how it is impossible to count the number of stones in the circles.

Today we have other ideas as to what the Hurlers were all about but the truth is that no one really knows. They may have been for some form of ceremonies or perhaps they defined a meeting place for nearby inhabitants. There is also a new(ish) theory that the stones are aligned to the constellation of Orion, but more on this later.

Since the three thousand years or so of their erection some of the stones have fallen and some have become buried. The following is a diagram showing the stones formations and the position of the Pipers - which could be for astronomical purposes or perhaps simply as an entrance or boundary markers.

The two outer circles are just that: circles. But the middle is more elliptical. This is something I have seen with other such formations - at Woodhenge, for example.

As I've already said no one is sure as to the purpose of the stone circles. One theory put forward by Brian Sheen, a retired research chemist and astronomer of the Roseland Observatory, links the Hurlers to the constellation of Orion and that they are a primitive calender.

Mr Sheen explains: "As far as I can tell these Hurlers, a series of three stone circles, actually mirror the belt of Orion. Just once a year at the winter solstice Orion passes due south at midnight.

What happened is that this allowed the ancient people to tell the half way point between the autumnal equinox and the vernal equinox. This was important because they were starting to grow things and look after animals. They were becoming farmers instead of hunter-gatherers.

It confirms that the people that built the Hurlers around 1500 BC were fully aware of day length and season and had more knowledge of astronomy than we thought."

Bodmin Moor can be an inhospitable place when the weather is bad. There is about 80 square miles (208 sq km) of granite moorland, some parts with strange names as Brown Willy (the highest point in Cornwall), Rough Tor and Stowe's Hill, with it's Cheesewring - the high ground in the photo below.

The Cheesewring has strange rock formations but they are all natural. The name is taken from it's resemblance to the piled slabs of a 'cheesewring', which was a press-like device that was once used to make cheese.

And, of course, being Cornwall there has to be a legend to the Cheesewring! This is how it is described on Wikipedia:

"The Cheesewring is the result of a contest between a man and a giant. When Christianity had just been introduced to the British Islands, the giants who lived at the top of the mountains were not happy about this. The Saints had invaded their land and were declaring their wells as sacred. One of the larger giants, Uther, was given the task of ridding their land of the Saints.

He confronted the frail St Tue, who proposed a rock throwing contest. If Uther won, the Saints would leave Cornwall. If St Tue won, then the giants would convert to Christianity. Uther took his turn first and easily threw a small rock to the top of nearby Stowe's Hill.

St Tue prayed for assistance, and picking up a huge slab found it was very light. One after the other, they threw their rocks, stacking them up in perfect piles. When the score was twelve stones each, Uther threw a thirteenth stone, but it rolled down the hill. St Tue picked up this fallen stone, and as he lifted it, an angel appeared to carry it to the top of the pile of rocks. Seeing this, Uther conceded, and most of the giants decided to follow Christianity after that."

This was our walk on Bodmin Moor completed for the day: Ancient Stone Rings, wild ponies and horses, strange natural rock formations, open spaces and, of course those legends and myths.

Other Cornwall Posts:
The Holy Well Of St Sampson At Golant In Cornwall
The Magic Of Fowey Cornwall
In Search Of Celtic Crosses At St.Winnow In Cornwall

Cornwall Photos & Posts on Mike's Cornwall blog

Evil Of The Devil And His Dando Dogs On Bodmin Moor

We were walking on the mystical Bodmin Moor in Cornwall, England where there are wild ponies and other animals grazing the moorland. It's good to see animals roaming free as they have done for thousands of years. The ponies happily posed for my photos.

As the wind blows across the wide expanse of moorland it's easy to imagine the legends of the moor coming to life. Dando and His Dogs could well be nearby hunting for human souls. Fluffy, beautiful ponies are one thing, but Dando is something not to be messed with.

Hearing Dando's baying hounds echoing over the moor is enough to make even the bravest fear for their lives. If the dogs are heard it's best to move on quickly before the hunter catches sight of your soul. One poor fellow lingered until it was nearly too late, but fortunately he remembered what he had to do to escape. Others aren't so lucky or as well informed.

Dando the hunter is evil with big saucer like eyes, horns from his head and a tail blowing in the wind, he is the devil himself. With his hunting pole at the ready his dogs snort out fire scorching the moorland surface as they snarl and snap at any unfortunate human.

The man I mentioned remembered the advice his father had given him as a child about Dando and his Dogs. The only way to escape is to surrender yourself to God and pray. The man dropped to his knees and did so and the dogs fell silent. Dando called for them to move on in pursuit of another soul - one who may not be aware of the secret knowledge to save him or her from evil.

It's not only Dando to be wary of while on the moor, oh no, there is also the Beast of Bodmin or perhaps beasts. These are big black cat like creatures the size perhaps of panthers or pumas. Many walkers on the moor have seen them and sheep and cattle have been savaged by these beasts.

Bodmin Moor has kept it's mysteries for thousands of years and tomorrow's post will be about The Hurlers - three ancient stone circles adjacent to each other and believed to be at least 3,500 years old. But what was their purpose and why did the ancient people erect them in this fashion?

Other Cornwall Posts:
Did Jesus Visit St George's Island Looe Cornwall
Menabilly Daphne Du Maurier's Manderley In Cornwall
The Cornish Mystery Of Trevethy Quoit Stones

More Cornwall Photos on Mike's Cornwall Blog.