#FolkloreThursday - Ursula Sontheil (Mother Shipton)

Public domain photo

Mother Shipton was said to have been an English soothsayer and prophetess from the 15th-16th century. The story goes like this:

Ursula Sontheil (1488 - 1561) was born in a cave beside the river Nidd in North Yorkshire, England. Some reports say that her mother gave her up to live in a convent, while others say the woman died in childbirth. Ursula's father was unknown.

The child exhibited prophetic and psychic abilities from an early age. Fostered by woman who lived on the outskirts of town, many stories were told of her odd childhood. In one, Ursula and her crib went missing from the house. When the villagers were called upon to look for her, they were attacked by supernatural forces. Ursula was eventually discovered in her crib half-way up the chimney, unharmed.

At 24 years old, she married a local carpenter and became a village prophetess and healer. To avoid persecution for the crime of witchcraft, she wrote her prophecies in rhyme and verse. Her fame soon spread and she became known as Mother Shipton. In 1559 she wrote an epic poem that would become famous down through the ages.
Many of her visions came true within her own lifetime and in subsequent centuries, including these:

The dissolution of the Catholic Church under Henry VIII
The fall of Cardinal Wolsey
The untimely death of Henry’s son Edward VI
The reign of “Bloody” Mary I
The ascent of Queen Elizabeth to the throne of England
The Great Fire of London in 1666
The defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588
The advent of modern technology.
Her own death in 1561.

Many of her prophecies were composed by others after her death. The most famous version was published by Richard Head in 1641. Head later admitted to inventing almost all Shipton's biographical details. Since 1641 there have been more than 50 different published editions of her poems.

Gleaning the real from myth and folklore in this case is difficult. Her original poetry is difficult to find and supposedly kept from being viewed by the public. With the passage of time and lack of historical evidence, there is debate as to whether she existed at all. Village wise-women certainly existed and were called upon for simple cures and herbal remedies. It's not a stretch of the imagination that there may have been one who was famed in her local area for having exceptional powers. Regardless, the real truth about Mother Shipton will probably never be known. 

#Paranormal Wednesday-Black Hope Cemetery

Photo taken at City Cemetery in Raleigh, NC

The Black Hope Cemetery was a 19th century African-American burial ground located in Crosby, Texas. There were as many as 60 people buried there, including former slaves and those buried in pauper's graves. The last burial was recorded in 1939. The land was originally owned by the McKinney family. When slavery was abolished, the McKinney family allotted a portion of their land to their former slaves. An entire black community was built; including schools, churches, and a cemetery, until a fire demolished the area. Eventually, the land was sold to the Purcell Corporation for the purpose of building housing developments. One of the developments, the Newport subdivision, was built over the existing Black Hope Cemetery. 

In the early 1980s, Sam and Judith Haney were one of several couples who purchased homes in the Newport subdivision. When Sam decided to dig a swimming pool in his backyard, a local grave digger warned him that he was about to dig up human remains. Sam continued with the dig and unearthed two pine boxes. An official exhumation was conducted and revealed the remains of Betty and Charlie Thomas, who died during the 1930s. Most of the bones had turned to powder, save for some fragments. Two wedding rings were all that remained.

The remains were reburied but the dead would not rest. The Haney's sliding door would open and close as if someone was there, unplugged clock radios would turn on in the middle of the night, and shoes would vanish and turn up inexplicably beside Betty and Charlie's old grave site. The Haney's weren't the only ones experiencing unexplained phenomena. A dozen of their neighbors reported pockets of ice-cold air, strange lights, televisions and water faucets turning on and off, toilets flushing on their own, unearthly sounds, disembodied conversations, and shadows and supernatural apparitions. One of the neighbors, Ben and Jean Williams, reported that sinkholes would appear in the unmistakable shape of coffins near their flowerbeds. They would fill them in, only to have them reappear a few days later. Jean, a long-time gardener, couldn't get anything new to grow on the property.

The Haneys attempted to sue the developers for not disclosing their home was built over a cemetery. They were awarded $142,000 for mental anguish, but a reversal ruled that the developers were not liable. The developers claimed there was no proof that the cemetery existed. The verdict was thrown out and the Haneys were ordered to pay $50,000 in court costs. The Haneys moved, filing bankruptcy. Other residents attempted to sue and were awarded a large cash settlement by a jury, but the judge set aside the decision and none of the residents of the Newport subdivision received any money as compensation.

The cemetery and many of the bodies are still located beneath the Newport subdivision today.

Read more about Sam and Judith Haney's experience in:  The Black Hope Horror: A True Story of a Haunting

Tangled Tuesday-Guest Author Carol Browne

An Elf’s Lament Upon Leaving & Other Tales

BLURB

This little anthology of short stories and poems was originally published as an experiment. I had not been able to find a publisher for my novel and thought self-publishing on Kindle might be the way forward. First of all, I needed to try out the procedure, so I collected a number of stories and poems I had written over the years and put them all in an eBook.

I write about the things that interest me – animals, nature, magic, history, astrology – so there is no set theme for this anthology, but I do like my short stories to have a twist in the ending.

The poem I decided to open with, An Elf’s Lament Upon Leaving, gave me the idea for the title. The cover photograph was one I had taken myself back in the 1980s. I had always liked it and even suspected it might one day be perfect for a book cover. I wasn’t able to correctly format the text, however, although I’ve been told it makes no difference to its readability.

As for my novel, The Exile of Elindel, it did get accepted by a publisher after all.

EXCERPT

Martin found just the spell he needed. It was in a very old book, wedged among countless other volumes at the rear of the occult bookshop.

     
He pulled the book from its hiding-place. ‘Eight Ways to Magic’, proclaimed the title. The book cracked in protest, as Martin pried it open. His eyes flicked hungrily down the list of contents and widened as they reached Chapter Six – Love Spells.

     
Martin glanced warily around the shop, as though fearful of discovery, but, apart from an elderly lady squinting at a book on Flower Magic, he was quite alone. And the proprietor, a raw-boned man whose fuzz of grey hair ringed the summit of his skull like a helm-cloud, was engrossed in a book catalogue at the counter, his long nose like a spike of bone wearing spectacles.

     
Martin’s fingers fumbled their way through age-thickened pages until they reached Chapter Six. And there it was: spell number eight. How to attract the lover of your choice.

     
He closed the book, hugged it to his chest and made for the counter, his heart quickening with excitement.

     
Now, Debbie Starsmore, he thought, you shall be mine.

AUTHOR BIO

Carol Browne first appeared on the planet in 1954. She regards Crewe, Cheshire, as her home town and graduated from Nottingham University in 1976 with an honours degree in English Language and Literature. Now living in the Cambridgeshire countryside with her dog, Harry, and cockatiel, Sparky, when she’s not writing fiction, Carol spends her time as a housekeeper, proofreader, and ghost writer in order to pay the bills. Pagan and vegan, Carol believes it is time for a paradigm shift in our attitude to Mother Nature and hopes the days of speciesism are numbered. Carol's first novel 'The Exile of Elindel' was published by Musa Publishing on 18th April 2014. This eBook is part one of her fantasy series - The Elwardain Chronicles.

BUY LINKS (Elf’s Lament)

Amazon USA

Amazon UK


My Review of Carol Browne's book

I had the pleasure of reading An Elf's Lament Upon Leaving and Other Tales. Here's my review:

★ 5 Stars ★

Very atmospheric writing. The poetry is steeped in a love of nature, magic and mythology. The short stories hold interesting twists. No spoilers! The Boomerang Effect (dabbling with a love spell, Martin Nevis finds himself having second thoughts) A Force to Be Reckoned With (an outcast with thoughts of being "destined for something great" wants to join the police force) and Transformation (once bullied, Patricia attends a school reunion and emerges victorious) were my favorites.
Give this collection a read, you won't be disappointed.