Christmas Folklore - The Lady in Black
The Lady in Black.
It is merely a few days now before the big festive event, hopefully all your preparations have been completed and you can turn your attention to the many Christmas traditions – some universal, some unique to your own circle of family and friends – to be enjoyed over the coming days. One such tradition is the telling of ghost stories, this has fallen out of favor a little over the decades, but with your permission we will honor it now.
Bradley is a small village in the county of Lincolnshire in the north east of England, it is located a few miles outside the port city of Grimsby. The name Bradley is reported to mean 'broad wood' or 'wide clearing' and dates before the Vikings established the port of Grimsby (originally Grim's by).
Just to the south of this village is an area called Bradley Woods. This place was a favorite hunting ground of the Grimsby Major and the local Burgess, here they could pursue wild boar to their hearts content.
Bradley Woods is a place filled with unusual tales, but it is the Christmas Eve ghost that is the focus of this blog. This shade is known locally as ‘The Black Lady’ and her story runs like this.
Legend says that a young woodsman, his wife and baby lived in a small cottage in Bradley Woods. The woodsman was called to arms by Lord Yarborough to fight in the wars that were raging England. Many months pass and the woodsman does not return home. Every day the wife takes the baby to the edge of the woods to wait for the return of her husband. One day three horsemen from the enemy’s army pass through the woods and notice the woodman’s cottage. They attack the wife and ransack the cottage. As they are leaving, they snatch the baby and ride off into the woods taunting her as they go.
Heartbroken, the wife wandered the woods searching in vain for her child and husband, who never returned from the war, dressed in a flowing black cloak and a black hood, carrying on her never ending search.
Like so many local spooks the ‘Black Lady’ took on the role of a bogey creature, and was used to scare children in to good behaviour. Many local people claim to have encountered her ghost over the years, and Bradley Wood is not a place for the faint of heart, particularly in the hours of darkness. She is said to be seen flitting between the trees, a shadow amongst shadows, or sometimes her pitiful cries can be heard from afar, as she calls out to her missing son. But if you really want to be guaranteed of a meeting with this phantom, you must visit Bradley Woods on Christmas Eve, gather your nerve and call out the following words "Black Lady, Black Lady, I've stolen your baby!" three times. Then the lady will appear before you to reclaim her child.
Many thanks for taking the time to read this blog and supporting my book, it is greatly appreciated. Hopefully both have given you a few pleasing shudders, until next time Merry Christmas.
