Suffolk Folklore - The Thing From The Hollow.

The Thing from Mother Lumpkins Hole. 

In the East of England, five miles from the coast, in the county of Suffolk, lies the village of Middleton. This settlement is close to the marshes, the River Minsmere flows nearby, a beautiful water course that hides a terrible secret beneath its surface.

Mother Lumpkin’s Hole, is a deep hollow in the bed of Minsmere River close to Rackford Bridge, there are lots of stories told about this hole. Allan Jobson’s Suffolk Remembered (1969) has this to say about it, “…according to local rumour, it teems with carp as big as pigs, and pike the size of baby sharks.”

Local folk tell sobering tales to youngsters, to keep them away from this part of the river. They say something strange lurks there, using the hollow as a lair, something that will grab and drown anyone who gets too close. Something they called Mother Lumpkin.

It is open to debate as to exactly what Mother Lumpkin is. Some suggest that she is a water hag like Peg Powler. This being dwells further north in the river Tees. The 19th century folklorist William Henderson described Peg Powler as, “having green hair, and an insatiable desire for human life,” the froth or foam seen floating in parts of the river, is called Peg Powler’s suds. There are also other river Hags, who like to lure men and boys to their doom by disguising themselves as beautiful women and pretending to be in danger.

Still other people claim that the thing in the river hollow is something akin to a Grindylow, a small entity that dwells in marshes and bodies of water, they have scaly skin, a greenish complexion, sharp claws and teeth, and long, wiry arms with lengthy fingers at the end. The name Grindylow is thought to come from ‘Grendel’ a name used in the epic poem ‘Beowulf’

Whatever ‘The Thing in water’ might be, the good people of Middleton still tell the tale of a wagon and horses that vanished into the hole, never to be seen again, and advise visitors to avoid the area.

Next week I will begin a series of ‘Ghostly Folktales for Christmas,’ until then, stay spooky friends.