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I thought these extracts might put people in the mood for Halloween. I found them on the Forum, looking for references to Heir's House. They were posted by Mel in Dec 2008 and were part of one of a series of postings from The Preston Guardian:
12 February 1876
Recollections of Colne
(By an old East Lancashire Man.)
Article VI
A few miles higher up the valley, a boy of 13, named Elliott, hung himself on the bough of a sour apple tree, through being beaten with his mother. His father's horses could not draw him to Colne Church, so the story went, because "Auld Clootie" [Old Nick; the Devil] pulled back at the hearse. Those blessed with second sight vowed that they could see him.
The boy's mother soon afterwards hanged herself. Two very powerful horses were attached to the hearse. Half-way to Colne Church they came to a dead stand, and fresh horses were obtained. After going a short distance they cried "No go." Another beam was yoked with similar results. The strength of men and ropes was resorted to, and with a solitary chain horse, men being in the shafts of the hearse, the body of the poor suicide was brought through Colne at eleven o'clock at night. The lamps were burning, and the funeral service read by candle light in Colne Churchyard. The sight was ghastly and revolting, and "Auld Clootie" was the personage who had held back the hearse. But perhaps the rational solution is that the horses, being very sensitive in their smell, had sniffed some of the exhalations from the dead body, through its having been kept a long time, and were so startled that they refused to be any longer hooked up and travel with the bad smelling business.
A well-known "witch" travelled the country - at least she had that evil reputation. She hawked goods about the country in a basket long after she was 60 years of age. She was a short woman with a fair complexion, and had naturally a stooping gait. Wherever she called something dreadful was anticipated. One of her calls was at Rushton's, at Height Side. They were churning, and immediately after her departure it was discovered that the milk would not break, and the only way to break the evil spell was to carry the churn, milk, and all to "another person's land;" but as the nearest point was a quarter of a mile away, the lifting, groaning, and swearing caused the utterance of lots of "devil's prayers." The required journey being completed, the milk was looked at and churning renewed, but the milk broke directly, because fresh air had been let in.
But Miss Rushton wished that a kettleful of boiling water might fall upon Sal o'Trent (Sarah Heys) that night; that happened to her and she died, and was to be buried at Colne Church. Her body was crooked, and she had to be crushed into her coffin - a deal, shallow coffin - at the expense of the parish. Sons, daughters, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren followed the corpse of the noted woman. The coffin was rudely lowered, the lid came off, the corpse, like a bent body, returned to its crooked attitude, appeared to be sitting up quite naturally.
One of the granddaughters, by no means a young woman, said to her niece, "Run home, and set the kettle on and make the tea ready, for grandmother has come again," and tea was prepared accordingly. But the gravedigger, with rude hands, again bent the body, and perforce closed the coffin lid, and consigned altogether to mother earth.
A very curious legend is attached to Heirs House, a genteel mansion near to Alkincoates. The heir to it, a century ago, was lost - murdered, no doubt. It involved the whole story of the lost heir. No rest or quietude could be had for the inmates. The strangest, the most indescribable noises were heard in every part of the dwelling. Locks, and bolts, and contrivances to keep the doors fastened were useless, and on several occasions the water used by the washerwoman was suddenly transformed into blood. These facts were vouched for by a highly respectable and clever local preacher at the time. The sequel was, that the house was deserted, and remained untenanted for many years.
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