The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1891-08-22
HISTORIC BLOOD STAINS.
English Superstitions Regarding
Scenes Of Bloodshed.
Legendary Tales Which Eave lNcn
Handed Down from Generation
To Generation for Gem
turtles Past

Connected with some Of our old coun-
try seats arc romantic stories of strange
blood stuins still visiblo-the silent, In
dcliblc witnesses of tragic scenes COM
mitted In the distant past, SAYS the
London Standard At Condovcr hall,
Shropshire, there IS said to be q blood
stain which has been there since the
time of Henry VIII, and cannot hc cf-
faced According TO o local tradition,
which hns long been current In the
ncighborhood, it is the blood of Lord
Kncvctt, the owner of the hall and cs-
tate at this period, who was t,rucher-
ously slain by his son but this story,
which is utterly at variance with facts
bearing on the history of Condovcr and
It's owners III years gone by, must bc
claSsed among tho legendary tales Of
the country.
At Cothclc, mansion on the banks Of
the lamar, the marks arc still to he
seen of the blood split by the LORD Of
the manor, when, for some supposed
act of pcriidy, he slew the war,lcr Of
tie drawbridgr- Nathaniel Hawthorne,
on one occasion, enjoyed the hospital
ity of Smithills hall, Lancashire, and
WINS SO impressed with the vcll-lznown
legend Of the Bloody Footstcp" that in
tArrc separate instances he founded &c
tions upon it.
a curious story Is told by Miss Jock
son III her "Shropshlrc Folklore" Of
blood stains ut Piaish hall, near Cnrdirt,-
ton This legend runs that u party OF
clergy wore assembled ono night at
Plaish playing cards All the doors
were locked, when suddenly they burst
open without any apparent cause.
Again they were locked, but presently
they burst open o second time, ard a
third Then the old gentleman ap-
pcurcd IL the midst Of the company,
and they all r,osc ard fled excepting the
host, whom the others bnsely left face
to fecc with tho enemy. None ever
saw that w-rctchc0 nun again, either
alive or dead Only Il greet stain Of
blood, shaped like n human form, WIS
found on the floor Of the room, and, Go
spite all efforts, the mark could never
Ike washed ont" Ever since this oc-
cUrrcncc the house has been haunted.
end at midnight II gbostly troop Of
horses are heard. with such nnoiso that
none can elccp.
The COrDishinan knows from tho rcd
Glmy growth on the brook-pcbbles that
blood has been shed thcrc-a belief still
firmly credited. Thus, SOHO years ago.
writes Mr.. Hunt in his Popular Ro-
mances of the West OF England. "a Cor
nish gentleman was cruelty murdered
and his body thrown into o brock
have been shown stones taken from
this brook with bright rcd spots On
some vegetable growth upon them 1t
is said that ever since the murder the
stones i'll this brook are spotted with
gore, whereas they never wcrc so prcvi-
ously TO this dreadful decd" Accord
ing to another strange Cornish belief
told of St Denis blood, it is related
that at'thc very time when his dccapi-
tation took place in Paris blood fell Oh
the stones of the churchyard Of st.
Denis Ever since these blood stains
ore reported to be specially visible
when II calamity of any kind is ucaY nt
hand.
The rcd poPpics which followed the
blowing of the fields of Waterloo after
the duke of Wcilington's victory was
said to have sprung from the blood of
the troops who fell during the engage
lncnt; and the fruit of the mulberry,
which was originally white, tradition
informs Ia became cmpurpled through
human blood, a notion which in certain
parts Of Germany accounts for tho color
OF the heather. Detoo speaks of GER
tain camp called barrow Hail. and
writes; They shy this WIS Danish
camp and the roads hcreabouts being,
overgrown with Dancwccd. they fancy
it sprung from the blood of Danes slain
in battle, and that If cut upon q certain
Gay in the year blceds-" In Wales the
dwarf elder is nick-nGIncd Plant Of
the Blood of Man" and the we'll flower
is known in Palestine as the Blood
drops OF Christ" Among other plants
which arc said to owe their durl1-stAincd
blossoms 10 the blood drops which
triclilcd from the Cross may he men.
toned the wood sorrrl, the spotted
Tcisicaria, the arurn, the purple orchis.
and the rcd ancInoEc; while IA French
legend accounts in the same way for
the crirnson-spottcd leaves of the rood
sellocn.