Telegram-herald., 1891-06-04
HISTORIC BLOOD STAINS.
Ensfish Supersttrcs Regarding
Scenes OF Bloodshsd
IsusaaA<y Tales Which Have loco
0aAssd Down froA GeaerssaoA
60 Gsa1rstios for Geo.
tzrtes Past.

7 Connected with some Of our old eoun-
try seats are romantic stories Of strange
blood stains still visible-the silent. in
delible witnesses Of tragic scenes so1a-
mitted Ia the distant past. says the
London Standard At Condoyer hall,
Shropshire. there Is said 10 be blood
stain which has been there since the
time OF Henry vii, and cannot be eff
faced According 70 = local tradition.
which has long been current IN the
neigh borhood. it Is the blood of Lord
kneyett the owner of the hall and es-
tate at this period, who was Preacher
ously slain by his son But this story,
which il utterly AT variance with facts
bearing on the history OF Condover and
its owners In years gone by. must DO
clSsed among the legendary tales Of
the country.
AZ Cothele, a mansion on the banks of
the lamar, the marks are still To be
seen of the blood split by the lord Of
the manor, when, for some supposed
act Of perhdy, be slew the warder of
the drawbridge. Nathaniel Hawthorne.
on one occasion. enjoyed the hospital
fly OF S-nithills hall. Lancashire, and
was SO impressed with the well-known
legend Of the bloody Footstep" that in
three separate instances no 10 unded tic
tons upon IL.
A curious story is told by Miss Jack
son IN her shropshire Folklore" of
blood stains at Plaish hall. near Carding-
ton. This legend runs that a panty OF
Clergy were assembled one night 1T
Piaish 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 a second time. and a
third Then the old gentleman APP
peared in the midst of the company,
and they all rose and fled excepting the
host, whom the others basely left face
10 face with the enemy. None ever
saw that wretehed man again, either
alive or dead. Only a great stain of
blood. shaped like human form, was
found on the floor of the room, and. de-
spite all efforts, the mark could never
be washed out" Ever since this oc-
currence the house has been haunted.
and at midnight a ghostly troop of
horses are heard, with such noise that
none can sleep.
The Cornishman knows from the red
filmy growth on the brook pc bibles that
blood has been shed there-a belief still
firmly credited. Thus. some 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 brook |
have been shown stones taken from
this brook with bright red spots on
some vegetable growth upon them. 1t
Is said that ever since the murder the
stones in this brook are spotted with
gore, whereas they never were SO previ-
ously To- this dreadful deed" Accord
ing to another strange Cornish belief
told of ST. Denis blood, 1t is related
that at the very time when his decapi-
tation took place in Paris blood fell on
the stones of the churchyard of st.
Denis Ever since these blood stains
are reported To be specially visible
when a calamity of any kind is near at
hand
The red peoples which followed the
blowing of the fields of Waterloo after
the duke of Wellington's victory was
said 10 have sprung from the blood of
the troops who fell during the engage
ment: and the fruit of the mulberry.
which was originally white. tradition
Informs us became empurpled through
human blood. a notion which in certain
parts of Germany accounts for the color
of the heather. Defoe speaks ola GER
tain camp called barrow Hill. and
writes: They say this was Danish
camp. and the roads heyeabouts being
overgrown with Daneweed. they fancy
it sprung from the blood of Danes slain
in battle, and that if cut upon certain
day in the year bleeds-" Ia Wales the
dwarf elder Is nicll-named PLANT of
the Blood of Man." and the wall flower
ia known in Palestine rs the BLOOD
drops Of Christ" Among other plants
which are said 70 owe their dark-stained
blossoms To the blood drops which
trickled from the cross may be men,
toned the wood sorrel. the spotted
peisicaria, the arum, the purple orchis.
and the red anemone; while a French
legend accounts in the same way for
the crinison-spotted leaves of the rood