The World. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1891-1896, 1892-09-05

snperstffions Attached 10 Scenes Of
vfolenes and nryeery.
Connected with some OF our old country
seats are romantic stories Of strange blood
stains stlTl yisibIe--the silent. lndelIble
Witnesses OF tragic scenes committed In
the distant past. says the London Stan
dard. At Condover Hall, Shropshire.
there IL said TO be q blood stain which has
been there since the time Of Henry Will,
and cannot be effaced. According TO .
local tradition, which has long been cur
rent In the neiRhborhood, IL IL the blood
Of Lord Kneyitt. tho owner Of the hall
and estate at this period. who was treach-
erously slain by his son. But this story.
which II utterly at variance With facts
bearing on the history Of Condoyer and
Its owners In years gone by, must be
classed among the legendary tales Of the
country.
The Cothele, 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 perfldy, he
| slew tho warden Of the drawbridge.
| Nathaniel Hawthorne, on one occasion.
enjoyed tho hospitality Of 6mithills Hall,
Lancashire, and was 80 impressed with
| the welf-known legend Of the Bloody
Footstep" that In three separate instances
| he founded flctions upon II.
| A curious story ts told by Miss Jackson
1 In her Shropshire Folklore" Of blood
stains at Piaish Hall, near Cardington.
| This legend runs that q party Of clergy
! were assembled at PlaIsh playing cards.
| All the doors were locked, when suddenly
they burst open without any apparent
cause. Again they were locked, but pres
entity they burst open second time. and
. third. Then the old gentleman APP
| peared In the midst OF the company, and
they Nil rose and fled excepting the host,
whom the others basely left face to face
with the enemy. None ever saw that
wretched man again, either alive or dead.
Only great stain Of blood, shaped like
q human form, was found on the floor OF
the room, and despite all efforts, the mark
could never DO washed out" Ever since
this occurrence the house has been
haunted, and at midnight a ghostly troop
OF horses are heard, with such anoise that
| mono can sleep.
4 Tho Cornishman knows from the red
fllmy growth on the brook pebbles that
| blood had been shed there--a belief still
firmly credited. Thus, some years ago
writes Mr.. Hunt. In his Popular Roman
4 ces OF tho West Of England" a Cornish
4 gentleman was cruelty murdered and his
body thrown into brook. I have been
shown stones taken from this brook with
bright red spots on some vegetable growth
upon them. II Is said that ever since the
murder the stones Ia the brook are spotted
with gore. whereas they never were SO
previously to this period" Accordingly
to,another strange Cornish belief told OF
/ st. Denis blood, 1t Is related that at the
very time when this decapitation took
4 fNio in Darfo Fnl h. -
the churchyard Of st. Denis. Ever since
these blood stains are reported to be
specially visible when a calamity or 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 to
have sprung from the blood OF the troops
who fell during the engagement and the
! lruit of the mulberry, which was origi-
nally white, tradition informs us became
cmpurpled through human blood, q notion
4 which In certain parts Of Germany ac-
counts for the color OF the heather. Defoe
| speaks Of certain camp called OAR
row, Hill. and writes: They say this
! was n Danish camp, and the roads here
abouts being overgrown with Daneweed,
they fancy it sprung from the blood OF
Danes slain In battle, and that II cut upon
certain day OF the year bleeds."
In Wales the dwarf elder is nicknamed
Plant Of the Blood OF Man. and the
walltlower Is known In Palestine as the
Blood-drops Of Christ" Among other
plants which are said to owe the dark
stained blossomsto the blood-drops which
trickled from the cross may be mem
toned the wood sorrel. the spotted peisi-
caria, the arum, the purple orchis, and
the red anemone; while q French legend
accounts in the same way for the crimson
spotted leaves OF the roodselken.