The Boggart Stone

Photo courtesy of John Burke at Flikr

Boggarts were thought of in the past as being evil, however this may not have always been the case as they have been known to help farmers in the past with certain kinds of work. This would have been the case with one farmer from Cumbria who used to give the Boggart a jug of cream after the days work, this custom carried on when his son took over the farm after his father had died. However the sons wife tried to economize by putting a stop to the Boggarts payment of a jug of cream. In doing this she upset the Boggart, this resulted in chaos in the farmhouse with pans crashing and being thrown about and due to this the family was forced to flee, unfortunately the Boggart decided to move with them, it is not known whether the disturbances continued at their new home!

Another story relating to a Boggart concerns a road East of Longridge in Lancashire, along this road beneath a holly hedge can be found a strange stone slab. Inscribed on this stone can clearly be seen the words: RAVFFE RADCLIFF LAID THIS STONE TO LYE FOREVER A.D 1655. It is known locally as the Written Stone and the legend surrounding it says that it was placed here to imprison a Boggart who had been terrorising the local inhabitants by physically attacking them. It is also thought that the Boggart was responsible for the death of a member of the Radcliffe family who lived at a nearby farm. The next owner of this farm for some reason decided he wanted possession of the Written Stone and it is said that it took six horses and many labourers to remove the stone and deliver to the farm where it was placed in the dairy. Over a period of time things started happening, accidents happened to people who came into contact with the stone, objects placed on the stone would be pushed off and damaged. The farmer finally started to believe the stories attached to this strange stone slab and came to the conclusion that it was indeed cursed. The odd thing was that when he finally decided to return it to its place of origin, it only took one horse and a couple of men to return it back, whereas before it had taken a tremendous effort to move it.

It is said that a local doctor hearing about the story scoffed at the tale and decided to take his horse and ride out to where the stone had been returned to, underneath the holly bush. When the Doctor approached the Boggart Stone a swirling mass was seen to emanate from the stone, this caused the horse to bolt for two miles and luckily took the Doctor away from any immediate danger.

It is not known whether anyone in more recent times has tried to move the stone, perhaps if someone foolishly attempts this, then once more a great danger will be released!