With Halloween fast approaching we thought we would bring you a little bit of ‘spooky’ folklore this week. Many folk believe that at this time of year the boundary between this world and the ‘Otherworld’ can be crossed more easily. Where ‘spirits’ or ‘fairies’ can sweep into our world with ease and the souls of the dead are thought to revisit their homes seeking hospitality. At Halloween some people were known to and still do set a place at the table for their departed souls as a way of reuniting with them again. There are also tales of food and drink offerings being left out by farmers to appease nature spirits as a means to protect their livestock through the winter. October marks the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter or the “darker half” of the year.
So staying on the darker theme, did you know that the Devil is a regular visitor to Dorstone? To Dorstone Church to be precise.
It is told that every year at midnight on Halloween he appears in the churchyard dressed as a monk. The church is said to be lit up by unearthly candles in readiness for the Devil to enter the church and climb into the pulpit. Once there he embarks on preaching a sermon of pure evil to the poor souls who have been buried in the churchyard during the last year and whose sins during their time on earth have identified them as worthy for Hell. If this isn’t bad enough, the Devil goes on to name all those who are to die in the forthcoming year and are doomed to a similar fate.
It is told that back in the early 19th century on Halloween a young local Dorstone lad was making his way back home from a raucous night of drinking in the village. As he stumbled past the church his eyes were drawn to the lights flickering within. Surprised to see this and with some Dutch courage in the form of copious amounts of cider the young man ventured into the churchyard to see what was taking place. As he peered through one of the windows, his heart almost leapt out of his chest. The young man felt as if he could no longer breathe and wasn’t sure whether to run or stay still. Having said that staying still was probably the preferred option as his legs didn’t feel capable of flight right at that moment.
As his eyes focused he could clearly see the Devil in the pulpit. Listening closely he could hear him reading out a list of names. As he stood there he began to feel a sense of dread and as he did so he heard his own name spoken. How could that be? In a bid not to attract any attention from the Devil he hurried home, scared and worried that something terrible might now befall him. As he lay in his bed that night he reflected on his life. His life had been a selfish one, only thinking about his own needs and not the needs of others. He drank too much and was constantly in a state of inebriation. He never attended church or did anything that could be construed as godly. He was beginning to realise that it was inevitable that his name had ended up on the Devil’s list.
The next morning when he woke he felt like a changed man. He stopped drinking, got his affairs in order and started attending church regularly. His motivation was to remove himself from the roll call of Hell. It is said that he did indeed die within the next year but had done so with a repentant heart and a clear conscience. So did he cheat the Devil of his soul? That we will never know. But what we do know is that we won’t be visiting Dorstone church on Halloween!
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