Ghost Stories for Christmas- Ghosts of Amen Court

Christmas time is here again, and I have delightful chunks of coal for all your players. At the intersection of Victorian Fiction and Christmas, lurk ghost stories. For December, we’re looking at dolorous hauntings of the British Isles and their weird, wonderful uses in role-playing games. As before, my primary source is “Gazetteer of British Scottish & Irish Ghosts” by Peter Underwood, a ghostly guidebook full of interesting facts and folklore ready to be plugged into a Victoriana scenario.

In the oldest part of London, between an institution devoted to saving man, and another for punishing him sits Amen Court. The solid brick back wall of the Old Bailey and Newgate Prison close off the west side, and on the east, north and south by houses for the canons of nearby St. Paul’s Cathedral.

The nearby prison provides this small open space with more than its share of hauntings. Just over the wall is Newgate's graveyard, a thin passage where the executed rot in lime under the flagstones. The stone walls bear their initials. This passage is infamous as “Dead Man’s Walk” for it connects the prison to the Old Baily where many inmates were condemned to die. Many witnesses claim to see shapeless shadowy, and hear clanking chains in this ghoulish corridor.

One legend says the shadow belongs to a black dog, connected to a scholar imprisoned in Newgate for sorcery. During the reign of King Henry III, a terrible famine in London brought starvation to the Newgate prisoners. In their feral desperation they killed and ate the chubby scholar. Soon after, a horrific black dog stalked the cannibalistic inmates in the halls. Supposedly, the dog killed the prisoners one by one, until the last few escaped the jail in desperation. Whether they escaped the hound is unknown.

The famous cat-burglar and escape artist, Jack Sheppard, broke out of Newgate Prison in 1724. He escaped his handcuffs, crawled up a chimney, removed a metal bar from the chimney, smashed open the ceiling, broke open six doors to the chapel of the prison, and made his way to the roof of an house next door, all while still in leg irons. After his recapture, Newgate temporarily held Sheppard again, before his execution at Tyburn.

Some nights, the ghost of Jack Sheppard returns to perform his famous last escape.

Adventure Ideas

Researching Amen Court reminds me why I set so many Victoriana adventures in London. You can find anything you want anywhere in its city limits if you go back far enough. History stacked on history everywhere, just ready to be adapted for a game.

The back wall of Newgate prison lines up with the western wall of the Roman settlement Londinium. With ancient foundations, this wall might imprison something far older than Newgate’s inmates.

Amen Court and its surrounding streets get their names from the prayers monks recited as they proceed to St. Paul’s Cathedral on Corpus Christi Day. On Paternoster Row, the monks prayed the Lord’s Prayer (The Pater Noster). As the procession turned at Amen Corner (From whence the court is named and connects Amen Court to Ave Maria Lane) their prayer ended, and began the Hail Mary as they walk Ave-Maria Lane. They finished their track on Ludgate saying the Credo until they approached St. Paul’s.
This ritualized track of holy processionals must have some otherworldly effect through the years.  The prayers of inmates astute enough to tap into it will be heard, but who or what is listening?

Amen court is the old location of the Royal College of Physicians before the Great Fire of London destroyed it in 1666. Might a few volumes of the college’s famous library lost in the fire lie hidden nearby? Ottoman medical compendiums, books annotated by John Dee, and dialogues of Greek philosophy could lie under the ground or hide in old walls.

If Jack Sheppard’s ghost performs his escape nightly, is it because his spirit is still trapped in Newgate. The players may have to help him escape one last time into eternity.

If an acquaintance or contact in Newgate is being stalked by a spectral black dog, he’ll need a place to hide. Can players keep him safe or will he have to be broken out?


That finishes out this series of spooky ideas, and 2016 as well. I hope you've had a Merry Christmas, and have a Happy New Year.

Ghost Stories for Christmas- The Phantom Vikings of Iona Abbey

Christmas time is here again, and I have delightful chunks of coal for all your players. At the intersection of Victorian Fiction and Christmas, lurk ghost stories. For December, we’re looking at dolorous hauntings of the British Isles and their weird, wonderful, uses in role-playing games. As before, my primary source is “Gazetteer of British Scottish & Irish Ghosts” by Peter Underwood, a ghostly guidebook full of interesting facts and folklore ready to be plugged into a Victoriana scenario.

Choosing exile over excommunication for causing the Battle of Cúl Dreimhne, the missionary St. Columba sailed from Ireland to the Inner Hebrides islands of Scotland. He and his twelve followers reached the small island of Iona in 563 AD and built a monastery. St. Columba’s zealous devotion to writing and transcribing books made Iona’s monastery the literary center of  Northern Britain, and a key abbey from which the Christian faith spread through Ireland and Scotland.

In 795, Viking raiders reached Iona’s shores for the first time. For the next 30 years, the Vikings stole and killed on the island. In 806, they slaughtered 68 monks and burned the abbey, causing many of the remaining islanders to flee to Ireland. The abbey was rebuilt in 818, but the new stone walls did not discourage the pillaging Vikings. After years of plunder, Iona Abbey’s remaining artifacts, relics, and St. Columba’s remains were given to Kells in Ireland and Dunkeld Cathedral in Perthshire to keep safe.

In 1203, the construction began of a Benedictine monastery, and Augustine nunnery, on the site of St. Columba’s monastery. The abbey grew, regaining some of the island’s lost reputation for learning, but the Scottish Reformation took a lot of prestige and influence from the Scottish Catholic church. Iona Monastery was left to become a ruin in the mid 1500s.

Iona’s ruins do not quietly lie, however. Figures dressed in monk’s robes walk silently among the ruins accompanied by glowing blue lights. Many eyewitnesses claim more violent visitations. A fleet of square sailed longboats appear on the waves north of the island, sailing for the shore. Once ashore, the Vikings rampage to the abbey (appearing as it did in the 800s). They slay phantom monks and set fire to the lost monastery, loading their boats with plunder before disappearing on the waves. Columns of smoke occasionally waft from the bare ground, like a reminder of the islands violent history.

The Abbey’s remains consist of St. Augustine’s nunnery, St. Mary’s cathedral and St. Oran’s chapel. All remained awe-inspiring if degraded ruins until the abbey’s reconstruction in 1938.

Adventure Ideas

I think we can all agree ghost Vikings are a welcome addition to any adventure, but there are a ton of weird bits and pieces to their haunted isle. Holy relics, sigil carved crosses, illuminated manuscripts, Viking treasure, and who knows what else wait on Iona ready to taken, protected, or destroyed.

The Argyll Quarry Company mines green swirled marble on the island’s south side. The company had to stop its operations because of difficulties shipping to the mainland. Might the ghost Vikings have anything to do with their “difficulties”?

Because of its religious importance, the graveyard of Iona Abbey holds many kings. Four Irish, eight Norwegian, and 48 Scottish kings lay in rest, including Shakespeare’s Macbeth.  There may be another reason Kings are dying to get in.

According to legend, St. Columba was unable to finish his abbey until he buried a man alive in the foundation. His close friend, St. Oran, volunteered to be entombed. A few days later, Columba thought of his friend and requested to see his face one last time. When the stones were removed, Oran was alive, but gave such a blasphemous description of heaven and hell Columba ordered him covered up again.  Is it possible the dirt of Iona rejuvenates the dead? Do Scottish kings lay awaiting their return?

Ghost Stories for Christmas- The Many Specters of Herstmonceux Castle

Christmas time is here again, and I have delightful chunks of coal for all your players. At the intersection of Victorian Fiction and Christmas, lurk ghost stories. For December, we’re looking at dolorous hauntings of the British Isles and their weird, wonderful, uses in role-playing games. As before, my primary source is “Gazetteer of British Scottish & Irish Ghosts” by Peter Underwood, a ghostly guidebook full of interesting facts and folklore ready to be plugged into a Victoriana scenario.

In East Sussex, the great walls of Herstmonceux castle sit in ruined grandeur. Sir Roger Fiennes started his castle’s construction in 1441 on the site of an old manor house belonging to the Monceux family (Herst of the Monceux) giving the castle its name. Sir Roger built for comfort and style, not defense, using the relatively unusual building material (for the time) brick to build his castle.

Sir Roger or one of his sons may be responsible for one of his castle’s hauntings. A ghostly white girl swims in the castle moat and walks the gardens in obvious distress. She was a local girl lured to the bed of a Fiennes. She escaped his intentions, leaping into the moat, but she was caught and forced back into the castle. The Fiennes man had his way and killed her.

Sir Thomas Fiennes (Lord Dacre) and his friends were caught poaching deer as a joke on Lord Pelham’s property by three gamekeepers. In the panicked struggle, one of the gamekeepers died. In 1541, he was hung for murder and Herstmonceux was temporarily given to King Henry VIII. The land was given back to the Fiennes family soon after, and Sir Thomas also returned. His ghost, dressed in a riding cloak and spurs, rides a chestnut horse around the castle grounds. If spotted, Sir Thomas quickly spurs his horse into the moat, disappearing from view.

The most bizarre ghost of Herstmonceux is undoubtedly the giant drummer, walking the castle ramparts beating a tattoo with his glowing drumsticks. His reason for haunting varies with the story. One says he died at the battle of Agincourt, or he’s just a story spread by smugglers to keep their stores of tobacco and brandy hidden in the castle. In the best story, the giant is the lord of the castle, drumming all night to keep admirers away from his younger wife. His wife grew so tired of his drumming she locked him away in a small chamber to starve to death. He still drums for all eternity to scare off his wife’s lovers.

George Naylor, bought Herstmonceux in 1708. Like the giant drummer, his daughter Grace was starved to death by her governess. Grace’s ghost floats about the castle, crying and vanishing through walls.

The brilliant and beautiful Georgiana Shipley eloped with Francis Hare-Naylor (the son of Herstmonceux’s owner Robert Hare-Naylor) in 1784. After Robert’s death, his son and Georgiana left their life in Italy, and lived in Herstmonceux. Francis’s stepmother convinced his father to demolish in the castles interior in 1777, leaving a ruin as Francis’ inheritance. Georgiana lived in the ruins with dignity in poverty, but she was a bit eccentric. She always wore white, she rode a pure white donkey to drink from a mineral spring, and a white doe followed her wherever she went. Georgiana died in 1806, but a figure all in white, rides a white donkey through the castle’s rooms, and halls.

Herstmonceux remained in its ruined state until restoration started in 1913 and finished in 1933.

Adventure Ideas

The more I learn about Georgiana Hare-Naylor, the more I like her. She was pen-palls with the smartest men in Europe. She exhibited her paintings at the Royal Academy of Arts in 1781. Understandably, I am going to focus much of this Blog’s Adventure Ideas on some of the more interesting facts about her.

Georgiana Hare-Naylor (then Georgiana Shipley) was a close friend to Benjamin Franklin during his stay in London. He even gave her a squirrel named Mungo. Was Georgiana Shipley a member of the Craven Street Club, Benjamin Franklin’s anti-necromantic conspiracy?

In 1803, Georgina painstaking painted many pictures of what Herstmonceux was before the demolition. She lost her sight entirely soon after at age 48. Was she trying to discover something strange about Herstmonceux’s construction? Does it have anything to do with the 52 chimneys and 365 windows, the castle had before its destruction which corresponds with the numbers of weeks and days in a year?

The funnest thing I can think to do with castle Herstmonceux is to combine it all together and make the five ghosts five obstacles to some goal in the ruins. To cross the moat, characters have to get past the poor girl’s spirit. Sir Thomas rides down anyone he finds wandering the grounds. The giant’s doleful drumming precedes his attempt to eat somebody. Poor Grace bitterly haunts several chambers, passing through walls with ease. Georgiana Hare-Naylor sits in the center watching over the ruin’s secret accompanied by her doe.

Ghost Stories for Christmas-The Miracle Stone of River Spey

Christmas time is here again, and I have delightful chunks of coal for all your players. At the intersection of Victorian Fiction and Christmas, lurk ghost stories. For December, we’re looking at dolorous hauntings of the British Isles and their weird, wonderful, uses in role-playing games. As before, my primary source is “Gazetteer of British Scottish & Irish Ghosts” by Peter Underwood, a ghostly guidebook full of interesting facts and folklore ready to be plugged into a Victoriana scenario.

In Scotland, near the Boat of Garten railway station, at the bottom of the River Spey lays the eroded fragments of a stone commemorating a very old miracle. Long ago, an old lady on her death bed asked to be buried alongside her late husband, across the river in Duthil. Her friends explained the River Spey had no ford, but she insisted God would let them cross safely.  After her death, they carried her to the river’s edge, ready to brave the running waters, when the waves parted exposing a strip of dry land wide enough for her burial party.  After they bore her casket across the river, onlookers rushed to grab the trapped salmon flopping on the exposed river bed, but the River Spey closed again, saving the fish. The funeral party buried the woman by her husband and erected a thirty foot pole pointing towards their crossing point. 

Over time the pole was lost, and only local legends kept the story of the miracles alive, until William Grant decided the miracle needed a monument. William Grant was a 92 year old farmer, and a leading member of “The Men”, a conservative sect of Gaelic Presbyterians. William was known for his devotion and his piety. Many members believed he had the gift of prophecy. 

On his deathbed, William asked for a large stone to be set at the point of the crossing, engraved in Gaelic and English telling the story of the miracle, in accordance with a vision he’d seen. March 9th, 1865 the followers of the late William Grant fulfilled his wishes. 

The town divided over the stone after its commemoration. Some felt it was idolatry. The Free Church and other enemies of “the Men” denounced the story as blasphemy. Many said the old lady was a witch. On the night of February 19th, 1867, someone smashed the stone and tossed its fragments into the River Spey. Supposedly, the vandals kept pieces as trophies and greedy clergymen sold chips of the stone as charms for up to £5 a piece.

A nearby family managed to dig up a large chunk from the riverbed to use for a doorstep. After bringing the stone home, furnishings mysteriously moved around and unexplained lights plagued the home’s interior. Rocks and turnips plummeted down the chimney and through closed windows without shattering the panes. During the summer, hail stones as big as apples pelted the house. After the last family member died, the next owners returned their doorstep to the river and were never bothered by supernatural events. 

When the river Spey runs low, pieces of inscribed stone can still be seen on the sandy riverbed, and legend says a monstrous eel makes sure nothing disturbs the fragments.

Adventure Ideas

The central idea of commemorating a past miracle, the controversy of the memorial, and the scattering of the memorials pieces makes a great premise for a campaign. The Miracle Stone’s story has so many rich, interesting details you can just pull out into their own adventures.

The old woman’s story has been dated from the 12^th century into the 17^th, and her married name varies. She’s called Mackintosh, Macdonald, Cumin, Grant, or other variations. She can stick into a wide range of Scottish history. If she’s a Grant, William Grant must be a descendant.

In Victoriana, the old woman could be a Petty Magician or Magnetist. The Aluminate Church would frown on any Miracles connected to her. Would the Guild have to step in to stop her memorial?

I like the idea of a secret group traveling around Scotland building monuments to ancient miracles. Maybe they are trying to encourage belief in the Aluminate Faith or bring back Scotland’s magical strength? Did William Grant die of natural causes after his vision?

A player character or a contact might end up with a shard of the miraculous stone, but is its effect beneficial or malicious?