THE TALE OF THE GREEN BOGGART
of Boggart Hole Clough.
Twice a year, when the moon was full, Owd Hob, the chief of the Boggarts held a meeting which all the Boggarts and their wives, and the Jack o' Lanterns were commanded to attend. Failure to obey Owd Hob's summons was likely to result in a loss of evil powers granted by him. A ring of stones indicated the actual site of the meetings on Anglezarke (Rivington). On the night of the meeting, Owd Hob would be seated on his throne (A large rock of mill stone grit) ready to receive his guests.
On one of these occasions the Green Boggart was getting rather worried, as his total of victims showed a drop and he had noticed for quite a while that his Jack o' Lantern's light was getting dimmer each day, and that his wife's hair and features were turning from a bright green to a yellowish brown. She was also very discontented.
The reason for this was that the forkypeds (the humans) had begun to drain his moss land to raise all kinds of crops and to graze their cattle. The Green Boggart knew that his evil powers were useless on dry land as the forkypeds protected their homes with magical signs, charms and rhymes. Another reason for the Green Boggart to be worried was that he remembered the Yellow Boggart approaching Owd Hob several meetings ago, with the same problem, and Owd Hob getting angry as the Yellow Boggart recited his tale of woe. Owd Hob had been so enraged that from his mouth he blew a white-hot flame which engulfed the Yellow Boggart, his wife and his Jack o' Lantern, and they were never seen or heard of again.
However when Owd Hob heard the Green Boggarts report, he did not destroy him and his accomplices, but told them they would have to do better or take the consequences. The reports from the other Boggart were much the same; the forkypeds were draining the mosses for crops and cattle.
Soon after the meeting of Owd Hob and the Boggarts on Angelzarke, the Green Boggart became worried and restless. His domain was originally all the moss land north of the river Mersey, between Manchester, Warrington and as far north as Wigan. These moss lands included Barton Moss, Chat Moss, Astley Moss, Rixton Moss, Lowton Moss as well as many others. Owing to natural drainage over the centuries and to the cutting of canals for transport as well as drainage, the whole area was beginning to dry out and become suitable for farming and habitation. Places with such names as A'Warsley (Worsley), Mossley, and Moss Side give some indication of land recovered from the moss.
From the Green Boggart's view this was disastrous. For many weeks there had not been a single Forkyped, or animal trapped in the moss, leaving the Green Boggart and his wife Jinny and Jack o' Lantern very little to eat. The Green Boggart decided he would have to do something about it. He wandered all over northern Cheshire seeking suitable moss land which was unoccupied by another Boggart. As long as he kept away from places and people protected by charms and spells, he was invisible and could move around as he wished.
One day as he was searching in west Cheshire, he must have crossed the border into Wales. He noticed a forkyped of great beauty seated by a small fire. This female was dressed in black and had long black lustrous hair. The Boggart went up to her where she sat in front of a small cave on the mountainside. She bade him welcome and told him to rest awhile and sup with her. She was no other then Morgan La Faye, sorceress, who normally lived with Merlin the wizard at Camelot.
Although the Boggart was invisible to ordinary forkypeds he was quite visible to Morgan La Faye, who asked him why he was wandering so far from his usual haunts. The Boggart told her of all his troubles and worries and that he was looking for new moss land. Morgan La Faye was amused that one of the enemies of the human race should tell her his troubles and seek her advice as to what he should do.
After considerable thought she said that she could give him power to assume the shape of a human when it suited him. Also if it so happened he was to be attacked etc., such as having his head cut off, or an arm or leg severed, he would instantly regain his normal shape. All wounds would heal straight away. She warned him all his powers would be lost if he came into contact with someone protected by charms and spells; also he must renounce his allegiance to Owd Hob and must not in future refer to humans as forkypeds.
After some thought the Green Boggart decided to accept Morgan La Faye's proposals and then they began to discuss the important matter as to where the Boggart and his wife were to live, and how. First came the question of his wife Jinny Greenteeth. Morgan La Faye agreed to rejuvenate her, but she would have to have the colouring of a normal human and carry out all the duties and practices of an ordinary housewife. With regards to living quarters, the sorceress said she would help to build a moated castle for them, if the Boggart could find a suitable place to build it. The Boggart knew the very place, A Clough or Delph to the east of Manchester called Black lee, near Prestwich and not very far from Bury. It was a wild and lonely valley with only one way as entrance and exit. It was well wooded with trees on all sides, and the country around was wild and desolate.
Morgan La Faye agreed that it would be an ideal spot for the purpose. She said she knew the place well and that by the time the Boggart returned to his old moss land the castle would be ready for him and his wife. She also said they would have to leave Jack o' lantern to fade away and die, as there was no further use for him. With regard to food the Boggart and his wife would have to live like normal humans and he would have to use his powers of becoming invisible to forage around the villages and folds for whatever food they needed. The castle was to be named The Boggart Hole, and the Clough, and to this day, is known as Boggart Hole Clough. The Boggart and Jinny lost no time in taking over the castle, and were very soon comfortably settled and only just in time, as the moss land had almost completely dried out.
Morgan la Faye was a frequent visitor to the Boggart hole Clough, and her tales of Camelot enthralled the Green Boggart. In spite of Morgan La Faye's visits The Green Boggart would often get bored, and used to relive his boredom by playing pranks on people and their animals. One trick was to make himself very small and creep into the ear of a horse; frightening it so much it would gallop madly in any direction open to it. This madness in old times was known as "Takking Boggarts". He also used to visit houses where they had not taken the trouble to protect themselves with a charm or spell. He would make himself invisible and enter the house, and then he would instigate all sorts of strange things. Pots and pans, crockery and ornaments would seem to fly off sideboards, chairs would move and water would throw itself onto the fire, and doors would open and shut themselves. He interfered with the farmer's water supplies, and tormented the families, by continually interrupting their sleeping. Children would wake up in the middle of the night to find that they were lying upside down from their original sleeping positions.
The following story tells of a famous Green Boggart prank:
Up to a few years ago there used to be a row of houses in Swan Lane, Hindley
Green, which were called the Boggart houses. Owd Moe, a boss of one of the
coal pits in the area, whether it was the Bugle Horn, Gawping Throstle,
Snotty Jimmy's or Crippens-2-inch is unclear, but he lived in Swan lane.
He had a big black cat, of which he was very proud. At night the cat had
a habit of wandering around the Boggart Houses.
In one of these houses lived a bad tempered, dirty elderly man who was known
as Sammy Stinker, He had no friends and lived alone. One day the Green Boggart,
who was at a loose end and happened to be wandering about that part of the
country, called at Stinker's house and asked for a drink of water. This
of course was just an excuse to get into the house.
In spite of Sam's very rude refusals, the Boggart who had adopted the form
of a human edged himself into the house. After a while he managed to overcome
Sam's objections by using his Boggart blarney, and managed to get Sam to
play a game of dominoes with him. This game lasted for several hours, and
during the game, the Boggart told tales of the wonderful and magical things
that he had done in his lifetime. The Boggart noticed that there was a beam
running across the room with a fairly large hook driven into it near one
end and from the hook hung a strong clothesline. After a while the Boggart
suddenly said to Sam "Does tha know Sam, that ah wor a Boggart til
aw ma mosses dreighed up?"
"No ah didn't know" replied Sam.
The Boggart continued "ah've noan fergetten any o mi owd tricks, and
ah've a mahnd t'show thi some o' um". The Boggart indicated the hook
and rope, and suggested to Sam that he could hang him (The Boggart) in a
real hangman's fashion, provided that he could hang Sam afterwards. Sam
thinking it was a real pushover told the Boggart to stand on a chair whilst
he slipped a noose around his neck. He then made the other end of the rope
fast to a wall bracket, leaving nearly a foot slack in the rope, still on
the hook. When he had done this he snatched the chair from under the Boggart's
feet and the Boggart's weight jerked the rope tight and left him dangling
about six inches from the floor.
When the body had been hanging several minuets, Sam had a good look at the
Boggart and was sure he was dead. He stood for a minute or two, and then
decided to fetch the taproom lot from his local pub, (The Aleck) and show
them what he had done. He went to get his coat and hat from the back place.
He returned to the front room and noticed to his horror that the Boggart
was sitting by the table. "Well", said the Boggart, "its
tha turn neaw Sam"
The Boggart strung Sam up with the rope on the hook and make no mistake;
Sam was well and truly dead when the Boggart left the house. After a day
or two the neighbours began to wonder about Sam, as no one had seemed to
have seen or heard him, so they decided to investigate. When they did they
found Sam hanging peacefully dead. One thing they also noticed was that
all the chairs had been placed in their proper position with their seats
under the table. This puzzled them, because if Sam had hung himself he would
have kicked the chair away, So they all agreed it was the Boggart's doing.
One or two of them had said they had seen a big, black shape mauling about
the houses after dark many a time and this must have been the Boggart. The
incident was for a long time the main topic of conversation in the taproom
at the Aleck, Especially as people kept reporting they had seen the big
black shape hovering around Sam's house, which had remained unoccupied since
Sam's untimely demise.
Two characters by the names of Lazarus and Juddy Moddy, who were regular
attendees in the taproom, kept on talking over the incident and they finally
decided that they would do something about it. So one night they entered
Sam's old house, first they made sure that the rope and hook was in place,
then they sat in the dark and waited. About midnight the men were disturbed,
as there was someone coming into the house, and sure enough there was soon
a black shape moving around the room. Joddy shouted, "grab him Lazarus,
while ah get the noose". A terrible struggle started, accompanied by
a lot of spitting and hissing and other noises that sounded like cursing
in a foreign language. After a long and fierce struggle, in which Lazarus
got very badly scratched, they managed to get the noose over the shape's
head. They pulled as hard as they could on the rope. "That's getten
him awreet, let him ger eawt o that". The two men then crept out of
the house and went home to bed, where they had a few hours sleep before
they had to go to their work at the pit.
During the following day Owd Moe was making a great to-do about his cat
that had not been seen since the night before. That night Lazarus and Juddy
paid their usual visit to the Alecks and started to brag as to how they
had fought and hanged the Boggart in Sam's old house. They invited all the
other taproom men to accompany them and have a look at the hanging Boggart.
About a dozen or so went to the house and went inside. Hanging from the
beam was, not the Boggart, but Owd Moe's black cat. The other men laughed
and said "Th'owd Boggart's done it agen anah wouldn't like to be in
Lazarus or Juddy's shoon when Owd Moe gets ter ear abeawt it "
Owd Moe was furious when he found out and vowed Lazarus and Juddy would
never work at his pit as long as he was alive. Lazarus and Juddy however,
firmly believed that it was the Boggart they had hanged, but that due to
some magic he had managed to get loose and hanged the cat in his place.
FINALLY
Old stories of Boggart and Owd Hob and his followers, are all but long forgotten.
In this modern day and age, dismissed as tales to scare the children. This
poem is an example of a Boggart story used as a warning to children to behave:
A fig'ger glimpsed by lamplight
At darkest hour of night;
Eyes burnin' feral-green,
Sensed much mo' than seen.
He's waitin' for you, chile,
'Neath your trundle bed,
An if you slip jes' once from grace,
He'll squeeze your pretty haid!
He's the Boggart-man, he is,
An in darkness do he live --
He lies in wait of naughty babes
An ends their foolish ways.
He delights in terrorizing
He loves to hear you squeal;
An if he's 'specially ravenous,
He'll take you fer his meal!
Remember young Tim Winter,
That wretched li'l sinner?
The Boggart-man done stole him off,
An cut the tongue right out his mouf!
So watch yourself, my young 'un,
'Cause the Boggart-man, he sees;
He'll creep up on you in the night
An end your dirty deeds!
We today as men in days gone by, have beliefs and who's to say what is true
or fantasy. Beware - the Green Boggart could still be there, more than likely
masquerading as a brewer at the Boggart Hole Clough Brewery.
This latter day Green Boggart is in fact a bitter Blue Boggart, who is also interfering with the local farmer's water supplies; turning them into mysterious coloured potions to tempt the local ale drinkers.
Are you brave enough to 'exorcise' your right to join the latest Boggart drinker's cult? Perhaps you will discover that the Boggart's beers are better that any 'spirits'.