Saturday 23 October 2010

Edgehill's spectral reenactment

This battle of the ECW was fought today, kicking off the war in fine style. Though what interests me most about this battle was the very frequently seen spectral refighting of this battle in the skies. This article from the Headless Horseman tells the tale very well - a BBC article tells the tale in more detail here which tells of the pamphlet published on the subject and the fact that Charles I sent observers to find out about it and they witnessed the phenomenon - seeing colleagues in the sky...

Edgehill - Warwickshire
The battle of Edgehill took place on 24th October 1642, and was the first major battle of the English Civil War. 3,000 Roundhead and Royalist soldiers lost their lives on this historic ground and their spirits still appear centuries after. On 23rd December 1642, shepherds tending their sheep at Edgehill witnessed a spectral re-enactment of the entire battle. At first the shepherds heard the sound of drums, then the noise of soldiers could be heard - giving out their last groans. Then appearing in the air “the same incorporeal soldiers that made those clamours” and phantom armies fought in the sky above the original battlefield. The phantom Parliamentarians and Cavalier soldiers re-appeared over several nights and were witnessed on Christmas Day by many people. In the 1940s Bill Priest, a local school master, claimed that ghostly phenomenon was a common occurrence in the area surrounding the field.

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