Ep240 - Screaming Skulls: Vol. 2 - Creep Street Podcast

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Good afternoon, sir, and welcome to Cranium Couture, the finest
establishment in Moonset for all your cranial needs.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
Well, thank you, thank you. It's lovely establishment and I've
heard nothing but wonderful things.

Speaker 1 (00:20):
Well, we are very exclusive, and I can tell by
your demeanor you're exactly the type of gentlemen we cater to.
I hope those dregs on the street didn't give you
too much trouble, Not at.

Speaker 2 (00:33):
All, not at all. It's a lovely neighborhood. I must say. Now,
do you mind if I place my head here on
the countertop?

Speaker 1 (00:40):
Not at all? Set it on our patented cranial pillow
right there.

Speaker 2 (00:47):
Yes, sir, I am in the market for a new top. Well,
I've been carrying this head around for quite a while
and I was looking to make possibly an upgrade of
some kind.

Speaker 1 (00:56):
Excellent, sir. Well, we have quite an eclectic collection here.
Would you care for an espresso while we browse?

Speaker 2 (01:03):
Oh? Yes, please do put a little straw in it
so my head can suckle on it. Hm. Oh wow,
I must say, a lovely selection here, heads of all
sizes and shapes, beautiful.

Speaker 1 (01:23):
Yes, please feel free to try them on at your leisure.

Speaker 2 (01:27):
Yes, needless to say, I'm quite in over my head
when it comes to these sorts of things. If you
could please just point out some recommendations, ones you think
might work for me.

Speaker 1 (01:40):
Why, certainly, sir. Let's start with the Theodore Roosevelt model.
I think it'll suit a rugged outdoorsman such as yourself.

Speaker 2 (01:49):
Oh well, may I try it on?

Speaker 1 (01:50):
Be my guest?

Speaker 3 (01:53):
Ha yes, hedda ah. Yes, this does feel quite good.
I feel like I could go on a bison hunt. Yes,
William Howard Taft is a dummy. Yes, yes, I love
this fine land and this head seems to fit very well.

Speaker 2 (02:14):
But what else do you have?

Speaker 1 (02:17):
Let's take a look here. Let's see maybe something a
bit more modern here, Let's try this. This is the
Christian Bale model.

Speaker 2 (02:27):
Yeah, this feels pretty good. Yeah, yeah, I like it.
The next not too tight, fits well around the collar, eh,
I like it. Let me give a little run here.
You're a nice guy. You're a nice guy, but you're
a fucking idiot. Yeah I like that. I like that
a lot. Let's keep looking though, well.

Speaker 1 (02:46):
If we want to stick with the British motif, but
something a little more elegant with a little more grace.
Might I suggest the Michael Caine model.

Speaker 2 (02:54):
Oh sure, if you don't mind, I'll try it on nowday.
Same to work very well. I like it. I like
it a lot. It is a little bit old for me.
I think they're old, would contrast with my body. But
I do like it. Yes, this is very nice, very nice.

(03:16):
You know some men just want to watch the world burn. Eh.
I like it, Thank you. Let's try something a little
bit younger, sir.

Speaker 1 (03:26):
How about something a little more American, something a little
more salt of the earth. Try the McConaughey model.

Speaker 2 (03:34):
I don't mind if I do.

Speaker 4 (03:37):
Alright, alright, all right, I'll tell you there's a lot
of good looking ladies here tonight walking around in Moonset.
I went and watched the volleyball game, the Moonset volleyball game.
May and them girls they know how to play. Yeah,
my own, my good gracious. I drove there in my
Lincoln and I thought to myself as I was watching

(03:59):
them girls play, hitting that ball back and forth, and
I thought to myself, time is flat circle, that's all
it is. I am that ball just getting passed back
and forth, back and forth.

Speaker 2 (04:15):
Lincoln. Very nice, I did like that one a lot.
I think American might be the way to go for me. Maybe,
what else do you have in that department?

Speaker 1 (04:25):
Well, sticking with the American, but something a little more boisterous.
How about we try the commander in Chief.

Speaker 2 (04:32):
Oh okay, let's fit this one on. It's a little thick.
Let me tell you, this is one of the best heads,
the greatest heads I've ever tried. Let me tell you,
China could not make a head like this. All right.
This is an American made head for American workers, and
it's the best. Wow. This might be a winner. I'm

(04:56):
telling you. All the other heads I've tried on are losers,
discussed ugly losers. Wow, Okay, I like that little controversial maybe,
but I do like a mix of the American with
a bit of the high office vibe. But something may
be a little more laid back. Hmm.

Speaker 1 (05:17):
Maybe try the retired commander in Chief.

Speaker 2 (05:20):
Oh. I must admit I've had my eye on this
one since I walked in the door. Wow, I tell
you one thing. I try it on and I think,
where's Dick Cheney. He's got to see it. Hopefully he
doesn't shoot at me. Just kidding, Dick may. I like
to sit back now, and I like to do my
paintings watching some baseball on the TV.

Speaker 4 (05:42):
Man.

Speaker 2 (05:42):
I'll tell you one thing, though. One of my greatest failures,
I will admit, was not fighting the threat of global
warming and declaring war on the sun, stopping global warming
at its source. But I'll tell you what. I'm just
glad to be here, and I'm thankful for the paper
United States. I like this, I can think clearly strategize

(06:05):
some real strategy. I think this is the one I'm
gonna go with.

Speaker 1 (06:09):
Excellent choice, sir, What.

Speaker 2 (06:11):
The hell are you doing? Why do you need a
head for it? Don't you have one of your own?
Maybe you shouldn't have lost your own head? Huh, yeah,
you're coming in here you want? Other people said, maybe
you should have held out the ears, I, sweetheart, rather
than buying my head, you should have kept your own.
WHOA what model is that?

Speaker 1 (06:28):
Oh, don't mind him, that's just the Bilber model.

Speaker 2 (06:56):
Citizens of the Milky Way, my name is Dylan.

Speaker 1 (06:59):
Hackworth and I'm Gage Hurley, and.

Speaker 2 (07:01):
You have plunged into the gaping mall of creep street podcasts.
That's right, Open those skulls wide for an extra helping
of Freaky Deeky. That's right, folks. But before we begin,
find us on Facebook and Instagram at creep Street Podcast,
Twitter or x at creep Street Pod. We are also

(07:22):
on TikTok at creep Street Podcasts. Also, we had forgotten
mention it for a while as we were rebooting the
whole show. But on Facebook there's a group anyone can join.
It's free to join. It's called Citizens of the Milky Way,
a Creep Street fan page. You just click that let
me in button and one of us will let you in.
All can join. It's free to join and whatnot. And

(07:44):
of course, if once a week is not enough for you,
and let's face it, we know it's not, folks, head
on over to patreon dot com slash Creepstreet Podcast for
all sorts of goodies. And something I only recently realized
is there is a free tier on Patreon, so as
it sounds, you don't have to pay anything, but you

(08:05):
can still like kind of get stuff like essentially what
we put in the free tier. We put up our
sketches early before they come out that week, and we
also have Patreon exclusive sketches that are just for the
Patreon that is in the free tier, you don't have
to spend a dime. And also I realized too, I
didn't know you can also buy things all a cart.

(08:25):
So if maybe you're not ready to subscribe or whatnot,
but there's like a bonus episode you really want to
listen to, you can actually like buy it all a
cart without having to subscribe. So I had no idea,
So go check that out if that is something you're
interested in. Now, Folks, we left off last week, let's

(08:46):
just say with our jaws on the floor, let's just
say we're not We're gonna keep them on the floor
this week, because we are diving right back in to
Screaming Skulls volume to. We last left off with Burton

(09:11):
Agnes Hall in the tragedy of the young Anne that
was brutally killed by bandits while she was walking along
the road and all that transpired from that terrifying tragic story.
And we are picking up today in a new location, folks,
let's waltz on over to Wardley Hall. Now. Wardley Hall

(09:38):
is a medieval manor house in Greater Manchester and it
stands as a significant historical structure with roots that date
back to around fifteen hundred, although it's undergone extensive redesigns
in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to you know, modernize
it and make it, you know, especially the external appearance

(09:59):
ma it look more modern, the essence of its ancient
origins are still very apparent when you're inside of it.
Today it serves a distinguished role as the official residence
of the Roman Catholic Bishops of Salford. So there you go.
So going back fifteen hundred, which even in terms of
the UK, fifteen hundred isn't even really that far back

(10:23):
when you think about it. You know, for Americans, that's
like God, that's like going to the you know' that's
forever ago. But when you think about like British history,
I mean all of Europe really well everywhere, but like
British history, at least recorded history, that is not that
far back, but still far enough. So we're coming out
of I guess what you would call this is probably

(10:46):
right around the I think this would be right around
the Renaissance era. But one of the halls most intriguing
and controversial features, as you might have guessed, is a skull,
which is prominently displayed in a nook at the top
of the main staircase, blending its religious significance with ancient

(11:07):
legends and tales that are often associated with such historic properties.
The Bishops of Salford, current Guardians of Wardley Hall, they
have you know, embraced this particular and weird, kind of
peculiar artifact, accommodating its presence and the stories that it carries.
They don't shy away from it, it seems, which I

(11:28):
think is kind of cool. They I always like it
when a place kind of like isn't afraid to.

Speaker 1 (11:34):
Like acknowledge their past right.

Speaker 2 (11:38):
And not even like a not and not even sometimes
even like a bad pass, like a violent pass. Like
a lot of times I've found that, like you know,
say you got a hotel that's supposed to be haunted.
Some hotels lean into it. Other hotels don't want anyone,
They don't want word of it out, not even because
they don't want they think it'll scare people away, but

(11:58):
because they I think it's like some people it's like
we're too elegant or too classy of a place for that.
It's not even so much they think people will get
scared away. It's that like you know, we're too prestigious
or something. You know.

Speaker 1 (12:11):
They they see themselves as too, as more tasteful, and
they see it as distasteful, which I don't necessarily agree with.

Speaker 2 (12:19):
Right, I think you can. I think you can find
a balance. You can you can acknowledge it and celebrate
it without like leaning into the gimmick and like making
it a full blown like attraction, like you know, so
cool that the bishops of Salford at least acknowledged the skull.
The skull there, like many such relics in historic English homes,

(12:41):
is shrouded in legend. The precise origins of the skull
remains a subject of speculation and interest, enhancing the halls
allure is a place where history and mystery meet. You've
heard of mystery meat, Well how about history meat. You
know what I mean? Yum, yum, yum. I'll go back
for seconds. Although it's a little old, it might be ransom. Yeah,

(13:03):
I guess you're right. I guess if you're having a
school lunch rather, I think I'd actually prefer the mystery
meat to history meet. Yeah. Ugh. But Wardley Hall's history
as a residence extends back well before it became the
official home of the Bishops of Salford. Among its notable
former occupants was Roger Downs, a lawyer and politician who

(13:25):
lived during the early seventeenth century and passed away in
sixteen thirty eight in his late fifties, which, I mean,
what do you think, sixteen thirty eight, late fifties, that's honestly,
probably pretty good for the time, I mean, not too bad.
The Hall's storied past continued with one of his descendants,
also named Roger Downs, who carved out a reputation quite

(13:49):
different from his predecessor. He was known as a notorious rake.
This younger Roger led a turbulent and short lived life,
dying tragically at the age of twenty eight. So this
guy was a bit more. He was a bit more
of a rock star.

Speaker 1 (14:07):
Although twenty eight is kind of the life expectancy of
the time. Probably he lived in a light old age
of twenty eight.

Speaker 2 (14:15):
I mean, he just missed the twenty seven club Oh
so close.

Speaker 1 (14:20):
Break is a term used to describe a dissolute or
immoral person.

Speaker 2 (14:25):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (14:26):
It's just like a dirt bag.

Speaker 2 (14:28):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely so. Folks. If you were wondering what
a rake is, we should bring it back. Let's bring
back that insult.

Speaker 1 (14:35):
You know what I mean, Break those healthcare CEOs. They're
real breaks.

Speaker 2 (14:39):
What a rake. I'm gonna bring that one back. Put
it to good use. Well. The tale of Roger downs
on London Bridge is a grim example of how aristocratic
excess and violent bravado could manifest during the seventeenth century.
One night, it was sixteen seven tventy six, and Roger,

(15:02):
likely influenced by alcohol and a reckless sense of invincibility,
Claire to his friends that he would kill the first
person he encountered on the bridge. True to his word,
he brutally murdered, literally brutally murdered the first passerby who appeared. Okay,

(15:23):
you know you see like I don't know, like YouTube
streamers who do like offense, they'll go to like another
country and do something offensive or like pick a fight,
but who literally goes you know what, I'm gonna stone
I'm gonna stone cold murder, not just like pick a
fight or like play a prank.

Speaker 1 (15:42):
Yeah, oh yeah, prank or something.

Speaker 2 (15:44):
Like yeah, like maybe like if you're standing over an overpass,
like peeing down on the cars that are driving it,
so you know, something like that like that would be
like a rascal. Now this guy, this guy's like the
first person we see. I'm gonna kill that motherfucker. I'm
gonna kill him stone dead.

Speaker 1 (16:03):
So because I'm a wild man, because party, he's a rake.

Speaker 2 (16:06):
What can I say? The guy's a rake.

Speaker 1 (16:09):
The guy's a rake.

Speaker 2 (16:11):
Oh man. So he did exactly what he said he
would do, and, emboldened by this act and the encouragement
of his companions sound like a sound like a group.

Speaker 1 (16:23):
Of assholes, Yes, sir.

Speaker 2 (16:27):
Roger vowed to repeat this heinous act with the next
person he met, a man who is dressed as a
Thames waterman. This episode paints a vivid picture of the
dangerous and often lawless behavior exhibited by some individuals of
the aristocracy during this period. Literally, like you know, especially

(16:49):
the whole you know, he's a rich boy, so of course,
like he probably thinks he's untouchable. Like that's what makes
it's literally like a ute. It's like the seventeenth century
version of like a dickhead YouTuber that like goes to
another country and does like awful things, you know what
I mean. It's like literally like he's all about the cloud.

(17:10):
Let me tell you something, Roger downs was about that cloud.
He was about that seventeenth century cloud. So, of course,
like I said, this was a time when folks of
the aristocracy, not all of course, not painting with a
broad brush, but really, like the rich in anytime era,
feel like they can probably and do, get away with

(17:30):
more than the regular common folk. Doesn't necessarily mean murder,
but you know, we see it all the time. You know,
it's times have not really changed too much personal reputation
in the time, and bravado could sometimes escalate into deadly consequences,
as it did on this night. Aside from being a
monster a hole, he sounds like a colossal douche. The

(17:54):
violent encounter on London Bridge ended dramatically when Roger downs
as once again, emboldened by his previous act of murder,
spurred on by alcohol and who knows what else, and
of course his boys rooting him on, he attacked this man,
this waterman who would work on the River Thames. These

(18:15):
watermen were known though for their tough like dockyard bastards.
You know what I mean.

Speaker 1 (18:20):
They're tough guys, yeah, hard working, blue collar.

Speaker 2 (18:23):
Oh yeah, you know. Honestly, obviously, I think this guy
clearly took it to an extreme. But I'm sure they
dealt with dickheads like this all the time, maybe ones
who weren't trying to murder you, but ones who would
you know, pick a fighter or insult you or you know. So, yeah,
they probably did lure. You know, they probably were tough
guys because they probably had to be, because these rich

(18:44):
dicks needed to get straightened out every now and then.
But yes, these watermen were known for their toughness, which
was obviously a necessity given the physical demands of their
job alone ferrying passengers across the River Thames. Roger's second
choice of victim proved fatal. The waterman managed to defend
himself amidst a fierce struggle. Get this, Oh you want

(19:08):
to talk about karma? This guy literally decapitated Roger downs,
So you want to talk about imagine like his boys
watching too, Like yeah, come on, Roger, go.

Speaker 5 (19:21):
Get it and get his cronies, his cronies, and then
literally the dude gets beheaded like insanity, Like, I mean,
a good comeuppance.

Speaker 2 (19:33):
But talk about one upsmanship, Jesus Christ. But hey, you
know he probably who knows, maybe the body from the
first murder was already there and so he knows I
gotta this isn't just like a you know, a fistfight.
I gotta literally defend my life, like life for life,
so this guy will kill me. Yeah, So like literally

(19:56):
he went to town man, he went to town on Old Roger.
A grim turn of events. Roger's body was then thrown
over the side of the bridge, while his severed head
was left behind. Sounds like the bastard got what was
coming to it. I mean, damn, talk about a instant

(20:18):
karm Like you would think he must have done this
something like this before, because I can't imagine that first
person he killed was the first, because you would think
that doing that for the first time. I don't know,
I could be wrong, obviously, I've never never killed anybody.

Speaker 1 (20:34):
But you think it's the kind of thing that you'd
build up to over time. Probably at the very least,
I would imagine Roger was a violent guy. He could have.

Speaker 2 (20:43):
Yes, he must have been a true bastard.

Speaker 1 (20:46):
I mean, he was so comfortable with it and so
casual about it that again he was doing the first time.
He's doing it just to impress his drunk friends. But obviously,
anybody who commits murder for fun pretty much deserves to
be murdered.

Speaker 2 (21:03):
Yeah, and he got it in about the worst way
you could get it, and kind of, you know, in
front of his boys too, So it's like an added
level of it. Didn't just tap, and it happened for
an audience you would wonder. And you gotta think too,
when his friends realized that the Waterman was getting the
upper hand, you gotta think they probably even tried to

(21:25):
somewhat intervene, which means that guy probably fought him all off. Like,
this was one tough motherfucker.

Speaker 1 (21:33):
This guy's a legend in his own right.

Speaker 2 (21:35):
This guy was literally like like what like Wolverine or
something like. He was literally like just a bad He's
literally like a John Wick type dude of the seventeenth
century just goes in and kraw McGraw's everyone in the joint.
You know, this is like Roadhouse, seventeenth century Roadhouse. Just
I like to think that the Waterman just wears a

(21:56):
karate geed tucked into jeans, just like Patrick Swaye and Roadhouse.
But anyway, Shocked by the sudden and brutal outcome of
the fight, Roger's friends retrieved his head and adhering to
a somewhat morbid sense of duty, they delivered it to
his sister. Oh god, imagine that, Like I guess, like, yeah,

(22:20):
you want to report what happened, But what you would think, maybe, hey,
you know, we gave the head to police or something something,
or maybe maybe let the police give her the details.
Maybe just say your brother died. He literally brings the
frickin' head right, like clearly shows you these guys were

(22:44):
like just there was something wrong with them, Like the
whole group of them. They sound like literal demons.

Speaker 1 (22:50):
I know. I mean it was probably a pretty violent,
pretty brutal, barbaric kind of era. I mean, yeah, people
still commit obvious heinous X. But the further you seem
to go into the past, oh god, lawlessness there just
seemed to be. And when there's less repercussions, oh, people

(23:11):
will do the worst kind of things.

Speaker 2 (23:14):
I was just listening to a quick shout out to
a very popular podcast, last Podcast on the Left. They
did an episode on the like awful deaths of the
early Christian Saints, like when it was literally government mandated,
Like you want to talk about the most inhuman and
this is throughout This isn't just a Christian, you know,

(23:35):
all throughout history, just the ways people used to kill
people back then, like literally, like it was, it's an
episode all its own. It is, Oh my god. But yeah, no,
you're you're right, And you got to think however he
did it. It probably wasn't swift. I imagine he had
to do it with a knife and just kind of

(23:55):
grind away at it. It's not like he could just
you know, a quit chop and it's done. I'm sure
he sawing away at the bastard.

Speaker 1 (24:02):
Probably. Yeah, it made me wonder, like I wonder what
he used. I mean, as the waterman. I wouldn't imagine
they would have an axe just laying around.

Speaker 2 (24:11):
Right, right, And even then if it's a hatchet, you're
still gonna have to give it a few whacks, you
know what I mean? Like god, YouTube, oh please let
us put that. I was gonna say, hopefully this episode
doesn't get flagged. But no, I mean, I'm sure I'm
just kidding, but but yeah, like, oh yeah, you're right.
The farther you go back, just the barberism, you know,

(24:33):
and we always say this, and not even in terms
of murder stuff, but think about medical procedures and how now,
there's certain things we look back and we think, wow,
that was barbaric. Think about one hundred years from now,
what they're gonna look back on us and think, Jesus,
they did that advil advil. Those bastards, those sick bath

(24:55):
you know, didn't they didn't they know they could have
lived to one hundred and seventy five or something, you
know what I mean? Like, yeah, they'll like, who knows
what in a hundred years, the things that we take
as normal will probably be seen as monstrous.

Speaker 1 (25:09):
It's it's kind of the paradox of knowledge too. Yeah,
know what you don't know and you think you know
certain things until they come along and showed that they
were wrong.

Speaker 2 (25:20):
Right, And you know, we've Something I've always said too
is like you know, I think like say, like you
know we've done in episodes on the Salem Witch Trials,
and you know, in twenty twenty five, we all like
to think, well, if I was there, I wouldn't have
you know, but who knows what you would have thought
back then? Think about it. You're you're in a incredibly
oppressive religion. You are literally told that the devil is

(25:43):
out to get you, Like everywhere it kind of makes
sense that people would start to think their neighbor was
a way like you don't know, like how you would react.
Like we like to think that we would be above it,
but who knows what we how we'd do, you know
what I mean exactly?

Speaker 1 (25:58):
There's so many We have so many biases and psychological
tendencies that are kind of unless you are aware of them,
unless you have studied them, you really are likely to
fall into a lot of them. A good example is
the crowd effect. They did a study not even that
long ago. I feel like it was probably in the
last twenty years, where somebody would lay in the street

(26:22):
in a big city pretending to be hurt, and people
would just keep passing by because everybody thinks somebody else
will do something about it, right, And I mean, it's
just some of these things are just human psychology.

Speaker 2 (26:36):
Yeah, hey, folks, be the change you want to see
in the world, am I right? Be the change? Be
the change.

Speaker 1 (26:42):
Maybe you're right and they're all wrong.

Speaker 2 (26:45):
That's right, that's right. Yeah, maybe I will cut the
head off the next person. I just kidding. Yeah, anyway,
So yes, this group of Ruffians seemingly seeing it as
their duty delivered Roger's head to his sister. This event
not only marked a brutal end for Roger himself, but

(27:06):
also added a dark chapter to the family's history, contributing
further to the grim legacy surrounding Wardley Hall, where his
head allegedly ended up. So apparently, as the story goes,
Roger's head was initially buried in the local churchyard, but
similar to the tale of Anne Griffith in the last

(27:28):
episode we covered, although Anne was a sweetheart, she wasn't
a piece of like this guy. Roger was said to
be displeased with this arrangement and began to haunt Wardley Hall.
In an effort to quell the disturbances, his sister retrieved
the head and placed it in a nook on the staircase,

(27:48):
which reportedly brought peace to the house. So there we go. However,
the legend faces scrutiny from historical accounts, don't they all instead.
Seventeen ninety nine, in an attempt to verify the identity
of the skull, Roger's coffin was exhumed and his body

(28:08):
was found almost intact, including his head, suggesting it had
been retrieved from the Thames where it was initially discarded,
meaning the body, not the head, because we know they
didn't put the head in the Tames. It was the
they threw the body, which means they must have you know,
dragged the river and got the body out. Once again,

(28:28):
probably a benefit of the wealthy. I have to imagine
if you're a poor person and your body's thrown in
the Tames, no one's probably going to look for it.
The coffin's examination revealed that the top portion of the
skull had actually been sawed off, a fact that perplex'es historians,
as it is unusual for such a procedure to be

(28:50):
performed post mortem, unless for medical or forensic reasons, particularly
if his death was already understood to be. You know,
there was of a violent encounter, so I don't know
if maybe the story got a little mixed up along
the way, and maybe he didn't necessarily get decapitated, but
somehow he liked the guy like literally like ripped the

(29:13):
top of his head off somehow or something.

Speaker 1 (29:15):
You know, Yeah, who knows.

Speaker 2 (29:17):
That is interesting, very interesting. Today, the narrative surrounding the
skull at Wardley Hall has taken a turn from its
earlier ghostly legends associated with Roger Downs. Catholic bishops who
reside there now believe that the skull does not belong
to the infamous seventeenth century asshole, but rather to Saint

(29:39):
Ambrose Barlow, a figure with ties to the Downs family.
Saint Ambrose Barlow was a Benedictine monk and one of
the forty martyrs of England and Wales executed for his
faith during the English Reformation. This identification shifts the story
from one of spectral reveals to a solemn remembrance of

(30:01):
a martyr's sacrifice, aligning it a little more closely with
the religious significance that the residence now holds today, being,
you know, the home of the bishops of Salford. So
let's learn a little bit about Saint Barlow. Edward Barlow
was born in Manchester in fifteen eighty five, and he
would later take the name Ambrose upon becoming a Benedictine monk,

(30:24):
and he lived through a period when being a Catholic
in England was fraught with danger. The sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries were marked by severe persecution of Catholics, with many
facing harsh punishments or even deaths for practicing their faith.
I mean you got to think all this time you had, well,
first you had Henry the Eighth starting his own church

(30:47):
because he wanted some strange and then his daughter Mary
tried to switch it back at aka Bloody. Mary wanted
to switch it back to Catholics. So she was you got,
I mean you're literally playing pong with faith during this
time era. And so yeah, it was just a time.
Seems like no matter what side you're on, it probably

(31:09):
was a dangerous time, especially depending where you lived and
all that stuff. So in response to these oppressive conditions,
Ambrose went abroad to France and then to Spain to
train as a priest, away from the watchful eyes of
English authorities. After his ordination, he returned to England, committed

(31:29):
to ministering to the covert Catholic community. Despite the risks
since holding mass was literally illegal and could lead to
severe penalties, Ambrose traveled extensively across the country. His mission
brought him to places like Wardley Hall, where he continued
to offer spiritual guidance and perform religious services in secret.

(31:51):
Well On Easter Sunday in sixteen forty one, Ambrose Barlow,
still recovering from a severe illness, bravely held a Mass
for approximately two hundred people at Morley's Hall. His commitment
to his faith was unyielding, even under the threat of
persecution that Catholics faced during this era in England. Despite

(32:14):
the dangers, Ambrose continued to minister to his congregation, demonstrating
his deep dedication to his duties as a priest. However,
this act of religious defiance did not go unnoticed. An
ardent Protestant, reported by some accounts to be the Vicar
of Eccles and by others the Vicar of Ley, caught

(32:34):
wind of the Easter service, and this Protestant leader gathered
a formidable mob of about four hundred people and stormed
the hall to arrest Ambrose, whom they derogatorily termed a
Popish priest. Wow, that's what an insult. Well. Despite being
warned of the impending danger, mister Barlow chose to continue

(32:59):
with his demonstrating his unwavering commitment to his faith. This
decision led to his arrest and subsequent imprisonment at Lancaster Castle.
Four months after his arrest, Ambrose was brought to trial,
where he faced charges related to his priesthood rule that
was literally, as I said, illegal under the laws of

(33:21):
the time. Ambrose did not deny his identity or his
vocation as a Catholic priest. At his trial, he was
found guilty and sentenced to the brutal punishment of being hung,
drawn and quartered, a fate similar to that of other
martyrs of the period, including Guy Fawx, very famous folks

(33:43):
as we all know, remember remember the fifth of November.
The sentence was swiftly carried out the next day on
September tenth, sixteen forty one, marking a tragic end to
Ambrose Barlow's life and ministry. His martyrdom became a poignant
symbol of religious persecution during a tumultuous period in British history.

(34:06):
Well after Ambrose Barlow was executed, his head was severed
and sent to Manchester as a grim warning to any
other Catholics who were steadfast in their faith. In a
bold act of defiance and loyalty to his faith, Francis Downs,
the son of Roger Downs, who died in sixteen thirty eight, intervened.

(34:27):
Roger's second wife had been a Catholic, and she raised
Francis in the old faith. Motivated by his beliefs and
family ties. Francis stole Ambrose's head and secretly brought it
back to Wardley Hall, where he concealed it in a
hidden spot. This act not only saved the relic from
public disgrace, but also brought it to a place where

(34:50):
it was likely valued and could be properly mourned as
that of a martyr. However, Ambrose Barlow's skull would mysteriously
vanish shortly after its theft and remained hidden for over
a century, adding a layer of mystery to the history
of Wardley Hall and the skull itself. But it happened
to resurface in seventeen forty five, tumultuous time for one

(35:15):
Matthew Morton, the then owner of Wardley Hall. Morton's estate
had suffered significant damage when Bonnie Prince Charlie's troops sacked
his home during their retreat north, leaving parts of the
hall in ruin. In a bid to rebuild and recover
from these hard times, Morton decided to demolish the damage

(35:37):
sections of the hall. During this process, workers dismantled a
wall of the original chapel, revealing a hidden casket within.
Upon opening it, they discovered a skull that was notably
well preserved, featuring a robust set of teeth and strands
of auburn hair, the same hair color known to have

(35:59):
been that of mister Ambrose Barlow. Now, this finding suggests
that the skull of Barlow, which had been lost to history,
had been protected within the chapel's walls, perhaps placed there
by Francis Downs or some other caretaker of the martyrs legacy.
Whatever the skull's origins were, it had been the center

(36:19):
of paranormal activity ever since. According to an account written
back in seventeen eighty two by one Thomas Barrett, he wrote,
from time out of Mind, the occupants of Wardley Hall
have had a superstitious veneration for the skull, not permitting
it to be removed from its place on the topmost

(36:39):
step of the staircase. There is a tradition that if
removed or ill used, some uncommon screaming and lamenting is heard,
and disturbances take place in many parts of the house.
So we're seeing a trend from like the stories we
saw last week. You touched the head, or you move it,
you try to breat She's going to get crazy up

(37:02):
in that place. This is pretty interesting, interesting that a
moat actually surrounded the residents. And as we all know,
as we've said many times here on the show, we
know that water is often believed to act as a
conduit for paranormal activity, and in this case, a servant,
perhaps overly eager during spring cleaning, decided to remove the

(37:26):
skull from its revered spot and by golly threw it
into the moat surrounding the manor talk about throwing in
a penny to make a wish. Almost immediately after doing this,
a violent storm erupted, seemingly is a supernatural response to
the disturbance of the skull. The tempest was so severe

(37:49):
that it shook the manner to its core, alarming everyone inside.
They're like afraid the place is going to come tumbling down. Well.
Upon discovering the cause of this turmoil was the removal
and disrespectful disposal of the skull, the owner of Wardley
Hall was quick to act. He ordered the moat to
be dredged to retrieve the skull, understanding the importance of

(38:12):
restoring it to its designated place to appease whatever forces
were disturbed by its removal, and miraculously as soon as
the skull was returned to its original location, the storm dissipated,
restoring calm to the manner and its surroundings. This event
reinforced the belief among the residents there and the local

(38:33):
community that this skull was not just an ordinary relic,
but held significant spiritual or some kind of supernatural power,
and this certainly ensured its continued respect and careful treatment
in the years that followed, and according to local lore,
all attempts to destroy the skull, whether by burning it,

(38:54):
smashing it, or any other means, they all fail, as
if the skull itself has some sort of supernatural resilience. Moreover,
the skull is said to possess the sort of will
of its own, consistently reappearing at the hall whenever it
is removed, so sometimes you don't even have to go

(39:14):
get it back. Sometimes it comes. I don't I just
imagine it rolling like a bowling ball or something like that. Yeah,
Like I've always thought it would be funny, Like I
can't remember it was on like a funny thing on YouTube.
This was like years ago. In Batman movies, It's a
common shope that Commissioner Gordon or whomever they'll be talking
to Batman and then they'll turn it away for a

(39:36):
second and when they turn back, he's gone, Well, there
was this funny video of what does Batman actually do?
And it's him just getting caught trying to sneak away,
and it's like, oh, yeah, I've seen that.

Speaker 1 (39:47):
Yeah, I forget what that was from, but I've definitely
seen that. I was thinking about that.

Speaker 2 (39:52):
Yeah, it's like early YouTube, but it's kind of I
just imagine it being like that, or like, is it
thing or it from Adam's family. The hand just like
you know, skittering across the almost like that, it like
goes right back to where it's supposed to be. Given
these extraordinary claims, it's unlikely that the current residence, including

(40:13):
the Roman Catholic Bishops of Salford, would want to test
these legends by attempting to destroy or permanently remove the skull.
The skull's reputation for returning to Wardley Hall, no matter what,
adds a compelling chapter to the manor's storied past, blending
elements of the supernatural with the historical narrative of the

(40:33):
site that folks is Wardley Hall. Uh. But we're not
done no no, no, no no. Let's head on over
to Browsham Hall. Now. Browsham Hall is nestled near the
forest of Bolan, and it harbors its own tale of
a haunted skull, shrouded in mystery and lacking a clear

(40:56):
origin story as well. The hall has been owned by
the Parkers, a family whose name derives from their historical
role as park keepers and guardians of the local woodland.
This position was particularly significant during periods when poaching was
considered a severe crime against the crown. The responsibility of

(41:16):
overseeing the woodland and protecting the game such as deer,
was a very serious matter entrusted to families like the Parkers,
while during the eighteenth century, consequences for poaching were particularly severe,
often resulting in the death penalty. If a poacher was caught,

(41:36):
he would be brought before the Parkers at Brownsham Hall,
where swift justice was administered with grim finality. This historical
backdrop sets the stage for the mysterious skull at Browsham Hall,
suggesting it might have connections to these ancient woodland laws
and the severe punishments that were meted out for violators.

(41:58):
The skull's presence in the hall with no definitive origin,
adds another layer of intrigue and speculation about its past
and the stories it could tell if only it could speak.
The mysterious skull, aside from having a connection to historical
poaching laws, is also thought to be linked to a

(42:19):
more tumultuous period in English history, the Pilgrimage of Grace.
This was a significant revolt against King Henry the Eighth's
Reformation policies, particularly his break with the Catholic Church and
the dissolution of the monasteries. Starting spontaneously in Yorkshire in
October fifteen thirty six, the uprising was a major protest

(42:41):
by ordinary people and escalated into a serious rebellion. The
Pilgrimage of Grace saw peace briefly, but in nineteen thirty
seven a second uprising occurred. When the rebels did not
disperse as promised, they faced severe reprisals from the king leaders.
In parts, participants were brutally punished, with two hundred and

(43:03):
sixteen individuals executed. This included nobles, abbots, monks, and even priests.
Among them was Sir Nicholas Tempest Browbear of the Forest
of Bolan, a significant figure whose role was integral to
the region, and given Sir Nicholas Tempest's prominent position and
tragic fate, it's often speculated that the skull there at

(43:26):
Browsham Hall could belong to him. This connection ties the
skull to the local geography and a critical moment of
religious and political upheaval in England. Similar to other legendary
skulls housed in historic homes, this skull is said to
possess magical properties and is deemed integral to the spirit
of the hall, with beliefs that removing it could lead

(43:49):
to adverse consequences. Very interesting, very interesting. I mean poaching
today is still like, especially when you hear about like
rare I don't know, like elephants being killed for just
like their tusks. It's like that's shit, especially if being
like not like a huge population of them, I mean,

(44:10):
god damn, like they're yeah, like poachers, man, fuck of poachers.
Well let's move on now. We're gonna throw in a
few more shorter ones here, but let's move on over
to a place called long Lead. The curious and somewhat
eerie tail from the early twentieth century at long Lead,
the ancestral home of the times adds a ghostly layer

(44:33):
to its storied history. When Henry Tyne was only eleven
years old and would later become the six Marquess of Bath,
he discovered a skull unearthed in the ground. His youthful
curiosity led him to a mischievous act. He acquired the
skull from the gardener and took it on a bike ride,

(44:54):
which ended in a minor accident, causing him to fall
and sustain injury. This incident wasn't isolated, as it appeared
that disturbing the skull brought misfortune. All four individuals that
were involved in the discovery of the skull ended up
with injuries by the end of the day. Given that

(45:17):
Longlead was constructed on a site that was once a monastery,
it speculated that the skull might have originated from a
monastic burial ground, possibly belonging to a monk who obviously
wouldn't have taken kindly to his remains being disturbed, let
alone you know, being used as a plaything. Now. Luckily,
obviously what they did was wrong. Bad boys, But you

(45:40):
know they sound it sounds like they were kids. Luckily,
it was just like they just probably got banged up
a bit and not killed. That was a bit of relief.
But interesting that all four because you know, one kid
on his bike holding the skull and he falls, that's understandable.
But the fact that like all four kids somehow ended
up getting injured that day, then it's like, okay, four

(46:04):
for all of them involved, and in the same day.
It wasn't like, you know, a month later this and that.
Like when we did the story of the Curse of
King tut in Common and all the deaths that are
supposed to be associated with that, there's like a certain
amount of deaths that happen within days of the discovery

(46:24):
where it's like, holy shit, that is, but when people
start dying, you know, twenty years after the fact, it
becomes more like, well, you know, maybe it's connected, but
you know.

Speaker 1 (46:36):
How could you Yeah, but how could you ever like
actually establish a connection at that point exactly.

Speaker 2 (46:44):
And one of my favorite details from that story, if
it's true by from the sources. Many sources claim that
the second they cracked the seal of the tomb, the
lights in Cairo went out. So it just gives you
like a man So things like that. There was a
number of dusts that happened immediately after, where it is like,

(47:04):
now that's weird, that is free, that is like really weird,
and how it would they would die? Stuff like that
was very, very weird. But luckily it sounds like no
one died. But the boys probably learned a valuable lesson
about well, not walking around with human skulls. Now, folks,
let's talk about the Red Barn Murderer. The story of

(47:33):
the Red Barn Murderer, whose real name was William Corter,
is one steeped in notoriety and grizzly fascination. Quarter committed
a heinous act in the nineteenth century when he murdered
his lover Maria Martin, who was pregnant at the time
and pressing him for marriage. He buried her body in

(47:55):
a red barn, which would give the crime its infamous name.
I mean talk about an episode of Maury. I mean, like, good, God, Like,
it's one thing to be like be a dickhead enough
to like not want to stick around and support the child.
But Jesus Christ.

Speaker 1 (48:15):
These people take things to the extreme.

Speaker 2 (48:17):
Jesus God, Like that is like, like we said, it's
just like God, damn, like, what the hell like you're
already an asshole by not if you have to be
an asshole, just leave, like just just you know, leave
like like don't don't.

Speaker 1 (48:34):
I guess there's no other choice.

Speaker 2 (48:35):
I got a killer, You're right, it's like, I mean,
if you've got to be a dickhead and not help
her raise this child, at least just leave and not
like what so stupid, so stupid. Following the discovery of
Maria Martin's remains and a subsequent investigation, Quarter was apprehended, tried,

(48:57):
and executed for his crimes in eighteen twenty eight. His
execution drew a significant public audience, and his body subsequently
became a subject of macab interest. In line with the
morbid practices of the era, his skeleton was preserved and
used as an anatomical teaching aid. Furthermore, relics associated with

(49:20):
his crime, including a book about the murder reportedly bound
in his skin, were kept as grim reminders of his deeds. Soikes,
I mean he, I mean, so he got his just
deserts in them. Some not only did he get hung
or hanged I think is the right word. It's I

(49:40):
think hanged. But then if they really did bind a
book with his own flesh, Jesus Christ, talk about evil dead.

Speaker 1 (49:47):
For God's sake, I'm judging that book by its cover.
That's yes, putting it down.

Speaker 2 (49:52):
That's a book you can literally judge by its cover.
I'll tell you that right now. The fascination with relics
of notori individuals from history often leads to bizarre and
sometimes ethically questionable actions, as you might imagine, as illustrated
by the story of the Red Barn murderer William Carter.

(50:14):
After Quarter's execution, his remains became a grim attraction, preserved
for both medical study and public curiosity. So his skeleton
was displayed and his skin was even used to bind
a book about his crime, reflecting the morbid fascination of
the era. So that, I mean, once again talk about
a different era, which really, honestly, when you think about

(50:38):
the span of things, eighteen twenty eight is really not
that not too long ago, you know. And like the
fact that it's one thing to use his body for
scientific research, but then also to display him like a
freak show. I mean, granted, the guy was a great
a douche and I guess deserved it, but it just

(50:59):
shows you too how medicine and science was handled in
those days. Adding to this dark narrative, a local doctor,
driven by an obsession with collecting criminal relics, coveted Quarter's skull.
Unable to legally acquire it, he resorted to underhanded means.
The doctor managed to steal the skull, swapping it with

(51:22):
another from his collection to avoid detection. He then polished
the stolen skull and concealed it in a box, adding
it to his private collection of macabre artifacts. Wow, okay,
so this guy was a little bit of a freak,
you know what I'm meaning. He was kind of He
reminds me probably like that damn doctor we talked about

(51:43):
in Pavlia. You know, maybe not quite as bad. It
sounds like most of his subjects were already dead, but
you know, sounds like this guy.

Speaker 1 (51:50):
Uh yeah, he had more than a morbid curiosity.

Speaker 2 (51:54):
I mean the fact that you just want to collect him.
I mean, yeah, a little bit, a little bit nasty there.
The acquisition of William Carter's skull by the doctor was
intended as a prized addition to his collection of criminal relics,
but it soon led to a series of eerie disturbances
in his home. The unsettling events began with unexplained cries

(52:18):
and noises, suggesting the presence of someone unseen moving around
the house. These mysterious occurrences escalated one night. When the
doctor was investigating the sound, he encountered a chilling sight.
A disembodied hand appeared to open the door to the

(52:41):
room where the skull was kept. Moments after seeing this
spectral hand, a terrible crash came through the room. The
doctor attempted to investigate further, but as he approached, he
was repelled by a powerful rush of cold air that
forced him back, adding a physical barrier to the already

(53:03):
frightening visual and auditory phenomenon. So it's not just like
like is usually associated with paranormal activity, like a dropping
of the temperature. This literally it was almost like a
blast of wind pushing him back. So this thing clearly
had some sort of power. And you got to think
if this doctor was a bit of a sick go,

(53:25):
I mean, that's a lot of negative energy for these
things to feed on. So I mean, that's, you know,
that's another thing to think about. Gathering his courage, though,
he eventually entered the room, only to find the glass
case and the box that had contained the skull shattered completely.
Amidst the wreckage, the skull of Quarter was found, not

(53:47):
hidden away as before, but sitting prominently on display. This
thing wanted an audience. Man. This sequence of events, culminating
in the dramatic display of the skull, suggests a haunting
tied to the relic. The disturbances could be interpreted as
manifestations of Quarter's restless spirit, possibly discontent with being displayed

(54:11):
as a mere object of curiosity, or with the manner
in which his remains were acquired and treated. The eerie
events surrounding the skull of the Red Barn Murderer escalated
to a point where even the doctor, who initially sought
it out for his collection, became deeply concerned. Yeah no shit.
The disturbing occurrences at his home led him to reconsider

(54:35):
the wisdom of keeping such a macabre item. You don't say,
you don't say Jesus. Faced with the impossibility of returning
the skull to its original skeleton, as the skull had
been polished and thus altered in appearance, the doctor was
stuck with a relic that he no longer wanted. In

(54:57):
a bid to rid himself of the cursed object, he
passed it on to a friend. Unfortunately, the misfortune associated
with the skull only continued. Almost immediately. His friend suffered
a severe accident, breaking his leg while transporting the skull,
further cementing its reputation for bringing bad luck. Driven by

(55:20):
desperation and fear, and with no one willing to keep
the skull, the decision was finally made to just bury
the dang thing. This act, the doctor at least hoped,
would put an end to these string of misfortunes and
disturbances that it caused. The troubled journey of the Red
Barn Murderer's skull reached its conclusion one night when it

(55:42):
was discreetly taken to a nearby churchyard. In a deep hole,
away from prying eyes and beneath the cloak of darkness,
the skull was finally laid to rest. With the burial
of this ominous relic, the series of hauntings and strange
disturbances that had plagued its possessors came to an immediate halt.

(56:03):
The cessation of these supernatural occurrences following the skulls internment
suggests a peace had been restored both the disturbed spirit
associated with the skull and for those who had suffered
from its unsettling presence. Yeah, imagine that, Like it's almost
like a monkey's paw thing it first. Like I can't

(56:23):
remember I remember reading that story in school, but you know, obviously,
I think many people know the story. It's really an allegory.
It's like you make a wish and you get your wish,
but it's in a way you don't want. It's like, yeah,
there's always a catch, right, Like I think in the
original story there it was a grieving There were grieving
parents and they wished their son back, and they decided

(56:46):
to not open the door because they realized it would
probably be like their son's animated corpse rather than you know,
their son as they knew him. It would essentially be
like a mindless zombie essentially. So yeah, it's it's kind
of like that. It's like, you know, obviously the Red
Barn murderer guy was a douche, but it's also kind

(57:08):
of douchey to like, you know, I understand if you
like weird artifacts, like you know, haunted objects or something
that's you know, or even like like we said, or
if there was like if someone's will like in Chicago.
As an example, Dell Close considered one of the fathers
of improvisational comedy. There's always been this legend that when

(57:30):
he died, he donated his skull to the Chicago Shakespeare
Company to be used during productions of Hamlet. Now, from
what I've heard, I've heard a million stories. I've heard
it's not true. But what I've heard most is that, yes,
he did donate it, but they've never actually they've kept it,
but they've never actually used it in a production.

Speaker 1 (57:51):
I understand completely. That would be really strange.

Speaker 2 (57:54):
Yeah, he was a he was a wacky guy. I
loved drugs and loved South Park apparently. But you can
actually see him in the movie. He's been a few
that he's briefly in the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
I think not the Bueller Bueller, but the other teacher
who's like riding on the chalkboard. That's Dell Close. But

(58:16):
let's talk about the history of this, the history of
screaming skulls, where these legends might originate from. Because the
fascination with skulls and their association with the supernatural can
be traced back to ancient traditions and beliefs about the
head being the seat of the soul. This idea was
particularly prominent among the Celts, known for their practices of

(58:40):
head hunting and revering the heads of their enemies. Once again,
like we said, the ancient Celts, they passed on their
traditions orally, whereas like we said, the Romans wrote everything down.
So keep in mind a lot of what we know about,
you know, the ancient Gulls and the barbarian tribe the

(59:00):
Celts is from a secondhand point of view of people
who probably didn't look too kindly on them, So keep
that in mind. But yeah, so apparently the ancient Celts
would collect the heads of their victims, and not necessarily
in a way of like this motherfucker, but sometimes in
a way of like reverence, almost in a way. In

(59:22):
Celtic culture, the head was considered the home of the soul.
This belief made the head, particularly the skull, a powerful
symbol of spirituality and psychic power. The Celts would often
decapitate the heads of their enemies to capture their spiritual essence,
which they saw not merely as a trophy, but as

(59:43):
a revered token of the enemy's spirit and strength. It's
almost like they're absorbing their strength, but in a weird
way too kind of you know what we would find monstrous,
but in a way almost honoring a respected foe. And
it's natural the row who did not do this, it's
you know, you can under you know, the Romans saw

(01:00:03):
this and probably thought what the hell is that? You
know what I mean. So once again, like we said,
everything we know about the Celts, it's hard to obviously
there's things we do know for a fact, but we
also always remember that, like you said last episode, gauge
histories written by the victors, and so a lot of
these accounts, especially if they were a culture that did

(01:00:25):
not write things down, we kind of get their information
secondhand from sources that might not be kind to them.
So something to always remember now. Roman observations. The practice
of head hunting by the Celts was well documented by
Roman historians, who noted how these heads would be proudly

(01:00:45):
displayed in the huts of Celtic chieftains. To the Romans,
obviously this practice was very disturbing, but to the Celts
it was a sign of respect and honor to a
worthy opponent. The heads displayed were often believed to possess
supernatural properties, serving as protective charms or sources of spiritual guidance.

(01:01:07):
Now there's numerous legends about Celtic heads that were said
to have supernatural abilities, including the power to even speak
and even give prophecy. These heads were not only symbols
of power and protection, but also served as oracular devices
through which the Celts could communicate with the spirit realm

(01:01:28):
and gain insights into the future, almost like scrying, except
with you know, you're not using a reflection like we
covered in Haunted Mirrors, but almost like a way of
connecting with the other side. The belief that skulls are
connected to the soul and can continue to possess spiritual
powers even after death has permeated various cultures and epochs,

(01:01:50):
contributing to the enduring mystique of skulls in ghost stories
and paranormal lore. And this enduring fascination with haunted skulls
in Britain in particular, such as the one at Batiskull
Manner that we covered in the last episode, may indeed
draw from ancient Celtic beliefs that the soul resides within

(01:02:10):
the head, and this cultural perspective emphasizing the head as
the seed of wisdom and the spirit could underpin the
numerous legends of haunted skulls throughout the region. For example,
to just kind of give like an analogy, at Halloween,
we like to carve pumpkins, make jackal lanterns, you know,
we do all manner of faces and whatnot. Well, ancient

(01:02:31):
Celts would carve gourds near Sowin because the belief was
that the veil between us and the other side was thin,
so you could also you could also communicate with past
loved ones. But if there were any angry spirits, these
faces that were carved into gourds and pumpkins and whatnot

(01:02:52):
were meant to confuse them, confuse these vengeful or angry spirits.
So it's kind of like that we still have this
thing that has now become something totally different today. Most
people probably don't know them. They just know, you know,
you carve a pumpkin, you know, you don't think about
the ancient origins of why we do it and what was.

(01:03:13):
A practice might continue through the ages, but the meaning
of that practice might change. So the Celts, with their
practices and spiritual beliefs deeply rooted in the significance of
the body's head. It revered it not only as a
container of the soul, but also as a potent symbol
of power and identity. They would preserve the heads of

(01:03:34):
the deceased, particularly of honored and feared enemies, attributing mystical
properties to them. Even after the Celts were pushed into
regions like Wales in Ireland, their cultural imprints persisted throughout Britain,
influencing folklore and local customs. The belief in the supernatural
power of heads and skulls could be seen as vestiges

(01:03:56):
of these ancient traditions. Haunted skulls for you particular, you know,
because of this Celtic history and whatnot, that's where you
get the majority of stories of screaming skulls or haunted skulls. Now,
obviously there are stories of haunted skulls from all over
the world, but there seems to be kind of an

(01:04:17):
epicenter of it in the British Isles, between Ireland, you know,
and the British Isles and whatnot. It's, yeah, there's like
a concentrate. It's concentrated there, Like the skull at betiscom manner.
It's said to be potentially prehistoric, maybe even linked to
early Celtic inhabitants of Britain. This connection might suggest that

(01:04:38):
some of the mystical reverence for the heads is transcended
through the centuries and embedding itself in stories and myths
surrounding such artifacts and the narrative of the Betescom skull,
where it's supposed need to remain within the manner to
maintain peace. This mirrors the Celtic practice of keeping and
venerating skulls for spiritual protect and guidance. That's something to

(01:05:02):
think about. Maybe when the skull leaves, it's not because
it's and starts happening. Maybe it's not always necessarily because
the skull's angry. Maybe it's because it's not there to
protect you from whatever is angry.

Speaker 1 (01:05:15):
Or something interesting idea there.

Speaker 2 (01:05:17):
Yes, absolutely, and as you can imagine, folks with haunted
skulls naturally comes legends of headless ghosts, which is there's
a number of them in British folklore, often intertwined with
historical events, particularly executions or violent accidents that resulted in beheading.

(01:05:41):
These spectral figures, sometimes seen alone on horseback or driving
ghostly carriages capture the imagination and evoke the darker sides
of historical storytelling, you know. Like we said in the
last episode talking about Washington, Irving's the legend of Sleepy
Hollow obviously a work of but it's based in a

(01:06:03):
real history of In his story, the headless Horsemen is
the ghost of a Hessian soldier. And I think we
explained last time that the Hessians, essentially, I believe, were
German mercenaries that worked for the British side, just like
how the French helped us during the Revolution. So it
makes sense why this fearsome ghost to Americans, it would

(01:06:25):
be someone who was once an enemy, like a Hessian soldier.
So like that, that's where you know, a lot of
these interesting stories come from, some based in you know,
some fiction, some based in supposed fact. Headless horsemen and
coachmen are frequently depicted as riding horses or driving carriages,
which are sometimes also headless, like the horses themselves are headless,

(01:06:50):
and this motif extends to stories where the ghost carries
its own head, even dramatically underscoring the violent circumstances of
their death. Yeah, that's the other Sometimes they're carrying it
around like like they're in beetlejuice.

Speaker 1 (01:07:04):
Or something, right, like a fancy accessory, like a gruesome
accessory like hocus Pocus.

Speaker 2 (01:07:11):
The zombie guy, Billy or whatever his name was, his
head he's got to like pick it up and he's like,
you know, he's got to tell his body over here,
you know, when it's stumbling around, you know, kind of
like that. You know, it's it's in that in that
vein highly inconvenient, highly inconvenient. And there's historical figures, notably,

(01:07:31):
as we all know, Anne Boleyn one of the most
famous figures associated with headless ghost lore. It's said that
she can appear without her head or accompanied by a
headless coachman, and the lore suggests that on the anniversary
of her execution, she is seen at Blickling Hall, carried

(01:07:52):
in by a phantom coach driven by a headless coachman,
with her severed head resting on her knees. Anniversary sightings
are very common. This is maybe some kind of a
residual thing. It's however, this cycle of energy persists doesn't
necessarily mean it's actually Anne Boleyn conscious there, but maybe

(01:08:14):
her energy or something that is playing on repeat, because
these apparitions are often reported on significant dates, such as
the anniversary of the ghost's death or their execution, linking
the supernatural events to historical timelines. For instance, at Blickling Hall,
sightings of headless apparitions are tied to the dates of

(01:08:36):
Anne Boleyn and her brother's deaths now execution by beheading.
Many of the legends of screaming skulls originate from the
historical practice of beheading, either as a form of execution
or as a result of accidents. The trauma and drama.
That's a nice rhyme that sounds like a good album title.

(01:08:58):
Trauma and drama are drama, trauma, drama trauma, Yeah, something
like that, drama trauma. But the trauma and drama surrounding
such deaths seem to leave a psychic imprint or folk
memory that fuels these ghost stories. I like that term
of folk memory. It's like a collective memory that you

(01:09:20):
take is truth, even if it might not necessarily be.
It's because it's a part of your heritage and a
part of the essence of the location, you know. I
like that term folk memory. But they're often screaming skulls
and headless ghosts are often also reflections of guilts and injustice.
Often these stories reflect a societal memory of injustice or

(01:09:44):
a dramatic end that left the spirit restless, such as
the case of Anne Boleyn her controversial execution by Henry
the Eighth, her husband. The Tower of London is a
prime example of such historical drama. I mean, damn talk
about trying to get out of a marriage for Christ's sake.
Obviously too, these kinds of legends vary region by region.

(01:10:07):
Like I said, it's not just the British Isles. There's
stories of headless specters and haunted skulls all over the world.
But across the country, variations of headless ghost stories adapt
to local history and notable figures, showing the adaptability and
regional specificity of ghost lore. For example, the headless coachman

(01:10:28):
driving towards Ross Hall in Beckel's on Christmas Eve. Though
its significance is less remembered, it underscores the enduring fascination
with these eerie tales. So, yeah, you might have a
skull that goes back five hundred years and say it
haunts a family or whatnot, and it gets passed along

(01:10:49):
through the ages. Well, if history records aren't kept, well,
that skull might then be associated with someone else. And
it doesn't mean it's not haunted, but it gets associated
with maybe the wrong figure, or maybe once time passes
and people associate it with another individual, maybe that individual's

(01:11:12):
spirit is then connected to that skull. It's like a
thing that it can reside in. It's like a little
like a place where it can be remembered and exalted.

Speaker 1 (01:11:21):
Yeah, not really getting the credit they are due, kind
of like studio musicians exactly. I mean, come on, that
was my haunting. Yeah, that was me. Come on, yeah,
give credit to the other guy.

Speaker 2 (01:11:34):
Sure, I'll see you in court. These stories serve not
only as thrilling ghost tales, of course, but also as
reminders of our past, where the brutal realities of historical
figures and their lives and deaths continue to echo through
the centuries. The prevalence of these stories across various locales
of Britain also highlights the deep cultural layers of storytelling

(01:11:58):
and the human fascination with the macabre and the mysterious.
I mean, let's be honest, even though it might be
ethically and morally wrong, you know, like back in the day,
they literally had freak shows. You know, they would display
you know sometimes and I hate to use that term
freak show. I should use a different term, but like but.

Speaker 1 (01:12:18):
Like that's probably what they would have called it, right.

Speaker 2 (01:12:20):
Right, Like sometimes it was people that had a deformity
and they would be display you know, like the what's
the famous movie the Elephant Man or something, you know,
or things like that, like the way we label yes,
and humans do have an innate fascination with things like that.

(01:12:41):
Like for maybe this is a weird example. These aren't
really for me, but it's like how there's entire shows
dedicated to popping pimples. I can't do it, but things
like that. Were fascinated sometimes by the grotesque. I mean
that's what horror movies are, right, or horror stories at
the very least, the morbid exactly. We're fascinated by the

(01:13:02):
grotesque and what we fear. Not all tales of headless ghosts, though,
are drenched in sorrow and doom. Some even seem to
carry an unexpected, even mischievous sense of humor about their
grim fate. Or perhaps it's simply the living who find
dark humor in these eerie spectacles. A perfect example of

(01:13:23):
this peculiar twist can be found at Saint John's College
in Oxford, where the ghost of Archbishop William Laud is
said to make his headless rounds loud. Once Chancellor of
the university and later Archbishop of Canterbury, met a grim
end when he was executed for treason at the Tower
of London in sixteen forty five during the turbulent years

(01:13:46):
of the English Civil War. His spirit, however, is far
from forgotten. Stories tell of him haunting the college library,
appearing headless and on at least one notable occasion, bowling
his severed head across the floor like a ghastly game
of bowl. I mean, now that's you know, at least

(01:14:08):
that's he's got good humor about it, you know what.

Speaker 1 (01:14:10):
I mean, Like, Yeah, wouldn't you have to?

Speaker 2 (01:14:13):
I mean, yeah, I mean, you kind of gotta.

Speaker 1 (01:14:15):
Maybe it's just maybe he's bored. Who knows, Maybe he's
actually just having fun and key he doesn't have access
to a bowling ball.

Speaker 2 (01:14:23):
Right, Maybe he's hazing the freshman. All the pledges, all
the fraternity pledges, he's hazing the freshman. Adding a curious
detail to the legend. Some witnesses claim that Lud's ghost
also appears to be missing his lower legs. I'm guessing
that means maybe from like the knee down. This strange phenomenon, however,

(01:14:44):
has a more earthly explanation. Over the centuries, the floor
level in the college has been raised, so Loud, still
true to the architecture of his own time, might walk
and roll his head along the original now lower floor level,
which is something we've talked about many times in past episodes.

(01:15:05):
You know, obviously they say remodeling a house can up
the activity, but some also believe that even if a
house gets completely redesigned, a specter living there might still
reside by the original blueprint. It might not even recognize
the new layout. That's why you might see it walk
through the wall or something. It's because at one time

(01:15:27):
there wasn't a wall. It's just going down a hallway or.

Speaker 1 (01:15:30):
Something, which might explain why people might see things outdoors
as well, because maybe there used to be a building
there and that now there's not a nice Maybe that
spirit haunts that field or whatever exactly.

Speaker 2 (01:15:44):
Absolutely, another particularly eerie tail of a headless haunting comes
from her Guest Court, where the restless spirit of Sir
Thomas Vaughn, better known as Black Vaughn, is said to linger.
Vaughn met his end during a skirmish in fourteen eighty
three where he was captured and executed, Yet his story

(01:16:05):
didn't end with the fall of the acts. According to
the legend, Vaughn's head fell from his shoulders his loyal
black hound, apparently refusing to abandon his master even in death,
and seized the severed head in its jaws and fled
the battlefield. Since that bloody day, sightings of a spectral

(01:16:27):
black hound carrying Vaughan's head had been reported both around
Hergest Court and along the lonely nearby roads, and over
the centuries, the story of Black Vaughn and his faithful
hound have become woven into the fabric of local folklore.
A haunting reminder of loyalty beyond death, man's best friend,
you might say, and a spectral sight that continues to

(01:16:50):
terrify those who cross its path on dark, wind swept nights.
And even though I think this is different what we're
talking about here, we've done an episode in the past,
another common paranormal phenomenon recorded in the UK are hell
hounds literally kind of what they sound like, these wolf
like dog, big black dogs with like fiery eyes that

(01:17:12):
sometimes even have fire coming out of their mouths. Essentially,
sometimes they're there to drag someone to hell, you know
that sort of thing. So legends of like phantom hounds
and phantom dogs are actually also quite common in the
UK as well. Perhaps then it is for the best
that these haunted skulls remain quietly ensconced in the houses

(01:17:33):
they've claimed as their own, tucked safely away behind ancient
walls or perched high among the rafters. Their presence, strange
as it may seem, brings a peculiar kind of balance
to the old places guardians as much as relics, their
stories woven into the very bones of the building. The

(01:17:54):
lesson here is simple. If you ever find yourself moving
into a historic home and stone umble upon a lone
skull resting in a cupboard, or hidden in a crawl space,
or nestled among the beams, it's probably best to leave
it be treated as you would any vital part of
the house, no different than a door that groans in

(01:18:15):
the night, or windows that rattle when there's no wind.
It's not just a remnant of the past. It's part
of the house's soul now and some things once disturbed
are very reluctant to forgive now, Gauge, we're kind of
at the end now obviously. Like it's hard to say, like,
for example, you don't mess with grapes.

Speaker 1 (01:18:38):
Right, nothing good comes from it, right.

Speaker 2 (01:18:40):
And I think it comes from movies and stuff like that.
There's the cliche of a Native American burial ground, when
really it's like I would think any burial ground, like
if you with any why you know what I mean,
Like I'd be pissed if you messed with my grave.
I think it's a silly thing that we.

Speaker 1 (01:18:59):
Super stition really based around a culture more than just
death self.

Speaker 2 (01:19:04):
For it right itself, right, you know, it's almost a
stereotype in a way, when really it's like you wouldn't
want to fuck with anyone's grave like that, that just
with any burial ground. That just seems like common sense
to be. But I think maybe just from popular films
and stuff like that, it's just kind of become a
thing of pop culture. But yeah, it's like I've always said,

(01:19:27):
like who besses with any grave? But what do you
do when you've if it hasn't yet been buried, if
you find a skull you know that's not been buried,
or like we said too we talked about last week,
where is that line? Because obviously we do escavate when
we find ancient burial grounds. Sometimes we escavate them and

(01:19:47):
study them and stuff. And maybe one there's the distance
of time. But two maybe if it's done out of
an honest sense of research, like like we said, like
say it's an ancient to skull. The little we know
about the Celts comes from sources that may or may
not be fully true. Maybe in a way that would

(01:20:10):
be respectful to examine a grave or a skull of
an ancient burial because it might allow you to reveal
their real truth and they would want that. Like we said,
I feel like there's a stipulation, like a thousand years
you know what I mean, there's like a there's like
a stipulation where it's like, you know, obviously you're not

(01:20:32):
going to dig up someone who just died like a
week ago. I would say, even going back a couple
hundred years one, I would dig up anything.

Speaker 1 (01:20:41):
But I just mean, but like probably I think a
good rule would be as long as there's no living
family members who have any feelings about it or you know,
because yeah, obviously there's some people who would probably visit
graves of their great great grandparents, you know, knowing that
that's such a part of their heritage and whatnot. But

(01:21:03):
the further out you get, you know, the less there's
anybody living who's going to have a problem with it either.

Speaker 2 (01:21:09):
Right, And it also depends on the culture. Like you know,
certain parts of the world, even if the graves are ancient,
seen it as a sign of immense disrespect, you know,
so so views on it changed too from region to
region and and whatnot. So that's you know, another thing
to factor in. But good golly, that is going to

(01:21:30):
wrap us up with Screaming Skulls Volume two. And like
I said, I was so surprised by this because I
had always heard of the screaming skull of better skull manner,
and I thought that was just like a one off,
Oh it's a haunting that involves a skull. I didn't
realize that haunted skulls were like their own genre of

(01:21:52):
the paranormal. So I'm so glad I found this source
and like I said, it's one of those where it
includes interesting history, lesson along the way and mant Roger
downs guy, Am I.

Speaker 1 (01:22:05):
Right, Jesus, biggest asshole of the whole thing. Really.

Speaker 2 (01:22:09):
I mean the two stories that stick out the most
are the the awful thing that happened to the young
Anne Griffith that was you know, that's just so sad
and like she wanted to stay in the that just
like oh, it like breaks your heart. And then part
two you get this like great, a douchebag who's just
like yeah, you know, like I just yeah, oh my god.

Speaker 1 (01:22:30):
What a store too, just murders on a Friday night
for fun.

Speaker 2 (01:22:34):
Yeah. Well, I'll tell you what, Gauge, I got a
list of names of people I wouldn't murder on London Bridge.

Speaker 1 (01:22:41):
Oh yeah, who's that?

Speaker 2 (01:22:42):
The names of our top tier Patreon subscribers, of course,
The Dream James Watkins, the Finished Face Via Lungpus, The
Madman Marcus Hall, the Tenacius, Teresa Hackworth, the Heartbreak Kid,
Chris Hackworth, Theoso Swap, Sean Richardson, the Notorious Nicholas Barker,
the Terrifying Taylor lash Met, the Count of Cool Cameron
corlis at the arch Duke of Attitude, Adam Archer, this
sinister Sam Kaiker, the Nightmare of New Zealand, Noah Leine Viavili,

(01:23:02):
the loathsome Johnny Love, the carnivorous Kevin Bogie, the Killer
Stud Karl Stab the fire Starter, Heather Carter, the conquer
Christopher Damian Demeris, the awfully awesome Annie, the murderous Maggie Leech,
the ser of Sexy Sam Hackworth, the evil Elizabeth Riley,
Laura and hell Fire, Hernandez Lopez, the maniacal Laura Maynard,
the vicious Karen van veer In, the Archie Nemssis Aaron Bird,
the sadistic Sergio Castillo, the Rapscallion, Ryan Crumb, the Beast

(01:23:25):
Benjamin Whang, the devilish Chris Duceett, the Psycho Sam, the
Electric Emily Jong, the ghoulish Girt Hankum, the renegade Corey Ramos,
the crazed Carlos, the antagonist, Andrew Park, the monstrous Mikaela Sure,
the witchy wonder J. P. Weimer, the Freiki Ben Forsyth,
the barbaric Andrew Berry, the mysterious Marcella, the hillatious Kale
Hoffman and Pug Blorb the Poulter guys. Yes, yes, yes, folks.

(01:23:48):
If you want to be just like that prestigious list
of people, head on over to patreon dot com slash
Creep Street Podcast. Like I said, there's also a free tier,
so if you want to hear sketches, earl even some
Patreon exclusives, go on over there and check it out. Now,
it'll be too late by the time you hear this episode,

(01:24:08):
but tonight, as we're recording later this evening, Gauge some
of his music is going to be played on what's
it Western Radio? Is that what it's called?

Speaker 1 (01:24:18):
Radiowestern dot CA.

Speaker 2 (01:24:20):
Yes, he his music is going to be featured this
evening on a Canadian radio station, radiowestern dot C. If
you're looking for it now, Like I said, this will
you know by the time this episode comes out, that'll
have long passed. But they might have a I don't
know if they keep recordings of it or whatnot. But
you can check out Vaporverse, which is Gage's stage name,

(01:24:43):
his his uh pseudonym, Yeah, the artist formerly known as Vaporverse.
Check out Vaporverse on YouTube and you can listen to
him on Spotify, Apple Music. Like I said, he just
put out a new one today. It's like it's neo
noir themed. It's really cool. Like I said, one of
the things I love to do is I'll turn on

(01:25:04):
the Xbox, boot up a game, and I'll turn the
music in the game off, and but then have the
Spotify app going and I'll listen to Gauge's music while
I play. It's a great just kind of chill, really
cool experimental stuff. And so check out vapor Verse. And hey,
if you're a podcaster out there or you know, or

(01:25:24):
or whatnot and you're looking for an editor, let me
tell you right now, we got the best in the
biz right here, Gage Shirley. I'm sure he'd be open
to commissions if you reach out to him. You can
even if you email us at Creepstreet Podcast at gmail
dot com. I'll make sure he gets the news. So,
because if you're looking for a world class editor, I mean,
this guy has made music for mobile games, for music

(01:25:46):
for short films and all that stuff. One that I
was even in and yeah, world class.

Speaker 1 (01:25:51):
So yeah, mister no face, check that out too. I'm
sure you can find that online. Yes, I even posted
it in our Patreon. I'll have to post it to
the public things so that everyone could see it, because
I mean, yeah, it was like I remember when we
were those guys, those cool, the awesome guys asked me
to do it, and you know, they were thinking about
music and stuff, and they had this like, oh, we

(01:26:12):
kind of want to give it like a John Carpenter
kind of vibe.

Speaker 2 (01:26:16):
I was like, you know, I know the guy. I
know the guy, and I you know, we send him
over some samples and Gauge's music in that fucking movie Rock.
It's my favorite part of the movie. I mean, the
movie's I enjoy the whole short film, but the music
is just damn good. So yes, check out Vapor Versus.

Speaker 1 (01:26:34):
Everybody, thanks so much, man, appreciate all that.

Speaker 2 (01:26:38):
Yeah, of course we thank all of our listeners. We
love you guys. We're just gonna keep getting bigger and
better here on Creep Street, Citizens of the Milky Way.
My name is Dylan Hackworth.

Speaker 1 (01:26:48):
And I'm Gage Hurley.

Speaker 2 (01:26:49):
Good Night and goodbye. As toast toasts

Speaker 1 (01:27:14):
Used to bast to East tas

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Ep240 - Screaming Skulls: Vol. 2

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Ep240 - Screaming Skulls: Vol. 2