Molly Leigh
Molly was born in 1685 and lived in a cottage on the edge of the moors at Burslem near Stoke-on-Trent. Molly was a solitary character who never married; she talked to the animals and kept a pet Blackbird. She made her living selling milk from a herd of cows to travellers and passers-by. An eccentric person, the Blackbird was often seen perched on her shoulder as she delivered milk to the dairy in Burslem.

Molly was known for her quick temper and the people of Burslem were suspicious and frightened of her. This was not uncommon in those times, for throughout the country ‘women’ and particularly elderly women who lived on their own in remote places, were labelled as witches.

In Molly’s case it was the local vicar the Rev. Spencer who made witchcraft accusations against her. He claimed that Molly sent her Blackbird to sit on the sign of the Turk’s Head pub, a pub that the vicar frequently visited, and when it did the beer turned sour. She was also blamed for other ailments suffered by numerous townsfolk.

Molly died in 1746 and was buried in the Burslem churchyard, but then many claimed that her ghost haunted the town. A short time after her burial, the Rev. Spencer along with clerics from Stoke, Wolstanton and Newcastle went to open her cottage and retrieve her pet Blackbird. When they arrived they were shocked to see Molly (or an apparition of her), sitting in a favourite armchair knitting with her pet Blackbird perched on her shoulders (just as she had often been seen in real life). Frightened, the vicar and others returned to the graveyard and reopened her grave. They drove a stake through her heart and threw the living Blackbird into the coffin. The vicar then decreed that as she was a witch, she would not rest easy until her body was buried lying North to South. To this day, Molly's tomb is the only one that lies at right angles to all the other graves in the churchyard.

Great story. Do you have a link to any other info on this?

If anyone deserved to be haunted it was the Vicar!

Talkin' about brutal. Overkill just to keep the woman in her grave. That's sad ghost story.

Sad about opening her grave and also about the bird.

How would someone rest in peace after being accused when they are live?

Ghost usually exist as they have unfinished business in the real world. Oh come on, the bird was her pet.

How can they do that???

Because scared superstitious people are dangerous.

Yeah they are and i think especially in the feudal age is much worse and the churches hold most authority.

May God bless her soul and the bird's soul too.

Yes, the poor woman. A very cruel time.

This story is 100% true, well apart from the apparition in the chair part. I live in a few miles away from burslem in stoke and i know this story well. There were also historical accounts backing this story up and yes her grave is north to south, i have seen it. There were also accounts of her being seen walking the streets of burslem after her death but those were probably over active imaginations or cases of mistaken identity. Some of the locals believe that if you walk around her grave 3 times saying molly leigh, molly leigh follow me that she will rise from the grave lol. If i had a quid for every one of those rituals id heard id be very rich (especially as the pound is at it strongest ever).

Seriously though, its a true account of a poor old lady and a bunch of fear mongers having no other explaination of events that to blame a witch. I think the rest was made up, especially the sitting in her chair thing.

Well, if the vicar was so scared of her before she died, he could very well have 'seen' her when he went into her cottage. Hysteria can do funny things to people, and they can see things that aren't really there. Maybe his own fear caused it.

I guess I'll take the other side of the coin, just for kicks. There's really no evidence that this Vicar was a bad sort. Witchcraft was a common explanation of many unexplained things in those times. They didn't burn her at the stake or hang her, etc. She did what she wanted and lived the way she chose and the worst that happened was the disruption of her grave. I will not say that is good, but she was beyond them hurting her at that point.

would it be wrong to want to put the grave the same as the rest instead of all sideways now?

Quote__ When they arrived they were shocked to see Molly (or an apparition of her), sitting in a favourite armchair knitting with her pet Blackbird perched on her shoulders (just as she had often been seen in real life). Frightened, the vicar and others returned to the graveyard and reopened her grave. They drove a stake through her heart and threw the living Blackbird into the coffin. __Quote. Well if It was true how did they get the bird? Grab it of the ghosts shoulder? (just wondering) Anyway I agree with her just being a lonely old lady. Hope her and her bird are somewhere happy.

I found the rest of the story. Looks like it came from Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molly_Lee_-_Leigh Some people believe that Molly used to be a milk-maid, and that she had watered down the milk, and some of the kids got sick. They said that they were not getting the vitamins, but other people thought that Molly had cursed the milk and so, called her a witch. Supposedly Molly has 3 graves: one a tomb, one lying in the opposite direction to the others, and the other grave is supposed to be a pig-trough. There is a grave there that resembles a pig-trough, so is there any truth in this?

This link has a pic of her grave http://www.bbc.co.uk/stoke/content/article...e_feature.shtml This one a pic of her cottage (I think) http://www.mysterymag.com/earthmysteries/i...0&artID=580

this was all I needed to see.....b


http://www.bbc.co.uk/stoke/content/article...e_feature.shtml

Barek, is that her grave? I wonder why it's cracked in half. There is a cemetery right by my inlaws' house and there is a grave with a metal cross at it bent at an angle. Supposedly, if you straighten the cross the ghost of the lady burried there gets angry and chases you and the next day it is always bent down again. This story reminds me of it for some reasons. I should take a picture of this grave, (without p.o.'ing the lady burried there!)

Yes, please take a picture Spiridion, I would love to see it!

This is a really good story. Thanks for posting it and thanks to everyone for all of the links. Great read.

Sybil Leek (1923-1983) claims Molly Leigh to be her ancestor.

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