1 00:00:10,280 --> 00:00:14,400 Speaker 1: Welcome to Unexplained Extra with me Richard McClain Smith, where 2 00:00:14,440 --> 00:00:16,640 Speaker 1: for the weeks in between episodes, we look at stories 3 00:00:16,640 --> 00:00:19,160 Speaker 1: and ideas that, for one reason or other, didn't make 4 00:00:19,200 --> 00:00:22,840 Speaker 1: it into the previous show. In last week's episode, A 5 00:00:22,960 --> 00:00:26,080 Speaker 1: Place of Forgetting, we spent a few nights at Leppe 6 00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:30,600 Speaker 1: Castle in County Offy in Ireland, considered by some to 7 00:00:30,640 --> 00:00:35,080 Speaker 1: be the country's most haunted property. The episode was largely 8 00:00:35,120 --> 00:00:39,120 Speaker 1: adapted from a story written by Mildred Derby, published in 9 00:00:39,200 --> 00:00:43,879 Speaker 1: Belgravia magazine in eighteen ninety eight, titled A House of Horrors. 10 00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:48,800 Speaker 1: Some time after the story was published, Derby, who lived 11 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:52,120 Speaker 1: at Leppe Castle with her husband Jonathan and their four 12 00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:55,760 Speaker 1: children for close to thirty years, claimed that it was 13 00:00:55,800 --> 00:00:58,800 Speaker 1: in fact based on many true events that she and 14 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:03,120 Speaker 1: her friends had experience inst during her time there. It 15 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:07,120 Speaker 1: is said that roughly nineteen ghosts reside at Leppe Castle, 16 00:01:07,800 --> 00:01:10,800 Speaker 1: all of which are supposedly linked in some way to 17 00:01:10,880 --> 00:01:14,759 Speaker 1: the O'Carroll clan, for whom Lepp was once the family seat. 18 00:01:15,720 --> 00:01:18,680 Speaker 1: The clan are often referred to as a bloodthirsty bunch 19 00:01:18,959 --> 00:01:22,319 Speaker 1: who would stop at nothing, not even murdering members of 20 00:01:22,360 --> 00:01:26,720 Speaker 1: their own family to assert their authority. In one story, 21 00:01:27,040 --> 00:01:30,080 Speaker 1: the clan's leader, at some time in the sixteenth or 22 00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:34,319 Speaker 1: seventeenth century, is said to have invited thirty nine compatriots 23 00:01:34,360 --> 00:01:37,240 Speaker 1: from the O'Neill clan to join him for a feast 24 00:01:37,280 --> 00:01:41,319 Speaker 1: at Leppe Castle. The feast was supposedly an offering of 25 00:01:41,400 --> 00:01:45,360 Speaker 1: thanks to the O'Neills after they apparently helped the o'carrolls 26 00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:50,080 Speaker 1: in a fight against invading English forces. However, that night, 27 00:01:50,520 --> 00:01:53,480 Speaker 1: the o'carrolls are said to have slaughtered the O'Neills and 28 00:01:53,560 --> 00:01:57,120 Speaker 1: their men in cold blood to avoid having to pay 29 00:01:57,160 --> 00:02:02,080 Speaker 1: them for their services. With stories, you might be forgiven 30 00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:05,480 Speaker 1: for thinking that the invading British forces who sacked and 31 00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:09,079 Speaker 1: confiscated the castle from the bloodthirsty o'carroll's in the mid 32 00:02:09,160 --> 00:02:13,280 Speaker 1: seventeenth century were actually doing the people of Ireland of favor. 33 00:02:14,600 --> 00:02:18,000 Speaker 1: The amateur historian in me, however, can't help but think 34 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:20,800 Speaker 1: some of this smacks a little of the old adage 35 00:02:21,200 --> 00:02:25,640 Speaker 1: that history is written by the victors. Although these dubious 36 00:02:25,639 --> 00:02:29,760 Speaker 1: O'Carroll stories may well be completely true, it's interesting that, 37 00:02:29,840 --> 00:02:33,120 Speaker 1: at roughly the same time as the o'carrolls are said 38 00:02:33,120 --> 00:02:35,959 Speaker 1: to have massacred thirty nine of the O'Neills and their men. 39 00:02:36,560 --> 00:02:48,200 Speaker 1: Another O'Neill massacre took place in fifteen seventy four. The 40 00:02:48,280 --> 00:02:51,480 Speaker 1: first Earl of Essex, Balter Devereaux, who was in the 41 00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:54,000 Speaker 1: north of Ireland at the time on a mission to 42 00:02:54,080 --> 00:02:58,399 Speaker 1: colonize it on the orders of English Queen Elizabeth I, 43 00:02:58,520 --> 00:03:02,040 Speaker 1: was invited to a feast by Sir Brian mcfillum O'Neill, 44 00:03:02,560 --> 00:03:06,040 Speaker 1: an Irish lord of Lower Clander Boy in the province 45 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:10,160 Speaker 1: of Ulster. O'Neill, who had been forced to strike up 46 00:03:10,160 --> 00:03:13,560 Speaker 1: an uneasy alliance with Queen Elizabeth in order to retain 47 00:03:13,639 --> 00:03:16,959 Speaker 1: some of his power in Ireland, was concerned by Walter 48 00:03:17,040 --> 00:03:20,640 Speaker 1: Devrow's recent arrival in the country and invited him to 49 00:03:20,639 --> 00:03:24,959 Speaker 1: dinner to discuss it. Apparently fearing that it was a trap, 50 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:29,359 Speaker 1: Devereaux attended the feast only to have his men slaughter 51 00:03:29,480 --> 00:03:33,000 Speaker 1: two hundred of the O'Neill's clan and their followers, including 52 00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:37,920 Speaker 1: a large number of children, halfway through it. Perhaps it 53 00:03:38,040 --> 00:03:41,400 Speaker 1: is just coincidence that two groups of O'Neill should be 54 00:03:41,440 --> 00:03:45,960 Speaker 1: so unfortunate, or perhaps with the English Derby family being 55 00:03:45,960 --> 00:03:49,520 Speaker 1: given ownership of the confiscated Lep Castle and its land. 56 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:53,160 Speaker 1: It isn't such a coincidence that only the atrocities of 57 00:03:53,200 --> 00:03:56,440 Speaker 1: the O'Carroll family and their affiliates, and not those of 58 00:03:56,480 --> 00:04:00,840 Speaker 1: the English invading forces, take center stage the ghost stories 59 00:04:01,040 --> 00:04:05,040 Speaker 1: that they liked to share about the castle. Might it 60 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:09,840 Speaker 1: be even that the horrid, unnamable thing that Mildred Derby 61 00:04:09,960 --> 00:04:13,600 Speaker 1: claimed stalk to the castle's halls was not the latent 62 00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:17,400 Speaker 1: evil spirit of the O'Carroll clan, but rather a deep 63 00:04:17,640 --> 00:04:21,360 Speaker 1: subconscious guilt at being gifted such an ill gotten property 64 00:04:21,400 --> 00:04:27,040 Speaker 1: in the first place. This, of course, is mere speculation. However, 65 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:30,760 Speaker 1: the theme of guilt and remorse as a catalyst for 66 00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:33,920 Speaker 1: the emergence of ghosts seems to be a regular one 67 00:04:34,200 --> 00:04:36,520 Speaker 1: in the many ghost stories that arose out of the 68 00:04:36,600 --> 00:04:41,360 Speaker 1: turbulent period encompassing the English and later British invasion of Ireland. 69 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:46,800 Speaker 1: The Cromwellian conquest of Ireland in sixteen forty nine, as 70 00:04:46,839 --> 00:04:49,839 Speaker 1: it is often referred to, which ultimately led to Lep 71 00:04:49,920 --> 00:04:53,880 Speaker 1: Castle coming into the possession of the Derby family, formed 72 00:04:53,960 --> 00:04:56,960 Speaker 1: part of a series of conflicts that took place between 73 00:04:57,040 --> 00:05:01,640 Speaker 1: sixteen thirty nine and sixteen fifty three. Known collectively as 74 00:05:01,680 --> 00:05:06,080 Speaker 1: the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. These complex and bloody 75 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:10,120 Speaker 1: conflicts were mostly initiated by the ruling powers of England 76 00:05:10,480 --> 00:05:13,520 Speaker 1: in an effort to assert their dominance over the neighboring 77 00:05:13,600 --> 00:05:18,880 Speaker 1: states of Scotland, Ireland and Wales. However, arguably the most 78 00:05:18,920 --> 00:05:21,680 Speaker 1: bloody conflict of them all was the one that took 79 00:05:21,680 --> 00:05:25,599 Speaker 1: place amongst the English themselves, as the two ruling factions 80 00:05:25,640 --> 00:05:29,480 Speaker 1: of Parliamentarians, those who advocated for the laws of the 81 00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:33,760 Speaker 1: land to be dictated by members of Parliament, and Royalists, 82 00:05:34,120 --> 00:05:37,000 Speaker 1: those who advocated for the king to be the ultimate 83 00:05:37,080 --> 00:05:41,839 Speaker 1: power elected to resolve their irreconcilable differences on the battle field. 84 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:45,720 Speaker 1: The death toll from the English Civil War, which was 85 00:05:45,760 --> 00:05:49,080 Speaker 1: eventually won by the Parliamentarians, is said to be around 86 00:05:49,160 --> 00:05:52,839 Speaker 1: two hundred thousand, which equates to close to five percent 87 00:05:53,160 --> 00:06:03,719 Speaker 1: of the entire English population at the time. Perhaps the 88 00:06:03,760 --> 00:06:07,000 Speaker 1: most extraordinary ghost story to arise from the English Civil 89 00:06:07,040 --> 00:06:11,400 Speaker 1: War took place in December of sixteen forty two. It 90 00:06:11,480 --> 00:06:14,599 Speaker 1: was sometime between twelve and one am in the morning 91 00:06:14,600 --> 00:06:18,560 Speaker 1: of December twenty fourth that shepherds working in a field 92 00:06:18,680 --> 00:06:22,799 Speaker 1: near the village of Quinton in Warwickshire, Central England, heard 93 00:06:22,839 --> 00:06:26,080 Speaker 1: the distant sound of war drums. As they stood in 94 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:31,239 Speaker 1: confusion listening to the strange, ethereal sound, another sound started 95 00:06:31,240 --> 00:06:35,840 Speaker 1: to emerge alongside it, the painful cries of men seemingly 96 00:06:35,920 --> 00:06:41,160 Speaker 1: lying wounded somewhere nearby. This was in turn overwhelmed by 97 00:06:41,240 --> 00:06:45,200 Speaker 1: more cries, followed by the sound of gunshot and horses 98 00:06:45,279 --> 00:06:49,920 Speaker 1: charging through mud, the sounds of a great battle being waged. 99 00:06:51,240 --> 00:06:53,960 Speaker 1: As the men grew suddenly terrified that they were about 100 00:06:53,960 --> 00:06:58,400 Speaker 1: to be overrun by violent warring forces, a vision suddenly 101 00:06:58,400 --> 00:07:02,240 Speaker 1: appeared in the sky above them, men in the battle 102 00:07:02,279 --> 00:07:06,120 Speaker 1: colors of the Royalists and Parliamentarians charging at each other, 103 00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:11,480 Speaker 1: some with muskets, blasting others with swords, and some even 104 00:07:11,520 --> 00:07:14,360 Speaker 1: on horseback in the throes of what appeared to be 105 00:07:14,640 --> 00:07:18,840 Speaker 1: an epic fight. The shepherds are said to have watched 106 00:07:18,880 --> 00:07:23,680 Speaker 1: the strange spectral battle play out for almost three hours before, 107 00:07:24,160 --> 00:07:28,320 Speaker 1: with the Royalists defeated, the men and horses simply vanished 108 00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:32,000 Speaker 1: from the sky. The shepherds are then said to rush 109 00:07:32,080 --> 00:07:35,600 Speaker 1: to the door of the local Justice for Peace, William Wood, 110 00:07:35,960 --> 00:07:39,920 Speaker 1: who in turn woke up the local minister, Samuel Marshall 111 00:07:40,480 --> 00:07:44,360 Speaker 1: so they could relay the story to him. Also, the 112 00:07:44,440 --> 00:07:48,160 Speaker 1: following night, the men returned to the same spot, where 113 00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:53,240 Speaker 1: incredibly it happened all over again. Though nothing was seen 114 00:07:53,360 --> 00:07:56,880 Speaker 1: for the next week, the epic ghostly battle was seen 115 00:07:56,960 --> 00:08:01,320 Speaker 1: again over the course of the next two weekends. As 116 00:08:01,400 --> 00:08:04,360 Speaker 1: word of the event began to circulate, many from the 117 00:08:04,400 --> 00:08:07,240 Speaker 1: local area were said to have gone to witness it 118 00:08:07,320 --> 00:08:12,480 Speaker 1: for themselves. Before long, even King Charles himself, the royal 119 00:08:12,520 --> 00:08:15,560 Speaker 1: head of state at the time and leader of the Royalists, 120 00:08:15,800 --> 00:08:18,840 Speaker 1: heard about it and apparently sent six of his most 121 00:08:18,880 --> 00:08:22,800 Speaker 1: trusted men to investigate. The men are said to have 122 00:08:22,800 --> 00:08:25,800 Speaker 1: returned to the King reporting that not only did they 123 00:08:25,840 --> 00:08:29,320 Speaker 1: see it, but that they even recognized friends of theirs 124 00:08:29,360 --> 00:08:33,360 Speaker 1: amongst the ghostly apparitions, all of whom had been killed 125 00:08:33,360 --> 00:08:36,079 Speaker 1: in the Battle of Edge Hill, which had taken place 126 00:08:36,080 --> 00:08:40,640 Speaker 1: in the area only two months before. Some believed, on 127 00:08:40,800 --> 00:08:44,160 Speaker 1: hearing news of the apparent apparition, that it was a 128 00:08:44,240 --> 00:08:48,560 Speaker 1: sign of God's wrath towards the land, angry at the 129 00:08:48,600 --> 00:08:59,560 Speaker 1: persistence of war. In June sixteen forty five, with the 130 00:08:59,600 --> 00:09:02,800 Speaker 1: outcome of the war still very much hanging in the balance, 131 00:09:03,360 --> 00:09:07,560 Speaker 1: Sir Thomas Fairfax, commander in chief of the Parliamentarian Army, 132 00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:10,640 Speaker 1: prepared to lead an assault on the city of Oxford, 133 00:09:10,920 --> 00:09:15,640 Speaker 1: the wartime capital of King Charles's Royalists. At the same time, 134 00:09:16,280 --> 00:09:18,800 Speaker 1: Charles was leading an attack on the city of Leicester 135 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:23,320 Speaker 1: to the north. Sensing an opportunity to cut Charles's army 136 00:09:23,360 --> 00:09:27,400 Speaker 1: off and inflict a fatal blow on Royalist chances of victory, 137 00:09:27,880 --> 00:09:31,160 Speaker 1: fair Facts abandoned the assault on Oxford and marched his 138 00:09:31,280 --> 00:09:36,880 Speaker 1: army north towards Leicester. Instead. Knowing that Fairfax's army was 139 00:09:36,920 --> 00:09:40,120 Speaker 1: on its way, Charles had to decide whether to engage 140 00:09:40,120 --> 00:09:43,280 Speaker 1: in battle or take the opportunity to move his army 141 00:09:43,320 --> 00:09:46,640 Speaker 1: to safety so they could rest and recuperate and possibly 142 00:09:46,679 --> 00:09:51,080 Speaker 1: gain reinforcements. Charles is said to have first been confident 143 00:09:51,240 --> 00:09:55,760 Speaker 1: about confronting fair Facts until one night, about two hours 144 00:09:55,800 --> 00:09:59,120 Speaker 1: after he'd gone to bed, his attendants heard a horrible 145 00:09:59,200 --> 00:10:03,480 Speaker 1: cry coming from his room. Rushing in, they found the 146 00:10:03,600 --> 00:10:06,680 Speaker 1: King sitting bolt upright in bed, with a look of 147 00:10:06,760 --> 00:10:11,640 Speaker 1: great terror on his pale face. As he explained he'd 148 00:10:11,679 --> 00:10:14,800 Speaker 1: just awoken from a terrible nightmare in which he was 149 00:10:14,920 --> 00:10:19,200 Speaker 1: visited by the ghost of Thomas Wentworth, the Earl of Strafford. 150 00:10:20,200 --> 00:10:23,800 Speaker 1: Wentworth apparently scolded the King and told him under no 151 00:10:23,960 --> 00:10:27,720 Speaker 1: uncertain terms that if he were to fight Fairfax's army 152 00:10:28,080 --> 00:10:32,680 Speaker 1: he would lose the war back in sixteen forty one, 153 00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:35,880 Speaker 1: Thomas Wentworth, who'd risen to become one of the king's 154 00:10:35,920 --> 00:10:39,800 Speaker 1: most trusted advisers, was beheaded on the orders of Parliament, 155 00:10:40,480 --> 00:10:42,920 Speaker 1: worried that he was trying to persuade the King to 156 00:10:43,040 --> 00:10:47,360 Speaker 1: use military power to assert his authority. With the King 157 00:10:47,720 --> 00:10:50,560 Speaker 1: not wanting to draw Parliament into a full scale war 158 00:10:50,640 --> 00:10:53,240 Speaker 1: at the time, he felt he had little choice but 159 00:10:53,360 --> 00:10:55,640 Speaker 1: to sign off on the death of his friend and 160 00:10:55,760 --> 00:10:59,719 Speaker 1: trusted ally. Evidently the guilt of having to do this 161 00:11:00,040 --> 00:11:03,720 Speaker 1: had never quite left him. The next morning, after his 162 00:11:03,760 --> 00:11:08,480 Speaker 1: apparent visitation from Wentworth, King Charles prevaricated on whether to 163 00:11:08,520 --> 00:11:11,319 Speaker 1: engage fair Facts or not, and spent the rest of 164 00:11:11,360 --> 00:11:15,480 Speaker 1: the day debating the issue with his advisers. The following night, 165 00:11:16,120 --> 00:11:20,840 Speaker 1: he was apparently visited by Wentworth again. In the end, 166 00:11:21,320 --> 00:11:24,640 Speaker 1: King Charles decided not to fight and had his army 167 00:11:24,760 --> 00:11:29,800 Speaker 1: marched north in the hope of securing reinforcements from Scotland. However, 168 00:11:30,120 --> 00:11:33,640 Speaker 1: having taken too long to make his decision fair facts 169 00:11:33,640 --> 00:11:36,920 Speaker 1: and his army quickly caught up with him, giving him 170 00:11:36,960 --> 00:11:40,480 Speaker 1: no choice but to stay and fight, and so on 171 00:11:40,559 --> 00:11:44,560 Speaker 1: the foggy morning of June fourteenth, the Battle of Knavesby began, 172 00:11:45,840 --> 00:11:49,480 Speaker 1: with Charles his army tired and hopelessly outnumbered. They were 173 00:11:49,520 --> 00:11:53,400 Speaker 1: obliterated by the Parliamentarian forces to a point from which 174 00:11:53,440 --> 00:11:58,680 Speaker 1: the Royalists never recovered, precipitating their eventual collapse and defeat 175 00:11:59,040 --> 00:12:01,640 Speaker 1: in what was the first of two stages of the war. 176 00:12:03,280 --> 00:12:06,360 Speaker 1: As for King Charles, as many will know, he was 177 00:12:06,400 --> 00:12:10,680 Speaker 1: eventually captured and imprisoned in sixteen forty seven, before being 178 00:12:10,720 --> 00:12:16,320 Speaker 1: executed on the thirtieth of January sixteen forty nine. It 179 00:12:16,480 --> 00:12:19,840 Speaker 1: is said that shortly before his death, Charles stated that 180 00:12:19,920 --> 00:12:24,400 Speaker 1: God had allowed his execution as punishment for consenting to 181 00:12:24,440 --> 00:12:34,120 Speaker 1: the death of his friend and adviser Thomas Wentworth. Unexplained. 182 00:12:34,120 --> 00:12:37,440 Speaker 1: The book and audiobook, featuring ten stories that have never 183 00:12:37,480 --> 00:12:40,240 Speaker 1: before been covered on the show, is now available to 184 00:12:40,320 --> 00:12:44,240 Speaker 1: buy worldwide. You can purchase through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, 185 00:12:44,360 --> 00:12:49,120 Speaker 1: and Waterstones, among other bookstores. All elements have unexplained, including 186 00:12:49,160 --> 00:12:52,280 Speaker 1: the show's music, are produced by me Richard McClane Smith. 187 00:12:52,720 --> 00:12:55,800 Speaker 1: Please subscribe and rate the show wherever you listen to podcasts, 188 00:12:56,040 --> 00:12:58,280 Speaker 1: and feel free to get in touch with any thoughts 189 00:12:58,360 --> 00:13:00,920 Speaker 1: or ideas regarding the stories you've heard on the show. 190 00:13:01,520 --> 00:13:03,679 Speaker 1: Perhaps you have an explanation of your own you'd like 191 00:13:03,720 --> 00:13:07,080 Speaker 1: to share. You can reach us online at Unexplained podcast 192 00:13:07,120 --> 00:13:11,960 Speaker 1: dot com or Twitter at Unexplained Pod and Facebook at 193 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:15,839 Speaker 1: Facebook dot com. Forward slash Unexplained Podcast