BS: A serious word of warning!

Subject: A serious word of warning!
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 03 May 01 - 02:44 PM

I have just been getting all sentimental (or is it just mental?) on another thread so before anyone thinks I have gone soft in'th'ead harks these words. No Joke - serious this...

If you are traveling to Whitby to go to the Moor and Coast this weekend yo may travel the A169 from Pickering across the moors. If so you will see the Legendary Saltersgate Inn. It is legendary because a tale tells of the Devil himself being captured there and imprisoned beneath the hearth. The fire was lit so Old Nick could not escape and was kept lit to ensure he stayed in place.

Well, last weekend we passed. There was no smoke coming out of the chimney and my blood ran cold when I saw the notice on the door....

Under new management

doodoodoodoodoodoodoodoo (Twighlight zone theme)

True story - go check it out! But be careful if you happen to go in.....;-)

Cheers

Dave the Gnome

Subject: RE: BS: A serious word of warning!
From: Noreen
Date: 03 May 01 - 02:53 PM

I spotted that at Easter, too, Dave! :0) We used to make a trek out from Robin Hood's Bay to the Saltersgate- first place I ever drank Old Peculier, when Theakston's was real and not widely available.

Noreen

Subject: RE: BS: A serious word of warning!
From: Willie-O
Date: 03 May 01 - 02:59 PM

Well sooner or later they had to let the fire go out so they could sweep the chimney y'know.

But there's no doubt the whole freakin world's goin to hell at high tide...

W-O

Subject: RE: BS: A serious word of warning!
From: mousethief
Date: 03 May 01 - 03:02 PM

You Brits and your superstitions are so cute!

Subject: RE: BS: A serious word of warning!
From: Bert
Date: 03 May 01 - 03:08 PM

Don't knock it Tealeaf, How do you think the place got to be so old?

Subject: RE: BS: A serious word of warning!
From: mousethief
Date: 03 May 01 - 03:11 PM

Same way every other place did. By persisting through time.

Subject: RE: BS: A serious word of warning!
From: Tyke
Date: 03 May 01 - 03:24 PM

I could be wrong but it's not the devil that reputed to be buried under the fire place at the Saltersgate. I a Tax man (same thing I here you all cry! ops I went all Tony Wilson for a moment!) a customs and excise officer. Who haunts the pub if the fire is not kept alight. The new management must be short of Customers due to the Foot and Mouth Crises. WANTING TO RETAIL TO SPIRITS:-) or they are using smokless fule!

Subject: RE: BS: A serious word of warning!
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 03 May 01 - 04:08 PM

Oi, some of us tax people like a good drink you know!!!

LTS who works for the taxman......!

Subject: RE: BS: A serious word of warning!
From: Hollowfox
Date: 03 May 01 - 04:09 PM

(Hmmm, nice handbasket.) Seriously, thanks for letting us know. Do you suppose the new owners just don't know? even if they're so clueless as to not respect local tradition and custom, are they so stupid as to ignore a potential draw for Anglophile tourists.

Subject: RE: BS: A serious word of warning!
From: Tyke
Date: 03 May 01 - 06:59 PM

I was going to write to reassure everyone that I thought it highly unlikely that the Saltersgate owners would let the fire go out. As it would seem to be part of the tradition and legions of the area and its main claim to fame. But on second thoughts nothing would surprise me it's sad to say. I remember attending a folk evening at the Saltersgate a few years ago one of the last to be held there as the owners a consortium of Accountants, who owned the Saltersgate, were replacing the manager.

On the brighter side I have often driven past the Saltersgate in the early evening and I have not on looking been able to detect smoke coming from the chimney.

I must apologise to the Tax persons there was no slur to their good name intended. Please allow me to continue working for you fulltime. :-}

Subject: RE: BS: A serious word of warning!
From: Tyke
Date: 03 May 01 - 07:02 PM

PS. Perhaps I should call in for a pint to investigate tomorrow on my way to the Moor and Coast Festival in Whitby.

Subject: RE: BS: A serious word of warning!
From: Tyke
Date: 03 May 01 - 07:05 PM

Mines a large VAT! If they are serving spirits! :-)

Subject: RE: BS: A serious word of warning!
From: GUEST
Date: 03 May 01 - 10:31 PM

Not to worry, folks, the Devil is alive and well and living in the USA; In fact, we elected him president!!

Subject: RE: BS: A serious word of warning!
From: GUEST,Pete M at work
Date: 03 May 01 - 11:11 PM

Willie-O, what makes you think you need to let the fire out before shoving the kid up the chimmney to sweep it? The heat encourages them to work faster!

Pete M

Subject: RE: BS: A serious word of warning!
From: Uncle Jaque
Date: 03 May 01 - 11:13 PM

Awww, G'wan now! Don't be such a Sore Loserman, "Guest"!

Subject: RE: BS: A serious word of warning!
From: Mike Byers
Date: 03 May 01 - 11:19 PM

About 200 yards from my house is a tombstone that reads "Here Lies the Devil". Yep, there's a story behind this as you might guess; I'll post it if anyone's interested. But I have it on good authority that the grave is empty...

Subject: RE: BS: A serious word of warning!
From: Sorcha
Date: 03 May 01 - 11:22 PM

uh-oh. I wouldn't want to live there......post the story, man, post the story!

Subject: RE: BS: A serious word of warning!
From: roopoo
Date: 04 May 01 - 03:03 AM

I did hear a couple of years ago that the fire had been allowed to go out "under new management". Must have changed hands yet again. See - now the fire's out, the devil's back, and maybe they CAN'T get people to stay!!!

Andrea

Subject: RE: BS: A serious word of warning!
From: Mike Byers
Date: 04 May 01 - 08:25 AM

I live in a place locally known as "Bailiff's Hollow", named for the Bailiff family who lived here for many years. It's sort of an odd place, somewhat like Gamble Rogers' Ocklawahah County brought to life. One newspaper man I know describes it as a "little pocket of weirdness; like the Bermuda Triangle, only smaller." Back around 1929, Old Man Bailiff, a preacher and a farmer, decided to preach his own funeral. This was quite an event as at the time, entertainment of any sort was hard to come by. So everyone for miles around came to hear the preaching. By all accounts, Old Man Bailiff was a pretty good preacher; some say he was a good farmer, too and he must have been to get anything to grow in the rocky, sandy clay of the Hollow. Whe he got down to the end of the funeral oration, Old Man Bailiff said, "That's it for sin; there's no more sin. And that's it for the devil: the devil is dead." They carried out a coffin and buried it below a tombstone that says "Here Lies the Devil". The tombstone is still there, although most people couldn't find it today as the Bailiff house is long gone and the woods have grown to cover the area. When my brother started to build his house here in 1975 (and that's where I live now), the Reverend Williams, who lives up the road a ways, said that he thought living across from the devil's tombstone would make for a nice, quiet place. A different view than some might take, I admit, but Reverend Williams is just about one of the finest people I know and besides, he has a quarter-scale replica of Stonehenge in his yard and makes triple-strung harps (remember, this is Bailiff's Hollow). And his predicition has proved to be true: it is in fact a nice, quiet place except for the bobcats, timber wolves, cougars and mushroom hunters in the spring. But as I said, there's every reason to belive the coffin is empty. Oh, yes...Old Man Bailiff lived for another thirty years or so after his funeral, and I'm sure there's a lesson in this. What it might be, though, I'm not so sure.

Subject: RE: BS: A serious word of warning!
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 04 May 01 - 08:31 AM

Bravo Mike! Love it.

DtG

Subject: RE: BS: A serious word of warning!
From: Jim the Bart
Date: 04 May 01 - 10:00 AM

Don't worry about the devil. I have it on good report that he can be found in a place known widely as "The Details". I'm assuming it's similar to "The Everglades" or "The Dells" (in Wisconsin), although I have yet to find it on a map.

Subject: RE: BS: A serious word of warning!
From: GUEST,djh
Date: 04 May 01 - 02:18 PM

I think Dubya as the Devil is a comforting thought, I always figured the Devil was clever. If he is the devil , I sure am glad I aint Chinese.

Subject: RE: BS: A serious word of warning!
From: GUEST,djh
Date: 04 May 01 - 02:52 PM

I wanna know more about the place in Wisconsin.Great story Mike, where is "Bailiff's Hollow"? That old Devil sure gets around.

Subject: RE: BS: A serious word of warning!
From: DougR
Date: 04 May 01 - 02:54 PM

Tyke: the suggestion that you reconnoiter the place seems appropriate to me. Will you report your findings, please?

DougR

Subject: RE: BS: A serious word of warning!
From: Mike Byers
Date: 04 May 01 - 05:09 PM

I'd hate to say just where Bailiff's Hollow is, as I'm afraid people coming to look for the devil's tombstone would be eaten by those "dogs" the VanPelt boys keep. There's a whole pack of 'em; big, scaley monsters that stand about ten hands high (and that's just the pups) with glow in the dark eyes and teeth like a cross between an alligator and a milling machine. And they've got tails with spikes on the ends, sort of like a stegosaurus. Come to think of it, maybe the devil is in de tails...