Poem..The Ghost of Venn Ottery

To be read with a strong Devonshire accent...

The Ghost of Venn Ottery  ( written by William Welsman 1900 ish)

Venn Ottery is the parish where
Once liv’d a man named Marshall Hare;
Against the church wall stands a stone
Recording that the flesh and bone
Of Marshall Hare their resting have
Inside the church in vaulted grave.
There is no record left that would
Show if his life was bad or good;
But one thing sure when he deceased
His spirit did not rest in peace;
For after Marshall was interr’d
Dim lights were seen and noises heard
Inside the church, and soon it spread
That Marshall Hare rose from the dead.

In that old church’s ivied tower
There is no clock to strike the hour;
But when the noise and lights were on,
’Twas in that hour from twelve to one.
And through the churchyard there’s a way,
Much us’d by people night and day;
To pass that way none were afraid,
For peaceful lay the mould’ring dead.
But one night there when some one pass’d,
A huge black thing was on the grass;
When passant it was like a hog,
When rampant it look’d like a dog.

The sexton, late in church one night,
To dust the seats and put things right,
He saw a coffin, spic and span,
Tugg’d down the aisle by unseen hand.
His thoughts were these he told the same
That Marshall’s spirit that night came,
And from the church its corpse it stole
To in it reinstate his soul;
And live again in that estate,
Ere it was sever’d by stern fate.

These tales were to the Vicar told,
And he resolv’d at once to hold
In church a solemn conclave, where
He’d lay the ghost of Marshall Hare.
He search’d  -  four holy men he found
Who in ghost mysteries were profound,
They all agreed and met one night
Outside the church, each robed in white,
And through the doorway in the tower
They went in church at midnight hour,
And knelt upon the stone slab there
Which caps the vault of Marshall Hare.
Most fervently these good men pray’d
For Heav’n’s protection and its aid,
Then cited Marshall to appear
And show the cause of his career.

But Marshall was not in the mood
To be by men of earth withstood.
Most fervently they pray again
That Marshall’s ghost be now arraign’d;
At once deep darkness fill’d the place,
Which strictly hid each form and face;
By this they knew the ghost was there,
In answer to their fervent pray’r.

Then tap, tap, from the good men’s side,
By taps the ghost of Hare replied;
By taps the converse was convey’d
Between the living and the dead.
The purport of the taps were this  - 
That Marshall’s soul, not being in bliss,
Had fled from where they prod and burn,
With no intention to return;
But meant to spend on earth each night,
And vanish with each morning’s light.
To this replied these sainted men,
“The dead can ne’er return again,
Or not until that awful day
When man to judgment wakes from clay;
And we are here this night to ban
Your spirit from our christian land.”

To this it had objections strong,
It thought its visits nothing wrong,
And would agree to spend each night,
Not to be seen nor none affright;
In argument the Ghost was skill’d,
And to these good men would not yield.
The argument began with taps,
By now ’twas got to rowdy raps.
At last a compromise, to wit,
Down in a mead in stagnant pit  -
They gave to Marshall’s ghost the right
Whene’er it would spend a night,
Also a clause that it should come
Each year one cock’s stride nearer home
With taps this awful deed was sign’d,
Which to the pit the Ghost confin’d.

And when it flew to take its place
The old church trembl’d to its base;
The pulpit seemed to dance about,
The seats were all in rabble rout.
At last, when order was restored,
And all was silence and accord,
Slowly arose these sainted men,
Down through the aisle their way they wend;
They issued at the tower door,
’Mid lightning’s blaze and thunder’s roar;
With trembling limbs and faces white,
They shook hands round and said “Good-night.”
And all express’d how pleas’d they were.
To know they’d lay’d the ghost of Hare.